Parkland 6 Neshaminy 4

By Rick Woelfel

BRISTOL— the combatants battled to the final bell. At the end, it was Parkland that was left standing.

Eric Dennis scored his third goal of the game with 4:24 remaining in the third period and that proved to be the game winner as the Trojans downed Neshaminy 6-4 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament at Grundy Arena.

The ninth-seeded Trojans (18-3-1) will face top-seeded Downingtown East in Monday’s quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Neshaminy closed at 7-6-4.

NHS vs Parkland_IH_03062019_4516

Neshaminy’s Charlie Potash (in white) and Parkland’s Tom Boyer (in red) face off during Wednesday’s Flyers Cup game. Parkland won 6-4. Photo by Jesse Garber

The winning goal came on Dennis’s shot from the high slot. Neshaminy goaltender Steve Glick could not be faulted on the play.

The teams traded goals twice through the first period and change with Neshaminy getting tallies from Joey DeMatto and Thomas Gallagher while Joshua Bower and Dennis scored from Parkland.

Both goaltenders, Parkland’s Vincent Byelick and Neshaminy’s Steve Glick, were sharp early on and had to be to keep their respective teams in the game.

Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo said his team was hurt by some early mistakes. “We had some problems with turnovers early on that coast us a couple goals,” he said. “I’d like to have those back but I couldn’t be more proud of the boys.”

Dennis scored his second goal of the game at the 9:34 mark of the second period on a rebound of Matt Zager’s original shot to give Parkland a 3-2 lead. Jason Dratch scored just 29 seconds later off a turnover to give the Trojans a two-goal advantage.

Neshaminy looked to have an opportunity when back-to-back tripping penalties gave it a two-man advantage for 1:31. But it managed just one shot on goal during that span and the deficit remained until Matthew Duke scored from the slot midway between the faceoff circles to make it a one-goal game with 1:38 left in the period.

Joey DeMatteo tied the game with his second goal of the night just 36 seconds into the final period.

From that moment on, Glick kept his team in the game; he made 12 saves in the third period. he finished the game with 30. Parkland had a 36-16 advantage in shots.

“I thought it was a good offensive battle back and forth,” Matt DeMatteo said. “I thought the boys played really hard. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort.”

Parkland 1 3 2—6

Neshaminy 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Joey DeMatteo (M) from Josh Haines and Rob Seewagen, 6:02 (pp) Joshua Bower (P) from Koby Staivecki and Eric Dennis, 10:04.

Second-period goals: Dennis (P) from Staivecki and Gus Schwartz, :35; Thomas Gallagher (N) from Matthew Duke, 2:29; Dennis (P) from Matt Zager and Jason Dratch 9:343; Dratch (P) from Dennis and Zager, 10:03; Duke (N) unassisted, 14:22.

Third-period goals: DeMatteo (N) from Charlie Potash, :36; Dennis (P) unassisted, 10:36; Zager (P) from Dratch, 15:49.

Shots: Parkland 36, Neshamony 16; Saves: Vincent Byelick (P) 12, Steve Glick (N) 30.

Flyers Cup Schedule for Wednesday, March 6

Class AA First Round

Downingtown East 4 Council Rock South 1

Parkland 6, Neshaminy 4——See story on this site

Pennridge 6, Garnet Valley 5—The fourth-seeded Rams trailed 5-4 going into the third period, but Eric Slater and Frankie Rota scored goals to secure the win over the 13th-seeeded Jaguars.

North Penn 9, Pennsbury 5—The fifth-seeded Knights scored five goals in the second period to dispatch the 12th-seeded Falcons at Hatfield Ice

Conestoga 5 Perkiomen Valley 1

Haverford 7 Central Bucks East 1

Boyertown 4 Central Bucks West 0

Downingtown West 5 Central Bucks South 2

Quarterfinals will be Monday, 3/11

Class AAA Quarterfinals

Holy Ghost Prep 9 Father Judge 5

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Cardinal O’Hara 0

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Flyers Cup Class A First Round: Unionville 12 Lower Moreland 4

By Rick Woelfel

The numbers didn’t add up for Lower Moreland Monday night. With just eight skaters in uniform, the Lions ran out of gas against Unionville in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup. The result was a 12-4 loss at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Seventh-seeded Lower Moreland (12-4-3) trailed just 4-2 early in the second period but were outscored by the 10^th-seeded Indians (8-11 with one loss in OT) the rest of the way.

Junior Jake Petrillo scored four goals and added two assists for Unionville which will face either Strath Haven or Hatboro-Horsham in Thursday’s quarterfinals (7:30 at Ice Works in Aston). Dylan Blackburn scored three times

Coleman Peppelman scored three times for Lower Moreland in his final high-school game and added an assist.

“Don’t take anything away from (Unionville) said Lower Moreland coach Gus Salfiti. “They’re skilled through all their lines. They didn’t have really any weak skaters and with them resting up and coming out every minute, minute-and-a-half, actually, it was probably shorter than that, they just wore us out. There is absolutely nothing you can do about that,”

The Indians also got an excellent effort in goal from Keigan Craig, who stopped 31 of 35 Lower Moreland shots.

“He started off the season I would say just a mediocre or average goalie,” said Unionville coach Stephen King. “But probably since Game Four he’s been really steady … He’s been giving us a good job every night.”

Consecutive goals from Steven Cicchino, Petrillo, and Dylan Blackburn snapped a 1-1 tie and put the Indians three goals up with 5:51 left in the first period.

Adam Bostock scored for the Lions 3:48 into the second frame to make it a 4-2 game but Unionville responded with three goals in 90-second span to take a 7-2 lead with 7:50 left in the period to break the game open.

Peppelman scored his second goal of the game with 4:47 left in the second session and completed his hat trick with 3:58 left in the game to finish his final high-school season with 50 goals.

“We were struggling,” Peppelman said. “We were missing one player (defenseman Devin Green) and were all so tired. That team, I don’t think they had a weak spot at all.”

Notes: Unionville won a Class AA Flyers Cup title in 1998.

The following box score has been updated

Unionville 4 3 5—12

Lower Moreland 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Steve Cicchino (U) from Cole Spano, 2:47; Coleman Peppelman (LM) unassisted, 6:53 (sh); Steve Cicchino (U) from Connor Malloy, 7:03; Jake Petrillo (U) from Nolan Masters and James Kulp 8:33; Dylan Blackburn (U) from Cicchino, 10:09.

Second-period goals: Adam Bostock (LM) from Peppelman, 3:41; Blackburn (U) from Jay Kulp, 6:40; Spano (U) unassisted, 7:00; Masters (U) from Petrillo, 8:10; Peppelman (LM) from Tyler Scolnick, 11:13.

Third-period goals: Blackburn (U) from Malloy and Ben Brucker, 3:41 (pp); Petrillo (U) from Phillippe Doucette and Cicchino, 7:46; Petrillo (U) unassisted, 8:27; Brucker (U) from Petrillo, 10:25; Peppelman (LM) from Bostock, 12:02; Petrillo (U) from Spano, 14:19.

Shots: Unionville 35, Lower Moreland 35

Saves: Keigan Craig (U) 31, Jacob Lungrin (LM) 23

Flyers Cup Schedule for Monday 3-4

Five Class A first-round games kick off the 40th annual Flyers Cup tournament.

Class A First Round

West Chester East 8, Wissahickon 5—Nick Castura scored three goals and assisted on two others to lead West Chester East to the win over the Trojans Monday night in a first-round Class A Flyers Cup game at Ice Line. Jack Hamilton scored twice for the fourth-seeded Vikings who will move on to Thursday’s quarterfinals against either Palmyra or Springfield Delco.

Sean Garry scored two goals for the 13^th-seeded Trojanss and added an assist. Alex Carrozza Nolan Ryan, and Bryan Garry also scored goals.

The game was tied 2-2 after one period before the Vikings took control on second-period goals from Richard Mullineaux, Castura, and Tristan D’Elia.

Wissahickon closed the season at 13-5-2.

Hershey 10, Plymouth Whitematsh 0—Jason Rippon scored three goals and added two assists as Hershey blanked Plymouth Whitematsh 10-0 Monday night in a first-round Class A Flyers Cup game at Ice Line Toby Kauffman scored two and added three assists.

Sixth-seeded Hershey outshot the 11th seeded Colonials 55-10. Hershey will face West Chester Henderson in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Plymouth Whitemarsh closed the season at 10-6-1.

Other Class A Scores

Lower Merion 6, Owen J. Roberts 3

West Chester Henderson 9 Kennett 3

Unionville 12, Wissahickon 4—Çheck this site for a story

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2019 Flyers Cup Schedule

Here is the complete Flyers Cup 2019 game schedule

Game times and sites are subject to change

Class AAA

Quarterfinals

# 1 1 LaSalle has a bye

Wednesday, March 6

#2 4 Holy Ghost Prep vs. 5 Father Judge 8:40 at Grundy

#3 3 Cardinal O’Hara vs 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 6:15 at Skatium

Thursday, March 7

#4 2 Malvern Prep vs 7 Roman Catholic 8:00 at Ice Line

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

LaSalle vs Winner of Game 2 7:00 at Hatfield

Winners of Games 3 and 4 6:30 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 7:00 at Wells Fargo Center. 7:00

Class AA

First Round: All Games Wednesday, March 6

# 1 1 Downingtown East vs Council Rock South 5:30 at Ice Line

# 2 8 Neshaminy vs. 9 Parkland 7:00 at Grundy

# 3 4 Pennridge vs. 13 Garnet Valley 8:40 at Hatfied

# 4 5 North Penn vs. 12 Pennsbury 7:00 at Hatfield

# 5 3 Conestoga vs. 14 Perkiomen Valley 8:50 at Ice Line

#6 6 Haverford vs. Central Bucks East 8:00 at Skatium

# 7 7 Boyertown vs. 10 Central Bucks West 7:10 at Ice Line

# 8 2 Central Bucks South vs. 15 Downingtown West 7:15 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Quarterfinals: All Games March 11

Winners of Games 1 and 2 6:15 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 3 and 4 7:00 at Hatfield

Winners of Games 5 and 6 8:00 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 7 and 8 7:15 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

Upper Bracket 6:15 at Ice Line

Wednesday, March 13

Lower Bracket 7:00 at Hatfield

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 4:30 P.M.

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Class A

First Round

# 1 1 Bayard Rustin vs. 16 Sun Valley 3-5 at Ice Line, 6:30

#2 8 Lower Merion vs. 9 O.J. Roberts 3-4 at Skatium, 8:00

#3 4 West Chester East vs. 13 Wissahckon 3-4 at Ice Line, 5:30

#4 5 Palmyra vs. 12 Springfield Delco 3-5 at Ice Line, 8:15

#5 3 WC Henderson vs 14 Kennett 3-4 at Ice Line, 7:10

#6 6 Hershey vs. 11 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3-4 at Ice Line, 8:50

#7 7 Lower Moreland vs 10 Unionville 3-4 7:45 at Rev. Ice Gardens

#8 2 Strath Haven vs. Hatboro-Horsham 3-5 at Aston, 7:30

Quarterfinals: All Games March 7

Winners of Games 1 and 2 5:30 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 3 and 4 6:45 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 5 and 6 7:10 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 7 and 8 7:30 at Aston

Semifinals

Tuesday, March 12

Upper Bracket 7:00 at Ice Line

Wednesday, March 13

Lower Bracket 6:30 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 2:00

Girls

Semifinals

1 Unionville has a bye

2 West Chester East vs West Chester Rustin 8:45 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 9:45 A.M.

Unionville vs. Semifinal winner

Flyers Cup Seedings 2019

A total of 42 high school hockey teams have been selected and seeded for the 40th annual Flyers Cup tournament.

Sixteen teams each will comprise the boys’ Class A and Class AA brackets while seven more will compete in Class AAA and three others will meet in a girls’ competition.

First-round games will be played March 4-6 and the tournament will continue from there before the champions are crowned at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday, March 17

Two-time defending Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East has drawn the top seed in Class 2A. Central Bucks South, which lost to the Cougars in overtime in last year’s championship game, is seeded second, followed by Conestoga, Pennridge, and North Penn.

Haverford is seeded sixth, followed by Boyertown, Neshaminy, Parkland, and Central Bucks West. Central Bucks East is seeded 11th, followed by Pennsbury, Garnet Valley, Perkiomen Valley, Downingtown West, and Council Rock South.

The field includes eight teams from the Suburban High School Hockey League, seven from the Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League and one from the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League.

Five-time defending Flyers Cup and State Class A champion Bayard Rustin is once again the top seed in its bracket, followed by Strath Haven, West Chester Henderson, West Chester East, Palmyra, Hershey, Lower Moreland, and Lower Merion.

Owen J. Roberts is seeded ninth, followed by Unionville, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Springfield-Delco, Wissahickon, Kennett, Hatboro-Horsham, and Sun Valley.

LaSalle, which captured the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference regular-season title, is the top seed in Class AAA. The Explorers will be trying to win the Flyers Cup for the 11th time and will be the only boys’ team in any division with an opening-round bye.

Malvern Prep is seeded second followed by Cardinal O’Hara, Holy Ghost Prep, Father Judge, St. Joseph’s Prep, and Roman Catholic.

Unionville will have the bye in the girls’ bracket. West Chester East and West Chester Rustin will meet on March 13 for a place in the championship game.

Flyers Cup Seedings

The seedings and pairings for the 40th Flyers Cup will be announced on Sunday.

The announcements will originate from the Brick House in Horsham.

Hockey Happenings will be part of the live webcast at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/SFBN

You can promote your product or service on Hockey Happenings starting today and all the way through the Flyers Cup playoffs. E-mail us for details.

Flyers Cup Finals Set For Wells Fargo Center

Sunday, March 17 will not only be the day to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day but also a day to celebrate interscholastic hockey.

Five Flyers Cup championship games will be played on that date at the Wells Fargo Center.

The finals will determine champions in the New Jersey/Delaware and Girls Divisions, as well as Eastern Pennsylvania boys’ champions in Class A, Class AA, and Class AAA. Game times have not been announced.

The Flyers Cup has been an annual tradition since it was first contested 1980.

Turning Back the Clock

The Philadelphia Flyers were not the city’s first National Hockey League team. Read on for a glimpse at how professional hockey has evolved in Philadelphia. The city’s professional franchises, notably the Flyers, made it possible for high-school hockey to thrive and flourish.

1927-28—The Philadelphia Arrow become Philadelphia’s first professional hockey team. The team played in the Canadian American Hockey League, a highly-regarded minor circuit. [i]

1930-31—The Philadelphia Quakers become Philadelphia’s first National Hockey League franchise. The team was transplanted from Pittsburgh where it was known as the Pirates. It lasted just one season in Philadelphia, finishing with a record of 4-36-4, the fewest wins in a season by any NHL team in history.

One reason the franchise didn’t survive was that the minor-league Arrows were outdrawing them. [ii]

1935-36—The Philadelphia Arrows become the Philadelphia Ramblers. The following year, 1936-37, the CAHL played an interlocking schedule with the International Hockey League.

In 1938-39 the two leagues merged into the International American Hockey League. In 1940 the league was re-christened the American Hockey League.

The Ramblers finished first in their league three times, in 1936, ’37, and ’39. They were a New York Rangers affiliate and several former Ramblers played key roles on the Ranger team that won the Stanley Cup in 1940.

The Ramblers however folded in 1941.[iii]

1941-42—The Philadelphia Rockets replaced the Ramblers in the AHL and folded after one season.

1942-43—The Philadelphia Falcons join the Eastern Hockey League. The franchise lasted four seasons, finishing second in the regular season in its final season, 1945-46

1946-47—The Philadelphia Rockets return to the AHL. The team lasted three seasons and never made the playoffs.

1955-56—The Philadelphia Ramblers return to the EHL and remain for nine seasons. Like all the Philadelphia franchises before them, the Ramblers played their games at Philadelphia Arena at 46^th and Market Streets.

1964-65—The Ramblers move across the Delaware River to Cherry Hill, N.J. and become the Jersey Devils. The team reached the EHL finals in 1966-67. The Devils and the EHL folded at the conclusion of the 1972-73 season.

1965—The National Hockey League announces it will double in size, from six teams to 12. The league had operated with six teams since 1942 but was dealing with the fact that it would be impossible to get a network TV contract in the U.S. without expanding,

February 9, 1966—Philadelphia is awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in 1967-68. Philadelphia was one of 10 cities under consideration for the six new franchises. The franchise was awarded on the condition that a new arena be built for the team, what became the Spectrum.

The other five went to Pittsburgh, Minnesota, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay area.

October 11, 1967—The Flyers play their first game and lose 5-1 to the California Seals in Oakland.

October 19, 1967—The Flyers play their first regular-season game in the Spectrum, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0.

1969—The Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League is founded with six teams: St. Joseph’s Prep, Haverford High, Conestoga, Cardinal O’Hara. Marple Newtown, and Swarthmore.

1972-73—The World Hockey Association launches as a competitor to the NHL. One of its 12 teams is the Philadelphia Blazers, which played its games at the Civic Center. The Blazers, which featured Former Flyer (at the time) Bernie Parent in goal, lasted one season in Philadelphia before moving to Vancouver and later Calgary. The franchise folded at the close of the 1976-77 season.

1973-74—The Suburban High School Hockey League is formed. Information on the structure of the league that season that year is still being complied but the latest information available indicates it consisted of eight teams: Abington, North Penn, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Hatboro-Horsham, Willow Grove, Philmont, Northeast, and Lower Moreland.

The Flyers win their first Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins in six games in the finals. Rick MacLeish scored the only goal in the final game on May 19, 1974 at the Spectrum, tipping in a shot from Andre “Moose” Dupont.

1974-75—The Flyers win their second consecutive Stanley Cup, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games.

The Philadelphia Firebirds begin play in the North American Hockey League, which forms from the remnants of the EHL. The team plays its games at the Philadelphia Civic center. The team won the NAHL championship in 1976.

The EHL folded in 1976 and the Firebirds moved to the American Hockey League. In 1979 the team moved to Syracuse where it played for one season.

[iv]

1980—The Philadelphia Flyers sponsor the first Flyers Cup tournament. It featured four teams. All games were played at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink.

Archbishop Carroll defeated Archbishop Ryan in one semifinal game while Malvern Prep defeated Germantown Academy in the other.

Carroll defeated Malvern Prep two games to one in the best-of-three finals.

Scores

Game 1 – Malvern 6, Carroll 5

Game 2 – Carroll 7, Malvern 3

Game 3 – Carroll 6, Malvern 2

MVP: Scott Chamness, Carroll (four hat tricks in four games)

This year will mark the 40th Flyers Cup tournament.

1996—The Philadelphia Phantoms, a Flyers affiliate, begin play in the American Hockey league. The team played most of its home games at the Spectrum. The Phantoms won two Calder Cup titles (in 1998 and 2005) before leaving Philadelphia following the 2008-09 season. Today the team is known as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and plays its games in Allentown.

November 2, 2018—The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference begins its inaugural season

[i] The Broad Street Bullies; the Incredible Story of the Philadelphia Flyers

[ii] Ibid The Broad Street Bullies

[iii] Wikipedia.org

[iv] Wkipedia.org

Two Ex-Ridley Hockey Players Convicted for Roles in 2017 Flyers Cup Brawl

Two former Ridley High School hockey players were convicted Friday in a Montgomery County courtroom of charges stemming from an on-ice brawl during a Flyers Cup quarterfinal game against Central Bucks West in March of 2017

19-year old Brock Anderson of Morton and 20-year old Jake Tyler Cross of Secane were convicted of simple assault and conspiracy to commit simple assault, both misdemeanors.

Both were sentenced to one year probation and 100 hours of community service. A third defendant, 19-year old Ryan Anthony Gricco of Swarthmore, also a former Ridley hockey player, was acquitted of a conspiracy charge. The jury deadlocked on an assault charge against Gricco, he could be retried.

The incident occurred with 7:12 left in the third period of a Class 2A Flyers Cup quarterfinal on March 9, 2017 at Hatfield Ice. Central Bucks West was leading 7-1 at the time; the game was terminated at that point. Several Central Bucks West players were injured in the incident