
ROCKLAND, Mass. — Each year at the Mass. Hockey Festival, there are plenty of debates over who should advance and who shouldn’t, and this year was no different.
Overall, Mass. Hockey Executive Director Kevin Kavanagh and Mass. Hockey Player Development Director Paul Pearl deserve kudos for how the festival is run.
College coaches and NHL scouts serve as evaluators and do a great job, by and large. There have been instances over the years where sons of former NHL players got through over more deserving prospects. But, for the most part, the best players get to go to Amherst, N.Y., for the USA Hockey Player Development Camps.
I agree with most of the picks, but if asked to come up with one player who was snubbed at each age group, I could state a case for that prospect. At the 2008 birth year, it was most apparent that one particular player deserved to make it to national camp.