Pine-Richland hockey has unfinished business after shortened playoff run

By: Shawn Annarelli
Saturday, December 5, 2020 | 11:18 AM

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If Pine-Richland could rewrite history, it would be competing for a three-peat this season for the Penguins Cup and state championship.

The Rams, led by 14 seniors, instead feel an emptiness they can’t quite shake.

Captain Dominic Desjardins and alternates Sam Perry and Griffin Roth are still upset about last season’s playoff run that ended in unfulfilled postponements and no chance to win another pair of titles.

“We want to play not only for ourselves, but also those guys who graduated under those circumstances,” Perry said. “Every day we will remember those calls and texts we got that we weren’t going to play North Allegheny, our biggest rival, in the semifinals. Just the fact you never know when it could be our last game is driving us to be our best for each other.”

The Rams have proven early on that they can score, averaging 5.67 goals per game en route to a 2-1 start.

Alex Erlain leads the team with five points and four players are tied with four.

“We pride ourselves heavily in rolling our four lines,” coach Jordan Yoklic said. “If we play our style of hockey, that gives us an advantage. Overall, all 12 forwards are doing a good job, and we’ll get production from all of our guys.”

Pine-Richland’s top line, which is flexible depending on the situation, has typically consisted of Carson Kalpakis, Connor Salsbury and Lucas Enos.

“They are some of our most skilled offensive players, and they just have unmatched chemistry on that line,” Roth said. “Every one of them can work the puck, cycle and find tiny precision passes. They had a lot of success last year and have had somewhat of a rough start this year, but we know they’ll start to click in the next few games.”

The Rams’ offensive output has been without Charles Mill, their leading goal scorer last year, because he finished the football season in late November with a state championship.

Pine-Richland’s hockey team missed him in its only loss in three games to Upper St. Clair, which overcame a three-goal deficit in the second half of the game. Penalties and a hungrier team, Yoklic and players said, toppled the Rams.

“We can win games like that and should win games like that, but we can’t go into any game thinking we’re (still) state champions,” Desjardins said. “That was two years ago. We have to play like an underdog, and that should be our identity now. We have to prove ourselves.”

Pine-Richland’s defense is led by Liam Varmecky and Esai Morse.

“I’ve played with Esai for eight years and he’s by far the most improved player I’ve seen over the course of his hockey career,” Perry said. “He’s a great defenseman you can rely on, and Liam is a stud. He’s a tall, lanky guy. It’s really tough to get past him, and he can score goals too. Those two guys are our backbone on defense.”

The one major change on the Rams’ roster is in net where Jimmy Saber has taken over for two-year starter Dan Stauffer, who graduated. He has saved 55 of 63 shots for a .873 save percentage.

“Danny was the top goalie in Pittsburgh, and Jimmy has done phenomenal to fill those shoes,” Desjardins said. “He has a short-term memory, shakes off goals and comes back better every day.”

The standard, another Penguins Cup and state championship, hasn’t changed for the Rams.

“We were hot at the end of last year and that situation was a heartbreaker,” Roth said. “We look at it as unfinished business.”

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