Eyes set on the 2019-2020 fall season, Wiregrass hockey’s club team is determined to overcome the past few years where the team struggled to find success.  The current team is full of unbridled talent that could very well take this team all the way.

Since 2010, Wiregrass has participated in the Lightning High School Hockey League. Though their performance hasn’t been very strong the past few years, earlier seasons saw championship contending teams with players like Nick Lawrence and Jordan Jorgenson, defensemen who graduated last year. Now, with reconstruction on their minds and young, raw talent on the team, Wiregrass looks like they’ll have a promising future in the next few seasons.

The new coaching staff is focused on helping the team grow, but Coach Kroeten of Wiregrass is finding limited practice time to be a deterrant towards that goal.

“It’s a difficult task given that we really don’t have much time together, just one hour of practice per week,” Kroeten explained. “From a coaching standpoint, my assistants and I try to keep everyone positive and moving in the right direction.”

Ironically, the Wiregrass hockey team, is not made up of entirely Wiregrass students. Students like Tyler Cook, a skilled defenseman and Eric Laflamme, a strong foreward are from Cypress Creek High School, and Jackson Colding, another defensemen attends Wesley Chapel High. 

Some Wiregrass players include winger Nicholas Simonelli, center Joshua Conner, defensemean Alexander Tomsu, and defenseman Kaeden Tucker. The rest of the hockey team’s roster can be found on the Lightning High School Hockey League website.

This diversity in regards to the composition of the team, does not seem to affect moral.

“Most of us guys are friends outside of school so we try to to hangout as a team outside of school sometimes so we can bond as a team and really unite as a whole,” Simonelli said.

While the majority of the stands are filled with parents, a good amount of students attend the hockey games at the local Wesley Chapel rink as well.

Junior Alexander Talyor describes himself as a die-hard Wiregrass hockey fan and tries his best to attend every game. 

“They are one of a kind. It is a very fast paced sport and the environment is just spectacular,” Taylor said.

The next home game is October 27th at Advent Health Center Ice where the Wiregrass team takes on Jenkins.