FEIA Hockey Squads are Off and Skating!

By Michael Clarkson

The three FEIA hockey teams are off to encouraging starts.

The two boys’ squads started winning immediately while the Lady Falcons are picking up steam and have received encouraging news from college and university scouts.

“We’re continuing our improvement as a program,” said Derek Bachynski, FEIA’s hockey director, who oversees all three teams. “The teams are doing well, we’re getting scouted and the players are developing, physically and mentally.”

In their first six outings, the Under-18 boys went 4-2 and the Under-17 boys were 5-1.

For the Greg Wilson-coached U-17 boys, Danil Khmelkov had three goals (one from a penalty shot) and two assists in a 7-2 victory over Canadian International Hockey Academy. He had six points in three games during a showcase event in Cornwall, Oct. 2-4.

Danil is one of 16 players from Russia in the boys’ program (more on that in a future story).

On the U-18 side, goalie Malo Jacquier of Evry, France has been a standout for head coach Tyler Leclair, along with forward Thomas Harvey of Rosemere, Quebec, whose younger brother, Vince, now plays on the U-17 club.

The boys’ teams will have several showcases and college tours in New England this fall. They will host CHE Academy on Oct. 24.

While the girls have started slowly (won-5, lost-7, tied-1) in league and showcase events, they have improved to 5-2 in their last seven.

The skaters of coach Pete Montana received much attention from college and university scouts at the annual Stoney Creek showcase event in September. “It was the best response we’ve ever had (about a dozen scouts)," Pete said. "As a team, I think we’re better than last year, and deeper.”

In a recent tournament in Syracuse, N.Y., the Falcons went 3-2 as goalie Jette Helmke, who plays for Germany’s Under-16 team, had shutouts over Florida Alliance and Rice Academy of Vermont.

Nerea Stellett, of Dusseldorf, Germany, and Lina Saulo, of Vasteras, Sweden, also played well.

Falcons’ newest signing is Desiree Pichler, of Linz, Austria, one of 10 internationals on the team.

They are on the road for several months and won’t have a home game until February.

In late September, as a mental performance instructor, I was honored to give a presentation on visualization and goal setting for the boys’ teams – in keeping with Derek emphasizing the mental and emotional sides of the game.