It’s mid-November and the DuPage Stars Hockey team is over halfway through their regular season. The Stars consist of DGS, DGN, Hinsdale South, Lisle and Westmont high schools, all of which are in the DuPage County area. Two of the players on the Stars from DGS are sophomore Tomas Genovese and senior Jaxon Flakus. These two team members have become essential to the Stars because of their driven mindset and zeal for bringing a strong defense to an up-and-coming team, and they are eager to prove themselves.
Flakus is a first-year member of DuPage Stars and one of the team’s defensemen.
“This is my first year on the stars, but I know most of the guys pretty well,” Flakus said.
Flakus describes the Star’s best game this season against Hinsdale Central.
“We beat them 4-2. The keys for that game were we scored in the first minute, and then I scored a couple of minutes after that and then I just continued [to assist],” Flakus said.
DuPage Stars coach Brian Barnes expressed his opinion on Flakus’ defensive and leadership skills.
“Jaxon as a senior brings a lot of experience and leadership qualities to our team this year and plays more of a shutdown, defense-first role for your team, which is always important for any team. Jaxon has been a huge addition to our team, and we look forward to the rest of Jaxon’s final year as he is determined to make it his best yet,” Barnes said.
Flakus described a pivotal point and mentor in his hockey career, which would eventually drive him to the varsity level.
“A key figure in my journey of hockey would become my travel Coach Morrissey, who was my coach for five to six years. When I was 10, we won our division championship, and it was my first championship that I had won, and I think that’s what made me fall in love with the game and want to win more of them,” Flakus said.
Unlike Flakus, Stars’ goalie Genovese did not find love and passion for the game at first.
“My earliest hockey memory is when I was three years old; my parents signed us up for skating lessons, and my brother was excited. We did the lesson, but I decided I didn’t like it. A year later while my brother continued to do the lessons, I got bored of sitting on the sidelines, so I tried it again and liked it,” Genovese said.
Genovese’s hockey career has not been spent in the net as a goalie.
“On my first team, I played forward for two years. In my third year of playing hockey, I switched to being a full-time goalie. And that’s where I am today, on the varsity team for the DuPage Stars,” Genovese said.
Genovese has been the goalie for the varsity team since his freshman year and plans to continue hockey throughout the rest of his high school career.
“I hope my coaches and teammates are pleased with my performance; I think I’ve been doing well the past few games… I believe this team has great potential to make it far in state and our league playoffs,” Genovese said.
Barnes shared his thoughts on Genoves’s crucial role as a goalie.
“He is still trying to get to his maximum potential, and he works hard at every practice, goalie clinic season, off-ice session and game to get [there]. The coaching staff and I sometimes forget that he is still just a sophomore based on his abilities and size as he is one of the taller, bigger goalies across the state. It’s extremely rare for any team in Illinois at the competitive level of high school hockey played here, to have freshman or sophomore goalie at the varsity level,” Barnes said.
Barnes elaborated on Genovese’s capabilities as a player. He is most impressed with Genovese’s skills and confidence at a young age.
“It can be intimidating for a player in his position at his age, but Tomas has
grasped the opportunity to play with the “big boys” and is eager to learn and
get better which is awesome to see from a coach’s perspective. I am extremely excited to see what Tomas does from here on throughout the rest of his high school career
sky is the limit for him. He has no ceiling,” Barnes said.
Barnes spoke on the adaptability of the Stars during their season. The players have stayed resilient amidst injuries and roster changes.
“With those injuries occurring, we have had to have some of our players step up and take different roles to help benefit the team-forwards playing defense, defensemen playing forward… So it has been great to see these players put [on] the team and sacrifice for the better sake of the group as a whole. when our injured players come back and we have a full lineup again, we can hit the throttle even harder going into the rest of the season and playoffs,” Barnes said.
Moving into the final part of their season, the DuPage Stars are ready to show off their ever-improving level of capabilities and represent their respective schools. The Star’s rivalry game against Lyons Township is on Dec. 20 at 8:50 p.m. at their home rink, Seven Bridges Ice Arena.
