This season should have been one long celebration of the ascension of the Chatfield hockey program.
It should have been a season full of big hits, thrilling goals and triumphant smiles as the senior-laden Chargers took their place among the state’s elite programs.
While the Chargers (12-2), are holding their own on the ice, in first place in the Foothills Conference, they are playing without their leader, coach Bradd Markusch. A week ago, Markusch underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous tumor in his brain. Although the procedure was deemed a success — Markusch has returned home and is expected to make a full recovery — the Chargers will be without their coach for a while.
“We’ve been having real high hopes for this season since we were freshmen,” Chatfield senior Trevor Knoll said. “(Markusch) always said when we were seniors it would be a good year. He’s a good coach and, if we could win it all for him, that would be great. It has been more of an inspiration than anything and we haven’t taken it as a distraction. Even after his surgery, he was texting us, letting us know he was following us.”
On Tuesday, Chatfield’s 7-4 victory against Standley Lake left the Chargers alone in first in a crowded conference race. The victory was Chatfield’s seventh in a row and served notice that the first-round exits they suffered at state the past three years might be history.
Assistant coach Mark Glombecki has taken the reins on an interim basis, but he is quick to share the credit with his fellow assistants — Steve McLeod, Lev Cohen, and Aaron Lam — for keeping the Chargers focused.
“I’ve kind of tried to rally them around the ‘Win one for the Gipper,’ attitude,” Glombecki said. “They have really responded so far because this is a really special team.”
This is the team Markusch has been waiting to see gel for four years, ever since the senior class — led by captain Nate Grush and assistant captains Knoll, Jason Gour and Brendan Cecil — were freshmen. That year, Chatfield squeaked into the state tournament as the field’s final seed.
Said Kent Denver coach Dave Labbett of Knoll and Grush, “From the standpoint of technique and their physical presence on the ice, combined with their intellect, that’s what makes them a formidable force.”
Markusch hopes to be back behind the bench for the stretch run to state. His goal is to be in the stands when Chatfield takes on fellow Foothills Conference contender Regis Jesuit on Feb. 2.
“It has been tough without Coach, but our assistants have been doing a good job,” Grush said. “It has been good news for us that the surgery went well. Everyone was worried for him. Winning is helping him, I’ll bet. It has given us determination to go out there and win for him.”
