Adelard, Levy will be busy this week
MSC Holiday FaceOff, Winter Classic will challenge teams
WOONSOCKET — The Mount St. Charles, Burrillville and Cumberland hockey teams are all off to strong starts, but all three teams will spend the next few days facing talented opposition that will tell them where they stand headed into 2019.
While the Broncos and Clippers take part in the six-team Burrillville Winter Classic over the next four days at Levy Rink, the Mounties will welcome some of the best teams in the northeast to Adelard Arena to take part in the prestigious MSC Holiday FaceOff.
For Mount coach Dave Belisle, this will be his final time coaching in one of his favorite events on the hockey calendar. Belisle and his father, US Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Belisle, are stepping down at the end of the season, and the duo would like nothing more than to keep the FaceOff title at Adelard Arena.
A year ago, the Mounties didn’t win a game in the tournament and finished eighth just two seasons after playing St. Joseph’s Collegiate
(Buffalo, N.Y.) in a thrilling final won by the Marauders, who also won the title in 2017 before Connecticut state champion Fairfield Prep won the title last season in double overtime.
The Mounties, as they have done a few times in the last five years, begin tournament play against local rival Franklin tonight at 8 in the quarterfinals. The Panthers, who already own a win over powerhouse Malden Catholic, have dropped back-to-back games to Canton and Newburyport headed into the contest with Mount.
“If you come out of the tournament with two wins and one loss, you’ve had a great tournament because all of these teams are so good,” Belisle said after Saturday night’s 8-3 victory over Barrington. “We’re looking at Franklin, which is a tough game. We’re going to have to play our best game to beat them.
“I don’t know who the favorite is, but teams like St. Joe’s are always good. Anyone can win this tournament. The three Rhode Island teams can win this, but you have champions from New Hampshire and Connecticut. Any team can win.”
If the Mounties can find a way past coach Chris Spillane’s squad, they will play in the semifinals tomorrow at 6 against either Bishop Guertin or the Marauders. The Nashua, N.H. Squad bounced back from an opening-night loss to Exeter (N.H.) to earn victories over in-state rivals Manchester Centrral-West and Hanover.
St. Joe’s, which lost in the semifinals last season to Fairfield Prep, is off to another strong start. Following a Dec. 24 4-2 win over St. Mary’s, the Marauders are 9-0-1 behind the play of Matt Orlowski, Tristan Weigand and Mitchell Floccare.
Rhode Island’s other two entrants in the tournament find themselves on the other side of the bracket from Mount, meaning the Mounties could only meet reigning state champion La Salle or Hendricken on Saturday.
The undefeated Hawks have struggled recently in the tournament, but coach Jim Creamer’s side is 7-0 (5-0 in Division I) thanks to the play of goalie Patrick Gribbin of Lincoln, Matt Dumond, freshman Brady Berard and Andrew Haxton. The Hawks will take on Pennsylvania powerhouse La Salle College High School. The Explorers are off to a 10-2 start following Jan Olenginski’s overtime winner last week against Holy Ghost Prep.
“It’s the same thing year after year – a tough test and a good three days of hockey. We’re looking forward to it,” Creamer said after Hendricken defeat Mount, 2-0, earlier this month. “They do such a good job organizing it. You have to get the first one and historically we’ve had pretty tough draws to start. The good part is it’s three good games.”
La Salle Academy, which suffered its first loss of the season last week to Ridgefield (Conn.) will open the tournament at 2 p.m. against the defending tournament champion Jesuits. Fairfield Prep won the Connecticut state title with a veteran squad last season,but the squad is taking its lumps this season. Prep lost its first two games to Ridgefield (5-2) and Darien (2-1) before rebounding against city rival Notre Dame-Fairfield (5-2) on Saturday.
Belisle said he would like to get another shot at the Hawks or Rams Saturday, but he hopes it’s in the 8 p.m. title game and not one of the three consolation games to start the day.
“I would like to see one of those teams in the finals rather than a consolation game,” Belisle said.
All high school students and youth hockey players will receive free admission if they bring a canned good that will be donated to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
For the first time, the tournament will feature a skills competition that will take place tomorrow at noon at Adelard. There will be a fastest skater competition along with competitions for shooters and goalies.
This will also be the final time tournament director Larry O’Donnell runs the event. O’Donnell, who is a volunteer assistant at Mount, has done a splendid job making sure teams from six states have a first-class experience playing first-class scholastic hockey.
On the other side of the Valley, Burrillville and Cumberland have a chance to meet for the only time this season. The Broncos and Clippers played for Eccleston Division titles in 2015 and 2016 and the two competed in Division I over the last two seasons.
But, with the Clippers dominating Division II and the young Broncos battling in Division I, the only chance the foes could meet this campaign is on the tournament’s final day, Sunday.
Defending tournament champion North Attleboro opens up tournament play today at 1 against the Clippers in a rematch of a game the Red Rocketeers won 5-1 last season thanks to four goals late in the third period. NA has suffered one-goal defeats to Oliver Ames and Bishop Feehan in its two games.
The third team in the pool is Moses Brown/EP/Tolman co-op, which is making its first appearance in the tournament. The Quakers, who suffered a 1-0 loss to Burrillville at Levy Saturday night, only have one point through the first four D-I games. The Quakers and Clippers meet tomorrow at 1.
On the other side of the bracket, Burrillville faces long-time Division I rival Cranston West today at 3. The Falcons dropped down to Division II this season and are off to a 4-1 start thanks to 13 points from Jaycob Hargreaves and a team-high six goals fromCam Koretsky and Josh Zambarano.
“We want to continue to play as many guys on our roster as we can,” Burrillville coach David Farrell said after the Broncos defeated the Quakers to improve to 3-3 (2-1-0-1 in Division I). “Because it’s a tournament and it’s not a league game, hopefully we have the opportunity to do that. We want to get to know our team a little better because as the season goes on, you want to have a good handle on where kids should be playing and what are the best line combinations.”
The Broncos, who have been led by goalie Dylan Nault and forward Ryan Deschamps, Brayden Deschamps and Ryan Boutiette, will finish pool play Saturday night at 8 against improving North Smithfield. The Northmen, who play the Falcons tomorrow at 3, are 1-3 in Division II.
The title game is slated for Sunday at 7 p.m., while the fifth-place game is at 3 and the third-place game is at 5.