Jack Wilke: A Hockey Player from Day One

At the age of seven, Jack Wilke was thrown on the ice by his father to participate in a learn to skate program that was mixed with hockey. The Holliston native found that not only enjoyed skating, but the hockey aspect as well, and a year later, he was playing competitively with the local Star Hawks team before playing with the Framingham youth hockey program right up until high school.
As a freshman, Wilke made the varsity squad where he played defense, a position he has played most of his life, but found that high school hockey was a little bit different than what he was used to.
“Growing up, I played forward for one year before moving over to defense. I really enjoy defense, as I’m able to see the entire ice and everything developing,” he said. “Being a first-year player, I was obviously nervous at first, but those nerves go away once you start playing. Besides, I had a good group of seniors that helped me through it. The biggest change was the pace of the game and I had to get use to that.”
The Panthers made it into the Division 3 South tournament that season and won two games before losing to Cohasset in the Quarter Finals. Little did he know that this would be the last time he skated up for Holliston for some time.
“Jack has a passion that most kids his age don’t have; he’s driven and focused,” Holliston Coach Dan Geary said. “Unfortunately, during his sophomore season, he had a little hiccup and had some grade issues, so he didn’t play. He still came to every practice and game, but couldn’t take to the ice. That was a growing moment for him, and it must have been killing him inside.”
While Holliston continued to play hockey, Wilke watched from the stands next to the bench cheering his teammates on regretting his actions.
“I really messed up when I failed that class and regretted it ever since,” he said. “I still supported my team in any way that I could, but it was really hard on me not being able to get onto the ice with them, I never want to go through that again.”
Wilke corrected his mistakes, and by his junior year, he was back on the ice with his teammates looking to get back into the tournament. As a key component to the team, he was named an assistant captain, and while the squad just missed out on a playoff berth Wilke feels it was still a good season.
In addition to playing hockey for Holliston, Wilke suits up for the baseball team, but this past spring, he once again found himself on the sidelines, this time due to an injury.
“I had previously hurt my shoulder and reinjured it last year during hockey, but I waited to the season was over to have the surgery, I didn’t want to miss any more hockey than I had to,” Wilke said. “At this point I’ve been 100% for a month and a half now and am ready for the season.”
As the season gets underway, Wilke finds himself with as a full-fledged captain this year and is looking to give back to the team as they did when he was a freshman. Coach Geary is looking for his defenseman to play just as much as he did last year, but is hoping he adds to his game.
“This year I’m expecting him to play just as much as he did last year; every other shift, power plays, penalty kills. He’s usually the first on and the last off the ice, and the team looks up to him not only as a leader, but a role model,” the coach said. “He’s got a great vision of the ice and knows where everyone is at all times, allowing him to generate those odd man rushes, but I’m also hoping he gets involved more in the offense.”
Wilke is looking forward to the chance of helping the team on offense as well as playing a big part of the defense.
“I learned a lot this past season and watched a lot of film looking to improve my game. This year, I want to get involved more in the offense,” the Panther defenseman said. “I think I had two goals and four or five assists last year, but I want to increase that this year. While goals are great, an assist is just as good in my book because the puck ends up in the net.”
The Holliston captain feels that this year’s squad is a very close knit team, and defense is probably their biggest strength, and that should get them into the tournament.
“I’m up to playing as much as the coach wants me to, and I’ll do my best to get us back into the tournament,” Wilke said. “We may have just missed the tournament last year, but this is as new season and a new start.”