There was little Gary Bishop knew about Zach Musgrave before this season. In fact, even “little” may be pushing it.

Where Musgrave was from, where he played the year before, what he could bring to this Bishop Guertin hockey team, the Cardinals’ 17-year coach said he knew nothing of the shaggyhaired junior forward.

It’s funny how a state title can change things.

Months after Musgrave, a Bedford native and Manchester West transfer, entered Guertin’s tryouts just hoping to make the team, the virtual unknown made sure the 1,500 in attendance at the Verizon Wireless Arena knew his name well on Sunday, March 11. He assisted on both his team’s scores in the Cardinals’ 2- 1 win over Bishop Brady in the Division I championship.

In helping Guertin to its first state crown since 2001, Musgrave also played a key role defensively, sharing the responsibility of shutting down the state’s leading goal scorer, Chris Hickey, with linemates Ward Gleason and Eric Harries.

The trio succeeded, keeping Hickey and his linemates, Matt Denning and Cody Gut, off the scoreboard.

“He just came to tryouts and it was like, ‘OK, give me your best shot, and if you make the team, you make the team,’” Bishop said, now in a much better position to speak about Musgrave. “What he is, he’s one of nine guys. He doesn’t do anything a lot better than anyone else, but they’re nine guys that are pretty good players, and he’s one of them. He made the mix that much better.”

That mix, which featured nine players with at least 16 points during the regular season, ensured Guertin a 23-1 record and a title after three years of quarterfinal exits in the state tournament. Sweet redemption for most of the team’s players, the championship was the mother of all bonuses for Musgrave.

“It was all about education,” he said of his reason for transferring from West, where according to Blue Knights coach Phil Croasdale, Musgrave would have been the team’s top offensive weapon.

“It’s a bonus that we have a good hockey team here at BG,” he continued. “But at West, I wasn’t really getting everything out of it, and my parents noticed that, and once they saw that, they thought I should come somewhere else, a new environment.”

Things weren’t totally new on the ice for the 6-foot-1 forward who, prior to the high school season, played on the Salem Saints Midget team with BG’s Pat O’Kane and Kyle Curry.

After making the Cardinals team, he immediately paid dividends on the third line, helping the development of freshmen linemates Evan Bedell and Peter LaFosse. Switching to his current line with Harries and Gleason after Guertin’s 3-0 setback to Berlin on Jan. 24, he continued to produce, totaling nine goals and seven assists on the year, all the while fine-tuning the defensive game that played a key role in the championship.

Making Sunday’s win even better, Musgrave said, was the journey he took to get there. As a freshman at West, Musgrave missed the playoffs in the regular season’s final game. Last year, the Blue Knights lost in the first round. So now, with an 18-1 instate record and a title to boot, Musgrave struggled to put words to his feelings.

“I’m just on cloud nine right now,” he said. “It’s really just unbelievable.”