hockeyrocks

Wow... Ice hockey is considered America's new pastime... throw out baseball, all the kids are at the hockey rink now! Parents love hockey because their kid is safely monitored in a controlled environment and has a low injury rate in comparison to other youth sports. Look at the statistics... baseball numbers have dropped dramatically in the past 20 years, soccer has taken over the masses, hockey appeals to the more dedicated and affluent athletes, because it takes a huge financial and time commitment to learn how to skate and play. NHL teams have swarmed over the South.. Nashville has the Preds, Thrashers are in Atlanta, Canes in Raleigh, Lightning in Tampa, Stars in Dallas, Panthers in Miami are all a reflection of the newfound fanbase in the South, that doesn't count all the minor league hockey teams in Knoxville, Memphis, Huntsville, Gwinnett in Atlanta and lots of other cities... Kids eat hockey up because it's fast paced, super fun and challenging game while juggling a combination of skills. In hockey, you have to read the play, skate, handle the puck, dodge your opponent, react, protect yourself and try to score all at the same time. Imagine playing football on skates with no huddles, or full-contact basketball on ice skates. Kids put on all that armor and feel invincible on the ice, changes their personalities.. my 8 yr old son was a quiet introvert until he suited up in hockey gear from head to toe.. he became the hulk in his new outfit on the ice and he loved to wack the puck and other kids and not get into trouble. Roller hockey is typically the starter sport for kids to learn how to play hockey, almost every city kid has inline skates and learns to skate in his driveway or on the sidewalk, they eventually pick up a hockey stick and start hitting tennis balls into a net, playing pick-up hockey in their neighborhood cul-de-sac... from there they graduate to ice hockey so they can play on an organized team. Greater Nashville Association of Scholastic Hockey (GNASH) was created and organized with the idea that it would eventually be approved and accepted as a TSSAA sanctioned sport. All of the by-laws and operating procedures follow TSSAA protocol in the hopes it will someday be approved as a mainstream sport in Tennessee. The majority of the high schools in the Nashville area have teams. There are currently 24 high schools that participate in GNASH, although some schools are forced to double-up and co-op to have enough quality players to make a team. There are currently 18 high school "club" teams in Middle Tennessee, 4 teams in Memphis and 4 teams in Knoxville. The Nashville Predators sponsor the Predator Cup in March to determine the Tennessee State High School Champion. The website for GNASH is www.gnashockey.com The top high school ice hockey programs in Nashville are Father Ryan, JP II, Ravenwood, Brentwood, Centennial, Montgomery Bell Academy, Station Camp, Hendersonville and Mt Juliet. The league is broken down into a top half and lower half. All of the teams listed above are in the top half. The top team out of Memphis is Collierville, top team out of Knoxville is Bearden. High School ice hockey is much larger in Atlanta area. Also, Huntsville and Birmingham Alabama have high school ice hockey programs as well. The majority of the high school ice hockey coaches are former college, junior or minor league players.. all have to pass a background screen process and be registered and insured by USA Hockey. If you ever get a chance, come out to a high school ice hockey game up in Nashville, Atlanta or Knoxville and you will catch the fever too.. it's awesome! I would love to see Chattanooga get an ice rink and give the kids down there a chance to play ice hockey! They would LOVE it!

Best showcase camp for high school age players in the South. Sign up early because it fill up fast. Elite Edge Hockey Showcase June 11-14, 2009 Southern Ice Arena, Franklin, TN http://www.eliteedgehockey.com/

I saw Christian Bros play Nashville Flyers in a little round-robin a couple weeks ago.. CB wasn't that good and I would say if they played JP II, Father Ryan or Ravenwood it would be a close match-up.

Is there a way to change the setting on the Hockey topic for non-registered people to see it? I have had several emails saying they can't see hockey on the message board.. I can see it only when I log in as a member.

Is anyone interested in putting a regional team together to play in Chicago Showcase or Hockey Night in Boston? Please post a reply if you are interested in trying out.

Please post your team info, manager contact and game openings here!

Who has the best team this year? Any favorite for the Predator Cup?

How does GNASH hockey rate compared to other states? Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri? Can the GNASH teams compete with high school teams from out-of-state?

Were you able to set up the hockey board yet? let me know when the hockey message board done and I will forward the info out to the GNASH High School Hockey teams. Thanks! www.gnashockey.com

Can we please please PLEASE get a Hockey topic added in the Winter Sports section?? There are 20+ high school teams in Middle Tennessee, another 8 hs teams in Memphis and Knoxville, plus... Vandy, MTSU and UT have excellent club teams, and we have the Preds!! I will have the GNASH High School Hockey administrator send out an email to all the GNASH players and teams to let them know we have a hockey message board on here... you are bound to get a ton of posts! I know hockey would be a great addition to CoachT!

I was there. It was actually pretty even. Ravenwood scored 1st on an amazing play where the JPII defensemen tried to breakout with a cross ice pass through his own slot, the Ravenwood kid knocked the puck down out of mid-air and fired a nasty shot on net, the goalie saved the shot, but was completely out of position for the rebound. JPII was playing catch-up the whole game, seemed like Ravenwood led most of the time, I felt JPII was lucky to tie, the Ravenwood goalie messed up, caught the puck in his glove and then dropped it in his crease and a little dude from JP knocked it in to tie the game. Ravenwood was not playing their normal offensive push game, they were obviously playing safe to preserve a win or a tie, either tie or win meant Ravenwood wins the regular season title and an automatic berth to state playoffs, they played neutral zone trap for almost the entire 3rd period. shots were almost even. JPII did dominate for the last 65 seconds, they pressed hard, freshman D from Ravenwood turned the puck over and gave the russian a breakaway with 26 seconds left in the game, goalie caught the shot in his glove. In any case, it sets up a nice rematch in the GNASH playoff tournament, they should meet in the semi-final on Feb 22, if JPII can get past MBA? I'm looking forward to seeing both teams play all out, winner take all game.

Hey Knightime, you were close on the prediction.. Ravenwood and JPII tied 2-2 on Jan 25 which should give Ravenwood the regular season title. I thought Ravenwood looked the stronger team.. no losses so far in regular season, more depth and better D. Ravenwood's first line is tough. JPII has some great individual players that carry their team, the best one is the russian kid, too bad he doesn't pass! Check out the GNASH Hockey website.