Along the way, the 87’s have entered the youth hockey sphere by creating an 18u AAA team for the 2021-22 season. Since then, the team has seen players go from the youth level to juniors before finally committing to an NCAA program.

Forwards Keaton Richards, Ryan Karbach and Patrick DeMarinis, along with defenseman Zach Garnsey, have all played for the 87’s youth and junior teams before committing to an NCAA program.

Owner and EHL head coach Adam Houli spoke about the importance of having the youth program to better prepare players for the junior and collegiate levels.

“It’s always important to internalize player development within your system. Having our U18 team really has allowed us to control and focus on development even more. Seeing the succession of players going from our youth team to EHL and on to college is tremendous, and it really is a good testament to building a strong foundation at the youth level,” he said.

The current 18u coach and head of 87’s player development is Darius Radziszewski. Previously working as an assistant coach and interim head coach for the Corpus Christi IceRays of the North American Hockey League, Radziszewski is familiar with players making the jump from youth hockey to juniors.

He took that experience with him and has applied it to the 87’s to make the transition more seamless for the players.

"We had seen guys from a lot of different (youth) organizations come through for their affiliate games and practices, and a lot of guys when they get to the junior level are culture shocked by how intense practices are, how much goes into it with video, workouts, player meetings and all that kind of stuff,” Radziszewski said. "When I took the job here, I told Matt (Kiernan) and Adam (Houli) that my goal was to create something as close to junior hockey as possible at 18u so that when kids take the step to the EHL or North American League, it's not so much of a hard transition to them."

He compared the experience of most youth hockey players, who may go to the rink a half hour before practice and hitting the ice right away. Radziszewski explains that an 87’s 18u practice means getting to the rink two hours before practice, doing a video session, working out in the gym and then going over drills in the locker room before starting practice.

Players who have a more flexible schedule also have the opportunity to practice with the EHL team earlier in the day. Radziszewski mentioned Patrick DeMarinis, who notched 40 points (15g, 25a) in 58 games with the 18u team in the 2021-22 season before jumping up to the EHL team and helping them in their championship run.

"Patrick DeMarinis was getting those practices and games later in the season, so when it came time for the playoffs, when a player like him can make an impact, because he's so used to what the pace and intensity looks like, it's easy for him to transition from 18u to the EHL,” Radziszewski said. "Instead of throwing them to the wolves at 19 and saying 'figure it out,' it allows them that extra year of working in things that make them successful into those EHL practices during the day, so then their transition when they're playing games isn't so difficult."

Following that championship season, DeMarinis played one more full season with the EHL team in 2022-23 before committing to Saint Anselm, where he recorded four goals and six points in his first collegiate season.

Like DeMarinis, Karbach, Richards and Garnsey also played on the 18u team during the 2021-22 season, and each player took a unique path through the junior program prior to committing to a college.

Karbach put up 38 points (13g, 25a) in 57 games with the 18u team and was called up to the EHL team to finish the 21-22 season. The Berlin, NJ native went on to play two full EHL seasons with the 87’s before committing to Misericordia University.

Richards played 60 games with the 18u team in the 21-22 season and followed that up with two full seasons on the EHL team. At the end of the 2023-24 season, Richards landed a commitment with Saint Anselm.

Garnsey had the most linear progression of the four players, starting with the 18u team in the 21-22 season and then getting called up to the EHL Premier team. In the 2022-23 season, Garnsey recorded a goal and four assists in four EHLP games and was called up to the EHL team and recorded 13 assists in 62 games in the span of two seasons. At the end of the 2023-24 campaign, he committed to Arcadia University.

Radziszewski talked about a common trait between the four players and their dedication to the 87’s program.

"I think it's the commitment to it. It's really easy to say 'I want to go to the 87's and I want to play 18's and EHL and I want to get to NCAA hockey.' It's an easy thing to say but it can be a long-term thing. It isn't super-easy to do the same thing over and over again for three or four years straight, but those guys have seen the fruits of their labor,” he said.

Coming into this season, Radziszewski highlighted Alex Haar, who started out with the 87’s EHLP team in 21-22, played two seasons of 18u hockey and finished the second youth season with EHL team.

“Haar was able to dominate offensively at the P level, learn how to do it there at a junior level and now he turns 17 and plays 18u hockey. This season, a big part of his growth was learning how to play within the structure of junior hockey and the intensity of junior hockey and the responsibilities that come with it,” he said. “This is a huge year for him, he was a point per game at the 18u level and he jumped right into the EHL level and took off right off the bat. It was a great finish for him, but it was a lot of time and effort he put in with the organization."

In addition to the 18u program, the 87’s will be icing a 16u team for the 2024-25 season. Former 87 Jack Lane will serve as the head coach and Radziszewski will be the assistant coach.

Houli spoke about the addition of the 16u team and what it means for the organization to have yet another layer of player development.

“With the addition of our 16u team this year, I am even more excited to see these players move throughout our pipeline,” he said.

Photo Credit: Pauls Pics NJ (Twitter: @paulspicsnj)