Beyond the Scoresheet

Projected seeds, 2010

It’s the most important day of the New Jersey hockey season, and everybody is getting ready to start speculating about state tournament positioning. Thanks to a partial holiday today, I had some time to go over the list of qualifiers and draw up some seeding projections.

If you note a factual mistake (team qualified/not qualified or in the wrong public bracket), please post a comment or email me at jty [at] njhockey.org and let me know. If you disagree with the way I’ve ranked things, please post a comment and explain why. I need logic founded on results, but I will consider making a change if there’s a strong argument. Remember, only results through today’s 2/15 cutoff can be considered for seeding!

With all that in mind, here we go:

PRIVATE
As always, the private field was slightly easier to seed, but the split Gordon Conference really threw a few wrenches into the process. I don’t know if RBC and MonDon deserve at-large bids, but I’ll put them in anyway.

1. Delbarton – This was an easy one.
2. Gloucester Catholic – Lost to DBP and tied SA, but their head-to-head win over CBA was key
3. CBA – Just missed out on No. 2
4. Morristown-Beard – Head-to-head win over SHP keeps them here despite loss to Chatham
5. Seton Hall Prep – No surprising wins, and they pay for their surprising loss to MB
6. Pingry – 0-1-1 vs. MB dropped them this far; close games with MB gave them edge over DBP
7. St. Augustine Prep – Could certainly have been higher and played well down the stretch; tie vs. Paul VI hurt
8. Don Bosco Prep – Two one-goal losses to SA in December; losses to MB, PJ, BC hurt
9. Paul VI – Wasn’t sure what to do with these guys; they tied SA in their only non-league game
10. Pope John – Finish ahead of SPP in Gordon; beat SJMet, RBC; lost to Ran, MK, SJV
11. St. Peter’s Prep – Also improved down stretch, beating MD and RBC and tying DBP, but still finished behind PJ
12. Red Bank Catholic (at-large) – Lost one-goal games to PJ, SPP; fourth among non-CBA teams in Shore A
13. Montclair Kimberley – Beat DPC, tied SJMet, recent loss to Livingston makes them a question mark
14. Monsignor Donovan (at-large) - If I let RBC in, I have to let MonDon in. They might both miss out.
15. St. Joseph Metuchen – Likely to finish just behind Paul VI; split with MonDon, loss to Ridge hurt
16. Bergen Catholic – Showed potential in wins vs. DBP, SPP
17. DePaul Catholic – Lost 3-2 to MKA in rare non-league test
18. Bishop Eustace – Difficult schedule but 2-18-1 doesn’t deserve a home game

PUBLIC A
This was a really difficult one. I felt solid about the top and bottom, but the middle stretch from 7-26 or so was very hard. It was tough to separate teams from the same conference in many cases, and I tried to avoid setting up games between regular season division rivals. I’ve included my picks for at-large bids (Ridge, Wayne Valley, Clifton)

1. Morris Knolls – They did tie Jef, Kin, and Ran but are unbeaten vs. publics and finished tied for first in state’s toughest division
2. Montgomery – No losses in Public A, two ties vs. Hboro, second in very competitive Skyland
3. Hillsborough – Lost to Rid down stretch but finished third in Skyland
4. Randolph – Came on down the stretch; only bad loss was to Peq in December; beat SJV 3-0
5. Brick Memorial – Slightly crowded here. BM won Shore A and went 1-0-1 vs. Bri; tied SJV; lost to How, Mtgry, Jef, RBC
6. Middletown South – Third in overall Public A and just beat Brick; went 2-1 vs. top Shore C teams; only game vs. north was 3-2 win vs. Sum; crushed SJV twice
7. Brick Township – Losses 6-1 to BM and 4-2 to MidS; also slipped up in tie vs. TRN; beat SJV 2-1
8. Morristown – Split w. Jef; beat PC (6-1), Spa, Rwood; only bad loss to Peq in early December
9. Freehold Township – Beat Ste, Kin to open year, then won Shore C despite 0-1-1 vs. How; tied SJV, Mah; lost to Sthrn, Ocn
10. Howell – Only losses to Mlpn, Bri, MidS; 1-0-1 vs. FrT but 2nd place; beat BM, SJV (4-1), TRS, Wall, PC (9-4)
11. Manalapan – 1 loss since mid-December, went 1-0-1 vs. How, beat MidS on Saturday; beat WWPS twice, tied Lak and lost to Rbville early; tied Wall; crushed Sthrn
12. Roxbury – losses to Mad, Hboro, Bri, Peq on Saturday; beat Para; tied Vero
13. Westfield – Beat Vero, Rid, HV in non-league; lost to Mad; tied BR
14. Ridge (at-large) – Strong second half, finished 4th in Skyland; beat WE, John, GL; tied MK; lost to West, BM (twice)
15. Bridgewater-Raritan – Only bad loss to WatH in December; 5th in Skyland; tied West; won Mclr tourney
16. Montclair – Beat Rmpo, no bad losses, 2nd in Mclr tourney
17. Fair Lawn – Lost to Mclr in tourney; hot second half (8 unbeaten); lost to Hksck, Rwood, Cli all in December; beat Rwood, tied Hksck in 2010
18. Tenafly – Only non-league loss to BR; fifth in Mclr tourney
19. Middletown North – Won series vs. rival MidS but inconsistent and lost to Spa, Cra; wins vs. OB, Ste, WWPS, Pri
20. Clifton (at-large) – If only to increase tournament scoring average; beat Sum in only non-lg. and finished just ahead of WayV (split head-to-head) in division
21. Wayne Valley (at-large) – Props for playing in Tri-County’s more competitive division; beat Nut, IH in non-lg.
22. Ridgewood – Likely to win division; split with Hksck, FL; very inconsistent; lost to BM, Mor, WE at Jef tourney; tied WM, DPC
23. Hackensack – Likely to finish 2nd behind Rwood; split with Rwood, 1-0-1 vs. FL, 1-0-1 vs. Bay; lost to Kin, Nut non-league
24. Bayonne – Inconsistent – tied Passaic leader PcV and last place WayH; best win was Cli in Dec; worst loss SJMont (0-1-1)
25. Toms River South – Struggled against good teams in losses to TRN, How; 1-0-1 vs. Wall earns respect via Wall’s results (beat HV, tied BM)
26. West Windsor-Plainsboro North – Best wins vs. Ste (2-0); 0-2 vs. HV; terrible non-conference schedule
27. Steinert – Got in on last day and likely to finish fourth in Colonial; no strong wins
28. South Brunswick – Losses to Paul, SJMet in lg. play, FrT; beat JPS twice
29. Old Bridge – Fourth in NJIHL South, tied Liv; lost to BR, MidN
30. Livingston – Beat MKA for only good win; tied OB
31. WWPS – 0-6 non-lg.; lost to Mlpn twice, BR
32. Jackson Memorial – 3rd in combined Shore B (split w. Sthrn); lost to WWPN, JPS
33. Southern Regional – 4th in combined Shore B; beat FrT but lost to TRN, Mlpn (8-1)
34. Newton-Lenape Valley – Split with Ber, 2-1 vs. Vern

PUBLIC B
Also a tough one choosing between all the very good Morris County and NBIAL A teams, then trying to mix in the many mid-level squads from Passaic and Union Counties and on down the state.

1. Ramsey – 1st in most competitive Pub B division; beat Kin, Rid, SPP; lost to Ran, DBP
2. Kinnelon – Strong second half; lost to Rmsy, Rmpo, FrT; 1-0-1 vs. Ran, beat Cha, Jef; tied MK
3. Jefferson – Beat GR, WM, Hboro, BM; split with Cha, Mor
4. Chatham – Hurt by late ties with Sum, Spa; big wins over MB, Jef, WE, Cra
5. Glen Rock – Hurt by losses to Jef, Rwood; 11-2-1 down stretch but lost to Mah
6. Northern Highlands – Likely to tie with Rmpo for 3rd (teams split); very impressive wins vs. Mtgry, RBC, plus head-to-head GD over Rmpo (9-5); lost to SPP
7. Ramapo – Beat Kin, Rid and tied SPP but hurt by non-lg. results (tied Nut, lost to Mclr)
8. West Essex – Tied Mtgry and won division but hurt by no big non-league wins and tie w. Mclr, losses to MKA, RBC, Rid, Cha
9. Passaic Valley – Best team in Passaic County but played 0 games vs. non-league NJ opponents
10. Lakeland – Tied Mlpn in December, crushed Vern Sunday in only non-lg. results
11. West Milford – Lost to Kin (6-3) and Jef (2-1) in non-lg. results that earn some respect for all Passaic teams
12. Summit – Strong second half and favorite for UCIHL title but lost to Cli, Spa, MidS
13. Wall – Beat HV, Mboro; tied BM; lost to MidS, How; tied Mlpn
14. Hopewell Valley – Won Colonial but no good non-lg. wins; lost to Wall, West, Hboro
15. Mahwah – 2-3 vs. big NBIAL tms; tied FrT in only major non-lg. game; beat Reg (4-1); close to Ten (tied Pri, which is worse than HV)
16. Sparta – Best wins Sum, MidN; key losses Ten, Mor; tied Cha
17. Nutley – 6 ties make tough to judge; lost to GL, WayV; barely beat Dmnt
18. Verona – Tied Ten, Rox; lost to West; beat Cra, ML, Peq
19. Johnson – 1-1-1 split w. Sum but no good non-lg. wins – scheduled strong but lost to Hboro, MK, SPP, Rid
20. Governor Livingston – Beat Nut, Mad; tied Ber, WMC; lost to Mor, Rmpo, Rid
21. Cranford – Best win MidN; also beat Ber, Pri; lost to Vero, Cha, Hboro
22. Madison – Basically an honorary UCIHL member; lost to Spa, GL; beat West, NLV; tied Sum
23. Rumson-Fair Haven - Fifth in combined Shore B; beat Mboro; tied SJV; lost to RBC, MidS
24. West Morris – Beat Ber, Rbville; behind Rox in Haas; lost to Mor (5-4); 0-2 vs. Mad, tied GL
25. Freehold Boro – Finished behind Mboro; beat Ocn; 2-0 vs. Hight
26. Ocean Township – Beat FrT, WWPS; lost to FrB, Mboro
27. Robbinsville – Best win Mlpn; edged WWPS for Valley; split with Pri, Hight
28. Bernards – Lost to Cra, Peq, WMC; tied GL; 0 big non-lg. wins
29. Mount Olive – Bad losses to Pars, NLV; best win Vern
30. Old Tappan – *added after receiving additional results* PkV best win; none over a .500+ team
31. Hightstown – Best results win vs. Rbville, tie vs. Ste; 8 of 10 wins vs. Ewi (4), Law (2), Not (2)
32. East Side – I love these guys but this is unavoidable; 0 wins vs. winning teams

NOTE: The NJSIAA lists its Public A/Public B breakdowns in this document. However, the document omits two teams in Public A (Jackson Memorial, Monroe) and two in Public B (Jackson Liberty, Sparta). It also includes an extra team, Wallkill Valley (JV only), in Public B.

Ice Vault tripleheader

I hit up the Ice Vault tonight for a scheduled quadrupleheader that ended up having three games, including two headliners: Bergen Catholic-Don Bosco Prep and Ramsey-Northern Highlands. I was warmly received by all, and it was great to put faces with names in several different instances.

For the record, I believe this was my first visit to the Ice Vault in four years, going back to a state game and the NBIAL Cup finals in 2006.

On to the games …

Continue reading Ice Vault tripleheader…

Back in Jersey; has it always been this cold?

I have a long-running love affair with the Cron Tournament, always held in the first three weeks of December at Warinanco Rink in Roselle. (For more on our shared history, check out my post from 2006, the first year I missed an edition entirely). Anyway, after missing the last three tournaments, I saw my first Cron action in four years tonight.

The short version is that in the third-place game, Summit and Westfield played to a 0-0, overtime tie that was, to me, exactly what the score reflects: evenly matched teams with trouble scoring. In the final, Morris Knolls reclaimed its title (the Golden Eagles’ six-year winning streak was snapped last year) by pounding Johnson (the team that snapped it) by a 13-4 score. Dillon Garritty won the MVP award for Knolls. More after the jump …

Continue reading Back in Jersey; has it always been this cold?…

Opening Day!

Nothing like the first day of hockey season. My plane landed in Houston around 8:30 CT tonight, and I immediately checked to see if my phone was getting internet service. By some miracle, this is one of the roughly three days per month that the internet was working, so I was able to get a couple of scores right away. I got the smell of a rink yesterday by checking out the skating rink at Penn while in Philadelphia, and now some scores to really kick things off.

As always, first-day scores don’t mean a whole lot, but here’s what I learned from the scores I’ve seen for Tuesday:

• Delbarton is for real. I mean really for real. They were obviously favored to beat Don Bosco Prep, but 10-0? That blew away my expectations. I haven’t talked to Bruce Shatel or Greg Toskos yet, but you have to figure Delbarton is already in great form coming off its pre-season prep tournament in New England. It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain that for four months. Looking at the scoring report, the Green Wave’s top line of Kenny Agostino, Mike Ambrosia, and Mike Pirovano absolutely lit up the Ironmen, producing four of the first six goals. Matt Gelnaw had two goals and an assist to provide some depth.
• Break up the Shore C! These second-year teams went 4-0 on December 1, including Howell’s 1-0 win over Brick Memorial and Freehold Township’s win over Steinert. There were also wins for Manalapan, 4-3 over WWPS, and Marlboro, 7-4 over Monroe. But the first two are the big two. Howell was the class of the division last year, going 19-4-1, winning the Dowd Cup, and a state playoff game, so they definitely won’t sneak up on anybody this year. But the Rebels lost to Brick Memorial in the Public A Round of 16, so they started off 2009-10 with a little bit of revenge thanks to a third-period power play goal from Eddie Pyskaty and 23 saves from Zack Peras, including some big ones in the final minute. The Freehold Township win may bring even better news for the division, since the Patriots were only 10-10-2 last year, including losses to St. Rose and Toms River South and 0 wins against teams that finished with a .500 or better record. To beat Steinert – nobody’s powerhouse but traditionally a solid public squad – could be an indicator of a very strong division this year. John Talamo netted six goals for Freehold Township. And remember, Shore Conference alignment gets adjusted every two years, so all five Shore C teams and first-year teams Jackson Liberty and Ocean Township are playing for a more competitive division in next year’s standings.
• I was surprised by the 3-3 tie between Montgomery and West Essex. Nothing against Wessex, but I had Montgomery as one of the Public A favorites this year. West Essex jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, and the Cougars had to rally for a tie. Not the way the Cougars wanted to open, but it is a good sign for West Essex, which could be very competitive in Public B.
• The Halvorsen Division will be close once again. Jefferson eked out a 5-3 win over Mountain Lakes (with the benefit of an empty-netter) to open the schedule tonight, with two goals from Luke Combos and a goal and three assists from Jimmy Stokes. Combos scored the game-winner with just 2:23 left after the Lakers had come back from a 3-1 deficit at the second intermission. John Dagger (great name) made 32 saves to keep Lakes in it. I can’t see very many easy games in that division with these two teams, Mendham, Morristown, and Pequannock. Morristown and Mendham meet on Thursday in a big-time game this early in the season. Pequannock was last year’s whipping boy, but the other four teams all accounted themselves very well in the state tournament, so hopefully they’ll all find a way to qualify again this year despite slugging it out against each other.

Wednesday’s 22 games include some interesting ones like Bishop Eustace-CBA, PDS-Randolph, Chatham-Cranford, Middletown North-Old Bridge, Mendham-Bridgewater, Pope John-Gloucester Catholic, Notre Dame-Hopewell Valley, and Paul VI-St. Joseph Metuchen.

A reminder to email confirmed scores to jty [at] njhockey.org.

2009-10 season preview

Welcome in to another season of NJ high school hockey. As always, I’ll be keeping information up-to-date as much as possible at www.njhockey.org and providing my own thoughts and information on this blog as time permits.

To start the season, here’s my preseason top 10 as published in Hockey Night in Boston. Be sure to look for the newspaper at your local rinks.

PRESEASON STATE TOP 10 (last year’s record in parentheses)
1. Delbarton (27-2-1)
2. Bergen Catholic (14-8-1)
3. CBA (22-5-2)
4. Seton Hall Prep (10-10-3)
5. Bishop Eustace (22-6)
6. Don Bosco Prep (10-11-3)
7. Morristown-Beard (22-4-1)
8. St. Augustine Prep (3-19-2)
9. Gloucester Catholic (21-2-1)
10. Ramsey (25-1-2)

SCOUTING REPORT (after the jump)
Continue reading 2009-10 season preview…

09-10 coverage underway

Hey y’all … Things have been and still will be very busy for me at work here in Houston, but I do intend to maintain the information on NJHockey.org this year (I make no promises for the blog) and have started by posting schedules I have seen and the alignment I have detected at the moment on the division-by-division schedule & results document.

Obviously, almost the entire state was affected by realignment. The Gordon will split into National and American conferences. I have not heard how the playoff structure will work, but certainly the American appears to be the ‘A’ league and the National ‘B.’ I don’t know if playoff qualification will reflect that.

Elsewhere, almost all of the teams from Passaic, Hudson, and Bergen counties joined together in the Tri-County Hockey League, split into Passaic and Hudson-Bergen divisions. They made the unfortunate decision to mandate crossover games, which means a whopping NINETEEN league games for those teams, including such mismatches as Fair Lawn and St. Joseph Montvale against Hudson Catholic TWICE. Ouch. I believe there will be two cup tournaments here, not one.

Some of the remaining northern teams (Glen Rock, Paramus Catholic, Tenafly) pulled out of the NJIHL and joined the remnants of the NBIAL in what I’m tentatively calling NBIAL A and NBIAL B - no confirmation on that yet from coaches or administrators. I’ll admit I haven’t had time to reach out to very many yet. Somehow Hackettstown seems to be without a home, so I’m unaware of the situation there. Good to see River Dell back in league play. No idea what the NBIAL will do for a postseason tournament.

The NJIHL is left with some horribly mismatched divisions (Montclair-West Orange, St. Joseph Metuchen-Edison, anybody?) that are a reasonable fit geographically. I guess. And we’ll have two St. Josephs in the same division again! Always exciting.

The Skyland Conference, which I think has ceased to exist in other sports, pulled its teams (except Bernards) into a hockey league, finally pulling Pingry out of the MCSSIHL after more than 20 years. No longer will the Big Blue dream of two county championships in one season. That league ought to be very competitive and have plenty of room for non-conference scheduling.

There were minor adjustments in Morris County (new program Morris Catholic replaces Pingry, four-division set-up) and the CVC (WWPN to the Colonial, Princeton and Robbinsville to the Valley, Hightstown to the Patriot). Union County remained the same.

The Shore appears to have remained the same, which is odd since Howell obviously deserves to move up and there could be as many as three new programs (Colts Neck [now confirmed as staying JV], Jackson Liberty, Ocean Township), although I have not been able to confirm any of those.

Finally, on the independent front, I have no idea of the status (varsity and/or league) for Colonia, East Side, Hackettstown, JFK Memorial [possibly staying JV], Monroe, and Woodbridge [confirmed as varsity, independent]. Maybe they can form their own independent league.

As always, you can keep me posted at jty [at] njhockey.org.

Dynamo highlights from May

The month of May was a good one for us down in Houston. In five games, we went 4-0-1 to run our unbeaten streak to seven games and move up to second place in the Western Conference. We had some great goals to call, too, so here are some of the highlights I got to call in May:

Continue reading Dynamo highlights from May…