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| Wayland Hockey Association (WHA) History Origins Christopher
Woodcock was the first president and held that position for four years.
The treasurer was Cheryl Kane and Diane Bemis was the Secretary. Other
notable families that provided huge support included the Kanes (Rob and Cheryl),
the Bemis’s (Diane and Bob), Fosters, Wrights (Rick and Patti), Shepards,
Winers, Crowells, Carapezzas, Marashios, Quandts, and Killgallens. The WHA
was able to get ice time for practice at 5 am on several mornings in Natick and
the kids almost all showed up every practice. The first year Woodcock
coached, the second year they hired a coach from the Natick Comets program.
The next two years, Woodcock again coached and called upon his Belmont Hill
School alumni connections to procure affordable ice. Early Teams Our second year (1994-95), Wayland played at the Northstar Arena in Northborough. That year Wayland joined a “JV League” that included several new or first year high school varsity programs as well as several Catholic schools in the area. It was very competitive. Wayland stayed in that league for three years. The 1994-95 season Wayland played 14 league games and 4 scrimmages. One of the scrimmages against Hopkinton was the very first hockey game played on the main rink at New England Sports Center. There were no black marks on any of the boards or glass. In fact, the team had to get their skates sharpened afterwards because of all the dirt still on the brand new ice surface. The scrimmage was so one sided the teams had to switch goalies so Wayland's goalie, Hillary Meyer could see some shots. The WHA team went 11-2-1 that year scoring 63 goals for with only 20 against. Hillary Meyer was the primary goalie and had an amazing record at Wayland High as a goalie in soccer and lacrosse. She later was a star in college. Wayland's other goalie, Ryan McNeil, was so good he went to the Prep School league; at one of his games at Belmont Hill, a pro scout that was there to see him. Other members of that team were Jeff Woodcock, Luke Carapezza, Ben Foster, Marc Paquette, Matt Burke, Brian Bemis, Rob Lacourse, Jesse Winer, Rick Kane, Dan McInnis, Fiske Crowell, Ricky Wright, Keith Coleman (Weston), Charlie Berg (Weston), Mike Strumph, and Dennis Quandt (8th grade) The 1995-96 year the WHA team finished 10-4-1. Jeff Woodcock, led the team in scoring the second year in a row. Again, Wayland had an outstanding goalie in Mike Stockwood (a 7th grader) that was the first goalie when the team did get sanctioned as a school team. Other team members were Ben Foster, Matt Burke, Charlie Berg (Weston), Luke Carapezza, Brain Bemis, Fiske Crowell, Rich Kane, Dennis Quandt, Jesse Winer, Keith Coleman (Weston), Dan McInnis, Rob Lacourse, Ryan Boyd, and James You. 1996-97
was Woodcock's final season as coach. The club went 6-6-1 that year, but
won a thrilling last game against Algonquin -- team that had beat them 6-1
to open the season. Wayland also scrimmaged the Dover Sherborn varsity
that year – a team that had many players the Wayland kids had played with in
the Natick Comets program. The Warriors came within inches of tying the
game, but certainly showed that Wayland Hockey belonged in the Dual County
League. That year five eighth graders skated up with the Boys HS Varsity:
Joey Rigolinski, Brett Doyle, Scott Sylvester. Rob (“Frankie”) Kane, and
Mike Stockwood. Sphomores included Dennis Quandt (the first High
School captain) and Mike Killgallen. The juniors were Jesse Winer, Fiske
Crowell, Charlie Berg (Weston), Brian Bemis, and Ben Foster. The seniors
were Dan McInnis, Luke Carapezza, Rich Kane and Jeff Woodcock.
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Wayland
Hockey Association
© Wayland Hockey Association 2008-2009 |
