By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

Manchester Memorial is one of four Division I high school hockey teams forced to share the regular-season spotlight in the Queen City.

Nonetheless, the Crusaders, under first-year head coach Kyle McDonough, are focused on claiming sole ownership of the 2004-05 state championship- story line when the second season begins less than one month from now.

“In about three weeks, you’ve gotta peak. Win or lose, I want a strong hockey game, fundamentally, because that’s what’s gonna take you through the playoffs,” McDonough said after Memorial improved to 6-6 following a 7-1 win over Trinity at St. Anselm College’s Sullivan Arena on Feb. 9. “If it’s a close game and we lose, 3-2, I don’t care, as long as we fundamentally played well. I don’t want to win playing poorly because in the playoffs we’re gonna get killed.”

Teams capable of doing the little things well often emerge as winners in critical contests, the Memorial coach said.

McDonough admitted that plenty pleased him while watching his team’s performance against Trinity. Memorial turned a 3-1 thirdperiod lead into a six-goal rout. But there’s always room to get better.

Specifically, McDonough would like to see his Crusaders consistently play cohesively, and simultaneously win the one-on-one battles.

If the team doesn’t do those things well during the remaining games on its schedule, McDonough understands it could mean an early exit from the playoffs, or worse – not earning an invite at all.

According to the coach, it’s all about maintaining a certain level of intensity and focus for a full 45 minutes of action. McDonough realizes that can be challenging for high school hockey players.

“If there’s a battle on the boards, I want our guy to want it more than their guy,” he said. “Get the puck out of the zone, if that’s the case, or get the puck deeper (in the opponent’s zone) if that’s the case.

“We’ve seen that when teams start to get the pressure (on us), we’re not doing those little things,” McDonough added. “We turn it over at our blue line, which means 30 more seconds of shots on (goalie) Bryn Doyle. We don’t want that. If we get the puck out (of our defensive zone), we don’t see those shots.”

Though McDonough offered areas where he’d like to see his team’s game improve, it doesn’t mean he’s not extremely positive about Memorial’s prospects for success in the playoffs.

Led by senior tri-captains Doyle, Tim Meisel and Nick Poulin, the Crusaders have experienced athletes who helped bring the program to the brink of a state title last season.

“I think they have to be the more mature players,” the coach said of his seniors, including Zach Paul, “although our freshmen players are some of our most talented players. Mentally, the seniors have to be mature. And if things are going bad on the ice, they have to settle the other guys down.”

Along with the four seniors, the 2004-05 Memorial Crusaders include the Auburn quartet of juniors Brent Ebert and Matt Marquis, plus sophomores Kyle Charbonneau and Bryan Sowa.

The remainder of the roster includes assistant coaches John Klop and Neil Poitras; juniors Brian Azarian, Nick Dager, Jason King, Corey Tong, Mike Vigneault and Michael White; sophomores Mike Garon, James Proulx and Colin Merritt; and freshmen Pat Bresnahan, Jack Croasdale, Anthony Ferendo, Zachary Fritz, Cody Kelley, Kyle Kienia, Tyler Lemay and Riley Proulx.

“If we can get our mental focus,” McDonough said, “that’s gonna be the key for this stretch.”