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A lot at stake in Gloucester, Peabody rematch

Wednesday, February, 13 By Nick Curcuru
Staff writer

Tonight is the night that the Gloucester boys hockey team has been waiting for.

Ever since Peabody handed Gloucester its first loss, a 7-1 shellacking on January 19, the Fishermen have been chomping at the bits to see the Tanners again.

The Fishermen get their second chance as the two meet again tonight at Peabody's McVann O'Keefe Rink (5:15), and the stakes could not be any higher.

With a win, the Fishermen (10-4-2, 9-2-2) will clinch the Northeastern Conference title. A Tanners win will complicate matters and could lead to the Fishermen and the Tanners sharing the championship.

"This is basically for the Northeastern Conference title, it's huge," said Fishermen tri-captain Paul Russo of the matchup with Peabody. "They embarrassed us at our home rink last time and now we're going to try to return the favor."

Making the matchup even more interesting is the fact that the two teams appear to be heading in different directions. Peabody (13-4, 9-4) has been on fire after a slow start, winning four straight games and 10 out of its last 12. Gloucester, on the other hand, has been struggling as of late going 1-4-1 in their last six after starting off the year 9-0-1.

The Fishermen believe they have pin-pointed their problem and are ready to move on.

"Lately there hasn't been any emotion or intensity," Gloucester head coach Don Lowe said. "We have to play with emotion, desire and hustle from the drop of the puck." Russo agreed that the intensity level needs to be better. "We need more heart and passion and we need to fore check and back check better," Russo said. "But we have picked it up this week at practice. We've only got three out of a possible 12 points in our last six games so we are looking to skate harder and do the little things."

Gloucester will be looking to stop Peabody's top line, which is known for their speed and consists of the Northeastern Conference's top two scorers in Elijah Cohen (38 points) and James Noftle (37 points), as well as sophomore Matt Rodgers (28 points). In the team's last meeting, Cohen burned the Fishermen with four goals and an assist, Noftle added a goal and an assist.

"We need to control their top line," Lowe said. "Their speed probably won't be as big of a factor in their rink because it's small, but they're still dangerous."

Gloucester is also looking to shoot more, something that was their strength during their early season run and has been a weakness as of late. Both Russo and Lowe believe that shots on net could be a determining factor in the game. "We need to shoot a lot due to their small rink," Russo said. "We need to put the pressure on their goalie and play physical."

The Fishermen will come into tonight's game still hit hard by the injury bug. Junior tri-captain Josh Salah will not play due to an injured leg. Goaltender Bradley Robertson is out with a shoulder injury and junior forward Jared Toye is out with an injury.

All in all, the Fishermen are looking to negate the Tanners home ice advantage and make them play their brand of hockey. "We're playing at a small rink and (Peabody) is used to it," Russo said. "But we need to go out and play our game and not get sucked into theirs."