By Joshua Boyd / USPHLNCDC.com
We’ll be taking time over the month of June to look at how some NCDC teams are working on building their 2023-24 squads through the acquisition of tenders, commitments from returning players and past draft selections they continue to evaluate.
The Northern Cyclones won the NCDC North Division regular season title for the first time in the NCDC’s six-year existence. They certainly hope there are more to come, complete with follow-up postseason success. The Cyclones always build dynamic teams that can beat you at both ends of the ice, and the 2023-24 season should be no exception.
All quotes below are from GM Bill Weiand.
Returning/Advancing Players
It’s not often you can return your captain, but that is what the Cyclones will be getting back in forward Michael Felsing. He is joined by Anthony Dalessio as returning NCDC players. Trevor Belak and Jeffrey Fillion are moving up from the USPHL Premier National Championship Cyclones team, and Owen Carey is jumping up from the Northern Cyclones 16U team.
Michael Felsing
Felsing played in 33 games last season and racked up 27 points. Felsing (‘03) originally came to the Cyclones in 2021-22 from the Esmark Stars, a highly-regarded Pittsburgh-area 18U AAA program that was ranked 23rd nationwide last year.
Anthony Dalessio
Dalessio (‘03) has been playing in the USPHL at various levels for five of the last six years already, starting with the former New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs’ 16U Futures (i.e. 15U) team in 2017-18, and working up to their 18U program before joining the Cyclones for the first time in 2021-22. He scored 13 points in 42 regular season games last year.
Trevor Belak
An ‘04 defenseman, Belak is a big defenseman (6-2, 216) who was terrific in the two-way game for the Premier champions. He put up 23 points in 42 regular season games, and he saw the second-most ice of any Cyclone over the course of Nationals, averaging 22:46 per game.
Jeffrey Fillion
A USPHL Premier New England Division All-Star Goalie, the ‘04 goalie Fillion played in four of the six Nationals games and came out with a 1.82 goals against average and a .945 save percentage in going 4-0 right through the Final. He posted a 33-10-0-0 record and a .912 save percentage in two USPHL Premier regular seasons.
Owen Carey
A 2006-born forward, Carey put up 56 goals and 113 points in the 63 total games he played for the Cyclones Academy 16U team. He had 13 points in 10 games one year prior with the Cyclones Academy 15U squad as well.
Tenders
“We are looking to see everyone at Main Camp in July, but [here are] some of the names to keep an eye on.”
Brendan Boring – Long Island Gulls
Boring, an ‘05 forward, went from the National Champion Bishop Kearney Selects in 2022 to this past season’s No. 10-ranked 18U AAA program, the Gulls. He was back in Nationals this time at the 18U level, and overall, put up seven points in 10 games – including three points in four Nationals contests.
Peter Unger – Frederick Gunn School
An ‘04 forward from Connecticut, Unger 20 points in 36 games in his second year last year for the Gunn School, ranked No. 4 among New England Prep Schools on Myhockeyrankings.com. He also has past experience with the highly-regarded Rochester Coalition program.
Trevor Berg – Bishop Kearney Selects 18U AAA
Berg, an ‘05 defenseman from Texas, was a teammate of Brendan Boring when they won the 16U AAA National Championship in 2022. After posting 13 points with the 16U team last year, he had 18 points this year with the 18U Selects.
Emil Grinsvall – IF Bjorkloven J20 (Sweden)
The Cyclones are going international, which has worked out well for the program – look at Pavel Grishin (Kazakhstan), Simon Rulc (Czechia) and Karl Fredriksson (Sweden) from this past year’s NCDC team as evidence. Grinsvall will be coming for his first North American season when he brings his 6-foot-3-inch, 198-pound frame to the Cyclones’ blue line. He posted six points in 18 games in Sweden’s 20-and-under division last year.
George Sandercox – Northfield Mt. Hermon School
A former 14U and 15U teammate of Peter Unger, Sandercox lines up as another sizeable defenseman at 6-2, 194. He’s played two full seasons at Northfield Mt. Hermon and posted five points in 53 games, and he also played with the New Jersey River Rats 18U AAA program this past season.
Noah Tano – Anaheim Jr. Ducks 18U AAA
The ‘05 California-born forward put up 37 points in 59 games for the Jr. Ducks this year, which included a three-game stint at the USA Hockey 18U Nationals.
Draft Picks
Charlie Zetterqvist – Sodertalje SK J18
A 2022 Draft Pick, the ‘06 forward Zetterqvist was able to match the 22 points he scored in J16 (similar to 16U in North America) by putting up 22 points at the J18 level this past season for Sodertalje, the only organization he has known. He will be new to North American hockey when he makes the trip across the Atlantic.
Ryan Saginaw – Pittsburgh Predators 18U AAA
Saginaw, an ‘06 forward selected 28th overall in the NCDC Draft this past April, posted 43 points in 44 games as a 16-year-old on the Predators’ 18U squad. He has also scored 98 points in 40 games the last three years with Bishop Canevin High School in Pennsylvania.
Brandon Corda – Winnipeg Thrashers 18U AAA
Corda was selected 10th overall in the 2023 NCDC Draft. The ‘06 forward put up 51 points in 43 games for the Thrashers, a frequent feeder for the major junior Western Hockey League (and midget alma mater of the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights’ Captain Mark Stone). Corda made his Tier II debut this past season with a pair of games in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
The Road Ahead
The Cyclones will hold their Main Camp at their home Cyclones Arena in Hudson, N.H., July 14-16, followed by a trip to the NCDC Summer Showcase to be held July 17-18 in Wayne, N.J.
For more information on Cyclones camps, go online to northerncyclones.com and follow the link for “Junior Tryout Information.”
