MORRISTOWN COLONIALS
Head coach: Bobby Jones, 13th season. 173-132-36 career record.
Division: Mennen
Last year: Morristown finished 10-11-4 overall, and saw its season end with a pair of one-goal losses, to Chatham in the Mennen Cup first round and Governor Livingston in the Public B state tournament first round.
Key losses: Conor Critchley, F. Ryan Daniolowicz, F. Nikko Inserra, F/D.
This year’s squad: Led by a pair of talented juniors in Harry Santen (12 g., 8 a.) and Jack McKenna (18 g., 6 a.), Morristown will have a pair of strong offensive talents to build their forward group around. Junior Stephen Grimes, junior Chris Herity, junior Jack Langan, junior Aedan Grey, junior Nick Romano, and junior Christopher DelMonte round out a forward group that figures to be much improved this year. Freshmen Liam Wilson, Jackson Byrne, and Clark Smith should all chip in as well.
Defensively, Morristown will be led by senior captain Jack Keller (3 g., 10 a.), who Jones says is one of the top blueliners to come through the program. Junior Francis Zaklukiewicz (4 g., 5 a.), sophomore Chris Kay (4 a.), senior Conor Herity, junior Kobi Day, junior Patrick Bozza all figure to have a big impact this year. Freshman Brody Toye and sophomore Desmond Minogue also will be involved.
In goal, one of the more promising netminders in the Mennen Division returns in junior Dylan Peck, who started all games for the Colonials last season. Freshman goalie Thatcher Neville also is expected to see time.
Outlook: It’s been a long rebuilding process for the past few years for Morristown- which won just two games in 2018-19 and went winless in the Mennen Division- but the program certainly figures to continue its upswing that began last year with a very talented and deep junior class. The Mennen Division, as always, figures to be extremely competitive, but this program should continue to improve and should be on its way to being at or near the level of its state championship teams from 2014 and 2016.
2021 SCHEDULE
Jan. 17 — Madison (Mennen Arena), 6:15 p.m.
Jan. 19 — Randolph (Mennen Arena), 6 p.m.
Jan. 22 — Morristown-Beard (Mennen Arena), 5:45 p.m.
Jan. 25 — Roxbury (Mennen Arena), 6:15 p.m.
Jan. 30– Morris Knolls-Hills (Mennen Arena), 8:15 p.m.
Feb. 1 — Chatham (Mennen Arena), 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 — Madison (Mennen Arena), 3 p.m.
Feb. 11 — Randolph (Mennen Arena), 6:15 p.m.
Feb. 17 — Morris Knolls-Hills (Mennen Arena), 5:45 p.m.
Feb. 20 — Chatham (Mennen Arena), 6:15 p.m.
Feb. 24 — Morristown-Beard (Mennen Arena), 5:45 p.m.
The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 