Pyhel Looks Back at 11 Years of Chatham Hockey

There is nothing pedestrian about Jake Pyhel, a recent Chatham High School graduate, whose dominant scoring abilities  in March.

“It was one of the coolest experiences of my life,” said Pyhel, who scored two goals in the championship game, winning 7-3 against Middletown South.“It was amazing to have my last high school hockey game end with a win.” 

Earlier in the season, Pyhel also accomplished something that happens rarely in the sport, hat-tricks in not one, but two consecutive games.

“The hat-tricks were pretty cool, too," he said. "But winning the states as a team at the Prudential Center in front of all the kids from our school meant even more to me.”

After starting out in roller hockey, Pyhel was on the ice by the time he was in the first grade.

“I really wanted to play, so I would go to practices in Bayonne at 6 in the morning,” Pyhel said. 

While playing in the Chatham recreational league, Pyhel scored his first goal in Mendham as a mini-mite, playing the position his coach felt he would find success. And he did just that, right up through his senior year of high school.

With a 21-3-4 record his senior season, and career 47 points, ranking 33rd overall in point total history, Pyhel’s pre-game ritual consists of kicking a soccer ball around in a three-on-three-game, getting his mind set for the contest. 

“Playing hockey requires a lot of physical preparation, as well as metal preparation, staying calm under pressure,” Pyhel said.

Playing against teams like Morris Knolls and Randolph can be intimidating, rendering a great deal of focus to successfully execute the skills necessary to win the game; which is why Pyhel, whose favorite NHL players are forwards Zach Parise and Teemu Selanne, relies on his pre-game ritual.

During his career at Chatham High, Pyhel was awarded the Most Improved Player his sophmore season and the Coaches Award his junior season. He also played travel hockey for the Colonials U18AA team, which plays a shortened season league, ending the day before the high school season begins.

A huge New Jersey Devils fan, Pyhel will attend Rutgers University in the fall as a pre-med major. He is preparing for the ACHA Division hockey season this summer, attending the gym regularly and getting as much time on the ice as possible.

“A friend of mine has a dad who has a summer men’s team. I fill in as often as possible, Pyhel said. "I also go to the open skating, skating with the Chatham High School players who will be on the team next year.”

This gives Pyhel the opportunity to communicate the importance of “listening to head coach Harvey Cohen, and assistant coaches Frank Gillberti and Rich Reagold, sticking to their system” to the recent state champs who hope to continue the winning tradition next season.

A “fun” and “happy” person, Pyhel will also balance his dedication to hockey along with a job at a golf course this summer, maintaining the greens and fairways. He also plans to spend his summer doing something else that he loves to do, something that is done on the non-frozen version of the ice hockey surface—surfing.