This Weekend’s High School Hockey Schedule

January 25, 2008

There are three, regional Cape Ann high school hockey games on the schedule this weekend and all games are on saturday, January 26^th.

Newburyport at Lynnfield (12:00 pm, Peabody)

In the game of the weekend for the local River Rival teams, the Newburyport Clippers travel to the McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink in Peabody for a noon game (12:00 pm) against the Lynnfield Pioneers. This should be a great game with a lot of hard checking and fast skating as the Clippers (6-4-0) battle the 2^nd place Pioneers (6-2-3) in a key Cape Ann league match up. Newburyport won the first meeting between these teams, an exciting 1-0 defensive gem played at the Graf Rink in December.

The Newburyport Clippers play an aggressive, fast, and very physical style of hockey using their strength and speed to setup scoring opportunities. They have been getting stronger as the season progresses and team scoring has now spread out over their top two lines.

The big variable with the Clippers is the number of penalties they pick up during a game. With their aggressive “crash and bash” and playing the body style of play, penalties are always just a “whistle” away. So far they have managed to play “smart” when playing this physical style against top ranked teams.

Wilmington at Amesbury (7:00 pm, Newburyport)

The Amesbury Indians (0-10-0) have the daunting task of taking on the Wilmington Wildcats (7-1-1) at 7:00 pm at the Graf Rink in Newburyport. The winless Amesbury team will be facing off against the 1^st place Wilmington Wildcats.

Wilmington has been the team to beat all season in the Cape Ann league as they have a wealth of talent and speed. They are a finesse team that probably plays the best positional hockey in the league.

Amesbury is in a rebuilding mode with a very young and inexperienced team. I tip my hat to the coaches for keeping the team focused and positive in what has to be a painful hockey season so far for the team. In an earlier season game, Wilmington defeated Amesbury 8-0.

North Andover at Pentucket (8:00 pm, Haverhill)

The Pentucket Sachems (2-9-0) face off against the North Andover Scarlet Knights (5-4-0) at 8:00 pm at the Veterans Memorial Rink in Haverhill. The Pentucket team, like the Amesbury program, is in a rebuilding mode, but they have more experience, grit and talent than Amesbury. If North Andover lets up or takes the Sachems too lightly, Pentucket could shock them and skate away with a victory.