IN PLAY: Princeton High boys’ hockey player Justin Joyce heads up the ice last winter. On Monday, junior forward Joyce contributed a goal as PHS rolled to a 10-2 win over Nottingham in its season opener. The Little Tigers will look to keep on the winning track when they face Lawrence High on December 5 at Mercer County Park. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Terence Miller has added reason to hope that this winter will be memorable for the Princeton High boys’ hockey team.

“This is a big senior class for us, the group is a little extra special for me because this was my first freshman class when I took over the reins four years ago,” said PHS head coach Miller, whose group of seniors includes Brendon McCormick, Tooker Callaway, Eamonn McDonald, Anthony Trainor, Zach Bouchenoir, and Sawyer Peck.

“They hold a special spot in my heart; I really want to see them go out on a good note.”

The Little Tigers have some good young talent on hand to help the seniors.

“We had a big freshman class last year and we have another great freshman class this year,” said Miller, noting that the program also picked up a transfer student from Switzerland, senior Pascal Meier, and junior Nick Ashcroft, who is returning to the area after spending a year playing for a New England prep school.

“There are some standouts in this class. We really had a nice influx this year.”

One of the team’s top standouts is senior star and captain Brendon McCormick, who tallied 31 goals and 21 assists last year as he passed the 100-point milestone in his PHS career.

“Brendon is a terrific player but more importantly, he is just a great kid,” said Miller of McCormick, who tallied three goals and two assists as PHS opened its 2016-17 season by defeating Nottingham 10-2 last Monday.

“He is a leader by example, you ask him to jump and he says how high. He skates his tail off, you never hear a peep from him. He is at every practice, every meeting, and every weight lifting session. He is a guy that really doesn’t have to do much talking because he lets his play do the talking.”

Miller is seeing terrific things from freshmen forwards Aiden Trainor and Rocco Salvato.

“As of right now, they are playing with Brendon on the top line,” said Miller, who got a goal and four assists from Trainor and a goal and two assists from Salvato in the opener. “It is pretty unusual for two freshmen to be playing with the senior captain; they have great chemistry.”

Two older Trainor brothers, senior Anthony and sophomore Robbie, figure to be key players at forward this winter for PHS.

“Anthony Trainor is another senior who is a four-year player who has really blossomed,” added Miller.

“He is a heart and soul, hardworking kind of guy. We have him playing forward. He is centering one of our lines now, it gives him free rein to use his skating ability, speed, and size in the middle. Robbie Trainor is a waterbug out there. He is a really good skater, he skates hard through all three zones. Robbie is another kid who will do whatever we ask. He is a hard worker, he is a team guy.”

The pair of junior Justin Joyce and sophomore Nathan Podgalsky will spearhead another line for the Little Tigers.

“Justin Joyce was a starter as a freshman, he is a really great skater who we have in the middle right now,” said Miller.

“We are looking at him to take the next step as a junior. Nathan Podgalsky was our rookie of the year last year as a freshman, he was our second leading goal scorer behind Brendon. He was playing defense for his PYHA club team and we threw him in at forward; with his size we liked the way he went to the net. He is strong, he has gotten even bigger. He skates hard; he will drive to the front of the net, he will screen the goalie. He goes to the high traffic areas, which is sometimes difficult to get young players to do.”

Freshman forward Ryan McCormick, Brendon’s younger brother, should emerge as another scoring threat for PHS.

“Ryan McCormick is another solid freshman forward, he is playing with Justin and Nate right now on my second line,” said Miller.

“He brings a high hockey IQ, he has got three older brothers who played.  Ryan is like Brendon, he just quietly goes about his business. He seems to be in the right place at the right time.”

Last winter, junior Luke Matteo displayed a knack for being in the right place as he scored some clutch goals down the stretch.

“Matteo was one of our surprises last year; he is a meat and potatoes guy,” said Miller. “He is not the best skater, he is not the best puck handler but he brings a lot of jam. Sometimes we lack some intensity, enthusiasm, and grit. Matteo gets the job done.”

Miller is expecting his pair of senior alternate captains, Callaway and McDonald, to provide grit to the defensive corps.

“We will keep the two bash brothers together, we will live and die with those two,” said Miller.

“Tooker and Eamonn have been playing together since sixth grade. They are more of the personalities of the team. They have louder voices, they have taken the vocal leadership role.”

PHS has junior Max Garlock and sophomore Augie Preziosi playing together on the blue line as well.

“Max is a smart player, he is a good player,” said Miller. “Like Justin Joyce, now as a junior he is really coming into his own. We have him on the point on the power play because he is very good with the puck on his stick. He has good vision. We are going to start Max paired with Augie Preziosi. Augie played a little bit last year as a freshman. This year we are looking for Augie to take the next step and become one of our top four defensemen so we can roll two pairs.”

Junior transfer Ashcroft could end up as one of the squad’s top defensemen.

“Nick Ashcroft is a really strong player, he plays Triple A club hockey with Comcast,” said Miller.

“He played at Hun his freshman year. I think he scored a goal in the MCT final against Notre Dame. Last year as a sophomore, he was up in a prep school in Connecticut. Now he is back in Princeton and here he is at PHS.”

The Little Tigers are depending on senior goalie Sawyer Peck to produce a strong final campaign.

“Sawyer looks better. My assistants, Shane Leuck and my brother, Pete do a lot of work with him one-on-one,” said Miller.

“Sawyer is a captain without a letter on his jersey, he is a senior leader. We are going to need Sawyer to really step up. He has got the experience.”

It is a new experience for Miller to have so much talent at his disposal. “For the first time in years, it looks like we are going to have some serious depth,” said Miller.

“PHS has typically been two lines and maybe three defenseman and a scrappy little goalie. I can’t remember the last time that PHS had this kind of depth. We are putting our lines together and I never had so many options to play around with. It was almost easier before when this is what we have. I am working on finding the right line combinations.”