Naperville North students shape their athletic careers for a single tournament. They strive to make state. Whether it’s a sport or a club, the overarching  goal of the season is to make it as far as possible in the IHSA state tournament.

Between two practices a week and even more games, NNHS senior Alex Rang is busy with double what some hockey players have to deal with. But it can be worth it. Two years ago, Rang was a part of a relatively unrecognized team that went all the way into the semifinals of the IHSA state hockey tournament.

Along with his teammates on the boys hockey team, Rang competed at the semifinals of the IHSA state hockey tournament. However, he values more than that specific match. Rang remembers the team camaraderie.

“Two years ago, when the whole team was seniors, they were like a family at school,” Rang said. “That was probably my best memory.”

Today, he faces a different scenario.

“This year, we kind of have a shortage of hockey players,” Rang said. “[Two years ago], it was just like a family and it was a whole different experience.”

The shortage of high school hockey players is mostly due to athletes only wanting to play for a club hockey team. But there are players, like Rang, who would rather juggle both leagues instead of one.

“It’s pretty hard,” Rang said. “We have a lot of hockey games. We have practices twice a week for high school and twice a week for club. They are at the same time so I mostly go to club.”

So far this season, the team overall is 4-8. Head coach and retired professional hockey player Brian Noonan said this year marks a rebuilding season for the Huskies.

“We didn’t have a team last year because we didn’t have enough players,” Noonan said. “This year, we are trying to just get Naperville North back to where it was a few years ago.”

Back in 2012, NNHS had a team that seemed unstoppable. Unfortunately, 14 of the 17 players were seniors. Jake Novack, who was one of those seniors, is currently competing at Indiana University.

“I wanted to play for my high school because it shows you care about your school,” Novack said.

But according to Novack, college hockey is a whole new experience.

“College hockey is much different as it’s a much bigger time commitment and a much higher level of competition,” Novack said. “The kids are much bigger, stronger and faster. It’s not easy to play while in so many tough classes. You really have to grind schoolwork and manage your time, or you won’t do well. It gets very stressful at times.”

A former NNHS student and current Prospect High School senior Joey Catalano had to make the tough decision of whether to play for a junior league team or his high school team. Ultimately, Catalano opted not to play for a high school team.

Instead, he moved to Naperville from Arlington last year so he could play for the Chicago Bulldogs, a junior hockey team in the area but ended up going back home after a season.

Catalano said that he likes playing high school hockey because of the support from friends and the pride he gets from playing for his school.

“It’s just fun to play in front of your friends,” Catalano said. “Hockey has kind of grown more in the past few years so a lot of kids know about it and are coming out to games. ”

Rang believes that whether you’re playing on a club team or a high school team, family is the uniting factor.

“We are all in it together,” Rang said. “No matter what happens, we have to work together and support each other.”