{"id":2452196,"date":"2019-12-12T22:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T05:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/"},"modified":"2019-12-12T22:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T05:08:00","slug":"aspen-high-hockey-team-hopes-a-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/photos\/aspen-high-hockey-team-hopes-a-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen High hockey team hopes a deep senior class will lead to rebound season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.2578313253012\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-317616-297\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Aspen High School senior Dominic Lanese brings the puck up ice against visiting Glenwood Springs on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0.48\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11.52\">\n<p><strong>Aspen High School senior Dominic Lanese brings the puck up ice against visiting Glenwood Springs on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1024x682.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1024x682.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen High School senior Dominic Lanese brings the puck up ice against visiting Glenwood Springs on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1-1024x732.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Aspen hockey vs. Valor Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10.388888888889\">\n<p><strong>Aspen hockey vs. Valor Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<br \/><a class=\"buy-link\" href=\"http:\/\/aspentimes.mycapture.com\/mycapture\/remoteimage.asp?backtext=Return+to+AspenTimes.com&amp;backurl=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/&amp;image=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1-1024x732.jpg&amp;notes=https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1-1024x732.jpg\"><i class=\"fas fa-shopping-cart\"><\/i> Buy Photo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/AHShockey-atd-121319-1-1-1024x732.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Aspen hockey vs. Valor Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Led by a deep senior class two seasons ago, the Aspen High School hockey team finished 14-5-3 in arguably its best season since winning the 2007 state championship. While last year\u2019s senior class had some great individual talent, it didn\u2019t have the numbers and AHS slipped back to an unsatisfying 6-8-4 mark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With a senior class back in the double digits, coach Dru Lucchesi is hoping for a bounce back season this winter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat was an interesting year in terms of we just couldn\u2019t get over the hump and win against the teams we needed to kind of win against,\u201d Lucchesi said of the 2018-19 season. \u201cIt definitely helps (having a lot of seniors): size factor, speed factor, knowledge factor. And just being able to throw the stuff at them we need to. They are going to be able to take it a lot quicker and easier fresh out of the gate, because it\u2019s not going to be so unfamiliar to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Skiers opened their season Wednesday night, losing 6-1 to Battle Mountain at Dobson Ice Arena in Vail. It was a tough situation for Aspen considering it only had about four practices under its belt. On the flip side, the Huskies (2-1) were playing for the third time and coming off an extensive fall season. Battle Mountain was an 11-win team last winter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThey got a good amount of ice under their feet. It showed yesterday. They were moving pretty well yesterday and their system is pretty set in stone,\u201d Lucchesi said Thursday of the Huskies, who are one spot outside of being ranked in the top 10 <a href=\"https:\/\/chsaanow.com\/2019-12-09\/colorado-high-school-hockey-rankings-dec-9-2019\/\">through CHSAANow.com<\/a> this week. \u201cThere is a lot of stuff we still need to get through. But the potential is there. It\u2019s just getting rid of a lot of weird habits these kids kind of have. It\u2019s step one. We saw what they can do and now it\u2019s just fixing stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The biggest loss from last year\u2019s team was Dominic Lanese, who led the team in goals (14) and points (23) during the regular season. He was tied alongside Matthew Rigney and Max Ufkes for the team lead with nine assists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Also gone is Henry Morrison, who joined Lanese as the two players to score in Aspen\u2019s 5-2 opening-round playoff loss to Kent Denver. AHS also said goodbye to key defenders in Jackson Holmbeck and Ryan Sovich.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have a lot of people who are going to step up and fill that role. We are going to have to get points through the whole team, versus just one kid. Which is good, because that\u2019s how it should be,\u201d Lucchesi said of replacing Lanese. \u201cWe have a lot of depth this year, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen\u2019s list of key returners is a long one with no real standouts. Players like Jack Pevny, Connor Chesner and Rigney were among the first for Lucchesi to point out. But it continued with the likes of Robbie Fitzgerald, Ethan Hunt, Brady Hornburg and Ufkes, among even more. Then there is Logan Soderberg back in net, as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This was the sort of depth and seniority the team lacked a season ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have a lot of good players and a lot of good pieces,\u201d Lucchesi said. \u201cSo there is not really one kid that is above all the rest. We just have a solid two, three, three and a half, four lines of good forwards and we have good defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aspen\u2019s next chance to play will be this weekend when it hosts Crested Butte twice at Lewis Ice Arena. Assuming the Titans can make the trek through the winter storm set to hit the state, varsity games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and 11:15 a.m. Saturday. There will be junior varsity games prior to both contests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Crested Butte went 14-6-1 last season and won a playoff game, but did split two late-season contests against Aspen. The Titans are 1-1 this season after splitting two games with Steamboat Springs last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s just bringing everybody up to speed and seeing what they kind of do in games,\u201d Lucchesi said. \u201cWe really can\u2019t start doing that process until we have a game or a couple of games under our belt and seeing what their tendencies are. And this is a great week for that, playing Battle, which is obviously a good team, and Crested Butte is going to be no pushover either. They played us really tough last year and they are a physical team, so it should be pretty interesting games this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After Saturday, Aspen has only one more game before the winter break, a Dec. 20 home matchup with Steamboat Springs at Lewis Ice Arena.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-hockey-hopes-deep-senior-class-will-lead-to-rebound-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aspen High School senior Dominic Lanese brings the puck up ice against visiting Glenwood Springs on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Buy Photo Aspen hockey vs. Valor Christian on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, at Lewis Ice Arena. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).Austin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2452196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news","7":"category-photos"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-10 18:16:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}