Last year was a big Mass. Hockey Festival for the 2008-born prospects because it was their first.
When all was said and done, 10 forwards, five defensemen and two goalies made it to USA Hockey's Select 15 Camp. The 10 forwards were Will Bent (Dover, Mass.), David Bosco (Winchester, Mass.), Michael Federico (Hanover, Mass.), Andrew Giguere (Georgetown, Mass.), Ty Hymovitz (Needham, Mass.), Matthew Krayer (Concord, Mass.), Casey Mutryn (Norwell, Mass.), Benjamin Short (Lunenburg, Mass.), Noah Survilas (Winthrop, Mass.) and Spencer Thornborough (Boxford, Mass.).
Bent, Bosco, Mutryn and Thornborough were all invited to this season's U.S. National Team Development Program's Evaluation Camp, with Mutryn as the lone player to make it. The rest of the three have automatic bids to Select 16 Camp.
For everyone else, the focus shifts to earning spots at that Select 16 Camp, which will be held July 9-15 in Amherst, N.Y.
That starts this weekend at the Mass. Hockey Festival. Players will battle at New England Sports Center for spots the following weekend in the Final 40. From there, players will be picked to move on to Select 16 Camp.
We're going to focus on the forwards in this story. Some of these players were talked about prior to the USHL Phase 1 Draft, but many were not. A separate story will be done on defenders.
Let's dive in.
