Hopefully now that it's been a week since the final game at TD Garden and a very dramatic boys hockey season has ended, we can all relax and our heart rates have gone back to normal.
If not, it's understandable.
We expected surprises in the state tournament because the regular season was crazy. But did we really anticipate all of it?
In all four boys divisions this postseason, there were 36 occasions where a lower-seeded team advanced – the most in the history of the statewide format. Two 11th-seeded teams in the state finals was a first, and Div. 1’s 18th-seeded Arlington Catholic was the lowest seed to reach a boys hockey Final Four. Only seven teams seeded in the top four made it to their division’s state semifinals, which was about half of what happened in 2022.
Add to that, only one of the three top-seeded boys teams at TD Garden won a championship, making the state tournament chaotic.
The individual stories within that are even more interesting.
Reading was expected to win in the Middlesex League Liberty race. However, the young Arlington Spy Ponders ended up winning the league, but Winchester eventually triumphed in the tournament. Overtime victories helped Reading reach the title game, where they challenged a strong St. John’s Prep. Winchester's efforts were appreciated by head coach Gino Khachadourian, who believes they put Winchester back on the map.
Throughout the year, the Eagles seemed to be in a class of their own, managing to beat the otherwise dominant Xaverian group three times. This led to a unique achievement of winning the Pete Frates Winter Classic, the Catholic Conference, and the state title in the same year.
The biggest upset was 11th-seeded Boston Latin defeating top-seeded Tewksbury for the Div. 2 state title. Boston Latin's victory was unexpected after losing twice to a strong Tewksbury team, but they managed to secure their first hockey championship in 19 years.
Marblehead started the year with six losses and was 2-8 after a couple of wins, but ended the season with a remarkable 15-1-1 record. They managed to break top-seeded Nauset’s 19-game win streak in the Div. 3 state final and claim the championship.
Dover-Sherborn/Weston achieved an impressive defensive performance to win its first state championship in the Div. 4 category, defeating strong opponents Sandwich, Winthrop, and Hanover at TD Garden.
Overall, it's difficult to summarize the many remarkable accomplishments of this year. Not only were there great championships, but it also felt like four or five players achieved significant career milestones every week, making it an exciting season.
Boys, please acknowledge. We're eagerly waiting for December.
Loose pucks
Everyone is thinking about it – the Div. 1 state championship couldn't have ended the way it did this year. It's a pity that many people are already questioning St. John’s Prep’s title, but it's understandable and also unreasonable.
Should the last-minute goal, which the replay photos clearly show was still on the stick, have been allowed? Absolutely not. The game should have gone into overtime.
But was it close enough during the game to be considered a common human error in sports, just like the error that disallowed a crucial Eagles goal earlier? Definitely. St. John’s Prep benefited from a missed call at the end, but they are still champions.
However, at TD Garden with the championship at stake, we should seriously consider introducing some form of replay review. It's not available during the regular season, but there are a few other things we don’t do until the state final. Why not this, especially after what just happened? If not, goal judges used to be hired for the state finals. A goal judge could have quickly waved it off, and it seems like an easy fix to bring back for the future.
Failing to address this in some way for next year would be a significant shortcoming. This should be added to the list of other things in this tournament that could be improved.
Coaches have been vocal about putting shootouts at the top of the list, expressing disapproval of a team’s postseason fate coming down to an individual-based challenge with too much pressure on the individuals. It's a reasonable complaint.
The distinction of where the state quarterfinals would be played seemed unclear. It wasn't necessarily meant to be “neutral” but rather a rink that meets the qualifying criteria for the round. However, Woburn and Duxbury (girls) were able to play at their home rinks within that, which doesn't seem fair when other “home” teams didn’t get to use their rinks as a pre-determined site. We might as well make the round neutral.
Playing at TD Garden is an amazing experience for high school hockey players. However, starting a state final after 9:30 p.m. is not ideal. Having six state finals in one day is great in theory, but there are too many events in the day to stay on schedule. We need an alternative way to play state finals on a big stage.
