It would probably be a little too strong to make a statement like, “We’ll know the playoff fate of the Newburyport boys hockey team after the next two weeks.”
… But we’re going to have a pretty good idea on where the Clippers stand.
It was quite the month of January for coach Paul Yameen and his Newburyport squad, which is currently red-hot having gone 6-1-1 over its last eight games. And as a result of their recent success, the Clippers (9-5-1) have jumped up to No. 19 in the latest Division 2 power rankings that came out on Tuesday morning — and are closing in on earning an all-important first-round home playoff game at the Graf.
Something that if they are able to get, they will have earned.
Because over the next two weeks, this team is going to be tested.
Just take a look at Newburyport’s upcoming schedule:
Feb. 5th: vs. King Philip (10-2-1), No. 8 in D2.
Feb. 7th: vs. Essex Tech (8-6-1), No. 12 in D3.
Feb. 9th: at Gloucester (8-5-1), No. 18 in D2.
Feb 11th: vs. Lynnfield (6-5-3), No. 15 in D3.
Feb. 14th: vs. St. John’s Prep (9-3-2), No. 3 in D1.
Yeah … that’s what would be labeled as “a gauntlet.”
But the good news is that Newburyport is playing some darn good hockey.
We’ve mentioned the line change that the Clippers made near the beginning of last month a couple of times now, but it’s worth repeating. Electric sophomore forward Jack Sullivan — who scored four times during the team’s most recent win over archrival Triton — is now up to 21 goals with 13 assists this season, and his production exploded when Tommy Gagnon (4g, 3a) and Owen Mongeau (4g, 9a) were moved up to the top line with him. Which allowed returning Daily News All-Star forwards Luke MacIsaac (10g, 18a) and Henry Waddell (11g, 16a) to slide down to the second unit to join Davis Pons (3g, 1a).
And both lines have been elite since the switch.
The Clippers have even seen their third line of Braden Arel, Luke Barbera and Patrick Bavaro create chances and find the back of the net over the past week.
“Everyone is producing and everone is doing their job,” said Sullivan after the season sweep of Triton. “It’s been good to see the team playing better.”
And that same growth has happened in the defensive end as well.
Senior Jagger Gudaitis leads that blue line group, and chews up heavy minutes. But the Clippers have also seen Axel Becker, Weston Puleo, Mason Varay, Charlie Tramontana and Tyler Bergeron step up and embrace their new, expanded roles. Then in net, sophomore goalie Sean Murray has looked more comfortable each game in his first year as the team’s full-time starter.
“We thought from the beginning that it was going to take some time,” said Yameen after a recent win over Amesbury. “We had four-to-five defensemen who had never played varsity hockey, and we had two goalies who had never played varsity hockey. So we fully expected it to take a little time. But we are playing better.”
Plus the other positive heading into this gauntlet: Newburyport is used to this.
The Clippers are known for how tough they schedule in the non-league portion of their calendar. This year, that has already manifested in a win over Dartmouth (No. 23 in D2), and losses against Waltham (No. 22 in D1), Franklin (No. 32 in D1), Burlington (No. 3 in D2) and Canton (No. 2 in D2).
It’s a battle-tested team.
And the Clippers will get a true test of the strength of their armor over the next two weeks.
Here is where each local team currently stands.
Boys Basketball
Division 2
No. 11: Newburyport (13-0)
Division 3
No. 65: Pentucket (3-12)
No. 75: Triton (1-14)
Division 4
No. 5: Georgetown (11-4)
No. 37: Amesbury (4-8)
Girls Basketball
Division 2
No. 19: Newburyport (10-3)
Division 3
No. 8: Pentucket (12-3)
No. 48: Triton (3-12)
Division 4
No. 15: Amesbury (11-5)
No. 36: Georgetown (3-9)
Boys Hockey
Division 2
No. 19: Newburyport (9-5-1)
No. 22: Amesbury (9-7-0)
Division 3
No. 46: Triton (0-15-0)
Division 4
No. 19: Pentucket (6-9-1)
Girls Hockey
Division 1
No. 4: HPNA (11-1-3)
No. 47: Newburyport (3-10-0)