New England Hockey Journal readers will tell their future children and grandchildren about when I had Winchester as my sixth of six teams who could upset top seeds in the 2024 MIAA D1 boys hockey tournament.
It was a I-remember-exactly-where-I-was moment. Like being told in 1981 to invest in Apple or being advised to put your life savings on the New York Giants winning Super Bowl XLII after the 2007 season (sorry, my fellow Patriots fans).
Winchester didn't win the whole thing...but it came pretty darn close. At the very least, it should've gone to overtime tied, 2-2.
I joke, of course, about it being up there with being told about investing in Apple or the Giants winning that '07 Super Bowl (although I assume you will still tell your future grandkids about my story).
This season, the parity has been prevalent since the early days of December. While Pope Francis was the clear No. 1 team, the squads from No. 2-10 constantly jockeyed for positioning.
That means it's possible we see a new team follow in then-No. 11 Winchester's lead.
The biggest upset in last season's tournament was then-No. 28 Weymouth taking down then-No. 5 Archbishop Williams in the Round of 32. Then-No. 18 Arlington Catholic went all the way to the Final 4, where it fell to Winchester in overtime.
Will we see similar seeded teams go deep again? Let's dive in with seven options.
No. 6 Belmont
My belief in Belmont is no secret. I've made it clear multiple times. They have three key ingredients for a deep run in the tournament.
The first is their top line of senior Adam Bauer, junior Leo Packard and sophomore Liam Guilderson. All are north of 40 points. And while sophomore defenseman John Connolly is the only other player on the roster with a double-digit point total, how many teams in the MIAA can match such a powerful top line? Head coach Tim Foley sends them over the boards half the game. That's a lot for any team to handle.
If that line isn't humming, sophomore goalie Ethan Bauer is in net. The 6-foot-3, 174-pound netminder has proven to be a rock. Every year, we see a handful of goalies will their team through the tournament. Bauer has the makings of someone who can do it.
The final ingredient? They're hot. The Marauders went 6-2-1 down the stretch with wins over Winchester, Hingham, Arlington, Woburn, Central Catholic and No. 1 Pope Francis.
Their path through the tournament won't be easy. The high seeds they may have to face to get to the Final 4 would be No. 11 Winchester and No. 3 Hingham. The good news is they're 3-0 against those two teams.
FOLLOW THE BOYS TOURNAMENTS: Division 1Â |Â Division 2Â |Â Division 3 | Division 4
No. 10 St. Mary's Lynn
St. Mary's Lynn has two important things in its favor: depth and elite goaltending.
Goaltending is the biggest strength of St. Mary's Lynn. Junior Matthew Smith Jr., has been phenomenal this season with a .940 save percentage and a 1.55 goals-against average. A great goalie is the most important thing in the MIAA tournament as the game gets much tighter.
The Spartans don't have a powerful top line like Belmont or one high-end player like St. John's Shrewsbury (more on them in a bit). But they have scoring depth. Eight players have double-digit points: seniors Cam McGonagle, Maddox Jacobsen and Joey Calder, juniors Stephen Nason, Jayson Avery, Finn Racki and Colton Carpenter, and sophomore Chase Collins.
The only strike against St. Mary's Lynn is it struggled down the stretch against higher-ranked teams like BC High, St. John's Prep and Pope Francis.
No. 8 Xaverian
In previous seasons, Xaverian has been a power in the Catholic Conference. That wasn't so much the case this past winter.
It took time for this team to come together. But a handful of scoring forwards can make a big difference in the MIAA, and Xaverian has that in seniors Devin Gosciak and Jackson Morse. Junior Joe Von Handorf was a big producer this season, too. In net, senior Michael Bulkin settled in nicely with a 1.14 GAA and a .960 save percentage.
The Hawks, however, are battle-tested. Some of their big wins came against St. Mary's Lynn, St. John's Prep and Catholic Memorial. And while they lost to BC High and St. John's Prep in the last 30 days, they're still not a team you want to face this time of year.
FOLLOW THE GIRLS TOURNAMENTS: Division 1Â |Â Division 2
No. 5 BC High
BC High ended the season hot. Despite falling to Hingham in the Buddy Ferreira Classic final, BC High entered that game 6-0-1 with big wins over Xaverian, St. Mary's Lynn, Belmont and Arlington Catholic. Sure, scoring has been an issue, but head coach John Flaherty's team is stingy to play against and always seems to find ways to win, which is an important quality this time of year.
The X-factor for BC High will be sophomore goalie Drew Karlovits, who has been sensational this season. I will say it until I'm blue in the face: a hot goalie changes everything in the tournament since the games are mostly low-scoring. The better goalie usually emerges the victor and Karlovits is one of the top netminders in the MIAA.
The highest seeds BC High will have to face before the Final 4 are No. 12 Archbishop Williams and No. 4 Catholic Memorial.
No. 16 Braintree
Braintree is in this story because of senior goalie Amir Cullinane. As I said with Karlovits, a great goalie makes all the difference in the tournament. The problem for Braintree is going to be getting past its first-round matchup with No. 17 Marshfield. The other big reason Braintree could be a spoiler is the Wamps beat Pope Francis, 2-1, back on Jan. 18.
Ironically enough, if Braintree beats Marshfield, it will likely have to face Pope Francis in the Round of 16.
No. 14 St. John's Shrewsbury
St. John's Shrewsbury would've been a team I picked to get upset in the first round. The Pioneers have been up and down throughout the season and are fresh off a 7-0 loss to Hingham and a 5-3 loss to Lincoln-Sudbury.
The reason I have them in here: Daniel Menyalkin is back. The forward entered the season as an early front-runner for best player in the MIAA, but was out most of the season due to injury. Can he come back and carry them far? That's a lot to ask. Plus, if SJS beats Burlington in the Round of 32, it likely has to play No. 3 Hingham in the Round of 16.
But Menyalkin is that good, so I wouldn't be shocked if he came in and did some damage.
PREDICTIONS: We predicted the entire D1 boys tournament
No. 23 Waltham
Waltham doesn't have a high strength of schedule and its path in the tournament is really hard. It starts with No. 10 St. Mary's Lynn. If the Hawks win that game, they would likely play No. 7 Arlington. That's brutal.
But confidence matters and Waltham went 14-6-0 this season. Older teams tend to have success in the tournament and the Hawks have nine seniors. Offensively, they're led by seniors Shant Gebeyan, Dylan McClay and Carlo Attardo. Junior forward Max Polipas has also been a good depth producer.
