The varsity division of the annual Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth is up for grabs this weekend, and just about anyone can win it.
Need proof?
In the latest state rankings produced by MaxPreps, six Central Ohio high school teams – No. 1 Upper Arlington, No. 2 New Albany, No. 4 Olentangy Liberty, No. 7 St. Charles, No. 8 Olentangy and No. 9 Dublin Jerome – are ranked in the top 10 of the state. Meanwhile, five teams are listed in the MyHockey rankings, including No. 3 New Albany, No. 4 UA, No. 6 Olentangy Liberty, No. 9 St. Charles and No. 10 Olentangy.
Two years after Olentangy Liberty delivered the first state championship to Central Ohio, two things are true – not only can anyone emerge from the region to win the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth, the quality of the high school hockey in the area is as good as it’s ever been.
“It’s great for Columbus hockey,” St. Charles coach Danny Greiner said. “I think there’s seven teams in the city that could not only win the district but win the state title. They’re all right there, and I think that’s cool as a Columbus native that grew up playing high school hockey here. To see this many contenders is awesome.”
“I think the parity in the league is the best I’ve ever seen it,” Upper Arlington coach Craig Hagkull added. “I’ve been in Columbus now for (more than a decade), and there’s no easy games if you don’t show up and aren’t ready to play.”
READ MORE: New Albany, Olentangy Liberty clinch top spots
When it comes to this weekend’s action, the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth should deliver plenty of suspense as it crowns its Capital Hockey Conference varsity champion. New Albany and Olentangy Liberty tied atop the CHC’s Red Division with matching 11-2-0-1 records and played a pair of tight games against one another – New Albany took a 4-3 win all the way back on Nov. 16, but Liberty responded Jan. 24 with a 5-4 overtime victory.
New Albany has the No. 1 seed for the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth, while Liberty will be the No. 2 seed. Upper Arlington is seeded third after posting an 11-3-2-0 record, while Olentangy holds the fourth seed after going 8-3-2-3.
St. Charles lost just three times in regulation in league play and holds the No. 5 seed with a 5-3-6-2 record, while Cincinnati Moeller (4-11-0-1) has the No. 6 seed. White Division champion Dublin Jerome has one of its best teams in recent years and holds the No. 7 seed after going 11-1-3-1, while Olentangy Orange has the No. 8 seed in the championship bracket at 10-6-0-0 in the White Division.
Quarterfinal games will be held Thursday with the semifinals Saturday. The championship game will be Sunday at 2:30 at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.
Meet The Teams
(1) New Albany vs. (8) Olentangy Orange: New Albany finished atop the standings for the first time in school history and is now looking to win the Blue Jackets Cup for the first time. The Eagles get plenty of scoring from top players Matan Lefebvre (16 goals and 20 assists, both first in CHC Red), Will Yoho (13 goals, second), Payton Gorsuch (11 goals, tied for fourth) and Quinn Blaney (7-17-24), while goalie Ryan Myers has been one of the best in the league.
Olentangy Orange can put the puck in the net, as Evan Wilson led the White Division in goals (14) and assists (16) while Maverick Scholvin adds nine goals and 11 helpers.
(2) Olentangy Liberty vs. (7) Dublin Jerome: The 2023 state champs also won the Blue Jackets Cup that season and have two of the top players in the state in forwards Jake Struck and Andrew Leonard, both members of that title team as well as the Patriots’ 2024 football state championship squad. One of the top scorers in state history, Struck had nine goals and 13 assists in league play, while Michael Greco and Jake Bachus add depth. Liberty has won 13 straight in conference since getting the football-playing members of the team back on the squad.
Dublin Jerome, meanwhile, won’t be an easy out after finishing atop the White Division and taking Liberty to overtime when the teams played this past weekend. Longtime head coach Pat Murphy skippered teams that won the Cup from 2017-19 and has won the tournament nine times overall, and this year’s Celtics squad features top scorer Theodoros Makrogiannis (eight goals) as well as the White Division’s top goalie, John Michael Beuselinck (.939 save percentage).
(3) Upper Arlington vs. (6) Cincinnati Moeller: The Golden Bears are defending champions of the Blue Jackets Cup and also won it in 2020 and ‘21. Central Ohio’s longest-running varsity program was the best defensive team in the CHC Red Division this year behind returning first-team all-league choice Mason Herndon, who had a .913 save percentage this year, but the Golden Bears found their scoring touch down the stretch with 22 goals in their last three games.
Moeller has lost eight straight entering the tournament and has never won the Blue Jackets Cup. The lone Queen City program to play in the CHC Red Division this year, the Crusaders are led up front by Jake Sackenheim (12 goals, third in CHC Red) and Max Garber (seven goals, six assists).
(4) Olentangy vs. (5) St. Charles: The upsart Braves put together an excellent season this year, sticking in the battle for first place for much of the season before late-season losses to Liberty, New Albany and Upper Arlington. Seeking its first Blue Jackets Cup, Olentangy is led by Grant Levins (11 goals, nine assists) and returning first-team All-CHC Red choice Jacob Schlade, while goalie Collin Guider had a .949 save percentage.
St. Charles went to overtime in eight of its 16 conference games, perhaps fitting for a team whose strength is goaltending and team defense. Goalie Dylan Bell is one of the best in the conference and perhaps state with a .951 save percentage in league play. Last year’s representative of the Columbus region in the state Final Four, the Cardinals are searching for their first Blue Jackets Cup win since 2014.
More To Come
There is also a consolation version of the CHC varsity division of Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth, with Olentangy Berlin holding the top seed followed by Dublin Coffman, Cincinnati St. Xavier, Worthington Kilbourne, Gahanna, Bishop Watterson and Thomas Worthington. The final will be held Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.
The JV division of the Capital Hockey Conference as well as the Ohio Scholastic Hockey League varsity division will battle for their versions of the Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth next weekend. The CHC JV final will be next Sunday at 1 p.m. at the OhioHealth Ice Haus, while the OSHL varsity final will follow.
Blue Jackets Cup presented by OhioHealth action concludes the following weekend with the OSHL JV competition. The final will be Feb. 23 at 6:45 p.m. at the OhioHealth Ice Haus.
After this, the CHC varsity squads continue to battle in the state district tournament, with one team advancing to the OHSAA Final Four to be held at Nationwide Arena on March 8-9.
