As the Cushing boys’ hockey program begins a new era under coach Ryan Bourque this winter, its lofty aspirations aren’t changing.
Between his professional playing and coaching career, and most recently serving as assistant coach within the U.S. National Team Development Program, Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) brings a wealth of experience to the bench back at his high school alma mater.
It didn’t take the new coach long to discover that two of his best players and leaders reside on the blue line in seniors Tyler Russo (Hamilton, Mass.) and Ryland Randle, who were both major players on the second straight Penguins team that played for an Elite Eight title.
Simply, “they're the backbone of our team,” Bourque said.
“To be in two championship games in three years is a crazy amount of experience to go through,” he added. “Although those games didn’t end how they would have hoped, you can learn a ton (from that). You see all the time in the NHL that you almost need to go through adversity to learn how to win.”
Cushing has accumulated just three losses in each of the past two seasons while entering both tournaments as a No. 1 seed.
Russo was a key part of both teams as a shutdown defender, while Randle — who arrived at Cushing from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Prosper, Texas — joined the fold last season and emerged as the top scorer from the blue line with 10 goals and 34 points in 32 games.
But the team hasn’t won the big one yet, falling to Kimball Union and Avon Old Farms, respectively. As a result, both standouts have a clear motivation to take care of business in the season ahead.
“At least for me, there’s definitely a little chip on the shoulder after losing in the championship the past two years,” Russo said. “It’s a new year, we’ve got new players, but I think it’s important that we [as returning players] know what it takes to get to that game. It’s just a matter of getting over the hurdle … of reaching the ultimate goal of winning a championship.”
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Gone from the Penguin lineup are five defensmen who played every or nearly every game alongside Russo and Randle last season. Gone are the likes of Boston College-bound Landan Resendes (Marlboro, Mass.), now-UConn freshman Ethan Gardula (Princeton, Mass.) and Emerson Marshall (Gloucester, Mass.), who each had a 50-point season during the program’s recent run.
But the new bench boss is still excited for what’s to come, especially with such senior leaders like Russo and Randle — who are committed to play collegiately at Minnesota State and Arizona State, respectively — pushing the team forward.
“I think it’s going to be a very competitive group. I think we have a good mix of older guys, with Tyler and Ryland at the forefront of that, and some young kids that are really hungry,” Bourque said. “I think for your veterans to be your harvest players, that usually sets the tone for the rest of the group to follow. … I hope to be one of, if not the most competitive groups in prep hockey.”
The local member of the duo who began his career at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, Russo is described by the coach as “the ultimate professional.”
“He’s super dialed in and the guys look up to him,” Bourque said. “Definitely commands that room. There’s a reason why he wears that ‘C’ on his chest.”
Best of all, Russo knows his role. It’s one that earned him a nod on the NHL Central Scouting preliminary players to watch list that was released last week.
“I think it’s important for me to be able to play in all situations and be a guy that the team can rely on to play important minutes,” Russo said. “I’m a big shutdown guy, definitely want to be hard to play against. Staying true to that is going to be important for me to have success this year.”
Randle noted just how important that player profile is at the most important time of the year.
“Especially down the stretch and in playoffs, you need a guy that you can put against the other team’s best line who can battle every night,” Randle said of Russo. “You know what you’re going to get from him.”
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You know what you’re going to get from Randle, too. His offensive spark helped boost an offense that scored a whopping 4.69 goals per game last season, but he also plays with a level of competitiveness that the Penguins want to continue to bring to every game.
Each season brings the opportunity for any team to build a new identity for itself and for new players to emerge as key contributors, but Randle has seen the characteristics that helped the Penguins the past two years start to emerge in the new group.
And it all mirrors the coach’s preseason expectations.
“I think the coaches have done a really good job of … just making sure everybody knows what to expect, how we want to play, what we want to do better,” Randle said. “We’ve always played a fast, physical game. Obviously, we have a new coach this year, but that doesn’t change.”
Of course, there is one thing they do want to change.
They want to write a different ending over the coming months.
