Melanson, Lynn Jets poised for liftoff

When you first set foot in the locker room located at the back of Connery Rink, you are greeted by a color scheme that befits Team USA, not one that calls the City of Lynn home.With the Lynn English and Lynn Classical hockey programs in serious jeopardy in terms of skaters, the two programs were merged over the summer to form the Lynn Jets, who will compete in the Northeastern Conference’s South division with Saugus, Swampscott, Salem and Marblehead.For the players in the program, it is a flashback to their days in Lynn Youth Hockey, when many of them played together on the same team before going their separate ways. But for Jets coach Al Melanson, the toughest part of the merger has been a small thing.”The hardest part was learning all the names and the positions the kids play,” Melanson said. “And for them, it’s been getting accustomed to us and understanding that we are constantly going to coach them and help them ? The players have adjusted real well and are coming together as a team. They all know each other and have played with each other before.”While the jersey might not say Classical or English on the front of it and won’t carry green and gold or maroon and gray, the motivation, according to Melanson, is still the same as any team.”As long as they believe in the system, we’ll be competitive. And so far, they’ve been excellent. There is a lot of character in that locker room and we have a lot of hard workers and kids that care.”For people who are old enough to remember, this isn’t the first time that English and Classical have combined forces on the athletic fields. Back in 1962, the Lynn Lions were formed in football but only lasted one season. This conglomeration, however, will last this season and next before being reevaluated.But for Melanson, who played for the Lions, he sees this as a chance for the Jets to be a successful endeavor.”This is a building process and if in fact we succeed this year and next year, for the young kids the opportunity is there to play good hockey and get a good education,” Melanson said. “This has a chance to be like a Reading, Hingham or Duxbury who are public schools with excellent hockey programs ? It’s a matter of convincing the student-athletes that they can get a quality education and play an exciting brand of hockey in the city.”The Jets coaching staff will have plenty of experience to help guide the team through the growing pains of a first season together.Along with Melanson will be assistant coaches Joe Conlon, Ron Gaudet, Mike Deering (a former head coach at Beverly) and John Clark, among others. That experience is something that Melanson hopes the team will take advantage of.”We had some good quality coaches here and we’ve been able to add some quality coaches that have the ability to teach the game and make it fun for the kids to learn,” Melanson said.The Jets will have plenty of experienced players to use when the season begins on Dec. 12 at Connery against Beverly.Billy MacDaniel and Liam Bransfield will serve as captains while seniors Alex Bannikov and newcomer Turi Vitali will also be counted on in a leadership role.”We expect leadership from all of them and we have a good group of juniors that need to lead,” Melanson said.One place that the Jets have plenty of experience is on defense, where seven players who saw varsity action at one time or another last season reside.Comprising that defensive core are Dave Stevens; Jack Erekson; Steve Leighton; Sean Crowley; Tim Shirley; Mike Duggan and Angelo Codispoti.The Jets begin the season with Beverly and then have another tough game against Peabody the following Saturday.”When that buzzer sounds for the first game, it’s another step in the process. We’ll find out where we are when we play Beverly and it’s up to us coaches to make sure that we’re prepared,” Melanson said.