Rivals not concerned about Mount decision
WOONSOCKET — Burrillville boys hockey coach David Farrell is uniquely positioned to evaluate how Mount St. Charles’ decision to bring in three coaches from South Kent (Conn.) School’s Selects Academy to run the school’s hockey program will affect the state’s Interscholastic League squads.
Farrell, who just finished his first season in charge of the Broncos, was a standout hockey player at Burrillville for two seasons before playing his final two scholastic seasons at La Salle. Farrell, 45, went to The Taft School in Watertown, Conn. for a post- graduate year.
“There are dozens of prep schools in New England, so this will be one more a lot closer to home,” said Farrell, who is in Vincennes, Ind. watching his son’s Uxbridge 10U all-star team play in the Cal Ripken World Series. “I don’t see it as a big deal because we have kids who made that decision and are making that decision. We have kids in town now who have chosen that route now and that’s fine – that’s their decision to make.”
Burrillville, along with Cumberland, has seen a number of its talented hockey players elect to play for coach Dave Belisle at Mount.
Players like Bradey Farrell, Jack Boisvert, Danny Allen, Mike Canavan and Matt Canavan have all opted to play at Mount instead of Burrillville in the last five years.
Of course, a big reason Mount is bringing in South Kent’s Devin Rask, Matt Plante and Scott Gainey is because elite players like Farrell are leaving the program early and going to either junior programs or going to prep school. In the last few seasons, Mount has lost Farrell (Junior Bruins), Allen (Winchendon School) and Jake MacKinnon (South Shore Kings) to elite programs.
Cumberland’s Jayden Struble, who is committed to Northeastern, Bryan Colburn and Manny Cabral have also left the Valley to play junior hockey. Lincoln’s Mitch Walinski never played a game for the Lions and is now an Air Force recruit.
“When I did it over 25 years ago, the trend was starting,” Farrell said about going to prep school. “My coach at the time at La Salle, Tom Sheehan, his son and I went looking at prep schools. That extra year is really helpful when you’re 18 or 19 years old. The extra year was good for me and opened up a whole different group of schools for me. I would’ve never gone to Williams College if I didn’t [post grad] at Taft. There is value in it, but it’s not for everyone.”
Lincoln’s Garrett Riel, who was a standout hockey player for the Lions before taking over his hometown program, believes Mount’s decision won’t have a big impact on Blackstone Valley programs because Lincoln already loses talented players to the top Catholic schools. Hendricken’s starting goalie, Patrick Gribbin, is from Lincoln.
“Mount, La Salle and Hendricken get a lot of our really talented players, but now with them being prep, they have a better chance of getting those kids,” said Reil, who is not returning to the Lincoln bench next season. “The three guys that they have coming in have national titles and crazy records at the U18 national level, so they have a really good rap coming in. If I was a parent and my kid could get a scholarship from a prep school that was so close to him, I would send them.”
The Mounties are hoping to emulate the success Rask, Plate and Gainey built at South Kent in a state that doesn’t have an elite prep school program or a team playing in the Elite Division in the United State Premier Hockey League.
The closest elite prep school programs are located in metro Boston, while the South Shore Kings – poorly named since the program is based in landlocked Foxboro – is the top area junior program.
“It definitely complicates things for us because they can be day students, but Mount is going to find it challenging to compete in the prep school division, just like all the schools,” Farrell said. “I’m not terribly concerned about it. I’d like to give you an exciting answer that I’m really mad about it, but I just don’t think it’s going to change the pressures that we’ve had for the last 15 to 20 years with your better players saying they want to get a bigger challenge.”
La Salle coach James Mello, who just guided the Rams to the state title after an undefeated regular season, isn’t concerned Mount’s new program will slow down the Providence school’s recent run of success.
“I’ll be honest with you, I know they’ve been trying to do this for a while with the Mount program, and I know they’ve doing a lot to reinvigorate the hockey program to get things back to where it was, but I don’t see it changing anything with us,” Mello said. “We’re full speed ahead and we’re focused on us and our process. All the power to them if they can help Rhode Island hockey and build a new rink – God knows we need a new one in the state.”
Mello pointed out that Moses Brown left the Interscholastic League following the 2012 season to join the Holt Conference in the New England Prep Hockey League. After mixed results, Moses Brown returned to the Interscholastic League last season and lost to Hendricken in the state semifinals after sweeping Burrillville in the semifinals.
“There’s not much you can do about it. You just run the best program you can. There’s a financial element involved that you have to balance out,” Farrell said. “I’m sure they’ll have financial aid packages for kids. I really don’t think that helps things for us, but it’s not really a big deal because the junior programs and prep school programs have been taking our best kids – even from Mount, Hendricken and La Salle.”