Having boasted a combined record of 33-9-1 over the prior two seasons and making some deep playoff runs in the process, the Niagara Wheatfield Falcons are going through a transitional phase in 2024-25.
Gone are seniors such as Easton Larabee, Robert Wegrzyn, Jason Cerrillo, Robert Delisanti and Andrew Idzik, who all averaged at least a point per game a year ago. Starting goaltender Jacob Amrhein also graduated as well.
With so much veteran leadership having walked out the door, coach Rick Wrazin has had to break in some new faces this season. While they’ve gotten off to just a 7-4-1 start so far,
Wrazin has liked what he’s seen through the Falcons’ first 12 games.
“We have a younger team than we're used to this year but the young guys have been stepping up,” Wrazin said. “We've had really strong goaltending to this point from three different goalies, and they're all very good. Our defense core has grown a lot already this year too.
“As far as the forwards go, they're all playing with guys that are pretty much new except for (current seniors) Adam Perry and Carson Kaluzny, but everyone else is still getting used to each other. I think a big positive is they've been moving in the right direction, and they've grown a ton as a team so far.”
The burden of the veteran leadership and production may be resting on the shoulders of Perry and Kaluzny, but their underclassmen teammates have also picked up the slack.
“All three of our goaltenders have been critical to our play this year,” Wrazin said. “Nolan Hailey’s been fantastic and Christian Beaver and Mason Braun have both been really strong too. Having three good goalies is a great problem to have.
“Offensively Perry, Kaluzny and Nathan Dunn, those guys have really carried us so far. They've been responsible for a lot of our scoring but it’s starting to spread out. Defensively Cole Williamson and Evan O'Donnell have been really strong and Nolan Bernhard has played a heck of a game lately.”
Wrazin knows that he doesn’t have the offensive firepower the Falcons possessed in the past, but if his team can commit to good defensive play they can continue to have success.
“It's hard to say what we can be better at, because I always believe we can do better at everything,” Wrazin said. “We’ve changed a few things recently, and that seems to have helped the direction we're going. We're always looking to be a really good forecheck team and we're always looking to be a defense-first hockey club.
“We’ve gotten better in our end – we were giving up too many shots for a long time. That's definitely something we want to work on and cut down on throughout the season, and if we can do those things there’s no telling where we can go.”
Photo Gallery by Shawn Turri/WNYAthletics
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