29th Annual Flyers Cup Preview

The Flyers Cup is the annual Philadelphia area high school hockey tournament sponsored by the Philadelphia Flyers.

The invitational tournament has a total of 51 teams competing for the championships in three different divisions based on school size ("A", "AA", and "AAA").

Those 51 teams come from the following leagues: the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League, the Eastern High School Hockey League, the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League, the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League, the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League, the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League, and the Suburban High School Hockey League.

Games will be played at rinks throughout the area including Ice Line (West Chester, PA), Hatfield Ice (Colmar, PA), Grundy Recreation Center (Bristol, PA), Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone at N.E. Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA), The Skatium (Havertown, PA), Face-Off Circle (Warminster, PA), Ice Works (Aston, PA), The Igloo at Mt. Laurel (Mt. Laurel, NJ) Twin Ponds East (Harrisburg, PA), and York City Ice Arena (York, PA).

The champions of each division will face the winners of Western Pennsylvania's Penguins Cup for the Pennsylvania State Championships, set for March 29th at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. The "A" finals will be held at 11:00 am, and the "AA" finals at 1:00 pm, and "AAA" finals at 3:00 pm.

Flyers Cup 2008 begins on March 10th with seven games on the schedule and then the bulk of the games are on March 12th with 12 games scheduled across the Delaware Valley. For the first time in Flyers Cup History all three divisions "A", "AA", and "AAA" will have their finals held on March 22nd at the Wachovia Spectrum. The "AAA" game will be televised live on CN8 with Comcast SportsNet's Steve Coates providing color commentary of the game and Steve Degler from CN8 providing play-by-play. There will be many activities and features in and around the concourse at the Wachovia Spectrum all day, including several celebrity appearances. Members of the Delta Dental Ice Team and Phantom Patrol will be on hand to slingshot t-shirts during intermissions. Daily Flyers Cup updates will be available by logging on to philadelphiaflyers.com.

The Flyers Cup Finals Tripleheader Schedule:
"A" Final - March 22nd at 11:00am at Wachovia Spectrum (Philadelphia, PA)
"AA" Final - March 22nd at 1:30pm at Wachovia Spectrum (Philadelphia, PA)
"AAA" Final - March 22nd at 4:00pm at Wachovia Spectrum (Philadelphia, PA)

"AAA Preview"
In "AAA", Holy Ghost Prep (Ranked #6) will have an uphill battle if it wishes to defend its title with a crop of 11 talented teams vying for the Cup. Holy Ghost Prep has a 15-7 overall record (5-5 in "AAA" Division) and their offense is led by senior Nicholas Seravalli, who has 34 goals and 54 points. Seravalli was last years' Flyers Cup MVP and will be counted on again to lead his team back to the finals. La Salle enters the tournament as the top seed for the second year in a row posting a 9-0 record in "AAA" competition (26-1-2 overall). Backstopped by the #1 goalie in "AAA" Dan Pyne and leading scorer Adam Berkle (27 goals and 55 points), La Salle is poised and ready to go the distance this year. Malvern Prep (ranked #2) has a record of 8-2 in "AAA" (15-8-3 overall), and teams will need to focus on two-way player Doug Moppert who leads the team in goals, points, and shorthanded goals. Malvern can never be overlooked as they have won a record 8 career Flyers Cup championships. Ryan Patch has helped Father Judge to a 7-3 record in "AAA" (13-8-1 overall) by leading his team in goals and assists, while Matt Petitti has been solid in net logging every minute this year.

"AA Preview"
The past three Flyers Cups have one thing in common and that is Haverford High. The Fords rank #2 with a 16-4 record this season, and look to make it 4 in row against 19 strong teams all competing for their chance at a Flyers Cup Championship. Haverford High is led by a dynamic duo of forwards ranked #1 and 2 in the "AA" Division. T.J. Haeberle, who has 37 goals and 66 points, and Steve Karpinski with 25 goals and 65 points, look to bring the Flyers Cup back to the Main Line. Pennsbury enters the tournament as the top seed with an 18-3-1 record. Led by senior net minder Colin Fafara (1.90 goals against average this year) and speedy forward Ryan Gannon, who netted 21 goals and 51 points, Pennsbury looks to dethrone the defending champs. Council Rock North (ranked #3) enters with a 19-4-1 record. Teams will need to focus on Taylor Lockhart's strong offensive play, while also worrying about beating goaltenders Jared Geer and Jesse Goldberg who are both posting goals against averages fewer than 2.00.

"A Preview"
West Chester Henderson (ranked #1) looks to defend their title against 19 hungry teams looking to capture Flyers Cup glory. Henderson will be counting on top scorers Alex Cottle (66 points) and Billy Latta (65 points), both named to last year's Flyers Cup All-Tournament team to lead this year's squad back to the championship. Perkiomen Valley (ranked #2) will be counting on top scorer Mike Christie (18 goals), as well as defensemen T.J. Firorillo (41 points), to build off their impressive regular season performance of 17-3-1 and knock off the defending champions. Hershey has some unfinished business with Henderson, having lost to the eventual Flyers Cup Champs in the semi-finals last year. Hershey is bringing their core group back, only losing 5 seniors from last year's team. Offensive attacks from forwards Tyler Lewis and Scott Witmyer, along with strong goaltending play from Conner Brogan and Jonathan Lang, look to lead Hershey to a championship this year.

"AAA" Division
1. La Salle
2. Malvern Prep
3. Cardinal O'Hara
4. Father Judge
5. Archbishop Ryan
6. Holy Ghost Prep*
7. Roman Catholic
8. Monsignor Bonner
9. St. Joseph's Prep
10. Salesianum
11. Germantown Academy

"AA" Division
1. Pennsbury
2. Haverford High*
3. Council Rock North
4. Methacton
5. Conestoga
6. Pennridge
7. North Penn
8. Central Bucks South
9. Downingtown East
10. Council Rock South
11. Cherokee
12. Cumberland Valley
13. Central Dauphin
14. Central Bucks East
15. Boyertown
16. William Tennent
17. Washington Township
18. Parkland
19. Ridley
20. Northampton

"A" Division
1. Henderson*
2. Perkiomen Valley
3. Hershey
4. Shawnee
5. Strath Haven
6. Rustin
7. Marple Newtown
8. Lower Dauphin
9. West Chester East
10. Springfield
11. Upper Dublin
12. Moorestown
13. Wissahickon
14. Unionville
15. Central York
16. Kennett
17. Clearview
18. Sun Valley
19. Interboro
20. Plymouth-Whitemarsh

* Denotes last year's winner

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