Florida Eels Spring Showcase Teams acquired tremendous experience against some of the best players in North America. The Eels fielded a total of 4 teas at the USPHL Spring Showcase and the New England Pro AM NHL Pre Draft Showcase. The Eels brought a total of 78 players and 61 were all new prospects. The key to attending these events is to gain as much experience as you can by competing against top players and the boys did get just that! The scouting at both events was simply unbelievable. There were scouts there from so many Div. 1 and Div. 3 colleges. Then the BCHL USHL and other top Canadian programs. No doubt everyone got a chance to be seen.

The boys faced numerous players who had Division 1 commitments including players from Boston College, Northeastern, the University of Vermont, Middlebury College, and Becker College. Tuffs University to name a few. At the USPHL the boys faced two Premier quality Teams in the Jr. Bruins and the Islanders Hockey Club. And the EHL team The New Hampshire Monarchs. It does not get better than that!

The boys were able to pick up a few wins there as well gaining 3 wins and a tie. This was outstanding when you consider the boys went with over 60 players who never played with each other prior to the weekend. But the true benchmark here was the experience and exposure. We were so thrilled to be able to offer this to our veterans who joined us as well as the prospects.

The coaching and scouting staff was extremely pleased with the new recruits. These new guys were all trying out for the Eels for the fall 2014-15 seasons. The Eels use this showcase formula as a true means of a barometer to evaluate talent. We have a tryout weekend but we require all of our guys to attend at least one showcase weekend up north. Playing juniors is much more difficult and far more intense than midget hockey.

In fact many of the prospects have already played a year or so at the Junior level and are trying to make the quantum leap t the Next Level” Clearly they echoed that they can plainly see: The Eels are indeed the Next Level.

·      We play in the prestigious USPHL which boast 2300 players who have gone on to NCAA hockey from the Premier and Elite Division

·      We have over 1900 players who have gone on to play NCAA college Hockey

·      The USPHL had 75 NCAA Div. 1 commits this year alone (NAHL only had 25)

·      The USPHL had 75 NCAA Div. 3 commits this year

·      The Eels have 130 Alumni who moved on to College Hockey

·      The Eels have 2 NTPD Alumni

·      The Eel shave 3 NHL Draft Picks

·      The Eels have 2 alumni on NHL Central Scouting this year for this years draft

·      The Eel Juniors train 1 ½ hours daily ice time 5 days a week

·      The Eels Juniors train an additional 1 ½ hours off ice for strength and conditioning each day 5 days a week

·      The Eels attend 4 College Showcases

·      Professional Coaching Staff

We expect to sign about 6-9 players from this past weekend.  These boys will join a 60% returning roster. The Eels are looking to once again build another strong two teams for the upcoming season.  There still remains a lot to do. The recruitment job has just begun. This week GM Scarpaci is off again to Denver Colorado to attend one of the largest Showcases in the west. The JPS Junior and College Showcase. There will be over 400 players at that showcase. He will be back to Colorado the following weekend as CCM/Under Armor host its annual Super Junior Showcase also in Denver. CCM will have another 400+ players. Those two showcases have tremendous talent and we have signed 5-6 players each year from those venues.

The Eels will invite a number of the JPS and CCM prospects to join us in the USPHL Summer Showcase and the Pro AM. Sr. Chowder Cup events.  We look to bring in another good number of prospects there like we just did in Spring venues to give us a first hand look at what they can do at high level events and see how they might jell with us.

We strongly encourage all midget Eels prospects to sign up early and register for the July Showcases in New England. The dates are July 17-20th. As a reminder the players will be placed on one of the showcase teams in New England. There is the USPHL Summer forum and the SR. Chowder Cup. GM Frank Scarpaci will make final decisions on team placements.

Clare Scarpaci will be available this Wednesday and Thursday at the rink at 6:00 pm for those who wish to pre register. There will be limited spots on these teams so I encourage you to do so now. Also you may wish to make your flight plans as a number of players canceled for the Pre Draft as flight cost etc.