Waltham Athlete Of The Week: J.T. Logue

Story by Scott Souza, Patch Contributor

There was less than one minute left in Waltham High's hockey game against North Andover on Dec. 23 when senior J.T. Logue took a shot that could have ended his high school hockey career.

A puck drilled him a bit below the belt. Logue tried to play through the pain, but soon realized something was really wrong.

Surgery was eventually required, and Logue’s senior season was in jeopardy.

“I was just sad overall,” he said. “It was terrible timing.”

But Logue did not give up his hopes of donning the Hawks' red sweater again. Just three weeks later, he was on the ice for the third period of a game against Billerica, and then played a full game as Waltham tied league rival Andover three days after that.

"I went for my post-surgery checkup two weeks later and the doctor said, ‘Now you can return,’" Logue recalled. "Me and my dad looked at each other and laughed, because I had been playing for two weeks.”

The four-year varsity player and assistant team captain helped lead a young Waltham team that returned only four players from last year’s Division 1 state champion.

“To go from a state championship to having 13 new guys was an adjustment, to say the least,” said Waltham coach John Maguire. “He has been a trouper this year.”

Logue, who hopes to play club hockey next year in college, began the final week of his high school career in style Tuesday afternoon, when he scored a goal with two assists in 3-0 victory against Newton North at the new Bentley Arena. He entered Thursday’s season finale against Wellesley with 19 points in 12 games this season.

“Having only a few guys come back, we knew that we needed strong leadership from the seniors returning,” he said. “So a couple of guys went after that. Took the young guys, put them under our wing.

“We didn’t make the tournament, but we accomplished some things we wanted to," Logue said. "I’m happy with that.”