SHEFFIELD, Mass. — The annual Berkshire Jamboree brought out many college coaches, Division I and Division III, NHL and junior scouts, and NHLPA agents to watch the eight teams competing in two scrimmages each over the course of the day on Monday.
Berkshire’s two-rink facility is the best in prep school hockey. It’s a haul from Boston and not in close proximity to many places, but it’s worth the trip. It’s beautiful, modern, and there are plenty of good seats for watching a prep school game. The campus is very scenic as well with mountains in the backdrop as you come up the driveway and turn right to go to the rink.
The NHL scouts were at the Berkshire Jamboree mainly to watch defenseman Cade Alami, a Providence recruit who patrols the blue line for the host Bears. There were about a half dozen NHL scouts and a little over a dozen college coaches.
At the jamboree, Northwood School, out of Lake Placid, N.Y., and Nichols School, located in Buffalo, N.Y., joined six NEPSAC schools: Berkshire, Brunswick, Canterbury, Gunnery, Kent, and Pomfret.
On paper, Gunnery appears to be the team in the field with the best chance of making the Stuart/Corkery Elite 8 Tournament. Gunnery was ranked fifth in New England Hockey Journal's Preseason Top 25 while Brunswick, Kent and Berkshire all made the grade.
New England Hockey Journal was in attendance for the morning games before heading about 15 minutes south to watch the afternoon games at the Hotchkiss Jamboree. With games going on simultaneously, not every minute of every game was viewed. With that in mind, what follows is a report on each of the four games from Monday morning.
Brunswick 4, Pomfret 2
In the first game of the day, the defending NEPSAC Large School Champions from Brunswick skated past Pomfret.
While the Bruins lost some key pieces, including Christian LeSueur (Dartmouth), Tom Richter (Union) and Ryan Carmichael (Notre Dame), there are still some very exciting players on the team. However, it might be difficult for Mike Kennedy’s team to repeat as its a young group without the depth, especially on the blue line, of the top teams in prep school hockey.
’01 senior Cooper Moore didn’t have his best performance Monday, but he’ll be the unquestioned leader on defense. He’s one of the more coveted uncommitted prospects in the region. There are several schools pursuing the Greenwich, Conn., native.
’03 forwards Paul Davey (Boston College) and Ryan St. Louis (Northeastern) both played well and will be under consideration to make the NTDP. Another ’03 forward, Matt McGroarty is a Division I hockey player down the road and will get a commitment.
The team’s top producer will likely be ’00 Charles Shaffer, who will be highly recruited by NESCAC programs. Senior Aaron Aboodi had a nice game against Pomfret, including a snipe coming into the zone down the left wing.
Brunswick’s first power play unit was four forwards and a defenseman: Davey, St. Louis, McGroarty, Shaffer and Moore.
After the top two offensive lines and the top defensive pairing, Brunswick is thin, but the team has two very good goaltenders in ’00 Dan Dachille and ’02 Alex Rohlf, who started Monday morning’s game.
As for Pomfret, the Griffins don’t have much this season. Late ’00 Kyle Tomaso will put up points, but his skating needs to get better to truly garner serious interest from Division III programs. He did score a shorthanded goal Monday, scooping up his own rebound on a breakaway. The other goal was scored by senior Ryan Saunders. A young player to watch is ’02 Cam Lowe.
Brunswick Lines
9 M. Salandra - 26 R. St. Louis - 13 C. Shaffer
19 A. Aboodi - 21 M. McGroarty - 11 P. Davey
17 Andon Cerbone - 15 AJ Cerbone - 8 E. Anderson
18 H. Foster - 5 E. Glassmeyer - 24 A. McBurney
4 C. Moore - 3 H. Hill
12 S. Farjam - 28 J. Brower
14 C. Sullivan - 7 J. Griffin
XD - 6 J. Burdett
31 A. Rohlf
Pomfret Lines
18 W. Rosen - 14 T. Bourque - 2 K. Tomaso
19 T. Mitchell - 13 S. Hakkarainen - 22 C. Lowe
16 R. Saunders - 15 S. Hurley - 5 D. Weichselbaumer
17 L. Krekorian - 4 R. Kosinski
6 N. Schuman - 9 W. Gould
29 P. Durand
Gunnery 3, Canterbury 1
The puck was down in the Canterbury end for much of this one. Craig Badger’s team has a wealth of talent and depth, headlined by UConn commit Mark D’Agostino and Merrimack commit Alex Jefferies on the wings on the top line. Jefferies was benched for the first half, but was solid in the second.
Jefferies, who played for the Middlesex Islanders last season, is a late ’01 who will be a prospect for the 2020 NHL Draft. He’s got size, hunts pucks, and plays heavy. He’s good down low and along the wall.
Starting goaltender JP Mella got the nod in net against Canterbury. The defense is very offensive-oriented, which could lead to some precarious moments in front of Mella.
A few newcomers who stood out in this game were ’02 center David Andreychuk, ’00 center Robert Cronin and ’02 defenseman Zander Lizotte.
Canterbury hung tough thanks to solid goaltending from Connor Cherry in the first half and Cal Skwara in the second half. The team’s only Division I prospect is Vermont commit David Paluch, who transferred from Loomis-Chaffee. He’s an offensive-minded defenseman whose shot from the point resulted in a tip-in goal, the only score of the game for the Saints.
Former Providence goaltender Nick Ellis has joined the program as an assistant coach after a brief minor pro career. He played prep hockey at Pomfret before heading to the Friars.
Gunnery Lines
8 M. D’Agostino - 18 A. Hotchkiss - 12 A. Jefferies
6 C. Kantgias - 21 M. Beecher - 23 J. Kopek
11 J. DiGirolamo - 19 R. Cronin - 13 R. Brennan
7 J. Baptiste - 16 D. Andreychuk - 14 R. Trom
9 D. Fishman - 24 C. Brennan - 26 C. Paredes
XF - 27 B. Wells
20 J. Rayhill - 17 N. Ioannou
2 A. Coady - 5 H. Sansbury
3 E. Widenborg - 22 Z. Lizotte
15 R. Dolph
1 J. Mella
Canterbury Lines
10 J. Lumia - 27 J. Wilkins - 3 G. Fillios
14 A. Messick - 16 L. Williams - 7 J. McCluskey
19 J. Barton - 9 S. Haggerty - 17 M. Savard
24 S. St. Germain - 18 M. McDonald - 7 J. McCluskey
21 D. Paluch - 8 D. Carlstrom
2 A. Murtsef - 5 C. Plants
XD - 4 A. Kessing
29 C. Cherry
30 C. Skwara
Berkshire 3, Nichols 2
Berkshire jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in this one, but had to hang on for a 3-2 victory over Nichols. The Bears were playing without their top forward, Yale commit Briggs Gammill.
Alami was solid. The Bedford, N.Y., native skates well and has good hands for a big guy. He made a couple of plus plays and his point shot was redirected for a power play goal to make it 2-0. His defensive partner, big Aidan Metcalfe, has seemingly made a step from last season.
’02 sophomore Hayden Riva scored a nifty backhand goal after weaving through traffic. ’01 junior Jack Whitney had a shorthanded tally for Berkshire. Prep newcomer Jack Marottolo, an ’02 who is the son of Sacred Heart coach C.J. Marottolo, will provide some spark to the bottom six. He made some plays and forechecked hard in the first half.
Senior Robbie Nuchereno is a solid prep goaltender and made some timely saves for Nichols, coached by Jamie Printz. One of Nichols’ top blue liners, ’02 Michael Suda didn’t play in the game. Late ’01 junior Hayden Brady made some solid plays defensively.
’02 Cameron Ricotta, ’01 Dylan Lugris and ’01 Ryan Leonard are some of the more well-known names among the forwards. Late ’02 sophomore Kolby Amici stood out for his speed and quickness.
Berkshire Lines
22 H. Riva - 17 T. Horak - 15 L. Greene
11 J. Bavis - 8 Brooks Gammill - 14 M. Grise
12 O. Cookson - 18 J. Whitney - 2 G. Grise
23 N. McShane - 19 J. Marottolo - 9 P. Stetson
5 A. Metcalfe - 16 C. Alami
20 J. Pratt - 7 J. Lachance
3 M. O’Brien - 6 N. Donaldson
30 J. Baliotti
Nichols Lines
16 D. Lugris - 10 R. Leonard - 20 W. Zacher
19 C. Bauer - 12 C. Ricotta - 26 K. Amici
24 M. Naples - 22 A. Behshid - 85 J. Guigui
17 N. Daniels - 8 R. Maulucci
18 P. Brady - 6 H. Bauer
21 O. Gonter - 11 D. Mazur
35 R. Nuchereno
Northwood 5, Kent 1
The Huskies came out firing on all cylinders and went up quickly on a Kent team that seemed dazed and confused.
Northwood had already played 26 games prior to Monday so they came in with confidence and knowing the systems. Regardless, Chadd Cassidy’s team showed it was very good from top to bottom.
The first line has a trio of committed players: left wing Tommy Bannister (St. Lawrence), center Reid Leibold (RPI) and right wing Cody Monds (St. Lawrence). They were on top of their game. Bannister is speedy and shifty and Monds has really good vision to go with his skating ability. Leibold continues to get better this fall.
Second line left wing Josh Waters committed to Dartmouth shortly after the game. Third line left wing Elijah Devereaux is still a little raw, but he has all the tools to become a Division I player if he can put it together.
On defense, the team has a mix of size with Andrew Gilbert and Barrett Ott and puck-moving capability in the form of Jared Lambright, a St. Lawrence commit, who is small, but he’s shifty and can escape oncoming forecheckers.
Former Proctor goaltender Ryan Wilson wasn’t tested much, but he’s had a solid fall, including some standout performances at the Junior Bruins Shootout and Beantown Fall Classic.
The Lions are certainly better than they showed in this game. Newcomers, ’01 forwards Alex Laferriere and Michael Posma and ’02 Dane Dowiak, will give a boost to the offense. Laferriere was one of the few bright spots, playing physically and making some plays down low. The top returning player offensively is ’02 Aidan Cobb.
As was the case in this game, Kent will struggle defensively with Ian Pierce as really the only viable option on the blue line. As good as the Dartmouth commit is, he’s more of an offensive-minded defenseman.
Alex Contey, one of the top goaltenders in prep hockey, was left hung out to dry on numerous occasions.
Northwood Lines
4 T. Bannister - 26 R. Leibold - 19 C. Monds
18 J. Waters - 12 W. Arquiett - 15 D. Colabufo
8 E. Devereaux - 11 J. Ramo - 17 W. Batt
23 S. Panico - 10 M. Shanklin 27 F. Ulrick
7 A. Gilbert - 16 C. Leal
3 N. Boak - 13 J. Lambright
9 D. Rose - 24 B. Ott
1 R. Wilson
Kent Lines
24 C. Cobb - 19 M. Posma - 14 A. Laferriere
10 A. Cobb - 11 D. Dowiak - 9 J. Kleinhans
22 J. Passante - 7 F. McLain - 23 A. Giummo
17 A. Von Brauchitsch - 16 J. Hoadley - 13 C. McLaughlin
21 I. Pierce - 3 M. Perryman
15 N. Marciano - 5 J. Stitch
6 M. Kwiecinski - 8 L. Matts
30 A. Contey
