07/14/99 12:39 PM
USHR's July News
7/14/99
Under-18 Selects Named
A motivating force for the players at this summer's Select 16 and 17 camps was the opportunity to be chosen for the U.S. Under-18 Selects squad that will leave the U.S. on August 13th for an international under-18 tourney in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Eighteen of the 20 players on the squad were selected out of last week's Select 17 Festival in St. Cloud, Minn. Mark Kumpel, an assistant with the Portland Pirates (AHL), will be coaching the Selects and was on hand to pick his roster. The only 16's on the team are defenseman Eric Werner and forward Dwight Helminen. The two will be teammates in the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor starting this fall.
(By the way, none of the players in the U.S. program last season participated in this year's Select 16-17 Festivals, the feeling being that the players needed time off their skates -- and with their families -- after the long season away from home. Consequently, since participation in the Select16's or 17's was a prerequisite to being named to the team, none of the program's returning players will be on the team going to Prague.)
The team will train in Ann Arbor, Michigan starting August 11, and fly out of Detroit on the 13th. They will play three exhibitions in Prague on August 14, 16, and 18 before the tournament begins. Countries participating in the tournament are Canada, Slovakia, Czechoslovakia, and, of course, the U.S.
- Goaltenders (2): Jason Bacashishua (Chicago Freeze Jr.A; Dearborn Heights, Mich.); Mark Spadaccini (Taft School; Canton, NY).
- Defensemen (6): Keith Ballard (Lake of the Woods High School; Baudette, Minn.); Joe Schuman (Benilde-St. Margaret's High School; Bloomington, Minn.); Chris Snavely (Central Penn Jr. B; Lancaster, Pa.); Jack Thompson (Melrose High School; Melrose, Mass.); Noah Welch (St. Sebastian's School; Brighton, Mass.); Eric Werner (Little Caesar's Midget; Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.).
- Forwards (12): Ryan Connelly (White Bear Lake High School; Birchwood, Minn.); Vincent Hellemeyer (New York Applecore; Franklin Square, NY); Dwight Helminen (Compuware Midget; Brighton, Mich.); Gregg Johnson (New England Junior Coyotes; Windsor, Conn.); Chris Lawrence (Philadelphia Junior Flyers; Havertown, Pa.); Yale Lewis (Cushing Academy; Basalt, Col.); John Luszcz (New England Junior Coyotes; Ludlow, Mass.); Jim Slater (Cleveland Barons Jr.A; Lapeen, Mich); Colin Stuart (Rochester Lourdes High School; Rochester, Minn.); Kris Vernarsky (Plymouth Whalers, OHL; Warren, Mich.); Ryan Vesce (New York Applecore; Lloyd Harbor, NY); Ryan Webb (Compuware Midget; Commerce, Mich.).
Head Coach: Mark Kumpel (Portland Pirates, AHL; Portland, Maine). Assistant Coaches: Mark Osiecki (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL; Green Bay, Wisc.); Leigh Mendelson (Sioux City Musketeers, USHL; Sioux City, Iowa).
7/7/99
Add Marsh to the List
St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh is the latest to interview for the Harvard job. Reportedly the list is now five: Middlebury College coach Bill Beaney, Miami of Ohio coach Mark Mazzoleni, Union coach Kevin Sneddon, Harvard assistant Jerry Pawloski, and Marsh. It's a possibility that the more time that passes, the less likely it becomes that Beaney will emerge with the job. In that case, Mazzoleni and Marsh, both of whom have extensive resumes, would likely become the leading contenders.
The Harvard alumni committee, which includes, among others, former Harvard captain Lane MacDonald and former athletic director Jack Reardon, has recommended their leading candidate and it's Tim Taylor, the current Yale coach. Taylor, who played at Harvard, was also an assistant coach at his alma mater, and, in addition to his lengthy career at Yale, has coached the U.S. Olympic Team as well as U.S.-born NHLers in the World Cup of Hockey.
Taylor was passed over in 1989, reportedly not even getting an interview when Cleary picked Ronn Tomassoni as his successor. The alums, who wish to restore luster to a Crimson program that now plays in the shadow of the school's national championship women's program, want a high-profile hire, and Taylor is their man.
But it's Cleary's call -- and the time is getting late.
Shattuck-St. Mary's Coaching Situation
The leading candidates for the Shattuck-St. Mary's head coaching position that became vacant when Andy Murray was hired by the Los Angeles Kings are former NHLer Doug Lidster, who's been coaching in Europe in recent years; Tom Ward, an assistant with the Gophers and, before that, the St. Paul Vulcans (USHL); and Sean Goldsworthy, the coach at St. Olaf's college, a Div. III program in Minnesota.
Murray's recommendation? We're told that it's Lidster.
Carlson to Take Over in Cedar Rapids
Mark Carlson, who's worked as an assistant to Bruce Crowder both at UMass-Lowell and Northeastern over the last five years, has accepted the head coaching job with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the USHL.
Cedar Rapids, formerly known as the North Iowa Huskies, were formerly coached by Steve Nelson. Recently, however, the job opened up when Nelson was hired as an assistant at Colorado College.
It'll be Carlson's first head coaching position.
College Commitments 2000
We have three college commitments for the fall of 2000 to report.
Two come from players currently with the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jon Waibel, who played at Lake of the Woods High School in Baudette, Minnesota before moving on to the National Program, got a 4th of July weekend visit from new University of Minnesota head coach Don Lucia and immediately accepted Lucia's offer.
Neil Komadoski, a hard-nosed defenseman from St. Louis, Missouri, will be heading to Notre Dame to play for Dave Poulin. Komadoski, who played in Ontario for the Toronto Young Nationals midget program before moving on to Ann Arbor, is the son of former L.A. Kings and St. Louis Blues defenseman Neil Komadoski.
Boston College's first recruit of the 2000 season is Tony Voce, a quick, dynamic forward from Philadelphia, PA and Lawrence Academy. Former Lawrence Academy standouts currently at The Heights are Marty Allen and Tony Hutchins. As long as we're on the subject of BC, it looks like Mike Mottau, who's the property of the New York Rangers, will be returning to BC. However, Bobby Allen may now be departing. Reportedly, the Bruins are pushing him to go pro immediately.
Getting back to the Gophers, Lucia is talking to Andrew Downing of Grand Rapids (Minn.) High School, hoping to persuade the smooth-skating defenseman to remain in Minnesota instead of heading to the WHL. Tri-Cities took Downing in the WHL Bantam Draft over a year ago and are working hard to get him to come there.
7/4/99
National Junior Camp Rosters Set
There's a new format for this summer's National Junior Camp, which opens on Tuesday, August 3rd in Lake Placid, NY. Here's how it works.
On Tuesday, August 3rd, 44 U.S. players -- two teams of 22, split into East and West squads -- will arrive in Lake Placid. After a day of practices on Wednesday, there will be three East-West intrasquad games: Thursday Aug. 5 at 7 pm, Friday Aug. 6 at 7 pm, and Saturday Aug. 7 at 3 pm.
On Sunday Aug. 8th, 25 of the 44 U.S. players will depart, with the top 18 or 19 candidates staying on to join the 10 veterans of last year's team who will have arrived at camp. That group will represent the U.S. in a small three nations competition that begins on Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. Here's the schedule for that:
- Mon. Aug. 9 -- USA vs. Switzerland, 5 pm
- Tues. Aug. 10 -- Finland vs. Switzerland, 5 pm
- Wed. Aug. 11 -- USA vs. Finland, 5 pm
- Thurs. Aug 12 -- Switzerland vs. Finland, 5 pm
- Fri. Aug. 13 -- Switzerland vs. USA, 5 pm
- Sat. Aug. 14 -- Finland vs. USA, 5 pm
The Rosters:
East
Forwards: Brett Nowak (Hotchkiss School); Dan Cavanaugh (B.U.); Kyle Clark (Harvard); David Evans (Clarkson); Brett Henning (Notre Dame); Todd Jackson (U.S. Under-18 Team); Patrick Foley (U.S. Under-18 Team); Jon DiSalvatore (New England Jr. Coyotes -- EJHL); Willie Levesque (Northeastern University); Brian Collins (St. John's-Shrewsbury -- Mass. HS); Mike Ryan (B.C. High -- Mass. HS); John Sabo (U.S. Under-18 Team).
Defensemen: Ron Hainsey (U.S. Under-18 Team); Jason Crain (Ohio State); Kevin Mitchell (Guelph -- OHL); Ed Hill (Owen Sound -- OHL); Freddy Meyer (U.S. Under-18 Team); Brooks Orpik (B.C.); J.D. Forrest (U.S. Under-18 Team); Pat Aufiero (B.U.).
Goal: Rick DiPietro (U.S. Under-18 Team); Reg Bourcier (Kitchener -- OHL).
Head Coach: Jim Tortorella (Colby College). Assistant Coach: Mike Grier (Edmonton -- NHL).
West
Forwards: Joe Goodenow (Michigan St.); Connor Dunlop (U.S. Under-18 Team); Dan Welch (Hastings HS -- Minn. HS); Joe Cullen (U.S. Under-18 Team); David Inman (Notre Dame); Dan Wroblewski (U.S. Under-18 Team); Shawn Roed (St. Paul Vulcans -- USHL); Jeff Taffe (Hastings HS); Doug Meyer (U. of Minnesota); Brad Winchester (U.S. Under-18 Team); Chris Hartsburg (Colorado College); Michael Rupp (Erie -- OHL).
Defensemen: Kevin Holdridge (Plymouth -- OHL); Jon Insana (Michigan St.); John-Michael Liles (U.S. Under-18 Team); Will Magnuson (Lake Superior State); Paul Martin (Elk River HS -- Minn. HS); Andrew Hutchinson (Michigan St.); Cullen Peters (Eden Prairie -- Minn. HS); Mike Stuart (Colorado College).
Goaltenders: Ryan Miller (Soo Indians -- NAHL); Adam Hauser (Minnesota).
Head Coach: Jim Johnson (Phoenix -- NHL); Assistant Coach -- TBA
Veterans
Forwards: Barrett Heisten (Maine); Tim Connolly (Erie -- OHL); Matt Doman (Wisconsin); Andy Hilbert (U.S. Under-18 Team); Adam Hall (U.S. Under-18 Team).
Defensemen: Doug Janik (Maine); Jordan Leopold (Minnesota); Jeff Jillson (Michigan); David Tanabe (Wisconsin);
Goaltender: J.F. Sauve (Rimouski -- QMJHL).
Copyright © 1999 U.S. Hockey Report
All rights reserved.
Duplication or redistribution in any form is illegal.
