It's been 12 years since the Greenfield hockey team has not stepped on the ice with a cup title in play.
That changes Thursday evening.
The seeded Green Wave will get tangled up with Wahconah # 3 at the Olympia Ice Center in West Springfield for the Western Massachusetts Division 3A Championship (5:30 p.m.). Thursday's final is the fifth appearance in a cup title game for the program, the last to come when Greenfield won his first and only Western Mass crown. In 2008.
Greenfield is 1-3 in league games, including an appearance in the very first Western Mass final. In 1972. The program was the unofficial champion in 1930, when they went 7-1 in total. There were no playoffs at the time, but Greenfield posted the best record in the region and won a victory over compatriot Holyoke. The program also played games against Vermont and New Hampshire during the 1930 campaign.
West Springfield High School holds the Western Mass record. For most hockey championships with 22.
With the eyes of the Franklin County community focused on the big Thursday game, here is a closer look at the other championship games for Greenfield in his hockey history.
Greenfield was the No. 1 seed in the 2008 playoffs, which marked the first installment of the 3A division. The green wave crowned a 20-1-2 campaign with a decisive 7-4 victory over Agawam at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
Locked in a 1-1 game in the opening period, Greenfield had three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead he would not give up.
Tym Dore and Swedish speedster Carl Ihreliuss scored two goals each to lead the way, and goalkeeper Austin Urkiel finished with 19 saves in the Greenfield net.
As the first year to come, I knew we had something special with this group, said Greenfield head coach Mike Duclos. It was the ultimate goal of this year, winning the crown at the end.
There was no state tournament in 2008, which means that the Western Mass title marked the end of the road for the wave. This will not be the case if Greenfield wins on Thursday. They would advance to meet the champion of the central mass. Next week.
Seed number 4 in Division 3, Greenfield eliminated Pittsfield and Westfield to win a place in the final against Amherst No. 2.
But the final, played at Orr Arena in Amherst, certainly did not follow the path of the wave. Amherst took a 5-0 lead after a period en route to a 7-4 victory.
Greenfield, who finished 17-7 overall, trailed 7-1 until the third period when he scored the last three games to close the gap. Sean Lavoineand Reid Anderson scored two goals each for the Green Wave, and busy goalkeeper Steve Vaughn finished with 38 saves while Amherst finished with a 45-23 advantage on penalties.
One of the most exciting title games in Western Mass history lasted a second overtime, where Ludlows Ken Masterlerz scored the winning goal two minutes and 11 seconds into the frame to bring the Lions to a 7-6 victory at the Coliseum in West Springfield.
I am very proud of them, said Greenfield coach Ralph Collins to the Recorder. They played a helluva game. They skated their hearts. They are a great group of kids and they have nothing to be ashamed of.
Pulling back from 6-4 when 1:30 was left in regular time, Greenfield rallied to force overtime. Captain Mike Perreault made 6-5 with 1:29 to go and 25 seconds later Dan Akey slipped a pass to John Organ, who placed the puck at the back of the net to secure it .
Organ and Matt Bete scored two goals each, Akey credited with three assists. Goalkeeper Chris Greene made 35 saves.
In the first year of sectional tournaments, Greenfield reached the Division 2 final after a memorable 4-3 victory over East Longmeadow in the semifinals.
After losing to East Longmeadow by a 10-2 margin earlier in the season, Greenfield rebounded considerably to clinch the semi-final victory. Dave Bruce made 30 saves in the win, and Ted Yeglinski scored twice to send the Wave to a clash with Amherst.
Greenfield, however, had no answer for the Hurricanes. Before several thousand fans at the Eastern States Coliseum in West Springfield, Amherst shut out Greenfield and first-year coach Dave Liberatore, 2-0, despite 31 saves for Bruce between the pipes.
