York’s 9-2 loss to Glenbrook North on Saturday effectively ended the high school hockey careers of Dukes seniors Elliott Fafinski, Nick Lee and Michael Rouzer.
For Fafinski, who is considering joining the U.S. Marine Corps after high school, the loss ended the four-year career of a forward that York coach Bruce Turpin called “unorthodox.”
Fafinski embraces that label.
“I’m not typical, where it’s ‘wait until you see this kid, he’s a sick player,'” Fafinski said. “But I’m just as good as anyone else. It’s my skating style and stick-handling, and not making the normal play. I’m just different.”
Turpin will miss the play of a forward, a team captain, and also one of the team’s top defensive players.
“He’s an awesome two-way player,” Turpin said of Fafinski. “He’s aggressive and one of our main penalty killers, along with Nick Lee. He’s very aggressive and just finds a way to elude people.
“Fafinski, Lee, and Rouzer have been the heart and soul of this group.”
York’s season ended in a second-round game of the state playoffs at Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville. York moved up from the Metro West League to the more competitive Scholastic League this season to face the traditional high school powers of Illinois hockey.
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Fafinski welcomed the change.
“Coach told us that we’d be the group to take the program over the bridge to start playing the elite teams in the state,” Fafinski said. “Playing in the Metro West League, maybe in 25 percent of the games we had to go 100 percent.
“In this new league, if we don’t bring it in every single game — well, today we saw what happens.”
The Dukes (12-14) trailed 2-0 after one period but scored twice early in the second to tie the game. The Spartans then scored four goals in less than three minutes to grab control of the game.
Fafinski scored on assists from Nikolas Castino and Anthony Trankina, and Trankina scored on assists from Anders Caster and Castino to tie the game at 2-2.
“The whole year we’ve been down a lot and learned how to fight back,” Fafinski said. “We were down to (Glenbrook North) 5-1 earlier this year and we came back to make it 5-4, so we knew we could come back. We’re comfortable chasing (a lead).”
Glenbrook North’s four-goal explosion began with a defensive mistake that gave the Spartans a breakaway, just three minutes after York had tied the game. Three more goals gave them a 6-2 lead heading into the third period.
“They just ripped the momentum away from us,” Turpin said. “And then it kind of cascaded.”
The Dukes return both of their starting goaltenders next year in Nolan Knupp and Dylan Reynolds, as a foundation for a team aiming to take its program to the next level.
“It’s a young team, but I think next year will be a real good year for the team,” Fafinski said. “I think it’s only a matter of time before they can start knocking off the (top) teams.
“I’ll miss the team and being around the guys. It’s the closest team I’ve ever been a part of. I really thought this was the team that would knock somebody off but we just didn’t bring it enough today, and you have to bring it every day at state.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press