ATTLEBORO, Mass. — The Long Island Gulls captured the championship at the 16-U division of the Beast Series Playoffs.
The league playoffs took place at New England Sports Village, Foxboro Sports Center, Rodman Arena, Adelard Arena and a couple of other rinks in the area over the weekend. The Gulls defeated Boston Hockey Academy, Yale Junior Bulldogs and Buffalo Regals, en route to taking home the championship banner.
Vinny Smith’s team is loaded with talent. There likely isn’t a 16-U team in the entire country that can compare to the Gulls, when it comes to pure talent. After the three-win weekend at the Beast Playoffs, the Gulls have a 21-4-5 record.
The Gulls have five NCAA commits, including Ben Yurchuk (Northeastern), Logan Renkowski (Harvard) and Griffin Erdman (Dartmouth), all of whom had impressive weekends. Nicholas Fascia (Penn State) leads a solid blue line with his ability to break pucks up ice and defend with his mobility. Brian Nicholas (Michigan) is the other college commit for the Gulls.
Trevor Connolly, one of the most talented '06 forwards in the country, had a couple of highlight-reel plays over the course of the weekend, which is par for the course. He has the skill level to make the NTDP.
'05 Jamison Sluys played his off wing and made a couple of nice plays with his vision and also brought a gritty, physical element. With the team’s dominance, the goaltender can sometimes get overlooked. However, I liked the play of Zach Ferris, an '05 who previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.
The Buffalo Regals, coached by Brown alum Kyle Quick, were led to the championship game by its top line of center Ben Poitras, left wing Ty Creech and right wing Hunter Dickey. Poitras has been lights out of late and that included this past weekend. The Northeastern commit and Mississauga, Ontario, native is a smart, cerebral center. It seemed like he was involved in most of the offensive chances his team had over the weekend. Creech is a big, power forward who protects pucks, drives the net, and can dominate physically. Dickey’s skating is a work in progress, but his hands and shot are both notable.
The Yale Junior Bulldogs ran into a buzzsaw when Jon Bellonio and Paul Falanga’s team lost to the Gulls in the semifinals. The team’s clear standout over the weekend was '05 center Joe Connor, who plays at Avon Old Farms. The Amherst, N.H., native is a strong, power forward who can rip a puck. He did just that as he scored the overtime game-winner against the River Rats in Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinal.
USA Hockey Assistant Director of Player Personnel Brent Darnell was at the Beast Playoffs to watch a number of talented '06s playing up at the 16-U division. In addition to Connolly, he had his eyes on forwards Christian Humphreys (Bishop Kearney Selects), Matthew Frost (South Kent Selects Academy), and Kamil Bednarik (New Jersey Rockets).
