Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

[Hux]

Starting early.

Boston College
Kali Flanagan ...................D ........................(NSA) .................................Burlington, MA

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Starting early.

Boston College
Kali Flanagan ...................D ........................(NSA) .................................Burlington, MA

Very good player - have had the opportunity to see her play several times. Note that she is also from Burlington, MA - relative, neighbor, friend?

 

[Hux]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Very good player - have had the opportunity to see her play several times. Note that she is also from Burlington, MA - relative, neighbor, friend?

A very good player. Moving to NSA and the JWHL elevated her game considerably. She would have flown well below the radar had she continued playing high school hockey. None of the above, but ya have to pull for the homies eh?

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

A very good player. Moving to NSA and the JWHL elevated her game considerably. She would have flown well below the radar had she continued playing high school hockey. None of the above, but ya have to pull for the homies eh?

Yes, agree. Always surprised that she didn't take the girls club hockey/prep school route, but know that she played for her dad at the Cyclones on the boys teams. NSA seems to have worked well for her. I believe she played the 1 year at Burlington High and would guess she was the best player on the team by far as an 8th/9th grader? She still plays the Cyclones style somewhat - VERY strong offensive defenseman, average defensive defenseman - not as physical as you would expect given her size, but she can get to the net.

High school girls hockey in MA continues to be generally of pretty low quality because 80%+ of the better players go to the many local prep schools (or the Shamrocks) where the level of play is much higher (and financial aid is pretty plentiful for good girls hockey players). It's a pretty rare kid that makes the jump from MA public high school hockey directly to Division 1 - examples over the past 5 years would be Abby Gauthier (St Marys/Providence), Ann-Marie Elvin (Boston Latin/Princeton), Sammy Woodward (Lexington/Brown), Nina Riley (Lexington/Providence), Rebecca O'Quinn (Arlington/Holy Cross), Kati Goguen (AB/Holy Cross) - I'm sure I missed some. But it is becoming even rarer with the advent of the JWHL and the Shamrocks. More at the Division 3 level but even there they tend to end up on lower quality Division 3 teams (Southern Maine, Franklin Pierce, Salve Regina, Utica, etc.). A few do the PG year and find success (or failure) there - Brittany Lyons (Canton/Cushing/Quinnipiac). So while the participation of girls in MA high school hockey grows, the level of play doesn't increase dramatically. Totally different situation than Minnesota.

 

[goaliedad35]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

and financial aid is pretty plentiful for good girls hockey players

Needs based only at the Preps

 

[Hux]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Yes, agree. Always surprised that she didn't take the girls club hockey/prep school route, but know that she played for her dad at the Cyclones on the boys teams. NSA seems to have worked well for her. I believe she played the 1 year at Burlington High and would guess she was the best player on the team by far as an 8th/9th grader? She still plays the Cyclones style somewhat - VERY strong offensive defenseman, average defensive defenseman - not as physical as you would expect given her size, but she can get to the net.

High school girls hockey in MA continues to be generally of pretty low quality because 80%+ of the better players go to the many local prep schools (or the Shamrocks) where the level of play is much higher (and financial aid is pretty plentiful for good girls hockey players). It's a pretty rare kid that makes the jump from MA public high school hockey directly to Division 1 - examples over the past 5 years would be Abby Gauthier (St Marys/Providence), Ann-Marie Elvin (Boston Latin/Princeton), Sammy Woodward (Lexington/Brown), Nina Riley (Lexington/Providence), Rebecca O'Quinn (Arlington/Holy Cross), Kati Goguen (AB/Holy Cross) - I'm sure I missed some. But it is becoming even rarer with the advent of the JWHL and the Shamrocks. More at the Division 3 level but even there they tend to end up on lower quality Division 3 teams (Southern Maine, Franklin Pierce, Salve Regina, Utica, etc.). A few do the PG year and find success (or failure) there - Brittany Lyons (Canton/Cushing/Quinnipiac). So while the participation of girls in MA high school hockey grows, the level of play doesn't increase dramatically. Totally different situation than Minnesota.

Yes, she was probably the most skilled player on the high school team as an eighth grader, and one of five very good '94-'96 birth year players (all made NDCs at one point) that opted not to play Mass high school hockey for Burlington. As you noted, it is typical in this state. Unfortunately, aside from the top six teams, the level of play in the Preps isn't really much better. And like the high school ranks, the D1 coaches rarely scout players in the Preps. The outstanding kids that go on to play D1 do so because they were at the NDCs or seen playing for their club team in a high profile tournament against like competition. Truth be told, the same can be said for the kids coming out of Minnesota. Every one of the Minny public/parochial kids going D1 is going D1 because they played for 1) Whitecaps, Icecats, Northern Starzz etc in the summer 2) played in the fall elite league 3) or made NDCs or the U18s and as such was seen. (yeah, I'm sure there are a few that were seen at states, but you get my point)

Excepting Gauthier, Sanborn(Woburn/Northeastern), Butaro(Woburn/Quinnipiac), Martin(Woburn/Providence) and England(Wareham Boys/Providence) there have been no players seen playing high school hockey that have moved on to D1. (Providence's Bob Deraney and Meridith Roth were the only D1 coaches at the state high school playoffs in the last five years.(Holy Cross is really DIII so I'm not including them) The rest have all been seen while playing for their club teams in high profile tournaments. There is certainly talent in the high school ranks, but unfortunately very few of those players are ready to move on to the D1 level from high school, and most shrug off the idea of doing a Senior or PG year with a team like the Shamrocks, NSA or others. I know of players who were specifically told by college coaches to go the JW route to secure a D1 roster spot and they opted not to and wound up in DIII or not playing at all. A waste of good talent.

 

[goaliedad35]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

For 4 years I pretty regularly saw multiple D1 coaches in Dedham.....
Completely agree with your assessment of level of play at Preps. Games were very commonly quite lopsided but I also saw that in the JDub regularly.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Yes, she was probably the most skilled player on the high school team as an eight grader, and one of five very good '94-'96 birth year players (all made NDCs at one point) that opted not to play Mass high school hockey for Burlington. As you noted, it is typical in this state. Unfortunately, aside from the top six teams, the level of play in the Preps isn't really much better. And like the high school ranks, the D1 coaches rarely scout players in the Preps. The outstanding kids that go on to play D1 do so because they were at the NDCs or seen playing for their club team in a high profile tournament against like competition. Truth be told, the same can be said for the kids coming out of Minnesota. Every one of the Minny public/parochial kids going D1 is going D1 because they played for 1) Whitecaps, Icecats, Northern Starzz etc in the summer 2) played in the fall elite league 3) or made NDCs or the U18s and as such was seen. (yeah, I'm sure there are a few that were seen at states, but you get my point)

Excepting Gauthier, Sanborn(Woburn/Northeastern), Butaro(Woburn/Quinnipiac), Martin(Woburn/Providence) and England(Wareham Boys/Providence) there have been no players seen playing high school hockey that have moved on to D1. (Providence's Bob Deraney and Meridith Roth were the only D1 coaches at the state high school playoffs in the last five years.(Holy Cross is really DIII so I'm not including them) The rest have all been seen while playing for their club teams in high profile tournaments. There is certainly talent in the high school ranks, but unfortunately very few of those players are ready to move on to the D1 level from high school, and most shrug off the idea of doing a Senior or PG year with a team like the Shamrocks, NSA or others. I know of players who were specifically told by college coaches to go the JW route to secure a D1 roster spot and they opted not to and wound up in DIII or not playing at all. A waste of good talent.

Agree with most of your comments - generally the prep players are playing for Assabet, Wizards, Spitifres, Charles River, etc. and end up getting seen mostly there (Nobles is the exception as noted). The one I would take issue with is that the level of play in the preps is no better than Mass high school after the top 6 preps. Strongly disagree on that one. A relative recently played a year for a strong public high school team and then for four years for one of the Division 2 preps. The prep team played one public high school game/scrimmage a year as a community relations nod against local high schools. They were a middle of the pack Division 2 team most years and were playing Quarter/Semi Final level Division 1 public high school teams. They won those games by an average score of 8-1. They were definitely NOT a top 6 prep team and not even a top 6 Division 2 prep team. The high school teams, even the better ones, just don't have any depth and can't compete against even middle of the pack prep school teams. Southfield (a Division 2 prep school) played St Marys Lynn a few years ago during the height of St Marys multiseason undefeated/state championship streak and beat them handily and I don't think that Southfield even made it to the NE Prep finals weekend that year (and certainly lost several games against Div 2 preps).

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Needs based only at the Preps

Sort of...the schools determine need. There is a LOT of flexibility here. I know of numerous kids (not just hockey players - soccer, baseball, musicians, academics, etc.) where a specific school went all in on financial aid and offered dramatically more than the other schools that the kid applied to did. They have that flexibility if they decide to (and have sufficient endowment, which many do). That doesn't mean it will be free - that rarely happens - just that it will be a "bargain" in relation to what another school will cost.

 

[goaliedad35]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Not a lot of flexibility at all in our experience. Black and white it seemed. I also learned to take accounts of other's experiences with a grain of salt. Regarding the Preps keep in mind the the D1/2 distinction really means nothing from year to year. There were many years that Rivers/Southfield/MSX squads would compete regularly with the top "D1" teams. Having said that I agree that the level of play at the High School level particularly outside of Metro Boston is lacking to say the least.

 

[puckskillz]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Truth be told, the same can be said for the kids coming out of Minnesota. Every one of the Minny public/parochial kids going D1 is going D1 because they played for 1) Whitecaps, Icecats, etc in the summer 2) played in the fall elite league 3) or made NDCs or the U18s and as such was seen. (yeah, I'm sure there are a few that were seen at states, but you get my point)

Hux is correct on the MN situation. I am told there is very little "scouting" happening at high school games because it's too difficult to evaluate with the wide range of talent on the ice at any one time. This is true for even the top teams in MN. When the coaches are seen at high school games they are likely there to watch their commits, demonstrate interest to potential commits, and like at the state tournament, to see some good competitive hockey. They no doubt keep an eye out for talent under the radar and assess younger unproven talent against already committed Jrs' and Sr's but it is the Spring and summer events that create the exposure. It does seem that the scouting occurs at the final 54 (for Ntl teams elections), fall elite league tourney, Whitecaps/Ice cats jamborees, Jr fest, and OS prospect sessions. This is a good thing for MN High School hockey in that it keeps most players in their home town with their friends during the HS season and then they join a club team/other for the summer.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Not a lot of flexibility at all in our experience. Black and white it seemed. I also learned to take accounts of other's experiences with a grain of salt. Regarding the Preps keep in mind the the D1/2 distinction really means nothing from year to year. There were many years that Rivers/Southfield/MSX squads would compete regularly with the top "D1" teams. Having said that I agree that the level of play at the High School level particularly outside of Metro Boston is lacking to say the least.

Know of numerous examples where a school with strong financial resources (Middlesex, Groton, St Pauls, Andover, etc.) offered additional aid beyond the calculated need to incent a specific kid to attend - if 2 or 3 schools are tightly grouped in aid for a kid and another is $5-10K cheaper than they have clearly modified their offer. They say they won't and it is not widespread, but it happens for the better players. Nobles isn't generally a place where this happens - they don't need to and they don't have enough financial aid resources (the school, not the parents ). Also, this doesn't happen for kids whose parents don't need financial aid OR for those who need full tuition aid - just the majority of people who are in the murky middle somewhere.

Good point about Div 1/2. The top few Div 2 teams are usually better than most Div 1 teams - look at Middlesex this past season - beat all of their Division 1 opponents except Nobles and finished second in the ISL. But after those top few teams, Div 2 is generally of lower talent level than Div 1. But still much higher than high schools.

 

[rinkrat890890]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Starting early.

Boston College
Kali Flanagan ...................D ........................(NSA) .................................Burlington, MA

I thought Kali was a 13-14.

 

[pakidnyc]

I thought Kali was a 13-14.

She's in grade 10 now do I think that makes her 2014 grad.

 

[pakidnyc]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Audrey Warner from Cleveland, now at Shattuck St. Mary's has committed to Wisconsin for 2015-16.

 

[Mission]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Warner committed to Wisconsin as a member of the Ohio Flames. This upcoming school year will be her first year at Shattuck.

 

[Hux]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

Ohio State
Mikalea Gardner..................D ..............(Chicago Fury) ................Plainfield, IL

 

[96IllinoisDad]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

From Illinois:

2014-2015
Harvard
Erin O'Connor............D................(CYA).....................Illinois

 

[pensrule]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

University of Wisconsin

Baylee Wellhausen.................F..........(Shattuck St. Marys)............Williams Bay, WI.

 

[GirlsCoach]

Re: Division 1 Commitments 2014-15

2015-16

Maddie Hartman..................D.........(CYA U16)................Northeastern University