4-1-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – What a season for the Hilltoppers…Coach Keith Nixon pulled off quite a feat this year with his Summit high school hockey team. He lead one of the most balanced attacks in recent history with 6 players topping the 34 point mark and 6 additional players (mostly defenseman) with 15 or more points on the season. The Hilltoppers were undefeated in league play and finished the season at 19-3-3. They were ranked 6th in the state in scoring with 5.84 goals per game and behind the strong senior talent of Jackson Stuckey in net and the two way play of junior Mike Nyitray on defense, finished 7th in the state in goals alllowed with a meager 1.68 per game. Summit loses just 3 seniors and will be a force to be reckoned with next season in the UCIHL…
3-31-11 NJP “Top Line of the Year” – 223 points from one line? How can that be possible? Well, if Matt Beattie is on your team, anything is possible… Beattie was the top point getter this season with 90 and he got plenty of support from his junior linemates Pat Lackey and Nick Branchina. They accounted for 105 of the 137 Pingry goals this season. Beattie logged 40, Lackey 35, and Branchina 30. Now that’s frickin amazing! Pingry finished the season ranked 5th in the state by NJP with a 17-5-3 mark against some of the best teams in the state… So who will be the lucky one to take Matt’s place next year on this line? Sophomore Jack Wollmuth or Max Gottlieb are top candidates…Watch out for this line next season and maybe another 200+?
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3-30-11 NJP “Junior Goalie of the Year – Public” – The Mahwah Thunderbirds had an amazing season posting a 24-4 record and state playoff semi-final appearance. This team had outstanding scoring with Luke May and Ryan Magner, a solid defense led by Captain Dan Carabin, and a great coach in Kevin Sabella. But the player that may have had the biggest impact was goaltender Sean Scannell. Sean posted some monster numbers in net including a 1.36 goals against average, 4 full shutouts and 3 additional combined shutouts, and a 93% save percentage. The best part is he returns next season for his senior year and will hope to lead the Thunderbirds to an appearance at The Rock…
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3-27-11 NJP “Keep the Faith Awards” – This year was a tough one once again as the NJ Hockey community lost many members over the past 12 months… Hockey players are a rare breed…they stick together and build long time relationships with their friends, teammates, and team families. Tournaments and hours together at hockey rinks play a big part in keeping families close. When we lose a member of the community, in most of these cases well before we should, it is especially heartbreaking. We would like to recognize these families who have gone through so much pain over this past year… pain that we hope we will not experience ever in our lifetime. We have seen so much support for these families but it is a long road…they say time heals… we shall see.
For the parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, friends and other family members of the following group that was taken from us to soon… we wish you the best of memories of the special players who we have lost.
Josh Esformes – 23
Steven Smith – 24
Connor O’Kane – 19
TJ Sefcik – 16
Michael Fisher – 15
Justin Rohr – 20
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To our fallen brothers…rest in peace!
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3-25-11 NJP “Sophomore Defenseman of the Year – Private” – So who scored the most points of any defenseman in the state? Connor Clifton, as a sophomore, lead the CBA Colts in scoring with 21 goals and 42 assists. In keeping with the tradition of great “Clifton” players at CBA, Connor has picked up where his brother Tim left off last season and is clearly identified as one of the best young players in New Jersey high school hockey.
3-25-11 NJP “Dynamic Duo of the Year” – The top scoring pair in the state surprisingly is two juniors. Chatham’s Danny Casey and Alex Rauter combined for 152 points. Danny had 38 goals and 30 assists but was bested by Alex who posted 40 goals and 44 assists. They also have a state title under the belts and will look for another next season. Oh, in case you were wondering…Billy Pellegrino and Tripp Burke of Chatham also added 30+ points this season… That’s just sick!
3-24-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – When you speak of New Jersey high school coaching legends, the first name that comes to mind is Bob Auriemma. Bob is the winningest high school hockey coach in NJ history and he padded his win total this year with one of the best records in Brick Township history. Bob had a young team this year balanced with a few standout seniors and they came together perfectly under his leadership to record 22 wins.
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3-24-11 NJP “SuperEast Goalie of the Year” – Joe Fede former Pequannock standout tender in the Halvorsen Division, has found a home at Montclair State University. Now in his junior year, he posted a 9-2 record, .912 save percentage, and a 2.79 goals against average. Coupled with former St. Peter’s tender Kevin Fox, who led the Marauders to the private state championship game, make a formidable goaltending duo. They led the Red Hawks to the National Championship tournament in California and were put as high as 3rd in the ACHA D2 rankings this season.
3-23-11 NJP “Public Defenseman of the Year” – Pat Kearns finished off his senior season with one of the best campaigns in Brick Township history. The team posted 22 wins and fell one game short of the state championship game. Patrick was a solid leader, logged a ton of minutes, and finished the year with 21 goals, 27 assists , and nearly 50 points.
3-23-11 NJP “SuperEast Forward of the Year” – Sean McTigue, the senior Captain of the William Paterson University Pioneers, completed an amazing college career with 193 points. This season, he led the Pioneers with 60 points and also took them to Nationals in San Jose. WPU won their first three game before being knocked out by Prairie View the eventual tournament winner. Sean is the full package, great hands, strong leader, and bleeds Pioneer orange…Congrats to Sean on another amazing season…
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3-22-11 NJP “Freshman Defenseman of the Year” – Hmmm… a 5’10″, 170 pound freshman with some mad skills…every High School coaches dream. Nick Minerva was a big reason why the Monroe Falcons had such a great season. In 21 games, Nick scored 21 goals and had 35 assists. His 56 points were the most among 2014 grads this season. He also had three hat tricks, 2 game winning goals, a 7 point night, and even had a short handed goal in his initial season. Not a bad resume for a freshman defenseman as he set the single season scoring record for the Falcons program…by 12 points. Watch out for this young man next season and beyond as he could continue his record breaking ways for Monroe…
3-21-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – Coach Wayne knew he had a nice group of talented players this year. But the 2010/2011 season was one of the most succesfull seasons for a shore team ever and Coach Wayne had his sights set on a similar run to Toms River South State A championship last season… The Mustangs charged into the state playoffs with a 21-1-2 record and a Dowd Cup championship. Despite their first round OT loss, Wayne Anderson and the Mustangs should be very proud of their accomplishments this year. It will be a season to remember for many players, parents and fans…
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3-21-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – “Hutch” has been coaching hockey at the high school level for…for…well…forever. He is a stickler for discipline, hard work, respect, and the master of the 6AM practice. His teams consistenly win and for decades he has been getting the most out of his players every season. But Coach has a heart of gold and has had a season that all of us will remember for a long time…well, at least until next season when he may just have the Cougars right back at The Rock!
3-21-11 NJP “Female Player of the Year” – The Ridgewood Maroons had high hopes this year with a large senior class filled with top travel talent. But their chances for success layed squarely on the shoulders of senior goaltender Kasey Zegel. Kasey, a former Quarry Cat and current NJ Colonial girls team player, has been playing with the Ridgewood varsity boys for the past 3 seasons. She turned in an amazing senior season with the Maroons who finished the year at 19-4-3 and a first place finish in the Big North Gold. Kasey is our clear choice for the best female player in the NJSIAA…
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3-21-11 NJP “GNCHC College Goalie of the Year” – The NJIT Highlanders finished in last place just one year ago and knew they needed some new talent to make their way up the ACHA ladder. One of their additions this season was Mike Lipinski. Mike is a sophomore goaltender who has helped turn around the Highlanders program. They finished in second place in the Eastern division of the GNCHC with a late season rush and some solid goaltending from Mike. He was simply outstanding in the playoffs leading NJIT to wins over LaSalle University, CW Post, and #1 seed Muhlenberg Mules. The Championship game was won in Overtime and Mike stopped numerous chances and shut down the Mules, holding them to just 2 goals. Amazing job by Mike and the entire NJIT team…
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3-21-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – Rich McLaughlin is simply one of the best Coaches in New Jersey High School hockey…this year, or any year. His teams are disciplined, each player knows their role, and he builds his teams momentum to peak at state playoff time. He is the kind of coach that you want your son or daughter to play for… This year, his squad got off to a great start and never looked back…State Public A champs and our highest ranking Public team on the board…Congratulations to Coach Rich and the Rams…sure to see you next year…same time, same place…
3-20-11 NJP “Sickest Snipe of the Year” – Mike Criscitello has become a celebrity. Not just from his outstanding and team leading play for the Eagles but because of a “spin-o-rama” lacrosse like tally that has more hits on you tube than that girls “Friday” song. It earned him a visit to ESPN and a chance to meet Jeremy Roenicke. But the bigger story here is Mike broke into the top 10 scorers of all time in NJ this season and put up a whopping 65 goals in his senior year. Amazing performance and a great career, from an outstanding player…
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3-20-11 NJP “Freshman Forward of the Year – Private” – What can you say about Anthony Siderio this season for the Hermits… He was not only the best “freshman” in the state but he is among the best forwards in the state period. He put up some amazing numbers for SAP, was a first liner in his initial campaign, and showed all season long that he is one of the top prospects coming out of New Jersey. Hopefully, the Hermits will benefit from having Anthony lead them back to The Rock next season… that is, if he stays the course for at least one more year before jumping to juniors, big time preps like Shattuck, or some other venue. We vote for him to stay…for what’s that worth! Way to go Anthony…we have a star in the south.
3-20-11 NJP “Freshman Defenseman of the Year – Public” – Newton/Lenape Valley has had a long standing tradition of having a Conrad lead their team. As each brother entered the school, they would take over where the previous brother left off and end up becoming the all time leading scorer for the team. This season, the last of the Conrad boys entered his freshman year. Brett, a defenseman, put up some staggering numbers for a blue liner with 21 goals and 15 assists, a team leader in both categories. Congratulations to Brett and we know the best is yet to come…
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3-20-11 NJP “Goalie of the Year – Public” – Sitting out an entire year with an injury builds plenty of perspective in a young man. For Danny Fullam, it must have been torturous to sit back and watch his team go all the way to the state finals without him and then get ousted by TRS. But Dan came back with a vengeance for his senior season and Randolph allowed less goals per game than any team in the entire state. Dan didn’t allow a goal in the state playoff tournament and Randolph recorded more shutouts on the season than any team in NJ, the last the lucky 13th in their state championship victory over Montgomery. Kudos to Dan for an amazing season and our choice for the best public high school goaltender in New Jersey…
3-19-11 NJP “Freshman Goalie of the Year – Private” – The Don Bosco Ironmen completed a tremendous season in the Gordon with 19 wins over some of the best competition in NJ and beyond. Over the past few years, Bosco has been known for its snipers and blueliners…Leen, Burns, Conte, Doer, Duguay, Wesolowski, Wyzmirski, and others… But a young goaltender stepped in this year as a freshman, a pretty tough task in the Gordon division, and showed us how a good netminder is an essential ingredient to becoming a top 3 team in the state. Jarred Liscio was that goalie this year for DBP. Bosco had 15 games this year holding their opponents to 1 goal or less with 7 shutouts. Jarred was a key difference this year and we hope to see just how good he can become over the next three years…
3-19-11 NJP “Goalie of the Year – Private” – There are a ton of excellent goalies in the 30 private schools in New Jersey this season. In our opinion, one has risen to the very top of his game as a senior and nearly pulled off a perfect end to state championship run. He fell just short of defeating perennial champ Delbarton in an OT defeat at The Rock. Despite playing an incredibly difficult schedule which included out of state contests against Holy Ghost, Fairfield Prep, and Malvern Prep, Joe and the Hermits were a great example of persistence and steadiness. This could not have been more evident when SAP took on Pennsylvania’s #1 team Lasalle Prep where Joey “Pants” stopped all 43 shots to shutout the Explorers. His performance against Delby in the state finals was heroic but his gesture of picking up the winning puck on an OT goal and handing it to the game winning scorer Peter McMullen in the handshake line following the game will live in the memories of many fans… Joe Pantalone, a class act, and a phenominal goaltender…
3-19-11 NJP “Coach of the Year” – There were so many NJ High School Coaches who had incredible seasons and deserve special recognition for their accomplishments…we have several to recognize…here is our first winner – from Wayne Valley Bill Katinsky…Bill took over the reigns of the Indians in November and in his initial season sparked Wayne Valley to a 20-3-4 record, a second place finish in the Big North Silver division and a very respectable showing in the state playoffs against Mennen power Morris Knolls. The Indians started the season with a twelve game unbeaten streak and powered behind the goaltending of Nate Kholodenko and Jordan Hulahan and the defensive play of Nick Maffei and company, led Wayne Valley to the 6th best goals against in the entire state. But most of all, Bill’s approach to the game sparked the best out of his players…Congratulations to our first selection of NJP Coach of the Year, Bill Katinsky.
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3-18-11 NJP “Interns of the Year” – We have had many interns and contributors over the 2010/2011 season. A few of them stood out as the cream of the crop by going above and beyond on several occasions during the season…we would like to recognize our top three…honorable mention to Rob Bartnichak and Alex Rubin…
