Every season there are questions before the puck drops that need an answer. Sometimes we don’t get the full reveal until the lights go out at the Prudential Center.
But with another week of play under our belts, there’s always a chance to learn something new. With that in mind, we take a look at some of the trends that we’ve seen and what could be in store moving forward.
Scroll below to check out some of the things we’ve learned through the past week.
Sussex Cup provides proper 2019 sendoff
There were fireworks in the final N.J. ice hockey game of 2019, giving the year a proper sendoff as we started the trek in 2020. The Sussex Cup had a bit of everything between Vernon and Sparta-Jefferson United — fast-paced scoring, more-than-solid goaltending and overtime, which led to Vernon continuing its reign of the Sussex Cup thanks to an Ayden Steinbach golden goal.
Sussex Cup goalie standouts
Speaking of the goalies at Skylands Ice World Tuesday morning and afternoon. High Point-Wallkill Valley's Tai Ruvo has been a strong force in net for the co-op and was his usual self, making 45 saves in a loss to Newton-Lenape Valley. Sparta-Jefferson's Logan Hanek followed that up with an arguably better performance, standing on his head en route to a 59-save performance in an eventual OT loss. Both goalies were tagged with the loss but it was clear how much their presence was felt on New Year's Eve.
Is Don Bosco’s defense the best in the state?
Don Bosco Prep coach Greg Toskos has been a big advocate of his defense, going so far as to call it the best unit in the state. And, based off its early-season performance, it's hard to argue with the long-time Ironmen coach. Through eight games, Don Bosco has allowed just four goals combined to in-state opponents with two coming in a loss to Christian Brothers. Half of Don Bosco's games have resulted in a shutout for a squad that has been going through injury concerns in the early goings of the season.
Central Regional already past 18-19 win mark
Central Regional won all of five games last year. Before the beginning of the new year, the Golden Eagles already eclipsed their 18-19 win total thanks to wins over Bayonne and Brick Township pushing them to six wins. It’s been a bit of everything that has brought Central Regional back to that success. Danny Klutkoski has been the point man with a team-high nine goals but four other players have found the back of the net at least five times this year with one more, Trevor Coltenback (who also has the team lead with 14 assists) needing one more score to join the group. Defensively, Central Regional has allowed just 11 goals in seven games, four of those coming in a tie against Freehold Township.
Olnowich stretches shutout streak into 2020
Goals have been hard to come by against Chatham, for the most part, this season but the team’s defense has been particularly stingy over the past two weeks. Jennifer Olnowich, an offensive star on the girls Chatham-Madison squad last year that is playing her natural position for the boy’s team this season, turned aside 18 of 20 shots in a 2-0 loss to Randolph and she’s been picture perfect in three games since. That’s a shutout streak of 141:08 entering the 2020 portion of the team’s schedule. The standout senior has a .951 save percentage in six games.
Podvey has Montclair poised to break through
Montclair proved it can hang with nearly anyone in the state through the 2019 portion of its schedule. Its three losses came to Summit, Lakeland and Ramsey but the team was competitive in all three. Lucas Podvey has been a big reason for that. He boasts a .945 save percentage with one shutout. Over the past four games, though, that save percentage has climbed to .956. With that type of steady goaltending, Montclair has plenty of reason to believe that it can make plenty of noise in 2020.
Skyland Conference dominates Protec Ponds Holiday Tournament
Ridge and Hillsborough stole the show at this year’s Protec Ponds Holiday Tournament, rolling to matching 3-0 records with victories against Middletown South, Pope John and Middletown North. Ridge outscored all three teams by a total of 16-4, while Hillsborough finished at 16-8. It was a much-needed stretch of consistent play for the Raiders, who entered the tournament with one win in its first six games. As for Ridge, the 5-2 win over Middletown South to end the tournament was the team’s fifth in six games and it is now 6-1-3 in its last 10 overall.
Chaos set to ensue in Kelly Division
Sure, it’s still somewhat early, but five of the seven Kelly Division teams are separated by three points. Cranford currently holds the edge with eight having gone 3-0-2 to this point and won’t see Gov. Livingston or Oratory anymore. Verona-Glen Ridge is a close second with six points. Then toss in Nutley-Columbia, Millburn and Gov. Livingston with five points each and you have a gauntlet of teams battling for supremacy with a long stretch of track left. Not to be forgotten is an Oratory squad that has already tied Cranford and beaten Millburn. Any team is capable of beating another in this division, which should make this push one of the more entertaining ones in 2020.
Brian Bobal may be reached at bbobal@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Brian on Twitter @BrianBobalHS. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.
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January 03, 2020 at 08:30PM
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Ice Hockey: 8 things we learned this week - Sussex Cup sendoff, Kelly chaos, more - nj.com
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