In looking back on one of the few silver linings in his team’s 2- 15-1 season, West hockey coach Phil Croasdale said the Blue Knights’ 7-1 win over Manchester Memorial on Jan. 27 – easily the squad’s most decisive victory, both moral and actual – wasn’t unlike many of the other games the group played.

That, in a sense, is what made the 2006-07 season so frustrating.

Already without three of its top players by season’s end, West had as much trouble shaking its inconsistencies as it did the bad luck that plagued it this winter.

Without perhaps his top offensive player, Bishop Guertintransfer Zach Musgrave, at the start of the year and another star, Ian Law, lost to a season-ending hand injury in December, Croasdale said his team often played to the level of its competition.

The Blue Knights geared up for top teams like Hanover, who they took to overtime on Jan. 6, but faltered against “the teams we probably should have beaten,” he said, referring to Londonderry and Trinity, who combined to hand them three losses. Meanwhile, the offense created shots but few goals en route to a 2.2 goals-per-game scoring average.

The win over Memorial differed only in that those opportunities found the net. West had little chance to build on that victory, however, after starting senior goaltender Derrek Shorrock was ruled academically ineligible to play.

That left the duties to sophomore goalies Mike West and Kyle Dauphine, who, despite their best efforts, were “not quite ready for high school,” Croasdale said.

“But the kids remained upbeat,” the coach said. “We knew things weren’t looking good for the playoffs, so we took the attitude of playing each individual game as a separate season and playing the role of spoiler. The kids kind of took that on, and we played three or four of the top teams tough at the end of the season. We were very competitive right up to the end.”

Though winless in those final seven games, West didn’t need victories to feel good about heading into next season. Buoyed by youth the entire year, the Blue Knights return its first line of junior Zach Ouellet and sophomores Jonathan St. Charles and John Mulvey, as well as several other promising forwards in sophomores Devin Greaney, Ryan McDonough, Andrew Sterling and Keith Pilotte.

Defensemen Kyle Lacerte, a sophomore; John Mara, a junior; and Evan Bennett, another sophomore, also showed vast improvement and are primed to help replace the losses of senior defensemen Jimmy Ahern and Kyle Charest. All three will play key roles next year in front of West and Dauphine, who can only benefit from the time they saw this season.

“So really we have six or seven forwards and three defensemen who are coming back for the next two years and should play a lot,” Croasdale said. “I expect our record to improve significantly next year.”

He then paused slightly, adding, “Given everyone comes back.”