This is the 21st entry of The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report’s 27 teams in 27 days, where each day there will be a team preview of each area team (boys and girls) leading up to Opening Day on December 7.
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MENDHAM MINUTEMEN
Head coach: John Kovacs, 28th year at Mendham (37 years overall), 407-342-62 overall career record. Upcoming inductee into the New Jersey High School Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024.
Division: Halvorsen
NJSIAA Classification: North, Public
Last year: Mendham finished 10-9-2 after a 1-4 start to the year, as it put together a seven-game winning streak in early January to turn its season around. It finished 5-3 in the Halvorsen division- good enough for third place- but fell to eventual champion Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown in the Halvorsen Cup semifinals. It reached the Public B state tournament, where it lost to Ramapo in the first round.
Key losses: Mendham graduated a 10-man senior class from last year. It graduated three of its top defensemen in Blake Stevens (Second Team All-Halvorsen, 8 g., 12 a.), Mac Goggin (First Team All-Halvorsen, 8 g., 9 a.), and David Barounis (5 g., 7 a.). It also lost the team’s top scorer in forward Ian Tamboowalla (First Team All-Halvorsen, 12 g., 11 a.). Forwards Michael Gionco (Halvorsen honorable mention, 7 g., 9 a.) and E.J. Gleie (6 g., 10 a.) will also be key pieces to replace.
Top returners: Mendham retains forwards in juniors Ian Aitkenhead (4 g., 8 a.), Eddie Fox (3 g., 3 a.) and Jake Fox (5 g., 3 a.). Defensively, it brings back seniors Freddy Noonan (4 a.) and Zach Naval (1 a.), in addition to sophomore Brandon Eigner (2 g., 4 a.).
In goal, Mendham will have both of its goalies back, led by sophomore Brendon Eigner (.901 save percentage), last year’s Halvorsen Rookie of the Year. Junior Gavin Thrun, who led the team to a Halvorsen Cup title in his freshman season, returns after posting an .891 save percentage last winter.
Potential impact newcomers: It has a promising trio of incoming freshmen forwards in David Kalis, Denis Nunan, and Aschille Pasquier. Juniors Cameron Smith and Will Andrews, as well as sophomore Max Szpakowski all figure to have an impact up front as well.
Burning question: Who will step up after graduating a talented senior class?
Mendham lost a strong amount of offensive talent in addition to its top three defensemen from a year ago. Those will certainly be hard pieces to replace, so now it will be up to players like Aitkenhead, the Fox brothers, and the Eigner brothers to lead the way. When you factor in the incoming players, this is going to be a very young team, and how quickly it grows up will ultimately determine how far it can go in a very balanced Halvorsen this year.
Outlook: The Halvorsen division, top-to-bottom, figures to be very balanced. Mendham figures to be one of the younger teams of the five, but it certainly is not short of talent, and it has really strong goaltending in addition to that.
Ultimately, there are a lot of roles up for grabs after heavy graduation losses, and it’s going to be up to the players on the roster to adapt quickly to those new roles. The one thing it knows it has is a strong goaltending tandem between Eigner and Thrun, and those two will be able to keep this team in games, especially if there are some early growing pains. Last year notwithstanding, Mendham always seems to be program that is there at the end in the Halvorsen Cup, so expect another competitive season from this group.
Check back Friday for a preview of Delbarton
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
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