Announcement
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Quaker Valley (21 1 0) A
o When QV Coach Kevin Quinn talks the Quakers listen and maybe people in Western Pennsylvania should take some notes? About SMALL School Program Development, which takes a lot of resources including Players, Coaches and Cooperative and Supportive Boosters, but most of all it takes Leadership and a Trustee to see this process work for Long Term Development and a run of Championships. Last March QV learned a lesson as it ran through the Penguins Cup and West Chester East was waiting for them and abushed them for a period or so and then QV woke up and almost pulled off one of the great comebacks in Pennsylvania High School Hockey History, only to fall short. What Quaker Valley needs to do is take every game and every shift and play hockey and let the field take penalties and take advantage of a great power play led by Jimmy Perkin, Ryan Lottes, Alexander Quinn and Connor Quinn to lead them to the promised land with no promises
Freeport (14 5 2) A
o Dave Hepler has been the Trustee of a pretty neat Western Pennsylvania Small School Gem at Freeport for many years. These Yellow Jackets may use the battle cry of 2007 when Freeport and the Late Tim Zahemensky upended Quaker Valley at the Mellon Arena to gain their one Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship and lone Penguins Cup Title. This is a very good team and in their final meeting with Quaker Valley in the regular season would not go away in the final minutes to fall short by a goal. Cole Hepler, Michael Frazetta, Brendan Zack and Stone Haberstroh led a hungry team into the playoffs in front of a very good keeper in Matt Huston and what I like about Hepler is he keeps his best fresh into the final minutes of the game, which could pay dividends at Consol…looking forward to it, but there are 3 other Schools who would like to have a say in that conversation.
Mars (17 5 0) A
o Jupiter High School is off the East Coast of Florida and maybe rivals the economic development in the North Suburbs and Adams Twp, where the Pittsburgh Penguins are building their shrine in the hockey community. Until that happens and someone explains it to me, somehow the Mars Hockey Program, with nearly 60 players in Development is still in Class A, while fielding other Sports Programs in Higher Classification. The Planets have won a couple of State Championships in Hockey and deservedly the accolades that go with it and have done it with the top end talent, goaltending and development necessary to produce competitive advantage over many other programs. A weak Class A bracket keeps this formula at the top, but it takes a little more to put it over the top for the only School to defeat Quaker Valley with Nick Makozy. Beau Heakins and Crai Mazzotta leading the way for Mars.
Thomas Jefferson (15 5 2) A
o TJ stands for Thomas Jefferson and coach Bill Crousey stands for no nonsense. After the Jaguars handled a less than full lineup with Mars, as legend would have it, the coach had a message for his players who seemed to want to celebrate the mid-season victory. TJ has talent in Zach Uhlyer, Tommy Kimmick and Nick Tanburi and sometimes as we saw with Serra Catholic many years ago, small programs who manage the game can provide theatrics like no other. This is an interesting story and oh by the way 3-Time State Champions a while back under Don Powell. Watch out for Thomas Jefferson in March
Westmont Hilltop (13 6 3) A
o When you see a Hilltopper Trustee in Kittanning on a Sunday Night in February, it means that two things have occurred….# 1 the Haven MAY be closed or # 2 King Arthur was attracted to another smell in Western Pennsylvania. There are five schools out of 10 in Class A and the Mighty Hilltoppers are one of them. After a Friday Night 4-1 lead evaporated to TJ, Art McQuillan was undeterred to go scout two principals in the Penguin Cup puzzle and longs for that shot at another Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship and like 2003 (When Radnor had 4 Division 1 Studs) and 1996 (when McCort was King) this 2014 Squad has depth, goaltending and enough McQuillan’s to have a shot.
Deer Lakes (10-12-0) A
o Somebody asked this year me a simple question about where is Deer Lakes and my answer was somewhere between Kittanning and Fox Chapel near the Mills….Great Answer? DL Coach Todd Luniewski may have a different answer, but what I can tell you is that this is a Small Program on the way back and with Zac Luniewski, Mitch Rupprecht and Thomas Lisowski at the helm, they can score and gives them a chance to win hockey games.
