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Mass Attack Signs Filiou, Raiola And Wellman To NLI's
May 6, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass hockey head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon announced today that three future Minutemen have signed National Letters of Intent. Casey Wellman will join UMass for the 2008-2009 season, while Anthony Raiola and Eric Filiou will join the squad in 2009. "We are really excited about the signing of these three players. We have several other commitments who will not be signing until next year and we are really looking forward to the prospects of this program becoming an elite level team at the Division I level in the very near future," said Cahoon. The addition of the three signees from the spring bolsters the overall class signed this year to nine total. "With Casey Wellman we have attracted another centerman that gives us a lot of strength down the middle which is something we haven't had in the program at any point to the degree that we do now. He has offensive capabilities, good skating skills and is unquestionably a top-end athlete who will be a nice addition to the team this fall," said Cahoon. Raiola and Filiou will each play in the junior hockey ranks next year before joining the Mass Attack for the 2009-10 season. "Filiou comes from Montreal and played four years at Notre Dame in Saskatchewan before becoming the Rookie of the Year in the BCHL this year. He will set himself up to be a great replacement for Cory Quirk in two years. Raiola has been one of the top defensemen in the state of Minnesota at Minnetonka High School which was consistently ranked as one of the top programs in the state all year long and will be a great addition as well. We've done a really good job of bringing in high quality players in to fill roles of current players."
Eric Filiou Filiou dressed for 53 games this past season, tallying 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points, which was good for second on the team and 19th in the league. His efforts last season earned him the BCHL Rookie of the Year award. Filiou is also ranked as the 155th best North American skater according to the final Central Scouting rankings for the NHL draft. Filiou is also a teammate of Matt Irwin who signed with UMass during the early period last December.
Anthony Raiola In his senior season playing for Minnetonka High School, Raiola totaled five goals and 12 assists for 17 points. His efforts this past season earned him All-Minnesota Honorable Mention. As a team, Minnetonka was ranked #1 throughout most of the season before they were upset by Benilde-St. Margaret's in the regionals of last year's playoffs. Raiola will play the 2008-09 season with Sioux Falls of the USHL.
Casey Wellman In two seasons with Cedar Rapids, Wellman totaled 118 games with 30 goals and 39 assists for 69 points. During the 2007-08 season, he dressed for 59 games and tallied 22 goals and 23 assists for 55 points, making him the top incoming UMass scorer in the USHL. His point total ranked him 26th overall in the USHL last season. Wellman also added five power play goals and five game winning goals. His game winning goals were good for fifth in the league.
In addition to these three players, UMass also has six other recruits who signed National Letters of Intent earlier this past year: John Carlson, TJ Syner, Dan Hobbs, David Boehm, Michael Marcou and Matt Irwin. Carlson totaled 12 goals and 31 assists in 59 games on defense for the Indiana Ice of the USHL. His 43 points were the second most by a defenseman in the league. He was named the USHL Defenseman of the Week for the last week of the regular season, and was also named to the All-USHL Second-Team and the USHL All-Rookie Team. He was drafted in the second round of the OHL draft, is currently ranked as the 17th best North American skater, and projected as a first-round pick in the NHL Entry Draft in June. Syner was a teammate of Carlson's this season, playing in 58 games and compiling 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points. Syner netted two hat tricks as well as scoring two goals in several games this season. Hobbs finished the season with a total of 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists in 54 games for the Columbus Junior Blue Jackets. His productivity increased by 10 points from the previous season when he tallied 21 points. Boehm dressed for 59 games this season, totaling 14 goals and 17 assists for 31 points with the Cedar Raipds Rough Riders. He also played in the USHL All-Star Game. Marcou totaled 11 points this season on defense, a six point improvement from the previous year, with the Waterloo Blackhawks. Five of his points came on the power play. Irwin captained the Nanaimo Clippers this season and was named the Best Defenseman of the BCHL with 53 points on 16 goals and 37 assists in 59 games. His points were the third best in the league for a defenseman. Irwin is also a two-time BCHL All-Star. |
 
 
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