By BUTCH HARMON
When it comes to Detroit Catholic Central hockey, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Despite graduating 13 players from last year’s team and having a new coach, the Shamrocks are back in a familiar place this season, atop the state rankings in Division 1.
While the Shamrocks have a new head coach in Danny Veri, he is no stranger to them. He was previously an assistant coach with the team before coaching the junior varsity squad the last two years, so he has plenty of experience with the program.
The Shamrocks have 14 seniors back this year, many of whom have experience.
Catholic Central won 10 of its first 11 games this season, the lone blemish being a tie against Cranbrook-Kingswood, the No. 1-ranked team in Division 3. Along the way, the Shamrocks have defeated the No. 1 (Brother Rice) and No. 2 (Trenton) teams in Division 2 and the No. 4 (University of Detroit Jesuit), No. 6 (St. Mary’s Preparatory), and No. 8 (Brighton) teams in Division 1. Catholic Central also posted wins over powerhouses Notre Dame Academy of Wisconsin and St. Andrew’s College of Toronto.
“So far the season has gone good,” Veri said. “We are doing a real good job of following the things we need to do to be successful.”
This year’s team has plenty of balance, and that has proven to be key. “We have pretty good balance all around,” Veri said. “We are also a pretty deep team. We have four pretty solid lines, a good group of defensemen, and some good goalies.”
On offense, Mitch Ossowski, Ryan Burnett, and Evan Rochowiak have been pacing the team in scoring. Andrew Lane and Owen Kipke have been leaders on defense, with senior Spencer Wright and junior Alec Calvaruso minding the net.
The Shamrocks have more challenges coming up in February before beginning defense of their state title in March. Catholic Central has appeared in the past two Division 1 state title games and has won three state titles since 2009.
Remaining focused and elevating their play will be keys down the stretch. “We just have to keep working on the little details and make sure we execute the things we have to do to be successful,” Veri said.