Tonight’s broadcast schedule

Ravenwood vs. Montgomery Bell - 5:10 PM pregame, 5:15 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK
Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill vs. Franklin - 6:40 PM pregame, 6:45 PM faceoff BROADCAST LINK

Teams finishing the regular season

Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb, Franklin, Ravenwood, Station Camp-Liberty Creek, and Summit-Page are wrapping up the regular season tonight.

Senior Night ceremonies

Seven teams are having a Senior Night ceremony tonight: Brentwood, Franklin, Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin, Independence-Ravenwood 2, Montgomery Bell, Ravenwood, and Station Camp-Liberty Creek.

Scenarios for tonight

The GNASH Cup can be won by either Montgomery Bell OR Franklin tonight.

Montgomery Bell will win the GNASH Cup if they DEFEAT Ravenwood, and Franklin LOSE TO OR TIE WITH Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill.

Franklin will win the GNASH Cup if they DEFEAT Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill, AND Ravenwood DEFEAT Montgomery Bell.

If neither team wins it tonight, then Montgomery Bell can win it next week with at least a TIE with Father Ryan.

Playoff seeds are also at stake tonight.

Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb will claim the 2 seed for the Predators Cup if the DEFEAT Summit-Page.

Franklin will claim the 7 seed for the Predators Cup if they LOSE TO Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill, AND Montgomery Bell DEFEAT Ravenwood.

USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture will claim the 5 seed for the Henry Hine Cup if Tennessee Outlaws DEFEAT Station Camp-Liberty Creek, AND Independence-Ravenwood 2 DEFEAT OR TIE WITH Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin. Both games ending in ties would give them the 5 seed, as well.

USN-BA-Nashville Christian-FRA-Goodpasture will claim the 6 seed for the Henry Hine Cup if Station Camp-Liberty Creek DEFEAT Tennessee Outlaws, AND Independence-Ravenwood 2 DEFEAT OR TIE WITH Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin.

Station Camp-Liberty Creek will claimed the 7 seed for the Henry Hine Cup if they LOSE TO OR TIE WITH Tennessee Outlaws, AND Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin DEFEAT Independence-Ravenwood 2.

Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin will claim the 7 seed for the Henry Hine Cup if they TIE WITH Independence-Ravenwood 2, AND Station Camp-Liberty Creek DEFEAT Tennessee Outlaws.

Independence-Ravenwood 2 will claim the Henry Hine Cup 8 seed if they LOSE TO OR TIE WITH Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin.

Previewing tonight’s games

The games that MTSN will be broadcasting are in BOLD.

The six Tier 1 teams who are competing for the GNASH Cup have two records: 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.

Ravenwood (1-5-0, 4-9-0*) vs. Montgomery Bell (1-1-3, 7-1-4) - 5:15 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
Thanks to a late goal from Brady Friedman, Ravenwood finally got a win in an otherwise forgettable second half of the regular season last Wednesday against Mt. Juliet. Now, they finish the regular season by facing a Montgomery Bell team that beat them 5-2 back on October 30, back when this Raptors team was…let’s say, still trying to compete with the top teams in the league. The Big Red also finally got their first win of the second half last Wednesday, beating Pope Prep-MLK-GCA 4-1 in what very well could be the best game they’ve played this season (that win gave the Raptors the Preds Cup 8 seed, too). It’s Senior Night for them, too, and Lee Guy will be looking to have a big night, while the other two Big Red seniors, Brandon Fremgen and Graeme Rutter, will be looking to find an opportunity to score a goal for the first time this season. Could this also be the game that wins MBA a fifth GNASH Cup, if Franklin can’t beat Mt. Juliet in the following contest? MBA have to win this game first.

And they will. (A quick additional note: MBA could still get the Preds Cup 2 seed.)

Mt. Juliet-Wilson Central-Green Hill (2-2-1, 4-6-2*) vs. Franklin (2-3-1, 8-3-2) - 6:45 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
So, when this game comes around, will Franklin have to win it to keep their GNASH Cup hopes alive? That’s not a question that I think anyone thought they would be asking when this day came around; we all pretty much thought that the Admirals’ name was written on the trophy. Instead, they’re winless in their last four, including losing their last three. And now, they’re facing a Golden Bears team that they whipped 6-0 waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back on September 27. A Mt. Juliet team that must be seething about letting that Ravenwood game slip away from them last week. A Mt. Juliet team that have scored 17 goals in their last four games (six of those 17 came against Ensworth, of all teams; in comparison, Franklin have only scored five in their last four). As I said in last Wednesday’s letter, Mt. Juliet have improved tremendously in this second half in all aspects. Franklin were great in all aspects for the first two games of this second half, but since then, look at times as if they’re learning how to play. They absolutely must win this game. Forget the GNASH Cup; they need to win this game to have a chance at getting a good Predators Cup seed, because if they don’t, there’s a chance they could sink as low as the 7 SEED! (In fact, they will end up being the 7 seed if they lose and MBA win.) That’s the most alarming part about this winless streak; that Franklin’s potential Preds Cup seed could be shockingly low. The highest Preds Cup seed they can reach at this point is the 3. Franklin have more depth than Mt. Juliet, but that depth hasn’t done much since the second Ravenwood game on November 27.

Against my better judgment, I’ll pick Franklin to win.

Station Camp-Liberty Creek (2-4-0) vs. Tennessee Outlaws (3-1-0) - 7 PM @ Centennial B
This is almost a must-win for the Outlaws in the race for the Henry Hine Cup 1 seed, as they’re kicking off a three-game stretch to close the regular season over these next eight days, which includes a two-game finish where they play Rutherford and Brentwood. It’s been 56 days since Tennessee last played a GNASH game, a 7-6 win over Hendersonville where James Daniel scored the game-winner with 70 seconds to go. Meanwhile, it’s only been 18 since Station Camp’s last game, a 4-1 loss to Rutherford. These two teams played to a 5-5 tie back on October 30, where Jacob Schenk scored the tying goal with just 17 seconds left. Both teams have been better in this second half; the Outlaws only won two games in the first half, but three in the second, while the Bison have literally doubled their win total in the second half (two wins to one in the first). The Bison have also surpassed their first half goal total, with 24 in this second half, after 20 in the first (the Outlaws have 20 in this second half, compared to 28 in the first). With a win, the Bison could be as high as the 4 seed for the Hine Cup, though, that would require the Outlaws to lose their two remaining games after tonight (could happen), and for USN to lose to Hendersonville next Monday, along with the Commandos also either losing or tying with Indy tonight. In order to be the 1 seed, the Outlaws need to run the table, with Rutherford also losing tonight against Brentwood, and Centennial at least tying with Indy next week.

But I’m picking Station Camp to win this one.

Summit-Page (5-1-0) vs. Ensworth-Nolensville-Lipscomb (3-2-1) - 7:40 PM @ Centennial A
Of the four January 17 games that got postponed because of the winter storm, this one’s postponement sucked the most, because first place in Tier 1 would’ve been on the line. Now, thanks to their win over Franklin last Wednesday, plus Ravenwood beating Mt. Juliet minutes later, and Ensworth’s loss to Father Ryan last Monday, the Spartans have wrapped up the Preds Cup 1 seed. Summit have been on a roll since the November 27 loss to Pope, winning their last four, while the Ice Tigers are 2-2 in their last four (wins over Franklin and Pope, losses to Mt. Juliet and Ryan). These two teams met on November 1 as Tier 2 teams, when Ensworth won a goalie’s nightmare 10-7. By that point, Ensworth had claimed a place in Tier 1, with Summit having to beat the Outlaws the next week to claim the other. Now, it’s reversed: the Spartans have claimed the Preds Cup 1 seed, with the Ice Tigers needing to win this game to clinch the 2. Summit’s Sean Scott is serving the second of his three-game suspension tonight.

I’ll pick Summit to win, and keep the Preds Cup 2 seed in doubt.

Hendersonville-Beech-Gallatin (1-3-1) vs. Independence-Ravenwood 2 (0-5-0) - 8:25 PM @ Bellevue-Crisp
Like the Outlaws, Indy are also finally getting back on the ice after a long layoff, having last played on December 6, when they got whipped by Station Camp 7-0. They’re on the verge of ending up with the Hine Cup 8 seed, only not getting it last Wednesday because Hendersonville lost 3-2 to Centennial. They’ll surely get it tonight, because the last time these two teams met on November 1, the Commandos won 9-1, and while Hendersonville haven’t been the hot team they once were in the late fall, they’re still much better than the Eagles, who, outside of somehow only losing 2-0 to Rutherford on November 13, haven’t really shown any improvement.

Pick: Hendersonville.

Rutherford Rampage (4-1-0) vs. Brentwood (3-1-1) - 8:30 PM @ Centennial B
If you had told someone at the end of last season that come the end of January 2024, these two teams would be playing in a game that could potentially decide the Hine Cup 1 seed, that person wouldn’t have laughed; they would’ve sent you to the nuthouse. I mean, Brentwood? Playing for the Hine Cup 1 seed? Brentwood? C’mon! That would NEVER happen! Well, it’s happening, all right. It’s also wild to think that this is the second meeting between these two teams this season. Back on October 30, the Bruins beat the Rampage 7-5 when both teams were trying to save their Tier 1 status. Two nights later, the trap door came for Rutherford when Franklin whipped them 9-3, then one week after that, it came for Brentwood when Mt. Juliet managed to lose to Ravenwood by a margin that meant their goal differential would keep them in Tier 1, and send Brentwood packing. Both teams last played on January 10, when, as mentioned, Rutherford beat Station Camp 4-1, and Brentwood beat Centennial 6-3. This is a very interesting rematch, as Rutherford will almost certainly put Alec Dawes - who wasn’t on their roster for the first meeting - in the crease, and they will very likely see Payne Fielder on the opposite side, as they did the first time. The question is, can he keep Brentwood from putting too many pucks in the net? He’ll need to, because with a win, Rutherford would put the Hine Cup 1 seed out of reach for everyone but potentially the Outlaws and Centennial. Brentwood will be looking for a Senior Night triumph.

But I think that Rutherford will get the best of them this time.

Standings

Brackets in progress

Predators Cup so far

Wednesday’s schedule

Tennessee Outlaws vs. Rutherford Rampage - 7:30 PM @ Antioch-North

The Rampage will be having their Senior Night ceremony; this will also be their last game of the regular season.

Podcasts

All MTSN game podcasts will be uploaded exclusively to YouTube this season. To subscribe to our YouTube channel, 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.

Sign up HERE to get GNASH games scores sent to your phone or email.

The next newsletter comes out tomorrow, January 30.