Tonight marks the start of a new partnership between the Suburban High Hockey League and the Inter County Scholastic Hockey League; the first two in a series of 12 interleague games between the two leagues as part of the regular-season schedule that will be played between tonight and December 5.
Tonight, Wissahickon from the SHSHL will face Strath-Haven from the ICSHL at Ice Works in Aston and Downingtown West from the ICSHL will host Central Bucks South from the SHSHL at Ice Line (the full schedule is listed below).
The two leagues square off against each other annually in the Flyers Cup tournament and regular-season interleague games are not new. This year’s series of games however, have more significance because the results will be considered by the Flyers Cup Committee when evaluating potential invitees.
Beyond the Flyers Cup tournament however, the series shines a spotlight on high-school hockey. Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna is looking forward to the crossover games.
“We go into the Flyers Cup every year blind [against the Inter County League teams] and how we match up,” he said. I know they’ve talked about it for a couple years and the coaches were all on board. It’s something I think is long overdue.
“I think for both leagues, to get a chance to see teams from the other league and it breaks up the monotony of the season and it gives you a different look altogether. It’s really cool thing they’re doing.”
Montagna likes playing interleague games as a change of pace,
“We maybe go down to Ice Line and whoever we’re playing brings a lot of fans in for a regular-season game,” he said. “It’s a playoff atmosphere you don’t always get when we’re playing teams two or three times a year.”
Haverford High coach John Povey says the series will be a boost for the high-school version of the sport.
“It’s something we’ve been trying to do for some time now,” he said. We just think it’s great for high-school hockey. When you get teams from each league, you’re going to get good hockey games and all that does promote the league promote the sport.
“It’s something we’ve been trying to do for a while and being able to make it happen this year is really good and it’s good for high-school hockey.”
Povey is no stranger to interleague games.
“We’ve been doing preseason games with each other for the last 10-plus years,” he says. “This is just a little bit different because it’s going to have a lot more meaning to it.”
When Shaun McGinty was playing high-school hockey at Council Rock High in the mid-1990s under legendary coach Paul Gilligan the Indians competed regularly against teams from throughout the area, including Delaware and Chester Counties.
McGinty notes that Gilligan wanted his teams to face the strongest opposition available.
“His mindset was to compete with the best to be the best.” McGinty said. “He always pushed his program and us as players.”
As a head coach himself, McGinty has regularly sought out top-flight non-league opposition.
“I’ve done it here from the time I was here with [former coach Tom Coyne},” said, “and since Tom’s left I’ve kept it going with Haverford and Father Judge. I’ve played Ghost and La Salle and those teams are great.
We’ve played Haverford and we’ve played Conestoga. It’s good that the leagues are doing it again. It’s great for the kids and good for the coaches to see what others leagues have.”
McGinty notes that games like the one his team will play Friday night against Downingtown East are tutorials of sorts for younger players who aspire to compete at the school varsity level.
“We try to sell our middle school here,” he said. When we’re in playoffs, we try to get the middle school kids come out to see the big boys play and promote the idea that ‘This is where I’ve got to get too, this is where I have to work to to get to this level of play. You’re going to see some talent. It’s a great way to promote the game and I think it’s huge.”
Crossover Schedule
Friday 11-8 Strath Haven 3 Wissahickon 1 at Ice Works
Friday 11-8 Downingtown East 6 C.B. South 1 at Ice Line
Wednesday 11-13 Prnnridge 6 Boyertown 3 at Hatfield
Thursday 11-14 Marple-Newtown at Hatboro-Horsham 7:10 at Hatfield
Thursday 11-14 Conestoga at Neshaminy 7:20 at Grundy
Friday 11-15 North Penn at Downingtown West 7:50 at Ice Line
Friday 11-15 Pennsbury at Spring-Ford 7:15 at Oaks
Friday 11-15 Central Bucks East at Avon Grove 8:00 at Ice Line
Wednesday 11-20 Lower Merion at Souderton 7:20 at Hatfield
Thursday 11-21 Radnor at Plymouth Whitemarsh 7:10 at Hatfield
Thursday 11-21 Haverford at Council Rock South 7:20 at Grundy
Thursday 12-5 Abington at Harriton 8:00 at Skatium
Hockey Happenings 