January 27, 2020
The Scholastic Hockey League (SHL) Proudly Presents the 2020 All SHL Team!
Player of the Year
Brian Dolby – New Trier Green
1st Team Forwards
Jack Jones – Barrington,
Charlie Acri – New Trier Green
Matt Dahlke – Glenbrook North
1st Team Defense
Evan Izenstark – Glenbrook North
Brian Dolby – New Trier Green
1st Team Goalie
William DeCaro – Oak Park River Forest
2nd Team Forwards
Nicolas Botvinik – Glenbrook South
Theo Papalas – Glenbrook South
Zach Stafiej – Carmel
CJ Parisi – Barrington
Sean Wegner – Saint Viator
2nd Team Defense
Brett Stokes – Stevenson
Liam Jones – Stevenson
Kevin Purcell – Loyola Gold
2nd Team Goalies
Matt Carr – Glenbrook North
Preston Watt – New Trier Green
Coaches of the Year
Bob Melton – New Trier Green
Tom Wood – Stevenson
February 19, 2019
Congratulations to the SHL Award Winners for the 2018-2019 season!
Player of the Year
David Wilcox – Glenbrook North
Coach of the Year
Bruce Turpin – York
1st Team All SHL
GOALIE
Brennan Nein – Glenbrook North
DEFENSE
Chris Lee – York
David Wilcox – Glenbrook North
FORWARDS
Eamon O’Brien – Loyola Gold
Jack Jones – Barrington
Bill Pashcen – York
2ND Team ALL SHL
GOALIES
Andrew Shearson – Loyola Gold
Ben Mazurek – Barrington
DEFENSE
Tim Hackett – Loyola Gold
Tim Burke – Glenbrook North
Gavin Randall – New Trier Green
FORWARDS
Aiden Finegan – Loyola Gold
Mark Ashmore – New Trier Green
Robert Soudan – New Trier Green
William Kopka – Stevenson
Theo Papalas – Glenbrook South
2018-19 REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
New Trier Green Varsity
Stevenson Junior Varsity
January 29, 2019
Another brutally tough season in the Scholastic Hockey League is ending and it’s exactly that brutality that readies every SHL team for the looming postseason.
While New Trier Green, Loyola Gold, and Glenbrook North have taken turns beating each other at the top of the league standings, seven SHL teams are ranked among Ross Forman’s current Top 20 — and six league teams are ranked in the top 10.
While New Trier Green, Loyola Gold, and Glenbrook North claimed the top three SHL spots during the regular season, all bets are off once the postseason begins.
“York is a big-time sleeper, I think, and Barrington has taken us and Green to overtime,” Loyola coach DJ Lavarre said. “And we lost to Stevenson in overtime this year.
“It’s a competitive league. When you play New Trier Green and Glenbrook North, those are big rivalry games. But if you don’t bring that kind of effort against teams like York, Stevenson, and Barrington, you’re going to lose.”
But not only has Stevenson beaten Loyola; York has also beaten Glenbrook North, and both Barrington and Stevenson have played all three of the top teams in the SHL to multiple one-goal losses.
“It’s good to know that the best competition is in our league and we’re playing some of the best competition that we’ll see through state,” New Trier senior JT Travis said. “And it gives us confidence to know that we’re at the head of the (SHL) this year.”
“Now we need to stay the same course we’ve been going at. Play our game.”
After starting the season 0-4 against New Trier, Glenbrook North has beaten the Trevians in their two most recent meetings.
“GBN has a very defensive play so we need to get past that, and play more offensive whether it’s our ‘D’ stepping up and getting into the action offensively,” Travis said.
“For Loyola it’s just a different style of game. It’s so intense and dramatic so we just need to play our own game and not think too much about who we’re playing.”
As the defending state champion, Loyola is aiming to defend its title with 12 returning and 12 new players to its Gold lineup this year. Lavarre likes the way his side has come together, spearheaded by the evolution of last year’s juniors becoming this year’s senior leaders.
Loyola’s seniors also know that ownership for this year’s team lies squarely on their shoulders. His message to his seniors should provide all the motivational fuel that’s needed.
“The twelve kids that graduated from last year’s team — that’s their year,” Lavarre said.
“The Class of 2018 won a state championship their senior year. You’re the Class of 2019. So now it’s your year and it’s your time. So what do you want to be remembered as?”
For all SHL players, another season spent playing in the state’s toughest league has them well-prepared to chase the dream of a state title. And the time is nearing for players to be consumed by that chase.
“It hasn’t kicked in for me yet but I know when that first game comes, it will kick in for me and everyone on the team,” Travis said, “and then we’ll be thinking more about hockey than about anything else.”
December 26, 2018
Tim Burke
Glenbrook North coach Evan Poulakidas always knew he had a tough competitor in defenseman Tim Burke, but after the Spartans lost their state semifinal game to eventual state champion Loyola Academy last year, Burke showed him something more.
“His face in the locker room told me everything you needed to know about him as a Spartan,” Poulakidas said. “He took it tremendously hard and I think it resonated with the entire team. When you see one of your leaders in that much pain, you realize how important the team succeeding meant to him.”
A player can play for himself or play for his team. Burke chooses the latter, and the loss to Loyola stung for an additional reason.
“It was hard to watch that happen to our seniors,” Burke said. “To think about all the work we put in and all the seniors I’ve played with for so long — that was devastating. “In the past I didn’t want to let the seniors down and now that I’m a senior, I don’t want to leave the younger players on a bad note.”
Now in his fourth season as a varsity player, Burke provides a physical presence, a big shot, and stalwart defensive play for the Spartans. That’s a far cry from three years ago, when he roamed the ice as a 5-foot-4 freshman. Burke hit the mother of all growth spurts later that year and now stands at 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds. That growth turned Burke from a small freshman who largely had to avoid getting hit, to a player able to provide a physical presence on the ice.
“I take that seriously,” Burke said. “Any time one of our players gets hits hard or there’s controversy in the game, I take it personally to step up and be physical when I need to be.”
Burke and fellow senior David Wilcox make up one of the best defensive duos you’ll find anywhere in Illinois. The two have played hockey together since first grade and while Wilcox is good friends with the Burke he knows off the ice, he appreciates a whole different person once the skates are laced up.
“He’s a great guy off the ice — almost the opposite of what he is on-ice,” Wilcox said. “On the ice he’s a little bit mean and he plays with an edge.”
Brennan Nein
Currently ranked third in Illinois in Ross Forman’s Top 20, Glenbrook North relies on a defense that features Wilcox and Burke in front of goalie Brennan Nein. All three played on Team Illinois in September, along with teammate Mike Day, in a North American Hockey League showcase tournament Sept. 20-23 in Minneapolis, MN. Team Illinois went 4-0 in the tournament and Burke had six points in four games in front of scouts from various junior hockey programs. Burke enjoyed putting up some offensive stats in Minneapolis, but that’s never been what he’s all about as a player.
“I pretty much grew up as a defenseman,” Burke said. “I’ve always been more comfortable there and always felt like I could impact the game most on defense.”
Defensemen obviously aren’t showered with the accolades that offensive players receive, but they still enjoy the less obvious moments that stand every bit as important.
“For me, I love when it’s a two-on-one and I can slide and block the pass, or make a play that stops them from scoring. A big hit is also really nice, and small things like having a clean breakout. David Wilcox and I work well in our own zone to get our team going when we’re struggling to get it out. It’s a big help to the team and it’s important. Those small things help our team a lot.”
Poulakidas puts it simply: “Tim is important to every aspect of our team game,” he said.
Burke and Wilcox make up one of the best defensive duos in the high school game and Burke appreciates Wilcox’s smarts, ability to move the puck, and leadership.
David Wilcox
Wilcox currently has 19 goals and 22 assists for GBN and is second on the team in points. He credits Burke for his role in those numbers.
“I can make plays knowing he’s going to be there without even looking, which gives me a huge advantage,” Wilcox said. “He’s a high-end defenseman. We’ve been playing together for so long and at this point we don’t even have to talk out there. We know exactly where each other is going to be on the ice.”
With roughly five weeks remaining in the final season of his high school career, Burke is looking forward next year to either a stint in junior hockey or a freshman year at either the University of Iowa or the University of Kentucky. But for now, he’ll bleed dark green and gold for a Spartans program he’ll miss once his high school career comes to a close.
“I’ll miss going to practice every day. Everyone on the team is like my second family,” Burke said. “I love the sport of hockey. It’s a stress-reliever, a nice place to go whenever you feel frustrated, and I just love the culture of GBN hockey. “I love everything about it from the coaches to the players that play here.”
November 26, 2018
If the annual holiday showdown between Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South could be boiled down to three words, South goalie Connor Wall (pictured left with GBN’s Tim Burke looking for a shot) picked three pretty good ones, “Energy, adrenaline, and noise,” Wall said.
Played to a packed house at the Glenview Ice Center on the night before Thanksgiving, this year’s incarnation of the rivalry game met the standard.
In front of a horde of students donning North’s green and gold on one side, and a mob of students donning South’s navy and gold on the other, North won 5-2 over South in this year’s heated contest.
Glenbrook South came out fast, testing North goalie Brennan Nein repeatedly in the opening minutes. Forward Hunter Niemann found several shots in front but Nein made every stop.
“We had a good ten minutes,” South coach Jim Philbin said. “We came out the way we wanted to come but we needed to capitalize.”
North, meanwhile, opened play on its heels.
“Brennan was great early on,” North coach Evan Poulakidas said, “and we were skating in quicksand.”
The tide turned when North went on the power play and Casey Miller scored off a David Wilcox assist. North’s fourth line — featuring Alex Adler, Michael Rabkin, and Matt Glowacki — keyed North’s turnaround.
Mikey Day gave North a 2-0 lead on a feed from Jonathan Ovnanyan in the first period, and Matt Dahlke made it 3-0 mid-way through the second with a shorthanded goal, his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
If a hockey stick could spontaneously combust, the one that Dahlke has been using might go up in flames.
“We kid him that we don’t want anyone touching his stick because he’s so hot right now,” Poulakidas said. “Every time he touches the puck, it ends up in the net.”
In a ten-game stretch including the win over Glenbrook South, Dahlke scored hat-tricks against St. Rita and St. Viator, and had two goals against both Culver Academy and New Trier Blue.
That’s 10 goals in 10 games and Dahlke is just enjoying the ride.
“I switched sticks about ten games ago and ever since then it’s been a huge year for me,” Dahlke said. “I’m just feeling it lately. I don’t know. Once it started I just kept working hard and it kept coming and coming.”
Nicolas Botvinnik gave South its first goal on an assist from Daniel McKay to make it 3-1 in the second period, but North went up 4-1 before the period ended on a Charlie Slovis goal off a feed from Alex Kim.
North’s Tim Burke made it 5-1 in the third period on Wilcox’s second assist of the night, and South’s Joseph Young assisted on Gavin Miller’s goal to end the game’s scoring.
Philbin has a young team featuring four new defensemen, but he’s been happy with the goaltending of the junior Wall and sophomore Jeff Keating as his defense finds its way.
“We’re real young but I like that we’re hungry,” Philbin said. “The team didn’t give up at all tonight. They stay together, they don’t complain or feel sorry for themselves. Now we need to take it to the next level and find consistency.”
Junior captain Theo Papalas agreed. “We’ve played with each other for a while so it’s more just a matter of confidence on ‘D’ and it’s not just our defense,” Papalas said. “It’s also our forwards helping out. We haven’t been back-tracking enough.
“But we came together last year and I’m predicting that will happen again this year. I love this team and we’ll figure it out.”
The game’s waning moments saw tempers flare slightly, but such is the nature of a heated, emotional rivalry in front of an estimated 2,500-plus fans.
“It’s the best,” Dahlke said. “Having siblings here, ex-players come home from college, old teammates — it really does mean a lot to us every year. There’s nothing like it.”
New Trier Green wins Loyola Thanksgiving Tournament crown
Loyola Academy’s 47th Annual O’Grady Thanksgiving Tournament concluded on Sunday, Nov. 25, with New Trier Green winning 3-1 over host Loyola Gold.
A Declan Darcy goal gave Loyola a 1-0 lead in the second period but New Trier’s Patrick Chang tied the game with a power play goal in the period, on a feed from Brian Dolby.
Goals by New Trier’s John Kane and Henry Freedman in the third period secured the win for the Trevians.
Unbeaten New Trier earned a 27-16 edge in shots for the game. Through 26 games leading up to the tournament, New Trier Green had five players with at least 14 goals apiece, in Dylan Kochman (15), Mark Ashmore (14), Bobby Soudan (15), JT Travis (19), and Ryan Gallagher (20).
Goalies Reger and Preston Watt also each had 13-0 records in net through 26 games.
October 24, 2018
Trailing defending state champion Loyola Gold 2-1 after two periods, New Trier Green sat in the locker room at Heartland Ice Arena without any sense whatsoever of panic or frustration among its players.
The Trevians just wanted to keep their noses to the grindstone.
“Trailing after two periods was not a big deal for this team,” New Trier assistant coach Chad Bidwill said. “It’s a very resilient group. We just told them to stay focused and stay the course, and our chances will come.”
Mission accomplished. New Trier got a tying goal in the third period from Tommy Kempf and a game-winner from JT Travis to take a 3-2 win on Oct. 13 in Lincolnwood.
Travis gave New Trier a 1-0 lead in the second period while Cooper Prawdzik and Eamon O’Brien scored for Loyola.
With a 17-0 record overall and a 2-0 record in SHL play through Oct. 23, the Trevians are rolling to start the season.
“You could tell that the returners from last year’s team wanted a change,” Travis said. “We wanted a new slate. I wouldn’t have expected 17-0 at this point, and we know every game is a grind, but I have a strong feeling we could go undefeated.”
The Trevians and Ramblers played before a packed house at Heartland and the first period featured a little too much emotion for much system play to occur.
“Loyola-New Trier is a rivalry game so the kids are all excited to be there in front of their fans,” Bidwill said. “It’s not a normal game for our style or (Loyola’s) so it was a little sloppy to start out.”
Both teams settled down in the second period and Bidwill said play was fairly even to game’s end.
After the wildness of an emotion-packed first period ended, the Trevians also got a bit of sage advice from sophomore goalie Preston Watt. Sophomores don’t typically take on leadership roles on state-power programs, but Watt isn’t a typical sophomore.
“He came over to the bench after the first period and said ‘why are you guys all nervous?’” Bidwill said. “We kind of laughed it off, coming from a sophomore, especially since he wasn’t vocal at all as a freshman last year.”
Travis was not surprised that Watt was willing to speak up.
“He’s already grown into a leader and I’ve only known him since he made the team (in August),” Travis said. “He’s a natural leader and he doesn’t really care that he’s only a sophomore. He cares about this team as much as anyone else.”
Travis gave New Trier a 1-0 lead in the second period before Prawdzik and O’Brien tilted the game in Loyola’s favor. Kempf tied the game in the third and Travis won it on a play that started in the middle of a line change.
“We were working it through the neutral zone and (Ryan) Gallagher got the puck,” Travis said. “I had some speed swinging around the blue line and he chipped it between Loyola’s defensemen.
“I split the defensemen and shot it on (Loyola goalie Andrew) Shearson’s pad and I was able to catch my own rebound on the goal line on my lefty side, which was helpful to kind of sneak it past him.”
Bidwill likes what Green is getting from Travis thus far.
“JT is a returning Green player, a high-energy guy, and he’s one of our assistant captains this year,” Bidwill said. “He has a lot of speed and offensive skill and just a big, strong body. He’s definitely one of the leaders on the team so far.”
Bidwill applauded the day’s work put in by Kempf, Watt, and defenseman Tyler Baird in the win, and Travis credited his team’s ability to defend a late-game power play from Loyola in securing the win.
Players like Baird, Brian Dolby, Magnus Siverston, and Daniel Pugliese keyed the penalty kill “but every player on this team is capable of running special teams, four-on-four hockey, or whatever,” Travis said. “Every guy can play everything and we have a lot of depth.”
New Trier posted a 95-24 scoring edge over opponents through its first 17 games, with Loyola as the only opponent to come within two goals of the Trevians. Bobby Soudan led New Trier offensively through 17 games, with 14 goals and 14 assists.
Watt and Owen Reger have split time in net for New Trier. Watt faced 22 shots and made 20 saves in the win over Loyola, while Ramblers goalie Shearson faced 36 shots and made 33 saves.
O’Brien, Cole Corrigan and Tim Hackett also had assists for the Ramblers, while Watt, Soudan, Mark Ashmore, John Kane, and Gallagher had assists for New Trier.
DUKES OUT FAST
York has also started well in SHL play, with a 4-2 win over Glenbrook South and a 3-2 win over New Trier Green. York, and Glenbrook North were unbeaten in conference play through Oct. 24.
“Every two points is huge, so beating GBS and NTB in our first two league games is important to establishing a presence and a base to build off of,” York coach Bruce Turpin said.
Matt Anikej scored twice in the win over Glenbrook South and the Dukes also got goals from Jack Ray and Mikey Kamienski. Quinn Haller had two assists and York got one assist apiece from Billy Paschen, Bradley Lynch, and Anthony Baran.
Chris Lee had two goals and an assist in York’s win over New Trier Blue, and William Ciannella also scored in the win. Kamienski also had an assist in the win.
“Chris Lee and Billy Paschen drive our team offensively and defensively and unlike the previous couple of seasons, we have a little more balanced depth across the board,” Turpin said. “We have been able to generate scoring from all four of our lines so far this season.”
Goalie Thomas Wesolowski made 19 saves against New Trier and 49 saves against Glenbrook South, in a game that saw 103 combined shots on goal.
“Our goal-tending has been outstanding so far this season,” Turpin said.
“(Wesolowski) is really rising to the occasion and keeping us in every game.”
*All photos courtesy of Scholastic Hockey League
October 8, 2018
There are games that every team circles on its calendar and for Stevenson, Oct. 3, 2018 was one of those games.
“It was something we looked forward to all summer, considering what happened at the United Center last year,” Stevenson senior defenseman Sam Shellist said.
Shellist, of course, was referring to last season’s state title game at the UC, when Loyola Gold won 4-2 over Stevenson to capture the crown.
The Scholastic Hockey League rematch on Oct. 3 was a good one, with Stevenson winning 3-2 in overtime.
“It was a back-and-forth game,” Shellist said. “It was a good experience for all the kids in the locker room to see that we can do it, if we come together as a team and work hard.
“The whole thing was a blur. But it was a lot of fun. Just to go out there and stay with them, and skate with them, and prove that we can was really awesome.”
Loyola took a 1-0 lead in the second period on an Eamon O’Brien goal off a feed from Cole Corrigan, and Stevenson’s Bill Kopka tied the game early in the third period on a Daniel Romm assist. O’Brien fed AJ Cornelison to put the Ramblers back up 2-1 but with less than six minutes remaining in the game, Stevenson got another game-tying goal from Josh Wright, on a feed from Adam Offenbach.
Romm netted the game-winning goal in overtime. Goalie Jeremy Riback also made 29 saves in the win as Loyola out-shot Stevenson 31-22.
“They’re still as good as there is out there,” Stevenson coach Tom Wood said of Loyola. “They’ll be right up there again this year. They played in a tournament that weekend and we played in a tournament the previous weekend, so I think we caught them a little off guard.”
Stevenson graduated 10 varsity seniors and 300 points from last year’s state runner-up team but Wood figured he’d have another competitive side ready to compete in the always-formidable SHL.
“I knew we still had a really good core, we picked up a couple guys from our club team, and the top scoring line from the state championship JV team last year,” Wood said. “Our defense is much-improved since last year and we have a lot of depth. Last year our scoring came mainly from our top two lines but this year we can score with all four lines. We can get scoring from all over.”
Barrington also won an overtime game on Oct. 3, 3-2 over New Trier Blue. New Trier led 2-1 through one period on goals from Tyler Clarke and Sothio Suzue-Pan, with Barrington’s CJ Parisi scoring a short-handed goal in the period. Barrington tied the game in the third period on a Nicholas Nehf goal and won it thanks to a Jack Jones goal in overtime. Matthew Tiles assisted on Nehf’s goal, and New Trier also got assists from Whitton Gardiner and Henry Pigott.
February 26, 2018
The Scholastic Cup Finals are set it will be (1) Loyola v (2) New Trier Green.
New Trier advanced with a two game sweep of Stevenson. The first game featured an overtime win by Green, when 5 minutes into overtime John Robinson’s 20 foot wrist shot found it’s mark. The game was a thrilling back and forth contest. Game 2 of New Trier Stevenson series was scoreless late into the 3rd period. Stevenson was given two penalties late in the game. On the 5-3 advantage, Green’s Tyler Baird’s shot from the top of the right circle broke the deadlock. With under 2 minutes to play Stevenson had their own 5-3 which turned into a 6-3 as they pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. New Trier’s defense kept the Patriots to the outside for most of the time and held on for the win and sweep.
Game 1 of the Loyola, Glenbrook North series was a defensive struggle for most of the game. Loyola would score a 1st period power play goal that would stand up until with 22 seconds left to play Gold would score their 2nd goal to win game one 2-0. In game 2, Gold jumped out to a 2 goal lead, but GBN came back and scored 3 straight goals in the 2nd period. Gold would tie the game midway thru the 3rd period leading the teams into overtime. With just over 4 minutes gone in the OT, GBN’s Matt Dahlke raced around the Gold net and his wrap around goal gave GBN the win and tied the series at 1. Game 3 lived up to it’s billing. Gold again raced out to a large lead. The game was scoreless moving into the 2nd period. Each team traded goals but then Gold scored 2 straight to end the 2nd period. Gold opened the 3rd period with a power play goal and pushed the lead to 4-1. GBN stormed back with two consecutive power play goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with about 7 minutes to play. GBN pressed but and had some good looks but Gold’s Hugh Brady was able to close the door and with the win Gold will move on to face rival New Trier Green in the finals.
You can see the finals on the SHL Network broadcast live on the Cube. Dates and times to be announced. Follow the Scholastic Hockey League on scholastichockeyleague.org.
February 9, 2018
The Scholastic Hockey League proudly announces its Varsity All League Teams. For all playoff scores and news go to scholastichockeyleague.org.
1st Team
Forwards
Trevor Hilt – Stevenson
David Rubin – Glenbrook North
Robert Soudan – New Trier Green
Defense
David Wilcox – Glenbrook North
Matt Dodge – Barrington
Goalie
Hugh Brady – Loyola
2nd Team
Forwards
Dan Stevens – Loyola
Jackson Leptich – Stevenson
John Robinson – New Trier Green
Ben Thomas – Glenbrook South
Aidan Finegan – Loyola
Defense
William Baldwin – New Trier Green
Matt Parma – Loyola
Carter Devlin – Stevenson
Goalies
Tyler Laarveld – Glenbrook North
Elias Sandholm – Stevenson
September 11, 2017
The Scholastic Hockey League had a fine showing in the Wheaton Pre-Season tournament at Center Ice of DuPage having 3 out of the 4 teams in the semi-finals – York, Glenbrook South and Glenbrook North. Providence (Chicago Catholic Hockey League) was the other Semi-Finalist.
York defeated Providence in a come from behind shoot-out win and Glenbrook North defeated sister school Glenbrook South 6-5 in overtime. York trailed multiple times only to catch the Celtics at 3. The two teams played a full 10 minute OT period with no result. York came up with the lone shoot-out goal to win 4-3.
Glenbrook South got all over North and took a 4-0 lead into the 3rd period and then another lead of 5-3 with 3 minutes to play. Senior GBN forward David Rubin then put on quite a show. He had scored the first 2 goals for GBN early in the 3rd period then finished his 5 goal period by scoring with 3:49 to play (3:21 and 55 seconds). Mike Day scored the winner at the 39 mark of the OT period.
The finals saw Rubin score 2 goals in the 2nd period of the finals. York cut the lead to 1 with 6 minutes to play with a goal by forward Ben Semmelhack. York continued to pressure, but was not able to get the equalizer. Rubin was named the MVP of the tournament with 11 goals in 5 games.
August 14, 2017
With the coming 2017-18 season the Scholastic Hockey League (SHL) has adopted a 3 on 3, five minute overtime for games that end in a tie. Should the teams still be tied after the 3 on 3 the teams will go directly to a sudden death shoot out. This applies only to Varsity games; the JV games will still be decided by a 3 man shoot out.
Carmel of Indiana has become a full member in the SHL at both the Varsity and JV level. The teams will participate in a complete schedule with playoffs. Carmel is one of the premiere high school hockey programs in Indiana.
Long time JV Coach at Glenbrook North, Rich Blakey, has stepped down to devote his efforts to the growing Northbrook Bluehawk program. Rich has the led GBN JV to multiple Scholastic Cup Championships. Jeff Marks will assume the JV duties at GBN.
The SHL is looking for camera and sound men to help run the SHL Game of Week, this is a paid position so if interested please contact Evan Poulakidas at evan.poulakidas@cctybearing-us.com.
February 13, 2017
Scholastic Hockey League Semi-Final Games Set
The Scholastic Hockey League Semi-Final Games are set: (1) New Trier Green will take on (4) New Trier Blue in one best of 3 series. While (2) Loyola Gold will play (3) Glenbrook North. Please visit the scholastichockeyleague.org for game times and broadcast times on the Cube.
February 7, 2017
The Scholastic Hockey League is pleased to announce the 2017 All League Selections!
1st Team
Forwards: Thomas Cahill – New Trier Green, Nick Mikahylov- Glenbrook North, Jack Raith – New Trier Green
Defense: Zach Knudson – Glenbrook North, Parker Ray – Loyola Gold
Goalie: Thomas Moran – Loyola Gold
2nd Team
Forwards: Joe Emme – Glenbrook South, David Rubin – Glenbrook North, Michael Dowd – Stevenson, Dan Sullivan – Loyola Gold, Michael Graham – New Trier Green
Defense: Gary Barbera – Barrington, Ben Odle – Loyola Gold, Louie Gomez – Fenwick
Goalies: Tyler Laarveld – Glenbrook North, Ryan Trueman – Loyola Gold
Coach of the Year
DJ LaVarre – Loyola Gold
Player of the Year
Thomas Cahill – New Trier Green
November 21, 2016
New Trier Green survived a furious comeback by Loyola Gold in the annual “Quad Game” on Saturday, November 19, in Wilmette before a sold out crowd. Green took a 4-1 lead in the 1st period, but Loyola kept chipping away with the next 2 goals. With about 4 minutes to play Green scored a 5th goal that look to be the back breaker, but Gold applied more pressure and was awarded a penalty shot with 1 minute to play and converted making it again a 1 goal game. Gold pressured and had two more good chances but were unable to gain the tying goal.
The game was also broadcast live on the SHL Network with over 1300 views. “The voice of the SHL,” Max Anderson, and the SHL Network will be live from Glenview on Wednesday evening, November 23, as Glenbrook North takes on rival Glenbrook South at 5:30pm. The game can be seen on The Cube or on the Scholastic Hockey League website. The SHL network will also be showing live the finals of the Loyola Gold Thanksgiving Tournament, Sunday, November 27 at 3:30 pm from Wilmette. Again, watch on the Cube or the SHL Network.
September 26, 2016
A handful of Scholastic League games took place over the past week. The “new kid” on the block, Carmel of Indiana, swept a two game series with Barrington by the scores of 6-2 and 6-1. Stevenson up ended Fenwick 2 times by the score of 4-3 in a shootout and 4-2.
New Trier Green and Glenbrook North played in the Central States Showcase with both teams earning a 3-1 record to go 6-2 overall in the showcase.
The SHL announced a “game of the week” starting in mid-October. The games will be broadcast over the The Cube.
Follow the SHL on scholastichockey.org.
September 6, 2016
Scholastic Hockey League Welcomes 3 New Teams for 2016
By Evan Poulakidas, SHL President
As the new season begins the Scholastic Hockey League has added 3 new teams, Carmel of Indiana, New Trier Blue and York.
Carmel is the two time state champion of Indiana. Their entrance to the league broadens the league appeal with another top Midwest hockey team. Carmel is coached by Dan Desmond who grew up in Illinois and understands the challenges the teams in the SHL will present to his team.
New Trier Blue comes into the league with many upper classmen. The depth of the entire New Trier system is unmatched and Blue will bring the same passion for winning as Green does.
York is a program on the rise and the entrance to the league should help propel them into some conversation regarding up and coming programs. They will play all their home games at the Addison Ice Rink.
To follow the Scholastic Hockey League go to scholastichockeyleague.org.
August 16, 2016
The 2016-2017 is creeping up on us and before we begin, there have been some changes to the SHL. This season as we say goodbye to Rockford, we welcome New Trier Blue, York High school and Mount Carmel of Indiana to the league.
Bruce Turpin is entering his fifth season as coach of the York Dukes and this year he’s challenged with a little change of scenery. York enters the Scholastic Hockey League for the first time this year from Elmhurst, IL coming off an Illinois West League Varsity Championship.
“Moving into the Scholastic League affords us the opportunity to play the top teams on a nightly basis,” Turpin said. “The best way to improve is to face better competition consistently and this is what the league delivers. Change is difficult, not everyone embraces it right away and it scares some people, but change is needed to continue to improve and reach your goals.”
Turpin started his coaching carrier in 2000 while he was earning his graduate degree at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The Canadian-native has been in Chicago since 2002 and has worked with teams such as Chicago Blues, Chicago Young Americans, Northbrook Bluehawks and Loyola Academy. Elmhurst however is where he’ll continue to coach and help grow the hockey community.
“Elmhurst has a strong and thriving hockey community with the YMCA and the Elmhurst Chiefs programs initiating development, then moving players on to local Tier 2 and Tier 1 programs,” he said. “Our goal is to create an environment and continue to improve our program, so that all players want to play for their high school as freshman.”
One obstacle Turpin may run into this season is the age of his bench. Graduating 11 seniors means his younger players have big shoes to fill. The Dukes will look to four top returning seniors, Elliott Fafinski, Michael Rouzer, Nick Lee and Jack Redick to lead the way but he does have plenty of young talent this season.
He mentioned sophomore Chris Lee as a player to look out for as well as several freshmen and juniors including three JV players who were in the top 10 in league scoring last season.
“We should be in great shape with goaltending,” he adds. “As we have junior Nolan Knupp and Senior Alex Crum returning to the team, as well as juniors Dylan Reynolds and Shane Cassidy vying for a spot on varsity. There will likely be a few players making the move to York from Tier 2 clubs that will slide into some varsity positions as well.”
Despite some of the challenges that may lay ahead, Turpin is entering this season and the league with confidence.
“We are coming off our most successful season as a club in recent years,” he said. “I was originally brought in to help elevate the program and its been four years of altering and refining the culture and making changes that we felt were needed to improve our program and help better develop our players.”
Welcome aboard!
February 29, 2016
Lybrook, NTG take Game 3 for SHL Title
Walking to the bench Saturday night in Wilmette, New Trier Green head coach Bob Melton knew what was at stake. It was Game 3 of the SHL Championship against Loyola Gold but there was a calmness about him. That calmness turned to joy after a 2-1 win for the SHL Championship title.
“I wouldn’t say it was confidence,” Melton said. “It was more relief. I felt good that if we got it to Game 3 that we had a good chance at winning.”
Louie Lybrook sealed the win for New Trier, scoring both of their goals but it wasn’t easy. Loyola Gold came out strong. Danny Stevens found the back of the net first to set the pace with 4:12 left in the first. Lybrook tied it up just minutes into the second. After a nail-biting period and a half he knocked in the game winner with five minutes left to play.
“I couldn’t have done it without my linemen,” Lybrook said, “Johnny Huber and Michael Graham passed me the puck, it was an easy backdoor tap. At the beginning of the game I wasn’t in a groove, then I scored and I was just feeling it the rest of the night.”
Heart rates rose when Loyola’s Ben Odle nailed a shot but the goal was disallowed for a crease violation.
“It was unbelievable,” said New Trier goaltender Will Douthit. “Loyola came to play, with two overtime games and this one came right down to the end also, it was a great series.”
Melton couldn’t be more proud of his team as they continue to accomplish their goals.
“We won the league, now we won the league playoffs, our league is the toughest league in the state and for these guys to win both is huge,” he said. “Now we’re on to state but I told them they have to enjoy this, state’s one and done, so we play all year for our league, state is a different animal but to be the best team in the SHL is a great accomplishment.”
February 15, 2016
2016 SCHOLASTIC CUP PLAYOFFS
New Trier Green and Loyola Gold have advanced to the Scholastic Cup final. New Trier and Loyola both won their best of 3 series in a sweep. Green defeated Rockford and Gold defeated Glenbrook North.
2016 SCHOLASTIC HOCKEY LEAGUE AWARDS
Congratulations to Jim Philbin of Glenbrook South! Jim was voted Coach of the Year by his fellow Scholastic Hockey League coaches!
February 13, 2016
Team effort powers Loyola Gold to the SHL Finals after sweeping GBN
As Loyola Gold prepared to host Glenbrook North Sunday afternoon, they knew what they were getting into and what was at stake. Not only did Michael Gonzalez, Danny O’Grady and Ryan Hill come through, but game-changing goals were scored by Ben Huber and Will Odle, sweeping The Spartans 5-2 in the SHL Semifinals.
“It was awesome,” said head coach DJ LaVarre, “I told the guys before, we need effort from both ends of the rope. Whether you’re a top guy or a bottom guy, we’re all the same and we all need to pull together and we had some other guys step up today because we came together, we’re all a team. It was a great team win.”
Both teams were hungry and came out strong. Glenbrook North brought the intensity and held a 1-0 lead until Will Huber tied it up at the 11:57 mark in the second.
“It feels really good to step up,” said Huber. “It could have been anybody but I was at the right spot at the right time and happened to get one in.”
Shortly after, Ben Dodle came through with 9:20 left in the second to break the tie for the 2-1 lead.
“It was a great shot,” said Dodle. “It was a team effort for sure. Everyone had a role in this game and everyone trusted each other, it was a big win.”
Two minutes later, the tables started to turn. Glenbrook North does what they do best and snuck up from behind in the third and tied the game at 2. Loyola Gold got a little nervous but they weren’t too shaken up once Gonzalez stepped up and knocked in the game-winner.
“Going into this we knew we had to make a statement, make a little noise,” said Gonzalez. “It was a big deal for us to sweep [Glenbrook North]. We’re not done seeing them yet but this was really important. “
LaVarre said that Glenbrook North scoring first is what kind off sparked Loyola’s offense.
“I thought we had a better start, even though they scored first,” said LaVarre. “After that we just ‘boom,’ picked up again. We talked about supporting each other and I told them, at the end of this game if we lost, the person who’s going to feel the worst about anything is the goalie. We all stepped up for the goalie today because we’re a family and we believe in each other.”
Hill scored Gold’s fourth goal and O’Grady scored on an open net for the fifth and final.
Loyola Gold will play New Trier Green who swept Rockford after a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon. Date and time of Game 1 is still TBD.
Loyola Gold Proud to Be Represented in SHL All-League Team
The SHL All-League Teams have been announced, with Loyola Gold well represented.
Ramblers in the first team are forward Danny O’Grady and Defenseman Parker Ray. The second team includes forwards Ryan Hill and Michael Gonzalez.
“It’s a great honor to be chosen for that team, with a bunch of great players beside me,” Hill said.
Besides dealing with an injury since Thanksgiving, teammate Parker Ray is happy to take part as well.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” he said. “It’s a big accomplishment and I’m glad to be a honored on the team.”
Head coach DJ LaVarre had nothing but good things to say and beamed with pride when talking about what his players have accomplished.
“Parker Ray on defense? Well deserved,” LaVarre said. “He lets his play do his talking, he’s stepped up in the leadership role and I’m extremely excited for him.”
And the list goes on.. “Danny O’Grady? Worthy,” LaVarre added. “He’s a workhorse, he just goes and he’s our glue so to speak.”
With Gold being heavy in forwards, it is no surprise there are two more on the second team.
“To have [Michael Gonzalez and Ryan Hill] still a part of this team, it’s a great honor for them,” said LaVarre. “Those three seniors, our forwards, it’s our glue, they’re top scorers in the league and Parker on defense. I’m proud of all of them.”
Loyola takes Game 1 of Semifinals vs. GBN
It is said that good things come in threes. For Loyola Gold, it is in the form of Dan O’Grady, Michael Gonzalez and Ryan Hill. All of which scored in a 3-2 win over Glenbrook North in the first game of the SHL Semifinals Friday night.
“They bended, but they didn’t break,” said head coach DJ LaVarre, who refers to this trio as the team’s glue. “They’ve been in this position before, they know what to expect, they’re playing by example now.”
Glenbrook North came out hungry. They were quick and they kept possession for most of the first period but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
“Today, we just got really unlucky,” said GBN’s Nick Mikhaylov. “We just kept hitting the post. They made some crazy saves at the goal line and we just couldn’t bury it.”
February 1, 2016
The Scholastic Hockey League congratulates New Trier Green Varsity and New Trier Grey JV for winning the regular season championship and Coaches Trophy.
2016 SCHOLASTIC HOCKEY LEAGUE ALL LEAGUE TEAM
1st Team Goalie
Matt Grinde – Glenbrook South
1st Team Forwards
Nick Mikhaylov – Glenbrook North
Dan O’Grady – Loyola Gold
Michael Graham – New Trier Green
1st Team Defense
Parker Ray – Loyola Gold
Dillon Munson – New Trier Green
2nd Team Goalies
Marcus Kunzmann – Barrington
Will Douthit – New Trier Green
2nd Team Forwards
Joe Day – Glenbrook North
Ryan Hill – Loyola Gold
Michael Gonzalez – Loyola Gold
Charlie Burton – New Trier Green
Ty Habedank – Rockford
2nd Team Defense
Zach Knudson – Glenbrook North
Daniel Levey – Stevenson
Gary Barbera – Barrington
VARSITY & JUNIOR VARSITY PLAYOFF PAIRINGS
Playoff pairings for the Varsity Scholastic Hockey League are: New Trier Green (1) vs. Fenwick (8), Glenbrook North (2) vs. Stevenson (7), Loyola Gold (3) vs. Barrington (6) and Glenbrook South (4) vs. Rockford (5).
Playoff pairings for the Junior Varsity Scholastic Hockey League are: New Trier vs. Barrington, Glenbrook North vs. Rockford, Loyola vs. Glenbrook South and Fenwick vs. Stevenson.
March 2, 2015
The Scholastic Hockey League Varsity final is set; New Trier Green will face Glenbrook North in the best of three SHL final series games. New Trier Green also won the Coaches Trophy emblematic of the SHL regular season champion – a title that GBN won last year. GBN enters as the final winner of the first two SHL Championships. Both teams swept their series. Glenbrook North defeated Rockford and New Trier Green on the heels of their 6-0 win on Sunday, March 1, defeated Barrington in two games. The first game between New Trier Green and GBN is scheduled for Thursday, March 5 in Wilmette – puck drop is at 8:00 p.m.
2014-15 Scholastic Hockey League Co-Coaches of the Year
Steve Martins
Barrington
Evan Poulakidas
Glenbrook North
2014-15 Varsity Coaches Trophy Champions
New Trier Green
2014-15 Junior Varsity Coaches Trophy Champions
New Trier Green
2014-15 Varsity Scoring Champion
Brad Glass – New Trier Green
2014-15 Junior Varsity Scoring Champion
Andrew Slovis – Glenbrook North
February 16, 2015
Scholastic Hockey League All League Team
1st team forwards
Brent Segvich New Trier Green
Brad Glass New Trier Green
Chris Zhang Glenbrook North
2nd team forwards
Anthony Heaslip Rockford
Casey Dodge Barrington
Anthony Iacullo Barrington
Adam Czarnicki Saint Viator
Alex Merritt Glenbrook North
1st team defense
Jack Dolby New Trier Green
Kyle Slovis Glenbrook North
2nd team defense
Richard Chen Stevenson
Graham Soman New Trier Green
Chad Yale Glenbrook North
1st team Goalie
Jack Junge New Trier Green
2nd team Goalie
Matt Grinde Glenbrook South
Marcus Kunzmann Barrington
HONORABLE MENTION
Goalie
Nick Bolino Loyola Gold
Defense
Quinn Deleon Rockford
Forwards
Jake Cimarusti Stevenson
Danny O’Graddy Loyola Gold
December 15, 2014
New Trier Green defeats Glenbrook North in the Culver Academy Cornfield Cup
Two Illinois teams played for The Culver Military Academy’s Annual Cornfield Cup, New Trier Green and Glenbrook North. In an epic game, New Trier Green defeated Glenbrook North by the score of 5-4.
The 8 team field included Shattuck Saint Mary’s, St. Ignatius of Ohio, Carmel of Indiana, host Culver Academy, Gilmore Academy and Walsh Jesuit of Ohio.
New Trier arrived at the Champions by defeating Gilmore, Walsh and Culver. While Glenbrook North defeated Shattuck, St. Ignatius and Carmel.
In the Championship game, New Trier scored two 1st period goals. Brent Segvich put in a rebound goal at the 13 minute mark and Cooper Johnson scored from the left point on a power play to close the scoring in the 1st.
GBN cut the lead in half just a minute into the 2nd period when Spartan Chris Zhang while on a power play poked home a rebound to make the score 2-1.
Green countered the Spartan goal at the 5 minute mark. While on a 5-3, Trevian Graham Soman extended the Green lead back to two when he blasted a shot from just outside the right faceoff circle that Cohen had no chance with.
Glenbrook North Chris Zhang scored a terrific individual goal when killing the back half of the 5-3 penalty he found a loose puck at red line and with a defenseman draped all over still found a way to beat Green goalie Jack Junge just 30 seconds after the Green’s goal.
Spartan Chad Yale would tie the game with 2 minutes remaining in the 2nd period when his shot from the right point found the back of the Green net.
The 3rd period was filled with up and down action and with the score tied at 3, Spartan Chris Merritt gave GBN their first and only lead of the game when he came in from the right side of the ice and his back hand shot flew over the shoulder of Junge with 4 minutes into the period.
Green’s Colin McBride tied the game at the 10 minute mark when he out battled a GBN defender in front of Cohen and lifted a back hand shot into the net.
With overtime looming Green’s Colin McBride attacked the middle of ice entered the Spartan zone where he was checked off the puck by a number of Spartans but the puck laid loose about 40 feet from the Spartan net where Matthew Kenyon picked it up at. Kenyon took a number of strides waited and roofed a shot that hit right under the cross bar and into the net for the winner with 18 seconds left to play.
December 1, 2014
Glenbrook North Wins 2nd Loyola Gold Tournament in 3 Years
The Spartans had much to be thankful for during the Thanksgiving Holiday.
In the traditional rivalry game between Glenbrook South, the Spartans came away with a 6-2 victory in front of a sold out crowd in Glenview. Zach Knudson opened the scoring when his shot from the left point beat Titan goalie Matt Grinde and Spartans never looked back. Chris Zhang was magical scoring 3 goals 2 of which were on the power play.
GBN spent the weekend by playing in the 43rd Loyola Gold Thanksgiving tournament. The Spartans had played in the finals the past two seasons and this year would be no different.
In the first game against Highland Park, GBN spotted the Giants a 2-0 lead until late in the 1st period when Joe Day scored on a wraparound goal. That play seemed to wake the Spartans up as Alex Merritt lead a charge into the 2nd period which found GBN scoring 4 goals in that stanza following up with 4 more in the 3rd period for a convincing 9-3 victory.
In the 2nd game against Brother Rice the Spartans started quickly scoring 4, 1st period goals on their way to a 7-0 win. Alex Merritt again led the scoring with another 3 goal game.
In order to advance to the Semi-Finals the Spartans met up with Ohio power St. Edwards. The Spartans were again led by Merritt with 2 goals while his line mates Logan Nein and Chris Zhang each chipped in one a piece. The power play scored two goals in the game and the team defense stifled St. Edwards from start to finish.
Naperville Central was next up for the Spartans in the semi’s. Central defeated host Loyola Gold to reach the game. The Spartans scored 30 seconds into the game by a goal from who else, Alex Merritt. Central responded with two goals to open up the 2nd period.
Defenseman Chad Yale tied the game on a give-and-go play with Merritt midway the 2nd period. Logan Nein would get the winner just a minute after Yale’s goal on a nice shot from in close. The 3rd period was scoreless thus allowing the Spartans to reach the finals for the 3rd year in a row.
GBN would face Barrington in the finals. The Broncos had a terrific tournament by winning their bracket and then by upsetting New Trier Green 4-3 in double overtime in the semi-finals.
Logan Nein opened up the scoring as he attacked the net with a short side wrap around and beat Bronco goalie Marcus Kunzman. The Broncos tied the game with a power play goal that hit off a Spartan shin pad with 2:48 to play in the 1st period. Barrington took the lead on another power play goal from the left point with 11:48 to play in the 2nd period.
It looked like the Barrington lead with last as Kunzman and the rest of the Broncos locked down the Spartans with some tight checking. With time ticking down, Alex Merritt dug a puck out to Logan Nein who found Chris Zhang slightly open to the left side of the about 20 feet out and Zhang let go a hard high wrist shot that found the right side of the Bronco net tying the game with 1:42 to play.
The first overtime was played as a 5 on 5 with the best scoring chance coming from a pass from Merritt to Zhang but the shot went wide. The second ot was played 4 on 4. The combo of Kyle Fisher and Jared Epstein sustained pressure inside the Bronco’s zone where Epstein came off the right board and Fisher went to the net to set a screen. Epstein let go with a high backhand shot that sailed over Kunzman with the game and tournament winner.
The Championship marks the second title in the last 3 years for GBN. Shots for the game were GBN 52 and Barrington 26.
Exciting News…The Scholastic Hockey League has created an SHL Network, run by Angie Wiatrowski. The network can be found on the SHL website and will feature interviews, weekly game round-ups and some live events! The SHL has also branched out onto the social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter.