Mount Saint Charles and Seacoast Performance Academy are the two New England representatives at the upcoming USA Hockey 16-U National Championship that takes place just outside of St. Louis at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Mo.
Mount Saint Charles gives New England its best chance to take home the trophy at this division, but both teams will have their hands full. The country’s top 16-U team is the North Jersey Avalanche. Honeybaked, Shattuck-St. Mary’s and the New Jersey Rockets also are formidable teams that could upset the heavy favorite.
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite (2019), Chicago Mission (2018), Compuware (2017) and Shattuck-St. Mary’s (2016, 2015) are the past five national champions at the 16-U division. No team from New England has won at this age division since Mid Fairfield did so in 2005.
Pool Play — USA
New Jersey Rockets, Sioux Falls Power, Seacoast Spartans, Shattuck-St. Mary’s
Shattuck-St. Mary’s is loaded with talent that includes ’05 Gracyn Sawchyn, a highly regarded dual citizen. Other key ’05 forwards are Ty Henricks and Tyler Peddle. Anthony Yu and Noah Eyre add to the offense. The defense has a lot of mobility and puck-moving skills, including Will Jones, Kazimier Sobieski (Deerfield, Mass.), Ethan Beyer and UMass commit Patrick Czarnecki.
New Jersey Rockets has a lot of big-time college prospects, led by defenseman and Penn State commit Jason Gallucci. Other defensemen who have college interest include RPI commit Kareem Alazem, Noah Jones and Marian Mosko. Up front, Providence commit Ryan Schelling is the only player with a logo. However, Nicholas VanTassell, Zachary Wagnon and Stepan Kuznetsov also are drawing varying degrees of interest. Goaltending duties will be split between Joe Cartigiano and Jackson Reda.
Seacoast has a good team that has given fits to top teams this year, including an upset of North Jersey in September. The team has some health concerns entering the national tournament as top forward Alex Weiermair and defenseman Liam Chapman both missed the New England District Tournament. Leading the way in their absence were forwards Kim Hilmersson, Ollie Genest, Billy Sancibrian, Lauren Trepanier, Paul Tollet and Tommy McDonough. On defense, UMass commit Shaun McEwen is the top prospect. Goaltender Connor McDonough is starting to generate some buzz among college coaches.
Pool Play — Olympic
North Jersey Avalanche, Nashville Junior Predators, Colorado Thunderbirds, Fox Motors
North Jersey Avalanche is the team to beat in the entire tournament. There isn’t a more complete hockey player at this level than first-line center Nicholas Moldenhauer, a Canadian import. He’s a smart, skilled, heavy forward who has produced at a clip of more than two points per game. Winger Chase Pirtle and center Quentin Musty are ’05s playing up who almost certainly will make the NTDP. Harvard commit Mick Thompson, UMass commit Nathan Lewis and Ben Yurchuk are other forwards with college upside. On defense, Peter Lukas Klemm (Ridgefield, Conn.) leads the way with Nick Fascia, Matt Mania and Bryceon Lago also playing key roles. Jake Schunke and Matt MacArthur are both highly capable goaltenders. One area of concern for the Avalanche this year has been injuries. Musty and Fascia both have missed significant time with ailments.
The Colorado Thunderbirds don’t have the same firepower by any means, but the team has several players with potential to make a college hockey roster down the line. Forwards Dylan Zukosky, Michael Valdez, Patrick Raftery and Borya Valis are notables. Harvard commit David Hejduk, Reid Conn, Fisher Scott and Ivan Roudakov are the catalysts on the blue line.
Center Cole Knuble, the son of former Bruins player Mike Knuble, is the top prospect on Fox Motors. Other players of note are forward Brendan Lamb, defensemen Lucas DiChiara, Dominic Elliott and Camden Chasby.
Pool Play — NHL
Anaheim Junior Ducks, Northeast Wisconsin Junior Gamblers, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, Honeybaked
Honeybaked is loaded with talent and should be the top team to come out of this group. Forwards Michael Mesic, Justin Varner and Owen Baker are the top scoring threats. Owen West, Tucker Shedd, Asher Wites and Dylan Gordon will lead the way from the back end. In goal, Trent Boryszczuk is the go-to man between the pipes.
Matthew DiMarsico and Will Moore are the top prospects on Pittsburgh Penguins Elite. There isn’t as much high-end talent as some other top teams, but the Penguins play hard and bring physical play.
Anaheim Junior Ducks has some sneaky good players, including forward James Hong. Merril Steenari, Christian Kim, Ben Ivey and Jacob Ivey are other forwards who could find the scoresheet with regularity. Brodrick Williams is a defenseman who previously played at Shattuck.
Pool Play — Liberty
Mount Saint Charles, Dallas Stars Elite, Oakland Junior Grizzlies, Bishop Kearney Selects
Mount Saint Charles is the team to beat coming out of this group. Up front, forwards Thomas Trunda and Cam O’Neill will provide the boys from Woonsocket with a lethal one-two punch. Defensively, Ben Robertson and Seth Constance are very good blueliners. Devin Rask’s team has two solid goaltenders in Jack Spicer and Peter Sterling.
Right wing Ryan Conmy is the offensive star for Bishop Kearney Selects. Michael Kadlecik, Tyler Stern and Dylan Weger are other forwards to watch. John Henry and Christian Wood are the top blueliners, while Colin Winn is the starting goaltender.
Forwards Chase LaPinta, Evan Raines and Julian Beaumont lead the way for the Dallas Stars Elite. Colby Woogk is one of the more underrated defenders in the country at this age group. The Oakland Junior Grizzlies were the surprise winners at the Michigan District Tournament. The team is led by defenseman Landon Fleming and forward Travis Bryson.
