Syracuse.com’s 2025-26 winter media day boys, girls hockey coach polls: Shootout sure thing? Most improved?

Syracuse, N.Y. — Hockey coaches need to know what each of their players brings to the lineup before deciding which buttons to push in the crucial moments of a game.

Those with slick moves and a cool temperament are the best candidates for a shootout. The ones who have put in the work during the off-season put themselves in a better position to contribute in more important minutes.

At syracuse.com’s recent Section III winter media sports day, we asked Section III coaches a pair of questions:

Which of their players is most likely to convert a game-winning shootout attempt with the season on the line? And who do they expect to be their most improved players this season?

Here are their responses:

Shootout aces

Boys

Cal Maher, Auburn

“He’s got a heavy shot and some good moves.” — Heath Ferris

Rocco Weaver, Baldwinsville

“He’s a defenseman, but he’s got confidence. And you want somebody who thinks, ‘I’m going to score this goal,’ not like, ‘Oh God, I hope I score this goal.’ So I think that’d be Rocco. He’s a pretty skilled defenseman. So he can handle it. He’s got some moves. He won’t play strictly forward, but we’ve thought about moving him up because last year we had trouble scoring goals and that could be a problem again this year.” — Mark Lloyd

Drew Mayne, Fayetteville-Manlius

“He’s got the stick skills. If I had to put the puck in (it’d) be him.” — Jim Wisnowski

Jacob Bruno, Rome Free Academy

“He’s been a guy that has been around for us forever, he bleeds the RFA orange and black, and I wouldn’t want it on anybody else.” — Jason Nowicki

Drew Schneider, Syracuse

“He is, we’ll call it, our most creative guy in a lot of ways. He’s got a really long reach, he’s got skill, he’s got vision, he sees it. So he’s got the ability to kind of pull some stuff off that you’re not really expecting out of him.” — Neal Purcell

Aiden Nofri, Whitesboro

“Aidan Nofri is a dangerous player on a breakaway. He is a powerful skater who is hard to handle when he attacks with speed, and when you add in his deceptive release and high-level shot velocity, he’s a good bet to finish when he gets the opportunity.” — Patrick Gaffney

Sam Vormwald, Nick Meluni, West Genesee

“Sammy’s very fast. He’s got the speed of his brother (Jonah). Similar to Jonah, if he can find the puck in open ice, he’s tough to catch and he shoots it pretty well. Nick, he’s more of that front dots and hash marks and in kind of kid. He’s a lot of grit and sandpaper to his game. So he’s a kid that, if we can just get pucks to the net, he’s going to have a good chance to bury them. He’s kind of got that confidence. He’s a kid that I would trust in any situation.” — Frank Colabufo

Girls

Jordan Devendorf, Oswego

“She’s really been working on her shot in the offseason.” — Ben Miller

Most improved player

Boys

Max Laraway, Auburn

“Hoping to get some more minutes out of him this year, and he’s worked hard this offseason.” — Heath Ferris

Angelo McPheeters, Joseph Toland, Baldwinsville

“(McPheeters) was a freshman last year and he played. He’s good. He’s just a really, really good athlete and can do anything. Joey Toland is another one who was a freshman last year, just a hard-working winger. Those are two key, key players for us. We had some summer ice. We have preseason ice going on right now. They’re first guys on the ice, last guys off the ice, type of kids I’ve seen, they’ve gotten a little bigger,a little stronger, a little faster. They’re going to be good.” — Mark Lloyd

Ezra Stahlberg, Cazenovia

“It’s hard to believe that he’s been with us for four years, but it was like when he was a freshman, you’re kind of thinking that he’s older than he is. And now you really kind of start to see him develop and be confident and be good with that type of stuff and be a leader.” — Seth Howard

Coleman Wimer, Christian Brothers Academy

“He’s been with us since eighth grade. So it’s fun to see him take that next step.” — Matt Siegel

Oliver Smith, Asa Black, Cassian Zullo, Fayetteville-Manlius

“Those guys, they put a lot of work in over the summer. We had a couple of practices already, they seem to be putting the puck in the net a little bit easier.” — Jim Wisnowski

Jacob Bruno, Rome Free Academy

“We lost Tyler (Lokker) and Jackson Marchione from our top line, but the third guy from that line last year, Jacob Bruno, he’s ready to have a huge year. Obviously, first team all-star (last year), you’ve got to be pretty good to be that. But just seeing him come back this year, he’s a whole new beast. And the way he moves on the ice and the speed that he has is really impressive to watch, really fun to watch, and I’m excited where he can take us this year.” — Jason Nowicki

Anthony Polhamus Jr, Syracuse

“He’s a junior this season. One of those kids who played as an eighth grader. We’ve seen incredible improvement from him as the years have gone on. Anyway, he started a couple of games last year for us. We’re really excited to bring him in as a new starting goaltender for us.” — Neal Purcell

Dom Nucci, Whitesboro

“He’d let us know over the summer that he was working hard on his game and in the gym and so far, we see results. He’s bigger, faster, and his shot has better velocity. We’re expecting big things from him this season.” — Patrick Gaffney

Sam Vormwald, West Genesee

“I would say Sammy Vomwald had the best off-season. He was outstanding in our summer camp for two weeks. He was a pleasant surprise. He did a lot of work in the weight room, got himself bigger, stronger, faster. So that was very encouraging.” — Frank Colabufo