Since the start of the decade, St. George's has been a team consistently around the playoffs. Allie Skelley took over as head coach in 2023 and led the Dragons to the No. 7 spot in the Elite 8 Tournament that winter.
They followed that up with a 16-12-2 finish last season, finishing as the No. 5 seed in the Small School Tournament and losing to eventual champion Kimball Union, 11-0, in the semifinals.
Skelley's team graduated many core pieces from last year's team. But what this team might not have in high-end talent, it will likely make up for with depth and structure.
"It's going to be a good mix of newer guys with some experience and talent," Skelley said. "It's a really good mix. It's a really good character group."
With the ISL wide-open, St. George's has nothing but opportunity in front of it.
Up front
St. George's graduated Danny Buckley (Warwick, R.I.), its leading scorer last season. Fortunately for the Dragons, they retained their second-leading scorer in Max Donatelli (Barrington, R.I.), who will be back for his senior year.
This will be Donatelli's fourth year at St. George's. The '07 is still uncommitted and is coming off two straight 40-point seasons. He will be one of the captains.
"He's not a flashy kid," Skelley said. "But he's super cerebral, and he's always on the puck and the puck is always on his stick. He's a kid that can go into the corner with a guy twice his size and he's going to come out with the puck almost every time and make a good play."
Donatelli attended the QMJHL's Saint John Sea Dogs camp to dip his toe in the CHL water.
"He was never going to stay up there," Skelley said. "But Max gained some confidence. He made it pretty far, and I think he probably could have stayed up there if he wanted to."
Aiden Ferreira (Warwick, R.I.) and Ryan Magaletta (Southboro, Mass.) will be two other go-to forwards. Both are '07s and both notched 29 points apiece last season. Ferreira, another senior captain, provides a 200-foot game, while Magaletta, at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, is all about puck possession and some brute force.
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Another returning forward with legit expectations is Ethan Goodrich. The '07 was in his first year at St. George's last season after spending time at St. John's Prep (MIAA). The North Hampton, N.H., native tallied eight goals and 25 points in 29 games.
"He can absolutely fly," Skelley said.
The Dragons are also fortunate to get two of the top 2010-born players in New England with Cam Daigle (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Brayden Erickson (Springfield, Mass.).
Daigle was a star with Mount St. Charles' 14U squad last season, scoring 50 goals and tallying 90 points in 58 games. He's been a high-end, impact player with the Neponset Valley River Rats 15O team, and raised his stock this summer with four goals in four games at USA Hockey's Select 15 Camp. Erickson has been vital for the Minuteman Flames over the last few years, most recently with the 15O team this fall.
What's the plan on defense?
St. George's lost its top three defensemen from last season. Providence College commits Everett Baldwin (East Providence, R.I.), who was picked in the fifth round of June's NHL Draft, and Marco Senerchia (Greenville, R.I.), as well as Nathan Walsh (Mendon, Mass.). Most would see that and think the defense is due for a dip.
Not Skelley.
"Maybe I'm just an eternal optimist," Skelley said. "But I think we're actually going to be stronger on defense."
The reason: structure. With the fleet-footed Baldwin on the backend and Senerchia's puck-moving prowess, Skelley could let them do what they wanted. That usually resulted in more offense, but it sometimes resulted in defensemen backchecking.
"When you have that kind of talent, you just kind of let them do what they want to do back there," Skelley said.
It's a clean slate this season, and that starts with senior Payton Tracy, who had 11 points last season. After playing second fiddle to Baldwin, Senerchia and Walsh for the last two seasons, Tracy will get his moment.
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Another name to watch is Jake Donatelli (Barrington, R.I.), one of the top 2010-born defenders in New England. Donatelli got legitimate playing time with St. George's last winter as a freshman, notching six points. He was a standout at Select 15 Camp this summer, too.
"It'll be a big year for him," Skelley said. "Last year, he played a pretty regular shift but was just outmatched. When we went up to Tilton in the playoffs, he was playing against kids five years older than him because of all of their postgrads."
Skelley went outside of New England to bring in two other impactful defensemen. The first is Landon Famigletti, who played for Chanhassen High School in Minnesota last winter. Famigletti's father, Brian, played at Canterbury and then Harvard in the mid-1990s.
"I think he's going to be a really good player for us," Skelley said.
Skelley wants his team to be more physical on defense this season, and newcomer Joel Thompson should help with that. The 6-foot, 172-pound Montreal native had nine goals and 24 points in 23 games with the FEIA Falcons U17 squad last season.
"He's a hard-nosed type kid," Skelley said.
St. George's upgraded in net, too, bringing in former Groton and Boston Hockey Academy goalie Alex Wang (Concord, Mass.). The 6-foot-3, 194-pound netminder has high upside.
"That's big for us," Skelley said. "Alex is obviously really talented. He's gonna be our guy."
Tyler King (Hudson, N.H.), an '08 junior who got the majority of the time in net last season, will likely be the backup.
Staying consistent
St. George's is already in that class of teams you expect to be in the playoff conversation every season. That's the goal entering Skelley's third year.
"Our goal every year is to make the New England playoffs," he said. "It's probably every team's goal, but for us, that's something that we certainly talk a lot about."
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Drawing in players from Mount St. Charles, Minnesota and Quebec, however, is somewhat new. Wang is thought of as one of the better '09 goalies in the United States. It's a sign that St. George's is a destination.
"We're always going to be New England-heavy," Skelley said. "I think we finally have put ourselves out there as one of the better places to be.
"We're just looking for the best kids who are the best fit. If they're from Texas or California or wherever, I'll entertain anybody."
