Eagles in wide-open hunt for the state ice hockey crown.
As the defending state champion, Regis Jesuit is still the team to beat this season, but the Raiders figure to get a challenge from the likes of Heritage and Monarch, among others.
File photo by Ray Chen
hockey coach Jeremy Sims faced a legitimate concern at the outset of the season.
On paper, it seemed Sims' Eagles could very well struggle to score. There clearly was good reason for Sims to be worried. Not only did Heritage lose their leading scorer from the 2011-12 season, 40-point scorer Kyle Mair, but Mair also left the program as Heritage's all-time leading scorer.
That sort of player always leaves big skates to fill. Yet junior
Connor Crory is more than living up to the challenge.
Crory enters this weekend leading the state in goals (20) and points (31) for a Heritage team that has rolled to a 9-1 record out of the gate.
"Connor came in and he was determined to stand out and be one of the leaders of the team," Sims said. "About half our team is seniors, so for him to do what he's done is very impressive. I was kind of concerned about (scoring) coming into the season. I was trying to figure out where we were going to get a 40-point scorer.
"Now our biggest focus is to get more players involved. Connor's line is playing well, but we need one or two guys to step up from our third line."
Crory, who recorded just three goals and eight assists for a team that was eliminated in the first round of the state tournament last year, burst out of obscurity with a two-goal, two-assist game in the season opener against Liberty (Colorado Springs) and hasn't looked back. Crory has recorded at least one point in each of Heritage's first 10 games, including eight multiple-point performances.
Crory's continued dominance will be counted upon as Heritage makes a run at the Peak Conference championship. With Heritage's toughest competitors — a group that includes
Fountain Valley (Colorado Springs),
Air Academy and
Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) — all still looming on the horizon, finding complements to Crory's sparkling production also will figure prominently in Heritage's title quest.
"We play all those teams in the next two or three weeks, so our toughest tests are still coming," said Sims, whose club faces a stern challenge Saturday against an 8-2
Doherty (Colorado Springs) club. "All those teams have great depth and great players. It will boil down to who wants it more, and those three I expect will be the teams to beat."
Defending state champion
Regis Jesuit (Aurora) remains the class of the Foothills Conference, yet the Raiders are bracing for what should be a heated battle for the conference crown.
Perennial powers
Ralston Valley (Arvada) and
Resurrection Christian (Loveland) again are in the mix, yet the conference also features a
Monarch (Louisville) team that is putting together the best season in the program's history.
Led by
Jake Christofferson, the state's leader in assists, the deep Coyotes already have posted a pair of victories against Resurrection Christian, although Monarch suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss against Ralston Valley earlier this week after taking an early two-goal lead.
"I think for sure Monarch is going to be real competitive this year," said Regis Jesuit coach Dan Woodley, whose club enters Friday's game against Dakota Ridge having gone 30-1-1 since the beginning of last season.
"I think those are all the top teams and they're all legitimate contenders in our conference."
