Cyclones, tornadoes and other storms are well known for taking things from their foundations and moving them somewhere new and unexpected.

The Northern Cyclones hockey team does the same, but with hockey players and with much more fortunate outcomes than their meteorological namesake. The Cyclones team in the USPHL Premier division has moved five players from their California foundations and they are now playing huge roles for one of the 51-team league’s best teams, operating out of Hudson, N.H.

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Brendan Schulte was the first of these Cyclones to make the move east, joining the Cyclones’ 18U program in 2016. The ‘98 Fullerton native was a star player for Servite High School in Anaheim. It was there that a former Cyclones Midget coach reached out to Schulte and convinced him to come east.

Schulte has scored 12 goals and 35 points in 28 games for this year’s USPHL Premier Cyclones team.

“I heard about all the college commitments coming through the USPHL, and you just want to go and play there,” said Schulte.

Schulte has been with the USPHL Premier team for two seasons now, scoring 29 points in 35 games in 2017-18. He gives all the credit to Premier coach Bill Weiand for developing his game to the point that he is getting a lot of NCAA attention.

Just ahead of Schulte in the scoring ranks is a second-year Cyclone, Guillaume Bose, who spent both of the last two years with the organization’s Premier squad. Bose has 13 goals and 39 points in 28 games for the Cyclones. He is a ‘98-born San Jose native.

“I found myself out here for NCDC (the USPHL’s top, tuition-free junior division) tryouts, and I met Coach Weiand, and stayed around,” said Bose, a former San Jose Jr. Sharks standout. “I had heard that the Cyclones were very good about placing players in college around the East Coast. I love this program. All the coaches and facilities are great.”

The Cyclones’ development model took Bose from a player early in 2017-18 that didn’t see a lot of playing time, to the leading scorer and team captain here at the midpoint of 2018-19.

“I definitely feel like I’ve developed a lot,” said Bose, who reached out to his former Sharks 12U and 14U teammate Mischa Subotin (‘98/San Jose) to bring him on board with the Cyclones.

Subotin’s path had taken him first to Culver Military Academy and then to the USPHL’s Syracuse Stars before the Cyclones, so the reunion was a long time in the making.

“We knew each other from before, and I played against him last year,” said Subotin has 11 goals and 15 points in 27 games for the Cyclones.

“We switch our lines up a lot here, but Guillaume and I have played on a line together a bit,” Subotin said. “It’s a lot of fun.

“I think it’s great to have all these college looks. So many Division III and Division I colleges are here, so we have the opportunity to get looked at consistently,” he added.

Subotin is continuing to work his game towards a college hockey opportunity like his fellow Californians on the squad. He is especially working on his “intensity and grittiness” this season.

Anthony Capraro, a ‘99 from Hacienda Heights, is another second-year Cyclone. He came up to Premier this year full-time after a full season last year in the USPHL Elite – the player development platform for most Premier and NCDC programs.

“I’m from L.A., and I had a family friend whose son had played for the Cyclones’ Elite team. I got in touch with Bill, he made me an offer, and this was the best option,” said Capraro, who has two assists in 19 Premier games. “Coming out east gave me exposure to better hockey than I would have found at home. I’m trying to keep my composure with how fast the game is.”

Weston Goodman is a ‘98 who grew up in L.A., but now lives in San Jose.

“I love these (California) guys and it’s a really good time, and it’s nice that back home we see each other as well,” said Goodman, a forward with two goals and five points in 23 games. “This summer, I talked with Coach Weiand and we developed a good rapport. In terms of the Cyclones, I found them through Bose, who had a good experience here and passed that info on to me.”

Like the rest, he has his eyes set on a college hockey future. These five California gentlemen left their homes and traveled 3,000 miles for their hockey futures, and have full confidence that the USPHL and the Northern Cyclones will open doors they hadn’t seen before.

Photo/Stephen Spencer/Action Photography

— Joshua Boyd/USPHL.com

(Feb. 5, 2019)