Hockey Outlook 2012-2013

The Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey league actually features 16 high school teams, many of which combine players from two schools to have enough for one team.

Centennial is one of the few fortunate enough to do it alone. The Cougars bring back one of the deepest and most talented teams in the GNASH.

Independence has joined up with Summit, and with the addition of a new coach may be headed for a breakthrough year.

Franklin, which has added players from Oakland for the first time, is already showing signs of improvement after enduring a winless campaign last year.

Here’s a preview of what to expect from each below:

Centennial

No other team in the GNASH may be bringing back more firepower and experience. That’s just one reason why many coaches around the league expect the Cougars to be one of the top contenders.

The program also has plenty of strong history, having won the GNASH in 2009 and finishing as the runner-up in 2010.

Coach Mark Layne, who engineered both of those deep postseason runs, returns for his seventh year with the program (this will be his fifth as the head coach).

“We have enough players for four full lines for the first time ever,” Layne said. “We did lose two defensemen who saw significant playing time, but everybody else is back. Our goals are to win the GNASH Cup regular-season title along with the Preds Cup state championship.”

Layne has a 34-man roster that includes its top eight scorers from last season. The most dangerous of that bunch is likely forward Derek Lyle, who poured in a team-high 53 points (31 goals, 22 assists) in 2011-12.

Forwards Dakota Davis (31 points last season) and Aaron O’Neil (30 points) are also steady scoring threats.

“We have a lot of guys with speed who are offensive threats,” Layne said. “We are a good skating team and a physical team too.”

Shoring up the defense is Layne’s biggest concern, but the team has impressed the coach with their work ethic and chemistry already.

“Our experience and maturity as a team has shown through,” Layne said. “The team is working on and off the ice together. We have a special group and I’m really fortunate and blessed to be able to coach them. We have tremendous fan support and that really helps too.”

Franklin-Oakland

It took this program all of one game to improve on their record last season.

Franklin-Oakland edged Franklin Road Academy-University School, 4-3, in its season opener, which is one more win than Franklin had playing by itself in 21 games in 2011-12.

“We are already well ahead of where we were last year,” said coach John Negley, who has been with the program for nine years. “We are really supporting each other and working together. We are not laden with highly-talented individuals, but if we are committed to working together we will keep growing.”

Their strength lies on the defensive side, where three experienced seniors will bolster the backline: Josh Vanatta,  Jimmy Negley and Qunn Voss.

Junior Peter Yasso, one of the Oakland students, has taken over the goaltending duties. Yasso posted an 81% save percentage over their first two games.

Offensively, seniors Eric Dunay and Jake McKamey are capable of providing a scoring punch. Dunay had three points (two goals, one assist) in the first two games.

Junior forward Nick Crump and sophomore defenseman Clay Grider are expected to be major contributors as well.

“The best team doesn’t always win,” Negley said. “It’s the best team on a certain night that wins. That’s something we will be stressing to each other. We must have that mindset.”

Independence-Summit

First-year coach Brandon Mabe brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the game to the program. A former minor league player who has played professionally in Ohio and Iowa, Mabe also played at Middle Tennessee State as well.

Mabe inherits a handful of proven veterans and teaming up with Summit High for the first time has added an influx of young talent – Independence teamed up with Page last year and finished 10-9-2.

The Indy-Summit combination has gotten off to a 2-0 start, knocking off Ensworth-Goodpasture, 9-5, and Franklin-Oakland, 3-0.

Ultimately, Mabe wants his team to be able to hang with the best in Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey.

“Our expectations are to make gold level (the highest level of GNASH) and be competitive,” Mabe said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time and see what we can do, but in the long term we want to be consistent and always be competitive.”

Team captain Chase Lutz will certainly help with that goal. A senior forward, Lutz has already poured in eight goals in their first two games.

Co-captain Corey Jenks, another senior forward, has added four points, including three assists.

“They are both huge scoring threats with lots of speed. They can both put the puck in the back of the net,” Mabe said. “Chase is exactly what you want in your captain. He is a vocal leader on and off the ice too.”

Goalie Tucker Darden is only in eighth grade, but has already shown plenty of promise. Daren stopped 35 shots in their shutout win over Franklin-Oakland, which earned him ‘player of the game’ honors.

While not as fast or a deep as some of the elite teams in GNASH, Indy-Summit remains a dangerous team that could be poised for a breakthrough year.

“We need to work on our speed,” Mabe said. “Puck control is one of our strengths and our speed at certain positions can be underestimated. Our team unity is pretty good. I really like what we have, we just need to work hard and get consistent.”