Branford Boys Ice Hockey to play with West Haven via co-op deal

By Owen Lentner, Chief Reporter

The Branford Boys Ice Hockey team will play on the West Haven team via a co-op deal this season.

Without enough players to field a full team, the school has decided to join with West Haven for this season and the 2026-27 season as part of a two-year contract. Branford athletes will commute to the West Haven facilities for practice and home games; the team’s home ice will no longer be the Northford Ice Pavilion (NIP).

Such a change has been discussed in the past due to decreasing numbers of hockey players and the cost of running the program. Branford has a proud hockey history, winning two state titles and remaining competitive virtually every season.

“I’m gonna miss the community we had on our own and wearing Branford jerseys,” senior goalie Jack Bartels wrote in a statement to The Buzz. “I’m excited to see how we’ll do with more players.”

Athletic Director Brian Zaklukiewicz said that when he came on board last spring, Principal Lee Panagoulias said the first order of business was to get Boys Hockey a plan for the next school year due to the dwindling number of players; last year there were 13 players on the team.

“I think I called every school in the SCC [Southern Connecticut Conference] trying to see what numbers they had and [if] they [were] interested in coming here [to co-op with Branford]”, Zaklukiewicz said.

He explained how it took about three months to get a couple of contenders for the co-op, hoping one would agree to play with Branford. Unfortunately he got no takers, but North Branford and West Haven both gave solid options to play with their teams.

“West Haven was the most competitive option for us. They are a well-run machine over there: their hockey booster club, their penalty box, their locker rooms. The rink is right on campus,” Zaklukiewicz said. “It is a top-notch facility.”

Branford will be joining the existing co-op team at West Haven, comprised of players from Oxford, Shelton, and Seymour along with West Haven’s players.

Since players will now be commuting to West Haven for practice, start times are a bit different. Practice will be held during the school week; Mondays and Fridays it will run from 4:10 to 5:10 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 3:10 to 4:10 p.m. Zaklukiewicz also added that most games will be earlier than last year at around 6 p.m., a far cry from the usual 9 p.m. face-offs last season at the NIP.

Hockey games at the NIP are traditionally some of the more popular home sporting events at BHS. Last year the team finished 9-9-2 and earned a spot in the state playoffs as the 13th seed in Division II. The team won a state championship in 2019 under coach Jim DiNapoli. The co-op team with West Haven will compete in the more competitive Division I this season.

Zaklukiewicz also explained the biggest challenge presented by the co-op: the start time of the new practices.

“You have to fight across New Haven, you have to get across that stretch of I-95 that’s generally pretty backed up,” he said.

In order to combat the early start time and traffic, Zaklukiewicz has organized a van to pick up students in the front of the school to get them to practice on time.

He also added that players’ equipment will be ready at the rink for them, thanks to the generous space and facilities West Haven provides their athletes.

The season schedule has not yet been finalized, but the first game will be around the beginning of December.