ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The top '06s from the New England District, which includes all of the region’s states outside of Massachusetts, came together at the New England Sports Village over the weekend to compete for a spot at USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp in Amherst, N.Y., this June.
The New England District Select Festival takes place every March or April as a tryout for the national camp. College coaches from the region are tasked with evaluating the group and deciding who will advance to New York.
Longtime followers of amateur hockey in the U.S. might remember when national camp consisted of teams from each district, as opposed to what it has been the past several years. USA Hockey is trying it out again for this age group at Select 17s in June. New England District will compete as a team. Eight forwards, four defensemen, and a goaltender were picked from this weekend’s select festival.
New England District certainly isn’t as deep as Massachusetts and New York, which made the selection process fairly cut and dry. There weren’t a lot of controversial picks among the selections. I had no disagreement with any of the players who were given the nod to make it to the national camp.
Below are my evaluations of the players chosen to participate at USA Hockey Select 17 Player Development Camp. I only had one difference in opinion from the actual group picked by the evaluators. I’ve also included evaluations and blurbs on five players who weren’t selected, but who performed well and helped improve their stock over the weekend.
