Eye on the Tigers is counting down to the season by featuring a player a day. Since there are 31 days until the season starts, today’s we’re featuring sophomore netminder Austin Shaw.
Continue reading Princeton Hockey Countdown: No. 31 Austin Shaw
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Recruit Roundup
Junior hockey is completely underway, and so are Princeton’s recruits. Six recruits scored this week as the NAHL, OJHL and USHL have started regular-season play.
Here’s more on how the recruits fared this week:
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NAHL:
After being cut by the Green Bay Gamblers, Jake Paganelli joined the Austin Bruins. He recorded three points (2g, 2a) as the Bruins finished the NAHL Showcase 2-1.
Last week, Joey Fallon netted three points over four games. He recorded two assists in a 3-2 win over Minnesota, his first multi-point NAHL game. Fallon has four points through five games this season.
OJHL:
Defenseman Derek Topatigh netted an assist last week. Matt Thom also recorded an assist, as Georgetown went 2-1 over the week. Forward Colin Tonge scored four goals over three games last week, and netted two goals in a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Patriots.
USHL:
Fargo opened up the season with a 4-3 loss to Sioux City. Jack Adams recorded an assist.
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Princeton Hockey Countdown: No. 33 Colton Phinney
Eye on the Tigers is counting down to the season by featuring a player a day. Since there are 33 days until the season starts, today’s we’re featuring sophomore netminder Colton Phinney.
Continue reading Princeton Hockey Countdown: No. 33 Colton Phinney
Princeton Hockey Countdown: No. 35 Ben Halford
Eye on the Tigers is counting down to the season by featuring a player a day. Since there are 35 days until the season starts, today’s we’re featuring sophomore netminder Ben Halford.
Continue reading Princeton Hockey Countdown: No. 35 Ben Halford
Six Princeton Alumni Participate In NHL Training Camps
Princeton hockey alumni Mike Condon, Taylor Fedun, Kyle Hagel, Marc Hagel Mike Moore and Michael Sdao are at NHL training camps this season.
Sdao, who was drafted by the Senators, is entering his third year of professional hockey. Condon is also in his third season of professional hockey, and has been playing in Montreal’s organization since graduating in 2013.
Fedun is in his first season with Vancouver’s organization. Last year he appeared in seven NHL games with San Jose and recorded four assists. This is Moore’s second season with Washington. The former Princeton captain spent much of last season in the AHL, playing in 41 games for Hershey.
Marc and Kyle Hagel are both in training camps. Marc is with Minnesota, while Kyle is with Carolina. This is their second year in their respective organizations.
Doug Connor Commits To Princeton
Jr. Islanders U-18 goaltender Doug Connor committed to Princeton, he announced via Twitter.
“I’d seen a lot of schools, and when I came to Princeton it was a warm welcome with the site of the town,” Connor said. “It was a really nice town and the school looks great. And all the coaching staff, I just really liked them. They’re great guys.”
Connor, a 15-year-old, is committed to Princeton for the 2018-19 season and will enter as a true freshman.
“I had offers and there were some great schools in that list and I just kind of figured I’m in this position, why should I wait,” Connor said of his commitment.
The goaltender said he was looking at other ECAC as well as Hockey East schools.
“He’s probably top three in the country for goaltenders in the 2000 birth year. He’s way ahead of the curve due to his maturity, physically and mentally,” Connor’s coach Bob Thornton said.
“He’s a pro prospect down the road and very athletic. The rest is up to him.”
Over the Boards called Connor one of the top ’00 goaltenders in the United States.
Connor spent the past two seasons playing mostly U18 games as a 14-year-old and 15-year-old.
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“He’s basically a veteran on our team. I think that shows a lot of maturity,” Thornton said. “You’re playing against 17 and 18-year-olds primarily at that level … [and] he’s played a ton of games, he’s been very good, he’s had some struggles here and there but the fact that he can be consistently strong at that level speaks for itself.”
The jump from bantam minors to a higher level of hockey coincided with Connor’s transition from middle school to high school.
“It’s a very difficult adjustment academically as well as athletically,” Connor said.
The competition features stronger, older players who are 97 birth years and above.
“[He’s] playing those kinds of kids that really should be playing junior hockey at this point,” Thornton said. [They’re] college committed kids that are men.”
Connor began playing hockey as a five-year-old, just after his family returned to the U.S. after living in Zurich, Switzerland for roughly two years. The 15-year-old said his mental perparation increased the most over the past few years.
“I really learned how to really get ready for a game and how to focus and what should you eat on that day of the game,” Connor said. “My mental game and my maturity was definitely one of the biggest jumps.”
Thornton said handling the competition on a game-by-game basis is Connor’s toughest challenge.
“He’s going to play a lot of games this year so he needs to focus on being really consistent. … I think he has to realize that every game is a must win, to have that mentality,” Thornton said.
“I think he does have that but being 15 and being thrown a majority of the work, it’s still something he’s learning as we go. … [He’s] a pretty polished goaltender for that age.”
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ECAC Preseason Poll And All-Conference Predictions
The ECAC media submitted their choices for the ECAC Preseason Poll and All-Conference Teams.
Polls are just fancy predictions and are usually wrong, but here are my picks:
Poll:
1. Yale
2. Harvard
3. St. Lawrence
4. Quinnipiac
5. Colgate
6. RPI
7. Clarkson
8. Dartmouth
9. Union
10. Cornell
11. Princeton
12. Brown
All-Conference Team
F: Jimmy Vesey
F: Sam Anas
F: Kyle Criscuolo
D: Rob O’Gara
D: Jeff Taylor
G: Alex Lyon
Matt Thom Commits To Princeton
St. Andrew’s Collge defenseman Matt Thom committed to Princeton for the 2017-18 season, he announced on Twitter.
The 98 defenseman netted 21 points (5g, 16a) over 57 games last season. He was also defensive partners and roommates with Reid Yochim, who is also committed to Princeton hockey for the 2017-18 season.
Thom will spend this season with the Georgetown Raiders of the OJHL.
PWIH Top Returning Scorers (Interactive)
Princeton women’s hockey is returning its top five scorers. The top three, Molly Contini, Kelsey Kolzer and Jaimie McDonell each finished with over 25 points. Contini had 26 (16g, 12a), Koelzer 26 points (8g, 18a) and McDonell 25 (11g, 14a)
Here’s an interactive line chart breaking down their scoring patterns on a game-by-game basis last season:
Jack Adams, Jake Paganelli Named To USHL Protected Rosters
Princeton hockey recruits Jake Paganelli and Jack Adams were named to Green Bay and Fargo’s protected rosters, respectively.
The USHL released the 30-player protected lists on Sept 1, and the rosters will be narrowed to 23 by Sept. 21 .
Paganelli just completed his career at Shattuck and will join Princeton in the fall of 2016. Adams, a 2017 recruit, made Fargo’s roster out of the team’s June camp.
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