The 2018 Greater Cleveland High School Hockey League Baron Cup III experience should seem very familiar to Aurora Greenmen head coach John Sheridan and returning players from last year’s team.
Aurora’s opening round matchup against Normandy is the same opponent from last year’s opening round, and in the same time slot as the 2017 tournament.
The Greenmen and Invaders face off Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at the John M.Coyne Recreation Center in Brooklyn.
"It’s almost ditto to last year. Same day, same time and same team," said Sheridan.
Aurora defeated Normandy in that 2017 opening-round game.
The two teams have played twice in regular season action this year, with the Invaders winning both games.
"We match up pretty well against them. It’s not a mismatch, that’s for sure," Sheridan said. "In the first game we had a lot of opportunities, and the second time we played we were a little flat. We hadn’t played for 14 days before that (second) game, and that hurt us a little bit. Even though they were the better team that day, it was 3-2 with four minutes to go."
Normandy (21-5-0 overall, 8-2-0 GCHSHL) enters the postseason tournament as a No. 2 seed from the Blue North Division, while Aurora ( 14-6-1 and 4-5-1) earned the third seed.
"We are probably an underdog, but not a very big one," said Sheridan.
Familiarity with their opponent may provide Sheridan and his team the blueprint they will need to build upon in order to advance to the second round of the Baron Cup.
"We have to play good positioning and capitalize when we get opportunities. They are a pretty good team. Like any playoffs, you have to have a hot goalie", said Sheridan. "I think if our goalie is there, we play good position and be aggressive on the puck, we will be OK."
For GCHSHL teams, the Baron Cup is the highlight of their postseason. The Greenmen have qualified for the postseason playoff in each of the past three seasons.
"It is another challenge for our kids. Last year, we came within a shot in overtime of winning the thing. It’s good to get back there; it’s not brand new to us," said Sheridan.
Aurora begins the postseason with an impressive resume of wins this season that should provide a level of confidence for the Greenmen.
"We accomplished some things (this season)", said Sheridan. "I think our regular season record is better this year, we beat a Red (higher division) team and won a tournament at Thanksgiving. There have been some highlights. All of our focus is on Thursday, and strategically, we’ll be ready."
Blue Line Notes
• Regardless of the outcome of their appearance in the Baron Cup III, Aurora will play Twinsburg in the Kent District of the OHSAA hockey tournament Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Kent State Ice Arena.
• Kent Roosevelt will play Nordonia in the Kent District Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
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