The Twin City Thunder are looking towards the future.

This past week the organization announced its first National Collegiate Development Conference tender for the 2020-21 in 16-year-old forward Matus Hadusovsky out of Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia.

“He’s a really talented player,” Thunder coach Doug Friedman said. “He’s good sized, really fast, got a real nice skill set, a nice shot, pretty well-rounded player for a 2003 (birth year).”

Hadusovsky has spent the season with the Springfield Jr. Pics organization where he has spent most of the season with their USPHL 16U team where he has 31 goals and 22 assists in 20 games. He’s third in the league in points.

He also spent time with the Pics USPHL Elite Tier III team where he had two goals and an assist in two games.

Hadusovsky was named the MVP of the USPHL 16U all-star game last Monday.

Assistant coach Dan Condon did a lot of video scouting on Hadusovsky this season. who’s 6-foot, 159 pounds

Last year, the Thunder didn’t hand out a tender to a 16-year-old, but with draft picks such as Daniels Murnicks and Levente Keresztes having success in their 17-year-old season this year for the Thunder, it made the organization look at younger player for tenders for next year. Hadusovsky will be entering his 17-year-old season next year.

“You get them ready not only our league but for college as well,” Friedman said. The fun part for us coaches is to watch these guys develop over that time frame. You look at Keresztes and Murnicks from the start of the season to where they are now, these guys have made huge improvements in their game. You see it when you watch them play now they have so much confidence and they have learned a lot.”

Murnicks and Lukas Skvarek a fellow Slovakian both came from the Pics organization last season.

“We have a really good relationship with those guys,” Friedman said of the Pics organization. “They do a great job, their goal is to bring over quality players when they bring over Europeans. Obviously, they have a lot of domestic kids too that are really good players. They want to move these guys on. They get the development piece and at the end of the day, they want their guys have success. They aren’t trying to hold onto their guys more than they need to.”

THUNDER PLAYERS MAKE THEIR MARK AT USPHL ALL-STAR GAMES

Last Monday, the United States Premier Hockey League host three all-star games (NCDC, 18U and 16U) at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts.

The Twin City organization were well represented with Andrew Karapov and Christian Blomquist taking part in the National Collegiate Development Conference all-star game. Both players found the scoresheet for Team American’s 5-4 loss to Team National.

Blomquist put Team American on the board, while Kurapov’s goal came in the final minute of the game as the Americans made a late push to tie the game.

In the 18U all-star game, Dom Chasse, who has spent the season mostly with the Twin City Lightning 18U midget team, made his Thunder debut on Sunday and also found the back of the net in Team American’s 4-3 loss to Team National. Lightning defenseman Nathan Marcotte also played in the game.

HAGERMAN NAMED TOP DEFENSEMAN

Thunder defenseman Gonzalo Hagerman was named the top defenseman at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Division III World Junior Championship Jan. 13-19 in Bulgeria.

The Bowdoin commit helped lead Team Mexico to a fourth-place finish in the tournament as the Mexicans lost to Turkey in the Bronze Medal game. Hagerman was named the top defenseman in the tournament as he was the tournament’s second leading scorer with six goals and five assists in five games.

ROSTER CHANGES COMING TO THE NCDC IN 2020-21

At the USPHL League meeting a few weeks back some minor changes were made for the 2020-21 season. The biggest was that the number of 20-year-olds skaters a NCDC club can have is going up from six to eight.

There’s one caveat, however: goaltenders who entering their 20-year-old season won’t count towards the team’s 20-year-old total.

NAHL, NA3HL ANNOUNCES TOP PROSPECTS SCHEDULE AND COACHES

In a few weeks, the North American Hockey League and the North American 3 Hockey League will descend to the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts for the annual Top Prospects Tournaments for each league on February 17-18.

The NAHL teams are represented by four divisions and two select teams.

The NAHL East Division will be coached by New Jersey Titans head coach Craig Doremus and Johnstown head coach Mike Letizia will the assistant. The East Division team will feature two Maine Nordiques players. The roster will be announced on Jan. 30. The East Division will face the Midwest Division at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 while facing the NAHL Selects Blue team at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.

The NA3HL Tournament will feature teams from the six divisions. L/A Nordiques head coach Chris Pomerleau will be the Coastal Division assistant coach and Northeast Generals’ Daryl Locke will be the team’s head coach. On Feb. 17, the Coastal Division will face the Central Division at 9 a.m. and the Frontier Division at 5 p.m. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Coastal Division takes on the Northeast Division at noon.

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