Central Bucks South, Council Rock South and Harry S Truman are featured in this week’s notebook. Photos courtesy of Dara King of DNK Photography. Check back for galleries of the CB South/North Penn and CB South/Souderton games.
By Scott Huff
SHSHL Continental Conference ‘Snapshot’
Central Bucks South Titans
Central Bucks South head coach Tom Coyne has been behind a bench for 34 consecutive years either at the youth or high school level. Coyne – who has been behind the bench for the Titans for the last eight years – coached CB South to the state championship last year.
“I just decided I was a little tired with the coaching,” said Coyne. “And I didn’t want to leave the game sick and tired – just tired.
“We have been successful the last few years, and I didn’t want to walk away because of failure,” added Coyne. “I have enjoyed going to the rink since I was a kid, and I will miss both the players and the rivalries.
“But working full time – hustling to get to the rink – it was a lot,” continued Coyne. “I guess you could say that I am a control freak – and I really can’t see myself as someone’s assistant coach. But you have to be plugged into what other teams are doing – and it takes a lot out of you.
“I just wanted to let everyone know that this was it for me,” added Coyne. “We want to focus on the end of the season with the league playoffs and the Flyers Cup. And when it’s over – it’s over.”
And when it’s over Central Bucks South might have just run the table in the SHSHL Varisty ‘A’. The Titans are unbeaten in league play that included a convincing 9-2 victory over North Penn this week.
CB South features a very balanced scoring attack with no less than six skaters scoring over 20 points. That list includes Jason Bechtel, Jackson Koblick, Matt Stoll, Damon DeLaurentis, Joseph DeLaurentis, and Thomas Liberta. Aaron King is one of the elite goaltenders in the entire SHSHL.
“We have a huge game next week against Central Bucks West (12-2-1),” said Coyne. “West is an excellent team and is one of those rivalry games that I am going to miss.”
The SHSHL showdown contest will be played next Thursday (2/18/16) at Hatfield Ice with a 7:20 faceoff. CB South edged CB West 5-2 in their only meeting this season as the Titans outshot the Bucks 39-14. West goaltender Jonah Brous was spectacular in net with 34 saves.
SHSHL Continental Conference Standings
1. Central Bucks South Titans 14 0 0 * 28
2. Central Bucks West Bucks 12 1 1 * 25
3. Pennridge Rams 7 7 1 * 15
4. North Penn Knights 7 8 0 * 14
5. Souderton Indians 5 9 0 * 10
6. Central Bucks East Patriots 2 12 0 * 4
SHSHL National Conference ‘Snapshot’
Council Rock South Golden Hawks
Council Rock South head coach Joe Houk knows a couple of things about the future of his Golden Hawks.
The first is that second place CR South will most likely not be able to catch first place William Tennent in the SHSHL National Conference standings – and second is that the Golden Hawks will certainly be invited to play in the prestigious Flyers Cup at the end of the SHSHL season.
“Catching Tennent isn’t going to happen, but getting into the (SHSHL) playoffs will,” said Houk. “And once the playoffs start anything can happen. We want to go as deep into the playoffs as possible and get the highest seed we can for the Flyers Cup.
“We have not been as consistent as I hoped we would be,” added Houk. “Right now we want to finish the season on the right page. We have eight seniors on this team, and if we can reel them in we should be fine.”
The senior cornerstone for the Hawks this season has been Anthony Derose, Justin Adams, and Jay Jenkins.
The fate of the CR South season could be determined by the play of sophomore goaltender Mason Procz.
“Mason is going to be the goaltender we ride for the rest of the season,” said Houk. “Next year will be interesting in that we bring back Mason but lose 12 seniors from our program. We have a lot of young kids at the middle school level that look very good, and they will all have an opportunity to play.”
SHSHL National Conference Standings
1. William Tennent Panthers 11 1 1 * 23
2. Council Rock South Hawks 10 3 1 * 21
3. Pennsbury Falcons 6 9 0 * 12
4. Neshaminy Redskins 4 8 1 * 9
5. Archbishop Wood Vikings 2 10 1 * 5
6. Abington Ghosts 0 12 2 * 2
This Week in the SHSHL Varsity ‘AA’
Friday – February 12, 2016
William Tennent Panthers vs. Abington Ghosts @ Bucks County Ice – 6:50
Central Bucks East Patriots vs. Central Bucks West Bucks @ Hatfield – 7:20
SHSHL American Conference ‘Snapshot’
Truman Tigers
Truman head coach Bill Keyserand his Tigers are at the top of the SHSHL standings and the immediate goal is for Truman to remain there as the regular season comes to a close.
“We play Council Rock North back-to-back next week,” said Keyser in reference to the second place Indians. “They are a very good team – and the first time we played them they were breaking in a new goaltender.
“We would like to finish in first place (in the regular season) – but we want to focus on winning the league title,” added Keyser. “We got to the championship game last year against Wissahickon and lost – we would like to get back to that game again this year and win.”
Truman finds itself in a unique position this season as the Tigers are considered an ‘AA’ team by enrollment but compete in an ‘A’ division.
“Last year we played at an ‘A’ level, but we were still invited to the Flyers Cup as an ‘AA’ team,” said Keyser. “We would most likely get a low seed at ‘AA’, but we would love to compete in the Flyers Cup.
“Next year we will compete at a ‘AA’ level, and playing in the Flyers Cup will open our eyes,” added Keyser. “We have a nice group of underclassmen on this team that will move on up with us next year.”
That core of Tigers includes the top two scorers in the SHSHL American Conference – Michael Roarty and Kyle Bennett.
“Kyle Huth is a sophomore goaltender who just began playing in goal two years ago,” said Keyser. “He works so hard to improve – and in the off season he is most likely going back to goalie camp. He really wants to help his team and be the best goaltender he can be.”
SHSHL American Conference Standings
1. Harry S Truman Tigers 13 0 0 * 26
2. Council Rock North Indians 11 1 1 * 23
3. Wissahickon Trojans 7 7 0 * 14
4. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 5 8 0 * 10
5. Hatboro Horsham Hatters 3 10 0 * 6
6. Lower Moreland Lions 0 13 1 * 1
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