MARLBORO, Mass. – Seventy-two of the best 2006-born players in the state took to the ice over the weekend at the Massachusetts Hockey CCM High Performance Festival at the New England Sports Center.
As with the other two age groups, four to five college coaches from the region are the ultimate evaluators in determining who represents the Massachusetts district at the 2022 USA Hockey Select 16 Player Development Camp in July in Amherst, N.Y. From the Select 16s, USA Hockey will pick a roster of players to represent the red, white and blue at the Five Nations Tournament in August.
The field will be cut in half for the "Final 40" in two weekends before seven forwards, four defensemen, and one goaltender are picked for national camp. Of note, the five local players who were invited to USA Hockey’s NTDP Evaluation Camp are exempt from qualifying through the Mass. Festival. Right wing Gavin Cornforth (Milton, Mass.), defensemen Owen Keefe (Saugus, Mass.) and Kiernan Poulin (Norwell, Mass.) and goaltenders Thatcher Bernstein (Brookline, Mass.) and Ryder Shea (Framingham, Mass.) will be at national camp. Forwards Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) and Teddy Stiga (Sudbury, Mass.) are prohibited from competing at national camp, due to USA Hockey not allowing NTDP players at those events.
Below are the 24 forwards, 12 defensemen, and four goaltenders who I’d have advancing onto the Massachusetts Hockey CCM High Performance Final 40.
I attended all three days of this weekend’s festival, but bounced back and forth between rinks, watching all three age groups. I spent the most time watching '06s and '07s, but didn’t have as thorough notes as I would if just watching full games. With that in mind, I’ll highlight several players who haven’t been written up as much in the past, or were extraordinarily deserving of recognition. I’ll have more in-depth analysis and evaluations of the players after the "Final 40."
Forwards
Noah Albright, Framingham/Assabet 15O
Ethan Cox, Nobles/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Kevin Delay, Thayer/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Jackson Delleo, Junior Bruins U16
Will Doherty, Marshfield/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Jacob Duval, Austin Prep/Valley Junior Warriors 15O
John Galanek, Shattuck-St. Mary’s * — The Hopkinton, Mass., native has played out in Minnesota for the last two years, but certainly is well known to college coaches and scouts. He skates well and has good hockey sense, but what really stands out is how strong he is on his stick. He’s heavy on pucks and wins battles for positioning and puck possession as a result.
Alex Gomes, Junior Bruins U16 — Gomes is under the radar, due to playing for the Junior Bruins, which certainly isn’t scouted to the same extent as the top prep schools and full season academy teams such as Mount Saint Charles and South Kent. The Ludlow, Mass., native is a pure goal scorer who can shoot the puck with some serious zip.
Larry Graziano, Braintree/River Rats 15O
Josh Itri, Tabor/River Rats 15O
Tyler Kelly, Thayer/Little Bruins U16
Teddy MacAusland, Dexter Southfield/Little Bruins U16
James Marshall, BC High/River Rats 15O *
Cam McGettrick, Marshfield/River Rats 15O
Michael Minchello, Dexter Southfield/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
JJ Monteiro, Mount Saint Charles 15O * — The Hudson, Mass., native was overshadowed on a loaded Mount team that boasted two future NTDPers and two USHL tenders. However, he showed this weekend that he’s a smart power forward. He goes to the net, shoots it hard, and knows where to go to find the puck. He’s powerful on his feet and hard to knock off pucks.
Ben Nakata, Nobles/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Luke Pazzia, Holderness/Valley Junior Warriors 15O
Nathan Porter, Dexter Southfield/Junior Eagles U16 *
Jack Sadowski, Arlington/Junior Eagles U16
Ryan Shea, Boston Advantage 15O
Mike Sullivan, Belmont Hill/Junior Eagles U16
Andrew Waugh, Belmont Hill/River Rats 15O
Eric Whitelaw, Seacoast Performance Academy 15O
Defensemen
Griffin Faherty, BC High/River Rats 15O
Will Felicio, Mount Saint Charles 15O * — The Hudson, Mass., native was the clear-cut best player at the festival in this birth year. His agility and ability to protect pucks and make plays from the back end make him a dynamic threat. He has a good shot, hockey sense and competitiveness. He’s tendered with the USHL’s Madison Capitols for the 2022-23 season.
Brady Flynn, Dexter Southfield/Junior Eagles U16
Connor Griffin, Austin Prep/Valley Junior Warriors 15O
Johnny Harbour, South Shore Kings U18
Dylan Hunt, Milton/Little Bruins U16 * — Hunt doesn’t always get the attention he deserves. The Milton Academy freshman isn’t the flashiest of players, but he’s a strong defensive defenseman who projects well. From Marlboro, Mass., he skates well, makes simple and smart decisions on puck touches, and defends with a strong gap. There’s certainly NHL upside, especially if he can continue to improve his stick skills and become more offensive without diminishing his defensive zone play.
Max Kirianov, Pingree/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Pete Luecke, BC High/Junior Eagles U16 — I wanted to highlight Luecke here because of the improvement in his game over the last 12 months. He’s always been a good player and been on good teams, but he’s taken a nice step, especially since December. The South Boston, Mass., native has gotten a little bigger and matured in his game. He seemed a little overwhelmed by the size, strength and pace of the game at the MIAA level in December. He adjusted and kept getting better during the high school season. That positive growth continued this past weekend as he looked solid in all three zones during the course of the weekend.
Brendan McCarthy, BC High
Joseph Mense, Nobles/Little Bruins U16
Liam O’Keeffe, Dexter Southfield/Junior Eagles U18
Andrew O’Sullivan, Boston Advantage 15O *
Goaltenders
Brendan Carberry, American Hockey Academy U16
Samuel Caulfield, Belmont Hill/Cape Cod Whalers 15O
Colin Davis, Canton/Junior Huskies 15O
Marty Pierce, Austin Prep/Valley Junior Warriors 15O
Asterisk denotes top performers from the weekend of action.
