By: Alex Vogel ’26
The 2024-2025 season for the boys varsity hockey team this winter was disappointing on paper. However, we did have a desire to surprise the New England hockey scene like no other team had.
Adversity never stopped coming our way, as even before the season started, we had only twenty players and no confirmed coach. Then, we were down to nineteen players and a new coach. Then that coach bailed on us, and we were without a coach once again. But come late October, coach Matthew Lavallee–a former coach at the University of Southern Maine (DIII NCAA)–took the spot of head coach of Hebron’s boys varsity hockey team. With the cementing of our new coach and practices getting started in November, the entire school rallied behind the hockey team for the home opener versus NYA. We won that game 3-2, and a seed of hope was planted for the year as we all went home for Thanksgiving break, eager to start the rest of our season hot.
But once we came back from Thanksgiving break, we struggled tremendously. The highlight by far, however, was our Brooks-Pingree tournament.
By the end of the tournament, we were skating with just nine players. Keep in mind hockey has five players and a goalie out at all times! We had two goalies, just enough players for one full group, then another, but minus one player. Those were awful circumstances, and it was no surprise we lost those games. But I’ve never felt so proud walking off the ice before in my life because not only did I feel like I competed with pride, everyone else laid their hearts on the ice! But then came Christmas break, and we all had some time off from team practices. We all worked hard over break to stay in shape and get ready to grind out the rest of the season. Though coming back and going through a brutal losing streak was not fun…
Personally, I couldn’t stand it. It was one of the worst time periods I’ve had as a hockey player. But hindsight is 20/20, and looking back at that gargantuan losing streak, I can proudly say that I’m glad to have gone through that. We learned a lot about each other, ourselves, and found out how to handle the dumpster fires life throws at us. More importantly, I learned what works and doesn’t work for me, on and off the ice, when it comes to being a leader of a team that meant the world to me and still means the world to me now. And without coach Lavallee working tirelessly to keep us all in good spirits, meanwhile balancing recruitment for next year and working in admissions, Hebron Hockey would not be where it is today.
The entire team, despite only winning five out of thirty-five games, can all agree that we grew, learned, and found out what means more than a team’s record: our family. At the end of the day, whether you’re a parent, student, player, coach, teacher, trainer, or even just a random spectator of Hebron’s numerous sports programs, you are a part of the Hebron Hockey family. And with all of this said, Hebron’s Hockey family is gearing up for one of the most exciting years in Hebron’s elaborate history, the 2025-2026 winter season.