Prep Playoffs: Avon in Seventh Heaven

After finishing the regular season 24-1-0, Avon was expected to go through the playoffs with the dominance they possessed during the regular season, but their road to repeating as champions proved to be more difficult than maybe expected. Avon has relied on their top line (Pat Mullane, Cam Atkinson, and Paul Lee) all season long to provide their team with timely goals and wins, but it was their second, third and fourth lines that contributed the most during this playoff run and showed that their depth was too much to handle in the end. Senior Chris Wieland stepped-up his game in the three playoff games and was the major reason Avon won their seventh championship in the school's history. Wieland, who had 38 points last year, saw a dip in his production during the 2007-08 season with only 22 points, but his playoff performance of eight points (4 goals) in three games was nothing short of memorable. His playoff success started with an OT winner against Berkshire in the quarterfinals, then he had the game-winner and ENG for Avon in the 6-4 win over Belmont Hill in the semifinals, and started the scoring in the championship game in a 3-2 OT win over St. Paul's. Overall, his performance was MVP worthy. McKeen's correspondent Vincent Montalbano has notes on several players who had an impact during the New England Prep playoffs.

Lee Moffie (2008), Avon Old Farms, D (JR)

Recently committed to Michigan for 2009 .. logs a lot of icetime .. a fluid skater with a nice stride and speed .. during the St. Paul's game, one forward looked to have a step on him, but Moffie was able to catch him and get the puck away from him .. moves the puck quickly and gets open while jumping up into the offense .. also has the ability to skate the puck .. his one-timer is strong, low and very effective in creating numerous scoring chances around the net .. in the championship game against St. Paul's, he showed a feisty side .. rarely makes a mistake with the puck and is very poised, even when being pressured .. strong on the PK with the ability to make sure all his clearing attempts get out of the zone .. also rang one shot off the post in the championship game .. his offensive skills are top notch at the prep level, but as stated before, the lone issues with his game is in the defensive zone .. still stand-by the fact that he should receive more consideration for the upcoming draft, as his deficiencies in the defensive zone can be fixed, but he remains one of the top defenseman in prep with the highest potential .. had 32 points (7 goals 25 assists) during the season.

Patrick Mullane (2008), Avon Old Farms, F (JR)

Committed to Boston College for 2009 .. despite his line being shutdown in the semifinals and championship game, Mullane played solid and could only have moved up on draft lists .. he passes the puck with some zip behind it .. his best asset that will have scouts calling his name at the draft is his physical game .. plays with jam and never misses an opportunity to throw a check .. always plays hard every shift with a consistent effort .. goes hard to the net .. one thing also stood out during the playoffs was his skating .. he has a powerful stride and speed that helped him get two breakaway chances by simply overpowering the defenseman and using his speed to separate himself from them .. strong on the puck .. has good speed coming down the wing with the puck .. has very good vision in the offensive zone .. effective on the PK and gets into the shooting lanes and blocks shots .. overall, a driven player who's toughness makes him hard to knock off the puck .. had 55 points on the season (21 goals and 34 assists) .. seventh in prep scoring.

Cam Atkinson (2008), Avon Old Farms, F (SR)

Committed to Boston College for 2008 .. named to the All-New England Team East .. had a tremendous season, but seemed to be a step-below his efforts during the season against Belmont Hill in the semifinals .. lacked that explosive speed and jump to his stride .. even the PP had a tough time continuing their dominance in the playoffs, as Cam usually posts up on the backdoor and rarely ever misses a chance to slam one home .. has a strong shot, but again it was his speed that was missing .. against Belmont Hill, he had two or three scoring chances that he would normally bury, but came up empty .. also had a bad turnover in the offensive zone, that lead to a Belmont Hill scoring chance that Moffie had to bail him out of .. in the championship game, he had more of a jump in his stride, but still was held off the scoresheet .. displayed his quick hands and shifty moves .. started to play the fearless game that was missing the day before .. had two assists in the OT win against Berkshire, but was shutout in the semifinals and finals .. had 63 points on the season (26 goals 37 assists) and second in prep scoring .. most likely considered the prep player of the year.

Paul Lee (2008), Avon Old Farms, C (SR)

Committed to Dartmouth for 2008 .. centers that top line with Mullane and Atkinson .. similar to Atkinson, he lacked the offensive dominance they had throughout the season, but Lee continued his strong play away from the puck and his physical presence .. rang one off the post against Belmont Hill .. moves the puck well on the PP .. takes the puck hard to the net .. in the championship game, he played a tough, physical game and finished all of his checks .. showed very good straightaway speed with a long, powerful stride .. took a bad penalty with 10 minutes left in the third and Avon up by a goal, he went hard to the net and drove right into the St. Paul's goaltender .. when he drives to the net, he is very dangerous on any rebound chances .. had a goal and two assists against Berkshire in the quarterfinals, but held pointless in the semifinals and finals .. had 47 points on the season (23 goals and 24 assists) .. should continue to develop next year at Dartmouth.

Danny New (2008), Avon Old Farms, D (SR)

Committed to Providence for 2008 .. so consistent and does the little things well .. moves the puck well through the neutral zone, especially on the PP .. in the defensive zone on the PK, has his stick in the passing lanes and effective in breaking up passes .. very effective on the PK .. plays a safe and smart game .. displayed good speed both forwards and backwards .. will need to get stronger for the next level .. solid 1-on-1 .. has solid positioning in the defensive zone .. had a goal in the quarterfinals against Berkshire .. despite missing time with an injury, he had 17 points during the season (7 goals 10 assists).

Chris Wieland (2008), F, Avon (SR)

As stated above, Wieland had 38 points last year, but saw a dip in his production during the 2007-08 season with only 22 points .. his playoff performance though was spectacular with eight points (4 goals) in three games including an OT winner in the quarterfinals and the game-winner in the semifinals .. in the championship game, Wieland got the scoring started against St. Paul's .. overall, his performance was MVP worthy .. his game-winning goal against Belmont Hill was very nice, as he picked the short side with under seven minutes left .. proved to be reliable in the defensive zone and won a key faceoff to help get possession of the puck .. displayed a great talent with the puck and was dangerous around the net .. was creating scoring chances all weekend for his linemates (Brad Peltz and Mike DiMare) .. his goal against St. Paul's came when he went to the net and got the rebound and while being knocked down, put the puck five-hole .. a strong player along the boards and in the offensive zone .. after this weekend, he should find a lot of Div. I college teams interested, as he would be a solid addition to many teams .. ended the season with 30 points (12 goals 18 assists).

Michael DiMare (2008), Avon Old Farms, F (SR)

A PG who really came through when the first line was having trouble scoring .. had six points (1 goal and 5 assists) in the three-playoff games .. had a goal in the quarterfinal game against Berkshire, while really standing-out along with his linemates in the semifinal game against Belmont Hill with three assists .. had two assists in the championship game .. a shifty forward with quick hands and speed coming through the neutral zone .. ability to slip around checks .. rang one off the post in OT of the championship games .. had a nice assist that displayed his vision and poise when alone in front in position to shoot, but faked the shot and slid a pass backdoor to Wieland for the easy tap-in .. strong around the net despite his size (5-9, 170) .. has a good shot .. his line with Brad Peltz and Chris Wieland played very well and was the main reason Avon repeated as champions .. similar to Wieland, probably did not put up the points he expected, but his playoff performance should help him get on a few Division I school lists .. ended the season with 30 points (16 goals 14 assists).

Jason Bourgea (2008) St. Paul's, F (SR)

Committed to Dartmouth for 2009 .. named to the All-New England Team East .. lacks size (5-8, 175) but his speed is top notch .. has straightaway speed and can really turn on the jets coming down the wing to go along with quick hands and a quick outside move .. can be physically out-muscled down low and in the corners, but does not stop him from getting in on the forecheck .. shifty and dangerous around the net .. plays hard every shift and really gets his line going with Sr. Ben Albertson on one wing and Jr. Alex Davidson on the other .. played on both the PP and PK .. received a lot of icetime, as St. Paul's only ran two lines during the semifinals and championship game .. scored in the championship game to take the game to overtime .. will take a year of juniors (maybe USHL or EJHL) before heading to Dartmouth .. because of his playoff success, he beat out Cam Atkinson for the prep school scoring leader with 64 points (26 goals 38 assists).

Ben Albertson (2008) St. Paul's, F (SR)

Committed to Vermont for 2009 .. has great size (6-3, 185) .. really benefited from playing on a line with Bourgea .. scored against South Kent in the semifinals when he went to the net and banged home a rebound .. needs work moving the puck on the PP .. has a hard shot .. despite size, he needs to get stronger on the puck, as smaller defensemen were taking him off the puck .. also scored in the championship game .. will need that year of Juniors to continue developing and preparing for Vermont .. ended the season with 58 points (26 goals 32 assists).

Mike Daly (2008) St. Paul's, D (SR)

Committed to Holy Cross for 2008 .. named to the All-New England Team East .. decent size (6-0, 190) .. dependable defenseman who plays a consistent game .. shows good poise at the point, especially on the PP .. moves the puck well .. does not play an overpowering game, but has ability to make big hits .. strong on the puck .. makes smart plays with the puck .. ended the season with 26 points (8 goals 18 assists).

Scott Harff (2008) St. Paul's, D (JR)

Ranked by Central Scouting's Preliminary Ranking .. has very good size (6-3, 190) .. his game revolves around being extremely physical every chance he can get, but tends to lead to some penalty problems .. against South Kent, he had two or three penalties for mostly being overly aggressive .. runs around a bit in the defensive zone and has a hard time containing the small, quicker forwards .. his tough style makes him an intriguing player, but will need to develop his game some more .. ended the season with 11 points (3 goals 8 assists).

Mike Condon (2008) Belmont Hill School, G (JR)

A 1990 DOB (April) .. good size (6-2, 187) .. his best asset is his strength down low and quick reflexes .. his weakness is up top and has trouble when saves call for him to go beyond the technical approach he knows best .. handles the puck well but needs to be more careful where he sends the puck when playing it .. made 37 saves in the quarterfinals that saw his team come back from being down 3-0 to tie the game in the third period and win in the third overtime .. ended the season with 1632 minutes played, 66 goals-against, 898 saves and .931 save-percentage.

Jason Silvia (2008), F, Belmont Hill (SR)

Recently committed to Holy Cross for 2008 .. Silvia game is plagued by inconsistency, but his flashes of skill make him an intriguing prospect .. his skills are top notch among the prep players .. has good size and quick hands .. against Avon, he scored a big goal when he came flying down the wing and snapped a shot that most college goalies would not be able to stop .. the problem is that besides the goal, he played a very quiet game and was overshadowed by Belmont top scorers who are two freshmen .. a decent skater who needs a few strides to get going, but has a tendency to glide around a bit and waiting for linemates to get him the puck .. as stated above, his potential is intriguing and will watch his progress at Holy Cross .. ended the season with 25 points (14 goals 11 assists).

Tyler Scott (2008) South Kent School, G (SR)

Committed to UNH for 2008 .. good size (6-3, 185) .. made 27 saves and allowed three goals against St. Paul's in the semifinals after stopping 24 shots in a 4-1 win in the quarterfinal game against Salisbury .. the first goal scored by St. Paul's came when Scott could not cover the puck in time and Albertson was able to poke it in .. with two minutes left in the second period, he made a very nice post-to-post save to keep the score only 2-0 .. goes down a little early .. ended the season with 1780 minutes played, 88 goals-against, 1063 saves and .923 save-percentage.

Wade Megan (2008) South Kent School, F (JR)

A 1990 DOB (July) .. size (6-1, 170) .. smart with the puck in the offensive zone and moves the puck well .. goes hard to the net .. has decent hands .. works well with Mike Pereira and Jeff Silengo .. received some PP time .. decent speed, but not strong on his skates .. needs to protect the puck better .. ended the season with 53 points (24 goals 29 assists).

Jeff Silengo (2008) South Kent School, F (SR)

1990 DOB (Feb) .. decent size (5-11, 165) .. a bit raw in terms of skating and physical ability, but showed good potential .. has good offensive instincts and moves the puck well in the offensive zone .. his line with Wade Megan and Mike Pereira should continue their dominance next year, as all return to South Kent .. ended the season with 52 points (24 goals 28 assists).

John Tague (2008) South Kent School, F (JR)

1988 DOB (Sept) .. decent size (5-10, 170) .. has quick hands .. had a bunch of scoring chances against St. Paul's in the semifinals including two breakaways .. on both breakaways, he fired shots over the net .. did an excellent job getting behind the defense and getting scoring chances when the team needed to create some offense after being pinned into their zone .. good around the net and likes to quietly move around the offensive zone and find the open areas and wait for the puck .. has a quick release .. poise with puck .. plays the point on the PP .. a year of juniors could help him get some low-end Division 1 interest .. ended the season with 41 points (22 goals 19 assists).

ALL NEW-ENGLAND TEAMS

DIVISION I EAST

Ryan Purdy (2008), G, Exeter (SR)

Derrick Pallis (2008), D, Nobles (SR)

Mike Daly (2008), D, St. Paul's (SR)

Bobby Farnham (2008), F, Andover (SR)

Wayne Simpson (2008), F, Lawrence Academy (JR)

Andrew Glass (WSH), F, Nobles (SR)

Jason Bourgea (2008) St. Paul's (SR)

DIVISION I WEST

John Yanchek (2008), G, Hotchkiss (SR)

Tommy Cross (BOS), D, Westminster (SR)

Connor Goggin (2008), D, Choate (SR)

Cam Atkinson (2008), F, Avon Old Farms (SR)

Alexander Killorn (TB), F, Deerfield Academy (SR)

Adam Pawlick (2008), F, Salisbury (JR)