SHSHL Playoff Preview

Wednesday, February 22

National Division at Grundy Arena

Central Bucks East vs. Pennsbury 7:20

Pennsbury

Coach Ryan Daley

Record: 12-5, 8-2 in divisional play seed 3

Key players:

Brendan Macainsh 31 goals, 17 assists 48 points

Andrew Falkenstein 6 goals, 22 assists, 28 points

Justin Marlin 14 goals, 13 assists, 27 points

Central Bucks East

Coach: Jeff Mitchell

Record: 8-8-1-0, 4-5-1-0 in the division seed 6

Key players

Corey Kosick 18 goals, 10 assists, 28 points

Stephen DiRugueris 7 goals, 6 assists, 13 points

Matt Mangiacapre .910 save percentage, 3.40 GAA

This season

12-1 Pennsbury 6 C.B. East 3

12-21 Pennsbury 6 C.B. East 1

Neshaminy vs. Central Bucks South 9:00

Neshaminy

Coach: Matt DeMatteo

Record: 11-5-1-0,6-3-1-0 in the division; seed 4

Key players:

Max Gallagher 23 goals, 11 assists, 34 points

Nolan Geria 9 goals, 15 assists, 24 points

J.J. Hathaway 4 goals, 1 assist, 5 points

Central Bucks South

Coach: Shaun McGinty

Record: 9-7-0-1, 6-4 in the division; seed 5

Key players:

Aydin Thierolf 15 goals, 14 assists, 29 points

D.J.Lindenmuth 9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points

Colin Mendham 8 goals, 10 assists, 18 points

This season

12-1 Neshaminy 6 C.B. South 4

12-21 Neshaminy 2 C.B. South 1

Winners advance to semifinals on February 1 vs. # 1 Council Rock South and #2 Pennridge

American Division at Hatfield Ice

Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Quakertown 8:45

Plymouth Whitemarsh

Coach : Dave Cox

Record: 11-6, 7-5 in divisional play seed 2

Key players:

Matt Flynn 26 goals, 20 assists 46 points

David Branigan 12 goals, 25 assists, 37 points

Chris Maslij 2.86 GAA

Quakertown

Coach: Keith Krem

Record: 10-4-1-1, 6-4-1-1 in divisional play seed 3

Key players:

Branden McNally 17 goals, 15 assists, 32 points

Will Shaw 12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points

Matt Krem 2.79 GAA

This season

12-7 PW 7 Quakertown 5

12-16 Quakertown 5 PW 2

1-25 PW 3 Quakertown 2

Winner advances to championship game on March 1 vs. #1 Abington

SHSHL Recap 2-20-23

Final Regular Season Standings

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.R. South (15-1-0-1) 9 0 0 1 19

X Pennridge (13-4) 8 2 0 0 16

Pennsbury (12-5) 7 2 0 0 14

Neshaminy (11-5-1) 6 3 1 0 13

C.B. South (9-7-0-1) 6 4 0 0 12

C.B. East (8-8-1) 4 5 1 0 9

C.R. North (5-10-1-1) 3 5 1 1 8

C.B. West (5-11-0-1) 3 6 0 1 7

Souderton (5-11-0-1) 3 7 0 0 6

Bensalem (3-13) 2 7 0 1 5

North Penn (5-10-1-1) 1 7 1 1 4

X Pennridge finishes second on the basis of having defeated Pennsbury in their second meeting, which was the game that counted in their divisional records

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (15-0-1-1) 10 0 1 1 22

X Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-6) 7 5 0 0 14

Quakertown (10-4-1-1) 6 4 1 1 14

Wissahickon (9-7) 6 6 0 0 12

Springfield (0-16) 0 12 0 0 0

Plymouth Whitemarsh finishes second on the basis of having won the season series with Quakertown

Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Kevin Pico (Pr) 24 25 49

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 31 17 48

Andrew Savona (Pr) 16 22 38

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 23 11 34

Seth Grossman (Soud) 19 13 32

John Stinson (NP) 20 11 31

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 17 12 29

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 15 14 29

Blaise Pepe (CRS) 12 16 28

Corey Kosick (CBE) 18 10 28

Andrew Falkenstein (Pb) 6 22 28

Jake Weiner (CRS) 19 8 27

Kevin Koles (CRS) 11 16 27

Alex Hood (Ben) 21 6 27

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 26 20 46

Matt Kramer (Ab) 26 19 45

David Branigan (PW) 12 25 37

Will Hussa (Wiss) 26 7 33

Ian Heydt (Ab) 13 20 33

Sam Abramson (Ab) 14 19 33

Sam Paulik (Ab) 18 14 32

Branden McNally (Q) 17 15 32

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 18 11 29

Pat Stelacio (Ab) 18 11 29

Dylan Novitski (PW) 15 12 27

Quakertown Primed for SHSHL Postseason

Four years encompasses the span of a high-school hockey player’s career. The past four years also encompass the history of the Quakertown hockey program.

The current edition of the Panthers first took the ice for the 2019-20 season. On Wednesday night, they will face off against Plymouth Whitemarsh in a SHSHL (8:45 at Hatfield Ice). The winner will face defending champion Abington for the division title next Wednesday, March 1.
The upcoming playoff game is a milestone for the program, but coach Keith Krem is happiest for the players.

“There’s guys on this team that have gotten to play four years, Including Krem’s son Matt),” he said. “They got to experience the rougher side of it, now they’re getting to see the success side of it.

“It’s cool. In the high-school game, the kids transition through some really key years. You get to see them both as hockey players and human beings. That’s cool more than anything.”

Krem spoke to the goals he had when he launched the program.

“I think I wanted the kids to have success and be confident in the team they were on,” he said, “and more than anything, to be able to have fun representing the community.

“We’re checking off all those boxes. The winning is a cool thing, but more than anything I wanted these guys to be able to represent the school and be proud of it That’s always been the goal and I think obviously, they’re doing that pretty well.”

SHSHL Recap for 2-11-23

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.R. South (14-1-0-1) 8 0 0 1 17

Pennsbury (11-5) 7 2 0 0 14

Pennridge (11-4) 6 2 0 0 12

Neshaminy (10-4-1) 5 2 1 0 11

C.B. South (8-7-0-1) 5 4 0 0 10

C.B. East (8-7-1) 4 4 1 0 9

C.R. North (5-9-1-1) 3 4 1 1 8

C.B. West (5-10-0-1) 3 5 0 1 7

Souderton (5-10-0-1) 3 6 0 0 6

North Penn (5-9-1-1) 1 6 1 1 4

Bensalem (2-13) 1 7 0 0 2

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (14-0-1-1) 10 0 1 1 22

Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-6) 6 5 0 0 12

Wissahickon (9-6) 6 5 0 0 12

Quakertown (9-4-1-1) 5 4 1 1 12

Springfield (0-15) 0 11 0 0 0

Teams in bold have clinched SHSHL playoff spots

Philadelphia Blind Hockey works to ensure that every individual who is blind or partially sighted has the opportunity to participate in the sport. Find out more HERE

Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 27 17 44

Andrew Savona (Pr) 16 22 38

Kevin Pico (Pr) 18 19 37

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 21 10 31

John Stinson (NP) 19 10 29

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 17 12 29

Seth Grossman (Soud) 17 11 28

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 14 14 28

Jake Weiner (CRS) 18 8 26

Kevin Koles (CRS) 11 15 26

Alex Hood (Ben) 20 5 25

Corey Kosick (CBE) 15 10 25

Andrew Falkenstein (Pb) 5 20 25

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 21 19 40

Matt Kramer (Ab) 25 15 40

David Branigan (PW) 11 21 32

Branden McNally (Q) 17 15 32

Ian Heydt (Ab) 13 19 32

Seth Abramson (Ab) 13 17 30

Will Hussa (Wiss) 24 5 29

Sam Paulik (Ab) 16 11 27

Dylan Novitski (PW) 15 12 27

Pat Stelacio (Ab) 15 10 25

SHSHL Update 2-8-2023

National Division W L T OTL Pts

*C.R. South (13-2-0-1) 7 0 0 1 15

*Pennsbury (11-4) 7 2 0 0 14

*Neshaminy (10-3-1) 5 1 1 0 11

Pennridge (10-4) 5 2 0 0 10

C.B. East (8-5-1) 4 2 1 0 9

C.B. South (7-7-0-1) 4 4 0 1 9

C.R. North (4-9-1-1) 3 4 1 1 8

C.B. West (5-10-0-1) 3 5 0 1 7

Souderton (5-9-0-1) 3 6 0 0 6

Bensalem (2-12) 1 6 0 0 2

North Penn (4-9-1-1) 0 6 1 1 2

American Division W L T OTL Pts

*Abington (13-0-1-1) 10 0 1 1 22

Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-6) 6 5 0 0 12

Quakertown (8-4-1-1) 5 4 1 1 12

Wissahickon (8-6) 5 5 0 0 10

Springfield (1-13) 0 10 0 0 0

• Clinched playoff spot

SHSHL Announces Playoff Dates

The Suburban High School Hockey League has set its schedule for its upcoming playoffs.

The postseason will commence on Wednesday, February 22 with two National Division first-round games featuring the third-place finisher against the sixth seed and the fourth seed facing the fifth seed.

Those games will at Hatfield Ice and Grundy Arena, with game times and sites to be determined.

The winners will advance to semifinal games on Wednesday, March 1 at Hatfield Ice and Grundy Arena against the first and second seeds, both of whom have opening-round byes.

The championship game will be played on Thursday, March 2 at either Hatfield or Grundy with a scheduled start time of 7:20.

The American Division playoffs will feature just three teams. The second and third seeds will meet on Thursday, February 23 at Hatfield at 7:10. The winner will face the top seed in the division championship game on Wednesday, Match 1 at 7:20 at Hatfield Ice.

C.R. South, Pennridge Set for Key SHSHL Matchup

It shapes up as the most significant game of the year in the SHSHL, and one of the league’s most meaningful regular-season games of recent years.
Council Rock and Pennridge will square off Wednesday night in a game that is likely to have a profound impact on the SHSHL’s National Division standings and the Class AA Flyers Cup rankings.

Game time is 7:20 in the Blue Rink at Hatfield Ice. The game will also be streamed on the Flyers Cup YouTube channel.

It’s the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Pennridge won the first meeting 7-4 on December 15 in a game that counted toward the Flyers Cup rankings but not in the division standings.

Here’s how the teams match up for Wednesday’s game.

Council Rock South (11-1-0-1, 5-0-0-1 in the National Division)

Coach: Joe Houk

Leading scorers: Blaize Pepe 13 goals 12 assists 25 points

Kevin Koles 9/13/22

Jake Weiner 15/6/21

Goaltender: Carson Lopez .915 Save percentage 2.16 GAA

Pennridge (10-3, 5-1 in the National Division)

Coach: Jeff Montagna

Leading scorers: Andrew Savona 16 goals 22 assists 38 points

Kevin Pico 16/18/34

Shane Dachowski 16/12/28

Goaltender: Jacob Gilbert .870 Save percentage 3.76 GAA

Abington 7 Quakertown 2

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—It’s the nature of hockey that teams will skate a portion of each game shorthanded. Abington and Quakertown were shorthanded before Friday’s SHSHL American Division game even began.
Abington was down five players because of injuries and illness while the Panthers had just nine skaters dressed.

The Galloping Ghosts made the most of what they had, rolling to a 7-2 win at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

Ian Heydt and Sam Paulik each scored two goals in the winning effort, which pushed Abington to 11-0-1 overall and 10-0-1 in divisional play;

Quakertown dropped to 7-4-1 overall and 6-4-1 in the division.

The Panthers sit in second place in the division, eight points behind the Galloping Ghosts.

The win was Abington’s second in three tries against Quakertown this season. The third, a 2-2 tie on December 23 is the only blemish on Abington’s record. The Galloping Ghosts scored a 5-4 win over the Panthers on December 9.

Abington got off to a fast start. Owen Adamski and Paulik scored goals to give their team a 2-0 lead 4:56 into the opening period.

“It’s always good to get a good first step in the game,” Paulik said, “and try to get one in the net quick to set the momentum of the game.”

Quakertown answered when Jack Diliberto beat Abington netminder Sam Nemec at the 9:16 mark. Lucas Cunnane tied the game 2:58 into the second session. But that was all the Panthers could manage as the lack of numbers caught up to them. Abington scored the last seven goals of the evening.

“I don’t think we gave up a ton of big plays in terms of breakaways and things like that,” Quakertown coach Keith Krem said. “But, there’s a lot in front of the paint, right in front of the net, that’s where they scored. They didn’t score from the outside, they scored from right in front of the net.”

Back-to-back goals from Heydt plus a tally from Matt Kramer gave Abington a 5-2 lead after the second period. Paulik and Griffin Carpenter added goals in the third.

Abington came into the season with high expectations and Carpenter, the Galloping Ghosts’ captain says for the most part, those expectations have been met.

“I’d say we came up to expectations,” he said. “We started off hot, and we keep going.”

Abington hasn’t lost a game since the first round of last year’s Class AA Flyers Cup tournament. Carpenter doesn’t consider the 12-game unbeaten streak to be a burden.

“I don’t feel like it,” he said. “I feel like we can just keep going and keep winning.”

Quakertown 1 1 0—2

Abington 2 3 2—7

First-period goals: Owen Adamski (A) from Brian Murdoch, 3:41; Sam Paulik (A) from Griffin Carpenter, 4:56; Jack Diliberto (Q) from Josh Tolchin, 9:16

Second-period goals: Lucas Cunnane (Q) from Cole Slemmer, 2:58; Ian Heydt (A) from Sam Abramson and Matt Kramer, 4:56 (pp); Heydt (A) from Kramer, 8:53; Kramer (A) from Abramson, 15:10

Third-period goals: Paulik (A) from Seamus Donofry, 2:49; Carpenter (A) from Heydt, 111:58 (pp)

Shots:Quakertown 39, Abington 46; Saves: Matt Krem (Q) 39, Sam Nemec (A) 37

SHSHL Update 1-17-23

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.B. South (7-4-0-1) 4 1 0 0 8

Pennsbury (8-3) 4 1 0 0 8

Pennridge (8-3) 3 1 0 0 6

C.R. North (2-8-1-1) 2 3 1 1 6

C.R. South (7-1-0-1)) 2 0 0 1 5

C.B. East (6-4-1) 2 1 1 0 5

Neshaminy (7-3-1) 2 1 1 0 5

Souderton (4-7-0-1) 2 4 0 0 4

C.B. West (3-8) 1 3 0 0 2

Bensalem (2-7) 1 2 0 0 2

North Penn (3-7-1) 0 4 1 0 0

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (10-0-1) 9 0 1 0 19

Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-4) 6 3 0 0 12

Wissahickon (5-5) 5 4 0 0 10

Quakertown (5-3-1) 4 3 1 0 9

Springfield (0-8-0-1) 0 8 0 1 1

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Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 19 11 30

Andrew Savona (Pr) 13 17 30

Seth Grossman (Soud) 16 11 27

Kevin Pico (Pr) 13 12 25

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 12 12 24

Alex Hood (Ben) 16 4 20

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 12 7 19

Corey Kosick (CBE) 12 6 18

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 12 5 17

D.J. Lidenmuth (CBS) 8 9 17

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 14 14 28

Will Hussa (Wiss) 20 5 25

Pat Stelacio (Ab) 14 10 24

Ian Heydt (Ab) 9 15 24

Dylan Novitski (PW) 13 10 23

Matt Kramer (Ab) 16 7 23

Branden McNally (Q) 13 9 22

David Branigan (PW) 7 15 22

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 12 6 18

Sam Paulik (Ab) 9 9 18

Jordan Heydt (Ab) 11 6 17

Seth Abramson (Ab) 8 9 17

SHSHL Compresses Playoff Field

The Suburban High School Hockey League playoff brackets will be more compact this season.

The fields in both divisions will be reduced; the National Division playoff bracket will contain six teams instead of the eight that has been customary in recent years, while the American Division bracket will feature three teams rather than four.
The SHSHL has not announced playoff dates; the regular season is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, February 16 subject to weather-related postponements and ice availability.

The National Division bracket will see the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals while the third seed will face the sixth seed and seeds four and five will square off in the opening round.

In the American Division, the regular-season champion will receive a bye into the championship game while seeds two and three will face off in a semifina