AVON, Conn. – The first day of the 2022 Avon Old Farms Christmas Hockey Classic went off as close to chalk as could be expected at the Jennings Fairchild Rink.
The host, Kent and Frederick Gunn were easy winners over Tabor, St. Paul’s and Berkshire, respectively.
In the only closely contested game, Loomis Chaffee and Trinity-Pawling skated to a scoreless tie before the former won a three-man shootout by a score of 2-0.
A champion will be crowned on Saturday.
Scoreboard
Frederick Gunn 5, Berkshire 1
Loomis Chaffee 0, Trinity-Pawling 0 (LC wins shootout 2-0)
Avon Old Farms 4, Tabor 0
Kent 4, St. Paul's 1
The four games were played in front of a large contingent of Division 1 and Division 3 college coaches, NHL and USHL scouts, and player advisors. Those in attendance were able to see a few solid college prospects and one potential 2023 NHL draft pick.
Below are lines and outlooks for each of the eight teams plus evaluations of 11 uncommitted juniors and seniors from the first four games of the 2022 Avon Old Farms Christmas Hockey Classic.
Player evaluations
Gio DiGiulian
Kent, 9/25/05, C, right shot, 6-0/160
DiGiulian had a hat trick and added an assist in his team’s 4-1 win over St. Paul’s. As I’ve written numerous times this fall, DiGiulian has blossomed into one of the top uncommitted prospects in New England. A late bloomer who didn’t always show up at each showcase, he’s worked his way up from the third line to the first line in just over a year of prep school hockey. He skates well and was able to power his way into the slot Thursday night. He showed off a hard shot and has above-average hockey sense. The South Burlington, Vt., native projects as a bottom-six center at the collegiate level, but he should be sought after by various Division 1 programs.
Charlie Gollob
Avon Old Farms, 2/10/04, C, left shot, 6-3/200
Gollob, from Toronto, Ontario, has been one of my favorite players since first seeing him last August. His boots are a little heavy and his skating still needs work, but he just gets the job done. Simply put, he’s a hockey player. Gollob had three assists on Thursday. He made a great pass from the corner to the slot to find linemate Joe Connor for a goal. He hit another linemate, Joe Odyniec, in the bumper for a power play assist. It will be interesting to see where he lands in Division 1. It will likely be in Atlantic Hockey or ECAC Hockey or as a low scholarship player in Hockey East.
Andrew Pitts
Avon Old Farms, 3/31/05, D, right shot, 6-0/160
Pitts stood out more in this game than he had previously. The Minneapolis, Minn., native picked up an assist on Alex Pelletier’s tally right after the Winged Beavers had killed off a penalty. What stood out to me was his skating, especially his first two steps. He’s smooth and made simple puck touches. He’s a player to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Stephen Peck
Avon Old Farms, 1/18/05, G, catches left, 6-2/170
Peck didn’t face a ton of rubber as AOF held a fairly wide margin in shots on goal. But, Peck stopped all 23 shots that came his way. The New York, N.Y., native has good size, skates well, and plays the puck with expertise. If there was one save that caught my eye most, it was a blocker stop on Tabor’s Keanan Dewberry. He’s definitely deserving of being mentioned among the best goaltenders in prep hockey. Outside of teammate and Northeastern commit Joe Connor (Amherst, N.H.), who had two goals, Peck was the top 2023 NHL draft prospect on the ice Thursday.
Jason Zaccari
Tabor, 6/2/05, D, left shot, 5-11/176
Zaccari, from Santa Ana, Calif., has always been knocked for having heavy boots. His skating is still his weakness, but give him credit for his passing and puck-moving ability. Every pass seemingly landed right on the tape of his teammates. He showed poise, confidence and hockey sense on a couple of nifty slip passes.
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Tobias Iantorno
Trinity-Pawling, 1/30/04, C, left shot, 6-0/193
Iantorno and his Pride teammates failed to put the puck in the back of the net on Thursday against Loomis, but he caught my eye a few times. The Mississauga, Ontario, native is a strong skater who is hard to knock off pucks. He’s a north-south, power forward who goes in straight lines. He’d be a very good commit for a NESCAC school.
Jack Roberts
Kent, 4/19/05, LW, right shot, 6-2/190
Roberts is growing on me. From Glencoe, Ill., he had a goal and an assist on Thursday night against his former team. He’s already eclipsed his point production from the 2021-22 season with St. Paul’s. Roberts isn’t the best skater, but he’s a big body who can be a power forward at the prep level. His goal was on a nice snap shot off a feed from DiGiulian. His release was quick.
Jaden Davis
Berkshire, 7/15/04, LW, left shot, 5-7/135
Davis sent a pass to teammate Tanner Marsh to break up Frederick Gunn’s shutout bid in the final minute of the game. It was the fourth straight game he’s found the score sheet after scoring a goal in the previous three contests. From Vaudreuil, Quebec, he has good hockey sense and habits. His size is his only real downfall, as far as being a more consistent factor at the prep level.
Christian Wood
Frederick Gunn, 2/10/04, D, right shot, 6-3/200
Wood is one of a number of veteran players on Craig Badger’s team who played well in Thursday’s first game. He picked up two assists and showed an ability to jump into the rush. One helper was a pretty feed to the backdoor on the power play. The other was a pass on an odd-man rush where he showed some deception before slipping it over to a teammate. The Shelton, Conn., native is intriguing because of his size. His defensive hockey sense and skating need work, but he’s a solid prep blue liner.
Michael Markowski
Frederick Gunn, 2/18/04, C, right shot, 6-2/181
Markowski had two goals on Thursday. The big power forward from Spring Lake, N.J., has already surpassed his point total from a year ago. He had nine in 2021-22 and hit double digits with his second tally in the game against Berkshire. He’s also almost doubled his goal-scoring output from a year ago, going from four to seven already. Markowski is one of a number of Frederick Gunn forwards who have helped Badger’s team start 7-0 with a true sense of scoring by committee.
Drew Anastasio
Loomis Chaffee, 4/9/05, D, left shot, 5-11/160
Anastasio moved well and made some plays, including a couple of nice stretch passes to spring-stretching forwards. He and '07 Jack Daly (Windsor Locks, Conn.) provided the Pelicans with some mobility and puck-moving on the top pair. From Simsbury, Conn., Anastasio had a solid fall with the Yale Junior Bulldogs and continued it on Thursday with his prep team.
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Now, let's review each team.
Frederick Gunn
Frederick Gunn received two goals from Markowski and solo tallies from Antonio Donohue, Alex LoGuercio, and Kyle Smyth. Ryan Crowshaw nearly blanked his opposition, but the shutout bid was squashed late in the proceeding.
I’ve seen Frederick Gunn three times now and there’s no doubt that Badger’s club is for real. There might not be a slam-dunk Division 1 prospect like the other top contenders, but this team has depth. All four lines can contribute and there’s age and experience on their side.
Unger - Donohue - Smyth
LoGuercio - Rothman - Ma. Pizzo
Mi. Pizzo - Thorn - Ferguson
Tollet - Markowski - Goich
Wood - Calabria
Fritz - Ryan
Eberhart - Wellburn
Crowshaw
Berkshire
It was a tough game for Berkshire as the Bears never got much of anything going. The ice was certainly tilted toward their netminder, recent Holy Cross commit Danick Leroux. As mentioned above, Davis is a bright spot up front. It’s going to be a long winter in Sheffield, Mass.
Davis - S. Bright - Marsh
Traggio - O’Donnell - W. Bright
Wysocki - Soja - Raifstanger
England - xx - Watts
Bard - Pasquale
Calderini - Williams
Connolly
Leroux
Loomis Chaffee
Loomis Chaffee rolled four lines for most of the night. The Pelicans would probably have been better off if they got their best players on the ice with more regularity. Ben Carfora (West Haven, Conn.) and Easton Swift (West Hartford, Conn.) made an impression on the top line while Yale commit Ryan Staples (Middletown, R.I.) and Indiana Grossbard (Wilton, Conn.) showed chemistry on another line.
As mentioned above, the surprise of the day for Loomis Chaffee was the top defensive pairing of '05 Drew Anastasio and '07 Jack Daly. Senior Andrew Heinze picked up the shutout in net.
Alissi - Carfora - Swift
Pashby - Healy - Reardon
Grossbard - Staples - Pompano
Tarjamo - Velepec - Woolcott
Daly - Anastasio
Son - Andriole
Hull - Hookman-Vassa
Heinze
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Trinity-Pawling
Bobby Ferraris’ team struggled to find the back of the net, but this is a team that could sneak up and surprise some opponents later in the season. The Pride were missing top forward Jackson Graber, who has missed all of the season so far with injury. Jason Musa, an '07, is the team’s top prospect. The Fort Myers, Fla., resident is a clone of his older brothers, '00 Joe of Dartmouth and '03 Jack of the Madison Capitols and a UMass commit.
Duncan - Iantorno - Buchanan
Musa - Fogu - Dickey
Fahrbach - Tola - Macrigiane
Denis - Drust
Bykov - Abram-Hale
Robitaille - Flintoff
Fehrenbaker
Avon Old Farms
This was my first live viewing of Avon Old Farms this winter. Having now seen all the top contenders, the Winged Beavers certainly look to be just as good, if not better, than any of the big boys in prep hockey.
John Gardner’s team can roll three forward lines and three solid defensive pairings. Obviously, the top line with Connor and Gollob can be a game-changer for AOF. Peck is a solid addition in net.
Connor - Gollob - Odyniec
Markonidis - Capasso - Munroe
Pelletier - Blanchard - Flaherty
Tian - Mirante - Yun
Palmer - Kennedy
Jones - Miller
Turcotte - Pitts
Peck
Tabor
This was a tough opener at the tournament for the Seawolves. As mentioned earlier in the story, Zaccari was the best player for Gerry Dineen’s squad on Thursday night. Up front, Will Doherty (Marshfield, Mass.) showed well in my first prep viewing of him since transferring from his hometown high school.
Doherty - Desruisseaux - X. Vaillancourt
Roberto - Dewberry - Itri
Quinn - Gaffney - Sheehan
Zaccari - O’Connor
Guden - Estey
Ackerman
Kent
Dale Reinhardt’s team was without its top two defensemen, Providence commit Alex Bales and Jacob Ingstrup. Obviously, those two injuries could be prohibitive later in the tournament, but the Lions still made easy work of a vastly outmatched St. Paul’s squad.
DiGiulian and Roberts stepped up to lead the offense while Teddy Mallgrave was solid on the blue line. He wasn’t tested much, but captain Harrison Fogel got the job done in net. A few players who don’t usually see the ice got some shifts, which was a thrill for them, I’m sure.
Roberts - DiGiulian - Mahar
Walsh - Fiedorczuk - Skoglund
Pfefferle - Bugliosi - Pietrantonio
Small - Kirkiles - Smekhov
Pohlman - Mallgrave
Damphousse - DiChiara
Schuyler
Fogel
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St. Paul’s
Dan Murphy’s team had a tough task in the nightcap, but credit to them for keeping the score closer than many would have expected. The Pelicans have brought in assistant coach Scott Harff, a 2009 alum of the school, to help bring back talent to Concord.
Michaud - Grady - Biggs
True - Viau - Terry
Cooley - Dermody - Vohra
Cox - Bohan
Ferraris - Doherty
Goldenberg
Murphy
