What? Nothing this year.

Hockey season is underway, usually this forum has about 10 pages of post by now.

Who are the early favorites? Any surprises this year? I guess if you knew it wouldn't be a surprise.

Looks like no NHL this year, I'm jonesin' for more hockey.

Hey GHock! Miss you guys around here, just not the same without you all that have "graduated". Anyways, heard that Braintree and Weymouth applied for waivers this year and were denied. We played Weymouth yesterday for our opener, won 6-2. As compared to last year we've definately improved, as we lost both games to Weymouth last year.  Dedham graduated their goalie and all of their D, they have an upperclassman forward switching back to D to help out. Have a solid forward first line, decent 2nd line. Not sure if they'll be enough to keep them at the top of Hergert though with Wellesley still having their strong players. Needham looks to be pretty decent again. Not sure about Norwood, Newton N.

My girl graduated, but would love to see updates here about this season. I see that AC has won 2 very insignificant games, wonder how the BIG GAME will go Wednesday. Rematch of the Div 1 title match. Hearing that the 2 powerhouse players in L and F are gone from St. M's????  If so this will be a great showing for Coach P to see what he is made of.  Has anyone else heard this? L back to Medfa and not sure about F.  Can AB carry the St M's team?  Can AC D hold up after losing a significant player to graduation?  And if St M's and AC fall off, who will be the next powerhouse?

My bets with Hingham again, thinking they will be strong enough to get thru. 

Gotta say college hockey much different. They think they are prepared, but they are most def not. Top players on HS teams, not so much on the college level.

 

In response to Hockeymomsrule's comment:

IMO based on early returns , I am giving the edge to Wellesley in the BS Herget.  Wellesley demolished Dedham, Walpole defeated Natick 5-3 and Norwood got by Milton 5-4.   Wellesley kept Dedham to 1 goal which indicates to me that they have the defense and goaltending and it looks like they can score at will.   Norwood did not have any significant losses to graduation or prep, will score like they did last year.   Walpole had what could be argued were the 2 top D in D2 last year and lost one to prep school.  Big big loss there and the difference between 1st place and what could be 3rd.  Rounding out the Herget, Natick, then Milton, Dedham.    

I think you're right GHock, barring any significant injuries or illness keeping their top players off the ice, I don't see anyone knocking off Wellesley this year. Also think Hergert as a whole is going to be stronger than Carey. Hard to judge the Fram squad right now with half the starters battling the flu or sinus infections (to the point where one was throwing up on the bench after every shift in last nights disaster)and one D out for undetermined time due to injury. Either way, things are going to be better for them this year and they should be more competitive than last.

I think the board is on life support....

Early Norwood loss to Braintree has me thinking that Herget will be Wellesley, Walpole, Norwood in that order.   Saturday night Wellesley @ Walpole for early bragging rights.

Anyone know what happened to Weymouth?  They had a decent squad last year but just got blasted by Wellesley 7 - 0.  

In response to ghockeydad's comment:

I don't think anything really, they had 3 pretty decent players last year and got a few wins over teams who were weaker than normal. Even we beat them 6-2 this year, where we lost to them 3-2 and 6-5 last year. Nothing different other than they had nothing else come in to help the 3 they already had and we had a pretty solid core of Freshman come in. Going to be Wellesley in Hergert and I think it's a toss up for Carey at this point. None of the Carey teams seem to be really more dominant than the others.

I'm afraid that most of those people that were driving this forum for several years are no longer following it because their kids have graduated.  This site had the most high school sports postings almost from the day it started.  Apparantly interest is simply not there any longer.

Interesting games coming up in the Middlesex League. Arlington/Woburn/Lexington/Reading/Winchester all play each other in the next 10 days. Can undefeated Arlington and Reading skate with Woburn? Has anyone seen them play? 

I will chime in....

How bout that Duxbury Team?  Clash of the two best girls public school teams in the state this Saturday.  Clearly Duxbury is far and away tops (D1 and D2) but Falmouth could be right there.  This is the game to watch.

I see some earlier post about Wellesley being dominating....hmmm...why dont they play Duxbury anymore...?

Wellesley is strong this year, most of their talent are upperclassmen though so it's now or never for them as they will graduate a lot this year and more next year. Two pretty talented underclassmen but I don't know that they have much coming in behind them for support over the next few years. Duxbury would be an out of league game for them, I would think of all the years, this would have been the one to go after that on their schedule. Newton North is going to struggle, weak in net with the loss of HR no longer being able to play and not much in front of what they do have in net. Reading v. Woburn could be interesting. Reading has a few talented freshman but only one senior with anything to be concerned with, I think Woburn is a bit deeper and has one of the best goalies in the state.  In the end Woburn will pull off the W.  Would have preferred to see Reading when we were healthy and not battling the flu and injuries as our game against them would have been a lot closer.  Not saying our girls would have came out of it with a W, but it wouldn't have been the tilt it was.  Played a great game against Braintree tonigh,t most of it seemingly on the PK, and came out with a 1-0 win. The Wamps are no longer undefeated in Carey. Going to come down to those two teams this year I think for Carey.  Still feel Wellesley will walk away with Hergert. Dedham will probably give them a fight for it but they graduated too much to take Wellesley down I think. 

Big big win for Falmouth tonight.  Kudos for breaking Duxbury's streak.  And congrats to the Green Dragons on a long run against top competition.  Too many top ranked teams haven't proven themselves yet against the better teams.  We're starting to see them lose now that they are playing some real competition.  

Where's the love for Walpole in the BSC?  They lost a lot, sure, but they still are a strong club, one that tied Wellesley, albeit on a controversial last minute goal.  And to clarify, while Wellesley does lose a couple top seniors, they have no juniors on the roster at all, and they have strong and deep fresh and sophs, so don't write them off for next year. Finally, while they don't play Dux, they do play Falmouth over Feb break.

In response to patsoxbs' comment:

You're right Pats, I keep forgetting a bunch of those soph's have those fall birthdays making them 2 years behind my oldest in school, not one. Hard to remember that when they all grow up playing against/with each other. As for Walpole, my mother always told me if I had nothing nice to say to say nothing at all. :-X 

With the passing of New Years the high school hockey season is in full swing.  Here are my thoughts on some of the top leagues and conferences so far:

Middlesex Liberty – I think this is the best league in girl’s hockey.  Woburn, Reading and Lexington are not only vying for a league title they are competing for a state title.  Arlington will make a run in D1 and Winchester and Belmont will go a few rounds in D2 tourney. 

Merrimack/Dual Large – Westford, AB and Andover are going to battle.  I believe Andover was up 2-0 on Westford only to give up 3 in the 3^rd and take an L.  Andover then went on to beat AB last week.  I would not sleep on Billerica either.

SEMGHL Coastal – Falmouth, Barnstable and Duxbury are the head of the class here.  Sandwich is better and may sneak into post season.

Bay State Herget – Walpole, Wellesley will fight it out of crown but Norwood won’t be far off.  Milton is getting strong goaltending and is on the rise.  Natick should qualify for post season and Dedham has the fire power but needs to get support in net.

Top 5 Teams in D1:

Woburn, Reading, Hingham, Lexington and Marys

Top 5 Teams in D2:

Falmouth, Duxbury, Wellesley, Walpole and Canton

Other league and conference thoughts:

GEMIHL – CAL/Northeast – Beverly-Danvers is loaded with upperclassmen and played Lexington tough in a 4-1L in the preliminary round last year.  Lynn/Winthrop will push them and has post season swagger. GBL/Metro - Cambridge is tops here.  They play Beverly this week so that will be a game to measure where these teams are.

SEMGHL – East – Marshfield and MV are playing well but look for 2^nd year program Norwell to make some noise as well.  SEMGHL – West - Canton and Westwood will go battle as they do every season.  Franklin is a bit down this season.  Medfield and Medway will make post season.

The Middlesex Freedom, Merrimack/Dual Small and Catholic Conf look to be 1 team races.  Watertown despite the loss of some fire power can lean on EL for scoring.  LS has an exceptional goaltender.   Fontbonne has two freshman goalies seeing action and like Watertown lost fire power but is managing to get it elsewhere.

The Bay State Carey will be decided by Braintree and Framingham.  Needham is improved and could qualify for the tourney and or finish second in the Carey if things break right.

The Catholic Central race doesn’t even matter to the teams in the conference.  Marys and AC are shooting for state titles.  Archies has been a pleasant surprise so far.  AP has the best goalie in the state.

The Central/West – is tough to call.  Shrewsbury has been good in past and got off to a good start this season.   They play AP so that should give a better view of what they got.  Springfield Cathedral’s sample size is too small to evaluate.

Hingham is an Independent and it goes without saying that they will be def one of the final 8 and probably a final 4 team this season.

Other Notes:

Hingham will be the site for the 1st Super 8 hockey tourney.  It will be during Feb. break and give the top 8 teams a chance to get some good work in prior to the state tourney.  The field is: Hingham, Duxbury, Arlington, AC, Woburn, Lexington, AB and Marys.  Could this lead to a post season girls Super 8, maybe in a few years...

Falmouth is also hosting a late season tourney with Barnstable, Norwood and Wellesley.  That sounds like a nice post season tune up.

An ALL STAR event for girls is in the making.  Game would be late March with teams able to nominate 2 players.  It would be a state wide event similar to the boys.  Juniors and seniors would be eligible.  It would possibly be played back to back with the boy's game.

 

 

 

GoodTime - where did you hear about the Girls All Star event?  Really interesting.

Baystate Herget -  I believe its Wellesley's to lose.  Walpole is the only team that could upset them but I doubt it happens.  Walpole eked out a tie with Wellesleybut Wellesley was missing their top D, Goss.  She is easily in the discussion as one of top D in D2.  Norwood doesn't have the goaltending to to keep up.  They got wacked by Wellesely 8-2.  Personally, I think Milton, Dedham and Natick will be lucky to make the tournament.

Baystate Carey - I'm giving the nod to Framingham over Braintree.

Big Falmouth win over Duxbury.  Almost wish they hadn't won.  I'm afraid this will wake Duxbury up.   Hope I'm wrong.  

Agree with you on the top 5 D2 but to put them in order

Dux

Falmouth

Wellesley

Walpole / Canton pickem

 

 

Someone please explain to me why there is a D1 and a D2 in girls hockey.  It seems arbitrary and uncorrelated with strength of teams.  I concur with Goodtime's rankings but tell me those D2 teams couldn't hang with the top D1 teams.  A Super 8 approach seems a no-brainier, but maybe the MIAA's emphasis is solely on the boys.

In response to patsoxbs' comment:

You answered your own question with your last sentence.

Now that we are 25% into the season, it's pretty clear to me that we have see the preview of the D2 final last weekend in Falmouth v Duxbury.  Those 2 teams are definitely the best - solid goaltending, multiple scoring from at least 2 lines and solid D.  Will be interesting to see how Wellesley and Walpole match up with them.  Herget will be decided at the final Wells/Walp game, Norwood just doesn't have the goaltending to keep up.  Carey looks pretty weak this year but Braintree still has a decent goalie - giving them the edge.

Saw AC/Archies game and was impressed with Archies.  Could be a dark horse in D2.  They are very strong in net.  

I too would love to see Super 8 for girls but MIAA never going to go down that path. 

Good luck to all!

In response to patsoxbs's comment:

Right on.  I agree.  When people put their sillyTop D1 teams and then the Top D2 teams you almost get a sense that the best teams are D1 and the rest are D2.  At least thats the vibe I get.  No way.  As a matter of fact I would venture to guess that the majority of the top teams ARE in D2.  Woburn vs. Duxbury, Falmouth, Walpole and Probably Canton (to name a few) would be a lop-sided "no contest" in favor of these "lesser" D2 teams.  I think Duxbury smoked Woburn in the pre-season.  And before the Woburn supporters chime in...both teams played ALL their players.  I dont want to hear "Woburn was playing their JV girls, etc, etc.  Both teams played all their players and Duxbury handled them easily from what I have been told.  South Shore Rules...a dominating force in girls hockey!!!  The rest are playing catch up.

Dear Scooter,

On behalf of the Woburn parents, please start wearing your helmet when you ride!

 

Enjoy the Jersey Shore!!

 

 

In response to Scooter8's comment:

What game where you watching? Pretty sure Woburn won by a couple of goals and who cares it was a scrimmage.

In response to Scooter8's comment:
[

[/QUOTE]

Right on.  I agree.  When people put their sillyTop D1 teams and then the Top D2 teams you almost get a sense that the best teams are D1 and the rest are D2.  At least thats the vibe I get.  No way.  As a matter of fact I would venture to guess that the majority of the top teams ARE in D2.  Woburn vs. Duxbury, Falmouth, Walpole and Probably Canton (to name a few) would be a lop-sided "no contest" in favor of these "lesser" D2 teams.  I think Duxbury smoked Woburn in the pre-season.  And before the Woburn supporters chime in...both teams played ALL their players.  I dont want to hear "Woburn was playing their JV girls, etc, etc.  Both teams played all their players and Duxbury handled them easily from what I have been told.  South Shore Rules...a dominating force in girls hockey!!!  The rest are playing catch up.

[/QUOTE]

There are def D2 teams that can beat the top tier D1 teams.  The only purpose of the poll being split into 2 divisons is the fact that at the end of the year there are 2 separate tourneys.  I thought we were past the days of the old "d2 can beat d1" and "d1 is the best."  The thought is to talk about what teams have the best chance to win their respective state titles.  And the Super 8 showcase at the end of the season is a chance for the public to support the concept and possibly get it into the post season.  Then divisons will not mater as much.

As for the All Star game I heard from a coach.  More info should be out later this month.  It's going to be in Worcester late March.  2 girls max from a team and girls can only be junior or seniors.  Teams also have to have coach who is member of MSHCA.  Very excited to see this come together.

Glad to see a bit of life around here.  Even if it took a south shore hockey supporter calling out Woburn.  Lol

 

 

MIAA girls hockey should get rid of the D1 and D2 divisions and just have a Super 8 (or 6 or whatever) champion and then a champion from the rest.  There is no difference in the quality of the top D1 and D2 teams.  In girls hockey, one or two players can make all of the difference on a team and those key players can be at a D1 or D2 school.  In the boys game, you need at least two good lines, 4 good D, and a solid goalie to compete at the Super 8 level.  In MIAA girls hockey, you can get by with a lot less.   

The MIAA needs to wake up and take care of this because if (when) they get audited by the Title IX people they will have a tough time showing that the girls get the same benefits as the boys. 

This post has been removed.