NZ Prep Poll: Week #5 - Neutral Zone Boys' Prep

With a hike in COVID related cancellations in week #4 we decided to postpone the poll to Week #5 where we had more sample size. In the coming weeks we’ll be making some upgrades on the website to show the RPI and JSPR ratings that determine playoff seeding. In the meantime NZ scouts have been in the rinks and also watching online video streams for arenas not allowing spectators to keep our eyes on the action and below is our version of the Week #5 Top 10 Prep Poll.

NZ Prep Poll Top 10

Honorable Mentions: Nobles & Greenough, Dexter, St. George’s

Kimball Union: KUA has a pretty impressive resume as they head into February without a loss against a NEPSHIA team and high quality wins over Kent, #10 Salisbury and #7 Westminster. What separates KUA from the pack is their depth; they can roll three lines all game, they have size and skill on the backend and a talented goalie. The team is averaging just shy of 6 goals per game and has the most explosive offense in the prep hockey and allows just 2.2 goals against for a +3.6 average margin of victory. In short, they don’t just win a lot of games, they win convincingly. The Wildcats go on the road to play Exeter this week and then face rival Tilton at home.
Avon Old Farms: There is an argument Avon is the most dangerous team in the league because like KUA, they have skill and balance at every position. Only thing holding them back from the #1 spot is that they don’t have a win over a ranked opponent yet and have one loss against a NEPSHIA team. They have a big week with three games against Westminster, Loomis and Choate. The Westminster game has been slotted our Game of the Week.
Belmont Hill: Belmont Hill and KUA are the only two teams in the league without a NEPSHIA loss. They do have two ties but they both came against quality teams in Nobles and #6 St. Sebastian’s. While they don’t have a win over a ranked team, they have had a recent run of quality wins over talented teams on the bubble in Tabor, Milton and St. Mark’s which shows this team is the real deal. Belmont Hill doesn’t have the offensive firepower of Avon and KUA but they are allowing just 1.25 GAA through their first 12 games of the year. They kept St. Sebastian’s (4.5 GF) and Nobles (3.4 GF) to just one goal against and proved in January they can win the tight games with a last second buzzer beat win against St. Mark’s. They will head on the road this week to St. Paul’s and Brooks to try and keep their unbeaten streak alive. A very difficult team to generate offense against.
Cushing: The Penguins have just one NEPSHIA loss on the season which came against Dexter who they have split the series with 1-1. They don’t get a ton of love by the RPI because of their strength of schedule and no wins over a ranked opponent; however, they have one of the best goalies in the league and play a defensively disciplined, hard-nosed game that distinguishes them a bit from other teams in the poll. They have a 1.83 GAA and have let up 1 or less goals in half the games they’ve played this season. They are built more like Belmont Hill than Avon/KUA and they are tough to play against, built from the goal out and make you work for scoring chances. They have a good test this week against two teams over .500 who can play with anyone in NMH and Exeter which will do a lot to bolster their strength of schedule.
Brunswick: Brunswick continues to prove that despite being a younger team, they can play with the best. The good news: they have more wins over top 10 opponents than Belmont Hill, Avon and Cushing combined. The bad news: they have 3 losses against Dexter, #10 Kent and #7 Westminster. Strength of schedule is among the top in the league and they have proven to be one of the hottest teams in the league with a 7-1-1 record in their last 9 games. Not only that but they have been averaging 4.33 goals per game in that stretch. They’ll face Hoosac and Williston-Northampton this week.
St. Sebastians: After losing to Brunswick in their holiday tournament, the Arrows have responded well with a 6 game unbeaten streak where they tied #3 Belmont Hill and quality wins over Tabor and Nobles. Their schedule gets tougher over the next two weeks as they’ll face Belmont Hill, Nobles, Milton, St. Mark’s and Thayer so they are in a great position to climb the ladder with a string of victories in their next 5-6 games.
Westminster: Westy has run through the gauntlet early this season having to face many top teams in prep hockey with #1 KUA, #10 Salisbury, #5 Brunswick and honorable mention Milton and still manage to have a 7-3-1 record. They are averaging over 4 goals per game, they have depth and they play as hard as anyone in the league. Their tough schedule doesn’t let up as they have 3 games this week against #2 Avon, Deerfield and honorable mention #10 Kent.
Holderness: The Bulls were one of the only undefeated teams in the league heading home after Christmas tournaments but returned sluggish with a loss against sub. 500 New Hampton and a tie to sub .500 St. Paul’s. They responded however with four straight convincing wins averaging 6 goals per game in that stretch and beating Lakes Region rivals Tilton and Proctor. They don’t have the strength of schedule as the teams above them but their 12-1-1 record at this point is among the best in the league. They have Kents Hill, Brewster and a rematch game against New Hampton this week.
Salisbury: The Knights stumbled a bit in mid-December having a six game stretch where they went 2-4-0 which is unheard of for the prep powerhouse. How have they responded? Four straight wins by a margin of 31-5 in goals for vs goals against. They beat #7 Westminster and an underrated Trinity Pawling team showing the Knights are back to form. This will be a big week upcoming with games against Berkshire and Gunnery because after losing 4 games early, their margin of error gets a lot tighter as they make a push down the stretch for an Elite 8 berth.
Kent: While Kent has 5 losses on the season they also have more wins against Top 10 opponents than any team in prep hockey with 3; wins over #2 Avon, #5 Brunswick and #9 Salisbury. Two of their losses are against the #1 and #2 ranked teams in KUA and Avon and the others against plus .500 teams in Gunnery and Hebron and sub .500 Trinity Pawling who is underrated. They will face three teams this upcoming week in Taft, Loomis and Westminster which are all very important for the Lions fighting for a spot in the Elite 8 field.

Honorable Mentions

It’s hard to leave Nobles out of the poll after winning the Flood Marr and having quality wins over Milton, #7 Salisbury and a tie to #3 Belmont Hill. However, they are coming off 3 straight losses and let in an average 5.66 goals against in that stretch and only one of those teams was a ranked opponent. They have a chance this week to get themselves back in the top 10 especially considering their high RPI rating, but time will tell. Dexter is another team right on the bubble as they have wins over #4 Cushing and #5 Brunswick and currently riding a 4 game win streak. They’ll be favored in every game they play the rest of the way until the final game of the season against Belmont Hill so they’re well positioned to climb the poll. St. George’s is a team we had our eyes on in the pre-season and starting to really take shape coming off a big win against St. Mark’s proving they can play with the tougher teams. They have just one NEPSHIA loss on the season and it was the first game of the year against Thayer; since then they have gone 8-0-1 against NEPSHIA competition. They face an up and coming Portsmouth Abbey team riding a 5 game win streak on Saturday which will be a good measuring stick.

Upcoming Game of the Week:

Monday January 24th #2 Avon Old Farms @ #7 Westminster School

Other Key Matchups:

1/26 St. Georges vs. Portsmouth Abbey

1/26 NMH vs. Cushing

1/26 KUA vs. Exeter

1/26 Nobles & Greenough vs. St. Sebastian’s

1/26 Gunnery @ Salisbury

1/29 Kent @ Westminster

1/29 Cushing @ Exeter