College Notebook: Bartlett helps Colby get off to a good start

The Colby College men’s hockey team is off to one of its best starts in recent years and one of the people helping fuel the Mules’ success if Lynn’s Jack Bartlett.Bartlett, a senior forward, played his first two years of high school hockey for St. Mary’s before transferring to Buckingham, Browne and Nichols where he had a very successful three years (he repeated his sophomore year). When the time came to make a decision on college, Bartlett weighed his options and decided Colby was a good fit academically and it had a hockey program he could step right into.”It was a tough decision, but I made the right one,” Bartlett said.Colby is a Division 3 program that competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference along with Amherst College, Bates, Bowdoin, Connecticut, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams.Colby was 5-3-2 heading into a game against Babson College and Bartlett, who is a forward on the second line and defense on the power play, has eight points in the first 10 games. In a 5-3 win over Wentworth Thursday night at Salem State, Bartlett had a goal and he assisted on the game-winner.Although Bartlett came out of a prep school hockey program, playing at the college level was still an adjustment.”The pace of the game (is much quicker),” he said. “Everyone out there is a lot stronger and faster and you have to make decisions within seconds. You have to be quick. It’s a lot faster than high school hockey.”Bartlett said as a freshman he played every game, was was a third or fourth line guy. The last three years his role has grown and includes the power play as well as killing penalties.Bartlett, who is an economics major, said playing hockey at the college level was always important to hime.”Hockey has been a passion of mine since I was four-years old. I can’t imagine college without hockey,” he said.Bartlett said juggling the demands of playing hockey with academics can be challenging, but he said prep school, with its rigorous schedule that included an hour commute, was good preparation. Playing a sport at the college level also meant having a large group of friends right off the bat.”When I got there, everyone was really welcoming. After the first week, I felt like I was home,” he said.Bartlett said the off season is also great at Colby. He lives with five guys from the team at a house on a lake. He’s gotten into kayaking and hiking and off course, there’s pond hockey.