The Benilde-St. Margaret’s boy’s hockey season is underway, and the team’s expectations are very high this season. With tons of new talent and many returning players, the boys are looking forward to a great season.

Last year was a building year for the Red Knights as they had a lot of first-year members on the varsity roster. These players who now have a year of varsity experience under their belt will make a huge impact on the ice this year. “Last season we had lots of young talent enter the program, and now that they have a year of experience, it is really going to help us be successful this year,” senior captain Ryan Baird said.

Even before the official start of the season, the team had revenge on their minds. After a tragic 4-0 section final loss to rival Edina Hornets which ended BSM’s season, the Red Knights immediately seeked redemption. “I truly think that loss has helped us; we worked very hard this off-season during the summer and fall, and I think we’ve learned to trust each other and the coaching plan more this season,” junior Caleb Koskie said.

Agreeing with Koskie, junior captain Drew Stewart also believes that the outcome of last season’s Edina game helped the team in the long run and helped change the mindset for the upcoming season. “There were lots of emotions that day, leading to vengeance and a change in mindset. Not a day went by when I didn’t think about that game, and what we could have done differently,” Stewart said.

The Red Knights are ranked ninth to begin the season in Minnesota’s Class AA and have a very challenging schedule in which they play eleven of the state’s top twenty Class AA schools. Unlike the start of the season last year, BSM will have to play some very tough games to start off this season. A non-conference game versus Mahtomedi was going to be a good test for them to build and learn off of but the weather conditions made them postpone the game. The Red Knights first game will now be the Edina Hornets on December 3rd which should be electric as always. “We got a date with the Hornets on the 3rd, and we have to prepare like it is the section final the moment we step on the ice,” junior goalie Mason McElroy said.