Chatham looking to end Mennen Cup drought

The Chatham ice hockey team has won two state titles in the past five seasons. Yet come this time of year, all the talk in town centers around the Mennen Cup and the school’s almost unexplainable league championship drought.

The Cougars, who will again enter the Mennen Cup as the top seed after capturing the Mennen Division regular-season title for the second year in a row, have not won MCSSIHL’s top postseason prize in 34 years. They fell to Morristown-Beard 4-0 in last year’s disappointing final.

“We don’t talk about it much but it’s there, the kids in the locker room know it’s there and they want to be the team that finally snaps the drought,” Chatham head coach Frank Gilberti said. “I’ve been a part of two state championships in my time here but I’m constantly asked when we’re going to win the Mennen Cup. What it means to the community is unbelievable.”

Chatham (11-2-5 overall; 6-1-3 in Mennen) certainly has the resume and the talent to end the drought, with the likes of CJ Albanese in goal, Will (19-15-34) and Ryan Barnett (13-11-24), Jack O’Connor (9-8-17), and Bryn Casey (6-13-19) up front, and AJ Albanese leading the defense. The Cougars will begin their quest for the Mennen Cup on Feb. 16 against either Morristown or Morris Knolls after a first-round bye.

“We feel good going into the tournament,” Gilberti said. “We were the number one seed last year but didn’t get it done and these guys understand now that we need to bring intensity and focus every night. It’s a hard tournament to win and getting a bye is huge. We know what this (Mennen) division is like and that on any given night any team can knock off the other if you don’t come to play.”

Cup kickoff

A Haas Cup preliminary round triple-header kicks off the Cup championships today at Mennen Arena. Sparta and Parsippany Regional gets things started with a scheduled 4:30 p.m. faceoff time with Park Regional and Jefferson to follow at 6:30 p.m. The nightcap will feature Newton/Lenape Valley facing off against Mount Olive at 8:30 p.m. Top seed Madison will be challenged by Vernon on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The Halvorsen Cup takes center ice on Wednesday at Mennen Arena with a first-round double-header featuring West Morris vs. Mountain Lakes/Boonton at 5:45 p.m., followed by Mendham against Pequannock at 7:45 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday’s semifinals against the top two seeds Montville and Roxbury.

Thursday will feature back-to-back Haas Cup semifinals starting at 4:15 p.m. with the first Mennen Cup game to follow at 8:15 p.m. between defending champion Morristown-Beard and Kinnelon with the winner to meet Randolph on Monday. Morristown and Morris Knolls will face off on Friday at 5:45 p.m. in another Mennen Cup first-round contest with the winner to challenge top seed Chatham on Monday.

The Halvorsen Cup semis close out the first week of Cup competition on Saturday beginning at 6:15 p.m. to complete the first week. The Halvorsen and Mennen Cup finals will be played on Feb. 19 and the Haas Cup title game on Feb. 20.

Delbarton, which hasn’t won a Gordon Cup title since 2012 and lost in overtime to Don Bosco Prep in last year’s final, is expected to earn the top seed tomorrow for this year’s tournament, with the final scheduled for Feb. 21 at Codey Arena in West Orange.

Cornine is tops

With a pair of goals and an assist in a come-from-behind win over Portledge (N.Y.) last week, Kendall Cornine became the all-time points leader for Morristown-Beard girls ice hockey. The senior now has 98 goals and 83 assists for 181 career points in just 70 games. She passed Brette Brier, who had held the career points mark at the school with 179 points in 74 games played. Sarah Bayersdorfer, currently a senior forward at Boston University, still holds the career goal mark for the Crimson with 106 goals in just 60 games played.

State cutoff

Today is also the cutoff date for teams to qualify for the NJSIAA Tournament. Teams need a .500 record or better though games played Monday in order to qualify in either Public A, Public B, or Non-Public tournament play. Teams may also qualify with an at-large bid but must be within four games of the .500 mark by today’s cutoff to be considered. The three state finals will be played on March 9 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Morristown, Morris Knolls, and Morristown-Beard won state crowns last March.