The 2021-22 high school ice hockey season is set to get underway in a little over three weeks. With that in mind, it’s time to take a look at the divisional alignments of the MCSSIHL for the upcoming season.
The league will follow the same format as last season with five teams in the Mennen, Halvorsen, and Charette Divisions, with the exception being six teams in the Haas Division.
The most notable change is in the Mennen Division. Morristown- which has resided in the division for the past nine seasons dating back to the 2012-13 campaign- moved down to the Halvorsen Division after finishing 2-5-2 last season, with an 0-4-1 divisional record in limited action. Madison, after cruising to the Halvorsen Division and Cup titles last winter, finds itself taking Morristown’s place in the top division. Madison was in the Mennen as recently as 2019-20, after winning the Mennen Cup in 2018-19. Madison will look to maintain its high level of success in the league’s top division, after graduating a very strong senior class.
The Halvorsen Division will look much different as well this season. In addition to Madison, it also lost last year’s last-place finisher in Montville to the Haas Division. Mountain Lakes-Boonton, fresh off back-to-back Haas Cup titles, will take Montville’s place and figures to be an immediate contender for the league title with a strong senior class, spearheaded by standout Aiden Reidy. With the addition of a battle-tested Morristown squad as well, the Halvorsen looks to be as strong as ever with an always-competitive Roxbury squad, a talented Mendham group, and a Kinnelon-Jefferson-Sparta team entering its second year playing together.
In the Haas Division, Montville figures to be a formidable opponent in addition to rising squads in Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown, Gill St. Bernard’s, and West Morris. Always-steady teams in Vernon and Park Regional round out the division, which should be highly competitive.
The one division that is left unchanged is the Charette Division, where Morris Catholic won the regular season title, before third-seed Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex knocked off fourth-seed Newton-Lenape Valley in a dramatic cup final.
The full listing of the divisions can be found below.
Mennen Division
– Morristown-Beard
– Randolph
– Morris Knolls-Hills
– Chatham
– Madison (moved from Halvorsen)
Halvorsen Division
– Morristown (moved from Mennen)
– Mendham
– Kinnelon-Jefferson-Sparta
– Roxbury
– Mountain Lakes-Boonton (moved from Haas Division)
Haas Division
– Gill St. Bernard’s
– Montville (moved from Halvorsen)
– West Morris
– Mount Olive-Hopatcong-Hackettstown
– Vernon
– Park Regional
Charette Division
– Parsippany Regional
– Morris Catholic-St. Elizabeth
– Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex
– High Point-Wallkill Valley-Kittatinny
– Newton-Lenape Valley
E-mail Mike Gurnis at michaelgurnis@gmail.com
The Morris-Sussex Hockey Report 