From the 1970s through the ’90s, Mt. Carmel varsity hockey might have been the most dominant athletic program in the state, as they won 20 Kennedy Cups. Since then, they have had several up-and-down seasons but are now looking to rebound with new leadership and new coaching this year.

The team has won two of their first three games, picking up wins against Crown Point and a very strong Plainfield squad. Led by new coaches Mike DiStefano and Liam Garvey, a new style of play and instruction has been adopted that has helped them find early success.

Senior players like Zach Tengelson and Conor McClelland have also stepped up and fully committed to the program, leading the way for the whole team.

The team starts CCHL play with a game against Benet Academy on Saturday, September 28. With their first two wins, they are looking to build on their momentum going into the rest of the season.
Coach Garvey, the new assistant coach, is excited for the guys.

“I actually started helping out a little bit last year in the second half of the season,” he said. “We talked to our players and asked them what they wanted to do, and they said they wanted some more structure and additional coaching.”

To prepare players for the season, he put them through an intense summer workout program.

“The guys did 13 weeks in the summer,” he said. “They did two days of off-ice training and one day of ice [per week]. We were working on some Olympic lifting, and we were working on footwork and speed, doing sprinting and different types of plyometrics. On the ice, we were mostly working on individual skills.”

Coach Garvey, father of sophomore player Rowan Garvey, has been involved in hockey his whole life. He played college hockey at Michigan Tech, and was on the 1993 World Junior Olympic team while playing in college. After he graduated, he played nine years professionally in the International Hockey League, as well as in Germany and Sweden. He also has over twenty years of experience coaching at the Triple-A level.

The new head coach, Mike DiStefano, also has a lot of experience.

“Coach Distefano comes in with a really great resume too,” alumnus and team moderator Mr. Tony DiFilippo ‘91 said. “Most recently he coached Sandburg’s hockey program, and he has coached at the collegiate level in women’s hockey. He also coached at a high level in youth club hockey, and played triple A.”

DiStefano is fully committed to the hockey program.

“He has time to do this, which is super critical,” Mr. DiFilippo said. “Hockey is a 24/7, 365 day sport, and it never ends. Mike’s really excited to bring Mount Carmel hockey back.”

The players have noticed a shift in the team’s energy this year, and think it is one of the reasons for their early success.

“There’s a whole new energy towards MC hockey,” senior captain Zach Tengelson said. “We see that as a new opportunity and a way to boost the program.”

Tengelson also sees the hockey team as another family.

“Everybody’s really good friends,” he said. “We’re a tight-knit community for sure. We’ve done a lot of team bonding, whether that’s team dinners or just being together [in general]. We’ve practiced a lot and just gotten together to perform as best as we can.”

After starting his high school career at MC, he transferred to Loyola. It did not take long for him to come back though, as he was a junior leader last season.

Expectations for the squad were high coming out of summer workouts, and they have not disappointed so far.

“The Crown Point game was a little warm up game for us,” senior captain Conor McClelland said. “We didn’t expect it to come as that big of a victory as it was, but we were just working hard and doing the right things.”

In their third game, they played a strong Plainfield program that was highly ranked.

“That team is a top 15 team in the state,” he said. “They beat a bunch of good teams like Providence, who’s in our division. We were dumping it deep, getting physical, passing the puck around, and we were just doing everything the right way.”

Tengelson had two goals to lead the Caravan in a 5-3 victory over Plainfield. Other major offensive contributors have been sophomore Logan Gnatt, who had 3 goals in 3 games, as well as sophomore Brayden Petro, juniors Kenny Groen and TJ Kolke, and McClelland. Seniors such as Blane Bertalmio, Vinny Ciocci, and Alex Urban have also taken a bigger role this year.

The Caravan now look to enter Catholic League play as an underdog.

“I think that we’re a team that nobody thinks is gonna be very good this year,” DiFilippo said. “I see us playing really tough in the Catholic League this year, and I think we’re gonna surprise a few teams.”

The team will take the ice in the Blackhawks High School Rivalry Series at Morgan Park Sports Center against St. Rita on January 9th, putting the spotlight on a historic CCL matchup.

However, the team’s goals stretch further than doing well in their conference.

“Obviously, the ultimate goal is the Kennedy Cup,” McClelland said. “I think the Kennedy Cup means more to the hockey program than the state championship does, and we’re really just working hard to get closer to that every day.”

This year’s team has lots of potential, and that has a lot to do with the culture of the storied program.

“Now we have a group of guys that are really starting to understand what it means to have the MC on their sweater,” DiFilippo said. “It’s a privilege to play for Mount Carmel.”