Posts by Colleen Lynch
30 TPH Detroit-trained Players Claimed by NAHL franchises
Total Package Hockey Detroit is proud to announce that 30 TPH-trained players have been claimed by North American Hockey League franchises, either by signing players to an NAHL tender or by selecting them in the 2017 NAHL Draft on June 6.
Of those 30 players claimed, five tenders and four draft picks were used on TPH Center of Excellence student-athletes. Eight tenders and six draft choices were used on players who took part in the Michigan Hockey Advancement high school program, while the remaining players selected came from TPH’s eight-week summer training program.
“We’re extremely proud of this latest group of players earning spots with NAHL franchises,” said Total Package Hockey Detroit hockey director Brandon Naurato. “They have put in the time and the effort necessary to take another step in their hockey career, and the NAHL provides excellent opportunities for players looking to move through the ranks and progress into college hockey.”
In the last two years, TPH has helped 64 players earn tenders or draft selections by NAHL franchises.
TPH-trained tenders:
Chase Pletzke – Lone Star Brahamas – TPH CoE/Eight-week program/OHL Cup
Cannon Green – Shreveport Mudbugs – CoE/Eight-week program
Jake Transit – Shreveport Mudbugs – CoE/Eight-week program
Max Sasson – Brookings Blizzard – CoE
Valentino Passarelli – Aston Rebels – CoE
Zach Sprys-Tellner – Aberdeen Rebels – MHA/Eight-week program
Jack Clement – Shreveport Mudbugs – MHA/Eight-week program
Connor McGinnis – Shreveport Mudbugs – MHA/Eight-week program
Jason Brancheau – Amarillo Bulls – MHA
Mike McInerney – Amarillo Bulls – MHA/Eight-week program
CJ Regula – Corpus Christi IceRays – MHA
Logan Neaton – Fairbanks Ice Dogs – MHA/Eight-week program
Andrew Kormos – New Jersey Titans – MHA/Eight-week program
TPH-trained draft picks:
Evan Rochowiak – Odessa Jackalopes – MHA/Eight-week program
Hunter Carrick – Johnstown Tomahawks – OHL Cup
Declan Carlile – Fairbanks Ice Dogs – Eight-week program
Drew Cooper – Minnesota Magicians – Eight-week program
Matt Staudacher – Minnesota Magicians – Eight-week program
Christian Stoever – Wilkes-Barre Knights – CoE/Eight-week program
Zach Faremouth – Shreveport Mudbugs – CoE
Austin Roell – Lone Star Brahamas – MHA/Eight-week program
Michael Montambault – Lone Star Brahamas – Eight-week program
Jed Pietila – Aberdeen Wings – MHA
Nick Azarovitz – Johnstown Tomahawks – CoE/Eight-week program
Griffen Sanom – Brookings Blizzard – MHA/Eight-week program
Jack Tucker – Corpus Christi – OHL Cup
Alex Lycett – Kenai River – MHA
Spencer Kimball – Minot Minotauros – MHA/Eight-week program
Matt Stoia – Odessa Jackalopes – Eight Week Program/OHL Cup/CoE
Brighton School District Forges New Partnership with Total Package Hockey
By Michael Caples –
The Brighton School District will have quite a few new hockey players enrolled in the fall of 2017-18.
They won’t mess with the classroom sizes, however.
Brighton has formed a new partnership with Total Package Hockey, bringing all the Center of Excellence students in Canton and Hazel Park under the school district’s tutelage.
The CoE participants will be full-time Brighton students, taking online classes and receiving support from Brighton teachers on-site at the two hockey academy locations.
“We are excited to offer this new educational opportunity to our student-athletes, because of the increased academic support it provides them,” said TPH Detroit director of Hockey Brandon Naurato. “TPH has always emphasized academics as our No. 1 priority and this new relationship is a testament to that commitment.”
The transition will be guided by a former principal with experience creating digital classrooms, as Bill Simms has joined TPH as its new Chief Academic Officer. Simms, who is transitioning to TPH from Lee M. Thurston High School in Redford, is not only an educator, but also a parent of two TPH Canton student-athletes.
“What was really impressive is how committed TPH is to not only bringing a premier, high-quality on-ice and off-ice training program to students, but they really care deeply about the quality of the educational experience and customizing the education for the kids in the classroom setting,” Simms said. “TPH clearly invests a tremendous amount of time and resources into continually improving the student’s academic experience, and I am excited to support a program that is on the cutting edge of changing how athletes learn and train.”
Simms has implemented virtual elements into his current school, and he said he’s excited to work with Brighton in cultivating TPH’s new educational model.
“In my own experience, I helped develop and incorporate alternate learning methods right into the curriculum. I started an online school that’s part of our current school that runs parallel to our school right now, so we actually serve hundreds of students with online courses as well as traditional courses. What I’ve found that works really well in that situation, the very best way to utilize these resources is in what we call a hybrid educational experience for the student. Meaning that you mediate the online course and the online teacher by putting a live teacher who serves more as a coach or a mentor for the students with them. It’s essentially like a tutor for them who is there on-site.
“What we did with TPH is that we were able to develop a partnership with Brighton Schools. The students are now going to be enrolling as full Brighton High School or middle school students, with all the rights and privileges of their program. They will be working with Brighton teachers on-site in the classroom at their TPH locations, and we’ll be utilizing mostly online courses for their classes, so that gives them that flexibility on how they can portably travel with their classes but they work with them during school weekdays. A lot of these days travel, they’re gone four or five days at a time, so it allows them to continue with that work when they’re on the road and to pick up with it or manage the workload. We’re also adding in an elective course that’s on-site with the teacher, essentially like a leadership class, an opportunity to work with an advisor in that capacity, and they earn an elective credit with that. It gives them more of that true hybrid experience.”
As parents with a unique perspective – Simms’ wife is a middle-school teacher in Northville – they have been pleased with the educational experience for both their children. Their son has been enrolled in the program since its inception three years ago, while their daughter joined in the second semester of the 2016-17 year.
“It’s challenging with the travel. That’s exactly what happened with my daughter this semester, she was in Quebec with her boys’ Compuware AAA team for 10 days, and then the next month she was in Europe for another 10 days, so we realized that we needed to do something. She’s an all-A student, and it was really adding a lot of stress to her and her teachers on how to manage the coursework and the make-up work and staying ahead.
“The transition to the online school was smooth for her, giving her the access to the portable coursework, but what I really liked to accentuate about the experience I’ve seen with my own kids is the idea of personalizing learning in a way that, this is evolving but it’s allowing the student to realize maximize the time that they have on their schoolwork doing the curriculum and the schoolwork. With my son’s case, what I really liked about it is that he was really accountable for all of the curriculum. He had to respond to the questions that his teachers had. It wasn’t like, hey I didn’t get called on in class today, and he was the guy that might sit back and hope he didn’t get called on. Now, all of a sudden, he has to respond.”
About the Total Package Hockey Center of Excellence:
The TPH Center of Excellence is a leading academic and athletic training program for student-athletes in grades 6-12. During the academic year, student-athletes enrolled in the Center of Excellence spend part of their school day in classes provided by an accredited, proven leader in virtual programs. For the other portion of their day, student-athletes train on-ice and off-ice with Total Package Hockey’s world class coaching staff.
Over the past three school years the TPH Center of Excellence has produced the following:
20 NCAA Committed Student-Athletes
29 USHL Draft Picks & Tenders
4 NTDP Rostered Players
9 NTDP Tryout Camp Participants
22 OHL Drafted Players
6 OHL Rostered Players
14 NAHL Draft Picks & Tenders
For more information and how to apply, click here.
Article from: http://mihockeynow.com/2017/06/brighton-school-district-forges-new-partnership-with-total-package-hockey/
NHL, NHLPA Support NCAA Growth
INDUSTRY GROWTH FUND TO FINANCE FEASIBILITY STUDIES FOR POTENTIAL PROGRAMS, STARTING AT U. OF ILLINOIS
The NHL and NHLPA are committed to supporting the growth of NCAA Division I hockey, introducing a new initiative to fund feasibility studies for potential programs on Friday prior to the NHL Draft.
The University of Illinois will be the first school to conduct a feasibility study under the new initiative, which is funded by the NHL and NHLPA’s joint Industry Growth Fund.
Additional schools will have the opportunity to have feasibility studies funded through the project, which is designed to help spur the growth of Division I men’s and women’s hockey.
“Where high-level hockey is established, youth hockey interest and participation often follows,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “By expanding the footprint of elite hockey at all levels, we can inspire new players and parents to join the hockey family. By working to add programs at the Division I level, we hope to grow the game of hockey, both on and off the ice.”
GROWING THE GAME
The NHL and hockey participation in general have both expanded significantly throughout the United States in the past 20 years, but the number of Division I programs has not kept pace. | Infographic: The Need for Growth
Recent additions to the Division I landscape – such as Arizona State and Penn State on the men’s side and Merrimack and Penn State on the women’s side – have been encouraging, and the hope is that funding feasibility studies will allow other schools to see the benefits of adding the sport.
“While I think everyone in hockey has hoped to see programs added, this is a groundbreaking project by the NHL and NHLPA to take the initiative to help make that happen,” said College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Mike Snee. “Those of us at the college level are grateful for the leadership the NHL and NHLPA are showing with this project.”
There are currently 60 NCAA Division I men’s programs; Holy Cross is poised to become the 37th NCAA Division I women’s program and will join Hockey East in 2018-19.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
Illinois is one of many states that has seen an explosion in hockey interest and participation, fueled in part by the recent success of the Chicago Blackhawks. Illinois produces the most Division I players (84 men and 35 women) of any state that is not home to a Division I program. | Infographic: The New State of Hockey
Illinois athletic director Josh Whittman was in attendance at the announcement and was optimistic that the local talent base could help make the Fighting Illini competitive quickly.
“The idea of varsity hockey at the University of Illinois has great appeal,” said Whittman. “With hockey’s popularity in both Chicago and St. Louis, and rapidly growing youth participation across the state, we anticipate tremendous interest in the sport and at our university. We are grateful to College Hockey Inc., USA Hockey and our colleagues with the Chicago Blackhawks, who have been incredibly supportive during our preliminary due diligence.”
The Blackhawks, who hosted the announcement and this weekend’s NHL Draft, expressed their support of the potential for NCAA Division I hockey in the state.
“We’ve had the opportunity to meet with Josh [Whittman] two or three times and every time you are around Josh you feel that energy that he is going to try to get this done,” said Blackhawks President & CEO John McDonough. “When we heard that the NHL was going to participate, it inspired everybody.”
LONG-TERM BENEFITS
For the NHL and NHLPA, investing in Division I college hockey should produce both immediate and long-term benefits in terms of the health of the sport.
More Division I programs will produce more hockey fans and inspire more young hockey players. They will also provide more opportunities where young players can aspire to play and, in men’s hockey, progress toward the NHL.
NCAA hockey produced a record 314 NHL players in 2016-17, comprising 32% of the league (also a record). The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins featured the most former NCAA players of any team in NHL history.
“The NCAA develops tremendous talent and expanding the number of schools at the Division I level, for us, is a no-brainer,” Bettman said.
The NHL and NHLPA and the league’s teams will encourage additional schools to conduct feasibility studies.
CONTINUING RECENT GROWTH
Buffalo Sabres owener Terry Pegula – whose gift launched the Penn State men’s and women’s programs – and Arizona State men’s head coach Greg Powers both attended the announcement of the new program. After witnessing first-hand the rapid growth their programs have enjoyed, Pegula and Powers are both hopeful that others will join the Division I ranks.
Pegula talked about Nate Jensen, a Penn State alum who scored the first goal at Pegula Ice Arena and now works for Pegula in his oil and gas business.
“I find it interesting that the NCAA hockey road can lead in two places: a hockey career, or a career in business,” Pegula said. “We in the NHL are proud to support NCAA hockey.”
Powers leads the most recent team to join the Division I men’s ranks.
“Seeing first-hand the impact a Division I hockey program has had on a non-traditional market like Arizona, I can only imagine how great of an impact it would have in traditional markets like Illinois,” Powers said. “Hopefully, schools from everywhere will see the positive impact.”
Both Penn State and Arizona State’s new programs began thanks to significant donations. Schools that take advantage of the NHL and NHLPA’s feasibility study project may still need charitable contributions before starting a program, but it’s hoped that they will see the benefits of adding hockey before being presented with a multi-million-dollar gift.
Original Article:
http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/2017/06/nhl-nhlpa-support-ncaa-growth.php
John Buccigross: Here’s where Cawlidge Hawkey should add Division I teams
The NHL and the NHL Players Association are teaming up to support and promote the growth of Cawlidge Hawkey.
The NHL will announce on Friday — during NHL Draft weekend festivities in Chicago, which also hosted the Frozen Four this past April — that the league will sponsor studies at five U.S. colleges to examine the feasibility of adding a Division I hockey program. The University of Illinois will be the first school to undergo the study.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that Illinois, or any of the other schools involved, will sponsor a Division I hockey program. But the study — conducted by Collegiate Consulting Inc., and paid for the NHL/NHLPA initiative — should give those schools a framework as to what will be needed in order to make the jump, including financial considerations.
There are currently 60 NCAA Division I men’s programs and 35 women’s programs.
Illinois seems like a natural fit to add a program for a number of reasons. The university has an undergraduate student enrollment of approximately 33,000 students and a successful club hockey program. Given the success and significant popularity of the Chicago Blackhawks, who play two hours away up Route 57, it’s not a surprise that Illinois was the sixth-largest state in terms of hockey-playing population in 2014, according to USA Hockey, with nearly 30,000 registered hockey players — a surge of 36.5 percent in just five seasons. But the state has no Division I men’s hockey program.
Illinois is also, of course, part of Big Ten, which became the first Power Five conference to sponsor Division I men’s hockey when Penn State elevated its program in 2012. the Big Ten will include seven teams this fall, now that Notre Dame has joined the league as a sport affiliate member. It is also sanctioning women’s ice hockey, although not as many of the member institutions have women’s teams.
Mike Snee is the executive director of College Hockey, Inc., a nonprofit that serves as a marketing arm for Division I men’s hockey. He and his organization have been the “little engine that could,” trying to promote and grow the sport and serve as a resource for youth hockey players who are considering the college route.
“This is significant news,” said Snee. “The NHL has real pull, and we really appreciate that the NHL looks at college hockey as a key component of the growth of hockey in America — especially in places, like Huntsville, Alabama.” (The University of Alabama in Huntsville has only Division I men’s hockey team in the Southeast.)
Illinois isn’t the only obvious “hole” that those in college hockey would like to fill. Missouri, which has been home to the St. Louis Blues for half a century, has become a hotbed of youth hockey and produced both Division I athletes and NHL players.
Doesn’t Syracuse University, which already has a women’s team and hockey facilities in place, seem like a natural fit for an NCAA men’s hockey team? Folks in Las Vegas are excited about their new Vegas Golden Knights NHL franchise — and that could help spur UNLV to continue pursuing its curiosity in a possible move to a Division I program.
When considering adding an athletic program, changing the level of competition or improving facilities, NCAA schools commission feasibility studies to analyze the costs, benefits, risks and rewards. The sport’s leaders determined that the best way to encourage growth at the NCAA level was to encourage and incentivize new schools to examine the benefits of having a Division I hockey program. These schools can now have their feasibility studies paid for — and also get emotional and passionate backing from the NHL.
The sudden success of Penn State’s program, which vaulted to Division I thanks to the deep pockets of Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula (a Penn State graduate who donated $102 million to build an arena and fund scholarships) and Arizona State’s more measured entry into college hockey, has already led others schools and their alumni to look at the possibility of adding college hockey to their athletic departments.
The hope is that the funding of the feasibility studies by the NHL and NHLPA will lead more schools to take the next step in seriously contemplating adding hockey.
Like who? Here are some viable options:
- Nebraska: Hockey can obviously flourish here. Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Jake Guentzel — who scored a playoffs-best 13 goals on the way to winning the 2017 Stanley Cup — was born in Omaha and played college hockey at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena, which is already home to Nebraska’s men’s and women’s basketball games, can support an ice sheet. There is even an existing arena where the team could practice. The John Breslow Ice Hockey Center opened in December 2015 and is currently used for youth hockey and Nebraska’s club hockey team.
- Iowa: Like Nebraska, the Hawkeyes are part of the hockey-friendly Big Ten. Plus, more than 30 percent of Iowa’s students come from the Chicago area. Most importantly, a 6,000-seat ice arena is in the works about one mile from campus.
- Penn: The University of Pennsylvania had a Division I hockey team until it folded the program in 1978. The 3,000-seat, on-campus arena where Penn’s team used to play would need a paint job and a good dusting, but it certainly could still host hockey. Penn and Columbia are the only Ivy League schools that don’t have hockey, so they would be a very logical fit for the ECAC Hockey conference, which has 12 member schools for both men’s and women’s hockey, including the six other Ivies. The Ivies do well in hockey, as evidenced by Yale’s national championship in 2013 and Harvard’s in 1989.
- Navy: The Midshipmen have an arena — Annapolis’ Brigade Sports Complex hosts both Navy men’s and women’s club teams — and draw well. And two other service academies, Army and Air Force, have hockey. They don’t have the “expense” of scholarships and Title IX is enforced differently at the service academies.
- Rhode Island: The Rams have an arena, Brad Boss Ice Arena, and compete in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL). Every state university in New England has hockey except URI.
- The Pac-12: Getting five Pac-12 schools (six schools are needed to form a conference) to join ASU and create a Pac-12 hockey league would be a dream scenario for college hockey. But each school would need to build facilities, so it would be an expensive undertaking and require aggressive fundraising.
Kevin Westgarth, now the NHL’s vice president of business development and international affairs, played college hockey at Princeton before spending five seasons and 169 games with the Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes, and Calgary Flames. He is charged with helping grow hockey participation and passion, both domestically and abroad.
“The college hockey experience is also valuable in its ability to help positively shape men and women,” Westgarth said. “College hockey is a great opportunity for players to develop their game and themselves, all while getting an education. Having the University of Illinois as the first to partake in the project, and explore the potential of establishing a D-I hockey program, is exciting and encouraging. We look to build momentum and get more schools excited about the prospect of adding hockey.”
Hockey is still a young sport in the U.S. There were just four NHL teams based in the U.S. during the 1966-67 season. When Las Vegas begins play this fall, it will become the 24th U.S. team — and another foray into an “nontraditional” hockey market. To some, hockey is great enough of a sport to be successful and popular anywhere.
“When high-level hockey teams are established, it often ignites youth hockey in the surrounding area and inspires young people to get involved,” says Westgarth. “One of the best recent examples is what occurred in the wake of Alabama-Huntsville getting a D-I team. Youth hockey in the area exploded, and we saw a Huntsville native, Nic Dowd, in the NHL this past season.”
Original Article:
http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/19715829/nhl-john-buccigross-where-cawlidge-hockey-add-teams
Winnipeg nabs Mudbugs defenseman in NHL draft
Croix Evingson made Mudbugs history Saturday.
In the seventh round of the NHL Draft, the Winnipeg Jets selected the Shreveport Mudbugs defenseman with the 211th overall selection.
Shreveport Mudbugs defenseman Croix Evingson was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets.(Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times)
The 6-foot-5, 209-pound Alaska native captured Defenseman of the Year honors in the North American Hockey League for the 2016-17 season. He led all blue-liners with 52 points (12 goals, 40 assists).
Evingson is committed to play college hockey at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
The Mudbugs recently completed their first season in the NAHL, a Tier-II junior league. Evingson is the player in the history of the franchise to be drafted after playing in Shreveport.
Twitter: @RoyLangIII
Original Article:
TPH Alum Attends Red Wings Development Camp
MITCH ELIOT TRYING TO “BE A SPONGE” AT RED WINGS’ DEVELOPMENT CAMP
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Mitch Eliot’s first Red Wings’ development camp has come with a few bumps and bruises.
It’s summer hockey, sure, but it doesn’t mean the guys aren’t competing. Hard not to when the likes of Ken Holland, Jeff Blashill, Todd Nelson and the rest of the Red Wings’ management team are all watching.
Eliot took a stick to the face from Mattias Elfstrom near the end of the first day of training, but it didn’t stop him from raving about the start of the camp.
“It was good, it was a cool first skate,” Eliot said. “It’s good to get on the ice today and get the nerves out of you. It’s my first camp, so it was enjoyable and cool to be out here and put this gear on.”
The Grosse Pointe native is one of three Michigan natives at the camp in Traverse City, along with Adam Larkin and Tommy Marchin, Eliot’s former teammate with the Muskegon Lumberjacks in 2014-15. Fellow free-agent invite Michael Pastujov was Eliot’s teammate at Honeybaked, as well.
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Eliot, entering his sophomore season at Michigan State, said he wants to take in everything from the week-long camp.
“I think just to learn, be a sponge and soak it all in,” he said. “For me, it’s my first camp, so I’m watching everything, kind of out here to just have fun and enjoy it, but most of all just learn as much as I can.”
He’s trying to focus on playing and learning, rather than being distracted by who’s sitting in the stands watching.
“Not so much,” he said when asked if it was nerve-wracking to skate in front of Holland. “That kind of concept has helped me throughout the last few years of my career. You’re not really thinking about that, just trying to learn as much as you can, watch as much as you can and enjoy it.”
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
The son of former Red Wings goaltender and Fox Sports Detroit analyst Darren Eliot said he headed to Traverse City with simple advice from his dad.
“Just to enjoy it, learn as much as you can,” Eliot said. “Just take everything with a grain of salt and keep learning, really.”
The 19-year-old blueliner will be trying to take his development camp experience back to East Lansing, where he will be playing for a new coaching staff in 2017-18. The Spartans are set to start a new era under former USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program head coach and MSU product Danton Cole.
“I think the new staff will be fantastic,” Eliot said. “I’m looking forward to learning from them and playing under them next year. For me, as a sophomore, I’m trying to have a bigger role than I did last year. Hopefully we’ll have a little more success than we did last year.”
Original article from mihockeynow.com
Anzalone Joins TPH Executive Team
Total Package Hockey is pleased to announce the addition of Francis Anzalone to its executive team, as the company prepares for its 16th year as a leader in the on and off-ice development of student-athletes. Anzalone spent the 2016-2017 season as the Associate Head Coach of the Shreveport Mudbugs in the North American Hockey League. TPH helped oversee the hockey operation of the Mudbugs during Anzalone’s tenure in Shreveport, and will continue to do so moving forward.
“We are excited to have Francis play a much bigger role in the TPH family,” President Nathan Bowen said. “His organizational, communication and leadership skills, combined with his passion for mentoring players, will assist us in maximizing our ability to positively impact the lives of our student-athletes, while growing our brand at the same time.”
Anzalone will serve as Vice-President for the TPH Way. In his role, the 29-year-old will develop strategies to strengthen the culture of TPH, by first and foremost, implementing a life skills and leadership program that will eventually reach all TPH teams and programs, starting with the newly founded Center of Excellence Hub. He will interact with TPH athletes on a daily basis, and help craft new ways to accelerate the development of players who train in TPH programs. In addition, Anzalone will take on a management and advisory role with the Shreveport Mudbugs, and maintain his connection to an organization that received NAHL Franchise of the Year honors last season.
“I am extremely grateful for this expanded role within TPH,” Anzalone said. “This is an incredible career and life opportunity that doesn’t come around every day. I love development. It’s more than a buzz-word. It’s an art. It’s something I have a passion for. To have the opportunity to work alongside likeminded people who share that passion is an absolute thrill. To then be able to use that collective passion to make our people and our process better in this new role created by TPH is something I just could not pass up.”
Prior to his time in Shreveport, Anzalone spent three seasons with the NAHL’s Aberdeen Wings. He was Associate Head Coach in 2013-2014, before being promoted to Head Coach for the 2014-2015 campaign. Before that, the Sault Ste. Marie, MI native worked for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL for four seasons. He occupied a variety of positions for the RoughRiders, ranging from Regional Scout to Assistant Coach. Francis has been coaching at the youth, amateur and junior levels since he was 18. It was early in Anzalone’s career, when he was introduced to Nathan Bowen, and immediately became involved in the Elite Edge Hockey Showcase, held each June in Nashville.
Bowen adds that the addition of Anzalone to TPH’s executive team is just the beginning of a renewed commitment to a vision that has been growing year after year since the founding of the company in 2001.
“The mission of TPH is to perform at a standard that exceeds expectations, one choice at a time. The decision to make a greater investment in the growth of our athletes by adding this position and putting a person like Francis in the role is a choice that we know will have a great impact for years to come.”
TPH Alum has Sights Set for the NHL
CAN PAUL MCAVOY BECOME KENTUCKY’S FIRST NHL PLAYER?
Kentucky has been home to minor-league ice hockey teams, and the sport has a growing club presence around the Bluegrass State.
Still, it’s one of 10 states including Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming believed not to have ever produced an NHL player.
Photo: Surrey Eagles
Paul McAvoy, an incoming freshman for the Division I Colgate University hockey team in Hamilton, NY, would love to be the player to end the drought in his home state.
“I’m trying to show that my roots from Kentucky are not by accident or by chance, that Kentucky is what molded me into a hockey player,” said McAvoy, a 20-year-old Richmond, Kentucky., native. “That’s what I would want to get across to the country if I had a chance to play at a higher level than I am now.”
Though hockey has led him around North America, it was in Kentucky that he fell in love with the game.
“When I was around 5 years old we had the Kentucky Thoroughblades for like a year or two – the AHL team – and my dad took me to a game and I loved it,” McAvoy said. “It sparked my interest right away.”
So instead of a basketball, he opted for a stick and skates, carrying on his father’s love for hockey at the Lexington Ice and Recreation Center by playing for a local youth team called the Lexington Lightning.
It wasn’t long before McAvoy and his parents could see that he was talented on the ice. He played as much as he could at the rinks in Lexington and Louisville, however, limited practice time and lower-level competition prevented McAvoy from growing his game once he reached his teens.
After gaining attention from TPH Thunder AAA, an elite-level all-star team, during his last year playing for the Louisville Stallions, McAvoy left Richmond at age 13 to move to Huntsville, Alabama. It was the biggest commitment he had ever made because he had to leave behind his family and also embrace the lofty expectations of a program known for developing NCAA-caliber players. TPH Thunder boasts 51 NCAA commitments on its website.
“I missed my family a lot, that was No. 1,” McAvoy said. “It was a tough transition for me — being 13 and all. I ended up moving home halfway through the season because I was homesick, but it was a nice thing for that team to have players from all over the Southeast because I could still live (in Kentucky) and play for them.”
From there, his nomadic lifestyle would begin. Ever since, McAvoy has lived in Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Hamden, Conn.; Surrey, British Columbia; and now Hamilton, NY. At each stop, he stayed with a host family, known as a billet family.
Photo: Colgate Men’s Hockey Twitter (@Colgate_Hockey)
“After the first year in Alabama I got used to it,” McAvoy said. “The billet families are so important in that process of easing you into your new environment, and teammates help, but every year was a struggle at first to get acclimated to a new place and a new school. … After the first couple of weeks, it’s awesome because you get to see a new city and a new place that you wouldn’t get to see normally without hockey.”
The most noteworthy stops along his journey came after his junior hockey years. Hamden and Surrey are where McAvoy played for the Connecticut Oilers in the Eastern Hockey League and the Surrey Eagles in the British Columbia Hockey League. Those two leagues are widely known as developmental leagues for some of the most talented players in North America and have produced a long list of NHL players. It was there where he began to catch the eye of college hockey coaches.
“It’s interesting because my newly hired assistant coach (Juliano Pagliero) knew of Paul from a camp that he worked in Nashville when Paul was probably around 14, but then we lost track of him,” Colgate coach Don Vaughan said. “Then he resurfaced again when he was in the EHL in Connecticut. So we were once again aware of him when Pagliero joined our staff, but it wasn’t until he got to Surrey that we really zeroed in on him.”
McAvoy won the 2014-15 EHL Championship with Connecticut in his lone year with the Oilers. He followed that up with two years in Surrey, tallying 32 goals and 48 assists through 98 games. Along with his statistical contributions, he also served as the Eagles’ captain and was named the team’s 2015-16 MVP.
“He’s a leader,” Vaughan said. “He was the captain of Surrey for two years. When you see that in a player … that said a lot to me about the type of person that he is and the kind of kid we want in our program.”
There is no doubt his success at the previous levels has raised the expectations from his college coaches for his first season with the Raiders. However, nobody puts more pressure on McAvoy than himself.
“When I first noticed (McAvoy is from Kentucky) was on his recruiting visit with his father,” Vaughan said. “It is a fascinating story, and one that I wanted to hear more of. He has the drive to do it and an unbelievable support system at home based on what they had to do to keep Paul in the game. … He’s not coming from a traditional hockey area, so I’m sure every time he walked into a new organization people were looking at him funny out of the corner of their eye.”
With his NHL aspirations, McAvoy has now become one of Kentucky’s best chances to land a player at the highest level of the sport. Even if it takes him a few years after college, he won’t give up his dream until he’s content with time he’s spent around the game.
“I think hockey is one of those things where you have to play until the fun wears out,” McAvoy said. “All sports are supposed to be fun, so once the fun stops treating me well, that’s the point that I will call it, but I think that’s a long time into the future. I’m trying to have fun with every day that I have here at Colgate, and if a professional opportunity comes along it should be even more fun.”
Whether he reaches the professional level or not, McAvoy hopes children in Kentucky with interest in hockey will notice his rise in the sport and continue to pursue their dream the same way.
“It’s been a long ride, but it’s been fun,” McAvoy said. “Anybody in Kentucky that’s thinking about hockey should know that it’s a sport that not only prepares you for high-level athletics, but it’s also about life. The lessons you learn growing up, from being mature, to being on your own, to teamwork, to work ethic are incredible.”
Avalanche Training Camp: Compher Stands Out!
Hello from Magness Arena, where a Zamboni is out there right now resurfacing the ice following the Colorado Avalanche annual Burgundy-White game. This, after J.T. Compher wiped the competition on the same ice Sunday.
Compher, no question about it, was the No. 1 star of the game. He scored two goals – one a hard-to-the-net rebound putback against a rusty-looking Semyon Varlamov, and the other a pinpoint slap shot to the top left corner from the right circle. He helped his White team to an easy 6-2 win.
Compher was his usual “I don’t want to talk about myself, just about my team” unsmiling self after the game. “Intense” is definitely the word to best describe the ginger-haired 22-year-old from Northbrook, Ill. Compher’s idea of fun this summer was to punish himself every day in the Michigan area under the auspices of a new trainer and skills coach, Brandon Naurato. Compher was never slow, but he looks noticeably quicker than during his first season split between San Antonio and the Avs.
“I skated with (Naurato) for about eight weeks, working on a lot of stuff to help create space for myself, and a lot of shooting. It definitely helped pay off today,” Compher said.
Compher skated on lines with several players, but started the day centering a line with A.J. Greer and Nail Yakupov.
“J.T. is skating noticeably well,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He had two perfect shots today. He’s moving real well and that’s why he’s getting a few more chances.”
Yakupov, who is on a one-year “prove-it” contract with the Avs (for more on his thoughts of making the team, click here), was another shining star on the day. He finished with two assists, both of the high-skill variety. He slipped a nice little lead pass to Compher for his right-circle snipe and dished some sweet sauce to Travis Barron on a 2-on-1 that the prospect finished off.
Other news, notes and observations from the game:
- Andrei Mironov, the former KHL defender, did himself a lot of good Sunday. He scored a goal on a big slap shot and nearly scored on a similar shot, and generally looked steady in his own end. Bednar said Mironov seems to be slowing the game down a little better in his mind, not quite the scrambly, nervous-looking guy of the rookie showcase last weekend in San Jose.
- Bednar said Chris Bigras, vying for a depth spot on the Avs’ defensive group, was just “OK” in the game. Bigras had a couple of turnovers and mishandled the puck a couple of other times. Bednar seemed more upbeat about the play of fellow rookie hopeful Duncan Siemens, who was very physical and jumped into the play offensively at times too.
- Barron scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and has looked solid so far in camp and in the showcase. He won’t make the club out of camp, but he’s shown well as a big winger.
- D-man David Warsofsky had a good day, scoring one of Burgundy’s two goals and playing a fast game with the puck.
- Varlamov looked, well, not great. He allowed five goals on 28 shots and just seemed rusty. But he seemed to move well enough, and he was hung out to dry a couple of times by a Burgundy defense that struggled.
- Sven Andrighetto scored the other Burgundy goal and was slippery with the puck most of the day.
- Brady Shaw needed some help off the ice after taking a big hit. He seemed to have suffered a possible head injury, but there was no immediate word on this condition.
- Alex Kerfoot had a quiet day on the score sheet and nearly gave Burgundy a gift goal when a back pass in his own zone was intercepted for a mini-breakaway. He did make a couple of nice passes, but overall he probably won’t remember the day with great fondness.
Click here to view the article on BSNDenver.com.
TPH CoE Alum Commits to Ferris State
Photo courtesy of Total Package Hockey
By @MichaelCaples –
Total Package Hockey Detroit is proud to announce that Jake Transit has accepted a scholarship offer from Ferris State University.
The new Bulldogs commit and Center of Excellence alumnus is a ’99 birth-year skater currently with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, the USHL club that drafted him last spring.
He spent the 206-17 season with the TPH Center of Excellence before making the jump to juniors.
“TPH was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made,” Transit said. “The staff is committed to making you the best player and person you can be day in and day out.”
A Royal Oak native, Transit has skated for the Oakland Jr. Grizzlies, Belle Tire and Honeybaked.
“I Picked Ferris State because of how well I connected with the coachs as soon as I met them,” Transit said. “The Bulldogs seem like the perfect fit for me.”