Prep Hockey: Top Five Holiday Tournaments in 2019-20
Ranking the top five prep tournaments + ten games to watch
Ten Games to Watch Before Christmas:
Note: These do not include the play-off games, all of which are still to be determined. Many of the high-seeded play-off games will be just as good if not better than most of the games listed below.
KUA x Salisbury (@ Milton, Fri Dec 20, 11 AM)
Loomis x Berkshire (@ AOF, Thurs Dec 19, 3 PM)
Kent x AOF (@ AOF, Thurs Dec 19, 5 PM)
Holderness x Pomfret (@ Groton, Thurs Dec 19, 5 PM)
Cushing x Lawrence (@ Lawrence, Thurs Dec 19, 7:30 PM)
Stanstead x Nichols (@ Princeton, Sat Dec 21, 11 AM)
St. Andrew’s x Rivers (@ Sebs, Fri Dec 20, 6 PM)
Tilton x Millbrook (@ Brooks, Fri Dec 20, 6:15 PM)
Andover x Nobles (@ Milton, Fri Dec 20, 1 PM)
Hotchkiss x Westy (@ Milton, Fri Dec 20, 3 PM)
Here is my take on which tournament has the most competitive field this year — unlike the games above, I’ve also considered some that will take place after Christmas:
AOF Christmas Classic (Dec. 19-21)
Gunnery, TP, Loomis, Berkshire, Kent, AOF, Tabor, St. Paul’s
The Avon tournament is stacked this year. Five of eight teams (Berkshire, Avon, Kent, Loomis, Gunnery) already appear to be in contention for eight Elite New England tournament spots. Some very good teams will come away disappointed from this week. T-P, Tabor and St. Paul’s shouldn’t be an easy out for anyone, making this the most competitive tournament.
LA/Groton (Dec. 19-21)
Culver, Groton, Holderness, Pomfret, Proctor, Dexter, Cushing, Lawrence
Right up there with Avon and the Flood-Marr, LA/Groton has three undefeated teams (Dexter, Lawrence and Holderness) looking to keep their streaks going with a championship. Standing in their way are Cushing, as hot as anyone in New England through their last four games, Pomfret (5-1, outscoring teams 28-9) who have only lost to undefeated Loomis, Proctor, who have only lost to KUA/Tilton + Culver, who always field a competitive team. Co-hosts Groton are 3-2.
Flood-Marr (Dec. 20-22)
Deerfield, Milton, KUA, Andover, Nobles, Hotchkiss, Westminster, Salisbury
The Flood-Marr is top-heavy this year, with many of the teams not named KUA and Salisbury fairly unproven even through the early days of the season. KUA and Salisbury haven’t been perfect, but they’re the early favorites and the only reason this remains a top three tournament this season. Some dark horses to win the whole thing are Andover, Nobles and Hotchkiss.
St. Seb’s Holiday Tournament (Dec. 20-22)
Sebs, Albany, Winch, Brunswick, SAC, Rivers, Northwood, Williston
The top two teams here, as they have been with some consistency, are Sebs and St. Andrew’s College out of Ontario. I interviewed St. Andrew’s coach David Manning earlier this fall and you can check that out here. Both Rivers and Brunswick have shown glimpses but could easily leave Needham below .500 if they don’t bring their A-game, while Northwood regularly field a strong team.
Edward Watkins (Jan. 3-5)
New Hampton, Lawrence, Cushing, Canterbury, Thayer, Gov’s, Dexter, Stanstead
The only tournament after Christmas ranked in the top five is Cushing’s E.G. Watkins tournament, which is regularly quite strong. Beyond the host Penguins, some very talented and familiar faces from the LA/Groton tournament (Lawrence, Dexter) will be in attendance, joined by some more strong teams in Stanstead, Thayer and Gov’s making this a pretty great event.
Other tournaments:
Brooks/Pingree
Pingree, NYA, Brooks, Berwick, Hebron, New Hampton, Tilton, Millbrook
Lawrenceville
UCC, NMH, Lawrenceville, Taft, Nichols, Bel Hill, Stanstead, Choate
William Barber (@MX and St Marks)
MX, Worcester, St Marks, Po Abbey, Vermont, Hill, Kents Hill, Princeton Day
Bel Hill - Nichols (@ Bel Hill)
Bel Hill, Nichols, Albany, ASL, Brunswick, Millbrook, Rivers, St Francis
BBN and Nichols-RL (@BB&N)
NYA, Berwick, BBN, RL
Joshua Weeks (@ Tabor)
St Pauls, Winch, St Georges, Milton, Tabor, Kents Hill, Proctor, Pomfret