One of the greatest traditions in hockey is the naming of the team's captains. Typically, there are three captains on a team - one captain and two assistant captains. Sewing those letters on one's sweater (or more likely having Mom do it) is indeed one of the highest honors in our sport.
Wearing the "C" this year will be senior defenseman Aidan Conway. Aidan will be a 4-year letterman and he also plays football, where he is an excellent linebacker and even scored a touchdown on special teams last season. He is a big guy who has prototype size for both linebacker in football and defenseman in hockey. Aidan is a stellar student and is a member of the National Honor Society. He has some prestigious schools on his list as he and his family do their research on choosing a college. Aidan is a very polite and well-mannered young man who is a real leader at the school, both on and off the ice.
Aidan was often called upon to "stay at home" and cover for his fellow defensemen like Michael Boehm and Greg Langermeier who pushed the puck up the ice but next year Aidan will be one of the guys who totes the mail for us. He notched 1 goal and 5 assists last year from the point, supplementing the 4 goals and 6 assists he had as a sophomore and the 1 goal and 3 assists he tallied as a freshman.
Supporting Aidan as his assistant captains will be two senior forwards, Erik Galauner and Chuckie Wilson.
Erik will be a 3-year letterman who has been one of our top scorers for a couple of seasons now. He is very interested in playing junior hockey after high school and put in the hard work necessary to achieve that goal. He is not a big guy, but he's very elusive and has great hands - he has a little bit of Gretzky in him in that sense. Erik is willing to go into the high-traffic areas where he can make plays and score goals, and his superb hockey IQ helps keep him out of trouble. A stalwart on the prolific Gold line (with linemates Cam Kurtz and Aidan Millett), Erik had 12 goals and 35 assists as a junior to go with the 16 goals and 21 assists he scored as a sophomore. We will look to him to anchor our power-play unit and he can kill penalties as well.
Chuckie will be a 2-year letterman - last year was his first year with the top team and he really made his mark. All of his teammates and coaches love his tenacious style and unassuming personality. As a member of the vaunted White line (along with Danny Cook and Christian Radke), Chuckie killed penalties with aplomb, ran a great forecheck, and in general just played like a hornet. But don't think he's just a grinder - Chuckie had a whopping 21 goals last season and chipped in 12 assists, as well. He does a great job in the weight room and should be an even better player as a senior now that he has a year of Ignatius hockey under his belt. Chuckie will be a factor on our power play as he expands his all-around game.