After strong start to season, Norwin hockey aims to snap losing skid

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 14, 2018 | 8:06 PM

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After winning six of its first seven games, the upstart Norwin hockey team suddenly finds itself in the midst of a three-game slide but also fighting ghosts of Christmas past.

“I told them let’s not be ‘No-win’ anymore. Let’s be Norwin,” Norwin coach Dennis Tokarski said, referencing previous Knights teamst. “Let’s be who we are. Maybe we’re not elite yet, but let’s get on the cusp of being elite.”

It’s the holiday season, and Norwin (6-4, 6-2) is still relevant in the PIHL Class A East Conference standings. The Knights have a hold on second place behind Bishop McCort (6-3) in the East. But for a team struggling to find an identity and trying to snap a three-game losing streak, nothing can be taken for granted.

“I think we’re still trying to find out what we want to be,” Tokarski said. “We started out pretty hot, but we have to look at who we played.”

The Knights started the regular season with convincing wins over conference rivals Kiski Area (1-8) and Greensburg Salem (2-8) before a 5-4 loss to Indiana. It’s not often a defeat can be a watershed moment for a program, but Tokarski said it was a wake-up call.

“Sometimes, you learn just as much from a bad loss as you do from a win,” Tokarski said.

Norwin rattled off three more wins following the Indiana loss as the offense came back to life. The Knights have plenty of firepower and are tops in the conference with 65 goals. Bishop McCort is second with 45 through nine games.

Tokarski said the biggest problem during the losing streak is the Knights aren’t taking the fight to their opponents. He said his Knights felt defeated before they hit the ice against a Bishop McCort team that boasts three Russian players.

Norwin got off to a sluggish start in its 5-3 loss to Chartiers Valley and played with South Fayette early before being outscored 6-0 in the final two periods to come away with a 9-3 loss.

“We kind of were brought back down to earth a little bit, and we’re struggling to regain some of that composure that we had early on,” Tokarski said. “It was a matter that we’re tending to wait and see what the other team is doing and we get on our heels too quick.”

In short, the Knights need to dictate pace of play and play their style. It might sound cliché, but Tokarski is getting back to basics.

“We need to come out of the gate hard, fast, be unrelenting and try to gain the edge right from the start,” Tokarski said. “Take the shot and crash the net, that’s how you play high school hockey.”

The top two teams in the East Conference will clinch a postseason spot. After being asked by the PIHL to move up a classification, conference leader Bishop McCort chose not to and consequently is noteligible for the postseason.

“They need to realize that they have the talent and they have the ability to get to the playoffs, and once you get to the payoffs anything can happen,” Tokarski said of his club.

The Knights are led by senior winger Aidan Rosko and junior center Jacob Dally. Rosko has 18 points (15 goals, 3 assists), and Dally has 17 (11, 6). Senior Nicholas Diak and junior winger Mason Pivarnik are tied for third in points with 14.

“(Dally’s) played varsity since he was in ninth grade,” Tokarski said. “I tell him that it’s time to go into beast mode.”

Tokarski said freshman defenseman Jacob Meier will be a “force to be reckoned with” as he matures.

The leadership of Danny Good and Nicholas Pingree will be key during the second half of the season. Tokarski said Good has a knack of making plays that can change momentum.

“I don’t want to be sitting here during the holidays counting the wins we need to get to the playoffs,” Tokarski said. “I want to know that we’re going to the playoffs.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

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