USA Junior Hockey Magazine July 2009 : Page 6

Page 6 • July 2009 Three former Eastern Junior Hockey League players off to U.S. National Junior Team camp Early Christmas present? By Mike Klein USA Hockey has announced the list of players invited to the evaluation camp used to pick the next USA World Junior Championship team. Three former Eastern Junior Hockey League players will be in attendance when the camp commences on Aug. 7. The World Junior Championships will take place from Dec. 26, 2009 through Jan. 5, 2010 in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan. Former Junior Bruins goalie Connor Knapp is one of four netminders who will be competing for a spot on the team. After a successful season with the Bruins’ Empire League team, Knapp moved up to the EJHL in 2007-08 and finished with a 14-7-2 record. He led the league in goals against average with 2.02 and finished third in save percentage with a .925 mark. Last season, Knapp joined the Miami University RedHawks and was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team after posting a 2.09 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. Fellow Junior Bruins product Mike Cichy will also compete for a spot on the team. The New Hartford, Conn., native is known as a pure scorer and a face-off expert who will suit up for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux in the fall. Last, but not least, is Jeremy Morin, formerly of the Syracuse Stars. Morin won the 2007 EJHL Rookie of the Year Award thanks to a 26-28-54 scoring line, good enough for ninth in the league. He then joined the USA National Team Development Program and split time between the Under 17 and Under 18 teams, racking up a total of 80 points (42 goals and 38 assists) in 65 games. He won a gold medal in 2008 at the Under-18 World Championships and participated in last summer’s World Junior evaluation camp. This past season, he led the Under-18 team with 59 points (33 goals and 26 assists) in 55 games and picked up another Under-18 World Championship. Morin has opted to go the major junior route, signing with the Kitchener Rangers (Ontario Hockey League) in April. All three players were selected in the Central Scouting Bureau’s rankings in Montreal. For more information on the draft, see the story below. The camp runs from Aug. 7-15 and features practices, three games between two squads of camp invitees, and four games against Russia and takes place in Lake Placid, N.Y. The USA World Junior team will be coached by Dean Blais, who will be assisted by John Hynes, Mark Osiecki, and former New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs goaltender Joe Exter. Jeremy Morin handles the puck with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Morin was selected as a candidate to represent his country at the World Junior Championships in Canada in December. Photo by Nancie Battaglia/USA Hockey Quartet of former, current Eastern Junior League players drafted into NHL By Mike Klein The Eastern Junior Hockey League was proud to see that four players (both straight out of the league and alumni) were selected in the NHL Entry Draft, held over June 26-27. The league saw the selection of former players Jeremy Morin (Syracuse Jr. Stars), Connor Knapp (Junior Bruins) and Mike Cichy (Junior Bruins), along with Brian Dumoulin, who played this past season for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs. Morin, the 2007 EJHL Rookie of Former Junior Bruin Mike Cichy was draft- ed by the Montreal Canadiens. the Year, wrapped up a successful career with the USA National Team Development Program and will head to the Kitchener Rangers. He was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the second round with the 45th overall pick. Dumoulin, the 2009 EJHL Defensive Player of the Year, received the call from the Carolina Hurricanes as the 51st overall selection. He was an integral part of the Monarchs’ season which included the EJHL regular season title and the team’s third-straight USA Hockey Tier-3 Jr. A National Championship. Dumoulin will play for Boston College in the fall. Connor Knapp, who played last season with the NCAA runner-up Miami RedHawks, was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round (164th overall). Rounding out the draft group is Mike Cichy, another Junior Bruins product who will play for the University of North Dakota in the fall. He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the 199th pick in the seventh round. Former Syracuse Star Jeremy Morin was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers

Feature Story

Mike Klein

USA Hockey has announced the list of players invited to the evaluation camp used to pick the next USA World Junior Championship team.

Three former Eastern Junior Hockey League players will be in attendance when the camp commences on Aug. 7.

The World Junior Championships will take place from Dec. 26, 2009 through Jan. 5, 2010 in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan.

Former Junior Bruins goalie Connor Knapp is one of four netminders who will be competing for a spot on the team.

After a successful season with the Bruins’ Empire League team, Knapp moved up to the EJHL in 2007-08 and finished with a 14-7-2 record.

He led the league in goals against average with 2.02 and finished third in save percentage with a .925 mark. Last season, Knapp joined the Miami University RedHawks and was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team after posting a 2.09 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.

Fellow Junior Bruins product Mike Cichy will also compete for a spot on the team. The New Hartford, Conn., native is known as a pure scorer and a face-off expert who will suit up for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux in the fall.

Last, but not least, is Jeremy Morin, formerly of the Syracuse Stars. Morin won the 2007 EJHL Rookie of the Year Award thanks to a 26-28-54 scoring line, good enough for ninth in the league. He then joined the USA National Team Development Program and split time between the Under 17 and Under 18 teams, racking up a total of 80 points (42 goals and 38 assists) in 65 games.

He won a gold medal in 2008 at the Under-18 World Championships and participated in last summer’s World Junior evaluation camp. This past season, he led the Under-18 team with 59 points (33 goals and 26 assists) in 55 games and picked up another Under-18 World Championship.

Morin has opted to go the major junior route, signing with the Kitchener Rangers (Ontario Hockey League) in April.

All three players were selected in the Central Scouting Bureau’s rankings in Montreal. For more information on the draft, see the story below.

The camp runs from Aug. 7-15 and features practices, three games between two squads of camp invitees, and four games against Russia and takes place in Lake Placid, N.Y. The USA World Junior team will be coached by Dean Blais, who will be assisted by John Hynes, Mark Osiecki, and former New Hampshire Jr.

Monarchs goaltender Joe Exter.

Quartet of former, current Eastern Junior League players drafted into NHL

The Eastern Junior Hockey League was proud to see that four players (both straight out of the league and alumni) were selected in the NHL Entry Draft, held over June 26-27.

The league saw the selection of former players Jeremy Morin (Syracuse Jr. Stars), Connor Knapp (Junior Bruins) and Mike Cichy (Junior Bruins), along with Brian Dumoulin, who played this past season for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs.

Morin, the 2007 EJHL Rookie of the Year, wrapped up a successful career with the USA National Team Development Program and will head to the Kitchener Rangers. He was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the second round with the 45th overall pick.

Dumoulin, the 2009 EJHL Defensive Player of the Year, received the call from the Carolina Hurricanes as the 51st overall selection.

He was an integral part of the Monarchs’ season which included the EJHL regular season title and the team’s third-straight USA Hockey Tier-3 Jr. A National Championship.

Dumoulin will play for Boston College in the fall.

Connor Knapp, who played last season with the NCAA runner-up Miami RedHawks, was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round (164th overall).

Rounding out the draft group is Mike Cichy, another Junior Bruins product who will play for the University of North Dakota in the fall.

He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the 199th pick in the seventh round.

Two days after Apple Core alum Rob Scuderi kept his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates alive in the Stanley Cup finals with a gutsy defensive performance, he and fellow Apple Core alum Mark Eaton realized every hockey player’s ultimate goal.

They skated with the Stanley Cup.

Scuderi is no stranger to winning championships, as he and his Boston College Eagles teammates won the NCAA Championship in 2001. The Syosset, N.Y.-born defenseman was selected by Pittsburgh with the 134th overall pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.

After graduating from BC, Scuderi played two seasons in the AHL with the Penguins’ affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton before making theShow in 2004. He spent the 2004-05 lockout in Wilkes- Barre and returned to Pittsburgh in 2005, where he has remained ever since.

Scuderi thrust himself into the spotlight in Game 6 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final when he blocked three shots with the goaltender out of position to preserve a 2-1 lead and send the series to a decisive seventh game. He is the first Long Island-born player to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup.

Eaton, a Wilmington, Del., native, made his NHL debut in the 2000-01 season with the Philadelphia Flyers after one season with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and two seasons in the AHL with the Philadelphia Phantoms.

He has since played for the Nashville Predators before arriving in Pittsburgh in 2006.

He is also a veteran of the USA National Team, appearing in the 2001 and 2002 World Championships.

Scuderi and Eaton are two of 20 EJHL alumni with NHL experience and the pair are among the six Apple Core alumni in the NHL.

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