Five Massachusetts Tier 1 programs brought a 16U team to the Beast Launch: the Neponset Valley River Rats, East Coast Militia, Islanders HC, the South Shore Kings and the Cape Cod Whalers. Eleven games between them. Here is what happened, and where we would slot them today.
One number frames all of it. Across those five rosters there are 91 players born in 2010, and 61 of them attend a prep school — two out of every three. Fifty-two are Massachusetts kids at prep schools. The club half season runs September to November; in December these same players report to twenty different prep programs.
The River Rats are the extreme case: nineteen of their twenty 2010s are prep school players. That is a roster built a particular way, and it is not unrelated to where they finish on this page.
The Results
| Team | Opponent | Result | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neponset Valley River Rats | Mid Fairfield Elite | W | 6 | 2 |
| Neponset Valley River Rats | Yale Jr. Bulldogs | W | 5 | 1 |
| Neponset Valley River Rats | East Coast Militia | T | 1 | 1 |
| Islanders HC | Mid Fairfield | W | 4 | 0 |
| Islanders HC | East Coast Militia | W | 2 | 1 |
| East Coast Militia | Islanders HC | L | 1 | 2 |
| East Coast Militia | Neponset Valley River Rats | T | 1 | 1 |
| South Shore Kings | Providence Capitals Elite | W | 8 | 3 |
| South Shore Kings | Springfield Jr. Thunderbirds | W | 8 | 6 |
| Cape Cod Whalers | Westchester Express | L | 2 | 5 |
| Cape Cod Whalers | Northern CT Nor'Easters | L | 1 | 3 |
The Numbers
| Team | Record | GF | GA | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neponset Valley River Rats | 2-0-1 | 12 | 4 | +8 |
| Islanders HC | 2-0-0 | 6 | 1 | +5 |
| East Coast Militia | 0-1-1 | 2 | 3 | −1 |
| South Shore Kings | 2-0-0 | 16 | 9 | +7 |
| Cape Cod Whalers | 0-2-0 | 3 | 8 | −5 |
The River Rats and Militia met once and drew 1-1. The Militia and Islanders met once, and the Islanders won 2-1. Those are the only two games in this group that put Massachusetts Tier 1 teams against each other — which is why the order below leans as much on how these teams are built as on what the scoreboard said.
The Mock Ranking
This is not a standings table. The South Shore Kings won both of their games and sit fourth. Three days of hockey against wildly different opponents does not sort a group like this cleanly, and the top three are bunched close enough that a different draw reorders them.
Deep everywhere. The Rats did not lose, gave up four goals in three games, and the roster is stacked at forward and on the blue line to a degree that makes listing names pointless — you would be here all day. The 1-1 draw with the Militia was the only time anyone held them under five.
Next: the Red Division at the Eastern Alliance Kickoff — Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, NJ Rockets and Notre Dame Academy.
The one team that can match the Rats physically. The Militia have the size to play that game and they are strong at both ends, which is why a 1-1 tie against the deepest roster at the event says more than the record does. Two games, three goals against.
Next: Red Division, and they are not ducking anyone — Yale Jr. Bulldogs, Blackbear Academy and the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
Two games, two wins, one goal against — a 4-0 shutout of Mid Fairfield and a 2-1 decision over the Militia. On results alone they have the second-best résumé here and a head-to-head win over the team ranked above them.
We still have them third, and it is a judgment about ceiling rather than about what happened. The Militia have the size and the two-way depth to go at the Rats; the Islanders have not yet had to prove they do. It is close, and a couple of results reorder it.<\/p>
They also beat the Militia without Jamie Calla, who missed that game and whose situation is unresolved if the Q comes calling. The real question runs to November: can the Islanders stay with the Rats all the way through the club half season and meet them at the Massachusetts state tournament? Today, nobody knows.
Next: Red Division at the Eastern Alliance Kickoff — Mid Fairfield again, North Jersey Avs and Northern CT Nor'Easters.
They won both of their games and still sit fourth. Sixteen goals in two is a real number and the scoring is not in question. Nine against in two is the number that keeps them here — three to Providence, six to Springfield.
The real issue is the schedule. The Kings are in the White Division at the EAK. The other four are all in the Red. Syracuse Nationals, LI Gulls and Nest (FL) come first, then the Elite Prospects Showcase at Lovell against Wasatch Renegades, Valley Jr. Warriors, TSH Academy and Northern Cyclones Academy National.
Here is the part that matters: the Kings have not played a single one of the other four. Providence and Springfield is who they beat. That is at least eight more games before they face the Rats, the Militia, the Islanders or the Whalers for the first time. They can score. Whether they can hold up against this group is a question nobody will get to ask them until November.
Two losses, 5-2 to Westchester and 3-1 to Northern CT, and three goals scored across both. Six of their eight Massachusetts prep 2010s are playing for a varsity spot in December, so these games matter more here than anywhere else on this page.
Next: straight back into it. Red Division at the EAK against Atlantic Coast Academy, Woodbridge Wolfpack and Florida Alliance. No soft landing.
What's Next
All five are back on the ice this weekend at the Eastern Alliance Kickoff, and the divisions matter. Four of them — the Rats, the Militia, the Islanders and the Whalers — are in the Red Division. The Kings are the only one a level below, in the White.
| Team | Event | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| Neponset Valley River Rats | EAK — Red Division | Philadelphia Jr. Flyers · NJ Rockets · Notre Dame Academy |
| East Coast Militia | EAK — Red Division | Yale Jr. Bulldogs · Blackbear Academy · Buffalo Jr. Sabres |
| Cape Cod Whalers | EAK — Red Division | Atlantic Coast Academy · Woodbridge Wolfpack · Florida Alliance |
| South Shore Kings | EAK — White Division | Syracuse Nationals · LI Gulls · Nest (FL) Hockey |
| Islanders HC | EAK — Red Division | Mid Fairfield · North Jersey Avs · Northern CT Nor'Easters |
The Prep Factor: Twenty Schools on Five Benches
Sixty-one of the ninety-one 2010s on these rosters are prep school players, and they come from twenty different programs. Every ISL school of consequence is represented, most of them across more than one club.
| Prep School | Players | On these clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Belmont Hill | 8 | Rats ×4 · Islanders ×3 · Kings |
| Rivers | 6 | Rats ×4 · Kings ×2 |
| St. George's | 6 | Rats ×5 · Militia |
| St. Sebastian's | 5 | Rats · Islanders · Kings · Whalers ×2 |
| Dexter | 4 | Militia · Whalers ×3 |
| Milton Academy | 4 | Militia ×3 · Islanders |
| Roxbury Latin | 4 | Militia · Islanders · Whalers ×2 |
| BB&N | 3 | Militia ×2 · Kings |
| Nobles | 3 | Militia ×2 · Kings |
| Austin Prep | 2 | Militia · Islanders |
| Canterbury | 2 | Rats ×2 |
| Governor's Academy | 2 | Militia · Islanders |
| Holderness | 2 | Islanders ×2 |
| Phillips Andover | 2 | Rats ×2 |
| Tabor | 2 | Rats · Islanders |
| Thayer | 2 | Kings · Whalers |
| Brooks | 1 | Kings |
| Deerfield | 1 | Islanders |
| New Hampton | 1 | Kings |
| North Yarmouth | 1 | Militia |
Belmont Hill leads with eight, split across three of the five clubs. St. George's has six and five of them are River Rats — the tightest school-to-club pipeline at the event. Rivers has six, four of them Rats. Dexter's four are almost all Whalers; Milton Academy's four are mostly Militia.
Read the other way: the Rats draw from eight prep schools, the Militia from nine. Those two are pulling from the widest pool in the state.
Prep vs MIAA, By Team
| Team | 2010s | Prep | MIAA | Mass Prep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neponset Valley River Rats | 20 | 19 | 1 | 13 |
| East Coast Militia | 20 | 13 | 7 | 13 |
| Islanders HC | 19 | 12 | 7 | 10 |
| South Shore Kings | 17 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Cape Cod Whalers | 15 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Total | 91 | 61 | 30 | 52 |
“Mass Prep” counts prep school players who are Massachusetts residents. The gap between that column and the prep column is out-of-state kids at schools like Canterbury, Holderness and North Yarmouth.