CANTON, Mass. — The semifinals of each division of the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic took place Sunday at the Canton Ice House.
In the Peter Doherty Division, Marshfield took down Tewksbury by a score of 3-2 while Hingham easily dispatched Wellesley, 7-0. The Rams and Harbormen will face each other in next Sunday’s championship game of the top bracket. In the Walter Brinn Division, Reading and Canton defeated Franklin and Natick by identical scores of 2-1.
The 16-team showcase has provided an opportunity for public schools to get some exposure and notoriety beyond what is typical in a high school hockey regular season in Massachusetts. Many of the players who have stood out were well known to me and others who follow the prospects in the state prior to the tournament. A few players who had previously flown under the radar have popped.
Hingham’s depth keys success
Hingham is the best public school team in the state, as of now. Having watched the Harbormen three times now, there are myriad reasons for that. Tony Messina’s team isn’t so good as to be considered unbeatable, but Hingham has the foundation in place to make a deep run in the state tournament.
The Harbormen are 13-3-0 after Sunday’s rout of Wellesley. Junior right wing Aidan Brazel had a hat trick after his big assist set up the overtime game-winner in the quarterfinals. Junior left wing Billy Jacobus had two goals to go on top of his overtime heroics from the previous Sunday.
Make no mistake, most of the offensive production comes from the team’s top two lines. But Messina can roll four lines and be comfortable that his bottom-six won’t be a liability.
One other area that sets Hingham apart from the rest of the public school teams is a solid defense, led by senior Bobby Falvey, a recent commit to Colby. The '03 will do a postgraduate season at Phillips Andover before joining Blaise MacDonald’s program for the in 2023. Falvey is solid in his own end, brings a physical presence, and also can contribute to the offense.
Hingham has two solid goaltenders in big senior Luke Merian, who has gotten both starts in this tournament. Freshman Keagin Wilson is 5-0 this season and has the better statistical numbers. A few of the contenders don’t have one goaltender capable of helping win a state championship. Hingham appears to have two capable backstops.
One player worth mentioning for Wellesley, the team Hingham beat Sunday, was '06 sophomore defenseman Kyle Parker. The righty is on the smaller side, but he had above-average mobility, held tight gaps, and made plays in the transition game. He was a little overmatched physically at times, but he’s a player worth watching as he develops and gets bigger.
Reading’s top line too much for Franklin
The game-winning goal for Reading in Sunday’s win over Franklin came early in the second period when Evan Pennucci finished off a scoring sequence from linemates Robby Granara and Cam Fahey. This line has been the best in both of Reading’s wins at the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic. Pennucci has been notable, playing in all situations, and impacting the game positively at both ends of the ice.
The Rockets are 6-0-1 in their last seven games after a so-so start to the season. Mark Doherty’s team appears to be peaking at the right time. Senior Franklin Zessis played the best game of any of my viewings. He held the door shut late when Franklin was skating on a six-on-three advantage, due to two Reading penalties and the Panthers’ goaltender pulled for the extra attacker.
In a losing effort, the best player on the ice for Franklin was senior right wing Dylan Marchand. The '04 had a snipe early in the third to draw his team within a goal. He made quite a few plays and had some chances to get his team even after that.
Doherty propels Marshfield
Sophomore right wing Will Doherty had a pair of goals, including the clincher with just over two minutes to play. After his center Nick Souretis won a draw at the right wing circle, Doherty slipped in and drove the net. He waited out the goaltender and slid a backhander into a virtually empty cage.
Doherty had the big overtime game-winner against Arlington in the quarterfinals and now has four goals in the tournament. Along with Hingham’s Brazel and Jacobus, he’s in line for a possible MVP nod after next Sunday’s final.
Tewksbury battled hard to tie the game late, but junior Brady Quackenbush held down the fort. He was even better against Arlington but made the saves he needed to against the Redmen.
Speaking of the Redmen, sophomore right wing Matt Cooke scored once again. He and his brother, Jason Cooke, are the two catalysts for the Tewksbury offense. Despite the loss, the first of the winter, this is still a team that should be considered a heavy favorite to win the Division 2 state crown.
One player who gets overshadowed for Tewksbury is junior defenseman Nick Dicioccio. I liked him last Sunday in a 4-1 win against Waltham. Once again, he was the team’s best defensive defenseman. He delivered a couple of huge, legal checks.
Canton advances past Natick
Switching back and forth between games that were going on simultaneously at the twin rink facility, I missed the scoring action in this game. Whether it was Canton’s stifling defense or Natick’s inability to gain offensive zone possession, there weren't a lot of scoring chances in this game.
Two Canton players I wanted to note were freshman goaltender Colin Davis and senior defenseman Sean Connolly. All the young '06 tender has been doing since gaining the starting role is winning games. He did just that again on Sunday. Connolly is a big rig on the backend who logs a lot of minutes. He could benefit from keeping things simple, but there are physical tools there for a prep school looking for a postgraduate blue liner in 2022-23.
Let players have exposure
A constant point of frustration for me in my coverage of high school hockey in Massachusetts is a lack of rosters available at the rink. Many teams do a great job of promoting line charts and other such game-day material on social media. However, far too often, rosters aren’t available to be picked up at the rink. Paper and ink aren’t so expensive that they should preclude every team in the state from bringing rosters to games for parents, fans, media, and scouts.
Yesterday, it was disappointing that Franklin, Tewksbury and Hingham were the only three of the eight teams at the Canton Ice House to have printed rosters. Kudos to the Redmen and Harbormen for getting that right. Hopefully, more teams will get the message and print rosters for all that want to see them at the rink for the last month of the season.
