STICKING WITH IT: Princeton Day School boys’ hockey player Hubert Shin heads up the ice in recent action. Last Thursday, senior defenseman Shin contributed an assist in a losing cause as PDS fell 4-3 to Christian Brothers Academy. The Panthers, who moved to 4-13 with the loss, are starting play in the Gordon Cup the week where they are seeded sixth and were slated to play at third-seeded St. Joseph (Montvale) on February 10 in the quarterfinal round with the victor to play at second-seeded Don Bosco in the semis on February 11. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
From 2020-24, Han Shin wore No. 8 for the Princeton Day School boys’ hockey team and starred on defense.
This winter, his younger brother, Hubert, is following in his footsteps as he is wearing No. 8 for PDS and has emerged as a standout along the blue line for the Panthers.
Influenced by his older brother, Shin got into hockey. “Ever since I was younger, I watched his games and I watched how he played,” said senior Shin. “Naturally watching him, I picked up things.”
After working his way up from being in the supporting cast for the Panthers, Shin is seeing lot of ice time this winter.
“Now I am out there every other shift,” said Shin. “I have a lot bigger role.”
Last Thursday, as PDS hosted Christian Brothers Academy and found itself down 3-0 midway through the first period, Shin and his teammates had to reset as PDS head coach Scott Bertoli called a timeout.
“It was just to bounce back, regroup, refocus, put some goals in,” said Shin. “It was a good wakeup call, the timeout.”
Waking up, the Panthers got a goal from freshman Miles Matyszczak in the first period and a tally from Fred Ringblom in the second period to draw within 3-2. Minutes after Ringblom’s goal, Shin fired a one-timer from the point that freshman Ryder Ewanchyna tipped into the back of the net to knot the contest at 3-3 with 5:09 left in the second period.
“I got the puck and I shot it and got a little lucky tip,” said Shin, reflecting on the tally.
CBA responded with a goal early in the third period and held off the Panthers to earn a 4-3 win. While the loss stung, Shin liked the way PDS battled back from the 3-0 deficit.
“It is good to show that we still have some heart,” said Shin. “We just have to learn how to close out games.”
Sensing that the game was slipping away from the Panthers in the early going, head coach Bertoli realized that he had to call a timeout to stem the tide.
“We have been in this situation too many times where we are down against a good team and the balance of the game is teetering,” said Bertoli. “For whatever reason, when we get down one or two goals against good teams, we just resort to chasing the scoreboard and abandon any type of structure or discipline. We were starting to see that.”
Bertoli liked how his players fought back even though the Panthers ultimately fell short.
“The response was great,” said Bertoli. “Truthfully, that is how good teams should respond.”
Reflecting on the defeat which left PDS with a 4-13 record, Bertoli acknowledged that the squad has been fighting an uphill battle this winter.
“I just questioned and challenged them and told them that unfortunately our reality is we are just not a good team this year,” said Bertoli. “There are so many things and areas that we lack so that unless we are perfect in so many small details, the reality is that we can’t really compete against some of these teams.”
In assessing Shin’s play this season, Bertoli likes the way he has been competing.
“Hubert has been good, that should be the expectation and the standard to play at a high level,” said Bertoli. “It shouldn’t be that it is great, the expectation is that you should be playing well all of the time on a consistent basis. For the most part, he has been good for us and we need him to be.”
The Panthers did get good play from some of its less experienced players against CBA as the first two goals came from freshmen and sophomore Parker DelVecchio had some good shifts.
“There are some things that we haven’t gotten from our younger kids, I thought it was great,” said Bertoli. “Parker had a great third period, he is a kid that doesn’t get a ton of minutes. If we can get contributions from kids like that, that is great.”
With PDS competing in the Gordon Cup this week where it is seeded sixth and was slated to play at third-seeded St. Joseph (Montvale) on February 10 in the quarterfinal round with the victor to play at second-seeded Don Bosco in the semis on February 11, Bertoli knows that his team needs to raise its game in order to advance.
“So much of it is going to depend on who we draw, the reality is that there are teams in our division that are better than us,” said Bertoli, noting that team will be relegated to the Gordon Conference’s National division next year after finishing last in the American division, the league’s top group. “Unless we play to our best and do all of the little things well and get great goaltending, we can’t win.”
Shin, for his part, believes that the Panthers can make a run.
“We just have to regroup and figure out how to win games at the end of the day,” said Shin.