The craziness begins. As of 1:41am, there are already four cancellations due to the projected 3-6 inches of snow. Nonetheless, I will highlight the top of the remaining games:
#2 Hamden @ West Haven @ 1pm
-Bennett Rink in West Haven is a tough place to play (especially because of the refs) and this is Hamden's second straight road game against a tough opponent. West Haven still has the offensive talent to beat even a team as good as Hamden. That being said, the Green Dragons need to go into W Haven and take care of business if this game doesn't get cancelled. It bolsters their #2 resume and gives them even more momentum before playing #4 Notre Dame-West Haven next Saturday, 1/28. Also, the win for Hamden secures their spot in this year's DI state tournament.
Cheshire @ #1 Fairfield Prep @ 1
-Cheshire is still looking for that marquee win in DI; however, the only way they get it here is if Prep does not come out ready to play. Otherwise, the Rams can just use this game to improve as they look to try and beat Guilford, something they were not able to do earlier in the season, in their next game of the season. This game is also important for Prep because it is a DI SCC game and the result will be added to each team's conference record.
Guilford @ Wethersfield @ 430
-A win here will make the Indians the second team to qualify for the DII state tournaemnt. Wethersfield won four of their first six games but is on a tow-game skid that has them at 4-4 overall. Guilford has some quality wins (Branford, Newtown, Cheshire, Fermi/Enfield) and their only loss was their first game fo the year, 2-5 against St. Joesph; they have seven straight wins since then.
Branford @ North Branford @ 515
-Home game for both teams in a local rivalry. This game is also huge for both teams as they vie for a spot at the very top of DII team this year. Branford beat Milford co-op 5-4 in OT and Milford co-op beat N Brandord 2-5. Branford lost 6-7 in OT to Trumbull, a team that Brandord beat 5-4 just over a week prior. However, Branford beat some other DII teams (Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe, Lyman Hall) by a lot more than N Branford. Should be a pretty dang good game!
#4 Notre Dame-West Haven @ #5 Xavier @ 6
-This is a huge game for both teams and my rankings. I have ND-WH ahead of X but the Falcons are certainly capable of beating the Green Knights. The key to this bitter all-boys private school rivalry for Xavier will be playing very skilled defense, like Ridgefield did, and then for ND-WH it isn't even goal-tending because if their offense plays at the very high level it was at the beginning of the season then not only will they score enough to win but they will also greatly limit the amount of time Xavier gets on offense. Both teams are seeking a big DI win, an all-important SCC-DI win and some serious bragging rights. Xavier will also officially qualify for the state tournament with a win here.
#9 North Haven @ #10 Darien @ 630
-A very unique and overlooked match-up features a top ten SCC-FCIAC crossover. With the way both these teams have been playing, it seems like Darien will beat N Haven, despite my rankings. The only thing is that they actually need to go out there and do it in order for mo to move them up, based on the lack of other substance to their schedule. N Haven is certainly not a team to be overlooked though as they beat Simsbury 4-1 and only lost 0-1 to #5 Xavier. The Blue Wave, on a five-game win streak, will be tough to beat at home if this game gets played on Saturday.
Simsbury @ Tri-Town @ 640
-The thing to watch here will be how Simsbury fares against another fairly good DI opponent now that they have seemed to figure things out. The winner of this game will emerge as a rising star in the DI field, although if Tri-Town loses, they are still only 4 wins or 3 wins and a tie away from making it to the DI state tournament.
Staples/Weston/Shelton @ St. Joseph @ 730
-Interesting FCIAC match-up and S-W-S is always looking to prove itself against DI and conference opponents. This is actually their first DI opponent of the season and their only loss this year is two games ago, 2-4 to a Trumbull team that St. Joseph just beat 4-3. I still think anything can happen in this one although the Cadets are the favorites.
Windsor/Farmington/Avon @ Newington/Berlin @ 830
-This game is very intriguing because the new Windsor/Farmington/Avon co-op is actually 6-1-1 so far this year with their easy schedule and a positive result here brings them one step closer to qualifying for the DI tournament in their first year in the division (although it looks like they will be the last seed because of how weak their wins are). Nonetheless, winning is always a positive and speaking of winning, a win would make Newington/Berlin the first teams to qualify for the CIAC's DIII tournament. This could be a pretty good CCC-South game at the Newington Arena.
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