The GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll (Jan. 7): Notre Dame-WH eclipses Prep as No. 1

A 6-0 start, including a tournament win in Massachusetts, has Notre Dame-West Haven atop the GameTimeCT boys hockey top 10 poll in Week 4 of the season.

The Green Knights, runner-up to Fairfield Prep last year, have three in-state wins in addition to their win in the CM Christmas Tournament. They’ll make two trips into Fairfield County this week.

NOTEBOOK: TRUMBULL ON DIVISION II RADAR

The Jesuits, preseason No. 1, fall to No. 2 after dropping a couple of games at the Mount Saint Charles Holiday Face-Off. Darien, which had been No. 2, drops a spot after an early-season loss to No. 7 Hamden.

Ridgefield remains tied for fourth, though its company has changed: Xavier moves up to tie the Tigers, whom the Falcons beat in overtime. New Canaan moves up a spot to No. 6.

BOYS HOCKEY WEEK 3 FINE PERFORMANCES / GAMES TO WATCH

Hamden moves up a spot, too; the Green Dragons opened eyes with early wins over New Canaan and Darien. West Haven, with whom Hamden had been tied, holds on at No. 8 despite losing a couple in a row, one of them to No. 9 Branford, which enters the top 10 along with Notre Dame-Fairfield.

GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll (Jan. 7)

	TEAM (1st place votes)			REC	PTS	LAST	DIV
	1. NOTRE DAME- WH (9)			6-0	130	3	I
To date: def. Immaculate 2-1; def. Bishop Feehan (Mass.) 5-3; def. Catholic Memorial (Mass.) 4-3 (OT); def. Valor Christian (Colo.) 1-0; def. Hamden 5-1; def. Simsbury 3-2. This Week: Wednesday at Greenwich (Hamill), 6:45 p.m.; Saturday at Darien (Darien Ice House), 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: After sweeping to victory at the CM Christmas Tournament, the Knights came home with a couple of good wins, including one over a game Simsbury team that drew a few votes this week.
	2. FAIRFIELD PREP (4)			3-2	127	1	I
To date: def. Ridgefield 2-1; def. Immaculate 5-3; def. Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) 5-2; lost to St. Joseph Collegiate (N.Y.) 2-1 (OT); lost to Franklin (Mass.) 6-4. This Week: Wednesday at Notre Dame-Fairfield (Shelton), 6:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Unbeaten in-state, tough losses out of state: We’ve heard this song before, and we’ll see if the melody remains familiar.
	3. DARIEN (1)			3-1	116	2	I
To date: def. Wilton 7-0; lost to Hamden 5-2; def. Greenwich 5-3; def. Xavier 3-0. This Week: Saturday vs. Notre Dame-West Haven (Darien Ice House), 6 p.m.; Monday vs. Greenwich (Darien Ice House), 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Wave shook that early loss to Hamden with a couple of wins, going outside to beat Greenwich and back indoors to shut out Xavier. Saturday’s a big one.
	T4. RIDGEFIELD (1)			3-2	73	T4	I
To date: lost to Fairfield Prep 2-1; lost to Xavier 2-1 (OT); def. McMahon/Norwalk 8-0; def. Wilton 5-0; def. Hamden 4-1. This Week: Saturday vs. LaSalle Academy (R.I.) (Winter Garden), 12:40 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Tigers rebounded from two close losses with handy wins over Division III teams and a solid victory over Hamden. Their next in-state Division I game is New Canaan in two weeks.
	T4. XAVIER			2-1	73	6	I
To date: def. Greenwich 2-1 (OT); def. Ridgefield 2-1 (OT); lost to Darien 3-0. This Week: Wednesday at St. Joseph (Shelton), 8:30 p.m.; Saturday vs. Smithfield (R.I.) (Wesleyan), 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: If they haven’t quite clicked offensively yet, the Falcons are a solid team that rolls out a deep lineup against a tough schedule: After Wednesday, their next 10 in-state opponents received votes this week.
	6. NEW CANAAN			4-1	72	7	I
To date: def. Greenwich 3-2 (OT); lost to Hamden 4-2; def. Prout (R.I.) 5-2; def. Immaculate 4-2; def. Notre Dame-Fairfield 3-2 (OT). This Week: Wednesday vs. Staples (Darien Ice House), 7:10 p.m.; Saturday vs. Northwest Catholic (Darien Ice House), 3:50 p.m. The Bottom Line: Like Xavier, New Canaan has a couple of overtime wins, coming from behind twice in its most recent victory.
	7. HAMDEN			4-3	65	T8	I
To date: def. New Canaan 4-2; def. Darien 5-2; def. East Greenwich (R.I.) 4-2; def. North Kingstown (R.I.) 10-4; lost to Calvert Hall (Md.) 4-3; lost to Notre Dame-West Haven 5-1; lost to Ridgefield 4-1. This Week: Wednesday vs. Simsbury, 7 p.m.; Saturday vs. Greenwich, 2:15 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Green Dragons had a lot to replace, we said in the preseason, and, well, it looks as if they’ve replaced a bit. They’ve got an intriguing couple of games this week.
	8. WEST HAVEN			5-2	31	T8	I
To date: def. Guilford 7-0; def. Fairfield 5-1; def. Amity 6-0; def. St. Joseph 7-4; def. North Haven 6-1; lost to Branford 4-2; lost to Fairfield 5-2. This Week: Saturday vs. East Haven, 1 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Blue Devils spend the next little while (weather permitting) alternating between Division II and SCC/SWC Division I opponents.
	9. BRANFORD			5-1	19	NR	II
To date: def. Glastonbury 4-3; def. Woodstock Academy 6-3; def. Trumbull 3-0; def. Fairfield 3-2; lost to LHK 4-2; def. West Haven 4-2. This Week: Wednesday vs. Cheshire (Northford), 4 p.m.; Saturday at Amity (Bennett Rink), 5 p.m. The Bottom Line: The defending Division II champs slide into the top 10, rebounding from a loss to last year’s Division III champs with a win over West Haven. A big one comes up Wednesday.
	10. NOTRE DAME-FAIRFIELD			4-2	18	NR	I
To date: def. St. Joseph 4-0; def. St. Joseph 2-1; def. Bishop Brady (N.H.) 3-2; def. St. Dominic (Maine) 3-1; lost to Smithfield (R.I.) 8-2; lost to New Canaan 3-2 (OT). This Week: Wednesday vs. Fairfield Prep (Shelton), 6:30 p.m.; Friday vs. Prout (R.I.) (Shelton), 9 p.m.; Saturday vs. St. Dominic (Maine)/Archbishop Williams (Mass.) (Shelton), 2:30 or 4:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: They’re undermanned, but they keep coming, and the Lancers earned their way into the Top 10.
Dropped out: Greenwich (4), Northwest Catholic (10). First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Others receiving votes: Northwest Catholic (3-1-0) 13; Simsbury (2-1-0) 13; Greenwich (1-3-0) 10; Hand (5-0-0) 10; WMRP (7-0-0) 2.
The following voted: Media: Luke Devoe, CTHSHockey.org; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Michael Fornabaio, Connecticut Post; Tim Jensen, Patch Media Corp.; Greg Lederer, Cheshire Herald; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Dan Nowak, New Haven Register; Pete Paguaga, Hearst Connecticut Media; Jim Stout, MaxPreps.com. Coaches: Ken Barse, Glastonbury; Dean Diamond, Housatonic; Shaun Gallagher, Ridgefield; Matt Sather, Fairfield Prep; Larry Vieira, Notre Dame-West Haven. Poll compiled by Michael Fornabaio