April 3, 1996 The journey to Johnstown will begin Friday for the Upper Darby ice hockey team, which is set to meet Greensburg Central Catholic in Saturday’s Class AA state championship. Game time will be 1:30 p.m. at Johnstown’s War Memorial Arena. It is the second game of a triple-header, coming after the Class AAA championship and preceding the Class A championship. It will be a bonanza for high school hockey fans, especially those from Western Pennsylvania. War Memorial Arena holds approximately 4,000 fans. And many of them will be rooting for Greensburg Central Catholic, which is only 30 miles west of Johnstown. Upper Darby, which is approximately 250 miles from Johnstown, already has come a long way this season. The Royals (18-5-1) and the Centurions of GCC (19-5-1) have similar records, and both arrived at the state title game in a similar fashion. Upper Darby beat Central Bucks East, […]

March 3, 1996 HAVERTOWN The La Salle ice hockey team had qualified for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament in each of the last four seasons, only to lose in the opening round each time. This season, the Explorers did more than just put an end to their first-round frustration. Brothers Mike and Bob Farrell combined to score eight goals as La Salle trounced two-time defending champion Germantown Academy, 12-2, last night at the Skatium to sweep the best-of-three final series. The Explorers, who won Monday night’s opening game by 4-3, took home their first Flyers Cup title. They will face the Penguins Cup winner, Meadville or Upper St. Clair, for the state championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at War Memorial Arena in Johnstown. Mike Farrell, a senior winger, scored three of his five goals in the second period as La Salle built a 5-1 lead. The tournament’s most valuable […]

March 26, 1996 Maturity, coach Rich Slack says, has been the key to Conwell-Egan’s postseason success in ice hockey. “I’m extremely proud of our guys,” he said. “They’ve really matured over the last couple of months. They’ve put team goals ahead of individual goals.” The Eagles have built on the momentum they gained by sweeping Archbishop Ryan in the Lower Bucks County Hockey League championships. They upended favored Council Rock, 4-1, on Thursday at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament. “I think we played really well as a team, especially defensively,” Slack said. “We did the things we needed to do to win the game.”The Eagles will meet the winner of tonight’s quarterfinal between Ryan and Germantown Academy at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Face-Off Circle. The Eagles, who suffered a 7-1 loss to Council Rock in a nonleague game on […]