The Holy Name Green Wave is a his team that has the potential to score their way to wins, but head coach Craig Patton wants to see them play with structure as well.

“It will not be a secret,” said Patton.  “We will forecheck hard and play a very physical game.”

Brennan Dickey of the Namers leads the GLHL in both goals (13) and points (26).  Milo Henry (9-12-21) is not far behind and a pair of senior defensemen, Patrick Ehlert (6-6-12) and Jack Mohar (0-7-7) have also been major contributors to the Green Wave’s prolific attack.

“I think we are playing well so far but there is definitely is room for improvement,” said Patton.  “We have a lot of new faces on the team this year, so just getting a little more comfortable with our communication on the ice will help us moving forward.”

The Green Wave would no doubt like to improve on last year’s seventh-place finish, but Patton just wants to see them continue to gel and build towards a peak for the post-season.

“We just want to play our game, continue to improve as a team, and to keep pushing our teammates to get better each time we touch the ice,” Patton said.  “Both of our goaltenders are playing really well right now and push each other to compete at a high level and Dickey, Henry, Ehlert and Mohar have been really impressive thus far as well.”

Patton added that Dom Lugo has really stepped up as of late and is playing great hockey.

The Padua Bruins have won their holiday tournament more times (6) than any other team, but they haven’t captured the title since 2005.

The Bruins, who will see St. Charles, Findlay and Olentangy Liberty in the preliminary round, picked up a quality 4-3 win over GCHSHL Red Division opponent Cleveland Heights in the consolation round of the Thornton Park Tournament last weekend.  They fell to Strongsville, 3-1, in the fifth-place game, but they have been playing better hockey as they get deeper into the season.

Head coach Perry Cohagan feels junior Seth Kaiser is among the top defenseman in the GLHL and his classmates Giovanni Iannelli and Drew Lampa provide physicality and creativity, respectively. 

Freshmen goaltender Aidan Knox has faced a barrage of pucks and will likely earn some attention from fans at the tournament.  He has single-game save totals of 54 and 55 this season and made another 47 in a 2-0 shutout of Walsh Jesuit.

Last year, St. Edward won the tournament for the fourth time, defeating Olentangy Liberty, 2-1, in the final.  The Eagles have a completely a new coaching staff, but many players who were instrumental in winning last year’s tournament.

Head coach Tim Sullivan, who came over from Holy Name and brought his entire staff of assistants with him, is a 1992 St. Edward graduate and three-time GLHL Coach of the Year.  He played for four seasons and won two state championships at St. Edward as a player (1990 & 1992). 

Nate Cappellazzo was between the pipes for all four games last year, stopping 35 of 37 shots in a pair of wins over Liberty (the Eagles also defeated the Patriots, 4-1, in their opening game of the preliminary round).

“I like where the team is today leading into the very tough Padua Holiday Tournament,” said Sullivan.  “Are we where we need to be? No, but we are a lot closer than we were a month ago.”

The top four returning scorers from last year’s team are Noah Schultz, Sean Kolenich, Tyler Fowles and Matt Smith.  Haden Payne, Jack Mansour and Jack O'Sullivan are also among the players to watch for the Eagles. 

“I am very impressed with our guys getting uncomfortable and pushing themselves hard every day to get where we need to be.”

At a school that has won 11 state championships – more than any other school in the history of the state of Ohio – the only tournament titles that matter come in the post-season.  But the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament is as big a challenge as you can find during the regular season.

“One would have to use this tournament as a gauge,” Sullivan admitted.  “It’s the toughest competition in the state assembled for one weekend under the same roof.”

Shaker Heights made their Padua Tournament debut last year.  They managed just one win and a 10th-place finish.  The Red Raiders are coming off a very positive tournament experience last week as they won three straight one-goal games to capture the 49th annual Thornton Park Tournament in their home rink.

“We are playing well so far but we still have a lot of room for improvement to reach our potential,” said Shaker head coach Matt Bartley.  “We don't really look at any tournament as a way to prove anything, we use them to prepare for league play, the state tournament, and allow for some athletes who normally don't get as much playing time to get into the games and get experience.”

The top four scorers from last year all graduated, leaving this year’s tri-captains, Logan Mears (11-4-15), Devin Campbell (5-9-14) and Dylan Shelton (1-11-12) to lead the team.

Junior Maxim Ehlers and sophomore Garrett Ritts have given the Raiders strong play between the pipes.  Ritts made 30 saves in a 1-0 win over Mentor in the Thornton Park title game last week.  Devin Campbell supplied the lone goal.

“Obviously, we will see some really good teams this weekend and it is an opportunity to see where you may stand against the better teams in the state at this point in the season,” Bartley said.  “Right now, we have a lot of people playing well.  Our senior captains have really done a great job the past few weeks.”

Shaker Heights will face some of the top teams from the Toledo area this year:  Sylvania Northview, Toledo St. Francis and Findlay.

The Red Raiders have been getting some great individual efforts this season and hope that continues this weekend against the top competition the state has to offer.

“Dylan Shelton is one of the best defensemen in the state,” Bartley stated.  “And Devin Campbell and Logan Mears have done a great job leading our forwards.”

The University School Preppers won three of their four games at last year’s tournament, including a 5-2 win over St. Charles to capture third place.  It was the third consecutive third-place finish for US, which has a 16-5-3 record at the event over the last six years.

The Preppers picked up four points in league play last week, outscoring Padua and Walsh Jesuit by a combined 19-0 count.  The Preppers moved into a first-place tie with Shaker Heights in the Great Lakes Hockey League standings as a result. 

John Pape (4-2-6), Sam Heller (3-3-6) and Nikita Davidenko (2-4-6) all picked up six points in the pair of wins and are 1, 2, 3 in team scoring for US.

“We struggled offensively out of the gate this season,” said US head coach Andrew Gerow.  “But we are coming off two big league wins that saw our offense come alive that we hope to continue this weekend.”

Pape, Heller and Davidenko have led the charge offensively for US along with Will Lvovich, coming up with timely goals in big games – something they hope will continue this weekend.

Pape comes in as the reigning GLHL Player of the Week.

“Each week we look to improve and we think this weekend is a great opportunity to do that against some of the best teams from Toledo and Columbus,” said Gerow.  “This weekend is a good measuring stick of where you fall in those rankings. With that being said, we still try to focus the things we can control within our play and use these four games to get better as a unit.”

The Preppers have dealt with some injuries but their depth has carried them through.

“Seniors Tristan Cavotta, Beau O’Sickey and Charlie Paine have done a nice job leading our defensive unit while our captain Jack Borrow and assistant captain Will Cha have been out with injuries,” Gerow said.  “In net, Michael Holtz has been awesome recording three shutouts in four league games and keeping us in a lot of games throughout the season.”

The Upper Arlington Bears come into the tournament as one of two undefeated teams in the state along with Saint Ignatius. 

The Bears defeated Northview, 4-2, in the fifth-place game at the Padua Tournament last year.  The lone non-Cleveland team in the East Division, it will be interesting to see how they stack up this year against the top GLHL teams as they try to qualify for a higher Sunday cross-over game this year.

More than half the UA’s scoring returns from a year ago when the Bears went 25-8-3 and advanced to a district semifinal.

Forward Sam Burns scored 22 goals as a freshman and has lit the lamp 10 times through his first 10 games this season.  Go ahead and put him on your list of players to watch this weekend.

Senior co-captain Tim Kramer hit the 20-goal mark last season and junior Will Cohen is leading the Bears in scoring this year with 20 points (12-8-20) in just 11 games.  Junior Tristan Elmhurst, who joined the team after playing the past several seasons in the AAA Blue Jackets system has added to the attack with 15 points (6-9-15).

The UA defense boasts three seniors in Will Lawless, Todd Bainbridge and Trevor Williams while junior Whitty Tevonian adds to the experience level on the back end.

Another junior, goaltender Garrett Alderman, has turned aside 97% of the shots he has faced this season, posting shutouts in seven of the first 11 games.  Those are some gaudy numbers.