Goaltender Colin Purcell of Shaker Heights was drafted by the Johnstown Tomahawks Tuesday in the 2019 North American Hockey League (NAHL) Draft.

Purcell excelled for the Cleveland Jr. Barons U16 team this season and joined Team USA for the U17 Five Nations Tournament, shutting out Slovakia in the final game of the event.  He was a sixth-round selection (156th overall).

Purcell, who turns 17 later this month, was drafted twice in 2018 – by the Youngstown Phantoms of the Tier I United States Hockey League (USHL) and the Kitchener Rangers of the Major Junior Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Playing in the NAHL or USHL would preserve the 6'5" Purcell’s college eligibility while suiting up in the OHL would not.

The Tomahawks clearly have an eye on the Cleveland area.  Forwards Colin Price (St. Edward) and Sean Bauchens (Holy Name) played in Johnstown last year and both have a year of junior eligibility remaining.

A total of eight players with Ohio connections heard their name called in the draft, beginning with a pair of defensemen in the third round:  Westerville’s Malcom Palmer was nabbed by the Lone Star Brahmas 68th overall while Toledo’s Bobby Burns went to the Springfield (MO) Jr. Blues two picks later.

Palmer played five years between the Cleveland Jr. Baron and Ohio AAA Blue Jacket programs before spending the 2018-19 season playing Tier II Junior A in Ontario’s Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL). 

Burns, meanwhile, developed his game in the Michigan AAA ranks before moving to the CCHL this past season.  He was also a 2016 pick of the Windsor Spitfires (OHL).

Another AAA Blue Jacket, defenseman Luke Farthing of Bexley, went to the Chippewa (WI) Steel in the fifth round.  Farthing played junior hockey in Canada last year as well, with the Whitecourt Wolverines of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.  Prior to that he played six years with the AAA Blue Jackets – from Bantam Minor up through U18.

Two members of the Gilmour Academy Prep team were selected in the draft.  Center Leo Bax went to the expansion Maine Nordiques in the fifth round while 6'3", 195-pound blue liner Teemu Paloniemi, from Gilmour via Palokka, Finland, was a sixth-round pick of the Kenai River (AK) Black Bears.

Colton Sipperley, a 2000-born forward from Tampa, FL was the 194th overall pick by the Corpus Christi (TX) Ice Rays.  Sipperley put up 39 points (16-23-39) in 36 games for the Blue Jackets U18 team this past season.

Finally, former AAA Blue Jacket Bantam Major and U16 goaltender Aaron Dickstein went in the 13th round to the Maryland Black Bears.  Dickstein is a Dayton native and has played the last three seasons playing U18 and Junior hockey in Milwaukee.  

Celebrating its 44th season in 2018-19, the NAHL, the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior league boasting 24 teams in 13 states from across North America.

During the 2017-18 season, the NAHL set a new single-season record with 331 NCAA commitments, with over 70% of those being NCAA Division I commitments. In addition, nine players with NAHL experience were selected in the 2018 NHL Draft. Over the course of the last five seasons, 1,345 NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 21 have been drafted into the NHL.

--- Scott Harrington for Ohio Hockey Digest