West Hartford’s Conard High School has won the state championship two years in a row, and played in the finals three of the last four years.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer. Photos by Paul Palmer and John Rodriguez

There are 19 teams that play in the CIAC boys Division III ice hockey. Several are co-op teams, drawing players from multiple towns to allow the students athletes to have a team to compete on.

Conard High School has gone it alone – fielding a team in a town that has not one, not two, but three high school programs that compete. And the Red Wolves have found the formula for success over the last four years that has earned them the right to be talked about with best teams in the State.

Saturday at M&T Bank Arena at Quinnipiac University, the boys did something that has not been done in nearly a decade – winning back-to-back titles. The 4-1 win over Joel Barlow (JBWA, a co-op program, comes one year after they beat Newington 3-1 as a No. 9 seed in the tournament. This year the Red Wolves came in as a No. 3 seed and proceeded to outscore their opponents 13-5 on the way to becoming back-to-back champions.

So, what’s behind the success on ice for head coach Jason Olson, his staff, and players? Developing leaders, letting players know they are supported and letting the captains and seniors and other team leaders show the way.

“Our seniors did everything we needed,” said Olson. “They made sure we went in the right direction.” In their four-year careers, the Conard seniors have played in three state title games, winning two, and have advanced to at least the semifinal every year. They had 53 wins and just 16 losses combined over that time.

“We have good leadership in the locker room who understand our style of paly and do the little things right,” said Olson.

This years seniors – Brendan Murphy, Luke Shaffer, Brady Narus, Porter Andrews, and Oliver Levesque – had to lead a team that saw 10 seniors graduate from last year’s championship team. They were especially tested when the Red Wolves went on a four-game losing streak between Jan. 27 and Feb. 8. The team turned it around winning six of its final eight games, made it to the CCC Final (won by crosstown West Hartford rival Hall) and then ran off four wins in the CIAC State Tournament.

“It was a rough mid-season but we stuck together,” said Andrews. “We are all great friends and we all know what we want to accomplish.”

Having lost the 10 seniors many thought it was going to be a long season for Conard and gave them little if any chance to repeat as champion. But the players and coaches always believed in each other, their system, and in just playing every game as it came and not looking ahead. “This (winning title) is amazing,” said Shaffer. “It shows all our hard work. It has been great.”

Olson admits that at the start of the season he was not sure what he was going to get from some of his senior leaders. “They are quiet guys,” he said. “The seniors have really stepped up.” That has been the theme across the four years – leadership and accountability and setting the tone and the character of what Conard hockey is and will continue to be. They are the first Division III team in CT to make it to four straight semifinals. “

We realized we could go far after we came together following those losses,” said Murphy. “We knew we could go far and we worked really hard in states.”

“These senior guys, they are the ones you want to play alongside all four years,” said junior Henry Tamaccio.

Each season the seniors on the team had a chance to win two titles – the CCC and the state championship. They went to six of those eight championship games and came away with two state titles and one CCC title.

Conard has 16 underclassmen on this year’s roster, and some have two state titles already and know the sacrifice it takes to win it all. They also know what is expected of them as next year’s leaders as the Red Wolves look for the three-peat.

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