The first notebook of the season features CB West, Neshaminy & CR North.
By Scott Huff
The 2015-2016 Suburban High School Hockey League season is underway – and the ‘new look’ SHSHL has had some tweaks to its conference alignments.
The SHSHL Continental Conference remains intact from a season ago with defending state champion Central Bucks South, Central Bucks West, Central Bucks East, North Penn, Pennridge, and Souderton.
The SHSHL National Conference has one change as Council Rock North moves to the American Conference and Archbishop Wood replaces the Indians. Council Rock South, William Tennent, Pennsbury, Neshaminy, and Abington all remain in the conference.
The SHSHL American Conference experienced the most change. CR North moves into the conference with Wissahickon, Harry S Truman, Hatboro-Horsham, Plymouth Whitemarsh, and Lower Moreland. Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland no longer will compete in the American Conference.
Both the SHSHL Continental and National Conference compete on the Varsity AA level. Teams within the conference play each other twice (10 games) and cross over with the other conference teams once (six games) for a total of 16 games.
The SHSHL American Conference competes on the Varsity A level. The six teams within the conference will play each other three times for a total of 15 games.
And the beat goes on…
SHSHL Continental Conference ‘Snapshot’
Central Bucks West Bucks
Central Bucks West (4-0-0) head coach Dave Baun is extremely pleased with how his talented Bucks have started the season.
“I guess it all starts with (junior goaltender) Jonah Brous,” said Baun of his returning All-League net minder. “He has been no less than spectacular in goal all year. He plays so well so consistently that you overlook how well he plays.
“His ability to track a puck is amazing,” added Baun. “And when the puck is shot at him, he is like Velcro – the ball sticks to him and there are never rebounds.
“Alex Pastuszek comes up from Haverford and works with our goalies,” continued Baun. “It seems like he runs a clinic at every practice.”
The Bucks also feature two outstanding defense pairings along the blue line. Junior Shawn Phillips and senior Ryan Trefz make up the No. 1 pairing, whole junior Brandon Savona and Eddie Shields man the second blue line pairing.
“I really believe that Shawn might be the most dominant player in the league,” said Baun. “And all of our defensemen have been great so far.
“Plus we have been able to get four lines rolling on offense,” added Baun. “That depth is something that we really didn’t have a few years ago.”
SHSHL Continental Conference Standings
1. Central Bucks West Bucks 4 0 0 * 8
2. Central Bucks South Titans 3 0 0 * 6
3. North Penn Knights 2 0 1 * 5
Pennridge Rams 2 0 1 * 5
5. Souderton Indians 1 2 0 * 2
6. Central Bucks East Patriots 1 3 0 * 2
This Week in the SHSHL Continental Conference
Wednesday - 12/2/15:
Central Bucks West vs. Pennridge @ Hatfield Ice – 7:20
Central Bucks South vs. Washington Township @ Holydell Ice Arena – 7:50
Thursday - 12/3/15:
North Penn vs. Pennsbury @ Hatfield Ice – 7:20
Souderton vs. Archbishop Wood @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 7:10
Pennridge vs. Abington @ Wintersport @ 7:20
Neshaminy vs. Central Bucks East @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 8:50
Friday – 12/4/15
Central Bucks South vs. Council Rock South @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 7:10
SHSHL National Conference ‘Snapshot’
Neshaminy Redskins
Neshaminy (1-2-0) head coach Dave Dugan has seen continued improvement with his Redskin team this year.
“We got off to a rough start losing the first two games,” said Dugan in reference to losses to both North Penn (10-0) and Pennridge (6-3). “But we came back and had a nice (4-1) win over Pennsbury.
“The best thing about this season is that we are playing with discipline,” added Dugan. “We have had more power play opportunities than the teams we have played.
“Our first line is really clicking,” continued Dugan in reference to Ian Dixon, Jeremy Sheley, and Aric Miller. “Our focus is to play the game in our offensive zone – and we have done that recently.”
The Redskin defense is anchored by senior Captain Christopher Wojnar and senior Antonio Alicea.
“Both of them have been very solid on defense,” said Dugan. “And both of them are key players on our power play.”
Neshaminy has split goaltending duties this year between junior Tyler Dembinski and freshman Steven Glik.
“Tyler started the first few games and then came down with an injury,” said Dugan. “Steven is only a freshman – but he has played very well. He has a good career ahead of him.
“Right now, we will ride the wave as far as which goalie plays,” added Dugan. “We will just have to wait and see what happens.”
SHSHL National Conference Standings
1. Council Rock South Hawks 2 1 1 * 5
William Tennent Panthers 2 1 1 * 5
3. Neshaminy Redskins 1 2 0 * 2
4. Pennsbury Falcons 1 3 0 * 2
5. Abington Ghosts 0 3 0 * 0
6. Archbishop Wood Vikings 0 4 0 * 0
This Week in the SHSHL National Conference
Wednesday – 12/2/15:
Abington vs. Pennsbury @ Grundy – 7:20
Thursday – 12/3/15
Pennridge vs. Abington @ Wintersport – 7:20
Pennsbury vs. North Penn @ Hatfield Ice – 7:20
Neshaminy vs. Central Bucks East @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 8:50
Friday – 12/4/15
Central Bucks South vs. Council Rock South @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 7:10
William Tennent vs. Upper Moreland @ Wintersport – 5:30
SHSHL American Conference ‘Snapshot’
Council Rock North Indians
Council Rock North (3-0-1) head coach Eric Tye has seen a lot over his 13-year tenure as head coach of the Indians. What he hasn’t seen, though, are some of the teams he will face this year in the SHSHL American Conference.
“I have never seen Hatboro-Horsham, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Wissahickon, or Lower Moreland play,” said Tye as Rock North has relocated from the SHSHL Varsity AA level to the SHSHL Varsity A level. “We played some of the old teams we used to play in scrimmages – like CR South and Souderton – and we just don’t have the numbers to play with the big boys right now.
“We went into the season without goalie,” added Tye. “And right now Chase D’Arangelo has stepped to volunteer to play in goal for us. The team knows that he is going to give a great effort.
“There are teams in this conference that are going to score a lot of goals,” continued Tye. “I think we have scored more goals this year than we scored last year.”
The scoring for Rock North has come from the foursome of Mark Tosti, Cavan Tully, John Vanni, and Daniel Guest. Captain Andrew Sweeney and Dante Rienzi man the blue line.
“We have a bunch of young kids that are anxious to get better,” said Tye. “There are really no bad teams in this conference – it should be very competitive.”
SHSHL American Conference Standings
1. Harry S Truman Tigers 5 0 0 * 10
2. Council Rock North Indians 3 0 1 * 7
3. Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 2 2 0 * 4
Wissahickon Trojans 2 2 0 * 4
5. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 1 3 0 * 2
6. Lower Moreland Lions 0 5 0 * 0
This Week in the SHSHL American Conference
Wednesday – 12/2/15
Wissahickon vs. Hatboro-Horsham @ Hatfield Ice – 9:00
Thursday – 12/3/15
Council Rock North vs. Truman @ Grundy – 7:20
Friday – 12/4/15
Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Council Rock North @ Revolution Ice Gardens – 8:50
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