Dublin Jerome helped the Capital Hockey Conference make history last year as they became the first Columbus-area team to make it all the way to the state championship game.

This year, some other members of the CHC are showing that the league is, in fact, continuing to develop a deeper pool of talent and contending teams.

Three schools represented the CHC at the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament – consistently the most competitive in-season tournament in the state of Ohio – and all finished in the top four spots in the final standings.

Ten of the top 14 teams in the state according to www.myhockeyrankings.com (and seven of the top 10 in the coach’s poll) participated in the tournament and Upper Arlington and Olentangy Liberty ended up facing off in an all-CHC championship game – the first time in the 23-year history of the event that a Cleveland-area team was not in the final.

The Golden Bears defeated the Patriots, 3-1, with Tristen Elmhurst scoring the second period game-winner and Garrett Alderman continuing his outstanding season stopping 15 of 16 shots.

“It means a lot to the UA players, staff and program to be the first Columbus-based team to win at Padua since it is regarded as one of the – if not the – best high school hockey tournament in the state,” said Bears head coach Brett Howden.  “We’re off to a great start and winning Padua was a great way to cap off our pre-Christmas schedule.”

Saint Charles was the runner up to Liberty in the “West Division” of the tournament, slotting them into the third-place consolation game.  They dropped that contest to Holy Name, but their fourth-place finish gave the CHC three of the top four spots at the prestigious event.

“Hats off to Olentangy Liberty for making the Final for the second consecutive year and St. Charles for placing in the top four as well,” Howden said. “Collectively, I believe the strong showing for Columbus teams this year is a testament to how hard our league and its member programs have worked to catch up to the perennial contenders from Toledo and Cleveland over the past few years.”

Upper Arlington remains undefeated at 15-0-0 and sits second in both the coach’s poll and the MYHockeyRankings behind four-time defending state champion Saint Ignatius.

­--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest