By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
Northern Cyclones
New England Division
Home Arena: Cyclones Arena
Head Coach: Bill Flanagan
The Northern Cyclones were climbing the ladder well from 2020 to 2023, but saw some setbacks in 2023-24. With a whole new season, they hope to get back on the track where they were improving every year to start the 2020s decade.
With five players advancing straight on to NCAA colleges and four more program alumni heading to the Division I ranks, the Cyclones have always been a powerful force in advancement, so that doesn’t change. Even still, they’d like to be among the top teams and in the Dineen Cup conversation in a tough New England Division.
“We expect to have a strong regular season and compete for the division title, so that we have home ice in the playoffs, which would give us the best chance to go further in the playoffs,” said General Manager/Associate Head Coach Bill Weiand. “We should have a really good mix of veterans and newcomers this year. With the amount of veteran returners we have this year, compared to last year, we expect our leadership to be strong, and that will help the younger and newer players adjust quickly.”
The Cyclones have a coaching staff with the right tools and especially the devotion to player development that every good NCDC team has. Owner and Head Coach Bill Flanagan founded the Cyclones in 2000, making this season the organization’s milestone 25th year. The former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) player is in his 32nd year of coaching and has sent over 200 athletes to the Division I and III levels of the NCAA.
Weiand is in his 12th season with the Cyclones. He also works as the Head Coach for the USPHL Premier team, leading that squad to the 2023 National Championship. Additionally, he is the Hockey Director for the Cyclones Youth, Academy and Junior programs.
Chris Zuccaro is a former Cyclones player and Captain, and he helped lead the team to a league championship in 2013. From there, he went on to Plymouth State University, before rejoining the Cyclones as a coach He’s coached at the Midget, Elite and Premier levels. This is his first year on the NCDC bench, and he’s also the Cyclones Academy 16U Tier I Head Coach.
The Cyclones staff always stays busy in building the best NCDC team they can put together, with multiple tryout camps and, of course, the process of drafting and tendering players.
“We had some great camps this past off-season. We hosted an event in California and another in Michigan,” added Weiand. “We also had our prospect camp in April and then a Main Camp in July, both at Cyclones Arena. We thought we found some really good players at all of those camps and were excited about the players we drafted and tendered.”
The Cyclones are able to return 12 players, one of the largest returning player classes for any NCDC squad. Up front, you’ll once again see 2004-born forwards Mike Markowski, Jackson Dickson, Ian Duffy, Isac Martins, Keenan Schieder and Kyle Smyth, as well as ’06 forward Olivier Touchette. Markowski was the second highest scorer last year with 38 points, while Duffy (32) and Schneider (24) were also in the top five.
Thierry Lizotte, an ’04 defenseman, tied for the team lead in points by defensemen with 22. Fellow returning defensemen include ’04 Alec O’Connor and ’05 Alek Brudek. Additionally, the team returns Logan Abric (’04) and Paul Dalessio (’05) as goaltenders.
“All of these players are returning this year and had an impact on and off the ice for us last year,” added Weiand. “They went through a very up and down season last year and they know what it takes to play here and they understand what it means to be a Cyclone.”
The Cyclones also are looking forward to introducing the team culture to a pair of players they selected in Entry Drafts, including Pontus Bjork – an ’06 left wing who was a Phase II selection in this year’s draft, which also yielded ’05 6-foot-7-inch defenseman Liam Ljungcrantz. From within the organization, the Cyclones are also bringing up former 18U Cyclone forward Noah Tano. He saw nine games with the NCDC team last year, and the ’05 forward projects as a full-timer at the NCDC level this year.
As for the other new Cyclones, the team is still seeing players fighting for remaining roster spots.
“We really like all of our newcomers who have junior experience and who are coming out of Midgets or High School and Prep,” added Weiand. “We are looking forward to seeing who has an impact and who will separate themselves from the rest.”
