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The Florida Eels are thrilled to announce the signing of  5’10” 185 LBS  Tyson Benoit from Surrey, BC, CAN. Ty is a 2001 veteran defensemen who played juniors last season for the Bellingham Blazers and the Valencia Flyers of the WSHL. He is a well-seasoned stay home defenseman from Western Canada who has been known to own his D-Zone. He is extremely tough to play against in front of his own crease, believing he has deeded rights to the blue paint. He is extremely strong and very physical. He uses his body very well to wear down his opponents. He is excellent along the boards and wins his loose puck battles.  He plays a tight gap., denying zone entry.

Benoit plays well in all 3 zones. He has a nice heavy shot from the offensive blueline. He has been an effective player on the power play. He is equally strong on the penalty kill. General Manager Scarpaci notes that Tyson plays at a high compete level. Ty brings tremendous enthusiasm and energies to his team. He is very lively on the bench. This is another very dedicated player the Eels coaching staff has added to its stable. It is amazing how deep the Eels will be this season.

He has a very high hockey IQ. He has the unwavering commitment to win and that is the intangibles the Eels are looking for. He is hungry and ready to do whatever it takes to propel himself and his team to the Next Level. The Eels welcome Tyson to its family.

The Florida Eels are excited to announce the signing local Naples player Anthony Steed to its Junior program.  Steed is a 2003 native of Southwest Florida. He had previously played for the Blackjacks Midget program at the Fort Myers Skatium and the Florida Jr. Everblades Midget Program. Anthony plays forward. He is so anxious to step in and take his game to the Next Level. He brings so much energy, passion and enthusiasm  to the program. Elite Coach Alex Sanchez got to know Anthony over the last several months scouting him at various venues and was indeed impressed with his raw skill set. He is high on him.

 

Anthony had volunteered in the past during the Eels  game day operations. He is very familiar with the Eels and it’s rich tradition in player development and the advancement of players to college. There is a clear difference in junior programs, and  he had  many options. But it is the training and painstaking attention to details in the development of players that sold him to join the Eels. We are thrilled he chose the Eels. We welcome Anthony  and his family to the Eels and look forward to seeing him mature and develop as a player.

Nick Magill-Diaz Curry College First Team All Star ALL -ACC

Joey Colatarci Adrian College AHCA/CCM American First Team

Corey Richardson Finlandia University All American Academic

Robert Cerepak Colby College All American Academic

Matthew Schneider SUNY Brockport Third Team All Conference

Petr Strait Worcester State University All Star Mass Conference

#COMMITTEDLEADERS

Nearly 400 Alumni Of USPHL Organizations Earn College Hockey Conference Awards

 

By Joshua Boyd / USPHL.com

 

With more than 1,200 former players in college hockey in 2019-20 alone, the United States Premier Hockey League continues to be a leader in advancement to the next level beyond junior hockey. Not only do our players move on to the best educational institutions to continue their hockey careers, they also excel once they reach that level. Nearly 400 NCAA players from USPHL organizations past and present earned honors from their home conference and beyond during the 2019-20 season.

• More than 50 NCAA Division 1 players and close to 340 from the NCAA Division 3 level brought in honors, including the Sid Watson NCAA Division III Player Of The Year Award won by USPHL Premier alum Tom Aubrun, of Norwich University.
• Former Hampton Roads Whaler Brandon Osmundson (Utica College) was recognized as the National Division III Rookie Of The Year.
• At the NCAA Division I level, lumni of USPHL organizations also earned two Scoring Championships, two Rookie Of The Year Awards and one Goaltender Of The Year Award.
• Four alumni of the USPHL and its current member organizations also earned Hobey Baker nominations, including two who were Top 10 Finalists.

• At the NCAA Division II and III levels, Players Of The Year in nine conferences hailed from the USPHL and its current member organizations.

 

View the Full List of USPHL and Member Organization Alumni NCAA Awards

The Florida Eels is thrilled to announce that veteran defensemen  Clement Espinasse 2000 has Re-Signed with the Eels Premier team for the 2020-21 season.  Espinasse is from Montpellier, FRANCE.  He is a 3-year veteran of the Eels Junior Program joining us back in 2017-18 season. Prior to joining the Eels junior program, he played in Canada for the OHA for 2 seasons. In fact,  Espinasse is one of many outstanding players who advanced from the OHA to the Eels over the last 5-6 years. Clement originally played as a forward during his first two years as an Eel but last season, he answered the call when the Eels Premier team had a void on defense. Premier Coach Frank Scarpaci felt  Espinasse was a perfect candidate as he has a high hockey IQ, reads the ice very well, is a smooth strong skater, has very good stickhandling skills, had the ability to make clean crisp passes  and has excellent overall skill set. Moreover, coach Scarpaci  knew the Eels could get offensive production from Espinasse on the blueline; remembering  Clement had scored 16 goals and 26 assists as an Eels and 29 goals and 24 assists while at the OHA totaling 45 goals and 50 assists averaging an impressive 1 point per game while playing in North America.

 

Clement at 6’0 175 uses his body very effectively. He has quick acceleration with and without the puck. He is offensive minded having been a forward most of his playing career. But this past season he impressed all of the Eels coaches with his defensive play in the D Zone He took this job and role very seriously. He has excellent gap control again taking his knowledge as forward and applying it to his defense responsibilities . He has great work ethic, and this shows as he relentlessly battles in front of his crease and along the boards. He is extremely difficult to beat with loose pucks using his size to wear down his opponents. He developed so well as a defensemen and he played a large part in his team securing First Place over all in the Florida Division winning a regular season Championship.

 

Clement  is a very dedicated young man arriving at the rink early and staying after practice every day to shoot 100+ pucks. He is one of the Eels most loyal players. Very determined to get his game to the Next Level and ripen into a NCAA college player. He a team guy and shares that Eels unwavering commitment to win. He plays  with that sandpaper edge to him. A very high compete level. We are very excited to have Clement back and help him realize his goals of winning a National Championship and advance to college.

The Florida Eels are extremely excited to announce that veteran defensemen Gage McNeish 2001 has Re-Signed with its Premier team for the 2020-21 season. McNeish 5’11’ 165 lbs. comes from Summerville, SC McNeish is a 3 year veteran with the Eels as he started back midseason in 2017-18. Gage came to the Eels as a top defensive prospect. He played U16 Midget AA hockey with the Charlotte Jr. Checkers in the EJEPL and High School back at home before moving on to play Tier I AAA in the ECEL and the NAPHL when Florida Eels General Manager Frank Scarpaci recruited him to join the Eels Elite squad.

What was essentially his first full season with the Eels back in 2018-19, McNeish was named Captain of the Eels Elite squad. That was very impressive as he was really still a rookie and to bestowed with Captain showed maturity and leadership skills on his part and the confidence that the coaches had in him. . Moreover, in his first 14 games he scored 3 goals and notched 13 assists and was advanced to the Premier team where in the 30 remaining games, he scored 3 more goals and garnered 11 more assisted. Very impressive in his first full year for 6 goals and 21 assists. Last season in 44 games, Gage scored 2 more goals and 13 assists. This past season the coaches called upon Gage to take on a larger defensive responsibility. The Eels had some holes on the backend of the blueline and Gage knew he had to sure up things in the D Zone. He was one of the Eels most reliable defensive defensemen. His experience and leadership spoke volumes in the teams very successful season where he played a large part in his Premier team’s winning the Florida Division Regular season Championship -20 points ahead of the 2nd place team, and them winning the playoffs and advancing to Nationals. He also was key in the Eels defeating many of the top Premier teams in the Northeast, New England, Atlantic, Midwest and Southeast Divisions.

Eels Premier Coach Frank Scarpaci says McNeish has excellent skill set. Has a very high hockey IQ. Plays with an extremely high compete level. He has an unwavering commitment to win. Very determined young man. He plays very well in all 3 zones. He is very steady and reliable. Great on special teams, be it powerplay and penalty kill. Has a nice shot that gets through to opposing goalies. This is a high character individual. Last season he was selected once again to a leader role on the team. Assistant Captain. He is one of our most dedicated players. We are thrilled to have him back. He will without doubt push this team to its ultimate mission: Win a National Championship.

THE FLORIDA EELS JUNIOR PROGRAM IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE SIGNING OF ETHAN GEORGE TO ITS 2020-21 SEASON.

14 MAY | BY FRANK SCARPACI

 

The Florida Eels Junior Program is excited to announce the signing of Ethan George to its  2020-21 season. Ethan a 2003 forward is from Arizona. He brings good size to the Eels at 6’0” 180 lbs. Premier coach Frank Scarpaci is very high on him. He has a great skill set. Very good skater with quick acceleration. He is a right hand shot with a good release. He has good hands that creates trouble for opposing defenders and netminders. He uses his size and strength to his advantage. Very strong along the boards.

Ethan is a relentless hard fore-checker with a high hockey IQ and very responsible in the D-Zone. He is a versatile forward able to play center right wing and his off wing. This young man has an insatiable appetite to score. In 26 games last season with the Arizona Titans he scored 12 goals and accumulated 9 assists for 21 points averaging close to a point per game. Moreover, he was the leading scorer for the last 3 years. That is the type of consistency we are looking for.

This is a high character young man. A very good student. Honors program. He has all of the ingredients the Eels look for in its players. He is extremely hard working. Dedicated and determined to bring his game to the Next Level. He is willing to do what it takes to make himself better and his team. It is precisely that attitude that has impressed the Eels coaches. We successfully build our Eels teams year after year with players like Ethan who have the unwavering commitment to win and be the best. You see it is not enough to have the “will to win. Everybody wants to win….you have to be willing to make the sacrifices and out work everyone else that makes you and your team a winner” echoes Coach Scarpaci. Ethan checks all of the boxes in this regard.

We enthusiastically welcome Ethan to our Eels family.