2023 CHSGHA Girls Ice Hockey state tournament storylines, top players and predictions

STORYLINES BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG ARENA The girls ice hockey championship game is moving to a bigger venue this season, with Quinnipiac’s M&T Bank Arena hosting at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 8. Quinnipiac is also hosting the CIAC boys hockey semifinals and finals, after hosting the championship games last year. The CHSGHA semifinals remain at The Rinks at Shelton and begin at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 4. The move comes after several years of playing the final at Bennett Rink in West Haven. Last winter’s final between New Canaan and Darien had been scheduled for Bennett, but was moved to the Darien Ice House due to poor travel conditions the night of the game. New Canaan defeated Darien 4-3 in triple OT. NOBODY’S PERFECT Darien had its bid for an unbeaten campaign end with a 7-6 loss to the Southington/Avon co-op in the penultimate game of the regular season, so the postseason gets underway with every team having at least one loss. Darien is 19-2-1 overall and owns an 11-1 mark against the rest of the tournament field. That includes three wins over rival New Canaan, including a 3-2 decision in Saturday’s FCIAC final. Everyone else in the state has three or more losses, including two-time CCC champion Avon, which is 19-3, and defending state champion New Canaan, which is 17-4-1. SIX TICKETS FOR CCC For the second consecutive season, all six CCC teams have qualified for the tournament and make up half of the field of 12. Leading that group is the Southington/Avon co-op as the No. 2 seed. The Nighthawks won their second straight conference championship with a 4-0 shutout of Simsbury on Friday, becoming the first team to win multiple conference titles since the teams moved under the CCC umbrella in 2019-20. The East Catholic co-op is seeded fourth with a 14-6-1 record and, like Southington/Avon, has a first round bye. Last year, Southington/Avon and East Catholic both reached the state semifinals. The rest of the CCC teams are No. 5 Simsbury (11-8-2), No. 6 Mercy/Northwest Catholic (13-6-1), No. 10 Suffield co-op (12-8-0), and No. 11 Hall/Conard (9-10-1). SCC TIMES TWO The SCC had just one representative in the tournament field last winter, but as two this season with league champion West Haven/SHA as the No. 8 seed, and the surprising Daniel Hand co-op at No. 7. Daniel Hand, which won just three games last year, has moved up with an influx of younger players. West Haven/SHA has been the conference’s most consistent team over the years, and just claimed the conference title with a 1-0 overtime victory against the Hamden co-op. Both are hosting first round games, with Hand facing the Suffield co-op and West Haven/SHA facing the Wilton co-op on Monday. BREAK THE CHAIN? Can anyone break through the dominating presence of Darien and New Canaan? The rivals have combined for 12 of the state’s 15 overall championships, with New Canaan winning eight and Darien winning four. Only two state finals have not included at least one of those teams, and they’ve gone head-to-head for the title four times, including in the last two tournaments. They’ve also won the last five state titles, with the Blue Wave three-peating from 2016-2018, and New Canaan winning in 2019 and 2022. No state final was held in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. The last teams to win other than New Canaan or Darien, were Simsbury and the ETB Storm, who tied 2-2 in double OT in 2015. Simsbury also beat Guilford 4-1 for the 2014 crown. PLAYERS TO WATCH Shannon Aube, Mercy/Northwest Catholic/East Hampton, Jr., F Natalie Beach, Darien, So., F Bella Bonfiglio, Southington/Avon, F Thora Clark, Simsbury, Sr., F Chelsea Donovan, Darien, Sr., F Kelsey Kowal, East Catholic co-op, Sr., G Nicole Partridge, Southington/Avon, Sr., F Clara Peroni, Stamford/Westhill/Staples, Fr., G. Julianna Picard, West Haven/SHA, So., F Lexie Tully, New Canaan, Sr., D Aryanna Wilson, Daniel Hand co-op, Sr., D SEEDED UPSETS No. 12 Stamford/Westhill/Staples over No. 5 Simsbury DAVE'S PICKS FINAL FOUR: Darien, Southington/Avon, New Canaan, East Catholic co-op CHAMPIONSHIP: Darien over New Canaan

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