Quinnipiac recruiting notes 3/13/17

It was another great weekend for the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team as facing elimination they responded with back to back 3-2 road wins in games 2 and 3 at St. Lawrence to win a road quarterfinal playoff series for the first time since the 2007 season. Quinnipiac now heads to the ECAC final four for the 5th consecutive season and needing two wins to reach the NCAA tournament for the 5th consecutive season. Next up for the Bobcats are the top seed Harvard Crimson on Friday afternoon, a team that Quinnipiac split against this season. We will get more into that match-up later in the week but lets take a look at how some of the future Bobcats did over the past week.

Keith Petruzzelli, right (photo by Brian Anderson)

Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) 1999 goaltender Keith Petruzzelli had another week of good in between the pipes. In two starts he went 1-1 with a 1.48 goals against average. He made 58 of 61 saves in the two games he played in. On the season he is 18-10 with a 2.48 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. The incoming freshman is the top rated North American goaltender in the NHL Central Scouting rankings and is set to give the Bobcats the deepest goal-tending the program has seen in a long time with incumbent starter Andrew Shortridge and senior Chris Truehl currently in the fold. With Muskegon thick in the playoff hunt, its expected Petruzzelli will see his season play on into deep April or longer.

1998 forward Khristian Acosta is riding a three game point streak for the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL). He has had assists in each of his last three games and now has four assists in 11 games played since moving to the Stampede from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights (NAHL). Acosta is slated to arrive at Quinnipiac for the 2018-2019 season after spending another year in junior hockey presumably with Sioux Falls.

Khristian Acosta (photo by Sioux Falls Stampede)

Matt Forchuk's junior career came to a close last night for the Canmore Eagles (AJHL) earlier than expected. His junior team was swept in the first round by the 7th seed Olds Grizzlys in three games. Each game the Eagles lost by a goal with the final loss coming in overtime. In three playing games for the Eagles he had 4 points (1 goal and 3 assists). He finished with 201 regular season points (72 goals and 129 assists) in 162 career games for Canmore. The reining AJHL scoring champion will now head to Hamden in the fall to begin his collegiate career with the Bobcats.

Another player's junior career is also over as Camrose Kodiaks (AJHL) defenseman T.J. Brown team was swept by the Okotoks Oilers in three games. After the loss, the Camrose Kodiaks tweeted good luck to T.J. Brown along with several other players who were either committed players or had aged out of juniors signaling he will head to Hamden in the fall. Brown will join fellow freshman defenseman Joe O'Connor along with transfers Brandon Fortunato and John Furgele as the newcomers on the Bobcats blue line. In 58 games played this season, Brown had 31 points (5 goals and 26 assists). He also had one goal in three playoff games for Camrose. In 171 regular season games played for the Kodiaks, Brown had 82 points (20 goals and 62 points).

1997 forward Matthew Creamer of the Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL) season also came to an end and as well as his junior career as he is expected to be apart of the 2017-2018 incoming freshman class. His team fell in five games in the first round of the BCHL playoffs to the Victoria Grizzlies. Creamer had 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists) in the five games. He finished the regular season with 36 points (19 goals and 17 assists) in 56 games played. In two seasons with Nanaimo, Creamer a native of Warwick, Rhode Island had 44 points (25 goals and 19 assists) in 103 games played.

Jacob Quillan a 2002 forward for the Steele Subaru Major Midgets (Nova Scotia) is averaging 1.16 points per game in the NSMMHL playoffs. In six playoff games he has 7 points (1 goal and 6 assists). Quillan's goal was a triple overtime winner in Steele Subaru's win over Halifax McDonald's. The youngest player on the Steele Subaru roster has elevated his game in the playoffs after scoring 28 points in 36 regular season games this year.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.