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Key League Games in Northwest Hockey Conference this Week

By Braeden Sample, 01/05/23, 3:30PM EST

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Friday’s St. Francis-St. John’s tilt could determine first place in NHC

A lot of tournament games went on over the week, bringing for some high-class hockey.

In the Holly Daze Tournament, four NHC teams competed. Together they took three out of the four top spots, and combined for a 8-7-1 record.

Placing 2nd, Bowling Green finished with an undefeated record beating Dublin Jerome 2-0, Benedictine 4-1, and New Albany 3-1, however they would tie the eventual champs, Moeller 2-2.

Findlay finished in 3rd beating New Albany 6-2, Dublin Jerome 6-1, Benedictine 3-1 and losing to Moeller 3-0. Perrysburg finished in 4th beating Benedictine 7-0 and New Albany 8-1, however losing to Moeller 1-0 and Dublin Jerome 2-1.

Finally, Anthony Wayne ended up finishing in last in the eight-team tournament. They lost all their games with final scores of 10-3 against New Albany, 3-0 to Dublin Jerome, 5-3 to Benedictine, and 6-2 to Moeller.

St. Francis and St. John’s competed in the Scott Miller Memorial Tournament in Traverse City. St. Francis made it all the way to the final beating Bay Reps [MI] 5-3 and Saginaw Heritage [MI] 7-6. They fell short of the title, however, losing to Traverse City Central [MI] 4-1. St. John’s lost their first game to Salem [MI] 2-1 but won their next game against Rockford [MI] 4-0 and would fall short in the game for 3rd place losing to Bay Reps [MI] 6-2.

Northview competed in the Brother James Tournament hosted by Gilmour Academy. Northview lost their first game to University School 2-1 but would bounce back getting a 3-0 win against Orchard Park White [NY] and an 8-3 win against Newark. They faced Gilmour “A” for the final, sending it to a shootout tied at 2. However, they fell short as Gilmour got the win in a 2-0 shootout decision.

After the Holly Daze Tournament, Anthony Wayne traveled up to Michigan to play Lenawee United [MI], beating them 6-3. Clay and the Blue Devils also went up to Michigan as Clay played Downriver Unified [MI], however losing 4-5 and the Blue Devils played Tawas [MI], losing 9-0. All these teams played in hopes to become a traditional, “MI-OH Showcase” at Adrian College.

Whitmer competed in the CVCA tournament. They went 2-2, beating Normandy 4-2 and Twinsburg 6-5, however they lost to CVCA twice, 5-0 and 6-1.

LOOKING AHEAD

ANTHONY WAYNE (7-12-0, 0-4-0 RED DIVISION, 7th)

1/6 – Bedford [MI]
1/8 – Lake

Anthony Wayne struggled for the entire month of December, going 2-11-0. The Generals did get a win against a Michigan team, hopefully boosting their confidence as league games start to ramp up. Anthony Wayne played Bedford who has gone 2-3 against the NHC so far this season and 0-2 against Red Division teams. They also play White Division opponent Lake, hoping to get wins before the Cleveland Jesuit Tournament next weekend.

BOWLING GREEN (11-6-3, 1-1-0 RED DIVISION, 4th)

1/6 – Northview (LEAGUE)
1/7 – Gilmour “A”
1/8 – Perrysburg (LEAGUE)

Bowling Green plays a pair league games this weekend, hoping to continue to make gains in the NHC Red Division race. They play 1st place Northview who they already lost to 5-2, and 5th place Perrysburg. They also play GLHL foe Gilmour Academy. Gilmour just beat Northview, proving to be a tough challenge for the NHC. However, Bowling Green looks to continue their dominant status.

FINDLAY (11-6-0, 0-2-0 RED DIVISION, 6th)

1/6 – Perrysburg (LEAGUE)
1/7 – St. John’s (LEAGUE)

Findlay plays their first league games since December 9th and 10th. They face Perrysburg and St. John’s who are 5th and 3rd in the Red Division, respectively. Findlay finished December off strong, going 3-1 in the process which was a good weekend that helped bring up confidence. After starting 6-0, the Trojans went 2-5, now hoping to continue this success into league play.

NORTHVIEW (9-7-1, 3-0-1 RED DIVISION, 1st)

1/6 – Bowling Green (LEAGUE)
1/7 – St. Ignatius “Prep”

Northview looks to continue to dominate the Red Division with a win over Bowling Green this Friday. A successful tournament last week by the Wildcats consisted of a 2-2 record with a one-goal loss to University School and going to a shootout with Gilmour. Now they face another top opponent in St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius previously beat St. Francis 9-2 and University School 3-0, but a good weekend could create some nice momentum for the Wildcats.

PERRYSBURG (9-7-1, 1-2-0 RED DIVISION, 5th)

1/6 – Findlay (LEAGUE)
1/7 – Lake
1/8 – Bowling Green (LEAGUE)

Perrysburg looks to turn around their previous Red Division struggles with league games against Findlay and Bowling Green. Perrysburg also faces Lake who competes in the White Division. Perrysburg had a decent week going 2-2 in the Holly Daze, but the team wants more. This weekend is the weekend to get more and bring momentum to the team for the final portion of the season.

ST. FRANCIS (7-7-1, 3-1-0 RED DIVISION, 2nd)

1/6 - St. John’s (LEAGUE)
1/8 - Gilmour “A”

St. Francis plays St. John’s in what could’ve been a matchup last week in Michigan. This matchup was previously moved to the Huntington Center later in the month, but it is now moved back to the original date. St. Francis is chasing down 1st place in the Red Division with Northview and they have every intention to get it. A win against Gilmour can help bring motivation to turn that goal into reality.

ST. JOHN’S (8-8-2, 2-0-1 RED DIVISION, 3rd)

1/6 – St. Francis (LEAGUE)
1/7 – Findlay (LEAGUE)

St. John’s has two league games on the table for the weekend after a disappointing 4th place finish at a tournament in Michigan last weekend. St. John’s is also in the hunt for 1st place with St. Francis and Northview and the game on Friday is the biggest game for this weekend. Taking all four points from league opponents would help St. John’s got that little bit closer to getting 1st place in the Red Division.

WHITE DIVISION

There are only two White Division league games for this weekend with Clay hosting Whitmer on Friday and Whitmer hosting Southview on Saturday. Lake also plays Red Division opponents Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg, however these will not count as league games. Lake will also face Southview.

--- Braeden Sample (@SticksAndStats) for Ohio Hockey Digest

Sticks and Stats: A blog for hockey stats