HUGE Wednesday for hockey and now that I am back in the constitution state, I plan on making to the two top five match-ups and possibly a third game with a previous top five team in action. Also, two teams are in position to clinch post-season spots, both in DI, as 7-2 South Windsor hosts a decent DII East Catholic and 7-1 #2 ND-WH will have a much harder time at home against #4 Ridgefield.
#4 Ridgefield @ #2 Notre Dame-West Haven @ 415pm
-This game should be getting almost as much hype as 1 vs 2 or 1 vs 3 did because of the implications of a Ridgefield win would have on the polls. Additionally, a ND-WH win gives their ranking a lot of backing considering they haven't played #3 Hamden yet (and won't until 1/28), only beat Cheshire 2-1 and their only other game against a top ten team besides their 3-4 loss to #1 Fairfield Prep was a 7-2 win over #7 North Haven. They have been dominant and that's why I have them at number two but now we get to see how they do against a big-time team that they are favored against. Ridgefield's only loss is to #1 Fairfield Prep as well (0-3) but they beat #6 Glastonbury 5-2, #5 Xavier 5-4 OT just recently and the scores of their other three games were 11-0, 9-0 and 8-0; very dominant as well. Let's see which of these two juggernauts emerges with two losses and which keeps rolling.
#7 North Haven @ Daniel Hand @ 6
-Teams at the bottom of the top ten are under heavy scrutiny whenever they play good opponents. Hand only lost 4-5 to #8 West Haven and 3-4 in OT to Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe but they topped Stamford 4-2 and Branford 7-2. The Tigers lost 2-4 on Saturday at Fermi/Enfield but they may only help them in thier third consecutive game against a DI opponent.
#5 Xavier @ #3 Hamden @ 6
-This is the time both teams have on their official CIAC schedules despite different times and even different locations being reported by at least two different websites. This game means a lot to both teams and then it is an all-important SCC match-up as well (SCC DI teams do not play a tournament so their regular season records against each other determine the winner, making these games paramount). Xavier has been a pleasant surprise of young talent playing extremely well this year. After almost beating #4 Ridgefield in OT on Saturday, the Falcons now move up to #3 Hamden, also on the road. They actually beat Hamden last year for the first time in program history so Hamden will be viciously looking for revenge for that one since the Green Dragons were the #1 team in the state when the Falcons upset them. This is a chance for Xavier to prove just how elite this skills are this year. Hamden who is on a relative down year compared to how good they normally are, is still a very good team in this state that almost beat #1 Fairfield Prep. They beat #10 Darien 2-0 and New Canaan 5-3, neither of which are that convincing so I think X has a real shot. However, X only beat #7 North Haven 1-0 whereas Hamden topped them 6-3 but it was Xavier's first game of the season and those results speak more to Xavier having a strong defense and an offense that is their key to winning this, and every game. I think the big thing to watch will be how good that Xavier defense does against Hamden, a team that will be hard to shut out; can Xavier's defense give their offense a chance to win the game like it has in every other game this season or will the Green Dragons be too much for a lesser opponent? Head to Lou Asotrino Rink at 6pm and we'll see!
Joel Barlow @ Newtown @ 640
-Joel Barlow's perfect 5-0 record will be on the line when they travel to Danbury Ice Arena and take on Newtown, a top DII team. I give Newtown the edge in this one but the Falcons have a chance to surprise some people here and prove they're better than DIII.
Cheshire @ Watertown/Pomperaug @ 8
-Interesting one to watch here because the Rams need all the wins they can get and W-P is a DII team that was actually DIII last year, a relative gem among the demanding SCC DI schedule they now have themselves after being forced to move up to DI this year. However, W-P is the defending DIII champs with a strong goaltender and talented skaters looking to pick up more wins on their demanding DI and DII schedule thus far. In fact, these two teams met back on 12/27 at Cheshire and the hosts won 7-5 but in such a high scoring and close game, anything can happen the second time around.
#6 Glastonbury @ Wethersfield @ 810
-Wethersfield is hanging around the top of DII with their 4-2 record and in-state wins over Northwest Catholic and East Catholic look very good. However, losses against Newington/Berlin and Rocky Hill/RHAM/Middletown make the Eagles look inconsistent. Nonetheless, I think they have a shot at giving Glastonbury a very good game as these CCC towns are only separated by the Connecticut River. It would be disappointing for Glastonbury to find themselves in the same boat as South Windsor did after they lost to Conard so the Thomahawks better play well in this northern showdown.
Stamford @ Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe @ 815
-Solid DII game right here that will feed another result into the discussion of who is the best in DII this year. Stamford has a 5-5 tie with #9 East Haven, 10-6 win over Lyman Hall, and 3-4 loss to Staples/Weston/Shelton; they need to add a win over Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe to have some more legitimacy in that conversation with the other results they have on their schedule. FWL beat Hand 3-4 in OT a few days after Hand beat Stamford 4-2. Also, FWL beat Suffield/Granby/Windsor Locks who beat Northwest Catholic, a team Stamford lost to. Other than that, FWL doesn't have much except two losses to Branford so they need a win here to move to even at 3-3.
Greenwich @ St. Joseph @ 830
-A big FCIAC game as Greenwich has talent but St. Joseph has wins. The Cadets beat Guilford and Trinity Catholic but lost to New Canaan 1-6. The Cardinals only lost to NC 4-5 though and has played three top ten teams, highlighted by a 2-3 loss in OT at Xavier. The fact that this is a conference game makes it even more important and fans should see a good one at the Rinks at Shelton.
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