FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. - Trying to put a finger on the FCIAC’s boys’ ice hockey picture is an exercise in futility.
The conference has had a different champion in each of the past three seasons — Ridgefield in 2007, Darien in 2008 and Greenwich in 2009.
Last year’s No. 1 seed, Trinity Catholic, had a great regular season, but failed to make it out of the league semifinals when it fell to eventual champion Greenwich, the No. 4 seed who hadn’t won a league title since 2002.
Darien, the defending league champ, reached the title game once again, but lost to Greenwich, 3-2.
New Canaan always seems to be at its finest when the playoffs roll around, but last year the Rams were eliminated in the first round, falling to a sub-.500 Ridgefield team they had easily defeated twice during the regular season.
This winter, the FCIAC appears to be even more wide open, with all five of those teams having a legitimate shot at the crown.
New Canaan Rams
The New Canaan Rams last won the FCIAC title in 2005 and were eliminated in the first round of the tournament last winter, but Head Coach Bo Hickey said this year’s squad has “more depth than I’ve had in years.”
New Canaan runs four solid lines and has a rotation of six returning defensemen, including senior co-captain Bo McGinniss, and juniors Thomas Krieger and Brian Tohir, all 6-3 or taller. The veteran group also includes juniors David Russell and Tom Picard and sophomore Ryan Begoon. Sophomore Ritchie Shane is the lone newcomer on the blue line.
Up top, New Canaan features an electric first line with senior co-captain Kris Nugent at center and senior co-captain Sam Stanton and junior Jimmy Joe Granito on the wings.
“Nugent is second to nobody in the state of Connecticut as far as what he sees on the ice,” Hickey said. “He has great eyes and a great concept of the game. Sam’s one of the quickest wings in the county — blazing speed. He’s a good corner guy and he understands the game and sees the ice well.”
The second line is centered by senior co-captain Andrew Leslie, while junior David Crandall and sophomore Tyler Manchuck man the wings, and the third line includes senior Tim Robustelli and junior Henry Corcoran on the wings flanking sophomore center Dylan Hart.
The Rams’ only question mark is at goalie, where freshmen Tim Nowacki and Chris Koennecke have potential, but are inexperienced at the varsity level.
“Right now, I would say their dead equal and they’re both more than capable of playing,” Hickey said of the freshmen. “They’ve been very well-schooled and they’ve played high-end bantam hockey. They’re pretty good goaltenders.”
The Rams, who lost to Notre Dame-West Haven 5-2 on opening day, made a statement in their first game against a league foe when they crushed Greenwich 5-0 on December 21. Four players found the net, with Stanton notching a pair of goals, and Leslie, Robustelli and Hart each scoring once. Nowacki was impressive in his first varsity start, collecting 21 saves to earn a shutout.
Darien Blue Wave
Darien has been the most consistent team in the FCIAC during the past five years, but the Blue Wave heads into the winter schedule with a new head coach for the first time in a decade, as Russell Foster stepped down following last season.
Foster is now an assistant with New Canaan, and filling his shoes in Darien is veteran head coach Larry Vieira, who led Branford High School for 26 years.
Vieira said the transition has been a smooth one thus far.
“As I am getting to know these players and they are getting to know me,” Vieira told the Darien Times during the preseason,” I really feel that we are beginning to gel together. And much more quickly than I originally anticipated.”
Vieira inherited a young group, as Darien has just three seniors on the roster: Co-captains Will Love and Collin Sullivan, and senior Michael Foresta.
Love returns as the starting goaltender and may be the top goalie in the league this season.
Also on defense are Foresta, juniors Doug Miller and Dylan Torey and sophomore John Baker.
The Wave’s first line is a strong one, with sophomores Nick Bruno and Cam Murray and junior Garren Fritts. Junior Richard Gregory stars on the second line with freshmen Domenick Luongo and Brendan Hathaway.
Darien has had a rough start to the season. In the opener against defending State champion Hamden, the Blue Wave had a 1-0 lead before falling, 2-1, in the opener. Darien was then blasted by West Haven 8-1 and fell to Trinity Catholic 4-2.
Greenwich Cardinals
Fresh off their first league title in seven years, the Cards will have to contend with the graduation of four key cogs in last year’s machine, including starting goalie Harrison Root and defensemen Ollie Christie, DJ Maloney and Nick Stroumbakis.
Head Coach Bob Russel has several offensive weapons to call on, including senior tri-captains Ryan Kelly, Rit Spezzano and Joe Lodato.
One line will feature Lodato at center with senior Jon Darula and sophomore George Cody on the wings.
The second line has Kelly and Spezzano with junior Alex Liebers, while Gibby McHugh will also play a big role on offense.
Picking up the slack on defense are several players, including veterans Woody Waesche and Craig Macken, along with Louis Pulitano.
Root left some big shoes to fill, and the Cardinals will have senior Adam Gelbs and Ricky Piper between the pipes this winter.
Greenwich began the season with losses to West Haven, 3-2, and New Canaan, 5-0, but bounced back with a 4-1 win over Tri-Town on Wednesday. Lodato and Cody each scored twice in Greenwich’s first victory.
Ridgefield Tigers
Head Coach Shaun Gallagher’s Tigers were 9-13-1 last season and will have to make up for the loss of their three top scorers, including star forward Colin Scott.
Ridgefield looked fine in its opener, netting seven goals in a 7-0 victory over the Stamford Black Knights.
The Tigers are deep on defense, with senior co-captains Duncan Morrissey and Peter Rosencrans back in the fold. They are joined on the blue line by classmates Sean Kelly and David Gamber.
Aiden Scott, the younger brother of Colin, has moved up top for his junior season and centers the first line with sophomores Timmy Kelly and Sean Wilkinson on the wings. The line accounted for four goals in the opener, with Scott and Wilkinson each scoring twice.
The second line stars juniors Matt Hrvatin, Matt Flanagan and Hunter Alicea, while the third line includes senior Shane Lovella and sophomores Johnny Richards and Terry Guider.
In the net, senior TJ Zandri is the starter and Zandri made 21 saves in the season-opening shutout over Stamford. Sophomores Eric Seel and Nate Gliedman will also see time this season.
Trinity Catholic Crusaders
The Crusaders had their best season under Head Coach Chris Gerwig, going 21-4 overall. But Trinity, the FCIAC’s No. 1 seed, failed to reach the conference final and was dispatched in the State D1 semifinals.
Trinity was then decimated by graduations and transfers, as 13 players from last year’s squad are gone.
Leading scorer Chris Labrinkos is back as a senior tri-captain alongside classmate and forward Ryan Boland. The offense will also star Stephen Franze, and CJ and Hayden Lowry.
Senior tri-captain Eric Bean leads the defensive corps, with help from Ryan Dohery Eric Kiosz and Jeff Cortese, while junior Ken Eger will be between the pipes.
Fairfield Prep routed Trinity, 10-0, in the season opener, but the Crusaders came back to beat Darien, 4-2, on Wednesday.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
