The Birmingham Unified hockey team continued their recent roll with a 6-3 victory against Waterford Mott and a 6-0 blowout against Anchor Bay.
This high powered offense has led this BU squad to a 4-2-1 record and the most goals in the league. With multiple lines that can score at will, the depth of BU has been too much for many teams to handle.
Junior forward Kevin Wilberding likes the progress his team has made.
“Overall we are playing better than we ever have lately,” Wilberding said. “We are looking a lot better than last year.”
Depth is evident at the goaltender position. With junior starting goalie Matt Trogu injured, sophomore backup Spencer Whitehead was called upon to play against Anchor Bay. Whitehead stepped up big time with a shutout in their 6-0 victory.
A lot of BU’s success should be attributed towards their work ethic. Wilberding believes the other teams just don’t want it as much as BU does.
“I’d say we work harder than any other team,” Wilberding said. “That is what it comes down to.”
The main concern for the BU hockey team this season has been the inability to win league games. BU is 0-2-1 in OAA Division I.
Senior forward Danny Bailey is optimistic that improvements will be made within the league.
“We’ve had a couple of breakdowns causing a loss and a tie,” said Bailey, an assistant captain. “We have two big league games coming up against Rochester United and Farmington Hills Unified that we will be ready for.”
Senior defenseman Eric Deacon believes that without those mental breakdowns BU’s league record could be perfect.
“We could be undefeated,” Deacon said. “The league wins will come.”
The power play of the BU hockey team has been a key concern and a key cause to BU’s 0-2-1 start in OAA play. Even though BU leads the league in team goals, the team has yet to find the back of the net once on the power play. Deacon knows zero power play goals isn’t going to get the job done.
“Being scoreless on the power play this season has been very frustrating,” Deacon said.
BU head coach John Weidenbach is optimistic that as the season moves on the team will able to fix the weaknesses including the power play.
“We hope to improve every day as individuals and as a team through games and practices,” Weidenbach said.
Earlier in the season, the BU hockey team achieved its first goal by winning the Hudsonville Thanksgiving Tournament. The championship game was 6-5 double overtime thriller, with senior assistant captain Bennett Thomson scoring the game winning goal. Thomson, a forward, remembers seeing the puck hitting the back of the net as the team began to celebrate.
“Being under everyone in the dog pile was awesome,” Thomson said. “It just felt like we were on top of the world at that point.”
Wilberding knew this was the perfect way to start off the season.
“It’s amazing,” Wilberding said. “It’s a sense of accomplishment that sets the bar for the rest of the season.”
Weidenbach believes the resilience BU showed by winning the Hudsonville Tournament will put this talented team on the map.
“Winning the Hudsonville tournament was great for the guys and great for the program,” Weidenbach said.
BU’s upcoming games are December 16th against Rochester United and December 18th against Farmington Hills Unified. These are two important leagues that can put BU near the top of the OAA I standings.
