The 2004 birth year is a fairly deep group across USA Hockey, but the strength of the age group lies in Michigan and Minnesota. Even the non-traditional hockey markets of Florida and Arizona have players on USA Hockey’s NTDP U-17 team or tendered to play the 2020-21 season in the USHL. That doesn’t mean there...
The 2004 birth year is a fairly deep group across USA Hockey, but the strength of the age group lies in Michigan and Minnesota.
Even the non-traditional hockey markets of Florida and Arizona have players on USA Hockey’s NTDP U-17 team or tendered to play the 2020-21 season in the USHL.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t good players in New England. Three players from the region were picked to play for the NTDP and 23 more were selected by a USHL team earlier this month in the league’s annual two-phase draft.
The ’04s are an interesting age group because several players committed prior to last year’s rule change that prohibits commitments prior to Aug. 1 entering junior year. That meant the NTDP selection and USHL draft went off with a player in the age group committing for almost 12 months. Six New Englanders are committed to a Division 1 college.
Due to the coronavirus, USA Hockey player development camps and district tryout festivals were canceled for this summer. The New England district, which includes all New England states besides Massachusetts, was scheduled to hold its tryout festival in late March. The Massachusetts district was scheduled for the past two weekends.
There’s usually a player or two who steps up during the festival weekend to earn a trip to national camp. Obviously, that did not happen this year. Instead, here’s my take on who the top seven forwards, five defensemen and one goaltender are from each district.
That’s the number of participants usually selected from the Massachusetts district. The number might be a little smaller for New England, but we’ll just go with it. Keep in mind that the three players selected to skate for the NTDP — Brady Berard, Charlie Leddy and Dylan Silverstein — are ineligible.
Top 2004s, Massachusetts district
Forwards
William Hughes
Michael Callow
Mike Stenberg
Grayson Badger
Shane Baker
Cameron Lund
Henry Wilson
Defensemen
CJ Foley
Shaun McEwen
Jackson Dorrington
Ryan Healey
Kazimier Sobieski
Goaltender
Jackson Irving
Top 2004s, New England district
Forwards
Andon Cerbone
Connor Welsh
Jackson Kyrkostas
James Shannon
Beanie Richter
Kurt Gurkan
Ronan O’Donnell
Defensemen
Lukas Klemm
Lucas DiChiara
Liam Chapman
Ryan Buckley
Brady Schultz
Goaltender
Arthur Smith
Top 2004s, Massachusetts and New England districts
(alphabetical order)
