The North American Hockey League (NAHL) Robertson Cup National Championship will take place May 19-23 at the Fogarty Ice Arena in Blaine, Minn.
While the final four teams do not include any of the three organizations from New England, there are a handful of connections to the New England region. The Maryland Black Bears, winners of the Eastern Division, are familiar with this area having beaten the Northeast Generals and Maine Nordiques en route to the final four.
While Maryland undoubtedly has the most connections to New England, the Austin Bruins, Minnesota Wilderness, and Oklahoma Warriors also have familiar faces from the past and future.
Maryland’s most obvious connection to New England is '04 defenseman Trey Scott of Fitchburg, Mass. The Junior Bruins alum scored five goals and had 22 assists in 43 regular season games. He has added five assists in seven playoff tilts. He was rewarded by being selected in the second round of the recent USHL Phase II Draft by the Omaha Lancers.
The team’s top-scoring defenseman is UMass Lowell commit Sean Kilcullen. The '02 registered eight goals and 35 assists in 55 regular season games. In seven postseason games, he has added two goals and six assists.
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Maryland associate head coach Kim Weiss was recently inducted into the Trinity College Hall of Fame. A two-time captain of the NESCAC school, she was an illustrious player in her collegiate career before embarking on coaching. A rising star in the coaching profession, she served as a coach at the USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp last summer.
Three defensemen on the Austin Bruins are committed to Division 1 schools in New England. Former Mount Saint Charles blue liner James Goffredo has helped his stock tremendously throughout the 2022-23 season. He committed midway through, en route to a regular season in which he chipped in 13 goals and 24 assists in 58 games. The '03 tallied an additional three goals in the postseason. To say he exceeded all expectations would be putting it mildly.
Matthew Desiderio, an '05 Brown commit, has been a big part of the team’s success. He scored five goals and had 15 assists in the regular season and has added a goal and an assist in the playoffs. Also on the Austin blue line is NTDP product and Northeastern commit Kaden Muir.
The Minnesota Wilderness features a New England player in former Dexter Southfield right wing Donovan O’Neil. From Duxbury, Mass., the '02 scored three goals and had nine assists in 42 regular season games. He’s headed to Colby College in the fall. One of his teammates with Minnesota is Merrimack commit Max Wattvil. The '02 from Sweden is a key cog on the Minnesota blue line. He has a goal and three assists in seven playoff games.
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On the Oklahoma Warriors are a pair of former Neponset Valley River Rats teammates. Forward Brendan Williams and defenseman Cole Teleki skated for head coach Ross Pasquantonio’s squad in the fall of 2019 before playing for Avon Old Farms and Lawrence, respectively. The pair of '02s are integral parts of Oklahoma’s lineup. Williams, still uncommitted, has four goals and three assists in six playoff games after putting up 52 points in 55 regular-season contests. Teleki, a former Providence commit now slated to play at Division 1 upstart Lindenwood, has five assists in six playoff games. While neither player hails from New England, prep school hockey had a key role in their development.
