Last March, Avon Old Farms entered New England's top prep hockey tournament as the lowest seed in the bracket and won it. Over three games the Winged Beavers beat the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 2 seeds. After a road opener, the school's 2026-27 varsity schedule puts seven home games at John T. Gardner Rink between November 21 and December 19, and four of them come in the school's own holiday tournament the week before Christmas.
For anyone in town, the champions' first month on the ice is a short drive down Old Farms Road, and it falls on the same December weeknights and Saturdays as holiday errands on Route 44.
How an Eighth Seed Won the Title
The NEPSAC Elite 8 is the top bracket in New England boys' prep hockey. The 2026 tournament ran in early March, and New England Hockey Journal's tournament page shows Avon Old Farms' path as the No. 8 seed:
- Quarterfinal: Avon Old Farms 4, No. 1 Dexter Southfield 2
- Semifinal: Avon Old Farms 5, No. 5 Hotchkiss 0
- Championship: Avon Old Farms 4, No. 2 St. Mark's 2
The school's winter sports recap dates the final to Sunday, March 8. That run came about ten weeks after the team won its own December tournament. In the 2025 AOF Christmas Classic championship on December 20, Avon beat Frederick Gunn 4-1 at home.
So last season, Avon Old Farms won both the tournament it hosts and the one that decides the New England prep title. Mark Naclerio, an Avon Old Farms graduate from the class of 2011, is listed as head varsity coach.
Why Preseason Coverage Already Favors Avon
Prep hockey teams often lose good players to junior leagues before their final season. On October 1, New England Hockey Journal published an early look at the 2026-27 prep season that listed Avon Old Farms first among its contenders and said those departures hit Avon lightly:
"The defending Elite 8 champs are stacked. In an era when prep teams consistently lose good players to juniors early, that didn't really hit the Winged Beavers — or at least it didn't hit them hard."
The same preview says the team brings back forwards, defensemen and a goalie from the title roster and adds several newcomers. It describes Avon as an early favorite to repeat. If that holds, the strongest team in the league will play its early home games about a mile or two from many Avon kitchens. The first home date is Saturday, November 21.
The Home Dates, November Through December
The varsity schedule on the Avon Old Farms athletics site lists 34 games for the season. The season opens on the road on Friday, November 20, with listings at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford and at Westminster School on Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury. The next day the team is home. The schedule lists these varsity dates at John T. Gardner Rink:
- Saturday, November 21, 9:00 a.m.: Millbrook School and Brunswick School, listed together as one morning home date
- Wednesday, December 2, 4:30 p.m.: Williston Northampton School
- Saturday, December 12, 3:00 p.m.: Trinity-Pawling
- Thursday, December 17, 5:00 p.m.: Frederick Gunn School, Christmas Classic
- Friday, December 18, 11:00 a.m.: Tabor Academy, Christmas Classic
- Friday, December 18, 7:00 p.m.: St. Paul's School, Christmas Classic
- Saturday, December 19: Christmas Classic final, start time not yet listed
The school's other teams also play home games in early December. Varsity B is listed against Boston College High at noon on Sunday, December 6. The junior varsity has home listings on December 4 at 8:30 p.m., December 5 at 2:30 p.m. and December 9 at 4:30 p.m. The Thirds team plays at home on December 7 at 4:45 p.m. and December 9 at 2:45 p.m. The schedules for these lower teams don't name a rink, so check the school's pages before driving over.
Taken together, nearly every December weekend has some home hockey at Avon Old Farms. The busiest stretch runs Thursday through Saturday the week before Christmas.
Christmas Classic Week, December 17 to 19
The Christmas Hockey Classic page still shows last December's tournament. That's the best guide to how the event usually runs, but the 2026 schedule may differ. In 2025, eight schools played in two divisions named Pierpont and Trautman. Avon was grouped with Kent, St. Paul's and Tabor, and Berkshire, Frederick Gunn, Loomis Chaffee and Trinity-Pawling made up the other division. This year's varsity schedule shows Frederick Gunn, Tabor and St. Paul's as Avon's Classic opponents. The full 2026 field hasn't been posted.
Last year's tournament showed how busy those three days are:
- Games filled the whole day. On Friday, the busiest day, games started at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., with some slots split across two rinks.
- Two rinks were in use. Most games were at John T. Gardner Rink, which the schedule calls JTG Rink, but two Friday morning games were played at the Koeppel Center. The page's contact list includes a number for the Trinity College rink.
- Games were shorter than usual. Tournament games had two 25-minute halves with an ice resurfacing in between. The championship was three 18-minute periods.
- Admission was paid at the gate. The 2025 page listed $10 for a ticket to all games or $5 for a single game, sold at the rink gate.
The shorter format matters if you're planning around a game. A Classic game moves faster than a regular three-period game, so the Friday 7:00 p.m. game against St. Paul's should leave time for a late dinner. The 2025 prices and format are last year's, though. Before you plan around them, call Avon Old Farms at 860-404-4100 to confirm this December's admission and the start time of the Saturday final. The Classic page also has a Vimeo player labeled "Avon Old Farms Varsity Hockey Livestream." The school can tell you whether the 2026 games will be streamed there.
Before and After a Game on Route 44
Game times are set by school schedules, so they don't always line up with dinner. The listings include a Wednesday 4:30 p.m. start, a Thursday 5:00 p.m. start and a Friday 7:00 p.m. start. Avon has a new option for this season.
Max Burger, 70 East Main Street. Hartford Business Journal reported in September that Max Hospitality's newest Max Burger would open in Avon on September 15, 2026, led by managing partner James Stone. The group's other Max Burger locations are in West Hartford and Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The restaurant's site lists hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with pickup ordering. The later Friday hours work for the Friday 7:00 p.m. Classic game. Thursday's 9 p.m. close leaves time for a meal after the 5:00 p.m. game against Frederick Gunn.
Max a Mia, 380 West Main Street. The East Main Street building was home to Max a Mia Ristorante for decades. The restaurant opened in 1991 and has since moved to 380 West Main Street, according to the same Hartford Business Journal report. The paper's earlier coverage placed the new address in Avon Marketplace.
Villa Mulino, 136 Simsbury Road, Building 4A. This restaurant near Riverdale Farms lists hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on its contact page. That puts it near both the Saturday morning games and the Riverdale Farms shops, if a December 12 or December 19 game overlaps with holiday shopping.
Last summer, Riverdale Farms and Avon Village anchored the town's warm-weather calendar, as we covered in our Avon summer guide. In December, the rink on Old Farms Road adds a winter stop to that calendar, and four of its biggest games come in three days the week before Christmas.
If you'd like to talk through life in Avon or anywhere else in the valley, Jacek Mikolajczyk and the team are glad to help. You can also browse our Avon neighborhood page. Let's Connect.
