USPHL NCDC SEASON REVIEW - SOUTH DIVISION
The 2019-2020 NCDC season was the third season operating as a tuition free Junior hockey league. This particular season for the NCDC saw its highest amount of NCAA Division 1 commitments and several pro signings into European hockey leagues.
Below is our season recap to get everyone refreshed on the NCDC South Division landscape before the season takes off in late September.
Please note, listed committed players may have been previously committed prior to playing in the NCDC.
New Jersey Hitmen
42W-5L-1T-4SOW-2SOL- 1st Place
Commitments
Liam McLinskey (Vermont), Josh Waters (Dartmouth), Connor Tait (Quinnipiac), Whim Stalberg (Vermont), Jericho Petkovich (Trinity), Greg Koutsomitis (Dartmouth), Vilho Saariluoma (Bentley), Michael Kane (Holy Cross), Tyler Borsch (Dartmouth), Andrew Gilbert (Army), Gavin Abric (Army), Mickey Burns (Vermont), John Campomenosi (Trinity).
Summary
The Hitmen were the leagues deepest team at all positions. The fire power up front was led by the leagues leading point getter Mickey Burns, who will be heading to Vermont this fall.
Behind Burns was a cast of highly touted forwards (Mclinskey 52pts, Ebrahim 48pts, Rhodes 46points, Waters 38pts) who provided the Hitmen with an offensive threat that just kept coming after teams.
Defensively the Hitmen had the length and physical presence to keep every other team in the league contained. In the net was Gavin Abric, who came on strong and had a breakout year. He will be headed to Army West Point this fall.
By the end of the year, it was clear the Hitmen were the top team in the league as they had a goal differential of 112. Overall, the New Jersey Hitmen were poised to make a strong push at the League Championship under Toby Harris as they were the top of the NCDC before the season shut down.
Connecticut Jr Rangers
27W-14L-8OTL-1SOW-1SOL- 3rd place
Commitments
Troy Daniels (Skidmore), Nicholas Cozzi (Skidmore), Robert Carr (Lebanon Valley), Tate Brandon (Skidmore), Everett Wardle (Skidmore), CJ Hapward (Colby College), Jonah Gold (Williams College), Joe Mancuso (Suny Plattsburgh), Jin Lee (Middlebury), Cam Cokinos (Tufts)
Summary
Under Head Coach Jim Henkel, the Jr. Rangers have been known as a pesky team that is always deep with hard working players. That was no different this past season as the CT Rangers battled their way to a third-place finish. As an older team in the league, the Rangers relied on a veteran forward group.
They found much success in distributing the point production. On the backend, the duo of Reid Miller and Troy Daniels were very consistent for the Rangers helping out goaltenders Brandon Tate and CJ Hapward.
The Rangers will be looking to replace a lot as they lead the league in Division 3 commitments this past year. As always, the Rangers strategically build through their assets and should be a team that competes hard this upcoming season.
PAL Islanders
28W-16L-3OTL-0SOW-3SOL- 5th Place
Commitments
Ryan Gaulin (Endicot), Anthony Aureliano (Western New England), Henry Graham (Umass Amherst), Greg Barnych (Curry College), Devin Kasperek (Suny-Plattsburgh), Nate Pane (Univ. Oklahoma)
Summary
Head Coach Mike Marcou’s first season as the head bench boss was very much a success. Marcou took over a team that found itself at the bottom of the standings in the 2018-2019 season and helped guide this year’s team to an impressive fifth place finish.
The Junior Islanders were not loaded with a high-octane offense but rather a squad that was really well rounded. Contributions from this team came from everyone on the roster as Coach Marcou assembled one of the leagues older teams with a lot of depth.
On the backend, Devin Kasperek became an impressive 20-year old in the league and really developed his game into a well-rounded defenseman. Upfront, the PAL forward depth was experienced and hard to play against on a nightly basis.
In order for the PAL Jr. Islanders to continue to take steps forward next season, they will need to rebuild their forward lines. This was evident on draft day when the Islanders selected 8 forwards.
Utica Jr Comets
22W-24L-4OTL-2SOW-3OTW- 10th Place
Commitments
Colin Mehren (Bethel), Donald Borgula (Lake Forest College), Kevin Sadovski (Merrimack), Connor Close (St. Marys), Bryce Grennan (UMass-Dartmouth)
Summary
After moving from Syracuse to Utica, Paul Kelly’s squad took a step back this past season from their 2018-2019 campaign. The Jr. Comets finished 6 points out of the final playoff spot.
During the final playoff push, the Jr. Comets lost their starting goaltender Isak Johansson to the NAHL after posting an impressive 93% save percentage in 25 games played. Helping Johansson through out the season was right shot defensemen Kevin Sadovski who was able to rack up a total of 40 points and secured a Division 1 commitment to Merrimack.
Up front most of Kelly’s scoring came from Donny Borgula and Radek Prosek. The Jr. Comets will need to build lineup depth throughout the offseason in order to improve for the 2020-2021 season.
Rockets Hockey Club
15W-28L-6OTL-3SOW-1SOL-1OTW- 12th Place
Commitments
Luke House (Dartmouth), Ryan Sorkin (Dartmouth), Kyle Kawamura (Maine), Ben Perkins (Lake Forest)
Summary
In the 2019-2020 the young Rockets Hockey Club showed a lot if talent despite their record. Issues early on in the season hindered their start which created a mountain for this squad to climb, however because of their skill the organization gained a lot of collegiate interest through out the year.
The Rockets will be transitioning to a new coach for the third time in three years as Jason Kersner will replace Barry Dreger for the 2020-2021 season.
For Kersner his biggest task will be to retain his young talent on this squad as many of the Rockets ‘01 and ‘02 birth years were selected in the NAHL. Without the veteran experience the Rockets may see the same fate as they did last season.