UNH Recruits At An Arena Near You in December

When the UNH Wildcats wrap up their season series against Boston University on Thursday, the three-week holiday break begins. UNH returns to action on Friday, Dec. 30th at home against Brown University. This is the fourth consecutive season UNH has taken three weeks off from competition before and after Christmas Day. In the early and mid-2000's, UNH usually participated in Holiday Tournaments in arenas from Florida to Minneapolis to Denver.

For UNH fans with an appetite for hockey over this extended break, there are several opportunities to watch future UNH Wildcats in action. Several young players who have committed to play at UNH will be playing games at venues within a reasonable driving distance from the Whittemore Center.

EJHL December Showcase

This Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 8th-11th, the Eastern Junior Hockey League will conduct its December Showcase at the 11th Annual New England Huskies Invitational Tournament. The games will be played on the two rinks at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg, MA. All 14 EJHL teams will be in action.

2012 UNH Recruit Collin MacDonald, 2013 Recruit Brett Pesce, and the Jersey Hitmen will play three games:
Fri. Dec. 9, 5:20 vs. Boston Bandits
Sat. Dec. 10, 7:00 vs. South Shore Kings
Sun. Dec. 11, 10:50 vs. Capital District Selects
The Hitmen feature several other players who have committed to play NCAA Division I hockey including Jack Barre (Dartmouth), Corbin McGuire (Wisconsin) and Jason Stephanik (Quinnipiac).

2012 UNH Recruit Kyle Smith and the Junior Bruins will also play three games:
Thur. Dec. 8, 8:40 vs. Springfield Pics
Fri. Dec. 9, 7:10 vs. Rochester Stars
Sat. Dec. 10, 5:10 vs. New York Apple Core
The Junior Bruins also have several Division I commits including Cody Learned (Yale), Vinny Scotti (Merrimack) and Zach Luczyk (Quinnipiac).

The December Showcase in Fitchburg will feature 14 players who made the NHL Central Scouting Service's "Players to Watch" list for the 2012 Entry Draft. Four EJHLers - Collin MacDonald (Hitmen/UNH), Brian Morgan (Jr. Monarchs/Maine), Jason Stephanik (Hitmen/Quinnipiac), and Jimmy Vesey (South Shore/Harvard) - were given a "B" rating by the CSS. This indicates that they have the potential to be drafted in Rounds #3 through #5 in the NHL Entry Draft next summer.

New England Prep Lawrence-Groton Tournament

From Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 15th-17th, the 38th Annual Lawrence-Groton Holiday Tournament will be held at the O'Brien and Pratt Rinks on the campus of the Groton School and the Grant Arena on the campus of the Lawrence Academy in Groton, MA. The tournament includes 8 prep school teams: Cushing, Culver, Dexter, Groton, Holderness, Lawrence, Pomfret and Proctor. Each team plays one game on Thurday and two on Friday. The Championship Game on Saturday is played between the teams with the best, 3-game records.

2014 UNH Recruit Shane Eiserman and Cushing Academy will play three games over the first two days:
Thurs. Dec. 15, 3:30 vs. Dexter
Fri. Dec. 16, 12:30 vs. Groton
Fri. Dec. 16, 8:00 vs. Lawrence
They will also play a game on Saturday with the opponent to be determined by the records over the first two days. The Cushing Academy team includes Corey Scammon who has committed to play at UMass-Lowell.

New England Prep Flood-Marr Tournament

From Friday through Sunday, Dec. 16th-18th, the 47th Annual Flood-Marr Tournament will be held at the Roberts Ice Rink on the campus of Milton Academy and the Bliss Omni Flood Rink on the campus of the Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, MA. The tournament includes 8 prep school teams divided into two brackets. Salisbury, Deerfield, Kimball Union Academy, and Milton are in one bracket while Hotchkiss, Westminster, Andover, and Noble/Greenough are in the other. Each team plays three games on Friday and Saturday against the teams in their bracket. On Sunday, the Championship Game is played between the team from each bracket with the best, 3-game record.

2015 UNH Recruit Jason Kalinowski and the Salisbury School will play three games over the first two days:
Fri. Dec. 16, 11:00 vs. KUA @ Milton Rink
Fri. Dec. 16, 5:00 vs. Milton @ Milton Rink
Sat. Dec. 17, 1:00 vs. Deerfield @ Nobles Rink
They will also play a game on Sunday at Nobles Academy with the opponent to be determined by the records over the first two days.

This year, the Flood-Marr Tournament will feature 10 players on the NHL Central Scouting Service "Players to Watch" list. Five of the participants - Marc Biega (Salisbury/Harvard), Chris Calnan (Nobles), Alex Gonye (Deerfield), Tyler Wood (Nobles), and Doyle Somerby (KUA) - were given a "B" rating by the CSS.