2020-21 IN REVIEW:
18-9-2 overall
5-3-0 in GLHL (T2nd place by PTS%)
Cleveland Cup runner-up
Brooklyn East (Kent) District semifinalist

Gilmour Academy was ranked in the Top 5 in the state by both www.myhockeyrankings.com and the coaches poll last year, but were unable to win a third Cleveland Cup in four years, falling in the championship game to St. Edward via shootout, and were upset by Walsh Jesuit in the district semifinal.

The Lancers have nine Varsity A returnees, four players moving up from Varsity B and five from their U16 team. Junior forward Gavin Fielder, meanwhile, joins the Lancers from Lakewood of the GCHSHL.

Gilmour's top three point-getters from last year - forwards Frankie Valenti, Kessel Richards and Joe Roddy - have all graduated. The Lacers will need the likes of junior forwards Matt Bauman and Viktor Provozhaev to step up and replace some of that production.

In all, eight of 12 forwards are new to the team, but four of five defenseman are returnees with seniors Connor Underwood and Kyle Laws (a converted forward) headlining the group.

John Malloy, Gilmour’s Director of Hockey and the head coach of the Varsity A team, has been behind the bench for more victories than any other coach in Ohio high school hockey history so he knows the drill.

"Our goals are the same every year," said Malloy.  "Get better each practice and game and play our best hockey at the end of the year while representing our school and program in a first-class manner."

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
5-14-1 overall
0-5-1 in GLHL (T6th place by PTS%)
 

Holy Name won only five games last season, but head coach Craig Patton has almost his entire roster coming back as he attempts to continue building the program in his third season at the helm.

Although sparkplug forward Dom Lugo will be missed, the Green Wave have an experienced group, with eight seniors and seven juniors on an 18-man roster that includes 10 of last year’s top 11 point producers and returning junior goaltender Mathias Sizov.

Sizov is joined the in the crease by freshman Pete Rose, who showed hustle by starting three of the first four games for the Green Wave and recording a .873 save percentage.

Nolan Patton leads the team in assists (3), points (4) and penalty minutes (21) through the first four games, but the Namers will need players like Brendan Kochtanek, Dennis Keeler, Jack McManamon and Ian Greenhill to build on their 2020-21 numbers as well if they are going to have success.

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
5-14-4 overall
0-5-1 in GLHL (T6th place by PTS%)

There is a level of excitement around the Padua Franciscan Bruins that has not been present in some time.

The team won only five games last season, but that was an improvement over the previous three seasons which only yielded three wins each. It was a modest improvement but there were also some encouraging performances outside of the five “W”s.

It would appear that head coach Perry Cohagan’s team has taken that “Next Step” this year following a 3-0-1 start that included wins over three Great Lakes League opponents on their way to the title at the Walsh Thanksgiving Tournament.

Cohagan spoke to the Ohio Hockey Digest On Air podcast following the win over Walsh.

"This group has worked so hard early in the season to get these results," he said. "As a coach it's great because it makes them want to work harder because they are seeing the fruits of their labor."

For most teams, Thanksgiving Tournaments are a nice gauge to see where they are in relation to some of their peers before they get into the meat of the league schedule. For the Bruins it means a little more.

"These guys haven't won a lot," Cohagan continued. "So beating some GLHL teams and earning some hardware early in the season will hopefully be a springboard."

Keep in mind the 2020-21 team also knocked off Shaker last Thanksgiving but, with the 6-3 win over the host Warriors capping off a tournament that also included wins over Shaker Heights and Holy Name, it is clear this was not just a one-off or lucky outcome.

Padua has yet to play perennial league powers St. Edward, Gilmour Academy or University School, but the Bruins appear to be legitimately competitive this year and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the GLHL schedule.

Not to look ahead, but Padua will also be hoping to go on a longer post-season run than last year. Their lone win in the district playoffs came in their first game against Parma.

Aidan Knox was a central figure in all of Padua’s wins last year and had 50-save efforts in losses to Gilmour Academy and US (ironically in consecutive starts). He followed up a stellar sophomore season with the Bruins (3.29/.902) with a strong performance this fall with Team Ohio, posting an eye-opening .941 save percentage. Now a junior, Knox will again backstop the Bruins and it will be fun to see how he does with some goal support.

Giovanni Ianelli (12) and Shane Helman (10) led the Bruins in goals last season. Helman has been filling the net since his freshman campaign in 2019-20 when he potted 19 in 28 games but now, as a junior, he has some help in the scoring department.

Padua scored 20 times over three games at the Walsh Tournament. Eight different Bruins collected three or more points at the Walsh Tournament including Liam Conway (2-6-8), Helman (4-3-7), Brock Bisler (2-4-6) and Jack Smith (4-1-5).

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
26-4-1 overall
7-0-0 in GLHL (1st place by PTS%)
Cleveland Cup champion
Brooklyn West District champion
OHSAA runner-up

Coming off a season that saw them top the Ohio state coaches poll wire-to-wire, win the Cleveland Cup for the first time in school history, and win the Brooklyn District playoffs, the St. Edward Eagles enter the season as contenders for the state title yet again.

Ed’s came up short in the 2021 state championship game, 2-1, against Toledo St. Francis. They had a re-match at the Cold Turkey Shootout last weekend and were edged by the Knights again, this time 4-2. That is their only loss (3-1-1) of the young season, however, which includes a league win over Walsh Jesuit and a pair of victories over Northwest Hockey Conference powers, Bowling Green and Sylvania Northview.

St. Edward outscored the opposition 44-4 on their way to posting an undefeated (7-0-0) mark in league play a year ago. Head coach Tim Sullivan returns a talented group including Jack Mansour (17-9-26) and Josh Szopo (14-13-27). In addition to their scoring exploits last year with the Eagles, the pair combined to score 51 goals in 37 games with Team Ohio 18U this fall.

Sullivan, who is in his 20th season coaching high school hockey and his third at St. Edward, is still waiting for three players currently competing with the St. Edward football team which has advanced all the way to the Division I state championship game: Danny Enovitch, Jackson Miller and Seamus Kennedy.

Enovitch is one of five returners on a six-man group of defensemen that will play in front of goaltenders Miller and Ethan Payne.

Sullivan expects the defensemen to do their part to make life as easy as possible for the goaltenders – both of whom were part of a three-way timeshare with the since-graduated Evan Wrightman a year ago.

“Hayden Payne and Danny Enovitch both play with an edge,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan has 318 career wins and counting and is 53-14-5 (.771) in two-plus seasons at St. Edward. He has a deep and talented roster and will attempt to leverage that depth for another long post-season run this year.

“Our goal is to get back to Columbus,” he said. “And we will need all of our players to contribute if we want to be successful.”

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
8-8-2 overall
1-2-0 in GLHL (5th place by PTS%)
DNP in Cleveland Cup
Brooklyn East (Kent) District quarterfinalist

Last season was supposed to be a celebration of 50 years of Shaker Heights high school hockey. The pandemic scuttled many of their celebration plans (and a bunch of games) so, while this may be season #51 in reality, the Red Raiders have planned some Golden Anniversary celebrations throughout the season.

The Red Raiders are anxious to get back in action after multiple COVID-related pauses limited their 2020-21 season to 18 games (only three in league play) and forced them to withdraw from the Cleveland Cup. With the stops and starts, Shaker was not able to build any momentum last season, winning back-to-back games just twice, failing to win as many as three games in a row and exiting the district playoffs in the quarterfinals.

The only game they played in the first 22 games of February was against Brush of the GCHSHL Blue Division (a 15-0 rout) before Mentor eliminated them from the post-season.

A 7-5 setback to Padua made the Raiders winless in their first three games of the 2021-22 season, but they got off the schneid with wins over Hudson and Cincinnati Moeller to close out the Walsh Thanksgiving Tournament on a high note.

Tyler Lencewicz scored eight goals in the first five games of the OHSAA season and added five assists for 13 points. That includes four points in each of the three games he played at the Walsh Tournament (!). He is coming off a season in which he scored 19 goals in a 16-game COVID-shortened campaign and produced a team-leading 56 points (24-32-56) in 32 games for Team Ohio’s state championship 18U entry this fall.

Shaker Heights will play a challenging schedule as they work through that process of preparing themselves for a run in the district playoffs. In addition to the Great Lakes Hockey League schedule and post-season tournament, Shaker will host their own Thornton Park tournament and play in all three of Walsh Jesuit’s events in addition to the ultra-competitive Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament.

“We are young but have a very hard working team and a great group of student athletes,” said head coach Matt Bartley. “The incoming athletes will all need to step up and fill the roles of last year’s senior class.”

The Red Raiders will face a Murder’s Row at the Padua tournament, going up against St. Edward, Toledo St. Francis and St. Charles Prep in about a 27-hour window. That should be an excellent test to see if this year’s Shaker team is one that is capable of a deep post-season run.

Another date Bartley has circled on his calendar is Friday, January 21 when the Red Raiders will host rival University School in a league game at Thornton Park.

“Our goals are always to win the division and get to the OHSAA Final Four,” said Bartley. “This year, we just want to make sure we all stay healthy and grow as a team throughout the season.”

Shaker will look to get into the Win column in league play when they visit Holy Name at Ries Arena on Saturday night. Toledo St. John’s pays them a visit at Thornton Park on Sunday.

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
14-13-1 overall
5-3-0 in GLHL (T2nd place by PTS%)
Cleveland Cup semifinalist
Brooklyn East (Kent) District semifinalist

University School head coach Andy Gerow says US has the same three goals each year: winning the GLHL regular season, the Cleveland Cup, and the state tournament.

“A mix of veterans and youth that have pushed each group,” said Gerow.

If the Preppers are going to accomplish those goals this season they will have to do it with some fresh faces in the lineup as only 13 players return (eight forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender.

A 6-0-1 run to close out the 2020-21 regular season gave University School a strong second-place finish in league play and sent the Preppers into the post-season on a tear, but the goals dried up for US when they needed them the most. They were knocked out of the Cleveland Cup semifinals by Gilmour Academy, 1-0 in overtime, and were on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision in a district semifinal game against Walsh Jesuit.

Last year’s #1 netminder, Jeffrey Fillion, is no longer around so Evan Crawford (7-2-0, 2.47, .897) will be asked to elevate his game as the lone goalie with varsity experience along with rookies Joey Raicevich and Cooper Pettipiece.

The top three scorers from last season – John Pape, Nick Flowers and Sam Heller – have graduated, leaving seniors Sam Wade (6-9-15), Mark Berglund (9-5-14) and Colin Counahan (4-9-13) as the top returning offensive producers.

Berglund and Counahan will be co-captains with high-motor junior forward Kellen McGarry (3-7-10) serving as the alternate. Berglund is a quick forward that uses his speed to create chances, causes havoc on the forecheck and leads by example while Counahan, a big and strong defenseman, is a four-year varsity player that will lead the defensive unit.

While the Preppers finished a single game over .500 last season that record can be deceiving. US played an extremely challenging schedule, and will do the same this year with five competitive in-season tournaments. Gerow singled out the Padua Holiday Tournament, which draws elite competition from around the state in the run-up to Christmas, as well as rivalry games against Gilmour Academy and Shaker Heights, as the games the Preppers circled on their calendar when the schedule came out.

Gerow enters his fourth season behind the Preppers bench with a precisely .500 career mark of 47-47-4.

2020-21 IN REVIEW:
17-10-3 overall
4-4-0 in GLHL (4th place by PTS%)
Cleveland Cup semifinalist
Won Brooklyn East (Kent) District
Appeared in state tournament for first time in school history

How can Walsh Jesuit top their historic 2020-21 season? The Warriors went on a thrilling run in the district playoffs, winning three straight one-goal games to capture their first-ever district title and make their debut at the state tournament in Columbus.

Head coach Pete Calleri did not share any specific goals that he identified for this year’s junior-heavy team.

“We want to maximize our potential every season,” he said.

The low-scoring wins over Hudson (3-2 in OT), US (2-1) and Mentor (3-2) showcased the ability of Calleri’s team to grind it out playoff-style. This year’s team projects to be effective keeping the puck out of their net again.

Calleri identified goaltending and key returning players from last year’s district championship team as the strengths of this year’s team. The goaltending duo of Zach Firment (1.81/.908) and Brody Lerch (2.96/.896) and enters its fourth season.

“Our goalie tandem split games last season and took us all the way to the final four,” said Calleri.

While four of the top six defensemen from last year have graduated, all six defensemen on the roster have varsity experience.

Junior Colton Ziehm is the #1 defenseman for Walsh and will captain the 2021-22 squad with senior defenseman Aidan Cook and junior forward Noah Colasanti serving as alternates. Cook, who was second on the team in scoring last season (9-10-19), has been converted from a forward to a defenseman to help mitigate the losses on the Warriors blue line.

Grinding out wins in a low-scoring playoff style is all well and good, but the Warriors will eventually need to put the puck in the net if they plan on being competitive. Cook may be spending his senior season on the blue line, but when the Warriors need a goal, they have a trio of junior forwards they can turn to after both excelled as sophomores.

In addition to Colasanti (4-7-11), Josh Weiner is a highly-skilled forward with a great shot and skating ability that led the team in goals (15), assists (16) and points (31) a year ago.

Classmate Ryan Kerscher, meanwhile, plays a power game. He scored 16 points (8-8-16) in just 19 games a year ago and came up with some big goals for the Warriors – including the OT winner in a district playoff game against Hudson that almost ended the Warriors’ playoff run before it really took off.

Walsh will again host three tournaments this season (Thanksgiving, Christmas and MLK) in addition to competing in Shaker’s Thornton Park tournament.