ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The top '06s from the New England District, which includes all of the region’s states outside of Massachusetts, came together at the New England Sports Village over the weekend to compete for a spot at USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp in Amherst, N.Y., this June.
The New England District Select Festival takes place every March or April as a tryout for the national camp. College coaches from the region are tasked with evaluating the group and deciding who will advance to New York.
Longtime followers of amateur hockey in the U.S. might remember when national camp consisted of teams from each district, as opposed to what it has been the past several years. USA Hockey is trying it out again for this age group at Select 17s in June. New England District will compete as a team. Eight forwards, four defensemen, and a goaltender were picked from this weekend’s select festival.
New England District certainly isn’t as deep as Massachusetts and New York, which made the selection process fairly cut and dry. There weren’t a lot of controversial picks among the selections. I had no disagreement with any of the players who were given the nod to make it to the national camp.
Below are my evaluations of the players chosen to participate at USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp. I only had one difference in opinion from the actual group picked by the evaluators. I’ve also included evaluations and blurbs on five players who weren’t selected, but who performed well and helped improve their stock over the weekend.
Forwards
Blake Burke
Westminster, 5/18/06, C/LW, left shot, 5-11/172
Burke (Trumbull, Conn.) has the skating and tools to be a power forward. He’s a strong, powerful skater who can create on the rush and cycle pucks below the dots. He scored at least a couple of goals here. The biggest things Burke can work on are his toughness and sense. He’ll need to keep being heavier on pucks and playing more in the middle of the ice for him to have more success. Burke was in my top three for forwards at the select festival.
Max Dineen
Seacoast U16, 7/5/06, LW, left shot, 5-8/141
Dineen (Brentwood, N.H.) skates well and competes hard. He had a goal and an assist in Saturday afternoon’s game. His motor and ability to keep his feet moving help him be an impactful player. His size is a concern in terms of that translating, but he’s a player who should be tracked. College coaches will have a chance to do that next year, as he makes the jump to Cushing.
Ronnie Hill
Seacoast U16, 10/3/06, C/RW, right shot, 5-8/139
Hill (Saco, Maine) had always been the clear standout among the '06s on Seacoast Performance Academy. While he still is, the gap is closing with Dineen and Kole Hyles making strides in the right direction. Hill is a goal scorer with a low center of gravity. He’s gritty and plays between the dots. Hill is heading to play at Mount Saint Charles in the fall.
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Check out our full database of '06 commitments
Kole Hyles
Seacoast U16, 1/16/06, LW, left shot, 5-10/161
Hyles (Exeter, N.H.) might have been one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the three-day tryout festival. A strong skater, he did a good job of creating on the rush and separating from opposing defenders. He protected pucks well and made a couple of nifty plays to set up teammates for scoring opportunities. Hyles is heading to Cushing for the 2023-24 season.
Ryan Lucarelli
Canterbury, 7/10/06, RW, right shot, 5-9/150
Lucarelli (Westport, Conn.) is another player whose stock rose significantly this weekend. He’s shown skill and flashes of playmaking ability during his two years at Canterbury, but this was one of the best viewings to date. He made a ton of plays, notching a goal and an assist Saturday afternoon. He’s paying more attention to details in the defensive zone and away from the puck.
Kolin Sisson
Mount Saint Charles U16, 9/30/06, RW, right shot, 5-7/145
Sisson (Cumberland, R.I.) is a crafty, waterbug type of forward who has skill and agility. He scored a couple of highlight-reel goals on Saturday afternoon and played well in the All-Star game. He buzzes out there and has the ability to make opposing defensemen look silly. He’ll need to improve his strength and ability to play in the middle of the ice for him to have the same type of success moving forward.
Ryan Staples
Loomis Chaffee, 2/24/06, C, right shot, 6-0/162
NCAA: Yale
Staples (Middletown, R.I.) just scores, which is what he did here. He potted a goal in the All-Star game and tallied a few more throughout the rest of the weekend. Staples has a good shot, but what I liked was his desire to get to the net. Two of his goals were just by going hard to the crease and picking up loose change. He scored a nifty backhand goal earlier in the weekend. No player shows more of a willingness to play all three zones than him. One of the top three forwards at the tryout, Staples is heading to St. George’s in the fall.
Niko Tournas
NJ Rockets U16, 2/17/06, RW, right shot, 6-1/184
NCAA: New Hampshire
Tournas (Redding, Conn.) is a physical specimen who can dominate due to his size and strength. He has a rocket of a shot and picked up two assists in the all-star game. He’s big and can win puck battles and gain positioning and space. He was clearly one of the top three forwards at the festival.
Defensemen
Cooper Cleaves
Brunswick, 1/5/06, right shot, 6-3/180
NCAA: Dartmouth
Cleaves (Greenwich, Conn.) saved his best performance for the last game. He played well in the All-Star game, picking up a goal and an assist. He’s tall, long and reads plays well. The future Big Green blue liner has a good frame and has gotten considerably better over the past few years. There’s upside here and his trajectory is heading that way.
Elliott Groenewold
Bishop’s College, 2/4/06, left shot, 6-1/186
NCAA: Quinnipiac
Groenewold (Montpelier, Vt.) was the best defenseman here. No other defenseman came close to his skating and impact. He was able to skate pucks up ice and effectively be a one-man breakout. His hockey sense and ability to skate with his head up are areas of his game that will need to get better as he transitions to junior hockey and college.
Wade Weil
Lovell Academy U16, 1/20/06, left shot, 6-1/175
Weil showed the physical tools and made some plays during the weekend. He did a good job of jumping up into the rush. He hit the trailer a couple of times after gaining zone entry. He skated well and did a lot of things well. Weil, originally from Syracuse, N.Y., is a newcomer to this region after growing up attending NYSAHA tryouts and playing for Bishop Kearney Selects.
NTDP: Get to know New England's three representatives on next season's U17 team
Colton Whitfield
Mount Saint Charles U16, 4/10/06, left shot, 6-1/173
Whitfield (Warwick, R.I.) had intriguing size, a hard shot and physical presence. His skating is an area of his game that has improved, but it still needs work. The key for his development is accepting and playing to his identity as a simple, shutdown defender.
Goaltender
Connor Towle
Hotchkiss, 3/27/06, catches left, 5-10/150
Towle (Fairfield, Conn.) would have gotten the nod from me to head to national camp, but Zachary Ericson (Yarmouth, Maine) was deserving, as well. I also thought Kyle Bolduc (Bolton, Conn.) was good in the All-Star game. Towle has solid fundamentals, moves well, and keeps it simple. He had a good year at Hotchkiss and should be the full-time starter in 2023-24 for head coach Mike Doyle’s Bearcats.
Three unheralded players
These three under-the-radar players had good weekends and improved their stock, despite not making USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp:
Blake Baksay
Fairfield Prep, 1/17/06, C, right shot, 5-9/140
Baksay (Easton, Conn.) had a good weekend. I wrote down a few pluses next to his name on both Saturday and Sunday. He’s on the smaller side, but he plays hard and can score goals. I like that he went to the net and wasn’t afraid to engage physically to get pucks back on his stick.
Joe Decesare
Worcester Academy, 4/18/06, RW, right shot, 5-10/170
Decesare (Burrillville, R.I.) was one of the players who I knew the least about heading into the weekend. He made a positive impression. He’s quick, scored goals and skated well in straight lines. He’ll need to come up with more of an east-west game at his size, but he probably turned the most heads of anyone at this tryout festival.
Gennaro Pompano
Loomis Chaffee, 12/8/06, RW, right shot, 5-9/155
The skill set of Pompano (East Haven, Conn.) isn’t necessarily made for having success at a tryout camp like this where it’s just glorified shinny hockey. However, he scored a couple of goals, including one in the All-Star game. He’s heavy on pucks, plays a solid north-south game, and had a positive impact on the games I saw.
