The annual Super Eight Hockey tournament starts in earnest this Sunday. The Super Eight is a tournament where 10 of the best teams in the state of Massachusetts (excluding independent school league) are chosen by a selection committee to compete for the state title. The bottom four seeds aren’t guaranteed as each team plays in a play in game to be part of the final Eight. Catholic Memorial has had the most success in the tournament, winning the title 12 times in the 18 years of the tournament. The only other team that has won more than once is BC High which has won four times. Last year, Reading High School became the first public school team to win the Super Eight. The tournament is round robin.
The seeds in this year’s tournament are as follows:
1. Catholic Memorial
2. Needham
3. Malden Catholic
4. Hingham
5. Central Catholic
6. Xaverian
7. Burlington (Won play in game)
8. Winchester (Won play in game)
The team to watch is obviously Catholic Memorial. They historically run the tournament and have the weapons this year to capture its first title since 2005. Defenseman Garrett Noonan is one of the best offensive defenseman and TJ O’Brien and Derek Colucci are snipers. The only concern is goaltending which is unproven. Malden Catholic is definitely a team to watch. It has scoring power and a great stopper in John Carbonneau. Also, MC has experience, playing in the championship last year. (Carbonneau definitely wants another shot to redeem himself after allowing three goals to Reading).
Needham might have the best shot out of all of the public schools, but watch out for the two Middlesex League teams (Burlington and Winchester) as sleepers.
Prediction:
Bracket 1 Winner vs. Bracket 2 Runner up: Catholic Memorial vs. Burlington – Winner = Catholic Memorial
Bracket 2 Winner vs. Bracket 1 Runner up: Malden Catholic vs. Hingham – Winner = Hingham
Championship = Catholic Memorial vs. Hingham
Champion = Catholic Memorial
Circling the Playing Fields 