By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
The NCDC will be previewing each of the 21 teams set to hit the ice during the 2024-25 season in a continuing series up to the Sept. 19 start of the new campaign.
Mercer Chiefs
Atlantic Division
Home Arena: Ice Land Skating Center
Head Coach: Rob Broderick
Year 3 for the Mercer Chiefs could certainly end up being the best year. That’s saying a lot for a team that has not missed the NCDC playoffs in its first two seasons, finishing second in the Atlantic last year.
“This is really the most skilled team we have had to date,” said Head Coach Rob Broderick. “Without a doubt, it’s also our youngest team to date. We have one ’08 and a few ’07’s who will be big contributors.”
Knowing full well the power that plays in the Atlantic Division every season, the Chiefs knew they had to continue to up their already winning game.
“I expect the division to be what it always is – a super competitive division, and league. The NCDC is so strong that any team can beat any other team,” said Broderick. “It pushes you to be ready for every game and that is all you can ask in a league.”
With that push from every other team, the Chiefs’ staff went to work from the end of the 2023-24 season and it really hasn’t stopped as they stand a little less than three weeks from the season’s beginning.
“We have really worked hard. Guys like Ryan Kosecki, Jeff Cox, J.T. Tarantino and Kevin St Jaques have been a great help and we have guys from all over the world. We have the best ownership in the league, and we definitely have the best staff in the league in my humble opinion,” Broderick added.
Broderick, who played in the USHL and also played college hockey with Salem State University and SUNY-Potsdam, began his 20-year coaching career at the Midget level with the present day Rockets Hockey Club. He would remain with the Rockets until 2019, including a stint as their NCDC General Manager. The Chiefs brought him aboard as their 18U AAA GM and Head Coach in 2019-20, while he also served as Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. When the Chiefs entered the NCDC in 2022, Broderick took on the leadership of this squad.
J.T. Tarantino, a former Head Coach of St. Joseph’s University (ACHA), is in his second year as Assistant Coach, and he’s also Director of Player Personnel. St. Jacques, who enjoyed a 15-year pro career, and is now NCDC Assistant and Premier Head Coach for the Chiefs.
Oktay Armagan returns as Chiefs Skills coach, and they welcome Kirill Valks, “a first-rate hockey trainer and off-ice guy who trains a lot of NHL guys in this area.”
In terms of on-ice talent, it all starts with returning All-Star Goaltender Dom Gatto. The ’05 stopper put up 20 wins and a .927 save percentage during the 2023-24 season.
Just in front of him, the Chiefs are excited to welcome back ’04’s Jack Terhaar, Zach Brady, Cam Carver, Artyom Barashkin and ’05 Jack Gricus. Terhaar is a particular point of pride for the Mercer organization, as he has played from the 15U level to the NCDC with the Mercer organization.
The forward ranks will see the most newcomers, as they return just a pair ’04’s in Tyler Agnew – a 30-point scorer last year – and two-way talent Anthony Sparo.
In addition to Terhaar, other former Chiefs youth players joining as NCDC newcomers include Timmy Miller, who enjoyed a lot of success last year in the USPHL Premier Conference. Nolan Collison and Ace Seaman were both members of last year’s Chiefs 18U AAA team, with Collison seeing NCDC games as well last year.
Another pair of exciting newcomers for the NCDC Chiefs are the ’05 twin brothers Ethan Skowroneck and Benjamin Skowroneck. Ethan, a tendered player this year, was the leading scorer for Phillips Academy in Andover and had previously been the leading scorer for Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Benjamin was right there with him at Andover and also both had previously played with the Neponset Valley River Rats.
The Chiefs have loaded up and they are ready to show the Atlantic Division and the NCDC as a whole why they remain one of the top teams each season.
