Stage Set for Flyers Cup
By Rick Woelfel
The preliminaries are over and the main event is at hand; the 40th playing of the Flyers Cup tournament.
Twelve Suburban High School Hockey League teams will be part of the field, eight in Class AA and four in Class A. Each bracket will include 16 teams.
In first-round Class A games on Monday, seventh-seeded Lower Moreland will face 10th-seeded Unionville in a scheduled 7:45 start at Revolution Ice Gardens. Eleventh-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh will face sixth-seeded Hershey in an 8:50 game at Ice Line in West Chester. Wissahickon, the SHSHL champion and the 13th seed in the Flyers Cup tournament, will face fourth-seeded West Chester East in a 5:30 game at Ice Line. Fifteenth-seeded Hatboro-Horsham will go against second seed Strath Haven in a 7:30 game at Aston.
The opening round of the Class AA tournament is set for Wednesday. Second-seeded and two-time Flyers Cup champion Central Bucks South will face off against 15th seeded Downingtown West in a 7:15 start at Revolution Ice Gardens. Fourth-seeded Pennridge will take on 13th seeded Garnet Valley in an 8:40 game at Hatfield Ice. Fifth seed North Penn will start the doubleheader at Hatfield that night when it meets 12th-seeded Pennsbury in a scheduled 7 p.m. start.
Eighth-seeded Neshaminy will go against number-nine Parkland in a 7 p.m. game at Grundy Arena. Central Bucks West, the 10th seed will face number-seven Boyertown in a 7:10 game at Ice Line. Central Bucks East, the 11th seed, will face number six Haverford at the Skatium in Haverford Township at 8:00 while 16th-seeded and three-time Flyers Cup champion Council Rock South will face top seed and two-time defending champion Downingtown East in a 5:30 game at Ice Line.
The Flyers Cup tournament is always the high point of the season, but qualifying for the tournament is particularly significant for teams that haven’t done so for a time.
The Neshaminy program had struggled in recent seasons but took some big steps forward in 2019 to earn the number-eight seed in this year’s tournament.
Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo said his team is happy to be back in the tournament.
“For most, I think for all the kids on the team, it’s their first time to ever in the Flyers Cup,” he said. “So there’s a lot of enthusiasm and they’re ready to get out there and play some good hockey.”
DeMatteo pointed out that the mindset of his team is different from teams are accustomed to being in the tournament every year.
“The excitement level is very high,” he said. “For these guys, it’s a new experience for them, and they’re ready to get out there and start competing.”
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