By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
When a team gets a player like Cam Bergeman back, it’s like unwrapping an early Christmas present in September. The Rockets Hockey Club couldn’t be happier to have the now third-year NCDC player in their 2023-24 lineup, especially on the heels of a 58-point season last year.
Even with such lofty totals, Bergeman was the Rockets’ third-leading scorer after last season’s Player Of The Year Caden Cranston, a Bentley University commit for 2024-25, who also led the league in scoring, and Cade Baker. Bergeman improved from 26 points as an NCDC rookie in 2021-22 to his 58 mark last year, so who knows just how far he could push the needle in Year 3 in the Rockets’ Black and Red.
“This will be my third year with the Rockets NCDC team. My experience to date has been very positive. The past two years have had a great impact for me not only on the ice with the development as a player, but also off the ice as a person,” said Bergeman. “Every day, we work on the mental side of hockey with our mental performance coach Brain Cain and I believe that has a tremendous impact on all of us.”
He is somewhat happy with his individual results of last year, but that was overshadowed by the tough reality of not reaching the team’s ultimate goal of winning the Rockets their first Dineen Cup.
“Although our goal to get to the Dineen Cup was not met, our team accomplished a lot as a group,” he said. “Personally, I was given the opportunity to fill various roles on the team which I believe contributed greatly to my development as a player.”
Bergeman has a great Mid-Atlantic region resume, playing for top programs in the area like the New Jersey Colonials, North Jersey Avalanche and Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, as well as going farther afield to play for the Rochester Coalition in his final pre-junior season. It was following his 2020-21 season with the Coalition when the Rockets drafted him in the NCDC Entry Draft.
“I appreciated my time at the Salisbury School and Rochester Coalition. I decided to move on to play at the juniors’ level with the Rockets because I believed there was a greater opportunity to develop as a player,” said Bergeman.
He first played under Head Coach Jason Kersner during the 2021-22 season, before Jason moved on to take the Head Coach position with the Sioux City Musketeers and his brother Jared Kersner took over the head coaching duties for 2022-23.
“I enjoy working with Coach Kersner because of his knowledge of the game. He’s always coming up with different ways to prepare for different teams,” said Bergeman. “He does a great job teaching in video and during practice and it’s just fun to learn from him.”
And boy did he learn, as seen above in his dramatic points improvement from year to year. He hopes to just keep that going here in 2023-24.
“I expect to continue my development at the junior level and surpass my stats from last year while helping the Rockets win the 2023-24 Dineen Cup Championship,” said Bergeman.
Of course, in a very talent-rich and deep league with lots of parity, that’s not a very easily attainable goal. He knows that he’ll be up against outstanding Tier II talent every night.
“The NCDC is a very skilled junior league. The top players year in and year out in the NCDC are high caliber players that could be impact players in any junior league,” he added.
He is not surprised with the success that players have in making NCAA Division I commitments or seeing the league’s alumni among the #CommittedLeaders who have won awards and captaincies at the next level. He hopes that coaches see him as a top-flight Division I prospect for 2024-25.
“I am a highly competitive, skilled forward with a team-first mentality,” he said. “The college team I choose will get a player who can be immediately counted on as an impact player.”
The NCDC congratulates Cam Bergeman on his career thus far and wishes him and the Rockets Hockey Club the best of luck in 2023-24!
