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Great Lakes Hockey League Weekly Vol. 10 No. 2

By Scott Harrington, 12/15/22, 11:00AM EST

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Padua Tournament dominates Ohio high school hockey this weekend

The “Granddaddy of them All” when it comes to high school hockey tournaments in Ohio – the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament – takes place this weekend (December 16-18) at OBM Arena in Strongsville.

Twelve teams – all of them ranked in the Top 15 in the state – will compete in the event, including four of the five members of the Great Lakes Hockey League. Three of those GLHL members are currently ranked in the Top 10, including the host Padua Franciscan Bruins, who moved up three spots this week to #5.

GLHL IN THE OHSAA RANKINGS: Four of the five members of the Great Lakes League are ranked in the Top 10 this week: Padua Franciscan (#5), Gilmour Academy (#6), University School (#7) and Walsh Jesuit (#9) while #14 Shaker Heights has an opportunity to make their statement this weekend with four games against Top-15 competition at the Padua Tournament.

GILMOUR ACADEMY LANCERS

Defending state champion Gilmour Academy, currently ranked #6 in the OHSAA, will not play in the Padua Tournament, but will host Erie Cathedral Prep (PA) on Saturday (3:50 p.m. puck drop)…The Lancers got back on track following a 1-2-1 showing in a tournament at Culver Military Academy in Indiana last weekend with a 6-1 win over Kiski School (WV) on Tuesday night. Matthew Bauman scored twice and Myles Greenwald, making his second start of the season, stopped 13/14 shots to backstop GA in that one…After being held off the scoresheet in the first three games at Culver, Bauman has put up five points (3-2-5) over his last two games and now leads the Lancers with nine goals and 17 points on the season…Junior forward Colton Fairchild has collected at least one point in 10 of 12 games this season and leads GA with 10 assists.

PADUA FRANCISCAN BRUINS

The Padua Bruins have won five games in a row – four of them by shutout – and are rewarded this week by moving up to #5 in the state according to MyHockeyRankings. Padua won the Thornton Park Tournament at Shaker Heights and also picked up two big points in GLHL play with a 1-0 win over University School…The Bruins carry that five-game heater into their own tournament, the Padua Holiday Hockey Tournament, where they will test themselves against four of the top teams in Ohio – including preliminary games against three teams trying to chase them down in the rankings: #11 Upper Arlington, #15 St. Charles and #10 Findlay…The goaltending exploits of Aidan Knox are obviously at the heart of Padua’s recent run but the senior puck-stopper is not the only player performing at a top level for the Bruins. Senior forward Shane Helman has put up 11 points (3-8-11) over his last six games and junior forward Mark Aponte has found the net six times in that same span…After topping Hudson 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Thornton Park Tournament last Thursday, Helman scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win over US in Friday’s league game. The Bruins then returned to Shaker to defeat the host Red Raiders (4-2) and Walsh Jesuit (4-0) to claim the tournament title.

SHAKER HEIGHTS RED RAIDERS

SHAKER HEIGHTS – The ultra-competitive Padua Tournament gives Shaker Heights an opportunity to get their season back on track. The Red Raiders head into the weekend with just one win in their last six games (1-3-2). They beat Strongsville (7-1) and tied Mentor (2-2) at the Thornton Park Tournament, tying the Cardinals for third place, but managed more than two goals just twice over that six-game stretch…Senior forward Jack Camp set up junior forward Sammy Gerber for both Shaker goals in a 4-2 loss to Padua in the TP Tournament semis…Shaker is slated to go up against #10 Findlay, #11 Upper Arlington and #15 St. Charles in preliminary action this weekend at the Padua Tournament in Strongsville…Shaker will close out 2022 playing in the Walsh Thanksgiving Tournament and will open 2023 by hosting #3 St. Edward on January 4. 

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL PREPPERS

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL – #12 Toledo St. John’s, #13 Toledo St. Francis and #4 Sylvania Northview make up the Padua Tournament preliminary round schedule for #7 University School this weekend. Don’t be fooled by St. Francis’ ranking as the Knights are a perennial power and have won three of their past four games. The Preppers should be well-rested after playing just a single game last week, a 1-0 loss to Padua in a league game…US will continue to seek out top-notch competition even after the Padua Tournament. It will visit #1 Saint Ignatius next Wednesday, December 21 at Brooklyn (4:00 p.m. start)…The Preppers are 4-1-0 when they score 3+ goals in a game this season.

WALSH JESUIT WARRIORS

WALSH JESUIT – Walsh Jesuit is 7-3-0 this season but 7-0-0 against opponents that are not the Padua Bruins. Walsh has come up short against the #5 Bruins three times already – in the championship games of both the Walsh Thanksgiving and Thornton Park Tournaments as well as the season opener (a league game)…The Warriors have scored 4+ goals six times this season and are 6-0-0 in those games. In five of those games, they scored four goals. They have topped four goals just once: a 5-3 win over Medina. So, Walsh has consistently generated enough offense to win, but has not blown anybody out…The runner-up performance at the Thornton Park Tournament last weekend included wins over two of the top teams in the GCHSHL: Rocky River (3-0) and Mentor (4-1). Senior netminder Tavian Parks stopped 50/51 shots in those two wins and the Warriors benefitted from balanced scoring as three players scored in the win over River and four different players scored against Mentor.

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest