2017-18 Great Lakes Hockey League

EagleFan

Fan of Eagle
5th year already for this league. St. Ignatius has dominated first 4 years, having best overall record each year, winning 2.5 ;) state tiles in that stretch.

What do St. Edward and University School have to do to stop this nonsense?
 
 
I don't know if there's much they can do with St. Ignatius now getting pretty much every kid from the Barons. Having 5 teams gives them an advantage over every other school.
 
Sounds like they had some disagreements with the league. I assume over scheduling but who knows. They only play eds once, the Padua tourney, and maybe one other game locally. Sucks for me as a fan in terms of watching. They will play the state tourney.
 
Gonna be a tough year for Lake Catholic league wise. There are no incoming Freshman on the roster and only a total of 12 skaters and 2 goalies in the entire program. The program has gone down hill since the current coach took over 3 years ago. The 2018-19 season will more than likely be the last for LC hockey. This was a once strong program statewide as recently as 3 years ago.
 
Sounds like they had some disagreements with the league. I assume over scheduling but who knows. They only play eds once, the Padua tourney, and maybe one other game locally. Sucks for me as a fan in terms of watching. They will play the state tourney.

Is that something you anticipate they'd consider not doing in the future with this "travel team" approach to the program?
 
Hockey's a sport where it's difficult to keep the most talented players in a high school program into their upperclassmen years. Developmentally, it's simply makes more sense for these kids to play for Junior teams as the OHSAA's scheduling rules are too restrictive. That said, Gilmour's solution was to create a Prep team that plays a significantly more extensive schedule than their Varsity team. Perhaps Ignatius may consider going that route as well?
 
There's not enough talent in Cleveland to rival these prep teams or the high level Tier I teams. I want St. Ignatius to field the best team they can and play locally, nothing more.
 
How many teams exactly will the Cats field this year and how are they broken down? Seems like a bummer that they are leaving the GLHL and not playing many traditional local games. Is it really just to play better competition in surrounding states / Canada?
 
How many teams exactly will the Cats field this year and how are they broken down? Seems like a bummer that they are leaving the GLHL and not playing many traditional local games. Is it really just to play better competition in surrounding states / Canada?

As Bennies01 stated, the upper echelon players often matriculate to the Junior teams to face better competition and up their game. I'm not sure if this is still an issue at Ed's, but that was definitely the case when I was there. Many talented underclassmen never made it to their senior years with the team. With Ignatius now seeming like the destination school for top talent in the area, maybe this is a response to entice the guys to stay with the program for all four years.
 
How many teams exactly will the Cats field this year and how are they broken down? Seems like a bummer that they are leaving the GLHL and not playing many traditional local games. Is it really just to play better competition in surrounding states / Canada?

They have a U15 AAA team that plays all year. They have a 16U AAA team that plays just pre. They have the varsity prep (best team) and a varsity blue team that plays in that club team conference.

The Cats are really young this year...

1Fr
7 So
9 Jr
4 SR
 
They have a U15 AAA team that plays all year. They have a 16U AAA team that plays just pre. They have the varsity prep (best team) and a varsity blue team that plays in that club team conference.

This sounds very similar to what Gilmour has (or has had in the past).

The Prep team is playing a hybrid schedule that looks like it will allow them to still be eligible for the OHSAA tournament. They play Eds once, they'll be at the Padua tournament, and that's about it for their local/Ohio competition.

What league are the 15U and 16U teams playing in?
 
Kinda surprised the direction Ignatius hockey has taken here. Not consistent with their other OHSAA sports.
 
Ignatius beat Ed's in a tough 2-0 game at Brooklyn. As usual they are evenly matched but the trend the past 5 years has been that Ignatius pulls out the games.
 
Kinda surprised the direction Ignatius hockey has taken here. Not consistent with their other OHSAA sports.

I agree, I think it is a difficult model to sustain but if there's a school that could do it it would be Ignatius, they have the money. As for St. Ed's, I am happy with how they operate, I would not want to see them go that way. Ohio's top teams offer enough competition. I do worry that they have lost a step compared to the rest of the state, clearly they are still a great program but the lack of a state title in the last 9 years hurts. (I know they've played for 3 but its about winning)
 
Economically I wonder how much this makes sense. At the core of private high school athletics (despite us loving them so much) is that this is free press and prestige to try to continue to give their school's a reason to be talked about. Sports is a convenient and entertaining way to have your name out there or have prospective and current students to go to events. The more the catholic schools move away from this, I wonder where the breaking point is economically. For instance, if St. Ignatius got to a point where it could not compete in the OHSAA in favor of a more regional schedule, I think then their hockey program stops being an asset and there might be questions about why they spend so much money on something that communally does not add a lot.

Of course there could be a shift in consciousness about it as well. Maybe patrons of schools like St. Ignatius would know and understand that they want to think more regionally and this is just a necessary step. In some ways it is already happening, Ed's and Ignatius draw students from places that previously they never would have.
 
I'm not sure where this is going but I don't like it. I'm an alum and fan of St. Ignatius, and as a fan I want to actually see my team play. They play about 5 or 6 games within the state this season, as a fan that sucks.

What about travel? Do these kids and families really want to travel all over the Midwest just for some hockey games? Maybe they do but I wouldn't as a parent.

I like the rivalry games. They should continue and be augmented with a few OOS games not the other way around.

This SI team is one of the youngest and best they'
ve put together and nobody gets to see them play. That's no good.
 
St. Edward-St. Ignatius in the Brooklyn District title game this Saturday, as many expected. While the globetrotting prep Wildcats are heavy favorites, these games often go to the wire (and beyond that). Hopefully a good one.
 
Another edition of one of the better non-football sports in the rivalry over the past 15-20 years. Both programs have been extremely evenly matched, hopefully the Eagles can pull it off, its been a couple years since they won in the playoffs against the Wildcats.
 
They were a better team through and through, Ed's struggled to control the puck, came in very physical but had next to no offense. I haven't seen a Wildcat team be that better than a St. Ed's team in a long time. Score was only 3-0 but the Eagles didn't have much going for them.
 
Could someone explain to me, living 2000 miles from Cleveland, what went on with the Ignatius hockey team this year? The Cats had great teams the past few years, but now I read that the team is made up mainly of sophmores and freshmen. What happened to last year's sophmores and juniors? And it seems that the Cats are playing a semi-professional schedule this year. What's up with that? Are they in some type of prep league like Gilmour? Are some Ignatius kids allowed to play in the State tourney? You can see I have lots of questions, but I, as an Ignatius alum, don't like the direction the hockey team is taking.
 
If you read through the above posts, it explains it a little. I believe they have gone the Gilmour route of having a varsity team and a prep team. Could not tell you how it all works.
 
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