One thing that can be said about the youth hockey universe is that it’s a small community where everyone knows everyone else and even the fiercest rivals become friends linked through their shared experiences on and off the ice.

Jesse Orlowsky and Cooper Dennis have waged more than their share of battles on the ice, Orlowsky with the Long Island Gulls and Dennis as a member of the Bishop Kearney Selects. 

But when it comes time to take off the jersey and hang up the skates, the two have formed a friendship built on mutual respect and a common goal of becoming the best hockey players they can be.

After another season of heated battles on the ice, the two met again this summer at the USA Hockey-Bio Steel Player Development Camp at the Northtown Center in Amherst where their talents and tenacity were on full display for USA Hockey coaches and scouts.

“I came into the camp hoping I would be selected, which was probably one of my goals of the summer,” said Orlowsky, who finished his second player development camp with six points in five games.

For Dennis, who was also competing against some of the best players in their age group for the second time, the camp was an opportunity to showcase his skills as he finished with 12 points, which was tied for second among all camp scorers.

“One of the biggest takeaways that I learned from the first camp was definitely the amount of recovery you need to have,” the Ithaca native said. 

“I think the first camp was a lot of skates and a lot of practices. It was good to have that under my belt going into the second year, having that experience playing against other players.”

Being on the ice in a familiar setting provided both players an opportunity to impress the coaches who selected them to represent the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that competed in the 2023 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament in Chomutov, Czechia.

They were joined on the team by fellow New Yorkers Matthew Grimes (Locust Valley), Niles Benson (Buffalo) and Anthony Alessi (Lockport). There were more New Yorkers on the roster than players from any other state, something that Orlowsky took note of.

“It definitely shows the amount of talent in our state,” the Brooklyn native said, adding that a change in the camp format should bode well for the Empire State at the 17 camp. 

“Maybe next year if they do the states versus each other New York will have a good team going into it. It’s good to know that because you want to go in and win it.”

The U.S. placed second in the tournament competing against teams from Czechia, Germany, Slovakia, and Switzerland. More than just coming home with a medal, the pair said representing the United States for the first time on an international stage was an eye-opening experience.

“It felt like a dream, honestly,” said Orlowsky, who tallied a goal and an assist in four games. “Doing that with such a great group of kids and doing it for your country is just an unbelievable feeling and just something that I don’t want to say is once in a lifetime but could be once in a lifetime. It was really, really cool.”

It was an opportunity that both players took full advantage of.

“I knew it was going to be awesome to represent my country and to play for USA,” Dennis added. “It was a great experience and one that you tried not to take a single minute for granted. You tried to make the most of every day.”

With that experience under their belts, it’s time to turn their focus on the new season, which will see the duo teaming up once again, this time on the Gulls 16U team. 

The two met in the championship game last year at the New York State tournament with the Gulls coming out on top in a hard-fought 2-1 battle. Both the Gulls and the Selects punched their ticket to the Chipotle USA Hockey National Championships and made it as far as the quarterfinals.

With bright futures ahead of them, both players now have a new measuring stick to gauge their development against. While New York has some of the best players in the country, there is a whole other world out there when it comes to hockey talent, and both players are ready to take up the challenge.

“There’s a lot of talent in the world and I really have to work my butt off if I want to get to where I want to be,” Orlowsky said.

“Like Jesse said, there’s a lot of talent and it’s gonna be hard to get to the next level,” Dennis added. “This experience definitely helped me to move up to the next level and gave me a good idea of what it’s going to take to get there.”