The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Outliers not seeing whole board with Cougars
There’s an episode of “The West Wing” called “Hartsfield’s Landing.”
President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, brings back chess sets for senior members of his staff from a trip to India.
Bartlet proceeds to play concurrent chess matches with staff members at the White House while discussing topics of the day on the show.
There’s a great scene in which Bartlet tells Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe, “Take your time. See the whole board.”
The moral is to not just consider the obvious, but also consider every angle of a situation. Upon further reflection, perhaps that is not taking place right now with the Lake Catholic hockey program.
Not by those inside the program, but perhaps by the rest of us.
As 2019 begins, it is no secret the Cougars have an issue on the horizon. That issue has been documented more than adequately enough already — numbers are not in the Cougars’ favor, with nine seniors this winter on a 14-player roster. In turn, what does the 2019-2020 season bring?
With the numbers issue, it is necessary to recognize it and acknowledge it’s there.
But forget the horizon for a moment — even though, yes, it’s coming.
For the sake of the players on that team, Lake coach Justin Vance and his staff and the families that have built this program, we all need to take our time and see the whole board.
There are two critical errors being made by those outside the program, even perhaps committed by those right on the edge of the program with a vested interest. And it’s blatantly obvious talking to people at the rink.
For one thing, the unintended consequence of exerting so much energy on the future, albeit to an extent justifiably so, is it essentially bulldozes the present. And for another, it creates an assumption that is unfair to that future — assuming there isn’t a future.
Over the last 19 years, I’ve covered a lot of Lake hockey teams of which I’m fond. The days way back when as feisty newcomers to the Red North. That first Red North championship team in 2005-06. The “Cardiac Cougars” Baron Cup I final run in 2010-11. The first state frozen four team in 2013-2014.
Not every experience has been pleasant or perfect. But everyone who has played a part in this journey, on the ice and off, can be proud of where that journey has gone over the years.
Greater Cleveland’s power in hockey, for decades, was in its most immediate suburbs. If you were transported back to the late 1970s or early 1980s and said to those who comprised the backbone of the sport, “Lake County has a chance to produce standard bearers for high school hockey in Cleveland,” would they have believed you?
Probably not, yet here we are.
That affinity for certain Lake teams extends to this current one. I like the grit and tenacity with which the current Cougars play, and they’re hanging in there.
They’re 13-9 while battling injuries and playing a demanding schedule. They’re gutsy. They have a potent first line with seniors Jacob Schmitt and Cole Horvath that is, as it should be, one of the more respected forward lines in town. Amaedeo Cantini, whether paired with Schmitt and Horvath at forward or on the blue line, is a quality two-way player. They are steady in the defensive zone. Their systems, both even strength and on the power play, yield a brand of hockey that can be fun to watch.
Lake will be a team no one will want to see in the Cleveland Cup or the Kent District, because it won’t be an easy game.
To me, this is almost another edition of the “Cardiac Cougars,” in the
sense they’re working so diligently in the present to keep that heartbeat going with distinction.
And there’s something to be said for that.
So savor the present. Enjoy area players being a staple program in the top league, with the Red North before it and the Great Lakes Hockey League later ready and willing to extend that invitation. Embrace being able to be a building block with the rest of our “big three” locally, along with University and Gilmour.
This is not to sound like an infomercial or bellow, “Incoming freshmen next school year who are hockey players better go to Lake Catholic.” It’s not like that. But I guarantee you I speak for all of area hockey — youth leagues, opposing programs, every parent, player and coach — to say losing Lake is not the preferable option.
We all want a growing version of the sport.
Of course it’s impossible for too many reasons to recount here, but we want every high school team to have the ideal roster of 20 with four forward lines, three defensive pairs and two goaltenders. We don’t want programs having to beg student-athletes in the hallways to come play hockey, learning how to skate and learning the game overall along the way to keep a program going.
Again, I’m not going to tell families what choices they should make. But please, at the very least, keep Lake Catholic as an option. Don’t write it off.
Look at the tradition. Think of the great names that have put on the jersey in that program. Watch the brand of hockey these players employ.
And most importantly of all, look at how much the people involved in this program past and present want it. See the commitment to trying to find a viable future.
Make no mistake, Lake Catholic has to send the right tone with this conundrum.
Vance has to work for it — trust me, he knows it.
The affected players have to work for it. The families have to work for it. The school has to work for it.
But if nothing else, let it be an option. Fight for it with every ounce of strength.
Each in our own way, let’s contribute however we can, through action or simply through positive thought hoping for the best, to ensure a happy outcome.
For what it’s done, what it’s produced and what it’s achieved, Lake Catholic hockey deserves nothing less. Take your time. See the whole board.