Tonight’s broadcast

Franklin vs. JPII-MLK - 8:30 PM pregame, 8:35 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Previewing tonight’s games

The game that MTSN is broadcasting is in BOLD. All games are scheduled to be @ Centennial B, but will likely be moved to A, as that is what they’ve been doing lately.

Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill (0-4-1) vs. Independence-BA-USN-Nashville Christian (0-5-0) - 5:30 PM
This is going to be one of the precious few games these two teams have a great chance to win this season. Both have been blown out by the top teams they’ve faced (they’ve both been slapped around by Summit-Page, while MJ have also taken beatings from Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb and Ravenwood, while Indy have also been whipped by JPII and Montgomery Bell), and struggled against the teams closer to their level (MJ have tied with Station Camp-Liberty Creek in a game they should’ve won, and lost 4-0 to Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson, while Indy have lost 6-1 to Hendersonville, and lost 2-0 to the Tennessee Outlaws in the one game where they’ve been competitive this season). Both teams have decent goaltending, and not a lot of depth. MJ’s leading scorers so far are Trenten Gorrell and Shauyra Arora, each of whom have three points (2 Gs for Gorrell, 1 for Arora), and Indy’s are Barrett Teasdale (who’s serving the third of a seven-game suspension for picking up a match penalty against Summit two weeks ago) and Landric Mayeski, each of whom have two points (Teasdale’s are from goals, Mayeski’s from assists). So, this could either be a high-scoring affair, or a low-scoring one. Either way, I’m tipping the scales in the Bears’ direction.

Pick: Mt. Juliet

Station Camp-Liberty Creek (0-1-1) vs. Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson (3-1-1) - 7:05 PM
The Bison finally get back on the ice nearly a month after salvaging a 3-3 tie with Mt. Juliet in the final minute of their September 19th meeting, one night after opening the season with a 3-0 loss to Centennial-FRA. Meanwhile, their county rivals have been busy, having already played a full third (five games) of their 15-game regular season slate. They’re not slowing down after tonight, either; they play Summit on Wednesday, then play the Outlaws on October 23 to finish up the first half of their regular season schedule, before finally getting a break before their next game after that, which will be against Ensworth on November 6 (they only have one other game next month, against Father Ryan on November 11). The Commandos have had a tremendous start to the season, beating Indy, Centennial, and MJ, while tying Brentwood in a game they probably should’ve won, and also losing 6-1 league leaders Franklin, which is probably an indication that they are not a top team, but a “best of the rest” candidate. As I’ve said before, if Hendersonville win three more games, I definitely think they will qualify for the Predators Cup. And I’m confident that this game will be one of those three needed.

Pick: Hendersonville

Franklin (5-0-0) vs. JPII-MLK (3-0-0) - 8:35 PM
This is the first game of the season between two of the top top teams in the league. Both teams have had comfortable wins (Franklin against the Outlaws, Hendersonville, and the Montgomery County Rangers, and JPII against the Rangers and Summit), and some squeakers (Franklin only beat the Rutherford Rampage 4-3, while JPII only beat Father Ryan 3-2, with Oscar Ford scoring the winning goal with just five seconds left; Franklin have also beaten Brentwood 3-0, a result I would label neither “comfortable” nor “a squeaker”). Both teams have gotten the offense churning (the Admirals have already scored 30 goals this season, though, it doesn’t look impressive in comparison to Ravenwood already scoring 28 in three games; meanwhile, the Knights have 17 goals). Ryan Mannion is Franklin’s leading scorer, having already reached 11 points, while Clayton Roach leads JPII with nine points. Each team has used their games against weaker opposition to spread out their scoring (Franklin have five players with five or more points, and have 11 players with at least one goal, with JPII have ten players with at least one goal). Unfortunately, Franklin will be without head coach Todd Grosse and two other players due to suspension: Grosse is out because the Admirals accrued more than 12 penalties against Brentwood on October 2, while, at the end of that game, Josh Yurjevich received a major and a game for charging, while Wyatt Gerischer got 5-and-a-game for fighting; all three are only suspended for tonight (Brentwood’s Jack Schultz will miss their game against Centennial on Wednesday for also getting 5-and-a-game for fighting). That will slightly tip the scales towards JPII, as Yurjevich is a good defenseman, and Gerischer has five points from two goals and three assists this season. Don’t expect another 5-0 win for JPII like back on January 22; this will be a much closer game, but I’ve got a feeling that the Admirals’ perfect start ends tonight.

Pick: JPII

Standings

Wednesday’s schedule

The game that MTSN is planning to broadcast is in BOLD.

Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson vs. Summit-Page - 7:10 PM @ Centennial A
Station Camp-Liberty Creek vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
Brentwood vs. Centennial-FRA - 8:45 PM @ Centennial A

Thursday’s game

Ravenwood vs. Tennessee Outlaws - 8:30 PM @ Antioch-North

Podcasts

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Miscellaneous links

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, October 15.