January 27, 2014

New England Prep Hockey Rankings

Rank Record The Skinny
1
Kent
14-1-1
(1) Beat Taft 6-2, and Westy 4-2 on the road this past week. This means that in 14 of 16 games played this season, Kent has allowed two or fewer goals. That's hard to overcome. Lions have just one game this week: vs. Taft on Wed.
2
Salisbury
11-1-4
(2) This past week, Salisbury tied Choate 2-2, edged Gunnery 3-2 (OT), and beat Berkshire 3-2. In their six games since the Flood-Marr, they have failed to score more than three goals in any game and have gone 2-1-3. On the other hand, only once in that span have they given up more than three goals -- and that was to #1 Kent. Salisbury can beat anyone with their depth and defense, but need a sniper to blow open these tight games they always find themselves in. This week: @ Brunswick Wed., vs. T-P Friday.
3
Thayer
14-2-0
(3) Lost to SPS 2-0 and beat Seb's, 6-3 last week. This week the Tigers have three games: @ BB&N (Mon.), vs. Nobles (Wed.), vs. Gov's (Sat.). The rematch with Nobles could be a good one. Nobles, on Jan. 4, took the first meeting, 3-2 in OT.
4
Cushing
16-4-0
(5) Last week, lost to NMH 6-3, beat Exeter for the second time this season, 8-3, and edged Bel Hill 2-1. With these guys, it's hard to predict which team will show up. The Penguins can lay a big egg which, USHR's in-house naturalist reports, mirrors nature, where a Penguin egg is 2x the size of a chicken's egg -- and a newborn Penguin reaches adult size in just 50 days.
5
Exeter
15-3-2
(4) Last week tied KUA 1-1, got bombed by Cushing 8-3, beat St. Seb's 5-2. This week: vs. Holderness Wed., @ Milton on Sat. PG David White leads prep hockey with 26 goals.
6
Noble & Greenough
13-4-1
(6) Last week beat St. Seb's in OT, edged Rivers, 3-2. This week, they are at Thayer Wed. and home vs. SPS on Friday. Miles Wood has 34 points in 18 games.
7
Berkshire
12-4-2
(8) Beat Hotchkiss 6-0, and lost to Salisbury 3-2 last week. This week: AA on Mon., and Canterbury Wed. Top line of Puffer, Corcoran, & Higgins has 26 goals thus far, but that's off of last year's pace. Defense continues to be tight since returning from Xmas break.
8
Frederick Gunn School
12-6-0
(9) Last week, loss to Salisbury in OT Wed. This week: @ Millbrook (Wed.) Nine-game winning streak came to a halt vs. #2 Salisbury. They are scoring and playing sound D. Have not allowed more than three goals in a game since the start of the Avon Tournament, a span of 13 games.
9
Dexter
11-4-0
(7) Won at St. George's 9-0 and St. Mark's 5-1 last week. Ryan Donato has 48 points in 18 games, just one point ahead of Thayer's Adam Gaudette. This week, they face Brooks (Mon.), Pomfret (Wed.), and Andover (Sat.)
10
Kimball Union
13-4-4
(10) Tied Exeter 1-1, and beat Tilton 6-1 last week. This week, they face NMH (Wed.), Cushing (Fri.), and are at Holderness Sat. Losing a playmaker like Joey Dudek changes the entire look of the team's offense. It's also an opportunity for juniors like Brendan Riley and Jack McCarthy to show what they can do. Coach Whitehead will have to cobble together the right line combinations. Defensively, they have given up just one goal in each of the last four games.
* Note: Only games between NEPSIHA Div. I schools -- the principal factor in determining seedings for the playoffs -- are included in the won-lost records above.