Red Division Preview (12.10.09)

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Article published December 10, 2009

RED DIVISION
Sidelines: Knights carry favorite tag
St. Francis loaded with experience; Northview picked for second

By MARK MONROE BLADE SPORTS WRITER


Speed, talent and discipline could propel St. Francis de Sales to its first Northwest Hockey Conference Red Division title since 1999.

Knights coach Brian Kinsella has nine players who have experience as starters and six seniors back.

“This team will have speed and discipline,” Kinsella said. “We have a very talented group of players this season that should entertain the large crowds [at Tam O'Shanter].”

The Knights have reached the state final four six times, including in 2008 when they lost in the semifinals. But a division title has remained elusive.

“With a solid effort every night and great goaltending, our team should go deep into the playoffs,” Kinsella said.

St. Francis center Scott Loy, who also is a standout in football and lacrosse, ranked second in the league in scoring last season. Senior goalie Jeff Davis also returns after leading the Knights to the district semifinals.
 
St. Francis opened this season by winning the Cold Turkey Thanksgiving Tournament at Tam O'Shanter. The Knights outscored their opponents 20-3, including two wins over Cleveland St. Edward. They beat St. Ed, which handed the Knights a loss in the 2008 state semifinals, 5-0 in the tournament championship game.

Northview, which features perhaps the league's strongest defensive corps, is pegged by the coaches to give the Knights a run for their money. The Wildcats won division titles in 2007-08 and 2005-06.

“I believe this league, from top to bottom, will see more talent than it has ever seen before,” Northview coach Mike Jones said. “The product on the ice will be outstanding and I think the games will follow suit. St. Francis is the team to beat, followed by strong teams from Northview and St. John's. Findlay will be highly competitive and well coached as usual. BG is a mystery.”

St. John's Jesuit, the defending Red Division champs, knocked both St. Francis and Northview out of the postseason tournament last season. The Titans defeated the Knights 5-3 in the district semifinal and then topped the Wildcats 4-3 in double overtime in the district final.

Last March, the Titans reached the state title game for the second time in three years after routing Centerville 7-0 in the state semifinal. But St. John's fell 3-0 in the championship to Hunting Valley University School.

St. John's is the only metro Toledo area team to have won a state title (2007). But the Titans will be very young on defense after losing their top three defensemen.

Findlay returns six starters, including three of its top five scorers.

Bowling Green once was the NHC's pre-eminent team. The Bobcats have won six state titles since 1980 but the last came in 1999. That championship was awarded to BG after St. John's was forced to forfeit the title because of a rules infraction. The Bobcats have made the most appearances in the final four this decade with five trips but the last came in 2004.

League play began last weekend and continues this weekend with games at Tam O'Shanter and Team Toledo Ice House.

Northview is off to a 2-0-0 start with wins over St. John's and Findlay. St. John's (2-1-0) has wins over Southview and BG. St. Francis (1-0-0) defeated Findlay 5-4.

Here is a look at the Red Division in predicted order of finish, according to a preseason coaches' poll:

St. Francis (14-11-5 overall, 3-5-2 NHC Red) finished fifth out of six teams in the division last year.

But Kinsella, who enters his third season with a 40-17-9 record, has 20 players, including 11 letter winners.

Loy (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) scored nine goals and had six assists for 15 points in 10 league games. Loy, who will play lacrosse at Syracuse University, earned All-Ohio second team as a wide receiver in football.

Junior defenseman Connor Frey, who collected five points (4 A) in 10 league games last season, earned All-NHC second team.

Davis (2-3-2 record with a 2.41 goals-against average in league play) is a senior with experience.

Other top returning players include: senior center/defenseman David Torchia, junior center Tyler Murphy, and junior defenseman Bryce Connor.

Northview (16-14-2, 6-4-0) should have a solid defensive group after losing just one defenseman.

“We have a great blend of size and skill and the right amount of experience to be steady on the blue line,” Jones said. “I also believe our goaltending should be greatly improved with another year of experience under their belts. They should build upon a good year.”

Junior Matt Stevenson and sophomore Austin Gryca split time in net last year.

Jones, who was an assistant under longtime coach Jim Cooper, is in his second year. He said this group of players has a tremendous work ethic which should pay dividends.

Fifteen of the 21 players, including five seniors, earned varsity letters last year.

The seniors are: forward Matt Snyder, defenseman Jordan Jones (7 A in 10 league games), forward Anthony Holley, forward Joshua Krispin (6-3, 210) and forward Mark Hall.

Coach Jones said the Wildcats' main weakness is its maturity.

“We're still young and inexperienced and we're going to make ‘young' mistakes,” he said. “With a steep learning curve and better mental toughness, they should grow as the season progresses. I will be surprised if we don't have some struggles early in the year but we'll be around in the end.”

Findlay (17-10-4, 4-4-2) has plenty of experience back with 14 letter winners.

Junior Layne Martin (24 G, 33 A) is among three of the team's top five scorers that return. Also back are juniors Trey Bracy (11, 23) and Alex Henry (11, 15).

Senior goalie Travis Friar had a 2.88 GAA and .876 save percentage. Seniors Cy Otto and Greg Toupalik are the top defensemen.

Coach Dan St. Jean said the Trojans' speed makes up for a lack of overall size. Leadership from five seniors and Martin, the team's captain, also are strengths. Also having Friar back in net should be a bonus for the Trojans, who reached the district semifinals last year.

St. Jean said a large junior class must step up as they will receive regular shifts after the graduation of eight seniors. Two freshmen, Patrick Martin and Patrick Hall, also will see a lot of ice time.

“We will be a competitive hockey team that never quits,” St. Jean said. “As the season progresses, we will continue to get better.”

St. John's (27-9-3, 7-2-1) has won two of the last three division titles.

Coach Mike Hayes, who has a 138-57-15 career record, will count on 12 returning letter winners. Hayes has 20 players, including six seniors.

Senior forward George Wilkinson finished with 33 goals and 37 assists last year. The offense also will be bolstered by junior forward Eric Brown (25 G, 27 A), senior forward Kyle Knox (21 G, 25 A), senior forward Nick Walla (13 G, 21 A) and junior forward Jake Kennedy (10 G, 22 A).

“Offense should be a strength,” Hayes said. “Eight of our top nine forwards from last year return. We have one 30 goal scorer and two 20 goal scorers from last year back. We should be able to count on three lines to provide offense and have a usable fourth line.”

He said sophomore Jack Pfeifer, who played travel hockey last season, should be a good addition.

Senior goalie Christian Davis returns after posting a 2.19 GAA and a .889 save percentage. But Davis, who earned second team all-league honors, is currently injured and is expected back in mid-December.

“Goaltending should also be solid with Christian Davis and Mike Brahaney,” Hayes said. “Mike has proved to be a very solid goalie and can get the job done.”

But two freshmen and a sophomore will be counted on as the Titans' top defensemen. Hayes also lost forward Ray Morris, who had a team-high 42 goals.

“There will be some growing pains early for us to be consistently good on the back end,” Hayes said.

Hayes said his team probably won't win a lot of 2-1 games.

“We'll probably be exciting to watch as I see a lot of 6-5 type of games this year for us,” he said. “If our offense and power play can be consistent, we should be able to play with anyone. If our D can improve as a group throughout the year, we should be very good.”

Bowling Green (16-9-2, 4-5-1) dominated the division, capturing five straight titles from 2001-05 and eight of 10 dating back to 1996. But the Bobcats have not been back to the state final four since 2004.

BG lost most of its offense and graduated its top three defensemen.

But two young goalies, junior Nick Morris and sophomore Nathan Gay, are back. Morris went 3-3-1 in league play with a 2.25 GAA. Gay had a 2.83 GAA in three division games.

Also back is senior forward Joey Harris, who led the Bobcats in scoring. Harris had 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 10 league games. He is among nine forwards that are back.

Junior defensemen Dylan Graves and Cole Jennings will be joined along the blue line by sophomore Cody Lang.

Bowling Green was in contention for the league crown last year until a late three-game losing streak. BG reached the district final before falling to Findlay last season.

Southview (12-13-3, 3-7-0) will be led by senior goalie Erik Fisher, who was All-NHC first team last season.

Fisher is among eight seniors back for coach Wayne Collins, who is in his eighth season at Southview after spending 16 seasons at Ottawa Hills.

Senior forward Steve Dibble has been elected captain after leading the team in scoring. Other top players include fellow senior forwards Drew Saltzstein and Rob Apple and senior defenseman Aaron Birney. Sophomore Jay Fisher will play both upfront and in the back.

However, with only 15 players on his roster, Collins cites depth as a concern.

“We need to play good defensive hockey, stay disciplined with no penalties and get good goaltending,” he said. “At one point last season every team in the Red Division was ranked in the top 10