Re: UNH Wildcats Official Wait til Next Year...14/15 thread
All the USHL teams are based in the Midwest and have many players who grew up playing in Midwest hockey hotbeds like Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Not surprisingly, top college programs in the Midwest such as Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Miami, and Notre Dame are able to gain commitments from many top USHL scorers. BC and BU also have some success getting this type of player.
There’s a subset of top USHL scorers who don’t make a college commitment until after they have been in the USHL for a couple of years and established themselves as top prospects. That type of recruit usually commits to the colleges mentioned above.
Except on rare occasions, UNH is not a program that can lure top youngsters from the Midwest or top, established USHL players who are uncommitted.
The only way UNH gets a top scorer who has played in the USHL is to recruit and get a commitment from them when they’re young and have yet to play in the USHL. Andrew Poturalski and Tyler Kelleher are prime examples. Poturalski committed to UNH when he was a 17 years old and playing prep school hockey in Buffalo. Tyler Kelleher was a 15-year-old prep school player in Massachusetts when he committed. As hoped for, Poturalski developed into a top scorer in the USHL. To say that Kelleher was not a top 40 scorer in the USHL is misleading. He was a member of the US NTDP U-18 team and they only played 30 USHL games - as opposed to the typical 60 game schedule. Kelleher was the top scorer on both the US NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams.
Also, to have a defenseman among the top 40 USHL scorers is unusual. There are currently only two in the top 40 and they are the 29th and 37th. Matias Cleland was the 4th highest scorer among all USHL defensemen the year before he came to UNH. Technically, he was the 63rd scorer in the USHL but that was among all players – forwards and defensemen. To gauge a USHL defenseman’s scoring production, one needs to compare him with all other defensemen. In Dylan Maller’s final season in the USHL, he was dealing with a serious family illness that, no doubt, hampered his production on the ice.
All the UNH recruits who are currently playing in the USHL committed to UNH when they were 16 years old or younger and before they were playing in the USHL - Aaron O’Neill (16), Ara Nazarian (16), Jake Ryczek (16), Joseph Masonius (15), Patrick Grasso (16), and Jason Kalinowski (16). Kalinowski is now 19-years-old and has not produced offensively in his second USHL season. Grasso will be 19 in May and in is his second full season in the USHL. Although he is technically the 50th player on the USHL list of scoring leaders, he is tied for 20th in USHL scoring.
That leaves two USHL forwards who are UNH recruits. Aaron O’Neill is only 17 years old. Last season, as a 16-year-old, he only played in 25 games. He missed the first 11 games of this season recovering from shoulder surgery. Ara Nazarian is 18 years old and in his first USHL season. He is tied for 31st in USHL scoring. If both stay healthy, then next year will be the time to evaluate how much they developed in the USHL.
Finally, there are two UNH recruits who are defensemen in the USHL. Jake Ryczek is 16 years old and in his first USHL season. 3 goals and 8 assists in 43 games as a rookie defensemen isn’t bad. Joseph Masonius just turned 18. Like Kelleher, he is a member of the US NTDP U-18 team and they play a limited number of USHL games. Masonius has played in 14 USHL games so he would not be expected to be a top scorer when compared to other USHL players who have played around 40 games.
There are other UNH recruits projected to enroll in 2016, ’17 or ’18 who may play in the USHL or BCHL in the next year or two. A key element of UNH’s recruiting strategy is to hope that some of them develop into top scorers in the USHL or BCHL. Time will tell.
All the USHL teams are based in the Midwest and have many players who grew up playing in Midwest hockey hotbeds like Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. Not surprisingly, top college programs in the Midwest such as Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Miami, and Notre Dame are able to gain commitments from many top USHL scorers. BC and BU also have some success getting this type of player.
There’s a subset of top USHL scorers who don’t make a college commitment until after they have been in the USHL for a couple of years and established themselves as top prospects. That type of recruit usually commits to the colleges mentioned above.
Except on rare occasions, UNH is not a program that can lure top youngsters from the Midwest or top, established USHL players who are uncommitted.
The only way UNH gets a top scorer who has played in the USHL is to recruit and get a commitment from them when they’re young and have yet to play in the USHL. Andrew Poturalski and Tyler Kelleher are prime examples. Poturalski committed to UNH when he was a 17 years old and playing prep school hockey in Buffalo. Tyler Kelleher was a 15-year-old prep school player in Massachusetts when he committed. As hoped for, Poturalski developed into a top scorer in the USHL. To say that Kelleher was not a top 40 scorer in the USHL is misleading. He was a member of the US NTDP U-18 team and they only played 30 USHL games - as opposed to the typical 60 game schedule. Kelleher was the top scorer on both the US NTDP U-17 and U-18 teams.
Also, to have a defenseman among the top 40 USHL scorers is unusual. There are currently only two in the top 40 and they are the 29th and 37th. Matias Cleland was the 4th highest scorer among all USHL defensemen the year before he came to UNH. Technically, he was the 63rd scorer in the USHL but that was among all players – forwards and defensemen. To gauge a USHL defenseman’s scoring production, one needs to compare him with all other defensemen. In Dylan Maller’s final season in the USHL, he was dealing with a serious family illness that, no doubt, hampered his production on the ice.
All the UNH recruits who are currently playing in the USHL committed to UNH when they were 16 years old or younger and before they were playing in the USHL - Aaron O’Neill (16), Ara Nazarian (16), Jake Ryczek (16), Joseph Masonius (15), Patrick Grasso (16), and Jason Kalinowski (16). Kalinowski is now 19-years-old and has not produced offensively in his second USHL season. Grasso will be 19 in May and in is his second full season in the USHL. Although he is technically the 50th player on the USHL list of scoring leaders, he is tied for 20th in USHL scoring.
That leaves two USHL forwards who are UNH recruits. Aaron O’Neill is only 17 years old. Last season, as a 16-year-old, he only played in 25 games. He missed the first 11 games of this season recovering from shoulder surgery. Ara Nazarian is 18 years old and in his first USHL season. He is tied for 31st in USHL scoring. If both stay healthy, then next year will be the time to evaluate how much they developed in the USHL.
Finally, there are two UNH recruits who are defensemen in the USHL. Jake Ryczek is 16 years old and in his first USHL season. 3 goals and 8 assists in 43 games as a rookie defensemen isn’t bad. Joseph Masonius just turned 18. Like Kelleher, he is a member of the US NTDP U-18 team and they play a limited number of USHL games. Masonius has played in 14 USHL games so he would not be expected to be a top scorer when compared to other USHL players who have played around 40 games.
There are other UNH recruits projected to enroll in 2016, ’17 or ’18 who may play in the USHL or BCHL in the next year or two. A key element of UNH’s recruiting strategy is to hope that some of them develop into top scorers in the USHL or BCHL. Time will tell.
Last edited:
and the others who've checked in to say "hi". 
over the final two weekends, I'd like to think they can get there, and then *maybe* do something with it ... but for reasons I'd outlined a few days ago, I just don't see it happening. Anyone out there bullish on UNH's chances for a 7 out the final 8 points finish? 
They seemed focused and know what they need to do. As does UConn and Mack I would imagine. Hoping that GD's return will supply a big spark. And...go NU!! Love it.