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2001-02 American International Season Preview

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AIC head coach Gary Wright needs one thing more than anything: respect for his program. As a coach of 18 years, it’s hard to imagine that, as he, himself, is regarded by his peers as a top coach.

But since the start of the MAAC, it’s been hard for AIC to gain much respect, finishing out of the playoffs for the last two seasons — the only team to do so.

There is, though, a light at the end of the tunnel. Entering the 2001-02 campaign, AIC returns all but two key players: defenseman Aaron Arnett and goaltender Chance Thede. Both of these players were important to AIC’s team defense, but Wright doesn’t believe that is the problem.

“The biggest area where we’re going to have to show some improvement is offensively, particularly our goal-scoring ability,” Wright noted. “Our goals against last year wasn’t that bad, but our lack of offensive production really made it very difficult for us.

“We work on a lot of things offensively in practice. We have a little more depth on forward and we had two players, Guillaume Caron and Trent Ulmer, on the MAAC all-rookie team. So they’ll be a little bit older.”

Besides that, Wright will return 10 of the club’s top 11 scorers, which would seem to make for a good offensive mix.

“Last year we had two lines that could skate with most teams but our third line just wasn’t as strong,” said Wright, “so we’ll need to establish a third line with a little bit of presence. We just need that depth.”

If the offense does come around, it will be up to a young goaltending corps to help maintain AIC’s sound defense. Frank Novello, standing a bit short at five-foot-seven and hailing from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will be joined by Chad Davis — a stockier goaltender at six-foot-two from Allen Park, Mass. The two may split the work for the first season, but Wright’s tendency has been to use one goaltender for most of the work.

Wright will also hope for his team’s excellent discipline — AIC is typically one of the least-penalized teams in the country — to continue.

All of these factors will need to come together if we’re to see this AIC squad make a run at the playoffs. That may finally give them the respect they certainly deserve.

2001-02 Iona Season Preview

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Since the birth of the MAAC in 1998, no team has shown as much improvement as the Iona Gaels. Picked to finish last in the inaugural coaches’ poll that season, the Gaels have continuously surprised onlookers.

The first year, Iona used a three-goal late-game rally in the MAAC quarterfinals to force the third seed, UConn, to overtime before eventually falling to the Huskies.

A year later, there was no disappointing ending as the Gaels scored twice in the third period to upset Canisius on the road, earning a berth to the MAAC Final Four. Once there, Cinderella continued her work, as Iona upset top-seeded Quinnipiac in the semifinals before falling to UConn in the championship game.

And last season, Iona repeated its Final Four destiny, knocking off Sacred Heart in overtime in the quarterfinals.

So now that Iona has finished surprising everyone, it’s no surprise to see them one of the top picks among MAAC coaches for the upcoming year.

“For all of us, it’s been an incredible run playing and being in different roles [over the last three years],” said head coach Frank Bretti, the mastermind behind the Gaels’ success. “We’ve gone from a team that doesn’t want to finish in last place to a team that can get to the MAAC finals.”

With 12 seniors in the lineup, Bretti knows that his best strategy it to capitalize on his club’s experience.

“It’s gotten to the point that the kids can almost coach themselves,” said Bretti. “The seniors are excited to get out and play this season. They’re motivated by probably the best possible factor, and that’s the fact that this is their last chance.

“We’re coming into this year very optimistic and have our goals set high.”

The same target that’s on the back of Mercyhurst, the Gaels figure is sewn to their sweaters as well. That’s a big change from the feeling the team had four years ago.

“There’s no question we have a bullseye on our back,” said Bretti. “We’ve been the hunter and I feel that we’re going to be hunted.

“As a team collectively, we have to understand that role and bring our level of play up. We understand that it’s tough to go on the road and win because teams will want to play us.

“Our players are understanding of that and how we go about our business every day lends our team to the fact that our guys are ready for that challenge. We have a lot of character and that will be the guiding force to what happens to us.”

Bretti credits his senior class with building a program at Iona. Probably not the top choice of many players when the MAAC began in 1998, Bretti knows that his current senior class were the pioneers for players after.

“I give these seniors a lot of credit to come here under circumstances years ago that weren’t that good and they’ve stuck it out,” said Bretti. “It’s because of that I don’t think that there will be any overconfidence on this team.”

But before training camp even started for the Gaels, they were dealt a bit of a blow, losing junior standout Marc Hallam for at least the first half of the season. Hallam has suffered multiple concussions throughout his career, including one in last year’s MAAC semifinal game versus Quinnipiac. The junior from Medicine Hat, Alta., will undergo surgery as a result.

“Hallam out for the first half already brings us down a player,” said Bretti. “But that’s an opportunity for some seniors to have more of a contributing role than they did last year. Opportunity is what will do great things for our program.”

Key to Iona’s success will be the play of goaltender Mike Fraser. The junior netminder carried Iona two seasons ago to the championship game, but struggled at times last year, posting a .500 record and less-than-impressive numbers.

Having graduated Fraser’s tandem partner Ben Brady, Bretti recruited Scott Galenza, a 5-foot, 11-inch goalie from Camrose, Alta. He hopes that Galenza can lighten the load a bit for Fraser.

“Galenza is a highly-touted goaltender who I believe can step right in,” said Bretti. “He won the Royal Bank Championship with his team in Alberta where we was the goaltender and the MVP.

“Ultimately, I’d like to have two high-caliber goaltenders.”

So now the time has come for Iona. Certainly, the Gaels posses the potential to excel. How much, though, won’t be seen until March.

2001-02 Canisius Season Preview

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Brian Cavanaugh, like any college coach in the country, looks forward to the start of the college hockey season every year. In his speech at the MAAC’s media day, Cavanaugh noted that the start of the college hockey season this year may allow us to feel a bit more of a sense of normalcy, given the incidents of September 11 and with the recent loss of Shawn Walsh to cancer.

So it’s clear that Cavanaugh is excited about the start of the season. But he’s not the only person excited in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sean Weaver, a breakthrough goaltender two seasons ago as a sophomore, is probably the most excited player in the country to start his senior year.

“I can see the gleam in his eye,” said Cavanaugh about the well-thought-of netminder.

The gleam is because Weaver has returned to full health after a nagging knee injury that affected his performance and eventually sidelined him for much of last year.

“He’s finally back to 100 percent and he’s practicing real well,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s anxiously looking forward to getting back and playing games.

“His knee wasn’t right from December on last year. He didn’t get it fixed until February and that basically eliminated the season for him.”

With a healthy goaltender, Cavanaugh and his squad will look to leave their mark on what he terms a difficult league.

“When I look at the league, I think legitimately eight teams have a chance to win the league, especially considering single elimination in the playoffs,” Cavanaugh said.

“Our goaltending will be key. Weaver is going to have to bounce back for his senior year and one of our freshmen will have to play well when I do use them. The freshmen need to give Weaver time to rest now and then because of our travel schedule.

“Our defense is a year older and a year more stable. It will boil down to how quickly our freshmen get acclimated.”

That freshman class includes nine, three of whom are goaltenders. After Weaver, Cavanaugh said he has no clear number-two goaltender.

Cavanaugh also wants to right the special-teams ship. Once a successful part of the game plan, it’s now an extreme concern.

“Our struggle for the last two years has been special teams,” Cavanaugh said. “Three years ago [when Canisius advanced to the league championship], I had the number-one power play in the country. Last year, I had the worst power play in the country.

The fact that Canisius was a third-place team last year with a struggling power play and without Weaver speaks wonders for what could happen if the stars fall into alignment.

“Our special teams were at the bottom of the league and you can’t have that,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s amazing that we won as many games as we did without our number-one goaltender most of the year, the inability to score goals and such poor special teams.”

2001-02 Connecticut Season Preview

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UConn coach Bruce Marshall hopes that he’s found a remedy for a big problem in past years — a slow start.

The last two seasons the Huskies have been slow out of the gate, recovering nicely two years ago to take the MAAC championship, but never getting their heads above water last year en route to a less-than-impressive tie for fifth place and a first-round exit from the playoffs.

This year, Marshall hopes he’s found a way to deal with the problem. Simply start the season earlier.

Thus, UConn put together a five-games-in-five-days trip to Finland and Sweden to play exhibitions against local junior teams.

The results were less than impressive, with a 1-4 record on the trip. Nonetheless, Marshall thought the experience was priceless.

“I think the team bonded real well [in Sweden and Finland],” said Marshall. “The seniors took charge of the team on that trip making sure of everything — from the kids working hard to making sure they were behaved.

“I think that gives us a step up come October. You’ve got 20 guys in August going through a mini-training camp and there’s a mentality that we’re in this together.

“It will help us retool in the defensive zone early on, because 20 of the guys already know what’s going on. Now they’re just got to teach the other guys.”

The other guys are the freshmen, who, due to NCAA rules, are not allowed to participate in such trips before they are enrolled students at the school.

In terms of returning players, UConn still does have some holes. Up front, the Huskies lost their top two scorers in Michael Goldkind and Ciro Longobardi. Defensively they return last year’s rookie phenom Matt Herhal and senior Mike Boylan. And in goal, Jason Carey and Artie Imbriano, both impressive at times last season, enter their sophomore season.

“I thought our goaltending was adequate last year,” said Marshall. “Our defense has to get stronger. That doesn’t necessarily mean our defensive zone, either. It just means the overall play of the guys back there on the blue line.

“We brought in five defensemen to go along with two kids I think are pretty solid night in and night out in Mike Boylan and Eric Nelson.”

Besides a better start, one of Marshall’s goals this year is achieving success in close games. That could be the difference between home ice and not, or more importantly, a playoff spot or not.

“We had a lot of one-goal games last year,” Marshall said. “And from three to 11 it’s going to be anyone’s race. Change the outcome of those games, and things could change.

“It’s important for us to get out to a good start and not put a lot of pressure on ourselves that way. Last year we started out slow and that hurt us. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

2001-02 Sacred Heart Season Preview

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Maturity. One word is all you need to sum up Sacred Heart this season.

The team that has played the role of “almost” for two straight years is finally at the point where the upperclassmen outnumber the underclassmen.

For two straight seasons Sacred Heart has been on the cusp of excellence. Consecutive fifth-place finishes have forced first-round playoff games on the road, and come-from-behind victories by UConn in 2000 and Iona in 2001 have ended the Pioneers’ seasons abruptly.

This year, head coach Shaun Hannah hopes that will change.

“I think that we have a team that’s returning 22 guys and we’ve filled some holes do we’ll be better prepared for more games than we were in the past,” said Hannah. “Compared to years past, we’re better prepared to achieve at least a fourth-place finish.”

With four seniors and 14 juniors, Hannah hopes that the experience of playing in tough playoff games over the past two years will benefit his club.

“We’re looking to our older guys to show the younger guys the way to go,” said Hannah, the league’s youngest coach at age 29. “It’s the first time since I’ve been coaching that we’ve got one of the older teams in the league. In the past, if you look at our league, it’s been those teams that do well.”

With all of the returning players, the major cog that will be missing is goaltender Alexi Jutras-Binet. Over four years at Sacred Heart, Jutras-Binet was the key backstop for the Pioneers. That is, until sophomore Eddy Ferhi stole the show, and the starting job, from the experienced senior last season.

The date was November 4. Sacred Heart was traveling to Lynah Rink for a matchup with Hannah’s alma mater, Cornell. At night’s end, the Lynah faithful had witnessed one of the biggest upsets in school history as Sacred Heart won the game, 5-3, behind a stellar 34-save performance of Ferhi. Suddenly the once-backup goaltender was opening eyes.

“We knew Ferhi was good,” said Hannah. “But last year he came into his own and took the starting job away [from Jutras-Binet].”

“We’re expecting him to come back and play the same way and do what he did last year — give our team a chance to win every night.”

Added to the mix will be rookie netminder Kevin LaPointe from Quebec City, Que. Hannah is hoping that he can step right in to give the team a one-two punch in net.

“We tried to build a team starting with a goalie and have tried to fill holes from there,” Hannah said. “We’ve definitely improved our depth and now we feel good about the goaltending tandem we have in place in Ferhi and LaPointe.”

The number-one goal for the Pioneers entering the season will be to win close games. Last year, the Pioneers played in 12 games decided by a goal or less, with a 2-6-5 record in those games. Hannah knows that record must improve.

“We gave away some points last year by losing some games we should have won,” Hannah noted. “We had five ties, which is a lot of ties. So we’ve got to be prepared to get that extra point this year.

“Even if you turn those five ties into wins, you finish in a different position in our league.

“It’s part of the maturity process, and our team is older and more mature. These guys understand what it will take to win.”

Just remember that one word.

2001-02 Army Season Preview

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Progress (that’s PRO-gress for Canadian readers) is important, that is for certain.

Army head coach Rob Riley wants to make progress with his hockey program, the oldest in the MAAC. And without playing a single game, he sees that progress.

“We’re ahead of where we are last year at this time,” said Riley, entering his 16th season at the helm for the Black Knights. “We have six freshmen in the mix and a group of returning players.

“The returning players went through a tough first half of the year last year and had an exciting second half of the year.”

Depth is the biggest key that Riley wanted to address. Beginning in net and working forward, Riley was able to recruit key players to make his team more competitive.

“I think personnel-wise, we added a little depth with [John] Yaros in goal,” said Riley of the rookie who will join senior Scott Hamilton. “We knew that we wanted two goalies going into the season to give us balance.

“We added [Nichola] Cahill and [Matt] Field on defense. They’ll be able to step right in and play well.”

Those additions allow Riley to move Josh Morino and Joe Carpenter to forward and add the necessary depth up front, improving the look of the team to Riley’s satisfaction.

“On paper we think we’re better than we were last year,” said Riley. “There will be a lot of close games and some parity in the league because the bottom teams are moving closer to the top.”

Those close games will likely be important for Army in the race for home ice. Last season, Army lost a game to Mercyhurst in overtime when the Lakers scored off the faceoff with only one second remaining. Luckily, Army remained one point ahead of AIC for the final playoff spot. Just don’t count on that luck remaining.

“I think you have to emphasize close games,” Riley added. “Almost all of the games in this league will be that way. It comes down to executing late in the game. Last year we lost a game at the last second, but we also won an overtime game against Quinnipiac.”

With depth added, Riley can begin to focus on specific tactical areas that need improvement.

“If you look at the overall stats of the year, you’ll see we need to be better defensively, cut our goals against average and improve our penalty killing,” Riley said. “If you finish near the bottom in those categories, you’re not going to be as successful.”

And certainly, it’s success that Riley is looking for to show some PRO-gress.

RIT Picked to Repeat in ECAC West

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Defending regular season and conference tournament champions RIT garnered the top rank in this season’s ECAC West preseason coaches’ poll. RIT (27-1-1, 6-0 ECAC West) received four first place votes in the six team poll. The Tigers finished as the runner up in last season’s NCAA Division III Championship game.

“The top three teams in the ECAC West are all very strong programs, and I think they could match up with the top three in any other league very well,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson.

Manhattanville (14-11-2, 2-3-1 ECAC West), in only its third season, is ranked second in the poll and garnered one first place vote.

Elmira (16-10, 3-3 ECAC West) landed in the number three spot with 19 points and one first place vote. The Soaring Eagles are entering this season under new head coach Tim Ceglarski.

Hobart (6-15-4, 0-5-1 ECAC West) and new program Utica tied for fourth place in the poll. Hobart is rebuilding this season after graduating 15 players last year. And Utica is entering its inaugural season under coach Gary Heenan.

Neumann rounds out the poll in sixth place, as they move in to the ECAC West for the first time after playing an idenpendent schedule for the past three seasons.

“The top three teams in the ECAC West are pretty much interchangable in position,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo. “You could put them in any order. The other three of us will all be fighting at the end of the season for that last playoff spot.”

2001-02 Fairfield Season Preview

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Fairfield has never been at the top of the MAAC. When one further notes that the Stags had the combined worst record in the league for its first three seasons of existence, the former statement comes at no surprise.

Enter Jim Hunt. Now into his second year of coaching in southern Connecticut, Hunt is already the coach with the longest tenure since Fairfield joined the MAAC. Both Michael Doneghey and Marc Dennehy lasted only one year in the MAAC, though Doneghey was coach at Fairfield before it joined the league.

Hunt’s take on the team’s lack of success was simple.

“When I came in, I made the assumption that every guy who was in the program was part of the problem,” said Hunt. “So I gave myself a year to figure out which guys I trusted to move forward with.

“I ended up walking out with 18 guys. So now I have 18 guys who are all of the right mentality. I know they’re thinking the same way I am and everyone is on the same page, which is a huge advantage.

“There was a learning curve that we had to deal with last year in terms of establishing what is acceptable and not acceptable. Now we all know.”

To say that Hunt “cleaned house” would be an understatement. The numbers are staggering.

“At the end of training camp we’ll have moved on 19 guys and only one is through graduation, so we’ve made a lot of personnel changes in 12 months,” Hunt said. “That’s probably the biggest impact.”

Now that the right personnel are in place, Hunt knows what has to be worked on next: the power play.

“The most disappointing thing consistently last year was our power play,” said Hunt, a former assistant coach in the USA Hockey program. “It was below average, and with the personnel we have, it should be below average.

“They had a really successful power play when I came in, so I left it alone. There were so many changes that we implemented, so the players came to me and said they were comfortable with [the existing power play].

“Now we’re at the second phase now where we’re trying to tweak some of the finer points and the power play will certainly be one of them. The fact that we’re a little more experienced will add some depth.”

Hunt will return only one goalie from the team he inherited 12 months ago. Sophomore Craig Schnappinger, who played most of the games down the stretch for the Stags will be the lone veteran.

He is joined by three rookie tenders: Scott Wagner from nearby Stratford, Conn., Stephen Baker, from Cohassett, Mass., Andrew Martin of Plano, Texas, and Michael Wolfe., from Milford, Conn. Each netminder will enter training camp on equal ground, but one has to wonder how long a team can carry five netminders.

Offensively, Ryan Tormey is expected to be back to 100 percent health after suffering a concussion last year and missing 12 games. The punch of Tormey, Rae Metz, and Casey Laflamme could be potent enough to make Fairfield a contender.

Lakers Top Preseason MAAC Poll

USCHO Staff Report
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Last year’s MAAC Tournament Champions, the Mercyhurst Lakers, were picked to finish first in the preseason MAAC Hockey League Coaches’ Poll. Mercyhurst also placed two players on the preseason All-MAAC first team, one on the second team, and also had the Preseason Goaltender of the Year and one of the two
Preseason Playes of the Year.

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Peter Aubry was named the Preseason Goaltender of the Year, while the Lakers’ Louis Goulet and Iona’s Nathan Lutz were named the co-Preseason Players of the Year.

In the coaches’ poll, Mercyhurst received eight of the 11 first place voted to finish first, while Iona received two first place votes to finish second. The other first place vote went to Canisius, which finished third.

Sacred Heart was voted fourth, followed by last year’s preseason favorite and tournament runner-up Quinnipiac. Connecticut, the 2000 MAAC Champion was sixth, Army was seventh and Fairfield was eighth.

Holy Cross finished ninth in the voting, AIC tenth and Bentley was last.

The All-MAAC first team saw Aubry and Goulet as the goaltender and one of the forwards. The other forwards were Rae Metz of Fairfield and Ryan Manitowich of Iona. On defense are Steve Tobio of Bentley and Lutz.

The All-MAAC second team has Adam Tackaberry of Mercyhurst, Ryan Carter of Iona and Martin Paquet of Sacred Heart at forward, Eric Nelson of Connecticut and Les Hrapchak of Sacred Heart on defense. The goaltender is Eddy Ferhi of Sacred Heart.

Glory Days

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“It seems like just yesterday that they were little.”

How may times do we hear that around our lives? Our nieces and nephews as they go away to college. A teenager on a first date. Or our sons and daughters on their first day of kindergarten.

It seems like just yesterday that the MAAC was little.

Similar ring — maybe because it really was recently that the upstart league got its start.

But look at it now.

Six months removed from its glory day, when league champ Mercyhurst took traditional powerhouse Michigan down to the wire in the national championships before falling, 4-3, the league begins its fourth season. Finally, the MAAC has reached the point that every one of its players were recruited as MAAC players — not hockey players who “hoped” to someday play in this then-conceptual Division I league.

Louis Goulet helped Mercyhurst to the NCAA tournament last season.

Louis Goulet helped Mercyhurst to the NCAA tournament last season.

And one look around the league will tell everyone that it is in a pretty good state. The NCAA recognizes the efforts and, as all well know, awarded an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament to the young conference. Member schools are committing more resources to the programs every day. National sponsors continue to support the league even in a time when corporate spending is way down.

So, now, with some success in hand, it is time for the league to build on the foundation. A good starting point will be scholarships.

Currently the MAAC league allows schools to issue the financial equivalent of 11 full scholarships. That’s seven scholarships below the NCAA limit for ice hockey, 18.

Reasoning, to this point, is sensible. The MAAC is a cost-containment league. Most of its members have made recent transitions to Division I, and thus, not all schools have anywhere near the extravagant budgets of Michigan, Boston College and other national powers.

But scholarships mean recruiting. And the only way that teams in a league can and will compete successfully against national powers is to win recruiting battles.

Talking to some coaches in the league, a few of those battles are being won right now. But if the MAAC is to ever achieve the level of even the weakest “big four” league, the ECAC, it will need the financial commitment of 18 scholarships.

Another issue the league is determined to work on is its size. Currently at 11 teams, the league would like to expand by one more member. Commissioner Rich Ensor said that the league is actively looking for that member and thought that they had might have had a bite in Niagara.

One of the most successful members of College Hockey America, Niagara, looked to join the MAAC when the CHA was in danger of not being eligible for an NCAA auto-bid. But recent decisions by the NCAA regarding the classification of the University of Findlay made the league eligible for the bid as early as the 2003 season.

Thus the search will continue for Ensor. But he stands committed to making such a move, according to his media day speech.

Off-ice issues such as these lead us to look more at the on-ice picture. For the first time since the inaugural season of 1998, Quinnipiac University was not picked to finish first in the coaches’ poll. Instead the honor was bestowed to defending regular- and postseason champ Mercyhurst.

In fact, not only did Quinnipiac not finish first, the Braves finished all the way in fifth place in the balloting. But with good reason.

The Braves suffered probably the largest graduation loss of any team in the country — 13 players. That forced coach Rand Pecknold to bring 15 freshmen into his lineup — 15 X-factors. Personally, I think that the coaches are underestimating the talent of this incoming crop. In the years leading up to now, recruiting has been the specialty of Quinnipiac, so there’s little reason to see that differently now.

Other teams to watch for will be Sacred Heart, Iona and Canisius. All three had impressive teams last season and were basically a bounce of the puck away from becoming finishing from first. None suffered major losses to graduation, so look to them to round out the top five.

But parity is the name of the game in this young league. After what I see as a clear-cut first (Mercyhurst) and second- (Iona) place teams, you can basically roll the dice to figure the rest.

That said, here’s my view on how this will all fall out. The standard disclaimer applies: any gambling conducted based on these picks is the sole responsibility of the idiot who listens to me, and not the writer himself. Click on any team name for its individual season preview.

1. Mercyhurst College
Location: Erie, Penn.
Coach: Rick Gotkin (13th season, 209-122-17)
Last year: 22-12-2 (19-6-1 MAAC, 1st Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 19/4
Key Losses: Jody Robinson, D; Eric Ellis, LW; Jeff Gould, C
Key Recruits: David Rigley, LW; Rich Hansen, F; Mike Kirby, D; T.J. Kemp, D

2. Iona College
Location: New Rochelle, N.Y.
Coach: Frank Bretti (Fourth season, 35-51-7)
Last year: 18-13-4 (16-6-4 MAAC, T-2nd Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 23/3
Key Losses: Adam Bouchard, C; Chris Baboulis, D; Ben Brady, G
Key Recruits: Brent Williams, C; Trevor McCall, D; Scott Galenza, G

3. Quinnipiac University
Location: Hamden, Conn.
Coach: Rand Pecknold (Seventh season, 97-59-13)
Last year: 22-11-4 (17-7-2 MAAC, T-2nd Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 14/13
Key Losses: Chris Cerrella, LW; Shawn Mansoff, RW; Chad Poliquin, C; Jed Holtzman, C; Anthony DiPalma, D; J.C. Wells, G
Key Recruits: Jamie Holden, G; Chris Chandler, D; Tommy Watkins, D; Chris Tarr, C; Matt Craig, C

4. Sacred Heart University
Location: Fairfield, Conn.
Coach: Shaun Hannah (Fifth season, 49-57-6)
Last year: 14-12-5 (11-10-5 MAAC, T-5th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 22/5
Key Losses: Alexi Jutras-Binet, G; Eric Drake, LW; Eddy Bourget, RW
Key Recruits: Garrett Larson, LW; Brad McFaul, D; Ryan Bremner, D; Kevin Lapointe, G; Noel Henck, D

5. Canisius College
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Coach: Brian Cavanaugh (20th season, 276-235-36)
Last year: 17-12-4 (13-9-4 MAAC, 4th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 19/7
Key Losses: Stephen Fabilli, G; Matt Shewchuk, F; Todd Bisson, F; Jason Spence, D
Key Recruits: Fred Coccomiglio, F; Ryan Corcoran, F; Josh Zavitz, D; Marc Pursick, D; Ryan Lahaye, D

6. University of Connecticut
Location: Storrs, Conn.
Coach: Bruce Marshall (13th season, 182-127-27)
Last year: 12-19-4 (12-11-3 MAAC, T-5th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 22/5
Key Losses: Michael Goldkind, C; Ciro Longobardi, LW
Key Recruits: Adam Rhein, D; Mike Hoffman, D; Matt Grew, F; Justin Postiglione, F

7. United States Military Academy
Location: West Point, N.Y.
Coach: Rob Riley (16th season, 214-236-0)
Last year: 12-20-0 (11-15-0 MAAC, T-7th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 16/6
Key Losses: Mike Fairman, F; K.C. Finnegan, F; Andy Haskell, D
Key Recruits: Nichola Cahill, D; Chad Fifeld, F; Tom McCarthy, D; John Yaros, G

8. Fairfield University
Location: Fairfield, Conn.
Coach: Jim Hunt (Second season, 11-19-2)
Last year: 11-19-2 (10-14-2 MAAC, T-7th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 19/1
Key Loss: Tim Viens
Key Recruits: Ryan Porter, F; Eamon DelGiacco, D; Mike Wolf, G; Andrew Martin, G

9. College of the Holy Cross
Location: Worcester, Mass.
Coach: Paul Pearl (Sixth season, 74-60-9)
Last year: 8-22-2 (8-16-2 MAAC, 10th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 20/3
Key Losses: Tim Cantwell, D; Brian Akashein, F
Key Recruits: Andrew McKay, LW; Jonas Tomiuck, RW, Tony Coskren, D

10. American International College
Location: Springfield, Mass.
Coach: Gary Wright (17th season, 197-226-25)
Last year: 10-20-1 (10-15-1 MAAC, 9th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 15/6
Key Losses: Aaron Arnett, D; Chance Thede, G
Key Recruits: Frank Novello, G; Chad Davis, G

11. Bentley College
Location: Waltham, Mass.
Coach: Jim McAdam (Ninth season, 97-108-14)
Last year: 4-23-2 (3-21-2 MAAC, 11th Place)
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 17/3
Key Losses: Andy Cavanaugh, D
Key Recruits: Simon St. Pierre, G; Bryan Goodwin, C; Seth Vinocur, D

2001-02 Mercyhurst Season Preview

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Is it possible for a team like Mercyhurst to improve on the 2000-2001 season? Winning the MAAC regular- and postseason championships and then taking a berth to the NCAA championships — and nearly upsetting Michigan in the first round — certainly will remain a highlight for coach Rick Gotkin and his club for a very long time.

But here’s the shocker… this year’s squad will be better than last.

Losing only three players to graduation, Mercyhurst already would be the far-and-away favorite to repeat as champions. But then take into account Gotkin’s comments on recruiting.

Mercyhurst took Michigan to the wire in last season's NCAA tournament.

Mercyhurst took Michigan to the wire in last season’s NCAA tournament.

“We think that this could be our best recruiting class,” said the reigning MAAC coach of the year. “As we become a little bit more high-profile every year, it’s a natural progression for us. As soon as these guys settle in, we think they can be a solid class.”

“These guys” are left wing David Rigley, utility forward Rich Hansen and defensemen Mike Kirby and T.J. Kemp.

Rigley is described by Gotkin to have “an NHL-quality shot” and to be “a pure goal scorer,” while Hansen is a playmaker that Gotkin calls “very crafty.” Though he can play all three positions up front, Gotkin wants to use him as a center.

Gotkin describes Kemp and Kirby as both being “power play-type defensemen…. Both kids are big and strong and love to finish their checks.”

Now add all of that to the existing nucleus of players that carried the Lakers to victory last year and tell me what team in the league has a chance to knock them off.

Well, according to Gotkin, any team.

“I think every year is another challenge,” said the modest coach. “Our goals will be the same as they were the last two years.

“Our immediate goal is to make the playoffs and hopefully with continued success, we break into the top four and have the first playoff game at home. And I don’t think there’s any reason we can’t figure into this thing.”

Figure into this thing? C’mon, Rick, I’ve been sold real estate in Arizona with better pitches than that.

All kidding aside, though, the sheer strength of the Mercyhurst lineup will give the team something it hasn’t always been used to — a huge bullseye on its collective backs.

Every night, team after team will take a run at the Lakers in hopes of winning a game that maybe they’re not supposed to. That’s the spirit of sport and Gotkin knows it.

“As far as pressure goes, we always put a little bit of pressure on ourselves,” said Gotkin. “There are bumps in the road, and we won’t have any exceptions. How we overcome those bumps will dictate how successful we can be.”

As far as returning players to watch, look no further than the man between the pipes. Peter Aubry, already voted preseason goaltender of the year by the league coaches, carried the club to its destiny last season, including a 47-save effort versus Michigan in the NCAA Tournament. That performance earned Aubry a spot on the West Regional all-tournament team.

Up front, the Lakers will return their top two scorers from a year ago in senior Louis Goulet and sophomore Adam Tackaberry. Both players posted identical 16-goal, 27-assist seasons last year and likely will carry a good part of the Mercyhurst offensive load.

The biggest loss for the Lakers was stalwart blueliner Jody Robinson. And Gotkin hopes that two solid rookies take some of that sting away.

So a notice to the other ten teams in the MAAC: take your best shot. The Lakers, simply put, will be hard to beat.

2001-02 Bentley Season Preview

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For the second consecutive season, Bentley seems far and away the overwhelming pick as cellar dweller. Coming off a season that saw a total of four wins for the Falcons, and their first league win not coming until January 6, it’s hard to imagine, barring a complete overhaul of personnel, that Bentley will become competitive.

The Falcons do return a lot of talent, and didn’t have any major losses, so simple experience would tell the average person that they will win more than four games this season. And thus Jim McAdam’s club may not be knocked out of playoff consideration in early February.

The biggest area of concern for McAdam will again be between the pipes. Having graduated senior Ray DeVincent, who played in all but eight games last season, Bentley will need either a returning goaltender to step comfortably into the role or for freshman Simon St. Pierre to have immediate impact.

A season ago, Bentley finished last in both scoring offense and defense as well as penalty killing, and finished one from the bottom on the power play. The only category Bentley wasn’t near the bottom was team penalty minutes, a stat McAdam would like to see reduced.

If these stats are to show improvement, the team’s leadership will be tested. Players like Marcus Willy and John DiGennaro will have to step up in the forward position, while captain Steve Tobio will have to continue his offensive output while at the same time helping to limit the number of shots that the inexperienced goaltending will see.

All in all, it doesn’t look good for the Falcons, but it’s always a pleasure to prove the skeptics wrong.

USCHO’s Moy Wins ECAC Media Recognition Award

USCHO Staff Report
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Jayson Moy, general manager of U.S. College Hockey Online and radio voice for numerous Rensselaer sports, is the recipient of the 2001 ECAC Ice Hockey Media Recognition Award, the ECAC announced today.

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The annual award, which was created in 1998, recognizes a member of the media who via their media coverage and contributions is an advocate of ECAC Hockey. Recipients are chosen from nominations presented by the league’s sports information directors and contacts.

“Jayson is a consummate professional and very deserving of the award,” said Steve Hagwell, Associate Commissioner for Men’s Ice Hockey. “Through his efforts, coverage of ECAC Hockey in all leagues, men and women, has increased dramatically. The award is a fitting tribute to his tireless efforts on behalf of the conference and the sport of hockey.”

Moy has covered the ECAC for U.S. College Hockey Online since the online entity’s inception nearly six years ago. He currently is entering his third season as general manager of USCHO.com. During his tenure as general manager, U.S. College Hockey Online has increased its page views to more than two million per month. The online entity has also realized tremendous growth and coverage of ECAC women’s and Division III hockey during his tenure.

From a broadcasting standpoint, Moy is embarking on year No. 10 as the voice of the Engineers’ hockey program. In addition to serving as the radio voice for hockey, he also handles duties for football, baseball, basketball and lacrosse.

Previous recipients of the annual Media Recognition Award are:

1998 Ken Schott, Schenectady (New York) Daily Gazette

1999 Bob Ahlfeld, WDPM/WSNN

2000 Barbara Huebner, Boston Globe

It’s Anyone’s Race (Again)

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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What can you say? Another ECAC season is upon us and the Saints of St. Lawrence are the two-time defending ECAC Tournament champions. Can the Saints make it three in a row, which would make them the first team since Boston University to do that since the 1970’s? Can Clarkson repeat as regular-season champions? The Golden Knights captured their fourth regular-season title in the last ten years last season and look to repeat as well.

As usual, its a tight race in the ECAC.

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“It’s really a difficult field to handicap this year,” said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. “You just don’t know what is going to happen.”

“I look at what was graduated from the league, and the league returned a great number of premier players,” said Harvard head coach Mark Mazzoleni. “The margin between the so-called low-end to top-end teams is hardly anything. That’s proven when Vermont goes in and knocks off top-seeded Clarkson. I like the recruiting that was done this year. Things go in cycles, and that will be proven this year.

“When you look at college hockey, there is tremendous parity. Few teams that are head and shoulders over the others; you have to play hard every night.”

But other issues surround the ECAC. What is important for the ECAC season? What are the underlying questions that surround the league and its future? What is the state of the ECAC?

The latter question, on the state of the ECAC, is an important issue for all of those involved with the conference. From its teams, its schools, its administrators, fans and community, that is a major question.

The ECAC is changing its playoff format and looking to expand the number of games its members can play during the regular season. How do some of the coaches see the state of the ECAC?

MORRIS

MORRIS

“We’re a league that has some real quality teams. As I look around, I know that each team is well coached and we as a league are struggling to prove our identity amongst some of the better-known leagues in college hockey,” said Clarkson head coach Mark Morris. “We’re striving to push to 34 games [a proposal approved by the league’s policy committee] and looking at ways to market our league and improve our image as a hockey power.

“We do a darn good job at educating our kids at schools that are well known on the academic side of things, and we want to re-establish ourselves as a power so we can bang heads with the elite schools and leagues. We have a good league here and its up to us to prove it.”

“I think our league has a lot of personality,” said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer. “We don’t have any major media markets that promote our league, [but] our league has a lot of personality in that we’re not driven by one or two teams. You don’t know which team is going to step up and that kind of uncertainty will hurt you in national media attention, but there’s a lot of good coaches; there’s not a kid that comes in that isn’t ready and then they blossom into good players.

“You just don’t know which team is going to blossom. You look at St. Lawrence two years ago going to the Frozen Four. If you asked people if they would get there before the season and people would have laughed, but Joe Marsh was very confident. We’re not just a one- or two-horse league, and all the other teams follow suit. We have many teams that can step up.”

“There probably are those [blossoming] players in the league, but we just haven’t realized who they are yet,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan. “What you’re seeing, across the board anyway, is a league that is very balanced. I’m not going to use the ‘P’ word, but this year more than any other it’s a league that doesn’t have a marquee player in it.

“But I think if you give it a little time, those guys will rise to the top.”

In other league news, the playoff format has been expanded, starting in the 2002-2003 season, and coaches are already looking ahead.

“I like the 12-team format that gives a bye,” said Morris. “What that particular format gives more purpose to finish in the top four and it also gives life to some of the teams that may have struggled during the course of the season. When we’ve had strong regular season, you’re always fearful that someone may be out to take someone out because there isn’t much to play for.”

“It does a lot of things,” said Vaughan. “It gives teams that might not [otherwise] have a home-ice opportunity to get a series in their building. It gives your top four seeds a nice rest. It draws attention to our league and then it cleans up Lake Placid and the logistical nightmare that goes along with it.”

Changes loom for 2002-2003, but 2001-2002 is right around the corner. Expect it to be tight, well-played and down to the wire — as usual in the ECAC.

We’ve inspected the teams up and down, looked at the rosters, talked to the coaches, listened to the fans. This is how we think the league will shape up this season. Now, before we begin our rundown, we, the Iron Columnists, will give you a chance to take us on as a group.

We’ll take all predictions emailed to us by October 10, form a composite, and that composite will take us on. We’ll publish the composite on October 11 in our first column of the season.

Just one rule you must follow — no ties allowed.

We don’t think you can take us.

And yes, line up. The Iron Columnists are ready to take all of you on once again this season.

Without further ado:

1. Cornell Big Red
One of us forgot to send in our media poll, or else Cornell would have gotten a first-place vote. That person convinced the other that it was the right pick. The Big Red’s experience will have them hoisting the Billy Cleary Award at the end of the season (Irony, eh?).

2. Dartmouth Big Green
With playoff experience under their belts, the Big Green return a strong team. Expect them to be in it from start to finish.

3. Harvard Crimson
The Crimson have a great group of middleclassmen and a great incoming class. They’re working on getting to the top — will their defense and goaltending be there?

4. Clarkson Golden Knights
You can’t count Clarkson out, as evidenced last season. The Golden Knights return with a strong nucleus and you can count on them battling all season long.

5. St. Lawrence Saints
The Saints lose a lot, but still have enough to get them into this position. Who will play in goal and who will score?

Vermont captain Ryan Cox leads the Catamounts.

Vermont captain Ryan Cox leads the Catamounts.

6. Vermont Catamounts
The Cats pulled the upset of the playoffs last season and they’ll be ready to go again.

7. Rensselaer Engineers
The Engineers return all but five players from last year. But remember, they finished sixth last year. Nate Marsters will be a rock in goal, but can they move up?

8. Union Skating Dutchmen
The Dutchmen have been climbing the standings, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t continue.

9. Colgate Raiders
A very young team that hopes to improve, the Raiders will be able to do so this season.

10. Yale Bulldogs
The Bulldogs lose Jeff Hamilton, meaning it comes down to who provides the offense.

11. Princeton Tigers
The Tigers are looking to replace some offense and a young team will have to find a way.

12. Brown Bears
The Bears are hoping that the youngsters coming in will provide a move up in the standings. On paper, though, Brown is 12th.

2001-02 Union Season Preview

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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At one point last season, the Union Skating Dutchmen were 6-1-2 and ranked 10th in the USCHO.com poll, and were the darlings of the college hockey world. That ride came to a halt with a subsequent 0-9-1 run, and although the Dutchmen rallied to finish the season 12-18-4, they once again fell short in the ECAC playoffs at St. Lawrence.

“We learned a lot last year,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “It certainly was a great year and a step in the right direction for our program. I think we learned a lot about what it’s going to take to sustain a high level of play for the entire season. The middle drought last year was a learning process for us.

“We got out of the gates in pretty good fashion last year at 6-1-2 at one point and were ranked, and some of our players got caught up in the national limelight, I think.

“We really forgot that it was an everyday process, that you have to stick to that process: making sure that you do the little things right every day, not taking the recognition and letting that get to your head. We learned from that and were able to regroup. Getting back to the playoffs again was a positive learning experience for us.”

SNEE

SNEE

The Dutchmen will be led by Brandon Snee in net. Snee played a boatload of time last season and will once again be called upon as a senior.

“He’s been the backbone of this team for a couple of years,” said Sneddon. “He doesn’t have a [captain’s] letter on his sweater, but he doesn’t need one. The guys respect his effort, his work ethic, his character, and certainly respect the type of goaltender he is. He’ll be counted on heavily again this year, I expect him to be one of the, if not the, best goaltender in the country this year.”

The Dutchmen will return seven defensemen to help him out, in addition to three freshmen.

“We definitely have depth [on the blue line],” said Sneddon. “It will certainly make for a challenge for the coaching staff to make sure that everyone is developing in a positive way because we can only dress six, but we have ten. We think we can do that, and you do run into injuries, so it will be nice to have some depth.

“The three incoming freshmen [Chris DiStefano, Colin Hohman and Matt Vagvolgyi] are certainly capable of coming in and stepping in right away and challenging the returners for playing time. There will be some competition there, and we have upgraded back there. We’ve matured and the youthful enthusiasm will be well.

“A player like Brent Booth was arguably one of our most consistent freshmen from start to finish, and he has a bright future here at Union. We expect big things from him. [Charles] Simard and [Randy] Dagenais put up good numbers last year and we’re hoping that they improve on those numbers and step it up more defensively as well.”

The Dutchmen are concerned with offense, but not as much as in recent years.

“What we really need is for some of the veteran players to step it up a notch and contribute more offense,” said Sneddon. “To our offensive production, if we can have a couple of freshmen step in and make a positive contribution…

“I don’t personally like to put pressure on freshmen… but I am sure that they can.

“What we’ve done is upgraded our speed and skill. We may not be as big and strong as in the past, but we’ll be able to skate with anyone in the league. We play a different system now so that we can take more risks. I’m very excited that we do have more skill and speed.”

The different system that the Dutchmen will play will certainly be an experiment.

“In general how things are being played, it’s more conservative now,” said Sneddon. “If you’re not willing to take the risks, you’re not going to score goals. You make the decision if you’re a team that’s all defense or are you a team that concentrates on good defensive skill and at the same time give your players a little more wiggle room to create some more offense for you. We don’t want to open it up where we’re jumping into the play for no reason. We’re going to focus on going at teams more with our speed and utilizing some of our skill to create more offense.”

Sneddon is hoping the Dutchmen take another step this coming season. If things continue the way they have, they have a good shot.

“We’re not satisfied making the playoffs anymore,” he said. “You want to get there first, you want to take the step towards taking the right attitude and building the culture that making the playoffs isn’t just enough, and I have seen that develop in our guys. To be honest, we’re shooting for a championship.

“We don’t know if we’ll finish in first, but we feel we have to talent to make a run at it.”

2001-02 St. Lawrence Season Preview

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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The St. Lawrence Saints are the two-time defending ECAC champions, but there could be a change brewing in Canton. With eight seniors graduating last season, this edition of the Saints looks different, though the results may not be.

“Sure, we graduated some very talented players who were also great in the locker room as far as character goes, but they showed our younger players how it should be done,” said head coach Joe Marsh. “We have several proven veterans coming back, and we feel we have a good crew of young players who can step in and help us out.”

The Saints graduated four of their top five scorers from last season, including ECAC Player of the Year Erik Anderson, Al Fyfe, Mike Gellard and Matt Desrosiers. Coming back is Russ Bartlett, along with captain Robin Carruthers, Blair Clarance, Jim Lorentz and Charlie Daniels.

“We don’t expect any one guy to jump up and make up for the kind of scoring loss you take when Erik Anderson, Mike Gellard and Al Fyfe graduate,” said Marsh. “But, if four or five players can show an increase in goal production, we can be as effective as we were last season.”

The Saints will have Jack O’Brien, Andy Marchetti and Sean and Mike Muir returning to the squad. The additions of Dan Dupuis, who had 41 goals and 100 points in 56 games for the Brockville Braves and sat out last season; Stace Page, a 51 goal and 51 assist man last season at Georgetown; Josh Anderson; and Colin Fitzrandolph will also help to bolster the Saint attack.

“The best way to describe our team is that while we have lost a lot over the last two years, what has returned is a real good group of guys that to this point that have played in the shadows of a Gellard or Anderson, and guys that have had different roles,” said Marsh. “I don’t know that we’ll put up the numbers that we have in recent years, but these roles will increase and they feel that it’s now their turn.”

The Saints will have a challenge in attempting to return to the NCAAs this season.

The Saints will have a challenge in attempting to return to the NCAAs this season.

On defense the Saints have graduated Desrosiers, Josh LeRoy and Kevin Veneruzzo, but return Ray DiLauro, Ryan Glenn, Allie Skelley, Jeremy Cormier and Tony Maci.

The defense will be young as newcomers Jimmy Ball, Jim Hakewill and Matt MacDonald all vie for time on the blue line.

In goal, Jeremy Symington and Sean Coakley have graduated, leaving Tim Hall, who saw very little time in his first two seasons, as the only returner with game experience. Sean Knaub, Mike McKenna and Kevin Ackley join Hall in the battle for the job in net.

“We are going to be young in goal and will have several new faces among the forwards and defensemen as well,” said Marsh. “But we feel we have some talent to work with. It could a year similar to last year — we took some lumps against good competition early, but came on strong at the end of the year.

“Ackley is one of our freshmen and he looks pretty solid so far. [Hall and Knaub] were third and fourth on the charts and they did a good job in their role. We’re giving them as much of a shot as possible. McKenna is a big guy that looks like he has a lot of potential and he’s working hard. It’s too early to have the edge, but right now based on experience Ackley would be the guy today. We’re still trying to get a handle on where all of them are.

“I don’t see us really making any goaltending cuts; we just want to take our time. We’ve balanced it in the past and we’ll see how things develop and I’m sure we’ll be doing some platooning.”

The Saints vie for their third straight championship, but it will be a hard road to follow.

“The old adage is that I am being cautiously optimistic,” said Marsh. “There’s always optimism in that there’s no one [returning] that hasn’t played in that championship game. They’ll be able to pass that on to the younger guys. The guys seem to be in the right frame of mind to take on this challenge.”

2001-02 Yale Season Preview

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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So begins life without Jeff Hamilton. The question has been asked a million times over, but no one really knows what will come of the Elis now that one of the most prolific scorers in school history has finally graduated.

One thing for sure: head coach Tim Taylor and his staff have been preparing for this moment. And while opposing coaches may revel in the fact that they won’t have to match up against Hamilton, Taylor is hoping to take some by surprise.

“We’ll be surprisingly competitive within our 12-team league,” said Taylor. “We’ll learn quickly what life after the Jeff Hamilton era is like. We’ll have a little different look at our offensive attack. There’ll be some more balance, and we’ll have more point producers. That’s my goal, to have a few 20-point producers.”

Two players who matured after playing with Hamilton for the past few years are captain Luke Earl and junior Nick Deschenes. Earl, who posted 27 points on the year, finished off his junior campaign on a seven-game scoring streak. Deschenes also found his offensive touch, and he returns as the team’s leading scorer with 17 goals and 20 assists.

Also, the 6-3, 220-pound Deschenes possesses something that Hamilton and Earl never had: size. His ability to gain position in front of the net is critical for the Elis, especially for special-teams play. Last season, Deschenes collected a team-high eight power-play goals.

“The emergence of Luke Earl as an offensive force last year, and Nick Deschenes also had a breakthrough year, [means] those two will take over the first line responsibilities. They’ll be the nucleus that make us click,” said Taylor. “It’s interesting to look at guys like Deschenes and Earl. They went from down to up, and these things happen to college players. We recruit players who we hope are good college players. They come in as 18- and 19-year-olds, and when they become comfortable playing against 22-year-olds, some of them respond and some don’t.”

Speaking of other potential 20-point scorers, Taylor is quick to mention seniors Jason Noe and Spencer Rodgers, as well as sophomore Evan Wax.

“Evan Wax went from two points to 20 and he’s capable of getting over 30. I look for him to make another big step,” said Taylor. “Jason Noe and Spencer Rodgers were point producers in prep and junior and I expect them to have breakthrough years.”

The one returning player who needs no touting is Jeff Dwyer. The sophomore was the top producing defensemen for Yale last year with three goals and 18 assists en route to the All-ECAC Rookie Team. His sheer size and game sense make him dangerous on both ends of the ice. Dwyer will also have experience around him as the defensive pairing of Bryan Freeman and Stacey Baumann return for their junior years.

LOMBARD

LOMBARD

Taylor is also comforted by the fact that he has a solid goaltender returning in senior Dan Lombard. After missing the final two games of the season last year with a rib injury, Lombard returns to the ice in healthy form and will look to provide a stability for the revamped Yale squad. Backup Peter Dobrowoski saw limited action behind Lombard, but stepped in nicely for the final two games of the season when Lombard was sidelined.

“We should be strong in goal with the return of Lombard,” said Taylor. “We also have a solid corps of returning defensemen. That will hold us in good stead.”

Key to Yale’s success will be the incoming freshman class. How they acclimate to collegiate hockey and fit into the Elis’ style will be one determining factor for this team. A host of outstanding prep-school standouts, including Chris Higgins, Christian Jensen and Ryan Trowbridge, will vie for time up front while Joe Callaghan and Michael Grobe look to add depth to the defense.

“This is our best freshman class in years. I like to let them perform first, but I feel we have some impact players, most notably Chris Higgins. He’s one of the most skilled players we’ve had.” said Taylor.

So while others may view the upcoming season as a rebuilding year, Taylor sees only opportunity.

“A lot of playing time is opening up,” said Taylor. “I am quietly optimistic that we have guys to fill those roles.”

Nevertheless, the coach will miss his superstar.

“It may be more by committee than an individual, like when we had Jeff Hamilton.”

2001-02 Vermont Season Preview

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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The way Vermont began and ended last season is exactly how head coach Mike Gilligan wants to begin this year.

Following a shortened schedule the year before, the Catamounts — fueled by a keen sense of emotion and redemption — surprised the college hockey world by vaulting to the top of the league and into the national spotlight. The Cats almost pulled off upset victories over ranked teams such as New Hampshire and Boston University to start the year, but followed that up with a run of five straight ECAC league wins to start the season at 5-0 in the ECAC. Although the dream season didn’t come to fruition as the Catamounts struggled through the middle of the year, the players did end on a high note by knocking off top-seeded Clarkson during the first round of playoffs and earning a trip to Lake Placid.

“We were 5-0 and surprised a lot of people. I’m not sure if it was all the energy from sitting still or that they didn’t know what we were up to the year before,” explains Gilligan. “We were a solid team and we ran into a January funk and that is something that we are trying to change a bit. We gave them two weeks off in December and that really hurt us in January.”

The success at the beginning of the year and the experience at Lake Placid will surely help the Catamounts, but so will the return of six of the top eight scorers and junior goaltender Shawn Conschafter. Conschafter had already been pegged as the eventual replacement for mainstay Andrew Allen, but no one — not even the Vermont coaching staff — expected the changing of the guard to happen when it did, during the final regular-season game of the year. Conschafter, who saw spotty action throughout most of the season, entered the St. Lawrence gave in relief of Allen, who had struggled all game long.

CONSCHAFTER

CONSCHAFTER

Fifteen saves later, Conschafter had earned the starting job. In the ensuing playoff series against Clarkson, the 5-9 netminder further solidified his No. 1 spot by collecting a remarkable 106 saves in three games. He tacked on another 33 saves in a losing effort against Dartmouth in the ECAC Preliminary game at Lake Placid.

“Goaltending should be fairly strong. The boy we went with late last year, I put him on my golf team so he wouldn’t be hurt,” joked Gilligan. “He has been working hard this summer and is always in great shape. He has played some in [his hometown of] Buffalo, but most of summer he just played golf. He is in solid form. I knew that he was the heir apparent, but I didn’t know it would happen while Andrew was here.”

Conschafter will have some support in front of him with the return of four regular defensemen. Mark Gouett — not known as a prolific scorer — will provide leadership for a corps that will welcome four new faces to the fold. Returners Thomas Hajek and Oriel McHugh will see plenty of action once again this season, while Dustin Corbett and Mike Erensen will log more minutes as well. Gilligan points out that he will need a few of the incoming freshmen to make an immediate impact in order for the defense to have the necessary depth and strength to last an entire season.

“I am a little worried about defense and playing as many as four rookie defensemen,” said Gilligan. “The way that they adjust will be a major factor for us.”

Last season, it was seniors Andreas Moborg, from the blue line, and J.F. Caudron who provided the offensive spark that catalyzed the team to such an outstanding start. As the season wore on, new faces began to appear on the scoring sheet — names like Bryson Busniuk and Jeff Miles. Miles, a ninth-round draft pick for the Chicago Blackhawks in June, finished as the second-leading scorer with eight goals and 23 assists. Among his season highlights, Miles was the one who delivered the game-winning goal in the first playoff game against Clarkson. He also went on to score the team’s first goal the next night, proving that he has the potential to be big-time scorer like his predecessors.

Miles was paired for most of the year with fellow sophomore Patrick Sharp. Look for those two players to see considerable ice time together once again this year. In fact, those two, along with Busniuk, head into this season with a clear bulls-eye on their collective backs as the number-one line for Vermont.

“I think that we’ll be in good shape. I feel good about the forward lines,” said Gilligan. “We expect the Sharp line to be the most productive line. Sharp and Miles are fabulous players and Busniuk is right along with them, That is the group that we expect the most from, although you might hear from the Cox line as well.”

Gilligan is of course referring to captain Ryan Cox, who collected 21 points, including three short-handed tallies, last year. The 5-10 forward, however, won’t be flanked by fellow senior Graham Mink this time around. In a disappointing turn of events last fall, the Vermont coaching staff announced that Mink would not be a part of the 2001-02 squad. The loss of Mink’s 29 points as well as his three years of experience as a Catamount will be sorely missed up front. That places even more of an onus on the incoming freshman class to fill the void.

“It was no fun losing him, but there are opportunities that come with that,” said Gilligan. “I also think that it was very important for us to get to [Lake] Placid after the six one-goal losses we suffered last year. We have had bigger wins for the program, but it was a nice weekend. It meant that we played well over a longer period and that meant more to us than anything.”

2001-02 Dartmouth Season Preview

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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When it comes to Dartmouth, it’s as if you can feel the wrapping coming off the package. This is a team that was picked to challenge for the league title last year, but fell short. This is a team that has no standout player, but possesses a lot of good, bordering on great, skaters. This is a team that consistently beats the teams it should but struggles against the ones above.

This is a team surely ready to make some noise this year — in the ECAC and maybe beyond.

“You go out, you play the game, you play hard and that’s what we’re after,” said head coach Bob Gaudet, entering his fifth year at Dartmouth. “Looking back at my career here at Dartmouth, our team is getting to the point of national respect and in the league, and that’s what I was hoping for when I came here.

“That’s something we’ve been gearing towards here. We don’t want to be a team lying in the weeds, we want to be a team that is a force to be reckoned with. We wanted a team that can be competitive on a national level.”

Aside from Cornell, there is no other team that comes close to matching the defensive strength of the Big Green. Last season, Dartmouth boasted the fourth-best scoring defense in the ECAC, allowing just 2.82 goals per game. This year, they return every single blueliner save Dory Tisdale, who was the sole senior defensemen on the squad.

The main man will once again be junior Trevor Byrne, who continues to establish himself as one of the best defensemen in the league. His size, strength and game sense make him virtually impossible to beat one-on-one, while a powerful slapshot and movement along the blue line make him one of the team’s biggest weapons on the power play.

He will be joined by another strong defenseman in Pete Summerfelt. Those two combined for 43 points last year, which amounted to more than 60 percent of the defensive scoring. The other returners — although not as flashy as Byrne or Summerfelt — all bring with them another year of experience.

Sophomore Brian Van Abel and junior P.J. Martin combined to play 67 games as the second pair of defensemen last year. Sophomore Mike Turner, who played in all 34 games, is back for another season and could possibly find himself playing alongside a promising freshman named John Ostapyk.

Such a defense is a gift, but couple that with the fact that one of the league’s best goalies will be in your net, and it’s the ultimate luxury. Nick Boucher, regarded as a premier goalie in the East, returns for his third season between the pipes. Boucher has been a mainstay for the team since his arrival back in 1999, playing in 57 of 64 games.

Last season, the spunky netminder finished with 16 victories, a 2.56 goals against-average and a .912 save percentage. With two more years to play, Boucher is already ranked fourth on the school’s career victories list.

“We’ve built a team over the past few years; we’ve gone from being a very young team and we’re looking for good things,” said Gaudet. “I’m not one to put the cart before the horse. We have a good skill level. We’re big and strong where we need to be, we’re quick and skilled where we need to be and we have a good goaltender in Nick Boucher. We’re looking forward to it and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The offense will be able to hold its own as well, thanks to the return of eight of its top nine scorers. Leading the way, both in statistics and on the ice, will be senior co-captain Mike Maturo, who finished his third year with a team-high 18 goals and 15 assists. Most impressive for Maturo, however, was the fact that he came up with six game-winning tallies.

Another key figure will be the other captain on the squad — Jamie Herrington. A great two-way player, Herrington finished with 23 points on the year, but also a -7 in the plus/minus category.

MATURO

MATURO

“There is a great core of guys that are classmates as seniors, and guys underneath as juniors that are into excelling,” said Gaudet. “The captains push the guys. I don’t have to be involved at any level — they lead by example. When you have captains like that it bodes well for the team.”

Also figuring into the offensive mix will be last year’s freshman surprise, Kent Gillings — the team’s second-leading scorer with 29 points — and seniors Chris Baldwin and Frank Nardella.

Although Gaudet has a relatively strong freshman class coming in, they won’t be the focal point. For the past four years, the coaching staff has been building this team with meticulous care. The senior class has been around for the entire ride and it is now their turn. Last year, the team took a step in getting to Lake Placid for the playoffs. This year, the bar of expectations has been raised.

“I pictured the team at Lake Placid, I pictured our school’s banner being raised to the scoreboard there and I was real happy to see our guys enjoy that process,” said Gaudet. “But they left with the bitter disappointment of not winning the championship. It was a nice step, but it wasn’t good enough for them. They were very, very disappointed in not winning. They were thinking that they could have done more and that’s driven them in the offseason. The experience factor of that has been crucial in our development.”

Dartmouth has been the young team for so long. For the first time in four years, the Big Green may have finally reached the point of maturity.

McLeod Awarded Contract Extension

By
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The WCHA kept the news of commissioner Bruce McLeod’s new contract under wraps for over three months, but public relations director Doug Spencer couldn’t keep it in any longer.

Spencer opened the league’s annual coaches teleconference Tuesday by announcing that McLeod had signed a contract to keep him in his position through the 2006 season.

McLeod said the five-year deal was signed at the league’s meetings in the spring, and took effect July 1.

“For us in the WCHA, these are the good times right now,” McLeod said, “and hopefully I had something to do with it.”

The league originally decided not to publicize the contract, but changed its mind when the CCHA announced its commissioner, Tom Anastos, received a contract extension.

McLeod, entering his eighth season as the WCHA’s commissioner, has been in charge for some of the league’s best years, both from a playing standpoint and from a financial angle.

The league sent a record five teams to the NCAA tournament last season, the same year it set an attendance record at its Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., its first at the Xcel Energy Center.

“I think it definitely is a recognition of what has happened for us in the last four or five years in the league,” McLeod said. “There’s always growth, but it’s been a big jump for us. It culminated in a lot of different ways this past year, with attendances and new buildings and the tournament last year.”

McLeod played in the WCHA for Minnesota-Duluth, and later became the school’s athletics director.

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