LAKEVILLE, Conn. — The Hotchkiss Jamboree on Monday was a good opportunity to get an initial look at a few of the top teams in prep school.
In addition to the host Bearcats, five other schools, Salisbury, Westminster, Loomis-Chaffee, Trinity-Pawling and Millbrook, converged on Hotchkiss’ campus for six scrimmages. Hotchkiss has two ice sheets inside its Forrest E. Mars Jr. Athletic Center. Schmidt, where the Bearcats play their games, and Dwyer, an olympic sheet, are both great prep rinks, albeit very cold.
Numerous college coaches from Hockey East, ECAC Hockey, Atlantic Hockey and Division III as well as about a half dozen NHL scouts made the trek to Hotchkiss for the games.
Salisbury defenseman Luke Krys, Salisbury center Ilya Usau, Westminster defenseman Malik Alishlalov and Westminster left wing Ignat Belov were the attraction for the NHL scouts.Â
While many of the best players throughout the six teams are committed, college coaches were there to get a peak at some of the top players still on the market, which now includes Salisbury center Michael Cameron, who recently de-committed from Rensselaer.
Even with Cameron’s de-commitment, Salisbury has eleven players currently committed to a Division I program. There are probably two to three more, including Cameron, who will have a logo next to their name in the future.
Crimson Knights coach Andrew Will rolled five lines of forwards and four pairs of defensemen. His team was without two of its committed forwards, Northeastern recruit Justin Hryckowian and Union commit Tom Richter.
Due to the teams playing so many players in a scrimmage setting, it was tough to get too much of a gauge on individual players.Â
Usau showed he has good size and is a good skater. He’s tough to knock off pucks and he’s strong on his edges. He looks to have filled out some from last year.
Salisbury has a whole bunch of newcomers that will have an impact on its season. Harvard commit Matt Coronato looked really good. He’s slick and is the best pure playmaker on any of the six teams in the event. Cole Vallese, a Providence commit, used his speed to make some plays, including a nice assist on a power play tally. Brown recruit Bayard Hall has made huge strides over the last twelve months and didn’t look out of place at all.
While it might take some time for Salisbury’s newcomers to adjust and gel, Will’s team will be there in the end. There’s just so much talent. It’s hard to imagine the Crimson Knights not being one of the final four teams left come March.
Westminster has a good squad that focuses on defense first. The headliners are obviously Alishlalov and Belov, but what stood out Monday was the three other defensemen in the team’s top four. While Ned Blanchard, Wil Gilson, and Ryan Pineault aren’t elite players by any means, the trio are all very good puck-moving, possession-inducing defensemen at the prep level. There will be a home, whether it’s Division I or Division III, in college hockey for all three of them.
Westy was without Jacob Monroe, who will be a top six forward this season. The Martlets are deepest in the goaltending position. Ian Shane is back for another season as the likely starter, but Greyson Pane is one of the better ’03 goaltenders in the region. ’02 Bennett Ostern is a formidable backup as well.
Loomis lacks the depth, both up front and on defense, of some of the top teams in Connecticut, but J.R. Zavisza’s team has some quality players in its top six and top two defensive pairings.
Vermont commit Anthony Cipollone goes to the greasy areas and scored at least one goal Monday while his linemate, Dartmouth commit Cody Hoban, was good in small areas and possesses good vision.
Second line left wing Alex Krause and defenseman Ben Ritter both recently committed to Dartmouth. In goal, newcomer Kyle Chauvette, a Holy Cross commit, will provide an upgrade at that position.
Most of the attention was spent on these three teams, but the other three teams were worth watching again for various reasons.
This is Bobby Ferraris’ best team at Trinity-Pawling. The former Mercyhurst assistant has a good blend of skill up front to go along with a big defense. Dartmouth commit Joey Musa will lead the way. His younger brother, ’03 Jack Musa, had a good showing while centering the second line. Stephen Willey scored a really nice shorthanded goal. He’s a Division I player down the road, most likely as an older freshman. John Gelatt and Taylor Ewing are two newcomers to keep an eye on this season.
The defense, which could be the meanest group in prep hockey, is led by Gabe Blanchard, but UVM commit Phip Waugh, John Garvey, Cam Grillo, and Stephen Perez are solid. The last line of defense is goaltender Evan Ruschil, who is committed to Williams.
Millbrook beat T-P and Hotchkiss. Goaltender Cam Fernandez would be a very nice recruit for the right Division III program. New forward Kyle Neudorf played well and returnee Jason Ruszkowski was involved in the scoring and around the puck a lot. Army commit Owen Nolan played in all three situations.
Hotchkiss continues to struggle to compete against the other top teams in the Housatonic League, but the Bearcats would still beat a lot of the teams around Boston. ’01 goaltender Henry Wilder remains uncommitted, but it won’t be for long. The Needham, Mass., native is a big time goaltender who is vastly underrated by many.
Salisbury Lines
11 M. Fairfax - 20 I. Usau - 17 N. Capone
24 C. Vallese - 16 M. Cameron - 1 D. Bauchiero
22 B. Kennedy - 28 J. Quillan - 27 M. Coronato
9 M. DeBoer - 10 C. Henn - 7 L. Mercuri
XF - 13 K. Watson, 23 L. Guerin
18 C. Korpi - 4 J. Crespo
5 L. Krys - 6 B. Hall
21 E. Girardi - 2 J. Critelli
3 A. Casperson - 8 B. Metz
1 J. Levine
30 N. Haas
Westminster Lines
91 I. Belov - 15 J. McKenna - 11 N. Pane
10 M. Kramlich - 13 S. Clarke - 18 M. Lewin
9 Q. Armstrong - 20 C. Flam - 16 J. Nelson
23 D. Benchich - 14 T. Kinney - 17 W. Pastor
4 M. Alishlalov - 5 N. Blanchard
8 W. Gilson - 7 R. Pineault
12 P. Sanger - 24 W. Stevens
30 I. Shane
1 G. Pane
31 B. Ostern
Loomis-Chaffee Lines
11 C. Hoban - 12 A. Cipollone - 19 J. Sigal
22 A. Krause - 15 R. Connors - 16 A. Martin
21 R. Schwender - 13 J. Aube - 8 L. Steele
20 C. Hibson - 6 I. Joshi - 14 T. Costello
4 K. O’Connor - 18 J. Strabley
3 R. Armstrong - 9 T. Martin
7 B. Ritter - 24 C. Partridge
29 K. Chauvette
30 K. Reddy
Trinity-Pawling Lines
8 Joey Musa - 11 S. Murphy - 18 S. Willey
19 C. Zezima - 13 Jack Musa - 10 J. Gelatt
2 C. Grillo - 4 P. Waugh
5 G. Blanchard - 3 J. Garvey
XD - 23 S. Perez
1 E. Ruschil
Millbrook Lines
23 E. Abraham - 11 J. Gagnon - 13 J. Ruszkowski
15 J. Willis - 18 K. Neudorf - 19 D. Smith
20 K. Oberfeld - 22 E. Cott - 14 J. Sikura
4 O. Nolan - 12 N. DeGaetani
17 M. Ursini - 2 D. Peters
33 C. Fernandez
Hotchkiss Lines
8 J. Ehrensperger - 16 W. Reiersgaard - 1 G. Antonacci
6 J. Thomas - 19 A. Mozian - 10 Q. Carlisle
7 J. Abraham - 3 M. Von Jess - 22 M. Tullo
23 M. Noll - 18 A. Esposito - 15 C. Kerrigan
4 J. Kane - 9 J. Leonhardt
27 N. Traggio - 2 J. Ferguson
5 B. Haywood - 25 G. Ross
31 H. Wilder
