MARLBORO, Mass. — So, who's moving on to USA Hockey Select Camps?
Another Mass. Hockey boys festival has come and gone, as play took place over the last two weekends at New England Sports Center.
The first weekend featured around 80 players in each of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 birth years. The evaluators moved that number down to 40 for the games this weekend.
From here, players will be selected to play to move on to Amherst, N.Y. There, '09s will play at Select 15 Camp, '08s will take part in Select 16 Camp and '07s will fight to stand out at Select 17 Camp.
The number of players who make Select Camps from this festival doesn't usually change much from year to year. To make my own picks, I based the numbers on last year's metrics.
- 2007: Nine forwards, five defensemen, one goalie
- 2008: Seven forwards, four defensemen, one goalie
- 2009: 10 forwards, five defensemen, two goalies
I can't say this enough: I don't decide who moves on to Select Camp. These views don't reflect those of USA Hockey or Mass. Hockey. This is solely my opinion. Still, it's a fun exercise to reveal my own selections of those I would send to camp. They are listed based on how I'd rank them.
The official picks are slated to be released later this week.
Let's dive in.
2007s
Forwards:Â
- Teddy Mutryn
- CJ Watroba
- Michael Munroe
- Jack McDonough
- George Lovell
- Justin Graf
- Rian Chudzinski
- Billy MacAusland
- Patrick Woods
Defensemen:Â
- Shayne Gould
- Evan Jones
- Brenden Sanchez
- Tyler Russo
- Nick Evans
Goalie:Â
- JJ Thibodeau
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Rationale: The first four forward selections were easy. There was some debate on the five that followed but overall, Lovell, Graf, MacAusland and Woods had very good weekends. Chudzinski had a strong final day. Leaving off Tommy Anderson (Braintree, Mass.) was tough. I thought the Thayer product had a strong Final 40. He would've been No. 10. Leaving Dylan Krayer (Concord, Mass.) off was hard, too, given how much I liked him in past viewings.
On defense, Gould's skating puts him at No. 1. But Jones popped and has clearly taken a massive step. Same with Sanchez, who I also thought had a good weekend. Russo got on because his shutdown abilities were on display, while Evans gets the No. 5 spot. He was responsible in his own zone and moved pucks well. Freddy Meyer VÂ (Winchester, Mass.)Â challenged most for the No. 5 spot, with Aiden MacIsaac (Andover, Mass.) right behind him.
I went into the weekend thinking Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.) was a shoo-in, and maybe he still is. But Thibodeau played really well over the two days.
2008s
Forwards:Â
- Matthew Krayer
- Noah Survilas
- Luke Allen
- Michael Federico
- JP Messuri
- Benjamin Short
- Will Manchuso
DefensemenÂ
- Gavin Callahan
- Matas Janulis
- Gavin Holland
- Kris Soja
Goalie:Â
- Parker Stockseth
Rationale:Â The '08s was the hardest group to pick. For starters, I went into Day 2 of the Final 40 with a pretty good idea on the top four forwards. After that, it was a toss-up. Messuri, at 5-foot-4 and 152 pounds, deserves a spot. He plays with such a fun combination of compete, intelligence and skill. Short has flashes of excellence and Manchuso had a strong first day. The toughest omissions were Ty Hymovitz (Needham, Mass.), Andrew Giguere (Georgetown, Mass.) and Miles Mireault (Topsfield, Mass.). On defense, it was extremely hard to leave David O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass.) off. The BK Selects product, at 5-foot-7, is elusive as heck and was everywhere in both games, but I only had four spots. Stockseth was the easy choice in net.
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2009s
Forwards:Â
- Carter Meyer
- Finn Sears
- Caiden Pellegrino
- Paulo Gualberto Jr.
- Owen Kailher
- Sam Pandolfo
- Chase Warsofsky
- Isaac Davis
- Sean Sweeney
- Liam Guilderson
Defensemen:Â
- Jacoby Palmer
- JP Montgomery
- Easton Anello
- Kurt Beck
- Landon Nickulas
Goalies:Â
- Justin Lee
- Alex Zihang Wang
Rationale:Â The first eight forwards from the '09s were pretty easy. Sweeney has great hands and scored a nice goal in the championship game on a snipe. Guilderson had a nice tap-in goal on the final day, too. Both prospects were on my bubble, so that got them in. I had some trouble on defense. Outside of Palmer and Montgomery, the other three weren't super clear until Day 2. Anello popped with some speed and really nice hands in tight. He made some really smart puck plays. Beck played a reliable, honest game. Nickulas is very small at 5-foot-4 and 105 pounds, but his skating helped make up for that. Judging the goalies at an event like this was difficult, especially with the ice as bad as it was, but Lee and Zihang Wang were the two best, in my opinion.
