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JANUARY 12, 2011


HNIBNEWS MAINE HOCKEY


• CLASS B REVIEW • Brewer, Houlton-Hodgon, Greely Separate FromThe Pack T By Justin Pelletier • HNIB News


here was little secret which of the teams in Maine Class B hockey were the favorites


entering the season.What has been the biggest surprise of the young season is by how much the top teams are really going to be favored once the tournament begins in late February. Brewer, Houlton/Hodgdon and


Greely have done well to separate themselves from the pack in the early-going. Brewer has outscored its opponents 41-13 in the first six games of the season, including a 4- 4 tie with Western Class A-leading Falmouth and a 9-3 thumping of Class A rival Bangor. Brewer has dominated the Class B scene when it has played there. The Witches nearly pullled off an unprecedented double, winning a Class B title one year and an A title the next, but fell short a few years back. Last year, they once again rose to


the pinnacle of Class B hockey, and they don't appear to have any inten- tions of letting that hold go, even with a souped up schedule. Houlton/Hodgdon and Greely


are also unbeaten in the early- going, and the Black Hawks of Northern Maine doing it in style.


MAINE CLASS B POLL TEAM


1. Brewer 2. Greely


W L T 50 1 60 0


3. Houlton-Hodg. 70 0 4.Yarmouth 5. Lawrence 6. Cape Eliz. 7.York


8.Winslow 9. Old Town


42 0 42 0 33 0 23 0 23 0 42 0


10. Gardiner 35 0


The meat of the young schedule is ahead of them, though, with a long trip south to face Greely, as well as an impending matchup with Brewer. Senior-laden, Houl- ton/Hodgdon has the correct, win- it-now mentality for this season. Greely, meanwhile, has quietly


built the most stable and consistent Class B program in the southern part of the state. The Rangers won a coveted Class B title two years ago, and have been consistently one of the top teams in Class B for a hand- ful of years. The Rangers have put together a tough schedule this year, but will be favored again, despite icing a young team. This season, beyond the top three, the field thins out dramatically. In Western B, Yarmouth,


record-wise, is next best, but its schedule to date has been on the lighter side. The Clippers will be in a battle to secure one of four avail- able playioff positions. Lawrence, another former Class


Aschool, has proven in recent years the switch to Class B was the right one. The Bulldogs' games have been much more competitive, and this season is no different. Losses have come only to favorite Brewer and perennial Class A stalwart Waterville, and that in nail-biting, 3-2 fashion. Cape Elizabeth and York will


be battlingwithYarmouth, Leavitt and transplanted Gardiner for those remaining playoff spots in Western B, it appears. Neither perennial contender has managed a .500 record yet this season, but time improves all


teams. Expect


whichever teams nail down the sec- ond and third seeds in the playoffs to battle it out hard with one anoth- er in that game, as they are all very evenly-matched to this point in the season.


WinslowandOld Town round out the Class B group.Winslowis anoth-


er regular in the poll with a rebuilding process under way, and Old Town has started 4-2 for the first time in a very long time.


MAINECLASS BHIGHLIGHTS


 Greely 2,Westbrook 1 Ken Richards scored with 1:30 in regulation to lift Greely to a 2-1 victory


overWestbrook. Richards made it 2-0 fromMichael Tuller and Devyn Rogers. KyleGaudreau scored fromTommy Lemaywith 51 seconds left forWestbrook. John Downey scored in the second period for Greely.Matt Labbe stopped eight shots for the Rangers. Ricky Henward made 28 saves forWestbrook.


 Old Town 6, Hampden Academy 5 Sophomore defenseman Trevor Francis banged home a goal on a goalmouth


scramble with 1:30 left in regulation to power Old Town to a 6-5 win. Cody Cross set up the winner with a feed that ricocheted to the front of the cage off skates. CooperWilliams led the Broncos with a hat trick and an assist in the loss. Cross had a goal and three assists for the Coyotes.


 Brewer 9, Bangor 3 Brewer got three goals and a helper from TylerWhite, a junior, a pair of goals


and an assist from Evan Nadeau and two more from Kyle Alexander in a 9-3 win over ClassArival Bangor. Lucas Lamond and SpencerValley had the other Brewer goals, and Lamond had two assists. Adam Cossette finished with 25 saves to earn the victory. Nic Cota, Phil Frost and Zeb Tuell scored for Bangor, and Tuell added an assist. Chris Howat made 27 saves on 33 shots through two periods. BobbyWinchell stopped seven of 10 in relief in the third frame.


-Maine Games toWatch- ARENA


Saturday, January 15 Waterville vs. Biddeford St. Dom’s vs. Lewiston Presque Isle vs. Greely


Monday, January 17 ThorntonAcad. vs.Waterville


Saturday, January 22 Biddeford vs. St. Dom’s


Brewer vs. Houlton/Hodgdon


Monday, January 24 ThorntonAc. vs. Lewiston


Wednesday, January 26 Falmouth vs. St. Dom’s


Friday, January 29 Biddeford vs. Greely


Tuesday, February 1 Holton/Hodgdon vs. Presque Isle


Wednesday, February 3 Greely vs.Yarmouth


Saturday, February 5 St. Dom’s vs. Bangor Lewiston vs. Falmouth


Biddeford Colisee Greely


Waterville Colisee


Millar Center Colisee Colisee Greely Forum


Travis Roy Sawyer


Falmouth


TIME 6:00pm


7:00pm 2:40pm


11:00am 12:10pm


1:00pm 6:10pm 8:00pm 6:10pm 7:30pm 8:35pm 4:40pm


7:40pm


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