Maine recruit selected in OHL draft

The annual Ontario Hockey League draft was held on Saturday and the University of Maine Black Bears had one recruit selected.

The Kitchener Rangers selected 5'11 defenseman Jared Gilbert of the Toronto Marlboros, who committed to Maine last month. Gilbert had seven goals and 36 assists in 70 games as the Marlboros went on to win the OHL Cup in late March.

The Rangers are known to target players who have NCAA aspirations and try to get players to forfeit their NCAA eligibility. One recent example is John Moore, who spent the majority of this season with the AHL Springfield Falcons. He was committed to play for the Colorado Tigers of the WCHA, but joined the Rangers for the 2009-2010 season.

The Black Bears have seen several players join the major junior ranks in the last few years. Players like Nashville Predators 2010 first round selection Austin Watson, who joined the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) and won a Memorial Cup. He now plays for the Peterborough Petes (OHL). Other players include Kevin Gagne (Saint John, QMJHL), Darcy Ashley (Halifax, QMJHL), and Brandon Francisco (Sarnia, OHL), who all de-committed before they were 17-years old.

Maine wasn't the only Hockey East school to see recruits selected, Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern.

Maine recruits and area players on the QMJHL Centra

l Scouting List
The QMJHL released their annual central scouting list for the upcoming draft in June. Maine has two recruits on the list. Ryan Cloonan, who had 17 goals, 33 assists in 52 games on the Boston Advantage minor midget team. The 2013 or 2014 recruit will only be eligible to be selected in the first five rounds as a 16-year old. The other is 17-year old Brian Morgan, who spent last year with the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs of the Eastern Junior Hockey League where he had 13 goals, 12 assists in 25 games. He will be eligible to be selected in all 12 rounds as a 17-year old.

South Portland native Jon Gillies, who played for the Indiana Ice of the USHL, and is a Northeastern recruit, was also was named on the list. The 17-year old rookie goalie had 15-6-2 record with a 2.82 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage. Berwick native Ian Rodden, who spent the year with the Junior Monarchs Empire Junior “B” Hockey League squad made an appearance on the list as he had eight goals and 19 assists on the season.

Hebron player takes part in a USHL Showcase
Hebron Academy sophomore goaltender Max Motew took part in the USHL combined that was held last weekend in Chicago. He was one of 250 players from the 1993-1994 age group to take part in preparation of next week's USHL Entry Draft.

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