Warren's Ceckowski happy to offer assist

Drew Ceckowski is bound to score a goal, and a roar from the crowd would be music to this music man's ears.

In his fourth season on the Warren varsity hockey team, through last week he had only 4 assists in 19 Metro North games, and 2 more in nonleague games.

As a freshman, Ceckowski scored against Lake Forest, and as a sophomore he scored 2 goals. Last year, it was 1.

So when will he light the lamp this season?

He doesn't care. The defenseman's contributions to the Blue Devils go well beyond the team's statistics page.

“I have never really cared about scoring goals,” Ceckowski said. “I enjoy getting an assist, making a good play, setting someone up. I enjoy stopping other teams from scoring goals, obviously. I'm a passive defenseman — meaning I only carry the puck up (the ice) when I need to. I enjoy making long-range passes as opposed to skating through three guys.”

Ceckowski is the anchor of Warren's defense, the team's only four-year player. A right-handed shooter, Ceckowski is often playing alongside junior Kalan Plew or senior Mike Chargo.

“As the only four-year varsity player on the team, Drew has gone through several ups and downs throughout his Warren hockey career,” Warren coach Adam Antell said. “This experience, along with his outstanding approach to the game and life, makes him an extremely valuable presence on our team. Drew is not necessarily someone who is going to show up on the score sheet every game, but he is definitely someone who makes his presence felt in other ways. It could be a big hit, grinding out a long shift in the defensive-zone with a never-quit attitude, blocking a shot on the penalty kill, or a number of other things.

“Somehow he always finds a way to make an impact. I have no doubt that Drew will carry this approach in the rest of his life and be very successful in whatever he does.”

Ceckowski, 18, who lives in Gurnee, is heading to the University of Illinois in the fall, where he is considering trying out for the school's club hockey team.

Or he can always look into the Illini band.

Yes, the band, because this diverse student-athlete also plays the trombone in one of Warren's bands, and he also was a regular on Friday nights in the fall when the school's marching band performed at home football games.

“The band, that's something that everyone (on the hockey team) likes to pick on me for,” Ceckowski said, laughing. “When I was younger, I tried to keep it hidden from people in hockey (that I also was on the band) because I was embarrassed. But once I got to high school, it didn't really matter any more.”

As a freshman, the seniors on the team were actually impressed that he was well-rounded. Ceckowski was thrilled they respected his additional interest.

Now, the comments are just jokes, nothing more, “and all in good spirit,” he said.

“It is quite a contradiction, I suppose,” Ceckowski added.

Warren's band, one of the best in the state, boasts others who also are “stud athletes,” said Ceckowski, who noted some top-level swimmers also are in the band.

“I've always had a strong interest in music, ever since I was young.”

Ceckowski missed one band performance last semester due to a hockey game and never receives any ribbing from his band mates about his interest in hockey. In fact, only a few band members even ask if he won recent games.

“Hockey has helped me become more extroverted, as has band. Both have helped me become more of an outgoing individual,” Ceckowski said.

Added Antell: “Drew is one of those young men who just gets it. He comes from a close family where a strong set of values were instilled early on. He understands success is not given, but rather, it is earned. He displays a strong work ethic in everything he does whether it is in the classroom, on the ice, playing in the school band, helping his friends with their schoolwork, or giving his family a hand around the house.”

Ceckowski also is a top student, with four of his seven classes this semester being AP or honors.

“(Drew is a) great teammate, (with a) great sense of humor, even though sometimes it is too smart for the rest of us, and a good hockey player,” Warren senior captain Matt Larsen said. “He never gets beat in a one-on-one situation.”

As of last week, Larsen led the Blue Devils in scoring with 6 goals, 7 assists in 20 Metro North games. Senior forward Nick Scott had 7 goals, 5 assists, with 3 game-winning goals.

Warren was 6-10-4 in Metro North after defeating Highland Park on Jan. 15 in Gurnee.

“Four years,” Ceckowski said. “It's been so much fun and (yet) it's gone (by) so fast.”