UNH Recruits Update: Week 5

Player of the Week - Kyle Smith

19-year-old center and 2012 UNH Recruit, Kyle Smith, is excelling in his third season with the Junior Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League. He has 8 goals and 15 assists over the first 14 games which ranks him tied for 3rd in EJHL scoring and tied for 4th in assists. In a week shortened by the Halloween snowstorm and power outages, the Jr. Bruins played one game against last season's Regular Season Champion, the Jersey Hitmen. Smith had one assist in the Jr. Bruins' 7-3 victory. At this time last year, Kyle Smith had 3 goals and 13 assists so he has increased his scoring this season by 7 points. Originally, Smith was slated to enroll at UNH this fall but the decision was made to have him play one more season of junior hockey. So far, Smith is having a dominant season with the Jr. Bruins who have the best record in the EJHL.

Player	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
2012 Recruits
Dan Correale	Grande Prairie	AJHL	Injured	0	0	0	0
Maxim Gaudreault	Sioux City	USHL	9	2	1	3	6
Jamie Hill	Waterloo	USHL	10	2	2	4	10
Collin MacDonald	Jersey Hitmen	EJHL	13	12	6	18	4
Kyle Smith	Junior Bruins	EJHL	14	8	15	23	0
Mike Vecchione	Tri-City	USHL	8	2	3	5	4
2012 or '13 Recruit
Jordan Masters	Muskegon	USHL	8	1	2	3	14
2013 Recruits
Matias Cleland	Waterloo	USHL	5	0	0	0	9
Dylan Maller	Tri-City	USHL	injured	0	0	0	0
Brett Pesce	Jersey Hitmen	EJHL	4	0	0	0	2
Andrew Poturalski	Buffalo Jr Sabres	OJHL	17	11	17	28	10
2013 or '14 Recruit
Michael McNicholas	Muskegon	USHL	2	0	0	0	0
2014 Recruits
Shane Eiserman	Cushing Academy	NEPSAC	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler Kelleher	USA U17 Team	USHL	7	4	2	6	4
2015 Recruits
Jason Kalinowski	Salisbury Prep	NEPSAC	0	0	0	0	0

News & Notes

This week, 2012 or 2013 recruit Jordan Masters scored his first goal of the season as the Muskegon Lumberjacks won their first home game - a 4-2 victory over the Waterloo BlackHawks. 2013 Recruit Andrew Poturalski, scored another goal and 2 assists in the Buffalo Jr. Sabres' three games this week. Poturalski is 5th in scoring in the OJHL and tied for 7th in both goals and assists.

Tri-City Storm Defenseman Dylan Maller, who has missed all the preseason and regular season games with a hip injury, is scheduled to return to action on Nov. 4th against the Omaha Lancers. Last summer, Maller was given a "B" rating by the NHL Central Scouting Service on their Preliminary Futures List of North American Players. At that time, the CSS believed Maller had the potential to be drafted in Rounds #3 through #5 in the NHL Entry Draft next summer. His injury and lack of game experience this season must have contributed to him not being included in the most recent CSS "Players to Watch" list.

I've just received an update from Head Coach Toby Harris of the Jersey Hitmen regarding 2013 Recruit Brett Pesce. Pesce suffered an upper body injury on Oct. 3rd in a game against the Jr. Bruins. He will be out of the Hitmen's lineup for 4-6 weeks, probably returning on Nov. 9th at home against Apple Core. Pesce skated for the first time today in practice, but his participation was limited.

Finally, the two UNH Recruits who will be playing New England Prep School hockey this season - Jason Kalinowski and Shane Eiserman - will be playing in Fall Season tournaments this weekend. Kalinowski and the Mid Fairfield Midget Minor 1 team will compete in the Tier 1 AAA Regional Tournament at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA. Eiserman and the Massachusetts West Under-19 Team will compete in the New England Fall Prep Hockey League Playoffs at the Icenter in Salem, NH.