Tonight’s broadcast schedule

Father Ryan vs. Rutherford Rampage - 7:05 PM pregame, 7:10 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
Tennessee Outlaws vs. Montgomery Bell - 8:35 PM pregame, 8:40 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Previewing tonight’s games

All games are being played @ Centennial. The games that MTSN will broadcast are in BOLD.

Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinals
#6 Franklin vs. #4 Summit-Page - 8:30 PM on Rink B
How they got here:
Franklin:
-Lost 5-1 to Montgomery Bell on February 3 in the first round
-Defeated Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson 3-2 last Thursday in the Losers’ Bracket first round
Summit:
-Defeated JPII-MLK 6-2 on February 3 in the first round
-Lost 4-1 to Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb on Monday in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Regular season meeting: Summit won 6-1 on January 16

Franklin survived the first thrust of the axe last week only to end up having to face a team that crushed them less than a month ago. They would’ve had a better shot against Ensworth, whom they only lost to 3-0 back on November 4. I don’t see this one going any differently this time around. Sorry, Admirals.

Pick: Summit

Consequences of this game’s result: Winner will play the Outlaws/MBA winner next Wednesday in the Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Semifinal, while the loser is eliminated

#8 Tennessee Outlaws vs. #3 Montgomery Bell - 8:40 PM on Rink A
How they got here:
Outlaws
-Lost 6-3 to Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb on February 3 in the first round
-Defeated JPII-MLK 5-4 last Wednesday in the Losers’ Bracket first round
MBA:
-Defeated Franklin 5-1 on February 3 in the first round
-Lost 3-1 to Ravenwood on Monday in the Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Regular season meeting: MBA won 5-2 on December 13

I’ve said this in this newsletter and at past board meetings, but I’m not a fan of GNASH using the double-elimination format for the playoffs. One reason is the fact that, 98% of the time, the first two teams out are usually the two lowest seeds (as was the case in the Hine Cup this season: the first two teams to be knocked out were the 7 seed Mt. Juliet, and the 8 seed Rangers). It feels like a waste of time. We could’ve just put them in consolation games after losing, and sent them on their way. So when the Preds Cup 8 seed Outlaws knocked off 5 seed JPII last week, it added a rare injection of excitement and surprise into the usually dull early rounds of the Losers’ Bracket (which really doesn’t get going until we get down to four teams most of the time). Ravenwood got all the way to the final last year as the 8 seed, but in retrospect, that doesn’t really count, because the regular season format last season allowed them to mess around and be the 8 seed, then go for it when playoffs came around. The Outlaws had to be on it all season, and were in danger of falling out of 8th place until Station Camp lost to the Raptors by four on January 29. Now, getting into tonight’s matchup, MBA will definitely go with Hunter Wieck in goal as they’ve done all year. The Outlaws will very likely give Justin Iannuccilli the keys to the crease as a reward for playing so brilliantly against the Knights last week. However, I can’t see another upset happening. MBA’s top guns are better than the Outlaws’, plus, the Big Red are going to be big mad about Ravenwood basically shutting them down back on Monday. Regardless of what happens, the Outlaws should be very proud of their season.

Pick: MBA

Consequences of this game’s result: Winner will play the Franklin/Summit winner next Wednesday in the Predators Cup Losers’ Bracket Semifinal, while the loser is eliminated

Henry Hine Cup Winners’ Bracket Semifinal
#3 Father Ryan vs. #2 Rutherford Rampage - 7:10 PM on Rink A
How they got here:
-Ryan: Defeated Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian 5-2 last Wednesday in the first round
-Rampage: Defeated Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill 10-2 on February 3 in the first round
Regular season meeting: Rampage won 4-2 on September 23

In the September meeting, the Rampage outshot the Irish 32-14. Both teams stayed pretty steady afterward, although the Irish finished better, winning three of their last five games of the regular season, while the Rampage won three of their first six. They also each got a surprising tie with a Preds Cup team (Ryan with MBA a week after the Rampage loss, and the Rampage with Hendersonville to finish off the regular season). The goaltending matchup back in September was Zach Fonnesbeck vs. Riley Brannom. I can see Brannom being the Rampage’s starter for the rematch, because three of their five wins came with him in goal, but Jack Karpynec will likely be in goal for the Irish. For the Rampage, stopping Gage Hart will be key, while the Irish will need to suppress Tucker Wilhelm and Eddie Maze. Should be a good one.

Pick: Rampage

Consequences of this game’s result: Winner will play Station Camp-Liberty Creek next Thursday in the Henry Hine Cup Winners’ Bracket Final, while the loser will play Brentwood next Wednesday in a Henry Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket Quarterfinal

Brackets

Click on the bracket images to be taken to their BracketHQ webpages; they automatically update when a final score is entered.

Predators Cup

Henry Hine Cup

Monday’s final scores

The games that were broadcast by MTSN are in BOLD.

Predators Cup Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb 4, Summit-Page 1 PODCAST LINK
Ravenwood 3, Montgomery Bell 1 PODCAST LINK

Henry Hine Cup Winners’ Bracket Semifinals
Station Camp-Liberty Creek 4, Centennial-FRA 3

Henry Hine Cup Losers’ Bracket first round
Brentwood 8, Montgomery County Rangers 3
Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian 7, Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill 2

Classic playoff broadcasts

Once again during this postseason, we will be uploading great GNASH playoff games of the past that were heard on MTSN. Uploads will take place every Tuesday and Friday during the postseason. Click HERE to go back in time!

Podcasts

As we did last year, game podcasts are being exclusively uploaded to our YouTube channel for this season. To subscribe so you don’t miss out, scroll down to the footer of this newsletter, and click on the play button to be taken to our channel.

Miscellaneous links

Follow @MTSNGNASHScores on Twitter (we refuse to call it X) to get the scores for every GNASH game.

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, February 13.