Jared Bussard Joins TPH-Colorado Family as Player Development Coach / Mentor
Total Package Hockey is pleased to announce that Jared Bussard has joined TPH-Colorado as a full-time Player Development Coach/Mentor. In his role, Bussard will assist Director of Hockey-Operations Jordan Pietrus in all aspects of the TPH-Colorado operation. A Western Pennsylvania native with a passion for mentoring athletes and a non-traditional path to success in the sport, Bussard brings a unique level of playing, instruction and coaching experience to the TPH-Colorado family.
“We could not be more excited to have Jared join our team in Colorado,” Jordan Pietrus said. “Jared has a passion for the game of hockey and a passion for mentorship. A hard working player, Jared had to earn everything he achieved as a player, and we are excited to have him on our team to help lead our student-athletes in exceeding not only the expectations of others, but themselves.”
Bussard’s path in hockey would certainly be labeled as the “road less traveled.” He started playing hockey at the age of 9 and within five seasons, captured a Midget ‘AA’ state championship before advancing to what is now the USPHL level with the Richmond Generals, where Bussard spent two seasons and was a captain for the team. After two seasons of junior hockey, the now 26-year-old, attended Lindenwood University-Belleville. Bussard was once again a team captain, letterman, and Academic All-American for all four years with the Lynx. He helped guide the Lynx to an impressive 93-24-9 record during his four seasons. Bussard earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management, as well as a Master’s Degree in Business Administration while attending Lindenwood. After graduating with an MBA, Bussard returned to Richmond where he served as an Assistant Coach for the Generals during the 2019-2020 season.
Prior to his first official full-time coaching position, Bussard served as a camp instructor, assistant youth hockey coach and assistant high school hockey coach, all while still in his teens, playing the game. This is something that caught Jordan Pietrus’ eye when he interviewed candidates for the position.
“Jared is someone who, throughout his life, has exhibited a willingness to serve and give back to the game. Jared is extremely bright and comes to us with a deep desire to impact the next generation of hockey players in Colorado. We firmly believe in having high character people lead our student athletes and Jared will set a great example day in and day out for our students to follow. On behalf of all of us with TPH, we welcome Jared to our Colorado family.”
- Click here to download our Center of Excellence brochure.
- Click here to request more information on the CoE model.
- Click here to apply for the TPH-Colorado Center of Excellence, which is the first formal step in the registration process for the 2020-2021 school year.
By The Numbers: 2020 USHL Draft
Every draft we always look back over the selections and break down the data. The goal is to understand who the teams and their scouts believe are ready for the next level. The data helps understand how to best prepare our TPH student-athletes. Below is some of the details from our staff’s analysis.
Birth Year Distribution
As you can see from the distribution, 141 (61.1%) of those selected were 2001 and 2002 birth years.
Association Level Distribution
Junior League Distribution
Youth League Distribution
This year, 76.5% of the draft pick were selected from a team associated in a league rather than an independent.
Help Us Shield Our Communities
TPH and the Center of Excellence offer a selective environment for the aspiring elite athlete. Part of the selective environment is mentoring our athletes to become better versions of themselves. A big piece of this growth includes serving the communities!
We are launching the Shield Our Communities fundraiser. TPH students across the country will be raising money to purchase medical face shields made by our good friends at Sparx Hockey. The goal is to provide these shields to organizations in need in each local community. Students will have the opportunity to safely deliver the shields to the selected local organizations. Organizations like Police Departments, Fire Departments, Nursing Homes or the like.
TPH is proud to partner with Sparx, a company who has repurposed their facilities to make these shields for first responders and essential workers across the country! Please help us achieve our goal and make a difference in the communities we call home! Together we can make a difference, in our communities and across the nation!
Our targeted goal would allow us to distribute over 1,000 face shields, distributed evenly, to the following local organizations:
- Atlanta | Emory University Department of Public Safety
- Colorado | Elizabeth Fire Station 271
- Detroit | Dearborn Heights Police Department
- Grand Rapids | Spectrum Health
- Huntsville | Huntsville Hospital System
- Indianapolis | Eskenzie Health of Indianapolis
- Nashville | Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management
To make a donation click here. We’ve got this!
USHL Draft Phase II
The United States Hockey League (USHL) Draft concluded Phase II yesterday, ending the selection process for this year’s draft. Phase II of the drafted amassed 282 players selected to the 16 USHL clubs (excludes US NTDP Team), adding to the 142 futures (2004 birth years) selected in Phase I, totaling out at 424 total players.
Total Package Hockey is proud to announce that 21 players who were selected over the course of the past two days are alumni of a TPH program. The breakdown of these players by program (some overlap multiple programs):
- 15 – Center of Excellence
- 5 – Elite Prospects Program (3 – World Selects Invitational Team and 2 – Michigan Hockey Advancement)
- 2 – Nashville Jr Predators
- 1 – 8 Week Progression Program
- 1 – Tri-State Spartans
The distribution based on TPH Division is as follows:
- 14 – TPH Detroit
- 2 – TPH Nashville
- 2 – TPH Grand Rapids
- 1 – TPH Indianapolis
- 2 – TPH Colorado
We want to express our congrats to all of the athletes that were selected in the Draft over the past two days. TPH would like to thank the 21 drafted student-athletes for allowing us the opportunity to be a part of their development in hockey and life. Below is our #TPHTrained student-athletes that were selected in Phase II:
View players selected in USHL Draft Phase I.
Tanner Latsch – WSI Prospects Team
Round 1 – 4th Overall – Des Moines Buccaneers
Davis Pennington – TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 1 – 11th Overall – Muskegon Lumberjacks
Patrick Johnson – WSI Prospects Team
Round 3 – 34th Overall – Cedar Rapids Roughriders
Hunter Longhi – WSI Prospects Team
Round 7 – 93rd Overall – Madison Capitols
Owen Millward – TPH Center of Excellence – Grand Rapids
Round 7 – 97th Overall – Tri-City Storm
Owen Bartoszkiewicz – TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 7 – 104th Overall – Youngstown Phantoms
Daniel Nakhamiyev – TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 12 – 168th Overall – Madison Capitols
Jacob Badal – 8 Week Progression Program – Detroit
Round 13 – 183rd Overall – Madison Capitols
Owen Carlile– TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 13 – 187th Overall – Muskegon Lumberjacks
Owen West – TPH Center of Excellence Alum – Indianapolis & Tri-State Spartans Alum
Round 14 – 208th Overall – Omaha Lancers
PJ Forgione – TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 15 – 224th Overall – Fargo Force
Dominik Bartecko – TPH Center of Excellence – Nashville & Nashville Jr Predators
Round 15 – 221st Overall – Green Bay Gamblers
Braden Rourke – TPH Center of Excellence – Detroit
Round 16 – 231st Overall – Des Moines Buccaneers
Andrew Garby – Plymouth HS – Michigan Hockey Advancement
Round 18 – 260th Overall – Cedar Rapids Roughriders
Charles Larsen – TPH Center of Excellence – Colorado
Round 19 – 284th Overall – Fargo Force
Jacob Thomas – Detroit Country Day HS – Michigan Hockey Advancement
Round 21 – 309th Overall – Sioux Falls Stampede
Landry Schmuck – TPH Center of Excellence – Nashville & Nashville Jr Predators
Round 22 – 324th Overall – Sioux Falls Stampede
USHL Draft Watch Phase I
The 2020 USHL Draft takes place in two phases, the first of which took place Monday afternoon. Phase I of the draft is where teams select players exclusively from the 2004 birth year. In this ten round draft we are proud to announce that we had four of our current and former Center of Excellence Student-Athletes selected.
Camden Shasby – TPH Grand Rapids Student-Athlete
Round 2 – 27th overall – Fargo Force
Congrats to Camden Shasby for being drafted to the Fargo Force. Camden is a TPH Grand Rapids student-athlete. #TPHTrained pic.twitter.com/4AHPwMHtG7
— Total Package Hockey (@tphhockey) May 4, 2020
Nathan Lewis – TPH Detroit Student-Athlete
Round 4 – 46th overall – Madison Capitols
Congrats to Nathan Lewis for being drafted to the Madison Capitols. Nathan is a TPH Detroit Center of Excellence Alum. #TPHTrained pic.twitter.com/ox8HpQ8f1k
— Total Package Hockey (@tphhockey) May 4, 2020
Brett Baugh – TPH Colorado Student-Athlete
Round 4 – 50th overall – Lincoln Stars
Congrats to Brett Baugh for being drafted to the Lincoln Stars. Brett is a TPH Colorado Center of Excellence student-athlete. #TPHTrained pic.twitter.com/1MsDyfBJqM
— Total Package Hockey (@tphhockey) May 4, 2020
Seth Constance – TPH Detroit Alum
Round 5 – 70th overall – Tri-City Storm
Congrats to Seth Constance for being drafted to the Tri-City Storm. Nathan is a TPH Detroit Center of Excellence Alum. #TPHTrained pic.twitter.com/WrGAfbEAJZ
— Total Package Hockey (@tphhockey) May 4, 2020
Phase II of the USHL Draft starts today at 2:00 p.m. EST.