UNH Recruits Update: Jan-22-2015

Joseph Masonius USA NTDP U18

Eric Esposito Loomis Chaffee School

Joel Farabee Selects Academy U16

Player Spotlight - Joseph Masonius

2015 UNH recruit Joseph Masonius, who turns 18 next month, is eligible for the NHL Draft this June. Over the first half of the season, the 6'0", 180 lbs. defenseman for the US National Team Development Program U18 team, did not appear on any of the NHL Central Scouting Service's "Players to Watch" lists. However, the quality of his play is slowly, but surely, gaining recognition. In November, Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, mentioned Masonius in his NHL Prospects "Hot List" series. Then, in late December, Masonius was selected to play in the USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.

The USHL/NHL Prospects game was played in Dubuque on January 13th before a packed house which included over 100 NHL scouts. Joseph Masonius was a top performer for Team West scoring the first of their four goals, firing 3 shots on goal, and finishing with a +2 rating. Mike Morreale from NHL.com wrote that Masonius "exhibited plenty of poise and feistiness throughout". Here's Masonius' goal scored off a faceoff late in the second period:



News came yesterday that Joseph Masonius has been officially recognized by the NHL Central Scouting Service. In their Mid-Term Rankings, Masonius is listed as the #201 North American Skater. His prospects for selection in the June 2015 NHL Draft are still a long-shot but Masonius is definitely moving in the right direction.

Player Spotlight - Eric Esposito

As a 15-year-old freshman last season, Eric Esposito put up solid numbers for the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT. In 28 games, Eric scored 5 goals and 6 assists. Loomis Chaffee won the New England Large Prep School Championship. Now, a little over halfway through the 2014-15 regular season, Eric Esposito and the Pelicans are playing even better. Loomis Chaffee is currently 14-1-0 and ranked #1 in the latest US Hockey Report Prep Poll. As a team, Loomis Chaffee has only allowed an average of 1.29 goals per game.

Eric Esposito, a right-shot forward and younger brother of Senior Captain Alex Esposito (a UVM Commit), has already doubled his scoring output. Overall, he has posted 11 goals and 9 assists in 15 games. He has scored at least one goal in 5 of the last 6 Loomis Chaffee games and is the second-leading goal scorer on the team. His brother Alex has scored 14 goals so far. Eric was drafted by the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL and is on their Affiliate List. His tentative plan is to play for Youngstown next season.

Player Spotlight - Joel Farabee

Earlier this month, 14-year-old UNH recruit Joel Farabee had an opportunity to showcase his skills against some of the top U16 midget teams in the country at the USPHL/Tier 1 Midget Showdown. He did not disappoint. The Selects Hockey Academy U16 team, ranked #15 in nation, played a 4-game series against #22 Chicago Fury, #38 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, #29 LA Jr. Kings, and #3 Colorado Thunderbirds. In the opening game against Chicago, Farabee put on an impressive offensive display scoring a hat trick and adding two assists. He is #28 in the red jersey in these video highlights:



The Selects Academy U16 team defeated Chicago, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles but lost to the Colorado Thunderbirds. Joel Farabee posted 3 goals and 4 assists in the four games and was the team's leading scorer. Last week, they returned to action in the USPHL 16U Division and Farabee recorded 2 assists in three consecutive games. So far this season in 17 USPHL games, Farabee has scored 3 goals and 16 assists and is the team's 5th leading scorer.

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 "2015 Recruits" have a target of the Fall of 2015 to begin playing for UNH.

Player	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
2015 Recruits
Jason Kalinowski  (F)	Bloomington Thunder	USHL	22	0	4	4	34
	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	5	0	0	0	4
Joseph Masonius  (D)	USA U18 Team	NCAA	16	5	5	10	14
		USHL	11	0	4	4	33
		NAHL	1	0	0	0	0
		Int'l.	4	0	1	1	14
Christopher Miller  (F)	Junior Bruins	USPHL	22	4	6	10	8
2015 or '16 Recruits
Liam Blackburn  (F)	West Kelowna Warriors	BCHL	44	19	43	62	28
Liam Darcy  (D)	Berwick Academy	NEPSHC	14	2	3	5	-
	Islanders Hockey Club 18U	USPHL 18U	4	0	0	0	0
Patrick Grasso  (F)	Des Moines Bucs	USHL	34	7	16	23	8
Ara Nazarian  (F)	Des Moines Bucs	USHL	34	5	9	14	8
Nick Nonis  (D)	Powell River Kings	BCHL	45	1	4	5	37
Brendan van Riemsdyk   (F)	Islanders Hockey Club	USPHL	35	24	9	33	46
Marcus Vela  (F)	Langley Rivermen	BCHL	37	7	22	29	34
2016 Recruits
Joey Cipollone  (F)	Selects Academy 18U	USPHL 18U	15	9	20	29	10
		Non-League	30	7	20	27	-
Justin Fregona  (F)	St. Andrews College	CISAA	11	8	10	18	6
		Non-Conf	24	18	18	36	28
Charlie Kelleher  (F)	Junior Bruins	USPHL	27	9	16	25	10
Aaron O'Neill  (F)	Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	18	0	1	1	4
Jake Ryczek  (D)	Sioux City Musketeers	USHL	35	3	6	9	20
2017 Recruits
Mike Robinson  (G)	Lawrence Academy	NEPSHC	13	4W	8L/1T	3.46	.911
	Boston Jr Rangers	EHL	8	4W	4L	2.35	.937
2017 or '18 Recruits
Eric Esposito  (F)	Loomis Chaffee	NEPSHC	15	11	9	20	-
	CT Wolfpack U16 Split	CT HC	34	17	15	32	44
Jason O'Neill  (F)	Skipjacks Hockey Club 18U	USPHL 18U	19	11	11	22	21
		Non-League	9	4	2	6	-
2018 Recruits
Joel Farabee  (F)	Selects Academy 16U	USPHL 16U	17	3	16	19	14
		Non-League	31	6	10	16	-

News & Notes

United States Hockey League:

~ Midway through his second full season in the USHL, 18-year-old Patrick Grasso has nearly reached his point total from all of last year. In 34 games, Grasso has scored 7 goals and 16 assists. Earlier this month, Grasso assisted on all three goals scored by the Des Moines Buccaneers in a 3-2 victory over the Fargo Force.

British Columbia Hockey League:

~ In the recently released NHL Central Scouting Service's Midterm Rankings, 2015 or '16 UNH recruit Marcus Vela was ranked as the #123 North American Skater. Vela also recently competed in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game.

~ 2015 or '16 UNH recruit Liam Blackburn has scored 5 goals for the West Kelowna Warriors in their last three games. He currently is the third leading scorer in the BCHL with 19 goals and 43 assists in 44 games.

~ Powell River Kings defenseman Nick Nonis scored his first BCHL goal and it was a big one. Nonis scored an overtime goal in Powell River's 4-3 win over the Victoria Grizzlies.



United States Premiere Hockey League:

~ After a temporary lull, Brendan van Riemsdyk is lighting the lamp again. BvR has scored 2 goals in each of the last three games with the Islanders Hockey Club. He now has 24 goals in 35 games and is tied for 4th in USPHL goal-scoring. Brendan also played in the USPHL All-Star Game earlier this week.

~ Charlie Kelleher, who was out of action for most of November and December with mononucleosis, was also named to the USPHL All-Star Game.

~ Joey Cipollone of the Selects Hockey Academy U18 team has scored 4 goals in the last 5 games including the game-winner in a 3-1 win over the Skipjacks Hockey Club. Cipollone is currently tied for 4th in scoring in the 18U Division of the USPHL.

New England Prep School Hockey:

~ Earlier this week, 2017 recruit Mike Robinson, the 6'5", 200 lbs. junior goalie at Lawrence Academy, was ranked as the #16 North American goalie by the NHL Central Scouting Service.

~ Defenseman Liam Darcy, a Senior Captain at Berwick Academy, was ranked as the #156 North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Service in their Mid-Term Rankings.