Landon Hockey 3 Calvert Hall 8

Calvert Hall came to the MAPHL semi-finals with a 7-1 record and a trio of Russians with an impressive 36 points in 8 League games. An opponent could easily be intimidated by such numbers, but the Bears were not. Landon’s 18 player/5 senior roster played all 45 minutes with intensity every second even though the Bears were down by as many as five goals. To quote an apt cliché, there was no quit in these Bears. That “always positive” attitude was the reason why the 2013-2014 team far exceeded all expectations.

To briefly summarize this contest:

• Sean O’Brien stopped 24 of the Cardinals’ shots;

• Jack Barton scored on a rush from the centerline in the 1^st period;

• Jacob Ruttenberg  tipped a shot from Sean Valentine to score the Bears’ 2^nd goal;

• Tommy Crittenberger netted the 3^rd Bear goal on an assist from linemate Colton Rupp as well as an unrecorded teammate who made a tremendous pass as he was crushed against the board and

• Trevor Wolf, who was too ill to play in the previous MAPHL game, returned to contribute a physical presence in the Bears’ D along with Jack, Alex Norwinski and Brian Jordan plusall 11 of the forwards who help protect their goal.

The story of this match was the significant minutes in which the Landon passing and strong forechecking resulted in the Bears’ control of the puck in the Landon O zone. For successive minutes during the 2^nd and 3^rd periods, Landon possessed the puck in their end, crowding the crease with many Brown sweaters. The primary result of this offensive tactic was Jack’s 2^nd period goal as well as Jacob’s and Tommy’s tallies in the third. {Note: there was some debate whether the 3^rd period offensive success was attributable to the Bear Moms’ hanging of Landon positive posters during the intermission and/or the added presence of Headmaster David Armstrong.}

Quick strikes by the CH forwards resulted in three Cardinal goals in the 2^nd period and a similar troika of scores in the 3^rd period.

What is most important to note is not the outcome of this game, but to recognize the great coaching and exceptional efforts of all 18 Bear skaters throughout the 2013-2014 season. This game, while not as successful as the eleven victories as measured in a simple Win/Loss calculation, was emblematic of the team effort throughout all of the 16 contests.

BSN has had the privilege of watching, nay the enjoyment to observe,  Landon sports for almost five years. Over that period, there have been teams with as many as 28 college commitments, with Division I athletes each year over four years and rosters with returning All IAC all-stars—to name a few registers of talent.

In contrast this year’s Bears’ hockey team is not properly assessed by such measures of talent. This is a group whose merit is best recognized by the aphorism that “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

As mentioned above, talent is normally associated with an individual—a five star athlete, a WaPo All Met, an All IAC team member—are the usual vocabulary for such determinations. This year’s hockey team’s talent is best assessed on a collective basis rather than any single player or skaters.

The play-by-play transcript describing how this team won is filled with links, i.e. one player excelled at winning the puck on the boards andgetting it to another who moved it up the ice to a guy who can skate it out of harm’s way. Equally on the O zone end, the “script” begins with one player who stick checks his opponent to transfer possession, while a line mate lays out on the ice to move to another forward, who has maintained great position in the crease. No one of these scenarios ends with a goal; for the Landon approach was to win these small battles each time and to expect that over time, the sum of these separate efforts will ultimately result in goals and wins. These links between and among the Bears are the reason why all of the pieces of the Bear puzzle fit together to beat StA, Bullis and Georgetown Prep. The team was constituted by a number of interlocking players who focused on each momentary task and how that moment results in the collective of  team members’ success. They did not care who got the G or A; their sole focus was on the TEAM getting the win or well-deserved tie.

These observations have been the defining characteristic of the 2013-2014 team. An attitude instilled by the five seniors, carried on by the seven juniors and adopted by the four sophomores. [Hopefully the JV and Middle School rosters are also buying into this approach.] While other schools may be comfortable of trying to acquire wins by importing skaters from foreign countries and other short term approaches, Landon and its coaches are striving to inculcate values which will benefit the Bears during college and for life. By playing this intensely TEAM sport, these Gammill/Farnstrom/Anas pupils learn that the true joy of this competition is enjoying contributing through their role contributions, that focusing on team success rather than individual marks is the best strategy and that achieving collective goals is more important than recognition of individual action. These are the lessons gained through this sport from these mentors. This team earned an A+ as measured in these terms. Congratulations.

All Landon alumni and their fellow Bears should be MOST proud of this hockey team.