Continental Hockey Association: A conversation with Leafs GM Tony DeSilva

May 2, 2011

Each team the Massachusetts Maple Leafs play has to watch its back,
especially the area behind its goalie’s back.

The Leafs, who won the 2008 Jr. C National Championship and competed in the Jr. B Nationals
in 2009 and 2010, are a strong opponent in not just the Continental Hockey Association,
but outside of their league as well (13-2-4 from October through March).
The Leafs tore up the CHA’s Eastern Conference with a 30-5-2-1 record in 2010-11,
and performed well through the playoffs before falling to their division rival Metro Fighting Moose.
It was a wild ride and general manager/head coach Tony DeSilva was only too glad to talk about
his bunch of die-hard athletes.

What did you think of your season and the team's accomplishments?
Overall, after a disappointing start and a winless September, the team went 43-7-6 the rest of the way,
including finishing the season 11-0-1 in the last 12 games. The Leafs were very strong in the playoffs,
advancing to the semifinals, going 3-0 with wins over the Junior Bruins (5-3),
New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs (8-0) and New York Apple Core (5-1). The Leafs’ season ended in disappointing
and questionable fashion with a 6-3 loss to the Metro Moose.
Did the season feel like it was broken up in highs and lows, or did you feel like it
was one good string of games throughout?
The season included a lot of injuries and adversity throughout, but the team battled and ended the season
playing the best they had all season.

Who were your top performers at forward, defense and in goal?
The Leafs’ top five scorers were Benny Brouillard (108 points overall), Jarred Mitrano (102),
Patrick Avery (96), C.J. Cordeiro (88) and Ryan Merz (72).

The defense was led by captain Bret Zimmerman and the scoring by defensemen was led by Robert Berg (57),
Kyle Gasior (46), P.J. Burnham (35) and Emilio Botelho (34).

Jason Sanantonio was a late addition and he went 8-1-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average
and a .930 save percentage. He combined with Boyd Zinger (3.27 GAA, 20 wins) to make them
the best goalie tandem in the league.

Who are you expecting to return and lead the Leafs in 2011-12?

With the expected restructuring of USA Hockey, with no letters (Jr. A, B or C), it could make for
a real interesting off-season. The majority of the eligible players have been to tryouts
in the EJHL, AJHL and NAHL thus far. If the core of the players return to the Leafs,
with the potential interest thus far that has been shown, the Leafs will be looking
to be a very strong contender as per usual, but time will tell.

Where are the top performers who are aging out headed after this season?
What other advancement opportunities do younger players face?

The Leafs have a few players with college options still afloat, those being Berg, Mitrano and Sanantonio.
Those three should have something firmed up by mid-May. Zach Cappelli will be returning
to New England College after taking a semester off there. Burnham will be attending Niagara University
in the fall.

Can you describe how the team holds its tryouts? Last year, it was on
a summer showcase performance basis - are the Leafs doing tryouts any differently this year?

The Leafs will be doing tryouts like they had last year. The players have been picked
from their five-week camp and we also will use five spring and summer tournaments and offer contracts
from them as well. The Leafs’ coaching staff also attends showcases throughout the country,
as well as several NAHL open and main camps. The Leafs could add a June or July weekend tryout,
based on the need and/or interest.

How closely do the Leafs' various programs (full-season CHA, IJHL and high school development teams)
work together to move and develop players?

The Leafs’ three-pronged organization works as a collective group and will continue to do so
to help player development and progress and will do so on an individual basis.
The CHA has a lot of travel and a tournament-type schedule, so it is geared more for
the post-grad type player. The IJ team features more of a local schedule for players
that are not playing high school hockey but are still in high school.

The 18U AAA/High School Development team will be a split-season team playing 30-40 games
prior to their respective high school season and will gear towards the more serious player
looking to get a taste of juniors while still playing high school hockey.

Posted by Joshua Boyd, Editor at 12:49 PM 0 comments