Selects, Central and South finish Top Prospects at 2-0

February 17, 2016

The 2016 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, presented by Easton, concluded its final day of competition on Tuesday at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.

 

In staying with a recent trend at NAHL events, the scout turnout was another record-breaker. In total, 288 NHL, NCAA and junior scouts were in attendance, shattering the old record from last season.

 

The event saw three of the five teams go undefeated as the NAHL Selects, Central and South all finished with 2-0 records.  The East Division went 0-1-1 and the Midwest and USNTDP both went 0-2.

 

Regardless of record, there was some tremendous hockey played and it was all about the players showing their stuff. In the coming weeks and months, dozens of the players who were in attendance will earn NCAA commitments and several of the NHL prospects saw their draft stock rise with some standout performances.

 

The NAHL would like to thank everyone who made the event such a success and supported by attending the games or watching live on FASTHockey. The NAHL would also like to thank the USA Hockey Arena and the USNTDP and their respective staffs, who went above and beyond to make the event a rousing success.

 

 

 

South 5 vs. Midwest 1 – It was the Alex Berardinelli (Lone Star) show as the 20-year-old forward wowed scouts with a hat-trick as the South beat the Midwest, 5-1. Keep in mind, just two years ago, Berardinelli was playing in the NA3HL for the Pittsburgh Vengeance and now, he was the talk of the game with his fast skating and his slick shots. Berardinelli opened the scoring late in the 1st period, but that was met :30 seconds later by a goal from Josef Ingman (Fairbanks) to tie the game for the Midwest. Before the period was out, Sami Tavernier (Topeka) scored in what would be the eventual game-winning goal. Berardinelli then scored twice more in the 2nd period to complete the hat-trick and make the score 4-1. JB Baker (Topeka) netted his second goal of the event in the 3rd period with a power play goal to make the final 5-1. Hampus Sjodahl and Gray Marr, both of the Odessa Jackalopes, each had a pair of assists in the game. Graham Hunt (Corpus Christi) picked up the win with 11 saves, while Amarill goalie Anton Martinsson stopped all nine shots he saw. For the Midwest, Tommy Nappier (Springfield) made 13 saves and Matiss Kivlenieks (Coulee Region) made 20 saves. Boxscore

 

Central 7 vs. East 2 – Kane Durment (Brookings) had a big game with four points, including two goals, as the Central rolled to a 7-2 win over East. The East scored first as Andrew Durham (New Jersey) scored his second goal of the event, but that was met by the Central’s first goal just :14 seconds later as Austin Martinsen (Minot) scored to make it 1-1.  Before the period was out, the Central added two more goals from defenseman as James LaDouce (Minot) and Cole Souto (Bismarck) scored to make it 3-1. The Central added two more goals in the 2nd period to make the score 5-1 as Nick Ford (Brookings) and Durment scored.  In the 3rd period, Tanner Okeson (Aberdeen) scored early for the Central to make it 6-1. The East responded four minutes later with a goal from Jacob Hamacher (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) to make it 6-2 and then Durment added his second goal late in the period to make the final, 7-2. The Central goalies put in another great performance as each only gave up a goal as Kris Carlson (Austin) made 13 saves and Hunter Shepard (Bismarck) made 16 saves. In the East net, Peter Thome (Aberdeen) made 16 saves and Darion Hanson (Aston) made 19 saves. Boxscore

NAHL Selects 6 vs. USNTDP 3 – The Selects impressed again, scoring three goals in the 1st and 3rd periods on their way to a 2-0 record at the event with a 6-3 win over the NTDP. Austin Albrecht (Wichita Falls) and Dominic Lutz (Topeka) each scored twice for the Selects. Lutz scored twice in the 1st period and Logan Coomes (Fairbanks) also scored to put the Selects ahead 3-1 after one period. Brady Tkachuk (son of former NHL’er Keith Tkachuk) had the lone tally in the period for the NTDP. In the 2nd period, Sean Dhooghe scored through traffic on the power play to draw the NTDP with within one at 3-2. The NTDP tied the game early in the 3rd period as Grant Mismash completed an odd-man rush, but the Selects then stormed back to score the next three goals as Albrecht scored twice and Todd Burgess (Fairbanks) added the other with a lazer of a wrist shot. Jack LaFontaine (Janesville) had another great performance in goal with 13 saves, as did Tyler Johnson (Topeka), who made 23 saves.  Both netminders were great in the event and will likely see their NHL Draft stock rise because of it. Adam Scheel took the loss for the NTDP making 35 saves. Boxscore