Hendricken's Mike King Pitches Scoreless Inning Against the Red Sox

By now, we here at Hendricken have become fairly accustomed to successful athletic teams, and we've become especially accustomed to the continuous success of our baseball program.  We've been privileged to witness 'franchise'-type talents process through our halls and on our fields for many years, and the previous four seasons were no exception when Mike King took the mound for the Hawks.

To say that Mike was a dominant talent in Rhode Island high school baseball is certainly an understatement, and his ability and success resulted in his being granted a four-year athletic scholarship to Boston College. He's had a pretty strong start for the Eagles this spring, but yesterday was truly a first-timer - Mike had the opportunity to take the hill against the defending world champions, the Boston Red Sox.

Yes, it was only the first spring training contest of the season for the Sox, and the lineup wasn't littered with the regulars that walked off the Fenway diamond holding the trophy last year, but it's still a team of professional baseball players who've ascended to a spring training camp at the major league level, players with "Red Sox" emblazoned across their chests.  The reality of the situation is still there.

And our guy did us proud, tossing a scoreless inning.  

Baseball Hawks don't graduate; they just fly higher and become Eagles.

Dan Koppen Sits Down with The Network

The Hendricken community received an unexpected bit of incredibly good news yesterday when it became known that Dan Koppen, former New England Patriots and Denver Broncos center, would be joining our football program as a volunteer assistant coach.  It goes without saying that Mr. Koppen brings with him a wealth of top-shelf football knowledge, but it seems that it's his interest in working with young players and in giving something back to a game that's provided him so much that has motivated and brought him to the halls of Hendricken.

Mr. Koppen was gracious enough to sit down for a few minutes with Network anchors Stone Freeman, Cam Brennan, Zach Johnson, and Johnathan Feeny.  Viewers can watch the brief interview right here.

            
Video streaming by Ustream

The Network Profiled on Cox Sports' "Varsity Life"

As we've mentioned intermittently here on The Network, our trip up to Gillette Stadium last week to take part in a talk show with Hendricken grad/Boston sports radio personality Pete Sheppard and Brian Morry (Executive Director of The Hall at Patriot Place) may indicate that our forays into the world of sports media are beginning to get noticed. The event was also deemed significant enough to warrant the attention of Cox Sports, who did a piece on The Network's trip to Foxborough for this past Monday's edition of "Varsity Life". 

Viewers can watch the entire show here, but the segment dealing specifically with The Hawks Sports Network starts at about the 10:05 mark.

          

"College Hoops 101" Debuts...Again

The Network's 'voice of reason', Cam Brennan, has had for some time his sights set on bringing back his original show, "College Hoops 101".  Because of The Network's much busier schedule and some other entanglements, it was difficult to make it happen - until today.

At long last, Cam finally gets to bring his vast understanding of the college basketball landscape to the people.  Today he was joined by his new sidekick, Network newcomer Rob Bernard.  In an abbreviated show, Cam and Rob touched upon all of the important issues in the college basketball, both local and national - the post-season prospects of the Providence College Friars, their take on what shape the field of 64 will take, and tonight's big games.  

So, if you're a fan, have a look at what Cam and Rob have to offer.  Viewers can still watch the majority of the show in the UStream box at the top of the page.

Hawks Skate to 2-2 Tie with the Rams, Maintain Hold on First Place

The final week of the regular season is upon us in the winter sports season, and our guys are pushing through a fairly tough stretch on the ice.

This past Wednesday night they took on and defeated the-then first-place Mount, 4-1, which is never an easy task. Last night, the Hawks went up against our archrivals, LaSalle, on their Senior Night, a game that would've been filled with a certain degree of animosity merely as a result of the two squads being in the same building together, to say nothing of the emotional effect that their Senior Night had on the Rams. Both teams played hard, determined hockey, and each team left Thayer Arena with 2-2 overtime tie in its pocket. An account of the game follows shortly. 

Tonight, our guys take on Smithfield at Thayer at 9:00. The Sentinels have had a very good season and are, by any measure, a tough out; in fact, in the previous meeting between these two teams at Smithfield Municipal Hockey Rink, the Sentinels came out with a 3-2 overtime win. Tonight's contest will no doubt be a tough one. 

Next week, the Mount returns to Thayer to finish out the regular-season slate, a game that may well determine who finishes in first place in Division 1-Cimini. As of now, the Hawks clearly have an edge there, having already beaten the Mount twice this season.

Clearly, this is a situation that can be taken in several ways. First, one could argue that the rapid-fire challenges that the Hawks are facing over the next few days will certainly tune them up and sharpen their blades for the state playoffs that are quickly approaching. Holding on to that all-important #1 seed will also go a long way to setting the table for success in those playoffs. 

Second, their mental toughness and their ability to maintain focus will also be tested. During this stretch there won't be much rest for the weary, so it's going to be incumbent upon our guys to keep going, despite what any particular game situation may be. 

And, finally, it's important to remember that The Hawks are not the only team facing this general, end-of-the-season gauntlet. Because of all the snow this winter, there were quite a few postponements, games that are now being squeezed into the final week of action. Consequently, come playoff time, teams such as Mount and LaSalle may have to overcome the physical and mental strain as well. The team that is able to absorb these challenges may be the one that rises during the playoffs.



Last night's game against the Rams - broadcast live right here on The Network, with Cam Brennan and Stone Freeman doing their usual quality job of play-by-play and analysis - was hard-fought from the time the first puck was dropped. There were a lot of big hits, both in open-ice and along the boards, and at times the play even became somewhat chippy. There were two occasions when the teams were flagged for offsetting penalties, resulting in two minutes of four-on-four action; the Hawks even were able to work in a four-on-three power play for a short while, as the Rams were whistled for two separate penalties within a two-minute time frame. As the game was drawing near its end, there even were a couple of mild pushing-and-shoving bouts after play had been whistled dead around the net. 

But, I guess, that's just Hawks-Rams being Hawks-Rams.

The entire game can still be seen here.

            
Video streaming by Ustream

           
Video streaming by Ustream

            
Video streaming by Ustream


The game was scoreless until the eight minute mark of the first period, when the Hawks broke through first to take a 1-0 lead. 29 seconds later, however, the Rams evened things at one goal apiece when they also dented the net. With 2:40 remaining in the second period, the Hawks scored the goal that gave them the lead heading into the locker room.



The Rams once again tied the score, their second goal coming early in the third period. From there the two squads battled through the rest of regulation and overtime, but in the end nothing was settled. In fact, The Hawks had at least two golden opportunities to win in overtime. One of their clean shots clanged off the top crossbar (which everyone in the arena most likely heard), and the LaSalle goalie, Tyler Walsh, stood on his proverbial head on a couple of occasions to keep the puck out of the Rams' net. It was quite an overtime period. 

So tonight, the Hawks take on Smithfield at Thayer Arena at 9:00 and continue marching through this final week in order to get to March. The Network's broadcast team will be in the booth next for the game against Mount St. Charles.

New Athletes Emerge for 2018 Paralympic Games in South Korea

Andrew and Jay at USASA Regional Race - Copper Mountain

As four AAS athletes moved up to the National Team and will attend the Paralympics this year, AAS is developing new talent in its Pipeline.  Two credible prospects for the 2018 US Paralympic Snowboard Team have begun training.  They are 16 year old Jay Gaines, and 21 year old Andrew Hale.

This year is Jay’s second year with AAS.  To get him on-snow as much as possible, his family has relocated from Kentucky to Copper Mountain.  Recently, in USASA Rocky Mountain’s regional races 1 and 2, Jay took first in the Adaptive BoarderX competition and third in the Able-bodied Adaptive Boarder X.

Andrew, having only been on a snowboard 15 times since his limb loss, competed in and won a Bronze and Gold Medal at the USASA Rocky Mountain Series 3 and 4.

His high-skill potential was identified in December at the Hartford Ski Spec. Both Andrew and Jay will be attending the USASA Nationals this spring at Copper Mountain.

AAS invites you to contribute to help pay costs associated with Jay and Andrew’s training.  We are hoping to cover expenses with small contributions from a large number of people.