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2021 Brooklyn (West) District Preview

By Scott Harrington 02/20/2021, 9:00pm EST

Reports of the Wildcats’ death have been greatly exaggerated

PHOTO: Patrick Gallagher

No Ohio school has won more state championships than St. Edward’s 11. But the Eagles have not won it all since 2008 and the rival Saint Ignatius Wildcats have ruled the roost in the Brooklyn District in recent years.

Tim Sullivan, who was a part of the 1992 St. Edward state championship team as a player, returned to the program as the head coach prior to the 2019-20 season. In his second year at the helm, the team was the wire-to-wire #1 team in the state coach’s poll and won the Great Lakes Hockey League’s Cleveland Cup for the first time in the eight-year history of the league, but the slate is wiped clean for the district tournament.

The Eagles’ ancient rival Saint Ignatius, meanwhile, has won four consecutive state titles. They were on their way to a fifth after defeating Ed’s by a 9-0 count in last year’s District Final, but COVID-19 brought the Drive for Five to a premature end.

Hit hard by graduation, the Wildcats struggled early in the year and won just two of their first seven games. It appeared the reign over varsity hockey in Ohio had come to and end, but head coach Patrick O’Rourke has coached his young group up and they are not the same team heading into the post-season that they were in November.

Following an 8-2 loss to St. Edward on January 8, Saint Ignatius has gone on a 7-0-2 run that includes wins over ranked teams St. Charles, University School, Upper Arlington, Olentangy Orange and Northview. The tied came against #2 St. Francis and #3 Gilmour Academy.

Suffice to say, reports of the Wildcats’ death have been greatly exaggerated. 

So, while both teams have been going through their own transitional periods over the last year or so, the 2021 district tournament could very well come down to the two of them once again.

GCHSHL Response to COVID: Flexibility

By Scott Harrington 11/25/2020, 4:45pm EST

50th Anniversary season will look different, but will move forward

Ryan Kelber, commissioner of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League, distributed a memo to coaches of the league’s 34 member teams Wednesday announcing changes to the 2020-21 regular season and Baron Cup formats in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams are being encouraged to play as many of their scheduled leagues games as possible, but no league standings will be kept, and every team will qualify for the three 2021 Baron Cup tournaments.

It has become clear that crossing your fingers and hoping not many games get cancelled is not a viable option for commissioners around the state.  Leagues must plan for more positive COVID tests and the game cancellations they will bring.

“What we are trying to avoid is having an imbalanced schedule in January when it comes time to do the seeding for the Baron Cup,” he said. “Some of these games are just not going to get made up.”

Kelber said he also did not want to put teams in a position where they had to cancel non-league games and try to re-schedule league contests.

"I think this year honestly is going to be very fluid," said Mentor head coach Paul McKito. "The GCHSHL is making the correct move."

Pause and Effect

By Jim Smith 11/20/2020, 1:00pm EST

Five Northeast Ohio Rinks Close

     As a result of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health’s Resolution No. 2020-143, several Cleveland area ice arenas have announced a “pause” in operations at their facilities with the possibility of reopening in mid-December.

     The resolution is “...to implement a Covid-19 stay-at-home health advisory effective November 18, 2020 through December 17, 2020.”

     As one can imagine, this pause will have an enormous effect on the youth, high school and even collegiate hockey seasons while, at the same time, trusting the pause will have a measurable effect on the number of  COVID-19 cases in their respective communities.

     Thornton Park Ice Arena will suspend operations effective November 23rd thru December 17 while C.E. Orr is “closed until further notice” according to the City of Euclid website.

     “The Governor’s Curfew Order caused us to review the rink schedule and consolidate the schedule to end at 9:45 pm. Then with the Cuyahoga County Stay at Home advisory and concern for growing COVID-19 spread during the holidays caused us to look at all recreation programs and services and ultimately for the health and wellness of the community, we decided to follow the Stay at Home Advisory. Additionally, the local school district’s adherence to the Stay at Home Advisory and their temporary suspension of athletics helped with the decision to reduce opportunities for community spread through sports and other recreation programs,” explained Alexandria Nichols, Director, Recreation Department for the City of Shaker Heights via email.

      In Lake County, the City of Mentor announced the closing of Mentor Ice Arena for the remainder of the calendar year, effective Monday November 23rd, while immediately suspending the youth hockey program.

     The announcement from Mentor stated, “a decision will be made at a later date on when these facilities will reopen.”

      Additionally, the two ice surfaces at Cleveland Heights Community Center have yet to open this season and the Kent State University Ice Arena has been shuttered since September.

       The ice at the Kent State facility was removed several weeks ago as well, signaling doubt that the facility will re-open this season.

       As the students at Kent State University returned home for Thanksgiving and are converting to remote learning for the remainder of the semester, and a recent announcement from the university confirmed the suspension of  spring semester club sports, it seems illogical to believe the ice arena would open for what would be a very limited period of time in the upcoming semester.

      To the credit of the leadership at ice arena facilities across the Cleveland market, they have been meeting monthly via Zoom calls to develop and share best practices for keeping their facilities safe and for potential resumption of activities.

      “Throughout the pandemic the City of Shaker Heights has spent time reviewing cases locally and collaborating with other recreation service providers on steps each agency is taking to reduce community spread of COVID-19. As a public entity, it is imperative that we set a good model for the community and stay abreast of trends in recreation operations. Throughout this current temporary suspension of programs and activities, we will communicate with local entities and regional recreation service providers to help decide if the temporary suspension will last beyond December 17. A concern is the December holidays and potential for continued rapid spread of COVID-19. It is the intent of the City to continue to help mitigate the spread of the virus and December 17 is the end of the Stay at Home Order for Cuyahoga County but the county going to purple risk level or continued large volumes of positive tests in the county will impact reopening,” added Nichols, who has played a leadership role in the monthly zoom meetings.

      The list of best practices and protocols for the rinks participating is updated as frequently as possible on the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League website.

       It is advisable to check the status of each rink prior to traveling to a facility.

       Stay tuned for any additional announcements regarding suspension of activities at local ice rink facilities.

 

Follow Jim Smith on twitter @BlueLineNotes

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