The Plainfield Predators will be a strong competitor in the IHSHL West playoffs and an even

stronger challenger for the Illinois High School Hockey State Championship (Combined Division).

 

Yes, the team with a mix of players from Plainfield North, South, East and Central high schools will

be a feared foe, not a cellar dweller, as has long been the case.

 

Plainfield sprang to stardom last year, finishing 26-21-4, a drastic change from past seasons of, oh,

seven wins.

 

This season, a week into the 2025 slate, Plainfield stood at 33-8.

 

“This is the best season in Plainfield high school history. We have broken the school win record the

past three seasons in a row,” said Myke Bangs, whose team this season has already scored

victories over Glenbard, Maine, New Trier White, Naperville and Providence Catholic, among

others.

 

“Last season was a key year for us. We brought in an entire new core for the varsity team and had

our first winning season in Plainfield history. Last year allowed us to set a vision, build a culture and

implement our systems as a team and work to become consistent with our execution in games.

The season did not end how we had hoped, but it set us up to have a breakout season this year.”

 

Plainfield skated into this season with 15 returning players and their vision was clear: “To build a

championship program,” Bangs said. “It has been a team effort starting at the top. Our board made

a commitment to do whatever is needed to succeed. That support has been instrumental in helping

the staff and players achieve our objectives. There is a ton of talent in our town, but over the past

30 years Plainfield has struggled to put a competitive team on the ice. We established a three-year

plan for the rebuild. Year one was to learn how to compete; year two was to finish over .500; and

year three was to have a winning record and compete for a championship.

 

“We are on track with our three-year plan.”

 

Bangs said the first thing they focused on was recruiting and retaining the top players on the team

from the previous staff. They also revamped their recruiting approach.

 

“In years past, Plainfield did not have any dual roster players. The city of Plainfield is home to many

top Central States Development Hockey League players and we realized to compete at the highest

level, we had to find a way to get some of those players to want to play for the high school team,”

Bangs said. “We aimed to make Plainfield a desirable place for players to dual roster.

 

“During our spring season and offseason, we invested a ton of time into building relationships with

those prospective players and hosted a summer training program on and off the ice with all players,

current and prospective. That summer allowed us to build relationships with those players and earn

their respect and trust, which ultimately led the players to play for us either full-time or as a dual

roster player. That approach allowed us to strengthen our rosters across all teams.”

 

Next, they were driven to deliver the first Plainfield winning program. “Creating a vision that was bigger than ourselves was key,” Bangs said. “These kids wanted to be the change the city needed to make hockey the premier sport in our community. Having that shared vision created a ‘buy in and commitment’ to excellence across the entire organization. Once that vision and commitment was set, we then changed the way we played the game on the ice. In years past, the teams weren’t very disciplined or systematic. We started with creating a disciplined culture to how we played in all areas of the ice. We took a systematic approach to how we attack the offensive zone, special teams and our defensive zone that embraced the strengths of our players.”

 

The Predators play with speed and as a team in all areas of the ice. “The mentality of five guys playing as a team can always beat one or two great individuals and has helped us build one of the most explosive offenses and powerplays in the state,” Bangs said.

 

The Predators are anchored around their offense, powerplay and goaltending. Key players are Adam Lukwinski, Christian Rybka, Logan Huegel, Landen Porter, Kyle Sebastian, Alexei Iscra, Hiro Minetti, Colin Mahoney, Lukas Woodrow and Josh Kundert.

 

Bangs, 33, who lives in Plainfield, brings a deep hockey background to the Predators. As a player,

for instance, he was a AAA forward for the Minnesota Blades, then a 4-year varsity player for

Cretin-Derham Hall, followed by a Junior A run in the NAHL and a college career for ACHA Division

I Robert Morris University and NCAA Division III for Bethel University.

 

He has been the Plainfield varsity head coach and hockey director since 2022.

 

He also is the head coach Northern Illinois University’s ACHA Division I team.

 

Coaching Plainfield and NIU “has allowed us to create some unique opportunities for our players,”

said Bangs, who noted that most ACHA Division I rosters are comprised of AAA and Junior A

players. However, in the second season, NIU signed three Plainfield players and potentially four

Plainfield players from this season are heading to NIU, and just as many the following season.

 

“This connection (between Plainfield and NIU) has helped us provide roughly 10 players the

opportunity to play college at the ACHA Division I level so far,” Bangs said. “It also has made a big

impact on our recruiting and has allowed the players to have access to the college program,

mentorship and guidance from the college players.”

 

Plainfield wraps its regular season on Sunday, January 26, playing host to Oswego at Canlan

Sports in Romeoville. And come state tournament time, the Predators certainly won’t forget

getting knocked out in the early rounds last year. “We weren’t mentally ready to play and took a

tough loss,” Bangs said. “The loss didn’t sit well and was one of the most important moments in this

journey. Everyone made a commitment to come back this season to accomplish the goals we set

for ourselves. That loss also caused us to make a real commitment to fixing the issues that hurt us

last season.

 

“The team is committed to finishing the mission we set for ourselves.”

 

Keep An Eye On: Defenseman Hiro Minetti, who is back after an early-season injury. “He is an

elite-level player who brings a calmness and confidence to the team in all areas of the ice,” Bangs

said.