The local high school hockey postseason begins tonight at Skate 3 Arena, and if there are enough fans not enjoying a trip somewhere during school vacation week, there should be a good atmosphere.

Bishop Guertin will be taking on Pinkerton, a battle of seventh and 10th seeded teams, respectively.

Playoff/tourney hockey is fun. There is always the chance for an upset, always the chance for Cinderella to make her way to the big ball. You never know who the glass skate will fit.

All eyes locally have always been on Bishop Guertin. Hockey, many feel, is an elitist sport and the Cards have always had plenty of numbers. But they haven’t won a state title since 2015 and have fallen short in the semifinals ever since making their second straight Division I final in 2016.

That’s because Concord and Bedford, the top two teams this year, have ruled Division I for the most part. They would have met in the finals in 2020 but the pandemic pulled the rug out from under that a couple of days after the semis when the world and every sports team in it went dark.

A couple of other teams like Salem and Hanover have flexed their muscles, Hanover winning the crown in 2018 and Salem making last year’s final, but falling 7-0 to a Tide team that felt it was robbed the year before.

All public schools, so don’t try to say this is a private school sport. Trinity has been good but hasn’t won it since 2011, although the Pioneers made the finals in 2019, losing to Bedford.

Bishop Brady has been a non factor since the Green Giants’ back-to-back title game jousts with BG in 2007-08 and probably belongs in Divsion II. Guertin was a Cinderella team in 2015, and while a contender, they just haven’t been able to get over the semis hump for the last few years.

Can they this year? While never hurting for numbers, Cards coach Gary Bishop has had to integrate 11 new varsity players and it’s caused a little disruption in planning. The coaching staff has reshuffled the lines and it seems to have worked, and as Bishop said, in the season finale 4-4 tie vs. Trinity, “three of the four goals were from our second and third lines, and that’s huge.”

The ability to roll out multiple lines separates the good teams and consistently successful programs from the others, make no mistake.

Will we have any locals playing in the finals in Manchester? It’s been a while, since 2016 when BG lost to Bedford. In Division II, Merrimack has been to the semis three straight seasons, and the Tomahawks only have to win two games to get there this year, but against tough teams. They have a gifted player in sophomore Eliot Medlock, who can make something happen every time the puck touches his stick.

The Bishop Guertn girls celebrate their overtime semifinal win over Hanover last year in Concord. The two teams could meet again next week. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

But we’ll say Hollis Brookline-Derryfield boys in Division III and the Bishop Guertin girls could make it a one-two thing on Saturday, March 12, at SNHU Arena. If the BG girls win Friday in a quarterfinal in which they’ll be heavily favored, they’d likely have a semifinal rematch with Hanover. If you were at last year’s OT semis win in Concord, you’ll understand why this would be a must-see. The Cards won the title last year, but that was at Dover Ice Arena, rather than the posh, elaboborate atmosphere of SNHU Arena, where they haven’t been since 2010.

If you’ve been paying attention, the Warriors under head coach Joel Sanborn have been getting better and better and better the last few years. In last year’s mini-season they overcame a lot of obstacles to reach the finals but fell short against Berlin-Gorham, also this year’s top seed. Sanborn left no doubt recently that is motivating this group, and they’d play right after the girls title game on the 12th, just after noon.

One thing with hockey that’s disturbing – lack of teams. Nearly every team in Division III boys is a co-op. Division II has just seven tourney teams. The sport may be in need of some re-organization.

But for now, let’s enjoy the next 11 days, beginning tonight at Skate 3. We had a great basketball tournament, and now it’s hockey’s turn.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.