Before I put the Section 1 book away, I thought I would post the enrollment numbers for the 30 hockey teams. I know this was a big subject a while ago. As an added bonus, some of the newer readers now know which teams are in which division. Enjoy.

Division 1
1. New Rochelle 2,449
2. North Rockland 2,108
3. White Plains 1,669
4. Mt. Pleasant 1,656
5. Lakeland/Panas 1,616
6. Mahopac 1,352
7. Rye Town/Harrison 1,344
8. East/Tuck/Bronx 1,228
9. Carmel 1,202
10. Cl. North 1,173
11. Suffern 1,135
12. Scarsdale 1,093
13. Mamaroneck 1,079
14. Sleepy H/Irvington 1,076
15. Cl. South 1,061

Division II
1. Somers/N Salem 1,050
2. Yorktown 1,043
3. Greeley 1,033
4. Fox Lane 995
5. Ossining 989
6. JFK/Put Valley 985
7. John Jay 979
8. Brewster 897
9. Pawling/Dover 824
10. Tappan Zee 777
11. Nyack 744
12. Byram Hills 618
13. Pearl River 618
14. Pelham 581
15. Rye 570

Pelham and Rye, the top two seeds in Division II, are the two smallest programs. And Suffern and Mamaroneck, the top two teams in the section, are two of the smallest five teams in Division I (30 fewer students would have moved the Tigers down to DII). Anything else pop out to people?

Also, I would like to put together a list of all the team web sites and general high school hockey web sites to add to my blogroll at the bottom. It should come in handy during the playoffs. E-mail me at hgutmann@lohud.com or post them here. For instance the E/T/B web site that was posted earlier, or the Section X web site www.northcountrysports.net

This was brought up in the comments section, so I just wanted to clear up any confusion. This is from the Section 1 handbook:

Teams from the same league within each division will be seeded accordingly:
1. Total points in the league (win=2 points, tie=1 point).
2. Number of wins
3. Record versus each other (all games)
4. Record versus higher finishing teams (in descending order)
5. Record versus common opponents
6. Ask the bloggers who they think is better (majority vote wins)

Actually, the 6th one is a coin flip, but I like my idea better. Since the Rye-Pelham game is still fresh in my mind, lets look at the race for the top seed in Division II.
Pelham (6-4) games remaining: @Suffern, Mahopac, @John Jay, @C. North
Rye (5-6-1) games remaining: @Mahopac, Suffern

Basically, even though the teams split and Suffern tied Rye, Harrison managed to spoil things for its rival. The Pelicans swept Rye Town/Harrison, and the Titans swept the Garnets. Those two games will be tough to make up. Unless Rye upsets Suffern, the Garnets are looking at 6-7-1, and Pelham needs just one win or two ties against the bottom three teams in the league. Even if Rye beats Suffern, Pelham needs just two more wins.

However, if the teams are somehow tied and Pelham loses to Suffern tomorrow, Rye earns the top seed because of the fourth criteria (Rye will have a better record against the Mounties).

Someone else asked about Mount Pleasant. The Ice Cats are 5-8-1 (11 points) and they have five games remaining on the Section 1 web site (@CS, @L/P, Scarsdale, @WP, RT/H). They also have a North Rockland game that may or may not be made up. I would recommend playing that game, because whether Mt. P plays 19 or 20 games, they need to finish with 14 points to qualify (incidentally, if they drop RT/H and play 18 games, they need 13 points). Again, this is taken straight from a chart in the Section 1 book.

Realistically, the Ice Cats (1-7-1 in their last nine) better get those three points in the next two games, which are against League 3 teams on the outside of the playoffs right now. And Clarkstown South (5-12, five games left) basically needs to win out to make the playoffs.

And guess what? That Mt P.-C South game is today. Wow, what a perfect segue. In other action, Rye Town/Harrison, fresh off a 10 goal game last night, visits Pawling; Brewster tries to become the first League 2 team to knock off White Plains; New Rochelle goes for its second straight win over a League 3 team when it plays Ossining, which has won five in a row; and Horace Greeley hosts Newburgh.

I’m working a rare day shift today, so if you have any questions about anything, now’s the time to ask.

Well, this is the reason I don’t predict scores. Who would have guessed a 7-5 game? I suspected when I got home I would hear complaints about the last goal in the first period, the delayed penalty, etc., but I don’t want this to be overshadowed—what a great game between two top-quality teams.

And like I said in my story, Rye is officially back to defend its title. The slow start is well behind them, and while it still probably cost them home ice throughout, the Garnets (and the Mounties, for that matter) didn’t need the No. 1 seed to win last year. I thought every line on both teams played hard and played well. Pelham coach Ed Witz said it best afterwards: “I hope we meet again in the playoffs.” I can’t wait for another game like last night’s.

In other games, Rye Country Day picked up a big league win, Rye Town/Harrison’s first line scored eight goals in the Titans’ 10-7 win over John Jay, and Tappan Zee picked up its fourth win of the season, 3-1 over Nyack. In a late one from Tuesday, Scarsdale broke a four-game losing streak, 8-1 over Byram Hills. Matt Oliverio had three goals and three assists.

I’m going to have some more later today, but this is for the early risers.

League 4 New Rochelle took a big step up last night, beating League 3 leader Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville 8-3. Richie Prunesti scored three goals and Patrick Staropoli had a goal and three assists for the Huguenots, who put in four goals in the first and third periods.

I’m never sure how much to take out of non-league games—just last week, New Rochelle was flat against League 3 Byram Hills and suffered a surprising loss. So after a series of wins that E/T/B needed to stay ahead in the league race, where they not taking this game as seriously? Or was the NR offense just that good? The shots were 41-16.

E/T/B is a great success story this year, and clearly they have a very powerful offense, but this is the fifth game out of 13 they’ve allowed six goals or more, something that raises a big question mark in the playoffs. They still have to play a resurgent Ossining, North Rockland, Pawling and White Plains, so those will be good opportunities to shore up the defensive end before the postseason.

I’ll be at Pelham-Rye tonight. Pelham looked great in beating RTH after a long layoff for exams, while Rye has won four in a row. I don’t think anyone would be shocked to see them play again next month for the title. The other games in Section 1 are Rye Town/Harrison-John Jay and Tappan Zee-Nyack, while Rye Country Day hosts league rival Kingswood-Oxford.

Pelham picked up a big win last night, defeating Rye Town/Harrison 5-3. I’m going to be talking about Pelham a lot this week since I’m covering its next two games, so lets look at the Titans.

They deserve a lot of credit for being in the top half of League 1 in their debut season in the power league, and the two emotional wins against Rye are impressive. However, from talking to them I know they’re not satisfied with a winning record, or doing well in League 1. They want postseason success.

RTH is 8-6, but all the losses have come against teams currently in my top 5 (Suffern and Pelham twice, Mamaroneck and White Plains). Of course, those are exactly the teams RTH will meet in the playoffs as the No. 3 seed—No. 6 White Plains in the quarters, and then either Suffern or Mamaroneck in the semis and finals. They have one more chance at Mamaroneck in the regular season, and then they have to figure out how to take the next step and beat these teams in the playoffs.

There’s two games in Section 1 tomorrow, both at the Ice Hutch—New Rochelle-E/T/B and Byram Hills-Scarsdale. League 3 leader Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville (10-2) is coming off a shutout of League 2 Fox Lane. Facing New Ro (13-3), who is stepping up from League 4, should be another good test. Byram Hills (3-15) has won two games in the past week, while Scarsdale (8-9) has lost four in a row, including the last one to League 3 Clarkstown South.

How about this 5-day stretch for Pelham: at Rye Town/Harrison (could decide third place in League 1); at Rye (likely DII final preview); at undefeated Suffern. I guess Mamaroneck was booked over the weekend.

The Pelicans are 4-5-1 in their last 10. Granted, the losses against Suffern, Mamaroneck, Queensbury and Nisky include three-state ranked teams. The only surprise was Scarsdale, but for whatever reason the Raiders always play their best against Pelham. But Pelham is clearly not playing its best, and this is the time to turn it around.

With games remaining against John Jay, Mahopac and Clarkstown North, the Pelicans need to win one to make sure they get the No. 1 seed over Rye. I’m predicting they the win game Wednesday and leave no doubt. What does everyone else think?

Tonight’s other game is Nyack-Pearl River. The Indians look for their first win while I believe the Pirates are playing their first game since losing beloved former captain Joe Pennisi.

Suffern finished its upstate schedule with a 5-0-1 record and two tournament titles. Most impressive, look at Tom Natoli’s stats in the six games:

vs. CBA, 1 goal allowed, 17 saves
vs. Aquinas, 2 goals, 19 saves
vs. Canton, 1 goal, 29 saves, 55 mins
vs. Oswego, 2 goals, 29 saves, 42 mins
vs. Liverpool, 1 goal, 32 saves
vs. Athena, 0 goals, 42 saves

Totals: 277 minutes, 7 goals, 168 saves, 96 save percentage, 1.13 GAA.

Suffern now has five regular season games left: Pelham, at John Jay, Mamaroneck, at Rye, Monrow-Woodbury.

Now for the Mounties main rival, Mamaroneck. Luke Glaser (17 saves) recorded his seventh shutout of the season — five against League 1, two against upstate teams — in a 7-0 win over John Jay. Brian Conner had three goals and three assists. Speaking of Conner, he was the subject of our Sunday 60-second profile.

In other news, Ossining made it to .500 for the first time after winning its fifth in a row, 8-0 over Clarkstown South. Matt Annibale had a hat trick, Robert Dorgan had two goals and two assists and Andrew Chase made 19 saves for the shutout.

Nick Alfonzetti had three goals and three assists, and teammate Ian Fleming had two goals and three assists, as Brewster defeated Mount Pleasant 6-1. The win kept the Bears within one game of Yorktown in the race for the No. 4 seed in Division II, which basically means home-ice advantage in a potential Brewster-Yorktown quarterfinal.

Marshall Rogers had a goal and an assist in Rye’s 3-0 win over Clarkstown North, in which the Garnets outshot the Rams 41-12. Rye carries a four-game win streak into their showdown with Pelham on Wednesday. Another gutsy effort for Chris McIndoe, who made 38 saves.

In a surprising score out of League 4, 3-10 Tappan Zee put a scare into 13-1 Kennedy/Putnam Valley but lost 3-2. John Garcia scored twice against K/PV goalie Mike DeLaVergne, something only three TEAMS have done this season.

And Rye Country Day beat Worcester (Mass.) 3-1. If the Wildcats beat Kingswood-Oxford next, a team they already beat 3-2 earlier this season, then they could easily have a four-game win streak since the two after that are against Clarkstown North and Harvey.

(Sunday update, 11:15 p.m.): For the first time in our history, we’re having trouble with MaxPreps (kidding). We were unable to put up the box scores from Sunday’s games, something I hope will be fixed on Monday. But there were some pretty exciting games, and as usual some Sunday surprises.

Mahopac came back and beat Fox Lane 3-2, as Tyler Perrelle scored with 1:09 left in overtime. Tyler Gyscek had tied the game with 16 seconds left in regulation, and senior Mark Viggiano made 22 saves to record his first career win.

Chris McIndoe made an incredible 66 saves against the defending Division II state champions as Clarkstown North lost to Monroe-Woodbury 3-2 in overtime. Steven Williams tied the game for the Rams with 2:22 left in regulation.

A 5-12, League 3 Clarkstown South team that hadn’t beaten a Section 1 opponent since Dec. 18, beat up on League 2 Scarsdale 7-3. Eric Holewinski scored four goals and Brandon Myers had a goal and four assists.

And Stepinac beat St. Edmunds 7-4 and has now won 7 of 8. A.J. Datino had two goals and two assist in the win.

Right now I’m only scheduled to be at Rye-Pelham and Pelham-Suffern this week, but I’m working on getting out to more.

Colleague Alex Myers saw a severely depleted Mamaroneck team break Fordham Prep’s long win streak, 4-3 at Hommocks. Here’s the link. The Tigers showed a lot of depth, and besides getting shut out by M-W, who after all is a state champion, they really deserve a lot of credit for not having a letdown game this season.

Here’s a recap of the other games from last night that were called in: White Plains scored four third-period goals and beat Scarsdale 6-3. Phil Sigona had two goals and two assists for the Tigers. Lee Gilbert had a hat trick for the Raiders. …

Josh Gomez scored twice for Kennedy/Putnam Valley , who continued to play incredible defense in a 5-1 win over Nyack, allowing just eight shots. …

Joe Donato made 17 saves as League 3 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville earned a shutout over League 2 Fox Lane 4-0. Alex Hagen had a two goals and an assist and Chris Belotti added a goal and two assists. …

Chris Latino had a hat trick for John Jay and Dave Rofosky added a goal and three assists in a 6-3 win over Mahopac. The Indians are actually percentage-points ahead of Rye right now (3-4-1 to 3-6-1) in the race for the No. 2 seed in Division 2, while Mahopac is one point ahead of North for the No. 4 seed in DI. …

And Ossining won its fourth straight game, 5-3 over Byram Hills. Robert Dorgan had two goals and an assist in the win and Jordan Gaudio scored twice for the Bobcats, who had won two in a row after a 1-14 start.

Now, here’s the playoff eligibility note, courtesy of Section 1 chairman John Orlando:

In leagues 2,3 and 4 teams can qualify by winning 50% of their league games,
35% (league 2),40% (league 3) and 45% (league 4) of their overall record in all games,
or
50% of all games in their league plus all games that are played up.

e.g. if a team in league 4 is 5-7 but played only 2 games up a league and won them they are 7-7 and would qualify. But if they played 3 games up and lost one they would be 7-8 and not qualify. And teams may not selectively choose only wins—all games played up count.

Byram Hills was 2-14 and New Rochelle was 12-2, and after the Huguenots took a 3-1 lead into the first period intermission it seemed pretty clear what the outcome was going to be. but as they say, that’s why they play the game. The Huguenots, who hadn’t allowed more than three goals all season, gave up five straight to the Bobcats, who wound up with a 6-4 win. Here’s that story.

Byram Hills has now won two in a row, following its win over League 2 Brewster last week. They are a very young team, but I would look for them to make some noise next year.

While no team wants to lose, this wasn’t the worst thing in the world for the Huguenots, who get the benefit of a wake-up call in a non-league game that won’t effect the seedings. After witnessing the lack of backchecking in the second period, coach Jim Tozzo didn’t play the first forward line for the rest of the game.

Today’s hockey notebook looks at last Sunday, when something happened twice in one day that had only occured once the whole season. Read about it here.

Of course, the notebook also has the power rankings. Here’s an extended list from the top 5 that were in the paper. I know White Plains and Pelham lost, which would normally push them out, but so did pretty much everyone else that could have replaced them. Here’s the teams I consider the next five, and why I didn’t move them into the rankings:
Fordham Prep has that long win streak, but they are 0-3 against Iona Prep, so how can I put the Rams in over the Gaels? AndIona Prep is 3-4-1 in its last eight and hasn’t beaten a winning team since Jan. 4.
Rye has some quality wins over state-ranked teams recently, but they can’t go ahead of RTH, who swept the season series. AndRTH lost to Pelham and White Plains, so how can I put the Titans over those teams?
And RCDS has a losing record, so it would be tough to include them at the moment.

So here’s what I ended up with:
1. Suffern (15-0-2): Travels upstate for a third time this weekend.
2. Mamaroneck (17-2-1): Hope to end Fordham Prep’s eight-game win streak today.
3. Pelham (11-6-1): Toughest week of the season coming up — Rye Town/Harrison, Rye and Suffern.
4. Stepinac (11-6-1): Won season series against Iona Prep and Fordham Prep.
5. White Plains (17-3): Scored 32 more goals than anyone else in Section 1.
On the doorstep: Fordham Prep (11-5-1), Rye Town/Harrison (8-5), Iona Prep (14-6-2), Rye (9-7-2), Rye Country Day (6-7-4).

Former Pearl River captain and ‘07 graduate Joe Pennisi died this morning after a three-year battle with bone cancer. He was 19. The official obituary and an article I wrote will be in tomorrow’s paper, and I will provide the links when I can. By all accounts he was a tremendous leader, a tireless worker and a great role model for the Pearl River community and for all of Section 1 hockey.

Pennisi had two brothers, a sophomore defenseman at Harvey and a freshman goalie at Pearl River.

It’s obviously a tragic day and my heart goes out to the family, the programs and anyone who was lucky enough to have known Joe.

Rye exploded for nine goals and 60 shots tonight in a 9-2 win over Scarsdale at Playland. Jordan Eck had four goals and an assist and Paul Mundinger added three goals and an assist. Remember when the Garnets had trouble scoring? Now they will have their first four game win streak and a 10-7-2 record if they beat North over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Raiders have allowed 16 goals in two games, and White Plains is up next. Not the team you want to play when your defense is struggling.

The schedule is still light tomorrow, with most players taking exams. But certain teams have certain slots no matter what — White Plains at Ebersole Thursday 5:15, New Rochelle at New Roc Thursday at 7, Rye Town or Rye at Playland Monday between 7:15-7:45, etc. So Clarkstown North visits White Plains tomorrow afternoon and Byram Hills visits New Rochelle at night.

Finally, I heard one of Mamaroneck’s best players (not Conner) was suspended four games for fighting, so he will miss the rest of the regular season (including the Suffern game). Section 1 is one of the few, if not the only, sections in the state that suspends a player for four games instead of two. What do people think of that?

With Section 1 taking the day off yesterday (on the ice, at least—the blog received 186 comments), I saw a dominant Rangers win, and the Westchester Vipors mites (out of the WSA), who performed between the first and second periods at MSG.

There’s also only one game today, though it’s a good one—a rejuvenated Scarsdale, which already has two wins against League 1 teams in the last week (Mahopac and Pelham), against a Rye team that beat two upstate teams over the weekend. Should be a very exciting game, and I hope someone at Playland can provide updates.

Anyway, it’s as good a time as any to go over the updated playoff picture. Here are the rules:
Teams are seeded by the order of finish in their league. League 1 received automatic entry and is seeded first. For the rest, 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.

The teams are grouped together by league.

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

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

9. E/T/B or North Rockland
10. E/T/B or North Rockland
(Lakeland-Panas and Clarkstown South out right now)

11. New Rochelle
12. Sleepy Hollow/Irvington
(Carmel out)

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

4. Yorktown
5. Brewster
6. Fox Lane (needs some more wins though)

7. Pawling/Dover
8. Ossining
(Byram Hills out)

9. Kennedy/Putnam Valley
10. Somers/North Salem
11. Pearl River or Greeley
12. Pearl River or Greeley
(Tappan Zee and Nyack out)

A technical malfunction has resulted in the loss of all the names in our college signings database on LoHud.com. We have started the process of re-entering those names, but need your help. Please e-mail your name, high school and college choice — along with the name of the sport you will be playing in college — to local sports editor Joe Lombardi at jlombard@lohud.com.

Suffern beat Rye Town/Harrison 4-2 last night, and is now all but assured of the state’s No. 1 ranking when the list comes out tomorrow. The Titans recorded 13 shots in each period and outshot Suffern 39-31, but Mounties goalie Tom Natoli was more than up to the challenge.

Zach Salt scored two goals (one on the power play), and Suffern’s second line actually scored two of the team’s three even-strength goals, a great sign for a team with title aspirations. RT/H’s standout top line put in two goals, and the defense played really well, even when top defenseman Kyle Kegan missed most of the second period with a broken skate.

The game featured one of the best goals and one of the best saves you’ll see. The Mounties scored when Matt Shore, who was sliding along the ice, managed to deflect a centering pass from Matt Ruthberg. Then early in the third period, with the score still 3-1, Titans goalie Sean McKinney went down to make a pad save, and when the rebound went to the other side of the crease, he rolled over on his back and lifted a leg up to make another pad save.

The other game we staffed was Fox Lane-Mount Pleasant, and the Foxes picked up their first League 2 win with a 2-1 victory (though the team did have non-league wins over league opponents Brewster and Scarsdale). Fox Lane (4-9-2) needed a win to help their playoff chances, and they came through. Now it’s Mount Pleasant (5-7) who needs to worry a little bit, especially with games still to come against White Plains and Scarsdale. Note: League 2 teams need to win 35 percent of their games to qualify.

The Ice Cats are currently looking at the No. 8 seed. But if they don’t make it to the postseason, that moves everyone in the lower leagues up one spot. And that means another League 1 team has a first-round bye, E/T/B and North Rockland would play in the 8/9 game, the League 4 champion might get White Plains instead of Mahopac or North, etc.

What teams will qualify for sectionals is definitely something that affects everyone else, and is worth keeping an eye on as we get closer to the finish.

Unlike Monday—which was an actual holiday—there are no games scheduled for today, so I will get my hockey fix where I can get it. My wife and I will be watching the Rangers play at MSG tonight.

Two of the hottest teams in the area met for the Scarsdale tournament championship, with Fordham Prep beating the Raiders 7-4 (here’s the link). This was the Rams eighth win, and after winning the first seven in defensive struggles (allowing a total of six goals), this one was a run-and-gun, penalty-filled battle, which showed a different side to the Fordham Prep team.

Scarsdale was in it the whole way—it was 5-4 with two minutes left—and three times in the final two periods cut the Rams lead to one, but Fordham Prep was always ready with a quick response, much to the delight of its rowdy student cheering section.

Interestingly enough, the Rams next opponent will be Mamaroneck, who tied state-ranked Whitesboro 3-3 on Sunday night in a great effort by the Tigers.

Pelham won the consolation game 3-2 over Bethlehem, after having what it thought was the winner disallowed with nine seconds left in regulation. In perhaps the best sign for the Pelicans, goalie Adam Durant was named to the all-tournament team. Goaltending’s been an X-factor in the past, but it was certainly a bright spot this weekend.

If anyone prefers listening over reading, you can click here to listen to my recap of the Scarsdale tournament on a new format we call “Varsity Central Reports.”

We had two other games called in tonight, both pretty surprising. Ossining followed up its big win over North Rockland (it was only the Red Raiders’ second league loss) with another two-goal win over Pawling. The O was decimated by graduation and was pretty much forgotten about after a 3-8 start, but now they just beat two teams had they had lost to early in the season. Like Fordham Prep, this looks like another young team getting better every week, and could be a dangerous postseason out.

And Sleepy Hollow/Irvington , a .500 team in League 4, scored five third-period goals to beat League 2 Mount Pleasant. What a big win for the Headless Bulldogs (?). If North Rockland also beat Clarkstown North, which some bloggers have posted, that’s two wins on Sunday by teams that were playing up two leagues.

(update, 10:35 a.m.) Just saw some more results. Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville beat Victor, a Rochester-area public school, 6-4 in its first-ever trip upstate. Most impressively, that’s after eating lunch at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. North Rockland did beat the Rams on a goal with 10 seconds left—anyone know the last time that happened? And Rye beat Cortland at Hommocks to complete a very successful weekend for Section 1.

Hockey doesn’t take MLK Day off, so neither do I. Matt Ng and I will be covering Fox Lane-Mount Pleasant and Suffern-Rye Town/Harrison on Monday.

Finally, I hope no hockey teams are playing the night of Feb. 3. I wouldn’t expect much of a crowd.

After dealing Bethlehem its first loss earlier this season, Scarsdale has beaten another state-ranked team today, defeating Pelham in OT. John Felix had the winner with 25 seconds left. The Raiders have now won 8 of 10 — one loss was in OT and the other was to a ranked Queensbury team — and will face Fordham Prep in the championship of their tournament tomorrow.

If I’m Suffern or Mamaroneck, that No. 2 seed is looking even more dangerous now. Not only do you have White Plains or RTH in the semis, but Scarsdale is an incredibly dangerous second-round opponent. Not that the teams need any more motivation in that game at Sport-O next month.

We have one other score so far, RCDS was shut out 5-0 by Kents Hill, ranked No. 2 in the New England Prep rankings, and is now under .500 for the first time at 6-7-4. Can anyone explain the recent slide, or was it just good competition?

Update: Fordham Prep won its seventh in a row over the previously-mentioned Bethlehem. Eight Rams recorded points. … Mamaroneck shut off Cortland for its fourth shutout in five games. … Pearl River beat Greeley 3-1 in a battle of .500 League 4 teams that were looking to boost their playoff credentials. … and updating a score from Friday night, Clarkstown North recorded its first win of the season, 2-0 over Mahopac. As a very smart reader said earlier today, the North-Mahopac game ended way past our deadline Friday night, which is why it wasn’t in Saturday’s paper.

I’ll be at the Scarsdale tournament Sunday, and then Suffern-Rye Town/Harrison Monday. Updates from Hommocks, Brewster Ice Arena and Sport-O (C North-N Rockland) today would be appreciated.

I just spoke with someone at Suffern, who I consider very reliable, about the story in today’s New York Post that described wild pool parties allegedly involving Suffern hockey players.

The person swore to me that “no hockey players were involved in any way. There were no hockey players there (at the parties), ever.” As for the more unsavory allegations, “One hundred percent they weren’t victims in any way of the things that went on.”

This isn’t a crime blog, it’s a hockey blog, and unlike professional athletes, I don’t think the personal lives of 16-year-olds is fair game. Now, if this was going to affect the hockey team, that’s one thing, but the person said no hockey players will be suspended.

It’s only natural to speculate and jump to conclusions after reading something like that, but we are dealing with high schoolers, so hopefully everyone can be respectful during this time.

Here’s a recap of Suffern-White Plains, courtesy of colleague Jake Thomases:

White Plains just couldn’t hang with Suffern tonight, losing 6-1 at Sport-O. But not many can. Suffern haters (or people who just want to think they have a chance come sectionals) were all pumped up about the 2-2 tie with Rye last Friday, which had a lot of folks thinking White Plains could give the Mounties a run. But after the game I checked Suffern’s sectional record, and it turns out Suffern has beaten everyone in section, except Rye, by at least two goals. And everyone but Mamaroneck by three. So although I was surprised by tonight’s result, I guess I shouldn’t have been.

White Plains is the bully of League 2. Encarnacao and Sigona and company put up huge numbers on the overmatched league competition. Everybody knows the power league isn’t Kansas anymore. Tigers coach Howie Rubenstein admitted afterward that his players aren’t used to Suffern’s level of play because of what he termed a weaker schedule. That schedule is why he reached out to Suffern and Rye and other League 1 teams. He wants his guys to be more comfortable come sectionals. So even though they got beat handily, at least they got a little exposure.

Suffern’s first line did its scoring tonight, notably Ruthberg with the hat trick. Salt had the biggest goal, a backbreaker with four seconds left in the first period.

A couple blog commenters alluded to a fight. Although there was a scuffle that threatened to become something bigger, most of the guys who jumped in pulled everyone apart and no punches were thrown. Not really a fight. This was a chippy game at times. At one point in the third period a White Plains player appeared to be hammering a Mountie’s head into the boards with his forearm. The ref either didn’t see it or saw it as clean because he didn’t call anything, at least not until the Tiger kept slapping the Mountie around as he skated to a different part of the ice.

Now this is me again. In other action Friday night, Byram Hills got its second win of the season, incredibly against League 2 Brewster. Lakeland/Panas stayed alive in the race for a postseason bid by beating Carmel, Kennedy/PV stayed ahead in League 4 by beating Greeley, and Fox Lane got its first League 2 point by tying Mt. Pleasant.

My colleague Jake Thomases will be at Suffern-White Plains tonight. I still don’t think the Mounties will go undefeated—there’s too many tough games left in a sport where a team can control play and still not win. The Mounties have eight games left, and seven are going to be challenging—WP, at RT/H, Mamaroneck, Pelham, at Rye, Monroe-Woodbury and two upstate (Liverpool and Canton or Greece). That said, I think the unbeaten streak continues at least one more game.

Still, White Plains has beaten all 15 Section 1 teams on their schedule, something that’s reflected in its recent rise up my power rankings. The top five are in today’s hockey notebook, which describes how Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville is intent on building a program. Here is the rest:

1. Suffern (13-0-2): No. 2 in state sportswriters and USHSHO.com rankings.
2. Mamaroneck (16-2): Allowed two goals in the past four games.
3. Pelham (10-5-1): Favored to win Scarsdale tournament this weekend.
4. White Plains (16-2): Clinched League 2 with three games left.
5. Stepinac (11-6-1): Two straight wins over Iona Prep moves them up.
6. Rye Country Day (6-6-4): This should be fun. RCDS will be mad they moved down, and everyone else will be mad they’re still here.
7. Iona Prep (13-6-1): Does have that win against White Plains and an OT loss to Monroe-Woodbury, but hasn’t beaten a winning team in two weeks.
8. Rye Town/Harrison (8-4): First line was unstoppable (seven goals) against Rye.
9. Fordham Prep (8-5-1): Plays three games in three days starting today.
10. Rye (6-7-2): It was close between them and Yorktown, but the Garnets’ win over state-ranked Rome and tie against Suffern given them the edge.

As always, please tell me why I’m wrong. And feel free to post your thoughts on other games tonight, including Mahopac-North in a battle for the No. 4 seed in Division I, Fox Lane-Mount Pleasant as both teams go for a much-needed win, and Kennedy/PV-Greeley as KPV tries to hang on to its lead in League 4.

Mamaroneck stayed within striking distance of Suffern with a 5-2 win at Rye last night. The Tigers now have five home games left, including league games against John Jay and Rye Town/Harrison, before a final game against the Mounties that would decide home ice throughout the Division I playoffs.

I was in the office last night, so can anyone fill in the details? I know all the scoring was done in the first two periods, which means a Rye team that allowed 31 goals in its first 13 games then gave up 12 in five periods and an OT. On the bright side, the Garnets’ two second-period goals were the most Mamaroneck has given up in 2008, a six-game stretch. Brian Conner (two goals) was the only player with multiple points.

Tonight’s big game is White Plains-Yorktown, a battle of the top two teams in League 2. The Cornhuskers have won five in a row, while White Plains can all but clinch the league with a win here. The Tigers better not be looking ahead to Friday’s Suffern game or they’ll be in trouble.

Speaking of White Plains, the new state rankings can be found here. This time they included Section VI, but somehow White Plains ended up in the Division II rankings. I could see why they would be confused—White Plains is only the third-biggest school in the section. In any case, let this serve as a reminder why you shouldn’t take any rankings too seriously (except mine, of course, which are coming out tomorrow)