MARLBORO, Mass. — A number of the top bantam players took to the ice over the weekend at the Massachusetts Hockey 14-U Tier I state championship. The three-day event at the New England Sports Center featured eight teams playing round robin games Friday and Saturday before semifinals and finals on Sunday.
Earning the district’s automatic bid to USA Hockey Nationals later this month in Chicago was the Boston Junior Eagles. Coached by John Joyce, the Eagles defeated the South Shore Kings, 6-0, in Sunday evening’s championship game. The Junior Eagles were by far the deepest team and had a number of contributors who could have been acknowledged in addition to those mentioned below. The other two semifinalists that didn’t make it to the finals were the Neponset Valley River Rats and East Coast Militia.
Most of the talent was on the top three teams in the state, but there were some sleepers and unheralded players who caught my eye on the other teams at the national bound tournament.Â
It was a tough tournament to evaluate, due to the number of players missing from certain games with high school conflicts amid the MIAA tournaments. Most games started at identical times, meaning it was impossible to catch every minute.Â
As I’ve stated before, it’s really too bad that so many organizations did not provide accurate rosters. Top Gun, Boston Hockey Academy and East Coast Wizards sent rosters to Massachusetts Hockey that were missing numbers, positions, heights, weights and schools.Â
Below is a look at 20 players who stood out from the 2022 Massachusetts Hockey 14-U Tier I State Championship. Players are broken down by position, but listed in alphabetical order.Â
Forwards
Tommy Anderson
River Rats, 2/2/07, left shot, 5-7/155
Anderson had a productive weekend for the Rats. The Braintree, Mass., native and freshman at Thayer is skilled, possesses the puck, and can juke opposing defenders in small areas. Anderson likes to be creative and make plays. Coming off a rookie season of prep where he played top six for the Tigers, he played in all situations for the Rats.
Colvin Callahan
River Rats, 2/9/07, right shot, 5-10/150
Callahan is long, skates well and can score goals, as he did Friday night when he popped in two. He’s got upside with his pro frame. The Lexington High freshman is poised to make the jump to prep school for next season and do it well.
Cam Caron
South Shore Kings, 6/1/07, left shot, 5-11/150
Caron is a big power forward with a goal-scoring touch. He can shoot it hard, drive the net and get to the scoring areas by using his brute strength. He’s a freshman at Dracut High School who scored 15 goals in 22 games at the MIAA level.
Rian Chudzinski
Junior Eagles, 12/30/07, right shot, 5-10/143
Chudzinski is a big winger who was two days away from being an '08. He scored a beauty of a goal in the semifinals, streaking down the right side and sniping it under the bar. At St. Sebastian’s, the Needham, Mass., native is athletic and will likely keep getting better. His dad, Rob, is the former head coach of the Cleveland Browns and a current assistant for the Boston College football program.
Justin Graf
EC Militia, 1/1/07, left shot, 5-4/125
Graf is on the smaller side, but he’s skilled, quick and crafty. His skill set pops out at you when watching the Militia. The Lincoln, Mass., native is the younger brother of Union College freshman and former Junior Bruins standout Collin Graf.
Declan Grenache
EC Militia, 2/4/07, left shot, 5-8/140
Grenache, a freshman at St. John’s Shrewsbury from Sutton, Mass., was involved in scoring plays during my limited viewings of his team.
Anderson Kilbourne
River Rats, 7/27/07, right shot, 5-10/175
Kilbourne is a good-sized center from Duxbury, Mass. He sees the ice and complements his linemates well. He’s heavy on pucks and can score and set up plays. An eighth grader at Duxbury, he’ll probably be looking for the prep route in a year or two.
Joe Marchi
South Shore Kings, 10/30/07, right shot, 5-6/146
I admittedly missed seeing Marchi’s talent level in my first few viewings of the South Shore Kings this season. A freshman at Catholic Memorial, Marchi has skill, stickhandles well, and can make plays in high traffic areas. He missed Saturday night’s game, due to a conflict with his high school team, but was impressive in Friday night’s win over the East Coast Wizards.
Billy MacAusland
Junior Eagles, 8/4/07, left shot, 5-8/135
MacAusland is a skilled, speedy forward who played center most of the weekend. He’s on the smaller side, but he plays with an edge and has some grit to his game. The Westwood, Mass., native is an eighth grader at Dexter Southfield.
Connor Mudd
South Shore Kings, 7/1/07, left shot, 5-7/135
In two viewings this weekend of the Kings, I came away very impressed with Mudd’s work ethic. He competes hard, was heavy on pucks and factored into the score sheet. Mudd is a freshman on the hockey team at Shrewsbury High.
Michael Munroe
Junior Eagles, 7/6/07, left shot, 5-7/135
A freshman sensation on the high school team at Hanover, Munroe didn’t play in every game, but when he was on the ice he made a huge difference for the Junior Eagles. His skating is his elite attribute. He’s shifty, makes plays in small areas, and distributes the puck.
Trevor Pellecchia
Assabet Patriots, 1/1/07, right shot, 5-11/145
Pellecchia was the lone standout on his team. He’s tall, lanky, long and skilled. He has an explosive stride and he scored a couple of highlight-reel goals on the weekend. In addition to his skill, I liked that he had jam and grit to his game. From Leominster, Mass., he’s a freshman at Winchendon.
Sean Pohl
EC Militia, 1/1/07, left shot, 5-9/155
Pohl was a big, athletic forward who was around the puck a lot. From Stoughton, Mass., he’s a freshman and multisport athlete at Xaverian.Â
Jake Tavares
Junior Eagles, 1/27/07, left shot, 5-10/150
Tavares is a big power forward who can score goals. He has a good shot, length and a powerful stride. He’s hard to knock off pucks and was impressive in viewings this weekend. From Belmont, Mass., he’s at Belmont Hill and poised to make the varsity next year as a freshman.
Defensemen
Everett Baldwin
Junior Eagles, 1/15/07, right shot, 5-8/135
Baldwin, from Rumford, R.I., caught my eye a few times this fall, but I had wildly underrated him prior to this weekend. There’s a lot to like about the Moses Brown freshman. He has good size, moves well and shoots it hard. He’s long and rangy while being a two-way threat from the blue line.
Tuck Gilbane
Junior Eagles, 1/23/07, right shot, 5-10/155
Gilbane has a hard shot from the blue line and is notable for his size and strength. From Chestnut Hill, Mass., he’s an eighth grader at Nobles.
Evan Handler
River Rats, 3/19/07, right shot, 5-6/125
The Walpole, Mass., native and eighth grader at Rivers is on the smaller side, but his hockey sense, vision, and compete level are all positive attributes. Handler pushed puck possession, played in all situations, and fought for every inch of the ice. Similar to Baldwin, I liked him prior to this weekend, but his stock soared.
Goaltenders
Ethan Addazio
EC Militia, 1/1/07, catches left, 5-3/115
Addazio was strong in parts of games on Friday and Saturday that I caught. The Ipswich, Mass., native helped his team outperform expectations, based on rankings, this weekend.
Anthony Palmer
River Rats, 10/28/07, catches left, 5-10/150
Palmer, a late '07 from Lynnfield, Mass., gave up just one goal in each of the first two games here. He made some key saves in the semifinals against the Junior Eagles before his team fell short. Palmer is an eighth grader at St. Mary’s in Lynn.
Jason Thibodeau
Junior Eagles, 2/20/07, 5-9/135
Thibodeau was sharp in his team’s win over the River Rats and held down the fort for much of the weekend. He does a good job of being technically sound, square to shooters, and eating rebounds. He’ll be a key to the Junior Eagles having success at nationals. From Waltham, Mass., he’s at Belmont Hill as an eighth grader. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him back up Sam Scopa next winter.
