UMass Hockey Inks Six To National Letters Of Intent

Nov. 19, 2013

AMHERST, Mass. - Head coach John Micheletto announced on Tuesday that UMass hockey has added its first six members of the Class of 2018 during the November early signing period. Defenseman Brandon Egli, forward Dennis Kravchenko, forward Patrick Lee, defenseman Brandon Montour, defenseman Maddison Smiley and forward Dominic Trento have all signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Minutemen next season.

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	Last Team
Brandon Egli	D	5-10	185	Victoria, British Columbia	Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
Dennis Kravchenko	F	5-9	176	San Clemente, Calif.	Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
Patrick Lee	F	5-9	154	Calgary, Alberta	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
Brandon Montour	D	6-0	174	Oshwegen, Ontario	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
Maddison Smiley	D	6-0	181	Airdrie, Alberta	Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
Dominic Trento	F	5-11	170	Brockport, N.Y.	New Jersey Hitmen (USPHL)

 Brandon Egli | D - 5-10 - 185 | Victoria, British Columbia | Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)

Coach Micheletto on Egli: "He is a smart, smooth-skating defenseman who can play both sides of the puck and should definitely contribute to our defensive corps right away."

Egli is in his second season with the Victoria Grizzlies for the British Columbia Junior Hockey League (BCHL) and has totaled 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists 82 games over three BCHL campaigns, also playing for the Trail Smoke Eaters in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Thus far this season in 21 games, Egli has registered 13 points (4g, 9a), good for fourth on the squad in scoring and first among all Grizzlies' defensemen.

 Dennis Kravchenko | F - 5-9 - 176 | San Clemente, Calif. | Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)

Coach Micheletto on Kravchenko: "Dennis is a tremendous competitor with a great skill set and good hockey sense. He should impact the league right away."

Kravchenko is in his third season playing in the United States Hockey League and second with the Sioux Falls Stampede and has registered 97 career points on 34 goals and 63 assists over 103 career regular games. Coming off a 2012-13 campaign which saw him post 62 points (22g, 40a) in 56 contests, Kravchenko currently has 14 points in 13 games thus far this season. As the squad's captain, he recently led Team USA to the Gold medal at the World Junior A Championships and had four points (1g, 3a) over four games in the tournament.

 Patrick Lee | F - 5-9 - 154 | Calgary, Alberta | Brooks Bandits (AJHL)

Coach Micheletto on Lee: "Patrick has a complete skill set. He can equally distribute as well as finish and we're excited to have him be part of the Minutemen."

In his third season with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Lee has logged 99 career points over 124 regular season contests on 36 goals and 63 assists. During the 2012-13 campaign, he registered 55 points (23g, 32a) in 58 games and led the squad in scoring with 19 points (5g, 14a) in the postseason on the way to a second consecutive AJHL Championship. Lee was also a member of the Bandits team that won the Royal Bank Cup last year, Canada's National Junior A Championship.

 Brandon Montour | D - 6-0 - 174 | Oshwegen, Ontario | Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)

Coach Micheletto on Montour: "Brandon is a tremendous athlete and an accomplished box lacrosse player who should impact our blue line right away."

In his first season with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League, Montour currently leads all defensemen in scoring in the USHL with 12 points in 15 games on four goals and eight assists, including two power-play tallies, and is the Black Hawks' second leading scorer. He spent his three previous seasons playing in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) and amassed 117 points (33g, 84a) in 137 career games and had 36 points (10g, 26a) over 41 career postseason contests. In 2012-13 as a member of the Caledonia Corvairs, Montour finished as the team's second leading scorer (67 points) and was top-25 in the GOJHL in scoring en route to First Team GOJHL Midwestern Conference recognition and the Cory Stoyko Memorial Trophy as best defenseman. Despite the Corvairs being eliminated in the semifinals, Montour led all defensemen in playoff scoring in 2013 with 15 points (4g, 11a) over 12 games.

 Maddison Smiley | D - 6-0 - 181 | Airdrie, Alberta | Brooks Bandits (AJHL)

Coach Micheletto on Smiley: "A big rugged defensemen with a heavy shot, Maddison, along with his teammate Patrick Lee, will make now two Brooks Bandits joining the Minutemen next fall."

Having spent time in the Alberta Junior Hockey League in each of the past four seasons, Smiley has totaled 61 career points on 24 goals and 37 assists in 95 regular season AJHL games. In his third year with the Brooks Bandits and second as the squad's assistant captain, Smiley currently has 16 points (8g, 8a) to rank third on the squad through 20 games. Last year he helped lead the Brooks Bandits to their second straight AJHL league championship as well as the 2013 RBC Cup national championship. Smiley was named the 2012-13 AJHL Playoff MVP and earned the AJHL's Sportsmanship Award, the "Stewy Stewart Trophy". This fall he played for Canada West in the World Junior A Challenge that took home a Bronze medal.

 Dominic Trento | F - 5-11 - 170 | Brockport, N.Y. | New Jersey Hitmen (USPHL)

Coach Micheletto on Trento: "A tremendous leader, Dominic was a playoff MVP for New Jersey last year en route to the EJHL Championship and we're certainly looking forward to having him be a part of our leadership mix moving forward."

In Trento's first season in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) Premier Division, the captain of the New Jersey Hitmen has accumulated 11 goals and 19 assists in just 21 games played. He currently leads the league in points (30) and power play points (15). In 44 games with the New Jersey Hitmen in the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) last season, Trento recorded 18 goals and 49 assists to total 67 points in the regular season. He kept up the same pace in the playoffs, collecting 11 points and was named EJHL Playoffs Most Valuable Player after leading the Hitmen to the league championship.

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University of Massachusets Athletics

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