CANFIELD -- Ryan DeJoe didn't flinch the first time he tended goal.

CANFIELD -- Ryan DeJoe didn't flinch the first time he tended goal.
DeJoe was about 6 when his Youngstown Youth Hockey team didn't have a goalie and his coach and father, Dave, told him to go between the posts.
"I wasn't afraid or anything," said DeJoe, a Canfield junior who has been selected as The Vindicator's varsity hockey player of the year. "But I didn't get to wear leg pads or a chest protector and use a goalie stick until my first game. All I had in practice was a blocker, a catcher [glove] that was like a frying pan and my regular stick."
DeJoe's equipment and play have been upgraded since. The Canfield High junior backstopped the Mahoning Valley's only varsity team to a 10-10-1 record.
DeJoe stopped all but 66 of the 696 shots he faced in Canfield's second varsity season (.949 saves percentage).
Senior forward Tim Cerimele of Boardman High, the Northeast Ohio High School League scoring leader with 25 goals and 33 assists has been selected club hockey player of the year.
"Its amazing, awesome and an honor being named hockey player of the year," said Cerimele.
Family tradition: DeJoe began playing ice hockey at age 3 at Mill Creek Park's outdoor rink in the program started by his father and Mike Keating.
"Playing hockey was just one of the things my brother, Paul, and I did together," said DeJoe, a member of Canfield's National Honor Society who already is taking college courses at Youngstown State University.
DeJoe chose not to follow in his brother's footsteps in transferring to a Cleveland-area school where ice hockey receives more attention.
Paul DeJoe attended Canfield High for two years, then transferred to Lakewood St. Edward. He now plays Division III hockey at Neumann College in Philadelphia.
"Those schools usually grab two or three goalies in each class and they split playing time," DeJoe said. "It's not a real good situation for goalies."
Keeps up with homework: So how does an A student find time to play varsity hockey and keep up his grades?
"I sometimes will do homework on the bus, but the main thing is to make sure you get it done when you get home from a game or a practice," said DeJoe, who visits YSU twice a week for his course.
"I've been taking one course per semester, but next year it will be more," DeJoe said.
DeJoe said that the Ice Zone in Boardman has helped the area's hockey families cut down on travel time.
"Instead of having to leave for practice two hours in advance, now we can do it in 45 minutes," DeJoe said. "It really helps the families of the guys who don't yet drive."
DeJoe said the Cardinals saw attendance decline at their games during his sophomore year, but noticed more fans this past winter.
"It's an atmosphere thing," DeJoe said. "When the fans are cheering, it gets us excited. Last year, we had to find other ways to get us motivated."
More fans: DeJoe said he would like to see the area's club-level teams (Boardman, Poland and Mooney-Ursuline) join the Cardinals at the varsity level.
"If Poland came into our division, then we would have that great Canfield-Poland rivalry on the ice," DeJoe said. "I would love to see them join us so that if we play them, those games would count more than as exhibition games. Then those games would be part of the Baron Cup standings.
With the Canfield season over, DeJoe has time to enjoy the National Hockey League playoffs.
His favorite player? Red Wings goalie Dominic Hasek, formerly of the Buffalo Sabres.
"He's a goalie like me and I have been a big Sabres fan," said DeJoe's whose family hails from western New York.
"My other favorite is Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman -- he's just a real classy player," DeJoe said.
Cerimele: A varsity performer for the Spartans for four years, Cerimele was the starting goalkeeper as a freshman and sophomore.
His freshman year, he helped Boardman post a 8-1 record.
"My older brother Matt has been a big influence in my hockey career," said Cerimele. "He's the one that introduced me to hockey when he invited me to play on his roller hockey team and all of the players were older."
Cerimele has had a lot of experience in roller hockey having played the game from ages 10 to 14 and competed in tournaments at Detroit, Mich., Philadelphia, Pa., San Diego, Cal., Rochester, N.Y. Cleveland, Columbus and Pittsburgh among others.
Cerimele also played ice hockey four years for Boardman, Youngstown and Lawrence County, Pa. traveling teams.
Cerimele said, "I am finally going to play ice hockey with Matt [a senior], for the first time at Youngstown State University during the 2002-03 season.
XThe 2002 winter All-Stars were chosen by The Vindicator sports staff with input from coaches. They were selected based on their performance during the regular season and tournaments.