Announcing tomorrow night’s broadcast

Summit-Page vs. Franklin - 8:25 PM pregame, 8:30 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Podcast for last night’s broadcast

Franklin vs. Pope Prep-MLK-GCA PODCAST LINK

Recapping last night’s games

The six Tier 1 teams who are competing for the GNASH Cup have two records next to their score: their second half record, and their GNASH Cup record. If a team has an asterisk (*) next to their GNASH Cup record, it means that they have been eliminated from GNASH Cup contention.

Father Ryan 3 (3-3-0, 6-7-0*), Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb 2 (3-2-1)
Austin Hester scored the game’s opening goal nearly four minutes into the first period, and the Irish carried a 1-0 lead into the second. With just under two minutes left in the second, Cam Fowler got the Ice Tigers on the board. Now, I had arrived at the rink, and was able to see the rest of the game, so, I can describe the remaining goals. Just 39 seconds into the third, Hester scored his second goal of the game on a 2-on-1 rush, when he managed to slide the puck into the bottom corner of the right-hand side of the Ensworth net. Nearly nine minutes later, Spencer Kern tied the game when he fired the puck into the back of the net from the Irish slot, but just over two minutes later, Colin Sullivan scored the game-winner when the Ice Tigers failed to clear the puck from the zone, and it suddenly ended up in front of the net, where Sullivan roofed it. Ensworth miss out on a big opportunity to go into first place in Tier 1, and this, combined with Franklin’s loss to Pope, has blown the race for the Predators Cup 1 seed wide open. Brilliant goaltending from Zach Fonnesbeck (42 saves on 44 shots) helps Ryan steal a win against a team with a lot more depth. He’ll need to do it again in two weeks when the Irish take on MBA in their regular season finale.

Next game for both teams (it will be the regular season finale for both)
Father Ryan: February 5 vs. Montgomery Bell - 7:40 PM @ Centennial A (they will be having their Senior Night ceremony)
Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb: Next Monday vs. Summit-Page - 7:40 PM @ Centennial A

Pope Prep-MLK-GCA 5 (3-2-0, 6-6-0*), Franklin 0 (2-2-1, 8-2-2)
Whew. A lot to say about this one. Pope absolutely dominated the Admirals from the get-go. Nearly five minutes in, Clayton Roach scored the winning goal, a power play tally from the bottom of the right circle right into the back of the net. Just over four minutes later, Jacob Sullivan made it 2-0, when he fired the puck into the roof of the net from the high slot, and that was the score at period’s end. In the second, Franklin managed to tilt the ice in their favor somewhat, and this led to a great chance where Brandon Mills got close to the net from the left wing side, firing the puck wide. The hard rubber disc then ended up behind the Franklin net about 30 seconds later, where Sullivan found Erik Kihlberg alone in the right circle, and Kihlberg shot the puck into the back of the net to make it 3-0; this goal occurred with just under two minutes left in the second. Just over two minutes into the third came a goal that summed up Franklin’s night: Oscar Ford took what looked to be a harmless shot from the slot that managed to slide underneath Admirals goalie Chad Janson’s left leg. Sullivan then scored the game’s final goal nearly eight minutes later, when he raced through Franklin defenders, and shot the puck into the back of the net from its right-hand side.

So…yeah. A bad return to the ice post-holiday break for Franklin. What’s more, Pope were so dominant defensively, that they didn’t even need Anthony Pellegrino to make that many big saves; it was a complete opposite of their win over Brentwood from October 23, where Pellegrino made multiple big saves on the Bruins, and was then rewarded with goals from his guys. No, Pope scored early and often, and he could just get into a groove. If Pope can keep that up, they will be scary come playoff time. The Knights have now won three of their last four. It would not be a surprise at all if they beat MBA tomorrow.

As for Franklin, they can still win the GNASH Cup tomorrow night, but now, they have to beat Summit-Page, AND have Pope beat the Big Red. The question is, are they up to the task? The Admirals winning the GNASH Cup looked like a sure thing going into Christmas, even after the loss to Ensworth. Now, it’s quite shaky, and it shouldn’t be. If not for Hunter Wieck, MBA wouldn’t be anywhere near them in the GNASH Cup standings. Franklin need to see this out, or they could regret it. I know I’m supposed to be neutral, but I would like to see the Admirals win the GNASH Cup. Teams winning a trophy for the first time is fun; it was fun when MBA won their first GNASH Cup in 2015-16, and it was fun when they finally won the Predators Cup in 2021. It was fun when Hendersonville-Station Camp-Beech won it in 2018-19. It gets kinda old seeing the same teams win the two biggest prizes in the league. New names on the honor roll is always a great thing to see. Nowadays, it seems that winning the Hine Cup is more desirable than winning the GNASH Cup, and that should absolutely not be the case. It doesn’t help that this regular season format creates the possibility of one team winning the GNASH Cup, and another being the Predators Cup 1 seed, which will very likely happen for a second straight year.

The Admirals seem to be saving their energy for a postseason run. I hate to tell them this, but bad habits don’t just cease because the intensity picks up. They have a very winnable game against Summit tomorrow. If they think their issues will disappear when the Preds Cup comes around, they are in for a major heartbreak. They need to turn the ship around right now.

Next game for both teams
Franklin - Tomorrow vs. Summit-Page - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
Pope Prep-MLK-GCA - Tomorrow vs. Montgomery Bell - 7:10 PM @ Centennial A (they will be having their Senior Night ceremony)

Standings

Tomorrow’s schedule

The game that MTSN is broadcasting is in BOLD.

Teams that are having a Senior Night ceremony are underlined.

Pope Prep-MLK-GCA vs. Montgomery Bell - 7:10 PM @ Centennial A
Summit-Page vs. Franklin - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill vs. Ravenwood - 8:40 PM @ Centennial A
Centennial vs. Hendersonville-Station Camp-Beech - 8:40 PM @ Antioch-North

Podcasts

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Miscellaneous links

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The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, January 24.