LoHud Hockey Blog

Joe Wegwerth suffered through a string of nervous days and nights until the phone finally rang. There was a sigh of sweet relief when USA Hockey officials extended an invitation to join the National Team Development Program’s U-17 team in the fall.

All of the paperwork was signed and sent back last Friday.

“It was a nail-biting process for me,” Wegwerth said tonight. “I was out for a while before the Final 40 Camp with a knee injury and then a concussion, so I got off to a slow start. Later in the week, they started calling kids in and letting them know they made it. I went home, and then a week-and-a-half later, they called me.”

Brewster’s standout sophomore forward suffered a sprained MCL in a Section 1 quarterfinal loss, then sustained a concussion during junior playoffs.

“It was an up and down time for me,” Wegwerth said of the wait. “I was unsure about where I was going to end up, and we started to look at different options, but I always felt that I was in the mix.”

He is the second player who grew up at Brewster Ice Arena to make the NTDP leap in as many years, joining Steven Santini, who starred for Kennedy before moving on with his career.

“This has really been a dream of mine since the day I heard that Steven got an early committment (from USA Hockey),” Wegwerth said. “Now to have it happen, it’s kind of surreal. It’s an honor, and I can’t wait to get started. … To have somebody like Steven, who’s got a wealth of information, I’m very lucky to have somebody who can show me the ropes.”

Over the summer, he’ll go out to Ann Arbor, Mich. for orientation. NTDP players go to a local school and play in the USHL. There will be a workout regimen to follow until school and camp gets under way before Labor Day. It will not be easy leaving a number of talented Brewster teammates behind.

“I think everyone knew this was a huge goal of mine, so they’re happy for me,” Wegwerth said. “I have a lot of memories, playing for Brewster and I loved playing here every second, but this is an opportunity that I can’t pass up.”

This little note was tacked on a release I just got from USA Hockey, so I’m sharing it. My question is, how freakin’ good are the kids who are getting picked right out of high school? I know they aren’t making a jump straight into the NHL, but to have that kind of rare potential at that age … it must be something to see them play.

Of the first 40 Americans selected in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, 17 came from the United States Hockey League; seven were from U.S. high/prep schools; six played U.S. college hockey; six came from the Ontario Hockey League; four played in the Western Hockey League; and one competed in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Here’s the list … and thank you to all of the coaches for the unprecedented input. For those who are new, The Journal News decided many years ago to pick our All-Star teams by position. If you are selected, it means you’re an elite athlete. If you were left off, it should not diminish your accomplishments.

And yes, there are arguments to be made for kids not on the list, but let’s not rip any of these players.

Westchester/Putnam
First team
F – Colin Reilly (Pelham) POY
F – Joe Wegwerth (Brewster)
F – Ian Palfrey (ETB)
D – Matt Landis (Pelham)
D – Frank Scherding (ETB)
G – Jaime Ketchabaw (RTH)

Coach of the year – Jim Mancuso (Scarsdale)

Second team
F – Michael Benincasa (Rye)
F – Paul Variano (White Plains)
F – Frazier Bostwick (John Jay)
D – Graham Lambdin (Pelham)
D – Michael Rocco (Rye Country Day)
G – Chris Stangarone (White Plains)

Honorable mention:
Randy Ashe (Yorktown) Sr. G; Jackie Barnes (Carmel) Sr. F; Brett Barry (New Rochelle) So. F; Teddy Bellis (Mamaroneck) Jr. F; Henry Beshar (RCDS) Sr. F; Conor Bunyan (Fox Lane) Jr. G; Jason Chin (Rye) Jr. D; Peter Conley (Mamaroneck) Sr. F; Will Cullen (Pelham), So. D; Blake Davis (Greeley) Jr. F; Kevin Halpin (Sleepy Hollow/Irvington) Jr. D; Sean Henderson (Brewster) So. F; Neil Hershman (Greeley) Jr. G; Evan Jacobs (RTH) Sr. D; Hunter Jurman (Scarsdale) So. F; Dan Killea (John Jay) Sr. D; Tommy Kirincic (Mahopac) So. D; Josh Kriss (Mamaroneck) Jr. D; Mark Luciano (ETB) Sr. F; Jack McDermott (Iona Prep) Sr. F; James McNamara (ETB) Sr. D; James Nicholas (Scarsdale) Fr. F; Chris Ramondelli (New Rochelle) Jr. F; Ryan Rogers (Rye) Sr. F; Andrew Schauer (Pelham) So. F; Ricky Schulman (Harvey) Sr. F; Nick Sioufas (New Rochelle) Sr. D; Shawn Smith (John Jay) So. F; Danny Shea (Pelham) Sr. F; Connor Wolfe (Scarsdale) Sr. G.

Rockland
First team
F – John Redgate (Suffern) POY
F – Willie Sanchez (Suffern)
F – Mike McGivney (Nyack/Tappan Zee)
D – Connor Delaney (Suffern)
D – Steve Scholer (Suffern)
G – Tyler Stark (Suffern)

Coach of the year - Rob Schelling (Suffern)

Second team
F – Ian Adler (Suffern)
F – Mitch LeSeur (Clarkstown)
F – Chris Alexander (Pearl River)
D – Anthony Carudo (Suffern)
D – Jake Dickson (Clarkstown)
G – Mike Levy (Clarkstown)

Honorable mention
Adam Brenner (Suffern) Sr. D; Mike Gillespie (Clarkstown) So. F; Kevin Haggerty (Suffern) Sr. F; Michael Henry (Pearl River) Sr. F; Lowell Hunt (Pearl River) Sr. G; Sam Meigh (North Rockland) Sr. F; Ian Mueller (North Rockland) Sr. F; Matt Wylie (Nyack/Tappan Zee) Sr. F.

The coaches from Section 1 are hosting the Exceptional Seniors Game at 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Ice Hutch, pitting North against South. Actually, there’s no way to draw sensible boundaries, so Rockland is going to be playing with the northern schools.

Here are the rosters:

SOUTH
Ian Palfrey F (ETB); James McNamara D (ETB); Frank Sherding D (ETB); Angus McLean F (ETB); Joe Blute F (ETB); Evan Jacobs D (RTH); Sal Giacomo F (RTH); Dean Brancucci F (RTH); Paul Variano F (White Plains); Nate Mullaney F (Mamaroneck); Brett Poniros G (Mamaroneck); Chris LeBlanc F (Mamaroneck); Nick Sioufas D (New Rochelle); John Tenore F (New Rochelle); Sam Spar F/D (Greeley); Conner Wolfe G (Scarsdale); Jake Bank F (Scarsdale); Travis Misarti F (Scarsdale); Ian Klein F/D (Scarsdale); Colin Rielly F (Pelham); Danny Shea F (Pelham); Graham Lambdin D (Pelham); Will McGinnis F(Pelham); Garrett Martin D (Pelham) Ryan RogersF (Rye); Kirk Holmes F (Rye); Justin Uzcateghi D (Rye).

NORTH
Mike Sclafani D (Mahopac); Ryan Harker F (Mahopac); Anthony Barletta G (Mahopac); Ian Mueller F (North Rockland); Sean Meigh F(North Rockland); John Redgate F (Suffern); Tyler StarkG (Suffern); Willie Sanchez F (Suffern); Ian Adler F (Suffern); Steve Scholer D (Suffern); Kevin Haggarty F (Suffern); Adam Brenner D (Suffern); Conner Delaney D (Suffern); Randy Ashe G(Yorktown); Neil Jacobson F (Yorktown); Mike McGivney F (Nyack); Matt Wylie F (Nyack); Jackie Barnes F (Carmel); Chris Alexander F (Pearl River); Mike Henry F/D (Pearl River); Lowell Hunt GPearl River; Zach GinsettF/D (Ossining); Luke Rothchild G (Ossinging); Michael Lema F/D (Ossining); Jason Kane F(Ossining); Dan Sachs D Fox Lane.

I’m busy coaching my own kids tomorrow, so I won’t be there. Mamaroneck coach Mike Chiapparelli might be doing a little sideline reporting for me.

It’s my least favorite time of the year.

The next few days will be spent figuring out a way to get two dozen truly deserving candidates onto the first and second teams. We pick the Journal News All-Star teams by position, so it’s a tricky process. The coaches have some input, but the final decisions rest with me. Not fun.

I’m happy to share the misery, though, so go ahead, pick your teams, by position. Let’s not slam anybody here. Pick a Westchester/Putnam team, and pick a Rockland team.

And if you’d like to name a coach of the year on each side of the river, we’re all ears … or eyes.

Teams will be announced in The Journal News and on LoHud.com April 13.

Here’s a favorite to set the mood …

Suffern hockey players celebrate with their trophy after a parade in their honor on Lafayette Ave. in Suffern. They won the N.Y. State division 1 hockey championship in Utica on Sunday.

See more photos of the parade celebrating Suffern Hockey’s state championship

While the current team was down on the ice collecting the hardware yesterday, there was an impressive collection of talent from recent Suffern teams up in the stands celebrating with the program. And it had to be a bittersweet moment for all of the Willy Bakers and Kevin Norwins, who came so close to experiencing that moment of glory.

In case you didn’t see this comment from the blog from Chief, I’m giving it the spotlight:

Wow. That truly was amazing. For the second time in its illustrious career, Suffern Hockey won the State Championship. What’s hard for some people to appreciate is that this is about so much more than just winning a state championship. Everyone talks about how Suffern is such a great program …and has the best fans… and the best youth program… and the most talent. But very few people understand what the tradition is all about. Only people that are a part of the program understand what it’s like to sit in that locker room before a big game, slide that white and blue Suffern jersey over your head and skate on to the ice with “Crazy Train” blasting through the speakers to play in front of the entire community and Suffern Hockey family. I say this with no intention of belittling any other team or program, it is just how I feel. From the months of November through March, Suffern hockey is everything. It is a way of life. And once you are a part of it, it stays with you forever. You always have that family to come back to …and that pride. Today, when our boys took the title, it unleashed years of frustration and hardship. Finally Suffern overcame the Utica curse and a huge weight was lifted off everybody’s shoulders. You could see the pure joy and emotion on everyone’s face. Our fan turnout was unbelievable for a game 3 and a half hours away and you could see a clear difference in how much this game meant to Suffern than any other team at the tournament. You saw future Suffern stars like little Ryan Schelling, watching their heroes finally victorious, dreaming about becoming them one day and having the chance to put on those blue and white jerseys. You saw Suffern alumni ranging all the way to Mike Mckenna, former Suffern great Defenseman from the 90s, remembering what it was like to play for Suffern and wishing they could do it all again. It was generations of Suffern hockey pride there to see the boys win it all.

To the boys…I could not be more proud of you guys. While when I was your senior captain you looked up to me, I sat there this weekend watching you guys and I found myself idolizing YOU… and how after three years of devastation you guys REFUSED to let it happen again… and would not allow this one to slip away. You boys have grown so much over the past few years and your experience led you to the glory. You played with so much heart and determination and came together as a team—even when adversity struck, when West Genny tied it up and when Pittsford went up 2-0. Of all the great Suffern teams and players under Schelling…Jon Foster, the Daniels, Yorkes/Kastor/Wynne, the Natoli years, the past two years…this team had what it took and finally it got it done for the entire family. While the loss we suffered to West Genesee still haunts me and keeps me up at night, this team will allow me to sleep a little easier and take away some of the pain. It was such a special day and it made me more proud than ever to be a part of the great tradition that is Suffern Hockey.

And for those who don’t know, it’s not a secret, Chief is Kevin Norwin, the all-state D man who taught a lot of the current players how to lead.

Suffern players celebrate after winning the Division 1 NYSPHSAA state hockey championship game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Suffern beat Pittsford 3-2.

See more photos and read about Suffern winning the state hockey championship

By Mike Dougherty
mdougher@lohud.com

UTICA - Suffern is celebrating it’s first New York State hockey championship in 20 years after scoring three unanswered goals to knock off Pittsford 3-2 in the Division 1 title game this afternoon at The Aud.

“Cool is not even the word,” senior forward John Redgate said. “I can’t find words for it, greatest feeling ever.”

There will be a police escort for the bus, starting at Harriman, then players will mount the fire trucks for a parade through downtown Suffern around 7 p.m.

“You dream about this. You imagine what it might be like. And now it’s finally reality,” senior forward Willie Sanchez said. “Our classmates and family came out to support us, it was unbelievable.”

The Mounties played four overtimes in the semifinals on Saturday and were not themselves early on, falling behind 2-0 in the first 13 minutes of play. The Panthers scored 12 seconds into the game as the Suffern defense stood frozen and watched.

“We were a little too nervous,” senior forward Steve Scholer said. “We didn’t tie up our guys. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do. The result was them scoring a couple of seconds into the game. It was a wakeup call definitely. We realized this is the state finals.”

It took a long time before the response materialized.

Scholer got the comeback started with a goal in the final minute of the first period that he snuck just inside the near post. He got one more in the opening minute of the third period, and is taking home tournament MVP honors. Sanchez netted the game-winner three minutes later.

Mounties goalie Tyler Stark made 20 saves, and helped Suffern pass the final 11:51 without incident.