The boy’s varsity hockey team is looking to make a run at the State Championship this season with their first exhibition this Friday, Nov. 14 against Detroit Country Day and their first regular season game against Saline on November 22nd.

“My expectations this year is nothing short of a State Championship and I believe we have the depth and passion as a team to do so,” assistant captain Cam Mogk ‘15 said. “We are currently in the process of adjusting to the loss of some highly skilled seniors but we have younger guys coming up who nicely fill those roles.”

Practices have been high tempo and the team has been learning a lot of new plays and drills to try to get players caught up on learning the systems and preparing them to use them in game situations, captain Ian Corbett ‘15 said.

“I’m excited to make a run at a state title because we have a very good draw and have a great chance of making it to the final four and beyond,” Corbett said. “We have a great group of guys and we have been getting along well so hopefully it will show on the ice.”

Adjusting to the high pace of varsity hockey as only a sophomore has been challenging, Adam Pitters ‘17 said.

“Size has been the biggest challenge for me being a sophomore,” Pitters said. “The upperclassmen have at least 30-40 pounds on me. In order to compete at this high level I have to move the puck quicker and play the body more often.”

Pitters has been on the ice since he was very young and along with the help from his brother and dad teaching him the fundamentals, he has gotten to this position today.

As the season begins the team is hoping to improve chemistry in order to be more successful, Mogk said.

“I am most excited to create and continue the brotherhood that comes along with being a Grosse Pointe South varsity hockey player,” Mogk said.  “I am not nervous about anything, confidence as a leader on the team is a huge factor and I will try to bring that to the rink every day.”

The team is playing many of the same teams they faced last season and they are hoping they will have the same success, assistant captain Brennan Ifkovits ‘15 said.  The team also has a large group of players returning this year, many of them being seniors.

“As an assistant captain, I plan to come to the rink every day and do what it takes to help us win games by taking control on and off the ice and we must put points on the board,” Ifkovits said.  “Coach McKillop chose the players he felt would give us the best chance to make it to the State Championship.”

The team needs to be more systematically sound, which will improve as the season progresses and they get accustomed to one another’s playing styles.  Plus they are heavily relying on eleven underclassmen this season and hoping they will step up to contribute to a successful season, Ifkovits said .

“I feel great about how we will do this year, it’s going to be a lot of work and I could not be more excited as we start this journey; one team one dream,” Mogk said.