The Mirror

The student-run newspaper of Northwood School in Lake Placid.

by: Owen MacLeanPosted on:

Prep Hockey Shows Promise in Pittsburgh

The Prep hockey team in Pittsburgh. Photo provided.

Northwood Prep played its first out-of-town games in Pittsburgh this past weekend, at the USHL Fall Classic. After a 9-hour drive from Lake Placid to Pittsburgh, the weekend started off with team building at a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park. While the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Oakland A’s, the game ended with the most amazing fireworks show over the river and bridge. Max Stracar ‘26 enjoyed the road trip. “It was really fun with the guys getting to be outside of the rink with them. The highlight was definitely the fireworks, and all around I think made the guys closer.”

The Prep team started the weekend with a 5-2 win against Team Illinois. On Sunday, the morning game was a tough 5-4 shootout loss to Atlantic Coast Academy. The day would end on a high note, with the team taking down the hometown Pittsburgh Pens Elite in a back-and-forth 4-2 game.

“This weekend when we were at our best, we were a very hard team to play against. We were relentless on the pressure and the forecheck, so there were some positives to take out,” Assistant Coach Dylan Giacin said.

Immediately after the game, the entire arena would be evacuated by the fire department due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide. Later that night, a memo from Frank Butler, Senior Director of Player Personnel for the USHL, would be sent to all teams participating in the tournament. He advised that the remaining games from Sunday night would be canceled. The fire department determined that the high levels of carbon monoxide were caused by a faulty Zamboni. Butler’s memo noted, “Unfortunately, there was no choice but to change the 16U and 18U divisions to showcase format.” This meant the Prep team’s tournament would turn into a showcase with only four games instead of the possible five.

Northwood’s fourth game was on Monday afternoon. It was a tough 5-2 loss to the Brookline Whalers, a split-season team for Dexter Southfield School.

Coach Giacin spoke about what needs to be worked on this week. “We need to build that consistent effort. When we were on, we were relentless and had high energy, but we were inconsistent with that. We need to get all-out energy from the guys this week,” he said.

It was a good weekend for players to get to know each other. There were some big highs and lows. Team Captain Parker Thompson ‘26 said, “It was a great weekend for the guys to build chemistry away from the ice, and it got us tighter. We had some good moments and now know what we need to build on going further.”

Going into this week, the Prep team has an off weekend to regroup and practice. On Family Weekend, the team will play two games against Upper Canada College, which will serve as a good test for them.

The Northwood Mirror

The student-run newspaper of Northwood School in Lake Placid

Sports

Prep Hockey Shows Promise in Pittsburgh

Northwood Prep played its first out-of-town games in Pittsburgh this past weekend, at the USHL Fall Classic. After…

By Owen MacLean

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The Prep hockey team in Pittsburgh. Photo provided.

Northwood Prep played its first out-of-town games in Pittsburgh this past weekend, at the USHL Fall Classic. After a 9-hour drive from Lake Placid to Pittsburgh, the weekend started off with team building at a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park. While the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Oakland A’s, the game ended with the most amazing fireworks show over the river and bridge. Max Stracar ‘26 enjoyed the road trip. “It was really fun with the guys getting to be outside of the rink with them. The highlight was definitely the fireworks, and all around I think made the guys closer.”

The Prep team started the weekend with a 5-2 win against Team Illinois. On Sunday, the morning game was a tough 5-4 shootout loss to Atlantic Coast Academy. The day would end on a high note, with the team taking down the hometown Pittsburgh Pens Elite in a back-and-forth 4-2 game.

“This weekend when we were at our best, we were a very hard team to play against. We were relentless on the pressure and the forecheck, so there were some positives to take out,” Assistant Coach Dylan Giacin said.

Immediately after the game, the entire arena would be evacuated by the fire department due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide. Later that night, a memo from Frank Butler, Senior Director of Player Personnel for the USHL, would be sent to all teams participating in the tournament. He advised that the remaining games from Sunday night would be canceled. The fire department determined that the high levels of carbon monoxide were caused by a faulty Zamboni. Butler’s memo noted, “Unfortunately, there was no choice but to change the 16U and 18U divisions to showcase format.” This meant the Prep team’s tournament would turn into a showcase with only four games instead of the possible five.

Northwood’s fourth game was on Monday afternoon. It was a tough 5-2 loss to the Brookline Whalers, a split-season team for Dexter Southfield School.

Coach Giacin spoke about what needs to be worked on this week. “We need to build that consistent effort. When we were on, we were relentless and had high energy, but we were inconsistent with that. We need to get all-out energy from the guys this week,” he said.

It was a good weekend for players to get to know each other. There were some big highs and lows. Team Captain Parker Thompson ‘26 said, “It was a great weekend for the guys to build chemistry away from the ice, and it got us tighter. We had some good moments and now know what we need to build on going further.”

Going into this week, the Prep team has an off weekend to regroup and practice. On Family Weekend, the team will play two games against Upper Canada College, which will serve as a good test for them.