For Dan Donato, the message is simple: Play fast, play hard, and good things will happen.
At Dexter Southfield, the results of that full-tilt, full-time approach speak for themselves.
Since Donato, a Dedham, Mass., native, filled the DXSF head coaching job in 2009 after leaving Salisbury, it has been one of the most consistent programs in New England year in and year out, even advancing to the final four of the Elite 8 Stuart/Corkery tournament in each of the past four years.
“It’s a really fun brand of hockey for kids to play,” Donato said this week in an interview with New England Hockey Journal. “We’re just super aggressive all over the ice, which I think at this level leads to a lot of success.”
Alongside his assistant staff of Brian McColgan and William Kelleher, Donato has amassed a reputation of excellence at the Brookline, Mass., prep school, making it a much-desired landing spot for recruits looking to continue their development before heading off to college or juniors.
“Both of them played professionally and they’re both incredible guys,” Donato said of how key McColgan and Kelleher are to the staff. “They’re incredible family people, so when families come to see Dexter, they have three coaches that know are going to take care of their kids.”
In addition to its top-notch coaches and history of success, the school offers some of the newest facilities in all of prep hockey and an impressive track record of setting kids up for success.
The secret to that success? Communication, Donato says.
“I think as much as the process is of me trying to get them better on the ice, it takes a village to do that,” he said. “It takes my coaching staff; it takes their teammates; it takes their parents. When I talk to colleges (about players), most of the time I talk to the families within minutes after that because I want them to know who likes them and who can really see them playing for their institution.”
By mixing communication with Dexter’s simple, yet effective, play-fast-and-hard mentality, Donato likes to give his players enough room to grow into their individual skill-sets, he said.
“Sometimes we overcoach kids. We certainly have a disciplined brand of hockey and we certainly have forechecks and systems, but I try not to overdo it because there’s a lot of developing that happens during these years.
“Sometimes you’ve got to let kids play to find out what they can and can’t do well, and then by their senior year we have a really good idea, so that when I call School X, I can say, ‘Here’s what he is: he’s a first-line skill guy, he’s a power-play guy,’ ” Donato added. “I just talked to a team the other day about one of our seniors and said, ‘He’s going to be a second/third-line guy for you but he’s also going to be a captain for you.’ And I really mean that because that’s the type of kid he is. Schools love to hear where the kid’s going to fit in.”
Some notable alumni include Donato’s nephew and current NHLer ’15 Ryan Donato (Harvard University, Minnesota Wild), son of longtime NHLer and current Harvard coach, Ted Donato; and the 2019 12th-overall NHL draft pick ’17 Matt Boldy (Boston College, Minnesota Wild).
A look back: 2019-20, again so close
When it was performing on all cylinders, Dexter was not a team to be trifled with last season.
Boasting eight 30-point scorers, it surely was primed for another deep playoff run, eager to make it over the hump as New England champions after coming up short the previous three years.
But again, after amassing a blazing 25-5 record and extinguishing a pair of future Hockey East goaltenders en route to the finals, Dexter lost to Salisbury in the Elite 8 title game, marking the fourth straight year the team made it as far as the semifinal but could not muster the finals win.
“We had a great year,” Donato said, “but it was definitely disappointing not to get over the top at the finals, especially with the way we played leading up to it. I thought we played great against Hotchkiss in the quarters and I thought we played our best game in the semis against Berkshire.”
For the seniors who came oh-so-close during their four-year stints, it was a tough one to swallow.
But their head coach doesn’t see it that way, instead praising his seniors for being the only group in New England prep hockey to make four consecutive runs in the Elite 8 semifinals.
“Of course, I’d love to win a New England championship, but I would rather send kids to great places,” Donato said. “I’d like to do both in a perfect world, but I feel like we got a lot out of that class. They did well and really played for and with, each other, which was great. I’m competitive and so is our team and our other coaches, so the ultimate goal is to win it. I wouldn’t shy away from that, but to be one of two teams in New England to get to that game, it’s pretty awesome.
“Hopefully within the next so many years we're talking about winning it and that whole thing.”
A look ahead: Turnover, and talent
With a cast of young returners and a slew of exciting newcomers entering the fold this offseason, Dexter could very well be right back in the thick of things as a dangerous competitor in 2020-21.
But like every season in prep hockey, players are constantly coming and going, and adjustments will have to be made on the fly as the new skaters come in and look to replace their predecessors.
In total, Dexter is losing nine players from its 2019-20 roster heading into next year’s campaign; five forwards, three defenders and one goaltender, Dylan Silverstein (U.S. National U-17 Team).
The key losses start with last season’s top scorers, left wing Jack Dempsey (Boston College commit) and right wing Doug Grimes (Boston University commit), who are both headed off to play in juniors.
Additionally, defenseman John Fusco (Westwood, Mass.) is headed to Harvard, while center Aidan Connolly (Marshfield, Mass., Sacred Heart commit), center Ben Raymond (Newton, Mass., Colgate commit) and D-man Mikey Adamson (Quincy, Mass., UMass Amherst commit) are all taking the junior route.
At forward, Dexter is returning senior Merrimack commit Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.). In 2019-20, Copponi notched 42 points (20 goals) in 30 games, good for third-most on the team.
“He’s probably going to be one of the top forwards in prep hockey this year,” Donato said.
Heading into his 12th season at the helm, Donato also pointed to the importance of several other returning seniors who will play key roles in 2020-21, such as forwards Donovan O’Neil (Duxbury, Mass.) and Connor Blanchard (Waltham, Mass.) and blueliner Patrick Morrissey (Canton, Mass.).
For notable newcomers, Dexter is set to bring in ’05 forward William Vote (Arlington, Mass., Boston Junior Eagles) as well as ’04 forward Grayson Badger (Hyde Park, Mass., Brookline High).
“I’m really excited about some of our new guys,” Donato said. “Will Vote, he’s a smaller kid but he’s incredibly skilled, a candidate for the national team. Grayson Badger, he’s the real deal. He’s had a bunch of Ivy League interest; he’s got a ton of Hockey East interest. We’ve got some good players coming back and we’ve got some really, really good players coming in, too.”
Losing over a third of its roster may cause some problems for Dexter at the start, but if the last five years are any indication of what a Donato-led group can do against a stacked Stuart/Corkery bracket, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Dexter make a run into a fifth straight semifinal.
“We’re going to be young on the blue line, so we're going to have to really work hard to solidify the back end,” Donato said, “but I’m pretty excited about our goalie we’re getting. We have Alex Mickanin coming in (from South Kent Selects), who’s the Hopkinton (Mass.) kid who will be a junior for us, and he’s very good — he’s a very good goalie. If we tighten up the back end, I think we can be really solid this year.”
Liam Flaherty can be reached at lflaherty24@gmail.com and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.
