Neutral Zone’s New England division has come together to select this years Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Forward of the Year, Defender of the Year, Goalie of the Year, Rookie of the Year as well as First Team, Second Team and Honorable Mentions.
Congratulations to all players included in these lists and there were several that recieved votes as well who are not included. These lists are based on regular season play and will be announced prior to the Championship Sunday games.
Player of the Year
Carter Meyer, F, Rivers School
Carter Meyer is widely considered one of the top 2009’s in the country and played on one of the best lines in the league alongside Sam Pandolfo and Finn Sears. The three of them were interchangeable as a freshmen for the most part, with Meyer having a slight edge, but Carter has taken his game to new heights this season, scoring 41 goals in 28 games and leading all of the prep school in scoring as one of the younger players in the league. Carter’s game is not confined to goal scoring and offensive output – he’s also one of his team’s tougher players – blocks shots – kills penalties and plays an honest, 200ft game. Ian Moran, NZ’s NHL Director of Scouting says of Meyer, “he’s the most dominant player prep player I have seen in this league since Adam Fantilli was at Kimball Union in 2019-2020.”
Runner Up: Indiana Grossbard (Avon Old Farms), Joey Salandra (Brunswick)
Coach of the Year
Tim McVaugh, Deerfield Academy
McVaugh led Deerfield Academy to an impressive 21-4-0 record this season, capturing the #1 seed in the Elite 8, which was the first time in school history. Deerfield admittedly has not been in the Elite 8 or even in the discussion for at least a decade but McVaugh built an older roster of team-first players with size and grit who play a disciplined game. There are not any high-end prospects on this roster, and for the first time in the modern era, they earned the #1 seed without a single NCAA D1 committed player (at this point). Deerfield gave up just 55 goals against through 25 regular season games, making them the least scored upon teams in the Elite 8 by a wide margin. McVaugh’s team not only won 21 games, but theyalso had quality wins over teams playing in today’s championships (Cushing, Elite 8), Andover (Large School), Westminster (Large School), and Kimball Union (Small School) not to mention two wins over prep powers Avon Old Farms and a win over Salisbury School.
Runner Up: Ryan Bourque (Cushing) and Carl Corazzini
Bourque, in his first year at Cushing Academy, returns the Penguins to the Elite 8 Finals for the third season in-a-row. His team is playing inspired and winning hockey with more grit and physicality than we’ve seen in years past. He’s brought a different attitude to the bench and his players are responding going 20-7-2 during the regular season and the hottest team in the month of February going 10-0-0 down the stretch with wins over playoff teams in Brunswick (2x), Kimball Union, St. Mark’s, Andover and Deerfield.
Corazzini, like McVaugh, brought his team to new heights this season, finishing with a 22-4-2 regular season and securing the #2 seed in the Elite 8 for the first time in school history. The Lions didn’t lose a game from early December until February. The team may not have had some of the firepower of their Elite 8 counterparts. Still, they played a balanced, disciplined, highly competitive brand of hockey and got wins over several playoff programs including Dexter, Rivers, Belmont Hill and St. George’s.
Forward of the Year
Indiana Grossbard, Avon Old Farms
It was a tight vote between two Ivy-bound prospects but Grossbard, in our view, might have been the most valuable player to his team than anyone else in prep hockey. He averaged over a goal per game this season which was more than 2x the second leading scorer for Avon and finished the season with 42 pts in 26 games. He’s a pure goal scorer with pace and skill but he was a leader this year for the Winged Beavers – playing in all situations, adding some strength and grit to his game and a winning brand of hockey.
Runner Up: Joey Salandra, Brunswick School
Defenseman of the Year
Tommy Bleyl, Cushing Academy
Bleyl, a Michigan St. commit, came to Cushing this season after a standout year at Albany Academy and made an immediate imapct for the Penguins. Arguably the most skilled and poised defenseman in the league who can quarterback a power play and move pucks all over the ice. With that being said – his game has matured this season, he’s managing the puck – making higher percentage plays and he’s improved his defensive game and being used in all situations (killing penalties, power play, even strength, defensive zone faceoffs, etc.). His skating, his puck play, his poise and vision are all high level but he’s also anticipating, breaking up passes and managing tight gaps making him tough to get around 1v1.
Runner Up: Everett Baldwin, St. George’s
Goalie of the Year
Elliot Lennon, Deerfield Academy
Lennon is an ’08 netminder with great size and athleticism who took over the starting job this season and led his team to the #1 seed in the Elite 8 allowing the least amount of goals against in the league. A rare blend of size (6’4″), technical ability, quick reflexes and high hockey IQ. He’s active in playing the puck, he reads the play – is well-positioned both in depth in the crease and angling and he has great body-control allowing him to make secondary saves. He finished the season with a 92.5 SV%, 1.70 GAA and more imporantly played his best hockey in big moments incuding two shutouts against Avon Old Farms and Salisbury School.
Runner Up: Julian Brisebois, St. Mark’s
Rookie of the Year
Oskar Drabczynski, Avon Old Farms
This might have been the tighest race as there were three strong rookie forwards with outstanding years – they all finished second on their team in scoring and they all played crucial roles on Elite 8 teams in key games. With that being said, Drabcynski anchored the Avon Old Farms blue line all-season playing in all-situations and led the team in minutes player with over twenty per game. He has a mature game, versatile skill set in that he’s strong, balanced, plays the body and can also jump up, join the rush, quarterback the power play and led the backend in points with 4 goals and 17 assists in 27 games.
Runner Up: Joseph Covelluzzi, Cushing; Mason St. Louis, Brunswick; Caiden Pellegrino, St. Mark’s
First Team
F- Indiana Grossbard, Avon Old Farms
F- Joey Salandra, Brunswick School
F- Carter Meyer, Rivers School
D- Tommy Bleyl, Cushing Academy
D- Everett Baldwin, St. George’s School
G- Joshua Lennon, Deerfield Academy
Second-Team
F- Max Dineen, Cushing Academy
F- Rian Chudzinski, Dexter School
F- Liam Lefebvre, Trinity-Pawling
D- Ryland Randle, Cushing Academy
D- Myles Brosnan, Dexter School
G- Julian Brisebois, St. Mark’s
Honorable Mentions
F- Connor Davis, Salisbury School
F- Duncan Thompson, Berkshire School
F- Ryan Lucarelli, Canterbury School
F- Billy MacAusland, Noble & Greenough
F- Grayden Robertson-Palmer, Andover Academy
D- Tyler Russo, Cushing Academy
D- Ryan Poirier, Kent School
D- Evan Jones, Belmont Hill
G- Chase Anderson, Andover School
All Rookie Team
F- Joseph Covelluzzi, Cushing Academy
F- Caiden Pellegrino, St. Mark’s
F- Mason St. Louis, Brunswick School
D- Chris Baird-Gajdos, Salisbury School
D- Oskar Drabcynski, Avon Old Farms
G- Tommy Saulnier, St. Sebastian’s School
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images