Easthampton’s hockey players will have a Senior Night on Saturday, but it will not be like previous years. For seniors like Matthew Sullivan, their special evening will be with an independent travel team due to the cancellation of Easthampton’s high school season.
Under the umbrella of the Western Mass. Wizards Hockey Club, and going by the name of “The Eagles,” the team has an eight-game season schedule. Their final game will be played on March 20.
“It’s definitely strange for me not having it on our home rink at Easthampton,” said senior Matthew Sullivan. “The team is also a mix of junior varsity and varsity players so there were a lot of introductions when we first started practice.”
Sullivan also noted that the season does not have the same excitement to it because of the unusual circumstances.
“I miss the seriousness of the games we play,” he replied. “During our normal high school season, you’re fighting for a spot in the playoffs and trying to win a championship but for this year, there’s none of that. We have eight games and that’s it.”
Senior Ryan O’Connor echoed those feelings, and said he really wishes the team could be in their locker rooms.
“I understand why we can’t go in,” said O’Connor. “Changing before and after a game in your car though is tough and the locker room is where guys really have fun and get to know each other.”
As the seniors navigate this strange season, many say they have grown closer.
“I think the seniors have a lot of empathy for each other,” said O’Connor. “We all want a regular high school season but know that’s not the case.”
Organized by David Sullivan, the father of Matthew Sullivan, the objective was to allow the team’s current seniors to play a few final games with their teammates. David Sullivan, who is also the president of the booster club for Easthampton High School’s hockey team, said he wanted to make sure the team’s core roster stayed intact for next year.
“I felt having no season at all would be terrible for the seniors,” he said. “But also, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t lose some of our younger guys to travel leagues for this year and beyond.”
With few expectations going into this new season, David Sullivan said he was quite surprised to see that there were a lot of high schools doing the same thing he was.
“Many of the schools that had canceled their seasons, including Belchertown, had formed their own independent travel leagues,” said Sullivan. “I wanted to have at least one or two games scheduled but since there were plenty of teams, I was lucky enough to form an eight-game season.”
The Eagles play teams such as the Western Mass. Vipers, whose roster is made up of students from the Belchertown High School hockey team, and the Valley Junior Warriors, which is made up of Drury and Wahconah Regional High School rosters.
Saturday’s Senior Night is set to be played against the Vipers, reigniting an Easthampton-Belchertown rivalry. Puck drop is set for 6:40 p.m. at Fitzpatrick Arena in Holyoke.
When Sullivan reached out to players to gauge interest, he said the response was overwhelmingly positive. O’Connor said he was ecstatic to get another chance to play.
“I saw the writing on the wall that we probably wouldn’t have a season, but I was still incredibly sad,” the senior said. “When coach [Sullivan] reached out, I was just happy to have something that is almost like a normal season.”
To have some normalcy at Senior Night, each player is allowed two fans to attend the game. Coach Sullivan, wanting to give the seniors a nice final sendoff, said he is bringing in Easthampton High School head coach Bill Grise to say some words before the game.
With the winter being a success so far, Sullivan said he hopes to use this team as an outlet for Easthampton High School players going forward.
“If this situation were to ever happen again, this would be a great and safe option in my opinion,” he said. “Since most schools are playing their hockey seasons and not having massive COVID issues, I think I would definitely do this if we were shut down again.”