Beyond the Scoresheet

season preview, part 2 - NJIHL

To complete the season preview, we look at the state’s biggest league, the NJIHL.

Preview, part 2

season preview, part 1 - regional leagues

If there are ridiculously illogical posts on the NJO forum, people emailing me about hockey schedules, warm weather, and teams pulling out of the Gordon Conference, it must be summer, right? Okay, not so much.

Preview, part 1

Scrimmage: PJ 3, Ran 1

I got off to a late start for the Randolph-Pope John scrimmage today, and I was further confused when I walked into the rink and did a brief double take - who was Roxbury playing? But it was just Pope John. The Lions, under the direction of former Roxbury goalies Ryan and Corey Brown, wear uniforms that, viewed from behind, are virtually identical to Roxbury’s uniforms. Once I got past that fact, however, I enjoyed the game.

Full recap

Scrimmage: RBC 4, MK 3

The day after Thanksgiving has traditionally been my first hockey game of the season, since I am always in New Jersey for the holiday, and I made it to Aspen Ice in Randolph this afternoon to see Morris Knolls-Red Bank Catholic.

Full recap

Hudson Catholic seeks withdrawal from Gordon Conference

In a decision unprecedented in its timing, Hudson Catholic officials contacted the New Jersey Ice Hockey League Wednesday with the intention of pulling out of the Gordon Conference for the 2005-06 season, sources said late Wednesday night. The all-boys school in Jersey City has roughly 450 students but is struggling to maintain a competitive hockey roster, with only 15 players this season. Current reports have the Hawks playing an independent schedule this year and rejoining the NJIHL in a lower division for 2006-07.

Hudson Catholic, the 2000 state champion, finished last season with a 2-21-2 record. A charter member of the state’s elite Gordon Conference, the Hawks have spent four seasons in the league, accumulating a 21-63-13 record and just one season of more than four wins.

Hudson Catholic becomes the fourth school to leave the Gordon Conference, which began with eight teams in the 2001-02 season, but the first to do so at such a late date. Charter members Bishop Eustace (2003-04), St. Joseph Metuchen (2004-05), and Brick Township (2005-06), the lone public school, elected to leave the league in past summer offseasons. The league had ten teams in 2004-05 but now returns to its normal total of eight, each with an automatic bid to the NJSIAA tournament. Bergen Catholic, Christian Brothers, Saint John Vianney, and Seton Hall Prep are the other charter members. The more recent additions are Don Bosco Prep (2003-04) and Delbarton, Pope John, and St. Peter’s Prep (2004-05).

welcome

Welcome to my New Jersey high school ice hockey blog. I am often frustrated by the lack of original content available online about hockey in the Garden State, so I plan to give everybody something to read this season.

As most people familiar with my site know, I have been following and tracking New Jersey high school ice hockey since 1991, publicly since 1996. I kept up with the scene in college while writing for Hockey Night in Boston, recording scores and standings for the entire state. Since my real job does not extend to the baseball offseason, I am living in Morristown this winter and hope to be able to follow the entire season. This blog will be up and running as long as I am in New Jersey.

The blog will be much more personal than the rest of the njhockey.org site. I will try to write about hockey every day, but you will probably also read about soccer, the NFL, college football, and whatever else I feel like writing about. The blog will mostly consist of game recaps, statistical analyses, notes, stories, and impressions from games I see working at Mennen Arena and around the state. But I hope to be blogging every day or every other day during the season, so be ready for December.

Jonathan Yardley