The top of the rankings should come as no surprise to anyone but the bottom is where I seperate myself from other rankings in the state by using my knowledge of hockey and ability to assess talent.
#1 Fairfield Prep (6-2) (5-0)
-In some ways it is nice to not have to make a long argument on why the Jesuits are number one week after week like I had to do last year with New Canaan doing so well but never playing Prep. Now, with the top three teams in the state all competing the SCC, we will see 1 vs 2, 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 3 (as they are right now) two times each this season (we could have seen all vs 4 too if Xavier had beat Ridgefield on Saturday night) and two of those match-ups came this past week. Prep beat #3 Hamden 3-1 on Wednesday and topped #2 Notre Dame-West Haven on Saturday 4-3 (it wasn't that close until the very end) to be the undisputed #1 team in the state, for now. My favorite part is that, after watching both those games, there really isn't any controversy about those results like all three teams came to play for those games and he officiating is about the best you are going to get in high school hockey. Along with those wins, remember the Jesuits beat #4 Ridgefield 3-0 in the first game of the season and previously #8 South Windsor 6-2 in their second game of the season. Prep only has one game this week and it is at home against SCC opponent Amity.
#2 Notre Dame-West Haven (7-1) (7-1)
-ND-WH did help their number two ranking by making their final score 3-4 in their loss at #1 Fairfield Prep this week with a late 5-on-6 goal so that look like they were closer to beating the Jesuits than Hamden who lost 1-3 earlier in the week. The Green Knights other game last week was a 2-1 win over Cheshire that kind of surprised me since it was so close but that can be due in part to playing at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden I guess. This week they have a huge game at home against #4 Ridgefield and then welcome in Notre Dame-Fairfield on Saturday for another quality game. It may not have been as big as last week but this upcoming week is still important for Notre Dame-West Haven.
#3 Hamden (4-1) (4-1)
-"Close but no cigar" could be used to sum up Hamden's 1-3 loss against #1 Fairfield Prep this past Wednesday but the Green Dragons bounced back well and showed why they are #3 in the state with a 6-3 win at #7 North Haven on Friday. Hamden has some really good games coming up this week hosting #5 Xavier on Wednesday then traveling to Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA to play the same St. John's team from Shrewsbury, MA that Xavier almost beat at home in Middletown. To challenge themselves even further, the Green Dragons scheduled a home game on Saturday afternoon with another MA team, Hingham that I think will give them a good game. Three games in four days will help Hamden get some more games under their belt and get them ready for a showdown with #2 ND-WH three weeks away at the end of January, 2:30pm on 1/28 at Lou Astorino Rink.
#4 Ridgefield (4-1) (2-1)
-They may not have had as good of a week as Fairfield Prep, but the Tigers did hand #5 (then #6) Xavier their first in-state loss, 5-4 in OT. Ridgefield has now played all top ten teams in-state thus far and they will get another at #2 Notre Dame-West Haven this upcoming Wednesday. They also host Westhill on Monday and St. Joseph on Saturday as part of their FCIAC schedule. The Tigers are looking good and can make some noise early at Bennett Rink on Wednesday at 4:15!
#5 Xavier (6-2-1) (4-1-0)
-The Falcons lost their first in-state game this past week but just barely 4-5 in OT at #4 Ridgefield. A reason for concern from this past week is only beat Greenwich 3-2 in OT at home but they also have 4-2 wins over Cheshire and Notre Dame-Fairfield along with a 1-0 victory over #7 North Haven to their credit and taking Ridgefield to OT, being a goal away from winning, proves they are a very good team and deserving of at least a #5 or #6 ranking. X jumped Glastonbury in my rankings because the Thomahawks lost 2-5 to #4 Ridgefield and don't have any other wins over top team opponents. Glastonbury is extremely close behind the Falcons though and I almost was going put these two teams as tied but losing by three goals and losing in overtime is such a big difference, it means Xavier deserves to be ahead. In fact, the Falcons have another big test in their only game next week, at #3 Hamden on Wednesday.
#6 Glastonbury (5-1) (5-1)
-I know Glastonbury went 2-0 last week and the Falcons went 1-1 yet they switched spots in the rankings because the Tomahawks' results were weakened and Xavier's strengthened. Xavier beat Cheshire who only lost 1-2 to #2 Notre Dame-West Haven last week. Glastonbury beat a DIII team while the Falcons beat DI Greenwich. Glastonbury beat Conard and Fermi/Enfield earlier in the season, both teams that lost to previously win-less Simsbury last week. Conard did beat South Windsor one of the two times they played last week so that won't mean much for Glastonbury until they beat South Windsor. Glastonbury is still a top team in the state in my opinion and a week from Monday they will get to showcase themselves in a game at #2 Notre Dame-West Haven. For now, they need to take care of business at 4-2 DII Wethersfield on Wednesday and versus Simsbury on Saturday.
#7 North Haven (3-4) (3-4)
-All three of the public "Haven teams" are a little unpredictable and that is what allows for such an open debate here. However, I give the edge to N Haven because among the three, they are 1-1 with an OT loss, while West Haven is 1-1 and East Haven is 1-1 with their win only coming in OT (against N Haven). The way I look at is if these three teams all played each other again who would win? I think N Haven has the offense to make W Haven pay for what they lack on defense but East Haven doesn't have enough offense to score more than what their defense can hold West Haven to. When East Haven and North Haven play, it is sort of a toss up but I think North Haven has enough offense to get it done; they scored as many goals against #3 Hamden as Fairfield Prep did (3) and are only one of three teams to score at least goals against #2 Notre Dame-West Haven. N Haven has two away games this week: Daniel Hand, a good DII team, and Amity, a formidable SCC opponent.
#8 West Haven (6-1) (6-1)
-The Westies are a solid 6-1 with some easier wins in there that North Haven will soon have a chance to get as well while W Haven is playing the Fairfield Prep and Hamden games N Haven already did. WH is also 1-1 against N and E Haven, a solid record, but as I say in my explanation of NH's ranking, right now I think they would go 1-1 against those teams if they were to play again. The Blue Devils only game this upcoming week is at home against a Simsbury team that has won two straight against decent opponents. W Haven needs to stop that and prove they are deserving of this #8 ranking.
#9 East Haven (6-1-1) (6-1-1)
-The public Haven team with the best record is 3rd? They are 2-0 against Westhill and Wilton, DII teams that are a combined 0-10-1 and tied 5-5 with a Stamford team that is 2-4-1 (but still a decent team in DII). They also needed OT to beat Tri-Town (3-2-1) and N Haven while their one loss is to West Haven, 3-4. That leaves an 8-4 win over Conard and a 4-2 win at Cheshire, teams the N and W Haven haven't played yet. At the end of the day, I think E Haven is a talented team (they are in my top ten) but there are eight teams that I think right now are better than them. This Thursday, E Haven host a 5-1 Milford co-op team that only lost in OT to Branford, another good DII team and then on Saturday they travel to Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport to take on Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe, yet another team at the top of DII.
#10 Darien (3-3) (3-3)
-The Blue Wave beat New Canaan 6-1, who beat St. Joseph 6-1 so don't try to argue St. Joseph is better. New Canaan beat Greenwich 5-4 but NC only beat Notre Dame-Fairifled 3-2 in OT where as Darien has beat ND-F by at least two goals twice so I think its say safe to say they should beat Greenwich by more than one goal. You can't make a case for Fermi/Enfield or Tri-Town to be in the top ten right now based on their results and Windsor/Farmington/Avon has tied their only DI game thus far (Tri-Town). South Windsor is my #11 team right now so don't get too worked up Bobcat fans and Cheshire is just below because I like the 1-2 loss to ND-WH but a loss to Guilford 3-2, only beating Amity 3-2 and New Milford 2-1 in OT have some of teams with good DI wins ahead of them. Darien has the talent of a top ten team and they will be abe to prove it further in games against #7 North Haven, #4 Ridgefield, South Windsor, New Canaan again, St. Joseph and top DII teams like Staples/Weston/Shelton, Stamford, Trumbull, and Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe as they compete in the FCIAC. They are 3-3 because of an 0-2 loss at Hamden, 5-6 OT loss at #8 West Haven, and 1-4 loss versus #2 Notre Dame-West Haven.
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