For the Greenfield hockey team, a core group of veterans worked together over the years to eventually compete at a very high level.

The Green Wave have a group of nine seniors on this year’s roster. Even some of the younger players are ripe with hockey exposure. The mixture could mean something special this season for Greenfield.

“Everybody has some experience in the Green Wave family,” Bouchard said.

Greenfield has all the tools this season to make a run in the postseason.  

“We have all the speed, skill, strength,” Bouchard said. “All the things you like to see in high school hockey.”

A forward line of Luca Siano, Nico Siano and Chase Zraunig expects to find the net early and often for the Green Wave. Zraunig showed some excellent goal scoring ability in a recent scrimmage against Deerfield Academy’s junior varsity team.

“They are expected to put some points on the board,” Bouchard said.

The Green Wave won the scrimmage, 4-3.

“D.A. (Deerfield Academy) is one of the predominant prep school hockey teams in the nation, never mind the New England area,” Bouchard said. “To come away with a 4-3 victory over their J.V. program is a huge step in the right direction to start the season. Showing that we have the speed, size and skill.”

Shaun Baumann, Brady Poreda and Shawn Beckwith make up another forward line with high scoring potential. Greenfield’s third line of Nolan Kalinowski, Max Caron and Desmond D’Angelo has a specific job of getting pucks in deep and grinding out some offense while the top lines get a rest.

Caron and D’Angelo made the move to varsity this season.

“They will find the back of the twine,” Bouchard said of the third line. “But their job is to keep the puck deep and give the other guys a breather.”

Greenfield’s Jack Laurie anchors the defense. Laurie is considered one of the top Division 4 players in the state, according to Bouchard. Laurie dealt with some injuries last season but is ready to unleash in his senior season. The Green Wave expects Laurie to log in upwards of 32 minutes per game.

“He’s expected to play a lot of defense and provide some offense,” Bouchard said. “He just has it. He has speed. He has hands. He’s physical. He has the hockey IQ. He sees the play developing around him before the play develops.

Anson Prunier is another elite defenseman for the Green Wave. Logan Tyler joined the Greenfield roster from Eaglebrook.

Noah Poreda and Wade Bardwell are also key contributors on defense.

Cooper Smith and Ben Johnston man the pipes for Greenfield. Both players are fully capable of making things difficult on opposing offenses. But there will be an open competition before the beginning of the season. In the scrimmage against Deerfield Academy’s JV squad, Smith only gave up three goals against 52 shots on net.

“We are really excited to see it,” Bouchard said. “They are battling it out and someone is going to emerge.”

Greenfield will battle it out this season once again in the Berry division, playing teams like West Springfield, Longmeadow, Minnechaug, East Longmeadow, Westfield and Ludlow. The Green Wave won the division last season.

Greenfield opens its season against St. Bernard’s High School on Saturday at the Wallace Civic Ice Rink in Fitchburg at 2 p.m.