Wednesday, March 30, 2016

UNH Recruits Update: March-30-2016

Patrick Grasso
 CCM USHL Forward of the Week

Player Spotlight - Patrick Grasso

On Monday, Patrick Grasso was named the CCM Forward of the Week in the United States Hockey League. Over the weekend, Grasso and the Des Moines Buccaneers swept a home-and-home series with the Tri-City Storm, first-place team in the USHL's Western Conference. He scored a goal in the 3-0 win on Friday. He was awarded the #1 Star in the 6-3 victory on Saturday on the strength of 2 goals and an assist. This capped off a three-game stretch in which Grasso tallied 6 goals and 2 assists.

Patrick Grasso's goal on Friday night represented the 100th point in his USHL career. In the 2012-13 season, when Patrick was just 16 years old, he was called up from the Omaha AAA U16 team to play 17 games with the Bucs. He was just 5'5", 137 lbs. at the time but managed to score 3 goals and 2 assists. So far, in his third full season with the USHL Des Moines franchise, Grasso has scored 21 goals and 19 assists. The Bucs' Captain is tied for 17th in USHL scoring and tied for 11th in goals.

On the occasion of Grasso's 100th point, Buccaneers Head Coach Dave Allison said:
“The kid and the family are quality. His dad was a stick boy for the New York Rangers when my brother (Mike) played there when he was 19, 20 years old. There’s a history and Patrick Grasso is just character. He’s just a wonderful human being. You talk about ‘love this game like a child but play it like a man.’ He’s 160 pounds but he plays it like a man."
Assistant Head Coach Nate Weossner added:
“Grasso is one of the, if not the, hardest workers I’ve seen since I’ve been in Des Moines. His preparation is bar none, how he concentrates on his craft like a pro. It’s not a surprise at all that Patrick has put up 100 points in the USHL and there will be more to come when he gets to New Hampshire.”
With just 4 games left in the regular season, Des Moines trails the 4th place Fargo Force by 8 points in the race for the final playoff berth in the USHL Western Conference. Unless the Bucs win the rest of their games and Fargo loses their final 5 games, Patrick Grasso's USHL career will be over. The good news is he has signed a National Leter of Intent and the speedy forward will enroll at UNH next Fall.

When Patrick comes to play for UNH, fans will notice similarities with former Wildcats star Stevie Moses. Both are fast, right-shot forwards who readily find open ice in the offensive zone for frequent shots on goal. Grasso at 5'7", 160 lbs. and Moses, 5'9", 170 lbs., are undersized players who can score goals in bunches. Grasso does it all for the Buccaneers this season. He has started at all three forward positions, is the point-man on their first power play unit, and fore-checker on the first penalty kill unit. He turns 20 years old on May 29th.

NOTE
The statistics for the recruits, presented in the following table, are categorized by the projected year they will enroll in UNH. For example, the "2016 Recruits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2016. I have based these projections on a number of factors including:
~ If a National Letter of Intent has been signed.
~ The year the recruit and UNH coaches originally targeted for enrollment in UNH.
~ How old the recruit would be upon admission.
~ Number of years in junior hockey prior to admission.
~ The recruit's performance in recent seasons as well as injuries.
~ Anticipated date of high school graduation.
~ Number of UNH players leaving the team at the end of the previous season and the position they played.


Player Team League GP Goals Asst Pts PIM
2016 Recruits
Liam Blackburn*  (F) West Kelowna Warriors BCHL 58 27 47 74 51
Playoffs 13 6 5 11 8
Justin Fregona*  (F) Langley Rivermen BCHL 51 24 25 49 45
Playoffs 1 0 0 0 0
Patrick Grasso*  (F) Des Moines Bucs USHL 56 21 19 40 14
Nick Nonis  (D) Powell River Kings BCHL 54 2 8 10 58
Playoffs 10 0 2 2 6
Brendan van Riemsdyk*   (F) Islanders Hockey Club USPHL 43 20 27 47 50
Playoffs 6 1 5 6 4
Joe Sacco  (F) Vernon Vipers BCHL 56 10 9 19 16
Playoffs 4 0 0 0 0
Anthony Wyse  (D) Lincoln Stars USHL 50 2 15 17 18
2016 or '17 Recruits
Charlie Kelleher  (F) Junior Bruins USPHL 38 17 36 53 40
Playoffs 4 1 4 5 0
Mike Robinson*  (G) Junior Bruins USPHL 12 7W 5L 2.97 .910
Playoffs 1 - - 0 1.00
2017 Recruits
Joe Cipollone  (F) Tri-City Storm USHL 45 7 3 10 14
Vernon Vipers BCHL 12 4 3 7 2
Liam Darcy  (D) Islanders Hockey Club USPHL 34 2 11 13 2
Playoffs 6 0 3 3 0
Eric MacAdams  (F) Sioux Falls Stampede USHL 46 9 8 17 72
2017 or '18 Recruits
Eric Esposito  (F) Youngstown Phantoms USHL 44 1 6 7 34
Jason O'Neill  (F) Langley Rivermen BCHL 47 7 14 21 2
Playoffs 5 1 1 2 4
2018 Recruits
Lucas Bahn  (D) Skipjacks 16U USPHL 26 3 13 16 0
Playoffs 4 1 0 1 0
Skipjacks 18U USPHL 9 2 0 2 2
Playoffs 1 0 0 0 0
Corson Green  (D) Northern Cyclones EHL 16 3 6 9 20
Playoffs 6 0 4 4 14
Northern Cyclones 16U EJEPL 17 12 5 17 55
* = Signed National
Letter of Intent

News & Notes

British Columbia Hockey League Playoffs:

~ 2016 UNH Commit Liam Blackburn and the West Kelowna Warriors upset the Penticton Vees to win the Inland Division Championship round. Penticton had earned the most points (101) during the BCHL regular season while West Kelowna earned 79 points. The "Double Round Robin" of the playoffs began last night as the Warriors downed the Chilliwack Chiefs 5-1. Blackburn scored West Kelowna's 4th goal on a power play. In his 13 BCHL playoff games, Blackburn has scored 6 goals and 5 assists. He is tied for 4th in playoff goal scoring and tied for 6th in scoring.

United States Hockey League:

~ 2016 UNH Commit Anthony Wyse returned to the Lincoln Stars lineup last Friday. He had missed several games due to the unexpected passing of his Dad, Timothy Wyse, in early March. On Saturday night, Wyse notched a power play assist on the Stars 1st goal in their 5-2 win over the Chicago Steel. With 4 games left in the USHL regular season, Lincoln sits in 2nd place in the Western Conference. They only need one more win to clinch a playoff berth.

~ 2017 UNH Commit Eric MacAdams of the Sioux Falls Stampede scored the game-tying goal in a 5-2 victory over the Sioux City Musketeers on March 26th. Sioux Falls is battling with the Fargo Force for the 4th and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. With 5 games remaining, the Force has 60 points and the Stampede have 58.

~ 2017 UNH commit Joseph Cipollone and the Tri-City Storm have already clinched a playoff berth in the USHL Playoffs.

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