The Massachusetts Hockey CCM High Performance Final 40 is this weekend. It’s the last chance for players born between 2005 and 2007 to prove to a handful of evaluators that they belong among the district’s representatives at this summer’s USA Hockey Player Development Camps.
The three different age groups will each play two games over the course of the weekend at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro. Action kicks off on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the '07s, followed by the '06s and '05s at 4 and 6, respectively. On Sunday, game times are 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m.
Cushing head coach Paul Pearl is the director of the district’s player development program. The Winthrop, Mass., native played and coached at Holy Cross before becoming an assistant coach at Harvard and Boston University. He just wrapped up his first season as head coach of the Penguins.
The evaluators are college coaches, NHL scouts and family advisors.
Gallant, Mutryn join the action
The two best '07s in Massachusetts were noticeably absent from the second portion of the festival tryouts two weekends ago. St. Mark’s left wing Richard Gallant (Concord, Mass.) and St. Sebastian’s center Teddy Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.) both had upper-body injuries. However, according to the rosters released by Mass. Hockey, Gallant and Mutryn will both be on the ice this weekend. That puts a damper on the hopes of a few 2007-born players on the bubble in terms of making national camp.
Who might step up?
Fair or not, most of the top players have already solidified their spots atop the rankings before events such as these begin. As expected, players such as '06 defenseman Will Felicio (Holden, Mass.) and '07 left wing Mikey Munroe (Hanover, Mass.) held down top spots in their respective age groups after the first weekend of May.
It didn’t all go chalk, however. A few players stepped up two weekends ago and made a name for themselves. Governor’s left wing Michael Ranaldi had a terrific weekend at the '05 birth year. Not a complete unknown, the Newburyport, Mass., native certainly improved his chances of earning a spot at Select 17s in Buffalo. The biggest surprise of the festival tryouts was the play of Matthew Carolan (Stow, Mass.), an '07 who will be a newcomer at Belmont Hill in the fall.
Who could step up and steal a spot at national camp from one of the players who entered the festival with more of a legitimate chance? It will be fun to watch that unfold this weekend.
NHL scouts singing the blues
There was a lot of buzz after the festival two weekends ago about how the lackluster the '05 class in Massachusetts is. It’s only fair to note that the group is missing Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.), Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.), Will Vote (Arlington, Mass.) and Will McDonough (Duxbury, Mass.). The first three are ineligible for national camp as a result of playing for the NTDP and McDonough gets a free pass, due to his time in the USHL.
After that, it gets bleak in terms of the district’s 2023 draft-eligible players at the '05 birth year. There will be a number of NHL scouts in attendance this weekend, hoping to see a player or two emerge.
As of now, it looks like their only true hope for a highly coveted 2023 draft prospect is late '04 Sean Keohane, a Milton, Mass., native and Harvard commit who is reportedly heading back to Dexter Southfield for his senior season.
