TABC takes tremendous pride in all of its teams, especially the hockey team. Every year the hockey team is always in contention to win the championship, and this year is no different.
Led by coaches Mo Fuchs and Yak Apfelbaum, TABC is poised for a long run. Captains Akiva Hain, Avraham Gellman, Yechiel Keiser, Eli Schiff and Eli Spinowitz hope to lead the team to victory; stellar goaltending by captain Avrumi Davis and junior Charles Gibber will certainly contribute.
The first four games of the season were all hard-fought wins for the Storm. However, the Storm knew the biggest game of all was yet to come.
“Our hardest challenge is going to be Frisch,” said captain Yechiel Keiser.
Frisch has traditionally been TABC’s toughest opponent. As Avraham Gellman noted, “we lost sometimes when playing them in the past, most glaringly in the playoffs, [which we ended up] losing the past 3 years.”
Gellman went on to observe, “we just can’t seem to get it together, so playing them is always important, and hopefully this year, we will finish in crunch time.”
On December 13th, the long awaited game finally took place. The Storm took on the Frisch Cougars at TABC and the game was exactly how the captains predicted it would be: tough.
The game went back and forth until Frisch scored midway through the third period to break a tie and then ended up winning 4-3.
However, TABC was strong throughout. The Storm got major contributions from Jake Rothenberg and Akiva Hain, who each scored goals for the team.
Despite this loss, TABC is still very competitive in its division. The main goal for the team this year is winning a championship.
As captain Akiva Hain said, this year’s motto is “championship or bust.” This year’s senior class has never won a championship; they really want to end their high school careers by avenging their previous losses to Frisch in a playoff game and then go on to win the title.
Even though the team wants to win, they have to do it the right way. Avraham Gellman said, “we can’t focus on [the championship]. It’s about day to day improvement. My goal is to get better every day, as individuals and as a team, and only then can we take it all the way.”
Storm hockey is always very strong in many different areas. Keiser observed, “Our biggest strength is our depth. We trust every player on our team and if someone gets tired, they can take a shift off without hesitating.”
Avraham Gellman focused on another core strength: “We have heart, something that is unique and can carry a team a long way. When we play, we play hard. We’re also a brotherhood, and it’s more than just a team. When we play, we play as brothers which is not a common concept in the league.”
This may be why TABC’s hockey teams have always been contenders. Players are trying to win and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, including sacrificing their own needs for the benefit of the team.
Although the team is very strong, it still has weaknesses. Keiser oserved that the Storm is not always “coming out strong at the first face off. We need to play hard all 36 minutes.” This is something the team will need to work on in order to be the best.
Gellman says he felt there “aren’t any glaring flaws” to the team, but since every other team “is working hard, we need to work twice as hard” in order to win.