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.
Seacoast Spartans
New England Division
Home Arena: The Rinks At Exeter
Head Coach: Brett Tryder
The Seacoast Spartans are ready for whatever the NCDC may throw at them as a Year 1 member. The Spartans joined from the Eastern Hockey League and are very confident that they will make trouble on the scoreboard for all their opponents, including founding league members in the New England Division.
“I am looking forward to this year’s team. It will be a great challenge for our guys. We will have an older team, so I am hoping that our experience will guide us through the first quarter of the season,” added General Manager and Head Coach Brett Tryder. “If we can get some production from our guys that are capable, we should have a very good team.
“I have only seen a handful of NCDC games, but I realize that the league is filled with talent,” added Tryder. “If you turn the puck over in our division, there is a good chance that it will end up in your net. The plan is to play high percentage hockey.”
Tryder and Assistant Coach Ryan Montecalvo never stopped from the June announcement of their team until this moment in building and preparing for their first NCDC season.
“We have worked very hard to fill this year’s team. I think that there were only three weekends that we were not on the road scouting,” said Tryder. “We entered teams in the Pre-Draft and Chowder Cup and held a Main Camp in early August. I am looking forward to our two-week training camp at the Jay Peak Resort in Vermont. That is where we will dial in our systems and establish our culture.”
Tryder brings 24 years of coaching to the Spartans, including 10 years with Plymouth State University at the NCAA Division III level. He is entering his 14th season of coaching junior hockey this September.
Montecalvo played four seasons of NCAA Division III hockey with Connecticut College, and also played pro hockey in Spain.
“Ryan will concentrate on the defenseman, as he had a very nice NCAA career and played pro hockey after his graduation,” added Tryder. “He is very good with the guys and brings a wealth of knowledge.”
The Spartans are excited to be able to build around a core of players who know the Seacoast culture and will help to guide some of the newcomers in the early going.
“We have plenty of guys coming in from various junior leagues, including several from last year’s EHL team,” Tryder added.
Marcus Bellomo is an ‘04 forward from nearby Salem, N.H., who also has prior experience in the USPHL Midget divisions (now the Tier 1 Hockey Federation). T.J. Sullivan is another returning forward who will play a big role for the NCDC Spartans, along with defensemen Zach Glinski and Campbell Karofsky, the latter an alum of the Seacoast Performance Academy Midget program.
“All four of these players had good seasons last year and play a mature game that should translate to the NCDC,” Tryder said.
Without disclosing specifics on newcomers to the Seacoast NCDC team, Tryder did say that he is looking forward to seeing what every player contributes as a first-year Spartan. Some have junior experience and others are joining directly from scholastic or Midget hockey.
“Our first-year players are from all over the map and I am excited to see them on the ice as a unit,” Tryder added. “Unfortunately, we joined the league so late that many of our Seacoast Performance Academy kids had already been tendered or drafted at the Tier 2 level. It is our plan to keep as many of our Academy kids as possible in the years to come.”
The Spartans are likely to spark a great Exeter, N.H., rivalry with fellow Rinks at Exeter tenants the Thunder Hockey Club, but they won’t reserve their best hockey just for the Thunder. Every opponent will see the product of the entire Seacoast Spartans fuel tank.
“I am very excited about our move to the NCDC. I have gone through a similar situation in the past and I realize that there are different nuances in each league and that no two leagues are the same,” Tryder added. “Recruiting, style of play, and relationships between organizations differ from league to league. I will take an honest approach while building this program and I intend to be in the mix from the beginning.”
