Plum’s Adamski to play in 2nd straight PIHL all-star game

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, January 18, 2019 | 7:45 PM

A.J Adamski is the captain for the Plum hockey team, and like a good captain, he rattled off several names of his teammates before discussing what it meant to be selected for a second consecutive PIHL All-Star Game.

“We have a lot of good players on our team like Daniel Baranowski, Louis Poprocky and Logan Schlegel,” Adamski said. “It could have been any of them, so I feel honored to get picked. It’s exciting because it’s my senior year. It’ll be nice to go out on a good note.”

Adamski will be the lone representative for the Mustangs when the puck drops on the Class AA game at 2:45 p.m. Jan. 27 at RMU Island Sports Center.

He leads Plum with 22 points and has nine goals. He’s looking forward to reliving the experience after having an enjoyable time last year, when he recorded one assist.

“I remember how much fun everyone was having. Everybody was joking around with each other. Even the coaches that got selected were joking around with us,” he said.

Adamski had three teammates join him at the Class AAA game a season ago. Though he won’t have teammates with him this time, Adamski he will see some familiar faces.

“Last year, outside of my teammates, I didn’t know too many of the other players,” Adamski said.

“This year I have a lot of friends from other teams playing in it, so it’ll be different. I know Jared Eggert from Pine-Richland, because we play travel hockey together, and I know a bunch of other people playing.”

Adamski has averaged nearly two points per game for Plum (3-8) entering Monday’s game at Baldwin. He has registered a point in all but three games, has a trio of two-goal games and had three assists in a 5-2 win over Armstrong on Dec. 17.

“Every single time I go out there, I try to work my hardest,” Adamski said. “If nothing else, I just work hard to get in the right spots.”

In his Plum career, Adamski has gone through highs and lows. He was a part of Plum’s Class AA Penguins Cup championship in 2016-17 as a sophomore, then went through a grind with a team that had a short bench in Class AAA last year but went on a late-season run to clinch the last spot in the playoffs.

Plum has a similar opportunity this year to make a late-season run. The Mustangs are last in the South/East Division but can gain ground with wins against teams ahead of them in the final six games of the season.

“We had some great seniors like Nolan Puhala and Anthony Borriello when I was in ninth and 10th grade, and they helped the underclassmen like (Logan) Schalgel and me with what it takes to win and what it takes to be a good leader,” Adamski said. “When we were battling for a playoff spot last year, I remember what they showed me. I told the underclassmen that last year, and we started winning. I’m hoping we can do the same thing this year.”

Aside from Baldwin, Plum also plays Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford. They are the three teams ahead of the Mustangs in the standings, and Adamski said they’ll need a similar effort to last year if they are going to get a similar result.

“Everybody needs to buy in to our system, and everybody needs to be 100 percent committed to winning games,” Adamski said.

“There have been times where some people have gone onto the ice, and it seems like they don’t want really want to play or try that shift, so we need everyone to be 100 percent committed if we’re going to win these next few games.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Plum