The MassNZ Podcast

Welcome to a special edition of the MassNZ Podcast. Today, Mark and Mike took a trip to St. John's Prep to present Jake Vana with the 2024 Mr. Hockey Award. They also sat down with Jake to talk about the 2024 season, his future plans, and a lot more.

Music by Nick Valerson from Pixabay

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

We've arrived! It's State Championship week in the MIAA. Mark and Mike get you ready for all of Sunday's action and recap what happened on the road to TD Garden.

Sunday's Schedule

• D4: DS Weston (5) vs Hanover (6) 11am


• D3: Nauset (1) vs Marblehead (6) 3pm


• D1: SJP (1) vs Winchester (11) 5:30pm


• D2: Tewksbury (1) vs Boston Latin (11) 7:30pm

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

The playoffs are here! Mark and Mike break down the final power rankings and take a look at the brackets this week. Who are the top seeds? Who are the potential sleepers? We react to everything from D1 through D4.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

Mark and Mike are back with a TON to discuss this week as the regular season wraps up.

- Who are the leaders in the Power Rankings? Some teams have started to establish themselves as top seeds in their state bracket.s

- End-of-season touraments are happening already (some are done).

- Some other interesting storylines across the MIAA.

- An update on the D2/D3/D4 Report.

And a lot more!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

NZ OFFER: MASSHS24 is the code to use at checkout for 25% off a Neutral Zone subscription.

THE BEAST HAS ARRIVED. We detail the MASSIVE report on D1.

Plus here are some of what we highlighted in this episode.

D1: SJP claims Catholic Conference title for first time since 2013, starting to pull away, up by 0.86 now.

Big win for Pope in OT over Archies: up to 3

Big win for Franklin over Hingham in Ed Burns Coffee Pot

Archies wins CCL last night with shutout over St. Mary's Lynn

D2: Concord-Carlisle still unblemished but Tewksbury is nipping at their heels. There is a big rematch TOMORROW for supremacy rights!

Gloucester vs Masconomet is coming up Saturday 9 vs 11

North Andover plugging right along: beat D1s Waltham and Acton-Boxboro

D3: Nauset up big: 0.86 points on Scituate

Shawsheen up to 3 with big margin of victory: they can score

Lynnfield up to 7: beating Triton helped

How about Grafton moving up from D4 at 9?

D4: Winthrop is the top dog by 1.01 rating points: lapping the field

All the same top teams, not much change here...

Lunenberg-Ayer-Shirley and Gardner-Murdock punch their playoff tickets with .500 or above record guaranteed (shoutout to Jim Clark for the .500 heads up)

Plus, a lot of notes on our huge D1 report. It features 256 players, 95 new, 48 teams (all 41 D1 teams) 62,000 words, 91 pages

Some players who stood out:

• Forwards: Daniel Menyalkin, SJS, Finn Kelly, Archies


• Defenders: Jake Jarrell & Zach Buffone, Pope Francis, Brian McFadden, CM


• From the publics: Will Manchuso, Concord-Carlisle, Travis Rugg, Hingham, Ben Paterson, Franklin, Logan Brennan, Hingham, James Gigante, Reading, Ethan Bauer, Belmont


• Under the radar: Anthony Sasso, Bishop Fenwick, Cam Moore, Shrewsbury, Brody Sharpe, Wellesley, Nick Burns, Westford Academy, Tyler Taddia, Medford

Want to read it? MASSHS24 is the code to use at checkout for 25% off

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

The MIAA Power Rankings are here!

Here's some of what we highlight in this episode.

D1: St. John's Prep at the top, but the Archies aren't far behind. The Catholic Conference is still dominating, Pope is in the mix despite missing Foley, and Shrewsbury is on the rise.

D2: Concord-Carlisle ain't no joke at 9-0. Canton continues to roll. Woburn is liking its move to D2, and we aren't sleeping on King Phillip or Billerica.

D3: Connor Brickley has Nauset surging as the No. 1 team. Scituate (no shock) is near the top. Bedford is undefeated, and the rise of the Techs with Shawsheen at No. 5 and Essex Tech at No. 8. Plus, Taunton is a sleeper.

D4: Winthrop wants it all, and they're rolling. Norwell and Sandwich are still in the mix and Dover-Sherborn-Weston had a big win over Norwood, so up the rankings they go.

We also talk about THE BEST, which is a NZ player report approaching 200 players. The Junior Beanpot, and a nice touch from Chelmsford.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

This episode is jam-packed!

Mark and Mike begin the show talking about the Holiday Tournaments that wrapped up last week. Who were the big winners? Were there any surprises? What did we learn?

Other topics included:

• Some D2 and D4 teams to watch


• Out-of-state teams


• Top stars playing big minutes


• Expanded media coverage


• Are divisions by enrollment the right way to do it?


• Does MIAA hockey need a D5?


• THE BEAST is coming


• Where will we be this week?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

There's no shortage of topics this week in Mass. High School Hockey!

Mark and Mike begin this week's episode looking at the suspension of Pope Francis head coach, Brian Foley. What happened? How will it affect the team? Isn't everyone doing what he's been alleged to have done?

Plus, here are some other early observations:

- Youth has been served

- Are we seeing more blowouts early on? Why?

- Canton has looked good. CM, Belmont, and Reading are all contenders

- Christmas tournaments are coming up next week. The Frates Classic, MHL Cup, Serino Christmas Classic, and the new High School Holiday Classic are the big ones to watch.

- All of the D1 rosters are live on MassNZ!

Follow MassNZ all season long.

Website: https://www.neutralzone.net/masshs-boys/

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Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/MassNZ

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

Mark Bilotta and Mike McMahon get ready for the start of the MIAA season.

- Who are some of the top teams?

- Who are some of the top players?

- Thoughts from the Garrett Reagan Summit last weekend

- Some games to watch this weekend

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com

Welcome to the BRAND NEW MassNZ Podcast. High School tryouts start this week, so it's a perfect time to start looking at the 2023-24 MIAA season. Hosts Mark Bilotta and Mike McMahon will take you through it all.

In our debut episode:

- Mike is somewhat new to the high school game, so he picks Mark's brain on the process. If you're new to the high school game, this is a great introduction.

- There were a lot of divisional shifts this offseason and some other news.

- What can you expect in future episodes? We'll let you know!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit massnz.substack.com