HOLDEN \u2014 At 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds, Wachusett Regional High School\u2019s ice hockey assistant captain Parker Meyer may not strike team supporters and opponents as one of the more imposing players on the ice, but don\u2019t let first appearances fool you.<\/p>\n
Meyer, a junior from Holden, may not tower over his opponents, but he combines speed with toughness to compensate for size, rather effectively. In particular, speed has been his calling card, and that has been the primary reason why he centers for the Mountaineer skaters. His quickness and determination on the ice render him a clear fan favorite.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy coach back in youth hockey put me at center because I was one of the fastest players,\u201d Meyer said in a recent interview. \u201cBeing able to be everywhere on the ice helped me out a lot. It\u2019s tough. You have to grind it out out there. I have to stay in shape in the offseason to compete with the other guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a deep love for the game. My whole family has been playing, so being able to do what they\u2019ve been doing was special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cParker was second on our team in scoring last year, with 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points,\u201d said WRHS varsity ice hockey head coach Matt Lane. \u201cBased on his hustle and hard work, he was named one of our assistant captains for this year\u2019s team. He is slightly undersized, but he makes up for that with his determination and physical play on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ice hockey is a sport that clearly is in his blood. His commitment to the game is nearly year-round, with few breaks. Such dedication to the grinding pace of hockey had not gone unnoticed by Lane and the rest of the squad\u2019s coaching staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI play for a travel team heading up to the high school season, then doing summer leagues and working out for the summer. It\u2019s very much a year-round commitment,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cAs a captain, I try to keep the younger kids on track and tell them the things that will help them improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get really excited when I first get out on the ice. Big games are my favorite. As the game goes on, I need to make sure I\u2019m doing everything to support my team by making sure the energy is right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meyer and teammates had compiled a 7-4 record as of this writing, and were not far from a berth in the playoffs. The goal is to be continuing play in the month of March and recognizing that it\u2019s not all about oneself, but a bigger element as a Wachusett Mountaineer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you put on that Wachusett jersey, you\u2019re not playing for yourself\u201d Meyer acknowledged. \u201cYou\u2019re playing for the whole school and the Wachusett district and your teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HOLDEN \u2014 At 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds, Wachusett Regional High School\u2019s ice hockey assistant captain Parker Meyer may not strike team supporters and opponents as one of the more imposing players on the ice, but don\u2019t let first appearances fool you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}