Former Vermont defenseman Phip Waugh has committed to Mercyhurst out of the transfer portal. Waugh began last season on UVM’s roster and then returned to juniors with the PAL Islanders. Another former Vermont D, Cory Thomas, has committed to Canisius out of the portal.
Waugh had 29 points in 25 games for the Jr. Islanders after debuting this season. He had 13 points in 43 games with Brooks prior to joining UVM at the start of last season.
Thomas is a veteran of 100 NCAA games with Vermont over four seasons and finished his career with two goals and five assists. He’ll utilize his fifth-year option at Canisius.
The new additions to the portal include most of RMU’s roster after last week’s announcement.
Michigan State officially announced the additions of Northern Michigan forward Griffin Loughran and Brown forward Chris Berger.
Loughran was one of the bigger commitments out of the portal. He had 15 points in 16 games last season and had 39 points – including 23 goals – as a sophomore in 2019-20. He will have two years of eligibility remaining (with the fifth year) and has totals of 35 goals and 37 assists in 88 games.
Berger is an interesting addition as well. Injuries derailed him in 2019-20 and then he lost this past season after Brown didn’t participate. But as a sophomore with Brown he had 19 points in 29 games and looked like he was beginning to take off.
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2000-born F Stephen Owens commits to UMass Lowell for 2021
Owens is a Virginia native who has played for the Maine Nordiques in the NAHL the last two seasons. This past season, he appeared in 56 games for the Nordiques and posted 24 goals and 27 assists.
Prior to joining the NAHL, Owens played for the Richmond Generals in the USPHL.
NZ Scouts: “Skilled forward whose pace of play at times seems to unite the Nordiques. He likes to lead the rush and can do it effectively every time. Does a good job at creating chaos in the offensive zone using cut backs and escapes to get open or evade defenders.”
2000-born F Hunter McCoy commits to Army for 2021
McCoy is a Mass. native who is in his first season in the NAHL for the Maryland Black Bears in the NAHL. This season he scored 14 goals and added 21 assists in 53 games. McCoy also has experience in the BCHL and NCDC and played prep hockey at Phillips Exeter.
NZ Scouts: “He was pretty dominant in the faceoff circle this weekend, winning a majority of his faceoffs cleanly with one leading to an assist as well. He has decent speed and does a good job of keeping his feet moving especially in the corners where he was able to draw a few penalties by forcing opposing players to take him down. He does a good job of exploding out of battles with speed and is able to beat defenders to the net from corner battles. McCoy showed that he is a player that is tough to slow down, and once he has speed not many are able to stop him from creating separation.”
