NCDC 2024-25 Awards: Northern Cyclones Named New England Division Organization Of The Year
By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
The National Collegiate Development Conference congratulates the Northern Cyclones on being named the 2024-25 New England Division Organization Of The Year, as voted by the coaches of the division.
“We are grateful for the recognition. Anytime you’re recognized by your peers it’s an honor,” said Cyclones General Manager and NCDC Assistant Coach Bill Weiand. He works the Cyclones NCDC bench with Owner and Head Coach Bill Flanagan, as well as Assistant Coach Chris Zuccaro.
The Cyclones finished second in the New England Division during the regular season and then upset the defending Dineen Cup Champions from 2023-24, the South Shore Kings, to win the 2024-25 New England Division Championship. That put them into the Dineen Cup Championships, where they took two losses, including their second in triple overtime to the Kings.
The Cyclones share an extremely important philosophy from their youth ranks up through their three USPHL junior teams at the Elite, Premier and NCDC levels. Weiand is also Head Coach of the Premier team.
“We put our players first and foremost. Longevity, Resiliency, Passion and a committed staff that goes above and beyond” are the qualities that make a great organization, Weiand added.
The Cyclones have always placed an emphasis on promoting their players from within, in addition to scouting worldwide for talent outside of their Hudson, N.H., base.
“It plays a huge factor that we place our players at the best possible level for them to be able to reach their potential. We connect our program from the Academy to Premier and Elite to NCDC with our staff,” said Weiand. “We are not just one team or one coach, we are a family and we work together from top to bottom.”
With a total of 1,544 NCDC games by the end of this season, the Cyclones had the second most experienced team in the NCDC. That comes from building an organization where players grow together and want to remain working toward the same team and individual goals. There were 10 returning Cyclones players on the NCDC roster this season from 2023-24.
“We were fortunate to have a great group of young men not just as players, but as people. The loyalty shown by our returning players contributed to our success this year. It all started with our leadership and returners,” said Weiand.
The returning crew for the NCDC team included Jackson Dickson, Mike Markowski, Thierry Lizotte, Keenan Schneider, Ian Duffy, Logan Abric, Isac Martins, Paul Dalessio, Noah Tano and Alek Brudek.
The Cyclones will also see 10 of their 2024-25 NCDC players advancing on to NCAA hockey this coming season. College advancement is the hallmark of a strong junior organization, and the Cyclones are proud to have made their players’ college hockey dreams possible.
“We had a lot of success this year with our commitments. All of our age outs plus some of our ‘05 birth year players will be going to college next year. We finished with double-digit commitments from the team and we are excited to see how successful each player is at the collegiate level next year,” Weiand added.