Just a few days after the Buffalo Grove-Hersey-Wheeling hockey team ended its 2016-17 season, players couldn’t shake feelings of regret.
The Stampede won 40 games and a conference title, but their season ended with a 3-1 loss to Glenbard on March 14 in the Amateur Hockey Association Illinois combined varsity state semifinals.
“Our passes weren’t connecting. We couldn’t get rebounds. When we’d go for the rebound, the puck would bounce over our stick,” senior Spiro Maglaris said. “We’ve been consistent scoring all season, but in that game it didn’t go our way.”
“We didn’t play our style of hockey. We were nervous, on edge. I wish we could have done better,” junior Alec LaFrance added. “It will always bother me. But like anything in life, you get over it. Slowly.”
The loss to Glenbard denied the Stampede — the defending combined varsity state champions — a repeat trip to the United Center. However, it did not erase a season of numerous accomplishments.
BGHW finished 16-3-1 in the IHSHL North Central Champion Division to win the regular-season league title, and then the Stampede beat New Trier White in the conference tournament championship series.
Two games into the AHAI state playoffs, the Stampede had a 15-game unbeaten streak.
“We had great puck possession. When we got chances, we capitalized on them,” said Maglaris, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound forward who lives in Arlington Heights and attends Wheeling.
In AHAI playoff victories against Kings and D155 Prairie Ridge, the Stampede scored 10 goals combined.
“When we were beating teams, we got the puck to the net and finished shots. We controlled the opposing zone,” said LaFrance, a 5-7, 170-pound defenseman who lives in Arlington Heights and attends Buffalo Grove.
LaFrance recalled one early game he said was a catalyst for the season. On Sept. 8, BGHW lost to Providence 3-2 in overtime. The game showed the Stampede they could play against elite competition. The Celtics went on to place second in the AHAI red varsity state playoffs.
“Nobody thought we could have done that,” LaFrance said. “It kind of lit a fire under us and gave us urgency that we could be really good if we work together.”
With a number of returning players, the Stampede defense will again be a strength in 2017-18.
Juniors Ryan Martin and Gavin Spahr, along with LaFrance, are Buffalo Grove students and will return. Spahr is a physical defenseman with a heavy shot. Junior Bobby Donovan of Hersey might have been the team’s most offensive-minded defenseman in 2016-17.
The Stampede will have to replace graduating goaltender Tyler Anzelmo, a Buffalo Grove student.
Regardless of how the season ended, BGHW players know they had something special.
“It was a pretty unique team. When it came down to it, we played for each other,” Maglaris said. “It was a very special year.”
Jon J. Kerr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press
