The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Is more of same good or bad for HS hockey?
Early March feels like a blessing and a curse virtually every year.
It typically means I’m headed to Columbus for the state hockey frozen four. Because out of 19 years covering high school hockey for The News-Herald, I’ve only not had an area team advance to state twice, in 2005 and 2013, when Shaker Heights got out of the Kent District.
Every other year, there has been area representation on the big ice at Nationwide Arena.
This winter is no exception, with an all-area Kent District final March 1 between Gilmour and University. And that’s great.
It’ll be an electric atmosphere. It could be a marathon game. The Lancers and Preppers will put on a show.
I am very lucky to be able to cover a caliber of hockey annually that regularly is a lock for a state berth. It is an honor to go to Columbus so often and see area athletes compete for a state championship.
To be fair, however, there is a drawback.
When it’s the same teams competing for a district title year after year in hockey, it causes a ripple effect. It’s great for them. It’s an achievement for which those programs should be very proud.
But like a person who can’t stop refreshing Twitter on their phone, it’s draining the life out of everything else.
In the early 2000s, it certainly felt like we were in the midst of a boom in Greater Cleveland hockey.
The Pond opened, and Chagrin Falls, Kenston and West Geauga came along. Mayfield and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin established programs.
Rinks were opening elsewhere in Northeast Ohio, providing high school hockey to schools and geographic areas that once seemed unlikely.
Gilmour added its second sheet of ice. Strongsville built a nice new arena. Brooklyn and Ries made improvements to its facilities. Kostel, C.E. Orr in Euclid — even Elyria’s outdoor rink and Greenbrier — were hanging in there.
It didn’t seem like a pipe dream to wonder where the next expansion would originate. Could it go further into Lake or Geauga? Would another prominent private school, say Hawken for example, entertain the notion of adding hockey?
And then, sadly, reality struck. As far as this area goes, there is no more Euclid. There is no more VASJ or West G. Chagrin Falls went dormant for a year. There is genuine concern for Lake Catholic — a numbers concern we all hope is put to rest this offseason.
The Riverside community took a well-meaning shot at a club program. Remember that? There was hope of one day having a full-fledged varsity team with players entirely from Riverside. We’re now two incarnations removed from that, and it’s a club team with no Riverside connection unless a student from that school happens to play on that team.
The Kent District final has become symbolic of how great the powerhouse programs are, but also how much it’s more of the same.
Since the inception of the Kent District in 2003, six teams have played in the district final: University, Shaker Heights, Gilmour, Mentor, Lake Catholic and Walsh Jesuit. That list, by the way, includes two teams, Walsh and Mentor, who have combined for three final berths in 17 years.
Gilmour and US will contest the Kent District final March 1 for the fifth time.
So in other words, if you put those six teams into a hat and drew two of them out, regardless of graduation loss, line quality, goaltender caliber, etc., you stand a good chance of nailing the Kent District final even if you don’t know hockey whatsoever.
And again, this is a credit to our great programs locally. That’s saying something about the product our area’s premier programs — US, Gilmour, Mentor and Lake — are putting on the ice. It says something about our friends at Shaker and Walsh and what they’re doing.
But it also shows why we’re having such a hard time sustaining hockey from the Great Lakes Hockey League down to the Blue Division of the Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League.
You’ve read my work in this space being critical of the tendency to be closeminded and not giving every high school hockey option the full attention it merits. You’ve read me strongly lament the numbers issue and how predictable the early rounds of district play have become because the format is antiquated. But really, it’s no wonder. The perennial powers are great. Good for them.
But those working diligently to build a foundation are having a tough time because, try as they might, they can’t seem to break through.
So as fun as it is to, like this year, watch another chapter of Gilmour-US, it’s why the Kent District would probably be best served over the long haul if there was a little more variance.
Just once, what if another News-Herald coverage area staple, Kenston, could get on a district final run?
Just once, what if Walsh could break through to Columbus? What if Hudson sprung an upset or two?
What if Mentor could ride this wave it’s been on the last two years and get to its first frozen four? Just once. At the Brooklyn District, a Holy War renewal between St. Ignatius and St. Edward is a reasonable assumption every year. And yet 24-9-4 Holy Name, on the heels of its first Cleveland Cup triumph and a program that has never made it to state, is playing St. Ignatius for that right this year. Rocky River made it in 2013.
So one more time: Seeing great programs put on great district finals will never not be fun. It will never not be an honor to watch that.
But it also wouldn’t hurt to mix up the ingredients just a little bit more. The solar system wouldn’t suddenly be on a collision course.
Every March feels like a blessing. But it will also feel like more of a curse in the long term if new blood doesn’t interject every once in a while along the way.
Lillstrung can be reached at CLillstrung@News-Herald. com; @CLillstrungNH on Twitter.