Locals have stellar efforts at Hockey Night in Boston

The last time North Shore hockey fans saw teams like Marblehead, Saugus and St. Mary’s, they were embarking on long and prosperous runs in the Division 1, 2 and 3 North sectionals.Recently, however, some of those players joined forces to participate in Hockey Night in Boston’s annual Summer Showcase that featured some of the top recently graduated talent and returning players in Massachusetts and the country.St. Mary’s goalie Donald Hesse earned the reputation as one of the top big-game goalies in the area over the past two winters when he backstopped the Spartans to within a goal of TD Garden in back-to-back years.The Salem native continued flashing his skills at the Showcase as he surrendered only three goals in seven games for a North Shore team that reached the tournament’s quarterfinal round. For his efforts, Hesse was selected as the tourney’s most outstanding goalie.”I was very proud to see Donald do so well up there,” St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said. “We knew all year that he was the type of goaltender that could take you deep in a tournament and that’s what he did for us.”Hesse had plenty of local company on the North Shore team as teammate Bobby Mullins joined him while fellow Spartans Jordan Manthorne, Matt Pelletier and goalie Bailey MacBurnie played on the Massachusetts/New England sophomore team.”We lost nine seniors but the guys we have coming back are very mature for their age,” Lee said. “I think that we are going to have a good team again this year.”Marblehead had a dream season in 2010-11 as the Headers gave the hockey-rich town its long-awaited first state championship after rolling through all comers in Division 3.Three of the cogs in the Marblehead machine – Ryan Dempsey, Chris McLeod and Jake Kulevich – were members of the North Shore team and they were joined by a pair of players who helped restore the glory to another proud hockey town and program.Nick Hegarty and Drew Oxley helped bring Saugus back to the forefront after the Sachems had fallen off the proverbial radar following two Division 2 state championships and three title game appearances in a three-year period.Led by Hegarty’s near superhuman netminding and Oxley and defenseman Dan Groark, who played for Malden Catholic coach Chris Serino’s Greater Boston team, the Sachems returned to the Division 2 North finals for the first time since 2005 last winter.