Incoming Fighting Hawks Goaltender Attended Nashville Predators Development Camp
By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
T.J. Semptimphelter has been able to experience so much in a short few years, going back to his days as a top NCDC goalie with the Boston Junior Bruins in 2020-21. Since then, he has played NCAA Division I hockey for both the Northeastern University Huskies and Arizona State Sun Devils – and now he’s taking his talents to the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks for 2024-25.
In the midst of his NCAA career, he’s also been able to experience the thrill of being part of an NHL Development Camp. After the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Semptimphelter – a 2002-born goaltender from Marlton, N.J. – took part in the Nashville Predators’ Development Camp.
“I am a huge fan of Juuse Saros and what he’s been able to accomplish the past few years with the Predators, so when they called, I felt like a kid in a candy store,” said Semptimphelter. “Then, getting to work side by side with Pekka Rinne was amazing – I don’t need to speak to his career or his success, all that speaks for itself. They had a great goaltending coaching staff of Rinne, Ben Vanderklok, Mitch Korn and Jason Barron, so I was able to bounce ideas off them and ask what they see in my game, and things I can work on.
“The honor of wearing a Nashville Predators jersey is a dream come true. Any time you come close to your childhood dream of playing in the NHL, it makes you want to work even harder,” said Semptimphelter.
He was also able to meet North Dakota teammate Ben Strinden, a Fargo, N.D., native who was drafted by the Predators in 2022 and was also at the Nashville development camp.
“We can start building towards next year at a camp over the summer and then come back and hit the ground running. I was excited to play behind him and watch his success as well,” Semptimphelter said.
“I’m super grateful to have that invitation to go there to the Predators camp.”
Hitting The Marks In The Hub
In 2020, Semtimphelter – who had come up through the Mercer Chiefs youth program as well as Lawrenceville School – joined the NCDC’s Boston Junior Bruins on the promise of being able to play a full season even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The NCDC made this promise come to fruition with the creation of Hub City Tampa, which ran from early January through mid-February of 2021. All NCDC teams went to the Tampa area, where the players and staff lived in a closed community on a resort and played 21 games apiece over six weeks at nearby rinks. To ensure players’ health was at the highest priority, they were only able to travel between the rinks and the resort during those six weeks.
“The entire feat of getting all those players to Tampa and having a fully functioning NCDC league was amazing. The league and the people working there, and the coaches and team staffs all played a huge piece to that,” said Semptimphelter. “Talking to Coach Mike Anderson and Coach John Butler that fall, they had the faith that the NCDC would make things happen to make sure we’d have games.”
During the six-week event, Semptimphelter was able to take part in All-Star games, compete in one game on the East Coast of Florida to showcase the NCDC, and also he competed in a game with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s radio voice Dave Mishkin and Hockey Hall of Fame Honoured Member Phil Esposito on the call.
With the Junior Bruins that year, he went 21-6-2-1, tying for the league lead in wins, and finishing in the top five of goals against average (2.05) and save percentage (.933). And most importantly, he committed to Northeastern University while with the Junior Bruins.
“It was great having Phil Esposito announcing a game, and then having the food and meals there, playing golf and also taking a team trip to the beach when it all ended – and then all of that came with being able to play hockey,” said Semptimphelter. “You go back to how competitive the league was that year as well, and it was a real race to the end. No matter who you were, you had a chance to play for the Dineen Cup.
“Additionally, I was grateful to Coaches Anderson and Butler for helping me navigate the college landscape and help me land my deal with Northeastern to play Division I college hockey.”
The NCDC was able to play a huge part in developing Semptimphelter to become a successful college goalie, one with a .914 save percentage and 35 wins in his NCAA career so far.
“Being able to move with the puck, read the plays and processing plays at a high speed – being exposed to all of that prior to college was awesome,” said Semptimphelter. “On top of that, I had fantastic teammates like Collin Graf, who had an unbelievable career with Quinnipiac and is now with the San Jose Sharks. I could tell once I arrived in the NCDC, there was a lot of talent on the ice and a lot of players who really know how to play this game.”
The College Game
Semptimphelter has loved every minute of his NCAA career so far, playing his first season in 2021-22 with Northeastern University followed by the past two years with Arizona State University. He was the No. 1 Sun Devils goalie the past two years, playing in 62 games there.
“I was really fortunate to have two great years at ASU, which was a wonderful experience. That also is true about my time at Northeastern University, where I was able to win a Beanpot game [against Boston College] get into some games at the end of the year. Obviously, I have nothing but good things to say about Northeastern University and Arizona State University.”
Semptimphelter’s years at Lawrenceville School gave him early college credits that allowed him to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in three years. He graduated from Arizona State this past spring.
“I had this plan to graduate with a Bachelor’s and then pursue a Master’s Degree in finance,” said Semptimphelter. “Many of my teammates from ASU had also graduated or were turning pro, and I just felt there was another opportunity for me. Everything happens for a reason and it makes you better because of it. All of the experiences I’ve had so far in college hockey, including this summer at North Dakota, have molded me into the person and player I am now.”
He can’t wait to suit up for his first game as a Fighting Hawk, and they are excited to have a goalie with 35 wins to his career and the aforementioned .914 save percentage.
The NCDC congratulates T.J. Semptimphelter on a great NCAA career so far as well as for making the Nashville Predators Development Camp. We wish him the best of luck at the University of North Dakota in 2024-25.
