NCAA: Quick Stops

In their first NCAA Tournament appearance the UMass Minutemen, upset Clarkson to become only the second fourth seed in tournament history to beat a No. 1-seeded team. Los Angeles Kings goaltending prospect Jon Quick (pictured) was exceptional as he stopped 33 shots for the shutout, in a 1-0 overtime victory. McKeen's has notes on Quick, Paul Fenton, Mark Matheson, and on Andreas Nodl and Robert Goepfert from St. Cloud State.

Paul Fenton (SJ), LW, Massachusetts

Blessed with superb anticipation and quickness, Fenton stood out with an impressive two-way performance .. nimble on his feet with a quick stride that allows him to accelerate rapidly .. hands are above average and he can be slippery down low as he has strong lateral cuts and bounces off checks .. owns good hand/eye coordination .. sees the ice well, and is a fine playmaker that moves the puck instinctively .. small and needs to bulk up as he can be pushed around but it's impressive how he battles to stay on the puck and competes .. goes to the front of the net and is not afraid of getting his nose dirty .. a decent finisher from in close .. displays good puck pursuit as he finishes his checks and astutely clogs the opposition's breakout passing lanes .. strong defensive presence and a very good penalty killer .. anticipates where the puck is going to go and uses his superb initial burst out of the gates to jump on the puck and take it the other way .. a threat to score shorthanded .. backchecks hard and uses his speed to catch back up to his man and did a fine job dislodging him from the puck .. elevated his game in critical moments .. a player to keep an eye on who saw his stock rise with a strong tournament.

Jon Quick (LA), G, Massachusetts

Athletic goaltender was awesome in the net for the Minutemen and posted a 33 save, shutout in the opener to upset Clarkson .. mechanically fine with a tight butterfly, although he has a habit of jumping at the puck when he makes a save .. possesses elite, lateral quickness, as he can fly across the crease quicker than anyone else in the NCAA can .. great feet and legwork make him very difficult to beat down low .. he's aggressive and can be all over the place yet he always seems to be in control .. plays outside the blue paint and does a good job giving the shooter nothing to look at .. plays the angles well and stays square to the puck .. has exceptional leg quickness and a strong glove side .. aware of the developing play around him .. aggressively uses his stick to poke check .. rebound control up high was consistently good but down low he did kick out a few juicy rebounds up the middle .. went down to early on a few occasions but for the most part he plays big .. good skater that is willing to play the puck but he could still improve his puck handling ability .. calm goaltender that can rise to the occasion and is a big game player .. his stock should be rocketing up after his tournament performance.

Mark Matheson (UFA), D, Massachusetts

Possesses a good frame to build into and is a heads up, two-way defenseman .. mobility is fine as he is strong on his edges with a fluid and strong stride .. is not a physical performer but he does a good job taking away opponent's options with his long reach and good positioning .. seems to always be the last man back making strong defensive plays .. poised with the puck and can either skate it up on his own or make a strong first pass .. possesses mature puck movement .. should be receiving NHL attention.

Andreas Nodl (Phi), C, St.Cloud

Powerful skater with a wicked shooting arsenal .. has scored plenty of goals this year simply sniping from the top of the circles .. especially dangerous off the rush using his speed to come down from the wing before unloading his shot .. possesses soft hands and is slippery for a big man .. sees the ice adequately and does a nice job drawing the opposition to him before dishing it off .. as good as he is with the puck he's just as bad without it .. he floats, and simply does not compete away from the puck.

Robert Goepfert (Pit), G, St.Cloud

Unorthodox goaltender with decent athleticism but wastes too much movement .. teammates want to play for him and his personality has been described as bubbly .. does a good job being helpful playing the puck .. rebound control was horrid .. did not hug the post and allowed multiple poor goals on the short side .. struggled to find the puck through traffic.