I certainly agree NEPSAC is no longer the traditional pipeline to D1, especially academically elite D1, it was 25 years ago. There are still some D1 players coming out of NEPSAC but not nearly as many as 15 years ago. As Lurker and I have agreed, the change in the rules on the CHL has been a game-changer for all levels of college hockey. The NAHL and NEPSAC have mostly become D3 feeders. I think the level of talent at Shattuck has even been impacted.
Lurker’s chart showed lots of younger CHL players leaving their teams for D1 now. They’re not playing there long enough to age out if they get a D1 offer.
All that being said, I still love and watch a ton of prep hockey. MA public school too but Im fortunate to be able to watch a lot of high school hockey where I live.
I loved the AOF holiday tournaments and the New Year’s Eve series Berkshire used to play in Boston vs St Sebs and Nobles - all while trying to line up the college commitment. I really miss that period. The camaraderie with other parents was truly special.
My son and I still have hockey connections from Seattle to Vancouver to New England to North Carolina.
He even played Mites and Squirts in Seattle with former BC women’s team defenseman Lexi Bender and with Wisconsin women’s NCAA National champion Molly Doner. That stopped when checking started in PeeWee lol. Lexi’s a lawyer, too, now - in Boston.
He played summer hockey in NC with the Junior Canes after I moved to Wilmington with Mike Vollmin, a Wilmington guy who played at New Hampton, played four years at Babson and has now played in the top Swiss league for most of nine years, winning a Champions League title for Geneva in 2024. He and Mike are currently working on an arena project here in the Cape Fear area. They’ve got a game set up here to promote the project in June where they’ll play with former Canes’s star Erik Cole and a few other former NHL guys. That should be fun!
I’m still in touch with many coaches, parents and players going all the way back to 2000. It was a great life and I do miss it. But it is fun watching the resurgence of our RedHawks program and I loved getting to see us win the Bellpot Trophy in-person over in Belfast.
It was a great life and things might have been better and a bit more pure back then. But hockey people are awesome! It was a privilege to be involved in the sport.
A good chance to see the pinnacle of CHL hockey tonight (Sunday)! WHL’s Everett Silvertips vs OHL’s Kitchener Rangers in the CHL’s Memorial Cup Championship Game - live from beautiful Kelowna, BC at 7 pm EDT on the NHL Network.
Kitchener wins the Memorial Cup 6-2. Trailing 3-1 with 35 seconds left in the second period, the Silvertips took two penalties. They gave up a 5 on 3 goal to start the third period and another one on that 5 on 4. Kitchener dominated the neutral zone for the final fifteen minutes and hit a ENG.
The Rangers had 12 NHL draftees on their roster, two of whom might play in the show next season. Everett’s 17 year old defenseman Landon DuPont is probably a future superstar.
This is not Bonk. But this is my amateurish copy and paste.
"A decent goaltender who has struggled since being drafted. His strongest asset is explosiveness from post to post, and his ability to jump out to improve his positioning. He will need to work his way up the Russian hockey system before coming to North America. A long-term project that will need to reach his next level to have an NHL future.
It will take a lot of progress and time before Yegorov is close to the NHL, but given the runway of being a netminder and the strengths of the Russian goalie development system, there is still a shot that Yegorov makes the NHL. If he has a repeat of this year next season, his NHL outlook will be grim."
"One of the most impressive athletes of the day was Ilia Morozov, who just went through his freshman year with Miami University in the NCAA.
Morozov finished in the top 10 in six categories. That includes the isokinetic squat, force plate vertical and no-arm jump, tied in third for the right-handed grip test, second-place in pull-ups with 17 reps, and led the class in the left-handed grip test.
In fact, with an overall score of 182.5, Morozov has the fifth-best score in NHL combine history. Also, with 17 pull-ups, he matches the fifth-best all-time score in that event."
At Stonehill? Happy Thanksgiving weekend to this guy.
I initially saw the New Year’s weekend trip to Maine and thought that was acceptable. Nope, the “road trip” is even easier with Stonehill on the schedule.
