No thin ice between these friends

The friendship between Andrew Monette and Jonathan Wheeler has had its bumps and bruises. As hockey players, the former Newport-Mesa residents are accustomed to all forms of pain.

Monette and Wheeler met on an ice rink in Boston where they were playing in the Hockey Night in Boston tournament. It didn’t take long for them to realize their homes were only five minutes apart.

The pair started to train together in California and play in pick-up games at local rinks.

Now Monette, a defenseman, and Wheeler, a forward, are back in Boston, their friendship having survived checks, relocation and competition over girls.

Once again they are playing for the Pacific team in the Hockey Night in Boston tournament, playing against the highest level of competition offered.

Pacific clinched third place in the National East Division with a 3-3 record. Pacific will face Northern New England (4-3) in the first round of the 18-team playoffs today at 12:45 p.m.

Wheeler, a former Corona del Mar resident who moved recently to Irvine, is the team’s offensive star. He scored five goals the first two games to earn all-star of the game honors in each.

“He’s playing phenomenal this year,” Monette said of Wheeler.

Monette’s game is less flashy. He is proud to say he helped kill a five-on-three penalty and doled out numerous big hits.

At 5-foot-9, 145 pounds, Monette, who attended Estancia High for three years before being home schooled, is easily the smallest of the eight defenseman on his team and one of the smallest in the tournament.

Monette marvels at the size of his rival competitors in the tournament.

“There’s something in the water over here,” he said.

Monette is not deterred, he just uses his opponents’ stature against them.

“Taller guys have a higher center of gravity,” Monette said. “You hit them low and they fall a lot harder. You put a shoulder in his jaw, he’s definitely going to get knocked out. I put a hit in this guy’s shoulder and his stick went flying. It was nice. If I have one good hit, I’m stoked for the day.”

It was a similar hit, which Monette delivered to Wheeler, that put their friendship on the rocks.

“He was a bit sour for a month,” Monette said. “I tried to call him, but he’d just hang up on me.”

Before long, the two had patched things up with Monette freely teasing Wheeler about the incident.

The duo’s Pacific team has been playing well. It notched an 8-6 win over Michigan on Sunday with Wheeler putting together a hat trick. On Monday, Pacific defeated the Southeastern/Capital team, 9-6, with Wheeler scoring two goals.

“They try to get rough,” Wheeler said. “But I just use my quickness. They don’t think we can play [because Pacific is a West Coast team], but then we beat them. This is a good showcase.”

While Wheeler piles up the stats, Monette, who has yet to spend a second in the penalty box, packs on bruises from battles with opponents.

“I’ve been punched in the face and had my cage broken off,” Wheeler said.

Despite the physical nature of the sport, the players are able to hang out after games.

“In order to be a good player, you have to leave your emotions on the ice,” Monette said. “We played a team from Florida and we were hanging out with some of their players after. They said they saw a hit I put on one of their teammates.

They said ‘You really hurt that guy.’ ”

Tuesday, Pacific lost to the Midwest, 5-4. The final goal, which whizzed past Monette, was scored with a little more than a minute remaining.

“I could have reached it, but sometimes the goalie doesn’t like it when you do that,” Monette said.

“We played a good game. We weren’t shooting a lot. We had too many passes.”

Both are eager to see how they fare in the playoffs.

“Some kids wait all year for Christmas,” Monette said. “We wait for Hockey Night in Boston. Just skating and being on the ice, I always have a smile on my face.”

This might not be the last time Wheeler and Monette play together. Wheeler is entering his senior year at Mater Dei High and Monette will attend North Shore Community College in Massachusetts in the fall.

But both plan on returning to the tournament and both want to eventually move on to play collegiately at four-year universities in the Boston area.