Darien’s Jamison Moore (17) breaks out with the puck during a boys ice hockey game against Ridgefield at the Darien Ice House on Friday, Feb. 21, 2020.
With one week to go in the regular season, and one conference’s postseason getting underway Saturday, the GameTimeCT top 10 poll stayed pretty steady this week.
The 10 teams remained the same, we split a tie, and only one other set of teams switched places.
The top five remained identical, led by No. 1 Darien, which beat No. 4 Notre Dame-West Haven on Monday for the second time this year. No. 2 Fairfield Prep and No. 3 New Canaan remained between them, with No. 5 Greenwich behind them.
Xavier hopped Ridgefield into sixth place.
No. 8 Branford had been tied with Notre Dame-Fairfield, but the Hornets get a slight edge this week. They’ll meet No. 10 Hand on Saturday.
The GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Hockey Poll (Feb. 25)
| TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | DIV | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. DARIEN (14) | 15-4 | 140 | 1 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Fairfield 4-1; def. Ridgefield 4-3; def. Notre Dame-West Haven 4-2. This Week: Wednesday at Trumbull (Rinks at Shelton), 8:30 p.m. Possible FCIAC quarterfinal Saturday. The Bottom Line: A Darien win on Wednesday can, as mentioned in last week's notes, create a three-way tie atop the FCIAC. One of Darien, New Canaan and Greenwich would wind up third by lot and have to play an extra game. The Wave have to win first, though, or they're definitely playing the extra game. |
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 | 2. FAIRFIELD PREP | 11-6-2 | 126 | 2 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Catholic Memorial (Mass.) 2-1 (OT); def. Hamden 2-1 (OT). This Week: Saturday vs. Notre Dame-Fairfield (Wonderland), 1 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Jesuits have played seven overtime games this season (2-3-2). For some programs, you might wonder if something was missing. Fairfield Prep's history makes you think "well, battle-tested, aren't they?" |
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 | 3. NEW CANAAN | 17-2-1 | 107 | 3 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Wilton 6-0; def. McMahon/Norwalk 7-1. This Week: Regular season complete. Possible FCIAC quarterfinal Saturday. The Bottom Line: The Rams will be the No. 2 seed in the CIAC Division I tournament. Their FCIAC seed is to be determined. If Darien doesn't beat Trumbull, New Canaan, winner of six in a row, will be the top seed. |
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 | 4. NOTRE DAME- WH | 14-6 | 102 | 4 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Ridgefield 6-1; lost to Darien 4-2. This Week: Do not play. The Bottom Line: Scary moment Monday night with the injury to junior defenseman Ryan Cannon; glad it sounds like things are about as good as they could be. The Green Knights get a week and a half off before the SCC/SWC championship game against Fairfield Prep. |
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 | 5. GREENWICH | 13-6-1 | 79 | 5 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Staples 4-0; def. St. Joseph 7-2. This Week: Regular season complete. Possible FCIAC quarterfinal Saturday. The Bottom Line: In a subtly impressive job by our voters, the Cardinals got 79 points in the poll this week, which matches the 79 power points they have in the CIAC Division I standings. In that other ranking, Greenwich can finish anywhere from sixth to ninth. |
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 | 6. XAVIER | 9-7-2 | 62 | 7 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Northwest Catholic 5-3; def. Cheshire 4-0. This Week: Wednesday at West Haven, 6 p.m.; Friday at Immaculate (Danbury Ice), 5:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Falcons swap places with Ridgefield, which has lost four out of five while Xavier has won two in a row after a late loss to New Canaan. The Tigers and Falcons could meet in the first round of the state tournament, though there is still some sorting out to do. |
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 | 7. RIDGEFIELD | 11-9 | 41 | 6 | I | |||
| Last Week: lost to Notre Dame-West Haven 6-1; lost to Darien 4-3; lost to Simsbury 1-0. This Week: Saturday, FCIAC quarterfinals vs. Westhill/Stamford (Winter Garden), TBA. The Bottom Line: The three-time defending FCIAC champion is in the conference playoff but has a slightly longer road than usual; it was the top seed twice and the second seed once during its title run. |
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 | 8. BRANFORD | 15-2-1 | 32 | T8 | II | |||
| Last Week: def. North Haven 2-1 (OT). This Week: Wednesday vs. East Haven (Northford), 6 p.m.; Saturday vs. Hand (Northford), 7:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: It's kind of outstanding that the regular season ends with what could plausibly be the SCC/SWC Division II playoffs, which they'll then play again next week. Branford, Hand, East Haven and North Haven are the four conference playoff teams. |
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 | 9. NOTRE DAME-FAIRFIELD | 10-7-2 | 29 | T8 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Hamden 6-1; def. Prout (R.I.) 5-2. This Week: Saturday at Fairfield Prep (Wonderland), 1 p.m. The Bottom Line: Drop a half a spot after winning two games, a week after moving up off a .500 week: #pollmath strikes again. (Or maybe delayed reactions; not sure.) |
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 | 10. HAND | 16-1-1 | 27 | 10 | II | |||
| Last Week: def. East Haven 8-0; def. Immaculate 6-0. This Week: Wednesday at North Haven (Northford), 8 p.m.; Saturday at Branford (Northford), 7:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Nothing like playing your last two games on the road but dressing in your own locker room. They're two possible playoff previews, though, whether in SCC/SWC Division II or CIAC Division II postseason play. |
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| Dropped out: None. First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Records through Monday, Feb. 24 |
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| Others receiving votes: Simsbury (12-6-1) 19; Farmington Valley (15-2-1) 3; West Haven (10-8-0) 2; Hamden (8-10-0) 1. | ||||||||
| 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 |
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