Michael Pontarelli, a 2014-2015 recruit, scored his 49th and 50th goals of the season on Tuesday for the Cornwall Colts of the CCHL.
Pontrarelli, 19, reached the 50 goal plateau in just his 50th game of the year. He also has 49 assists, three of which came Tuesday, and leads the league in points and goals. The 5-foot-8 forward has a whopping 13 goal cushion over the second highest goal scorer, Matt Rosebrook of Gloucester.
UNION HOCKEY NEWS (UHN): What makes Pontarelli good?
TODD HAMBLETON (TH): His coach here, Ian MacInnis, said something that was interesting. He said Pontarelli has "a real passion to score. It may sound strange, but not all of them do. Every game, every practice, he has a puck around the net, which is a really good habit - not enough of them have it.''
Below is a Q&A I did in December with Cornwall Standard-Freeholder sports writer Todd Hambleton. I'm guessing a good chunk of people reading the blog now didn't follow it when I was only using Facebook to post things earlier this season. I usually don't re-run things, but this is an exception.
UNION HOCKEY NEWS (UHN): What makes Pontarelli good?
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| Pontraelli (CCHL) |
I thought that was interesting, especially coming from a former pro who lit it up big-time three decades ago in the Ontario Hockey League. Pontarelli missed the first couple of weeks with mono, and when he arrived in the lineup what I noticed was his shot and a quick release. And he gets into a good position to shoot.
UHN: What does he need to improve on?
TH: Taking care of his own end, [his] coach feels, like anybody out of prep school, is a work-in-progress. But [it's] starting to come around.
UHN: How good is the competition that he's putting these numbers up against?
TH: Oh, very good. As strong as some of the best tier II Junior A leagues in Canada. It's better than most junior leagues in the United States, with the obvious exception of USHL. Four of the five current Colgate power play guys are freshmen who played for the Colts last year - Tyson Spink, Tylor Spink, Mike Borkowski, and Kyle Baun.
UHN: Did Pontarelli generate other NCAA interest? If so, from who?
TH: I'm sure there was, but it never came up for us. He basically [went] with Union very early this season, which we reported.
UHN: Does Pontarelli have pro-level potential down the road?
TH: There's pro possibility. He's not big, but he's got one and a half years still before he goes to [Union]. The game has changed – there's more room for smaller skill players. How high up the pro ranks? I have no idea. He does remind me quite a bit of Andrew Schembri, a little guy but great skill, who went on from Cornwall to Ohio State and now plays pro in Europe.
UHN: What does he need to improve on?
TH: Taking care of his own end, [his] coach feels, like anybody out of prep school, is a work-in-progress. But [it's] starting to come around.
UHN: How good is the competition that he's putting these numbers up against?
TH: Oh, very good. As strong as some of the best tier II Junior A leagues in Canada. It's better than most junior leagues in the United States, with the obvious exception of USHL. Four of the five current Colgate power play guys are freshmen who played for the Colts last year - Tyson Spink, Tylor Spink, Mike Borkowski, and Kyle Baun.
UHN: Did Pontarelli generate other NCAA interest? If so, from who?
TH: I'm sure there was, but it never came up for us. He basically [went] with Union very early this season, which we reported.
UHN: Does Pontarelli have pro-level potential down the road?
TH: There's pro possibility. He's not big, but he's got one and a half years still before he goes to [Union]. The game has changed – there's more room for smaller skill players. How high up the pro ranks? I have no idea. He does remind me quite a bit of Andrew Schembri, a little guy but great skill, who went on from Cornwall to Ohio State and now plays pro in Europe.
Via a tweet from the Cornwall Colts, here's a video of Pontarelli's 50th goal:
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