MARLBORO, Mass.—The 2022 Beantown Spring Classic's first day of action took place on Thursday with games in three different divisions at the New England Sports Center occurring through Saturday.
New England Hockey Journal took in most of the action, along with prep schools, colleges and NHL scouts in attendance. While there was a strong pool of area talent, the event itself is a far cry from what it used to be in terms of the number of teams and participating players. With just two teams per division and three games per day, there were a lot of good area prospects here. The two-half format, however, is not all that conducive to identifying the habits and details of each player, as the contests we saw were conducted in an all-star fashion. Rosters were not initially available, and had limited information with handwritten numbers.
For the participating players, this was an opportunity to showcase their skating and skills (there wasn’t much physical play), and we give them credit for being here to compete. We’d love to see this event get back to what it once was, with a wider and expanded appeal for the player demographics. To be fair, the inability to build more than two teams in each division can  likely be attributed to schedule conflicts. The New England District playoffs for the critical 15-only, 16, and 18-under divisions were taking place this weekend in Connecticut, for example. With the proliferation of hockey events and competitions at this time of year versus in the past, that’s a challenge for the organizers, but not an insurmountable one.
With all of this in mind, here are some of the players who impressed on the first day:
Draft Division (2003/04)
Team Black
James Fisher (Wilmington, Mass.)
Belmont Hill/EC Wizards,4/28/04, RW, right shot, 6-2/194
NCAA commit: Northeastern
Showcased his fast release, and his passes had zip and accuracy. Of all the forwards here, he has more of a pro-style game and upside than most. He’s still putting it together, and this kind of game doesn’t exactly reinforce the kinds of details you want to see, but he showed well here.
Ronan O’Donnell (Fairfield, Conn.)
Belmont Hill/EC Wizards, 2/26/04, LW, right shot, 6-2/175
NCAA commit: Yale
Scored a couple of goals by being around the net and getting his shots of cleanly and quickly. He’s a player who steadily improved over the course of the season, and has the kind of shot that will lead to production at the next levels, especially if he can get faster/quicker off the mark.
Michael Fisher (Westboro, Mass.)
St. Mark’s/EC Wizards, 5/2/04, D, right shot, 6-3/194
NCAA commit: Princeton
The NHL buzz is palpable on prep hockey’s top scorer from the blue line, and he backed it up with a superb net drive goal in the second half that stood up as the game-winner. He has outstanding size and mobility, and has been more aggressive in when he activates and steps. He’ll have to make decisions faster at the next level, but this was the kind of exhibition that helped to reinforce his upward trajectory as the draft approaches.
Chris Romaine (Milton, Mass.)
Milton Academy/SSK Prep, 2/21/04, D, right shot, 6-0/180
NCAA commit: Providence
With skating as his primary carry tool, the wheels weren’t as noticeable in this one as his smart, efficient play was. He moved pucks quickly, gapped up well and kept things simple.
Team Red
Kurt Gurkan (Darien, Conn.)
Phillips Exeter/River Rats, LW, left shot
NCAA commit: Yale
With his speed and rapid acceleration, he was noticeable here, using his feet to get to the net and score. He’s a player who can bring the pace and back defenders up with his ability to get up the ice, but is still working on putting all the elements together to be more of an effective 200-foot player. In a game like this one, he was able to do what he does best, though: fly around and generate scoring chances.
Kazimier Sobieski (Deerfield, Mass.)
Shattuck-St. Mary’s Prep, 4/12/04, D, right shot, 6-0/180
NCAA commit: UMass
In town from Minnesota, he played mostly with KUA’s Bobby May and looked the part of a NHL draft prospect. He gets back on pucks quickly, moves them to the right areas, and supports the rush well. He employed his stick effectively and closed off puck carriers. He’s not all that flashy, but gets the job done.
Pre-Draft Division (2005/06)
Team White/Blue
Jim Lyver (Grafton, Mass.)
St. Mark’s/CC Whalers, 2/12/05, C, right shot, 6-0/180
Scored the game’s first goal in his favorite office space: right in front of the net, getting his stick on the puck to tip it home. Lyver had a breakout season under Carl Corazzini after being the Cape Cod Whalers 16 team’s top player in fall action, and bigger things are in store. Schools who usually lose out to the bigger programs when it comes to winning hockey players would be best to get on him now, before his heavy style and production puts him out of reach.
Austin Borggaard (Charlton, Mass.)
St. Mark’s/Little Bruins, 2/8/05, LW, left shot, 5-10/170
He’s come on as more of a scorer this season because he is around the puck a lot and can finish in the high danger areas, as he did here. He can accelerate quickly and has a knack for sniffing out scoring plays and getting to the spots where he can affect the flow of play. He’s still raw and figuring things out, but is trending up.
Nolan Flynn (Natick, Mass.)
St. Sebastian’s/CC Whalers, 2/25/05, LW, left shot, 5-11/165
Played with jump and energy in this one, getting to the net consistently. Arrows sophomore is coming along, and showed flashes during the season as a secondary scorer. Could develop into a good area prospect if he keeps building on his positive progression.
Joe Mense
Nobles/Little Bruins, 7/21/06, D, right shot, 6-1/190
With his size, reach and mobility, he is on the path to being a 2024 NHL draft prospect as one of the younger, but more impressive freshmen in prep hockey this season. He plays a sound positional game, but in this contest, got on pucks and moved them north.
Jake Freelove (Tyngsboro, Mass.)
Winchendon/River Rats, 1/4/05, D, right shot, 6-1/165
Solid effort from a defender who was noticeable all season in fall and prep play. He assisted on a goal by getting a point shot to the net, and defended well. There isn’t a lot of flashy offensive upside here, but when he moves pucks quickly and plays within himself, there’s a lot to like.
Team Brown
Ryder Shea (Framingham, Mass.)
St. George's/Little Bruins, 5/4/06, G, catches left, 6-1/181
Major riser this season with a lot of potential after playing well in first prep campaign. He's big, fluid, tracks the puck and battles to the end. One of the best '06 talents at the position nationwide, he should get a chance to make the U.S. National Team Development Program later this month.
Cam Cooke (Pelham, N.H.)
Boston Jr. Bruins, 2/2/06, C, right shot, 6-2/175
With his size, skating and work ethic, the Granite State native has high upside for the future. He was solid here, and while hasn’t taken the anticipated jump after a strong summer, is the kind of raw, but projectable talent that junior teams should look hard at for the May USHL futures draft.
Cameron Wolf (Portland, Maine)
Islanders Hockey Club, 11/8/06, D, left shot, 5-8/150
Superb skater who can motor around the ice effortlessly and showed well. The decisions with and without the puck are something he will need to improve, but for a smaller defender, he can wheel and make plays. This kind of event allows him to showcase those traits.
