Current Athlete Of The Month: Hunter Strojny

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Photography Director: Kit Noble; Video Edit by Chris Sebastian. Video taken by Chris Tran.

The Nantucket boys hockey team has won 13 straight games and has secured a firm grasp on a top 3 seed in the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament bracket. They’ve been the #2 seed in each MIAA bracket release to date - outscoring their opponents 69-22 over the course of this win streak.

A team doesn’t have that sort of success without a variety of key contributors. Some names will pop into the minds of fans who have attended these games and heard certain player’s names become synonymous with goal scoring as their names are read aloud over the PA system.

But as I went around and asked a variety of Whaler coaches and players who the most important player on this team is, Hunter Strojny’s name came up quickly every time.

“He is key for us and he's an anchor back there for the defense,” head coach Jack Moran said. “He's absolutely phenomenal at what he does creating plays moving out of the zone. He's always there. He's great at the points taking care of business. He's a very good heads up player. He's making great passes, he's very influential in creating plays. He's just good at what he does. He's kind of like that unsung hero. He's back there doing all kinds of good things that people don't really pick up on. Thank God he's there for us. He does a lot of good things for the team.”

While Strojny has contributed offensively with one goal and four assists for five points in 12 games (missed two games due to injury), the responsibilities he carries in the defensive end have helped solidify Nantucket’s defense as an elite unit and made goalie and senior captain Griffin Starr’s life a bit easier in net.

Strojny’s skating ability and skill helps him break the puck out of his own end with ease over and over - springing his skilled forwards up ice to do their thing and put the puck in the back of the net.

The Nantucket Current is beginning a series where we highlight one athlete on the island once per month. This player isn’t always the superstar or flashy athlete. It can be someone whose greatest contributions come when no one else is looking, or be someone whose impact is substantial during the game but wildly under-appreciated by the common spectator.

In this case, the Current has picked Strojny - a player who exemplifies a little bit of both: a star player whose impact on this team often gets overlooked.

*The Nantucket Current publishes an Athlete of the Month feature the first week of each month highlighting one Nantucket athlete for their performance through photography, video, and writing.*

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