The University School boys hockey team has a big game against Janesville Craig/Parker Tuesday in the WIAA high school playoffs.
The Wildcats pride themselves on embracing the past while building for the future. For University School, it's all about using the regular season to build their brand.
"Every year, like you mentioned we're trying to find our identity," University School Head Coach Corbin McGuire says. "Every year, we start with a goal to be our best versions of ourselves come February, come playoff time."
"We're one of the top programs around," University School Left Wing Jack McGregor says. "So it's a big responsibility each year to play well and play well in the playoffs especially."
To say the Wildcats pounded the road is a mild understatement. They played teams in every corner of the state.
"It's the windshield miles. There's no frequent flyer miles on the bus," McGuire says. "But our kids wanna do it. They wanna go and travel to Superior and they wanna go see Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls. If they're willing to do it and willing to compete, us as coaches love that and wanna do it with them."
"There's a lot of top teams up in Upper Wisconsin," McGregor says. "So you're complaining you're going to be in the bus a lot but it's fun. You know, overnight trips with the guys and the bus trips, those are some of the best times for high school hockey. We played a bunch of top teams, played them close. Couple close losses, couple big wins, big step up from last year. So, like high expectations, state's our goal this year, nothing less."
And there's no doubt when you walk into the University School arena, what it's all about.
"You gotta play for the people that played here before, represent them as well," McGregor says. "Seeing the banners up there, you'll give anything to get your name on one of those banners. That's one of the why's for us for winning state is we would die to have our banner up there with all of our names and everyone walking by them."
"You walk around the rink, every kid sees the banners," McGuire says. "They see the state championships, the sectional championships, and they've been a part of programs in the past that have won and they want to continue on that tradition and continue on that legacy but also carve out their own."
The Unversity School Wildcats have a tough balancing act embracing the past but looking forward to the future.
