USHL Atlantic Challenge to feature top '15 prospects

Tuesday, 09.02.2014 / 11:44 AM

By NHL.com Staff -  / 2015 NHL Draft blog

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2015 NHL Draft blog
USHL Atlantic Challenge to feature top '15 prospects

A number of top prospects players listed on NHL Central Scouting's Futures List for the 2015 NHL Draft will headline the second annual United States Hockey League Atlantic Challenge preseason showcase, at Twin Rinks Ice Center in East Meadow, N.Y., Sept. 5-7.

The event will feature the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, Muskegon Lumberjacks, Lincoln Stars and the United States National Team Development Program Under-18 team.

Seven players from the USNTDP program are on the Futures List: forwards Jeremy Bracco, Christian Fischer, Jordan Greenway, Brendan Warren and Colin White, and defensemen Nick Boka and Casey Fitzgerald.

Muskegon center Cooper Marody also made the Futures List.

"We are delighted to have an opportunity once again to showcase the USHL brand of junior hockey in the east," USHL president and commissioner Bob Fallen said in a statement. "This event provides players, coaches and families in the region that are unfamiliar with Tier 1 junior hockey a glimpse of the speed and skill required to play at this level. Last year's inaugural event was a huge success and we look forward to another quality experience having this event at the brand new Twin Rinks Ice Center."

Twin Rinks of Eisenhower Park, which opened in March 2014, is a 165,000-square foot hockey and entertainment facility that offers two NHL-size ice surfaces in addition to off-ice fitness and training areas. The center is home to Ferraro Brothers Hockey development camps and clinics, owned and operated by USHL alums and former NHL players Chris Ferraro and Peter Ferraro. The brothers are part-owners of the Muskegon Lumberjacks, along with Ronald and Joel Friedman.

"Players on Long Island, or along the East Coast, are not familiar enough with the USHL and it drives us crazy because we see the talent coming through this area," Chris Ferraro said. "This will give us an opportunity to have a direct pipeline from here [Long Island] to the USHL. Develop with us from the beginning and have that goal of getting to the USHL and gain that exposure to the NCAA and then the NHL. That's the route we took and it worked."