The large amount of returning players hope to use this season to learn and prepare for next year

With only five players leaving boys’ varsity hockey next year, junior captain Curtis Greenbush hopes to create a strong connection between the juniors and the younger players to prepare for next year.

Greenbush said he understands that he and his fellow captains senior Ryan Froom and junior Noah Fortmeyer have the responsibility of helping the younger, less experienced players learn to play at a higher level.

“We don’t have a lot of experienced players on the team so we (the captains) try to teach and mentor the younger players,” Greenbush said.

Sophomore junior varsity player Ben Burke said the upperclassmen have taught the younger players and helped them to improve during practice.

“(The captains) have been giving advice and leading drills,” Burke said. “It’s been very helpful.”

The work done by the upperclassmen during practice has been noted by head coach Shjon Podein. Podein said he thinks all the seniors’ work with underclassmen will pay off in the years to come.

“Our upperclassmen have been great, they’ve all been grooming our younger kids for next year,” Podein said. “They lead by example, like working their hardest every shift.”

Podein said he thinks the large junior class consisting of ten returning players will be crucial to the team’s success next year.

“I hope they use this year as a rebuilding year, it’s all about putting time in during the summer,” Podein said.

The teams record is 3-10 after their 4-1 win over Richfield with Greenbush scoring two goals. They face off against Totino-Grace on saturday at Brooklyn Park Community Center at 7.