LYNN — When we last saw the Lynn Jets, they were being backboned by goalie Jack Stafford to a 12-7-4 record and a win in the Division 3 North tournament.
But Stafford was a senior, and his graduation didn’t just leave a void in the leadership of last year’s team. It also left the Jets woefully short of goaltenders.
However, new coach Mike Roberts feels he may have the answer to that dilemma, and it’s a converted defenseman named Jack Gallant.
“We put the pads on him Monday (the first day of tryouts) and he looked pretty good. In fact, he’ll probably start in our scrimmage (today) and in the (Northeastern Conference) jamboree (Sunday) in Salem.
One of the reasons for that is that Kenny Perez, last year’s backup to Stafford, was on the Tech football team that won the state vocational small championship Thursday night.
“He couldn’t practice with us,” said Roberts, “because he was busy with football.”
The Jets combined Classical, English and Tech into one team.
Roberts takes over for Joe Conlon, who announced his resignation earlier this year.
“I was an assistant for two years,” he said, “but before that, I ran the middle school program for five years. So I’ve had just about everyone in this program at some point or another.”
Roberts will have five seniors back: leading scorer Sean Devin, co-captains Michael Clougherty and Travis Ryan, Quinn Brinkler and Justin Mayne.
Brinkler and Mayne will form the nucleus of the Jets’ defense while the other three are forwards.
Clougherty, his brother Brian, and John DiFilippo are projects for the first line, with Devin, Ryan and Andrew Patrie on the second.
Right now, Roberts said, he has a center on the third line in Aiden Sietz.
Other players who will see a lot of action are Nick Kosmas, whose brother, Jonathan, played last year; freshman Matt Devin; and sophomore Johnny McDonald.
McDonald, Roberts said, was a forward, but he’ll probably go back on defense “as we’re a little light on the defensive side.”
Roberts knows he and his team have a tough act to follow.
“But,” he said, “we have a good group of guys. We have plenty of forwards, so we should be able to score.”
His defense, led by Brinkler, Mayne, Owen Downey and Troy Petkevitch, will benefit from a more aggressive offensive style, Roberts said.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that we’re not built to sustain and win in a purely defensive system,” he said. “We’re going to switch up and go from the front to the back more.
“Over the last two years, we’ve won 75 to 80 percent of our games by one goal. With the goalie situation the way it is right now, and with the fact we’re forward-heavy, we’re going to have to score a lot of goals to win games. We’re going to have to be more creative offensively, and shoot the puck every chance we get.
“This isn’t to say we won’t be defensively sound, but our goal is to become (state) tournament eligible.”
