Ethan Bauer, Leo Packard, and Liam Guilderson huddled behind the glass at a recent Belmont High School boys hockey game, three young men with lots to discuss.
Less than a year ago, the trio starred for the Marauders. This year, all three made what they described as not-so-easy decisions to leave Belmont High School for prep schools.
“We always talk about if we did stay and stuff how fun it would be, but also talk about how our prep seasons are going,” said Guilderson, now a sophomore forward at Dexter Southfield in Brookline. “I really miss Belmont…I also know that playing prep for me is a lot better to develop and for later on as well.”
All three said that, if you want to play college hockey, going to prep school is basically a necessity.
Guilderson and Packard, both forwards, reclassified and are repeating their sophomore and junior years, respectively, at Dexter Southfield and Middlesex School in Concord. Bauer, now a junior goalkeeper at Belmont Hill, opted not to reclassify at the recommendation of the Sextants coaching staff, allowing him to retain two years of junior hockey eligibility after high school.
All three still feel a strong connection to their Belmont roots as they pursue their new paths.
“I always say I’m a Marauder for life,” said Bauer. “I just felt like it was a good time for me. You take steps when you can and when doors open, you try to take advantage of them.”
Of course, Bauer, Guilderson and Packard aren’t the only Belmont students playing prep hockey, but they each played a pivotal role — and in theory would have been a critical core for the Marauders. Ditto for Jil Costa, the former girls team goalie, a Boston Globe and Herald All-Scholastic and Middlesex League Liberty MVP now playing at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut.
Guilderson, Packard and Bauer collected numerous accolades last winter. Packard and Guilderson teamed with then-Marauders senior captain Adam Bauer (now playing junior hockey with Boston Jr. Rangers) on one of the state’s most explosive lines, each earning Middlesex League All-Star honors and Boston Globe All-Scholastic and honorable mention nods, respectively. Guilderson (25 goals, 26 assists), also a Herald All-Scholastic, led the team in scoring, while Packard boasted 22 goals and assists each. Ethan Bauer, Adam’s younger brother, was the starting goalie, backboning a team that captured the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Doherty Division, Cardinal Classic and the No. 6 seed in the MIAA Division I tournament.
All three are in various stages of the college recruiting process. Guilderson is the most highly touted and he anticipates playing at a Division I college. Where Packard and Bauer will end up is less clear.
According to Mark Bilotta, head scout for the New England region and Massachusetts director for the amateur hockey ranking site Neutral Zone, the always-complicated college hockey ecosystem has become even more difficult for players to navigate this year.
For example, this season marks the first campaign in which players from the top junior development league in the world, the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), are eligible for NCAA play. That infusion of top-tier talent effectively pushes other players down the pecking order among collegiate recruiters.
In fact, one prominent NCAA Division I head coach told Bilotta he’s only recruiting in Canada.
“Getting to DI college will be more difficult: fewer spots available with the Canadians coming in and there is one fewer team (American International College),” Bilotta said. “Most likely, many prep players will be high, high-level D3 players and others will go on to play club hockey which is growing very quickly in popularity amongst big schools in the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten.”
All three of their prep schools compete in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), meaning they won’t face Belmont High School, a member of the MIAA. Dexter Southfield and Belmont Hill are in the Large classification, Middlesex in the small. Belmont Hill and Middlesex scrimmaged during the preseason, but none of the three will match up in regular-season play.
Packard started thinking about going to prep school when teammates from his East Coast Wizards club team did. He “procrastinated” on the decision, partly because he valued playing for Belmont High School and the town teams before that. What it came down to, Packard said, was his long-term goal and what would be best for his college hockey potential?
“It’s so hard, barely even possible to play college hockey without going prep at this point,” Packard said. “That idea, combined with other people on the team leaving, I thought it would be better to get eyes on me.”
Scouts at games and competing with other top-level players signal development. It’s the old adage of iron sharpens iron, said Packard, a day student who might complement his hockey play with baseball or lacrosse in the spring. He misses his friends and the Belmont community, but Packard goes to as many games as possible as a fan, a “strange” experience. Going to Middlesex has been worthwhile. Ditto for Guilderson at Dexter Southfield.
Bauer feels similarly about Belmont Hill, sticking close to home at a school with a unique setup.
“I’ve loved every second of it,” he said. “A big part of it is the teacher-coach model, where the same teachers we have in the classroom are on the ice.”
But the trio still finds itself at Belmont High School games, pulling for their old teammates from a different vantage point, despite their divergent paths.
“There isn’t another team I’d root for,” Packard said.
