2008 - 2009 Pa Hockey Coaches Pre-Season Poll

     Each year prior to the Season Pa Hockey tabulates the Coaches Pre-Season Poll and provides previews of the Elite 8 of Class AAA, AA and A and in the coming weeks we will be asking the coaches to send in their votes. Stay tuned for the Pa Hockey Coaches Pre-Season Poll and Previews .......Only on Pa Hockey !

     Thanks to all of the fans who participated and picking the winners in  Class AAA, AA and A by in our Pre-Season Poll...............Only on Pa Hockey ! 

Western Pa Hockey 2008 – 09 Interscholastic Preview

   The Class AAA Hockey scene will be a little different story in 2009 than it was in 2008. Pine Richland is the defending Penguins Cup champions and went undefeated a year ago and is not favored to reclaim the Penguins Cup, not sure what Kool-Aid is the drink of choice, many of the Rams underclassmen decided not to return, but Dylan Trombetta, Bryan Watt and Eric Febert, along with goaltender Dan Szymnaski will lead Richland. Bethel Park is ranked by the Coaches as the pre-season favorite and with Tommy Whetsel leading a solid group of returnees that always plays excellent defense should be in the mix again. Seneca Valley appears to be making a push to make noise in Class AAA with Logan Pfeffer, Tyler Messica, Michael Rohm to lead the offense and sophomore goaltender Ryan Schutte ready to build upon an excellent rookie campaign. Mt Lebanon has year in and year out been a contender in AAA and 08-09 will be no different as Brandon Bianco & Brooks Behling lead a solid lineup for the Blue Devils. North Allegheny will lost some key players from last year’s squad but has a solid group of returnees with goaltender Lindsay Holdcroft taking over the reigns between the pipes. Upper St Clair was able to lure Matt Wregget to play goalie for the Panthers and returns a very deep group of players with plenty of Varsity experience and pedigree and will need to score in key situations. If there is a sleeper in Class AAA, it may be Shaler which is a team that will score some goals and if it plays disciplined may surprise some people in March led by Drew Martz, Zac Lynch and Patrick Schaefer. This classification with plenty of teams capable of bullying their way into the top 8 including Central Catholic, McDowell, Plum, Canon McMillan and Norwin.

CLASS AA

  Latrobe came out of the clouds to seize the Pennsylvania Class AA crown and returns a majority of the team that won it. JeffJoeRegula, Michael McCurdy, Andrew Ong, Brody Aukerman, Ryan LaDuke, and goaltender Nick Loyacona were the core of a very good team that may be even better than last season. The Wildcats are the clear favorite to repeat and history is on their side as they follow Peters Twp and Thomas Jefferson in the recent decade of teams who followed their first title with a second. Canevin is another team that will mature by the year end to be a player in the Penguin Cup chase. Vince Nicollella and Cam Zappi should lead the mighty Crusaders to prominence and goaltending will key any championship aspirations. Franklin Regional missed a golden opportunity to win its first State title falling to Latrobe in the Western Finals and may have a chance if goaltender James Orr steals the playoffs and will need help from high scoring Eugene Mack and Steven Shirk. Meadville moves back to where it all began 21 years ago for Jamie Plunkett and trust me the Bulldogs will challenge any and all competition in AA and the question is can they score with the big boys. Kittanning is a very interesting darkhorse in AA and Troy Schall and the talented Koster Klan will be the key to any Wildcat run. Peters Twp, West Allegheny and Thomas Jefferson will round out the Elite 8 in 2009.

   I guess we are back to the same non-sense with Class A as we have had the past five years with only 13 teams in the classification. The same cast of characters will be in the mix in the end. Mars is the favorite after its first Penguins Cup appearance a year ago. Goaltender Greg Lewis makes the Planets the favorites and Michael Mazzota and Brady Sipe will lead the Planet attack this season. Serra Catholic finished the season with a dogfight and near miracle comeback against Quaker Valley and the Eagles return Erik Manetta, Corey Beam and Jake Allen to lead Serra. Defending champs Quaker Valley will need a miracle to repeat and undoubtedly Colin South and goaltender Zack Taylor will have to be the leaders for the Quakers. Bishop McCort may be a team to watch in 2009 as Todd Thomas, Dane Domonkos and Bryan Scott can fill the net for the Crushers and they may be a final 4 candidate. Sewickley Academy may have a pretty good shot at a very good season led by Trey Carbeau.