The last two Stuart/Corkery tournaments have crowned Gunnery and Kimball Union as New England elite champions.
Two talented programs. Two teams that also show no signs of slowing down.
December means holiday tournaments in the world of prep hockey, and two of the titles headed back to familiar campuses: Gunnery skated off with the prize at the Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic, while KUA claimed the title at the 53rd annual Flood-Marr hosted by Milton Academy and Noble & Greenough.
For both programs, it was early validation of what each hopes will be another promising season.
"We’ve been pleased so far," said Gunnery coach Craig Badger, of his team’s 6-2-1 start. "We have a fair number of new guys playing significant minutes and returning guys trying to adjust to their new roles.
"What we’ve seen is when we play hard and fast, we’re as good as anybody. When we don’t play that way, we can be beaten by anybody."
The Highlanders opened the Avon tourney by beating Trinity-Pawling in a shootout. Then came wins against Berkshire (4-0) and Loomis Chaffee (7-3) to earn a spot opposite Kent in the final.
Down 1-0 in the third period, senior Marc Gatcomb equalized early and could have ended it with a breakaway chance in the final minute that Kent goalie Alex Contey (34 saves) denied.
"We just kept at it," said Badger. "We had a lot of chances throughout, especially in the third period, when we were all over them. They have a very good goalie who just kept doing his job."
Forty seconds into the second overtime, Zach Pellegrino, a three-zone forward who’s making a name for himself this season by blocking shots, buried a goal to end things.
Pellegrino is one of the players Gunnery has relied on up front, along with leading scorer Albert Washco and Gatcomb, who’s well on the way to surpass the 25 points he collected a year ago.
Jimmy Rayhill, a sophomore who’s serving as a captain with Pellegrino and Washco, is the anchor on the blue line. New goalie J.P. Mella also has been an asset.
"We played pretty well up there," said Badger. "I think the results showed that."
Kent (6-4) had earned its spot in the final by winning three one-goal games, against Tabor, Avon and St. Paul’s. Down by two to start the third period against Avon, the Lions got goals by senior Tyler Cooligan and sophomore Matthew Perryman to force OT and won it with 26 seconds left when Patrick Goggin converted off passes from Perryman and Colin Cobb.
Meanwhile, for Kimball Union coach Tim Whitehead, winning the Flood-Marr brought a sense of deja vu.
Last year, forward Mike Lombardi was uncommitted entering the tournament, thrived and accepted an offer from Quinnipiac shortly after it concluded.
This year, it was uncommitted senior forward Nik Armstrong turning heads. Always a strong defensive forward, he’s added more offense to his game this year; he was named Flood-Marr MVP as his team won three games at the event and tied another.
"It was like a coming-out party for him," said Whitehead. "Every part of his game has just gone to another level. There’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to have a commitment pretty soon."
The Wildcats (9-1-1) opened the tournament by tying Salisbury (2-2). They followed that by edging Deerfield, 3-2, and pulling away from Milton in the third period.
In the final against Westminster, KUA got goals from four different players, including the empty-netter from Logan Cash that sealed a 4-2 win. Defenseman and Northeastern-commit Jordan Harris and lanky centerman Arlo Merritt joined Armstrong on the All-Tournament team.
"Maybe the best thing we did was we kept pushing the pace," said Whitehead. "We kept going and going, and fought through some dicey moments."
What Badger and Whitehead agree on is that the caliber of prep hockey in the region, spread across multiple states and leagues, is as good as it’s ever been, which promises for more tight games throughout January and February.
It was pretty good before Christmas. In multiple settings.
"Milton was a 2-2 game going to the third," noted Whitehead. "Deerfield, especially with that goalie … he’s pretty special and helps them in every game. Westminster has some good players and Salisbury, they’re loaded."
"In terms of depth of talent, it’s probably as good as you’ve seen in prep hockey, ever," said Badger. "There may not be the super-high-end teams, the Salisbury and Avon teams of five to 10 years ago, or the loaded Thayer teams from back in the day. But you don’t see a lot of blowout games anymore."
