EXETER, N.H. — The annual Exeter Invitational brought eight NEPSAC teams together for a showcase in front of fans, college coaches, and NHL and junior scouts.
The host, Phillips Exeter, and Kimball Union Academy both finished with two wins while the other six teams weren’t so lucky. Kent, Gunnery, and Hebron went 1-1 while Brunswick and New Hampton were 0-1-1. Vermont Academy left with two losses.
None of the results were particularly surprising given that KUA, the two-time defending NEPSAC Elite 8 champions, and Exeter are two of the best teams on paper in prep school hockey.
The most entertaining game of the eight was Saturday’s between Brunswick and New Hampton. The Huskies took a 6-2 lead into the third period, but the Bruins came roaring back with four unanswered. ’01 defenseman Cooper Moore finished the game with five goals, three of which came in that third period comeback. He came close to a sixth goal, ringing the post about midway through the scoreless overtime.
Wildcats show bite
In both games over the weekend, Kimball Union faced a 3-3 tie game, but pulled away for the victories. Tim Whitehead’s team knocked off a pesky Vermont Academy team, 5-3, on Saturday before powering past Brunswick, 7-3, Sunday.
Montreal Canadiens third-round pick and Northeastern freshman Jordan Harris and Holy Cross freshman Bryce Dolan are huge skates to fill on the blue line. Bentley commit Christian Felton and Devan Newhook are back for their second seasons in Meriden and will log significant minutes. Jack Clarner and Andrew Noel are also returners who will play big a key role. Newcomer Teddy Griffin was a notable performer this past weekend. The former Duxbury High School standout played well in the fall for the GBL Bruins, but he saw power play time and his skating was solid. He drew a penalty on a rush into the zone and picked up an assist against VA. Another prep rookie, ’03 Conner Chalmers, didn’t see a lot of ice time, but he’s a Division I player down the road.
Up front, late ’00 junior Tomas Mazura is taking advantage of his increased playing time this season. He had a big weekend. He has good size and length and has the tools. He had two goals and three assists over the two games while centering the third line.
A few other returners appear destined to take steps this season. ’02 junior Paul Dore has already matched his goal scoring total, 3, from a year ago and ’00 Drew Bennett is centering the second line with Dore and Brian Carrabes, a ’01 junior who played the past two seasons at St. John’s Prep. Carrabes, committed to Boston University, didn’t get much going this weekend, but his speed will be a factor as he adjusts to prep hockey.
Last year’s top line is all gone, but a new group has stepped in nicely. PG Zach Taylor has stepped onto the top line with returners, ’01 senior Arlo Merritt (Ohio State) and ’00 senior Kyle Penney (Cornell). Merritt, a potential 2019 NHL Draft pick, is a frustrating player to watch as his production is inconsistent. There are moments where he looks like a NHL pick. He has the size and length to come off the wall and drive into the slot before ripping a hard shot, but then he disappears for a while. If he can ever put it all together and show he can produce on a regular basis, there’s plenty of upside.
What will derail KUA from a third straight title? If there’s one main reason to be pessimistic regarding Whitehead’s club, it’s the goaltending. It will likely have to be better than it was this weekend in order to beat Salisbury or other top teams come March.
KUA Lines
17 K. Penney - 20 A. Merritt - 21 Z. Taylor
26 P. Dore - 22 D. Bennett - 18 B. Carrabes
15 Z. Whitehead - 11 T. Mazura - 8 S. Mack
25 G. Hatley - 9 S. Stadheim - 19 G. Eastwood
5 T. Griffin - 24 C. Felton
4 D. Newhook - 23 J. Clarner
XD - 3 A. Noel, 2 C. Chalmers
31 Z. Paputsakis
1 V. Kohvakka
Veterans add to Exeter lineup
Dana Barbin’s program has one of the best records in prep school hockey year in and year out. Much like this season, Exeter thrives on older, veteran teams with a handful of post-grads. This is another top ten team, but there’s not a single elite college recruit on the roster.
One of those post-grads is ’00 right defenseman Paddy Mangan, who played the past two seasons at Brooks. He was really good all weekend. He scored a power play goal and added two more assists over the two games. He’s smart, a good skater, and reliable at both ends. He’d be a great pickup for a NESCAC school, but he could potentially play as a fringe prospect at an Atlantic Hockey school like Holy Cross.
Another post-grad is big P.J. Garrett, who comes to Exeter after playing for Tony Amonte at Thayer. He scored a goal in transition, but his game is more as a physical, stay-at-home defenseman.
’01 Danny Colon is the youngest impact player on the team. He’s a competitor who goes to the dirty areas and works hard to win puck battles, despite not being the biggest player on the ice. He might or might not be a Division I player, but wherever he goes, he’ll be an example of the way others should play.
‘00s Paddy Bogart, Michael Pitts, Garrett Foster and Andrew Seaman are three older forwards that should put up good numbers all season. The Big Red aren’t an enticing team for NHL scouts, but it’s a top team for prep hockey once again.
Exeter Lines
88 M. Pitts - 19 P. Bogart - 11 G. Foster
10 D. Colon - 7 A. Seaman - 9 R. Ramirez
12 T. Gannon - 14 N. Jankowski - 13 S. Willman
8 J. Shapiro - 39 K. Gurkan - 22 R. Loring
6 R. Popkin - 2 P. Mangan
23 P. Garrett - 16 N. Foderaro
4 K. Moss - 44 J. Matthews
34 R. Welch
Defensive woes for Bruins
This is the second time NEHJ has seen Brunswick after watching the team play at the Berkshire Jamboree. There has been a recurring theme through the first week of the season. Brunswick can score, but can it defend? The Bruins gave up 13 goals on the weekend.
As mentioned above, Moore, a left-shot defenseman, can shoot the puck. He had seven goals on the weekend, including five on Saturday, and he certainly can skate and create offense from the blue line. He’s the only defenseman on the team’s first power play unit.
Moore is without a doubt an intriguing college prospect, but his hockey sense and propensity to turn the puck over needs to improve if he’s truly going to garner NHL attention.
Outside of ’00 senior Charles Shaffer, the team’s top forwards are all ‘03s: Paul Davey (Boston College), Ryan St. Louis (Northeastern), Matt McGroarty and Michael Salandra.
The top line is St. Louis centering Shaffer on the right wing and Salandra on the left wing. Following that up is Davey on the right wing, Aaron Aboodi on the left wing, and McGroarty in the middle.
Up and down Lions
Dale Reinhardt’s team lost to Exeter, 4-2, Saturday before bouncing back with a 5-2 victory over New Hampton on Sunday. Discipline was an issue in the game against Exeter as it was a constant parade to the penalty box.
As we wrote after the Berkshire Jamboree, ’01 newcomers Michael Posma (Air Force) and Alex Laferriere (Army) will bring a physical element. The duo, along with Colin Cobb, did a good job cycling and using their strength to control play, especially below the dot.
The second line, younger with ’02s Dane Dowiak (Penn State) and Aidan Cobb, and late ’00 Jason Kleinhans, is smaller, but a little more skilled. Cobb has taken a big step since last season. Dowiak is a smart 200-foot center who can make plays and Kleinhans showed off a quick release on a goal Saturday.
Kent won’t have the depth of a lot of the upper echelon teams in the region, but if the defense can be shored up some and the team can stay out of the box, this is a team that should be in contention for a playoff spot.
Mixed bag for Gunnery
Craig Badger’s team trounced Hebron, 9-1, in Saturday’s game before falling, 4-2, against Phillips Exeter on Sunday. Not sure if depth is the right word, but Gunnery dressed 26 players for both games.
As would be expected with this many players on the bench, there was some line shuffling. Newcomer Robert Cronin, an ’00 senior, had a big weekend with three goals and an assist.
Defense could be an issue for Gunnery as well. The team has some good puck-moving defenders, but playing reliably in its own zone could pose to be an issue.
Dunlap, MacLeod impress for New Hampton
Casey Kesselring’s team is another one with issues defending. Gone is Northeastern recruit and Edmonton Oilers prospect Michael Kesselring, last year’s top defenseman, who is now playing in the USHL.
UMass commit Jake Dunlap was really good on Saturday. He’s really fast and can create offense through his speed. He took a big hit late in the game against Brunswick and wasn’t the same after that. Hopefully he’s healthy going forward as he’s a threat to score, especially on the rush.
Newcomer Isaac MacLeod had a good weekend offensively. The right wing needs to improve his skating, but he’s skilled and is able to get into spots where he can contribute.
New Hampton Lines
21 J. Ring - 22 J. Dunlap - 13 A. Grace
9 C. Morris - 19 M. Joughin - 24 I. MacLeod
26 R. Malhmeister - 8 G. Peterson - 6 D. Bone
5 M. Fleckenstein - 25 C. Litwin - 14 J. Wand
27 W. Hilfiker - 3 S. Ardagna
7 P. Schaarschmidt - 4 Q. McClelland
16 C. DuBrul - 18 A. Schuchart
30 M. Sayles
Hebron, VA overmatched
Hebron ’00 junior Spencer Ryall was one of the few bright spots in a 9-1 shellacking at the hands of Gunnery. The Guilford, Conn., native is on the smaller side, but he can fly. He beat out an icing after starting with a significant disadvantage on one sequence and showed off his speed on a few other instances.
The Lumberjacks salvaged the split with a 6-2 win over Vermont Academy in Sunday’s first game. Speaking of Vermont Academy, the team wasn’t able to duplicate last year’s upset of KUA on Saturday. However, first year coach Cody Staves’ team put up a good fight after going down 3-0 in the game’s opening minutes. While KUA was clearly the better team, VA did everything it could to hold on, which included killing a five-minute major in the second period.
’99 senior goaltender Dylan Regan made a ton of saves, but it wasn’t enough. Before getting tossed from the game for a high hit, ‘99 John Peloso scored the first two goals for VA.
