by
posted 04/13/2008
(Left to right: Sean Stoneman, Mike Ford, Charlie Hicks,
Mike Schoen, Tyler Somes, Brett Nightingale)
On Sunday, April 6th, the best high school hockey players in the state gathered at the Aqua Turf restaurant in Southington to receive the highest honor available to a Connecticut high school player--to be named to the CT All-State hockey team. Among the recipients were an incredible six former ECHO hockey players--a true testament to success of the ECHO program.
Mike Schoen (1990), a senior at Tolland High, was there to receive his second all-state award. Mike played every youth hockey game in his life in an ECHO jersey, even skipping his freshman season to finish his youth career as a 2nd year Bantam. Although he started late, Mike quickly adapted to high school hockey, scoring his first goal 12 seconds into his first high school game. As a top forward on the squad, Mike went on to amass 99 points in his three years playing for the E.O. Smith/Tolland/Windham co-op team. Mike is also a two-time All-Conference award winner. Mike’s younger brother Matt (1997) currently plays for ECHO and was the Squirt A goalie this past season.
Mike Ford (1991), a junior at Glastonbury High, received his first All-State award this year. Like Schoen, Ford played his entire youth hockey as an ECHO Star. Mike has been the starting goalie for Glastonbury High for most of the past three seasons. With Mike between the pipes this year, Glastonbury was ranked among the top ten Division I schools all season. This year Mike led the team into the Division I semifinals; in a division typically dominated by down-state schools, this was a great accomplishment. Mike’s older brother Matt (1989), now a sophomore at CCSU, played his entire youth hockey career at ECHO as well. Mike’s younger sister Emily (1994) skated for ECHO before moving to the CT Northern Lights girls’ program, where she competed in the National Tournament. Emily will be playing for The Kingswood-Oxford Prep team this fall.
Sean Stoneman (1990), a senior at Manchester High, also received his second All-State award. Sean, a standout defenseman for the Manchester/Rockville co-op hockey team, played most of his youth hockey at ECHO. Sean led his Manchester/Rockville team to a Division III state championship this year. Sean’s older brother Erich (1988) also played at ECHO. He is now a junior at CCSU skating with the club hockey team.
High school teammates Brett Nightingale (1990) and Tyler Somes (1990), both seniors at Bolton High School, also garnered All-State awards. The award was the first for Tyler and the second for Brett. As two-thirds of the Bolton/Coventry/Lyman co-op hockey team’s top line, they brought BCL to the Division III state championship final game. Brett’s older brother Andrew (1987) was also an ECHO player.
Charlie Hicks (1990), a senior defenseman at Glastonbury High School, earned his first All-State award. This past season Charlie became a dominant force among the Glastonbury defensive corps. Charlie skated for ECHO in his early years as a youth hockey player. His younger sister Molly (1994) was also an ECHO player before she left to play for the CT Northern Lights girls’ team, where she competed in the National Tournament.
In attendance at the banquet to watch his son receive his award was one person who had a role in the success of all these players, former ECHO head coach Tom Ford. Tom dedicated countless hours teaching these young men what it took to become great hockey players. All of the players as well as ECHO owe Tom a debt of gratitude.
