2024-2025 St. Ignatius hockey
- Thread starter clevelandcane
- Start date
clevelandcane
Active member
It must be so fun for these kids to play all the OOS teams they play. Glad they're competitive and gaining confidence that they can beat anyone.
It will definitely prepare them for the State Tournament.
EaglePride01
Well-known member
They need to stop using geography to sort the regions. Seed the entire field. There are not that many teams competing in the state tournament and any increased travel will have little to no impact on a sport that doesn’t draw a large audience.
clevelandcane
Active member
EastsideCat
Well-known member
CATS
SF
LIBERTY
PREPPERS
SF
LIBERTY
PREPPERS
clevelandcane
Active member
Cats took 2 from Northview this weekend. I saw today's game. Cats played a solid 2 periods and were horrible in the 3rd. Still way too many kids playing with the lines all jumbled up. Not sure when they'll settle on their lines but this is not it.
The backup G was fantastic - Chiaravelle.
The NV coach lost himself and was yelling and swearing at one of the refs. Poor example for the kids.
Onto the playoffs. Let's go, Cats!
The backup G was fantastic - Chiaravelle.
The NV coach lost himself and was yelling and swearing at one of the refs. Poor example for the kids.
Onto the playoffs. Let's go, Cats!
EastsideCat
Well-known member
Liberty is en fuego right now. Demolished New Albany to the point that it makes me think NA must have been hit by this flu going through the schools.
clevelandcane
Active member
Has anyone actually seen New Albany play? I have not. Wondering if they are really any threat.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
Have not but only because they don't play anyone tough aside from Cbus teams. Looks like they have 2 good goalies. Cats need to worry about Ed's and the rest will take care of itself. Ed's is tough and will not be an easy out.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
Final 4 will be
Desales vs US
Liberty vs Iggy
With US#11 and Iggy#5 as guests as lower seeds.
US vs Iggy rematch
Cats prevail again.
Desales vs US
Liberty vs Iggy
With US#11 and Iggy#5 as guests as lower seeds.
US vs Iggy rematch
Cats prevail again.
US always has a shot, but they definitely lost a lot of firepower from the last two years
TSF is the clear frontrunner in the BG region (although NV is on their heels possibly being one year away to create a logjam at the top of that region)
Whoever gets hot and on a roll at this time of the year will be ahead of the pack.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
32 teams left.
Columbus bracket and Kent are only places with intrigue. Gonna be at Kent tonight for 2 games that look better on paper than on ice I bet. Gilmour and US both roll by 5+ goals and have a showdown on the 22nd is my Nostradumbass prognostication.
The final 8 down in cbus has some great match ups and this weekend will have some great match ups at all 4 sites.
Cats could throw their Varsity B team in there and win tonights game.
Columbus bracket and Kent are only places with intrigue. Gonna be at Kent tonight for 2 games that look better on paper than on ice I bet. Gilmour and US both roll by 5+ goals and have a showdown on the 22nd is my Nostradumbass prognostication.
The final 8 down in cbus has some great match ups and this weekend will have some great match ups at all 4 sites.
Cats could throw their Varsity B team in there and win tonights game.
clevelandcane
Active member
The first period was a struggle in terms of scoring. Bene just huddled up and played D. The dam broke in the second and the Cats mercy ruled 'em, 11-1.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
Preppers 4-2 but were down 2-1 b4 rallying.
Shaker played tough and Mayhugh scored 2 on long breakout passes.
Shaker played tough and Mayhugh scored 2 on long breakout passes.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
Gilmour cruised reinforcing what we already knew and that MHR is much better gauge than maxpreps formula. CVCA was a paper tiger but definitely had success this year. Congrats to all these kids still playing regardless of the outcome.
That US/GA matchup will be interesting...I'd go out on a limb and say WJ is a slight favor in the Regional Final (assuming they take care of business)
Cats can play their "B" team against AL too and they'd still win
That RR/PAD game this evening will be a real good game...they seem like they meet up ever year
Cats can play their "B" team against AL too and they'd still win
That RR/PAD game this evening will be a real good game...they seem like they meet up ever year
I strongly hope they come together and tweak the formula for the betterment of the kids...Example here was CVCA being ranked ahead of GA...Anyone who follows hockey in Cleveland knows that this truly isn't the case...CVCA did surprise people and turned some heads though
cuyahogacuse
Well-known member
That was the culmination of a four-year run for those six CVCA seniors that saw them win 84 games, three GCHSHL divisional championships, make two Baron Cup finals appearances while winning one.
Having said that, the outcome was known ahead of time. There is no comparison between a GCHSHL White team and what Gilmour put out there last night. Clone the CVCA line twice and then perhaps there would be a chance.
The OHSAA hockey single division tournament continues to be a mockery. The MaxPreps rankings are laughable.
Split the championships into two divisions. It’s long overdue. Someday common sense must prevail.
Completely agree!
Problem is, how do you split those two divisions up?
Theoretically, at X date, teams 1-24ish are Division 1 and the rest are Division 2.
However, I would venture to guess that more teams will try to go into the lower division rather than the upper division for a seemingly better shot at winning a state championship.
cuyahogacuse
Well-known member
You are spot on with the number I have in mind.
First things first. Trash MaxPreps. Use MHR.
1-24: Division 1.
- Top 8 get a first round bye.
- Need to win 4 (or 5, if ranked 9-24) games to win the championship.
25-69 (45 teams): Division 2.
- Teams 25-44 get first round bye
- Teams 44-69 play in round 1 to reduce field to 32 teams
- Must win five games (or 6 if ranked 44-69) to win championship
Imagine Clay as the #1 seed in Division 2? That’s a great hockey program. The top 8 seeds:
1. Clay
2. St. X
3. Amherst Steele
4. Kenston
5. CVCA
6. Anthony Wayne
7. Avon Lake
8. St John’s Jesuit
It makes too much sense. So of course they’d never do it.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
I will take Gilmour or US vs Walsh anyday of the week.
Logically we need 2 divisions but what that split should be idk. Mentor is tough enough to hang close with some of these teams but they can't beat an Iggy or SFDS. Liberty can beat all those teams even though they are a public school. So you can't just split public and private.
A lot of conjecture and nothing will change. We still should have some great matchups in next 2 weeks.
I did talk to the NDCL coach for awhile last night and they were thrilled to win their 1st round match up and actually advance to get beat in 2nd round. Success is measured differently and in all honesty football playoffs aren't much different in D1. Usually the higher seed prevails in the early rounds with some lopsided results.
Logically we need 2 divisions but what that split should be idk. Mentor is tough enough to hang close with some of these teams but they can't beat an Iggy or SFDS. Liberty can beat all those teams even though they are a public school. So you can't just split public and private.
A lot of conjecture and nothing will change. We still should have some great matchups in next 2 weeks.
I did talk to the NDCL coach for awhile last night and they were thrilled to win their 1st round match up and actually advance to get beat in 2nd round. Success is measured differently and in all honesty football playoffs aren't much different in D1. Usually the higher seed prevails in the early rounds with some lopsided results.
EastsideCat
Well-known member
We don't have enough teams to support 2 divisions according to the state. What that number of teams would be to justify 2 divisions has not been stated as far as I know.
Love your proposal
Logistics need to be worked out though (Rink availability, regional balance, etc.)
Unfortunately, it is a tale as old as time...countless proposals to improve high school hockey in the state of Ohio, absolute ZERO interest from the powers at be to actually change something so that they can better serve the student-athletes
cuyahogacuse
Well-known member
Rink availability: with proper planning, I have no doubt this could be easily solved. Currently, four rinks in Ohio are being used exclusively for the OHSAA Tournament. That means every other rink is current not being used for High School hockey, after being in near-continuous use for the last three months. Surely we can find four venues willing to step up.
Regional Balance: Admittedly, haven't delved into these details to the degree necessary. But ... the OHSAA had no problems shipping Elyria Catholic and Amherst Steele off to Bowling Green for weeknight/school night games last week. And not once. But twice in the case of Elyria Catholic who advanced past their first round opponent. Surely, a pod format with Friday night/Saturday/Sunday games could work to alleviate stress on students and their families during the school week and work week for parents when and if a team has to travel more than 60 minutes one-way to a playoff site.
This appears to be the true issue. We know that the OHSAA appears to be driven first by the financials, with the actual principle of "serv(ing) our member schools and enrich(ing) interscholastic opportunities for students." as a secondary driving factor, despite this being the mission statement of the organization.
The seedings issue? Well, MaxPreps is front and center as a sponsor ($$$ to the OHSAA) on the OHSAA web site:
The right thing to do would be to persuade said sponsor to modify its formula - or better yet - to partner with myhockeyrankings.com to provide a far better seeding scenario, assuming that enriching interscholastic opportunities for students was the priority here.
As for two separate tournaments? There is precedent in nearly every other OHSAA sport. While hockey is not football - and the idea of a 24-team state tournament may seem highly unusual when viewed through a football (or most other sports lense), why the need for a one-size fits all approach to the divisional breakout? Grow the game? Then recognize and reward the disparity in talent and participation levels. Sending home the entire GCHSHL membership (save for Mentor and Avon Lake, this year) after less than a week? What's the point? (I could have used the leagues from other parts of the state, but I'll stick to what I know for this example.) It's already a 16-team tournament after the first game for any team that has a legitimate chance at a state title right now.
And as far as profitability goes, again, I suspect there is a business case that could be made (i.e.: more sponsors, more ticket sales, etc.) that would result in a net positive result for the organization.
The leadership would just have to want to get to a solution. Perhaps someday they will. One can hope.
At some point, the lower-level teams, aka teams that know they have no legitimate shot of competing on an even level going into the tournament, might get fed up with everything and go do something else to help their kids end their season/careers on a positive note.
Wouldn't look good for anyone
Wouldn't look good for anyone
clevelandcane
Active member
Is hockey different from any other sport?