Six TPH Detroit CoE student-athletes win prestigious World Selects Invitational title

he seventh annual World Selects Invitational took place in Philadelphia last week, and some TPH Center of Excellence student-athletes returned to Detroit with some hardware.

Making up a significant portion of the DraftDay Black roster, the TPH boys captured the Under-15 championship at the tournament, which featured more than 600 of the best ’04 birth-year players in the world.

Congrats to the CoE student-athletes:

Nick Burke

Hunter Brzustewicz

Zach Filak

Lane Hutson

Nathan Lewis

Rutger McGroarty

The WSI tournament featured 27 players from the ’04 birth-year who have Division 1 verbal commitments, as well as 49 WHL Bantam Draft selections. Since its inception, WSI-Philadelphia has welcomed 88 NHL Draft picks, 400 college committed players and more than 1,000 CHL Draft picks while hosting players from 15 different countries.

Outside of one loss to Western Canada Selects on May 6, the DraftDay Black squad recorded eight wins on the road to the title. They topped the East Coast Selects 5-3 in the championship game.

Draftday Black out-scored the opposition 40-29 over the course of the nine games.

“WSI Philly is one of the best tournaments these young men will ever have a chance to play in as a youth hockey player,” said head coach Jimmy McGroarty, a TPH Detroit player development coach and mentor. “In a tournament such as this, with a ton of great players and teams, it becomes a grind. Each game is as competitive as the next, so if you are not ready it could be an early exit. We had one blip against Western Canada, which I believe it woke us up as a team and made the boys realize we need everyone contributing in different ways.

“I’m proud of this team in their ability to get better and better with each game. We had a mix of players from Canada and the United States – it was fun to see them grow as a family throughout the week. We had six players from TPH, as well as a couple of other players that played in the Michigan area in Brando Di’Antonio, Cam VanSickle, as well. I would also like to thank all the players and families for an awesome week, as well as the our other coaches in Rob Hutson and Dave D’amizzio.”

Rutger McGroarty matched a WSI-Philadelphia record with 19 points in the five-day event, as the Notre Dame commit registered 10 goals and nine assists en route to being named tournament MVP.

Classmate and teammate Lane Hutson was named the tournament’s best defenseman, after the Boston University commit logged one goal and 15 assists for 16 points over the nine games played.

About Total Package Hockey: Founded in 2001, it is TPH’s vision to become the world leader in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes through the game of hockey. Through academics, mentorship and athletics, TPH prides itself on operating at a standard that exceeds expectations of student-athletes, families, coaches, advisors and all other entities of the hockey world. With platforms that include association management, elite prospects programs, tournaments and showcases, camps and clinics and its hallmark Center of Excellence academy model, Total Package Hockey has assisted in the academic, athletic and hockey development of over 600 players who have advanced to junior, collegiate and professional hockey. Since inception, 45 #TPHTrained student-athletes have been selected in the NHL Draft, while 280 have committed to the NCAA level – 189 of which are Division I. In addition, 99 players have been selected in the OHL Priority Selection and 353 have signed tenders or been drafted in the USHL and NAHL. While TPH is proud of its student-athletes who have achieved success on-the ice, it is the process of developing young men and women as people, first and foremost, that our world-class team of coaches and mentors take the most amount of pride in. While it is our responsibility to prepare each individual for success on the ice, it is our mission to prepare each and every individual for success in the ultimate game – the game of life! To learn more about TPH, visit www.totalpackagehockey.com.