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Connor, Jones, McGuire commit to Franklin Pierce

By Anthony Di Paolo, 05/18/22, 8:30AM EDT

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Three players from championship team commit to play Division II hockey

The New Jersey 87’s are proud to announce that Jeremy Connor, Payton Jones and Douglas McGuire have all committed to play Division II hockey at Franklin Pierce University for the 2022-2023 season. 

Connor, a 21-year-old goaltender from Hazlet, New Jersey, along with Payton Jones, a 20-year-old forward from Cedar Park, Texas, spent four years with the 87’s organization. They each played two seasons with the EHLP team and two seasons with the EHL squad.  

Douglas McGuire, a 20-year-old defenseman from Elk Grove Village, Illinois, was a mid-season acquisition during the 2021-22 campaign and recorded 11 points (2g, 9a) in 35 regular-season and playoff games. 

87’s head coach Adam Houli spoke about all three of them committing to Franklin Pierce and the experience they bring to the collegiate level. “They are championship team members now, bringing not only their experience from the junior side but now being on a team who won a junior hockey championship, and that can’t be said lightly. I think it’s a tremendous get for Franklin Pierce to get each player,” he said. 

Franklin Pierce University is located in Rindge, New Hampshire and is a Division II program. Competing in the Northeast 10, the Ravens are led by head coach Shaun Millerick. 

Connor spoke about his commitment and what it means to join a program like Franklin Pierce. “It's a huge honor to commit to FPU,” he said. “When I visited, it had a great atmosphere on campus and I had a great conversation with coach Millerick who himself is a former goalie so it's a very unique situation that I'm super excited for. It's a program that has a chance to win every year and I'm excited to compete.” 

In his first two seasons with the 87’s, Connor set the EHLP record for most wins as a goaltender with 35. He went on to record a 24-9-1 record in his two seasons with the EHL team while posting a 2.07 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.  

Jones also dominated in his first two years with the Premier team, recording 69 points (34g, 35a) in 77 games. In the 2021-22 season, he recorded 26 points (7g, 19a) in 46 games that included an 11-game point streak to end the regular season, and was a big part of the 87’s championship run to secure its first EHL title. 

Houli spoke about Connor and Jones’ path of development, going from the EHLP team to the EHL squad and now to the NCAA. 

“Payton were two world-renowned 87’s for us during their four seasons here; two guys who believed in what we did, took the same path playing Premier for two years then the EHL for two years and get rewarded with a commitment. It’s exactly why we do this, those two really epitomized this year, of our players who deserved to get rewarded for their hard work,” he said.  

He also spoke about how the two commitments reflect on the EHLP program. “The proof is in the pudding, it’s something we always talk about when we recruit at the Premier level. We have shown that player can go from Premier to EHL and then a college commitment. When you have that continuing pattern, it really validates what we do at the EHLP level and really what we envision for players when we recruit them,” Houli said. 

When Connor reflected on his four years with the program, he spoke about some of his teammates and the coaching staff helping him get acclimated to junior hockey and succeeding at the Tier III level. 

“I came into the first year of EHLP not really knowing what to expect but came into a cool situation where it was the first year of the EHL team and I had some good friends in Jack Lane, Zach Tarantino, and Trevor Cear on the team so they took me under their wing and helped me understand the junior hockey layout. Coach Adam Houli and Matt Kieran really put me in a position to succeed and develop my game and my role in the organization through those first couple years. The EHLP really set me up to succeed at the EHL level.”  

McGuire started the 2021-22 season with the New Hampshire Avalanche before he was traded to the 87’s. Coming in midway through the season, he further solidified the 87’s blue line and was an integral part of turning the team’s eight-game losing streak into a 14-game winning streak. 

“Dougie was a guy who was tremendous for us; I thought he was a turning point in our season when we had traded for him to bring him down to New Jersey,” Houli said of McGuire. “He really just gave us some more life on the back end and it was really great to see him play. He was one of our top shut-down defensemen, and I think Franklin Pierce is going to get a really good trio of 87’s.” 

When McGuire spoke about his tenure with the 87’s, he said the most important thing was simply being in the lineup and given a chance to showcase his talents on the ice. 

“I've been working towards this goal for a long time, so to receive this commitment is huge for me,” McGuire said. “My time in New Jersey was awesome. Coach Houli gave me an opportunity to play game in and game out, which was exactly what I needed as an age out player.” 

Connor also spoke about the prospect of committing with two other teammates. “Me and Payton become pretty close right away our first year playing Premier and even more so the second year. Dougie joined our team this past year at our low point and played a huge roll in us turning this year around to a championship-level team. Really looking forward to the next four with those guys,” he said. 

The 87’s organization would like to congratulate Jeremy, Payton and Douglas as they get ready to advance their hockey careers to the NCAA Division II level.