Bryan Goldstein is a Captain and Leader of The Hopedale Co-Op Hockey Team

As a senior and two-time captain for the Hopedale hockey team, Bryan Goldstein didn’t really set goals for himself entering his final season with the Blue Raiders. Instead the senior winger only wanted one thing to happen this season – he wanted the hockey team to earn its first appearance in the state tournament. Hopedale did just that going 10-9-1 and securing a number six seed in the Division 3A Central Tournament for the first time in their four-year existence.
Hopedale will square off against Grafton, a team they played earlier in the season that ended up in numerous ejections, in their first ever tournament contest.
“We let our emotions get the best of us in that first meeting,” Goldstein said. “While Grafton is a good team, we have defiantly learned a lot from that game.”
As a three sport athlete (soccer, hockey and tennis) Goldstein finds hockey to be his ultimate favorite. The Hopedale athlete has been playing the sport for about 15 years now ever since his father helped him lace up the skates and put him on the ice at the age of 4.
Growing up playing in local hockey programs Goldstein always found himself playing center, but this year with the acquisition of Milford to the program Coach Greg LaBossiere moved him over to left-wing.
“I had always played center up until this year, but I was not hesitant to move over to play left-wing, I just told the coach that I was going to need practice,” Goldstein said. “I feel that I’m adaptable and can play other positions and when I found out that I was going to be in the first line with Aiden Wilde from Milford I was excited.”
The two seemed to click right away and have been part of the Blue Raiders top scoring lines. While Wilde is the team’s leading scorer, Goldstein put up some record numbers himself.
“All I do is make the plays and get the puck top Aiden and he finishes the job,” Goldstein said “Over the past few years I’ve averaged about 10 points a season, but this year I put up 35. It was crazy as I didn’t do anything different than in the past, so it had to be all because of Aiden – he just makes everyone around him that much better.”
Having started on the fourth line as a freshman the now senior quietly moved his way up the ladder over his four year career.
“Bryan has always had the right mindset and attitude, but this year things just came together for him. He knows his role,” Coach LaBossiere said. “Playing with two offensive skill players who can put the puck in the net has also helped his game.”
Knowing his role was something his father once told him.
“I may not be the best skater on the team, but I find that my hockey IQ and passing abilities are my strengths, in addition to knowing where to be n the ice in any given situation,” he said. “My father once told me that everyone on a team has a role and although it may not be the glamorous goal scorer all roles are important to the team functioning properly.”
As a captain of the team Goldstein believes it to be his job to manage the team and get the squad ready before the game, while LaBossiere sees him in a different light.
“Having him on the ice is like having an extension of the coaching staff out there,” the Hopedale Coach said. “He’s the leader of this program and keeps all the different schools together and playing as one. (The Hopedale Co-Op hockey team is not only made up of Hopedale players, but also athletes from Millis, Whitinsville-Christian, Douglas and Milford). He’s a vocal individual and has the respect of the team.”
Having not really set goals for himself, Goldstein now has the get the team ready and in the right frame of mind to tackle their biggest game yet – their first ever tournament contest and win or lose the senior winger knows this was by far his best season ever and will forever have something to look back upon.