Two more Omaha 16U players sign NAHL tenders

February 7, 2013

The Omaha AAA Hockey Club, proud members of the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) have announced that forward Patrick Grasso and defenseman Rhodes Dolan from the 16U team have signed NAHL tenders with the NAHL’s Austin Bruins.

 

Grasso, 16, is in his first season with the Omaha AAA Hockey program and to date has had an outstanding season.  In 63 games played, the diminutive forward from Des Moines, Iowa has 30 goals and 52 assists for 82 points. It has been a big year for Grasso (5’6/130) on a couple levels. He has already accepted a full scholarship to play NCAA Division I hockey at the University of New Hampshire and also played in 10 games this year with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL.

 

He finished the 2012-13 NAPHL regular season tied for the team lead in scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 22 games played.  He ranked in the Top 10 in NAPHL 16U scoring and assists. 

 

Dolan, 16, joined the Omaha 16U club for their final event in Troy last month, playing in all five games.  The defenseman from Waterloo, Iowa, spent the past two seasons playing for Waterloo Warriors Varsity High School.  He was drafted by the Waterloo Blackhawks of the USHL in the 2012 Draft.  He played in two games with the Blackhawks this past November.  Dolan (6’6/195) also played in five games in the NAHL with the Austin Bruins in October and November this past season, where he registered a goal in the five games.  

 

Grasso and Dolan are the 4th and 5th players from the Omaha 16U team to sign an NAHL tender this season joining Lawton Courtnall (Texas Tornado), Camden VanBrocklin (Janesville Jets) and Kyle Patava (Janesville Jets). The Omaha 16U AAA hockey club finished the 2012-13 NAPHL regular season with a 21-1-0 record, which was the best regular season record recorded in the four-year history of the NAPHL.  They will be the #1 seed heading into the 16U playoffs beginning on February 15th in Troy, Michigan.

 

 

A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include two (2) tenders exclusively used on players from the NAPHL - plus or minus any trades - which become active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft, which will be held on June 4, 2013.