Scouting Reports

Ben Thomas Commits to Union

Posted on June 30, 2016

Ben Thomas made the decision yesterday afternoon that he will play his college hockey at Union. He has been a top echelon forward in the New England Prep ranks for the past two seasons; however, he, in many ways, took a different path. While faced with the opportunity to play at some of the top prep programs he…

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Peyton Cullaton Commits to Northeastern for 2019

Posted on June 26, 2016

  Peyton Cullaton’s love for hockey began early while growing up in Colorado and watching her dad play professionally.  No longer a 9-year old new to the game, Peyton recently committed to Northeastern University and is preparing for her high school season at Lakeville North. Neutral Zone caught up with Peyton recently to learn more…

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The College Hockey Landscape: A Study of the 21-year-old Freshman

Posted on June 25, 2016

  The Big 10 this past year found themselves in a contentious debate when they attempted to bring the maximum age of freshman in hockey to 20. The implications were major and after much discussion and debate they decided to withdraw their pledge and give it more time and consideration. We see both sides of…

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Atlantic Development Camp Top 80 (99-01)

Posted on June 16, 2016

Neutral Zone staff were in attendance at the recent USA Hockey Atlantic District tryout camp held at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. As a whole, our scouts reported sort of a mixed bag in terms of both the level of competition and performances by individual players.

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Rush Showcase Review & Scouting Report

Posted on June 16, 2016

  Neutral Zone’s women’s scouting staff made it to the Rush Showcase in Brampton, Ontario over the weekend of June 5 – 8, marking the start of the summer scouting season. The Rush Showcase is the first major event in women’s amateur hockey to occur after the May “dead period” where NCAA Division 1 schools…

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Kayla Martinez Commits to Lindenwood

Posted on June 14, 2016

    Neutral Zone had a chance to chat with recent 2018 Lindenwood University commit, Kayla Martinez. At 4-years old, Martinez began her skating career and recognition of her burgeoning talent soon followed. Coaches identified her early on as a stand-out and remarked to her parents that with continued hard work “Kayla is going somewhere…

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Ponytail Tournament Report

Posted on June 14, 2016

  Neutral Zone recently spent two full days at the Ponytail Tournament in Toronto (Vaughan), focusing on evaluating the top 2001, 2002 and 2003 birth year players at the event. While the tournament was deep with talent across the board, we took a few minutes to provide notes on a few of the players who…

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Ethan DeStefani commits to Merrimack

Posted on June 13, 2016

Merrimack added its first recruit to the 2019 recruiting class with a verbal commitment from Ethan DeStefani, a power forward from Bedford, New Hampshire. DeStefani has been on the radar of college coaches for the past few years given his size and upside while playing for the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs, but he took a…

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Moncada signs with Guelph Storm

Posted on June 13, 2016

It is somewhat rare to see a third round draft pick sign with an OHL team in June, but for Luke Moncada and the Guelph Storm it was the right fit at the right time. Moncada brings a power game to the Storm, a big, strong two-way forward with a high compete level. We caught up with the 42nd overall pick and asked how he came to sign with Guelph.

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Top 5 College Hockey Recruiting Classes for 2016

Posted on June 10, 2016

Neutral Zone has created an algorithm-based ranking system for college hockey recruiting, a description of which can be found under the Team Rankings tab. Every player committed to a D1 or D2/D3 school is assigned a star rating based on our scouts’ viewings with additional consideration and points given for the league and their age….

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