JeffJoe Regula obviously was blessed with plenty of athleticism.

His deft skating ability, raw speed, quick hands and pinpoint shot put on display for the Latrobe Area High School hockey team prove that.

But for all the athletic gifts Regula has, not once has he considered putting them to use in another sport.

"Never," he said simply. "Never."

Regula is all about hockey. A true puckhead, he plays high school hockey for the Wildcats and also for the Mahoning Valley (Youngstown, Ohio) Phantoms Midget Major team that competes in the Midwest Elite Hockey League.

"It's always been hockey," Regula said. "Ever since I was a 4- or 5-year-old in Indiana, Pa.

"[My parents] got me into it a little bit, mostly my dad, but he had never played. I just had always watched it on TV; that's how I got into it mostly."

However he became enamored with hockey, it appears to have been a natural fit. Regula was a big part of last season's Latrobe team that won the PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup and state championship.

"He's a very gifted player," said Latrobe coach Dan Ridder, who was an assistant with the team last season.

Despite playing only seven games thus far this season for the Wildcats, Regula has scored 14 goals and has eight assists. Some of the other players among the PIHL Class AA leaders in scoring have played as many as 13 games, but Regula still ranked 10th in points and fifth in goals.

Regula had 33 goals and 23 assists last season, 34 goals and 19 assists as a sophomore and 9 goals and 13 assists as a freshman. He is 10 goals short of 100 for his career.

"I like to be a playmaker just as much as being a goal-scorer," Regula said. "I think my speed definitely helps me out because I like to get the puck and just go and make plays with my speed."

Former Latrobe coach Ron Makoski repeatedly referred to Regula's speed as "world-class." Playing for the Phantoms isn't quite world-class, but the Midwest Elite League is highly respected. Regula doesn't have any plans to play high-level junior hockey.

"I'm hoping to stay in hockey, [but] just to go to college and get my career going in something," he said.

In the meantime, he is committed to playing in as many games as possible for the Latrobe varsity team, which has gone from a team with a losing record in his freshman season to one that has a shot of becoming a two-time state champion by the time he graduates.

"I like the atmosphere in high school hockey, being around friends and I know everybody," Regula said. "It's good to play for your school. Just to know you're working to win a championship for your school is a good feeling."

Extremely deep and talented, Latrobe has a good chance to become one team that could rank among the best local high school squads in recent memory.

Midway through the regular season, the Wildcats lead the PIHL in goals (98, an average of 8.9 per game) and rank second only to Class A Mars in defense (Latrobe has allowed 17 goals in 11 games, an average of 1.5 per contest).

To put the Wildcats' dominance into perspective, consider their average margin of victory is 7.4 goals per game -- there aren't any PIHL Class A, Class AA or Class AAA teams that even average that many goals per game.

"We expected to do well, and now I think we expect to keep ourselves undefeated," Regula said. "That's definitely a big goal because it would be an even better accomplishment than last year. To go undefeated and win it all would be a real gratifying year."