BELMONT, Mass. – The annual Belmont Hill Jamboree brought NHL scouts and college coaches to the Jordan Athletic Center on the ISL campus.
In addition to the host school, Brunswick, Proctor, St. Mark’s, Upper Canada College and Winchendon took part in the scrimmages on Saturday. Each team played two games that consisted of three 15-minute periods with a trio of officials.
The final game of the day between Belmont Hill and Brunswick was worth waiting for. The home team found the back of the net twice and kept the visitors off the board. Mikey Sullivan (North Andover, Mass.) and Patrick Woods (Charlestown, Mass.) were the goal scorers. Keagin Wilson (Hingham, Mass.) and Jason Thibodeau (Waltham, Mass.) combined for the shutout in net for the Sextants.
I watched the entire last game and parts of a few other games, due to attending Boston University’s exhibition game against USA Hockey’s NTDP U18 down the road in between. Below is a synopsis of the teams in attendance with the most emphasis on Belmont Hill and Brunswick.
Belmont Hill
Belmont Hill defeated Proctor, 8-1, and Brunswick, 2-0, to go undefeated at its own jamboree. The team did so without the services of top defenseman and Harvard commit Matthew Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.).
Junior left wing Jake McManus (Winthrop, Mass.) scored six goals in the morning game. That comes on the heels of lighting the lamp just three times as a sophomore. He was quiet against Brunswick, but if he can provide some secondary spark, it will help Brian Phinney’s team quite a bit. He’s quick, shifty and has some skill. McManus, an '05, is coming off a strong fall with the Junior Eagles 18U.
Woods, an '07, centered the fourth line. He showed off his speed and second gear on his goal where he split the defense before scoring on a nice finish.
Without Biotti, a few defensemen stepped up and showed some signs. `05 Lenny Greenberg, from El Segundo, Calif., has a track record as a USHL draft pick and winning a national championship with the Bishop Kearney Selects.
Two local guys who stood out were '06s Grayson Cohen (Weston, Mass.) and Jack Duffy (Walpole, Mass.). Cohen was able to promote possession and push the puck north with his ability to evade oncoming forecheckers. He opened his hips and protected the puck well. Duffy is on the smaller side and didn’t get as much ice time, but his breakouts were on the tape and he doesn’t try to do too much.
Neither Wilson nor Thibodeau were tested a lot, but both got the job done and stopped all but one shot they faced. There will be a learning curve for both young goalies, but Saturday can only be seen as a positive step in the right direction for a team that will have to rely on an '06 and '07 goaltender for the entire prep season.
Lines
Markham-Cummings-O’Donnell
McManus-Daignault-Carter
Sullivan-Waugh-Schmidek
Lee-Woods-Beshere
Tavares
Doolan-Cohen
Greenberg-Verville
Butler-Dresser
S. Kilcoyne-Duffy
Wilson
Thibodeau
Brunswick
The Bruins were without two key forwards, returning leading scorer Eli Friedman, an '05 committed to Yale, and another '05, Sean Gibbons of Fairfield, Conn. With those two in the lineup, this Brunswick team has an extremely talented top-six forward group.
Saturday, the top line was '06 Drew DellaSalla, a Harvard commit, on the left wing with '04 James Shannon (Greenwich, Conn.) and Brendan Giles (Ridgefield, Conn.) at center and right wing, respectively. That’s still a good top line, but outside of DellaSalla, the trio weren’t able to get much in the way of scoring.
PRESEASON RANKINGS: Two teams in this story made our top 10 to open the season
Sloan Farmer, an '05 (Old Greenwich, Conn.), and '06 Cooper Cleaves (Greenwich, Conn.) are a solid top pair, but the blue line depth will be a concern for Mike Kennedy’s team this season. Brendan Holahan, an '04 (New Canaan, Conn.), played in goal versus Belmont Hill and will serve as the team’s captain.
Lines
DellaSalla-Shannon-Giles
Vincent-Drury-T. Spiess
Hu-Minella-Wachtel
Crosby-Choy-L. Hall
Farmer-Cleaves
H. Spiess-C. Hall
Grimes
Holahan
Baker
St. Mark’s
The Lions went 2-0 against Proctor and Upper Canada College. Neither was obviously a big threat, but the team did so without star '07 forward Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.).
Two committed '05s, Air Force’s Andrew Gibbons (Wakefield, R.I.) and Holy Cross’ James Lyver (Grafton, Mass.) were noticeable. The other forward who stood out was Austin Borrgaard (Charlton, Mass.). He’s a power forward whose skating and shot can both be explosive. He’s starting to learn how to use his teammates and be less of a one-dimensional player. If that continues trending in the right direction, he could find his way to a Division 1 commitment, likely in Atlantic Hockey.
On defense, the team sorely missed Northeastern commit and San Jose Sharks draft pick Michael Fisher (Southboro, Mass.) who is now with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. The one defenseman who had the puck a lot was '05 Calvin Beard (Southboro, Mass.).
Winchendon
Winchendon certainly doesn’t have the talent or depth of the first three teams mentioned, but Brian Troy’s club played hard and physical against Brunswick. The team’s undisputed top prospect is '05 defenseman Jake Freelove (Tyngsboro, Mass.). He’s tall, long and can make plays with the puck on his stick. He’s still raw, but he has Hockey East upside.
Two young forwards who’ve caught my eye in fall hockey and could take steps for the Wapitis in time are '07 Trevor Pellecchia (Leominster, Mass.) and '08 Ben Short (Lunenburg, Mass.). On defense, keep an eye out for '06 Johnny Harbour (Yarmouthport, Mass.).
Proctor
There wasn’t a lot to smile about if you were a Hornets fan on Saturday. The team lost by combined double digits against Belmont Hill and St. Mark’s. One forward who played well enough for mention is '05 left wing Finn Connor (Hampton, N.H.). If the name is familiar, it is because he’s the cousin of Northeastern commit and Avon Old Farms star Joe Connor (Amherst, N.H.).
Lines
Marrocco-Groth-Watton
Connor-Fickenscher-Pyle
Davis-Dougherty-Oberting
Maher-T. Gwatkin-Trembler
M. O’Connell-Kwak
Delaney-C Gwatkin
C. O’Connell-Mensforth
Lopes
Pasqualone
Dakers
Upper Canada College
The visitors from north of the border struggled against Belmont Hill Friday and then against St. Mark’s on Saturday. The one player on the team who caught my eye was '05 defenseman Liam MacKenzie. A big righty from Toronto, he skated with his head up, made some plays in transition, and showed some flashes of brilliance. He left you wanting more and there’s reason to watch MacKenzie again.
Lines
Tremblay-Han-Baxter
Daiello-Thuskuska-Kukulowicz
Laurin-D’Alesio-Lazarus
Russo-Schneeberg
Xing-Carrier
Desaulniers-MacKenzie
Dermer-Little
Kedwell-Thompson
Clusiau
Nakka
Rivett
