BATAVIA/BND United first ever modified hockey team takes the ice for the first time

It’s been a dream of BND United head coach Marc Staley’s for a while now. The final piece of the puzzle is now in place, a Modified BND United Hockey Team will officially start their season on March 16th.

After adding a JV BND United team, the same year that Notre Dame and Batavia Hockey programs merged in 2021, interest in the team has increased.

“After the first year we had pretty good success, and the success we had this year, we went to both schools and said we think it’s time now to add the 7th and 8th grade. The idea when this came to fruition was to have a full development model and this is the culmination of that,” says Coach Marc Staley who also is the head coach of the Varsity BND United team.

The first modified team has 18 players that will play in a spring league that is based in Buffalo. Opening weekend of play is a Round Robin format March 16-18th at the Harbor Center. After the opening weekend of play, teams will be placed in a tiered group of teams according to how well they played on opening weekend. Regular season games will be played every Sunday, with practice before each game.

This past Thursday, the team gathered at McCarthy Ice Arena in Batavia for their first practice.

“I think the kids are really excited about it. They play for a lot of different teams and being on the ice together was a lot of fun. We’re just trying to get them together and jelled.”

Staley says he is excited to see the kids as they begin their journey playing hockey at the modified level and then how they grow and come together as a group at the varsity level.

“This is a time where there is a lot of change. Some kids may not be as strong. They come into the environment and all of a sudden everyone around them is faster, so they get faster, and they get better. It’s exciting that these kids will have 5-6 years to develop in this program.”

Staley says the JV Program is crucial to the success of the whole program.

“If you look at some of the kids that had a huge impact on our varsity team, Jake Hutchins, Sam Pies and Rhys Tanner, they were JV kids last year. Previously they were sitting the bench and not playing. Now they are on the ice playing 18-20 games, so when we bring them up to varsity, they are ready.”

Brennan Briggs and Paul Pedersen are coaching the JV team.

John Kirkwood, who is assistant coach at the varsity level, is also assistant coach at the modified level.

“We’re teaching them the culture and teaching them how we go about practicing, that helps some of these kids who will make up the JV team next year.”

Staley says the BND United teams are following what teams are doing in Buffalo currently.

“You look at teams like Orchard Park, Lancaster, Clarence, St. Francis, and St. Joes, this is the model they have been doing for decades, they’ve had Modified, JV and Varsity and Rochester doesn’t have that. They have some JV teams but not many.

There are 24 modified teams in the league that BND United Modified will be playing in this spring.

“It gives the kids an opportunity to play with their classmates and to get a little bit more ice time and play together and maybe be more ready when they get to the JV level. So, this is brand new. We haven’t played a game in the league yet, we have no idea how we’ll fare.”