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* * 🏒  HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT GUIDE  🏒 * *

Wed. 11/20/19

Fantilli Brothers Major Additions for KUA

We didn't make it up to Quebec last weekend, but we did hear the buzz, particularly over the Fantilli brothers: 6'2" late '04 sophomore left-shot forward Adam Fantilli -- he's still 14 -- and his older brother. 6'0" left-shot junior defenseman Luca Fantilli, a late '02.

Luca has reportedly drawn interest from Harvard, so you could say his prep career is off to a fine start.

As for Adam, the spotlight on him in his native Ontario, where he's currently considered the #1 overall pick for next spring's OHL draft, shines more brightly than it will in tiny Meriden, NH, the home of Kimball Union Academy. Not that he won't be seen.

Last spring, both brothers visited KUA together, and liked it. Luca decided to go for it, but 14-year-old Adam decided to stay with his minor midget team. And he opened the season with them. But just a couple of weeks into the school year Adam, who was playing below his level by returning to minor midget, decided he wanted to join his older brother at KUA.

"Adam's parents called," said KUA head coach Tim Whitehead, "and asked, if by any chance, there would be any open beds at the school. I told them we happened to have two." ('03 Lac St-Louis Lions center Zach Malatesta had originally committed to KUA for this season, but late in August, Patrick Roy convinced Malatesta that the Québec Remparts, the team that had drafted him and of which Roy is coach/GM, would make for a superior landing spot. So that counted for one free bed.)

"Adam has a huge upside," said Whitehead. "He's fast, physical, an elite skater, has a great shot, great release. He sees the ice. He makes plays under pressure. He's great on faceoffs. He's great on the penalty kill."

"By coming here he has opened up for himself the college path," added Whitehead. "His parents wanted to keep them together and keep the opportunity for college open."

Like his older brother, Adam is a strong student. The plan is for him to play this year as a sophomore, take 11th grade English over the summer, and accelerate, meaning he'd be a senior next season, and would be able to enter college as a 16-year-old freshman. Adam is eligible for the draft in 2023, after his sophomore season.

The Fantilli brothers family advisor is Jim Hughes, former Providence College defenseman and captain, who went on to a coaching and NHL front office career before becoming an agent. Not incidentally, he's also a world-famous hockey dad. His kids are Quinn, Luke, and Jack Hughes.

Up at the Stanstead Showcase, Fantilli scored two goals in a 7-1 win over Stanstead and a hat trick in a 7-6 OT loss to Northwood.

Northwood coach Chadd Cassidy, asked abouty Fantilli, said, "If you're just watching the game it would never dawn on you that he's 14. He's big -- 6'2" -- and has great offensive ability. Really good release. Shoots off the pass well. Great finish around the net. He's strong on the puck. Makes it tough on opposing D. He protects the puck well and has a lot of speed."

"He's going to be a special one," added Cassidy. "With the way he stands out at our level, I have a hard time believing he's 14."

James Rioux, Stanstead U16 head coach and director of the school's hockey program, is a Fantilli fan as well. "He's explosive, the real deal. His potential is through the roof. One of the most special kids I've seen in a long time."

As for older brother Luca, Whitehead says, "He's an exceptional skater, too. He has a great first couple of strides to get acceleration on checkers. He's an automatic breakout, like Jordan Harris. He's very good offensively. Plays the point on the PP. He plays with his head up."

The older Luca will be anchoring a young KUA blue line along with senior Teddy Griffin. Returnee Andy Noel is the only other senior blue liner. And there are a number of newcomers in addition to Luca Fantilli, such as small, offensively skilled '03 junior LD Nick Bernardo from the PAL Islanders. Bernardo committed to Brown early last season. Despite the talent, the youth of the blue line is KUA's question mark. 

Up front, last year's top four scorers are back, and they are all seniors. Czech Republic native Tomas Mazura, an Edmonton 6th round draft pick and Providence College recruit, had a breakthrough season last year, and much will be expected of him. Sullivan Mack, Paul Dore, and Zach Whitehead are the other top returning scorers. Add in the younger Fantilli and KUA should have plenty of scoring.

In goal, Finnish senior Veeti Kohvakka (1.87/.932 last season) will be the #1 guy again. Junior Zac Brice, an Alaska native whose father played goal at Alaska-Fairbanks, will get playing time. Brice, who played for Little Caesar's U15 last season, is an Arizona State recruit. It doesn't seem too difficult to figure out why a Fairbanks native would pick Arizona State for college.

KUA, which operates on a trimester schedule, is off until Dec, 4, when they face Bishops College School before going to the Exeter Tournament to face Vermont Academy and Kent on the weekend of Dec. 7-8. The Flood-Marr is two weeks after that, so we should have a stronger sense of KUA's chances to repeat by then. And yes, the Wildcats first game at the Flood-Marr will be against Salisbury, a repeat of last March's Elite 8 Title game, which KUA won, 4-3, on Paul Dore's goal with 58 seconds remaining.

"This is a fun group to work with," said Whitehead. "We have a senior class that knows how to win and young guys who are talented and glad to be here. It was a fun experience to get on the road together and head up there."

"James Rioux is a great host. The rooms are clean. Everything's laid out for you. The rink is the perfect size, classy, with a confortable lounge. The ice is good. It's well done."

As for colleges, UVM, Maine, Dartmouth, Cornell, Clarkson, BU, and St. Lawrence were all on hand.

Stuff to Watch and read:

Adam Fantilli in OHL Cup

Story on Adam Fantilli in The Hockey News

Hockey News Interview, August 2109



***
Stanstead College Showcase Results

Final scores and Players of the Game Awards:

Saturday, Nov. 16th, 2019

-- Game 1: Northwood 5, Upper Canada College 2

Players of the game: Nate Boak (#2, Northwood), #18 Josh Chan (#18, UCC)

-- Game 2: Kimball Union Academy 7, Stanstead College 1

The difference: KUA scored 5 consecutive PP goals. Top scorers: Sullivan Mack (2g,2a), Tomas Mazura (1g,3a), Zach Whitehead (3a), Adam Fantilli (2g), and Luca Fantilli (1g,1a)

Players of the game: Thomas Mazura (#11, KUA) and (#13 Devon de Vries (#13, Stanstead). 

-- Game 3: Kuper Academy 3, Stanstead U16 1

Sunday, November 17th, 2019

-- Game 1: Kuper Academy 4, Stanstead U16 1

-- Game 2: Stanstead 5, Upper Canada College 2

Players of the game: Ryan Hopkins (#5, Stanstead) and Piaget Ntakarutimana (#21, UCC)

-- Game 3: Northwood 7, KUA 6 (OT)

Northwood held a 3-1 first period lead, but KUA's Adam Fantilli score a late third period goal to tie it at 6-6, sending the game into OT where Northwood's Elijah Devereaux scored a breakaway game-winner. Top scorers for Northwood: Ray Fust (2g), Johnny Cielo (2g), Felix Trudeau (2a), Jack Schlifke (2a), and Patrick Bruna (2a). Top scorers for KUA: Adam Fantilli (3g,1a), Paul Dore (3a), Sullivan Mack (2g), and Tomas Mazura (2a).

Players of the game: Ray Fust (#18, Northwood) and Adam Fantilli (#22, KUA)

Fri. 11/29/19

Mass Regionals Program Book

The Massachusetts and New England Girls' Regionals are on tap for this weekend, Fri. Nov. 29th through Sun. Dec. 1st, at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough, Mass.

This is the first season the two districts have shared the venue.

This weekend's winners will move on to compete for a National Championship in the first week of April 2020.

All the Mass District schedules and rosters are contained in the tournament program which can be linked to here. It's a 48-page PDF. The schedules can be found between pages 42 through 45.


Mass. Regionals Tournament Program Book

Mass Hockey Site for Girls Nationals

Best of luck to all!

Wed. 11/27/19

2019 Watkins Tournament Schedule

At Cushing Academy
Ashburnham, Mass.
Dec. 19-21, 2019

Fisher Division
Berkshire School
Cushing Academy
Northwood School
Winchendon School

Iorio Division
Culver Girls Academy
Deerfield Academy
New Hampton School
Worcester Academy

Thursday, December 19, 2019

2:30 pm Cushing vs. Winchendon
4:20 pm Berkshire vs. Northwood   
6:10 pm Deerfield vs. Worcester 
8:00 pm New Hampton vs. Culver    

Friday, December 20, 2019

 8:00 am Cushing vs. Northwood
 9:50 am  Winchendon vs. Berkshire   
11:40 am Culver vs. Deerfield
1:30 pm Worcester vs. New Hampton
3:20 pm Winchendon vs. Northwood 
5:10 pm Cushing vs. Berkshire
7:00 pm Deerfield vs. New Hampton
8:50 pm Culver vs. Worcester

Saturday, December 21, 2019

8:00 am   Fisher 4 ___________ vs. Iorio 4 _____________
10:00 am Fisher 3 ___________  vs. Iorio 3 _____________
12:00 pm Fisher 2 ___________ vs. Iorio 2 _____________
2:00 pm   Fisher 1 ___________  vs. Iorio 1 _____________

Fri. 11/22/19

Governor's Holiday Tournament

At Governor's Academy
Byfield, Mass.
Fri.-Sat. Dec. 20-21, 2019

Friday, Dec. 20th
Governor's vs. Holderness, 4:00 pm
Kents Hill vs. Canterbury, 5:45 pm

Saturday, Dec. 21st
Holderness vs. Canterbury, 9:00 am
Governor's vs. Kents Hill, 10:45 am
Kents Hill vs. Holderness, 3:00 pm
Governor's vs. Canterbury, 4:45 pm

Mon. 11/18/19

39th Harrington Invitational Tournament

Nobles Division                              
Noble & Greenough School
Lawrence Academy
St. Mark’s School                                                           
Westminster School                           
                         
Milton Division
Milton Academy
Buckingham Browne & Nichols
St. Paul’s School
Williston-Northampton School                                                                

Friday, December 20, 2019 @ Flood Rink, Noble & Greenough
Game 1            9:30                 Lawrence vs. Nobles
Game 2            11:30               St. Mark's vs. Westminster
Game 3            1:30                 Milton vs. St. Paul's
Game 4            3:30                 BB&N vs. Williston
Game 5            5:30                 Westminster vs. Nobles
Game 6            7:30                 St. Mark's vs. Lawrence

Saturday, December 21, 2019,  @ Roberts Rink, Milton Academy
Game 7            8:30                 BB&N vs. Milton
Game 8            10:30               Williston vs. St. Paul's
Game 9            12:30               Nobles vs. St. Mark's
Game 10          2:30                 Westminster vs. Lawrence
Game 11          4:30                 Williston vs. Milton
Game 12          6:30                 St. Paul's vs. BB&N

Sunday, December 22, 2019, @ Flood Rink, Noble & Greenough
Game 13          8:00                 7th Place Game – 4th Milton vs. 4th Nobles
Game 14          10:00               5th Place Game -- 3rd Milton vs. 3rd Nobles
Game 15          12:00               3rd Place Game – 2nd Milton vs. 2nd Nobles
Game 16          2:00                 Championship Game – 1st Milton vs. 1st Nobles

Mon. 11/18/19

37th Annual Patsy K. Odden Invitational Hockey Tournament

37th Annual Patsy K. Odden Invitational Hockey Tournament
At The Taft School; Watertown, Conn.
Thurs.-Fri. Dec. 19-20, 2019

Group A
Andover
Choate
Tabor
Taft

Group B
Hotchkiss
Kent
Lawrenceville
Loomis

Thursday, December 19th

Game 1        8:00 am         Taft vs. Choate                              Odden Arena
Game 2        8:30  am        Andover vs. Tabor                        Mays Rink
Game 3        9:45  am        Hotchkiss vs. Lawrenceville        Odden Arena
Game 4        10:15 am       Kent vs. Loomis                           Mays Rink

Game 5        1:45 pm          Taft vs. Tabor                               Odden Arena
Game 6        2:15 pm          Choate vs. Andover                     Mays Rink
Game 7        3:30 pm          Loomis vs. Hotchkiss                  Odden Arena 
Game 8        4:00 pm          Lawrenceville vs. Kent               Mays Rink

Friday, December 20th
 
Game 9        8:00 am         Taft vs. Andover                           Odden Arena
Game 10      8:30 am         Choate vs. Tabor                           Mays Rink
Game 11      9:45 am         Hotchkiss vs. Kent                        Odden Arena
Game 12      10:15 am       Loomis vs. Lawrenceville             Mays Rink                             

Championship Game

Game 13        1:30 pm          Group A and Group B Winners     Odden Arena

Third-Place Game

Game 14         1:30 pm          Group A and Group B Runners-Up              Mays Rink

Warm-up time begins 10 minutes before posted game time.
Ice made after 1st period only.
Home teams (in bold and listed first) should wear dark jerseys.

Fri. 11/1/19

Welcome to 2019-20!

The 2019-20 Girls’ Prep Pages are now officially open.

All of last season’s news, rosters, schedules, and stats have been archived, and new material will start going into this season’s pages shortly. We hope that coaches are more eager about posting their information this season.

Note that the Div. I/Div. II split has, as with the boys, been eliminated. Every school is now Div. I.

As for the big picture,  we’ve done a lot of work on the back end, mostly behind-the-scenes stuff that you probably won’t notice beyond the fact that the site will be running more smoothly than ever.

We also wish to thank our readers for subscribing. Up until two seasons ago, the USHR Girls' Prep site had been free, and, as a result, we lost money each season. The problem? We need writers, and writers need to be paid, especially those who know their way around the girls game. If you are a writer, have a car and a solid understanding of the girls' prep hockey world, and can write with speed and efficiency, please send your resume -- or a letter -- and a writing sample to cwarner@ushr.com. We are also looking for a photographer (no cell phone photos!)

We firmly believe there are enough fans of girls hockey for us to continue putting additional resources into the ongoing construction of a first class website devoted solely to the girls prep game.

We will also be posting jamboree and holiday tournament schedules next week. Note to coaches: send 'em along, please! The email address is the same as above.

Welcome to the new season. We're glad to be here. We’re glad you’re here. And we thank you for your support.

Chris Warner
Publisher/Editor
US Hockey Report
Cambridge, Mass.