When defenseman Alexander Kenerson's (Watertown, Conn.) shot traveled through a sea of bodies and into the back of the net in overtime of the NEPSAC Large School championship game last March, everything changed for Taft.
It was the first time Taft had made the postseason since Ryan Shannon took over as head coach prior to the 2017-18 season and the Rhinos were the No. 1 seed.
The tournament birth would've been enough of a reason to celebrate, but winning the whole thing?
It's a chance most coaches would kill for — to permanently set the culture for the better. That will be Shannon and his staff's primary objective this season.
"There's an opportunity for the coaching staff to hold people to the standards of habits and the process of how we got to that point last year and understanding that you start the season 0-0," Shannon said. "That's really just a mindset thing and that's going to be on the leadership and the coaching staff to make sure that the standard is set very early on."
Last season's team will be remembered forever for their championship win. But, more importantly, they will be remembered for having laid the groundwork for Taft becoming a household name.
"I think it's a special and infectious thing to be around on a daily basis," Shannon said. "I shared this with my seniors at our end of the year banquet. The thing that was most impressive was that the kids themselves demanded my best on a daily basis. I couldn't let them down because they were driving everything. When you have a group of leaders that do that on a consistent basis, it sort of drives itself."
Some of those leaders returned for this season, while others graduated.
Replacing Rudy Guimond
The biggest reason why Taft had so much success last season was Rudy Guimond — the standout star in between the pipes.
No one faced more rubber last winter than Guimond and he thrived, posting a 2.34 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, which ranked inside the top 10. He was widely considered to be the best goalie in prep hockey. En route to winning the Large School title, Guimond made 130 saves on 136 shots, including 49 saves to beat Salisbury in the final.
"Honestly, the worst thing that you could have done against Rudy Guimond is get a lot of shots," Shannon said. "If you didn't get a lot of shots throughout the game, you probably were going to have more success. So we were okay with giving up 35 to 50 shots."
All of this led to the Yale commit getting picked in the sixth round (169th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings. He left Taft a year early and is playing for the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
With Guimond gone, it will force Shannon to re-think his team's defensive zone strategy.
"Honestly, we might," Shannon said regarding changes in his own end. "What we do every year is we modify slight adjustments to our defensive zone and our offensive zone to give our combination of chemistry the best chance of individual and team success."
What that will look like will be based on Brady Morris' strengths. The '06 junior will step into Taft's net. He's had a strong fall so far for Mid Fairfield's 18U squad.
"I think we have the potential of being a better puck possession team, especially in the neutral zone," Shannon said. "Being able to create transition and scoring opportunities by hanging on to the puck as opposed to just creating races on the ice."
That will come down to the personnel in front of Morris.
Lots of last year's core is back
Jackson Holl (Avon, Conn.) led Taft in scoring last season with 50 points. J.J. Lemieux ranked third on the team in points with 37. They were both senior '03s and graduated in the spring. They will both be missed. So, too, will senior forward Zave Greene and senior defensemen Nick Lancaster (Darien, Conn.) and Jacob Podhajsky.
The rest of the roster looks fairly similar to last season.
Back at forward is Derek Tremblay, now a senior, who finished with 35 points last season — good for third-most on the team. Forwards Archer Brown and Shane Mettler (New Canaan, Conn.), who provided lots of secondary scoring last season, will be looked at to elevate into top producers. Some younger players who will be looked at to step up are '06 Preston Hidy (Darien, Conn.) and '07 Carson Lowry.
"I think especially early on, we're going to rely on the guys that have experience," Shannon said.
Shannon is also fortunate to have Kenerson, a Bowdoin commit, leading the way on defense.
"He's a very smart, high IQ player," Shannon said. "He's worked really hard since his commitment to Bowdoin and you can kind of see a more refined approach to skill development."
Kenerson will anchor the top defensive pair. Along with Kenerson will be Leyland Johnson who will look to build off his 11 points last season. Gerrit Lansing will be another important piece on the backend. A breakout candidate is '07 Brady Smith who has had an outstanding fall season for the Yale Jr. Bulldogs.
The big difference for Taft will be the incoming class of recruits.
"In terms of the talent level, this has been the most talented group of people to come into a team that I've had in my seven years," Shannon said.
Taft has three forwards coming in from Quebec: '05 Matt Lemay, '07 Domenico Clarizio and '08 Dylan Chery. Along with those three, JT Rothstein, a standout '08 forward from New City, N.Y., will join the Rhinos. Rothstein is one of the top players on the 15U Long Island Gulls and was terrific at USA Hockey's Select 15 Camp this summer, scoring four goals and totaling eight points in four games.
On defense, Shannon brought in Noah Jettelson, an '06 from Mount Kisco, N.Y., who played for the Connecticut Jr. Rangers last season.
