Tonight’s broadcast schedule

Brentwood-BA-USN vs. Franklin - 4:35 PM pregame, 4:45 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
Page-Summit vs. Ravenwood - 7:30 PM pregame, 7:40 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Previewing tonight’s games

The games that will be broadcast by MTSN are in BOLD.

Brentwood-BA-USN (0-1-0) vs. Franklin (1-0-0) - 4:45 PM @ Centennial A
Two years ago last Thursday (September 25), these two teams met on Opening Night of the 2023-24 regular season; the Admirals won 5-2, but no one knew what was to come. The Bruins’ downfall would begin with that game, culminating in their midseason relegation, while Franklin got within a point of winning their first GNASH Cup regular season championship. Brentwood, of course, once ruled the league, occasionally sharing the crown with Ravenwood and Montgomery Bell, while Franklin hung around near the midpack or bottom, winning the occasional Hine Cup. Now, it’s reversed. The Bruins have become regulars at the bottom, while the Admirals are becoming regulars at the top of the league, though, they still haven’t won anything of prominence yet. These two teams also met early on last regular season, and then not again for the rest of the season, just like in 2023-24, and it’s looking like that’s going to repeat itself for the third straight season. Brentwood opened last week with a 5-2 loss to Father Ryan, where they actually tied with the Fighting Irish 2-2 after two periods. As usual, it was Andrew Sallee’s excellent goaltending keeping them in the game. Then, Ryan outscored the Bruins 3-0 in the third period, and didn’t allow them any shots on goal. Meanwhile, Franklin beat Mt. Juliet 5-0, but an incident early on the second period overshadowed the game. From what I’m told, MJ’s Anthony Giampaolo had Franklin’s Cole Wright down, and was punching him, when Michael Mannion, playing in his first GNASH game since missing all of last season after having shoulder surgery, jumped in, and started fighting with Giampaolo. When all was said and done, both Giampaolo and Mannion were ejected from the game, and have suspensions to serve. I’m not sure how long Giampaolo’s ban will be; he’s served one game of it for getting a major plus a game for fighting, has another one-game suspension for getting four penalties in a game, but he’s also received a match penalty for kicking an opposing player, and the number of games he’ll get for that is still, as it says on the GNASH website, TBD. Mannion, meanwhile, also has separate one-game bans for getting a major plus a game for fighting, and getting four penalties in a game, but he also has a four-game ban for getting a cross-checking match penalty, meaning he’s suspended for Franklin’s next SIX GAMES! That’s a big deal. In my mind, he’s Franklin’s best player, and this six-game benching will see him miss their showdowns with Nolensville and MBA, games that could make or break Franklin’s GNASH Cup hopes, or hopes for a Top 3 Preds Cup seed. Fortunately, they don’t face Page-Summit, Ensworth, and Ravenwood until December and January, so, he’ll be back in the fold by then, but he’s going to have to be careful from now on, because if he gets another suspension that sees him end the regular season having played fewer than the five games required to take part in the playoffs, he won’t get a waiver. I understand him taking up for a teammate, but the on-ice officials are there to break things like that up. Head coach Todd Grosse is also suspended for today’s game, as well as Franklin’s next game on October 13 against Hendersonville, because the Admirals were called for more than 12 penalties in last week’s game, and also got called for three major penalties. In addition to Mannion’s fighting and cross-checking majors, Will Clark also got a cross-checking major in the third, which sees him suspended for today’s game, but only today’s game. Even without M. Mannion and Clark, the Admirals still have way more depth, so, I don’t see any way that they lose this game (and if they do, it wouldn’t be the first time I got it wrong in this newsletter).

Game prediction: Franklin

Tennessee Outlaws (0-1-0) vs. Nolensville (1-0-0) - 6:30 PM @ Centennial A
The Outlaws got pummeled by MBA last week, both on the scoreboard (9-1), and on the shot counter (30-18). Meanwhile, the Knights trailed Indy-Centennial twice, came back twice, then won it with just 3.8 seconds left. Final shots there: 31-30 Nolensville. I’d say that these two teams have about the same amount of depth on paper, with Nolensville’s best players being better than the Outlaws’ best. That being said, the Outlaws did get a 1-1 tie out of Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb last November, and I’d give them a…small chance…of doing it again. This is a Nolensville team with a lot of youth on it, while the Outlaws have just a little bit more experience. That being said, they’re going to have to get to Bingston Soundara, who hasn’t lost a game in over a year, and Dawson Reynolds is going to have to play at the level he did in that win over Ravenwood last October. Josh Kuehn is going to have to lead the Outlaws’ offense, and they’re going to have to step up on defense to stifle the likes of Spencer Kern, as Indy successfully did last week (Charlie Bohnert scored the Knights’ second goal last Monday, not Kern, as the Gamesheet says). Knowing that I’ve misjudged this Outlaws team A LOT in this newsletter, especially in the last ten months or so, I’m just not sure if they’ll be able to do that.

Game prediction: Nolensville

Ensworth-Lipscomb-CPA (1-0-0) vs. Montgomery Bell (1-0-0) - 6:30 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
Both teams scored a lot of goals in their season openers last week, in different manners. The Big Red poured on the goals on the Outlaws across three periods, while Ensworth took a little bit to get going against Mt. Juliet. Tripp Bland had a comfortable debut for MBA, turning aside 17 of 18 Outlaws shots. Ensworth, meanwhile, had to call on Mattie Cox from the goalie pool, as their lone goalie, Reuben Allen, was unable to play last week. Cox did a good job in goal, helping to keep the Bears from pulling off an upset while Ensworth’s offense needed some time to get going. That can’t happen tonight. When it comes to Mt. Juliet, I’d say that their biggest worries offensively for opponents are Jordan Antar, the Spencer twins, and Shaurya Arora. But MBA have Matthew Moore, Trace Graham, Abe Lasher, Duke D’Alba, James Lehrman, Andrew Frech, etc. Ensworth are going to need to go toe-to-toe with the Big Red as soon as the puck drops. They have plenty of depth of their own (Trex Hooper, Clayton Roach, Lucas Tarquine, Logan Green, Hudson Honeybone, etc.), and they’re going to have to use it. This will be a decent early test for Tripp Bland (although, I’ll say it again that the game against Ravenwood on October 20 will be his first big one).

Game prediction: MBA

Page-Summit (1-0-0) vs. Ravenwood (1-0-0) - 7:40 PM @ Centennial B
These two teams played to a 2-2 tie last December, and, for my money, that was the best game of the 2024-25 regular season. And it’s a crime that they didn’t meet in the playoffs. We’ve waited almost ten months for this rematch. Both teams won going away in the third period in their season openers last week, although Ravenwood’s offense picked up a little bit quicker than the Spartriots’ did. The Raptors got plenty of contributions from their big guns (Keaton Moffitt, Canon Kiser, and Oliver Lutz each scored twice, while Grady Fernan also scored), while Page saw two-goal efforts from Hudson Halters and Brayden Owen. In that game last season, Page used their speed to match Ravenwood’s; I think they’re going to have to do that again. My question is, who will be in the crease for Page? Brady Tessier was terrific in that game last season, but Justin Iannuccilli also has a great case. I guess we’ll see.

Game prediction: Ravenwood

JPII-MLK-GCS (0-1-0) vs. Rutherford Rampage (0-1-0) - 8:15 PM @ Centennial A
Both teams lost last week, but they played better in their openers than I thought they would. JPII made things difficult for Page defensively for the first two periods, and Collier Owen was pretty good in goal. Meanwhile, the Rampage actually led Station Camp 2-1 early in the second, then tied the game at 3-3 later in the second, and were only 5-4 down late before McClain Gregory scored the put-away goal with just over three minutes to go. Both teams are young (with JPII being the younger of the two), but I feel like the Knights are better-prepared than they seem (everyone thought that Page would run them out of the building last week, and that didn’t happen). I think that the Rampage will struggle here.

Game prediction: JPII

Independence-Centennial (0-1-0) vs. Father Ryan (1-0-0) - 8:15 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
Indy were unlucky to come out of last week’s game against Nolensville with a point from a tie. They had their own chance to win the game late, with Bryson Patton whiffing on a centering pass from right in front that led to Jackson Malleus-Mayer scoring the game-winner at the other end. David Busby had been great in goal, making 28 saves on 31 shots, withstanding numerous attacks from the Knights’ big guns. Meanwhile, Father Ryan beat Brentwood 5-2, but had trouble getting past Andrew Sallee for the first two periods, and found themselves tied with the Bruins 2-2 after two, before running off with the game in the third. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game ended up being a repeat of that one, although, I would hedge my bets that Indy will get more shots on goal against the Irish than Brentwood did. But I have a feeling that Indy will get redemption tonight.

Game prediction: Indy

Standings

Wednesday’s games

I have decided to cover both games, which will be played @ Centennial A.

Station Camp-Liberty Creek-Nashville Christian vs. Clarksville Kings - 7:10 PM
Hendersonville-Beech-Lawson vs. Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Lebanon - 8:40 PM

Podcasts

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