It only takes a shift to recognize Aditya Rath as a top skater for the West Windsor-Plainsboro co-op ice hockey team.
The senior forward from High School North jumps out, the result of years of steady progress.
“As an underclassman, playing against those older guys, it was a challenge,” Rath said. “But honestly, I loved it a lot. I loved knowing that I can get better, and just seeing progression each year as me versus my competition, it felt good to see that I was performing to the standards that I felt like I could do. Every year, looking forward to that was amazing.”
Rath got a jolt of confidence his freshman year when he scored by the third game of his career. He ended that first season of high school with a pair of goals and five assists. The next year, his production climbed to nine goals and six assists, then last year he doubled that with 17 goals and 14 assists. It came about because of his continued dedication to the game and experience.
“Between sophomore and junior year I was doing a lot of training, a lot of off-ice work in the gym, maybe about five days a week, and then there was on-ice almost four out of the seven days a week,” he said. “So I was just training as much as I could, getting ready, getting my body in shape. And when high school came around, just a lot of recovery just because I was multitasking both club and high school. So a lot of recovery, just always staying ready because I got to be out there performing for my team.”
Rath has continued to emerge each year as a player more vital to his teams since he took up the game. He started to gravitate toward hockey after first trying his hand at some outdoor sports. He was roller blading around his Fairfield, Conn. neighborhood by age 9, and took up rec ice hockey. His first chance at travel hockey came at the U12 level, and he played a couple of years for Protec Ducks after his family had relocated to the Princeton area.
“I think I was subpar most of those years, not really like finding my groove,” Rath said.
He didn’t play when the COVID pandemic hit, but he did get to the gym coming out of it, started training with coaches and enjoyed a breakout season when he returned to the ice in 2021-2022. Rath posted more than 80 points and was a key member of the New Jersey Stars’ Atlantic Hockey Federation 14U B Championship season that ended in 2022.
“That gave me a lot of confidence to then jump from B to AAA and I’ve just been playing AAA ever since,” he said. He’s gone from playing for the Mercer Chiefs, to the New Jersey Titans to the New Jersey Rockets this year. Playing club has helped him elevate his level each year, and it’s shown in high school.
“He’s a kid who just wants to do everything,” said WW-P coach Brian McGurney. “And you can’t fault a kid for that. He wants to be the go-to guy. He wants to be the guy scoring goals, getting assists.”
McGurney is back behind the bench for WW-P. He was previously the head coach at High School South before the district teams were combined, then took off 10 years from coaching before coming back as an assistant the last four years. He’s helping to provide continuity and support a team that is thin this year in numbers with an almost uniform balance between each of the four classes.
“We’re not heavy at the top or the bottom and that’s part of the problem when you’re going up against teams who are loaded with seniors and we’ve got three,” McGurney said.
It’s good that Rath is one of them along with defenseman Logan Blair and forward Koh Inoue. Rath both creates and finishes opportunities for WW-P. His 31 points last year ranked second behind Louis Barrandon’s 33, who has also returned.
“Rath and Louis, it’s no secret at all. they are our two go-to guys,” McGurney said. “From a strictly skills sense, Rath is our guy. He’s fast as hell. He’s the kind of guy that you see play and he stands out. He can skate, he can shoot. Sometimes I kind of have to reel him in.”
The two are the top scorers for the team again. Barrandon has 11 goals already and a pair of assists after five games. Rath has six goals and five assists. They hope to inspire another strong season after winning 10 games a year ago, though they have to overcome the graduation of a good senior class.
“It was definitely the best year that I’ve been a part of,” Rath said. “A lot of those guys, even after high school ended, I’m still in touch with those guys. It was definitely a fun team for sure. It was one of my favorite teams to play on for both club and high school.”
WW-P has a young core. Freshmen Andrew Li and Andrew Xu along with Barrandon’s sister, Emma, are adjusting to the high school level. Ayan Patel is a capable center with seven assists through the first five games, and is one of two sophomores along with Aarav Gupta. Barrandon, Russell Brunkovsky and Kavya Patil are juniors waiting in the wings to be top of the class next year.
“I’ve got some talent at each grade level, but just not tons of it,” McGurney said.
Despite the thin turnout, WW-P began the year 2-3 through the first five games, and Rath was out for two of their losses. An opposing coach actually asked where No. 77 was after one of them. They need Rath when they return to the ice in the New Year with challenging games against Robbinsville on Jan. 5 and Princeton on Jan. 9. They are finding their team chemistry and roles.
“It gets a little difficult right now because just working with new guys,” Rath said. “My closest partner, Louis, we’re just trying to get that connection going. And I think we got that connection going in the first game. So I’m definitely excited to see how this year turns out.”
He’s trying to keep WW-P afloat, make plays and have fun and support his less experienced teammates and take it all in as he finishes his high school career. He is looking at potentially playing club hockey in college next year. He foresees staying attached to the game even beyond college. He’s volunteered the past couple of summer for hockey camp, helping to introduce others to a sport he’s found a passion for.
“I just love the pace of the game,” Rath said. “I think there’s no game quite like hockey because of just how much you have to do. In a game you have to have the physicality and the speed, you have the physicality of football, the speed of basketball. It kind of mixes a lot of different sports that I take interest in and I think nothing beats that feeling of all the sounds of hockey. It’s just been quite an interesting ride.”
Each year, Rath tries to delve into studying a different sport’s inner workings. A self-described sports enthusiast, he blogs about the different sports he follows in his spare time. He also draws and paints when he can find the time. His willingness to share insights on hockey with the WW-P team has earned him a nickname “Coach” from McGurney.
“He’s always pulling someone aside and trying to explain things to the younger guys, which I appreciate,” McGurney said. “That’s just the way he is. He wants to teach. He loves the game and he wants to pass his knowledge on to some of the others.”
Rath is looking to help any way possible. He falls back on his own roots that sprouted a top-level player. He can share from a journey that has seen him steadily climb at the club and high school level, and he still has one final stage with WW-P.
“It would be good to end on a winning record for sure, score a lot, make a lot of plays,” Rath said. “I just want to have a fun year this year, be really into it. I want to enjoy this last year of hockey for sure.”