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Gloucester Fishermen Boys Ice Hockey '07-'08

Members of the Gloucester hockey team, from left, Brett Biondo, Andrew Fulford and Josh Salah are hoping to duplicate their past state tournament success stating tonight at Salem State. Biondo, Fulford, Salah and Paul Russo are the four players who were on the team who played in Gloucester's 2006 state championship. » Mary Muckenhoupt, Staff Photographer

Gloucester quartet knows all about tourney success

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Thursday, February, 28 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

Heart, desire and hunger.

According to Gloucester boys hockey coach Don Lowe, those are three key attributes that every team has to have going into the Division 2 state hockey tournament. The Gloucester hockey team hopes to bring those three qualities to this year's tourney along with one attribute that separates them from most of the field: Experience.

Four holdovers from Gloucester's 2006 state championship team, Andrew Fulford, Paul Russo, Josh Salah and Brett Biondo, bring a ton of postseason experience to the table for the Fishermen. Fulford will be playing in his 10th state tournament game tonight when the third-seeded Fishermen take on No. 14 North Reading at Salem State College's Rockett Arena (7:30). Meanwhile, Russo, Salah and Biondo will all be playing in their ninth.

Back in 2006, Fulford was a sophomore and Salah a junior. The duo accounted for 25 and 24 points respectively, were scoring big goals and playing on the top two lines. Russo, also a freshman at the time, was the same rock-solid defender he is now, and Biondo (12 points) was a speedy third-line freshman with unlimited potential.

The Gloucester quartet has been there before, and they know what it takes to make a run.

"You need to give 100 percent on every shift," said Russo. "You have to have that extra jump in your step and you can't take a shift off even when you aren't playing your best." Fulford agreed that the experience factor will be an important advantage for the Fishermen.

"We know what it's like to win because we've been there before," said Fulford, who assisted Derek DeCoste's overtime game-winning goal against St. Mary's in the Division 2 North finals in 2006. "We have won big games and we know what to expect."

The Fishermen's big four also stresses urgency. The state tournament is unpredictable, and each game could be the last game of the season.

"You have to go all out and play every game like it's your last," Salah said. "If you don't play like it's your last game, it will probably be your last game."

Gloucester's experienced nucleus doesn't only know how to win big games, they know how to win big close games. The Fishermen won each of their last four games in 2006 by one goal, the last two in overtime, including a 2-1 win over Coyle-Cassidy in the state championship game.

Salah believes that the team's experience in nerve-racking situations is an advantage over most other teams.

"Any time you can win two overtime games in the Division 2 North finals and the Division 2 state finals at the (TD Banknorth Garden), that gives you an edge in experience," Salah said. "We know how to deal and not panic in critical situations. We know to stay calm if we get down a goal, because we had to come from behind a couple of times that year too."

Biondo sees some similarities and some differences from the 2006 team and the current Fishermen squad. "We might not be as talented but we have a lot of heart, and that's what it takes," Biondo said. "Everybody on this team wants to win badly and it's starting to come together for us.

Fulford, Russo, Salah and Biondo have also done their best to take the younger players under their wing.

"We have been telling them to do the little things that it takes to win," Salah said. "Like solid fore checking and good team defense. We have some younger guys that are stepping up big like Brett Cahill, Conor Ressel and Bradley Robertson. They have the physical tools and we are trying to teach them what we know because we have been there before."

Russo remembers the feeling of winning in 2006, and wants all of his teammates to get to experience it too.

"I try to stress to the guys that winning the state championship is the best feeling you can experience in high school hockey," Russo said. "I am trying to guide the younger players because I know what it's like. Hopefully we can experience that feeling again this year."

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