UNH Commits Update: April-28-2017
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Player Spotlight - Max Gildon
Elite hockey players rise to the occasion on the big stage. 2017 UNH Commit Max Gildon delivered an all-star performance at the 2017 IIHF 18U World Championships in Slovakia and helped lead Team USA to the gold medal. The 6'3", 191 lbs., left-shot defenseman scored 4 goals, including a hat trick against the Czech Republic, and distributed 2 assists over 7 games. Gildon (Pronounced: Gil-DON) was the top scoring defenseman on Team USA and tied for 6th among all tournament players. His 4 goals tied him for 3rd in overall goal scoring and were the most of any defenseman.As these video highlights show, Gildon excels at scoring goals off the rush and on the power play:
Entering the 18U Worlds, Max Gildon was ranked as a 'B' prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Service. They projected Gildon as a candidate to be drafted in either the 2nd or 3rd Round of the 2017 NHL Draft coming up on June 23-24. Chris Dilks of SB Nation concluded that Gildon's performance at the Worlds increased his chances of being drafted in the 2nd Round:
"If there was one US player that really helped himself in this tournament it was defenseman Max Gildon, who scored 4-2-6, including a hat trick against the Czech Republic. Gildon has always had all the physical abilities to be a first round pick, but never quite had the mental side, especially against better competition like he saw against college teams. He showed the ability to use his talents well here. He was probably a 2nd/3rd round guy before the tournament, and this pushed him more towards the second round."Max Gildon recently signed a National Letter of Intent with the University of New Hampshire. He will enroll at UNH this Fall.
Player Spotlight - Charlie Kelleher
Charlie Kelleher and the Sioux City Musketeers finished the regular season with the best record in the United States Hockey League. After Kelleher was traded from the Tri-City Storm to the Musketeers in early February, he tallied 6 goals and 12 assists in 21 regular season games. Overall, Kelleher scored 17 goals and 34 assists in the regular season. He tied for 8th in USHL scoring, tied 6th in assists, and tied 7th in power play assists (12).Kelleher and the Musketeers didn't miss a beat in the opening round of the USHL Playoffs. They swept the Des Moines Buccaneers in 3 games and Kelleher lead the team with 3 goals. In fact, he is currently tied for 1st in goal-scoring in the USHL Playoffs. As these video highlights (Courtesy of DMBucshighlights) show, Charlie Kelleher knows how to rush the net and bury his chances:
Sioux City will face the Waterloo Black Hawks in the USHL Western Conference Finals beginning tonight. Charlie Kelleher plans to matriculate to UNH this fall.
Player Spotlight - Benton Maass
After completing his season with Elks River High School in Minnesota, right-shot defenseman Benton Maass (Pronounced: Mass) returned to the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for their final 9 games of the NAHL regular season. The Ice Dogs won all 9 games. Coincidence? Probably not - Maass scored 5 goals and 3 assists during that stretch.In the opening round of the North American Hockey League Playoffs, Fairbanks swept the Minnesota Magicians in 3 games. Maass lead the Ice Dogs with 2 power play assists and added 2 assists. He is currently tied for 4th in NAHL Playoff scoring and tied 1st in power play goals.
These video highlights from the 7-2 victory in Game 3 show how well-rounded Maass' game is. He is wearing the #28 Ice Dog jersey. The sequence shows him making a stretch pass, scoring a power play goal, dishing 2 power play assists, and killing penalties:
Like Max Gildon, Benton recently signed an NLI with UNH. He plans to matriculate this fall.
Player Spotlight - Ryan Verrier
Ryan Verrier, a left-shot defenseman from Reading, Massachusetts, transferred from Austin Prep School to the Salisbury School for his senior year. Verrier (Pronounced: VERY-er) scored 7 goals and 18 assists for the 7th-ranked Salisbury Crimson Knights. Among all New England Prep Hockey defenseman, Verrier tied for 9th in assists. Although the Salisbury season ended with a 4-2 loss to Dexter in the Elite 8 quarterfinals, the 2016-17 season was not over for several Salisbury players. Verrier and 5 of his teammates joined the Mid-Fairfield (CT) Chiefs for the USA Hockey Tier-I U18 National Championships.Mid-Fairfield won all 5 games in the tournament capped off by a 4-3 overtime win over Team Wisconsin in the Championship Game. Ryan Verrier scored 3 goals and an assist in the tournament. Among all tourney players, he tied for 3rd in goal-scoring. Here are all of Verrier's goals - he wears #8 for Mid-Fairfield and is the quarterback on their power play:
2016-17 Statistics
NOTEThe statistics for the commits, presented in the following table, are categorized by the projected year they will enroll in UNH. For example, the "2017 Commits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2017. I have based these projections on a number of factors including:
~ If a National Letter of Intent has been signed.
~ The year the commit and UNH coaches originally targeted for enrollment in UNH.
~ How old the commit would be upon admission.
~ Number of years in junior hockey prior to admission.
~ The commit's performance in recent seasons as well as injuries.
~ Anticipated date of high school graduation.
~ Number of UNH players leaving the team at the end of the previous season and the position they played.
| Player | Team | League | GP | Goals | Asst | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Commits | |||||||
| Joseph Cipollone (F) | Tri-City Storm | USHL | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Junior Bruins | USPHL | 23 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 8 | |
| Playoffs | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | ||
| Liam Darcy (D) | Islanders Hockey Club | USPHL | 44 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 17 |
| Playoffs | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Max Gildon* (D) | USA NTDP U18 | NCAA | 16 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| USHL | 25 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 26 | ||
| NAHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Int'l. | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 14 | ||
| U18 Worlds | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||
| Charlie Kelleher* (F) | Tri-City Storm | USHL | 40 | 11 | 22 | 33 | 10 |
| Sioux City Musketeers | USHL | 21 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 4 | |
| Playoffs | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Benton Maass* (D) | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | NAHL | 23 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 12 |
| Playoffs | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Elk River HS | Minn HS | 25 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 6 | |
| Playoffs | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Eric MacAdams* (F) | Sioux Falls Stampede | USHL | 43 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 86 |
| Dubuque Fighting Saints | USHL | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 20 | |
| Playoffs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| James Miller* (D) | Penticton Vees | BCHL | 37 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 47 |
| Playoffs | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 6 | ||
| Mike Robinson* (G) | Dubuque Fighting Saints | USHL | 1 | 1W | 0L | 4.20 | .854 |
| Springfield Jr Blues | NAHL | 21 | 10W | 9L | 2.89 | .918 | |
| Kohei Sato (F) | Northeast Generals | NAHL | 48 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 87 |
| North Iowa Bulls | NA3HL | 7 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 2 | |
| 2018 Commits | |||||||
| Angus Crookshank* (F) | Langley Rivermen | BCHL | 31 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 14 |
| Playoffs | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Eric Esposito* (F) | Youngstown Phantoms | USHL | 52 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 123 |
| Playoffs | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Corson Green (D) | Chicago Steel | USHL | 48 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 53 |
| Playoffs | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2018 or '19 Commits | |||||||
| Lucas Bahn (D) | Skipjacks 18U | USPHL 18U | 23 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 10 |
| Playoffs | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Johnstown Tomahawks | NAHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jackson Pierson (F) | Culver Academy | Prep | 36 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 2 |
| 18U Nationals | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Ryan Verrier (D) | Salisbury School | NE Prep | 29 | 7 | 18 | 25 | - |
| Playoffs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | ||
| 18U Nationals | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 2019 Commits | |||||||
| Connor Sweeney (F) | Pingree School | NE Prep | 29 | 31 | 12 | 43 | - |
| Marek Wazny (F) | NJ Avalanche 16U | Tier 1 Elite | 32 | 21 | 11 | 32 | 26 |
| Playoffs | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| AYHL | 23 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 4 | ||
| Playoffs | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 16U Nationals | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2020 Commits | |||||||
| Drew Commesso (G) | St. Sebastian's | NE Prep | 8 | 3W | 2L/1T | 1.77 | .932 |
| 14U Nationals | 3 | 1W | 2L | 2.50 | .878 | ||
| * = Signed National Letter of Intent | |||||||
News & Notes
British Columbia Hockey League:~ James Miller (D) and the Penticton Vees won the BCHL Championship and earned the Fred Page Cup. Miller contributed 7 assists in 21 Playoff games - none more important than the last one. In the Game 7 overtime against the Chilliwack Chiefs, Miller kept the puck in the offensive zone and made a key pass for the secondary assist. The Vees advance to the Western Canada Cup tournament beginning on Saturday.
United States Hockey League:
~ 2017 commit Eric MacAdams (F) and the Dubuque Fighting Saints won the opening round of the USHL Playoffs defeating the Muskegon Lumberjacks 3 games to 1. So far, MacAdams has not scored.
~ 2018 commit Corson Green (D) and the Chicago Steel defeated Eric Esposito (F) and the Youngstown Phantoms in the first round of the USHL Playoffs. Green contributed 1 assist while Esposito did not score in the 5-game series.
USA Hockey Youth National Championships:
~ UNH newest commit, Jackson Pierson and the Culver Academy Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the 18U National Championship but lost to fellow UNH commit Ryan Verrier and the Mid-Fairfield Chiefs. Pierson, who played center for Culver, scored 2 goals and 4 assists in 4 games. Among all the 18U players, Pierson tied for 4th in scoring and tied 3rd in assists. Look for a feature article on Jackson Pierson coming soon on The UNH Men's Hockey Blog.
~ 2019 commit Marek Wazny and the North Jersey Avalanche 16U team did not advance beyond the opening round of the 16U National Championships. Wazny, a centerman, tallied 1 assist in 3 games. The scouts from Neutral Zone provided this assessment of Wazny's performance:
"Wazny wasn’t able to produce offensively the way he would have liked to, but he showed a lot of ability throughout the week. He’s tall, athletic and has a long, fluid stride and deceptive agility for his age and build. His hands were smooth and agile throughout the week and he made plays every time he was on the ice. He carries the puck with confidence and poise and he never panics or rushes passes. The issue he had here was that he tried to do too much, he tried to dangle defenseman instead of taking it wide and he skated into adverse situations. Overall, he’s a high ceiling prospect with excellent feet, athleticism and puck control."~ 2020 commit Drew Commesso and the South Shore Kings U14 did not advance beyond the opening round of the 16U National Championships. Wazny, who started in goal in all 3 games, won 1 game and lost 2. He posted a 2.50 Goals Against Average and a .878 Save Percentage.
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