While I’m getting ready for the “Winter Classic” between Buffalo and Pittsburgh (sidenote: I love how everyone is getting excited about an outdoor NHL game, but no one wants to play at Ebersole or Murray’s), here are the questions I’m most curious about for the new year.

Feel free to add your own questions, and if anyone thinks they know the answers, go for it.

Will Suffern go undefeated in the regular season? (toughest five opponents are all at home: Mamaroneck, Monroe-Woodbury, Pelham, Iona Prep and White Plains)

On the opposite end, will Mounties rival Clarkstown North go winless? (still have two games against Rye, plus road games against Clarkstown South, Mahopac and John Jay)

Will I ever be able to cover Iona Prep against Stepinac? (two postponements so far, and I can’t cover the Jan. 4 game because of a 10:00 start)

Who will be this year’s Pawling, pulling a playoff shocker? (Does New Rochelle have a chance in the first round against Mahopac or North in Division I? In Division II, maybe a League 4 team like Kennedy/PV or Somers/NS over Fox Lane? Pawling in the quarters again over Rye or John Jay?)

Will Mahopac or Rye regain their confidence by February? (After a 3-1-1 start, the Indians have gone 0-6-1, and defending champ Rye had scored just 16 goals in its first eight games)

Will White Plains lose in League 2? Will E/T/B, North Rockland or Pawling win League 3? Will K/PV, S/NS or New Rochelle win League 4?

Will we ever get that Yorktown-Mount Pleasant result? Will we ever agree on the Suffern-Iona Prep date? Will we ever stop criticizing players? Will the state rankings ever come out? Will MaxPreps ever be fixed?

Can’t wait to find out. Happy New Year everyone.

I thought I would do the power rankings a little different today. Let me know what you think.

Division I
1. Suffern (10-0-1): Obviously.
2. Mamaroneck (10-2): Only team to score three goals against Suffern goalie Tom Natoli (all by Brian Conner).
3. White Plains (11-1): Beat RT/H 6-1 last month.
4. Rye Town/Harrison (5-4): Rematch in sectional quarterfinals likely.
5. Mount Pleasant (?-?): We have them at 4-1 but that doesn’t seem possible. In any case, it doesn’t have any wins against League 1 teams, but it beat Scarsdale and Mahopac hasn’t won in four weeks, so MP gets the nod here.
Next up: Mahopac (3-7-2), Scarsdale (4-5)

Division II
1. Pelham (9-4-1): Wins against JJ and Rye make Pelham the early favorite.
2. John Jay (6-5-1): Back over .500 after winning Fox Lane tournament
3. Rye (3-5, not including upstate games this weekend): Was Mahopac win a fluke, or is Rye’s offense finally on track?
4. Yorktown (6-5): Game against Brewster on Thursday will be interesting
5. Brewster (4-6-1): Won 2 of 3 against Fox Lane
Next up: Fox Lane (3-7-1), Pawling (4-5-2)

After the marathon 17-round shootout which O’Neill won 2-1, a couple people asked me can every player who got a shootout attempt/chance be mentioned in the paper. I laughed saying that we didn’t have enough space in the paper to give a blow by blow account of all 17 rounds. Well we do on the blog. Those who played in this game and shootout will be remembering it for ever. It’s unheard of to ever go 17 rounds….

Here’s my summary of the game (preshootout) first:

The O’Neill team did a fantastic job of marking NR’s Sean O’Connor throughout the game except for once in the first period. Red Raider defenseman Craig Meany (best name I could ever imagine for a hockey player) led a 3 on 2 rush. He dipped by a defender and carried the puck into the O’Neil zone. He found a streaking O’Connor who tipped in the pass to go-ahead 1-0. O’Neill equalized the game on a rebound scrum in front of the net, a gritty goal produced by hard work in the second period.

Then both goalies locked down on their opposition and were terrific. North Rockland’s Alex Nestle had a bunch of breakaway saves, his best was on Jack Riley’s backhand in overtime.

Shootout play-by play of 17 rounds:
The stands were rocking at Palisades, people were intense, I am sure the mall’s swampy foundation was tested.

*-means goals scored in round

1. North Rockland’s John Casey, a lefty, wristed a backhand shot which O’Neill’s Trzepkowski saved. Nestle kick saved Sean Jollota’s attempt. 0-0

*2. Sean O’Connor had a nice hesitation fake and went around the goalie to backhand in the goal….Marco Spisso missed a backhand….1-0 NR

*3. Pressure was on Jack Riley and he slipped a wrister through Nestle’s 5-hole…Craig Meany’s wrister was stopped. 1-1
4. NR’s Anthony D’Amelio’s high wrist shot went to glass after Trzepkowski got a piece of it with his glove…Jon Hurtado lost the puck in his approach and never recovered. 1-1
5. NR’s Russell Santiago missed…he is upset…Eric Sabel’s shot was saved by Nestle’s stick.
6. Trzepkowski flashes is fast glove on NR’s Michael Meigh’s attempt…Nestle makes a glove save on Scott Bryan.
7. Max Hoehn misses..Nestle closes his 5-hole in the nick of time in Scott Dillon.
8. Thomas Phillips lobbed a shot, Trzepkowski gloce save…J.R. Hurtado is denied.
9. NR’s Matt Moran gets a loud cheer and misses…Ty Smith fails on his attempt
After nine rounds, the officials note that teams can reuse players…I feel a goal coming soon, but it doesn’t happen yet…
10. Sean O’Connor…everyone in the building thought this would be it…he faked on his hesitation went right but Trzepkowski glove came through…Jack Riley’s lefty backhand is denied.
11. NR’s Craig Meany goes with the slow approach…dances his way but is stopped. Sean Jollota’s shot misses completely..
12. NR’s John Casey hits the post…a loud ding on right post and the puck bounces out…Scott Bryan is rejected.
13. NR’s Russell Santiago is stopped by Trzepkowski’s leg save..Nestle alertly uses a poke check on Eric Sabel…if he didn’t he was down and out of position
14. Anthony D’Amelio misses..as does JR Hurtado.
15. NR’s Big Frankie Lowther is stopped…and Jon Hurtado misses…
16. I missed who shot for O’Neill…. but he missed…Alex Muir did as well

*17. Wes Krieger roofed a wrister top shelf where mama hides the cookies, it hit a little cross bar but stayed in the net.
“I guess I missed it with my glove,” said Nestle. “I didn’t really see it.”
Max Hoehn was NR’s last hope but on his attempt, a sprawling Trzepkowski on his back manged to stop the loose bouncy puck from crossing….It was close…

P.S.- Here’s some food for thought…When building a rink on the 4th floor of a mall…how did the Palisades people get the Zamboni there… Surely it didn’t go on a elevator…rumor has it that they need a crane to lift the Zamboni up 4 stories up and drop into the rink before the roof was built…All that for a Zamboni…why not build the rink on the 1st floor? I guess they love the idea of 25 hockey players struggling with their bags going up escalators. Shoppers returning Christmas gifts would look and point at them…it’s weird.

I wanted to be at one of the local tournaments today, but I had to stay in the office tonight and help put together the newspaper. So I felt bad enough, and then the scores started pouring in — insane shootout at Nyack, another OT for Fox Lane in its tournament, and finally an amazing 2OT game between Stepinac and Monroe-Woodbury.

Not a good day to be stuck on the desk.

Colleague Matt Ng will have the details from Nyack, so here’s the rest, starting with the FL tournament, where John Jay beat Pawling 5-2 to win the title. Tournament MVP Chris Latino and Dave Rofofsky each had a goal and an assist for the Indians. In Fox Lane’s 2-1 consolation win over Brewster, Justin Crasto scored the winning goal off of a rebound on a shot from the point from Cody Williams at 3:33 into overtime. Ian Fleming scored the tying goal for Brewster on the power play with 21 seconds left in regulation.

Now to Mamaroneck. Brian Conner had three goals and two assists in the consolation game as Mamaroneck beat Yorktown 8-3, scoring four unanswered goals in the third period. Joey Bonitatibus had a goal and an assist for the Cornhuskers. And in the day’s most surprising result, Stepinac took Monroe-Woodbury to two OTs before losing with under a minute to go. Nickolas Odoardi had a goal and an assist and Joe Reagan made 38 saves for Stepinac.

Rye had a scheduling conflict and couldn’t come to Mamaroneck this year for the tournament, and Stepinac was happy to fill in. This is exactly why — it gets the team’s name out there to public school fans, and it gives them an excellent opportunity to face quality competition. From what I understand, M-W was short-handed when it came for the White Plains tournament in November, missing at least three starters, but it was fully loaded tonight, and if this wasn’t a tournament championship Stepinac would have tied them (it still probably goes down as a tie in the Crusaders record).

“It was a special game for us,” Stepinac coach Pat Scanlon said. “I’m disappointed for them (Stepinac players), not in them.”

If anyone was at Hommocks, Brewster or the Palisades, I would love to hear your thoughts. Later this week I’ll put together the power rankings (with a twist — I think I’ll separate them into Division I and Division II to change things up a bit) and then follow up with Pelham, Suffern and Rye as they head upstate.

The theme of the first round was great goaltending by the Crusaders. Sean O’Sullivan, who was in net for Monroe-Woodbury’s state championship run last season, made 37 saves as the M/W Crusaders beat Mamaroneck 5-0, and Yonkers resident Joe Reagan made 32 saves as the Stepinac Crusaders beat Yorktown 4-1. Now the Crusaders meet for the championship at 7:30 (a rematch from the White Plains tournament, which M-W won 6-3) while the Tigers and the Cornhuskers play at 5:30.

Both these games were very close through 2 1/2 periods. The Tigers had plenty of great scoring chances (shots were 37-25) and didn’t allow a goal until three minutes left in the second period, while Stepinac only led 1-0 after two. After averaging more than five goals a game, Mamaroneck simply could not get the puck past O’Sullivan (Robert Fine hit the post and the crossbar, and Brian Conner, Section 1’s leading goal scorer, was stopped by an absolutely amazing stick save that I try to describe in my story). And Yorktown didn’t score until Frankie Dimaggio’s breakaway with less than three minutes remaining.

Because the second game didn’t end until after 11, there won’t be a box score and I wasn’t able to write much about it for the newspaper (and if you live in Northern Westchester/Putnam, I’m not sure the score even made it in). So here’s some more details:

Anthony Muccio opened the scoring for Stepinac 10 minutes into the game on a short breakaway off a great backhanded pass from A.J. Datino. The second period was scoreless despite four straight penalties on Yorktown, but Steven Yankowski finally pounced on an easy rebound, Muccio scored his second goal on a 1-timer, and after Dimaggio made it 3-1 and Yorktown had a power play in the final minute, Yankowski added an empty-net goal from his own blue line to seal the win.

Two things before I call it a night. First, I apologize for not doing the scoring updates. There was a different rink manager at Hommocks tonight, and for whatever reason he wouldn’t let me use the office computer. I’m worried this will be the new policy, so anyone knows the guy and can put in a good word, that would be great. Otherwise the live updates from Hommocks has met an untimely end. Thanks to some readers who were able to fill in the void tonight.

Second, are people really criticizing Mamaroneck for scheduling M-W? I think it’s admirable. How many teams would take the toughest opponent on in the first round, and risk an early exit so the program is better off in the long run?

Here’s what senior defenseman Sean Hagen said after the game: “We could have scheduled ourselves against any team we wanted, but Monroe-Woodbury is one of the best teams in the state and it was a challenge for us. In the long run, I definitely think it’s going to help… Hopefully we’ll learn from this, and the next time things will be different.â€?

And coach Mike Chiapparelli, who has the same philosophy for his baseball tournament: “Our kids have to learn to beat the best guys. I thought it was a great test for us this time of year. Playing a better team right now is good.â€?

Well, it’s great to be back on the hockey blog. Okay, that’s not true—I would much rather be in the Caribbean. But this is the next best thing.

First off, thanks to everyone for keeping this going in my absence. I’m working through all my e-mail and Wednesday I will be entering the stat corrections, schedule changes, etc. that were sent to me, but if anything slipped through the cracks last week, please e-mail me at hgutmann@lohud.com.

Like Joe said, I will be at Mamaroneck tomorrow night, and I will try and give period-by-period scoring updates for Mamaroneck-Monroe/Woodbury and Stepinac-Yorktown, though with a 9:15 start time I’m going to have big deadline issues for the second game and I can’t promise anything. That reminds me—read this link about the NCAA’s new rules for blogging during their tournament, and then hope that the NYSPHSAA doesn’t get any ideas. If a team qualifies, I certainly plan on blogging live from Utica, barring any legal issues.

Because we’re in the midst of a 72-hour break between games from Sunday night-Wednesday night, I thought this would be a good time to look at the playoff seedings, especially because every post last week includes at least one comment about what division a team belongs to. This is based on games reported to us through Tuesday night, and teams are separated by leagues (quick refresher: teams are seeded by league record, with League 1 teams first, then League 2, etc).

Division 1
First round Monday 2/18, Quarters Thursday 2/21, Semis Sat. 2/23, Final Monday 2/25
1. Suffern/Mamaroneck
2. Suffern/Mamaroneck
3. Rye Town/Harrison
4. Mahopac
5. Clarkstown North

6. White Plains or Mt. Pleasant
7. White Plains or Mt. Pleasant
8. Scarsdale

9. E/T/B or North Rockland
10. E/T/B or North Rockland
11. Clarkstown South
12. Lakeland/Panas

13. New Rochelle
14. Sleepy Hollow/Irvington
15. Carmel

Division 2
First round Tuesday 2/19, Quarters Friday 2/22, Semis Sunday 2/24, Final Tuesday 2/26
1. Pelham
2. John Jay or Rye
3. John Jay or Rye

4. Yorktown or Brewster
5. Yorktown or Brewster
6. Fox Lane

7. Pawling/Dover
8. Ossining or Byram Hills
9. Ossining or Byram Hills

10. K/PV or S/NS
11. K/PV or S/NS
12. Pearl River or Greeley
13. Pearl River or Greeley
14. Tappan Zee
15. Nyack

Everyone knows what’s at stake among League 1 teams (Suffern/Mamaroneck battling for home ice throughout; Rye/John Jay going for home ice in the 2/3 semifinal and getting a League 3 team in the quarters). But League 2 is very interesting as well. The best Division 1 team in that league will avoid facing Suffern or Mamaroneck in the quarters, while the best Division II team gets home ice in the first two rounds.

ADDENDUM: Wacky asks a good question. There are three ways to qualify for sectionals — overall record (League 2 must win 35 percent of its games, League 3 must win 40 percent, League 4 must win 45 percent) OR teams must win 50 percent of its games against division opponents OR Division 2 teams can win 50 percent of games against Division 1 and Division 2 opponents combined.

Under these conditions, it looks like Fox Lane, Byram Hills, Carmel and Nyack have the most work to do, while Tappan Zee and Lakeland/Panas could also use some more wins. Either way, I would expect at least the top two teams in Division I and the top four teams in Division II to get byes.

Story lines were abundant.

Yorktown’s Frankie DiMaggio put on a show by scoring three goals and one assist. And he left the game early because his major roughing penalty lasted longer than the time left. In fact, I conducted my interview with him by the locker room as the game was still going on. In my opinion, the second of his three goals should have been waved off because I think it hit the post and a cross bar not the inner beam. The officials thought otherwise.

The Yorktown starting goalie forgot his jersey and used his backup’s. Quite hilarious.

The coaches, Yorktown’s Marin Grzan and Fox Lane’s Ed LaPine, go back to when Grzan was a kid. Grzan was best friends with LaPine’s son. They grew up playing hockey together. Grzan admitted when the schedule came out he circled today’s game and couldn’t wait to face his mentor.

To say the third period was chippy would be a understatement. Surely, both teams did their fair share of trash-talking throughout the game but in the third it became more of an issue.

Overshadowed by that nonsense, both goalies played well. Jason Sartorious only seemed to allow goals on second- and third-chance opportunities. Yorktown had too much size, speed and firepower. It seemed every time a Fox Lane player would go on a rush, a ‘Husker would catch him from behind.

Both teams will face each other again on Feb. 10.

The game ironically started 40 minutes late because a travel team hockey game before it was penalty filled and even had someone drop their gloves.

As league play starts to heat up, do any other unheralded rivalries come to mind?

Feel free to sound off…

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• For LoHud hockey videos, check this link. and enter “hockey” under “video search.”

Mamaroneck pulled away from Rye Country Day 6-3 today in the teams’ much-awaited showdown.

The Tigers trailed 2-1 after the first period before opening the floodgates in the second period, outscoring RCDS 5-1.

Six players scored for the Tigers (8-1), led by Brian Conner, who had a goal and three assists.

Our own Eric Lebowitz, who covered the game for The Journal News and LoHud.com, shares some thoughts:

“I would describe this as two different games within one.

“The first period and a half was dominated by Rye Country Day, which outskated and outhit Mamaroneck en route to a 3-1 lead.

“But midway through the second period, Mamaroneck started passing and hitting with more conviction. The Tigers scored three goals in a two-minute stretch, clearly leaving RCDS a little shell-shocked. Mamaroneck added two more goals near the end of the period and led 6-3, which would be the final score.

“Mamaroneck certainly can play better defensively, but as far as offense goes, this is a team that is going to be hard for anyone to stop.

“I was particularly impressed with Conner. Mamaroneck coach Mike Chiapparelli told me he played Conner extra shifts because his team was flat in the first period, and despite the extra ice time, Conner still looked like the quickest guy on the ice in the second period.

“RCDS clearly has talent, but the Warriors could not stop the bleeding once the momentum began to turn against them. Still, RCDS played with one of the area’s top teams for much of the game, and once this young team gets a little experience under its belt, it will be a handful.”

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With Harold cruising the Caribbean, I took care of the power rankings in the hockey notebook he completed before he departed and that appeared today in The Journal News and LoHud.com.

So away we go, gang. Check them out and let me know what you think. Does this football/lacrosse guy know his hockey, too? Don’t hold back, either. My skin is pretty thick and all.

Here are the rankings:

1. Suffern (7-0): The Mounties have allowed just 10 goals.

2. Mamaroneck (7-1): The Tigers picked up an impressive 8-2 win over a Rye Town/Harrison team that was 5-2 entering the game.

3. Rye Country Day (4-2-4): Former Iona Prep player Jordan Gluck had 24 saves in a 1-0 win over the Gaels on Wednesday.

4. Iona Prep (6-2): The Gaels face rival Stepinac next Thursday at 6 p.m.

5. Pelham (8-3-1): The Pelicans pulled out a 3-2 win over Rye on Tuesday in a possible preview of the Division II championship game.

Be sure to check out the entire notebook too. Harold does a nice job talking about how things are too close for comfort in League 3. Here’s the link. rankings: Based on results reported to The Journal News through Wednesday:

1. Suffern (7-0): The Mounties have allowed just 10 goals.

2. Mamaroneck (7-1): The Tigers picked up an impressive 8-2 win over a Rye Town/Harrison team that was 5-2 entering the game.

3. Rye Country Day (4-2-4): Former Iona Prep player Jordan Gluck had 24 saves in a 1-0 win over the Gaels on Wednesday.

4. Iona Prep (6-2): The Gaels face rival Stepinac next Thursday at 6 p.m.

5. Pelham (8-3-1): The Pelicans pulled out a 3-2 win over Rye on Tuesday in a possible preview of the Division II championship game.

Be sure to check out the entire notebook, too. Harold did a nice job explaining why things are “too close for comfort” in League 3. Click here to check it out.

The Hommocks Ice Arena will be the place to be on Friday at 5:30 p.m. as Mamaroneck plays host to Rye Country Day in a matchup of two of the top teams in the Lower Hudson Valley.

What are some crucial matchups?

What are keys for each team if it hopes to win?

And, oh yeah, who will win? And by what score?

Let’s hear your thoughts and predictions.

• For LoHud hockey pics, check this link.

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This is Matthew Ng, not Harold…

Sophomore Jordan Gluck had 24 saves in a shutout as Rye Country Day edged out Iona Prep 1-0.
This was an interesting game for Gluck to get his first career shutout because last year, he attended and played for Iona Prep’s varsity team. Gluck served as a backup to Iona’s Stefan DiMario. Yesterday, he outdueled this former teammate, DiMario who had 24 saves for the Gaels.

Some might think the game was defensive because only one goal was scored but Bingham says their were a bunch of 2-on-1s and plenty scoring opportunities. It is just that both goalies played really well.

Brad Pesce scored the game’s only goal midway through the first on assists from Jake Turrin and Ryan Blatt.

Iona and Rye Country Day also played last year. RCDS won that game 2-1. This will impact the Power Rankings, RCDS will surely benefit.

This was the first of two tough tests this week for the Wildcats, they will play one of the best Section 1 teams, Mamaroneck on Friday.

Hey, gang –
Here’s a rundown of what is scheduled for today/tonight.

Be sure to post any info and your thoughts as well.

King & Low-Heywood Thomas at Evarts Rink at Harvey, 3:30 p.m.

Fox Lane at White Plains at Ebersole Ice Arean, 3:45 p.m.

Iona Prep at Rye Country Day, 4 p.m.

Sleepy Hollow vs. Nyack at Palisades Ice Rink, West Nyack, 5:30 p.m.

Mahopac vs. Rye at Playland Ice Casino, Rye, 7:45 p.m.

Nope this is not Harold, this is Matthew Ng, who covered the Pelham-Rye game. … I doubt they have Internet access on his cruise. Who would want to go online while you’re on vacation on a cruise anyway?

Crazy game, broken and loose sticks seemed to always be on the ice. One of them stopped a puck from being cleared out of a zone. I guess no one puts pine tar on their gloves or sticks but they should think about it to hold them better. A Rye goal was waved off in the second because a Rye player punched a flying puck with his glove (shoulder height) past Adam Durand. That would have tied the game at three. Rye’s goalie Matt Benincasa was called for tripping. (penalties rarely ever called on goalies) My photographer turns to me and says what a strange game this is. Agreed.

Pelham gets two goals within 30 seconds of each other midway in the first and it looks they should cruise (pun intended). They get a power play and look to put a struggling Rye team away. Jordan Eck steals the puck and puts a move for the ages on Durand…he pushes the puck on his forehand (he’s righty). Stops it with the backhand, fakes with a forehand as Durand falls and splits his legs. Eck goes around him to his left and backhands in the goal. The Garnets have yet to find their winning form but opposing Section 1 coaches know they are a sleeping giant. Give Rye credit for coming back tie the game. Give much respect for Pelham to not let the game get away, reestablish their play in the second and bounce back. They could have easily hung their heads after blowing the lead and say here we go again (last week they led Suffern 2-0 at 1st intermission only to lose 5-2.)

I was impressed by Adrian Rivera playing left wing for Pelham, breakout game for him with two assists especially with one on the game-winner. Out of the Division 2 schools, it seems that White Plains and Pelham have been playing the best. As long as the Pelicans don’t squander two-goal leads…either find a way to put teams away or play more conservatively with leads. The two times they blew two-goal leads are coincidentally to the teams that went to the state-semis last season…Rye and Suffern.

I got to the Ice Hutch early enough to chat with Ed Witz before the game and found out that two of his players Victor Dzenis and I believe Gus Harms (I am not 100 percent sure) would be dressed since they missed an earlier game that week. I guess it’s a team rule.

Here’s what Witz said after game:
“We saw this coming, this weekend because we had guys out on Sunday and then those guys were sitting again tonight. And we know it’s a big game but you know what? It is, what it is. We had to play really, really shorthanded on defense and move guys around. You got a guy like Mike Duffy who played a lot, he played offense and defense.”

All this meant more minutes for Michael Mamone, Nick Perrorazio, Mac Clay and the aforementioned Michael Duffy. Adam Durand was in net for Pelham. It was a typical day for Pelham if you just looked at who scored their goals, but their depth was really needed to help fill in.

My opinion:

*This was the third time I covered Pelham this season and after seeing both Durand and Skyler Veselis, I would give Durand the edge. Witz seems happy to give minutes to both.

Feel free to opine about any of my observations….

-Matt

Ron Sherding, 16, of Eastchester pulls his sweater on before practice of the Eastchester/Bronxville/Tuckahoe hockey team at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye last week. (Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News)

Well folks, as we know, our friend Harold is enjoying a Caribbean cruise as we speak.

But before he departed, he left went behind the scenes to explore the crazy hours hockey players have to keep.

Here’s a link to his story that appeared today in The Journal News and on LoHud.com.

Let’s hear what you guys think about it and also about how manage the long hours that come with being a hockey player, parent and coach.

Alex Guenther and Pelham will be facing Rye on Tuesday at the Ice Hutch. (Photo by Matthew Brown/The Journal News)

All right, folks, here goes.

I’m throwing out some picks on a few games that caught my eye on this week’s schedule. Be sure to weigh in with your own — and tell me what you think of mine.

Tuesday: Rye vs. Pelham, 6:30 p.m. at Ice Hutch: I noted on the podcast I expect Rye will be a different team in a few weeks and will really hit its stride down the stretch. But for now, I have to go with the Pelicans.
Prediction: Pelham 4, Rye 2

Wednesday: Mahopac vs. Rye, 7:45 p.m. at Playland: This should be a real battle. Both teams need a big win badly.
Prediction: Rye 3, Mahopac 2

Thursday: Suffern at Clarkstown North, 4:15 p.m. at Palisades Ice Arena: On paper, this one should be all Suffern. But hold on. These are big-time rivals and the Rams can quickly show they are a team to be contended with despite their slow start with a win here.
Prediction: Suffern 6, Clarkstown North 2

By the way, folks, the Iona Prep at Stepinac game that had been scheduled for last Thursday will be played Friday, Dec. 28 at 6:50 p.m. at the Ice Hutch. Mark it down. Should be a good one. And it’s never too early to post your picks on that one, too.

We have our first reports of weather-related postponement, folks.

Matt Ng just informed me that the game between Yorktown and North Rockland, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey has been moved to tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Sport-O-Rama.

The game between Nyack and Carmel, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Brewster Ice Arena, has also been postponed.

These games will be played as scheduled.

Ossining vs. Lakeland at Brewster Ice Rink, 6:20 p.m.

Pleasantville vs. Fox Lane at Brewster Ice Rink, 8:10 p.m.

Tappan Zee vs. Somers at Brewster Ice Rink, 8:50 p.m.

Please post info on any other games you know about.

Hey, gang. In our podcast recorded earlier this week, I reported Harold would be heading down to Florida. I learned today that was actually incomplete information. Yes, indeed. Gutter told me late this afternoon — on his way out the door for 10 (that’s T-E-N) days no less — that he will be in Florida (Miami to be precise) for just one day.

Turns out that our resident LoHud hockey guru is then heading off on Sunday for a Caribbean cruise. Imagine that? While we’re scraping ice off our windshields, he will be soaking up some rays in the tropics. Life is truly unfair.

OK, now that you all hate Harold (kidding, of course), let’s focus on what’s really important — namely, what’s going on in Section 1 hockey.

While Harold’s away, I’ll be manning the fort — posting mostly reports of games that we’re covering.

I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts and comments.

So let’s get started.

Reporter Eric Lebowitz just returned to the office from the Brewster Ice Arena where White Plains edged Yorktown 4-3 on a goal by Phil Sigona 1:29 into the third period. Dan Broderick had two goals for the Tigers.

Let’s see some comments on that — as well as thoughts/info on any other scores from tonight.

Those who listened to the podcast carefully know this already, but I will be taking next week off. And by off, I mean I will be out of the country and probably unable to call my family, let alone check the blog. I will return in time for the local holiday tournaments after Christmas.

I almost felt bad about leaving the city, but after yesterday’s storm, not so much. I do feel bad about leaving you guys, who never fail to entertain and enlighten me (the majority), or embarrass me with how low people can go when they are anonymous (the minority). And have no doubt — the editors have looked at the numbers and know how popular high school hockey is in this area.

The title promised good news for me, but there’s also some good news for you. Local sports editor/blogging extraordinaire Joe Lombardi will be keeping up this blog while I’m gone. Not only is he an expert on new media and a tireless blogger, this means you will have a direct connection to the man who decides the direction of high school sports coverage. So while I certainly read your suggestions and complaints about things like story placement, game staffing and new technologies we can use, Joe is someone who can actually do something about it. I’m sure he will also appreciate positive feedback. Either way, I suggest you take advantage of this resource. I also expect my colleagues to post about the games they cover over the next 10 days.

The last thing I wanted to do was spend my last day working from 10-6 in the office, but the editors needed me here today. Someone will be at White Plains-Yorktown this afternoon, and I am very interested in a lot of games tonight. Can Fordham Prep follow up the White Plains game with a win against Stepinac? Can RTH keep up the momentum by beating Mahopac again? Will Kennedy/PV stay undefeated against SH/Irvington? And how will Mamaroneck and Pelham do upstate?

Here is the final look at all the teams in Section 1. Again, I haven’t seen these teams yet, so any information, thoughts, predictions, etc. you can offer will be appreciated.

Note: League 3 overviews from last week can be found here and here

Before the season, I did previews on League 1, League 2 and locals from the CHSHL, which can be found by clicking on the teams below.
Suffern and Rye
Mamaroneck and Pelham
Mahopac and Clarkstown North
Rye Town/Harrison and John Jay
Brewster and Fox Lane
Mount Pleasant and Scarsdale
White Plains and Yorktown
Iona Prep, Stepinac and Fordham Prep

Carmel
This year: The Rams are 0-6, but lost by just 2 to undefeated Kennedy/PV and had a lead after two periods against TZ.
Forwards: Freshman Josh Serpe, a very fast skater, leads the team with three goals. Third-year varsity player Andrew Doria is a scoring threat, fellow junior James Oliver is creative and senior Chris Diskin is also strong offensively.
Defense Senior Craig Carroll is the most reliable player on the team, while Mark Bauerle is another talented freshman.
Goalie: Sophomore Marc Glaviano was all-league last year. He is the backbone of team, and needs to play well to keep Carmel competitive.
Overview: The team was forced to move up since League 5 no longer exists. They are young but have a bright future, and they expanded their schedule from 14 to 20 games.

Greeley
This year: The Quakers split their four league games before losing to League 2 Mount Pleasant 5-1 on Sunday, despite outshooting them 27-21.
Forwards: Senior Ian Steinberg has had a hand in seven of the team’s eight goals. Steinberg, who has exceptional hands, and fellow senior John Amodeo both play about 2/3 of the game.
Defense Derek Katchis is a great 1-on-1 player and the junior is really good at breaking the puck out. Junior Nathan Quicke, who missed all of last year with torn ligaments from football, will also help lead an unproven unit.
Goalie: Junior Daniel Frankel, who was great against John Jay in the playoffs last year, is splitting time with freshman Gabe Grunwald, a new student from the Toronto area.
Overview: The League 4 runner-ups last year, the Quakers were devestated by graduation of 8-9 regulars, including Cole Cherney, who led the league with 38 goals last year. They’ve been up-and-down so far, alternating close wins with bad losses.

Kennedy/Putnam Valley
This year: The team is 3-0, with wins over Carmel, New Rochelle and Nyack.
Forwards: Senior captain Patrick Considine provides leadership, while sophomore Mike DeLavergne (who shut out Carmel) had a hat trick and Sean Sullivan had four assists against Nyack.
Defense The team has four solid defenseen in seniors Eaman Hanley and Tyler Rooney, junior Pat Tracey and big, strong freshman Mike Tierney.
Goalie: Both DeLavergne, a returning starter, and freshman Luke Martin are strong, agile goalies that have led the team to wins in the first two games despite being outshot.
Overview: K/PV only has 14 players and no superstars, just a lot of blue-collar players and 2-3 lines that are capable of scoring.

New Rochelle
This year: The Huguenots beat Nyack, TZ and Greeley by a combined 19-2 before running into a hot goalie and losing to K/PV 3-1 on Sunday.
Forwards: Third-year center Freddie Martignetti and freshman Richie Purnesti each have six goals already, and Stepinac transfer Pat Starpoli makes the first line tough to stop.
Defense Seniors Kenny Sommer and Mike Messer have been with the team for four years and are very steady.
Goalie: Third-year stater Danny Feliu has given up just three goals in 165 minutes. He has two strong backups behind him.
Overview: The Huguenots are quick and agile and move the puck well. They also have a good mix of youth (four freshman and an eighth grader play) and veterans who have been with coach Jim Tozzo since he returned to the bench.

Nyack
This year: Like Carmel, the Indians were forced to move up to League 4 and are 0-4.
Forwards: Senior center Kenny Alter is a solid skater, while fourth-year player Paul Cho brings a lot of speed. Freshman Mike Trentacosti has a very bright future.
Defense Brennan Slattery anchors the defense and can also generate offense. Freshman Nick Minunni is another young talent and juniors Kenny Richards and Bobby Bausinger are both three-year players and solid stay-at-home defensemen.
Goalie: Nick Kydon handles the puck well, doesn’t give up many rebounds and has shown a lot of character and leadership for a freshman.
Overview: Coming off a winless League 5 season, the Indians are in for a tough ride this year in League 4. They have some outstanding young players though.

Pearl River
This year: The Pirates have won their first three games by a combined score of 22-1. They are off until Dec. 22, when they play New Rochelle.
Forwards: Senior center Nick Spar (six goals) has great vision, a good head for the game and a very accurate shot. Juniors Ryan Curtiss and Joe Surace (four assists each) are playing well and the second line is also strong.
Defense The Pirates rotate five strong defensemen—Ryan and Pat Toal, Jimmy McManus, Ryan McArdle and Billy Raftery—who finish their checks and can clear the puck.
Goalie: Pat Heraghty played the majority of the games last year. He has quick reflexes and sees the puck well.
Overview: Everyone’s playing well right now, but the schedule broke it their favor early. A back-to-back against New Rochelle and Somers/North Salem next weekend will be a more interesting test.

Sleepy Hollow/Irvington
This year: The team is 1-3, but two losses were in overtime and the third was against League 2 favorite White Plains
Forwards: Senior Ryan Denis has a knack for finding the net and is coming off a five-goal game against Carmel. Craig Halpin (10 points) is a tall, do-everything junior who takes the pressure of Denis.
Defense Senior Andrew Strauch is an tough, old-school defenseman who loves to hit, and junior Rob Logozio is a converted forward and the best skater on the team. They haven’t given up an odd-man rush in three games. The second line of eighth grader Peter Lipsky and freshman Andrew Enax, also partners on their travel team, will give the Pirates a solid defense for the next four years.
Goalie: Returning starter Dylan Lacey, a very quick junior, missed six weeks with an injury but he is now returning to form.
Overview: The team is adjusting to former TZ coach and Suffern assistant Howie Weiner, who brings a more aggressive system.

Somers/North Salem
This year: The team is 5-3 after a challenging non-league schedule. The losses were to Stepinac, Mahopac and Harvey, while three wins were against League 3 teams Byram Hills (twice) and Lakeland/Panas.
Forwards: This is the first year Joe Marasco isn’t playing club hockey (he committed to Ohio State for lacrosse), but he already has 18 points. He is quick, has great hands and is very elusive in close. Right wing Jimmy Aruilio is a hard worker who does the little things that make a team successful.
Defense Senior Dan Pasesano (10 points) is a good offensive-defenseman who plays up front on the power play. He is usually paired with freshman Sean Lucien, who plays the body well. There are three underclassmen in the six-man rotation.
Goalie: Junior James Gorman and sophomore Evan Tabachnick split time, though Tabachnick has mono and likely won’t be back for another week.
Overview: Entering the White Plains tournament should be beneficial in the long run for this group, which has a star forward and a very strong defense.

Tappan Zee
This year: The Dutchmen opened with a 4-3 win against Carmel before dropping their next three games.
Forwards: John Garcia separated his shoulder and missed most of last season, but he is back this year and has half of the team’s goals. He is joined on the all-junior top line by coverted defenseman Olaf Gilliam and Kevin Anson.
Defense Senior Matt Scully was the leading goal-scorer in League 5 last year. He leads a unit with a lot of size, including sophomore Kevin Andrews, who moved from Michigan, and smart 6-foot-2 junior Aaron Duffy.
Goalie: Chris Fyfe has faced at least 37 shots in each game, including 93 in the last two. The senior is known for making amazing saves.
Overview: The team has only 12 players, so everyone plays every other shift. But its a hard-working group, and Fyfe keeps them in it every night.

(update, 11:30 a.m.: Iona Prep has cancelled the game)

I was looking forward to going to Murray’s tonight to get my first look at the top four teams in the CHSHL standings—No. 1 Iona Prep vs. No. 3 Stepinac at 7, and No. 2 Farrell vs. No. 4 Fordham Prep at 8:30. If I can get internet access, I will post period-by-period updates here. Of course, it also has to stop snowing first.

In response to a previous post, I spoke with Stepinac coach Pat Scanlon last night, and unlike public school teams, a CHSHL hockey team can still play even when school is cancelled (something about how the insurance is purchased by the league, not the school). So there is still hope. I’m less optimistic about the two Section 1 games today—Fox Lane-White Plains at Ebersole, and Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville-New Rochelle at New Roc.

If there are any cancellation, please e-mail the info to sports editor Susie Arth at sarth@lohud.com and to local sports editor Joe Lombardi at jlombard@lohud.com. If possible, please include a make-up date. That goes for any day, not just today.

If these games are cancelled, that will give everyone more time to settle in and watch this video where I announce the player and team of the week, and what I’m most looking forward to next week (note: if it doesn’t go directly to me, find “hot players in ice hockey” and click on that). Any other nominees?

Finally, the League 4 overview will be coming out tomorrow.