As central Ohio hockey teams prepare to chase a state tournament berth, several coaches foresee a wide-open race.
Defending state champion Olentangy Liberty is seeded first in the regional tournament and has a first-round bye. St. Charles, Upper Arlington, Olentangy Berlin and Cincinnati Moeller round out the top five seeds and also open in the second round.
Olentangy, Dublin Jerome, New Albany, Cincinnati St. Xavier and Olentangy Orange complete the top 10.
It’s anyone’s game after Liberty was the clear favorite last year.
“I believe in any game, any given day, anybody can beat anybody,” New Albany coach Matt Buss said. “The Capital Hockey Conference is now a very legitimate conference. There’s 10 teams in the conference that can get to Nationwide (Arena for the state tournament). It’s not just the top two or three teams. There’s a lot of depth this year.”
The regional tournament begins Friday and continues Saturday and Sunday. The quarterfinals and semifinals are Feb. 24 and 25, followed by the regional final March 2 at OhioHealth Ice Haus.
“It should be fun for spectators,” Berlin coach Tim Pennington said. “I’m not sure about the coaches.”
The state semifinals are March 8 and the championship game is March 10.
Here are five storylines heading into the postseason:
1. Olentangy Liberty looks to defend state title
The Patriots (21-10-0-1) enter the postseason looking to rebound from a 3-2 loss to New Albany in the first round of the Blue Jackets Cup – the CHC championship tournament – last Thursday. Liberty was seeded first and New Albany was eighth.
“We need a wake-up call,” coach Kevin Alexander said. “The boys are going to get a wake-up call in practice this week.”
Liberty will play 16th-seeded Worthington Kilbourne or 18th-seeded Springboro in the second round Saturday at the Ice Haus.
“The guys seem to think that we can keep doing whatever we want, and teams are going to lay down and give it to us,” Alexander said. “It goes back to hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, and until our guys figure that out and start listening to the coaches, we’re going to continue to have that problem. We’re going to find out what we’re made of.”
Jake Struck leads Liberty in scoring with 43 goals and 51 assists for 94 points, followed by Andrew Leonard (28 goals, 39 assists, 67 points), Michael Greco (16-31-47) and Brian Savage (23-24-47).
In goal, Caleb Ross is 10-6-0-1 with a 2.56…
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