Bob Turow

Director of Scouting and Recruitment

Bob Turow is beginning his third season as the Director of Central Scouting for the USHL. In his first two years with the league, Turow has assembled a staff that routinely scouts games throughout North America, created the league's first comprehensive draft lists and rankings and established a series of league scouting showcases. Turow, a lifelong resident of Kitchener, Ontario, played all of his minor and junior hockey in the region, including a stint with the Kitchener Ranger B's. Turow later began volunteering as a Rep Coach in Kitchener where he was part of two provincial championship teams. He began scouting for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League as an area scout in 1994. In the next seven years Turow advanced within the club to the title of Provincial Scout and later was named a Coordinator. In 1995, Turow established the Prospects Hockey Tournament in Toronto to provide a venue for elite athletes to showcase their skills to scouts, coaches and general managers in the NHL, NCAA, USHL and CHL among other leagues. Today, Prospects is widely considered the premier showcase tournament in North America with its alumni accounting for over 900 NCAA players, over 700 USHL players and over 500 NHL draft picks. Turow resides in Kitchener with his two daughters - MacKenzie and Alexandra.

Kelly Katorji

Head Scout
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Born and raised in St. Jacobs, Ontario, Kelly has been involved in hockey as a player and coach up to the junior hockey level. His minor hockey was played in Elmira, Ontario and he was part of 2 Junior B Finalists in the late 80's with the Elmira Jr. B Sugar Kings. After junior hockey, Kelly attended the University of Waterloo and graduated with a degree in Kinesiology. During that time he began coaching. He has accumulated over 10 year's coaching experience which includes: House league to AAA coaching in the Elmira and Waterloo minor hockey systems (all age levels), General Manager/Head Coach/Assistant Coach at the junior hockey level with Listowel, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Kitchener, Head Coach Women's Hockey Wilfrid Laurier University, and numerous guest coaching events with Ontario U17. Notwithstanding, Kelly has performed as a scout for 4 seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League and with the Prospects Hockey Tournament for 5 seasons both for men's and women's hockey.

Neil Anderson

Wisconsin USA Scout
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Neil grew up in Southern Ontario and following his junior hockey playing days, he got involved in coaching at the minor hockey level. After four seasons he started coaching at the Junior level. Working in both the MID Western Junior B League and the Ontario Provincial Junior A League. Following fifteen years of being behind the bench, Neil became the General Manager of the Orangeville Crusher Junior B Hockey Team for six seasons.

Currently Neil is the Director of Operations for Appleton Family Ice Arena in Appletion, Wisconsin. IN addition to this Neil is the Director for Team Five Alarm elite teams that participate in the Prospect and other elite tournaments in the summer months.

He currently reside in Green Bay Wisconsin with his wife Michelle their three children Hugh, Madison, and Isabelle.

Please say hello if you see him in the arenas in your area!

Jason Berg

Minnesota USA Scout
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Jason Berg, "Bergie", grew up and played Hockey in Bloomington, Minnesota. At 22 years of age he started coaching in the College Ranks. After a year of coaching at St. Johns University, Bergie spent 7 years in Chicago where he coached AAA hockey for the Chicago Young Americans at the PeeWee, Bantam and Midget Levels. Bergie moved back to the Twin Cities Area in 2003 where he coached and trained AAA teams and players from the Minnesota Icemen and Minnesota Blades Organizations. Bergie has since retired from team coaching and currently owns his own player development and training company, Puckfeet Enterprises. Puckfeet Enterprises trains and scouts players from Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. Jason Resides in Hudson, WI with his wife Melanie and 1 year old daughter Savannah Berg.

Bill Bishop

Alaska USA Scout
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Bill grew up in Southern California playing hockey through Bantam and had to stop because of family matters. He began to play the game again as an adult and rekindled his love for the game. He has been coaching both AA and AAA minor hockey here in Fairbanks Alaska for the past 12 years. His greatest accomplishment in hockey has been helping develop his three kids through minor hockey and help them on their path to play NCAA college hockey. " I would like to share my knowledge and experience with other Alaskan hockey families".

George Bosak

Playing experience:

• Springfield Olympics '90-'91

College:

• University of Scranton ''92-'94 at the time, ECAC West, Div. III
  Set NCAA record for saves in a season at 1,095 in '93-'94

Pro:

• Knoxville Cherokees, Winston Salem Mammoths '95-'96
• Waco Wizards, '98-'99
• Trenton Titans, '03-'04

Coaching:

• NJ Rockets Coach: '96-'97, '99-'00, '06 to present

Gino Cavallini

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Professional player, coach, teacher and mentor, Gino grew up in Toronto, Canada where he began coaching AAA hockey while playing juniors with the St. Michael’s Buzzers. A member of their 1981 All Ontario Junior Championship team he went on to play college hockey at Bowling Green State University winning a NCAA D1 National Championship in 1984

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Cavallini was never drafted into junior A nor was he taken in the NHL entry draft, yet signed his first professional contract as a free agent in 1984. He then proceeded to play in over 1200 professional hockey games in North America and Europe spanning 17 years, most notably playing in 600+ NHL games with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Quebec Nordiques.

Since his retirement from professional hockey in 2001 he has spent the past 8 years rooted in youth hockey at the elite level coaching and directing clubs in Milwaukee, Chicago and St.Louis. He now resides and coaches tier 1 hockey in the St.Louis area.

Derek Comeau

Derek grew up playing AAA hockey in Sudbury, Ontario. His career highlights include winning the prestigious Toronto International Midget Showcase and being named Most Valuable Player and a First-Team All-Star. Comeau spent four years playing junior hockey in Sudbury with his team making it to the Centennial Cup finals while going undefeated (66-0) on the season. Comeau also played three seasons of senior hockey at the "A" level in Dorchester, Ontario, winning one provincial championship. He is the current Head Coach and General Manager of The Frederick Freeze Junior B hockey club. Before joining the USHL Central Scouting Staff he was a scout for the Sioux City Musketeers. He lives in Walkersville, Md. with his wife Patti and daughter Amanda.

Bryan Dewees

Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota Region

Bryan has been scouting and working as the Director of On-Ice Development and the head skating instructor for FHIT. Through the use of Dartfish Video Analysis and as a student of proper stride, form, and efficiency; Bryan has become one of the best teachers of the mechanics of skating. Bryan is continuously learning from skating experts such as Jack Blatherwick and Sean Goldsworthy. Bryan takes pride in testing players through what he has learned from Jack and has developed a reputation for recognizing how to help hockey players better their skating. With skating being the most crucial ingredient in hockey, we are excited about having Bryan as one of our Minnesota Scouts. Bryan lives in Lakeville, MN with His wife Emily, daughter Morgan, and twin boys Landon and Maquire.

James Eccles

NorthEastern USA Scout
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An Abbotsford, British Columbia native, James Eccles, joins USHL Central Scouting with an extensive background from playing junior hockey out west, his collegiate playing days out east for Kent State University (ACHA Division I), coaching collegiate hockey at the NCAA Division III level for SUNY Brockport, and currently a client developer/scout for Cardinal Sports Management.

James Eccles scouting and player evaluating started while attending Kent State University and working with the Mid-Am Select festivals held out in Kent, Ohio. He has worked extensively over the years with a variety of player evaluation camps and hockey schools such as the Kent Hockey Schools, Sport International, and the Mid-Am Selects at Penn State University. James served as an NCAA assistant coach for SUNY Brockport from 2003-2005, and then served as an NCAA Head Coach for SUNY Brockport for the 2005-2006 season, while receiving his Masters of Science Degree. In his NCAA track James traveled/scouted and recruited a whole new class from all over the US and Canada, which in turn has created a great wide range of contacts from the Midget AAA level to all the junior organizations of North America. James is the nephew of Scott Bradley, the Head Scout for the Boston Bruins. He currently resides in Rochester, NY while working as a client developer/scout for Cardinal Sports Management.

Rick Ellison

Washington State

Rick has served as the Director of Athletics at Seattle Junior Hockey Association for the past 12+ years. Twelve years ago Rick began the process of building Seattle Junior Hockey Association from a Junior B organization and limited youth organization to full line program up through Midget. This period of time was also the genesis of the NW Admirals Tier program which has produced numerous Junior A and College players along with NHL draftees, USA National players and one Olympian.

Rick has also served as a USA Hockey CEP Instructor for the Pacific District, a USA Hockey Pacific District Head Evaluator or the National Select Camps, Coach Pacific District Select program and PNAHA Player Development Director.

As well Rick has maintained extensive business interests in hockey schools and development programs such as High Performance Athletics in the Northwest. In partnerships, Rick has also helped penned youth athletic training programs and regularly speaks on leadership to sports and youth groups.

Prior to jumping into youth hockey Rick served as an Assistant Coach in the NCAA with the University Alaska -Anchorage and is an alumni of the UAA hockey program. The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL Jr A) and the BCAHA Junior Olympic program were part of Rick's development prior to arriving in college hockey.

Rich Furia

Midwest USA Scout
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Rich Furia brings to the USHL Central Scouting much experience and knowledge. Here are just some of his wide range of experiences:

• Suffolk College ice hockey. 1778/80
• Foothills Flyers ice hockey coach peewee 2000/2002 (ice)
• Colorado Selects women's 19AA coach 2005/06 (ice)
• Colorado Select women's 14U Special teams trainer. (ice)
• Soc N Roll Nationals Teams Head Coach inline 1997/98/99
• Colorado Blizzard Hockey Coach and Founder. 1999/2006 (ice/inline)
• Castle View High School program director and head coach ice and inline. 2006/07
• Castle Rock Middle School head coach hockey. 2004/05/06 (inline)
• USARS Scouting for Team USA Womens. 2003/04/05/06
• Head Coach Team USA USARS 16U Womens 2004/05
• Assis. Coach Team USA USARS 18U Womens 2005/06
• 3 Time Silver Medal Junior Olympics, Coach Colorado 2004/05/06 Blizzard 18U Womens
• Silver Medal Coach Colorado Blizzard Junior Olympics USARS 2003/04
• 2 time Gold Medal Junior Olympics 14U girls, gold Medal 12U girls. 2004/05/06
• Head Coach Team USA USARS Silver Medal 16U 2005
• Head Coach Team USA USARS Bronze Medal 16U 2006
• Assist. Coach Team USA USARS Gold Medal 18U 200

Craig Furstenau

Craig Furstenau grew up in the suburbs of Detroit playing hockey through Juniors. After Juniors, Craig attended Oakland University where he was team captain. When his playing days were over he assisted the Oakland University team before taking the Head Coaching position in 2002.

In three years at Oakland University, his team earned a record of 77-15-6. In that time span he won two regular season titles, two playoff titles, one national title, and one national runner up. He currently has multiple school records for wins in a season (30), wins in a row (20), games without a loss (23), best single season record (30-3-3) and overall best win percentage (.875). In 2004 he was Central Region coach of the Year and a Team USA coaching candidate for the World University games.

He left Oakland University to pursue other coaching endeavors and ended up in the storied Little Caesars organization where he has been as an assistant and a head coach since 2005. He took over the Bantam Major team in 2006 and led the team to a major upset in the state championship game. His team later lost in the national quarter finals to the eventual national champions.

Currently Craig lives in the Detroit area where he coaches the U16 team.

Mike Gager

Northern Minnesota Region

We are excited to have Mike on board as our scout covering the Northern Minnesota Region. Mike had a great athletic career which consisted of High School Hockey and Baseball at Greenway High School, followed by All Region (1977-78) and All American (1978 -79) Honors in Hockey at Hibbing Community College. Mike then went on to play College Baseball for the Minnesota Gophers Team from 1979-81.

Mike is a well rounded hockey personality who coached 16 years for Greenway Youth Hockey. Mike now is a long time official with 12 Years as a USA Hockey Official, 28 years as a Minnesota State High School League Official, 15 State Tournament appearances and currently a MSHSL Rules Clinician. Mike's background, officiating career and his continuous presence in many different arenas, provides him the opportunity to cover and effectively scout the great players that come out of the large Northern Minnesota Region.

Mike currently resides in Coleraine with his wife Linda and is the proud father of two daughters Kaija and Ashley and one Granddaughter Kailee.

Jason Herter

Midwest USA Scout
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Jason Herter comes to USHL Central Scouting with a fantastic hockey resume:

• 1986, 1987 Air Canada Cup, Canadian Midget AAA Championship, Silver, (Notre Dame Hounds)
• 1987, 1988 Centennial Cup, Canadian Junior A Championship, Gold,(Notre Dame Hounds)
• 1988, 1989 8th pick 1st round, Vancouver Canucks, 1989 NHL entry draft , Goodwill Games Team Canada, 4th Place
• 1989, 1990 World Junior Championship, Team Canada, Gold
• 1990, 1991 All WCHA Tournament team, UND
• 1989, 1991 All Academic Team, 49th All Time UND Scoring, Top Several
• 1994, 1995 IHL All Star Defender
• 1995, 1996 Turner Cup Championship, Utah Grizzlies, IHL
• 1999, 2000 German Elite League Championship, Munich Barons, DEL

Dan Houck

Atlantic USA Scout
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Dan is originally from Philadelphia, PA, where he grew up playing his youth hockey. After attending prep school at Deerfield Academy where his team was a New England Finalist in 1998, he went on to play four years at Williams College in Massachusetts where he was captain of the team, team MVP, and Division III All-Star his senior year. After graduating with a B.A. in Economics in 2002, he moved to Washington, DC, where he started his own company Hockey Dynamics Inc., which focuses on individual skill development and placement for aspiring players in the DC area. Dan is currently a full-time employee of Montgomery Youth Hockey (MYHA) in Rockville, Maryland. MYHA has close to 1,200 boys and girls playing hockey in their program and is one of the largest clubs in the United States. Last season (2005-06) his team was Southeast District Midget U16 AAA Champions and USA Hockey National Championship Quarterfinalist. In 2006, he is the Head Coach of Team Maryland 1995 AAA. Dan also serves as the skills consultant for various private schools in the DC region, founder of Maryland Model an elite summer training/placement program for the region’s top players, and internationally served as the skills director at one of the best youth hockey camps in world the Tyringe Sommarhockeyskola this past summer in Tyringe, Sweden.

Jon Hull

Illinois-MWEHL USA Scout
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Jon comes to USHL Central Scouting with excellent hockey experience. Here are just some of the things that Jon has been involved with over his hockey career as a player, coach, and scout:

• Drafted 1998 by the Sudbury Wolves OHL
• Played 6 yrs Junior in Ontario.
• 3 Years with the Wellington Dukes OPJHL FWD
• 3 Years with the Napanee Raiders
• Played AAA Minor Hockey for the Kingston Frontenacs from Atom thru Bantam.
• Played AAA for the MISSISSAUGA REPS Major Bantam.
• Head Coach: Crystal Lake Leafs, Minor Midget, 2005/06 Blackhawk cup Final 8
• Head Coach: Crystal Lake Leafs, A2 Major, 2005/06 1st Place Undefeated.
• Asst. Coach: Crystal Lake Leafs, Major Midget, 2005/06 Blackhawk Cup Final 8
• Asst. Coach: Pembroke LumberKings, JR A CJHL, 2004/05 Division Finalists. Nationally ranked.
• Head Coach: Napanee Raiders, Jr B, 2003/04
• Co-Coach: Greater Kingston Predators, Major Midget AAA- All Ontario Finalists.2003/04
• Head Coach Ottawa Vipers Prospects, ages 1986 thru 1993 birth year 8 Teams Total.
• Head Coach: Kingston Beasts, 1989 Birth Year.

Neil Inman

Twin Cities Region

Neil has been scouting, coaching and working with player advancement for the past three seasons. He also has quickly become one of the best on-ice player development instructors in Minnesota. Neil is a 2004 Graduate of St Thomas Academy, where he was a four year letter-winner, two year All-Conference honoree, team captain, and team MVP in hockey. He is currently finishing up his marketing major at the University of St Thomas.

Rob Krohl

Michigan-MWEHL USA Scout
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Rob Krohl is currently in his third season as the head coach for the Honey Baked Minor Midgets. Over the past two seasons, Rob has led the Honey Baked Minor Midgets to one of the top minor Midget programs in North America compiling a stellar record of 124 wins, 14 losses, and 6 ties with two national tournament berths, two state championships, two MWEHL championships and numerous tournament championships. Through two seasons at the helm of the Honey Baked Minor Midgets Rob has moved three players to the NTDP, six players to the USHL, produced eight OHL draft picks, and eight of his players have accepted D-I full scholarship commitments. Rob began coaching eight years ago as an assistant with Eastern Michigan University before taking the head coaching position of the old Wayne Wheels Junior B Hockey Club in the CSHL.. After seven full years of coaching Rob has five national tournament berths to his credit and has compiled an overall record of 259 wins, 92 losses, and 18 ties. Rob played four years of junior hockey in the CSHL spending most of his junior career with the Toledo Cherokee. After his junior career, Rob tried out as a walk-on for the 1998 NCAA National Champion, University of Michigan Wolverines where he earned his bachelor's degree in communications. Following graduation, Rob attended Jim Evans Academy of Professional Baseball Umpiring where he was 1 of 17 students out of 150 to receive a professional contract. Rob spent the next four years umpiring professional baseball in the minor leagues before retiring to focus on his coaching career.

Rob has been married for five years and resides with his wife, Elizabeth, in Dexter, MI.

Tim Kyrkostas

Southeastern USA Scout
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Tim is another experienced hockey man. He is the current Special Assistant Coach for the Florida Panthers NHL, current Head Coach Florida Jr. Panthers U16 AAA, and operates the South Florida Prospects Camp. He was formerly a captain and won a NCAA Division III National Championship while at Norwich University in 2000.

Steve Lowe

Michigan USA Scout
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Steve is a graduate of the Kitchener Ontario Minor Hockey Association. He was a draft with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League in 1994 which led to him being drafted into the NHL with the Dallas Stars in 1995. He played university hockey at St. Thomas University, then continued his career with 6 years in minor pro hockey (ECHL, UHL, WCHL). He resides in Michigan, USA and presently coaches minor hockey. In 2006, Steve Lowe is the head coach of the new Team nXi U18.

Dr. Mike "Tuner" Maristuen

Dr. Mike "Tuner" Maristuen joined USHL Central Scouting in the summer of 2007. Currently, he maintains a busy chiropractic clinic (Spine & Sports Chiropractic) in the Roseville area where he specializes in treating sports injuries, chronic pain and the walking wounded. Dr. Maristuen has a strong background in the biomechanics of skating and focuses on speed and power of the skating stride.

Tuner's playing experience includes playing at Roseville Area High School. As a senior, he was a finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey Award. He was a member of the St. Paul Vulcans of the USHL where he won the 'Fastest Skater' award at the All Star Competition. He moved on to a successful hockey career at St. Cloud State University where he majored in Biomedical Science.

Tuner resides in Roseville with his wife, Ann, and his son, Carter.

"My personal goal was to receive a scholarship to play Division I hockey. After putting up 17 points as a junior in high school, it shouldn't be a surprise that I was not highly recruited. With dedication and the desire to reach my goals. I went to work during that summer going into my senior year. As you should know.hard work pays off. After scoring 60 points in 23 games, I reached my personal goals of not only playing Division I hockey, but also getting my education paid for. Now, my goal is to help other hockey players reach their goals through player development, advancement, scouting and recognizing young upcoming talent."

Scott Montagna

New York USA Scout
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Scott Montagna has been involved in hockey for over 30 years. After growing up in Marquette, MI and playing for the Marquette Electricians Midget program, he played Jr. A and Jr. B hockey in the USA and Canada, including time with the then Mason City Huskies of the USHL. Other teams were Compuware in the NAHL, the Marquette Americans of the Northern Ontario Hockey League and the Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL. He played college hockey for the Oswego State Lakers.

In 2006-07, Scott is the head coach of the Syracuse Stars 92AAA Bantam Major team, which he has coached for the 5 previous seasons. The 92 Stars have captured many tournament wins in both the USA and Canada. The team took a bronze medal in the USA PeeWee Nationals in 2005. Besides his coaching duties with the 92 Stars winter club, coach Montagna has been on staff with ProStar Hockey as a scout and evaluator for the past 3 years. In 2006 he coached at the Empire State games in NY State. He has worked as an evaluator for the NY Region USA Select Camps for 3 years. He is involved at all levels in the Syracuse Stars Prospects program as a coach and coordinator. When time allows, he also helps with the Syracuse Stars Junior A and B Hockey Clubs in the EJHL and Empire League.

Brian Murphy

Twin Cities and Western Wisconsin Region

Brian currently coaches the Wisconsin Fire 1993 AAA Team. Before joining the USHL Central Scouting Staff in July of 2007 he was working as a scout for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. We are excited to have someone who has experience scouting in the USHL for an individual team.

Warren Nugent

South Central USA Scout
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Warren Nugent has been involved with the game of hockey for over 40 years. He started to play the game at the age of four in Toronto, Canada. Through the years, Warren has played at various levels and has been involved in the ownership of several hockey teams. Currently, Warren has two sons playing, Chris ('86), who is a Sophomore this season with the Merrimack Warriors in Hockey East and younger brother Adam Nugent ('88), who will be playing Junior hockey this season in his bid to acquire a Division I Scholarship. Warren has a very athletic family with three additional younger siblings all involved in various sports.

Warren has been involved in the Dallas hockey community for over 15 years. Through this period of time he has been involved as player, coaching at several levels, Head of Coaches, on various association boards and part owner of several teams.

Last year as Prospects began its Central Scouting relationship with the United States Hockey League (USHL), Warren was assigned to scout the Texas region. Bob Turow was was extremely pleased and impressed with the level of awareness Warren was able to create with the local players in reference to the United States Hockey League and Prospects.

As the Texas hockey community continues to grow and the talent continues to develop to the higher levels we will be looking for Warren to search out and present these top players to the high level of scouting available at our USHL/Prospects Central Scouting events.

Grant Perreault

Manitoba/Northern Ontario

Born and raised in Fort Frances Ontario, played through the Fort Frances Minor hockey system until the Bantam age group. Then went onto play for the Kenora AAA Midget hockey team that played in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League from 1991-1993. The team won a league championship during the 1991-1992 season.

After his midget season went onto play in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and played for the Winkler Flyers and Southeast Blades (1993-1997), after his junior career played two seasons at Bemidji State University during their transition into the NCAA Division I.

Once completed university, then became an associate coach, scout, director of scouting and director of player personnel.

• 2001-Scout for Cedar Rapids Roughriders (USHL)
• 2001-2002-Associate Coach/Scout for Southeast Blades (MJHL)
• 2002-2004-Associate Coach/Head Scout for Waywayseecappo Wolverines (MJHL)
• 2004-2005-Scout for Dauphin Kings (MJHL)
• 2005-2006-Scout for Opaskwayak Cree Nation Blizzard (MJHL)
• 2006-2007-Head Scout/Director of Player Personnel for Marathon Renegades (SIJHL)
• 2007-Present-Director of Scouting for Northwestern Ontario and the United States for the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres (SIJHL)

Currently Head Scout and Director of Scouting for the local Junior A hockey team, Fort Frances Jr. Sabres.

Grant resides in Fort Frances with his spouse Deidre and their children, Keifer, Logan, Zane, Abbi, and Wyatt.

Eric Silverman

Texas

Eric was raised in West Nyack, New York where he grew up playing AAA hockey. He left home while still in high school and played three seasons of Junior A hockey for the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL). Eric finished the 1994-95 season as the 4th leading scorer in the USHL and was named the Musketeers MVP. He was also a USHL All-Star. He earned a scholarship to play Division I college hockey at the University of Alaska Anchorage (WCHA). After college he spent three seasons playing professional hockey. Once finished playing he spent one season as an assistant coach at the Division I college level with Iona College (MAAC). Eric is well-trained in skill development spending five years as a head instructor with Robby Glantz Power Skating. During this time he traveled the country working with NHL, AHL, college and youth hockey players on power skating and skill development.

Eric is a co-founder of the Texas Attack AAA Hockey Association and currently serves as its U16AAA Head Coach and Co-Director of Hockey. He is also the Director of Hockey for the Tier 2 Dallas Junior Hockey Association. Eric resides in Frisco, Texas with his wife Mikki.

Bob Thornton

Atlantic USA Scout
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Born and raised on Long Island, NY, Bob has played in the USHL, OHL, and ECHL. He was a member of the 1995 USHL and National Champion Des Moines Buccaneers and the 1994 OHL Champion North Bay Centennials and participated in the Memorial Cup. After his junior days, he went on to play seven years in the ECHL for Chesapeake, Trenton, Richmond, and Cincinnati. In 2003-2004 he was assistant coach of the Roanoke Express of the ECHL. As of 2006, he is the head coach of the New Jersey Rockets Junior B team and head coach of the Canadian Elite Prospects Tournament team that finished in second place this past April in the 1989 division. During the off season, he is head instructor of the NY Islanders Elite hockey camp which specializes in on and off-ice training for junior, college and pro players. Bob has used his experiences with many top coaches he has played for or coached with to mold himself as a developer of talent. He graduated with a degree in Communications from SUNY Old Westbury and currently lives on Long Island with his wife Annie.

Starting 2006-07, Thornton will take the role as Director and Head Coach of the New Jersey Rockets Jr A and Jr B program.

Sean Toomey

Twin Cities Region

Sean is a former Minnesota HS Elite League and head high school hockey coach who has chosen to scout athletes and assist individuals in player development and advancement. Sean has too much playing and coaching experience to list as he played college hockey at UMD and went on to a long professional career. He is well known throughout the hockey community for his unbelievable ability to shoot the puck and now takes pride in teaching young players the art of shooting/goal scoring.

Sean's experience as a player, coach, parent and scout make him a valuable asset to the USHL Central Scouting Staff in Minnesota. Sean lives in St. Paul with his wife and has a son, Sean Jr. currently playing college baseball.

Jacque Vezina

Head Goaltending Scout for Minnesota/Western Wisconsin

As a former goaltender, an inspiring coach, Jacque has taken his years of playing experience along with his knowledge of the game to the next level to become a well rounded development coach and scout.

As a coach Jacque works as the Head Goaltending Instructor with FHIT as well as the Goaltending Coach with Cedar Rapids of the USHL. Jacque also has a strong background between the pipes which includes: Two years of Professional hockey in the CHL, 4 years at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he was an MVP along with NCHA 1st team honors in 2001 & 2003. Jacque also played Juniors with the Great Falls Americans where he was named the team and league MVP in 1999.

Jacque currently works with many of the top goaltenders in Minnesota and has a great eye for recognizing talent and potential.