NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- Mount Saint Charles won the inaugural True Hockey Prep Cup by defeating Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Northwood, and St. Andrew’s.
Played at Merrimack College’s two ice sheets, Gallant Rink and Lawler Rink, the True Hockey Prep Cup was well run and a treat for college coaches, scouts, agents and fans. There was a lot of talent on display and there were quite a few great games that were highly entertaining.
Mount Saint Charles, the first year 18-U team from Woonsocket, R.I., wasn’t expected to advance past the first round against Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the top ranked team in the country at this age level. Sunday’s 3-1 win over St. Andrew’s in the final was another big performance as the Saints have a roster loaded with future Division I players.
It was an impressive weekend for the team, coached by Matt Plante. Speaking of coaching, this event brought together good teams, but also some of the elite coaches in the region. When looking for a prep school or 18-U team, Plante, Northwood’s Chadd Cassidy, and Kimball Union’s Tim Whitehead are as good as it gets.
Mount Saint Charles
Results
W 4-3 (OT) vs. Shattuck-St. Mary’s
W 6-5 vs. Northwood
W 3-1 vs. St. Andrew’s
Lines
Franzoni - Czerneckianair - Citara
Eberling - Gordon - Rule
Hyde - Barbour - Ford
Patrick - Ste-Marie - Kring
Benoit - Cook
Crusberg-Roseen - McCarthy
Lemay - Banquier
Pearson
Jung
Analysis
This was a huge weekend for Mount Saint Charles, upsetting the top ranked team in the country and downing a very talented Canadian prep team en route to the championship.
I’ve said this countless times, but with Plante and Devin Rask at the helm, players who go to Mount Saint Charles will develop under the best possible system. If you look at the recent alums from Selects Academy where the duo were before, there’s little question the benefits players receive from the coaching staff now at MSC.
This weekend was a good example. The usual suspects, Quinnipiac commit Victor Czerneckianair and Providence commit Michael Citara, put up points and were key contributors.
However, a couple of less heralded players made huge impacts. Second line right wing Josh Rule came up big with at least a couple of goals and played well away from the puck. On the backend, Nate Benoit and Cole Crusberg-Roseen were solid. All three looked much improved since the start of the season.
Benoit is a player who should start generating significant college interest. He plays with a little bit of jam and has some offensive capabilities as well. He’s a player Atlantic Hockey (and maybe others) schools should be on hard.
James Barbour had at least two goals and Karl Ste-Marie found the back of the net on a beauty of a move. Jack Ford also scored a goal.
Ethan Pearson picked up the wins against Shattuck and St. Andrew’s. He was spectacular at times, especially when MSC was facing a barrage from the Sabres’ vaunted attack on Friday.
St. Andrew’s College
Results
W 6-0 vs. Kimball Union
W 6-1 vs. Gunnery
L 1-3 vs. Mount Saint Charles
Lines
Ertel - Hillier - Galata
O’Brien - Baldassarra - Carogioiello
Landry - Power - Draper
Taylor - Atwill - Wright
Roy - Bar
Cavan - Vardy
Donnelly - Orrico
Lehti
Stevenson
Analysis
St. Andrew’s is a talented and deep team that easily cruised to victory in the first two games before falling to Mount Saint Charles in the final.
By my count, the team had 13 players that could play Division I hockey. Six are already committed, but a bunch more will surely follow.
Defenseman Jack Bar is a Harvard commit and late ‘02 who looks to be a potential top two round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. Bar has good size, skates well, makes smart breakout passes, can shoot it hard, and defends well. He leads a very strong defensive corp that also includes ‘03s Matthew Roy and Luke Vardy.
Cornell commit Justin Ertel is an ‘03 who plays more like a ‘00. He’s big, heavy on pucks, and can dominate below the dot. He makes good passes from the wall and could be even more of a threat if learns to be even more assertive on a more consistent basis. I believe he's another player on this team with a chance to hear his name called at the 2021 NHL Draft.
Merrimack commits Devlin O’Brien and Mark Hillier are both ‘02s that should help the Warriors after a year of junior hockey. O’Brien has speed and compete. He scored a lot here by using his high motor. On the other hand, Hillier is a smart center who sees the ice well. If he can find that second gear, he’ll become more of an impactful player.
In terms of the uncommitted players, Roy is a smart and steady defender while Vardy has a hard shot and a physical element. ‘02 right wing Cole Galata is an incredible passer who forces turnovers and has high hockey IQ. Another forward that impressed me more this weekend than in the past was ‘02 center Alex Power, who is a cerebral player. Simply put, he’s just a hockey player who does a lot of the little things, including away from the puck, well.
The top three forward lines are very good and have a mix of speed and skill along with big heavies and players who compete hard. It’s an impressive group and kudos to head coach David Manning for putting it together.
Northwood
Results
W 3-2 vs. Nichols
L 5-6 vs. Mount Saint Charles
W 9-2 vs. Gunnery
Lines
Devereaux - Colabufo - Schlifke
Fust - Donato - Trudeau
Monaco - Doyle - Cielo
DelliQuadri - Rosen - Hall
Boak - Guevin
French - Ellsworth
Jolley - Leone
Flageolle
Tremblay-Kau
Analysis
This isn’t as talented of a roster as Northwood has had in recent years, but the Huskies are vastly improved from the first time I saw them back in the fall at the Junior Bruins Shootout.
Nebraska-Omaha commit Jacob Guevin is an elite, puck-moving defenseman while Holy Cross commit Daniel Colabufo is a solid center.
The most impressive aspect of the team is the incredible development of a few players in just three months time. Left wing Raymond Fust and right wing Felix Trudeau are vastly improved and look like Division I college hockey players. Fust is a tall, long winger with a hard shot while Trudeau is an above average skater with skill. Another forward who has shown good improvement is '01 right wing Jack Schlifke, a big power forward with some potential upside.
You won’t find a better coach in 18-U hockey than Cassidy, a former AHL head coach with the Rochester Americans. It showed this weekend as the team continues trending in the right direction.
Gunnery
Results
W 5-4 vs. Culver
L 1-6 vs. St. Andrew’s
L 2-9 vs. Northwood
Lines
Casey - Andreychuk - Jefferies
Sambuco - Dowiak - D’Agostino
Kopek - Rossi - Brennan
D’Amato - Luff - Bloder
Lizotte - Luff
Charpentier - Breh
Andranovich
Analysis
It was a tough weekend for Gunnery, barely squeaking past Culver before losing by a combined score of 15-3 over the final two games.
2020 NHL Draft prospect and Merrimack commit Alex Jefferies had two assists in the game against Culver, but was held off the score sheet after that. It was a tough weekend for the Lunenburg, Mass., native who was playing in front of a ton of NHL scouts. Many NHL teams had two or more scouts in attendance.
The most impressive players for me were on the second line, centered by Penn State commit Dane Dowiak. He’s a very smart player and made several really nice passes to facilitate offensive chances. His left wing, Providence commit Daniel Sambuco, had possibly his best couple of games in a Gunnery uniform. He was rewarded with two goals. Sambuco plays hard and is a menace on the forecheck.
Gunnery’s defense is young and inexperienced, at least when it comes to prep hockey. Credit Eric Charpentier for playing a physical brand of hockey, but the big blue liner is still extremely raw.
Kimball Union
Results
L 0-6 vs. St. Andrew’s
W 6-5 (OT) vs. Culver
W 4-3 vs. Shattuck-St. Mary’s
Lines
Whitehead - Mazura - Mack
Bollman - A. Fantilli - Dore
Walsh - Pierre - Hatley
Griffin - L. Fantilli
Noel - Constantine
Bernardo - Chalmers
Kohvakka
Brice
Analysis
The Wildcats weren’t exactly a beacon of consistency this weekend. The team suffered a blowout loss in the opener against St. Andrew’s before bouncing back with an overtime win over Culver and a triumph over Shattuck in the fifth place game.
Adam Fantilli was up to his usual tricks, scoring the overtime goal against Culver and adding a goal and assisting on the game-winner against Shattuck. The ‘04 plays with a lot of jam, which cost him some time in the penalty box. But, he’s an elite prospect who surely projects to be a top 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
‘00 right wing Sullivan Mack is one of the more coveted uncommitted prospects in prep hockey. He had a couple of goals on the weekend. He plays with pace, can shoot it hard, and has some skill. The Alaskan plays hard and is earning interest from Hockey East, ECAC, NCHC and Big Ten schools.
KUA is struggling, despite high expectations. A lack of depth up front and on defense has been an issue. One thing that likely needs to happen if KUA is to make a run is for Whitehead to make the move and keep Arizona State commit Zak Brice as the starting goaltender.
Shattuck-St. Mary’s
Results
L 3-4 (OT) vs. Mount Saint Charles
W 6-5 vs. Nichols
L 3-4 vs. Kimball Union
Lines
Kunz - Shlaine - Wallace
Traeger - Coon - LaJoy
Kwapick - Fleming - Buss
Krivtsov - Silverman - Hong
Ma - Quinn
Foglia - Morrow
Duerr
Stokes
Marino
Analysis
It was a disappointing weekend for the Sabres, a team that entered as the top team in 18-U hockey. Shattuck certainly isn’t lacking talent, but it fell a couple of times here.
The most impressive player was ‘04 Maddox Fleming, a young center who looks to be a lock to make USA Hockey’s NTDP for 2020-21. He has that second gear and can make plays. He skates well and has the agility to spin away from opposing defenders and keep plays alive in small areas. Fleming sees the ice well and made numerous really nice passes.
2020 NHL Draft prospect Artem Shlaine, a Boston University commit, is a very good hockey player who I believe is a late second or third round pick in June. However, I didn’t think he was as good as he has the capability of. He’s a little bow-legged when he skates, but he gets to spots and can play with pace. He’s on the right side of the puck, smart, and has skill.
Recent North Dakota commit Scott Morrow, a Darien, Conn., native, is a puck-moving defenseman who made some plays here and found the score sheet. However, his skating and being more wise in picking his spots and not trying to do too much are areas of his game that could use improvement over the next 18 months before the 2021 NHL Draft. He’s a late ‘02 so he won’t be eligible until then.
Right wing Will Traeger committed to Boston College shortly after his stellar performance at the Cushing Invitational in November. He has the speed and compete level to hunt down pucks and score some goals, which he did at least twice this weekend.
Two uncommitted players who had some bright moments this weekend were ‘02 defenseman Samuel Duerr and ‘03 right wing Luke Buss.
Overall, Shattuck is a team that I expect to compete for a USA Hockey National Championship in April. This was just an unexpected bump in the road against some very good competition.
Nichols
Results
L 2-3 vs. Northwood
L 5-6 vs. Shattuck-St. Mary’s
W 6-5 (OT) vs. Culver
Lines
Amici - Ricotta - C. Bauer
Lugris - Zacher - Daniels
Naples - McDonald - Brady
Blackley - Derenda
22 - Szretter
Mazur - H. Bauer
Analysis
Nichols didn’t have the depth of many of the other teams here, but they did a good job keeping the score close against Northwood and Shattuck before defeating Culver in overtime of the seventh place game.
Obviously, defenseman Joseph Blackley, a Yale commit, is the top prospect on coach Jamie Printz’s team. A few forwards, Cameron Bauer, Walter Zacher, Dylan Lugris, Kolby Amici and Cameron Ricotta have some potential.
Culver
Results
L 4-5 vs. Gunnery
L 5-6 (OT) vs. Kimball Union
L 5-6 (OT) vs. Nichols
Lines
Kulmanovsky - Lewis - Spitserov
White - Regan - Brimanis
21 - Heinold - Kuhl
Holmberg - Rotiroti - Fritch
Cox - Stofflet
Williams - Muth
Secord - Kirk/Marschall
Gho
Redman
Analysis
Culver was the only team to leave North Andover without a win, but kudos to the Eagles for playing hard. All three games were one goal losses, including two in overtime.
Former Miami commit Spencer Cox and Air Force commit Cole Stofflet provide some puck-moving capabilities and skill on the top defensive pairing. Cox has skill and skates well enough to be a slick puck-mover. He’ll find another Division I home in the future.
A player that really popped this weekend was first line right wing Timofey Spitserov, a ‘02 from Russia. He has a good shot that he gets off with zip. He scored a really nice breakaway goal where he threw out his hip to protect the puck before finishing with a backhander. He’s a player to keep an eye on going forward.
‘01 center Maksis Brimanis and late ‘02 Blake Lewis each scored some skill at times on the weekend. Lewis had two goals late against KUA on Saturday.
The future
To the excitement of many, St. Andrew's and Northwood will once again host this event at Merrimack College in 2020. The dates are tentatively January 8-10, 2020.
