Combing Through History

The SHSHL is working to complete its list of all-time league champions. The list is about 95 percent complete but there are still some holes.

Here is what we’re looking for.

Overall champion: 1995-96 it is possible no champion was crowned that year.

Class AA champion: 2006-07

Class A champion: 2002-03

2003-04

We need documentation that a team won a championship in a particular season. Documentation can be provided through newspaper accounts, photos, and/or videos.

Anyone with relevant information should contact me at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

Council Rock South 7 Council Rock North 5

Council Rock South exploded for four goals in the second period and then held on to knock Council Rock North out of the Suburban High School Hockey League playoffs. The win propels the top-seeded Golden Hawks (13-1-2) into the championship game against Pennridge Thursday at 7:10 at Hatfield Ice.

The Golden Hawks lost to Pennsbury in last year’s final.

The fifth-seeded Indians (9-7) broke out quickly in the first period, when Karson Grainey scored a goal with only 2:28 gone in the period. But CR South came right back with two goals, one by Bobby Gilbert and one by Blaize Pepe in a span of just over rwo-and-a-half minutes.

In the second period, the goals came fast and furious. South got goals from Mike Costantini and Sam Cherassky to get things going before Grainey got one back for North.

But South scored another, this one from Daniel Vergules and added a second from Blaize Pepe sandwiched around North goals from Jackson Accardi and Grainey.

The Indians attempted teo comeback in the third period as Zach Weissman cut into the Hawks’ lead. But Chase Tovsky finished off the scoring for South and for the game.

“I don’t think at any one time we had control of the game,” said South coach Joe Houk. If we had scored a couple more goals, like four or five, that would have been totally different.”

CR South 7, CR North 5

CR North 1 3 1 — 5

CR South 2 4 1 — 7

First period: Karson Gainey CRN (Noah Epstein) 2:28; Bobby Gilbert CRS (Blaize Pepe)11:19; B. PepeCRS (Eric Mostoller) 13:57 SH.

Second period: Mike Costantini CRS (Kevin Koles) 2:08; Sam Cherassky CRS (Koles) 5:44; Grainey CRN (Zach Weissman, Epstein) 7:06 PP; Daniel Vergules CRS (Koles) 8:38;Jackson Accardi CRN (Nicholas Hahn, Grainey) 9:42; Grainey CRN (unassisted) 14:02 SH; B. Pepe CRS (Gilbert) 16:47.

Third period: Weissman CRN (Accardi, Grainey) 2:23; Chase Tovsky CRS (B. Pepe, Cherassky)8:34 PP.

Shots: CRN 19, CRS 42. Saves: Ian Goldberg (CRN) 35, Carson Lopez (CRS) 12.

Pennridge 6 Pennsbury 3

HATFELD TOWNSHIP— One of the mantras of postseason hockey is ‘Don’t take bad penalties.’ Failing to adhere to that axiom cost Pennsbury dearly Wednesday night.

Pennridge scored four goals in the third period and went on to a 6-3 win over the Falcons in an SHSHL National Division semifinal at Hatfield Ice. The second-seeded Rams, still unbeaten at 16-0-1, will take on Council Rock South Thursday night at 7:10 in the same rink for the National Division title. Third-seeded Pennsbury (11-4-1-0), which was defending the division title it won last year, will await the start of the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament next Tuesday.

As the third period commenced, it was anyone’s game with the teams deadlocked at 2-2. Tyler Manto and Kevin Pico produced first-period goals for Pennridge. Brendan Macainsh, who scored for the Falcons just 35 seconds into the opening session, set up his teammate Shane Siegmound 77 seconds into the second.

But not quite a third of the way into the final period, the flow of the game shifted dramatically. At the 5:06 mark, the Falcons drew a bench penalty for too many men on the ice. It took Aeryk Lehrhaupt just 11 seconds to score the goal that put his team ahead for good.

But there was more to come. At the 6:06 mark Lehrhaupt was flagged for hooking. Fifty-three seconds later Pennsbury’s Andrew Falkenstein knocked a Pennridge player off stride with his knee and was called for tripping, leaving teams skating four on four. Colin Dachowski scored for Pennridge at 7:51 to make it a 4-2 game and for the remainder of the period, play flowed in Pennridge’s direction, like a river flowing downhill.

Andrew Lizak added a goal at 10:49 to give the Rams a three-goal lead. Macainsh brought his team closer when he scored his second goal of the game at 12:27 but that was all the Falcons could muster.

Shane Dachowski finished the scoring with an empty net goal with seven seconds remaining.

There was an ice cut before the start of the third period, which Lehrhaupt said allowed the Rams to regroup.

“We didn’t feel like we played like we were in a tie game,” he said. “As soon as we came out buzzing (in the third period) and got that goal, it made a whole world of a difference.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna used his time out prior to his team’s third-period power play to tell his troops to pick up the pace. “I thought we were going a little too much trying to play defense,” he said. ‘I thought their next five minutes was their best five minutes of the year.”

The game featured 12 minor penalties, six against each team. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley voiced his displeasure with the work of the officials.

“I don’t want to talk about penalties too much,” he said, “but in my opinion, that was one of the worst officiated games I’ve ever been in.

“The penalties we took, we took, it doesn’t help at all. But it also doesn’t help when the referees are (inattentive) to what’s going on the ice.”

Both goaltenders were sharp. Aaron McDaniel stopped 37 shots for the Falcons. His Pennridge counterpart Ryan Pico was credited with 32 saves.

“Our goalie was keeping us in it,” Daley said, “with some spectacular saves, especially right at the end of the second, and Pico was doing his thing. He stole a few from us as expected.

“We really played great the first two periods. It was just a five-minute span of going brain dead that killed us in the third.”

Pennsbury 1 1 1—3

Pennridge 2 0 4—6

First-period goal: Brendan Macainsh (Pb) from Shane Siegmund, :35; Tyler Manto (Pr) from Kevin Pico and Colin Dachowski, 9:40; Pico (Pr) from Aidan Boyle, 13:25

Second-period goal: Siegmund (P) from Macainsh, 1:17 (pp)

Third-period goals: Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) from Jack Lowery, 5:17; Colin Dachowski (Pr) unassisted, 7:51; Andrew Lizak (Pr) from Boyle, 10:49; Macainsh (Pb) from Siegmund, 12:27; Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Manto, 16:53 (en)

Shots: Pennsbury 35, Pennridge 43; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (Pb) 37, Ryan Pico (Pr) 32

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Updated SHSHL Playoff Schedule

Wednesday, March 2

Class AA Semifinals

7:10 Pennridge vs Pennsbury at Hatfield

7:50 CR South vs CR North at Revolution

Thursday, March 3

7:10 Class AA Final Council Rock South vs. Pennridge

8:30 Class A Final Wissahickon vs. Abington

Both Games at Hatfield

Promote your product or service here during the Flyers Cup. Contact us for details

at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

ED SNIDER YOUTH HOCKEY FOUNDATION AND FLYERS CHARITIES ANNOUNCE PLANS TO BUILD OUTDOOR STREET HOCKEY RINK AT SCANLON REC CENTER IN KENSINGTON NEIGHBORHOOD

FLYERS CHARITIES DONATES $400,000 TO SNIDER HOCKEY IN SUPPORT OF THE PROJECT

RENOVATIONS TO INCLUDE REFURBISHED PLAYGROUND AND NEW ALL-PURPOSE SPORTS WALL

PHILADELPHIA (February 26, 2022) – The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and Flyers Charities announced today plans to build a multi-purpose outdoor street hockey rink at the Joseph Scanlon Recreation Center (1099 E. Venango Street) in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Once completed, this facility will allow Snider Hockey to expand their programming in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia in partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Parks & Recreation Department. As part of the project, Snider Hockey, the Flyers, and the Parks & Recreation Department will also refurbish the existing playground and construct a new, dedicated all-purpose sports wall at Scanlon Recreation Center.

This morning, Snider Hockey and Flyers Charities unveiled their plans for the new street hockey facility during a special, pre-game event at Well Fargo Center prior to the club’s Flyers Charities Game. During the event, Flyers Charities presented Snider Hockey with a $400,000 check in support of this groundbreaking project. The $400,000 donation marks one of Flyers Charities’ most-significant contributions for a single initiative and advances the organization’s ongoing commitment to growing the game of hockey throughout the diverse Philadelphia region.

“This project is aimed at deepening our collective commitment to the children, youth, and families in this community,” said Scott Tharp, President, Snider Hockey. “By partnering with the Flyers, Philadelphia Parks & Rec, and the office of Councilwoman Sanchez, we’re expanding the year-round structured recreational, academic, and life-enrichment services that Snider Hockey provides on a daily basis during the out-of-school-time hours when kids are most vulnerable to undesirable influences. But, more importantly, we’re able to put more smiles on more faces while helping to create equitable opportunities for our youth to chase and achieve their dreams. By working together, we can truly make a world of difference in the City of Philadelphia.”

“This project is a perfect example of the Flyers’ commitment to the city of Philadelphia and our incredible partnership with the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation,” said Valerie Camillo, President of Business Operations for the Philadelphia Flyers. “This is one of the largest individual charitable contributions our organization has ever made, and it’s fitting that it’s a partnership with Snider Hockey to help ensure families in the Kensington neighborhood are able to enjoy the game of hockey right in their community. The Flyers belong to the entire city of Philadelphia, and this project will send a lasting, clear message that hockey and the Flyers are for everyone—honoring the legacy of Ed Snider.”

“Philadelphia Parks & Recreation is so grateful to Flyers Charities for this investment in the Scanlon Recreation Center and the youth it serves,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, Commissioner, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. “The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is an outstanding partner to Parks & Rec, providing youth development and empowerment programs that extend far beyond the ice. The investment we are celebrating today will expand access to safe, fun youth recreation in Kensington.”

“I am thrilled that with the Flyers and Snider Foundation we can bring more programming and improved facilities to Kensington,” said Philadelphia City Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez. “Our public-private partnerships are essential to making the community investments every neighborhood deserves.”

In partnership with the City of Philadelphia, Snider Hockey operates programs at the Scanlon Rink and four other city-owned rinks in Philadelphia. In addition, Snider Hockey provides FREE after-school hockey, education, and life skills programming at locations across Philadelphia. All students can also engage in Snider Hockey’s educational programs, including homework help, career development, and high school and college scholarships.

Since Snider Hockey partnered with the City of Philadelphia to enclose the rinks in 2020, Scanlon Rink has flourished, averaging 325 program participants annually. Snider Hockey’s academic support sessions have helped these students achieve a 99-percent grade-to-grade matriculation rate. This year, Snider Hockey is awarding 17 full scholarships to Scanlon students at high-performing private or parochial high schools and 44 scholarships to Scanlon alumni at partnering universities. In addition, during the height of the pandemic, Snider Hockey distributed over 28,000 meals, more than 6,000 books, and provided access to vaccinations to neighbors in Kensington.

About Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation

The late Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider created the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation with the ultimate goal to build lives and unite communities. He wanted to assure that Philadelphia’s inner-city young men and women had an opportunity to succeed in the game of life. With hockey as the hook to lure kids into the program, the emphasis was and continues to be education. Snider Hockey offers after-school educational assistance helping guide its participants from crayons to careers, ultimately affording those student-athletes that graduate through the program a free, four-year college tuition to one of several area colleges.

About Flyers Charities

Flyers Charities is the nonprofit of the Philadelphia Flyers. Flyers Charities supports local nonprofits that grow the sport of hockey to be inclusive of new and diverse audiences, support families impacted by cancer, and improve sustainability and environmental responsibility. Flyers Charities’ commitment to community, service, inclusion, and legacy guides its work and through fundraising provides opportunities to engage fans, visitors, employees, and neighbors in the impact.

Flyers Cup Facts

• The field for the 43^rd Flyers Cup tournament will be revealed Sunday night, February 27. The Flyers Cup selection show will air on the Flyers Cup You Tube Channel

• The field will be selected by the Flyers Cup Competition Committee which will also determine the number of teams in each bracket.

• There are NO automatic bids and no league is assured of a certain number of bids. This is an invitational tournament.

Wissahickon 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh 4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Wissahickon charged out of the starting gate Thursday night and maintained its momentum all night long. The Trojans scored three times in the first period and went on to a 6-4 win over Plymouth Whitemrsh in a SHSHL American Division semifinal at Hatfield Ice.

Third-seeded Wissahickon (9-7) will face top-seeded Abington next Thursday at the same venue for the American Division title; the Trojans are the defending champions. The second-seeded Colonials dropped to 11-5.

Both teams are hoping to land bids in the Class A Flyers Cup tournament; the field will be revealed Sunday night.

Wednesday’s game wasn’t as close as the final score might have indicated. Ty Schiff, Will Hussa, and Nick Hussa scored the Trojans’ early goals and the Colonials spent the rest of the evening playing catchup.

“We’ve been turning it on lately,” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington,” and playing more as a team.”

The Trojans have won four of their last five games and Harrington says his players have enjoyed the emotions that that success has generated.

“They may not know it, but they know the feel of winning,” he said.

Luke Weikel scored consecutive goals for the Colonials, the first with nine seconds left in the first period, the next at the 3:01 mark of the second, to make it a one-goal game for a time. Hudson Honeycutt and Will Hussa responded for the Trojans however and while Plymouth Whitemarsh stayed close enough to force their opponent to stay focused, the Colonials never posed a serious threat.

That was due in part to the work of Michael Bonnani in the Wissahickon net, the senior made 32 saves. Bonnani was pressed into service as a goaltender two-and-a-half seasons ago. He says he’s grown as a player since then.

“I definitely have felt improvement,” he said. “I’ve come a long way from just flopping around in the net and getting hit in the face with pucks. I still get hit in the face but I’ve learned to deal with it better.”

Bonnani had a stout defense corps in front of him. “We played a defensive game,” said. “That’s how you beat these teams in this league. You have to play defense.

“We learned that throughout the season. We were getting scored on a lot and we had to switch it up and play team defense.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Josh Aiello said the Trojans quick start proved too much to overcome but he was impressed with his players’ collective efforts.

“There’s no quit in the team,” he said. “(The game) didn’t start off favorably for us but we were dedicated and continued to nettle.

“We knew there would be a lot of back and forth especially with Wissahickon. They got the better of us tonight but I’m proud of our players.”

Wissahickon 3 2 1—6

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Ty Schiff from Nick Hussa, 6:22 (pp); Will Hussa from Schiff, 9:37; Nick Hussa unassisted, 15:48; Luke Weikel (PW) from Aidan Keogh, 16:51

Second-period goals: Weikel (PW) from Dylan Novitski, 3:01; (PW); Hudson Honeycutt from Griffin Lynch, 5:50 (pp); Will Hussa from Honeycutt, 12:09; Timothy Murphy (PW) from Weikel, 13:45

Third-period goals: Nick Hussa from A.J. Pounds, 4:34; Isaac Mishkin (PW) from Weikel, 16:46

Shots: Wissahickon 43, Plymouth Whitemarsh 36; Saves: Michael Bonnani 32; Kolton Galie (PW) 37

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SHSHL Class AA Quarterfinals

Council Rock South 9 Souderton 0—Samuel Cherkassky, Bobby Gilbert, and Chase Trovsky scored two goals each as the top-seeded Golden Hawks downed the eighth-seeded Big Red Wednesday night at Revolution Ice Gardens. Three other players scored goals and Blaize Pepe contributed four assists as South advanced to the semifinals.

Council Rock North 4 Central Bucks South 3 OT—Zach Weissman scored in overtime as the fifth-seeded Indians edged the fourth-seeded Titans.

Pennridge 5 Central Bucks East 1—Jake Lowery and Shane Dachowswki each scored twice as the second-seeded Rams topped the seventh-seeded Patriots at Hatfield Ice. Aeryk Lehrhaupt also scored for Pennridge. Phil McIntyre scored for the Patriots.

Pennsbury 5 Neshaminy 2—Shane Siegmund scored two goals to help the third-seeded Falcon to the win over sixth-seeded Neshaminy at Grundy Arena. Chris Sarver, Reese Picker, and Brendan Macainsh also scored for Pennsbury. Noah Seewagen and Max Gallagher scored for Neshaminy

Semifinals Wednesday, March 2

Council Rock South vs. Council Rock North

Pennridge vs. Pennsbury

Explorers, Friars Set to Play for Founders Cup

Last year’s championship matchup never happened because of Covid issues. But La Salle and Malvern Prep are letting nothing stand in their way this season. The Explorers and the Friars will meet Wednesday night at Ice Line for the Founders Cup and the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. Game time will be 8:00.

The two teams were scheduled to meet for the Cup last season but that game was cancelled and the APAC title declared vacant. due to Covid Malvern Prep went on to defeat La Salle in the Class AAA Flyers Cup final and later won the state championship.

La Salle won the first two Founder Cup titles in 2019 and ‘20

La Salle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

Record: 8-7-1/4-3-0-1 in the APAC seed 2

Semifinals: def. St. Joseph’s Prep 4-1

Top scorers (APAC games only)

Keenan Schneider 5 goals, 2 assists 7 points

Max Maddalo 3 goals 3 assists 6 points

Chris Wnek 2 goals 4 assists 6 points

Malvern Prep

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 13-3/5-1-2-0 in APAC seeed 1

Semifinals: def. Holy Ghost Prep 4-1

Top scorers (APAC games only)

Matt Harris 11 goals, 9 assists, 20 points

Jim Jacobs 8 goals, 9 assists, 17 points

Jeremy Jacobs 7 goals, 7 assists, 14 points

Pierre Larocque 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points

Earlier this season:

November 5

Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0—Pierre Larocque scored the winning goal with 5:55 remaining in regulation in the APAC season opener at Hatfield Ice. Matt Harris added an empty net goal.

January 24

Malvern Prep 5 La Salle 4 OT—Matt Harris scored with 1:08 remaining in overtime to give the Friars the win at Ice Line. LaSalle forced overtime. Harris and Jimmy Jacobs scored two goals each.

La Sale forced overtime with goals from Keenan Schneider and Chris Wnek in the final 87 seconds of regulation.

Pasch Leads CR North Into Postseason

The success of Council Rock North is arguably one of the biggest surprises, if not the biggest surprise, of the Suburban High School Hockey League season.
The Indians have overcome a 1-4 start to win seven of their last nine games and post an 8-6 overall record (5-5 on Class AA divisional play) heading into this week’s SHSHL playoffs. They’re seeded fifth heading into a quarterfinal game against Central Bucks South Wednesday night.

While the Indians are a Class AA team in the SHSHL, they are listed as a Class A team for Flyers Cup purposes. They will learn Sunday if they have made the tournament field.

Will Pasch has a lot to do with all this Pasch is the Indians’ captain. As the only senior on a team with a first-year head coach (Greg McDonald), Pasch was positioned to lead his team forward, or into the abyss. That he chose the former is a testament to his leadership skills.

“I think from the very first practice, the boys wanted him to be the captain,” McDonald said, “and he wanted it, honestly. I think it hurt him that last year (when North could not field a pure team) was what it was. It’s his senior year he’s super excited to play.”

Pasch says he and his teammates jelled as the season progressed. “We started off the season pretty rocky, I think we can all agree on that,” he said, ‘but as the season went through, off the ice we just kind of bonded together as a team. We promoted the team at school and stuff and brought everybody together. We saw each other outside of school and just kind of formed a camaraderie and a friendship that I just hadn’t seen before in my four years playing here so it really says something special.”

As the postseason begins, Pasch says he and his teammates have something to prove, particularly to any naysayers that are paying attention.

“A very small amount of people expected us to be where we are right now,” he said. “That’s just something special that I’m going to cherish forever. I’m just happy that we’re able to be in the playoffs and be in the position that we’re at. Just to prove everybody wrong.”

Three Indians are among the Class AA Division’s top scorers.

Karson Grainey has accumulated 26 goals and 16 assists for 42 points; he leads the division in scoring. Nick Hahn has scored 10 goals and added 18 assists for 28 points, he’s tied for fifth on the scoring list. Jackson Accari is seventh with 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points.

Pasch does his best to see to it his teammates are focused on the task at hand.

“Just trying to make sure everyone’s got their head in the game,” he said. I’m trying to make sure we’re focused on game day at practices. Thankfully, the boys have done a great job dealing with adversity throughout the season and ups and downs. I’m just happy that it all came together when it mattered.”