The following is a roundup of recent NCAA commitments. To view the player’s Neutral Zone profile, which includes star-rating and links to all scouting reports on the player, click the link in the headline.
’02 D XAVIER LAPOINTE COMMITS TO RIT
Lapointe is from Quebec City and came up through the Quebec scene until he moved to Newbridge Academy in the USPHL as a 16U player in 2018. Then in 2019 he jumped to the NAHL and joined the Janesville Jets, where he’s played for the past two seasons.
In 28 games last season he accumulated four points (2 goals, 2 assists) and he has one goal and two assists in nine games this season for the Jets.
LaPointe is 5-foot-10 and weighs in at 180 pounds.
’04 D LIAM STEELE COMMITS TO CORNELL FOR 2022
Steele is from Cobham in the U.K. but came overseas last season and has joined up with the Stanshead College Spartans.
In 14 games for the Guildford Firekings last season (England’s U18 league), Steele had 16 goals and 16 assists.
NZ Scouts: “This player is a diamond in the rough. He skates well and with some agility. Steele does a lot of things very well and certainly caught my attention for his understanding of role as his partner (#5 Ryan Hopkins) would take off on rushes. He doesn’t panic when under pressure and played a very conscientious game. He is strong and has his head on a swivel in his own end; always looking to pick up a loose opponent. The young man hasn’t even begun to start his hockey maturity growth curve as most of his hockey in recent years was played in the UK. This is his first taste of competitive hockey in over 6 years. With a consistent effort like I saw during the game versus Bishop College School, it is easy to see how he will be one of Stanstead’s most improved players.”
’98 D AIDAN GIRDUCKIS COMMITS TO CHATHAM UNIVERSITY
- No. 97 in NZ’s Top 600 NCAA Eligible 1998 Rankings (March 2018)
Girduckis started his NCAA career at Robert Morris, appearing in 22 games there as a freshman defenseman two seasons ago (scoring one goal) but he missed all of last season before opting to transfer.
He’ll provide some punch on the back-end for Chatham. His last year of junior hockey was in 2017-18 with the Carleton Place Canadians (CCHL), where he scored seven goals and added 24 assists in 51 games; he also played for Canada East at the World Jr. A Challenge.
NZ Scouts: “He’s a tall, mobile defender with high hockey sense and a complete, three-zone game. He’s got great speed for his build and picks his spots well, knowing when to jump into the second wave of attack and when to active from the offensive blue line to keep plays alive. He can generate offense off the rush, in zone and on the power play as he sees the ice really well, is a firm and accurate distributor and gets his hard shot off quickly. He doesn’t hesitate in decision making which allows him to move pucks quickly and avoid costly turnovers. His best attribute however wasn’t what he did with the puck, but his defensive game. He’s an in your face type of defenseman who takes away all time and space from opposing forwards, and often times, stands up his man before he even reaches the offensive blue line.”
