The script for the Deerfield boys hockey team couldn’t have been written any better.
All the players and plot points were penned with the utmost care. Playing the role of the bruiser is junior left wing Michael Wiggemansen, a stratospheric scoring machine who looks about 10-feet tall in skates and pads and hammers the puck.
“I’m just the guy who stands high and waits for the puck,” Wiggemansen said. “My teammates do a great job of getting me the puck, and when I get a chance, I do my best to bury it.”
Slotted as the speed demon is senior right wing Spencer Delman, the Warriors’ shortest — and fastest — player. He flits around the ice as an uncatchable red and black blur.
“My job on the ice is speed,” Delman said. “I can be scrappy, but when I get that puck I’m trying to take it out wide and fly.”
Of course, no hockey team would be complete without a charismatic captain, and senior center Henri Beaudoin is leading-man material. Soft spoken, unselfish and versatile, Beaudoin was the catalyst to the Warriors’ 25-1-4 regular season.
“You know, Delman’s speed and Wiggy’s all finesse,” Beaudoin said with a grin. “I just try to get in the corner and grind and it out. I’m more of a scrapper, but sometimes I have a few dangles (or dekes) in me.”
The three Deerfield stars are such flawless examples of hockey movie characters it’s like they stepped straight out of
Hollywood and onto the ice.
All three players were named to the Amateur Hockey Association Illinois All-State Team, the first time Deerfield has ever had that many all-state selections. Wiggemansen (52 goals, 48 assists), Beaudoin (35 goals, 50 assists) and Delman (30 goals, 46 assists) were also second, third and fourth in total points in the Illinois High School Hockey League.
“The nice thing about the three of us is that we can joke around or get down each other, but when it comes down to game time, we have each other’s back,” Delman said. “We’re always ready to play, and if one of us is slacking, the other two can always compensate.”
Deerfield was bounced from the IHSHL playoffs after a pair of losses to Maine Sunday and Monday. But the Warriors are still in the state playoffs, where they will play Mount Carmel Wednesday.
The finals of the state playoffs will be played at Chicago’s United Center on March 24.
“We want to make it to the United Center,” Wiggemansen said. “That’s been the end-goal all year, and we want to prove to people Deerfield is for real.”
