Previewing tonight’s games

Both games will be played @ Centennial A

Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Final - #8 Ravenwood vs. #4 Montgomery Bell - 7:10 PM (MTSN coverage begins at 7:05 PM BROADCAST LINK)
Paths to this game
Ravenwood
-Defeated Summit-Page 6-4 on February 8 in the first round
-Lost 5-1 to Montgomery Bell on February 14 in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Pope Prep-MLK-GCA 7-4 last Wednesday in a Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinal
-Defeated Franklin 6-3 on Monday in the Losers’ Bracket Semifinal

Montgomery Bell
-Defeated Franklin 4-2 on February 7 in the first round
-Defeated Ravenwood 5-1 on February 14 in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
-Lost 5-1 to Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb last Wednesday in the Winners’ Bracket Final

Season series: MBA have won all three meetings: both regular season meetings 5-2 on October 30 and 6-1 on January 29, and one playoff meeting 5-1 on February 14
It’s weird to think of the team that’s won this tournament the last two years as “The Little Team that Could”, but that’s what Ravenwood have been this year. The 8 seed that won a total of four games in the regular season has knocked off 1 seed Summit-Page, 3 seed Pope Prep-MLK-GCA, and 5 seed Franklin on their way to a potential third-place finish in this year’s tournament. The Raptors have had a nice spread of scoring so far, with multiple goals for Brady Friedman, Liam Powell, Jack Ready, and Jake Farrell. Colin Gower has been pretty good since being named the starter since the MBA game (although, 11 goals allowed in three games isn’t great), and the defense has been pretty stout. Now, comes one more showdown with Hunter Wieck and MBA. As you can see by the season series, the Big Red have outscored the Raptors 16-4 in three games this season, and two of those goals came because of silly MBA turnovers, so, in all honesty, the latter two games should’ve been shutouts. Ten of those 16 goals have been scored by MBA’s top line of Lee Guy, Trace Graham, and Matthew Moore. MBA have not played since undoubtedly their worst game of the season last Wednesday, when Ensworth smothered them over the course of the last 18 minutes of the contest (no, the Summit game from December 4 doesn’t count, since Wieck was healthy-scratched). The Big Red will no doubt be amped for this game, since winning it would give them another crack at the Ice Tigers. Ensworth showed everyone the blueprint to beating MBA, and that’s get pucks to the net, and look for tip-ins. Ravenwood need to replicate this to have any shot, and they need to clamp down MBA’s Big 3 as much as possible.

It seems like a “pick against us at your own risk” situation, but I really can’t see Ravenwood continuing after tonight; MBA to win.

Consequences of this game’s result
Winner plays Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb next Monday @ 8:25 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp in the Predators Cup Final
Loser is eliminated

Henry Hine Cup Final - #5 Brentwood vs. #1 Rutherford Rampage - 8:40 PM (MTSN coverage begins at 8:30 PM BROADCAST LINK)
Paths to this game
Brentwood
-Lost 3-0 to USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture on February 7 in the first round
-Defeated Independence-Ravenwood 2 8-2 on February 12 in the first round of the Losers’ Bracket
-Defeated Tennessee Outlaws 3-1 on February 14 in a Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinal
-Defeated USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture 4-3 in a shootout last Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin 7-6 in overtime on Monday in the Losers’ Bracket Final

Rutherford Rampage
-Defeated Independence-Ravenwood 2 6-1 on February 7 in the first round
-Defeated USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture 5-2 on February 12 in a Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
-Defeated Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin 6-0 last Wednesday in the Winners’ Bracket Final

Season series: Both meetings were split: Brentwood won the first meeting 7-5 on October 30, and Rutherford won the second meeting 4-2 on January 29
Well, it’s happening: The two teams who moved down to Tier 2 at the midway point of the season are facing off in the Henry Hine Cup Final. They both probably should’ve been in the Preds Cup, but, that’s how this regular season format rolls, so, here we are. Brentwood are on an absolute revenge tour: since the 3-0 loss to USN to open the tournament, they’ve scored 21 goals in four games, while allowing 12. But, that game against Hendersonville on Monday stands out. I’d say the fact that they had to win a score-fest to get to the final doesn’t bode well, but Father Ryan beat the Outlaws 8-6 in the 2021 Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket Final, then forced the If Necessary Game against Independence-Spring Hill, before losing in overtime, so, the final means nothing. Still, the defense wasn’t great early, allowing too much space for the Commandos to convert their scoring chances. They cleaned that up, and Hendersonville’s final goal came off of a weird deflection, but they’ll absolutely have to clamp down on the Rampage’s big guns like Justin Dickinson and Eddie Maze from the get-go, because Alec Dawes has been the best goaltender in the tournament so far, and if the Rampage start scoring at will on the Bruins, and they can’t get anything going, then, Rutherford are leaving Centennial with the Hine Cup in their hands tonight. Despite the final scores of their three games so far, Rutherford have absolutely not coasted through the Winners’ Bracket. They needed a four-goal burst in the third against Indy to pull away, because Catcher Greyson was stopping everything in sight. They trailed USN 1-0 after one, and needed an empty netter to win by a somewhat comfortable margin. And while they dominated Hendersonville, Dickinson’s first period hat trick came late in the first frame. So, no, the Rampage have not had an easy road to the final. Mike Jones definitely knows what he’s up against in Brentwood, as does his counterpart, Chris Orem.

I think it’ll be a close one, with Rutherford prevailing, and walking out with the Hine Cup. There will be an ice cut following the second period, and the overtime rules change: 14 minutes, 5-on-5, sudden victory.

Consequences of this game’s result
Rutherford win tournament with win
Brentwood win would force next Monday’s If Necessary Game @ 6:45 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp

Brackets

Predators Cup

Henry Hine Cup

Monday’s final scores

MTSN broadcast both games.

Henry Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket Final
Brentwood 7, Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin 6 (OT) PODCAST LINK

Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Semifinal
Ravenwood 6, Franklin 3 PODCAST LINK

GNASH News

The rosters for next Wednesday’s All-Star Game at Centennial are scheduled to be announced today.

Podcasts

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Miscellaneous links

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, February 29.