Thomas Sullivan
Contributing Writer
Despite the hard hits and a standout fight, the Skatesmen came back to tie John Burroughs High School in the final minutes of the third period, ending the game at a score of 4-4.
The game took place at the Webster Rec Center on Jan. 23.
Pandemonium broke out when John Burroughs sophomore Spencer King knocked down Skatesman junior Gavin Rumack and proceeded to jump on his back and repeatedly shove Rumack into the ice. As Rumack started to defend himself, more Skatesmen players jumped in to intervene, and that brought over the remaining Bombers to try to pull everyone apart.
Rumack said about the whole ordeal, “I’ve been part of a couple of fights like that before, although normally I’m not the one in the middle of it. I was just thinking, ‘What the h***’s going on,’ because I didn’t expect any of that. As for the Burroughs guy, every time we play Burroughs, there’s a fight, and I think I might have made a hit on him earlier he didn’t like. As for getting even, I’ll only go after him if he tries to start something again.”
Aidan Minute, a graduated Webster senior who played for the team last year said, “I fought a guy from John Burroughs last year. They play dirty hockey for sure.”
Once the refs got between fighting players and cooler heads prevailed, a total of 34 penalty minutes were assessed between the two teams for the scrum.
The first period began as a majority of this season’s Skatesmen games do. Webster fell behind early, allowing John Burroughs senior Nickolas Martin to score his first hat trick of the season. Martin is now on a goal-per-game pace and is one of Burrough’s most prolific goal-scorers.
The Skatesmen would cut the deficit to two after an inspired solo effort from senior William Cattoor, but once again, they had set themselves up to work comeback for the rest of the game.
John Burrough’s style of play is an arrogantly physical style of hockey. Late hits, borderline illegal checks, and complaints to the referees are all aspects of the John Burroughs style of play. This is evident by its penalty minutes. Webster ranks eighth (out of nine teams) and has an average of 7.1 penalty minutes a night with 142 in total across 20 games.
John Burroughs ranks second in the league with 219 total penalty minutes, averaging 10.95 pms per game. This is well above league average, which is 188.2 with an average of 9.41 pms a night.
The Skatesmen start games playing less physically and tend to match the physicality of the opposing team as it increases throughout the game. Players such as seniors Will Cattoor and Tommy Leahy, as well as junior Evan Mager, are some of the strongest hitters on the team. Mager especially defends and retaliates fiercely for his teammates.
The game started to get out of hand when a John Burroughs player boarded senior Skatesman Conlan Doty. Doty was visibly shaken up and took a while to return to the bench, where he would recover for the rest of the period and some of the third. The Skatesmen, being a tight-knit team, took issue with this hit and started hitting back.
Senior Tommy Leahy threw a huge hit in the middle of the ice a couple of minutes later, and it seemed like every time a Burroughs player skated along the boards, a Skatesman was there to take every opportunity to smash them into the glass.
After the penalty, the Skatesmen started to play some of the best offensive hockey they have played their entire season. The Bombers weren’t able to get the puck out of their zone, and it was senior Farrell Browne who scored, with assists from Leahy and Mager, who made it a one-goal game. John Burroughs would score three minutes later, once again putting the Skatesmen behind by two.
The next period is where the Skatesmen shined as a team. If this is how they play come playoff time, Webster will more than likely return home with a trophy. The Skatesmen outshot the Bombers 20-6 in the next period, finding the back of the net twice due to incredible o-zone passing from defensemen and forwards alike.
Although rougher than most, the victory against John Burroughs proved that the Webster Groves Skatesmen are a playoff-caliber team that is building momentum and gaining skill at the right time to make a deep run in the postseason.
3 stars of the game
- Justin Wingron (completed the comeback)
- William Cattoor (started the Skatesmen scoring and scored on a breakaway)
- Nickolas Martin (scored a hat trick)
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