USHL veteran Patrick Newell has chosen the BCHL’s Penticton Vee’s.
Newell, 18, spent parts of the last two seasons with the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League. Selected third overall by the Tri-City Storm in the USHL dispersal draft, he has elected to play his final season of junior hockey in Penticton, before heading to St. Cloud State University for the 2015-16 season.
The dynamic forward split the 2012-2013 season between Indiana and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). In 42 games with Fairbanks, Newell tallied 10 goals and 22 points before his move to the USHL.
In 20 games that season with the Ice, he was nearly a point per-game player, finishing with 15 points in 20 games. For his USHL career, Newell finished with 16 goals and 58 points in 79 regular season games.
Newell helped Indiana capture their second USHL Clark Cup championship in May topping the Waterloo Blackhawks in five games. On Indiana’s run to the championship, Newell finished second in team playoff scoring, putting up four goals and seven points in 12 games. In the regular season Newell finished fourth in team scoring, amassing 13 goals and 43 points in 59 games and was an impressive plus 24.
Newell recently completed participation in the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings rookie development camp. The undersized California native is now being seen as a legitimate NHL prospect.
Making the move to the BCHL will keep him closer to home while allowing the Kings to continue to keep an eye on his development. Some have speculated that this will also allow for the WHL to scout Newell more closely.
Joe Hughes
