SOL SHSHL Ice Hockey Notebook (1-23-19)

This week’s notebook features Abington, North Penn & Upper Dublin and also includes the leading stats for scoring and goalkeeping.

By Rick Woelfel

National Division Snapshot

Ghosts looking to finish strong —Finding their legs. That’s been the story of the Abington Galloping Ghosts this season. They come into the week at 3-5-2 on the season, 2-3-1 in league play, and battling for a SHSHL playoff spot. Their last start was a 6-2 loss to a good Neshaminy squad last Thursday when four skaters and a backup goaltender were out of the Abington lineup.

The Galloping Ghosts have returned to Class AA hockey after spending the past two seasons in Class A.
Coach Ken Brzozowski has been impressed with the effort displayed by his young team.

“I know we work hard in practice,” Brzozowski said. “We’re missing a little bit of that translation from what we do in practice to the games and I think once we can get that to click, I think well be continue to be competitive at this Class AA level.”

Perry Carpenter leads the Galloping Ghosts in scoring with 16 goals and eight assists for 24 points. Ryan Gosselin is next with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points.

Abington has also been getting good play in goal.  Jacob Snellenberg had been getting the majority of the work and is carrying a save percentage of .830 and a goals-against average of 3.87. The latter puts him ninth among SHSHL goaltenders who have played a minimum of 240 minutes this season.

The Galloping Ghosts have a busy week on tap; they were scheduled to take on Central Bucks South on Wednesday night at Revolution Ice Gardens, before taking on William Tennent on Thursday at Wintersport, their ancestral home. Abington dominated the early years of the SHSHL, winning the first three league titles and winning two state titles in the first five years of the league’s existence. At one point in the 1970s the team competed in two leagues simultaneously.

“Whether we’re considered an away team, we consider (Wintersport) our home rink,” Brzozowski said. “It’s where we practice, where we’ve always played. We think we have a little bit of an advantage when we get to play there.”

Continental Division Snapshot

Knights gearing up for playoffs—North Penn started the week with the best record in the SHSHL. The Knights were 7-2-3 (6-1-2 for 14 points in league play) heading into Wednesday’s scheduled non-league matchup with Central Bucks West at Hatfield Ice. They are one point in front of Central Bucks South, which has a game in hand

North coach Kevin Vaitis is comfortable with where his team is sitting at present.

“We’re happy with where we’re at right now,” he said, “but we know we have some work to do. We’ve got four games left and we’ll continue to work these next four games to get ready for playoffs.”

The Knights have displayed an abundance of firepower and balance along with it. Five players have 20 points or more which is uncommon at this stage of a season. Tyler Greenstein has 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points. That’s tops among the SHSHL’s Class AA scorers. Nathan Oh has 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points. Josh Kaufhold has contributed eight goals and 15 assists for 23 points. Jake Nelson has matched that total on nine goals and 14 assists, while Jared Albano has contributed five goals and 15 assists for 20 points.

Andrew Zanoni (2.80 GAA/.854 save percentage) and Nick Ebbinghaus (3.00/846) are splitting the work in goal and they’re getting plenty of support. The Knights are yielding just 21 shots per game.

American Division Snapshot

Young Cardinals learning to fly—It’s been a difficult season for a young Upper Dublin team. The Flying Cardinals have won just three times in 11 starts and are winless in eight league games.

Coach Anthony Richichi has a young team; there are six freshmen on the 17-player roster.

“We have four defensemen,” he said, “three of which are freshmen. Even though they’re talented, they’re still learning how to play against 18-year olds that have been playing high-school hockey at the varsity level.

Senior Ari Nordlinger leads the Flying Cardinals in scoring with 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points.

Richichi noted that his team’s manpower shortage on the blue line can cause problems.

“If one of our guys is in the penalty box for two minutes or four minutes, it makes it really difficult to kind of have a rotation to kill those penalties,” the UD coach said. “But they’ve adjusted quite well. I think, I some cases, they’re entering the games as second-year bantams against kids who could be playing AA or AAA (midgets).”

Upper Dublin was scheduled to face Wissahickon Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice.

Notes:  The SHSHL has altered its Class AA playoff-selection criteria. This season, the right playoff teams will be selected based on points. In recent years, the top three finishers in each division qualified for the playoffs, along with two wild card selections.

The change means that in essence, the 12 Class AA teams are playing in one division, which they’ve been doing since last year in terms of scheduling, since each team plays one league game against each of the other Class AA teams.

The Flyers Cup Finals are set for Sunday, March 17 at the Wells Fargo Center. Five championship games, four boys’ games, one girls’ will be played that day and evening.

Scoring Leaders

(Minimum 240 minutes played)

(Minimum 240 minutes played)