September 30, 2009
Defending Champs Picked in HE Poll
by Joe Meloni/CHN Reporter
BOSTON — Defending conference and national champion Boston University sits atop the Hockey East Preseason Coaches poll, announced Wednesday at Hockey East Media Day at the TD Garden. BU received 6 of 10 first-place votes.
Massachusetts-Lowell came in second and 2008 national champion Boston College in third; the teams received two first-place votes apiece.
The River Hawks received a great deal of attention in the weeks before the season after a strong second half and march to the Hockey East Championship last March. Led by a group of defensemen returning to campus, the River Hawks have the best chance they’ve had since the mid-'90s to win a Hockey East Championship and advance into the NCAA tournament.
“It was easy for me to fill out the poll,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “Who do you think is the No. 1 team? That’s easy for me; it was Lowell. They’ve got everyone back. They’ve got a great corps of defensemen, and all their goalies back. They’ve got more coming back on the defensive end than we do.”
New Hampshire and Vermont tied for fourth. Both teams received at-large bids to the NCAA tournament last year after losing on home ice in the first round of the Hockey East tournament.
Last season’s second-place finisher Northeastern was sixth in poll; meanwhile, Massachusetts, Maine, Providence and Merrimack were pinned in the order they finished last season.
“We could finish first; we could finish seventh. That’s how good this league is,” Parker said.
Providence missed the Hockey East tournament for the first time in league history last season, and will have to overcome the losses of captain Matt Taormina and second-leading scorer Pierce Norton. As a freshman, Matt Bergland led the Friars in goals, 10, and assists, 17, and will need to continue his ascent for PC to earn a playoff spot after missing it each of the last two seasons.
Lineup changes
Early in the season, Massachusetts coach Don Cahoon plans to utilize junior winger James Marcou alongside sophomores Casey Wellman and T.J. Syner on his top scoring line.
Marcou tied BU center Colin Wilson in conference scoring last season with 35 points, while playing most with departed center Cory Quirk and winger Alex Berry. Wellman led all Hockey East freshmen in scoring with 31 points.
“[Wellman] is starting off the year playing with James Marcou, and I’d like to think they’re going to be able to create some nice things together,” Cahoon said. “I think they’re both highly motivated.”
The only issue concerning Cahoon, now in his 10th season in Amherst, about the trio is their performance on the defensive side of the puck. All three are very aggressive and among the fastest players in the conference, but only Syner is considered a strong defensive player. As a freshman, he saw considerable ice time on UMass penalty kill after overcoming an early season injury.
“I’m going to let the games play out, but I know what I see in practice,” Cahoon said. “They’ve got to make sure they take care of the other end of the rink, and that’s where T.J. needs to be the most balance player of the three."
Size is another weak area of the group. Wellman stands 6-foot-1; still most of his damage is done thanks to his speed and offensive instinct.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I have no problems saying that there won’t be a faster line in college hockey,” Cahoon said.
Cahoon is still unsure exactly what his power-play units will look like; his mentor, Jack Parker, has a pretty good idea, though. Sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky will take over the spot at the point on the Terriers vacated by Matt Gilroy.
“Everyone’s talking about how much we lost [on defense],” Parker said. “We’ve got four guys coming back who had great season for us. And one of them, David Warsofsky, nobody knows how good he is yet. David would have been running anyone else’s power play in the nation last season. Now, he’s going to be running our power play.”
Also from the BU blue line, reserve defenseman Ryan Ruuika will miss the entire season after sustaining a leg injury in the preseason, according to Parker.
Word from the crease
Vermont backup goaltender Mike Spillane is returning after a struggling with injury in 2008-09. Sophomore Rob Madore took advantage of Spillane’s health issues and led the Catamounts to the Frozen Four.
Spillane started for the Catamounts on Nov. 29 against Maine and did not return to the lineup until Feb. 14 against Merrimack. By that time, Madore had become one of the league’s best goaltenders.
“We’ve got Mike Spillane who’s now healthy,” UVM coach Kevin Sneddon said. “He was pretty banged up in the second half of last season. He’s got some repairs, and he’s back 100 percent now. I think he’s going to push Rob very hard. I think Rob certainly earned the status of No. 1 to start the season, but he’s going to have to be on his game in every practice and game because Mike is certainly capable, as he showed last year. I think he went 7-2-1 for us. It’s nice to have two goalies going into the season.”
In Amherst, junior goaltender Paul Dainton will see most of the early season action. An off the ice incident will prevent senior goaltender Dan Meyers for playing in the season’s first few games, according to Cahoon.
Dainton has been UMass’ most consistent goaltender since arriving on campus two seasons ago. However, like most UMass players, he has not reached the level of consistency needed to become an elite college goaltender.
“I expect that we’re going to be more consistent because we’re more mature,” Cahoon said of his goaltenders. “These guys understand a little bit better today than they did in previous years what it takes to get through a college hockey season. We just need to get better play game in and game out.
“When we get good games out of those guys, we’re a very good team,” he continued. “We need to get good games out of those guys on a regular basis.”
UMass’ sister school in Lowell has a similarly tough decision to make in net. Seniors Carter Hutton and Nevin Hamilton shared the net last season with remarkable success and will likely do the same this year unless one struggles greatly.
Hamilton was arrested on July 30 on a drug possession charge; UML coach Blaise Macdonald does not see the incident affecting his goaltender on the ice.
“Our goaltenders look great. The offseason issues were a nonfactor. Everything was taken care of; it was a case of the wrong place at the wrong time.” Macdonald said. “Both goalies look great, and they have a lot of confidence. From the small window opportunity I’ve had to see them, it seems like both goaltenders have improved.”
Hamilton and Hutton play such different styles that it’s difficult for a team to develop a rhythm in a weekend pair against UML. Maintaining a level of consistency is crucial for UML to fulfill their preseason billing.
HOCKEY EAST PRESEASON POLL
1. Boston University (6) 84
2. UMass-Lowell (2) 79
3. Boston College (2) 76
4. New Hampshire 59
4t Vermont 59
6. Northeastern 57
7. Massachusetts 47
8. Maine 32
9. Providence 24
10. Merrimack 23
