The 1999-2000 MCSSIHL regular season saw some big changes and many interesting results during the season.  Delbarton won its thirteenth consecutive Mennen Division title with its fourth consecutive unbeaten league regular season.  The Green Wave posted an 18-3-1 mark overall in the regular season and were regarded as one of the state's top two teams.  Senior forward Joe Crotty and sophomore backer Chas McLaughlin tied with Pingry's Austin Saypol as the leading scorers in the Mennen Division with 23 points apiece.  Senior Matt LaPaglia paired with Crotty on offense while fellow seniors Reynold Fauci and Chris Ryan led the defense.  Junior Ross Cherry had another strong year in net for the Green Wave, facing the fewest shots of any starter in the league.  For all its dominance, Delbarton twice faced tough tests against Morristown-Beard.  The Crimson scared the Green Wave twice, losing 3-1 and 2-0 in the regular season.  Beard once again lacked dominant scorers, but their defense was solid, led by the surprising play of senior Jeremy Fallick in goal.  Captain Shaun Davis made the switch to defenseman and performed admirably, while Eric Greene, Wade Skinner, Jeff Corzine, and Gregg Manias picked up the slack on offense.  The Crimson finished well ahead of the Mennen Division's final two teams, Pingry and Randolph.  Pingry finished ahead of the Rams by two points, thanks to a 4-1 victory over Randolph in the final week of the season.  The Big Blue, who played their home games at Bridgewater this season, were led all season by exceptional play from seniors Austin Saypol and Andy Houston.  Saypol led the league in goals and tied for the division lead in points.  Houston was voted the league's MVP by the coaches and kept Pingry in games all season.  Randolph had a tough year after losing many of its contributors from last season.  Blueliners Sean Walsh and Joe Narcise graduated, while forwards Eric Nigro and Alex Beatrice transferred.  Freshman Dan Pencinger showed promise in leading the team in league scoring and the team had its moments, but a five-game losing streak in late January, including losses to Mendham and Roxbury, dropped the team a game behind Pingry.  Randolph met the Big Blue twice in the season's final week.  The Rams triumped 4-2 at BSA, but Pingry triumped at Mennen 4-1 to capture third place.
     Mendham was the class of the Halvorsen Division, in just its fourth year.  Rob Loderstedt led the way, finishing his three year varsity career with 210 points, 109 coming in league play.  He tied for the league lead in points, winning the division's scoring title outright.  The Minutemen's most important win may have come in December, as Mendham decimated its main rival for the division title, Morris Knolls, with a 4-3 win.  Victoria Elkins was the story of the game, making 42 saves as the Minutemen hung on down the stretch despite being outshot 45-19.  Mendham also came up with big wins over Mennen Division opponents Pingry (2-1) and Randolph (4-1).  Morris Knolls finished second in the division in a season filled with turmoil, controversy, and disappointment.  The Golden Eagles were considered the favorites for the division title, but were plagued by inconsistency and high expectations all year.  Coach Bob Loderstedt resigned on January 27, handing the reigns to assistant Walt Keiper in one of the year's biggest stories.  "When it's not fun to come to the rink, it's time to make a change…" said Loderstedt.  Knolls suffered disappointing losses to Mendham, West Essex, Morristown-Beard, Randolph, Pingry, and Bayonne, and many of their wins were not as dominant as had been expected.  At no time was a clear top goalie chosen, and senior Chris Mulligan and freshman Tim Hodes alternated all season.  After an early-season suspension for a fight in the Cron Tournament, Billy Hussa returned to lead the team in scoring, finishing just ahead of linemate Keith Keiper.  Knolls' offense was not much of a problem during the season, but the inexperienced defense had its troubles.  The Golden Eagles still finished ahead of Chatham by three points, gaining the second playoff spot from the Halvorsen Division.  Chatham also qualified for the Mennen Cup playoffs, as the Haas Division now has its own playoffs and the Cougars grabbed the third and final spot.  Chatham beat Mendham twice, 4-2 and 3-1, and that accounted for their playoff berth.  Chris Keating was the only Cougar in double figures in scoring, but Dave Romano and the defense corps were solid.  Roxbury and Morristown rounded out the Halvorsen Division.  Roxbury was a disappointment for most of the year, going 2-13-3 until winning three of its last four.  Two of those three were impressive, however, over Randolph and Morristown-Beard.  The Gaels failed to see one of their scorers in double figures, and Danny Murray tied for the team lead in points with the oft-troubled Chuckie Beyer, who would finish the year off the team.  Morristown gained only three wins all year, including wild and exciting triumphs over Roxbury (9-6) and Chatham (4-3).  P.J. Scriff notched 24 points and Steve Markowitz had 16, bringing their career totals to 82 and 97, respectively.  Four-year starter Dan Markowitz completed his career with 1101 saves and an 86.8 save%.
      For the first time, the Haas Division was a separate entity from the other two divisions.  Mt. Olive and Hanover Regional were the class of the division all year, both teams finishing 9-1 in league play.  Mt. Olive outscored division opponents 70-13, led by its most dominant forward, senior Ryan Dempsey.  Mt. Olive was capable of rolling four forward lines, with little or no drop-off from the second line to the third and fourth. Shane O'Hara, Dan Harrison, Roy Wilson, and John McBride were an excellent defense corps for the Marauders and Eric Lauter was a solid backstop.  Hanover Regional was less dominant, outscoring division opponents 64-28, but still won all of its division games except for a 4-0 loss to Mt. Olive in the season's first week.  The Park's first line provided the spark, and combined with sophomore defenseman Jeff Korn to provide seventy percent of the team's offense.  Jason Sarno led the division in scoring, tying for the league lead, and Nick Marucci and Brian McGaughran complimented him on the top line.  Freshman Jon Erd emerged as the top goalie by the end of the season.  Morris Hills edged Madison for third place, led by the scoring of Ben Keenan, the overall play of defenseman Will Krause, and the netminding of Justin MacDonald.  Despite losing twice to Madison in league games, Hills finished a point ahead of the Dodgers, due to Madison's inability to beat fifth place Parsippany Hills.  Ryan Barry and J.P. Torrani led the Madison offense, but the Dodgers were unable to settle on a starting goalie, rotating Tyler Edgar, Marc Mezzacca, and Chris Davies throughout the year.  They got a goal from Torrani with 0:22 remaining to gain a 4-4 tie with ParHills in late January, helping them on their way to the fourth and final Haas Cup playoff spot.  The Vikings, in their second year, finished out of the playoffs by two points, thanks to a stunning 2-2 tie with crosstown rival Parsippany and Madison's results against MoHills.  Kevin Herdman was the offensive star for the Vikings, while Lee Graf provided solid goaltending in nonchalant style.  Parsippany, also in its second year and clearly the league's weakest team, did manage to earn its first league point as well as its first two overall wins.  After upsetting Kinnelon 5-2 in late December, the Redskins tied rival ParHills thanks to twenty-five saves from Matt Cooper.  An 11-1 win over Governor Livingston followed, and Parsippany seemed to be on its way.  But West Morris, like Kinnelon in its first year, beat the Redskins twice in one week, sending Parsippany into a tailspin.  The Redskins didn't score in their next three games and lost eight in a row before tying their season finale.  Courageous freshman Gig Tobjy came back from brain surgery to lead the team in scoring and there is definite hope for the Redskins as their program develops.
In its twenty-fifth season, the MCSSIHL crowned two playoff champions for the first time.  The Haas Cup playoffs took place in a three-day stretch at the end of the Mennen/Halvorsen regular season and revealed a lot about the season.  Both Mt. Olive and Hanover Regional completely dominated their semifinal games, just as they dominated the regular season.  In the opening semifinal, top-seeded Mt. Olive unloaded on Madison in a five-goal second period en route to a 10-0 win.  They struck four times in a span of 3:26, including two shorthanded goals on one penalty kill.  The Marauders finished with four shorthanded goals and a power play goal while outshooting the overmatched Dodgers 41-15.  Senior forward Lucas Gillman had two goals and three assists, while junior defenseman and co-captain Shane O'Hara and fellow co-captain, senior forward Ryan Dempsey, each had two goals and two assists.  Hanover Regional took a little more time, but they easily handled Morris Hills 8-1.  The Park was also led by its stars.  Junior forwards Jason Sarno and Nick Marucci had five and four points, respectively, and sophomore Jeff Korn had four points.  The stage was set for a clash of Haas Division titans in the inaugural Haas Cup final.  Regional junior Jason Sarno opened the scoring at the 5:23 mark, putting in the rebound of a Brian McGaughran shot.  Mt. Olive's Scott Morrison tied the game in the first period and Roy Wilson gave the Marauders the lead 7:01 into the second.  The game's biggest goal came three minutes later.  Shane O'Hara took the body rather than the puck at his own blue line and the puck wound up in the Mt. Olive zone.  Regional second-line center Nick Stella beat everyone to the puck and snapped it past Eric Lauter to tie the game.  Sarno was left alone on a face-off and scored his second goal two minutes later to give Regional a 3-2 lead at the second intermission.  Jeff Korn, named the division's MVP by its coaches, and having spent almost the entire game on the ice, scored the clinching goal on a great individual effort at the 11:15 mark of the third period and Sarno completed his hat trick in the final minute to provide the final tally of 5-2.  Jon Erd was one of the game's biggest stories, as the freshman rose to the occasion with twenty-four saves, as the Park was outshot 26-18, but still captured the first ever Haas Cup.

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