Tuesday, April 08, 2014

UNH Recruits Update: April-8-2014

2014 Commit Dylan Chanter
2015 Recruit Danny Tirone


Co-Players of the Week - Dylan Chanter & Danny Tirone

It's playoff time for two of the top amateur, junior hockey leagues in North America - the United States Hockey League and British Columbia Hockey League. The BCHL just completed the round-robin semifinal series and the first round of the USHL Playoffs begins on Friday. The "Co-Players of the Week", among all UNH Recruits, have been chosen for the key roles they played in their team's success. Dylan Chanter helped the Vernon Vipers advance to the BCHL Championship Round and Danny Tirone backstopped the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders' return to the USHL Playoffs.

Dylan Chanter

For 18-year-old defenseman Dylan Chanter, it's been a long season of ups and downs. It began with optimism as he left the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL to play for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL. In July, he told the blog that:
"The primary reasons behind my decision were development, change, and continuing to push the envelope. I felt that Dubuque was going to be a good place to further develop myself as a hockey player with NHL caliber coaching with Matt Shaw as well as a winning attitude."
Then, in just the fifth game of the season, Chanter was the prime figure in a frightening incident that sparked a national debate on the role of fighting in junior hockey. In the midst of a fight with Corey Petrash of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Chanter's helmet came off, he fell backward, hit the back of his head on the ice, and had a seizure lasting two minutes.

To the great relief of the Chanter family and fans of junior hockey, Dylan did not suffer long-term effects from the head trauma. He returned to the Dubuque lineup four weeks later and played 13 more games. Over the holiday break, Chanter decided to return to his native British Columbia to finish out the season in the BCHL. He joined the Vernon Vipers who will host the prestigious RBC Cup in May. The Vipers qualified for the BCHL Playoffs, won the first two rounds against opponents from the Interior Division, and advanced to the semifinals.

In the first game of the round-robin series, the Vipers faced the Victoria Grizzlies, winners of the Island Division Playoffs. Vernon scored 5 goals in the second period and hung on to win 5-4. Chanter helped set up the game-winning goal. Next up was the Mainland Division champs Coquitlam Express. In the first period, Chanter scored what turned out to be the game-winner with an assist from fellow UNH recruit Michael McNicholas. Despite the loss to Vernon, Coquitlam advanced to the BCHL Championship Round by defeating Victoria twice.

As the Vipers prepare for the Championship series against the Express, which begins on Friday, Dylan Chanter received some good news. The NHL Central Scouting Service released its 2014 Final Rankings this morning and Chanter was identified as the #164 North American skater. Dylan had not appeared on any of the CSS's previous lists of NHL prospects. He is eligible for the 2014 NHL Draft this June. Last November, Chanter signed his National Letter of Intent to enroll at UNH next fall and play for the Wildcats.

Danny Tirone

19-year-old goaltender Danny Tirone is having one heck of a rookie season in the USHL. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders just completed the regular season in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and Tirone played in 44 of their 60 games - the third most games of any USHL goalie. With a record of 26 wins and 13 loses, Tirone had the 5th best Save Percentage in the league (.917) and 8th best Goals Against Average (2.63).

Down the stretch, Tirone won 6 of his last 9 games including a 3-1 game against Dubuque which clinched a playoff berth. On the next to last weekend of the regular season, Tirone lead the RoughRiders to 4-3 and 4-1 victories and was named the USHL Goaltender of the Week.

Cedar Rapids entered the final regular season game against Waterloo last Saturday knowing they had already secured home-ice advantage in the playoffs. The Black Hawks, on the other hand, were trying to win the Anderson Cup awarded to the USHL team with the best record. The teams battled to a 2-2 tie in regulation and Tirone made 41 saves. He stopped an additional 10 shots on goal in the overtime period. In the shootout, the first 8 RoughRiders and Black Hawks did not score. Finally, the 9th shootout attempt got past Tirone. In all, he stopped 51 of the 54 shots on goal he faced in the very long game. Danny Tirone is on target to come to UNH in the Fall of 2015.

NOTE
The statistics for the recruits, presented in the table, are categorized by the year the player and UNH coaches have targeted for enrollment in UNH. For example, the "2014 Recruits" have a target of the Fall of 2014 to begin playing for UNH.

Player Team League GP Goals Asst Pts PIM
2014 Recruits
Dylan Chanter  (D) Vernon Vipers BCHL 19 0 0 0 16
Playoffs BCHL 15 3 3 6 14
Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 14 1 1 2 21
Adam Clark  (G) Salmon Arm SilverBacks BCHL 30 14W 14L 2.87 .911
Shane Eiserman  (F) Dubuque Fighting Saints USHL 53 16 24 40 71
Warren Foegele  (F) St. Andrews College CISAA 14 17 6 23 15
Playoffs CISAA 5 5 4 9 10
St. Andrews College MPHL 13 12 17 29 14
Playoffs MPHL 3 6 5 11 2
John Furgele  (D) Jersey Hitmen USPHL 44 8 29 37 16
Playoffs USPHL 6 0 5 5 0
Cameron Marks  (D) Coquitlam Express BCHL 57 4 24 28 12
Playoffs BCHL 15 0 5 5 4
Michael McNicholas  (F) Vernon Vipers BCHL 56 23 46 69 20
Playoffs BCHL 15 5 10 15 6
Andrew Poturalski  (F) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 60 27 37 64 28
Jason Salvaggio  (F) Indiana Ice USHL 52 15 11 26 39
2015 Recruits
Rich Boyd  (D) Cushing Academy NEPSHC 31 10 30 40 -
Elite 8 NEPSHC 1 0 0 0 -
Jason Kalinowski  (F) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 57 8 23 31 64
Charlie Kelleher  (F) Junior Bruins 18U USPHL 18U 22 4 11 15 2
Playoffs USPHL 18U 2 1 2 3 0
Junior Bruins Premiere USPHL Premiere 2 2 2 4 0
Joseph Masonius  (D) USA U17 Team USHL 22 0 2 2 32
Chris Miller  (F) Junior Bruins USPHL 31 5 10 15 10
Playoffs USPHL 6 1 0 1 2
Nationals USA 5 3 1 4 2
Danny Tirone  (G) Cedar Rapids RoughRiders USHL 44 26W 13L 2.63 .917
Marcus Vela  (F) Langley Rivermen BCHL 54 11 11 22 41
Playoffs BCHL 12 1 4 5 6
2015 or '16 Recruits
Liam Darcy  (D) Berwick Academy NEPSHC 19 6 17 23 -
Patrick Grasso  (F) Des Moines Bucs USHL 59 9 15 24 11
Aaron O'Neill  (F) Green Bay Gamblers USHL 32 1 1 2 4
Ara Nazarian  (F) Malden Catholic Mass HS 20 20 27 47 -
Super 8 Mass HS 4 1 8 9 -
Nick Nonis  (D) Governor's Academy NEPSHC 26 6 1 7 -
Brendan van Riemsdyk   (F) Jersey Hitmen 18U USPHL 18U 8 5 8 13 2
Playoffs USPHL 18U 3 0 1 1 12
Christian Brothers Jersey Prep 12 17 13 30 -
Playoffs Jersey Prep 3 2 5 7 -
2016 Recruits
Joey Cipollone  (F) Selects Academy 16U USPHL 16U 27 14 25 39 38
Playoffs USPHL 16U 3 3 3 6 0
Nationals USA 3 2 2 4 2
Justin Fregona  (F) St. Andrews College CISAA 15 7 6 13 24
Playoffs CISAA 5 4 1 5 8
St. Andrews College MPHL 13 9 12 21 16
Playoffs MPHL 3 3 4 7 6

News & Notes

2014 NHL Draft:

~ The NHL Central Scouting Service just released its Final Rankings of prospects for the NHL Draft this June in Philadelphia. Three of the 2014 UNH Recruits were on the list of 210 top North American skaters.

Shane Eiserman - #45 (#39 on Midterm Rankings)
Warren Foegele - #66 (#62 on Midterm Rankings)
Dylan Chanter - #164 (Not on Midterm Rankings)

United States Hockey League:

~ As mentioned above, the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders finished in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference and will have home-ice advantage in the first round of the USHL Playoffs. Over the final 9 games of the regular season, 2014 UNH recruit Andrew Poturalski, scored 10 goals and 6 assists. For the season, Poturalski was the team's leading scorer with 27 goals and 37 assists. His 64 points placed him in a tie for 6th in USHL scoring and he was the 6th leading goal scorer. The last UNH players to score at this level in the USHL were Jacob Micflikier in the 2002-03 season (31 goals, 67 points) and Phil DeSimone in 2006-07 (26 goals, 73 points). The final game of the regular season - the loss to Waterloo in which fellow UNH recruit Danny Tirone made 51 saves - was Poturalski's 115th USHL game. Andrew's goal in the second period was the 100th point of his USHL career.

~ 2014 commit Shane Eiserman and the Dubuque Fighting Saints finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference and will play Cedar Rapids in the best-of-5 opening round of the playoffs. Eiserman was the 4th leading scorer on the Dubuque squad with 16 goals and 24 assists. Two of his goals were game-winners and he had the best +/- rating on the team (+18). Eiserman signed his National Letter of Intent last November.

~ 2014 recruit Jason Salvaggio and the Indiana Ice finished in first place in the Eastern Conference. In his first full season in the USHL, Salvaggio scored 15 goals, including 4 game-winners, and added 11 assists. The Ice will face UNH recruit Aaron O'Neill and the Green Bay Gamblers in the first round of the playoffs.

~ 2015 or '16 recruit Patrick Grasso came up big in the next to last game of the Des Moines Buccaneers' season. Grasso fired 5 shots on goal, scored the game-winning goal, and earned the #2 Star. In his first full season in the USHL, the 17-year-old Grasso posted 9 goals and 15 assists and was the Bucs' 5th leading scorer. Des Moines did not make the USHL Playoffs.

British Columbia Hockey League:

~ As I described above, the Vernon Vipers defeated the Victoria Grizzlies and Coquitlam Express in the BCHL Semifinal round. In the 6-1 victory over Coquitlam, 2014 recruit Michael McNicholas scored the Vipers' 4th goal and assisted on the game-winner. So far in the playoffs, McNicholas is tied for 6th in scoring (15 points) and tied for 4th in assists (10).

~ 2014 recruit Cameron Marks and the Coquitlam Express will face the Vernon Vipers in the best-of-7 Championship Round beginning this Friday. Marks, who turns 19 tomorrow, is in his second BCHL season. The defenseman has 5 assists so far in the playoffs.

USA Hockey National Championships:

~ Joey Cipollone - UNH's newest recruit - and the Selects Hockey Academy/South Kent School U16 team travelled to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the U16 National Championship last week. The team, also called the Central Connecticut Capitals, split the first two games in the opening round, pool play. In the all-important third game against the Buffalo Regals, Cipollone set up the go-ahead goal midway through the third period with a pretty cross-slot pass to Alexandre Limoges. The Regals tied the score with less than 3 minutes in regulation. Neither team scored in the overtime period. Buffalo won the shootout ending the Selects Academy's quest for the National Championship.

~ 2015 recruit Chris Miller and the Junior Bruins Premiere team travelled to Simsbury, CT for the USA Hockey Tier III National Championships. The Jr. Bruins won all 5 games on their way to the Championship and Miller scored 3 goals and an assist.

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