The end of March signals the completion of hockey for many athletes and coaches around New York state. For the Oswego varsity boys hockey team, this means the closing of another successful season under the guidance of head coach Kevin Ahern. The Buccaneers rounded out the shortened season 8-8, winning five out of the last seven contests outscoring opponents 34 to 16 during that time.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team’s season only had 16 games that were all played between Feb. 11 and March 13. The team adapted to new safety protocols and played in front of limited crowds while family and friends viewed contests online. Ahern emphasized the difficulty of coaching through the 2021 season and how adaptive the group was.
“On-ice it always felt like we were not prepared as we have been because we did not have the opportunities to put in place some of the systems we always did,” Ahern said. “The team did great learning on the fly and executing what we had to say as a coaching staff.”
Heading into March, Oswego was 3-6 before a four-game road trip that featured the Bucs’ securing four decisive wins. Oswego was led by senior goaltender Brandon Demling, who had a 3.47 goals against average and a .889 save percentage to end the season. Demling played in 15 of the team’s 16 games.
But for the Bucs, their team’s success came from their offense which ranked second in points this season in Section III. Sophomore Brayden Miller led the team in points with 14 goals and 12 assists during the campaign. He had four goals in the team’s last game of the season over Watertown IHC.
Another player that made it on the score sheet was captain Adam Michalski who tallied six goals and seven assists from the blue line. The senior said how thankful he was to be able to play his final season in an Oswego uniform.
“I can speak for every senior on the team when I say it was a blessing to get the message that we can play,” Michalski said. “To be honest, I did not think we would be having a season and there was uncertainty the week before. To be able to go through and play the whole season was a great feeling and fulfilling to finish it.”
Ahern spoke highly of his captain, who mentored a younger defensive core to only allow 59 goals against. The offensive defenseman was an offensive factor on the ice night-in and night-out. Michalski recorded 45 points across four seasons in the blue and white uniforms and ranks fifth all-time in points for defensemen.
Throughout the season, there were a few back-to-back games due to the short time period for the season.. Oswego was challenged with difficult opponents not normally on the schedule. The Bucs played multiple schools who have not seen Oswego in over 10 years. Sometimes, the team came up short against these tougher opponents, but for the coaching staff it was a good sign for what would come in the remaining games.
“I enjoy playing some of those storied programs because it is a good measuring stick and it is a good welcome to high school hockey for the guys,” Ahern said. “We will try and reschedule some of those guys and stay pretty much close to home. It was also a myth buster too. We get very winded up in high school athletics about if we can play back-to-back games or play three contests in a row. We handled it just fine and going away to play two games in a weekend is not an issue for me in the years to come.”
With the 2021 season completed for the Bucs, the coaching staff can look ahead to what the 2021-22 campaign might have in store. Oswego is graduating six players this school year that were pivotal to ensuring this hockey team made it through the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahern was proud of how far this team has come over the course of this year.
“Hats off to the guys for listening to what we wanted and for them to go and carry it out,” Ahern said. “I was very conscious that I just wanted this so badly for them to make it through their six-week season. To do everything on our end to make sure they stayed safe and for them to do everything we asked followed every expectation we had.”
