Eruzione recalls his high school hockey days at Marblehead banquet

MARBLEHEAD – Without much fanfare, the Marblehead boys hockey team has been one of the most consistent on the North Shore in the last four seasons. The Headers have been a participant in the Division 3 North tournament each year and claimed a North title as season ago.Wednesday at the Gerry 5, the 2007-08 team put a cap on its season with its annual awards banquet.Junior defenseman/forward Anders Gundersen was named the team MVP after a season that saw him lead the team in plus/minus at +23 and accumulate 17 points despite splitting his duties on the blue line and as a second line center.”There aren’t many players who can do something like that,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “And he did it well.”This season, the Headers finished with a 13-7-4 record, including a second straight tournament win over Swampscott but ended in a heartbreaking shootout loss to state runner-up Shawsheen in the North semis.”As coaches, we all agreed that this was the most enjoyable team we’ve had,” Jackson said. “These guys worked together and stuck together as a group.”Guest speaker Mike Eruzione of native, who scored the most famous goal in American hockey history to beat the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics, entertained the packed house with stories about that team’s six month journey to Lake Placid and how it mirrors what high school hockey teams go through during the year.Eruzione also talked about his battles with the Header hockey teams during his times at Winthrop when Marblehead was the area’s preeminent program.”When I was growing up in Winthrop, Marbehead was the program you always looked at because they were so successful,” Eruzione said to the players. “And you guys have brought that back.”Senior defenseman Mike Cohn received the Bud Orne Memorial Award, given to a player who played for Marblehead Youth Hockey and Marblehead high. Cohn also shared the top defensive player award with senior goalie Aaron Reny.Sophomore Chris McLeod, the team’s leading scorer with 21 points, was named the top offensive player while Colby Bates and Chris Donahue shared the coaches award.Gundersen, McLeod, Ben Koopman and Jake Kulevich were named as the captains for the Headers next season. Austin Haley was named the JV team’s MVP and Sam Snow was a coaches award recipient.