It’s not so calm before the storm.
There are some really strong games on tonight’s schedule beginning with Suffern heading across the border to play Don Bosco after they put a new piece of hardware into play. A trophy honoring Army Major Thomas Kennedy, a New City native who was killed in August by a suicide bomber while serving in Afghanistan, will go to the winner.
Kennedy grew up playing with the Ramapo Saints and went on to play for Don Bosco, so it’s a fitting tribute. I’m going to cover that game so you can follow @LoHudHockey for the updates.
On this side of the river, Scarsdale and New Rochelle will get back together. They battled and battled in the first meeting, and wound up in a 4-4 tie. Rye and RyeTown/Harrison will be renewing their rivalry as well. The Garnets took the first meeting of the season 5-1.
Leave a score if you’re out watching.
Jan. 7
White Plains vs. Mount Pleasant, 5:15 p.m. at Ebersole
Scarsdale vs. New Rochelle, 6 p.m. at Murray’s
Suffern vs. Don Bosco, 7 p.m. Ice Vault
Rye vs. RTH, 8:45 p.m. at Ebersole
Jan. 6
Notre Dame 11, Iona Prep 2
Nyack/Tappan Zee 5, Sleepy Hollow 3
King 4, RCDS 1
70 Comments
Is Don Bosco really good again? How many Rockland kids are on Don Bosco? Last year they had a few stars from Pearl River on that team.
I think Scarsdale handles New Rochelle very well tonight. New Ro traditionally does not improve much as the year progresses. Mancuso is an underrated coach, or at least not as well known as the Big 4 coaches.
Yes, Don Bosco is definitely GOOD this year. Just last night they won the Bergen County championship, beating Paramus Catholic (who was unbeaten before last night) 5-1. Bosco’s few losses were all close games to very good teams, including Delbarton, the #1 team in CT & the 1 team in MA
Re the ND/Iona score, I still cant figure why section 1 teams continue to take 4-6 hour bus rides to play “tough” competition when you can find 6-8 CT teams that would fill that description within an hour of most Section 1 teams. CT HS Hockey less diluted than NY, since you cant play both. Would love to see some Section 1 teams play F’field Prep, Darien, NCannan, Ridgefield, Hamden, ND etc…
Ny teams want to see what the competition is in upstate ny. Ct games don’t count toward seedlings.
@???????
Gotta play some good upstate teams for NYS ranking purposes but scheduling some top CT teams as well should be a no-brainer.
Couldn’t agree more with ????? and disagree more with slacrosse
Plenty of good competition around here. Greenwich, RCDS, Brunswick if you so choose and all the good CT teams will test you just as well as the upstate NY teams will.
And slacrosse…why does a team’s ranking mean anything but to bloggers and writers? If you don’t get out of your own Section playoffs, will it really mean something that you were in the top 10 at some point during the season?
Weather cancellations are already starting…Rye/BH is cancelled for tomorrow night.
If everything gets snowed out on Friday, this will be even tougher since the only non-league game on the schedule is Clarkstown/MW. All of the others have to be made up.
upstate- agree that teams as close as Greenwich and RCDS will test you as well as teams as far away as Massena. But, it is important for those teams with Utica aspirations to see what the rest of the state looks like. Also good to get their top kids exposure, so they have a shot at All State honors. Finally, there is the team bondng benefit inherent in a road trip or two.
Smart idea to cancel Rye’s game in Norwalk. I 95 is forecast to be a skating rink tomorrow afternoon.
Then they should just play the game on i-95.
CAR….............GAME ON!!!!
Does the Rye/BH cacellation put the Pelham game at risk? Does the League game reschedule take precedent? As far as scheduling goes, If you dont play the best around, you’ll never be the best around… Just saying…
???- I sure hope not. Rye has all next week to find a slot for BH.
Scarsdale’s only losses are to state ranked teams within the Section. Is their CT game next week against the team that spanked Iona yesterday?
fotg- I’m not so sure that’s true because if Rye/BH is a league game, I understand it HAS to be played by the 13th because the seeding meeting is the 14th so anything played after the 13th will not count towards the point total
The issue of Rye trying to find a slot when there will probably be a number of league games that have to be rescheduled before Wed. will be a problem
I don’t know the rules regarding when a league game must be played by. The Rye/ BH game not that relevant for seeding. No bonus points for Rye. Rye already at 4 index. Can’t increase it with a win over BH. BH right around a 2 index. They get 2 bonus points for playing Rye. The game only changes seeding in the unlilkely event BH beats or ties Rye.
Mamaroneck has a game friday and saturday. Both league games. If Fridays game gets postponed, they would probably need Tuesday nights time slot to make it up. They gave it to RYE/PELHAM. Not a smart move at all.
Fear not. Game has been rescheduled for Monday night at the Hutch.
Also, it has to be played but didn’t have to be before the seeding meeting. League/non league doesn’t matter for seeding, only for league championships and all-league selections.
In the crease-
Actually, Friday’s game is Sleepy’s home slot, so if Saturday vs. ETB does get played, it would be up to sleepy to find ice time somewhere for the game.
I understand what you’re saying about the bonus points but I just doublechecked the Section 1 site (Playoff seeding rules are listed on the bottom of the Standings page) & it says that a team gets 4 points for every Win. So even if Rye won’t get any Bonus points for playing BH, they probably would want those 4 points?
I think it would help if we have Cliff clarify the confusion
oops Cliff posted before I hit the send button
Upstate Bound
FOTG’s 12:58 response says it all but wanted to emphasize again that playing upstate is completely a NYS, out of Section 1 “exposure” thing. No question that great competition exists in
CT. Also I have to believe that the kids, coaches, parents also get a proud thrill out of being ranked. Like in any sport if you lose in the Section playoffs then your ranking will probably get adjusted downward but doesn’t negate the ” benefits” of a previously higher ranking.
The index on Cliff’s website is the average points per game played. So, if Rye enters the BH game with a 4 index (like it has now) and wins, its index does not change. They don’t seed by total points accumulated, but rather by points per game played. Otherwise, Suffern playing Bosco could adverely affect their seeding (since out of state games don’t count for seeding purposes). Alos, if they used total point s accumulated, the teams that couldn’t schedule and play 20 games would be at a disadvantage.
New BEDS number are out. Scarsdale is at 1129. I believe that means they will be in D1 next year.
@slacrosse….enjoy that mid-December ranking all you want. Any coach worth his salt isn’t giving a damn about it, largely because those polls and All-State teams tend to be popularity contests.
If your program has the cash to afford the trips upstate for “exposure” then all the better for you. I don’t begrudge it. But what happens if John Jay wins the D2 playoffs this year? Does that blueprint of everyone’s get torn up and re-thought?
@upstate bound
Maybe missing your very last point about J and “changed blueprints”?—they DID travel upstate
You may be right about how the coaches feel but I think the kids , parents and fans do give a damn about being ranked. Playing upstate and and wanting to win the Section 1 playoffs are not mutually exclusive.
C’mon sla…..they didn’t go upstate like Suffern, Pelham and Rye did. All season long just about everyone on this blog has ripped apart JJ for not having a tough enough schedule. I want them to win the Section to stick it up all the doubters noses.
I still don’t get how they are seeded higher than Rye after losing to them, but JJ is a damn good team. Good luck to you Coach Smith.
Upstate Bound – Why do you think it took JJ until this week to be ranked in the state? Answer: They played Ogdensburg and TI…. we have no Sportswriters in this area that are able to cast a vote on state rankings. They needed to hear or see JJ before ranking them.
Trust me on this, all coaches want to see their kids succeed and they want to see their kids on an All-State Team or to be recognized as a top 20 team in the state.
Being state ranked. Is so overrated. And mean nothing. If you don’t go upstate and win the state championship, they’ll have to rank you #1. So do what’s best for your team.
Ta-da and all others…you are missing my point totally. All season long I have been saying that the only poll that matters is the one after all playoff games have been played. The rest of the in-season polls are just for lame conversation.
And why should I trust you on your last point? Do you think I believe a coach wouldn’t want one of his players to be recognized? I do. But I believe a good coach is more concerned about building his team and peaking to win a Section championship more than the fact his team finally cracked the NYS Sportswriters polls.
Thank you Pipe
And if JJ had lost to those two upstate teams, they would not be ranked in NYS right now.
But if they win the Section, what do you think is more important to Coach Smith and the players, fans and parents?
I have not seen JJ play this year. I look forward to seeing them bust up the Pelham and Rye monopoly. I really want to see someone else win it for a change. I think Pelham is the favorite, by a decent distance.
BTW, What the heck is wrong with the A.D.’s? How are not all the games pre-emptively cancelled? Are they thinking the forecast will change to sunny skies and 50 degrees? Most administrators are complete dopes… who in the private sector could not lead for a month without being fired. Ridiculous.
As far as playing upstate teams hours and hours away and having to stay overnight…. it is unnecessary when you have alot of local talent. However, to do it once early in the season for team building and camaraderie it is a cool thing to do. But 3 trips upstate and overnight… it’s overkill in my opinion. And who the hell cares about the new york sportswriters poll. Like Off the Pipe said… if you win the state you will be ranked #1… no matter who you played in the regular season.
Am going 3-1 suffern modcia going to come up big
@upstate
One last try and I’m done on this thread. Sorry if you still feel I don’t get your points.
Your assumptions on what people are thinking because they look at polls and what coaches are thinking when they play upstate are defy common sense.
Your paragraph 1: EVERYONE knows (along with you) that when looking at polls(NYS /Lo Hud) and appreciates that the only poll that counts is the one after the playoffs. But don’t complicate things. Polls are part of all sports inc weekly polls-
people know they can and will change-big deal.Your paragraph 2- second sentence: I’m just at a total loss as to why you assume that a coach scheduling good teams upstate is NOT focusing on “building his team and peaking vs the coach that does not schedule games upstate who you say IS focusing???-I see no common sense to your thought!!!!!
Any updates from the games being played tonight?
7-2 New Ro
Any score yet in jersey?
I personally think that teams go up north to expose their players to the different style of hockey that they play. If you have aspirations to make it to Utica, it’s good to experience that intensity before you get there. If your team has ever played Salmon River, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t think any coach really gives a crap about their state ranking. They’d probably rather go under the radar and surprise everyone when they get to the playoffs.
Going upstate is a good thing. I’m not saying that you couldn’t play some CT teams and get a great game. But why not play some of the teams that you could face in the playoffs?
WOW, Suffern outshot 45-19. Bosco must be outstanding. What Rockland kids play on Don Bosco?
3-0 Don Bosco (Final) empty net
FYI – Fairfield Prep (CT) BEAT Don Bosco (NJ)4-2,Delbartion(NJ) 4-3, La Salle (PA) 3-0
Good teams are right next door but be careful what you wish for,you may get it.
The Prep schools are a whole different ballgame. Bosco has kids from all over the place playing there. As do all those teams Tri State mentioned. For Suffern to keep it tight, says a lot for them.
Div 1 in CT have non prep teams like Darien,New Canaan,NotreDame-West Haven,Ridgefield,Hamden,Xavier that would be a good test for Suffern.
Would be interesting to see how Suffern would do against these teams on a daily basis.
They would fit right in but not have the same record at the end of the year.
Hear RTH wins 3-2 over Rye.
RTH beat Rye 3-2
@sla
Common sense left your thought train when you mentioned the “benefits” of a state ranking. You think Rye is giving a damn right now about the fact that they were ranked #1 in the state in December? After losing their top scorer and losing games to teams waaay below them in the all-knowing polls, what benefits are they getting out of that ranking right now?
I’m done with you on this subject also. Go John Jay. Prove all these experts wrong.
After watching Suff-Bosco, Suffern looks young and not deep enough to compete with the likes of Bosco, and in away they shouldn’t being Bosco has Kids from all over and as far as Orange County that they recruit. Bosco was rolling 3 lines and sometime there fourth line while Suffern played 2 lines and with Hill, Jager and Tiso playing a majority of the minutes you could see they were dead tired, Suffern needs to get there third line rolling, you can get away with 2 lines against weaker teams, but not in The Section 1 finals against Mamaroneck, White plains or any other team, that is of course if Suffern makes it that far.
What happened to Scarsdale vs. New Rochelle? 7 to 2 is a bit surprising to me. Any updates on that ?
Also RTH over Rye? Any summary of that game? DId Ketch steal one?
In addition to Rye vs BH, the following are also cancelled:
Yorktown vs. Hen Hud
Mahopac vs. Somers
JJ vs. JFK
Leaving Sleepy vs. MAM and Carmel vs Brewster in Westchester and MW vs. Clark in Rockland still on
Suff-Bosco – you’re exactly correct. Suffern is very young and not that deep. They were also missing 2 of their regular starting forwards last night. They will be back for playoffs. Last night was the perfect night to get a third line out there. We were not going to win against a team like Bosco playing a line and 1/2, so why not get some of the others players some experience?
Bosco played 3-4 lines. What kind of coaching philosophy is that?
In good fun here where are all those Scarsdale blooger-supporters? They are so quick to come on here when they win, but are scarce today?
Bad loss at a bad time. Looks like EXACTLY what ‘smarthockey” says that the two or three top teams, Suffern Mamaroneck Pelham would give way to the others. Oh yeah, looks like hes on target
Heard they were missing a number kids in addition to the ones already injured. No excuses.
Yeah tri-state, suffern should drop all their non league games and have them play in the CT league. That would be soooo interesting. What a tool.
What people don’t understand is that these games gotta work for both teams.
Do not count towards seedings. They also play separate rules then section 1 and could be a problem
Rye is not up with Pel, Suff & Mamao without Benicassa
Opponents worry about him and game plan for him…
RTH (w/Ketch) winning a close one, on the smaller ice at Ebersole (w/o Beni) should not surprise anyone.
On the other hand, could someone, who was at the game, explain how Scarsdale lost 7 – 2 to NR – last week against WP, Scarsdale goalie was amazing while NR lost to a medocre MW at the Ice Hutch. Did anybody else find that beatdown by NR to be be one of the craziest results of the season?
what happened with the rye game? did they have a bad game or did RTH play well or both? That one was a bit surprising to me. Playoffs look to be pretty exciting this year in d2. Cant wait!!
In the 3 year span of the renewed Bosco-Suffern series, DBP’s team has gone from the youngish upstart against a veteran Suffern team to where now the roles are reversed.
I saw the first 2 games, did not see last night.
January 2011 – Suffern realy dominates play, an inexplicable collapse in last 5 mins allows a young DBP team a 6-5 win.
Feb 2012 – an evenly matched contest 3-3 OT tie. Suffern eventual NYS Champion against DBP highly rated top Jersey team.
Feb 2013 – a veteran DBP dominates the shot count against a young Suffern. 3-0 empty net sounds like Suffern played perhaps the 2nd best team in the tri-state (behind Delbarton) very tough.
Next year a more experienced Suffern will go against a re-building DBP.
Really surprising how RTH looses to Fox Lane then beats HG and RYE
Scarsdale game almost looked like a spring league game. Scarsdale was missing Burns, Schell, both sam and matt blakely, little hindmarch and roberts all important players to the team. They only had 10 players dressed it was almost like they kind of gave up on the game before it even started because of the injuries and sickness they were suffering from.
Barry wasnt there for new ro. they had 11 skaters too. it was the nicholas vs Ramondelli show last night.
Ian Bass scored the game winner over rye. RTH is going to be a tough team in the post season. Watch out for this kid Bass. Him and Ketchabaw can take this team far.
Wait…. New Ro had 11 skaters? What happened? Did half the team quit?
New Ro started off the year with 15 skaters. 2 injuries now and 2 players werent at the game last night
Scarsdale played with their spring roster last night. don’t expect much from New Rochelle come playoff time. Unless they play Sleepy Hollow or North Rockland in the first round
Thanks for info…now it makes sense
#1 after seeing Scarsdale live last week…I agree their supporting cast has improved greatly since last year…James & MB still “stir the drink” but many have improved this season – Isn’t that what public HS hky is all about???
#2 the last team that you want to get in a “spring league” shootout with is New Ro – no grinding, little defense but the can really snipe!!!
agree with your RTH comment…but don’t let the bus leave without BK
Blakelys? where are they? strong players for Raiders
You are right @hock….don’t let the bus leave withour Brian Kelly, the best player on the team