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Great Lakes Hockey League Weekly

By Scott Harrington, 02/04/21, 8:45PM EST

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Tournament time is almost here!

PHOTO: Pat Gallagher

UPDATE: We have learned that Shaker Heights is in quarantine and will not be able to play their final three league games this weekend, or participate in the 2021 Cleveland Cup. The six-team tournament bracket will be set following tonight's Gilmour-US game (4:30 puck drop).

One final weekend of regular season play in the Great Lakes Hockey League will set the stage for the 2021 Cleveland Cup at OBM Arena in Strongsville next week.

With four league games left to be played, six of the seven positions in the final league standings have yet been decided. All we know heading into the weekend is that St. Edward, which has not lost a league game, has secured the #1 seed and a first-round bye for the league tournament.

If Shaker Heights can knock off St. Edward on Friday, the winner of the Gilmour Academy-University School would tie for first, but the Eagles already have league wins over the Lancers and Preppers in their back pocket, ensuring any tie breakers will go in their favor.

The last team to post a perfect league record in the GLHL was Saint Ignatius (10-0-0 in 2014-15). Saint Ignatius (9-0-1 in 2015-16) and Gilmour Academy (7-0-1 in 2019-20) have had undefeated, but not perfect, league records with each team having no losses but one tie.  

CLEVELAND CUP SCHEDULE – The State of Ohio pushed back curfew to 11:00 p.m. for high school athletics last week, opening the door for the Cleveland Cup to keep its original schedule. The 10:00 curfew that had been in place would have necessitated some changes to the schedule below.

Quarterfinals
Tue., Feb. 9, 6:00 p.m. #4 vs. #5
Wed., Feb. 10, 6:10 p.m. #2 vs. #7

Wed., Feb. 10, 8:20 p.m. #3 vs. #6

Semifinals
Fri., Feb. 12, 5:10 p.m. #1 St. Edward vs. Tuesday winner
Fri., Feb. 12, 8:50 p.m. Wednesday winners

Championship Game
Sat., Feb. 13, 8:50 p.m. Friday winners

GLHL REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

Year Team Record
2019-20 Gilmour Academy 7-0-1
2018-19 Gilmour Academy 8-1-1
2017-18 University School 8-2-2
2016-17 Saint Ignatius 9-1-0
2015-16 Saint Ignatius 9-0-1
2014-15 Saint Ignatius 10-0-0
2013-14 Walsh/US both 7-1-2

RECENT RESULTS

FRIDAY, JAN. 29
St. Edward 11, Holy Name 1 *
Gilmour Academy 5, Padua Franciscan 1 *
University School 4, Shaker Heights 1 *

SATURDAY, JAN. 30
University School 3, Rocky River 2 (OT)
Gilmour Academy 3, St. Edward 2
Shaker Heights 4, Holy Name 3 *
Walsh Jesuit 2, Newark Generals 1

SUNDAY, JAN. 31
Gilmour Academy 4, Holy Name 2 *
University School 3, Padua Franciscan 2 *

THIS WEEK’S ACTION

FRIDAY, FEB. 5
University School @ Gilmour Academy, 4:30pm *
St. Edward @ Shaker Heights, 6pm (@ Winterhurst) *

SATURDAY, FEB. 6
Shaker Heights @ Walsh Jesuit, 2:10pm *
Benedictine @ Holy Name, 8:30pm

SUNDAY, JAN. 7
Padua Franciscan @ Shaker Heights, 5:30pm *

* GLHL league game

GREAT LAKES HOCKEY LEAGUE TEAM NOTES

GILMOUR ACADEMY – The GLHL’s defending regular season and tournament champion can claim the #2 seed for this year’s Cleveland Cup with a win over SOM Center rival University School on Friday. That game could be a pre-cursor to a re-match next week in the Cleveland Cup. If the higher seeds win in the quarterfinals, the Lancers and Preppers would meet again in a semifinal game Friday night at OBM Arena in Strongsville…Senior forward Kessel Richards has points in eight of his last nine games, collecting 11 points (6-5-11) in that span…Senior goaltender Andrew Harrington has stopped 63 of 65 shots (.969 save percentage) over his last three games, all wins, over Upper Arlington (5-0), Walsh Jesuit (4-0) and St. Edward (stopped 31 of 33 in OT win).

HOLY NAME – The only team to have completed their league schedule, Holy Name will host Benedictine for a non-league contest at Ries Rink on Saturday night and wait to see who they draw in the Cleveland Cup Quarterfinals…Brendan Greller’s 49-save effort kept the Namers in the game against possible quarterfinal opponent Gilmour Academy last Friday before an empty-netter sealed a 4-2 GA win (see below).

PADUA FRANCISCAN – If Padua Franciscan gets some help from St. Edward and Walsh in their games against Shaker Heights, it could be in a position to move up a notch in the final standings in its final game of the regular season at Shaker on Sunday night. Barring that scenario, the Bruins will settle for a sixth-place tie with Holy Name and start the post-season against Gilmour Academy or University School on Wednesday…Giovanni Ianelli scored in each of the Bruins’ last two games, against Gilmour Academy and University School, giving him nine goals on the season – second on the team to Shane Helman’s 10…Goaltender Aiden Knox made 50+ saves in each of his last two starts, giving him 403 saves on the season with a .902 save percentage.

SHAKER HEIGHTS – Three separate COVID-related pauses this season led to scheduling challenges for Shaker Heights, which will conclude its regular season by running a three-in-three gauntlet of league games this weekend to get their six GLHL games in. The Red Raiders can finish anywhere from third to sixth in the final standings.

ST. EDWARD – With first place in the league standings sewn up, St. Edward will look to protect their #1 ranking in the state (and the presumptive #1 seed in the Brooklyn District tournament) when they close out their regular season against Shaker Heights on Friday night. That game will be played at the Eagles’ home rink, Serpentini Winterhurst Arena in Lakewood, but will technically be Shaker’s home game…Senior forward Noah Schultz had a seven-game multi-point streak snapped in the Eagles’ 3-2 OT loss to Gilmour Academy Saturday. Schultz did manage to extend an eight-game point streak in that game, scoring with 1:12 left in regulation to force overtime. In the seven games prior, Schultz racked up 20 points (9-11-20). After picking up 60 penalty minutes in the first 11 games of the season, Schultz has stayed out of the box completely in nine of his last 10 games.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL – The University School-Gilmour Academy rivalry has been great again this season and could get even better in the coming weeks. The two teams split a pair of non-league games that were each decided by one goal and will play their league game Friday, before potentially meeting again next week in the Cleveland Cup Semifinals if they both take care of business in the opening round. Then, of course, there is the Kent District bracket (which will be played in Brooklyn)…Senior defenseman Shawn Cronin scored his first goal of the season in overtime to give US a 3-2 win over Rocky River last Saturday…Senior forward John Pape scored twice in a span of 2:15 late in the game to give the Preppers an exciting 3-2 come-from behind win over Padua on Sunday. Pape’s game-winner came with 1:26 left in the third period.

WALSH JESUIT – Nothing is set in stone but Shaker Heights and Walsh Jesuit, who play Saturday, are looking like a good bet to face each other in a Cleveland Cup Quarterfinal game on Tuesday. A win over the Red Raiders Saturday would all but ensure a fourth-place finish for the Warriors and keep fifth-place Shaker from passing them…Walsh played one non-league game last week to stay sharp, defeating the Newark Generals, 2-1. Joshua Weiner and Jackson Holzapfel scored the Warriors goals 1:45 apart in the second period and Zach Firment kicked out 13 of 14 shots.

GLHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK (JAN. 25)

Brendan Greller, Holy Name

Holy Name goaltender Brendan Greller kept the Green Wave in their game with second-place Gilmour Academy with a stellar 49-save effort, earning the Great Lakes Hockey League Player of the week honors in the process.

Greller made 41 saves through the first two periods (30 minutes of game time), keeping the Namers within a goal at 3-2 until Gilmour iced the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Dom Lugo and Nolan Patton scored the goals for Holy Name.

PHOTO: @northshorepx

PREVIOUS WINNERS: Nick Flowers, University School (Dec. 7); Ethan Payne & Evan Wrightsman, St. Edward (Dec. 14); Tyler Lencewicz, Shaker Heights (Dec. 21); Kessel Richards, Gilmour Academy (Dec. 28); Sean Kolenich, St. Edward (Jan. 4); Charlie Huscroft, Walsh Jesuit (January 11); John Pape, University School (Jan. 18)