AVON, Conn. -- The sprint that is the New England prep school playoffs is here, so it's a good time to check in with Avon Old Farms coach John Gardner.
Gardner's Winged Beavers are the No. 2 seed (behind Lawrence Academy) in the Elite 8 and will face Noble & Greenough (18-5-3) at home on Wednesday. Game time at the Jennings Fairchild Rink is 5 p.m.
The seedings have been set for the Stuart/Corkery Elite 8, the Martin/Earl Large School and the Piatelli/Simmons Small School tournaments. All quarterfinals are Wednesday, with semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday at Trinity College.
The ranking system for each tournament uses an algorithm derived by Jeremy Philipson while at Taft (he would later go on to Carnegie Melon and Silicon Valley) and essentially is derived from points allotted for the difficulty of each team's schedule. The rating system (JSPR) was approved by then-NEPSIHA President Gardner, so you've got to think he's not opposed to it.
"There’s years when I hate it and there’s years when I like it," he said. "If it works for you, it’s great. Some years, I think you have to have enough inter-regional play for it to factor in because some years they’ll say, 'Oh, the East is stronger' or some years the West is stronger. But that’s our subjectivity as well.
"We’re playing an ISL school in the first round, Noble & Greenough, and we don’t normally play them. In a sense, that’s good, it makes it a New England-wide tournament.
"I think most people would agree it’s a pretty fair system."
When pressed, Gardner had a couple of suggestions for tweaking the current prep school playoff system.
"I might look at going four East and four West (teams)," he said. "I also might look at -- we’ve talked about this for years and years -- trying to get 12 teams because the difference between 1 and 8 ... I look at the eight teams in the Elite 8, there’s some really good hockey teams.
"I mean, look at No. 8, Berkshire. Berkshire, they’re a good hockey team and their goalie is outstanding. We played them twice: We were lucky to beat them 1-0 and the second time, at their place, they beat us 2-0. There’s a lot of good hockey teams there, so by going to 12 teams, you might expand that a little, give the top four teams a bye. (But) I don’t think the New England prep school athletic directors will approve that.
"I’d go (to an Elite) 12 and I might just have a second tournament. ... There’s a lot of teams playing, and it’s great for them, but you don’t want to make it like where everybody gets in the playoffs. That’s sort of stupid. I’ve seen some high school tournaments where there’s teams with 4-12 records getting into the tournament. I mean, c’mon."
Speculation before the final game of the season was that Avon Old Farms would get the No. 1 seed if it beat Loomis Chaffee on Saturday, but even though the Winged Beavers did prevail, 4-2, in a tight game over the spirited Pelicans, they ended the season seeded at No. 2, with Lawrence Academy and star center Riley Duran taking the top seed.
"It is what it is," he said. "It’s the system. You can’t argue with the system. They’ve played a harder schedule than other people and ... certainly they’ve had a very successful season. I think (coach) Robbie Barker’s probably done a really good job with them and they’re going to come in primed and loaded.
"But I’m not looking at Lawrence Academy, I’m looking at we’re playing a really good Noble & Greenough team on Wednesday. From what I hear about that team, they can beat anybody as well."
Which presents a problem not often seen in hockey circles: How do you prepare to play a team that you haven't played, for a crucial one-and-done playoff game?
"What you do is you talk to people, mostly," Gardner said. "What we did (Sunday) was, all the coaches were talking with people they knew and (were) collecting information. Then, we’ll meet. But, you know, I don’t think our game plan is going to change a whole lot. We just have to be aware of what they’re doing and try to do what we do best."
Gardner, of course, wasn't going to share any specific secrets for team success, but he does know a little bit about what it takes to succeed in the prep school playoffs.
"I think the key is that your team stays consistent and you do what you do best," the veteran coach said. "People are enthusiastic about it, but you treat it like another game. Try to stay in your routine, try to do what’s gotten you there, really."
For Avon Old Farms, that means tapping into the success that delivered a 23-2 record in one of the best seasons for the school in recent memory. Just don't ask Gardner to compare his teams from over the years, teams that have included Jonathan Quick, Cam Atkinson and Nick Bonino.
"I never compare teams from the past," he said. "I just don’t. People ask me, 'Well, is this team better than this team?' I don’t know. Unless you can take them and bring them back in a time machine and play them then, OK, maybe the ’05 team was better than the ’04 team. I don’t compare them. I never have. There’s just too many variables."
But Gardner was comfortable talking up his current bunch.
"I like the way this team competes," he said. "I think we have great leadership, our captains are particularly good, (Gentry) Shamburger and (Tabor) Heaslip, I think they’ve been outstanding. And we’re a year older than we were last year, we have a lot of returning guys from last year’s team and I think they’ve bonded. I’m proud of what they’ve achieved so far."
Paul Grant is an editor and a writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
