Ethan Nauman and Team Weight finished the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament with a 2-1 record.
Team Weight was crowned champions of the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament on Tuesday after finishing the event, which was held from Dec. 5-7 at the Iorio Ice Arena in Walpole, Mass., with a 2-1 record.
Team Weight (+8) won the goal-differential tiebreaker over Team Miller (+3) and Team Rafalski (+1), both of which also finished with a 2-1 mark.
In Team Weight’s 7-2 victory over Team Legwand (0-3) on the final day of the tournament, forward Connor Gaarder (Coulee Region Chill) rang up two goals and an assist, with forward Kyle Cook (Springfield/Mercyhurst College) and defenseman Jack Callahan (Springfield Jr. Blues/Quinnipiac University) each picking up a goal and two assists.
Defenseman Chris Rial (Kenai River Brown Bears) registered two assists for Team Legwand.
Between the pipes, Team Weight’s Ryan Faragher (Bismarck Bobcats/Dartmouth College) stopped 23 of 25 shots, while Paul Moberg (Coulee Region Chill/Air Force Academy) turned aside all seven shots he faced. Team Legwand’s Nikifor Szczerba made 32 saves on 35 shots; Edward Dyson (Dawson Creek Rage) made 16 saves.
View the box score here.
In the final game of the tournament, forwardBrad Smith (St. Louis Bandits) connected for two goals as Team Miller downed Team Rafalski, 6-4. Forwards James Albrecht (Chicago Hitmen), Joe Sposit (Chicago) and Steve Brancheau (Motor City Metal Jackets) all picked up a goal and an assist in the win.
Forward Rock Einersen (Texas Tornado) rang up a pair of goals and an assist for Team Rafalski.
In goal, Team Miller’s David Jacobson (Janesville Jets) stopped 16 of 17 shots, while Tyler Marble (Traverse City North Stars/Lake Superior State University) made 20 saves. For Team Rafalski, Jimmy Kruger (Texas Tornado) steered aside 27 of 29 shots, and Rasmus Tirronen (Topeka RoadRunners/Merrimack College) made 17 saves.
All Top Prospects Tournament games can be viewed as archives via the Internet through FASTHockey.com.
The NAHL is auctioning off all game-worn player jerseys from the Top Prospects Tournament through eBay. The auction closes on Saturday, Dec. 11. Bids can be placed at NAHL.com/Auction.
At the Top Prospects Tournament, four teams comprised of the NAHL’s top committed and un-committed college players, including those recognized on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s “Players to Watch” list for 2011 draft-eligibles, played a three-game round robin.
For more information on the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, visit NAHLTopProspects.com.
