The Oakdale Ice Hockey Club, the 2024 Maryland State Champions, are preparing for what promises to be another exciting and successful season. The team last year went an astonishing 10-0 in their conference, and 20-1 overall.
The team last year ended their season with a trip to the USA Hockey High School National Championship, a national tournament where state champions from all around the USA compete to see who is the best. The Bears went 0-3 en route to an elimination from the tournament altogether.
The team looks much different from last year’s state championship roster. Despite this grueling challenge, the team finds this as a motivator. “The biggest challenge facing the team this year is the amount of players we lost that graduated, but luckily for us we have a great group of freshmen coming up to fill some spots and once they get the feel for high school hockey we should have no issues in our way.” mentioned Junior Gavin Timberlake.
“I want to feed off that intensity that we had last year, I thought we had great intensity. I want the players to not try to replicate everything we did last year, but really play within themselves to be the best we can, and to let their game dictate how we do against other teams. Just go out there and compete, compete for the puck, compete for every shift.” expressed Head Coach Hugh McElroy.
The team will face off against nine different opponents across 14 total regular season games. From opponents like Calvert Hall to rivals such as Urbana, it is clear that the coaches demand simple strategies to help the team win key games. “I like for the players to understand we want to keep it simple. I also want them to work as hard as they can every shift. Don’t take a shift off, and I want everyone to be positive. Pick each other up on the bench, and then let their effort dictate their pace of the game.” explained McElroy
After playing Urbana 12 times over the past three years, a rivalry, “The Battle of Ijamsville” was born. These games get intense, with brawls breaking out every once in a while. With new freshmen coming in, it’s clear Urbana is the one team circled on everyone’s calendar. “One team I’m looking forward to playing is definitely Urbana. After going to watch the games over the years it just seems like a fun team to play against.” comments Freshman Jacob Rollins.
Oakdale will kick off their season Friday, October 18th against the Middletown Knights. The bar will once again be set very high for the defending State Champions.
