WEST ORANGE- There are certainly major obstacles to overcome for Essex County’s top ice hockey teams in the upcoming New Jersey Interscholastic Ice Hockey League playoffs, but there have been very positive strides made by teams such as Livingston (McInnis Conference), Seton Hall Prep (Gordon Conference-National Division) and Montclair Kimberley Academy (Kelly Conference) as the critical post-season games quickly approach.
The NJIIHL seeding meeting is set for Friday, Feb. 6, at the Richard J. Codey Arena where the championship Cup games will be held in each boys and girls division, including on Tuesday, Feb. 17, with the McMullen final at 5:30 p.m. and Kelly at 8 p.m., followed on Wednesday, Feb. 18, with the McInnis at 5:30 p.m. and Gordon at 8 p.m.
Livingston (13-2, 6-1), behind the guidance of veteran coach Dave Conklin, has powerful Westfield as the team to beat in the McInnis Division although the Lancers are very dangerous with a senior led squad featuring much balance and consistent scorers including forwards Matthew Zocks (13 goals, 12 assists), Rhys Bernstein (10 and 13) and David Weinrib (10 and 3) and defenseman Jayden Rogers (8 and 15). The Lancers also have two very capable goaltenders in Brody Teitelbaum (.909 save percentage) and Andrew Downey (.938).
The Lancers lost their first game of the season with Westfield, 6-1, back on Dec. 6. The Blue Devils (12-1, 8-0), behind the guidance of coach Joe Bertucci, are coming off a banner season last year in the NJIIHL McInnis Cup playoffs when they finished 21-4 and 10-2 in the division and defeated Livingston, 6-2, in the McInnis Cup final.
SHP (8-8, 5-2 in the Gordon-National) has been highly competitive while going up against a first-rate schedule in and out of the Gordon Conference. The Pirates had a solid 4-2 road win vs. St. Augustine on Jan. 19.
Coach Brian Monteverdi’s SHP icemen rely on a number of key performers including junior forwards Christian Jaworski (9 goals, 12 assists) and Dylan Mesler (13 and 9), senior forward John Renzullo (2 and 13) and sophomore goaltender Cayden Hoyler (.898 save percentage).
While both defending champion Scotch Plains (13-2-1, 7-1-1) and the Frisch School (9-2, 8-2) are the teams to beat in the NNJIL’s Kelly Division playoffs; however, MKA (6-8, 4-6) has been playing its best hockey of the season lately, winning five of its last seven games, including capturing the coveted Montclair Cup in its first meeting of the season vs. local rival Montclair High, 6-2, back on Jan. 8.
Since then, veteran coach Tim Cook’s Cougars have reeled off a series of victories including division wins vs. both Verona and Nutley, two teams that won their Round 1 meetings in the home-and-home Kelly Conference contests vs. the Montclair private school earlier this season.
MKA dropped a hard-fought 5-3 decision to Scotch Plains on Thursday (Jan. 29) and met the Union County powerhouse in last season’s Kelly Cup final, falling 4-1 to the Raiders during a successful 10-5-3 (8-2-2) season.
The Cougars have a nice mix of youth and experience on this season’s team which features standouts including senior forwards Owen DuHaime (6 goals, 1 assist) and Ethan Frey (6 and 4), junior forwards Ethan Kilcullen (8 and 6) and Adrian Canizares (2 and 12) and a superb defense led by senior blue-liners Ibou Conteh and Thomas Meeker and junior goaltender James Bronson (.930 save percentage).
