On September 8-10th, Neutral Zone exchanged the beautiful, sunny weather for the dry cold of the Bloomington Ice Gardens in Bloomington, MN for the first ever Western States Bantam Invite….
Feature Story
CCHL Labor Day Showcase: Top 200 Prospects
Neutral Zone sent 5 scouts to Kanata, ON for the CCHL Showcase to get a head start on one of Ontario’s premier junior hockey destinations. The level of play was…
Together with Dad: The Blaine Warnert Story
The Zamboni making an ice cut in between periods: it’s a necessity for the players on the ice who need a clean sheet to play on. But for one Chaska,…
From New Canaan to New Haven: The Briggs Gammill Story
For Briggs Gammill, it all started at New Canaan Winter Club in Connecticut at the age of three. The Winter Club is not exactly a hockey destination, rather an…
Lessons Between the Pipes: Q&A with Dryden McKay
This past week one of the countries top goalie prospects in the 1997 age group, Dryden McKay, committed to Minnesota State after a highly successful season with Madison Capitols in…
A Sit Down with Steve: Q&A with Neutral Zone Founder
As Neutral Zone prepares for the 2017-2018 season we sat down with Neutral Zone President and Founder Steve Wilk to talk about Neutral Zone, the upcoming season and exciting new…
Wisconsin High School Hockey Standout Commits to UMass Lowell
UMass Lowell and Head Coach Norm Bazin recently received a commitment from 3.75-star prospect Chase Blackmun, a 6-foot, 185-pound, right-shot defenseman out of Hudson, Wisconsin. In a time of…
Bross heads east to join UMass Boston
UMass Boston (NEHC) recently received a commitment from 3.25-star prospect Zack Bross from the Minot Minotauros of the NAHL. The 6’0”, 195-lb. ’96 born forward hails from Weldon Spring, Missouri…
Q&A with recent Providence College commit Parker Ford
Neutral Zone was able to catch up with recent Providence College commit Parker Ford for a quick Q&A about the early stages of his hockey career, his decision to commit…
A New Way Forward for USA Hockey: Improving NTDP’s NHL Draft Performance
Disclaimer: Let us start this article by saying that the current system works, the current system was created by some of the brightest minds in youth hockey and every year despite…
NCAA Recruiting: Do Stats Matter?
After every college hockey season, our analytics team looks over the freshman class and analyzes their output. There are several reasons as to why but mainly we do it in…
From Both Sides of the Aisle: CHL vs. NCAA
The CHL vs. NCAA debate has gone on for long before Neutral Zone and will likely continue well into the future. As a staff spread out throughout North America we…
USHL Phase 1 Draft Recap: Sioux Falls Stampede
As a continuation of our USHL Phase 1 Draft Coverage. Neutral Zone scouts give an inside look at each teams selections, where they came from and what their game is….
USHL Phase 1 Draft Recap: Tri City Storm
As a continuation of our USHL Phase 1 Draft Coverage. Neutral Zone scouts give an inside look at each teams selections, where they came from and what their game is…
USHL Phase 1 Draft Recap: Cedar Rapids
Neutral Zone scouts will be compiling a team by team recap of the USHL Futures Draft free to the public. We cannot show player rankings, scouting reports or other subscriber…
U16 USA Tier 1 Nationals: Top 160 Rankings
Neutral Zone attended the 2017 USA Hockey U16 Tier 1 Nationals in Pittsburgh, PA. The tournament showcased a lot of talented players including several NTDP selections and USHL tenders. Given…
The Rise of “De-Commitments” in NCAA Hockey Recruiting
Words themselves can take on different meanings, it’s the context that gives the word its place. The term “commitment” can be an obligation; I can’t go to the game…
OHL Draft Top 150 American Rankings
Last week Neutral Zone’s Ontario staff produced its OHL Draft Top 300 Ontario Rankings. Our Atlantic, Central and Eastern regional scouts have come together to produce the OHL Draft Top…
NTDP Evaluation Camp Rankings
Neutral Zone scouts were in attendance for the entire NTDP Evaluation Camp. While we would have had some different players invited, overall it was a good crop of talent headlined…
The Making of a Hobey Baker Finalist in 2017
Ten players have named finalists for the Hobey Baker Award; the highest honor for a collegiate hockey player. We have analyzed the ten finalists to see how old they…
The 2016 NCAA Recruiting Class: A Look Back
Division 1 Edition As the college hockey season heads into the last weekend before playoffs, we thought it would be a great time to release our 2016 Recruiting Class Analysis….