WOONSOCKET, R.I. — The new Prep Hockey Conference’s inaugural competition kicked off Nov. 20-22 at historic Adelard Arena, with the PHC’s six teams completing a round-robin series from Saturday through Monday.
The conference consists of full-season prep school teams, including Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Faribault, Minn.), Culver Academies (Culver, In.), Northwood School (Lake Placid, N.Y.), South Kent School (South Kent, Conn.), Mount Saint Charles (Woonsocket, R.I.) and the Canada-based St. Andrew’s College (Aurora, Ontario).
Shattuck, who opened the weekend with a come-from-behind overtime win over Northwood, finished 3-0 on the weekend. MSC also finished strong, losing only to SSM, while posting wins over SAC and Culver. South Kent was winless during the event. Credit goes to MSC for putting on a solid event, attended by a lot of NHL scouts and college coaches.
New England Hockey Journal had a significant presence, and this list focuses on some of the players from the teams who came into the competition with less notoriety but showed well. We will have more comprehensive coverage of the PHC’s first big event in the coming days, with more analysis of key players, storylines and potential NHL draft options based on our viewings.
Forwards
Ryan Comishock (Enosburg, Vt.)
Shattuck-St. Mary’s, 5/13/04, right shot, 6-2/200
Big power winger has always been on the intriguing side as he’s worked his way up from the lower-level Sabres teams at Shattuck. He can move well enough and has a powerful shot, but is still addressing consistency and finding ways to bring the same level of effort and energy to each shift. He’s strong and can get to the net, with the hands to locate pucks in tight and generate scoring chances. He’s more of a heavy-on-pucks complimentary presence, but with his size and physical package, could end up securing a D-1 commitment at some point down the road. Barring an unforeseen surge in his development/production, he’ll likely need to play out his junior eligibility and keep growing his all-around game.
Ethan Mitchell
St. Andrew’s College, 5/8/04, right shot, 6-0/185
SAC’s third-line left wing from Newmarket, Ont. used his speed and smarts to score a shorthanded goal, and he played with energy and effort. He’s not as gifted or slick as other forwards on the team, but he represents a versatility that every good team needs to be successful. He has a quick first few steps and anticipates where pucks are going, allowing him to be a disruptive forechecker who can transition the play from defense to offense in an instant. He’ll have junior hockey options going forward, as he is slated to finish his prep career in the spring of 2022.
Ryan O’Connell
Mount Saint Charles, 10/23/03, left shot, 5-10/175
Quick, active left winger has gotten better with multiple viewings this season and is leveraging more of a consistent scoring touch to go with his competitive drive. A late ’03, he’s among MSC’s scoring leaders this season but does it more through will over skill, going to the dirty areas and moving his feet through contact. He can skate and pass well, a consistent performer throughout the fall and the PHC event was no exception as he was active and noticeable.
Brent Litchard
South Kent School, 6/22/04, right shot, 5-9/168
Diminutive but fast, smart and skilled center is a Michigan native wearing the captain’s ‘C’ for SKS. He’s quick off the mark and around the puck a lot, though his team found itself overmatched after battling Culver in a closer game on Sat. He’s a deft passer/playmaker. The lack of size probably hurts Litchard in the immediate sense, as schools are looking for more size in their commitments, but if he stays with it and makes the successful jump to juniors, he’s likely to find a landing spot eventually.
Defensemen
Nolan Woudenberg
Northwood School, 9/20/03, right shot, 5-11/170
Pennsylvanian and Valley Forge Minutemen product can skate and move pucks, and also has a knack for getting pucks through traffic to the net from the point. He scored on Saturday by recognizing the open shooting lane and not wasting any time with a windup or by looking for other options, instead snapping the puck off his stick quickly. He lacks ideal size and top-level skill, but is a capable defender with a strong offensive dimension and could end up making a bigger impact in junior by keeping things simple and steady.
Isaac Fecteau
Culver Academies, 3/30/05, left shot, 5-11/170
Stock, with a fire hydrant-like build, the Quebec native can really wheel and is slippery with the puck on his stick. He breaks pucks out of his own end with his feet or stick and has very good distribution ability in the offensive zone. His lower center of gravity allows him to roll off of body checks and keep his feet or knock opponents off stride. With the skating and hands, it really comes down to him developing his reads and defensive positional play as he gains experience on Culver’s prep team going forward.
Ben Power
St. Andrew’s College, 4/16/04, left shot, 6-1/180
Although he had not yet played until the weekend, Power was skating on the right side of SAC’s third pairing with UMass recruit Francesco Dell’Elce, and looked the part. He played with good pace, poise and kept the play in front of him, not trying to do too much. There were flashes when he activated and showed a quick first couple of steps and handled pucks well under pressure. We look forward to seeing him in more action this season.
