2011-12 Girls Hockey Season Review/Playoff Preview

Dani Schreiner (22) may be out injured, but she and Aly Hardy (5) still found spots on the Kaufmann's Korner All County team after an incredible girls hockey season.

With playoffs starting next week, I wanted to get some thoughts out there on every local team. Please be aware that the seeds and playoff pairings I post are projected. The official pairings are not released until Monday morning.


Boys Hockey Review/Preview
Boys Basketball Review/Preview
Girls Basketball coming next weekend...




Girls Hockey Season Review/Playoff Preview

There isn't much new to be said about girls hockey in Vermont. I covered the BFA/MVU rivalry earlier this season and my dad wrote a column about the potential excitement for this year's girls playoffs. But just in case anyone is checking out this blog after a few years of hibernation, let's take a look.

The top five teams in Vermont this season are as close as possible. I'm not just talking about the records and index points, though it's not a bad place to start:

Bellows Free Academy - St. Albans 13-3-4      47

Spaulding High School 12-4-4 44

South Burlington High School 12-4-4 44

Missisquoi Valley U.H.S.                        13-6-1 39

Essex High School                                 10-8-2 34 

But the state of girls hockey in Vermont goes so much deeper than those final standings. You have to take a look at how these teams have matched up head to head:

BFA-St. Albans:

Wins: Spaulding, Missisquoi (x2), Essex, South Burlington

Losses: Missisquoi

Ties: South Burlington, Spaulding, Essex

Spaulding:

Wins: South Burlington, Essex (x2), Missisquoi,

Losses: BFA, Missisquoi

Ties: South Burlington (x2), BFA, Essex

South Burlington:

Wins: Missisquoi (x2), Essex

Losses: Essex (x2), Spaulding, BFA 

Ties: Missisquoi, BFA, Spaulding (x2)

Missisquoi:

Wins: BFA, Essex (x2), South Burlington, Spaulding

Losses: South Burlington (x2), BFA (x2), Spaulding

Ties: South Burlington

Essex:

Wins: South Burlington (x2)

Losses: Missisquoi (x2), Spaulding, BFA, South Burlington

Ties: Spaulding, BFA

Notice anything? Only one top five team swept another -- that would be MVU over Essex. By the way, those two meet in Highgate for the quarterfinals. Think that sounds good to Missisquoi fans? Look above again. No team that played another three times ended up 3-0. 

These girls skated to seven ties this season! They played seven other games which were decided by one goal! If Vermont had high school sportsbooks, the odds would be in favor of more overtime games than regulation this postseason.

Seeding is crucial this year. (#1)BFA plays 0-19 CVU, piece of cake. (#2)Spaulding plays 3-17 Colchester, easy as pie. (#3)South Burlington plays Hartford, a decent program but one which is 0-3 against the Rebels this season.

But #4? That's Missisquoi. They get an Essex team which finished its year with ties against Spaulding and at BFA. And we already went over the difficulty of beating a good opponent three times in one season. Think the regular season isn't important? If MVU had beaten South Burlington in either of the games it ended up losing, it would be prepping for a Hartford team it's already beaten twice instead of gearing up for a championship-level fight in round one.

What I'm trying to get at is if you want a guaranteed good show in the next few weeks, go watch two of these teams play each other in a playoff atmosphere. 14 ties/one-goal games in one regular season! Except for MVU/Essex, each loss has been avenged with at least a tie. And if you think MVU/Essex this week is going to be anything other than absolutely electric, I have some timeshares I'd like you to take a look at.

Best of all, this year is just a warm-up. Essex is led by a phenomenal freshman and a solid young supporting cast. BFA has a few good seniors, but is led primarily by its underclassmen. MVU's seniors, well, they must play other sports because there are none on this hockey roster.

Is anyone petitioning the VPA to charge double for meetings between these teams next year? I think I just figured out how to save Vermont schools. 




Kaufmann's Korner All County Girls Hockey Team
A reminder from the fall, this is a little different than other all-star teams for a few reasons: First of all, nobody really cares. Secondly, these aren't the 12 best players I've covered this winter, they're the best teams I could send out to represent Franklin County in a state-wide tournament. It's close to an all-star team, but more fun to create. Actually, could we follow up the season with my team against SB/Essex or Spaulding/Hartford? Who needs baseball season?

G- Shanley Howrigan (BFA) 

D- Mikaela Flanagan (MVU)

D- Taylor Jackson (BFA)

F- Amanda Conger (MVU)

F- Katie Campbell (MVU)

F- Aly Hardy (BFA)

Second Team:

G- Shelby Christian (MVU)

D- Hanna Lovelette (BFA)

D- Desiree Hurlbut (BFA)

F- Camille Rainville (MVU)

F- Tori Hubbard (BFA)

F- Dani Schreiner (BFA)

*I had more fun with this team than any other. It's always fun to start off your team with a brick wall in net (and another pretty solid wall as her backup). The forwards on the first team are as skilled as any I've ever watched and none has a hint of attitude. Now that I look at it, I'd love to see Flanagan and Jackson defend together. And look at the speed on the second team. Even if you put that line out there tonight with Schreiner on crutches, they'd win a relay against any other skaters in the state with time to spare. And I don't want a fake hockey team without Campbell or Hurlbut, they just have too much fun. 

Enjoy these playoffs, I know I will!