Men's hockey replaces lost players with freshman team members

By Paul May
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

After the loss of four senior players, the Norwich Men's Hockey program has found five freshmen who may be able to make up for the loss of leadership, according to the Head Coach.

"It's hard to replace a group of guys who have been with you for four years," said Men's Head Hockey Coach Mike McShane. "I have been here for 6 years, going on 7 years, now, and it does not get any easier losing leadership."

The men who "believe they might have what it takes" to help the team out are known as the "five freshmen," said Brian Mullaly, 19, a Business Management major from Maynard, Massachusetts. The other four freshmen are Vadim Beliaeu, 21, a major from Riga, Latvia, Russia; Paul Mattucci, 21, a Physical Education major from Peterborough, Ontario; Kurtis Mclean, 20, from Kirkland Lake, Ontario; and Kevin Schieve, 21, a Sports Medicine major from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada.

These five have been in dry land practice for the past couple of weeks. "Dry land consists of two parts; one is weight training, and the other is a lot of running. Then about a month into it, they are on the ice playing against each other one night a week," said McShane.

"I found that the dry land workouts are hard, but I know that it will help us for the season," said Mattucci. "Seeing the upperclassmen help us out is a great key in the coming together."

"I thought that there would be groups of guys, like a click, and to find out that everyone hangs out with each other makes me feel a lot better about the team." Said Schieve.

"The upperclassmen have made it feel like we are a big family," said Mullaly. "I have been here for only a few weeks, and it seems that I have known these guys for years."

To make this happen, McShane recruited five men, trying to keep the squad to about 26 men.

"I feel that the new freshmen are going to be key guys in making our team better," said Assent Captain Marshall Lee, 23, a junior communication major from Calgary, Alberta.

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