Findlay hockey preparing to 'compete and win'

By DAVE HANNRMAN Staff Writer As the new guy in hockey's head coaching ranks, last season might have been a bit of a meet and greet experience for Ben Patey. Now, heading into his second season as Findlay High head coach, he wants opponents to know exactly who they're dealing with. "As a team, we've discussed quite a bit how we want to play, which we call our identity," Patey said. "To be specific, our team identity is as follows: be the best conditioned team in the state of Ohio; perform relentless backchecking; be hard (clean) hitting; and (be) disciplined. "If we can execute those traits on game day, we'll be a tough team to beat." Patey is optimistic this can be a break-out year for a Findlay team looking to rebound from a disappointing ending to last season and facing the COVID-19 laced uncertainties of this one. "With the COVID numbers as high as they are right now, we know that any game or tournament could be canceled at any time," said Patey, adding that a planned trip to compete in a tournament in Toronto, Canada in January has already been called off, at least for this season. "However, until that occurs, we're preparing as best we can with the intent to compete and win." Findlay went 13-16-4 last season, its last game a stunning 6-4 loss to arch-rival Bowling Green in the first round of the OHSAA tournament. Findlay was the No. 4-seeded team heading into the tournament; BG was 6-24-1, seeded seventh and playing its first season since low numbers forced the program to take a one-year hiatus from varsity competition. Graduation cost Findlay some key players, including second-team all-Northwest Hockey Conference forward Harry Hall, whose team-high 40 points were achieved by scoring 15 goals and leading the team with 25 assists. Defenseman Jake LaMaster (6 goals, 3 assists) and forward Mat Heminger also took part in at least 28 of Findlay's 33 games. Fueling Patey's optimism, though, is a roster stocked with promise. With just four seniors on the squad, the Trojans can be classified a young team. But seven of last season's top eight scorers return, Patey has excellent defensive depth between the pipes, and an added year's maturity has improved the strength and stamina of many of the freshman and sophomores that made up two-thirds of last year's roster. "Certainly, losing Harry (Hall) and Jake (LaMaster) are big loses. But we have a tremendous core group of players returning who can create scoring opportunities and that we as a coaching staff expect bigger numbers from this season," Patey said. "We will play a style that will grind teams down, whether it be from our relentless puck pursuit (backchecking) or hard hitting. We have some bigger players like Jason Yammine (6-2, 200, jr.), Tyler Gurney (6-1, 195, sr.), Roen Chenevey (6-2, 205, jr.) and Nate Riegle (6-1, 185, fr.) that will make opposing players think twice about handling the puck." With seven of last year's top eight scorers back, Patey will be looking for both depth and balance. Senior defenseman Ethan Franks, who led the Trojans in goals (17) and trailed only Hall and current junior forward Ryker Featheringham (12 goals 20 assists) in total points (31) will be a veteran presence for the Trojans, along senior forward Trey Featheringham (12 goals, 7 assists) and junior forward Michael Armstrong (9 goals, 15 assists). "One of our strengths is our leadership," Patey said. "Ethan Frank, a captain, along with assistant captains Michael Armstrong, Ryker Featheringham and Trey Featheringham have done an amazing job setting the standard and the expectation that anything less than 100 percent will not be tolerated. That's been evident every day we hit the ice. Not only do they lead on the ice, they lead off it, which is very important to the coaching staff and I." Junior forward Jaden Halliday (7 goals, 15 assist) added 22 points to last year's offensive production, with Gurney (6 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore forward Ethan Lammers (3, 9) contributing 12 each. Patey says the Trojans have a problem when it comes to goaltenders, but it's a problems a lot of coaches wouldn't mind having. "Most teams only have one, if they're lucky. I often joke that this team has a goaltending problem because we have three varsity caliber goalies," Patey said. "The icing on the cake is that all three are very competitive, which in turn has them pushing each other in practice to improve." "It's difficult to win at this level if you don't have strong goaltending. That will not be an issue for us this season." Juniors Cody Mlsna and Timothy Whitehead both saw time in goal last season. Mlsna was 9-9-3 with 419 saves in his 15 games between the pipes; Whitehead was 2-3-1 with 144 saves in six games. Both juniors are being pushed by Seth Russell, a freshman Patey says is "showing he's ready for varsity minutes as well." Findlay will be tested right out of the gate when the Trojans host Gates Mills Gilmour Academy at 7 p.m. Friday in their season opener at The Cube. Gilmour Academy was set to face Cleveland St. Ignatius in last season's state semifinals when the OHSAA canceled winter sports tournaments due to COVID-19 concerns. "Nothing like starting the season off against an opponent projected to be ranked among the top five teams in the state," Patey said. "(But) we feel we will be a top-ranked team as well, and we're looking forward to the challenge." Findlay will play a second game this weekend when the Trojans travel to Springboro on Sunday.