MARLBORO, Mass. — Some of the best players around New England flocked to the New England Sports Center this past weekend to try out in the New England District's girls player development camp tryouts.
A total of 302 players across the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 age groups took the ice.
I did my best to see each group an equal amount, minus the 2010s. I spent Friday night focusing on the 2007s before catching the 2009s and 2008s on Saturday morning. On Sunday, I caught the 2009s All-Star game before splitting time between the 2007s and 2008s
Going forward, players in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 groups will be selected to participate in the New England District development camp from June 21-25 at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. The 2010 players selected from this tryout will participate in the New England Girls 14 Eastern Selects Camp from June 26-30 at Saint Anselm.
The 2007, 2008 and 2009’s will be selected for USA Hockey’s National Development Camps in the summer. The Girls Select 16/17 (2007/2008) and the Girls Select 15 (2009) camps will be in July at Miami University (Ohio). The Girls Under-18 Select (2006-2008) camp will be in August at the Northwood School in Lake Placid, NY.
A friendly reminder, Massachusetts is its own district in the eyes of USA Hockey. Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont make up the New England District.
Let's dive into seven standout 2007-born skaters from the weekend.
Addy Peel
Brooks/Valley Jr. Warriors, 12/24/2007, D, left shot, 5-10
Hometown: Scarborough, Maine
Peel was fantastic moving the puck up ice in transition all weekend. The rising junior at Brooks was strong leading the rush, generating speed around her net and taking the open space the opposition kept giving her. She has smooth, efficient strides, and she does a great job of scanning the ice and leading forwards into space with passes. She was strong using her reach and frame to shield pucks from forecheckers on regroups and breakouts. Peel even got a penalty shot on Friday, walking in and scoring easily over the blocker with a good shot. Everything she did looked easy due to her poise with the puck.
Tess Mulkerron
St. Paul's/Valley Jr. Warriors, 3/2/2007, F, left shot, 5-5
Hometown: Concord, NH
It felt like Mulkerron was everywhere on both Friday and Sunday. She showed some good hands each time I saw her, unafraid to toe-drag or deke around a defender. She dangled around a defender off an offensive zone face-off before working toward the slot and scoring with a pretty backhand shot. The rising St. Paul's junior can flat-out rip the puck, too, hitting a couple of posts with a heavy shot. She was strong protecting pucks and hunting them down on the backcheck. It led to a good chance on Sunday when she stripped the puck in the high slot, walked in alone and hit the post off a forehand-backhand deke.
MASS. FINAL 40: 7 standout '07-born players | 6 standout '08-born players | 6 standout '09-born players
Elle Sproule
Shattuck-St. Mary's/CT Polar Bears 16U, 5/21/2007, F, left shot, 5-8
Hometown: Old Greenwich, Conn.
NCAA: Harvard
Sproule created chances every time she was on the ice. Simply put, she can fly. She builds speed easily and in no time at all with quick strides, and her offensive instincts and hands make her a handful to deal with defensively. The Harvard commit scored a highlight-reel breakaway goal on Friday. She pounced on a turnover in the neutral zone, and she was off to the races, walking in, pump-faking and feathering a perfect shot off the crossbar and in.
Taylor Senecal
Little Caesars 19U, 5/18/2007, D, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Essex Junction, Vt.
NCAA: Colgate
Senecal is a strong skater with good instincts, seeing the ice well with the puck in transition. Her quick strides helped her keep plays alive and create them inside the offensive blue line and through the neutral zone. On Sunday, she made a deceptive head fake inside the attacking zone to bait the defender, which opened up a cross-ice passing lane for a good look. On the same shift, she made a nice move to evade pressure in the neutral zone before reversing to her defense partner, which restarted the rush.
Kaylin O'Connor
Smithfield-Coventry-Moses Brown Co-op, 3/17/2007, F, left shot, 5-2
Hometown: Smithfield, R.I.
O'Connor did a good job of creating chances on Friday and Sunday. She set up a goal for Taft's Julianna Picard (Watertown, Conn.), getting a good, low shot on net in search of a rebound, which Picard buried. On Friday, O'Connor ran a great give-and-go with Loomis Chaffee's Ellie Lachance (West Hartford, Conn.) coming out of the cycle in the corner, which led to a strong Grade-A look in the slot.
STATE OF GIRLS HOCKEY: It’s surging. And it’s only going to get bigger
Keira Austen
Deerfield/Mid Fairfield Stars 16U, 6/28/2007, D, right shot, 5-3
Hometown: Darien, Conn.
Austen showed good instincts on both sides of the puck. The rising junior at Deerfield showcased why she put up 20 points from the blue line this past season. She consistently made good, quick decisions on the breakout. On Friday, she made a nice spin-off from pressure in the defensive zone, which opened up a skating lane up the wall to exit the zone with possession. She later had a nice reverse behind her net to open a passing lane for an easy breakout pass. On the same shift, she stepped up to pick off a pass and start quick transition the other way. Austen also had a good stick defensively, getting into lanes and breaking up rush opportunities.
Sarah Lackley
Phillips Andover/Valley Jr. Warriors, 1/14/2007, D, right shot, 5-7
Hometown: Woodstock, Vt.
Lackley was solid defensively, stepping up with good stick position on the rush and maintaining good gaps. She was especially strong on Sunday inside the offensive blue line, funneling pucks down low and finding passing lanes toward the net. She was quick with her decisions in low-to-high plays.
