MTSN GNASH Newsletter for February 29, 2024

LEAP DAY EDITION!

Recapping last night’s games

Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Final
Ravenwood 4, Montgomery Bell 3 PODCAST LINK
In a moment that seems to indicate that everything is going Ravenwood’s way at the moment, Oliver Lutz scored the game’s first goal just over two minutes into the first period by accident; while falling down in the right circle of the MBA zone, he pushed the puck towards the front of the net; Big Red netminder Hunter Wieck was playing too far to his left, and the puck glanced off the inside of the right-hand post, and slid over the goal line. Nearly two minutes later, Bennett Nichols made it 2-0 when he knocked a Liam Powell centering pass into the back of the net from the left-hand side. Almost five minutes after that, MBA got on the board when Matthew Moore flung the puck to the Ravenwood net from his own zone; Colin Gower went to cover it up, but Lee Guy was able to arrive in time to put it in the bottom corner on the left-hand side of the net, and the Raptors led 2-1 after one. The only goal of the second came with just under three minutes left, when Owen Appel shot the puck from the left point, missing the net to Wieck’s right, but it rebounded off the boards, and came straight to Powell at the left-hand side, and he buried it to put Ravenwood up 3-1. 57 seconds into the third, Powell scored the game-winning goal, roofing the puck from in front. MBA made up two of the goals: Near the halfway point of the third, Moore smashed a Guy centering pass into the back of the net from in front. Just over four minutes later, Guy scored his second goal - and also the last of his high school career - when he one-timed the puck into the back of the net from the slot. It felt like MBA would complete the comeback, but the Raptors held on from there, and the 8 seed that won only four games in the regular season will play for a third straight Preds Cup.

Next game for Ravenwood: Monday vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb @ 7 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp in the Predators Cup Final

Henry Hine Cup Final
Rutherford Rampage 4, Brentwood 0 PODCAST LINK
With just over three minutes left in the first period, Justin Dickinson got the puck in the slot, moving to his left before backhanding it into the back of the net to give the Rampage a 1-0 lead. The score held up all the way through the end of the second. In the second, Rampage netminder Alec Dawes made two massive point-blank saves on Clayton Ellsworth; the Bruins were clearly the better team in the first two periods, but Dawes shut them down. After the second period, both teams returned to the locker room for an ice cut; however, the water pump in the Zamboni wasn’t working, so, both teams returned to the ice in the same condition it had been left in. With just over five minutes left in regulation, and with Brentwood on the power play, Carter Burnette-Vice intercepted a Callahan Fielder shot attempt in the slot, and fired it ahead to Dickinson at center; Dickinson sped to the front of the Bruins net, got Payne Fielder down, and backhanded it in for his second goal of the game. With just under two minutes to go, and the Brentwood net empty, Carson Brownlow scored his final GNASH goal, firing the puck into the open cage from the right wing side of his own zone. With 25 seconds to go, Dickinson scored his final GNASH goal, completing his hat trick, firing the puck into the back of the net from center ice. Brentwood surrendered, and the celebration was on. The Rampage become the first supplemental team in GNASH history to win a GNASH trophy of any kind. They were the first supplemental team to make a GNASH tournament final since the old Nashville South Sharks played Brentwood in the final of the now-defunct GNASH Cup tournament in 2002; they lost 4-0. Rampage head coach Mike Jones played for the South Sharks, but not in the final, because earlier in that tournament, he’d had his wrist broken in a game against the Bruins. Dawes (37-save shutout) and Dickinson (hat trick) were named co-MVPs, the first time we’ve had co-MVPs in any GNASH tournament final. Congratulations to the Rampage for overcoming a tough first half, and winning the Hine Cup.

Brackets

Predators Cup

Click on the bracket image to see it; it automatically updates when a final score is entered.

Henry Hine Cup

Since the tournament is over, this is NOT a clickable image.

Celebrating the champions

Rutherford Rampage
Departing Seniors: Carson Brownlow, Carter Burnette-Vice, Colin Burnette-Vice, Justin Dickinson, Jackson Felts, Kaya Plante, Abby Ricalday, and Taz Takayama
A true Jekyll-and-Hyde season for Rutherford. They opened the season with a respectable 6-4 loss to MBA back on September 27, but then, the nightmare began: The night before their second game of the regular season, starting goalie Jackson Wilson got injured in travel practice. The team were forced to adjust without him, and took three straight losses, putting them way behind the 8 ball at 0-4. Wilson returned on October 25, and posted a masterful performance against Ravenwood, as the Rampage won 5-1, only for him to get injured again in travel play the following weekend, culminating in back-to-back losses to Brentwood and Franklin, sealing the Rampage’s fate, and dropping them to Tier 2 midseason. Alec Dawes became the new starting goalie, and their fortunes changed, sealing up the Hine Cup 1 seed by winning six of their seven second half games, only losing to USN on December 6. Dawes was brilliant in the Hine Cup, allowing only three goals on over 100 shots, and posting back-to-back shutouts to finish it off. As Mike Jones told me in the postgame interview last night, Dawes might be heading to juniors next season; if he does, best of luck to him. Brownlow, the Burnette-Vice twins, and Dickinson will be tough holes to fill, but Eddie Maze, Tucker Wilhelm, Dylan Welch, and Kelvin McClendon should be back next season to step up for the offense. It’s a supplemental team, so, the roster almost always looks radically different year-to-year.

Requiem for the runners-up

Brentwood
Departing Seniors: Graham Engelhardt, Ty Essenmacher, Hill Houston, Aidan Pustizzi, Owen Seeley, and Trey Wilkins
It’s still weird to say the words, “Brentwood lost in the Henry Hine Cup Final.” Last year, they lost in the Preds Cup Losers’ Bracket Final, and two years ago, won their sixth GNASH Cup. But huge graduating classes stacked up, and the loss of A-Game is finally catching up. Brentwood started the season 0-3, and when they beat Father Ryan 7-0 on October 18, we all thought that they were back, only to be shutdown by Anthony Pellegrino in a 4-0 loss to Pope days later. A 1-1 tie with Mt. Juliet put them in more peril, and a 7-5 win over the Rampage to finish off the first half didn’t save them, as the Bears stayed up on goal differential, losing to Ravenwood by only one goal in the Tier 1 first half finale. Brentwood didn’t dominate Tier 2 like everyone thought they would, either. USN rudely welcomed them with a 5-1 whipping; Hendersonville got a 3-3 tie out of them; and they lost their last two games of the regular season back-to-back to the Rampage and Outlaws, going from being in contention for the Hine Cup 1 seed to ending up with the 5. They started the Hine Cup being shut out by USN, but roared through the Losers’ Bracket, escaping with wins over USN and Hendersonville in a shootout and overtime, respectively, only for the scoring woes that haunted them throughout much of the season returning in the final against Rutherford. This might be the start of a difficult era for Brentwood, as their pipeline is pretty much dried up at the moment. Their JV team talent isn’t very promising, unfortunately, having been knocked out of the JV playoffs in a 9-1 defeat against the Outlaws. Should all of the Bruins’ juniors this year come back next season, they’ll have another big senior class - eight strong - which will only hurt them more long-term. So, yeah, Brentwood being a Tier 2 team might be a thing for a while.

Requiem for the eliminated

Montgomery Bell
Departing Seniors: Brandon Fremgen, Lee Guy, and Graeme Rutter
For the fourth time, MBA win the GNASH Cup, but not the Predators Cup. They’re not alone; since the GNASH Cup became the regular season champions’ prize in 2010-11, the winner didn’t win the Preds Cup on eight occasions (unfortunately for the Big Red, that means they account for exactly half of those). After a terrific first half, where they posted the same record as Franklin (6-0-1), MBA struggled a bit in the second half, opening up with three straight ties before the Hunter Wieck-got-the-night-off whipping from Summit on December 4. They finally won a second half game on January 24, beating Pope 4-1, then beating Ravenwood five nights later, before finishing the second half with a 2-2 tie with Father Ryan, allowing them to win the GNASH Cup by a point over Franklin. They started off the Preds Cup well, with convincing wins over Franklin and Ravenwood, but the tide turned in that ugly loss to Ensworth, and last night, they seemed barely interested, at times. JP Dumont didn’t mince his words in criticizing their performance last night. Lee Guy is a big loss, but Matthew Moore and Trace Graham should be back, along with Hunter Wieck. There are also a lot of good young players like Abe Lasher, Duke D’Alba, and James Lehrman, so, MBA’s future is bright.

Next week’s schedule

MTSN will broadcast all games next week; the broadcast link for Monday’s game will be posted in Sunday’s newsletter; the broadcast links for Wednesday’s game(s) will be posted in Tuesday’s newsletter.

Note the time changes to next week’s games.

Monday, March 4
Predators Cup Final
#8 Ravenwood vs. #2 Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 7 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp

Wednesday, March 6
Centennial A will be the venue.
If the Predators Cup Final If Necessary Game is required
Predators Cup Final If Necessary Game
6 PM

2024 GNASH All-Star Game
To immediately follow

If the Predators Cup Final If Necessary Game is NOT required
2024 GNASH All-Star Game
6:30 PM

2024 GNASH All-Star Game rosters

Podcasts

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The next newsletter comes out Sunday, March 3.