Last March, after skating off the ice, fresh off their first state title since 2004, Hudson  High School boys’ hockey head coach Brooks Lockwood took some time to reflect on the season that was. It was a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, the season was historic for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, Lockwood knew he had to say goodbye to some of the best talent that had gone through the program in years. Players like Chase Blackmun and Aaron Grounds. Players like Anthony Howard and Tanner Gornick. In total, 11 seniors paved the way through a 2016-17 season where Lockwood and his team only felt the sting of defeat twice. Eleven seniors now gone, including four defensemen and two goalies. 

When Lockwood and his coaching staff sat down preparing for this season, while their roster was stocked with talent, they’ll admit at times there were just as many questions as answers.

First off, how were the Raiders going to be defensively? Blackmun, Gornick and Howard were gone, just to name a few. Last year, Hudson steamrolled through their season schedule by shutting out their opponents 10 times during the regular season and another four times during their postseason run. During last season’s state tournament, the Raiders outscored their opponents 10-2. How were they going to move on from that? And who was going to step up?  

Former Badger great and NHL veteran Davis Drewiske had an idea. The Hudson alum had been working with the Raiders as an assistant coach since retiring from the pros, and more specifically, had been instrumental in the development of numerous Hudson D-men, including Blackmun who is now starring in the USHL. He knew there was plenty of talent stocked away in the cupboard. Leading the way was senior Jack Flattum and surging all-star in the making Jordan Halverson.

“We felt pretty good with who we had coming back with Jordan Halverson and Jack Flattum. They were our second best D-pair last year and they both played very well,” Drewiske said. “We were excited about having those guys back, but there were a lot of unknowns when it came to the rest of the D-corps. I think it’s been a work in progress, but they have come along pretty nicely. I think they have gotten a lot of help too from a good group of forwards, a pretty deep group that all work very hard and support our defensemen well. And then our goalie has played great this year. A.J. has done a great job.”

A.J. is A.J Cohen, a junior goaltender who has burst onto the high school hockey scene, catching many off-guard in the process. Currently first in the state in wins (18-0), Cohen also sports a goals-against average of 1.03 and a save percentage of .940. In addition, Cohen and company have shut- out their opponents seven times this season, and as a team, the most goals Hudson has allowed in one game this year has been four which happened once against Eau Claire Memorial. Aside from that one game, the Raiders haven’t allowed more than two goals in a game all season long.

“I think with A.J., it’s a great example of a kid who maybe wasn’t always the top guy growing up coming through the ranks, but kept working at it. He saw an opportunity this year and really prepared hard in the offseason,” Drewiske said. “He loves the position and wants to learn and wants to get better and just has been taking advantage of his opportunities. This is a different group that had a lot to prove coming off a state championship. But we also lost a lot of guys from last year’s team, so there were a lot of guys who needed to step up and play bigger roles. So far, they have done that, but we still need to get better, improve on some things and get to where we want to be."

“We’ve had a couple of kids come along; you always hope that happens,” Lockwood said. “Jordan Halverson has bumped himself up to the point where his is rated on the Central Scouting List and is a potential draft pick. Whether that happens or not, to go from a JV player a few years ago and develop into the player he is now, it’s pretty impressive. 

“We also have Davis Drewiske who works with the defensemen. They get a lot of good reps every day. We have Dean Talafous helping out and teaching the kids things like how to play the rushes, how to get back in your own end and how to defend. 

“You have guys who have filled roles. We had two forwards who moved back to defense to fill those roles for our third and fourth defensemen. As a program, you have to work at getting kids better and getting them developed to fill the roles and then the kids, sometimes they flourish and really develop in the last year to year and a half they are in high school.”

Flourish indeed. This week, the Raiders skate into the final week of their regular season with an undefeated record (21-0) and a No. 1 ranking in the state of Wisconsin. They have done their damage – like all great teams do – by dominating in every category of the game. On defense, an area which Lockwood and company were slightly concerned about heading into the year, Hudson has allowed a paltry one goal per game. On offense, the navy and white are scoring nearly five goals per game and have outscored their foes 104-22. And on special teams, Hudson is operating at a clip of 97 percent on the penalty kill. Those numbers have not only translated into a perfect record, but have also helped Lockwood’s crew score wins over the Nos. 3, 4, 5 (twice) and 8 teams in the state.  

“I think the consistency within the group surprised me,” Lockwood said. “I thought being that we were a younger team, we have a lot of good older leadership and a lot of guys who have been around the program for three years, and then we have a lot of guys where this is their first year playing quality minutes. We thought there might be a little bit more inconsistency. I think comparing the two teams, we have a lot of depth this year, maybe even more so than we did last year. A lot of that goes to the development our youth coaches help with and getting the kids ready to play for us and then a lot of it just has to do with the dynamics of the team. Last year, I feel like if we ever struggled, Chase (Blackmun) or (Aaron) Grounds would bail us out here and there, but that really hasn’t been the case this year where one person has bailed us out time in and time out. It’s been more of a collective effort.”

It has been a continuous attack from front to back. Halverson, who is ranked as the 172nd best skater on the NHL Scouting List and is eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft, leads the team in scoring. After finishing 11th on the team in scoring one season ago (1-9--10), the senior defenseman has netted seven goals and added 24 assists already this year. Senior Ben Lundeen (15-15--30) and junior Cole Danielson (15-14--29) each lead the team in goals. Danielson scored 23 points all of last year and Lundeen finished 10th on the team in scoring in 2016-17 with 12 points. Eight different players have scored at least 10 points for the Raiders this season already.

Still, behind all of the numbers, Lockwood and Drewiske will be the first to tell you that their work is far from finished. Believe it or not, the Raiders could be even better. In Lockwood’s words, they will need to be even better if the Raiders plan on a repeat. The road is about to get even tougher for Hudson starting this week with battles against state-ranked Memorial and Notre Dame. After that comes sections and then hopefully the state tournament. Hudson has shown the ability to wins games during the season, but it will soon count for real. This year’s team is a new team will need to prove themselves like everyone else.

“I think sometimes last year we were better for sure,” Lockwood said. “This past week, we worked on D-zone all week. We do work on it a lot and preach it a lot. I think our offense comes from our D-zone and how we are layered and how we are structured and that leads to odd-man situations. We constantly preach it. You can’t win games if you aren’t good defensively. 

“I think more importantly, we want to make sure we are taking care of the puck in our own end and we are getting the puck out when we need to, knowing where the puck is and knowing where everyone is at. Some teams have played us really well, but we’ve just gotten good goaltending and have gotten away with it. 

“We know there are things to improve on and that’s what we focus on – what can we do to get better each week and what can we learn from each game we play. I think experience helps. I think they are focused more on the process and what they need to do to get ready. Certainly experience helps building a winning tradition and if you have that it becomes a lot easier. It helps gets the kids ready to go and gives them confidence headed into the games.”

“Overall I like the group a lot,” Drewiske said. “I like their attitude and their work ethic, but we still have a long way to go. We haven’t wrapped up the conference championship yet, we haven’t wrapped up a sectional championship and we haven’t got to the state championship yet either, so we have to take it one step at a time. We still have a lot of work left to do.”

Perfection was never the goal – it’s always been a state title. No matter how they get there, the Raiders, like everyone else in the state, just want to be playing their best hockey if, or when, they do.  

Let the games begin. 

Andrew Vitalis can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com.