4/24/13 Recruting Update

Since we last updated you on 4/11, six names have been added to the incoming NESCAC recruitment class for 2013-14. Tufts added two players from juniors, a goalie in Ryan Kellenberger and a hybrid forward/defender in Sean Kavanagh. Wesleyan landed a hybrid player of their own from prep school, Cole Morrissette of Milton; Trinity added prep school forward Jordan Abrams from Buckingham Brown and Nichols. Hamilton received defenseman Bennett Hambrook from Canadian juniors. Finally, Colby, who already had a recruiting class of 11 incoming players, nabbed the first transfer of the off-season, poaching Alex Walsh from Middlebury.


Tufts
Ryan Kellenberger, of the Springfield Jr. Blues (North Atlantic Hockey League), becomes the second goalie
recruited by Tufts this season along with Ross Bendetson of Andover. The 6'3" net-minder from Los Altos, California also becomes the tallest goalie and the first to come from juniors of the eight backstops in the incoming NESCAC recruitment class.

Sean Kavanagh (courtesy Spingfield Pics)

According to this article from his town paper, The Los Altos Town Crier, Kellenberger switched to goalie from defenseman at age ten after filling in for his pee wee team's starter and subsequently beating an undefeated team. After graduating with a 4.1 GPA from Los Altos High in 2012, the Canadian-born Kellenberger spent the past year with the Jr. Blues of the NAHL. Kellenberger played in 23 games, splitting time with fellow D-III recruit and  SUNY Genesso bound Matt Leon, who played in 38 games.

Kellenberger posted a 7-11-2 record with a 3.07 Goals Against Average and a .903 save percentage in the regular season for the 26-30-4 Blues. The tall goaltender earned NAHL North Division Star of the Week Honorable Mention  in December 2012. The Blues were eliminated, 2-0, in a best of three play-in playoff series against the Kalamazoo Wings. Kellenberger didn't start either game, but relieved Leon in both blowouts, 7-1 and 6-0.

Tufts also recruited F/D Sean Kavanagh from the Springield Pics of the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL). Several NESCAC recruits come from the EJHL this year, including Kavanagh's Pics teammate, Zak Kokosa, a forward committed to Bowdoin. Kavanagh played his high school puck at Cathedral High School in Springfield, MA, and earned ESPN Boston MIAA All-State "Best of the Rest" honors in 2011.

After doing a PG year at Andover in 2011-12, the Wilbraham, MA native played 44 games for the Pics, garnering 24 points (5-19-24). The Pics website has a post regarding Kavanagh's commitment to Tufts. In the statement, Pics GM/Head Coach Patrick Tabb says, "Sean is an offensive defenseman with good size and mobility. He is a strong character kid with a great work ethic both athletically and academically." 

Hamilton 

Can't fight in the NESCAC, though. (source) 

Defenseman Bennett Hambrook of the Trail Smoke Eaters (British Columbia Hockey League) becomes Hamilton's ninth recruit for 2013-14. The 6'0" Kimbereley, BC native also becomes the fourth Continental recruit with a 1992 birth year, making coach Rob Haberbusch's bunch the oldest recruiting class in the NESCAC.

Hambrook spent the past three seasons in the BCHL as a member of Trail, Vernon, Prince George and Slamon Arm, tallying 18 points and 183 penalty minutes in 135 career games. This past season he was traded from the SalmonArm SilverBacks to Trail in November. Before being traded, Hambrook served as the 12th captain in SilverBacks team history.   In 29 games with the Smoke Eaters, Bennett had 12 points (1-11-12). According to dropyourgloves.com, a site that tracks hockey fights, Hambrook dropped the gloves eight times in his three seasons in the BCHL. (see picture)

In a statement announcing Hambrook's commitment, Trail coach Bill Birks called Bennett a "tremendous assett" and said, "His leadership qualities and work ethic are the best I've ever been around."

Below, find an interview with Hambrook from when he was named SilverBacks captain. Besides the normal platitudes about how honored and proud he is to be named captain, you also learn the genuinely moving news that Hambrook's late mother instilled the values that earned him the C on his sweater.




Wesleyan
Meanwhile in Watertown, CT, Milton's Cole Morrissette joins his teammate Elliott Vorel in committing to Wesleyan. Morrissette, a 5'10" Bristol, RI native, was the number three scorer on Milton's team, netting 26 points (12-14-26) as a forward en route to All-ISL honors. In his first year at Milton in 2011-12, Morrissette played defense and had nine points (3-6-9).  Highlights from Cole's senior season, including video from games against Thayer, St. Sebastian's and Northfield Mount Hermon, can be found here.

Morrissette is also a multi-sport athlete, playing lacrosse at Milton and Moses Brown in Providence, RI before that. Williams 2012 second team All-NESCAC goalie Sean Dougherty also played lacrosse at Milton. In addition, Morrissette played football earlier in his youth, as this highlight reel from 2007 set to the unedited version of  DMX's "Tear it Up" can attest.




Trinity
Trinity has landed Buckingham Brown and Nichols leading scorer Jordan Abrams. The 5'11" 190 lb. forward and All-ISL selection had 39 points (13-26-39) this season, a marked improvement from 2011-12, when he had sixteen points (6-10-16).  The Lexington, MA native, who goes by Jordy, played his entire high school career at the Cambridge,MA prep school, increasing his scoring output every season; freshman year he had four points (2-2-4) and followed it up with 13 (5-8-13) in his sophomore campaign.

Jordy was named by the New England Hockey Journal as a player to watch for BB&N prior to  the 2012-13 season. Abrams also played baseball at BB&N in 2012 on the same team as Tufts defenseman Aidan Hartigan.

Colby 

Walsh (courtesy of Middlebury.edu)

Blaise MacDonald is not messing around. After completing his first year as Mules head coach, the former UMass-Lowell bench boss has already recruited 11 incoming freshman from prep school and juniors for the 2013-14 season. Now he has added a NESCAC transfer to that list in Middlebury defender Alex Walsh. The 6'1" 185 lb. defender had two goals in 24 games as a freshman for the Panthers in 2011-12, but did not make Bill Beaney's roster for the 2012-13 season.

Before Middlebury, the Basking Ridge, NJ native played in Swedish juniors in 2010-11, scoring eight points (3-5-8) and spending 44 minutes in the sin bin for Nacka HK. In 2009-10, Walsh played for the Delbarton School in New Jersey, where he scored 19 points (1-18-19). Also on that Delbarton squad, future Colby teammate Matt Gelnaw  and recent D-I national champion Kenny Agostino. Yale's Agostino ended the season tied for the Bulldogs team lead in points with 41 (17-24-41) and the 140th overall pick in the 2010 draft was also a piece in the trade that sent NHL veteran Jerome Iginla from the Calgary Flames to the Pittsburgh Penguins.