Yesterday I posted about recruit Mike Pereira likely heading to the USHL this season instead of playing prep hockey.  Personally, I think this is a great idea.  The USHL in recent years has certainly cemented its status as the only Tier 1 junior league in the country and UMass has certainly benefitted from the talent the league produces.  I certainly don’t mean to knock the players who developed in other leagues but if you look at the UMass players that have spent time in the USHL it’s certainly the core group of the team.  Here’s a quick look at where the current Minutemen played before coming to Amherst:

USHL – David Boehm, Justin Braun, Rocco Carzo, Danny Hobbs, Briane Keane, James Marcou, Mike Marcou, Eddie Olczyk, Darren Rowe, TJ Syner, Brett Watson, Casey Wellman

EJHL – Marc Concannon, Kevin Czepiel, Mike Donnellan, Kevin Kessler, Doug Kublin, Ryan Leary, Dan Meyers

AJHL (Alberta) – Paul Dainton

BCHL (British Columbia) – Matt Irwin

OPJHL (Ontario) – Chase Langeraap, Shawn Saunders

Canadian Prep Hockey – Mike Lecomte, Djan Lefebvre, Martin Nolet

New England Prep Hockey – Will Ortiz

NAHL – Anthony Raiola

AJHL (Atlantic) – Randy Wolcott

WSHL – Kevin Moore

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Martin Nolet and Justin Braun are mentioned in this NCAA prospect piece from Hockey’s Future.

Elliot Olshansky mentions James Marcou in his Hobey Watch blog for USCHO.

INCH has a story on Niagara and their tough schedule so far this season and makes a good case why the Purple Eagles are better than their 0-5-1 record would suggest.

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Fear The Triangle has joined the world of Twitter so you can now follow any UMass hockey news and info by following my Twitter page here.