Staff photo / Brian Yauger. Canfield senior Luke Berry celebrates after a goal in Sunday's exhibition contest against Bay. He's expected to be a key contributor this season.

BOARDMAN – The snow is beginning to fall, and with that comes the return of the lone high school hockey team in the Mahoning Valley.

Canfield has only been able to practice with a live puck for a little over a week, yet the regular season starts on Saturday. The Cardinals have used their scrimmages as a trial by fire. It’s worked so far as Canfield took the win in its second of two scrimmages this past week, taking down Bay, 6-4, on Sunday.

Entering the season, the Cardinals aren’t where they need to be just yet, but that’s to be expected when the team went so long just skating without doing puck work.

“We’re not there yet,” Canfield coach Steve Covelli said. “You can skate all you want, but if you’re not carrying pucks, it changes everything. Haven’t had pucks on ice. We ran two quick games with these guys, they’ve only had pucks for a week. That’s where you see a lot of mistakes being made, a lot of turning the puck over, skating past the puck. Skating a few weeks without pucks, that happens. So learning (and) comfort level (are important for us moving forward).”

One of Canfield’s strengths this season lies in its depth. Anyone can play up or down in the lineup as needed. That’s only going to be more of an asset as the first-year players continue to acclimate.

That doesn’t mean that the Cardinals are lacking in star power though. Canfield has a pair of Lukes, one at forward and the other on defense, that will be huge parts of the team this year.

The first line of senior Luke Berry, Antonio Maroun and Adoni Darkadakis will be the team’s heavy hitter line, able to do a little bit of everything. That being said, any of those lines will be able to log some minutes on the ice.

“My third line could be my first line and my first line could be my third line,” Covelli said. “I mean, it’s such an even playing field other than my two Lukes. Luke Scolieri and Luke Berry. Those boys have been on ice since they were three or four years old and you can tell. The rest of them are so even that every practice and every game, one of those guys steps up. There’s no egos in my locker room, so it kind of works out really well.”

Scolieri, whose brother Matt captained the team last season, enters the program as a freshman this year and is already turning heads. The young defender showcased his puck skills Sunday moving up the ice, and recorded an assist as well.

As he gets more acclimated to the speed of the varsity game, expect his skilled puck moving to be an excellent complement to the Cardinals’ well-conditioned roster.

“That is a stud in the making, that’s for sure,” Covelli said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. I let him go. His hockey sense is fantastic.”

Berry centers the top line and is the captain of the team. He potted a hat trick plus on Sunday and will be a prime offensive catalyst. That’s where the aforementioned conditioning plays into things. With the extra conditioning, that offense can be aggressive for longer.

“Luke Berry, it’s tough to match his feet,” Covelli said. “He’s strong on the puck and you can see that. He can go.

“These kids are definitely in shape. And I skate them. You figure you go three weeks without pucks, you’re skating, so I don’t look for my team to be tired in the third period.”

Anchoring the net this season is returner Cory Knarr. Scotty Tucker saw time in net on Sunday as well.

“My goalie is the key to my team,” Covelli said. “He’s played every shot for four years for me every shift, he’s been my only goalie. I put Scotty Tucker in net tonight because I’m trying to get him some game experience, practice just doesn’t do it, you’ve got to put him in a game. Cory’s probably the anchor of the team. We’re going to go as Cory goes.”

Canfield’s season-opener is set for Nov. 19 against Orange. Start time is 8:50 p.m.

The Cardinals open the regular season with five road games before returning home December 10 to face Chagrin Falls. They face Aurora the following day, also at home.

byauger@tribtoday.com