Mike Hardman put up 25 points as a BC freshman in 2019-20. (Richard T. Gagnon/Getty Images)
The birth year of 1999 is an interesting one to take a look at now that all New England players have aged out of junior hockey and will be playing college hockey in 2020-21.
There has been significant ebb and flow when it comes to the top ’99s in New England. Twenty-five New Englanders from the birth year made USA Hockey’s NTDP or were selected in the 2015 USHL draft.
Yale defenseman Phil Kemp (Greenwich, Conn.) was the only New Englander in this age group to play for the NTDP, while Harvard defenseman Reilly Walsh (Andover, N.H.) was the only New England ’99 selected in the first round of that year’s USHL Phase I Draft. It’s safe to say that those two players are still among the best ’99s in New England.
