Everett/Revere/Malden co-op boys’ hockey team shows resilience amidst challenges

By Dom Nicastro

As the Everett/Revere/Malden co-op boy’s hockey team navigates through a season punctuated in the early going by both impressive wins and tough losses, Coach Craig Richards reflects on the team’s journey with a mix of candor and optimism. “We started the season flying and everything was going great,” said Richards, recalling the team’s early momentum with a big 9-6 win over Peabody-Saugus.

Despite an 8-2 setback when the team “completely dropped the ball” against Medford, Richards maintains a positive outlook. He believes the loss was an anomaly, stating, “You can quote me when I say that Medford game was a fluke.”

All told, the team was 2-3-0 heading into a holiday week tournament in East Boston. They were slated to play two games Dec. 27 and Dec. 28 – after Advocate press time – before getting a little break through New Year’s and getting back on the ice Saturday, Jan. 6 against Danvers at home (7:30 p.m.).

The team’s most recent games included a non-league, 5-1 loss to Swampscott on the road, in which Michael Brandano, a sophomore forward captain out of Mystic Valley, scored the team’s lone goal on a power play. In a 4-0 win over Greater Boston League foe Lynn, Brandano scored again alongside Frankie Annunziata of Revere, Jacob Cantone of Everett and Vishant Chawla of Mystic Valley. Ray Blauvelt of Everett, a freshman, earned the shutout in net.

Richards praised his sophomore forward Brandano for his finesse and energy. He is the team’s returning leading offensive player from last year, in which he did so as a freshman. He’s a significant contributor to the team’s strategy.

On Lucas Deguire, a senior captain forward out of Mystic Valley, Richards remarked on his steadfast presence. “He leads by example,” the coach said. “He’s a quiet kid but runs like the Energizer Bunny. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Speaking of Jake Simpson from Malden, a senior forward captain, Richards highlighted the senior forward’s influence and mentorship. “Kids look up to him,” Richards said.

“He’s good with the freshmen, making sure that they got everything they need,” he said, underlining Simpson’s role as a team player.

Senior forward captain Ollie Svendsen of Revere’s emergence as a vocal leader did not escape Richards’ notice. He commended Svendsen for his proactive approach. “If I need something, then he’s the guy I can go to,” Richards said.

The team’s anchor in defense, senior defenseman Jackie Summers of Malden, was lauded by Richards for his critical role. “Jackie’s logging a ton of minutes, and he’s really proven himself to be a huge asset,” Richards acknowledged.

Ben Rosa, a junior out of Malden, started the season in net but got sick. Blauvelt has done a nice job between the pipes since.

Richards also touched on the difficulties of managing a cooperative team across multiple schools, noting the complexity of coordinating with various athletic directors and principals. Yet, these challenges haven’t dampened the team spirit or chemistry. “The team chemistry has come along real nice,” Richards said. “We started the season flying and everything was going great. Like every other team, we’ve had the illnesses go through the locker room. We were missing one of our better players for the Medford game. He was out of school on Friday sick so he was ineligible to play on Saturday. Again, no excuses. We completely dropped the ball on that game. But you know how it goes – when one thing goes it’s a snowball effect. Medford put in a couple early ones in on us, and that seemed to set the tempo for the rest of the game.”

Richards pointed out the measures taken to combat a bug that swept through the locker room, emphasizing the focus on health and wellness. Despite the adversities, including the significant illness that affected team practices, Richards is focused on the players’ recovery and their fight to push through the season.

Everett’s season has been a testament to the team’s resilience and the depth of their roster. Richards, who also has a background in coaching Revere Youth Hockey and junior hockey, along with his staff (Jamie Branzell of Revere, Ryan Cerato of Mystic Valley, Kirk Toomajian of Everett and Dan Jaques of Mystic Valley, the junior varsity coach) remain committed to guiding the team to a strong finish.

The team has a healthy varsity lineup of about 21 players and allows some to get more playing time at the junior varsity level. “We’ll send down a couple of fourth-liners and fifth and sixth defensemen, to get some time down there at the JV level,” Richards said. “Pretty much every coach I’ve talked to, their JV team was in the same boat. We had two games scheduled with Medford, and they just dropped their JV team [earlier this month]. Their numbers were so low at JV that they couldn’t even put a team together, and that’s the same boat we were in last year.”