St. Sebastian’s prevailed over Winchendon, Albany Academy and Northwood to win its own tournament, the St. Sebastian’s Christmas Tournament, at Henry T. Lane Rink in Needham.
The Arrows easily defeated Winchendon in the opening round before holding on versus a pesky Albany Academy team in the semifinal. In the final, St. Seb’s outlasted Northwood, 4-3, in a seesaw affair that saw momentum switch several times.
In the championship game, Brown commit James Davenport scored his second of the game at the 11:47 mark of the third period to break the 3-3 tie. Davenport, a skilled defenseman, had the game’s first goal as well.
Left wing Jack Hughes ('03) and ’01 left defenseman Jayden Struble, both Northeastern commits, scored the other goals for the Arrows. Luke Garrity picked up the win in net.
Defensemen Andrew Gilbert and Jared Lambright, a St. Lawrence commit, and right wing Stephen Panico were the goal scorers for the Huskies. Unlike the first two games, Northwood’s vaunted first line wasn’t able to carry the team’s offense.
The best game of the tournament was Northwood’s 2-1 win over St. Andrew’s College in the second semifinal Saturday night. Both teams were well-coached, the intensity was ratcheted up, and the pace was high. There were several Division I players on both teams and two or three potential draft picks on the Saints.
St. Lawrence commit Cody Monds had both goals for the Huskies while left wing Devlin O’Brien lit the lamp for the Saints.
NHL Prospects
Struble was the unquestioned MVP of the tournament. The Cumberland, R.I., native and 2019 NHL Draft prospect was simply phenomenal for most of the weekend. Struble had three goals and three assists, engaged physically in the defensive end, and he was able to push the pace in transition.
Rivers junior left defenseman Cade Webber is another 2019 NHL Draft prospect who scouts were in attendance to watch. The Milford, Mass., resident was back after missing a few games following a lower body injury. Webber had two assists and his skating and size are undisputed assets. He leaves some plays on the table and needs to play harder at this level. He’s clearly talented and has looked better in games he’s played up with the U.S. NTDP.
For St. Andrew’s, senior right wing Matthew Stienburg, a late ’00 and Cornell recruit, is being looked at as a potential late pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He’s a north-south, power forward who plays hard and is heavy on pucks.
Left defenseman Xavier Henry has a chance to hear his name called next June in Vancouver as well. He’s a huge blue-liner who is a pretty good skater and handles the puck well most of the time. He can play with an edge, but it would be nice to see him be a little heavier and make it harder for opponents to knock him off pucks.
The star prospect for SAC is junior defenseman and Harvard commit Jack Bar. A late ’02, he’s not eligible until the 2021 NHL Draft, but he’s an elite two-way defender with good size. He’s not flashy at all, but he has a lot of tools that allow him to make positive contributions at both ends. It’s still a ways away, but it would be a shock if Bar wasn’t a top two round pick in 2021.
NTDP Watch
This tournament featured three of the better ‘03s in the New England region in Hughes for St. Sebastian’s and left wing Paul Davey and center Ryan St. Louis for Brunswick.
Hughes had a goal in the championship game, but was quiet on the score sheet outside of that. He’s on the first line during five-on-five play, but he’s relegated to the second power play unit. His goal was a redirect of a point shot. He certainly has the skating and skill to make the NTDP and will get an invite to the evaluation camp in March at the very least.
St. Louis is an extremely smart player who has skill to go along with it. He had two goals and two assists in the four games. St. Louis is always in the right spots and isn’t afraid to go hunt pucks or crash the net. His skating stride is good and he will improve his foot speed as he continues to fill into his frame. He should get an invite to the NTDP camp.
Davey has the size, length and skill to make plays. He was quiet in the first two games, but picked up a pair of assists in the consolation round Sunday.
While not on the NTDP watch list, Brunswick center Matt McGroarty, St. Sebastian’s defenseman Will Elias and Rivers left wing Will Conway all asserted themselves nicely for young players in a prep tournament.
Uncommitted Standouts
As mentioned in Saturday’s article on three players buzzing at the prep holiday tournaments, St. Andrew’s right wing Brendan Bowie was phenomenal here. An ’01, his skill with the puck on his stick is elite. He can make some highlight reel plays and he should have a commitment shortly as numerous schools were ready to offer him following the weekend.
Teammate Liam Cavan, a ’02 defenseman, showed off his mobility and puck-carrying capabilities in the few games here. He should also be close to a Division I commitment.
St. Andrew’s had the most Division I prospects of any team in the tournament.
As mentioned above, Elias was good in limited action on the blue line for St. Sebastian’s. He’s a solid, two-way defender who skates well and makes a good first touch. He gaps well and has a good stick. He’s absolutely a Hockey East or high-end ECAC Hockey player in the future.
Northwood has five NCAA Division I commits already, but a few more are potential targets, if not good Division III recruits. Defenseman Nate Boak is undersized, but he made a couple of nice blocks versus St. Seb’s in the final. Center Jerko Ramo has a lot of speed and used it well this weekend. He’s not Division I, but a Division III team would improve their team tremendously by taking ’00 Matt Shanklin. He can center the fourth line, kill penalties, block shots, and bring energy each shift.
Resilient Cadets
After an opening round win over Williston, Albany Academy fell, 3-2, in the semifinals against St. Sebastian’s. Steve Needham’s group played hard, despite fallowing behind 3-0. Kevin Quinn and Zack Mouzakes were the goal scorers in the game.
Mouzakes, a late ’01, is a smaller, mobile defenseman who jumped into the play a few times. He looks to have the potential to be a nice Division III player in a few years.
Two other Cadets to keep an eye on include ’00 defenseman Andrius Kulbis-Marino and ’03 defenseman Sean Conlon. Both have varying degrees of potential.
Rego, Moran shine for Wildcats, Wampitis
While only bits and pieces of games involving Williston Northampton and Winchendon were viewed, one prospect for each team stood out above the rest. Williston ’00 defenseman Tim Rego is a skilled defenseman that might be able to latch onto a Division I offer if he ages out of junior. Otherwise, he’ll be a nice offensive-minded, puck-moving defender at the Division III level. Winchendon ’00 Devin Moran will be a solid prospect for a Division III program looking for a middle six forward.
St. Sebastian’s Lines
4 J. Hughes - 15 L. Gorman - 12 L. Connors
19 L. Devlin - 20 T. Lyons - 18 C. Joyce
26 J. Milbury - 6 T. Delay - 16 B. Gorman
17 J. Lavoie - 9 C. Collins - 8 B. Dumas
3 J. Struble - 2 R. MacDermott
24 T. Messineo - 14 J. Davenport
10 L. Murphy - 5 W. Elias
31 L. Garrity
Northwood Lines
18 J. Waters - 11 J. Ramo - 15 D. Colabufo
4 T. Bannister - 12 W. Arquiett - 19 C. Monds
8 E. Devereaux - 26 R. Leibold - 27 F. Ulrick
17 W. Batt - 10 M. Shanklin - 23 S. Panico
3 N. Boak - 7 A. Gilbert
16 C. Leal - 13 J. Lambright
24 B. Ott - 9 D. Rose
1 R. Wilson
St. Andrew’s College Lines
15 C. MacDougall - 10 M. Hillier - 27 M. Stienburg
11 D. O’Brien - 21 F. Carogioiello - 29 B. Bowie
18 A. Power - 19 D. Baldassara - 8 C. Galata
17 E. Landry - 9 T. Munro - 14 A. Boland
7 L. Cavan - 4 J. Agnew
20 X. Henry 28 G. Arnott
5 C. Clarke - 24 J. Bar
33 Dante Fernandes
1 L. Lehti
Brunswick Lines
11 P. Davey - 26 R. St. Louis - 13 C. Shaffer
19 A. Aboodi - 21 M. McGroarty - 18 H. Foster
15 A.J. Cerbone - 5 E. Glassmeyer - 24 A. McBurney
4 C. Moore - 3 H. Hill
12 S. Farjam - 28 J. Brower
1 A. Rohlf
30 D. Dachille
Rivers Lines
5 M. McEachern - 7 P. Tresca - 6 M. Cormier
14 W. Conway - 17 T. Miller - 9 R. Casey
22 H. Muller - 3 C. Nee - 11 Z. Deener-Chodirker
8 C. Webber - 16 R. Bell
15 T. Andreozzi - 20 P. Lawn
4 D. Morelli - 19 R. Rahbany
1 C. Janko
30 C. Sullivan
