No clear favorites emerge for league tournament

As seen in ThisWeek News
Thursday, February 20, 2003

JEFF HUNT
ThisWeek Staff Writer

With three teams tied atop the standings and the fourth-place team just two points back through last Sunday, there appears to be no clear-cut favorite to win the second-annual Blue Jackets Cup Club Division trophy given to the champion of the Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League.

As of last Sunday, Olentangy, Pickerington/Reynoldsburg/Pataskala/Canal Winchester and Athens were in a three-way tie atop the league with 34 points, just ahead of Westerville (32).

Any of those four has a legitimate shot of winning the seven-team double-elimination tournament, which begins today and runs through Monday at three area sites.

Seedings for the tournament were not done until after the regular season concluded last Wednesday with Westerville facing Olentangy and Bexley playing PRPC.

"One of the things I would say after being involved with this league for four years now is that this is by far the most competitive season we've had," said first-year league president Mike Grubb, who will step down from that post after this season since his son is a senior on the Westerville team. "We've always had one very, very strong team and then everyone else."

Athens was that dominant team a year -- winning last season's inaugural Blue Jackets Cup with a 4-1 victory over Westerville to finish 31-0-0 in its first season in the league -- but the Bobcats haven't lived up to teams of the past during coach Glenn Christensen's first season after taking over for Dave McCunn, who resigned following 10 years.

The Bobcats improved to 16-4-2 by beating Westerville 1-0 at the CoreComm Ice Haus last Sunday.

"Who's the favorite?" Grubb said. "You'd have to look at Athens. They bring a lot of capability and play extra games by being in another league.

"But it appears there are four very competitive teams, so as we get into the tournament there's no doubt this will be the tightest tournament by far."

*ALL IN THE FAMILY -- Olentangy has a potent duo that could break any game wide open in brothers Brad Rudasill and Todd Rudasill, who had combined for 65 goals and 51 assists for 116 points entering last Wednesday's game against Westerville.

"The Rudasills have been very good for us," second-year coach Olentangy Mark Skogstad said. "Brad's a first-line winger and a good leader."

Todd Rudasill, a freshman, led the team in goals (44) and points (68) through last Sunday, and Brad, a senior, had a team-high 27 assists and 21 goals.

"Todd is probably, for his age, the most skilled player in the league," Skogstad said. "We're working on his skating still, but I think he'll likely be a Division I prospect down the road."

Other key players for the Braves include defenseman and captain Bryant Witt (11 goals, eight assists, 19 points) and Joe Weeks (10-8-18).

"I'd probably say the most significant player for us has been Bryant Witt," Skogstad said. "He's our captain and a solid blue-liner both offensively and defensively."

Olentangy beat Athens in three of the four regular-season meetings, and overall holds a 16-15 edge over the Bobcats. Athens did rout the Braves 8-1 on Nov. 22.

The only team the Braves had trouble with during the regular season was PRPC, which won three of the four meetings by a combined 19-12. Olentangy beat the Ice Prowlers 3-2 on Dec. 20.

"We've beaten everyone, but any of the four can beat each other," Skogstad said. "Pickerington had our number a little bit this year."

Sophomore Ryan Markell (25-22-47) and junior T.J. Hess (17-22-39) -- both of Pickerington -- were PRPC's top scorers through last Saturday. The Ice Prowlers' game against Bexley last Sunday was postponed because of bad weather and rescheduled for last Wednesday.

The Ice Prowlers went 0-2-2 during the regular-season against Athens.

"Pickerington has to be a favorite as well," said Grubb, who is also Westerville's team president. "They're playing well right now, especially offensively."

Westerville has lost the last two GCHSCHL championship games, so the Warcats definitely are in the running. They dropped to 16-7-0 with last Sunday's setback Athens and they also lost 4-3 to PRPC last Friday, breaking a three-game winning streak.

Westerville was 1-2 against Olentangy before last Wednesday's game. The Warcats lost 4-2 on Nov. 15 and 8-5 on Dec. 15 before winning 3-2 on Feb. 7.

The Warcats also lost 7-4 on Dec. 6 and 4-2 on Feb. 5 to Athens and they beat the Bobcats 4-0 on Dec. 22.

Through last Sunday, Davis Sobish (13-12-25), Brandon Lee (9-15-24), Brian Thompson (15-8-23) and Adam Sonnenberg (10-11-21) were the top four scorers for Westerville.

*THE REST OF THE LEAGUE -- The last three teams in Hilliard/Southwest, Bexley and Newark were 12-53-6 collectively through last Saturday.

Dustin Rouz (21-15--36) was leading Hilliard in goals, assists and points after the team fell to 7-13-1 with a 7-0 loss to PRPC on Feb. 9.

"The games between Hilliard and us were pretty good game," Skogstad said. "We always have dogfights with them and they could be the black horse that could mess things up. They're the best of the bottom three, but I think the top four will make the semis and shoot it out at the end."

Bexley last saw action before last Wednesday's game Feb. 9 when the Storm lost 4-2 to Newark. Jim Crane (16-16-32) and Jay Gallagher (9-16-25) are the team's top scorers.

*BETWEEN THE PIPES -- PRPC's Jesse Betts has been the most consistent goaltender in the league. He moved to 13-5-2 with the last Friday's win over Westerville. He has a league-leading 2.80 goal-against average and an .868 save percentage, also tops in the league.

Other top goalies are Westerville's Jason Grubb (2.95 GAA, .862), Olentangy's Gregg Trueb (3.20, .868) and Hilliard's Jason Bearor (3.96, .877) and Brent Barie (5.05, .861).

"Trueb has just been having a fantastic year for us," Skogstad said.

"Hot goaltending will likely play a factor in who wins the championships," Grubb added.