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Next Practice is:
Tue 07/08/2008 6:20 PM at the Chiller Easton |
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Next Game is:
vs. at the |
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2007-2008 Season Highlights
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The team did not disappoint in the Prowlers 10th anniversary season. With losing so many key players, the Prowlers could have easily missed a step. Instead, they marched on to win all six season series for only the third time in the program's history, and bring home back to back regular season titles for the second time in five seasons, their fourth overall. The season did not start out with as much promises as the year before. During the off season, the Prowlers received news that last year's starting goaltender, sophomore Dan Smith (Pickerington North) would miss the season due to injury. That meant the Prowlers had a big question mark in between the pipes. Sophomore Jeramiah Holland (Reynoldsburg) had played JV the season before and was the logical choice to step into the starting role. He did not disappoint either in his first full season at varsity. Holland posted a league best 1.58 goals against average and .916 save percentage in 16 game appearances on the way to a 10-2-3 record in league play (11-9-3 overall). He was pushed in the first part of the season by freshman Erik Heinmiller (Bishop Hartley) who played stellar in his first high school competition having made the jump straight from bantam house to varsity hockey in his first year. Heinmiller swapped starts with Holland through the first half of the season up until Smith returned from injury in late January. The trio made the Prowlers goaltending go from their biggest question to one of their greatest strengths. The young goaltending group was protected by the stingiest defensive corps in the league. Led by the hard hitting four year Prowler and senior captain Zach Wiard (Watkins Memorial) along with senior alternate captains Ryan Straker (Licking Heights) and Tyler Annetts (Pickerington Central), the Prowler defense gave up a league low 2.08 goals per game. The defense was rounded out by the addition of first year Prowler, freshman Sean Straker (Licking Heights), and the emergence of junior Dan Johnson (Pickerington Central) and sophomore Alex Daniels (Reynoldsburg) from JV last season to full time at varsity this year. As the younger blue liners learned from the experience of the upperclassmen, the 6 man unit became one to be reckoned with. While the defense kept the goals against down, the offensive attack led the league as well with an impressive 4.54 goals per game average. Led by a duo of three time junior all-stars in Adam McGrath (Pickerington North) and Brad Noskowiak (Reynoldsburg) the Prowler forwards turned on the goal light at a steady rate. McGrath, who passed on an opportunity to play Junior hockey in Cleveland, led the team in all offensive categories while posting a league high 44 points and finishing tied for the league lead in goals with 30 goals in just 22 games. He added an additional 10 goals in 9 non-league, tournament and playoff games to post a total of 40 goals on the season, making him only the second Prowler ever to post 40 or more goals in a single season. Serving as one of the team's alternate captains, McGrath capped off the year by passing Berkebile as the all-time career goal scoring leader, scoring his 91st goal in his 98th career game. He also finished his junior year as second all-time in assists (82) and points (173), and positioned himself in at least the top three of every offensive career record category. While McGrath worked from the center of one line, Noskowiak did his damage from the wing on another with one of the hardest and most accurate shots in the league. Noskowiak finished 6th in the league in goals by scoring 19 times in 24 league games. This season he moved into 5th on the all-time goal scoring list with 73 goals in 100 games played. Like McGrath, Noskowiak finds himself in the top ten of every offensive career record list in just his junior season. While much of the offense came from those two, it was a balanced offensive attack from the Prowler forward lines this season. It did not differentiate by class either. Four year Prowler, senior Austin Zurbriggen (Canal Winchester) posted a career high 31 points (15G, 16A) and played a major part in the Prowlers season, tying McGrath and Noskowiak with 8 power play goals on the season. While Zurbriggen was in his forth and final year, freshman Jake Miller (Watkins Memorial) stepped in to contribute in his first season scoring an impressive 23 points (12G, 11A), while manning the point on the power play and on the wing on the team's top line. In addition to Wiard, Straker and Annetts on defense and Zurbriggen up front, the team supplied veteran leadership from four other seniors. Taylor Markell (Pickerington Central) and Tommy Newhard (Bishop Hartley) were both four year Prowlers who provided offense on the top two lines, while also providing a defensive conscience. Markell missed the first part of the season due to success with the Pickerington Central soccer team, but returned to post 21 points (8G, 13A) while grinding it out in the corners with McGrath and Miller on the Prowler's top line. Newhard moved back to the center position this year after playing on the wing his sophomore and junior seasons. After playing through a knee injury last year, Tommy found his groove this season posting a career best 14 points (6G, 8A). Two year Prowler Bobby Castricone (Pickerington Central) bested his first year numbers with 13 points (6G, 7A) and first year Prowler Aaron McKenzie (Pickerington North) added to the team's depth and leadership with Aaron becoming somewhat of a defensive specialist, playing a key role on the team's penalty kill and serving as a valuable utility player all season long. Junior Tyler Cole (Pickerington North) continued to dominate the faceoff circle in his second season, leading the team with a 72.2% success rate while contributing 15 points (8G, 7A). Returning sophomore Taylor Kantor (Pickerington North) continued to be one of the team's top penalty killers while posting 17 points (7G, 10A). First year sophomore J.D. Klinger (Watkins Memorial) made the jump from JV his freshman year and provided 18 points (6G, 12A), while freshman Kyle Baughman (Canal Winchester) provided 10 points (3G, 7A) in his first season with the team. Despite the lineup balance, the season was more one of ebb and flow. The team cam out of the gate flying going 4-0-1 in their first five games before dropping a 3-2 barn burner in Newark against the Generals. Despite the loss, they recovered with two strong wins, including a 13-1 thumping of the Capital Hockey Conference's (CHC) Dublin Scioto Irish, before a surprising league loss to the Westerville Warcats 5-2. After returning to form and shutting out Hilliard 6-0, the team went 2-2 in the Midwest Thanksgiving Classic, beating the Anthony Wayne Generals 6-3 and pulling out a 2-1 win against the CHC's St. Charles Cardinals. The team continued to experience ups and downs through the middle of the season as they went on a 5-1-1 run into the holiday break. That stretch was highlighted by a 3-0 shutout of the Athens Bobcats with leading scorer Adam McGrath out of the lineup. Athens returned the favor though just a week later with an unruly 3-1 win at Athens. That game marked a catalyst as the team went 13-1-3 in their last 17 games after that. The team continued to trade first place with the Generals and Bobcats through the first half of the season and would face their toughest challenge with two tough road games at Newark and Athens to start the new year. The Prowlers saw leads slip away in both contests and tied it's first two games out of the break. The games gave the boys a spark though as they rattled of 7 straight victories and went undefeated in their final 11 games to clinch back-to-back regular season titles for the second time in five years. After going 21-5-4 in the regular season (17-3-4 in league play) the playoffs did not go quite as expected. After an opening round bye in the GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Tournament, the Prowlers ran into a hot Olentangy Braves team that won 7 consecutive games down the stretch including their opening round 8-2 victory over Westerville in the tournament. The game was 0-0 after the first and 1-1 after the second period before Olentangy scored with just under 8 minutes remaining in the third. Events in the game would see the Prowlers loose their captain Zach Wiard to concussion and their top offensive defenseman Ryan Straker due to penalty. The team continued to battle for the tying goal until Olentangy scored into an empty net with 14 seconds remaining to take home a 3-1 victory. The Prowlers then fell to the loser's bracket and played short manned against the Hilliard/Southwest Wildcats, coming up on the bottom side of a 7-5 barn burner that eliminated them from the tournament. It marked the first time in six seasons that the Prowlers did not make the Cup Finals game, as they watched the Braves go on to lift the Cup for the first time in their program's history. The sting of the Blue Jackets Cup carried with the team as they represented the GCHSCHL for the 4th consecutive season in the Buckeye Cup Ohio High School Club Hockey State Championship Tournament. The team was still without Wiard due to injury and leading scorer Adam McGrath serving a suspension as they started the tournament. In addition to those losses, Noskowiak and Newhard were unable to make the trip. In blizzard conditions, the short manned Prowlers fought hard but came out on the short side of 3-1 loss (empty net goal with 1 second remaining) to the Rocky River Buccaneers. The team responded the next morning with McGrath back in the lineup as they defeated the Anderson Chiefs 6-4, but in their next game suffered more personnel losses as mid-game injuries to Taylor Markell and Sean Straker saw the bench shortened even farther. The team came up short in a 3-1 loss to the Riverside Beavers, failing to advance back to the Buckeye Cup's Final Four round. The season ended with seven players joining head coach Jay C. Catherine at the 3rd Annual GCHSCHL All-Star game. They joined players from the Olentangy Braves, Hilliard/Southwest Wildcats and Northeast Storm on the White All-Star Team. The Prowlers selected to the All-Star team were three time all-stars, junior alternate captain Adam McGrath (Pickerington North) and junior Brad Noskowiak (Reynoldsburg), along with first time selections, senior captain Zach Wiard (Watkins Memorial), senior alternate captain Ryan Straker (Licking Heights), senior Austin Zurbriggen (Canal Winchester), freshman Jake Miller (Canal Winchester), and sophomore goaltender Jeramiah Holland (Reynoldsburg). Senior Taylor Markell (Pickerington Central), junior Tyler Cole (Pickerington North) and freshman Sean Straker (Licking Heights) replaced Wiard, Straker and Miller in the game due to injury and schedule conflicts. The 2007-2008 season was the end of the road for eight seniors, including seven 2007 GCHSCHL Blue Jacket Cup Champions. The team will be loosing a quartet of four year players in captain Zach Wiard (#45 - Watkins Memorial), Austin Zurbriggen (#21 - Canal Winchester), Tommy Newhard (#66 - Bishop Hartley) and Taylor Markell (#14 - Pickerington Central) as well as a duo of three year players in alternate-captains Ryan Straker (#18 - Licking Heights) and Tyler Annetts (#49 - Pickerington Central). Two Prowlers that were on the inaugural Prowler JV team will also be departing as two year varsity player Bobby Castricone (#74 - Pickerington Central) and first year player Aaron McKenzie (#11 - Pickerington North) graduate. This year's Prowler team showed great depth and character as they continued the strong winning traditions of Prowler Hockey. They won all six season series for just the third time in the Program's proud ten year history, and tied the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 teams for second with just 3 league losses. The team went 13-1-3 in their last 17 games and undefeated in their last 11 games into the playoffs (9-0-2) on the way to their 4th GCHSCHL League title in 5 seasons. The season culminated with their 4th consecutive trip to the Buckeye Cup State Playoffs representing the GCHSCHL. All accomplishments that this team can be proud of as they continued the Prowler "Tradition of Excellence".
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Congratulations Prowlers on a succesful showing in the State Championship Tournament and to the GCHSCHL's own Athens Bobcats on their first Buckeye Cup State Championship. Check out the official GCHSCHL Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament page for more information.
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2007-2008 GCHSHL Regular Season Champions 2007-2008 Buckeye Cup Ohio High School Club Hockey State Playoff Qualifiers Top Row: |
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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF PROWLER HOCKEY
Prowler Hockey is proud to be celebrating it's 10th Anniversary in 2007-2008. Started in 1998, Prowler Hockey has had a successful history winning three GCHSCHL Regular Season Championships, five consecutive GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Final appearances, three GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Championships, three Buckeye Cup State Championship appearances and one Buckeye Cup State Championship Final Four appearance. All in it's first 9 seasons. Prowler Hockey would like to thank all of the dedicated coaches, players, parents, volunteers, alumni, sponsors and fans for helping develop Prowler Hockey over the first decade and establishing a "Tradition of Excellence".
The Prowlers selected their team Captains for the 2007-2008 season. Four year Prowler, Senior Zach Wiard (Watkins Memorial) was chosen as this year's Captain. He was joined by three year Prowlers, seniors Taylor Annetts (Pickerington Central) and Ryan Straker (Licking Heights) and junior Adam mcGrath (Pickerington North). The Prowler captains look to lead the boys to their fourth GCHSCHL Blue Jacket Cup Championship and to the team's forth consecutive trip to the Ohio High School Club Hockey Buckeye Cup State Playoffs.
On Wednesday (12/19) Prowler Hockey held it's second Chris Miller Prowler Alumni Game. The game pitted the current Prowler varsity team against some of the greatest players in Prowler hockey history. Seven was the magic number for this year's game as the seven 2007 graduates made the difference for the alumni squad. They provided "new blood" that gave the alumni a jump with good skill and speed. 2007 Pickerington Central grad Nick Hess and 2007 Pickerington North grad Cody Berkebile led the alumni team to a 7-5 victory over the current varsity squad. It was a great game with incredible fan support from the many friends and family members of both the current and alumni Prowlers. The Prowlers hope to continue the tradition for years to come. Check out the whole story on 
With a goal against the Riverside Beavers in the Buckeye Cup State Tournament (3/8), alternate captain and Pickerington North junior Adam McGrath surpassed 2007 Pickerington North graduate Cody Berkebile (90 G & 167 PTS in 113 GP) as the All-Time career leader in goals scored with 91 goals in 98 games played. He also currently sits at second All-Time in career assists and points, finishing the season at 91 goals and 82 assists for 173 points in 98 games played. The current All-Time career assist and points leader is T.J. Hess (81 G & 106 A for 187 PTS in 145 GP).
After winning their forth GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Championship in the last five seasons, the Prowlers made their forth consecutive trip representing Columbus and the GCHSCHL in the 4th Annual 
Prowler Hockey had 7 players joining head coach Jay C. Catherine in the third 
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GCHSCHL Standings
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| TEAM | GP | W | L | T | PTS | Vs. |
| PROWLERS | 24(35) |
17(22) |
3(9) |
4(4) |
38 | ------ |
| Athens | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 2-1-1 |
| Newark | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 2-1-1 |
| Olentangy | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 4-0-0 |
| Westerville | 24 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 19 | 3-1-0 |
| Hilliard | 24 | 5 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 2-0-2 |
| Northeast | 24 | 1 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 4-0-0 |
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* Parenthesis () include non-league games. |
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Ice Prowler Hockey is a member of the Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League (GCHSCHL). The Ice Prowlers are proud members of the Mid-American Hockey District of USA Hockey. Site designed and maintained by Jay C. Catherine. This site and all content are property of Ice Prowler Hockey. ©2005-2006 All rights reserved.
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