It's 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes until No. 1 St. Joseph and No. 3 Staples/Weston face off in the CIAC Division III championship game at Ingalls Rink in New Haven. Both teams are in the finals for the first time.
The early crowd is predominantly from St. Joseph with a large group of students, many with faces painted half maroon-half white, gathering in one section adjacent to the penalty box.
It will be St. Joseph's depth front to back against the two solid lines of Staples/Weston. The difference in the game could very well be St. Joseph forward Conor Crouse of West Haven, the son of St. Joseph coach Marty Crouse. Crouse has been one of the dominant players in Division III with nearly 70 points this season.
The interesting thing about St. Joseph, from a New Haven area perspective, is that 18 of the 22 players on the roster are from the New Haven area, covering towns in West Haven, Stratford, Bethany, Shelton and Milford. That New Haven area flavor is certainly a big reason why the St. Joseph crowd is larger than the Weston/Staples crowd.