Zach Saar, a former student at PHS who many people know and love, left everything behind two years ago to go to Detroit and play triple A hockey for a club sponsered by Little Ceasers.

He has now moved from his home in Detroit to play at an even higher level in Chicago called the United States Hockey League.

The USHL is a tier one junior hockey league which preps players for college hockey. Saar’s goal is to play for the University of Michigan.

"Playing in the USHL is a great accomplishment for a player at such a young age," said gym teacher Doug White.

When asked how Saar likes his new life out in Chicago he said, "I’m living the dream. I’m loving it!"

His new high school is Glenbard East, and has a senior class of over 900 students.

The school is much larger than PHS, and more ethnically mixed. However, Saar had many close friends that he grew up with and hung out with almost everyday before he left Plainwell.

"Many people miss Zach very much," said Seth Vincent ‘11.

"I miss him. But I am sure moving on in hockey was the best for him, and I look forward to watching him on TV someday," said Carlee Pallett ‘11.

Spencer Taylor ‘11, one of his best friends, said this about Saar "I miss spending long days on the boat with him, but clearly tanning and getting bronze for the ladies wasn’t as important as his hockey career. But that’s alright and I hope the best of luck to him in the future."

Even though Saar misses his old friends he has made many new friends, he said. Not only has he progressed in hockey and made new friends, Saar said he has "met many new girls."

He refused to give out any of their names but "I’m sure many girls would be jealous," said Seth Vincent.

In the end, many Plainwell students have lost the ability to hang with their old buddy Zachary Saar. But they all know that "hockey is Saar’s true passion," as Taylor said.