When you think of prep hockey powerhouses, it doesn't get any bigger than these four.
Cushing, Kimball Union, Avon Old Farms and Salisbury. All four advanced past the NEPSAC boys Elite 8 quarterfinals on Wednesday night. All four are consistently premier prep hockey programs.
Cushing and Kimball Union, the tournament's top two seeds, needed overtime to beat their opponents, while Avon scored late to beat Holderness. Salisbury never trailed Brunswick in its matchup.
I've got to give myself some credit here. I went 4-for-4 on my Elite 8 predictions and 9-for-12 across all three playoff fields. While Cushing and KUA's wins were closer than I predicted, I did come close on the score predictions for Avon and Salisbury's victories.
My crystal ball is working. You know to take my predictions as gospel.
Anyway, let's see if I can stay perfect with my Elite 8 picks.
COMPLETE BRACKETS: Elite 8 | Large School | Small School
No. 1 Cushing vs. No. 4 Avon Old Farms
Ah, yes. A rematch of last season's Elite 8 championship. Avon Old Farms took that game, 3-1. Back then, both teams were the top seeds.
Since then, Cushing is still the top seed, albeit with a fair number of new faces. Gone are star forwards Landan Resendes (Marlboro, Mass.) and Ethan Gardula (Princeton, Mass.), defensemen Ryan Philbrick (Concord, Mass.) and Zach Rizzo, and goalie Cooper Rautenstrauch. In their place, are forwards like Merrimack commit Luke Goukler, UNH commit Kole Hyles (Newfields, N.H.), Bronson Hunt, Tanner Hunt, Max Dineen (Brentwood, N.H.), and Josh Iby (Munson, Mass.). On defense, Arizona State commit Ryland Randle has been a huge addition. Fellow Arizona State commit Marko Bilic is now in net as one of the best goalies in prep.
There are, however, still plenty of key pieces from last year's team that fell. Senior Emerson Marshall (Gloucester, Mass.) is the team's leading goal-scorer (22) and point-getter (49). Forward AJ Sacco (Middleton, Mass.), a senior, was also around last year. On defense, Minnesota State commit Tyler Russo (Hamilton, Mass.) and the rest of the defensive core were around as well.
Head coach Paul Pearl has blended the new and the old well, as evidenced by being the No. 1 seed in the Elite 8 again.
NEPSAC GIRLS QUARTERFINALS: 13 takeaways from the quarterfinals
The story with Avon Old Farms is a bit different. The Winged Beavers lost a lot from last season's team in senior forwards Joe Connor (Amherst, N.H.), Charlie Gollob and Joe Odyniec (Ridgefield, Conn.), defensemen Jordin Palmer (Auburn, N.H.) and Jack Kennedy (Granby, Mass.), and goalie Stephen Peck.
In their place this season has mostly been players who were on last year's team stepping into bigger roles. Forwards Alex Pelletier (West Hartford, Conn.; Cornell commit), Michael Munroe (Hanover, Mass.; Maine commit), Brendan Tighe (Brown commit), Lefty Markonidis (Hudson, Mass.) and Ryan Flaherty (Milton, Mass.; Holy Cross commit) have taken steps forwards. On defense, seniors Blake Jones (AIC commit), Drew Pitts, Hudson Miller (Yale commit) and Magnus Turcotte (North Haven, Conn.) have made up the top four. Junior goalie Michael Heinke (Old Saybrook, Conn.) is back from last season (although sophomore Anthony Palmer transferred in from St. Mary's Lynn).
I'll give Cushing the slight edge in talent. Mix in what happened last season and the Penguins' motivation might just be too strong.
Prediction:Â Cushing wins, 4-2.
No. 2 Kimball Union vs. No. 6 Salisbury
It's another recent Elite 8 championship matchup. These two teams met in the 2019 final, with Kimball Union taking that one. While 2018-19 might seem like yesterday, there obviously aren't any players from those rosters on these teams.
Kimball Union got a bit of a scare in its quarterfinal matchup with St. George's. The Dragons set the playbook on how to beat KUA, playing physical and closing on the Wildcats' puck carriers quickly.
For KUA head coach Tim Whitehead's team, it's all about the first line of seniors Jack Sadowski (Arlington, Mass.; UNH commit) and Sam LeDrew (St. Lawrence commit), as well as junior Corwith Simmers. Against St. George's, LeDrew had two goals and one assist, Simmers potted two goals and Sadowski had three assists. As well as St. George's played, it still allowed that line to notch four goals.
If any team can successfully shut that line down, it's Salisbury.
The Crimson Knights play with structure and discipline. Head coach Andrew Will's teams have become known for that, especially when the postseason rolls around. That was on display in their win over Brunswick on Wednesday.
THE QUARTERFINALS: 18 takeaways from the Elite 8 quarterfinal matchups
Salisbury is also 13-1-1 in its last 15 games. The lone loss came to Brunswick on Feb. 14, but the Crimson Knights made up for that with their quarterfinal win. On the other hand, KUA has losses to Cushing and Proctor of late, as well as the close call against St. George's in the quarterfinals.
While Cushing vs. Kimball Union would be a phenomenal championship, I think Salisbury spoils that.
Prediction:Â Salisbury wins, 3-2.
