The top junior hockey league in the country is chock full of New England talent this year.
Some of the region’s top players have decided to head away from home in order to further their development in the United States Hockey League before heading to the NCAA Division 1 level over the next couple of seasons.
The Chicago Steel have dominated the Eastern Conference through nearly half of the season, going 27-4-1-0 through this weekend’s action. Three of the USHL’s top four scorers are New England natives from the Steel, including Harvard commit Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.), who has 30 assists among his 42 points.
Future Northeastern teammates Sam Colangelo (Stoneham, Mass.) and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (East Greenwich, R.I.) have also been standouts for Chicago, totaling 39 and 38 points, respectively. Colangelo is tied for fourth in the USHL with 20 goals on the year, including four in his last five games.
Eight New England natives will be playing in Monday night’s BioSteel All-American Game at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., which features 43 of the top U.S.-born players eligible for the upcoming NHL draft in June.
In addition to Farrell, Colangelo and Fontaine, the All-American rosters include Cedar Rapids defenseman Alex Gagne (Bedford, N.H.), Tri-City forward Nick Capone (East Haven, Conn.), and U.S. National Team Development Program goaltender Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) and forwards Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Matthew Beniers (Hingham, Mass.).
No matter where a player’s path starts, it’s no secret that the USHL is a premier destination for future Division 1 talent.
“It’s an individual decision, of course, but the league is a great league for guys that really want to be players (at higher levels),” Steel head coach Brock Sheahan said. “You get unbelievable exposure with the amount of NHL scouts and college coaches that scout the league. You’re playing against the best players. Development is the most important thing in the way we run our program, so I think that’s what attracts kids to leave wherever they’re playing to come out.”
The Western Conference-leading Waterloo Black Hawks boast a Vermont native in forward Kyle Haskins (Huntington, Vt.) for the second straight year. The future Michigan State Spartan has scored nine goals during his second straight campaign with the Iowa-based franchise.
A handful of this year’s New England native USHL players have committed to Northeastern for their college careers. Two of them ― forwards Jack Hughes (Westwood, Mass.) and Ryan St. Louis (Riverside, Conn.) ― are among the five New Englanders spending their seasons with Commesso, Berard and Beniers as part of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
The following is a list of the New England natives who are currently on USHL rosters, listed in scoring order:
