Thursday, August 29, 2013

A scorer for the future--UPDATED



BU has received a verbal from one of the top U.S. ‘98 birthdate forwards, Shattuck St. Mary Bantam standout Clayton Keller, who will arrive at Agganis Arena in 2016.

A 5-10, 144 lb. native of Swansea, Illinois, and a product of the Jr. Blues program, Keller scored a team-high129 points —58g, 71 a—in 60 games (40 points more than the #2 scorer) to lead the Sabres to the USA Hockey U14 National Championship game. His performance in the Nationals earned him a spot on the All-Youth1 tournament team.

According to Matthew Barnaby, a former NHLer and now coach of SSM rival the 14U Buffalo Regals, “Clayton is a tremendous player with exceptional skills. His passing and vision make him a force every time he is on the ice and his hockey IQ is off the charts.”  

In late April, Keller skated for the New England Nordiques in the World Selects Invitational in Saco, Maine, earning kudos from U.S. Hockey Report:
Clayton Keller, F, ’98 (New England Nordiques) 5-8/150 — We saw the Shattuck-St. Mary’s forward at Nationals a couple of weeks ago, and wrote that he reminded us of Zach Parise at the same age. We’ll stick with that. The Bellville, Ill. native is an effortless skater with a top-notch skill set. Makes plays every time he touches the puck. Is only going to get better when he begins to fill out. Our only knock on him is that we would like to see him add some more finish to his game — he’s definitely a ‘pass first’ player. Regardless, we’re convinced Keller is a young star in the making.
At the recent USA Hockey Select 15 development camp, the left-shot center had a 5-5-10 line in five games, tied for fourth best at the event. Keller will skate for SSM’s 16U squad this season.

The Western Hockey Blog’s Chris Dilks, who calls Keller “a small shifty playmaker with incredible vision and passing ability,” opines:
It's a huge pick-up for the Terriers and new head coach David Quinn, in an area that BU isn't necessarily known for recruiting from. Keller is just entering the 10th grade this year, so he wouldn't join the Terriers until 2016 at the earliest, but it's a very positive sign for BU's long-term stability to lock up quality players like this.

Keller is #9 for SSM in this video clip:

Other observations about Kelleher from Amateur Hockey Report scouts:
Scouted on July 14-20, 2013 @ USA Select 15 Festival
A Shattuck U-14 product was the best player on the ice on Saturday.  He is on the small side but competes for every puck.  He has high-end skills and is very slick and creative with the puck.  His game on Saturday made him the #7 best forward at the camp in AHR’s opinion.  AHR Rating: A
 Scouted on November 10-11, 2012 @ HPHL Showcase-Chicago
Keller boasts a whopping 13 points in 5 games in the HPHL and has an outstanding wrist shot.  He is a power play specialist with a good set of hands to boot.  When you first see him on the ice you wouldn't expect it because he has an awkward stride and has room to grow, but as soon as the puck drops it is pure domination from there.  If he brings his footwork up to speed he should be a top tier prospect for years to come.  Your typical SSM stud. AHR Rating: A
 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Catching Up with the Terriers



New England Hockey Journal examines three Bruins prospects including Terrier sophomore defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who earned Hockey East All-Rookie team honors last season.

Looking ahead
OverTheBoards.net’s review of the top forwards at the Beantown Summer Classic includes strong assessments of BU 2015 or 2016 recruit Bobo Carpenter and prospect Ryan Donato, who reportedly has been offered by the Terriers.

2014 recruit Jonathan MacLeod has been named to the roster of USA Hockey’s 2nd annual All-American Prospects Game, set for Sept. 26 in Pittsburgh. MacLeod, who played for the NTDP U17s last season and now moves up to the U18s along with fellow recruit Jack Eichel, is one of 28 players rostered for the prospects game who appear on NHL Central Scouting’s Futures List for the 2014 draft.  A hard-hitting defensive blueliner, the 6-1 MacLeod played two seasons ago for Kimball Union as a teammate of current BU freshmen Doyle Somerby and Nick Roberto, helping the Wildcats earn the 2012 NEPSAC Simmons/Piatelli Championship.

We’ve added new recruiting page to our list of links in the sidebar. It’s College Hockey News’ “Recruit Watch.”

Looking back
NHL.com talks with former BU captain Kevin Shattenkirk about his opportunity to make the 2014 U.S. Olympic team, as evaluation camp continues in Lake Placid.

College Hockey Inc. has posted a list of all former college hockey players now on NHL coaching or administrative staffs or coaching in the AHL. The list includes 15 ex-Terriers, more than any other school, according to an @TerrierHockey tweet. Here they are:

Joe Sacco, ass’t coach Buffalo; Ron Anderson, Dir. Player Recruitment, Chicago; Bob Crocker, Amateur Scout, LA; Mark Mullen, Collegiate Scout, LA; Jack Ferriera, Special Assistant to GM, LA; Freddy Meyer, AHL Assistant Coach, LA; Chris Kelleher, Professional Scout, Minnesota; Paul Fenton, Assistant General Manager, Nashville; Jeff Kealty, Chief Amateur Scout, Nashville; Scott Lachance, Scout, New Jersey; Chris O’Sullivan, Scout, New York Islanders; Steve Stirling, AHL Assistant Coach, Ottawa; John Hynes, AHL Head Coach, Pittsburgh; John Lilley, Amateur Scout, Toronto; Mike Sullivan, Assistant Coach, Vancouver.


Women’s Team
The Terriers have announced their 2013-2014 schedule of 34 regular-season games and one exhibition game. In addition to three games against each Hockey East rival and the annual Beanpot Tournament, BU will host a pair of games against Minnesota-Duluth and will travel to Vail, Colorado to face off against St. Cloud State and Wisconsin.

Five current and former Terriers are included on Canada’s 2014 Olympic Centralization roster: defensement Catherine Ward and Tara Watchorn and forwards Jennifer Wakefield, Jenelle Kohanchuk and Marie-Philip Poulin. All five, along with current senior Louise Warren and sophomore Sarah Lefort participated in the recent Team Canada National Women’s Program Red-White Series.

Three recently graduated Terriers, Jill Cardella, Alissa Fromkin and Shannon Mahoney were drafted by the Boston Blades in the 2013 Canadian Women’s Hockey League Draft.

Looking ahead
Toni Ann Miano, a 2014 BU recruit, was a member of the  2013 U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team that participated in the 2013 Women's Under-18 Series vs. Canada, Aug. 22-25 in Lake Placid., N.Y.  She’s a defenseman from The Bronx, N.Y. Terrier assistant coach Katie Lachappelle was an assistant on the Team USA coaching staff.
 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Linkorama



OverTheBoards.net has posted an analysis of BU’s 2013 recruits, noting that many members of the 2013 class will be expected to immediately step into the Terrier lineup. OTB has been running a series of reports on recruit classes.

In addition to the five forwards and three defensemen who are now freshmen, the report notes three future recruits: forward Jack Eichel who will return to the NTDP and skate for the U18s; goalie Shane Starrett, who will refine his game in the USHL with Sioux Falls and, forward Bobo Carpenter, the leading returning scorer at Austin Prep.

Carpenter, a 2015 recruit, recently competed in the Beantown Summer Classic where he tied for third leading scorer (4-2-6 in five games), earning kudos from The Hockey News.

OTB also tweeted that Dexter School standout Ryan Donato, #16 uncommitted on OTB’s Select 70, “has been offered by BU and is visiting BC next week. Harvard is a potential D1 home as well.” 

Donato, who scored 60 points (29-31) last season and also participated in the Beantown Summer Classic and the USA Hockey Select 16s, is the son of Harvard Head Coach  Ted Donato and the nephew of Dexter coach—and former Terrier—Dan Donato.

Looking back
More than forty Terrier Hockey alums turned out for the annual golf tournament at River Bend Country Club in West Bridgewater, Mass. The winning team was a quartet made up of Keith Emery (shown sinking the winning put), Bobby Hanson, Kevin Kielt and Greq Quebec. The two alums who traveled the furthest to attend were Gary Fay (Switzerland) and all-time Terrier scoring champ and former NHLer John Cullen (Atlanta).

Also participating were: David Quinn, Brad Zancanaro, Brian McConnell, Freddy Meyer, Brian Collins, Dan Cavanaugh, Dan Ronan, Mike Sylvia, Pat Aufiero, Mike Eruzione Jr., Ryan Weston, Karson Gillespie,  John McCarthy, Brandon Yip, Ryan Monaghan, Kevin Schaeffer, Craig Sanders,  Kevin Gilroy, Brian Strait, Jason Lawrence, Ross Gaudet, Ed Walsh, Dan Carnevale, Cleon Daskalakis,  Pete Marshall, Tad Doherty, Tim Kimball, Bill Whelton, John Cronin,Marc Hetnik, Matt Marden, Mark Savran, Brian Durocher, Shawn McEachern, Scott Young, Bob Deraney, and Scott Shaunessy. 

Women’s team
The Medford Transcript spoke with local resident and Arlington Catholic standout Natalie Flynn who is a freshman forward in Coach Brian Durocher’s 2013 recruit class. Flynn will  be playing at Walter Brown Arena where she attended BU games growing up.
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