Latest news with #LincolnStars
New York Times
24-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Meet Blake Montgomery, the Senators prospect taking one ‘big step' after another
Billy Sullivan talks about the Montgomery boys as like family to him at this point. Sullivan, who runs Sully Hockey, a video analysis and development business that works with some of hockey's top prospects, began working with Bryce Montgomery, a 2021 NHL Draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, before the pandemic. Advertisement He started watching his younger brother Blake during the pandemic when Blake played at the Seacoast Performance Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 2021. In those days, Sullivan says Blake was like a baby deer. 'It was like, 'Man, this kid can skate but look at his form,'' Sullivan said. 'I don't want to say he was knock-kneed but he clearly was not a man at all.' Coming out of the pandemic, Blake wasn't an NHL prospect. After a year at Seacoast, he played at Mount St. Charles Academy in 2022-23. As a 2005 birth year, that should have been his NHL Draft year. He registered just 33 points in 52 games for the prep school's U18 team, eighth on the team in scoring. He was never listed by NHL Central Scouting. But one season at a time, he took 'either a little bit of a step or a big step.' Halfway through his Seacoast season, Sullivan found himself thinking, 'Man, the kid's starting to look like a prospect now.' At Mount St. Charles Academy, Sullivan then saw him take off a few times and caught himself thinking, 'Man, if that's what he looks like going up and down the rink, that looks like an NHL winger on occasion.' At 18, he made the Lincoln Stars in the USHL, and after treading water for the first couple of months, Sullivan watched him realize 'Oh, I can do this here' and take off again, this time as 'one of the better players in the league' as the season went on. Still, at midseason, he wasn't ranked by NHL Central Scouting as an overager. It wasn't until their final ranking, after he'd already turned 19 and had registered 22 goals and 43 points in 58 games, that he appeared on their final list for the 2024 class, landing at No. 101 among North American skaters. Some NHL clubs had caught on earlier, though, and among them were the Senators, led by head amateur scout Don Boyd. Boyd told The Athletic that his scouts followed Blake from the onset of his rookie year as an overager in the USHL. Advertisement During the second half, he said he was 'one of the better, if not the best player on the ice sometimes.' At the time, he was listed at 6-foot-3.5 and 180 pounds and they were struck by the same thing everyone is when they watch Blake: that he can fly. 'We liked his size, skating and skill ratio,' Boyd said. 'And he's got puck skills that are really very good as far as handling the puck and the ability to play in traffic. He has that separation speed that is so important in today's game. There was a lot of good things.' In the fourth round, they called his name with the 117th pick in the draft. Almost a year later, he has taken another one of those big steps Sullivan has kept seeing, this time with the London Knights, where Sullivan is a scout and helped bring him and Bryce into the organization at different points. Tonight, he and the Knights will play their first game of the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, nine days after Blake helped them win the OHL Championship with one of the defining plays of its decisive Game 5. The play was vintage Blake taking off up the rink, driving and getting a shot off at the far post, his teammate Landon Sim batting it in for the 4-2 lead. LANDON SIM BATS IT OUT OF MID-AIR IN THE CLUTCH 🤯 London leads 4-2 with less than five minutes to go! — TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 16, 2025 'That is a flash of what I see him doing at the NHL level,' Sullivan said. 'I think in an ideal world, he could be a big part of a very good team. I really believe I'm going to see him make his living at the National Hockey League level despite him not being a top pick. He just has so much runway in front of him. He has stuff to improve on but if you had to build a prototype of an NHL winger, he looks a little like Blake.' When the playoffs were over, Blake had registered 26 goals and 60 points in 68 combined regular-season and playoff games. But the numbers undersell his impact with the Knights. After making the difficult decision to leave Lincoln (where he'd started the year with 10 points in 10 games) and become one of the first players to make the move from the USHL to the CHL following the NCAA move to open up eligibility, Montgomery became an integral part of this year's Knights. Advertisement 'When we were recruiting him, obviously in London this year we were hoping to go on a run and for him to be a part of that atmosphere and in a locker room with 10 or 15 other kids who are trying to play in the National Hockey League,' Sullivan said. 'It was 'Hey, there's a lot of different ways that this could go. You could be on a first line with (Denver) Barkey and (Sam) O'Reilly or you could be on a third line with (William) Nicholl and neither of those are better than the other. You have a lot of opportunity in front of you to experience different parts of the lineup and you're going to need to have that in your arsenal when you get to Ottawa one day.'' And that's exactly what he did. When key members of the team left for the World Juniors, Blake went on a 14-game streak from mid-December to mid-January that saw him score 12 goals and 24 points. 'He has worn so many hats and just keeps finding different ways to be impactful as a big part of this Knights team,' Sullivan said. Knights associate general manager Rob Simpson said there were different points this season where Blake 'was leading our team and pushing our team along.' 'He can play with an Easton Cowan or a Denver Barkey because he can play at that pace. If you want him to go down and play a checkdown role he can do that as well because the speed is there and he's good on the forecheck and brings a lot of elements,' Simpson said. Next year, he'll look take another step at the University of Wisconsin. He'll have come a long way. Home for Blake is Bowie, Maryland, and Bermuda. He was in Bermuda, where his mom, Kimberly Robinson, is from, when the Senators called his name. They go whenever they get the chance. 'It's not a bad spot to spend your summers,' he said, laughing. He grew up in Bowie after his dad, Matthew, moved there from Minnesota to become a police officer (he's now retired after 22 years as a cop). He and Bryce got into hockey because Matthew played Division III at St. Mary's University. Their grandmother, Debbie Montgomery, co-founded the Mariucci Inner City Hockey Starter Association in St. Paul and was the first Black woman officer in the St. Paul police department in 1975 and the first Black woman elected to its city council in 2004. Advertisement There are athletes on both sides of the family outside of hockey, too. Kimberly was a Division I basketball star at the University of California, Berkley, where she got her master's and became a psychologist. The boys' uncle Mark on their dad's side also went to Wisconsin, where he was a running back for the Badgers, won a Rose Bowl, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. One of their aunts played professional basketball. Debbie was also a speed skater who nearly made the Olympics once. Bryce played some football and Blake played some soccer, but they both gravitated to hockey. Growing up, Bryce, who attended each of the OHL Championship games, said this week that he and Blake were inseparable. They were also classic brothers. 'We were very competitive with each other. We definitely fought a lot,' Bryce said, laughing. 'We didn't like each other a lot. We talked about hating each other a few times for sure but that's pretty normal with two brothers who are super close in age growing up.' They followed nearly identical paths in hockey as well, playing locally for all of the same youth teams, starting with the Bowie Bruins, the Washington Little Caps and then Team Maryland (the only competitive AAA team, which has to bring together players from all over the state) and the Montgomery Blue Devils in Rockville, a 50-minute drive from home. Matthew coached them each for a few years as well. Eventually, though, they outgrew hockey in Maryland and had to go play elsewhere. That brought Blake to the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers and then Seacoast and Mount St. Charles. 'Where we're from, hockey's definitely not considered a top competitive sport at all,' Bryce said. 'It looked weird for us to even be taking hockey seriously because we kind of had the height and the power for basketball or football.' Advertisement People say Bryce and Blake are similar but Bryce insists they're different. He described his little brother as a 'goofy, lighthearted, thoughtful kid' who 'knows how to not take life too seriously all the time.' Simpson, Sullivan and Boyd all described him similarly. Boyd called him a 'tremendous person' who has been a pleasure to work with. Sullivan talks about Blake as the person you'd want to sit next to at a big dinner table. Simpson said good game or bad game, Blake's addition to the room immediately brightened it this year because of his infectious positive attitude. 'You ask anybody about Blake around the hockey world and I don't think anybody is ever going to say a bad thing about him,' Bryce said. He saw that firsthand when he returned to London for the OHL Championship and his former teammates, his former coach Dale Hunter and his former billet (who now billets Blake), Lori Vanosch, all raved about Blake. 'Everybody had nothing but just the best to say about Blake and that made me pretty proud. And it's very obvious. That just goes to show the type of person that he is,' Bryce said. 'It was pretty cool to hear everybody talk him like they did.' On the ice, Bryce was always the big, strong defenseman and Blake was always the lanky, lean winger. Until last summer, when Blake would join Bryce and his friends for their summer skates in Maryland, he was 'always kind of the little runt.' After his season in Lincoln, that changed. 'He was always good but he was so little and so young. We could push him around out there,' said Bryce, who is now signed with the Hurricanes and played his rookie season of pro hockey in the ECHL last year. 'This past summer was the first time where he really kind of came into his own and I remember we were skating in the summer and I was like 'Holy cow, he has actually gotten really good.' I was just really impressed. He was just so fast and he'd gotten so big and skilled. I was like 'Wow, he's definitely got something going now.' He looks awesome and I'm really proud of the steps he has taken.' Advertisement One of the other players in those skates, coincidentally, has always been Stephen Halliday, another Senators prospect. Halliday is one of Bryce's best friends. Bryce has old videos of him, Blake and Halliday roughhousing when they were little kids on his phone. 'We go a long way back,' Bryce said. '(Halliday's) a great connection for Blake in Ottawa.' These days, Blake is up to 195 pounds and over 6-foot-4. But he still looks wiry. 'He has come significantly far and we have a ways to go still I'd say,' Sullivan said. 'I think we're at the tip of the iceberg. I'm 5-6 and Blake is 6-4 and I weigh more than Blake right now. Like we've got some hockey and physical development to do here.' Simpson believes the most important component for Blake is now the off-ice component more than the hockey one. 'With Bryce, he's physically thicker. With Blake, once he gets there, he's going to be a big load to handle for other teams' defensive setups because you just can't find players that can skate the way he can at his size. Once he puts on the strength, the power to his game is going to be impressive to watch,' Simpson said. Boyd believes Blake's 'going to grow into a big man.' 'With the hands and the ability that he has with the puck, in my mind to be a power forward is more than just having strength and the ability to skate, that power forward has to be able to score in many different ways and I think he's got that potential,' Boyd said. '(And) he's pretty good at self evaluation and he's a well-rounded, character kid. He's got a lot of good things going for him for sure. And he's a very athletic kid, too, and it shows in his hand-eye coordination and his ability to skate at that size.' Sullivan thinks he's just going to keep taking steps. When he's finished taking them, he thinks Blake's 'going to be a middle-six power forward.' Advertisement Sullivan's constantly telling him, 'Make people stop you, go to the rack, take it to the rack,' and Blake has really embraced that. 'He's going to fill out a little bit more and he's happy with the bumping and grinding. But the way he skates up and down the rink and his takeoff ability, it's very hard to stop him when he's at his best,' Sullivan said. 'He makes it difficult for other teams to defend him and I do think he can play in the guts of the rink pretty well and he's not afraid at all, and that skating and that stride is something you can't teach, and his puck protection is continuing to get better. His ability to go backhand-forehand as opposed to forehand-backhand, which is something the top guys do well, Blake does it better than anybody and that can get people tangled up a little bit.' Ottawa will take that kind of player gladly from a fourth-round pick. 'We're hoping good things, selfishly for us as well as him,' Boyd said, chuckling. After another big step in London — hopefully with a Memorial Cup to take with him toward his next step — Blake now believes he's ready to become that, too. 'I'm really just more confident in myself and knowing what I'm capable of,' Blake said. 'I've learned that I can do whatever's needed and step into any role.'
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Musketeers' Clark Cup chase comes to a close after falling to Lincoln 2-0 in game 3 of Western Conference semifinals
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – The Sioux City Musketeer's 2024-2025 season came to a close on April 21st, 2025 following a 2-0 loss to the Lincoln Stars in game three of the Western conference semifinals. 'It's obviously disappointing any time your season ends,' Sioux City Musketeers head coach Jason Kersner said. 'Lincoln was the best team in the league all season. I thought we competed really hard throughout the series and I thought it was 3 close games. Winning teams just find a way to win. We just couldn't generate enough high quality scoring opportunities. I thought we defended as hard as we could, I thought Samuel Urban was unbelievable tonight. But we just couldn't find enough offense against a really good team.' Sioux City finishes the season with a 33-26-3-5 record. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stampede sweep away Stars
LINCOLN, NE (STAMPEDE) — The Sioux Falls Stampede defeated the Lincoln Stars 6-4 to complete the sweep and gain key points in the Western Conference standings. Brent Solomon continued his hot streak with a two-goal performance, while Reid Varkonyi and Alexei Vlasov scored power-play goals. Waylon Esche delivered a brilliant performance between the pipes, making 35 saves. The first period saw plenty of action between the top two teams in the Western Conference. The first five minutes of the game moved much slower than last night, but it was Brent Solomon who got the Stampede on the board again. Matthew Grimes brought the puck into the zone and passed it to Solomon, who wristed one from the point. Nearly a minute later, at 7:10, JJ Monteiro earned his tenth goal of the season after faking out the Stars' goaltender, William Prowse. Austin Baker won a board battle, giving Monteiro a clear path to the net, where he faked a forehand shot and snuck a backhanded shot around Prowse. A few minutes after the goal, tensions between the two teams peaked. Stampede defenseman Bryce Ingles was hooked by the Stars' Griffin Brown. In retaliation, Ingles tripped Brown, who took exception to the trip. The two players dropped gloves and fought, each earning 17 minutes of penalties. A couple of minutes later, Noah Urness was sent into the boards, and defenseman Filip Nordberg took exception, fighting Michael Sandruck. While that scrum was happening, Joe McGraw and Caeden Herrington also fought. A total of 76 penalty minutes were handed out on the play, which ended in a Stampede power play. After a season of ups and downs, the Herd capitalized on the power play with a shot from Reid Varkonyi from the right faceoff dot. Varkonyi's fifteenth goal of the year was assisted by Noah Urness. At 18:04, Sioux Falls went to their first penalty kill after Ritter Coombs was called for cross-checking after a tie-up on the boards. Lincoln's power play was cut short when Bruno Idzan high-sticked Sam Spehar. Neither team could score during the 4-on-4, and the Stampede carried 3:13 of their power play into the second period. Though Sioux Falls started the second period on the power play, their double minor was cut short when Erik Kald was called for interference. At 2:26, the Stampede headed to a 4-on-3 penalty kill following a slashing call on the Stars. Neither team took advantage of the penalties, and the Stampede maintained their 3-0 lead until 12:49. Caeden Herrington got the Stars on the board and followed it up with another goal just three minutes and seven seconds later. The late goal put the Lincoln Stars within one heading into the final period. The Stars outshot the Stampede 17-8 in the first period. The final frame brought the intensity expected between these two teams. At 6:34 into the third period, Brent Solomon netted his third goal in as many games to give the Stampede a cushion. JJ Monteiro passed the puck up ice to Solomon, who sniped it from the right faceoff dot. Joe Belisle was also credited with an assist on the goal. Less than a minute later, the Stars eliminated the cushion with a goal from Daniel Shlaine. Nearly two minutes after the goal, Joe McGraw was called for a high-sticking double minor, sending his team to a four-minute penalty kill. As expected, the Stars took advantage 1:40 into the power play, with Shlaine netting his second goal of the game to tie it. Lincoln had two more minutes remaining on the power play, but the Stampede managed to kill it off. At 12:50, Etienne Lessard was called for roughing after taking down JJ Monteiro. With 30 seconds remaining in the power play, Alexei Vlasov earned his eleventh goal of the season to regain the lead for the Stampede with a sniper from the slot. At 18:20, Yan Shoshak made his way to the bench in an attempt to tie the game. Just 12 seconds after the net was left empty, Noah Urness sent the puck the length of the ice to clinch the 6-4 win for the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Lincoln Stars outshot the Sioux Falls Stampede 39-28. Not only did the Stampede earn the weekend sweep over the Lincoln Stars, but their two wins also secured a split in the season series. The Stampede now sit five points behind the Stars for first place in the Western Conference with two games in hand. Goaltender Waylon Esche had a stellar performance between the pipes with 35 saves. He now holds a 7-2-0-1 record and a .887 save percentage. The Stampede will host their I-19 rival, the Fargo Force, tomorrow for a 4:05 PM game. The first 500 fans at the penultimate regular-season home game will receive the next set of Stampede trading cards and a commemorative Clark Cup Playoff poster, thanks to Midwestern Mechanical. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stars Headed To Clark Cup Playoffs For Fourth Consecutive Season
The Lincoln Stars came into Saturday night on the verge of becoming the first team in the USHL to clinch a Clark Cup Playoff berth this season. At the end of the evening, that became a reality, as the Stars punched their ticket with a 4-0 victory at home over the Omaha Lancers. A sellout crowd of 4,211 at the Ice Box got to celebrate the occasion. Lincoln improves to 34-12-1-0 on the season and is a perfect 7-0 against Omaha. To top off the night, Jack Pechar netted his second hat trick and third multi-point game this season. It was also the 27th multi-goal performance by a Stars player in 2024-25. Pechar with the hat trick!! 🧢🧢🧢#LNKHockey #StarsNation — Lincoln Stars (@LincolnStars) February 23, 2025 William Prowse earned his second shutout in the last three days against the Lancers and his third this season. Prowse stopped all 18 shots he faced. Pechar started the scoring for the second time in three days, cashing in on a wrister at 16:59 of the first period on a wrister from a Drew DellaSalla feed. Lincoln is now 26-2-1 when scoring first. Pechar potted his second goal at the 3:37 mark of the middle frame, after Aidan Janz pounced on a loose puck and found Pekar between the circles. The Northeastern commit blasted a one-timer past Lancers goaltender Daniel Moor for a 2-0 lead. The hats came flying just 42 seconds into the third period. After receiving a pass at the bottom of the left-wing circle, Pechar went in all alone and slipped the puck around Moor's right pad to make the score 3-0 Lincoln. Jacob Rombach completed the scoring with an empty-netter at the 19:04 mark to clinch a 4-0 victory and the Stars' fourth consecutive post-season appearance. It's also the club's 20th playoff appearance in 29 seasons. The Lancers dropped to 6-34-5-1 overall and have now lost 28 straight contests.
