Great games down at Ingalls Rink on Wednesday night.
Unfortunately for everybody who might have thought otherwise, but Fairfield Prep vs. Notre Dame-Fairfield was a forgone conclusion despite the excitement.
Notre Dame-Fairfield was down 2-0 to Glastonbury but scored five goals in the third period to win 5-2. I don’t care if it was 8-0, Notre Dame-Fairfield wasn’t losing to Glastonbury.
Over in the other semifinal, Conard was tied with Prep 1-1 going into the third.
Final: Fairfield Prep 4-1.
So much for that great regular season where . And so we have yet another all-Fairfield final.
In fact, this season just proves that the regular season in hockey means absolutely nothing. You can beat Fairfield Prep silly in the regular season, twice even, but get them in the playoffs and its over for you.
So I’m proposing that we cancel the regular season. It just has no impact on the playoffs. What’s the point?
Maybe we can just play whomever we want before mid-February, kinda like a season-long exhibition schedule, and then start the playoffs with an all-inclusive field. Only two or three Division I teams didn’t make their field anyway. So why not just let them all in?
Maybe we just tweak the whole playoff. Maybe we could use something like the Great 8 in Massachusetts to spice things up a bit.
Somebody do something because what we’ve got just doesn’t work enough. I have no problems with Prep and ND getting in the final every year. But, one of these years, the seeds have to hold, no?
I think the real story is the development of a young Prep team from start to finish. Not knowing anything about ND, they could have been in the same boat. But, Sather’s coaching job has to be his finest.
I think other schools strengthenong their schedules will go along way toward increasing their competitiveness as well. As someone stated earlier, Prep and ND played all D=I teams plus some top notch out of state programs. That is the way you get better.
Plus, if you’re a hockey player and trying to decide if you want to go to Prep or a public school and you look at the schedules and Darien’s dotted with FCIAC urban schools vs Prep’s schedule, which would use choose?
Until CIAC starts allowing hockey players to play for non-CIAC teams during the season, Prep and the other catholic schools will have the easy road every year. A good player has four options- Prep school, Juniors, catholic or play with their local HS against inferior competition. If they could also play for a Wolves, Clippers, Mid-Fairfield…. I think many would opt to stay with their local HS teams and take this option. It works very well in NJ but CIAC is more concerned about their image than player development.
Milo, why would someone want to play for both? Seems like a bit of a stretch, schedule-wise for most 15 year old kids, no? I find it amusing to listen to stories from kids and parents who’ve spent tons of time & money on Wolves, Clippers, Mid-Fairfield, etc. and, by the time they are done, they’re still a kid with no scholarship. Juniors is often viewed as the golden ticket to college, but I can’t remember the last time a Junior B kid from CT suited up for Michigan, can you? And to compare CT High School Hockey to NJ, is like comparing a Ferrari to a souped up Pinto. The quality of hockey in NJ has ALWAYS been far behind that of CT and the rest of New England. That is why they make hokey exceptions to their rules; so they don’t completely lose all of their talent to the New England preps like they have for years.
Why not leave it up to the kid and their parents if they want to play both instead of having some bureaucratic group make the decision for them? If a kid has some level of talent and wants to play in college (scholarship or otherwise)coming out of a level II program (or even most level I) isn’t going to do it. So what are their options? Take a look at the Team CT roster (’91 which are mostly juniors) which according to CHC are the best players in the state. How many play CT High School hockey- almost none. The players are voting with their feet and leaving CT high school hockey.
I guess my point is why bother to play for both? I agree that a lot of players are leaving for Juniors, though I think many do so under the misguided impression that it’s going to be their golden ticket to the promised land. For the truly talented kids, absolutely I think prep or private school is a great option because it keeps the focus on both academics and hockey. Juniors, at a least around here, is a business. These kids go to these teams with big dreams and many end up with a handful of nothing in the end. They are 18, 19, 20 year olds playing either no hockey or club hockey somewhere. You wanna tell me that they couldn’t get that result by staying at their high school? Post a link to the Team CT Roster.
Here is the link to CHC : http://www.chchockey.org/
then look under the Team CT Tab.
I don’t think Juniors is the answer but right now its unfortunately one of the options. My point is if CIAC allowed players to play on CHC teams during the season you would hopefully see an increase in the number of U16 and U18 teams offered from Mid-Fairfield, Southern, Wolves….. this would allow kids to stay with their high school team which I think is important but still have the chance to play at a higher level verse teams in CT, Mass, NY and NJ. A kid should play HS hokey since the atmosphered at these games can’t be compared to Juniors or CHC. Hundreds of fans, the excitement and the chance to play with and in front of classmates. I truly think this would enhance the HS play by keeping some kids from going to Prep schools and Juniors. I’m sure that CHC and CIAC could work together to limit practice and games during season to avoid excess play and conflicts.