Jan 27, 2012

Potomac Patriots: Mission – play better against lesser teams

Patriots general manager and head coach R.J. Zeigler has been more than happy with how the team plays against the Empire League’s best. It’s the teams that “aren’t as talented as us, in my opinion,” that give Zeigler’s Patriots trouble.

“As a two-year-old franchise, we’re running at roughly .500 in comparison with last year, when we’re toward the basement of the league last year,” Zeigler added. His team was 13-14-2-1 overall.

As an example of the Patriots playing up against the best or playing down against the lesser squads, the team has defeated Western Conference rivals the New York Apple Core, the Brewster Bulldogs and the Philadelphia Revolution.

Each one of those three teams had already clinched an Empire League Playoffs bid as of Jan. 27.

Look at the non-playoff teams from that conference, and it’s a different picture. The Buffalo Stars were 8-20-2-2, but four of their eight wins came against the Patriots.

Additionally, the team took losses this season against the East Coast Eagles (11-26-0-0) and the Capital District Selects (8-23-0-1).

“We have not learned how to win yet,” said Zeigler. “Some of it is because of maturity levels and some of it is concentration. But we’re headed in the right direction. In the games we play against the better teams, we do perform well. Our players see what they’re capable of and now they just need to learn to be consistent.”

Andrew Turgeon

One model of consistency in the lineup has been forward Andrew Turgeon, the Patriots’ only Empire League All-Star this year.

The 1992-born Owings, Md., native stood at 27 goals and 39 points as of Jan. 27.

“He is on pace to score between 30 and 40 goals this year,” said Zeigler. “Other Empire League teams have tried to get him from us, requesting a trade. Despite the opportunities, Andrew has made the commitment to stick with our team whether we make the playoffs or not. He’s our captain, and I thought that was a mature thing for Andrew to do.”

Andrew Turgeon

Zeigler added that Turgeon was expecting to just go to the University of Delaware and play for the Blue Hens’ American College Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 club team.

“Now, his plan is to go to a few tryouts and see what he’s capable of, and see if another college opportunity comes along that he likes,” added Zeigler.

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Jan 26, 2012

Eastern States Hockey League: Wildcats solve goaltending mystery, move on

The Western Conference of the Eastern States Hockey League is quite the battle-ground, what with four teams separated by seven points with just under a month left.

Only the Suffolk Juniors had clinched a playoff berth as of Jan. 24, but also in the mix for the postseason are the Jersey Wildcats.

The Wildcats, who missed the playoffs last year after making it in 2010, have a winning record and are hoping to finish better than .500 with a 15-11-0-2 mark and eight games remaining.

The Wildcats started out 2-8 in the ESHL through October, but since then have gone 13-3 for a dramatic turnaround.

“We had goaltending troubles and we were dealing with the injury bug,” said head coach Dustin Good. “We didn’t get out of the gate the way we wanted to, but we’ve won nine of our last 11 and our last six. We just beat [Western Conference] leaders Suffolk over the Jan. 22-23 weekend.”

Mark Specia started out as the season’s regular goaltender, but with a .933 save percentage and a 3-1 record, he was moved up to the Empire League’s Wildcats team.

“That’s great for him and it’s great for our program,” said Good.

The Empire Wildcats team sent their youngest goalie, 1995-born Grant Perry to the ESHL squad to get some valuable starts. After some adjustment earlier in the season, he’s been gold for the Wildcats since the start of December, going 5-2 since December.

“He’s getting a good quantity of minutes and good, quality minutes with us,” added Good.

Additionally, the other ESHL Wildcats goalie, ’95-born Christoph Mutschin, went 4-1 since the end of December. Consider the goal a very stable position.

Joe Rametta dishes the puck for the Jersey Wildcats.

Up front the team held a slight goal advantage of 107-103, surpassing the point where their opponents had been outscoring them on average. During their six-game winning streak, the Wildcats had outscored their opponents, 32-21.

“We’ve got a decent number of guys who are contributing nicely,” said Good. “We’ve had really consistent scoring up and down the lines. On Jan. 21 [in a 5-3 win], we had five different goal-scorers, and then [in a 7-5 win on Jan. 22], we had seven goals by six different players.”

Top-liners include second-year, ’94-born forward Nick Skerlik and ’93-born Matt Sangalli, both of whom finished in the top two scoring spots for the 2010-11 team. This year, Skerlik had 28 points in 26 games (for 49 points in 59 career ESHL games) and Sangalli scored 20 points in 22 games this year and 57 points in 56 games overall.

“Matt will go to school next year, but if Skerlik hangs around, he’ll be a good candidate for the Empire team,” said Good.

Additionally, 1995-born Austin Nyeis another second-year player who has proven to be a strong two-way forward. The Mount Pocono, Pa., resident led the team in plus-minus last year (plus-3), and this year, is at plus-11 on the season to again lead the team in that category. He was also scoring better than the eight points of last year, posting 20 points in 26 games.

The Jersey Wildcats' Eastern States League team celebrate one of their 15 wins this year.

“One-hundred percent, he’ll play in the Empire League next year, and then, depending on how quickly he develops, he is definitely an Eastern Junior or Atlantic Junior League type of kid,” Good said.

Joe Rametta, a ’95 Wayne, N.J., resident is another to watch with 24 points in 27 games.

Defenseman Ryan Morse, a ’94 from Westfield, N.J., was the Wildcats’ only representative on the ESHL All-Star team. This season, he had 13 points in 23 games.

“I think we had more players who were All-Star caliber, but the league only had one All-Star team,” said Good. “[Morse] is extremely offensive-minded, but he’s improved his play in the defensive zone as the season has gone on.”

The D corps, which also includes captain Mike Root, Gage Malinowski, Nicholas Bacigalupo, “was all playing very well for us.”

The Wildcats have had plenty of success this season, holding winning records in two leagues, despite being one of well over a dozen junior teams in the New York metropolitan region.

“We run a very professional organization, offering a program that echoes NCAA programs,” said Good. “We also offer a very family-oriented atmosphere. On Jan. 22, we had a game in the morning and a game at night. Between those games, the family of one of our players had a holiday gift exchange and team meal at their house. I was there – it was fantastic, and I had nothing to do with the planning.

“It’s a very competitive atmosphere – there are kids coming in and out of the lineup and getting more ice than others or playing in more games,” Good added, “but despite those factors, there is a family culture here that is very welcoming and warm.”

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Jan 26, 2012

Florida Jr. Blades: Empire League squad brings in talent from all corners

Call them hockey tourists – on a working vacation, that is. When the Florida Jr. Blades staff scouts, they have no problem putting on the miles.

“We have assembled a team with players who have relocated from 10 different states and over 17 different organizations, including six junior programs and five AAA programs,” said Blades assistant coach Jake Laime.

Of course, an exotic address alone won’t get you into a Blades sweater. Laime said the team has very specific type of parameters they look for in terms of talent level.

“When we look to assemble a team, we recruit a player who has the qualities to play at a higher level, but might fall short of a regular shift in the North American or Eastern Junior Leagues,” said Laime. “We identify those players and provide them the game minutes they need and help prepare them so they can be successful at the next level.”

For the 31-1-0-1 Blades (first place in the entire Empire Junior League), the leading scorer through Jan. 24 was Greensboro, N.C., resident D.J. Thomas. He had 34 goals and 60 points in 31 games.

A former member of the North American League’s Coulee Region Chill, Thomas came to the Blades along with his Chill linemate Eryn Siracusa.

Also standing with 60 points, through 33 games, Josh Koerner comes to the Blades from Montgomery, N.Y., and the West Chester Express AAA team.

Garland, Texas, resident Marcus Ortiz started the season with the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes, but since joining the Blades, he has been unstoppable in scoring 31 points in 19 games. Last year, he played with the Dallas Stars AAA program.

From Franklin Lakes, N.J., Dan Thompson formerly suited up for the Metropolitan Junior League’s New York Saints. Fellow forward Chris Lepore started with the Boston Bandits before scoring seven points in the last 13 games.

On the blue line, Pembroke Pines, Fla., resident Ty Lasker spent last year playing across the Empire League with the Bay State Breakers. He had 34 points in 33 games. Ross Kovacs (26 points in 32 games) grew up in Dickenson, N.D., and last played for the Russell Stover Midget AAA squad.

In net, Eric Sugrue had played in 20 games and had an 11-1-0 record and an .899 save percentage. The Naples, Fla., native is back in the Sunshine State after four years with Notre Dame Prep in Connecticut.

“It’s good to know that the Jr. Blades brand is getting out there and is recognizable to so many of the players involved in such prestigious teams and organizations,” said Laime.

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Jan 26, 2012

First Western States Hockey League outdoor game will take place Feb. 4

The New Mexico Renegades and the Cheyenne Stampede will hit the ice outdoors in Los Alamos, N.M., on Feb. 4 in what will be the first-ever outdoor game for teams in the Western States Hockey League.

Renegades general manager/head coach Michael Gershon is certainly looking forward to the outdoor action.

“Playing outside will take our players back to their childhood when they would just grab skates and a puck and play for hours,” Gershon said. “We hope that many people will come out to watch and that we can make this into an annual game.”

He added that the Los Alamos Youth Hockey League and the City of Los Alamos have been extremely helpful in setting up the game.

“We hope this game turns out to be as good as other outdoors games have been,”said Gershon.

Following the game, the Renegades will host a skate with the team for all attendees.  The game will start at 5:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at the door for a general admission price of $3 each.

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Jan 23, 2012

Capital District Selects: Kapelanski takes charge of offense

The prep school route just didn’t work for Beaconsfield, Que., resident Peter Kapelanski.

Peter Kapelanski attacks the zone against the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs in September.

However, one year after leaving The Pomfret School, Kapelanski is lighting it up for a Capital District Selects team that had just one win, but was staying in games late throughout the season.

“I came here for the exposure to colleges,” said Kapelanski, who had a stretch of 12 points in 11 games from Dec. 17 to Jan. 22. “Schools don’t have to travel too far, rather than if I played in Alberta or Ontario.”

Kapelanski was leading the Selects as of Jan. 23 with 23 points in 35 games. It took him some time to get used to the faster speed and higher skill levels of opponents in the EJHL, putting up just 11 points in his first 24 league games.

Now, the 1992-born forward has fully gotten the hang of playing in the EJHL and he can’t think of a better place to improve his skills en route to a college hockey roster spot.

“It’s a good league and you’re going to get exposure with whomever you’re playing for,” said Kapelanski. “[Selects general manager/head coach] Jim Salfi is a good guy and I’m playing in probably one of the best rinks, Houston Field House at RPI.”

“Peter had a tough situation where he didn’t play a lot in prep school, so it was a year missed as far as his development was concerned,” said Salfi. “He’s a good skater, he can handle the puck very well and he can shoot.

“Last year, he was helter skelter, running around trying to do too much by himself. Now he’s starting to get it under control and thinking about what he’s doing,” said Salfi. “By getting into position more, he’s had more opportunities to score.”

Kapelanski has been a sponge, soaking up all the advice and training Salfi can give him, while improving upon the basic skills he brought to Capital District.

“I feel like I do pretty well offensively,” Kapelanski added. “I can work the puck around the zone well, I can create turnovers, and I feel like I’m good at 1-on-1 situations.”

Salfi said he’s been “really tough” on Kapelanski because of the aforementioned “lost year” at Pomfret and because the longtime coach sees something special in the 19-year-old.

“He’s got Division 1 speed, puck control and shooting ability,” said Salfi. “He has another year of eligibility. I’ve seen some Division 1 teams play this year, and he has the ability to play at that level. You can’t beat speed and you can’t beat strength.”

Kapelanski wishes he could play two more years, but will keep working to make up for the 2010-11 campaign and is looking forward to another year in the EJHL. He has talked to Division 1 schools like Quinnipiac and UMass-Amherst, as well as Division 3 schools like Hamilton and SUNY-Canton.

He hopes to get on even more institutions’ radar screens over the next 15-odd months.

“I’m playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Kapelanski. “The team’s not doing so well, but we just have to keep working and take everything in stride.”

One skill he has been working on more this season is being effective in all three zones for the Selects.

“I was more of a one-way, offensive player before, but now I’m becoming more reliable, defensively,” he added.

Along with Kapelanski, the Selects as a whole have played better since December, even if the record hasn’t shown it in the wins column.

They’ve had very close games against the iron of the EJHL, falling 3-2 to the South Conference leader South Shore Kings and 3-0 to the Jersey Hitmen (second in the South Conference) and they lost 7-6 in a shootout against the North Conference-leading Boston Junior Bruins on Jan. 21.

They’ve done all this despite losing their top scorer from earlier in the season, Matt Batis, to season-ending shoulder surgery.

“We’ve also played the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs four times and lost one 3-2 and lost another in overtime,” said Salfi. “”We’ve made a lot of progress.”

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