Graham new on defense

Senior, PHS earn first win

By: Justin Feil
   George Graham’s first two weeks on defense were trial by fire.
   The Princeton High School senior had never played at defenseman when the Little Tiger boys’ ice hockey team opened with one of the preseason Colonial Valley Conference favorites Steinert. The schedule didn’t let up when PHS took on Hopewell, then faced Steinert again 10 days later, before facing Pingry. PHS didn’t win any of the games.
   "It was really tough," Graham said. "It’s a big transition going from forward to D. It’s a different mindset. And to start out with Steinert and Hopewell, any mistake is magnified. There was no room for error."
   Graham and the Little Tigers figure to get better from the experience. After opening last season unbeaten in their first 10 games, PHS didn’t get its first win this season until Monday when it topped Lawrence, 9-2.
   "We were a little disappointed in ourselves," Graham said of the 0-3-1 start. "We were searching for answers like why we weren’t winning like we were doing last year. It came down to having more intensity and eliminating mistakes."
   The Little Tigers took away much of the suspense with a 4-0 first-period lead. John Ryan finished with four goals and three assists while Jonathan Yi added a hat trick and an assist to topple Lawrence.
   "We had a pretty tough schedule to start the season," said PHS head coach Paul Merrow, whose team was scheduled to play Ewing on Thursday and will host Ridgewood 7 p.m. tonight at Baker Rink. "It’s almost the exact opposite of last year. We had two divisional games against the same team in 10 days. Not being on the winning end of it was tough. We’re trying to get back to .500 this week.
   "Before (Monday’s) game, we talked and said, we’ve got three games before we go on break. We have to take one game at a time. It’d be nice to run the table and get back to .500. We’d get good positive outlook throughout the locker room and go from there after the New Year. We just have to make sure we win the games we need to win. Teams we have out of conference or in conference, we have to battle in those games."
   The Little Tigers have plenty of offense. It was part of the factor that made the move to defense easier for Graham, who had played on the second line last year before a broken collarbone suffered in a hit ended his season last January.
   "That helped with my decision," he said. "We have so much talent and depth up front. It doesn’t make a big difference who moves back. We got some of the best players in the CVC playing forward for us. Then we have Christian McCracken on D, and Shane (Leuck) in net. We’ve got a solid core of players on this team."
   The Little Tigers finally put it all together for a big win over Lawrence on Monday. It was just what PHS needed at this point in the season.
   "I think it was pretty big," said Graham, who also plays for the PHS golf team. "It took a big weight off our shoulders. Everyone was wondering when are we going to start winning. This is finally the start of that. It feels good to get the first win, but it’ll feel a lot better when we win a few more. Hopefully we get to .500 before the end of the year."
   Graham figures to play a hand in the Little Tigers’ success at the defensive end. He is new to it, but adjusting as quickly as he can to the differences he’s starting to understand.
   "Knowing when to take a risk," Graham said. "When you can skate with the puck and when you can get rid of it. Analyzing cost benefits."
   Merrow added: "He’s doing a good job. Geordie is a pretty decent puck handler. He’s got good speed back there. He makes good decisions with the puck. We decided to put him back there. We’ve also tried Peter Teifer, and John Ryan plays back there on penalty kill. We need good puck handlers back there. We have Christian. He’s solid. Colin Sarafin is a physical presence back there, as opposed to a puck handler. Geordie can handle the puck."
   Graham was willing to move back when it was asked. He just wanted to make the Little Tigers better in his final scholastic season. Five games into his last hockey season, he is shaping up to be a solid defenseman.
   "Every game, I feel better," Graham said. "I feel more confident in what I’m doing. The game, it slows down a little. First game, against Steinert, it felt like everything is happening fast. Now it’s slowing down. I feel like I’m taking my time better.
   "Sophomore year, whenever I got a shift, I was running around trying not to make a mistake. As it went on, I got more comfortable. The same thing is happening with defense this year."
   PHS continues to address its play in the defensive zone. The Little Tigers have a strong enough offense that they don’t have to talk shutouts, but they do have to continue to progress.
   "We need to improve on our team defense," Merrow said. "With the shortness of defense we have, and with players out of position back there, we need to strengthen our overall team defense. We didn’t do that the four games. Other than the Hopewell game, we didn’t play very well on that end of the ice."
   PHS saw a positive against Hopewell in that it was able to bounce back from a 2-1 deficit entering the third period. The Little Tigers took another step toward their goals against Lawrence.
   "They played better at times," Merrow said. "It was one of those games, we’re looking for our first win and Lawrence has a win under their belt but they’re struggling. We needed to come out quickly and score quickly. We did get going. It’s one of those games that you can get caught up in the goals and try to 10-goal a team. We also wanted to work on our team defense. We did that at times.
   "With the exception of the Steinert game, we were in games for a time and just lost focus on defense," he added. "We have to keep games close and hope to steal them late. We’ve got Hopewell again later. We’ll have Notre Dame. They’re good. South and North are having good years in the other division. Our out of conference schedule is tough. We need to tighten up and keep things close. If we strengthen up a little, that will help and we should be OK for the New Year."
   The New Year marks the final one for Graham on the ice. He’ll focus on golf following the hockey season, but he doesn’t want to hang up the stick without going out on top with a group of nine seniors. It’s a group that has plenty of experience, something that will bring them through a rough start.
   "I think that is going to be helpful," Graham said. "Our group of kids, we’ve been through a lot, winning Mercer Counties two years ago and all the ups and downs of last season. I think it gives us a little more experience with how to deal with it.
   "We got a little unlucky early. We weren’t really prepared for the start of the season. As the season goes on, we’re going to be ready when we see Steinert again, Hopewell again and Notre Dame down the road. It just took a little longer to get out of the gate."