CHS boys hockey claims 4th straight Gormley Cup

The Bulldogs pose with the Gormley Cup after beating Plymouth North on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of CHS boys hockey)

For the fourth consecutive season, the Canton High boys ice hockey team are the Gormley Cup champions after knocking off both Plymouth teams within a three-day span last week at Gallo Arena in Bourne.

Billed as the earliest high school hockey tournament in Massachusetts, the season-opening competition honors longtime educator and coach Jim Gormley, who served for many years as an MIAA playoff tournament director.

The tournament features four perennial contenders in Division 2 south, including last year’s D2 state champion (Plymouth South) and Nauset, another postseason regular.

For the Bulldogs, opening round matchup against P-S offered a chance for redemption after being bounced out of the south playoffs by the Panthers a year ago. Seizing the opportunity, Canton raced out to a 5-0 lead after two periods and withstood a two-goal flurry in the third en route to a commanding 7-2 victory.

Senior captain Ryan Nolte, Canton’s leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, recorded a hat trick while junior Chris Lavoie notched a pair of goals to lead the Bulldogs in a rout. Juniors Jack Connolly and Johnny Hagan also got on the scoreboard with one goal apiece while senior captain and new starting goalie Mike Staffiere played well in net, making several big saves.

Staffiere, who replaces All-Hockomock netminder Quinn Gibbs, also proved to be a difference maker in the tournament clincher against Plymouth North on Saturday, again tallying several key saves as the Bulldogs rolled to a 5-0 shutout victory.

Five different players scored in the win for Canton, starting with a power play goal by Connolly just two minutes into the contest and ending with a hard-fought effort by Ryan Colby late in the third. In between, three others — Lavoie, junior Tommy Vaughn, and freshman Eamon Kelly — each found the back of the net with assists from Nolte, Declan Pfeffer and Hagan. The goals by Vaughn and Kelly were the first of their varsity careers.

Commenting on the team’s performance during the tournament, head coach Brian Shuman acknowledged that the Bulldogs looked “sloppy and undisciplined” at times early in the opening game against Plymouth South. However, the team’s “best players stepped up and played great in the win,” he said.

Overall, Shuman thought his team played much better in the tournament finals as they got contributions from all three lines. “We are going to need more balance like that going forward,” he said.

“It’s obviously still early, but we like our team,” Shuman added. “We have a good core of returners but a lot of newcomers who are still getting used to the varsity level.”

The Bulldogs (2-0) were due to host rival Franklin last night in its final game of the calendar year. The team will then resume action after the holidays with back to back home games against Westwood and Attleboro January 2 and 5 at the Canton Ice House.

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