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The Florida Eels are excited to announce that Lorenzo Marchetta from Montreal Quebec Canada has joined the lineup for the 2022-23 season

 

The Eels welcome the addition of Lorenzo Marchetta to the Eels. He has good size at 5’10” 165 lbs. He is a stealth type player. Shifty and leaves many defenders looking like pylons. Lorenzo is a highly skilled forward who is an excellent skater and known for his ability to put the puck in the net. This past season he scored 26 goals and notched dozen assists in his campaign.  The Eels have been tracking Marchestta throughout the past two seasons and as a 2003 the time is ripe for him to make the jump to the Eels. We have seen him in highly competitive  games and he demonstrated  fortitude  to win and  he showed he plays with a high hockey IQ. We expect him to blossom even further with the additional training and ripen into a major scorer.

This is a first-class young man with impeccable character and we welcome him to our program.

The Florida Eels Are Thrilled to announce that Adamo Di Re from Montreal Canada has joined our squad.

 

Adamo is another high-quality young man we recruited from Montreal Canada. A 2003 5” 10” 165 lbs.  We scouted Di Re for two years and we were excited to have him join the Eels. He is a two-way player, who has been used as a forward and is an equally strong defenseman. This versatility is so important in his ability to help the team on so many levels. He has keen offensive abilities having scored 12 goals and garnered 18 assists in 34 games. He has great vision and enjoys a  high hockey IQ He has outstanding skill set; an excellent skater and  has great hands. He will be an impactful player for the Eels. He plays with enormous passion and determination. You can see it every time he hits the ice. We are excited he has decided to join us.

The Florida Eels are Excited to Announce the signing of Veteran Forward Cooper Berman to its line-up

 

The Eels add further depth to its program with the addition of Cooper Berman to its 2022-23 line-up. The Eels make another aggressive move in bringing in a quality veteran forward to bolster its position. Berman joined the Eels at the Prestigious Pro Am Pre Draft this past May and impressed the coaches and Eels General Manager Frank Scarpaci. We essentially had showcase teams of prospects and Berman was one of the players who stood out. He showed tremendous grit and determination in all 4 games. We liked the edge to his game. He is a solid skater and at 5’9” 170 lbs. he can move the puck. Cooper has a little sandpaper to his game and that commitment to compete that is the hallmark to the Eels style of play.  We watched him last season and he likes to through his body around and very tough on the fore-check.  We are thrilled he decided to join the Eels this season.

The Florida Eels are excited to add 6’01” 190 lbs. defensemen Daniel McCarthy to its  blueline

 

The Eels prove time and again how valuable the USPHL Spring Showcase, the  Pro Am Pre Draft Showcase and Sr Chowder Cup showcases are to its future. Last year the Eels brought in Daniel McCarthy to the Pro Am Sr, Chowder Cup and were able to get a snap shot view of McCarthy’s skill set. This past May the Eels once again brought McCarthy back to the ProAm  Pre Draft showcase games. These were valuable opportunities for our coaches and GM to evaluate first hand not just players skill set but also to access their intangibles in game situations and their attitudes and compete level. Daniel hit high marks all around. He competed in the Pre Draft Jr A Division and helped the Eels team do very well.

The coaches echoed that they loved his grit determination and effort throughout the weekend. He is a tough kid. Played the body very well. Solid in a all 3 zones. Moved the puck very well. Strong transitional game. A strong skater and good nose to lead the line-rush. We see from his past he likes to push the puck up the ice and that is the Eels style of play. We enthusiastically welcome Daniel to our Eels family.

Florida Eels Alumni Josh Belgrave commits to SUNY Plattsburgh. Josh is a a very talented Highly skilled forward who possess explosive speed coupled with the natural ability to score. He was part of the herald Eels team that Won its Divisional Title, Playoff Title and helped his team pilot to the Finals at Nationals

We wish Josh the very best

The Eels coaching staff continue to comb the USA with another scouting weekend in Chicago at the Global Showcase. The Eels will be present in over 12 showcases in the USA Canada and Europe. This weekend Eels coaching staff is in Chicago for 3 days and we are finding some pretty impressive prospects for this upcoming season and planting seeds for the years to come. It is al about building relationships for the upcoming season as well as following players as they mature in their player development if they elect to return to their high school or midget teams.

The Florida Eels are Extremely Excited about the Return of Veteran Forward  Maverick Crupi to the Eels Line-Up.

 

 Crupi  joined the Eels midseason last year and was an immediate team favorite upon his arrival. He fit right in. Great personality. Outstanding team guy on and off the ice. Hungry to learn. Extremely coachable. Brought enormous passion and enthusiasm on and off the ice. He bought right into the Eels goals and mission. He   has very strong skill set. A very good skater with quick acceleration often leaving opposing defenders standing still.   He has the insatiable appetite to drive to the net and score. He has so much upside. Can play power play kills penalties and a relentless fore-checker that suffocates opposing forwards. He equally is a work horse on the back check knowing to smother opponents entering our zone.

 

Maverick   was key to the Eels success last season winning its Florida Division finishing in 1st place; winning the Florida Division playoffs and then advancing to the semi Finals at Nationals. This young man has the unwavering commitment to win. Maverick will do whatever it takes to arrive at that end. We are thrilled that Maverick has returned and he shares all of the returning veterans’ mind set “We have some unfinished business to do here….” Welcome back buddy

Gage Dill better be working on buying a winter coat and snow boots. His climate is about to change quite a bit, and he couldn’t be happier. Bring on the snow of Buffalo, as the Fort Myers, Fla., resident moves north to join the NCAA team at Buffalo State College, part of the State University of New York Athletic Conference.

The five-year USPHL veteran from Fort Myers, who just completed his fourth season with his hometown Florida Eels, committed earlier in May and he is looking forward to joining former Eels teammate Jared Figueroa this coming fall.

“I first started talking to Buffalo State during my first year on Premier with the Florida Eels in 2019-20. The coaches showed their interest very early into the season and loved my ability to make plays with the puck, as well as being a two-way player that hustles back to get on defense,” said Dill, who scored 101 points in 87 regular season Premier games with the Eels.

“The thing that interested me the most with Buffalo State was definitely the amenities that the hockey program has to offer. Being able to train day and night makes Buffalo State a place where I know I can go and become a better hockey player,” added Dill. “For academics, the SUNYAC is known to have some of the best school programs in the United States. School has always been a priority for me, seeing that anything can happen with life or hockey.”

Dill is especially excited to enjoy both the small community feel of the Buffalo State campus and the proximity to the urban amenities of restaurants and entertainment with the city closeby. He’s also happy to be going somewhere the Bengals coaching staff really wants him to be.

“Seeing the campus of Buffalo State was a big eye-opener. The placement of the campus is in such a great area where you can have a great time on campus, as well as in the city of Buffalo,” Dill added. “What made me easily decide to make my commitment with Buffalo State was the dedication of the coaches and their full interest in me as a player.”

Coming off a strong USPHL Elite season in 2017-18, he joined the Eels for the first time in 2018-19. Still just 16 to start that season, the Eels put him onto their USPHL Elite season, and he aced that test with 74 points, the second-best season for an Eel at that level. Teammate Jake Court set the record that year with 90 points. The two would continue to work their magic the next two seasons with the Eels Premier squad. He posted 40 points in two straight seasons, including over a stretch of 28 games in 2020-21. Three of the four seasons he was with the Eels, he also made trips to the USPHL Nationals, including reaching the Championship Game in 2021.

“After my first junior year, Frank Scarpaci reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in an interview with him to see if the Eels would be a good fit. After talking with him, he offered everything that a younger junior hockey player would want, which involved a great summer program that prepares players for the upcoming season that includes summer workouts and skates every week,” said Dill. “The head coach, Frank Scarpci Jr. and the assistant coach, Alex Sanchez, also played a big role in getting me into the program. They both showed dedication to every single player and would work with each individual on habits that would make them a better hockey player.”

During his 2021-22 season, he put up 12 points in seven postseason games, good for top 10 in the USPHL Premier for postseason scoring. He also got a five-game look with the NCDC’s Islanders Hockey Club, registering three assists in the call-up. The work he put in and the dedication to their players by the Eels all came full circle this past year for Dill.

“Every single person that has been a part of the Florida Eels while I’ve been there has been such a great help and I’m so fortunate to be a part of the Eels family that they’ve built,” said Dill. “They’ve done nothing but make me a better hockey player, as well as a person and I owe all of my gratitude to the Scarpaci family. I most definitely wouldn’t be where I am at now without their help.”

That includes, of course, getting his ticket to the world of NCAA hockey. Every second, every game must be earned of course, as it was in his hometown with the Eels.

“During this summer I’ve started to work on my speed as well as my strength. Frank Scarpaci Jr. has helped me with a workout schedule as well as a meal plan that will build my size and strength,” he said. “Coach [Steve] Murphy has also built a program that the players of Buffalo State and I have been following for the beginning off-season months that will help us all get ready for the year.”

He also may be found cracking open books about his chosen course of study as well in those rare moments he might make it to Fort Myers Beach.

“My academic interest, as of right now, is to pursue a career in business finance,” he said.

The USPHL congratulates Gage Dill, his family, the Florida Eels and Buffalo State College for his commitment.