Some coworkers had personal issues to take care of, so I will be working out of the office tonight. Bad news is I can’t watch hockey, but the good news is I’ll be here when games are called in, and I’ll post the information as soon as I get it.

In other news, some people have spoken and I have listened. I will be looking at all of the League 3/4 teams next week on the blog, and as soon as we start winter notebooks I will get them into the newspaper.

I will be at Rye-Mamaroneck tomorrow night, and if I can get a web connection at Hommocks I will provide period-by-period updates.

First one in: Suffern beat CBA 5-1 in the first round of the West Genesee tournament. Matt Shore scored two goals and Andrew Ojeda and Zach Salt each had a goal and an assist. Tom Natoli made 17 saves. Suffern will play the winner of West Genesee/Rochester Aquinas tomorrow at 6 p.m. at West Genesee in the finals.

Some more: Kyle Greenberg of John Jay and Sean O’Brien of Harvey had hat tricks as John Jay defeated Harvey 8-5, putting 55 shots on goal. And Alex Hagen had three goals and two assists as E/T/B beat Byram Hills 7-3. Eric Basmajian had two goals for the Bobcats.

This will probably be the last batch. The football players were back for Rye, who beat Fox Lane 4-1. Marshall Rogers, Paul Mundinger, and Jordan Eck each had a goal and an assist and Jason Sarotius had 25 saves for the Foxes. Rye Country Day tied Princeton Day 3-3, as Shayne Bingham of Danbury and Darren Peltz of Mount Kisco each had a goal and an assist for the Wildcats. And Lakeland/Panas outscored Clarkstown South 8-6. Robert Belger had a hat trick for the Rebels and Josh Moelis had four goals for Clarkstown South.

In what Mahopac coach Steve Tuite believed was his team’s first-ever win at Palisades, Tyler Perrelle scored twice in a 3-0 shutout.

Perrelle’s first goal came on a penalty shot with 37 seconds left. Mahopac scored twice in the span of 1:07 midway through the second period — Rob Fitchett from Nick Lopilato, and Perrelle again from Chris Mastrocola.

The Rams came alive in the third period, outshooting the Indians 13-6 (it was 20-9 Indians in the first two periods), but couldn’t get the puck past sophomore Bobby Fatone, who made 22 saves to record his first varsity shutout.

I was impressed with the support from Mahopac fans — at least 50 made the trip over for a 4:30 game, doubling the Rams contingent. I was less impressed with the music at the mall. My choice at intermission was to freeze at the rink, or listen to holiday songs in the hallway. I zipped up my jacket.

Guess what? The hockey season is just around the corner. Well, maybe not, but the high school hockey preview finally made it into print.

Pelham is trying to rebound from its first-round playoff loss last year. Rye hopes to build a dynasty is a third boys sport. John Jay is looking to take the next step after losing in last year’s final. And Suffern is going for its third straight final four .

The three questions skims the rule changes (which I will get into more in depth once I see some games) and explains that there will be no Division I outbracket tournament this year. The season glance is mostly a recap of what I wrote on this blog last week, though it does include two facts I haven’t mentioned yet: Palisades was conditionally approved as a playoff site, and Section 1 will host Section 10 in the state quarterfinals this season.

Just to clear up some confusion, the players to watch is not a list of the top players in the area. It is a list of “players to watch” for one reason or another, and is zoned so that each edition of the paper has five local players. And if your team was not listed in the preview section , rest assured that the season has three more months to go, and I will get to each and every team either through game coverage or a notebook.

I wrote it all last week, but I think everything is still accurate. Finally, since the blogs were down on Sunday I didn’t get a chance to post Matt Ng’s recap of the White Plains tournament. But his main points were this:

It looked like all teams were spent and exhausted. Three games in three nights…no matter how well each coach must have had his team conditioned before the season, it still must have had been huge factor. Brett Novick, the Rye Town/Harrison forward admitted that his team was a little banged up after playing Monroe-Woodbury and Mahopac before their final. Their team could skate with White Plains, yet the score really didn’t reflect that. It’s just that White Plains had too much depth…their second line really picked things up. Connor Lawrence played a good game from the blueline. Rui Encarnacao’s two goals came later after White Plains established their lead.

Hey, this is Jake Thomases filling in for Harold. Just want to say, Rye Town/Harrison, welcome to League 1.

It was fair to question Rye Town/Harrison’s move up from League 2 this offseason since it was only .500 against the rest of League 2. Tangling with Suffern and Mamaroneck and Pelham every night is veeery different from seeing the lower League 2 teams a couple times a season. So far, though, the Titans have fared well. They’re 3-1 after Wednesday’s defeat of Rye, another newcomer to the power league. The two other wins came against Mahopac and Monroe-Woodbury—schools with good hockey pedigrees. The loss was to White Plains, where they ran out of steam, according to co-coach Rob Striar. It was their third game in three days.

Credit for Wednesday’s win goes to netminder Sean McKinney, who made 35 saves to keep Rye off the board over the final 34 minutes. He made some game-changing saves in the last period, including a beautiful mid-air stick save. The Titans got goals from three different players, all assisted by Brett Novick. They play at John Jay on Sunday.

Rye needn’t fret too much over this one. Not playing for the Garnets were three of their best players, who missed the early part of the season playing football. Section 1 requires players to get in a certain number of practices before they can play. Coach Jason Friesen said by the time Friday’s game at Fox Lane rolls around, Jordan Eck, Kevin Gordon, and Donald Keough will all be eligible again.

Not sure what it meant, but Rye’s players didn’t start trickling out of the locker room until long after Rye Town/Harrison had completely vacated. Were they getting lectured or just taking long showers? Don’t know. I did hear one Garnet mutter to another as they walked out, “Do you ever get the feeling you just played the worst game of your life?” Rye didn’t even play terribly. Goes to show how much the bar is raised after a sectional title.

Before I go, I want to compliment Rye’s Robert Holmes on a couple of good shifts. Rob’s big sister is the Rye scorekeeper and was a big help with some info. I told her I’d give Rob some love, so Rob, this is me giving you love. Ready? Here goes. …Love.

We are still missing rosters, and statistics from a few early games, so coaches or AD’s should e-mail me at hgutmann@lohud.com as soon as possible. Note: I did not ask for players to e-mail me.

Already this season I’ve had a player, pretending to be his coach, e-mail my sports editor to demand some additional assists. Did he at least take the time to sign up for a hotmail account under his coach’s name? No, he did not. Did he at least try to write like a coach, perhaps using punctuation marks and capital letters and not using words like “sucks”? No, he did not. Then again, if you’re dumb enough to impersonate a coach to a bunch of reporters and think you can get away with it, I shouldn’t expect McGyver.

Now, if a player (or coach, or parent) want to e-mail me about story ideas, games we should cover, etc., I will be happy to listen.

In other news, I’ve had to delete my first comments on Tuesday because of bad language. It’s my understanding from our legal department that I cannot edit comments. I can only delete them or keep them up. Which means that some people today had some interesting things to say, but slipped in one bad word and I had to take down the whole thing. For those that supplied a real e-mail address, I contacted you and explained what happened, and invited you to re-post.

Finally, my colleague Jake, most recently from the Jets and soccer blogs, will be covering Rye Town/Harrison-Rye tonight at Playland, and will be sending me something for the blog after the game.

I get back from D.C. and suddenly there are no games in Section 1—none Monday, one Tuesday, one Wednesday. What’s the deal with that?

Anyway I was at the one tonight, Pelham-John Jay, the teams that most think have the best chance to knock off Rye in Division II. Tonight, the Pelicans jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead and won 6-2 at the Ice Hutch. Harry Mac Innes had three goals and Mac Clay had three assists.

John Jay coach Steve Ganung told me in the preseason that he was stressing how important staying out of the penalty box would be. He couldn’t be pleased to see the Indians take seven penalties, plus a game misconduct when a player was called for charging, and then knocked over a Pelican on his way to the bench.

Meanwhile, a big X-factor for Pelham was goaltending, but it looked good to me tonight. Adam Durand has a 1.31 GAA against North, Mamaroneck and one period vs. John Jay, while Skyler Veselis, who was sick last week, played his first two periods last night and stopped 14 of 16 shots.

I have to write my story now but I’ll check back later.

We’re still catching up after the weekend blackout on the blogs. Here’s a report that colleague Matt Ng filed from Saturday night’s Mamaroneck-Pelham game.

Entering the Mamaroneck-Pelham game, the Pelicans had to show that they would get constancy out of their starting goalie…And After the first period, it was clear that Adam Durand showed plenty of improvement from last year’s form as he faced a flurry of Mamaroneck scoring opportunities. Mamaroneck’s Brian Connor had two point blank range shots that Durand stoned him on. The play in the first period was quite even between Pelham and Mamaroneck. Luke Glaser, the Mamaroneck goalie as I mentioned in my story had a terrific save on a Michael Duffy breakaway in the first period.

My impression was that Pelham seemed to be able to play with Mamaroneck as along as they didn’t take any bad penalties or give away any 2-1 breaks. I wasn’t able to speak to the Pelham team after the game since I was on tight deadline but the impression I got from them was that they felt they held their own against a team in Mamaroneck that expects to get to the Section 1 final.

With one of their top forwards, Brett Jackson still on the shelf because of his ACL which he injured in baseball sliding into home last spring…Mamaroneck looked fine up front. Defenseman Sean Hagan boomed a couple of slappers. My photographer thought he looked like he was almost seven feet tall..I guess it seems that way w/equipment and skates on.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who took a vacation this weekend — as I’m sure you found out at some point, all the blogs were down from Saturday morning until about an hour ago.

It pretty much could not have happened at a worse time. There were some very interesting scores from the weekend as we got our first look at everyone, and I would have liked to hear your thoughts. Incidentally Matt Ng, who was at Mamaroneck-Pelham and the White Plains tournament, will be checking in later.

Looking forward, we’re planning to be at five more games this week. I will be breaking out the hat and gloves for the first time tomorrow for Pelham-John Jay, two of the top contenders in Division 2.

My colleague Jake Thomases will be at Rye-Rye Town/Harrison Wednesday, in a matchup of the two teams that moved up to League 1. (quick side note: has anyone had a more successful 12 months than Rye’s Kevin Gordon? State semis in hockey, state semis in boys lacrosse, state championship in football).

I will be checking out two power league teams who got off to slow starts Thursday with Mahopac-Clarkstown North. Big rivals get together Saturday for Rye-Mamaroneck at The Jungle. And colleague Matt Ng will be there for the Pelham tournament championship on Sunday.

One other note: the hockey preview section will be running in the newspaper on Thursday.

This is Eric Lebowitz filling in for Harold Gutmann. Harold was off yesterday, so I mosied over to Playland Ice Casino to watch a rematch of last year’s CHSHL championship game between Iona Prep and Fordham Prep. The Gaels came away with a 5-2 win, and I came away impressed with both teams for different reasons. Fordham Prep, two-time defending CHSHL champions, graduated 14 seniors from last year’s team. The Rams are young, but they clearly have talent. Nicholas Guberti, a mere freshman, was outstanding in goal. It might seem odd that a goalie who gave up five goals would be described as outstanding, but Guberti faced so many point blank shots that a lesser performance might have yielded 10. I also noticed that Fordham Prep did not back down from Iona Prep despite being younger and smaller. Iona Prep came out hitting hard and it took a few minutes for Fordham Prep to get its legs, but the Rams eventually were giving as well as they were were taking it. It might take some time, but Fordham Prep will be heard from later this season. Iona Prep’s talent and experience make it the odds on favorite to take the league championship this season. Despite their 5-2 win, Iona coach Tim Turnbull was not particularly pleased with his team’s effort, saying that Fordham Prep outworked his team and deserved to win the game. Fordham Prep may have outworked the Gaels, but clearly Iona Prep’s experience gave it an advantage playing in front of such a raucous opening game crowd. Both times Fordham Prep scored it didn’t take long before Iona Prep responded. Talking to captain Kevin McCabe after the game it was evident how pleased Iona Prep was to beat a team that has had its number in recent years. McCabe wasn’t shy about saying that Iona Prep’s goal was to go undefeated, win the league, and beat powerhouse St. Joe’s from Buffalo.

Our coverage of the 2007-08 hockey season starts with a bang this weekend. We’ll be at four games: Iona Prep-Fordham Prep Friday in a rematch of last year’s CHSHL final; Clarkstown North-Suffern Saturday in a rematch of last year’s Division I sectional final; Pelham-Mamaroneck Saturday in a matchup of two of Westchester’s most storied programs; and the final of the White Plains tournament Sunday, a field that includes reigning state champion Monroe-Woodbury, CHSHL challenger Stepinac, power league teams Mahopac and Rye/Town Harrison and host White Plains.

And by we, I mean my colleagues. Not me.

Long before I found out I would be taking over the hockey beat (which was about two weeks ago), I made plans to go home for Thanksgiving. But an all-star supporting cast will be at the rinks this weekend to provide some great coverage. I’ve also asked them to blog about the games when they get back. My parents live in the last home in America with dial-up AOL service, so I’m not sure how often I can check the blog, but I will do my best.

Alright, you’ve read the previews for Leagues 1 and 2. Before the big games this week, let’s get everyone’s predictions in writing. Unfortunately I ran out of time before I got to the whole section, so if you have any thoughts on Leagues 3 and 4, I’d love to hear those too.

While I’ve done a lot of research, I’ve never seen these teams, so you’re guess is as good (maybe better?) than mine. That said, here it goes:

League 1
Suffern: Has too much coming back
Mamaroneck: The talent is there
Mahopac: Finds itself in the top 3-4 every year
Pelham: I expect a big bounceback
Rye: Rye has a lot of positive momentum
Clarkstown North: The hardest one for me. They lost so much, and yet I can’t imagine them dropping too far
John Jay: Did well for a small school in League 1 last year
Rye Town/Harrison: Could definitely make me look bad for picking them here.

League 2
White Plains: Good core of veterans
Brewster: Continues big finish from last year
Scarsdale: Quality but not much quantity
Yorktown: Lots of scoring options
Mount Pleasant: Exciting changes taking place
Fox Lane: Has a lot of offense to replace

Here are the last of the League 2 previews.

White Plains
Last year: The Tigers went 16-8-2, 6-4 in League 2, and won seven of their last eight games before running into Suffern in the quarters.
Forwards: Two of the three big scorers return. Phil Sigona (61 points) has explosive speed and great hands, and Rui Encarnacao (59 points) has good vision and good puckhandling skills.
Defense: Brendan Burkowitz, Ryan McGee, Connor Lawrence, and Harrison McCandless are all returning guys who inspire confidence.
Goalie: The two goalies who split time last year, Mike Pavarini and Mike Cambareri, both return.
Overview: Coming off a successful season, and with lots of solid pieces returning, White Plains is definitely a favorite in League 2.

Yorktown
Last year: The Cornhuskers were 10-14-1, 4-10 against a League 1 schedule.
Forwards: The offense has six returning players. Frank DiMaggio has one of the hardest slapshots in the league. Rocky Bonitatibus and Brett Michaelson are strong, fast skaters and great forecheckers. Chris Dorman is a great leader. Vinny Matranga broke his wrist recently but should be back by the end of the year. Mike Bonitatibus moves up from defense and is lightning-quick.
Defense: Third-year player Brett Cabriele is a defenseman’s defenseman and the anchor of the backline. Only two other defensemen return.
Goalie: Will Parra is a third-year starter. He played all but 39 minutes and had a 3.56 GAA.
Overview: Moving down to Division II makes Yorktown an instant threat in the sectional tournament. They have the returning talent to make a strong run.

I’m going to continue through League 2 in alphabetical order, so we’ll finish up with White Plains and Yorktown tomorrow (or today, depending on what time you read this).

Mount Pleasant
Last year: Pleasantville/Westlake/Briarcliff/Valhalla went 9-12-1 last year, 4-6 in League 2. They lost to Rye Town/Harrison in the first round of the playoffs, in a game that broke the record for most schools in one game.
Forwards: The Ice Cats have two solid lines. Eric Perlowitz, also a captain of the football team, is a gritty, hard-working center, and playing alongside him is Chris Abramo and “Jo-Jo”, Joseph Pandolfo. The second line is centered by Andrew Lerhman, a class president and valedictorian at Briarcliff.
Defense: Senior Jack Douglas is the only upperclassman on the defense.
Goalie: Two juniors are competing for the job. Brian Levine is more technical, and Mike Ulley is more aggressive.
Overview: New coach Mike Voron, who spent four years coaching at Boston-area power Arlington Catholic, promises a new attitude. Every week the team spends 2-3 days on the ice, two days in the weight room, one day doing filmwork and one day on conditioning.

Scarsdale
Last year: The Raiders finished on the bottom of League 1 (1-13), but 7-2-3 in non-league games.
Forwards: Lee Gilbert is a winger with good size and a good shot who can park himself in front of the net and create havoc. Phil DiFalco is an aggressive and hard-wokring player, and Matt Oliverio had 14 goals and 11 assists as a freshman last season.
Defense: Robbie Oliverio (51 points) moved from forward to strengthen up the defense. He’s a fast skater who can cover a lot of ice.
Goalie: Andy Reggev is a fourth-year starter. He’s consistent, mobile, handles the puck well and has good agility. He played in all but one game last year and posted a 3.58 GAA despite the tough competition.
Overview: The Raiders only have 17 players, so depth is an obvious issue. They should do well against the League 2 competition though.

After looking at League 1, I’ll start going through League 2 today, starting with two teams who finished strong last year.

Brewster
Last year: After a slow start, the Bears finished 4-0-1 and then lost to Fox Lane in the quarterfinals. They were 9-13-1, 6-3-1 in League 2, a half-game behind champion Rye.
Forwards: The two top scorers return. Nick Alfonzetti (24 goals, 8 assists) is a big, physical winger with a good shot, good hands and an ability to find the net. Mike Miller (13 goals, 16 assists) also has a good shot and some nice speed. Newcomers include freshman center Matt Bentson and Ian Fleming, who moved here from N.C.
Defense: Zach Badalucco is one of the hardest hitters in the section. Kyle Ligos and Mike Lisa, Joe Rubino and Ethan Meyer are also returning.
Goalie: Backup Mike Daley is being pushed by Ian Sampayo. Daley’s lone start last year was a 7-2 loss to Clarkstown South.
Overview: The Bears have a lot of veteran talent, and their late run last season bodes well for this year.

Fox Lane
Last year: The Foxes (9-12-1) were last place in League 2 (2-8), but won four straight before losing 5-3 to John Jay in the sectional semifinals.
Forwards: Mike Dillane and Luke Clinton scored 42 of the team’s 61 goals last year before graduating. Some young forwards are going to have to take their place, including sophomores Kyle Colesanti, Connor Morris and Sam Fetter and freshman Joe Corsi.
Defense: Max Yoeli moved to defense at the end of last season and did a great job. Sean Arkin will also provide some senior leadership. Cody Williams, a goalie in youth hockey, is aggressive and certainly not afraid to block the puck.
Goalie: Seniors Jason Sartorius and Dan McGrath will again split time. Sartorius, who had 2/3 of the minutes last year, is more acrobatic, while McGrath is more about positioning and closing off angles. While different in styles, they’re both effective.
Overview: There are lots of young players, but they are skilled, so while it might take a while to get going Fox Lane will be a contender in the end.

As promised, here’s the last of the remaining League 1 teams. Starting tomorrow, I’ll go through the six teams in League 2.

Rye Town/Harrison
Last year: The Titans finished fourth in League 2 (4-5-1) and 8-11-1 overall, losing to Clarkstown North in the quarterfinals. They did beat Rye 3-2 on Dec. 20.
Forwards: The top two lines return. Brett Novick is a physical, skilled, hard-working forward and a born leader. He led the Blind Brook soccer team to the state semifinals. Cody McKinney covers the ice well and is great on faceoffs. Adam Urban is a hard-skating junior.
Defense: Another veteran unit. Kyle Keegan has a blasting shot, moves the puck well and makes strong checks. Tyler Ketchabaw, another quality multiple-sport athlete (football), played a lot of quality minutes last year as a freshman.
Goalie: Sean McKinney will be entering his fourth year as a starter. His GAA was 4.73 last season.
Overview: The Titans moved up to League 1 because they have a strong group of returning players, including four top seniors. Leadership and goaltending should help them make the transition, and while the team might take their lumps against the Sufferns and Mamaronecks, it should help come playoff-time.

John Jay
Last year: The Indians were fifth in League 1 (5-9), tops among Division II teams, and lost in the sectional final to Rye to finish 10-12-2.
Forwards: The team has two very strong lines. Leading scorer Rich Rodeschini (49 points) went to prep school in Connecticut, but top goal scorer Chris Latino (20 goals) returns. Latino may be going to college as a lacrosse goalie, but the right wing is strong, fast and smart on the ice. Scotty Turecamo is a quick, highly-skilled center who is back after spending time at Trinity-Pawling. Ryan Mitchell is the other wing on the top line.
Defense: Top-line defensemen Christian Edge and Aaron Kaplan are excellent skaters and assistant captains who really know the game.
Goalie: Starter Nick Ponzi, who played 1,034 of 1,089 minutes last season, is gone. But junior Alex Wohl is getting stronger every day, and he’s being pushed really hard in practice by sophomore Mike Ott. Both have a lot of potential.
Overview: The Indians are senior-dominated with some talented underclassmen mixed in. New coach Steve Ganung, a former Harvey coach, is hoping the team will be more disciplined this season. John Jay definitely starts the season in the top three of Division II.

We looked at the defending champs and top challenger in each division. Now I’m going to go through the rest of League 1 (John Jay and Rye Town/Harrison are next), and then all of League 2. Here are the teams I expect to be in the sectional semifinals:

Mahopac
Last year: The Indians were third in League 1 at 9-5, and 15-10 overall, reaching the semifinals before losing to Suffern. Seven of the losses were to state playoff teams (three to Suffern, two to North, two to Monroe-Woodbury) and another was to CHSHL champ Fordham Prep.
Forwards: Junior Tyler Perrelle (52 points last year) is an exciting player to watch, and has the heart and determination to match his skills. Senior Rob Fitchett is a consistent goal scorer, and sophomore Chris Mastrocola is the fastest skater on the team.
Defense: The defense is rebuilding, but Craig Mazzullo and Joe Grispin are both big, strong kids who have good shots and do a good job in their own zone.
Goalie: Vito Iacobellis and Bobby Fatone will continue to split time this year. Last season Iacobellis made 2/3 of the starts.
Overview: About half of the 22 players are new from last year. The key will be if the defense comes around. Mahopac’s clean, defensive style of play will keep them in a lot of games, and they should be there in the end again.

Clarkstown North
Last year: The Rams won League 1 with a 13-1 record and finished 25-4-1, After a second straight 3-2 loss to Suffern, North won three state games on the road in the outbracket playoffs before losing in the state quarters.
Forwards: Matt Willows, who led Section 1 with 103 points, is now playing in New Jersey. Jake Shuman, who had 57 points, also did not rejoin the team. Two players coming off injuries will hope to take their place — Kevin Zipkin, who broke his wrist last year, is good with the puck and a fast skater, and John Bella, who broke his collerbone, will be stepping up from the modified team.
Defense: Returnees Dan Cincotta, Steve Williams and Ryan Byrnes are all solid players. Williams has good puck skills and hockey smarts, Byrnes is the fastest skater and has the hardest shot, and Cincotta is one of the most intense players in the section.
Goalie: Chris McIndoe carried North through some big games last year, like a 4-1 win over Lancaster in the state outbracket playoffs. He finished with a 2.33 GAA.
Overview: This will be an interesting season. The team lost 90 percent of its scoring and has only 16 players, but McIndoe is good enough to keep North in games against teams with more depth and firepower. North also lost a lot coming into last year but surpassed expectations. They probably won’t repeat as league champions this time, but they’ll still be a tough out in the postseason.

Fordham Prep has won two straight CHSHL titles, but Iona Prep seems to be the favorite this time, and Stepinac will mount a strong challenge. Should be an interesting year for locals in the Catholic league. Here we go in predicted order of finish.
(note on the three other A Division teams: Farrell is always good, Chaminade returns pretty much everyone, and St. Edmund’s was 20-0 in the B division last year.)

Iona Prep
Last year: Finished 18-9-1, losing 2 games to 1 in the CHSHL final to Fordham Prep after beating the Rams 2-1 in the regular-season series.
Forwards: Cody King of White Plains, a first-team Journal News all-star last year, led the team with 39 goals and 70 points. He’s one of the fastest skaters you’ll see. Sophomore Mike Cambria sees the ice well and never stops moving. Rob Molinaro of Yonkers is a strong center and Sean McArdle and Alex Lopez add depth.
Defense: The defense is a lot less experienced, with 3-4 JV players expected to get ice time. But “KJ”, Kevin McCabe of White Plains, the backbone of the Gaels D, is back after logging 35-40 minutes of ice time a game last season, and Matt Kirincic of Mahopac also returns.
Goalie: Stefan DiMario of Dobbs Ferry started all but one game last year and had a 2.738 GAA. He gives Iona Prep a real edge here.
Overview: Never mind what I think — we’ll know right away if Iona is ready to supplant Fordham since they meet next Friday night at Playland. The non-league schedule includes Suffern, Brunswick, Monroe-Woodbury and White Plains.

Stepinac
Last year: A 9-7-3 record, including 1-2-1 against Iona and Fordham and 2-1-1 against Section 1.
Forwards: A.J. Datino is a good playmaker and a real leader, while Dan D’Onofrio provides an element of speed. Datino led the team with 11 goals last season.
Defense: Nick Odoardi and Matt Heckmen both are solid defensively, and provide some offense as well. Vinny Jacopino is the only other returning defenseman.
Goalie: Joe Reagan of Yonkers allowed just 2.53 goals a game last year. His reaction time is incredible, and he rarely gives up a good rebound chance.
Overview: No superstars but no weak spot — solid from top to bottom. Will be a tough out for anyone in the playoffs. Note: 15-year coach Greg Egan has stepped down because of health issues, and JV coach Pat Scanlon is taking over for the immdediate future.

Fordham Prep
Last year: Went 19-8-2 and almost became the first city-based team to win the state Catholic title, but lost to St. Joe’s (Buffalo) 3-2. But 14 of the 20 players are now gone — 13 graduated and one, sophomore Kevin Clare, is playing in New Jersey.
Forwards: Philip Fusco of Eastchester has been a cornerstone of the two championship teams, recording the best plus-minus. He started on the checking line but started scoring more last year.
Defense: 6-foot-3 Charles MacKenzie of Rye should log about 30 minutes a game. He’s solid defensively but with some flare on offense. He’s a leader on the power play and in the locker room.
Goalie: Two freshmen, Nicholas Guberti and R.J. Fusco (Philip’s brother), will take between the pipes.
Overview: The Rams are clearly rebuilding. But a roster that includes four sophomores and three freshmen will be small, quick and still competitive.

I wrote about the reigning Section 1 champions yesterday. Today we’ll look at who I consider to be the top challenger in each division. Fittingly, they play each other next Saturday at Hommocks.
Programming note: I’m going to preview the three local CHSHL teams tomorrow, and then spend the weekend looking at some other big contenders in Section 1.

Mamaroneck
Last year: The Tigers started with 10 straight wins—becoming one of just two teams to beat Suffern—before finishing 16-9-2 with a semifinal loss to Clarkstown North.
Forwards: The top two scorers are back. One of the best skaters in the state, fourth-year starter Brian Conner needs 82 points to be the school’s all-time leading scorer. Brett Jackson, who had two goals in the win over Suffern, tore his ACL but is projected to back next month. Left wing Rob Fine is another player to watch out for.
Defense: Sean Hagan, a 6-foot-5 lefthander, is a third-year starter with a slapshot that has been clocked at 85 m.p.h. (and a baseball pitch that’s even faster). He was second on the team with 25 assists last season. Senior Matt Seid is a physical, solid defender who compliments Hagan. Adam Zweig is another accomplished defenseman who takes the body well and has a great shot.
Goalie: Fast-moving, acrobatic Luke Glaser finished with a GAA of 2.18 as a freshman last year.
Overview: Mamaroneck has all the ingredients—strong defense, solid goaltending, two of the best players in the section. Of course, so does Suffern. In the words of coach Mike Chiapparelli, “That’s why it’s going to be fun.”

Pelham
Last year: The Pelicans suffered their first-ever sectional quarterfinal defeat, losing to Pawling 6-4. They finished 9-14 (4-10 in League 1), including a win over state quarterfinalist Salmon River.
Forwards: Pelham has six seasoned, veteran forwards, including 3 of the 4 leading scorers from last season, led by Marc Flory (32 points), a strong two-way player with good speed for a big guy; Alex Guenther (31), one of only two seniors on the team; and Harry Mac Innes (30), a good playmaker with great hands.
Defense: Michael Mamone has been playing varsity since eighth grade, and junior Mac Clay is back after two years at Kent. Victor Dzenis is coming off a nice freshman year and Gus Harms is a top freshman.
Goalie: Junior Skyler Veselis and sophomore Adam Durand are both returning, and should be better after a year of varsity experience.
Overview: Pelham doesn’t have as much depth as in the past, when it could run 3-4 lines out. But the talent is certainly there. A very strong youth program and League 1 seasoning should help. Obviously, goaltending is key.

The season starts in exactly seven days with Fox Lane-Rye. In the meantime, I’m going to preview a few teams a day, as many as I can get to, starting with League 1 and the top CHSHL teams and working down. We’ll start with the defending sectional champions, who both reached the state semifinals last year.

Suffern
Last year: Suffern only lost two players from last season, when the Mounties won 18 games in a row before (losing/tying/falling in a shootout after four overtimes/whatever you want to call it) to Ithaca in Utica. They lost just two games to Section 1 teams last year — at Mamaroneck and at North — and got them both back later in the season.
Forwards: Zach Salt was an all-state honorable mention who scored twice in a 3-2 sectional final win over Clarkstown North. Matt Ruthberg is bigger and stronger after playing junior hockey, where he was the leading scorer on his team, and is ready to step to the next level. The only forward who graduated was Nick Clark, who led the team in assists.
Defense: Chris Wynne is gone, but Mike Conklin and Andrew Ojeda make a very solid first line, and sophomore Kevin Norwin should step right in alongside veteran Greg McCarron.
Goalie: What can you say about Rockland player of the year Tom Natoli. How about this: in the last 105 minutes of the state playoffs, he made 87 saves and didn’t allow a goal. He also let in just 26 goals in his last 19 games.
Overview: Suffern is clearly the favorite in League 1 and Division 1.

Rye
Last year: After winning League 2, the Garnets survived a quarterfinal scare against Ossining (3-2), beat John Jay 6-1 in the sectional final and beat Salmon River 3-0 in the state quarters before losing to Monroe-Woodbury. Six players graduated from that team.
Forwards: Jordan Eck led the team is goals (20) and assists (21) last season. He is stlil quarterbacking the football team, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes to get into gear on the ice. Paul Mundinger and Taka Katsuta, two sophomores who played big minutes last year, are going to be fun to watch.
Defense: Should be the strength of the team. Marshall Rogers had 29 points last season and Kevin Gordon is a four-year starter. The defense lost only one player.
Goalie: All-everything goalie Matt Donahue is gone. Coach Friesen said that four juniors are currently trying out for the starting job.
Overview: A very strong core is still there, but until the goalie position is settled, I can’t get too carried away. Still a favorite in Division 2, and bonus points for moving up to League 1.

My name is Harold Gutmann and I will be taking over the high school hockey beat this season. You may remember me from such blogs as girls lacrosse, VC Report, Empire State Games and U.S. Open tennis. No? Perhaps you remember me as someone who covered hockey three years ago. Since then I’ve done football, boys basketball, boys and girls lacrosse and track and field, but I’m excited to be back.

I was born in Washington D.C. and I live in New York City, so I actually don’t have a bias toward any hockey team. Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, Section 1 and CHSHL, I hope to provide the best coverage I can. To that end, if you have any story ideas or suggestions, I can be reached at hgutmann@lohud.com. You can also help just by visiting and/or contributing to this blog—the more traffic we get, the more my editors realize how important hockey is in this community.

Here are the league alignments and division alignments to get everyone up to speed. Every team in League 1 will qualify for sectionals, and then there are standards for the rest of the leagues, which I will get into later on. Rye and Rye Town/Harrison joined the power league, while Scarsdale and Yorktown moved down to League 2.

Leagues are based on ability. Divisions are based solely on enrollment, and the 30 teams are split in half — 15 in Division I (large-school), 15 in Division II (small-school).

Predictions?

League 1
C North
John Jay
Mahopac
Mamaroneck
Pelham
Rye Town/Harrison
Rye
Suffern

League 2
Brewster
Fox Lane
Mount Pleasant
Scarsdale
White Plains
Yorktown

League 3
Byram Hills
Clarsktown South
Pawling/Dover
Lakeland/Panas
North Rockland
Ossining
Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville

League 4
Carmel
Horace Greeley
Kennedy/Putnam Valley
New Rochelle
Nyack
Pearl River
Sleepy Hollow/Irvington
Somers/North Salem
Tappan Zee

Division 1: New Rochelle, North Rockland, White Plains, Mount Pleasant, Lakeland/Panas, Mahopac, Rye Town/Harrison, E/T/B, Carmel, Clarkstown North, Suffern, Scarsdale, Mamarnoeck, Sleepy Hollow/Irvington, Clarkstown South

Division 2: Somers/North Salem, Yorktown, Horace Greeley, Fox Lane, Ossining, Kennedy/Putnam Valley, John Jay, Brewster, Pawling/Dover, Tappan Zee, Nyack, Byram Hills, Pearl River, Pelham, Rye