Little Flyers Eastern Hockey League weekend wrap up. The High School Count Down

Little Flyers,  Zach Felser continues making a statement.  Tied for seventh overall in points with 18.  Those come from 6 goals and 12 assists.   Against Dalton Carter and the Cyclones Felser had a 2 point game, all the while being shadowed by no less than 2 cyclones at all times.  A cyclones club that has no less than 3 NCAA d1 future players.  
Head Coach Rocky Russo told the team to play the Little Flyers brand of hockey, when he said “We’re looking to go out and play a physical, blue collar type of hockey.  We need to suppress their offense, as well as sustain offensive pressure in their zone. We also want Alec Derks to have the type of solid game we’ve grown to expect.”  1996 birth year USHL/ Team USA prospect Derks now has a 1.22 GAA and ultra elite .957 save percentage.  He is when look at bad ass goalies...in any league,  as bad ass as they come.  The Illinois net minder has made his case.   Pickerington Ohio standout Jude Warner looks to be fully recovered from minor injury in preseason play, and showing his intensity on the ice, he found the net twice against the Cyclones in the 5-0 rout.  While center-men Austin Kelly went pointless in the game, his overall play was contribution enough, battling in all three zones.
the Little flyers won three games in four days.  They won them commandingly  beating the Revolution 6-1, Boston 4-0 and the Northern Cyclones 5-0.   Felser tallied 6 pts in the 3 contests and is maintaining a healthy 1.7 PPG
Moving Forward on Nov 16 the Little Flyers face the New Hampshire Jr monarchs 12 wins and 2 losses and were pegged as the team to beat this year.  More on that as that date draws ever nearer.


Well Ohio High School Fans.  Three Days and a wake up call untill the season kicks off!  Get your team colors and school pride going for the puck drop!

EHL showdown. Philidelphia Little Flyers Vs Northern Cyclones

October 26 th at 8pm.  Dalton Carter and Drew Crandal of the Northern Cylones EHL hockey team travel south to Philadelphia and the Ice Work arena.  Home of the Little Flyers, Zach Felser and Austin Kelly, for battle of former Ohio HS standouts. 
You can watch the game LIVE here FAST HOCKEY
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Pregame...
Northern Cylones
8 games played
7 wins
1 loss.
Goals for 55
Goals against 16
Dalton Carter 8 games played 3 goals, 10 assits, 13 pts and 4 PIM
Drew Crandal 1 games played 0 goals, 0 assits, 0 pts and 0 PIM
The cyclones are ranked 2nd in the EHL north division and have a win 87.5%

Philadelphia Little Flyers
9 games played
4 wins
4 losses
1 tie
Goals for 27
Goals against 18
Zach Felser 9 games played 5 goals, 9 assits, 14 pim
Austin Kelly 9 games played 5 goals, 2 assist 4 pim

The Little Flyers are 3rd in the EHL south division and have a 500 win %

Fleser is tied for 9th in EHL scoring, Carter 15th and Kelly 70th

ALex Dirks Goalie of the Little Flyers sits a top all EHL goalie with a 1.47 GAA and whomping near 94% save percentage. on 114 shots, over 5 games
Brendan Tidman of the Northern Cyclones is 12th with a 2.72 GAA and 89 Save percentage on 84 shots in 4 games.
 The Cyclones are on a 5 game winning streak and have made little roster moves.  The Little Flyers have a 1 game winning streak, made several roster changes in October.
The little Flyers are ranked 3rd in teh league with home losses having had 3.  The Cyclones have 5 players in double digit points, 3 of which are defensemen, which fits for their shoot from the point style.  The Little Flyers have 2 with double digit prodcution and considering their physical play have 254 PIM to the Cyclones 62 PIM
The Cyclones are 3rd in the league at 27% on the PP and the little Flyers are 1st in PK 90.5%

It will be a good match up.

So when players are looking ahead, why choose the Eastern Hockey League?  Location, location location.  Playing in close proximity to 2/3 of all NCAA programs has its perks.  You get seen , at a low cost of recruiting for those schools.  While keeping in mind that 1/3 to as much as Half of all NCAA commitments come pre JR hockey, EVERY league takes advantage of those commitments.  The USHL on Down.  IF a players for you that has a commitment, its listed.  The EHL does pride itself on leading all league in Earned NCAA commitments, the majority are Division 2, 3 it does illustrate to the prospective player and his familiy the overall quality of the league.
last years look

Boston Bandits
Parker Bowen - Salve Regina
Jack Burton - Colby College
Michael Chen – Concordia-Wisconsin
Nick Finn - Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey)
Tyler Kapp - Providence College (Hockey East)
Michael Phillips - Babson College (ECAC East)
Matt Salhany – Alabama-Huntsville (WCHA)
Jake Soffer – RPI (ECAC)
Luke Stickel - Williams College (NESCAC)
Matt Sullivan - Bowdoin College (NESCAC)
Mike Van Siclen - Colby College
Kevin Walters - Utica College

Boston Jr. Rangers
Kevin Airoldi - Stonehill (Northeast-10)
* Sam Bernard - Sacred Heart University (Atlantic Hockey)
Logan Brown - SUNY-Potsdam (SUNY)
Ryan Doherty - Salem State University (MASCAC)
Shane Dowd - Franklin Pierce University (Northeast-10)
Taylor Fletcher - Franklin Pierce University (Northeast-10)
John Harty - University of New England (ECAC East)
Alex Minter - Salem State University (MASCAC)
& Chris Paulin - Niagara University (Atlantic Hockey)
Brad Rochville - Saint Anselm College (ECAC East)
Alex Rusinak - Salem State (MASCAC)
Alex Taddeo - Worcester State University (MASCAC)

Connecticut Oilers
Sam Boyd - UMASS-Boston
Nick Casacci - Potsdam University
Phil Dinner - Manhattanville College
Grant Garvin – Holy Cross (Atlantic Hockey)
Conor Lamberti - Hamilton College
Brett Oldaker - Franklin Pierce University
Jake Rosen - Buffalo State
Gryphon Richardson - Hobart College
Dylan Smith - SUNY-Oswego

Hartford Jr.  Wolfpack
Anthony Beaumont - SUNY-Buffalo State (SUNYAC)
* Nick Belger - Sacred Heart University (Atlantic Hockey)
Rob Belger - Nichols College (ECAC Northeast)
Vincent Caligiuri - SUNY-Potsdam (SUNYAC)
Mark Essery - Framingham State University (MASCAC)
Vaughn Guetens - Framingham State University (MASCAC)
James Hyatt - Johnson & Wales University (ECAC Northeast)
Gene Lane - Babson College (ECAC East)
Nick Owen - Elmira College (ECAC West)
Joe Quintana - Nichols College (ECAC Northeast)
Scott Wood - Suffolk University (ECAC Northeast)

New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs
Nick Bingaman - Hobart
Tyler Bishop – UMass-Boston
Cam Brown - Maine (Hockey East)
Alex Devine - Salve Regina
Patrick Feeley - University of Vermont (Hockey East)
Derek Freeman - Colgate University (ECAC)
Dane Geonard - Western New England College
Patrick Kearns – Wentworth
Ty Lasker - Johnson & Wales (ECAC Northeast)
Steve McKenna - University of Alabama-Huntsville (WCHA)
& Brian Morgan - University of Maine (Hockey East)
* Derek Pratt - University of Connecticut (Hockey East)
Evan Schultz – SUNY-Oswego (SUNYAC)
Devon Smith - Wentworth
Corey Wisnowski - Connecticut College

New Hampshire Lakers
Christian Merritt - University of New England (ECAC East)
Kevin Murphy - Assumption College (Northeast-10)
Aaron Peterson - Becker College (ECAC Northeast)
Greg Soltes - Johnson & Wales (ECAC Northeast)

New Jersey Rockets
# Nolan Aibel - Yale University (ECAC)
& Zach Aston-Reese - Northeastern University (Hockey East)
Sam Bloom - Skidmore College (ECAC East)
# Jeremy Bracco - Harvard University (ECAC)
& * Joe Grabowski - Princeton University (ECAC)
John Quinlan - New England College (ECAC East)

New Jersey Titans
Brendan Conroy - Bowdoin College (NESCAC)
Chris Pantaleo - Becker College (ECAC Northeast)

New York Applecore
Steve Santini - Boston College (Hockey East)
& Kevin Lohan - University of Michigan (NCHC)
Justin LaCorte - Nazareth
Colin Reilly - Colby College
Yuri Sokayev - UMass-Dartmouth
Tyler Young - Williams College
Sal Magliocco - Elmira College

New York Bobcats
# Tommy Bucci - Mercyhurst (Atlantic Hockey)
Chris Fersini - New England College
J.D. Rassett - SUNY-Geneseo (SUNYAC)
Tommy Telesca - SUNY-Potsdam (SUNYAC) 

Northern Cyclones
Connor Bates - University of New England (ECAC East)
Grant Gallo - University of New England (ECAC East)
Jonathan Houk - UMass-Dartmouth (MASCAC)
Jurgen Koster - UMass-Boston (ECAC East)
Simon Leahy - Suffolk University (ECAC East)
Zach Lindsay - UMass-Boston (ECAC East)
J.J. Solloway - UMass-Dartmouth (MASCAC)
Sean Swansen - Nichols College (ECAC Northeast)
Devin Welch - UMass-Dartmouth (MASCAC)
Ty Zampitella - UMass-Boston (ECAC East)

Philadelphia Little Flyers
Sam Manzi - Williams College (NESCAC)
& Michael Marchionda - Franklin Pierce University (Northeast-10)
Brian Oseija - Becker College (ECAC Northeast)
& Anthony Pino - Neumann University (ECAC West)
& John Rey - Robert Morris University (Atlantic Hockey)
& * Doug Rose - Sacred Heart University (Atlantic Hockey)

Philadelphia Junior Flyers
Ben Brouillard - Johnson & Wales University (ECAC Northeast)
Fran Mackin - Johnson & Wales University (ECAC Northeast)
Jim LeNoir - Worcester State University (MASCAC)

Philadelphia Revolution
Jordan Hanth - Utica
Dane Genord - Western New England
Sam Hicks - Wesleyan
Ben Hicks - Wesleyan
Casie Garrison – SUNY-Cortland
 

Valley Jr. Warriors
Ryan Fitzgerald - Boston College (Hockey East)
Brendan Collier - Boston University (Hockey East)
Devin Tringale – Harvard (ECAC)
Gus Harms - Northeastern (Hockey East)
Jake Schechter - Northeastern (Hockey East)
* Ryan Badger - Maine (Hockey East)
John Rogeri - Saint Anslem College (ECAC East)
Nick Leonard – Saint Anslem College (ECAC East)
Nick Pichette - Norwich
Chris Tracy - Salve Regina
Marcus Moles - Fredonia
Albee Daley - Castleton
John Needham - Salem State
Joe Scarfo - Curry College
Blake Barnes - Gustavus Adolphus

Walpole Express
Dan Antonoff - University of New England (ECAC East)
C.J. Blaszka - Saint Anslem College (ECAC East)
Nick Commesso - Assumption College (Northeast-10)
David Goff - University of New England (ECAC East)
Zach Hafeman - St. Olaf College (MIAC)
Matt Lee - SUNY-Geneseo (SUNYAC)
Collin O'Neil - Neumann University (ECAC West)
Stanton Turner - Suffolk University (ECAC East)

Washington Jr. Nationals
Kevin Collins - Becker College (ECAC Northeast)
Mitch Collum - Suffolk University (ECAC East)
Ryan Gomez - Assumption College (Northeast-10)
Connor Lawrence - Suffolk University (ECAC East)
Aaron Madsen - New England College (ECAC East)
Alex Schleper - Franklin Pierce University (Northeast-10)
Garrett Stephenson - Suffolk University (ECAC East)
Dan Shirilla - New England College (ECAC East)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights
Jack Ceglarski - SUNY-Geneseo (SUNYAC)
Mike DeLaVergne - Buffalo State (SUNYAC)
Tommy Dowell - Plymouth State University (MASCAC)
Hunter Long - SUNY-Fredonia (SUNYAC)
Erik Moberg - SUNY-Fredonia (SUNYAC)
Marcus Ortiz - SUNY-Fredonia (SUNYAC)






This year so far

Boston Jr. Rangers
Sam Bernard - Sacred Heart University (Atlantic Hockey) *
Chris Paulin - Niagara University (Atlantic Hockey) &

New Jersey Rockets
Nolan Aibel - Yale University (ECAC) #
Jeremy Bracco - Harvard University (ECAC) #
Troy Conzo - UMass (Hockey East) %
Joe Grabowski - Princeton University (ECAC) & *

Valley Jr. Warriors

Ryan Badger - Maine (Hockey East) *
 

understanding the path to college hockey

Be a student.  Its that simple.  You as a player must, MUST, have the grades and standardized testing scores to keep doors open.  You maybe the next great one, but if your grades are as high, as a rock on water, the ncaa is not your path.   The path for any college bound athlete begins here.

Its not just about finish AAA/HS/Preps and going off to Jr's.  No coach in the world can make the NCAA change their standards.  Further, DO NOT forget, there are very, very few "full rides".  The most NCAA d1 scholarships available to schools is 18.  I dont care where you go, or what you heard, the number is 18 D1 full scholarships.  That money is spread around 25 to as many as 30 guys, do the math. So you need to have the grades, to get the academic money.  Money which conferences like the ECAC only uses, that is right since the Ivy's do not have athletic scholarships...athletes must be students first.  Then there is the Atlantic conference which just increased their scholarships to 16 for 2014.  So if hockey is your dream, you had best apply yourself in school.  D3 schools, do not have athletic scholarships, again only academic, and the general picture is that money offsets your fees to about that of average state school, if your good.
The hockey lifestyle....eating well, getting proper rest, studying, working out, and playing hockey.  In that order.

Good to the last drop.  That is what the commercials tell us, but what happens after the last drop, after that final moment, of your final shift in your final game?   For most in HS this will have been your largest stage, and unless you go on to play in the hotter NAHL markets or the USHL or BCHL or NCAA  you will never again play before such crowds.  The JR player, hopefully you have exhausted yourself in every moment of every day, and been able to answer affirmatively that you have done all you could in each moment to improve. THe NCAA player should have done the same, and again in the class room.  What now?  It is time for the rest of your life, friend.  Time for you take all you have learned in sport, from competition and apply it to your daily life, to your own family.  Hopefully you find it within yourself in time, to return, and mentor others.  Individual greatness is an amazing, and generally very temporary state of being.   It is however in those longer lasting moments after greatness, helping others who desire to follow in your footsteps that matter most, that are the most impactful.   Your wisdom, your experiences are invaluable tools of education and inspiration.  Those last forever, that is true legacy.
more to come....

 

October the PRE wind down of PRE post hockey

October is an interesting month in Ohio.  Deer archery season is full stride, the leaves have begun to turn.  The cool crisp mornings carry the scent of falls splendor.  The hockey players notice the rink has good chill as they enter the arena, and for the tried and true Ohio HS hockey fan, Pre Post hockey is winding down.   So we take look at what we see on the Ohio landscape as once the November 1st date hits, its all HS until Mar1'ish as the state finals down at the ENORMOUSLY EMPTY VOID of Nation Wide arena are March 8&9th.

The Sylvania North Stars 18u club dismantled Team Ohio 5-1, shut out Team Columbus 5-0, and again 4-1.  Also Beating Team Ohio back in Sept 4-2.  Its clear the North Stars are notch above in the state.  They have been for the past 3 USA Hockey National Series, but falling short in the USA Hockey finals.  There are signs this maybe a different year.  In out of state competition National stage perennial power house the Afton Americans, who consistently field great YEAR ROUND teams and consistently play in the USA Hockey Nationals. Afton defeated Sylvania by a narrow 1-0 score.  Team Cleveland, who looks to be building up for a strong showing also lost to the Afton squad, and also trails Sylvania and Team Ohio by the narrowest of margins on the National rankings Sylvania. Less than a .75 points separate the three clubs.    Sylvania played MI elite AAA 18u to a 2-1 loss Team Ohio lost 3-2 to them earlier.  This MI AAA club has played and played well tier 1 eliet power houses Compuware, VH west Mi hounds and Honeybaked in some very heated contests.  While these OH AA teams are not ready for those heavy hitters, they do have a handful of players who are, they just lack the overall depth to be competitive for 3 periods of that caliber hockey.  But it is close enough, just close enough to cause question as to when Mike Mankowski will pull the trigger and pit a full season 18u AAA North Star  on the ice.

Felser now tied for #1 spot in EHL scoring.

There are many ways for the Junior hockey player to establish they kind of player he is, and what he brings to the NCAA and Professional table.  All defined by position, and role.  Zach Felser is a goal scorer and play-maker, adding 2 goals and assit lastnight agaisnt cross town rival Philadelphia Jr Flyers.  Now just three games into the long season.  Felser is tied for first place in scoring.  His 10 points having come from 4 goals and 6 assist, in three games.  The rest of the top 10 have 5 games or more.  The 5'9" 165lb forward is fortunate to playing for a coach who had watched him grow, push and develop.  Coach Russo, formerly of the Amarillo Bulls NAHL, has pushed Felser more, pushing him to push others.  Playing on line centered by former Toledo St Johns standout, and long time team mate Austin Kelly (4goals, 2 assist, 6 pts) and Waterford Mi native Jesse McIntyre (3 goals, 3 Assist 6 pts) makes this a prototypical east coast, Hockey East caliber line.  with average height of 5'9 3/4" and weights of 173lbs.  The speedsters have explosiveness, vision and hockey sense.  All being maximized in a system where they are able truly uses those skills to exploit the opposition.
The Ohio-Michigan connection line, is racking up numbers, and attention.  Attention that will surely aid in some no longer wondering what is happening in the Ohio Hockey scene, but coming to see first hand.  Making moves of their own, creating competition and ultimately opportunity for these rising stars, who shall follow in their footsteps.  Not every 6.7 years.  But with much great frequency, and hopefully as Ohio's HS graduate some, may do so having already earned a commitment from and NCAA program, a commitment that will aid in opening doors of development.  Commitments like that will only come from time spent by the schools themselves watching from the stands, or remotely on web sites like fast hockey, should the Ohio HS's take the time to order the services.

Zach Felser earns EHL honors

Following each weekend every league posts league honors / recognitions for the Teams and players from the previous weekend.   In his junior hockey debut,  the Philadelphia Little Flyers, and Zach Felser earned the #1 spot.   The link to the EHL web site is preceded by a copy of that write bellow.

http://easternhockeyleague.pointstreaksites.com/view/easternhockeyleague/ehl-news/news_88017

5
New York Bobcats vs. New York Applcecore.  It's not really the Battle of Long Island since that name was claimed in 1776 when the British drubbed the Americans in the Revolutionary War.  Oh yeah ... and New York Applecore moved from the Island to Brewster, N.Y., a few years ago.  It's not really a re-kindling of a once-fierce rivalry since Applecore and the New York Bobcats have never played in the same Junior league.  But everybody assumed these two teams would immediately form a spirited -- maybe even grudge-filled -- rivalry.  They did not disappoint.  They split one-goal games last weekend with the home team claiming the victory each night.  Plenty of PIMs but plenty of playoff-like intensity.  Don't miss their future dates.

4
Parity.  With a new league name and six new organizations joining the EHL ranks, most clairvoyants and Tarot card readers were having trouble identifying how the mix of teams would acquit themselves on the ice.  With EHL teams having played between one and seven games, there is only one winless squad and four undefeated teams.  Three of the four undefeated teams have played two or fewer games.  On any given night ... NCAA scouts will witness a competitive game.

3
High-scoring trio of Northern Cyclones players – Chris Zuccaro, Grant Gallo and Kevin Valenti – waited until third week of season to get into action but burst on the 2013-14 campaign by leading Cyclones to 6-0 (Boston Jr. Rangers) and 7-2 (Valley Jr. Warriors) victories.  Zuccaro put up 1-7-8 numbers in those two game, Gallo managed 5-1-6 numbers from his blueline post and Valenti split his contribution with 3-3-6 totals.

2
Philadelphia Revolution’s Riley Egan led his team to its first win of the season – a 7-1 shellacking of Washington – by factoring on five of the seven goals.  He talled twice and added three assists to get the Revolution into the win column.

1
The Philadelphia Little Flyers kicked off their season last week and jumped out to a 2-0 record by scoring 11 goals and only giving up two. Zach Felser has carried a big load offensively with three assists in the 5-0 win over Washington and two goals and two assist in the 6-2 win over the Titans.

Big weekend for former Ohio players

I watched proudly as former Ohio HS players continued to carve stake their claim in the JR hockey world.  There was so much that took place I am having some difficulty figuring out the best course in relaying everything.


Lets start where the sun rises in the east, with Dalton Carter.  Dalton Carter, Sylvania Northview's

  former center.  Dalton converted back to his roots on the blue line early last season, after being moved by the NAHL Kalamazoo K wings,  and had a spectacular season.  Following that up, not missing a beat, bigger, stronger, and faster, Dalton is named team captain for the Cyclones of the Easter Hockey League.  Then just two min into the season opener he fired a bomb to tally the teams first goal of the season.  Now in just two regular season games carter has 1g 2 a for 3 pts.  Dalton is highly rated NCAA division 3 prospect and NCAA division 1, in this his final season of Jr hockey.

Zander Pryor of the USPHL Elite Bay State Breakers has had a solid beginning to his Jr career.  The Breakers sit in the leagues 2nd place with 5 wins and 1 loss.  Pryor another Sylvania Northview product produced his first helper in his second game.  Followed that with another in his third and popped his cherry against the Portland Pirates on 9-28.  He now has 3 solid point, and including this season has a three full jr seasons at his disposal.  He is out of the gate, and on his way.

We maintain our east coast trek, visiting the city of brotherly love, or as a food lover, the land of steak and cheese.  Where that battle is between Pats pictured here on the right and Ginos

Pictured here on the left.
You will have to decied if your a Pats or Ginos fan.

What else is happening in Philly?  Just a little hockey, and look no farther than the Philadelphia Little Flyers.  Where you can find two Ohio players that have played together and against each other. They have played against each other in one of the hottest rivalries in Ohio, ( Toledo St. Johns and Sylvania Northview) are again playing together.  Zach Felser and Austin Kelly.   The pair in the Little Flyers first two games have amassed a combined 13 points.  Felser #15  has 2 goals 5 assits for 7 points.  Pictured here scoring his first goal, a nice back hand.

   Kelly #14 has 4 goals, 1 assit for 5 points.  3 of his goals are a hat trick series from his second game.  Kelly is pictured here just in front of the goal,  scoring his first, a redirect.

Right hand raised doing a fist pump.

as we move west we stop in Canada and the GMGHL where Alex Wooley is in a back up goalie role with the Orangeville Americans.  Moving south to Ohio and the MNJHL Great lakes division.  The Wooster Oilers are 7-3 to start the year.  Josh Eubank has appeared in all ten games and is putting up good number 6 goals and 5 assist.  It would have been nice to have seen Josh catch on in a more competitive league and push himself and get more exposure, I am guessing he is comfortable, and comfort leads to static development.  Good news is the 6'4" 200lb 1994 has another year of eligibility, and count on us working to make sure he gets pushed!  

Further West and in the NA3HL Toledo Cherokee reside in second place.  We find big goalie Nate Gay.  At 6'4" and 210lbs Nate is big by any measure.  Maintaining a .897 Save % and 2.41 GAA.  I believe Nate can push himself and get that Save % up around .91 and the GAA down to 1.9.  The big news for the Cherokee is Tyler Zalecki, who is leading the team in scoring.  6 games, 5 goals 1 helper.  he is way ahead of his lastyears final stats of 47 games played 24 goals and 28 assist.

As we move North again to Canada.  We see several former Ohio kids playing in Leamington.

Leamington is in second place of the Western Conference in the GOJHL.  6 wins, one loss.  Lets start in net with Austyn Roudebusch  Started 3 games, 2 wins and 1 loss.  2.02 GAA and .93 save % put Roudi in elite category.  Out in front of him we find Graham Kelsey a former Sylvania Northview player.  The solid defenseman has 2 assist and is a rock on the blue line.  Moving up to the attack we find Nathan Opblinger with 1 goal and 7 helpers on the season.

In the NAHL we find  Nolan Culver #29 with the Minnesota Wilderness.  Culver reported to the Wilderness on Wednesday the 25th, just in time for the expansion clubs inaugural home opener against the Fairbanks Ice dogs.  Culver played an active role in helping the Wilderness over come injury adversary and handing the Ice Dogs their first defeat of the season.  #2 Connor Frey of the Amarillo Bulls has battled his way to being a regular on the blue line this season, infact he logged some of the most min of any bulls d men at the Blaine showcase, where a record 346 scouts from every level of hockey resisted to watch the players.