UNH Recruits Update: Week 19

Player of the Week - Andrew Poturalski

Last week must have been the most exciting one of Andrew Poturalski's young hockey career. For the 2013 UNH Recruit, the week began in a typical fashion. On Monday and Tuesday night, Poturalski scored a goal and 3 assists in two games with the Buffalo Junior Sabres of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. But then something special happened. Mark Carlson, Head Coach and General Manager of the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders of the United State Hockey League, called Poturalski up to play in two weekend games against the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Last summer, Poturalski had a tryout with the Rough Riders and made the team's Affiliate List.

The callup came at an opportune time for both Poturalski and the Junior Sabres. They only had two games remaining in the OJHL regular season and had already secured a third place finish in the West Division. The OJHL playoffs wouldn't begin until Monday (today).

Andrew Poturalski's debut in the USHL couldn't have been much more successful. In the Cedar Rapids' 6-3 victory over Dubuque on Friday night, Poturalski scored 2 goals and an assist and earned the #1 Star for the game. On Saturday night, none of the Rough Riders could score as Dubuque won 3-0. Overall for his two USHL games, Poturalski finished with a +/- rating of +2.

The current plan is for Poturalski to make a playoff run with the Buffalo Junior Sabres, finish his senior year at the Nichols School in Buffalo, and play for Cedar Rapids in the USHL next season. He is projected to enroll at UNH in the Fall of 2013.

NOTE
The statistics for the recruits, presented in the table, are categorized by the projected year they will enroll in UNH. For example, the "2012 Recruits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2012. I have based these projections on a number of factors including:
~ How old the player would be upon admission.
~ Number of years in junior hockey prior to admission.
~ Anticipated date of high school graduation.
~ Number of seniors leaving the team at the end of the previous season.
~ The player's performance in the current season.

Player	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
2012 Recruits
Dan Correale	Nanaimo Clippers	BCHL	18	7	8	15	10
Maxim Gaudreault	Sioux City	USHL	41	9	10	19	28
Jamie Hill	Waterloo	USHL	35	5	15	20	44
Collin MacDonald	Jersey Hitmen	EJHL	42	25	16	41	14
Harry Quast	Bay State	EJHL	40	8	23	31	44
Kyle Smith	Junior Bruins	EJHL	39	23	37	60	28
Brett Pesce	Jersey Hitmen	EJHL	17	1	5	6	18
2013 Recruits
Jordan Masters	Muskegon	USHL	31	5	10	15	39
Matias Cleland	Waterloo	USHL	22	1	3	4	24
Dylan Maller	Tri-City	USHL	31	2	4	6	8
Andrew Poturalski	Buffalo Jr Sabres	OJHL	33	16	22	38	32
2013 or '14 Recruit
Michael McNicholas	Muskegon	USHL	25	3	3	6	10
2014 Recruits
Shane Eiserman	Cushing Academy	NEPSAC	25	15	24	39	-
Tyler Kelleher	USA U17 Team	USHL	20	10	8	18	16
2015 Recruits
Jason Kalinowski	Salisbury Prep	NEPSAC	22	11	13	24	-

News & Notes

Eastern Junior Hockey League:

~ Brett Pesce has announced on Twitter that he will be coming to UNH next fall. With Senior Captain Damon Kipp graduating, next year's team is projected to have 4 right-shot defensemen - Pesce, Hardowa, van Riemsdyk and Agosta. Left-shot defensemen will include Kostolansky, Knodel, Ryan Randall, and Harry Quast. Brett Pesce is still out of the Jersey Hitmen's lineup with an injury to his right arm. The Hitmen have three games remaining in the regular season. The EJHL playoffs are set to begin at the end of February.

United States Hockey League:

~ Tyler Kelleher and the U.S. Under-17 NTDP team won the 2012 Vlad Dzurilla Under 18 Tournament in Piestany, Slovakia. On successive days, Team USA beat Switzerland 6-1, Germany 8-0, and Slovakia 8-3. Tyler Kelleher scored in every game and ended the tournament with 3 goals and 4 assists. The U-17 NTDP team returns to USHL action on February 17th at home against the Green Bay Gamblers.

~ 2013 Recruit Matias Cleland, a defenseman in his first season with the Waterloo Black Hawks, scored his first USHL in a 4-2 victory over Omaha on Saturday night. In 22 games this season, Cleland has a +/- rating of +3.

~ 2013 Recruit Dylan Maller has scored a power play goal and 3 assists over the last 2 games with the Tri-City Storm.

~ 2012 Recruit Jamie Hill of the Waterloo Black Hawks has missed the last 4 games with an undisclosed injury.

British Columbia Hockey League:

~ 2012 Recruit Dan Correale scored a goal and 4 assists in his last three games with the Nanaimo Clippers. The goal was a short-handed, game-winning goal in a 7-2 win over Alberni Valley.

New England Prep School Hockey Conference:

~ Cushing Academy vs. The Salisbury School - In the matchup yesterday at the practice rink on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Salisbury beat Cushing 3-1 with an empty net goal. For an informative writeup of the game and the leading players, check out U.S. Hockey Report.

2014 Recruit Shane Eiserman scored the lone goal for Cushing Academy in the loss to The Salisbury School. Eiserman is now tied for the lead in goals on the Cushing team.

~ Although 2015 Recruit Jason Kalinowski did not score in the Cushing game, he had 2 goals and an assist in the prior two wins over Taft and Loomis-Chaffee. Kalinowski is now the second leading goal scorer on the Salisbury team. The Salisbury School moved up one spot to #2 on the U.S. Hockey Report's Division I Prep Hockey Poll.