The Blue Line Report
Phil Stacey
MALDEN — It's not as bad as the final score might indicate.
But today's film study will reveal the highlights, the low points and the small nuances that the St. John's Prep hockey team can use to get better.
The Eagles left the Valley Forum II last night with their five-game winning streak snapped after a 5-2 loss to the state's undisputed top club, defending Super 8 champion Malden Catholic. A break here or a bounce here and things could have turned out differently for St. John's, but as our favorite football coach preparing his team in Indianapolis this week likes to say, it is what it is.
"To go 4-2 with the best team in the state in their rink ... that says something," said Prep head coach Kristian Hanson, whose club surrendered an empty net goal with 56 seconds to play to account for the final score.
"There are points in every game that are turning points; tonight we didn't bury the chances we had. There are things we'll need to learn from."
That's where the video work comes in.
Hardly a novel concept — several other area teams, such as Danvers and Marblehead, break down game films in a similar fashion — the Eagles (9-5) use their film study to assess, and analyze games in hopes of fine-tuning themselves when they get back on the ice.
It's a valuable tool, said Hanson, in the sense that you can tell a player how to do something dozens of times, but it might not have the same impact as watching the exact scenario unfold on the TV screen might.
"You're looking for areas that you can fix and others that you need to address," said Hanson. "After a loss like this we want to go over our mistakes, but we also want to stress the positive so that we're coming together as a team and making sure we don't lose (two in a row)."
There will certainly be times during today's viewing that will have the Prep coaches praising their players. Junior center Brian Pinho buried a pair of goals, one on the man advantage, and showed a real drive toward the MC net. Sam Kurker, who assisted on both goals to give him 37 points in 14 games, had another big game and created time and space for himself and his linemates. Unheralded, yet steady defensive work from blueliners such as James Brightney and John Ryan may also draw praise.
Goaltender David Letarte, who aside from a sloppy first goal allowed early in the second period, was his usual solid self in goal; the senior flashed out his left pad on a third period breakaway to deny Middleton's Mike Iovanna for the night's best save.
But naturally, there will be areas that need corrections and adjustments.
The 1-for-8 on the power play, for instance, in which the Prep simply didn't get enough pucks to the net. Or the missed chances in the offensive zone; there were three separate times Prep skaters had open nets, but either shot wide or mishandled the puck.
Defensive zone coverage against a superior skating team (and sticking to that system for 45 minutes), knowing when not to pinch in offensively, getting the puck in deep with efficiency, using their physicality along the walls to slow down their opponents ... they'll all be areas in which the Eagles will be tutored prior to their next contest Saturday at home against Austin Prep.
And it'll all be done with the sole purpose of making the Eagles better, both in the present and the near future.
"We're almost there, but we're not quite there yet. But the goal is to be there in the end," said Hanson.
"To be honest, I'd rather lose now and win down the road."
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Three local players all play big roles for Malden Catholic (9-1-2), which hasn't lost since a 2-1 setback to Delbarton, N.J. back on Dec. 17.
The aforementioned Iovanna is a first line right wing for the Lancers who is a terrific compliment to Division 1 linemates Brendan Collier (bound for Boston University) and center Ryan Fitzgerald (headed to BC). The 5-foot-9, 165-pound junior assisted on the first of Collier's two strikes last night, giving him 10 goals and 14 assists to date.
Freshman Ara Nazarian has acclimated himself quite nicely to the Catholic Conference hockey wars; centering the team's second line, the Boxford native has six goals and a dozen assists for 18 points. With speed, scoring acumen and a feisty streak, Nazarian should be ticketed for greater things.
The 15-year-old had one of the biggest plays of yesterday's game, winning a race along the wall in the neutral zone for a loose puck and breaking into the Prep zone 2-on-1 shorthanded before feeding teammate Tyler Sifferlin for a killer goal with 1:06 left in the middle period, restoring MC's two-goal lead at 4-2.
Also, junior defenseman Colin MacGillivray of Peabody, a three-year varsity starter for the Lancers, skates on their top pairing with sophomore Andrew Cross of Saugus as well as on the first power play and penalty killing units. The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder has a goal and six assists offensively.
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There's an old hockey axiom for players who score many more goals than assists they dish out — they jokingly refer to such as player as a "Cy Young Award" winner. As in, a baseball pitcher with many more wins (or in this case, goals) than losses (i.e., assists) in a season.
If such an award existed, Bishop Fenwick's Joe Shea would be the leading candidate heading into the final month of the regular season.
On a team that has had difficultly scoring all winter, Fenwick's senior captain has nearly half (10) of his team's 21 total tallies. He hasn't been awarded an assist this year, meaning his scoring line reads 10-0.
Shea has had hat tricks in both of Fenwick's victories (vs. St. Bernard's and last weekend vs. Matignon). He has 25 goals in two seasons skating for the Brown-and-Gold.
An interesting tidbit: last season as a junior, Shea led the Crusaders in scoring with 38 points — including a team-high 23 assists. In fairness, though, Fenwick was deeper offensively and played a much easier schedule in 2010-11 than this current winter.
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The Blue Line Report, a column on North Shore high school hockey, appears each Wednesday during the winter months in The Salem News. Contact Phil Stacey at pstacey@salemnews.com or 978-338-2650, and follow him on Twitter: @PhilStacey_SN.
Stacey's quick shifts
1. Can Danvers (10-2) remain atop the NEC North standings as the teams battle each other for a second time down the regular season homestretch? It's all up to them; following tonight's home game vs. Lynn, the Falcons will play, in order, at Winthrop Saturday, their final home game a week from tonight vs. Beverly (a team that beat them, 6-2, in December) and at Saugus on Saturday, Feb. 11. A killer stretch of games, to say the least.
2. When Beverly's Bryce Mitchell blanked Salem, 6-0, last Saturday, he became the fourth area backup goaltender to pitch a shutout this winter, joining senior Jared Hynes of St. John's Prep and fellow seniors Steve Wilkinson (now in a job share for the No. 1 job) and Zac Ingraham, both of Danvers. There have only been two No. 1 keepers to whitewash an opponent in 2011-12; David Letarte of St. John's Prep has done it four times while Beverly High freshman Tim Biarelli has two to his credit.
3. For a Peabody (5-6-1) squad desperate to earn the nine points needed to acquire a playoff berth, they'll have to pull off more than a few upsets to reach that mark. Following tonight's game against Salem, the Tanners' next seven opponents (Beverly twice, as well as Gloucester, Winthrop, Saugus and Hudson) have a combined record of 57-25-10.
