Only three weeks into college hockey’s season, the Hockey East is a league that is completely upside down. It has seen the team ranked first in its preseason poll fall twice in a weekend – once to the team ranked sixth and once to the team ranked ninth. It has seen its pride, the defending National Champion, struggle in its first few contest, going 0-2 in conference games. Quite simply, the league is topsy-turvy.
HE award winners
On Monday, Hockey East announced its weekly award winners, with participants from three different teams garnering awards. Boston University’s Chris Dyment won HE Player of the Week following his two power play goals and an assist from the blueline in the team’s 4-0 win over Merrimack.
UMass junior defenseman Sami Jalkanen brought home Defensive Player of the Week honors following the team’s 4-3 triumph over Providence. Jalkanen was plus-two on the contest and posted two assists to push his season total to three, good for tops on the squad.
The Rookie of the Week went to Northeastern freshman Jason Guerriero, who posted three assists in the team’s two ties this weekend. The Manorville, N.Y. native has tallied eight assists so far this season, good for the top spot in the conference.
Providence, BC limping out of gates
After Boston College lost six seniors and three underclassmen from its title-winning squad, many analysts thought that Providence College would be the team to take over the reign in Hockey East. Yet both squads are off to sub-par starts, with BC standing at 2-3-1 overall and the Friars garnering only one win in its first five contests, a triumph over Sacred Heart.
The Eagles opened their 2001-02 campaign with a win over Vermont before traveling west for a spot in the Nye Frontier Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. There they took a tough loss at the hands of Western Collegiate Hockey Association stronghold Denver and fought to a 4-4 tie with up and coming Alaska-Anchorage.
That’s when things got interesting for Head Coach Jerry York and his troops.
The Eagles headed home for their opener at Kelley Rink and were promptly swamped by UMass-Lowell by a lopsided 7-2 score. Junior Tim Kelleher was unimpressive in the game, allowing seven goals on only 36 UML shots, including a pair of goals by upstart defenseman Jerramie Domish.
The following night, BC traveled across town to do battle with Northeastern. This time, highly-touted freshman Matti Katliainen was in net, with hardly better results. The Eagles lost this time 4-3, with Kultianen allowing four goals on a paltry 18 shots.
What this all amounts to is the Eagles standing at 0-2 in the conference and desperately missing departed senior Scott Clemmensen, who was not only a talent, but the majority of the experience BC had in net. In fact, after appearing in 17 games as a freshman, backup Kelleher only appeared in five games last season. Add that to a freshman goaltender trying to adjust to U.S. college hockey, and what it equals is severe growing pains for the Eagles’ netminders.
But even more startling is the lack of defense on this year’s team. Sure, BC lost its top three scorers, but even more glaring is the fact that the team lost three of its top four defensemen, including future NHL-ers Bobby Allen and Brooks Orpik. The majority of returning experience falls on the shoulders of sophomore J.D. Forrest, who had a tremendous freshman campaign, but is far too young to have the weight of a team placed on his shoulders.
As for Providence, many factors have led to the team’s downfall so far this season. Aside from the team’s victory over Sacred Heart, it has been outscored by a 20-12 margin. Nolan Schaefer, counted on to be one of the top players between the pipes, has been shaky at times this season.
Will he bounce back to play phenomenally later on this season? It’s quite likely, but his defense is a tremendously young core of which six of seven players are either sophomores or freshmen. The Friars are undoubtedly suffering from the loss of the combination of Jay Leach and Matt Libby, who were leaders both on and off the ice. Most of the pressure falls on sophomore Regan Kelly, a 2000 draftee of the Flyers.
Sure, BC and PC will probably turn their seasons around, but for now the students of both colleges are certainly more worried than they were three weeks ago.
River Hawks showing last year wasn’t a fluke
On the other end of the spectrum sits UMass-Lowell. The River Hawks have come out flying early in the season, and in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online poll, they stand at No. 9.
Last season, UML defeated UNH in the first round of the HE playoffs to shock the world and show its legitimacy as a team on the verge of moving to the next level. But many people thought that the departures of Head Coach Tim Whitehead and star defenseman Ron Hainsey, who left for the NHL, would cripple the River Hawks’ hopes of maintaining that level.
Not so.
UML brought in Blaise MacDonald to patrol the bench and continue its recruiting in France to put together an experienced and talented team that has already begun to turn heads nationally.
The key for Lowell this season is a tremendously experienced defense in front of a goalie who has matured significantly in his college experience. In fact, the only underclassman in the six-man defense rotation is Jerremie Domish, who has three goals and two assists in the team’s four games. His plus-six rating has made the team all but forget Hainsey’s presence.
But the startling fact is that every Lowell player who has logged a minute of ice time has a plus-minus that is in the positive register. This is tremendously good news for netminder Jimi St. John, who has registered a sub-par .860 save percentage. However, he is doing what he is asked to, with a 2.67 goals against average, as the stifling defense is allowing an average of only 20 shots per game.
In fact, Lowell’s worst offensive shot output this season is 28, which it registered against Providence. On the other hand, the most shots the team has allowed is 21, which was logged by BC.
Up front, it has been the trio of Ed McGrane, Laurent Meunier and Peter Hay providing the firepower for the River Hawks. McGrane’s seven points and Meunier’s five assists are tops on the team, while Hay, a sophomore, has been strong, as he is tied for the team lead in goals, with three.
Of course, the important thing for Lowell is the fact that it will lose three players – Meunier, senior Yorick Treille and freshman Baptiste Amar – to the Olympics, as they will play for France.
The truth is that Lowell is a legitimate contender in HE, and will almost definitely have a spot in the postseason. Will it be a national power? Probably not, but the Hawks could possibly sneak in to the NCAA tournament this year if they show well in the postseason tourney.
Terriers back on top
After a season in which it disappointed even the most loyal of its fans, BU was in desperate need of a rebirth. What coach Jack Parker did is bring in what is perhaps the most talented incoming class in the country to go along with an already polished team. The shocking thing is, however, that the Terriers are performing so well, so fast.
BU finds itself sitting at 3-0-0 (1-0-0 HE) and in the Top 10 in USCHO at No. 8.
Leading the offense is Mike Pandolfo, who though decidedly not as talented as brother Jay, is still an upper echelon player in one of the best conferences in college hockey. Pandolfo’s five points lead the team, while sophomore Frantisek Skladany is right on his tail with four. The Slovakian was impressive in his freshman year, but will be counted on to use his talent to maximize the Terrier offense.
Still, defense is the biggest attribute of this team, as an experienced defensive unit, led by seniors Dyment and Pat Aufiero as well as junior Freddy Meyer, has held the opposition to an average of 23 shots per game.
This team definitely has the talent and the experience to win the conference this year, but a challenge sits on the horizon, as a pair of conference match-ups at Walter Brown Arena loom this weekend
in the form of Northeastern and UNH.
