Vianney High School Hockey

The MSCHA Varsity Playoffs are just around the corner. After posting a 8-11-2 record in the regular season and running off a 5-4-1 record since Christmas, Vianney is prepared for the second season, the MSCHA Challenge Cup Playoffs, which begin this Thursday evening. Vianney was ranked #9 our of 35 Varsity teams that compete in the St. Louis, MO area. The last three games of the regular season are indicators of a strong playoff run. With a full team the Griffins dismissed Westminster 5-1 in a terrific "team win". A balanced attack and solid goaltending were the hallmarks of this late season win. In the final two games the Griffins had a shorter bench due to conflicts and illness but were up to the task posting wins against Lindbergh and John Burroughs.

Here is the schedule for St. John Vianney in the first round of the Challenge Cup Playoffs

Thurs. Feb. 2, 2017 vs. Oakville (#5) 7:00 pm @ South County Rec

Fri. Feb. 3, 2017 vs. Parkway South (#12) 8:00 pm @ Affton Ice Arena

Mon. Feb. 6, 2017 vs. DeSemt (#4) 8:15 pm @ Queeny Park

(The first team listed above is the home team)

Here are the rankings for the Challenge Cup Playoffs.

1. St. Louis University High (SLUH)
2. Christian Brothers College (CBC)
3. Edwardsville
4. DeSmet Jesuit
5. Oakville
6. Chaminade
7. Kirkwood
8. Marquette
9. St. John Vianney
10. Ft. Zumwalt West
11. Wentzville Timberland
12. Parkway South

To see complete Challenge Cup First Round game schedule go to:

http://www.midstateshockey.org/upload/files/challenge.pdf

A second grade girl, Alicia, wrote out her Christmas Wish List for Santa this year and the first item on her list was to have something signed by Tony Twist to give to her dad.  She said her dad has had a tough year because he works 2 jobs, his car keeps breaking down, he is always tired and he has to spend a lot of time going to the hospital and doctor visits.  The reason her dad spends so much time at the hospital and medical offices is because Alicia has been battling cancer for the past few years. She has been in and out of Cardinal Glennon Hospital and is now cancer free, but they did have to amputate her leg this year.  She was recently blessed with a prosthetic leg so she can get around as well as other children.  She wanted to do something special for her dad to surprise him and make him smile. Alicia, her brother Brian and her dad have always been St. Louis Blues fans, but her dad is a huge fan of former Blues player, Tony Twist.  

Alicia’s wish list was passed on to the Griffin Hockey Club to see if they could help grant this wish.  The club decided they would not only grant her this wish, they would also make her the hero of their Varsity game on December 23rd to drop the puck.  Prior to the game, Alicia and her family joined the hockey club for a Christmas dinner and Alicia was able to give the varsity players a pep talk and then present several surprises to her dad.  Tony Twist signed a Jersey, several framed photos personalized to dad, a puck and several other items.  Dad was overwhelmed with emotion as he hugged Alicia and was so thankful to the team.  Tarasenko also heard about Alicia’s special wish, and that he is her favorite player, so he signed a game stick for her as a surprise.  The hockey team also purchased multiple santa bags full of gifts for Alicia and her brother and wrapped them as if they were from Santa.  Those gifts were delivered to their home so they would be surprised Christmas morning from Santa Claus.  The hockey club also raised enough money to pay one month’s rent for Alicia’s family.  

After Christmas, she came back to school and shared how amazing her Christmas was for her whole family.  She wrote a special thank you note to the Vianney Griffins Hockey Players and shared her special Christmas story with her class.  She has vowed to come back for more games to cheer them on to victory.  

Head Coach Brian McGlynn released the following information regarding selection of team leaders for the 2016-2017 season.

"The St. John Vianney High School Varsity hockey team has added two Assistant Captains to the 2016-2017 team, 

Charlie Iles (#42 Defenseman, Junior) and Drew Doran (#43 Forward, Junior)

Both players have distinguished themselves as team leaders and committed players.  The coaching staff feels the addition of these team leaders completes team leadership goals that have been established for the team moving forward.  Both of these players are to be commended for their leadership and commitment to the hockey program."

Congratulations to the 2016-2017 Assistant Captains.

This season Vianney will field two Junior Varsity teams. JV BLACK and JV GOLD.

The coaches are proud to announce the following players that have earned the position of Captain of their JV teams. 

JV BLACK - Sam Sallee, Junior..Greg Bauer, Sophomore..Keegan Hegger, Sophomore

JV GOLD - Nikolas Walden, Senior..Zach Drummond, Junior..Ian Somogye, Sophomore

Congratulations and Good Luck to all the JV Captains and their teams!

For the first time in Vianney Hockey Club history, this season there were two Junior Varsity Teams put on the ice. Conventional thinking may be to "load up" one team and run the table on the way to a JV Championship. But as the Vianney program earns back a prominent spot at the Varsity level the development minded coaching staff made the decision to continue to ready players for their upperclassemen years on the ice at Vianney. This decision proved that keeping the pipeline full of qualified candidates for future Varsity rosters will be secure.

The Vianney Gold and Vianney Black JV teams earned the #5 and #6 spots over all as they enter the 2016-2017 MSCHA JV Playoffs. The Gold teams first round opponent will be Wentzville Timberland (#12) while the Black team will face Parkway South (#11). No first round game dates have been released by MSCHA officials but are expected to be released this week. The Vianney Gold Team posted a final regular season record of 9-4-3 while the Vianney Black team finished the regular season 9-7-0. Very impressive records to be sure and experience that will pay big dividends for Vianney Hockey's future.   

Recently, Vianney High School released the Student Athletes that made the First Semester - First or Second Honor Roll. Out of the current enrolled Vianney students that play hockey, fifty (50%) percent of them achieved Honor Roll status.

Congratulations to the following Student Athletes from the St. John Vianney Hockey Club.

1st Honor Roll - 3.80 + GPA

Seniors 

Lucas Ott

Sophomores  

Keegan Hegger

Freshmen

Will Dapron, Will Gruener, Andrew Hoyt, Tanner Placke

2nd Honor Roll - 3.25 - 3.79 GPA

Seniors

Reid Zimmermann, Nik Walden

Juniors

Zach Drummond, Sam Sallee

Freshmen 

         Adam Rischbieter, Jack Breheny, Michael Gigling, Zach Adamec,              Joey Boccardi, Ben Cummins, Wes Farhatt, Stuart Laub, Nicholas Niemier,            Tim Pazdernik, Riley Flieg, Evan Lovera, JT Mossinghoff, Jack Sitner,       John Hazelton 

Vianney now earns their highest seeding in the past three seasons as the #2 behind CBC in the Black Conference division of the tournament. The Griffins will cross over in the Quarter Finals to play DeSmet Jesuit #3 in the Orange Conference division Thurs. Oct. 22, 2015 @ 6:50 pm at the Webster Groves Ice Arena.     

The Vianney Hockey Cheerleaders swept the 2017-2018 Mid States Hockey Cheerleading Competition on Sun. Feb. 19, 2018 at Lindbergh High School. The Griffin Girls finished first in Chant, first in Cheer and first in Dance. 

Vianney Hockey Cheer was the Overall Champions of the competition. Great way to cap off the season....great work girls.

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU SAY, WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

The girls would like to thank the players that turned out to cheer them on!

This year St. John Vianney Hockey is proud to announce the Vianney Hockey Hall of Fame - Class of 2017.

Bro. Norbert Grass - Coach 

Mr. Robert Croghan, Sr. - Builder

Mr. Duane Swacker - Player

The Class of 2017 was introduced and inducted at the 2017 Alumni Night Sat. Dec. 23, 2017 @ 7:00 pm in the Upper Meeting Room @ Affton Ice Rink.

St. John Vianney reigned supreme in both Varsity and Junior Varsity divisions of the 19th Annual Midwest Thanksgiving High School Hockey classic, formerly the St. Charles Thanksgiving Invitational. The tournament has become the largest high school hockey tournament in the Midwest and one of the largest in the entire country. Vianney only recently returned to the tournament over the past two seasons but has appeared in this tournament eight times. The tournament which began in 1999 with 13 teams in two divisions now hosts 50 teams in six different divisions. Teams participating in this year’s tournament are from across Ohio as well as across the Mid West and Canada.

The Vianney Hockey Coaching Staff is proud to announce the selection of the 2017-2018 Varsity Captains and Assistant Captains.

Nov. 25, 2018

Great Weekend in Ohio

The Griffins traveled to Columbus, OH with three teams appearing in the 20th Thanksgiving High School Hockey Classic. Last season Vianney captured championships at both levels, Varsity and JV. This season the Griffins had a Varsity Gold Team, a Varsity Black Team at a JV Team. Here are the final records for the tournament and a brief recap.

Varsity Gold 3-1-0
The Varsity Gold Team won two out of three round robin games with the only loss coming to Jerome Dublin on a shoot out that went 7 players deep. That round robin loss put the Griffins into the 3rd Place game by just one half of a point as they score the games by earning points per periods won and game wins. The Griffins dominated the 3rd place game vs. Lake Catholic and came away with a 4-1 win.

Fri. Dec. 14, 2018

The Griffins had a busy five days on the ice. The team played three games in five days and reeled off three wins. To top that, none of the games were at home. Mon. Dec. 10, 2018 vs. Westminster Academy @ Queeny Park 4-1, Thur. Dec. 13, 2018 vs. Edwardsville @ East Alton 5-1 and Fri. Dec. 14, 2018 vs. Lindbergh @ South County Rec 7-1. Vianney takes all three games beating opponents 16-3 and running their mid season record to 8-2-1.

The team now has a week off of games leading into finals week at school and the Winter Break. On Sat. Dec 22, 2024 @ 8:00 pm at Affton Ice Arena the Griffins face the Chaminade Red Devils in their Annual Marianist Cup Game which is also a Hockey Fights Cancer game with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Come out and enjoy an annual St. Louis High School Hockey Tradition!

This season the Annual Marinist Cup game between Vianney and Chaminade will take place on Sat. Dec. 22, 2018 at the Affton Ice Arena (Game Times of JV and Varsity Games TBA). But this season the games takes on a new purpose. Vianney and Chaminade will team up together to show that not only the NHL Fights Cancer but, High School Hockey Fights Cancer. 

The night of the Marinist Cup game between the two Varsity teams there will be a preliminary game between their two JV teams. Before, during and after the games there will be special events planned to support and raise money for the American Cancer Society to help fight this disease that has effected so many people in all of our lives. 

Stay tuned, more details will be shared in the near future.

With all the preparation done, practices in the books and many games played, 2018 draws to a close. As the old saying goes, "You have more fun when you win then when you lose" and this is true for 2018.

The club has posted an overall record of 43-20-6 between Varsity, Junior Varsity and B Team in regular season games and tournament appearances. By the numbers, the teams have equally taken on and developed the emphasis of winning. This was an objective of the club that did not happen overnight. This long term objective has now come full circle and it's because of players, coaches, parents, fans, administrators, board members and supporters that Vianney Hockey continues to be a premier high school hockey program in the St. Louis area.

Joe Harris Special to STLhighschoolsports.com 01/22/2019

MANCHESTER • Vianney ice hockey coach Brian McGlynn wasn’t going to let a potential victory slip from his team’s grasp. Sensing the momentum shifting after De Smet had cut Vianney’s three-goal lead to just one midway through the second period, McGlynn called a timeout to regroup his team. The Griffins responded with two quick goals en route to a 6-2 victory in a key Mid-States Club Hockey Association Municipal Division game at the Queeny ice rink Tuesday night.

“There were some things out there that we needed to correct,” McGlynn said. “We needed to get back to playing Vianney hockey. McGlynn called the timeout at 7:06 after De Smet’s Benjamin Lodes cut the Vianney lead to 3-2 with his third goal of the season. Vianney answered 20 seconds later with Danny McGlynn’s team-leading 16th goal of the season. “I just got the pass and shot it and it went right through the five hole,” Danny McGlynn said. “Good teamwork, it was a good breakout.”

Cameron Wuesthoff restored the Griffins’ three-goal lead, finishing a three-on-one by roofing a shot just under the crossbar with 44 seconds left in the second period. Wuesthoff’s power-play goal in the third pushed Vianney's lead to 6-2.

Danny McGlynn said quick response after the timeout was crucial. “That brought us a lot of momentum,” Danny McGlynn said. “We picked it up and got two more.”

Adam Rischbieter and Joseph Schulze each had a goal and an assist for Vianney (13-5-1). Joey Boccardi also scored for the Griffins and Nicholas Niemeier made 23 saves.

Daniel Kinzel also scored for De Smet (12-5-3). Daniel Karr made 23 saves for the Spartans. The game has possible Challenge Cup playoff ramifications as both teams expect to be seeded in the top four when the postseason pairings are announced Sunday. “I don’t know the mathematics behind that,” Brian McGlynn said. “I think we are neck and neck (with De Smet), maybe this will give us a little nudge.”

“I thought we didn’t have the energy that we needed to have against a team like that,” De Smet coach Christopher Durso said. “If you come out flat they’re going to put a couple up on you quick and you’re chasing the game after that.”

Kinzel got De Smet on the board, finishing a perfectly executed two-on-one with Michael Mullen at the 3:28 mark of the second period. Lodes found the back of the net seconds after the Griffins thwarted a two-on-one with Jack Estes and Justin Reynolds, but that was as close as the Spartans got. “I thought we had something going there and they got the momentum back and our kids couldn’t battle through it,” Durso said.

JV Gold battled hard with a limited roster due to the President's Day weekend and lost to CBC 0-5 in the first semifinal game on Mon. Feb. 18, 2019 @ 6:30 pm at Queeny Park. Kyle Smarko, Freshman Goalie made his high school JV Semifinal Playoff debut as did, Freshmen; Brodie Applebaum, Carter Eifert, Ken Henning, Gabe Kiene, Will Powers, Anthony Schulze, Henry Vest and Nate Waigand. Sophomore leadership in this game was provided by Tom Gruener, Tim Dotson and John Verdu. 

The JV Gold enjoyed a tremendous season posting a final record of 13-7-4. This is especially notable based on the fact that their roster was all Freshmen and Sophomores. The experience gained will serve these young Griffins well in the future.

While the successful 2018-2019 Varsity Regular Season and Playoffs is in the "rear view mirror" for the Griffins, a pair of Vianney Seniors left an unquestioned exclamation point this past weekend on the Mid States Senior All Star Game. The Mid States Club Hockey Association selects two Seniors from each high school club and invites them to one of two Senior All Star Games. Vianney participates on the South White Team All Stars and this season the game was held on Sun. Mar. 10, 2019 at the Webster Groves Ice Arena. The South White Team Seniors beat the South Blue Team Seniors 4-0. Vianney forwards Andrew Cook (#10) and Danny McGlynn (#9) represented and did so in a grand fashion. After fueling the Griffins all season long and finishing first and second in scoring on the Varsity Team (McGlynn 16 Goals / 10 Assists 26 Points, Cook 8 Goals / 17 Assists 25 Points), the Vianney Duo were responsible for three of the four goals scored in the South All Star Game. McGlynn finished the game with 2 Goals and 1 Assist, while Cook had 1 Goal and 1 Assist.  

Congratulations to Danny McGlynn and Andrew Cook on an excellent effort in this annual event.