NORTH BRANFORD, Conn. — The Northeast Pack held its playoffs for 14-U, 15 Only, 16-U, and 18-U over the weekend at the Northford Ice Pavilion.
A number of college coaches, NHL and junior scouts, and agents attended the three-day event. The five-team league consists of Mount Saint Charles, Long Island Gulls, Bishop Kearney Selects, New Jersey Rockets and Pittsburgh Penguins Elite. Mount Saint Charles won the playoffs at the 15 Only and 18-U divisions while Pittsburgh Penguins Elite and Bishop Kearney emerged victorious at 14-U and 16-U, respectively.
At 14U, the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite bested Mount Saint Charles, 7-4, in Sunday’s championship game. As he has been for a few years now, John Mooney was the catalyst for the Penguins all tournament long. Mount Saint Charles had more depth, but Mooney and special teams doomed the boys from Woonsocket.
In the 15 Only division, the same two organizations met in the final, but Mount Saint Charles came out on top. James Hagens and Sacha Boisvert each scored in the shootout while goaltender Jack Parsons shut the door at the other end. Defenseman Will Felicio led the way on the blue line and winger JJ Monteiro stepped up and had a huge weekend in a secondary scoring role. Mount Saint Charles 15 Only, coached by Scott Gainey and Jim Creamer, has the best record of any national bound team in the country at this age group.
The only real upset occurred at 16U with BK Selects taking down the Long Island Gulls, the top-ranked team in the country, in Sunday morning’s final. Nick Shaw’s tip-in goal was the difference as BK Selects held on late to defeat the Gulls, 2-1.
Mount Saint Charles claimed the last championship of the day Sunday, downing BK Selects by a score of 4-2 to capture the 18U banner. Led by UMass commit and first-line right wing Cam O’Neill, Mount had too much talent for the rest of the field. BK Selects got to the final thanks to a trio of college commits, forwards Ryan Conmy (UNH) and Charlie Major (Cornell) and defenseman Jack Henry (Yale), leading the way.
Top 14-U prospects
Forwards
John Mooney
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, 3/8/07, C, right shot, 5-5/145
Mooney is an elite forward in the age group and has even proved himself while playing up at times the last two seasons. He’s on the smaller side, but his agility, skill, craftiness, and deception make him a threat to score or set up his teammates each shift. If he’s given time and space, he can make opposing teams pay. He’s especially lethal on the man advantage.
Jack Murtagh
BK Selects, 1/1/07, LW, left shot, 5-11/145
Murtagh scored a couple highlight-reel goals, showing off his tremendous shot and overall skill. One was a wrist shot he rocketed under the bar. He has grown a couple of inches and is showing all the attributes of being a power forward with skill. He’s the younger brother of UConn commit and Frederick Gunn senior Michael Murtagh.
Conrad Fondrk
Mount Saint Charles, 6/1/07, LW, 5-9/150
Fondrk had a big weekend for Mount. As he had in past viewings, Fondrk did a good job of driving the net, protecting pucks, and coming off the wall with authority. He can shoot it hard and he has an explosive element to his skating. The one difference from past viewings is Fondrk played wing instead of center.
Liam Kilfoil
Mount Saint Charles, 3/21/07, C, left shot, 5-9/150
Kilfoil is a smart and cerebral 200-foot center who pivots the top line. His hockey sense and skating are elite attributes that make him one of the more complete players I’ve seen in this birth year.
Cooper Dennis
BK Selects, 5/7/07, C, right shot, 5-6/130
Dennis can fire a puck. He has deception on his release and scored a couple of beauties here. He skates well, buzzes all over the ice, and knows where to go to find soft spots in opposing defenses. He plays in all situations and can be dangerous on the penalty kill.
Dylan Krayer
Mount Saint Charles, 3/12/07, RW, right shot, 5-6/125
Krayer is an elite skater who is clearly the third-best forward on this Mount team right now. His straight-line speed and agility make him dangerous on the rush and in attacking zone scenarios in small areas. He’s crafty and just going to keep getting better.
Landon Paul
LI Gulls, 2/21/07, C, right shot, 5-7/135
Paul is a smart forward with good vision. Hailing from north of the border, he scored a shootout goal in one of the games I watched.
Chase Jette
BK Selects, 4/9/07, RW, right shot, 5-6/135
Jette skates in the shadow of Murtagh and Dennis, but he’s a good player in his own right. The winger from Lake Forest, Ill., skates well and has skill and playmaking ability.
Justin Vlassis
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, 5/11/07, LW, left shot, 5-11/152
Vlassis is a power forward who shoots it hard. He projects as a north-south winger who can score goals and be hard to play against.
Brian Woods
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, 8/8/07, LW, left shot, 5-9/144
Woods was another talented forward that I noticed on the Penguins. While neither he nor Vlassis is up to the level of Mooney, both are solid players.
Nic Whitehead
Mount Saint Charles, 2/11/07, C, left shot, 5-9/140
Whitehead is an above-average skater who can create offense on the rush. He’s able to use a second gear to separate from opposing defenders.
Egan Beveridge
Mount Saint Charles, 1/11/07, RW, right shot, 5-8/145
Beveridge didn’t produce a ton, at least during my viewings, but I liked the physical element he brought to the games. He delivered a couple of big hits while forechecking tenaciously.
Tyler Kusznier
NJ Rockets, 9/18/07, RW, right shot, 5-8/130
In terms of the teams in this age division, I caught the least of the Rockets. In my minimal viewing, I liked what I saw from Kusznier. A late '07, he was around the puck and showed off a good shot.
Ethan Wyttenbach
LI Gulls, 2/10/07, RW, right shot, 5-8/150
Wyttenbach was a player I noticed in the fall at the Eastern Exposure Cup. What I saw then still holds true. He’s not the fastest skater, but his stick and offensive IQ allow him to score goals.
Logan Keil
LI Gulls, 1/11/07, RW, right shot, 6-1/174
Keil plays a hard north-south game with good size. He scored a goal during my viewings and is a player to keep an eye on for a physical role into the future.
Defensemen
Charlie Tretheway
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, 8/2/07, D, right shot, 6-1/170
Tretheway, from Ellicott City, Md., has good size, offensive ability, and puck-moving skills. He was the clear standout on the blue line for the champions.
Cameron Reid
BK Selects, 4/8/07, D, left shot, 6-0/145
Reid is a smooth, steady, reliable defender who excels by going unnoticed. He has good size, closes and takes away time and space from opposing forwards. That’s not to say he can’t contribute offensively because he showed that at times, too.
Donny Bracco
LI Gulls, 7/26/07, D, left shot, 5-7/140
Bracco has quite a bit of skill and has the vision to make plays and find openings when rushing pucks up ice. He’s confident with the puck on his stick and his coaches reward him for that. He gets a lot of ice time and gets a chance on shootouts, scoring in one.
Matthew Judge
BK Selects, 3/6/07, D, left shot, 5-9/160
Judge is strong on his feet and hard to knock off pucks, whether it’s while he’s retrieving or walking the blue line in the attacking zone. He had a solid week for Ben McManama’s team.
Matthew Grimes
Mount Saint Charles, 5/19/07, D, left shot, 5-8/135
Grimes was the team’s best defenseman this weekend. He’s strong, skates well, and pushes the pace offensively. He does a nice job on zone entries and zone exits. Grimes has a smoothness to his game.
Shayne Gould
Mount Saint Charles, 4/7/07, D, left shot, 5-6/125
Gould, a mid-season addition to Mount, doesn’t get as much ice time as he’s been accustomed to in the past on this loaded team. His feet, stick and confidence with the puck on his stick are all notable assets.
Dylan Chabrier
LI Gulls, 9/1/07, D, left shot, 5-9/130
Chabrier is showing signs of blossoming into a tall, mobile, puck-moving defenseman. He skates well and plays with a little jam. He’s the younger brother of Maine commit Brandon Chabrier, who plays for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede.
Dom Somma
Mount Saint Charles, 7/16/07, D, right shot, 6-2/174
Somma is a big, strong defenseman who has exceeded my expectations. I’ve always liked him, but his skating is getting better and he showed some positive signs at both ends of the ice. For him to take the next step in his game, he’ll have to keep it simple and continue working on his skating.
Goaltender
Matthew Minchak
NJ Rockets, 5/23/07, G, catches left, 6-2/165
Bouncing back and forth between rinks, it was tough to evaluate goaltenders. A few of the goalies in this division I had seen before. Minchak was new to me. He was big, athletic and had a solid game against the Gulls.
Top prospects for NTDP
James Hagens
Mount Saint Charles 15O, 11/3/06, C, left shot, 5-8/138
When watching Hagens, it’s almost like you’re watching a video game. A lock for the NTDP, his skating, particularly his edges, allow him to be dynamic with the puck on his stick. He can possess pucks for long stretches and change the tune of a game. His skill is also elite, as he showed off on a shootout goal against Pittsburgh in the final. Hagens is almost certainly a future top-5 pick in the 2025 NHL draft. Along with Boisvert, who could be an early pick in 2024, this is a team with some serious talent on it.
Christian Humphreys
BK Selects 16U, 2/4/06, C, right shot, 5-9/144
Humphreys is an elite center with the skating, skill and hockey sense to make a difference when he gets to the NTDP. This weekend he showed that numerous times by making plays and finishing chances. He scored the first goal against the Long Island Gulls in the final and had at least a few more points in my viewings over the weekend. I noted his anticipation and ability to read plays a few times, as he forced turnovers and turned it into offense at the other end. He did just that for the game-winner in the semifinals against the New Jersey Rockets.
Kamil Bednarik
NJ Rockets 16U, 5/26/06, C, left shot, 5-11/159
Bednarik is a cerebral center that isn’t as flashy as his offensive counterparts at this event, but is still impressive. He’s a goal scorer with a good stick, but he is effective because he’s willing to go to the middle of the ice and is smart when it comes to seeing the ice.
Trevor Connelly
LI Gulls 16U, 2/28/06, C, left shot, 6-1/155
There’s never a shortage of highlight-reel plays when watching Connelly as he and his teammates exude skill and confidence. He’s able to be a power forward and use his explosive skating to drive the net, protect pucks, and finish with authority. Connelly can also play the role of a more finesse scorer at times with his elite hands. He has the talent to make the NTDP, but there are other options as well for the Californian.
Will Felicio
Mount Saint Charles 15O, 5/19/06, D, left shot, 5-9/160
Felicio, from Holden, Mass., has been a favorite of mine for a few years now. He’s on the smaller side, but his skating, poise, and compete set him apart. This weekend he was good in terms of moving pucks north, joining the rush, and running the point in the attacking zone. An underrated part of his game is his ability to defend with gap control, his feet and good stick positioning. Defense is a deep position in the '06 birth year so Felicio might be on the outside looking in when it comes to making the NTDP, but he’s a virtual lock for the evaluation camp.
Jack Parsons
Mount Saint Charles 15O, 1/15/06, G, catches left, 6-2/170
Parsons is one of the top five goaltenders in this birth year. It wasn’t the best weekend for him as he got pulled in the semifinal and gave up four goals in the final. However, his size, athleticism and fundamentals all show well. The goaltending position is still fairly wide open among the '06s vying for a spot on the NTDP. A camp spot is likely for Parsons, who hails from Ithaca, N.Y.
