Simsbury
2012-13 Record: 14-6-0
Tournament Result: 7
seed- defeated (10) ND-Fairfield 3-0 in First Round; lost to (2) ND West Haven
in the Quarterfinals 6-1
Simsbury goes about their business quietly. They don’t play an overtly challenging
schedule but they continue to have quality seasons. Last season’s 14-6 mark and first round win over Notre
Dame-Fairfield was evidence of this.
This year’s club will look different than last year’s with 10 graduated
seniors including electric forwards David Olechna and Ryan Carpenter both CTHSHockey D1 Honorable Mention. Their production will not be easy to
replicate. Simsbury’s success
hinges on how stout and impenetrable their defense will be. They boast one of the best D pairings
in the state in the towering combination of Curt Eustis (CTHSHockey D1 Honorable Mention) and Brian Gellman. With goalie graduations, yet another
good old fashioned goalie battle will play out for Thomas Cross’ squad. Senior Max Allan, last year’s JV goalie
may have first crack at the job but he will be challenged by freshman Drew
Marquis. A third goalie, Mike
Adorno reportedly from the NE Falcons will enter the fray as well. Offensively, the Trojans could be a
little more challenged. They will
rely heavily upon Nolan Thompson, Hunter Chapman, Aaron Riccio and James Foster
to pick up the Olechna/Carpenter slack.
Look for a few more bodies to become relevant out of tryouts. Simsbury, year after year circles the
wagons and I think they will be more than competitive again this season.
South Windsor
2012-13 Record: 8-11-1
Tournament Result: 14
seed- lost to (3) Darien in the First Round 5-3
South Windsor eeked into the state tournament last year with
a team that had to believe an 8-11-1 overall mark was an underachievement. They will be without graduated seniors
Josh O’Neal and Chris Gionfriddo both CTHSHockey
D1 Honorable Mentions. Goalie
Aidan Cain has also left early for the prep school ranks. The Bobcats return a decent amount of
offensive talent including Connor Minguy, Nick Jones, Bryan Bakas, Patrick
Lawson, Tyler Dowdy and Sean King.
On D, Zac Sylvester, Tim Swan and Adam Glanz stand out as a core that
should propel South Windsor back over .500. The Bobcats seemed to beat the teams they should’ve last
year but were blasted by FCIAC schools, going 0-5 against Darien, St. Joseph
and Ridgefield last year. The
Bobcats are always competitive and no one eagerly welcomes them into their
respective barn but they need to start winning “the big games.” I think they are better this year, but
I’m not all that confident in proclaiming them one of the better teams at D1.
St. Joseph
2012-13 Record: 15-4-1
Tournament Result: 6
seed- defeated (11) New Canaan 3-2 in First Round; lost to (3) Darien in
Quarterfinals 5-2
 |
| St. Joseph's senior Ryan Corcoran |
St. Joseph has a lot of rebuilding to do. If I was asked at the beginning of the
season which team would have two players on my D1 First Team I would never have
guessed the Cadets but that’s exactly what happened and now those two all world
talents, CK Keator and Andrew Gore are gone. To boot, only two of their top eight scorers return. This will indeed be a rebuilding year
for the Cadets, but don’t tell the group that returns that. They plan on being equally as
potent. They will be lead
offensively by senior Ryan Corcoran (CTHSHockey
D1 Honorable Mention), a 32 point scorer last season, junior Colin Powell
and senior Sean Hurley. Two of the
Cadets goalies from last season have transferred out. Wade Conlan has headed to NDWH while Marc Van Etten has
jumped ship as well. They bring in
a junior transfer goalie Dylan Batterson (Wolf Pack) who looks to take over at
a position that was a major problem area in the past and possibly prevented St.
Joseph from being even more successful than they were. Junior goalie Christian Furce saw
limited action as a sophomore but will battle as well for the crease spot. Look for incoming freshman Adam Usinger
to contribute early. There are
plenty of unknowns for the Cadets.
Realistically, it’s hard to believe, with the talent the FCIAC is
showing across the board, that they will have a repeat of last year but look
for the Cadets to possibly surprise some people when they get into states.
West Haven
2012-13 Record: 8-10-2
Tournament Result: 13
seed- lost to (4) Xavier 2-1 OT in First Round
 |
| West Haven's junior goalie Mike Savino |
A season under .500 does not sit well with the Bennett
faithful, a proud group, like Hamden, that have certainly felt the pain of prep
hockey taking over the northeast. This
year could be another tough one for the Westies but working in their favor is a
core group of gritty, fun to watch players and one of the state’s best
goalies. Even considering those
variables, the graduation of Austin Hansen (22 G, 18 A) (CTHSHockey D1 Second Team) and the early exit of junior Jimmy
Morrissey (17 G, 15 A) to the prep school ranks (Canterbury) will hurt
immensely. The two combined for
more than half of West Haven’s scoring.
So, where will it come from?
Senior Alex Scranton, one of the state’s best offensive D-men will be
relied on heavily to make some plays while seniors Jaeson Puleo, Pete Lynn and
Joe Ayala will need to take their games to the next level. Defensively, the Blue Devils are fine,
not losing one of their starting six.
Junior goalie Mike Savino is good, very good and will need to be. Some wildcard players include
sophomores Jeremy Borelli and Tyler Paine as well as senior Matt Kelly. If the Westies are to be successful
their D has to be tough and scoring has to be found somewhere. There isn’t one “gimme” on their
schedule so they will need to bring it each and every night. They’re guaranteed a trip to states but
a jump past a .500 team may be tough with their limited offensive potency.
Xavier
2012-13 Record: 12-5-2
Tournament Result: 4
seed- defeated (13) West Haven 2-1 OT in First Round; lost to (5) Ridgefield in
Quarterfinals 4-2
The Xavier Falcons could possibly define rebuilding year
this year. They lost the farm, the
farmer and all the farmhands. Top
gun Jack Gethings (CTHSHockey D1 Honorable
Mention) is off to Williston Northampton Prep after a great junior season,
defenseman Kade McCartin (CTHSHockey D1
Honorable Mention) has also left early, in favor of the Jr. B
Wolfpack. The list goes on, Nate
Rosemond (Avon Old Farms), Evan Lindquist (South Kent, Selects Hockey Acad.),
Colin and Dylan Beaudoin (Sheehan).
Senior graduates Dan Dupont (CTHSHockey
D1 3rd Team) and goalie Shane Baldwin are also gone. Finally, and arguably the most
important, Coach Scott Gainey is gone as well, ironically enough to coach at
South Kent. Former assistant and
Xavier grad Dan DeConti steps in to fill Gainey’s underachieving shoes. So where do they begin to rebuild? A team, who in one way or another was
penalized by a late season school suspension spree certainly has their work cut
out for them. Success starts in
large part with a talented group of seniors led by captains Andrew Meoli and
John Burkinshaw. They will look for
help from seniors Bryan Stanton, Sean Johnson and sophomore Cam Pollack. The Falcons didn’t just omit this
offseason, they’ve added a speedy winger from the Mid Fairfield Blues in the
form of David Piekut. In net, it
appears three bodies are set to battle it out. Juniors Ben Guidobono and Paul Hotchkiss both saw plenty of
action last year when Baldwin went out.
Look for senior Devin Peterson to join the fray at some point as
well. This will be a rough
transition for new coach DeConti, but, boy, if he could be successful facing
the adversity he’s sure to face this year, the guy would really announce his
arrival. On a side note, both
Stanton and Peterson will be missing the first six games of the season, likely
relating back to issues incurred last season.
Coming tomorrow... Division 1 All CTHSHockey Preaseason Teams!
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