By Neil Ravin - Director of Communications, 04/23/18, 8:00AM EDT
BOSTON, MA -- This past week, Mike McPherson of the Boston Jr. Rangers made his commitment to Plymouth State University for the Fall of 2018. With his decision finalized, the native of Somerville, MA joins a growing list of players who've worked their way up from the Eastern Hockey League Premier (EHLP), to the Eastern Hockey League (EHL), and then on to NCAA Hockey. The 2015-16 Most Valuable Player benefitted greatly from the year he spent in the EHLP.
"We just finished the third season for our development division, and the EHLP has grown tremendously since we we kicked things off prior to the start of the 2015-16 season," said Mark Kumpel, the EHLP's Director of Hockey Operations. "The intentions for the league were really quite simple, as we wanted it to help develop the players for the next step up our ladder. The numbers speak for themselves as more and more players continue to go from the EHLP, to the EHL, and on to NCAA Hockey."
In the first season of the league (2015-16), the EHLP saw a handful of players make their commitments to NCAA programs, including players such as Ray Feeley and Ryan Wagner. Since that season, the EHLP has put together back-to-back years of 15+ NCAA Commitments. While there have still been some direct EHLP to NCAA Hockey commitments, the majority have followed the EHLP-EHL-NCAA pattern.
Below you'll find a combined list of NCAA Commitments from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. Highlighting just this past season in particular, a record 32 EHL players with EHLP experience, made their NCAA Commitments for this upcoming Fall.
These are the 9 organizations that currently have teams at both levels, EHL and EHLP (NE Wolves, Boston JR Rangers, Valley JR Warriors, Walpole Express, VT Lumberjacks, Philadelphia Revolution, Philadelphia Little Flyers, Philadelphia JR Flyers, NY Applecore). This map will be updated soon for 2018-19 season.
These were the 16 teams that made up the EHL during the 2017-18 season (NE Wolves, VT Lumberjacks, Boston JR Rangers, Valley JR Warriors, NH Avalanche, WBS Knights, CT Oilers, CT Roughriders, Walpole Express, NY Applecore, Philadelphia Revolution, Philadelphia Little Flyers, Philadelphia JR Flyers, NY Bobcats, East Coast Wizards, TA Seahawks ). The EHL alignment for the 2018-19 Season will be released soon.
These were the 13 teams that made up the EHLP during the 2017-18 season (NE Wolves, VT Lumberjacks, Boston JR Rangers, Valley JR Warriors, Walpole Express, NY Applecore, Philadelphia JR Flyers, Philadelphia Little Flyers, Philadelphia Revolution, NJ Renegades, Jersey Wildcats, NJ 87s, Central Penn Panthers). The EHLP alignment for the 2018-19 Season will be released soon.
Will Ahearn - Worcester State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Zander Allen - Framingham State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Tim Atkins - Becker College (D3 - CCC)
# Matt Amelio - King's College (D3 - UCHC)
# Bradley Arvanitis - UMass Amherst (D1 - Hockey East)
Adam Bedford - Trine University (D3 - NCHA)
* Andrew Bechard - Plattsburgh State (D3 - SUNYAC)
Jared Bernis - Assumption College (D2 - NE-10)
Brendan Boncore - Anna Maria College (D3 - Independent)
Brendan Boyle - Worcester State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Bryan Colburn - Johnson & Wales University (D3 - NEHC)
Cam Cordio - Lebanon Valley College (D3 - UCHC)
# Pat Cunningham - Post University (D2 - Independent)
Damien Dangueuger - Western New England University (D3 - CCC)
Rodahn Evans - Framingham State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Max Flynn - Wilkes University (D3 - UCHC)
John Fine-Lease - Assumption College (D2 - Northeast-10)
Cooper Fowler - Becker College (D3 - CCC)
# Jon Fowler - Anna Maria College (D3 - Independent)
Kyle Galloway - Southern New Hampshire University (D2 - Northeast-10)
Josh Grasso - Salem State University (D3 - MASCAC)
# Noah Griffith - Concordia University (D3 - MIAC)
Blake Harlow - Umass Dartmouth (D3 - MASCAC)
Devin Hines - Bryn Athyn College (D3 - Independent)
# Ray Feeley - Framingham State University (D3 - MASCAC)
% Michael Karas - Post University (D2 - Independent)
Tyler Lapshanski - Wentworth Institute of Technology (D3 - CCC)
# Daniel Lassman - Skidmore College (D3 - NEHC)
Chris Mattone - Fitchburg State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Mike McPherson - Plymouth State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Noah Morning - Anna Maria College (D3 - Independent)
J.P. Natishan - King's College (D3 - UCHC)
Anthony Nikolopolous - Franklin Pierce University (D2 - NE-10)
Christian Leon - Becker College (D3 - CCC)
# Bryan O'Toole - Lebanon Valley College (D3 - UCHC)
Michael Paglucca - SUNY Potsdam (D3 - SUNYAC)
Jimmy Pelton - Umass Dartmouth (D3 - MASCAC)
Jimmy Perry - Southern New Hampshire University (D2 - Northeast-10)
Chris Peters - UMass Boston (D3 - NEHC)
# Bret Piotti - Franklin Pierce University (D2 - NE-10)
Trevor Pray - SUNY Brockport (D3 - SUNYAC)
Matt Roe - Worcester State University (D3 - MASCAC)
# Donnie Shaw - Anna Maria College (D3 - Independent)
Harrison Sheldon - Post University (D2 - Independent)
Brian Smith - Worcester State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Danny Sorabella - Wesleyan University (D3 - NESCAC)
# Logan Stark - Stonehill College (D2 - Northeast-10)
Anthony Thurston - Framingham State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Ryan Tierney - Salem State University (D3 - MASCAC)
Pat Twombly - Umass Dartmouth (D3 - MASCAC)
# Ryan Wagner - Post University (D2 - Independent)
Curry White - Curry College (D3 - CCC)
Mike Wise - Assumption College (D2 - Northeast-10)
Eric Wright - Suffolk University (D3 - NEHC)
