The Massachusetts hockey team’s first U.S. National Development Team product. The first Minuteman to be a unanimous selection to the Hockey East Rookie team. And now, Stephen Werner has become the first UMass hockey player to be selected for the World Junior Championships in 2004.

Werner is one of 16 players named to the preliminary roster for the United States to compete in the tournament, which will take place Dec. 26, 2003-Jan. 5, 2004 in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland. Werner is one of four Hockey East players to be among those initially selected to the team, joining Boston College forward Patrick Eaves and a pair of Black Bears – forward Greg Moore and goaltender Jimmy Howard.

“We are obviously very excited for Stephen and our hockey program, in general, that he was named to the squad,” UMass Coach Don Cahoon said in a press release. “USA Hockey knows the kind of player they are getting, and he has proven himself in not only collegiate hockey, but also in international competition. All parties are obviously very excited about this honor.”

Team USA will release the final six players on the 22-man roster on Dec. 2.

Joe who?

With the departure of superstar goaltender and team MVP Joe Exter, Merrimack knew it would be in a pickle with inexperienced Casey Guenther its leading returner between the pipes. But Guenther silenced his critics this week, leading the Warriors to a win and a tie this week to the tune of 59 saves and earning Hockey East Player of the Week honors.

Guenther stopped 35 Northeastern shots on Friday night, 19 in the third period, en route to a 4-2 Merrimack win, and followed that up with a 24-save shutout that preserved a scoreless tie at home against Providence, upping its record to 6-1-1 against the Friars in the Chris Serino era.

Finally Fried

Providence got a 26-save performance from junior David Cacciola in Hockey East’s first scoreless tie of the season. The netminder earned Hockey East Player of the Week honors, stopping 49 of 50 shots on the weekend. He made 23-of-24 saves filling in for starter Bobby Goepfert in a 6-4 loss to Boston University, PC’s first blemish of the season. Goepfert allowed four goals on just 13 shots in the contest, as BU got a win in its first conference action of the year.

The Terriers got goals from five different players in the victory, two from sophomore defenseman Dan Spang, to place themselves in a three-way tie for second place in the conference, knotted with UMass and UNH one point behind Merrimack, which has two games in hand over each team.

Talk about shorthanded

UNH coach Dick Umile knew what he was doing when he suspended eight players for this weekend’s contests in the Punch Imlach College Hockey Showcase, due to their being bystanders at a downtown riot in Durham following a Red Sox victory. Unfortunately, Umile’s determined act led partially to the No. 1 Wildcats dropping a 5-2 decision to Niagara on Saturday night.

The eight players included seniors Nathan Martz and Tyler Scott and junior Tyson Teplitsky, all key players for the Wildcats. Junior Barrett Eghoetz scored a hat trick for the Purple Eagles, who repeated history in mirroring their 4-1 victory over UNH from the first round of the 2000 NCAA tournament. The Wildcats defeated Canisius in the first game of the Showcase 8-2.

Walter wows again

In the other side of the College Hockey Showcase, Lowell beat Niagara 6-1 and tied Canisius 2-2. But the real story of the weekend for the River Hawks was sophomore Ben Walter, who scored a hat trick in the victory and picked up a goal and an assist in the tie. Walter, who had five goals last season, is now leading the nation with eight goals this year.

A real power conference

If ever there was a question as to the power of Hockey East, it was answered by looking at this week’s polls. The conference boasts six of its nine teams in the top 15, four in the top seven, in both the U.S. College Hockey Online and USA Today polls. Maine arose to the top spot in both polls with a pair of wins over St. Lawrence, while both BC (1-0 losers to Notre Dame on Friday) and UNH remained in the top five in both polls. BU holds the seven spot in both polls, while the Minutemen (14/13) and Providence (15/14) both cracked the top 15 as well.