#7 East Haven @ #4 Notre Dame-West Haven @ 4pm
-To start, ND-WH should 100% win this game. That is not to say that East Haven can't win but I am saying that with how dominant the Green Knights were early in the season and the way in which they play right there with the top teams in the state, not to mention the big 5-2 win over #6 Glastonbury, a team like East Haven should not give them any trouble. That being said, what I want to see most from this game is how well East Haven does against one of the state's best teams, especially coming off a 5-5 tie to a DII school. Bennett Rink looks like it will be a good place to be Wednesday.
Conard @ #6 Glastonbury @ 4
-I'm not going to overlook this game despite G-bury's 11-4 win earlier in the season. It could just as well be that out of hand again, and honestly it should be, but you never know what you're going to get from Coanrd. Another big thing to watch is how the Thomahawks respond to their 2-5 loss at the hands of ND-WH in their last game, 9 days ago, and also how they preform knowing that a win would qualify them for the DI state tournament.
St. Joseph @ Norwalk/Brien McMahon @ 6
-Only reason to watch this one: win and you're in for St. Joseph and the DI state tournament this year; the Cadets should have no problem here.
Daniel Hand @ Branford @ 6
-This going to be a thriller at Marty Roos' Northford Ice Pavilion, don't be surprised if he makes an appearance. Hand beat Branford 7-2 in the first game of the season and they are coming off 5 straight games against DI opponents, the last two of which were an 8-0 win over Conard and 5-5 tie wth #7 East Haven. The Tigers are a good DII team that just keeps getting better as the season goes on with arguably the hardest schedule in DII. Branford has the prettier record between these two teams after moving on to take down top DII teams since their loss to Hand. Also, Branford has played two OT games already this season so they will be ready if they can make this rematch a close one.
Guilford @ Cheshire @ 630
-Speaking of SCC hockey rivalries, how does another rematch of last year's DII Championship game sound? Guilford actually won this one 3-2 in the second game (Cheshire's fourth) of the season, the first of their current seven game win streak; extending it to eight would make them the second team to qualify for the DII state tournament this year. Cheshire is 4-1 since their loss to Guilord and Guilford is in fact the only team they lost to that is not in my top ten. Those losses have all been close too: 2-4 to #7 East Haven and #5 Xavier and 1-2 to #4 Notre Dame-West Haven. The concerning thing is that the Rams wins (aside from 7-3 over Conard) have been close too: 7-5 and 4-2 over 2011 DIII champion Watertown/Pomperaug, 3-2 over Amity and 2-1in OT over New Milford. Anything can happen when these two play and both have strong motivations to win (win-streak, revenge, SCC pride, difference in divisions) so fans at Spurrier-Snyder Rink at Wesleyan University in Middletown are in for a really good one!
Milford Co-op @ West Haven @ 630
-The other good game at Bennett Rink on the night features two teams looking to prove something. Milford co-op is one of the very top teams in DII looking to catch West Haven when they are down and pick up a big win over a DI team. On the other hand, West Haven can start picking up quality wins again after a 1-3 loss to Simsbury and 1-8 loss to #1 Fairfield Prep in their last two games. Should be an interesting game.
White Plains (NY) @ Brookfield/Bethel/Danbury @ 640
-Two things I like about this game: (1) I always like to see how our CT teams do against out-of-state competition and (2) a win make Brookfield/Bethel/Danbury the first team to qualify for the DIII state tournament this year.
Windsor/Farmington/Avon @ East Catholic @ 730
-WFA is coming off their huge 4-1 win over #9 North Haven and they should have no problem with DII East Catholic that is 2-5-1 and the win will qualify the new co-op for the DI state tournament in just their first year in the division; something that will be good for these kids after struggling in DII and DIII when they were not all playing together.
Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe @ Trumbull @ 730
-Here's a real good FCIAC and DII game that we are accustomed to late on Wednesday nights. FWL has some good DII wins and some tough DII losses playing most of the other top DII teams. Now they will clash with the first DII team to reach 8 wins, Trumbull. The Golden Eagles have only lost 3 games, two of which were against DI opponents. They have just been consistent, convincing and beat the top SCC, SWC and FCIAC teams near them at the top, all except for Guilford.
Staples/Weston/Shelton @ #10 Darien
-This is a win Darien needs to help their rising stock. Last year's DIII runner-up, S-W-S is still a good team this year. However, I think Darien is better and this game is their chance to prove just how much better. This is also an always-important FCIAC game for both teams, regardless of the fact it is a DII team at DI one.
Newtown @ Joel Barlow @ 850
-Newtown is only 5-5 overall but they beat Joel Barlow by a score of a 8-1 last time these two teams played (Jan 11). Look to see if the Falcons, who won five in-a-row to start the season but have lost their last three, can make the re-match any closer.
No comments:
Post a Comment