First off, I started by checking out this thing called My Hockey Live. Apparently.elude, they broadcast a bunch of games, like high school, prep, club, you name it. So, I started browsing through their schedule.
- I noticed they had a game listed for January 13th, East Longmeadow Spartans vs. some other team at Smead Arena.
- Then there was a girls' game, Auburn Rockets at Bishop Fenwick, at Horgan Skating Arena. Sounds fancy.
- And another girls' game, Ursuline Academy Bears at Dedham, at Bajko Memorial Rink.
These were just a few examples I stumbled upon, and they got me thinking, "Man, this league is pretty active!"
Next, I found an article, a preview of the girls' high school hockey in the Middlesex League Freedom Division. It was saying how Burlington is the team to beat this year because they have a bunch of good players coming back. I gotta say, that got me a bit more interested.
Then, I read something about Arlington being a big deal too. They were co-champs in some "Super 8" thing back in 2020. Sounds like a big deal, right?
After that, I just started browsing around for scores, news articles, anything I could find about the Middlesex League. I found this site that had all sorts of info on different sports in the league - baseball, football, soccer, even golf! But I stuck to the hockey stuff, obviously.
I read about a game where Belmont was playing, they were down 2-0 but ended up coming back. That's always exciting, a good comeback story.
And get this, I learned that the Liberty Division of this league is supposed to be super competitive. Apparently, all five teams made the playoffs last year, and Belmont even made it to the quarterfinals in their division. That's pretty intense!
So, after all this digging, I realized that the Middlesex Hockey League is a pretty big deal around here. There's a lot of action, a lot of history, and some really good teams. I ended up spending hours just reading about it, looking at schedules, and getting a feel for the whole scene.
What I Learned
Basically, I went from knowing nothing about this league to having a pretty decent understanding of it. I realized how much local hockey matters to folks in Massachusetts, and how much effort goes into covering these games and keeping everyone informed. It's a whole community, and I gotta say, I'm kind of hooked now. I might even try to catch a game sometime soon!
