Saturday, January 29, 2011
Football: Graham Poised to join Florida
This just in: Xavier LB Graham Stewart has decided to play for Florida next season. Stewart gave BC a verbal committment earlier this year but an in-home visit on Friday from new head coach Will Muschamp and the arrival of an official letter of intent seems to have swayed Graham's mind. The allure of the SEC, clearly college football's best conference last year, also seems to have been a major factor. At Florida he will join two former CT recruits, Wethersfield's Tyler Murphy (two-star recruit) and rivals.com's #2 recruit from CT two years ago, who shared time with starter Jon Brantley, New London's Jordan Reed. Graham is a four-star recruit the #1 recruit from CT this year and also in FL's recruiting class this year is CT's #2 prospect, Ridgefield OL Tommy Jordan, a three-star recruit (also looked at by BC). Stewart was considering Syracuse and UConn as well. He is playing in the Team USA vs Team World football game in Austin, Texas on Wednesday 2/2, which is also National Signing Day.
Boys' Hockey: Saturday's Top Games (1/29)
There is an awesome slate of boys hockey games today:
Amity @ #6 West Haven (a home game for both) at 1pm
Conard @ Fermi @ 240
#5 Hamden @ #3 ND-WH @ 330
Simsbury @ #7 South Windsor @ 5
ND-Fairfield @ #9 Ridgefield @ 850
North Haven @ #4 Xavier @ 7
be on the look out for another post on Sunday, including ones on basketball
Amity @ #6 West Haven (a home game for both) at 1pm
Conard @ Fermi @ 240
#5 Hamden @ #3 ND-WH @ 330
Simsbury @ #7 South Windsor @ 5
ND-Fairfield @ #9 Ridgefield @ 850
North Haven @ #4 Xavier @ 7
be on the look out for another post on Sunday, including ones on basketball
Friday, January 28, 2011
Boys' Hockey: Rankings
For my first post, I would like to address the latest boy's hockey rankings. I've included the links for the New Haven Register Poll and Hartford Courant Rankings (made by Matt Conyers) but I would like to weigh in on my own personal rankings from what I've seen.
1 Fairfield Prep (8-2)
-Most hs hockey fans would not agree with me here because they only look at the records, not what actually happened in the games. I consider Prep to be better than Hamden, even though Hamden won the game between the two, because Hamden scored on two scrum goals and then only won in overtime because Prep changed lines when R.J. Ugolik had the puck on the other blue line. He passed it right up to Paul Amarone, who was all alone with the goalie, and Amarone went right through the goalie's legs (five-hole). Prep would beat Hamden 8 times out of 10 this season and if the two meet again, except a Prep win. In my opinion, Prep has the quickest offense in the state and that wrecks havoc on goalies, even ones that have good defensemen (case in point: 3-2 win over Notre Dame-West Haven). My final point, Prep has dominated teams, and good ones at that: 7-0 win over South Windsor, widely regarded as the best team in the CCC, 7-2 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield and 8-0 win over West Haven. John Galiani's state-best three shut outs also include St. Joseph. Note: The Jesuits only other loss came out of state.
2 New Canaan (10-0)
-Now comes everyone's favorite, the undefeated New Canaan Rams. Although they have a weak conference schedule since the FCIAC includes DII, DIII and the bottom of DI schools, they have an impressive 3-0 win over Notre Dame-West Haven, and a 5-2 win over Xavier (will be discussed later). They are out scoring their opponents 40-15 and have only played one DII team so far (Westhill). Tough games remaining on their schedule include vs Notre Dame-Fairfield tonight, the highly anticipated at Lou Astorino Rink against Hamden 2/11 and then don't sleep on the St. Joseph's game 2/12, especially since its the next day. New Canaan has a solid team that will show if they deserve the ranking and hype when they play Hamden.
3 Notre Dame-West Haven (9-2)
-The Green Knights' two losses have been Prep (2-3 in OT) and New Canaan (0-3). ND is a physical team with arguably the best goalie in the state. He keeps them in games because the defense is average at best. However, Notre Dame actually plays better on the penalty kill and power play in my opinion. Capitalizing on other team's mistakes is definitely their strategy and they step it up in crucial situations, when they are down a man or down a goal. Their featured win is 3-2 over Xavier, a game that could have gone either way, especially with the number of penalties ND had and the goal by X that ND convinced the refs to disallow. However, Xavier's own mistakes killed them and a few defensive lapses in the 3rd period to give ND their 2nd and 3rd goals made the margin too much to overcome. ND has also proved their worth with a 4-1 win over West Haven, 4-0 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield, and a 5-2 win over Glastonbury, South Windsor's competition for best team in the CCC. ND's legitimacy will be tested by a game vs Hamden this Saturday, and then 2nd meetings with West Haven, Prep, and Hamden. Personally, I think Hamden will win Saturday's game by at least two goals if they come to play.
4 Xavier (8-4)
-The Falcon's record is due to two out of state losses and the New Canaan and ND games. The 5-4 loss to New Canaan is the result of goalie Austin Essery's bad game. He let in 2-3 goals he normally would have stopped, most notably a slap shot from the blue line that he simply mishandled. Even just stopping that goal would have led to overtime in a game that Xavier's offense was hot, although it had made a few mistakes. That's been the story of the year for Xavier so far: a few mistakes. A couple less mistakes and the ND surely would have been a W (better puck handling on the powerplay could have meant a better shot and thus a goal, one less key penalty would have taken away ND's powerplay goal). Xavier has the win of the season thus far by knocking off defending DI champion and then #1 Hamden, 4-3 at Wesleyan University. It was 4-0 Xaveir before Hamden even scored a goal. The difference in that game: the defense, made up of mainly sophomores and freshmen, played smart and physical against the bigger and more experienced Hamden forwards. Xaveir also has a 4-1 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield. They have the ability to redeem the ND loss and make a statement when they play at Prep on 2/4. Their remaining games also feature a trip to West Hartford against Coach Scott Gainey's team just four years ago, Conard, probably #3 in the CCC, and yet another trip to Bennett Rink for a game at West Haven on 2/26.
5 Hamden (5-2-1)
-Why so low for a team that has one in state loss (Xavier) and a tie to a very good West Haven squad? Because Xavier's losses hurt Hamden and the Prep win was, again, a steal. Hamden also has a 4-3 win over Notre Dame-Fairfiel in OT to their credit. Hamden's remaining schedule includes, again, the highly anticipated game vs New Canaan on 2/11, a game at ND-WH on 1/29, another duel against Prep (will not disappoint) on 2/2, a game at South Windsor on 2/12 that is not to be overlooked, another chance at West Haven on 2/19, a rematch with ND-Fairfield and they close the season in another great match up at Lou Astorino Rink vs ND-WH! Defenseman R.J. Ugolik blogs about the games, from a player's perspective, at http://rjshockeynotebook.blogspot.com/.
6 West Haven (5-2-2)
-In a shocker, West Haven scored 2 goals in under 2 minutes (something Hamden did to ND-Fairfield) to send Hamden to OT and eventually force a tie on the road, at one of the least forgiving rinks in CT, Lou Astorino. West Haven also proved their worth in the 1-4 loss to Notre Dame-West Haven but has shown their lack of elite status with a 2-2 tie with Greenwich and a 0-8 loss to Prep. Their worth will be made known in the next couple games which feature ND-Fairfield, ND-WH (again) and the one I'm looking forward to most South Windsor (to see if the mid-level SCC teams are still better than the CCC's best). They also have another game with Hamden, and one with Xavier.
7 South Windsor (9-2)
-The only reason I could not give the Bobcats the nod over the Blue Devils is that I saw ND-WH beat Glastonbury and I can't see a team that lost to Glastonbury, under any circumstances, beating even a middle-level SCC like West Haven. However, South Windsor has had a very impressive season thus far, dominating teams like Simsbury 7-2 and Fermi 11-2. They've beat the other good teams in the CCC like Wethersfield 4-1 and Farmington 4-0. Their losses are 0-7 to Prep and 1-3 to Glastonbury, games #2 and #3 of their season, respectively. However, they proved they are better than Glastonbury, and thus the CCC's best team, with a 4-3 win in their last game. The only other team that may challenge is Tri-Town and the two teams meet twice 2/2 and 2/26, but I think S Windsor will prevail. South Windsor has another showdown at Conard on 1/31, and then four interesting SCC games: West Haven (2/9), Hamden (2/12), North Haven (2/16) and ND-Fairfield (2/19). I included North Haven because North Haven has a decent team this year, their only downfall is being in the SCC. They play #1-6 on my rankings and that just kills their record so how they fare against some CCC teams will be a better parameter of their talent. I still think South Windsor will beat them but a North Haven win wouldn't surprise me. I think this is also the time to note that i have included ND-Fairfield in all these discussion because just like N Haven they have a good team but play the top teams in the state. The difference between the two is that ND can actually hold their own in those games, evident in the 3-4 OT loss to Hamden and the way they played in the other games. An Nd vs N Haven game would be interesting but it is unfortunately not on the schedule.
8 Glastonbury (6-3)
-The Tomahawks are nipping on S Windsor's heels having constructed an impressive season for themselves as well. Highlights include and 8-1 win over Conard, 8-2 over Simsbury, 6-5 in OT over Farmington, and the 3-1 win over South Windsor. Glastonbury (pardon my lack of names) features two very good forward, one of which is very quick and has a good shot, and three very good defensemen. I have seen them play and their goalie is very good too, they just fail to move the puck efficiently on powerplays against ND-WH, the game was a lot closer than the score though. Their three losses are 2-5 to ND-WH, 3-4 to South Windsor, and 3-5 to Ridgefield in the first game of the season. To prove their supremacy in the CCC they have games with Simsbury, Conard, Wethersfield and Enfield remaining. No game versus Tri-Town unfortunately. For some higher-level competition they get another shot at Ridgefield, a game they definitely can win now, Amity, North Haven and ND-Fairfield...all of which will be interesting games.
T-9 Ridgefield (6-3) and Darien (5-5-1)
-First off, I do give the slight edge to Ridgefield but choosing between the two is very hard. Ridgefield has the 5-3 win over Glastonbury, a 10-1 blowout of Trinity Catholic and impressive 10-1 and 6-1 wins in Maine. However they fell short 2-4 to Xavier, 1-6 to New Canaan and most notably 4-5 to ND-Fairfield. Remaining games feature Greenwich on 1/31, Prep (2/16) and they end the season with Glastonbury (2/21) and St. Joseph (2/23). Darien has lost to Hamden 3-4, West Haven 4-6, New Canaan 2-4, ND-WH 0-3 and most notably 0-2 to Greenwich. However, they beat Amity 3-1, ND-Fairfield 3-2 then tied them 2-2, and beat Trinity Catholic 6-1. I look forward to their game versus St Joseph and to see how they hold up when they play New Canaan again. The Ridgefield Tigers and Darien Blue Wave play on 2/5 to see who is truly better.
First Teams Out: Tri-Town (8-1) is not to be overlooked in the CCC. They have wins over Simsbury 4-2 and Greenwich 5-4 in OT. Keeping them out is the 1-4 loss to Amity. Also, Greenwich (2-6-1) is right on the cusp with a 2-0 win over Darien, a 2-2 tie with West Haven and strong games against upper echelon teams like Xavier, New Canaan and ND-WH. The underdog everyone loves, DII Guilford (7-0-1), tied the other powerhouse left in DII, Cheshire, 2-2. Their seven wins include 5-2 over St Joseph in the first game of the season, and 5-3 over Fermi which is only a big deal because Fermi is DI. Not to take anything away from Guilford though, Christian Cattaruzza and Jake Lane have the team looking good. It is a shame the only game we really have to measure them with will be their biggest game of the season when they host Conard on 2/10.
http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/25/sports/high_school/doc4d362cd4393ad841205462.txt
http://blogs.courant.com/school_zone/2011/01/boys-hockey-courant-blog-ratin-1.html
1 Fairfield Prep (8-2)
-Most hs hockey fans would not agree with me here because they only look at the records, not what actually happened in the games. I consider Prep to be better than Hamden, even though Hamden won the game between the two, because Hamden scored on two scrum goals and then only won in overtime because Prep changed lines when R.J. Ugolik had the puck on the other blue line. He passed it right up to Paul Amarone, who was all alone with the goalie, and Amarone went right through the goalie's legs (five-hole). Prep would beat Hamden 8 times out of 10 this season and if the two meet again, except a Prep win. In my opinion, Prep has the quickest offense in the state and that wrecks havoc on goalies, even ones that have good defensemen (case in point: 3-2 win over Notre Dame-West Haven). My final point, Prep has dominated teams, and good ones at that: 7-0 win over South Windsor, widely regarded as the best team in the CCC, 7-2 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield and 8-0 win over West Haven. John Galiani's state-best three shut outs also include St. Joseph. Note: The Jesuits only other loss came out of state.
2 New Canaan (10-0)
-Now comes everyone's favorite, the undefeated New Canaan Rams. Although they have a weak conference schedule since the FCIAC includes DII, DIII and the bottom of DI schools, they have an impressive 3-0 win over Notre Dame-West Haven, and a 5-2 win over Xavier (will be discussed later). They are out scoring their opponents 40-15 and have only played one DII team so far (Westhill). Tough games remaining on their schedule include vs Notre Dame-Fairfield tonight, the highly anticipated at Lou Astorino Rink against Hamden 2/11 and then don't sleep on the St. Joseph's game 2/12, especially since its the next day. New Canaan has a solid team that will show if they deserve the ranking and hype when they play Hamden.
3 Notre Dame-West Haven (9-2)
-The Green Knights' two losses have been Prep (2-3 in OT) and New Canaan (0-3). ND is a physical team with arguably the best goalie in the state. He keeps them in games because the defense is average at best. However, Notre Dame actually plays better on the penalty kill and power play in my opinion. Capitalizing on other team's mistakes is definitely their strategy and they step it up in crucial situations, when they are down a man or down a goal. Their featured win is 3-2 over Xavier, a game that could have gone either way, especially with the number of penalties ND had and the goal by X that ND convinced the refs to disallow. However, Xavier's own mistakes killed them and a few defensive lapses in the 3rd period to give ND their 2nd and 3rd goals made the margin too much to overcome. ND has also proved their worth with a 4-1 win over West Haven, 4-0 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield, and a 5-2 win over Glastonbury, South Windsor's competition for best team in the CCC. ND's legitimacy will be tested by a game vs Hamden this Saturday, and then 2nd meetings with West Haven, Prep, and Hamden. Personally, I think Hamden will win Saturday's game by at least two goals if they come to play.
4 Xavier (8-4)
-The Falcon's record is due to two out of state losses and the New Canaan and ND games. The 5-4 loss to New Canaan is the result of goalie Austin Essery's bad game. He let in 2-3 goals he normally would have stopped, most notably a slap shot from the blue line that he simply mishandled. Even just stopping that goal would have led to overtime in a game that Xavier's offense was hot, although it had made a few mistakes. That's been the story of the year for Xavier so far: a few mistakes. A couple less mistakes and the ND surely would have been a W (better puck handling on the powerplay could have meant a better shot and thus a goal, one less key penalty would have taken away ND's powerplay goal). Xavier has the win of the season thus far by knocking off defending DI champion and then #1 Hamden, 4-3 at Wesleyan University. It was 4-0 Xaveir before Hamden even scored a goal. The difference in that game: the defense, made up of mainly sophomores and freshmen, played smart and physical against the bigger and more experienced Hamden forwards. Xaveir also has a 4-1 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield. They have the ability to redeem the ND loss and make a statement when they play at Prep on 2/4. Their remaining games also feature a trip to West Hartford against Coach Scott Gainey's team just four years ago, Conard, probably #3 in the CCC, and yet another trip to Bennett Rink for a game at West Haven on 2/26.
5 Hamden (5-2-1)
-Why so low for a team that has one in state loss (Xavier) and a tie to a very good West Haven squad? Because Xavier's losses hurt Hamden and the Prep win was, again, a steal. Hamden also has a 4-3 win over Notre Dame-Fairfiel in OT to their credit. Hamden's remaining schedule includes, again, the highly anticipated game vs New Canaan on 2/11, a game at ND-WH on 1/29, another duel against Prep (will not disappoint) on 2/2, a game at South Windsor on 2/12 that is not to be overlooked, another chance at West Haven on 2/19, a rematch with ND-Fairfield and they close the season in another great match up at Lou Astorino Rink vs ND-WH! Defenseman R.J. Ugolik blogs about the games, from a player's perspective, at http://rjshockeynotebook.blogspot.com/.
6 West Haven (5-2-2)
-In a shocker, West Haven scored 2 goals in under 2 minutes (something Hamden did to ND-Fairfield) to send Hamden to OT and eventually force a tie on the road, at one of the least forgiving rinks in CT, Lou Astorino. West Haven also proved their worth in the 1-4 loss to Notre Dame-West Haven but has shown their lack of elite status with a 2-2 tie with Greenwich and a 0-8 loss to Prep. Their worth will be made known in the next couple games which feature ND-Fairfield, ND-WH (again) and the one I'm looking forward to most South Windsor (to see if the mid-level SCC teams are still better than the CCC's best). They also have another game with Hamden, and one with Xavier.
7 South Windsor (9-2)
-The only reason I could not give the Bobcats the nod over the Blue Devils is that I saw ND-WH beat Glastonbury and I can't see a team that lost to Glastonbury, under any circumstances, beating even a middle-level SCC like West Haven. However, South Windsor has had a very impressive season thus far, dominating teams like Simsbury 7-2 and Fermi 11-2. They've beat the other good teams in the CCC like Wethersfield 4-1 and Farmington 4-0. Their losses are 0-7 to Prep and 1-3 to Glastonbury, games #2 and #3 of their season, respectively. However, they proved they are better than Glastonbury, and thus the CCC's best team, with a 4-3 win in their last game. The only other team that may challenge is Tri-Town and the two teams meet twice 2/2 and 2/26, but I think S Windsor will prevail. South Windsor has another showdown at Conard on 1/31, and then four interesting SCC games: West Haven (2/9), Hamden (2/12), North Haven (2/16) and ND-Fairfield (2/19). I included North Haven because North Haven has a decent team this year, their only downfall is being in the SCC. They play #1-6 on my rankings and that just kills their record so how they fare against some CCC teams will be a better parameter of their talent. I still think South Windsor will beat them but a North Haven win wouldn't surprise me. I think this is also the time to note that i have included ND-Fairfield in all these discussion because just like N Haven they have a good team but play the top teams in the state. The difference between the two is that ND can actually hold their own in those games, evident in the 3-4 OT loss to Hamden and the way they played in the other games. An Nd vs N Haven game would be interesting but it is unfortunately not on the schedule.
8 Glastonbury (6-3)
-The Tomahawks are nipping on S Windsor's heels having constructed an impressive season for themselves as well. Highlights include and 8-1 win over Conard, 8-2 over Simsbury, 6-5 in OT over Farmington, and the 3-1 win over South Windsor. Glastonbury (pardon my lack of names) features two very good forward, one of which is very quick and has a good shot, and three very good defensemen. I have seen them play and their goalie is very good too, they just fail to move the puck efficiently on powerplays against ND-WH, the game was a lot closer than the score though. Their three losses are 2-5 to ND-WH, 3-4 to South Windsor, and 3-5 to Ridgefield in the first game of the season. To prove their supremacy in the CCC they have games with Simsbury, Conard, Wethersfield and Enfield remaining. No game versus Tri-Town unfortunately. For some higher-level competition they get another shot at Ridgefield, a game they definitely can win now, Amity, North Haven and ND-Fairfield...all of which will be interesting games.
T-9 Ridgefield (6-3) and Darien (5-5-1)
-First off, I do give the slight edge to Ridgefield but choosing between the two is very hard. Ridgefield has the 5-3 win over Glastonbury, a 10-1 blowout of Trinity Catholic and impressive 10-1 and 6-1 wins in Maine. However they fell short 2-4 to Xavier, 1-6 to New Canaan and most notably 4-5 to ND-Fairfield. Remaining games feature Greenwich on 1/31, Prep (2/16) and they end the season with Glastonbury (2/21) and St. Joseph (2/23). Darien has lost to Hamden 3-4, West Haven 4-6, New Canaan 2-4, ND-WH 0-3 and most notably 0-2 to Greenwich. However, they beat Amity 3-1, ND-Fairfield 3-2 then tied them 2-2, and beat Trinity Catholic 6-1. I look forward to their game versus St Joseph and to see how they hold up when they play New Canaan again. The Ridgefield Tigers and Darien Blue Wave play on 2/5 to see who is truly better.
First Teams Out: Tri-Town (8-1) is not to be overlooked in the CCC. They have wins over Simsbury 4-2 and Greenwich 5-4 in OT. Keeping them out is the 1-4 loss to Amity. Also, Greenwich (2-6-1) is right on the cusp with a 2-0 win over Darien, a 2-2 tie with West Haven and strong games against upper echelon teams like Xavier, New Canaan and ND-WH. The underdog everyone loves, DII Guilford (7-0-1), tied the other powerhouse left in DII, Cheshire, 2-2. Their seven wins include 5-2 over St Joseph in the first game of the season, and 5-3 over Fermi which is only a big deal because Fermi is DI. Not to take anything away from Guilford though, Christian Cattaruzza and Jake Lane have the team looking good. It is a shame the only game we really have to measure them with will be their biggest game of the season when they host Conard on 2/10.
http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/25/sports/high_school/doc4d362cd4393ad841205462.txt
http://blogs.courant.com/school_zone/2011/01/boys-hockey-courant-blog-ratin-1.html
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