Park High’s team is missing both top scorers, a three-year starter in goal and key defenders from last year’s team. Yet longtime coach Jay Moser is optimistic about the 2021-22 boys hockey season.

Park finished 8-12 overall last season and was 7-11 in the Suburban East Conference, good for seventh place. The Wolfpack started the season slowly and were just 4-10 before March. Park then won four of its last six games, including a section victory over Bloomington Jefferson.

The Wolfpack are aiming at a better start as well as a better finish this winter.

Top scorers Colin Jungwirth (eight goals, 10 assists) and Dalton Anderson (five goals, 15 assists) are both gone to graduation.

Defensively the loss is even greater as the Wolfpack must replace three-year starter in goal Conner Nelsen. Nelsen started and finished every game in goal last season.

“It’s never easy losing a three-year starter,” said coach Moser.

Vying to replace Nelsen in net will be junior Alex Harden and senior Jonah Frost.

Park welcomes several veterans back on both offense and defense as well as some promising news skaters coming into the fold.

Senior Samuel Janski with nine goals and nine assists returns, as does senior Brady Strand who skated in only seven games last season before the rest of the season with a knee injury. Ninth-grade newcomer Jack Rudh will be a very, very good hockey player, Moser said. Other players Park will count on offensively include Nate Donlon, Mike Schult and Mac Wohnoutka.

“We’ll have a deeper offensive corps than we’ve had,” said Moser. “We’ll have a little more offense than we have had. We have quite a few guys who can get in the 15-25 point range.

Just three players were in that range last season – Anderson (20 points), Jungwirth (18) and Janski (18).

Defensively, the Wolfpack will be hoping to maintain the status quo.

“We usually play good defense, but the offense will definitely be our strength,” Moser said.

On defense, look for Park to be led by veterans such as Vincent Lucio and Brenden Bloedel and newcomers such as Wyatt Beaurline.

Moser sees a loaded Cretin-Derham Hall team as being the class of the Suburban East Conference this season. Bur after the Raiders (18-2 last season), Moser views the conference teams as mostly equals.

“I believe we’ll be competitive,’ Moser said. “Cretin is going to be loaded. Everyone else we’ll be competitive with. I think there will be a lot of parity.”

After playing an all-conference schedule last season, Park will get to mix it up with some non-conference teams this season. Non-conference games include Dodge County, Hastings, Sprint Lake Park, Eastview, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Tartan.

Park opens with a game against Dodge County on Friday, Nov. 26, the start of four straight road games to begin the season. The home opener for the Wolfpack will be a good one, however, as they host archrival East Ridge on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at Cottage Grove Ice Arena. East Ridge swept the Wolfpack last season, winning 3-2 and 7-3.