The winter hockey season is here. The team, which started conditioning in August, will have their next game on Jan. 16. There is a very prestigious tradition of hockey here at Dunbar. When looking at their previous successful years, including when they were ranked number three in the state several years ago, has a reputation to protect.

To have a solid team, it is important to have a range of ages and have the talent be spread out throughout the team.

“We didn’t lose many seniors, but we have a lot of new players, plus several new assistant coaches,” said senior right wing Nelson Ng.

This season’s team is being coached by Paul Adelfio as the head coach, and Adam Stickney, Jason Gambrell and Paul Dumais as assistant coaches. According to the captains, the coaches expect a lot from the leaders of the team and they hope to have a very successful season.

The captain this year is senior Caleb Clay. Senior defenders, Connor Clifford and Ian Piepgrass are the two assistant co-captains. They say they are there to lead the team through voice and example.

“I am a captain, and the coaches want me to lead by example on and off the field,” said senior center Caleb Clay.

He explained that the team looks to these three quality players for instruction. With a lot of students on the team and new players, it will be quite a challenge to lead, but the coaches have picked these captains for a reason to lead this team.

“I think we have a lot of potential with returning seniors,” said Clay. “We can definitely make a run to win state.”

There are 18 players on the squad, so they are a decent-sized team compared to previous years. Dunbar only has a varsity team this year; they have had junior varsity teams in the past, but this year there weren’t enough players to form JV teams at other schools, so there is no league for them.

Hockey games are usually held on Thursdays at the Lexington Ice Center near Henry Clay High School.

“Despite the fact that the team only practices one day a week, they are ready to do their best because of the work they put in at practice,” said senior defender Ian Piepgrass.

Some drills that the team does they do include: The Iron Cross (which is just a conditioning drill that involves skating back and forth in a circular pattern), small sided 2v2’s and 2v1’s and the Horseshoe (just a half circle around the net made by the players who are shooting on goal).

Right now, the team’s record is 2-2. They won their first game on Oct. 24 against Henry Clay with the score being 9-2. They have also played Oldham County, Owensboro twice, Trinity and Evansville. The game against Evansville, Dunbar won 4-5 and the others they lost.