It's always one of the biggest days on the hockey calendar in Massachusetts.
On Sunday, the state's top high school teams will take the ice at TD Garden with a shot at earning glory for their schools and hometowns. The MIAA will crown state champions in Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 boys hockey as well as Division 1 and 2 girls hockey.
The day will kick off at 9 a.m. when No. 1 Notre Dame (Hingham) and No. 2 St. Mary's square off for the D1 girls state title game. The all-day marathon will wrap up with the 7:30 nightcap, featuring No. 1 Tewksbury and No. 11 Boston Latin in the D2 boys championship.
New England Hockey Journal editor Evan Marinofsky and writer Patrick Donnelly broke down each matchup in the latest RinkWise podcast. They look at how each team got here as well as some top storylines to keep an eye on.
MIAA hockey championships — Who will win?
On No. 11 Winchester's run to the D1 boys title game
Marinofsky:Â "Winchester is the real interesting one here. Winchester was one of the better public schools this year ... and they've caught fire in the playoffs. Goalie Aiden Emrick's been outstanding. I think that's been the biggest thing. Ironically enough, I think their most convincing win of the whole tournament was over No. 3 Catholic Memorial. They beat them 4-1, and once they got two goals, it wasn't really a close game. They sort of got CM to kind of fall apart a bit. Which shows you what they can do. Cause up front they got, Danny O'Brien, a senior who's really good, and they're just solid. I mean, they're a hardworking team. They're your typical public school. They also have pretty good puck-moving defensemen. They've got some guys back there that can move the puck. They're not just meat and potatoes defensemen. These guys can move. These guys can skate. So they have a little bit of everything."
Looking at the D2 girls title game
Donnelly: "Falmouth, it almost didn't happen for them. They took Canton to double overtime and won, 4-3. So, a little bit of a scare there. ... The biggest thing, too, is they have a freshman goalie, Aspen Devlin, who has been great all season, and she's really seemed to find another level here in the playoffs. ... Falmouth is pretty young, and lot of their production comes from the few juniors and seniors on the team. Then, you see Duxbury, a team that's been there before, a team that's very deep, getting contributions throughout the lineup. They have the experienced goalie, Anna McGinty, who won it last year. She's one of the best in the state right. So Duxbury is maybe a little more balanced where you look at Falmouth, a little more high-flying. ... It's tough. You want a high-scoring game, especially with teams that can really put the puck in the net. But with how hot Devlin's been, and how good McGinty is, this could be a tight game."
The RinkWise podcast can be streamed here and on major platforms, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
