GUILDERLAND — John DeRubertis has different expectations for his Guilderland hockey team this season.

For the past couple of years, the Dutchmen have set their sights on reaching the sectional finals. This year, DeRubertis has more realistic goals for his young team.
"Coming into this season, I wasn’t sure what to expect," DeRubertis said. "I had the idea that we would be taking a step back from the last couple of years. This is a tough way to start."

The Dutchmen lost their first two games of the season in their own Dutchmen Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Dutchmen lost to Kenmore East, 6-1, on Saturday and lost to Kenmore West, 8-1, on Friday. Kenmore West was the top team in the tournament and Kenmore East — both schools are from the Buffalo area — was second. Liverpool — from the Syracuse area — was also in the tournament.
"We have some young players," DeRubertis said. "We did not play well in the defensive zone. That is a sign of the youth we have on defense.
"We’re not working as a team yet," he added. "Our defense is young. Senior Brian Tobin is a converted forward. He scored today on a power play. We have five defensemen that are sophomores or younger."

Tobin was named Player of the Game for his goal against Kenmore East. He scored with 8:17 left in the second period on a slap shot from the point. Aaron Cahill assisted on the tally.

DeRubertis also moved senior Adam Gray from his usual position of goalie to defense this season.
"He agreed to play defense," DeRubertis said. "He knows we’re young at the position. I haven’t competely decided if I’m going to put him back in net or play him out there."

Working on defense this year will be sophomores Jeff Geisendorfer, Nick Koss, Max Goodnight, Jon Fogel, and freshman Joe Romano.

DeRubertis has two senior goalies who will split duties if Gray stays on defense.

Brian Clother and Colin Bonitz have been on the varsity for the past few years. They will be backed up by junior Brendon Glennon.
"Colin and Brian are both capable of doing a nice job in goal," DeRubertis said.
"Back to basics"

The Dutchmen’s offense will be led by senior Captain Tim Montgomery.
"He is fighting an ankle injury he got in the last football game of the year," DeRubertis said. "It’s been nagging on him and he’s just got to get more confidence playing on it."

The forwards will also have to gain experience as they move around early this season.
"We have a couple of forwards who are juniors that we are looking to to help out," DeRubertis said. "But they were fourth-line players that have moved up as high as the second line. We have guys that were on the third line that have moved up to the first line."

The forwards on the team are: seniors Steve Marciano, Havard Brustad, John Moran, and Corey Gillepsie; juniors Ben Fogel, Leland Murphy, Nick Stefani, John Potts, Kyle McKenty; sophomore Aaron Cahill; and freshman Colin Burg.

DeRubertis said that his seniors have experienced success for the past few years and this year it could be tough as the younger players gain experience.
"Timmy is used to having success here," the coach said. "Brian Tobin and Corey Gillespie, John Moran have had nothing but success here. They see where we’re at. We’re taking a step back. We’re back to basics and it can be frustrating for them."

The idea for this year’s edition of the Skating Dutchmen is to improve throughout the season.
"The goal we set for the team is to be able to look back and see that everybody has truly gotten better," DeRubertis said. "We want to be a better team at the end than the start. An improved team, that’s basically what we’re shooting for."

The Skating Dutchmen head north this weekend for the Sanstoners Potsdam Tournament. Guilderland will play on Friday and Saturday.

The Dutch then will have a break and return to action, hosting their holiday tournament on Dec. 16 and 17.

Guilderland will host Mammaroneck on Friday, Dec. 16, and then take on Mahopac the next day. Glens Falls is also in the tournament.
"The tournaments allow us to get some good games in before we get into our section schedule," DeRubertis said.