As the calendar turns to December, we are roughly half-way through the MYHSAL 2017-2018 varsity and JV hockey seasons. Thus far, the season has been entertaining, to say the least, as a result of several surprising happenings in both leagues.
In varsity, the biggest surprise may be the emergence of MTA at the top of the division. The Lions have put together a perfect record, 7-0, to close out the first half of the season. MTA has won several games by impressive margins, including a 6-1 win over JEC and an 8-0 win over Flatbush, however, the Lions have yet to hit the heart of their schedule, as none of their opponents to date have a record above.500. MTA’s second half begins Monday night when they face off with Frisch.
Also undefeated are perennial contenders, the TABC Storm. TABC entered the week having only played four games, the most telling of which was a 2-1 overtime victory over SAR in SAR. Junior Elli Spinowitz scored 22 seconds into the extra session to lift the Storm over the Sting. TABC potentially has the hardest road remaining, still having to face SAR again (12/7), HAFTR two days later, MTA (12/25) and Frisch twice (12/31 in TABC, 2/5 in Frisch).
The SAR Sting actually sit above the Storm entering the week, as they have reached the halfway mark and currently hold a record of 6-0-0-1. SAR can be confident with the fact that the loss to TABC was the only blemish on its record, as the team has played one of the toughest schedules, to date, of any team in the league. The Sting have taken two wins over Frisch, a win over Rambam and have gone into DRS and downed the defending champions 2-1 on goals by seniors Judah Fortgang and Jason Burian. The Sting get their chance to avenge the loss to TABC this week (11/7) in TABC. Other than that and two games at MTA, the back-stretch of the season sets SAR up nicely to battle for a first-round bye and the top seed in the division.
Also throwing themselves back into the fray are the Frisch Cougars. Although the first half has not gone exactly as planned for the defending Western Conference champions, the Cougars still sit above the.500 mark at 3-2-1. Frisch was able to shake off their two tough losses to SAR to go 41 minutes with and tie DRS in Frisch this past Saturday night. Junior J.J. Coren scored Frisch’s lone goal while fellow junior Isaac Markovitz showed the same abilities in net that helped lead the Frisch JV team to the title last season. Given the log-jam at the top of the division, Frisch will need to put together a nearly-perfect back stretch of the season to jump MTA, SAR and TABC in the race for one of the two Western byes.
The final team to sit above.500 entering the week is the Kushner Cobras. Kushner has gone 4-3 heading into the second half, putting together wins against similar opponents in the West, including JEC and Hillel. However, losses to Ramaz, Frisch and a shocking home defeat to Solomon Schechter have kept Kushner from sticking in the top-half of the standings board. The Cobras will theoretically have to take four of the final seven contests to assure themselves of a postseason berth, which includes similarly situated JEC (12/9) and Hillel (2/5), as well as some tough contests with SAR (12/4), TABC (12/23) and MTA (12/27).
The JEC Thunder sit right below Kushner at 3-4. JEC’s status took a major step up after defeating Ramaz 4-3 last week. The win is a good end to a half that saw losses to HANC, SAR, MTA and Kushner and gives hope to a team that will only have three games against the lower half of the division over the rest of the season.
Of the three remaining teams, Hillel, Ramaz and Westchester, the only team that has shown glimpses that they could pull themselves back into the playoff hunt is Ramaz. A disappointing first half of the year, the Rams are 2-6, but hold three winnable games against Hillel (1/4 and 1/6) and Westchester (1/8) down the stretch. The problem that the Rams face is that those three wins will likely still only leave them tied with JEC for the final playoff spot, which as a result of last week’s loss will leave them on the outside. This forces Ramaz to step above their station and take points against either TABC or SAR in the remaining three contests.
In the junior varsity league, the Western Conference looks like the George Washington Bridge at rush hour. Six of the seven teams sit within three points of each other in the fight for four playoff spots. Three teams still remain undefeated: Kushner, TABC and defending champion Frisch.
The Kushner Cobras enter the week at the top of the division with a record of 4-0-1. Wins over Ramaz, JEC, Magen David and Flatbush surround their only blemish on the season, a 2-2 tie to MTA. Kushner boasts an extremely talented freshman class comprised of just about all of last year’s HAYMISH champion squad, who will need to mature rapidly as Kushner faces a tough stretch that includes SAR twice (12/4 and 12/20), JEC (12/9) and the two other undefeated teams (Frisch 1/4 and TABC 2/3) in their second half.
The JEC Thunder also have four wins, defeating Ramaz, MTA, Magen David and YDE, but were unable to overcome Kushner in their first matchup. JEC will get their chance for revenge on Saturday night and will need to come away with a win as their schedule includes all five other teams fighting for the four playoff spots, including TABC, SAR and Frisch all after the New Year.
Tied with JEC are the upstart MTA Lions. The Lions started off the year hot, taking points in three of their first four games, including a win over North Shore and a tie with Kushner, but have since cooled down and are getting very close to running out of opportunities to earn points. MTA sits at 3-3-1-1 and have two games remaining, SAR (12/11) and JEC (12/26), both against teams that they’ve already lost to. The Lions would need all four remaining points in order to have a chance at a playoff berth. Anything less means that MTA’s chances fade drastically as they will be ceding points to teams with similar point totals.
The remaining three teams find themselves with six points: undefeated TABC and Frisch at 3-0 and SAR at 3-1. The defending champion Frisch Cougars have only played three games, but have produced the biggest statement win of the young season, defeating DRS this past Saturday night 3-1. DRS’s goal was the first that the Cougars have given up all year, shutting out SAR 6-0 and MTA 4-0 in their previous games. The next three games for the Cougars should all be routs, facing winless Ramaz twice and one-win HANC. After that, it’s two games with TABC (12/30, 2/7) one with Kushner (1/4) and a date with JEC (2/3) that will shape up the top of the division.
TABC is in the same boat as Frisch, but ride a very different current. The Storm have taken wins over Ramaz and MTA to reach their 3-0 record, but now face the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the league. The Storm host SAR on 12/7 before matching up with Eastern Conference title contenders HAFTR (12/9) and DRS (12/24), followed by Frisch (12/30) and JEC (1/2) before winter break and then still must meet up with Kushner (2/3) and finish with Frisch (2/7) to end off their season.
The SAR Sting began their year with three wins over HANC, North Shore and MTA before getting blanked by Frisch. Where the Sting really stand will be determined by its upcoming two games against Kushner (12/4) and TABC (12/7). With games against MTA and Ramaz still remaining, SAR will likely hit the 10-point mark, but will need to take points from the first two games, the return battle with Kushner (12/20) or their game with JEC (1/9) in order to plant themselves into post-season contention.
The Ramaz Rams round up the division with an 0-7 record and are on the verge of elimination with another loss this year.
By Elliot Weiselberg
