GM Scarpaci echoed, “The Florida Eels Score a Hat Trick with Its 3rdMajor Signing from South Carolina.Gage joined his longtime friends and teammates Cade and Jaymen Swygertin returning this season to the Eels Junior Program. Gage played in 14 games for the Eels last season as he joined us in the later 1/3rddof the season. He initially played Midget Tier I AAA Hockey for the NAPHL in the early part of 2017 but decided to take his game to the Next Level and joined the Eels Junior program. This young man knew full well he had to play against bigger stronger and faster guys if he wanted to realize his dreams come into reality so he opted to join the Eels with his former teammates the Swygert brothers. He made a phenomenal transition to the juniors. He scored 5 goals and notched 5 assists in his short time with our club. In juniors the game is so much faster and the timing and decision making is key to the game. It is a huge difference playing against 2001 dob players compared to playing Juniors where players are often 1998 1999 and 2000’s. These guys on the Eels have one common bond and that is to play NCAA College hockey and that is so much embodied and engrained in Gage’s fabric.
Premier Head Coach Frank Scarpaci says “he was very impressed with Gage last season. He was very smart in his own end. He made excellent first passes out of his defensive zone on the break out, played very hard in the D-Zone, battles relentlessly in front of his crease and along the wall…” Coach Scarpaci also noted, he “played right into the Eels style of player of transitioning the defense into offense and joining the line rush effectively creating a 4-man offense.”
Coach Alex Sanchez noted “he posses nice skill set. Good puck control, stickhandles very well and a nice smooth skater. He gets the puck to the net no doubt with 5 goals and 5 assists in the short while with us. That is over a ½ point per game.”
Coach Scarpaci concluded,, “Gage is an extremely dedicated young man. After the season was over, Gage returned for 4 weeks of summer skills training as illustration of his unwavering commitment to his development as player”
GM Scarpaci concluded, “Gage brought right into our program. He stayed after practice every day and shot 100+pucks per day to improve his game. You can see it every time he hits our ice he is looking to make himself 5% better. I can tell you first hand he is very coachable. He is hungry and not only can I say he has the will to win, he is willing to do all that is necessary to make it happen. Moreover, he is a high character young man with impeccable integrity. He is no doubt a player destined to play NCAA men’s college hockey. This is a key developmental year for him. We are looking for him to have a breakout season.”
