It’s the holiday season, and it’s a fun time of year. It’s a special time of year with the holiday spirit in the air, the idea of giving gifts to others and drinking eggnog until you’re asleep. It’s a good time.
One of the real perks is the holiday tournaments around the New England prep hockey scene. We will have team-by-team previews for each one.
Let’s start with the 39th annual Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic. It runs Dec. 15-17 and mostly takes place at Avon Old Farms with a few matchups at Trinity College.
The tournament has eight teams, separating them into two divisions of four teams. Kent was the champion last season.
Pierpoint Division:
- Berkshire
- Frederick Gunn
- Loomis Chaffee
- Trinity-Pawling
Trautman Division:
- Avon Old Farms
- Kent
- St. Paul’s
- Tabor
Here’s the full schedule for the tournament.
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022
- 1 p.m. - Frederick Gunn vs. Berkshire
- 3 p.m. - Loomis Chaffee vs. Trinity-Pawling
- 5 p.m. - Tabor vs. Avon Old Farms
- 7 p.m. - Kent vs. St. Paul’s
Friday, Dec. 16, 2022
- 9 a.m. - Berkshire vs. Loomis Chaffee
- 9 a.m. - Trinity-Pawling vs. Frederick Gunn*
- 11 a.m. - Kent vs. Avon Old Farms
- 11 a.m. - St. Paul’s vs. Tabor*
- 3 p.m. - Berkshire vs. Trinity-Pawling
- 5 p.m. - Loomis Chaffee vs. Frederick Gunn
- 7 p.m. - Tabor vs. Kent
- 9 p.m. - St. Paul’s vs. Avon Old Farms
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022
- 8:30 a.m. - Fourth place Pierpont vs. Fourth place Trautman
- 10:30 a.m. - Third place Pierpont vs. Third place Trautman
- 1:30 p.m. - Second place Pierpont vs. Second place Trautman
- 3:30 p.m. - First place Pierpont vs. First place Trautman
*Played at Koeppel Community Sports Center at Trinity College
Here’s a team-by-team breakdown of all eight squads competing in this year’s Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic.
Avon Old Farms
The Winged Beavers have been red hot to start the new season. They’ve won their first five games, three of which came via shutouts. Those three wins came over Williston Northampton, The Hill School and Trinity-Pawling. The other two wins came in a 3-1 decision over Taft and a 6-3 result against Deerfield on Sunday.
Avon has been getting scoring from the usual suspects up front. Senior forward Joe Odyniec (Ridgefield, Conn.) leads the way with six goals and 10 points in five games, averaging a stunning two points per game. Northeastern commit Joe Connor (Amherst, N.H.) has also been impressive, posting three goals and nine points in five games.
It’s a veteran team, as the top five point-getters on the team are all seniors, one of which is defenseman Jordin Palmer (Auburn, NH) with one goal and five points. Sophomore Mikey Munroe (Hanover, Mass.) has impressed as well, posting two goals and four points in his first five games at the prep level.
In net, it’s been all about senior Stephen Peck who has a sparkling 0.80 goals against average and .959 save percentage. Only four pucks have slipped past him this season.
Legendary head coach John Gardner’s team looks primed and ready to make a lot of noise in its own tournament.
Berkshire
Berkshire has had a tougher time starting its season.
The Bears have lost four of their first five games. Losses came against Albany Academy, Taft, Canterbury and Frederick Gunn, during which Berkshire was outscored 21-6. On the bright side, Berkshire enters the Christmas Classic after beating Lawrenceville, 3-1, on Saturday.
The team’s leading point-getter is senior defenseman Liam Bard (Southborough, Mass.) with five assists. Berkshire’s leading goal scorer is senior forward Jaden Davis, who has three of his squad’s nine goals.
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Danick Leroux and Cole O’Donnell, both senior goalies, have seen significant time in the net. Leroux has the edge, as the Quebec native has 171 minutes between the pipes, with a 3.16 GAA and .907 save percentage. He backstopped Berkshire to its lone win.
Frederick Gunn
Frederick Gunn has been on a roll at 6-0-0. Those six wins came against Hotchkiss, New Hampton, Exeter, Berkshire, Kent and Williston Northampton,and they have outscored opponents by a whopping 37-8.
Head coach Craig Badger has gotten scoring from everywhere. Four of the team’s top five scorers are juniors. Leading the way are forwards Jacob Rothman with seven goals and 13 points and Alex LoGuercio (Monroe, Conn.) with seven goals and 11 points. Senior Michael Markowski has five goals in the first six games.
The high-end production extends to the back end. Senior defenseman Christian Wood (Shelton, Conn.) leads the way with a goal and five assists, while senior defender Luke Orr and sophomore defenseman Luke Calabria both have a goal and four assists.
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In net, it’s been an even split between senior Ryan Crowshaw (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior Mitchell McCusker. They have identical goals against averages (1.29), but McCusker’s save percentage of .958 is slightly higher than Crowshaw at .950.
Kent
The reigning Christmas Classic champs enter this year’s tournament in good shape at 4-2-0. The two losses came at the hands of Kimball Union and Frederick Gunn — two very good teams. The Lions opened the season with wins over Hoosac and Hebron. They went on to beat Brunswick, 6-4, and, most recently, took down Salisbury, 3-1.
Junior forward Gio DiGiulian is leading the way offensively with seven goals and 10 points in six games. Junior forwards Jack Roberts and Owen Mahar are both averaging a point per game. So, too, is Providence commit Alex Bales — one of the top defensemen in prep hockey.
Also important on defense are junior Teddy Mallgrave and sophomore Jacob Ingstrup.
Like Frederick Gunn, Kent has a fairly even split in net with senior Harrison Fogel and junior Aidan Hopewell. Fogel’s been slightly better, posting a 1.95 GAA and .939 save percentage, while Hopewell sits at a 2.57 GAA and .926 save percentage.
Loomis Chaffee
The Pelicans, prior to Monday night’s game against Choate, have had an outstanding start. They won their first four games against Brunswick, Trinity-Pawling, Pomfret and Canterbury.
All four were tight contests, so no one is jumping off the stat sheet quite yet. Still, junior forwards Ethan Woolcott and Eli Velepec and junior defenseman Drew Anastasio (West Simsbury, Conn.) all had a goal and five points apiece. Senior forward Will Reardon led the team in goals with three.
Senior netminder Andrew Heinze has been superb to start the season, playing in the first four games and posting a 1.74 GAA with a .927 save percentage. He’s only allowed seven pucks past him in those outings.
St. Paul’s
While St. Paul’s opened its season with a 4-3 win over Brewster Academy, it lost the next four games against Tilton, Vermont Academy, Kimball Union and Proctor. St. Paul’s was outscored 26-6 in those contests.
Needless to say, St. Paul’s could use a big performance at the Christmas Classic.
Up front, senior forward Ryan Doherty (Concord, N.H.) and junior forward Lino Viau both have four points in the first five games. Senior forward Bryce Terry (Conway, N.H.) leads the team in goals with three, while freshman forward Harry Dermody (Bedford, N.H.) and junior defender Christian Yi both have two.
St. Paul’s is young in net with freshman Blake Truchon (South Burlington, Vt.) and sophomore Treva Murphy (Merrimack, N.H.) getting most of the minutes.
Tabor
The Seawolves enter the Christmas Classic at 3-0-1 with wins against Pomfret, Andover and North Yarmouth Academy. The one tie came against Nobles when both teams battled to a 4-4 final score.
Offensively, it’s been all about senior forward Jack DesRuisseaux and junior forward Cam Gaffney (East Greenwich, R.I.). DesRuisseaux has three goals and nine points in four games. All four matchups have been multi-point efforts from the Manchester, N.H., native. Gaffney has a goal and seven points in four games.
Forwards Xavier Vaillancourt, Tommy Sheehan (Warwick, R.I.) and Will Doherty (Marshfield, Mass.) are all averaging over a point per game. So is senior defenseman Alec O’Connor (Winchester, Mass.).
Tabor has ridden senior Gus Ackerman (New Haven, Conn.) in net. The ‘04 has a 1.95 GAA and .944 save percentage.
Trinity-Pawling
Trinity-Pawling enters the Christmas Classic having only played three games, and the Pride have lost all of them. Those losses came against Loomis Chaffee, Albany Academy and Avon Old Farms.
While scoring has been all over the place, junior forward JP Macrigiane leads the way with two goals and three points.
All three netminders have seen action this season, but junior Ethan Fehrenbaker has been between the pipes the most, stopping 53 of the 61 pucks sent in his direction.
