Tonight’s broadcast

Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb vs. Ravenwood - 8:25 PM pregame, 8:30 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Senior Night ceremonies

Father Ryan and Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian are having their Senior Night ceremonies tonight.

Regular season finales

Brentwood and Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb are each playing their final game of the regular season tonight.

Scenarios for tonight

Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb WILL WIN the 2024-25 GNASH Cup regular season championship AND claim the Predators Cup 1 seed if they DEFEAT OR TIE WITH Ravenwood. If Ravenwood win, then they would need at least one win and one tie from their two remaining regular season games (vs. Indy on January 27, and vs. Station Camp on January 29).

Montgomery Bell AND Summit-Page will clinch Predators Cup berths if Station Camp-Liberty Creek LOSE TO OR TIE WITH JPII-MLK. If Station Camp DEFEAT JPII-MLK, then MBA would have to DEFEAT OR TIE WITH Franklin to clinch a Predators Cup berth (Summit would not be able to clinch a Preds Cup berth until they play Franklin on Thursday if this were to happen).

The ninth-place finisher in the final regular season standings (whether that be Montgomery Bell, Summit-Page, Tennessee Outlaws, OR Station Camp-Liberty Creek will be GUARANTEED to be the Henry Hine Cup 1 seed if Station Camp DEFEAT OR TIE WITH JPII-MLK, AND Father Ryan AND Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian LOSE TO Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill AND Brentwood, respectively.

The Montgomery County Rangers will end up with the Henry Hine Cup 8 seed if Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill DEFEAT OR TIE WITH Father Ryan.

Previewing tonight’s games

The game that MTSN is broadcasting is in BOLD.

JPII-MLK (9-3-0) vs. Station Camp-Liberty Creek (5-6-2) - 5:30 PM @ Centennial A
Both teams come into this game riding win streaks (JPII’s is three games, Station Camp’s is four), and they’re both pushing for something: Obviously, the Bison are pushing for a place in the Predators Cup, while JPII, having already clinched a spot in the show, can still get as high as the 2 seed when all is said and done. Make no mistake, Station Camp can beat JPII, their October 21 win over Montgomery Bell being the biggest evidence of that, but the Knights have also had trouble with teams in the bottom half of the table, only escaping the Rampage with a 5-4 win, only beating Mt. Juliet 4-2, and having to overcome a 3-1 first period deficit against the Outlaws. Here’s a crazy stat: Both teams’ leading and second-leading scorers have the exact same number of points! Clayton Roach and Joey Siciliano each have 23 points, while Saxon Clements and Toby Mehaffy each have 13. Their joint third-leading scorers are only a point apart (Dom DeMaria and Marshall McMurtry each have 11 points, while Joe Hiller and Reese Davidson each have 10), and their fifth-leading scorers each have nine points (Jadon Robertson and Andrew Grooms for Station Camp, and Ian Sullivan for JPII). This is a must-win game for Station Camp to keep the pressure on the Outlaws, because the Bison’s last opponent is Ravenwood, and I can’t see them winning that game, especially if the GNASH Cup and Preds Cup 1 seed are still on the table for the Raptors to claim. JPII absolutely cannot relax, or they are in for a shock. So, with great caution…

Pick: JPII

Father Ryan (4-8-1) vs. Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill (1-9-2) - 7:05 PM @ Centennial A
Looking at the standings, the Bears can actually still get as high as the 3 seed for the Hine Cup. That would require them to win their last three games, but one of those is against MBA, so, that’s not likely. I’m not really sure if they can win this game, either. Gage Hart is Father Ryan’s leading scorer, with 16 points. The Bears’ joint leading scorers are Carter Spencer and Shaurya Arora, who each have seven points. To me, the only thing these two teams have in common is the fact that they both have decent goaltending. This feels like a Father Ryan win, so, that’s who I’ll pick. Carson Slocum is suspended for tonight’s game, for getting kicked out of MJ’s last game on December 2 against the Outlaws after arguing a (albeit controversial) hand pass call a little too forcefully.

Pick: Ryan

Brentwood (3-10-1) vs. Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian (3-8-1) - 7:40 PM @ Centennial B
So, how do the Bruins approach this game? They’ve had a Hine Cup spot for over a month now, and, with this being their last game of the season, the highest Hine Cup seed they can obtain is the 4. So, do they just let Collier Owen have one more start in goal before turning to Andrew Sallee for the Hine Cup? (It’s still really weird to be typing this about Brentwood, by the way.) There are also questions about what the Eagles will do in this game, as it is their Senior Night, and both of their goaltenders are seniors. Will they split the playing time so they each get a turn in net on Senior Night (MBA didn’t seem to do that last month)? Considering that Indy can still get the Hine Cup 1 seed, they might not go that route. I really don’t know how to read this game, because I’m not sure who’s going which route.

Pick: Indy

Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb (12-0-2) vs. Ravenwood (10-1-1) - 8:30 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
At last, 314 days after the Ice Tigers defeated the Raptors in the greatest two-game Predators Cup Final of all-time, the two teams meet again, this time with the GNASH Cup regular season championship. When the original schedule was being posted on the GNASH website, this game was first scheduled to take place on October 7. Thank goodness it got pushed back three months, because now it means everything. Just about 99% of the main cast from that final is back for this game; the principals from that final who aren’t here are its MVP Ben Sonkin (graduated), Jack Ready (graduated), JT Borland (now playing for Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U AAA team), and Justin Nozko (transferred to Fairview to focus on football, and I’m told he no longer plays hockey). Everyone else will be dressed and raring to go tonight. The last time we saw Ensworth was on December 9, when they beat Summit 2-0 on the back of a masterclass in goal by Bingston Soundara, where he stopped all 35 of the Spartans’ shots, while his teammates only managed 10. Now, to be fair to Ensworth, Trex Hooper didn’t play in that game, but still, being outshot by a nearly 5:1 ratio is a massive shock to the system, especially in Game 14 out of 15. Ensworth will absolutely need to shore up the defense tonight, and keep an eye on Cooper Hill at all times, because I don’t think Soundara can keep a puck from him out of the net. This could easily be a repeat of the Summit game, and I can’t see Ensworth getting lucky twice.

Pick: Ravenwood

Montgomery Bell (7-3-2) vs. Franklin (9-3-0) - 8:35 PM @ Centennial A
When’s the last time we got this deep into the regular season, and the Big Red had still not secured a Preds Cup berth? Now, they’ll very likely get one eventually if they don’t get one tonight (they should beat Mt. Juliet two weeks from tonight). If not for the loss to Station Camp back in October, they might have a berth by now. There’s also the stunning 6-1 loss they suffered to Hendersonville last month. Now, Franklin beat the Commandos by that exact same score earlier this season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they manage to beat the Big Red tonight. This is the first meeting between these two since MBA beat Franklin in the opening round of the Predators Cup last February. Of course, the Big Red had Lee Guy then. Despite signs that they’ve adjusted without him, there have been times where it seems they wish he could walk through the door.

Pick: Franklin

Standings

The rest of this week’s schedule

The game that MTSN is planning to broadcast is in BOLD. Teams that are having a Senior Night ceremony prior to their game that night are underlined. Teams that are playing their final game of the regular season are in italics.

Wednesday, January 15
All games are being played @ Centennial.
Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian vs. Montgomery County Rangers - 7:10 PM on Rink A
Tennessee Outlaws vs. Centennial-FRA - 8:30 PM on Rink B
JPII-MLK vs. Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson - 8:45 on Rink A

Thursday, January 16
Franklin vs. Summit-Page - 8:30 PM @ Antioch-North

Podcasts

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Miscellaneous links

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, January 14.