TRI-CITY STORM PROSPECTS REPORT – DECEMBER 2011
The Storm boast young talent in the pipeline, including another standout 16-year old
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
By: SKIP BERRY – Tri-City Storm Communications
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| Eli May (14) of Eagan High School checks Hunter Warner (16) of Eden Prairie High School. Photo by Helen Nelson. May recently committed to Minnesota State University-Mankato for the Fall of 2014 following his junior career with the Storm. |
KEARNEY, Neb. – While the season is near half over in the United States Hockey League for the Tri-City Storm, the season has just started for some of the Storm’s prospects playing Minnesota High School hockey and midget hockey. Below is the latest information on each of the Storm’s 11 prospects, who are not playing in Kearney this season.
RW CHASE BERGER – 1994 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 13th rd. (182nd overall) – 2011-12 Season: St. Louis Blues U18 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect forward Chase Berger continues to develop this season with the St. Louis Amateur Blues U18 team in Midget Major hockey. Last season, St. Louis, Mo. native had 29 points (10g, 19a) in 38 games, while this season he is on pace for a significant improvement offensively with 23 points (10g, 13 assists) in 24 games playing in the Tier I league. Berger is a talented versatile forward, who could be playing with the Storm as soon as next season.
RW KYLE EASTMAN – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Futures Draft 3rd rd. (38th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Buffalo Jr. Sabres U18 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect RW Kyle Eastman, who was recently called up to play with the Storm for a pair of games in December, has been playing this season for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres U18 in Midget Major hockey. Last season, the Angola, NY native played for the Buffalo Regals U16 team, where he had 28 points (9g, 19a) in 35 games. This season, the physical forward has continued to improve his offense at the next level and has 18 points (8g, 10a) and 28 penalty minutes in 24 games playing in Tier I. In two games playing for the Storm, Eastman had a couple big hits and was a plus-1 rating. The future for Eastman is bright, and he should be an NHL Entry Draft Prospect in the 2012-13 season in the USHL.
D GRIFFIN FOULK – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Futures Draft 3rd rd. (44th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Colorado Thunderbirds U18 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect defenseman Griffin Foulk is expected to join the Storm for the rest of the 2011-12 season following the USHL Winter Break. He played in two games in late-November for the Storm and registered a cross-checking penalty in his first game at Lincoln on Nov. 23. This season, the Broomfield, Colo. native has been playing for the Colorado Thunderbirds U18 and has eight points (3g, 5a) in 26 games playing with the Midget Major program.
C/RW CONNOR HUTCHINS – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Futures Draft 5th rd. (74th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Dallas Stars U18 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect C/RW Connor Hutchins, who was also a recent call up to the Storm for a pair of games in December, has been playing this season for the Dallas Stars U18 in Midget Major hockey. Last season, the Richland Hills, Texas native played for the Dallas Stars U16 team, where he had 18 points (9g, 9a) in 32 games. This season, the forward is on pace to score more at the next level and has 16 points (5g, 11a) in 23 games playing in Tier I league. Hutchins played in both games for the Storm on Dec. 9 and 10 against Des Moines, registering a shot on goal.
C/LW DAN LABOSKY – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Futures Draft 4th rd. (53rd overall) – 2011-12 Season: Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School (Minn.) – Tri-City Storm prospect C/LW Dan Labosky continues to display why he is one of Minnesota’s top high school players this season. The 16-year old forward played with Storm LW Trevor Moore on the U.S. Under-17 Select Team this past summer and returned to Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School this season. In his first six games playing for Benilde, Labosky has registered points in five of the games, which includes a five-point night (2g, 3a) two weeks ago against Holy Angels High School. So far this season, he has 14 points (5g, 9a) in six games. Last season, he had 13 multi-point games with 46 points (10g, 36a) in 29 games. Right now, Labosky is considered one of the top players in the 1995 birth year playing in Minnesota High School.
D CUTLER MARTIN – 1994 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 15th rd. (212th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Victory Honda U18 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect defenseman Cutler Martin, who was called up for a pair of games in November with the Storm in Michigan, has been playing his midget major hockey with Victory Honda U18 this season. So far this season, Martin has 17 points (6g, 11a) in 24 games. Last season, East Lansing, Mich. native had only 15 points (4g, 11a) in 27 games. Martin is a talented all-around defenseman, who will hear his name in the USHL a few more times in the future.
D ELI MAY – 1993 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 7th rd. (92nd overall) – 2011-12 Season: Eagan High School (Minn.) – Tri-City Storm prospect defenseman Eli May recently committed to Minnesota State University-Mankato for the Fall of 2014. In five games this season for Eagan High School, May has two assists and eight penalty minutes as the co-Captain of his team. He is currently the teammate of another Storm prospect in LW Will Merchant. Last season, May had 29 points (12g, 17a) in 32 games playing for Eagan. He entered his first year of NHL Draft Eligibility this season, as he is a late-93 birth year player.
LW WILL MERCHANT – 1994 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 4th rd. (47th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Eagan High School (Minn.) – Tri-City Storm prospect left-winger Will Merchant entered this season with a lot of expectations, and has started to show the promise that he showed towards the end of last season. In the first five games playing for Eagan High School, the co-Captain has 15 points (8g, 7a) and has already registered four multi-point games this season. He is currently the teammate of Storm prospect D Eli May. Last season, Merchant had 56 points (34g, 22a) in 32 games playing for Eagan, including 14 multi-point games. He is expected to be drafted by an NHL club this June in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa.
G TALON MILLER – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 18th rd. (257th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Las Vegas Storm U16 (NAPHL) – Tri-City Storm prospect goaltender Talon Miller is playing his second season with the Las Vegas Storm U16. His goalie numbers are a bit down from a season ago, as he has played five games this season with a record of 2-3-0, goal-against average of 2.36 and .888 save-percentage. Last season, Miller went 11-3-1 with a 2.07 GAA and .925 SV%. Expect Miller to get better statistically as the season goes along and he continues to play more in goal for the Storm U16.
LW COREY PETRASH – 1994 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft 4th rd. (60th overall) – 2011-12 Season: Winnipeg Saints (MJHL) – Tri-City Storm prospect left-winger Corey Petrash is playing in his first year of junior hockey in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for the his hometown Winnipeg Saints. The rookie forward has played in 36 games this season and has 24 points (9g, 15a) along with 44 penalty minutes. Last season, Petrash played for the Winnipeg Thrashers AAA midget team and had 45 points (25g, 20a) in 30 games. His 1.5 points per game production led his team in that stat category. He is verbally committed to play NCAA college hockey for Bemidji State University for the Fall of 2013.
C/LW GAGE QUINNEY – 1995 born affiliate player – Drafted in the 2011 USHL Futures Draft 6th rd. (83rd overall) – 2011-12 Season: Phoenix Jr. Coyotes U16 (Tier I) – Tri-City Storm prospect forward Gage Quinney, who played for the Las Vegas Storm U16 (NAPHL) team last season, is playing this year with the Phoenix Coyotes U16 team in the Tier I league. He had a four-game stint with the Jr. Coyotes U18 team this season. Through a total of 31 games played in the Jr. Coyotes system, Quinney has 22 goals and 12 assists. Currently, he ranks sixth in the country for scoring in the Tier I midget minor league. Last season, the Las Vegas native led the Storm U16 team in scoring with 24 points (10g, 14a) in 20 games.
The Storm are off throughout the USHL Winter Break until Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they host the Des Moines Buccaneers at the Viaero Event Center. The game will on The Breeze 94.5 FM with the Viaero Wireless Pre-Game Show at 6:45 p.m.