Northampton head hockey coach Brian Ruff knew it was a good number of years since his team missed the playoffs in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League (LVSHL).

But Ruff is confident his team will make a return to the postseason this winter.

The Konkrete Kids’ 5-0 start as of last week – after a recent 8-3 win over Phillipsburg – certainly should help. Northampton is three points behind Bethlehem for the top spot in the league, as of last week.

The Kids had two teams in the league last season, but they have since combined it into one.

“We’re playing well,” said Ruff. “We had two teams last year, and it worked well for us. We had a number of JV kids playing on the other team. They struggled and finished under .500.

“It was an experiment and it paid off for us. We saw that it was the right thing to do, and we see the results this year.”

Ruff cited the play of Gavin Mollenkof, who was the lone returning starter from last year’s team.

“Gavin is only a junior, but he is the leader of this team,” said Ruff. “He has really done a good job, and has helped pull this team together.”

Lorenzo Tita leads the team with 14 points and Bryan Schache has 11 points. Bailen Smargiassi has been solid in the nets with a .924 save percentage.

Yet, Ruff sees his team’s fast start as a true team effort. He praised the play of his five defenseman, and his team’s first three lines.

“Our third line could easily be any first line on any other team,” added Ruff. “Being a part of the third line is something that is really embraced by this team.”

Due to the shutdown of the rink in Whitehall, ice time has become a commodity in Bethlehem. The Kids will have a steady stream of games throughout the month into the new year, rather than their usual holiday break.

Still, Ruff likes his team’s chances to get back toward a championship run.

“We played ourselves out of the playoffs last year,” he recalled. “We had to win our final game, and we didn’t. We just didn’t play as a team. We had a lot of good skaters, but we coaches couldn’t pull them together.

“With this group, we should see a difference.”