EXETER, N.H. — Senior forward Kyle Jadatz has scored 10 goals this season for Phillips Exeter Academy, so recalling each one would be a manageable task if anyone set their mind to it.
Recalling all the shots he’s blocked? That would be near impossible.
"He blocks at least three, sometimes it seems like nine shots a game," said senior forward Sam Stone. "Put him on the penalty kill and he’s fantastic. He’s always positive; every time he’s on the ice he’s giving 100 percent. He’s always hitting kids, always stick on stick, body on body. He’s tremendous in the ‘D’ zone."
How tremendous?
"He may be the best defensive forward I’ve ever coached," said longtime Exeter coach Dana Barbin. "He wants to win and he doesn’t care about himself or his statistics. … He’s tough as nails."
Barbin has been behind the Exeter bench for three decades, the head coach for more than a quarter-century. Pressed about the superlative, he came up with one name in Jadatz’s class as a defensive forward: the late Tom Cavanagh, who starred at Exeter and Harvard and reached the NHL with San Jose in 2007-08.
Pretty good company.
"I’ve always tried to keep that defensive side of my game," said Jadatz, a Long Island native who came to Exeter last year as a repeat junior. "When I came to Exeter it really clicked for me, that defense is just as important as offense. Obviously, everybody wants to score goals, but if you keep the other team at zero you’re going to end up winning the game."
Once again, Exeter is winning games. It brought a 24-4-2 record into its regular-season finale at Phillips Andover on Feb. 24. It’s a good bet to be selected for the eight-team Stuart/Corkery (New England Elite) tournament for the fifth year in a row.
"I think this team has done a real good job," said Barbin, who guided the Big Red to a New England elite title in 1999. "It has an outstanding senior class in terms of who they are as athletes. This senior class plays the game right. They’re tough, smart hockey players."
Minus the stars — there are no current Division 1-committed players on the team — the Big Red have won by keeping the puck out of their net (11 goals allowed in the last nine games) and getting production from their top two lines.
Jadatz, who’ll continue his career next year at Division 3 Bowdoin, is centering a top line flanked by senior Bobby Murray, the team’s leading goal scorer with 20, and on the left by junior Garrett Foster.
"Bob’s a crazy skilled player, with one of the best shots I’ve ever seen, personally," said Jadatz. "And Foster’s been a great addition this year. He’s a hardworking kid, skates hard. We have the mentality that we’re a hard-nosed line and we can all put the puck in the net."
At 5-foot-11 and 183 pounds, Jadatz has contributed 10 goals and 12 assists, ranking him sixth on the team in points. But his value extends to stats that aren’t counted.
"I see myself as a two-way forward," said Jadatz. "Coming in here, I didn’t really know what to expect, what the level of play was going to be. I like playing on the defensive side of the puck. I pride myself on shutting down the other team’s best player. Coach Barbin has been really supportive of my game, and my teammates as well."
A second line has leading scorer Michael Pitts (11-31-42), a junior, between seniors Stone and Peter Scheschareg, who was a key cog in Arlington High School’s run to last year’s Super 8 title in Massachusetts.
If selected, Exeter will be part of the elite tournament for the fifth straight year, a current streak among New England schools that’s bested only by perennial power Salisbury, this year’s likely No. 1 seed. "There’s not much margin for error," said Jadatz. "If you want to make the Elite tournament, you can’t be losing the games you’re not supposed to lose."
If there’s been a knock on Exeter, it’s the schedule. The wins that jump out are good ones (7-2 over Thayer, 2-1 over Gunnery, 2-0 over Northfield-Mount Hermon), but there also have been some missed chances against the iron: a 4-3 loss to Kimball Union, a 3-1 loss to Rivers, and ties against Dexter and Winchendon.
"They’re definitely winnable games," said Jadatz. "These teams are skilled and all, but sometimes I don’t think we get enough credit for how hard we work against these teams. I think that maybe makes up for our lack of skill. Every game we play we have a chance to win."
The recent losses to KUA and Rivers could have gone either way in the third period. "I hope we run into both of them again," said Stone. "I don’t think there’s a big gap at all. When it comes down to these elite games, it’s one or two bounces that can hurt you. … We’ve just got to clean up that one little mistake and get one bounce going our way.
"KUA played really well against us, but there was a time we scored on back-to-back shifts, had momentum going our way."
The team’s defensemen have developed, and sophomore goalie Ryan Welch, in his second year as a starter, is giving his team a chance to win each night, getting spelled by senior Will Douthit when necessary.
"We’re getting credit for being very good defensively and I think it’s a case of being good defensively everywhere," said Barbin. "Our forwards play very smart defensively, led by Jadatz."
Even if you can’t count all the blocks.
