THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 19, 2024 Page 9 Icebound ambition: Peabody-Saugus’ journey to forge independent hockey legacies By Dom Nicastro O n paper, it seems odd to push for a team to eventually break up. But that’s precisely what high school cooperative teams – which feature players from more than one school – see as the ultimate goal. The Peabody-Saugus boys hockey team is no different. The primary aim of the cooperative team is to provide students passionate about hockey the opportunity to play, with a secondary goal of increasing interest and enabling both schools to eventually sustain their own teams. There’s no set time frame for this, but efforts are focused on building the right team culture to attract and retain local talent, encouraging players to stay and play for their hometown schools. Although originally planned for two years (this season is Year 2), the cooperation will likely continue as needed to achieve these goals. “The goal is to build back both of these programs to the point where they can be sustainable by themselves,” said Peabody-Saugus coach Jason Marshall, who has served as head coach of the now two-year cooperative program. “I mean it’s two historically good programs; both Peabody and Saugus had some reICEBOUND | SEE PAGE 11 Saugus/Peabody hockey player Dom Chianca moved the puck up the ice during recent action against Marblehead. (Advocate photo by Emily Harney)
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