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Whitehead Hired at UML

USCHO Staff Report
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As first indicated here last Friday, Tim Whitehead has officially been hired as head coach at UMass-Lowell.

Whitehead was strongly endorsed by outgoing coach Bruce Crowder, and also received support of many fans and media personalities.

Whitehead, 35, was an assistant for five years at UMass-Lowell, and will fill the position vacated when Crowder jumped to Northeastern last month. Whitehead also served as an assistant at Maine in 1990-91 and at Middlebury from 1988-90.

Whitehead will inherit a River Hawks club that went 26-10-4 last season, finishing second in Hockey East. They went all the way to the NCAA Quarterfinals, where they lost to eventual runner-up Colorado College.

However, Whitehead will have his work cut out for him. His team is reeling from graduation and the early departure of defensive mainstay Ed Campbell.

Former Harvard Player Dies on TWA Crash

USCHO Staff Report
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Former Harvard player Michel Breistroff was reportedly aboard TWA Flight 800 when it crashed last week and is presumed dead.

Breistroff, a native of Roubaix, France, scored four goals and 20 points in his 95-game career at Harvard, but was known more for his defense play.

The anthropology major was returning to France when the plane went down. He was considered to have a good shot at making the 1998 French Olympic hockey team.

“This is a very sad time,” said Harvard hockey head coach Ronn Tomassoni. “Michel was an outstanding young man who touched the hearts of many people at Harvard. He was very proud of being at Harvard and very proud of playing hockey at Harvard.

“He was an unselfish player who would do anything to help his team. He was the consummate team player. We who were fortunate to be part of his life at Harvard will miss him greatly.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with Michel and his family.”

Magliarditi and Thompson Leave Teams

USCHO Staff Report
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Western Michigan goaltender Marc Magliarditi and Maine forward Jamie Thompson have both recently decided to leave their college teams.

Magliarditi, CCHA 1996 Rookie of the Year, has decided to go to Spokane, Wash., to play for the Chiefs of the Western Hockey League.

“It leaves a big hole to fill,” said Western Michigan coach Bill Wilkinson to USA Today. “But one person’s misery is another person’s opportunity.”

Magliarditi posted a 23-11-2 record for Western Michigan with a 2.59 goals against average and a sparkling .910 save percentage. Magliarditi was a key player in Western Michigan finishing tied for third in the CCHA.

Thompson will leave a troubled career behind at Maine. Following the end of last season, Thompson withdrew from school at Maine and began seeking a pro job, according to Tuesday’s Bangor Daily News.

This marks the second time Thompson has left the team. Following the 1992-93 season, Thompson left to go play junior hockey. When he returned, he had trouble with both school and substance abuse and did not play the first semester of last season. After cleaning up and improving his grades, Thompson had two goals and nine assists in helping the Black Bears to the Hockey East Championship game.

Maine interim head coach Greg Cronin said he was disappointed to lose Thompson after all he did to be able to play, but Cronin concedes that all Thompson wanted to do was play hockey and wasn’t really interested in school. Cronin says this will open the door for Maine recruits Cory Larose and Ben Guite.

USA Hockey Adds Mancini and Pedrie

By Deron Treadwell
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USA Hockey has named Bob Mancini and Larry Pedrie to assistant coaching positions for the National Elite Development Program on Tuesday, and also named Scott Monaghan Program Manager.

Mancini resigned his head coaching position at Michigan Tech effective immediately to take the position at USA Hockey. While at Michigan Tech, Mancini compiled a 63-80-20 record, won two Ramada Cups, and went to the WCHA’s Final Five three times, including the championship game last season.

“Bob did an outstanding job for us and we’re certainly sad to see him go,” said Michigan Tech athletic director Rick Yeo. “He’s got a great opportunity we wish him and Laura the best in the future.”

Michigan Tech will begin a national search for a new head coach immediately.

Pedrie is the former head coach at Illinois-Chicago. UIC discontinued their hockey program following last season.

Mancini and Pedrie will assist USA Hockey head man Jeff Jackson in developing USA Hockey’s players from the junior hockey level (ages 19-and-under) on downward to the Select-15, Select-16 and Select-17 Festivals. They will also assist in coordinating the training of players in the USA Hockey program.

Monaghan will resign his job as assistant athletic director at Lake Superior State. Monaghan will handle administrative duties for the Elite Development Program, including travel matters, scheduling, league and conference relations, and the development of a print and video scouting library.

“I feel strongly about the talent, ability and expertise each of these individuals brings to our Elite Development Program,” said Jackson. “We’ve assembled a staff that I’m confident will contribute to the overall success of this program, and I’m proud to welcome each of them on board.”

The Best Coach in the Business?

By
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“My grandmother could recruit All-Americans for that school.”

Fans have been known to mutter such comments in reference to a rival where hockey has become a self-perpetuating institution. Western schools like Minnesota, home of the 9,305 automatic sellout and season tickets for standing room only seats, provide the best examples. But the shoe fits for some Eastern schools as well, albeit not as snugly.

The perception that such a coach can simply put his feet up on his desk and wait to select the prime applicants who all come begging for scholarships, and then just let the talent win championships, is admittedly an oversimplification. Witness Steve Cedorchuk’s dismal performance at Boston College. However, there is an element of truth in the hyperbole. As long as a coach at “An Institution” is merely competent, the bandwagon should still keep rolling.

Other schools, however, are not as lucky. Only a very special coach can breathe life into a program that lacks a rich history or state-of-the-art facilities. The very short list of active coaches who can perform this feat may begin with Bruce Crowder, with apologies perhaps due Don Lucia at Colorado College.

Crowder achieved exactly that in a mere three years at UMass-Lowell. He took over a program that had gone 31-67-5 the preceding three years and had just been slapped by the NCAA with two years probation and a year of post-season sanctions. Lowell turned the corner in his second year when they posted a winning season of 20-17-2. The following year they topped that with an NCAA bid and came within a double overtime loss of making championship weekend. For his achievements that year Crowder was named Hockey East Coach of the Year, the New England Hockey Writers Association’s Division One Coach of the Year, and was a national Coach of the Year finalist.

After an off-year in 1994-95 fueled by losses to graduation and goaltending woes, the River Hawks shocked the pundits and returned to the NCAA quarterfinal this past year, earning Crowder the Spencer Penrose Award as the NCAA Division One Coach of the Year, the lone coaching award that had eluded him in 1993-94.

In an interview with U.S. College Hockey Online, Crowder talked about his Lowell teams, his coaching philosophy, and his expectations at Northeastern University, with whom he signed a five-year contract in June, a story first broken on these pages.

Without question, the 1995-96 squad’s performance is the crown jewel in Crowder’s coaching crown. “This past year was even more special [than the 93-94 team],” Crowder said. “In 93-94 people expected us to have a pretty good team, but this year no one expected us to do anything. We were picked to finish sixth in Hockey East.”

The team began the year with the goal of returning to the NCAA’s, a possibility quickly dismissed by most insiders. But according to Crowder, “We had a great bunch of players. They came to work everyday in practice. As coaches we tried to keep the practices fun and exciting, but they were still ultimately responsible. We believed in the kids and they performed.”

To achieve their overall goal of reaching the NCAA tourney, Crowder established two intermediate goals: be the least penalized team in Hockey East and give up an average of fewer than three goals a game.

Although Lowell’s penalty minutes didn’t drop to the lowest in the league, they did go from being the most penalized team with 638 penalty minutes to the middle of the pack with 468. “That’s almost three full games of penalties that we eliminated,” said Crowder. “It meant more power play time, fewer penalty kills, plus you also had guys like Ed Campbell and Christian Sbrocca out on the ice more. A lot of people focused on Greg Bullock’s penalty minutes the year before, but Christian and Eddie were just as guilty.”

Bullock had, in fact, been a controversial figure in 1994-95. After a 1993-94 season in which he led Hockey East in scoring as a freshman winning Hockey East Rookie of the Year and helped a largely veteran squad to its first NCAA berth under Crowder, Bullock became a target in his sophomore year. Without the departed seniors around to deflect defensive attention, Bullock found himself being frequently shadowed and goaded into the penalty box. He became frustrated and appeared to lock horns at times with Crowder who felt compelled in some instances to exile his leading scorer to the fourth line and the bench in an attempt to keep Bullock focused on the ice and out of the sin bin. Things came to a head in the Hockey East consolation game when Bullock was left in the locker room for the third period after a particularly unfortunate temper explosion. Bullock soon left for the International Hockey League.

“I consider it more my fault than anything,” said Crowder graciously. “I believe you learn more from your failures than your successes. Things just kept snowballing with Greg. It became a great learning experience for me. I believe that Greg learned from it too.”

Crowder also learned that year from what he termed “my biggest mistake ever.” Following the graduation of All-Everything goaltender Dwayne Roloson, Crowder brought in freshmen Martin Fillion and Scott Fankhouser to battle with returning, but untested, sophomore Craig Lindsay. What resulted was the worst collective goaltending in Hockey East. With three goalies vying for time, the freshmen battled with their confidence, as freshmen goalies are wont to do, and no goalie had the opportunity to work himself out of a bad game or put together a string of good ones. To correct the problem, Fankhouser was sent to play this past year in the Saskatchewan juniors (“where,” Crowder joked earlier this season, “if the cable goes out, they just watch the Northern Lights.”).

Given the opportunity, Fillion did emerge as a solid goaltender, though not quite of the caliber of a Blair Allison, Greg Taylor, or Dan Dennis. This was a key element in addressing Crowder’s second point of emphasis for the year, allowing fewer than three goals a game. As with penalty minutes, the River Hawks also fell short of the goal, but did lower their goals against totals by almost a goal a game.

In this case, however, accepting more than three goals a game against was an acceptable tradeoff for increased offensive production. “I like to preach defense first,” said Crowder of his team’s success in wide-open games, “but if you’ve got a horse that can run, you let it run. We finished fifth in the country in scoring. If we can score five or more goals a game, I’ll take that. We even got over thirty goals from our defensemen.”

So while there may be offensive-minded coaches and defensive-minded ones, the Bruce Crowder style is to succeed one way or another. “I believe in a KISS style. Keep It Simple, Stupid. I don’t really get into line-matching much. What I try to do is make sure the kids have parameters as to what they can do. They do have responsibilities in the defensive zone, but beyond that I don’t want to restrict their offensive creativity. With players like Christian Sbrocca, who I considered to be as skilled as anyone in the country, I wanted them to have the offensive freedom to create.”

Crowder’s one other recurring theme is hard work. “What I learned from my playing career at UNH and the Bruins is the value of a work ethic. I’ve always been a blue-collar kind of guy. That’s how I approach a game and how I expect my players to play. Sometimes skill by itself will win out, but for the most part you’ve got to come to work.”

When Crowder did make the transition from player to coach he was first an assistant coach at Maine under Shawn Walsh from 1986 to 1990, and then associate head coach/head coach designee for one year at Lowell under Bill Riley. At each stop along the way, both while playing and then behind the bench, “I was a sponge,” according to Crowder. “I learned a lot while playing for Charlie Holt [at UNH] and Gerry Cheevers [with the Boston Bruins].”

Some things about the player-to-coach transition, however, were difficult. “Things I did naturally as a player, I had to figure out how to describe. Although today’s player is faster and quicker, sometimes they’ve been overcoached and don’t have as much hockey sense.” Communicating knowledge that had been instinctive wasn’t always as easy as he thought it would be. “Now I tend to use a lot of analogies.”

As he began his first season as a head coach in 1991-92, he wondered how he would handle success and failure. He had a lot more of the latter to deal with than the former as his team went 11-19-4. “When things are going wrong and it seems like everyone else is losing their head, you have to make sure you’re on an even keel,” Crowder commented, in reference to his baptism by fire and to tough times in general. He added, “I still was fortunate to be working with good people who had the same vision of where the program was headed.”

One of the major problems facing Crowder at UML was how to put fannies in the seats. “We figured that winning would eventually solve the attendance problems, but in the meantime we tried to get the local people excited about the team. We took the Burger King ™ and McDonald’s ™ approach and went after kids with our Youngstars program. Then we got the players involved in the community with things like Special Olympics.” Not only was this good for the players as individuals but, “we figured that people might feel that they were good guys and support them even if they weren’t winning.”

The team’s initiatives with the community did pay off and attendance began to climb, especially as the team quickly progressed from near-doormat to league power. Expectations mounted of building the same type of recruiting powerhouse Crowder had experienced firsthand as an assistant at Maine. These expectations, however, proved unwarranted.

“Recruiting is the name of the game,” according to Crowder. This was a lesson he learned under Shawn Walsh. Unfortunately, recruiting at UMass-Lowell was a tougher sell than for the Black Bears. Maine featured a rink on campus with over five thousand fans and was the only show in town. Lowell, by contrast, had an off-campus rink and no monopoly on the affection of the local populace. Even after aggressive marketing and becoming one of the top teams in Hockey East, attendance still averaged no more than 2200. Lowell also was a smaller school with perhaps more limited academic choices. “We lost out on a lot of kids,” said Crowder. “We weren’t able to out-recruit other schools. What we were able to do was develop the kids we got.”

Scheduling was another occasional problem. Each Hockey East team has ten non-league games to fill. Although Crowder tried to enhance the UML schedule, there were roadblocks. For example, Crowder pointed out, “We tried to get into the Great Western Freeze Out, but were told we didn’t have a significant alumni base.” As a result, empty game slots would go to Division One Independents like Army and Air Force. These teams did little for Lowell’s national reputation and likely formed another recruiting hindrance.

All of which paled to the sense of injustice felt when UMass-Lowell was sent to the Western Regional both in 1993-94 and 1995-96 despite being a high enough seed to stay in the Eastern Regional held in Albany, New York. “One of the NCAA’s stated criteria was to maximize the draw at the regionals,” Crowder said in resignation. “They were convinced we wouldn’t get the fans there.”

Even so, Lowell fans basked in the glow of the shockingly upbeat 1995-96 season and assumed a bright future ahead with a new rink on the way, two successful NCAA appearances in the last three years, and a long-term extension for Crowder all but signed, sealed, and delivered.

It was the best of times. Unfortunately, it would soon become the worst of times.

When Northeastern University coach Ben Smith left to coach the US Olympic Women’s hockey team, NU Athletic Director Barry Gallup had a very short list of who he wanted as coach. At the top of the list was one name: Bruce Crowder.

The contract extension that according to sources had been agreed upon between Lowell Athletic Director Dana Skinner and Crowder had been languishing on the desk of UMass-Lowell’s Chancellor Hogan for months. Crowder has since been characteristically gracious in referring mildly to the “stalled” contract talks, but many Lowell fans are willing to put the villain’s hat squarely on the head of Chancellor Hogan, the Grinch Who Lost The Best Coach in Hockey.

Initially Crowder wasn’t interested in Northeastern. But Gallup persisted, and with the Lowell contract extension stalled, Crowder listened. The more he listened, the more he liked what he heard. Eventually Crowder felt that the move was the right one for his family and, although it was a difficult decision, inked the five-year deal.

“They’ve really put a lot of things in place here,” Crowder said. “They’ve done a great job with Matthews Arena and just spent another million dollars on [the facilities]. They feel this is one of the few sports that they can win a national title in and are willing to do everything they can to achieve that. Everything that I said I needed, they agreed to.”

Crowder hopes to bring his entire coaching staff with him from Lowell. However, Tim Whitehead, his assistant, is also a finalist for the head position at Lowell that Crowder just vacated. Crowder has strongly and publicly recommended Whitehead for the position but if Whitehead is passed over, then Crowder will happily welcome him to Northeastern. Regardless of the Whitehead decision, the current Northeastern assistants will not be retained.

Crowder now faces his latest challenge realistically. “I’ve inherited a seventh place team that graduated both its goaltenders, an All-Hockey East defenseman, and half of its offense. Fill in the blanks.”

Crowder can’t say when the Huntington Hounds might become national championship caliber. “We’ll have to see what the kids we’ve got now can do and how well we recruit the next two or three years.”

Still, Crowder remains optimistic. “I think I have a few more things in my recruiting bag now than I did at Lowell. There may be kids we lost at Lowell that might have come to Northeastern.” Chief, though not alone, among these recruiting advantages is The Beanpot. “And I’m very confident that we’ll continue to successfully develop players.”

Some returning Huskies players and recruits will likely feel uneasy over playing for a coach that didn’t recruit them. “I’m going to tell them,” says Crowder, “‘We’re all in this together. You’re going to have to live with me and I’m going to have to live with you. A lot of Lowell players in the same situation went on to be pretty good players.'”

When asked what players he’ll be relying on, Crowder responded, “We’ll rely on the whole team. Whatever they’ve done before doesn’t matter. What they do now will count. Positions, power play time, and all those things will work themselves out.”

One thing Crowder is sure about is that he won’t repeat his goaltending trio mistake of 1994-95. He has returning third-string senior Kevin Noke as well as recruits Marc Robitaille and Judd Brackett. “I won’t go with three guys playing. It’ll be two guys and we’ll either split them or one will earn the bulk of the time.”

Crowder expects to incorporate at Northeastern many of the marketing ideas that proved successful at UML. A packed and festive Matthews Arena is part of his equation for Huskies success.

When asked if in the future any other school could potentially woo him away from Northeastern, he answered, “I like the challenge ahead of me. I like being in the Boston market. You never say never, but I would expect that if there is a next move it would be a pro move. But unless they fail to live up to their commitments here, I don’t see myself going anywhere. I like what I’m doing.”

Sooner or later Northeastern fans will probably like what Bruce Crowder is doing too.

UML Names Coaching Finalists

USCHO Staff Report
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UMass-Lowell has selected Tim Whitehead and Blaise MacDonalad as finalists for the vacant head coaching position, according to the Lowell Sun.

Both Whitehead and MacDonald have ties to the program and to other Hockey East schools.

Whitehead, 35, has been an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell for the past five seasons. He was also an assistant at Maine in 1990-91 and at Middlebury from 1988-90.

MacDonald, 33, was named head coach at Niagara this past season as they look to establish a Division I hockey program. MacDonald was an assistant coach under Jack Parker at Boston University from 1990-95, and also served as an assistant at Middlebury and UMass-Lowell during the Bill Riley era.

Both will interview next week for the final time with a decision expected shortly thereafter.

Morrison: THN Player of the Year

USCHO Staff Report
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Michigan forward Brendan Morrison has been named The Hockey News 1995-96 U.S. College Hockey Player of the Year.

Morrison, a native of Pitt Meadows, B.C., tallied 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points in 35 games with the Wolverines last season. Morrison will long be remembered by the Michigan faithful for his overtime goal against Colorado College to win the 1996 National Championship.

Morrison was also selected as College Sports Magazine’s 1995-96 Men’s Ice Hockey Athlete of the Year, Titan West First Team All-American, NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player, CCHA Player of the Year, Great Lakes Invitational Most Valuable Player, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award and was named CCHA Offensive Player of the Week five times last season.

Morrison, a senior this fall, has said he plans to return to Michigan to help the Wolverines defend their title.

UML’s Campbell Turns Pro

By Mike Machnik
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UMass-Lowell defenseman Ed Campbell has signed with the New York Rangers.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Campbell, a native of Westboro, Mass., will thus give up his senior year at Lowell. He joins fellow Hockey East juniors Mike Grier of Boston University and Steve McKenna of Merrimack as seniors-to-be who have chosen to turn pro.

Campbell’s 326 career penalty minutes is a new Lowell team record, eclipsing the legendary Jeff Flaherty’s 298 PIM over four years.

Campbell was slated to be one of the top returning players for the Hawks, who were decimated by graduation. His departure will make things even tougher for Bruce Crowder’s successor. He leaves as one of the top two-way defensemen in Hockey East, despite never receiving any recognition for league honors.

Campbell’s career stats:

         GP  G  A  P PP SH GW PEN/MIN
1993-94  40  8 16 24  3  0  2  57/114
1994-95  34  6 23 29  3  0  1  47/105
1995-96  39  6 32 38  3  0  0  52/107
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TOTALS  113 20 71 91  9  0  3 156/326

NCAA Selects Championship Sites, Recommends Changes

By Mike Machnik
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The NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committees met recently and agreed on several plans of action, some of which could have a dramatic effect upon the way fans have become accustomed to viewing the postseason tournaments.

SITES SELECTED FOR 2000 AND BEYOND

At its June 9-12 meeting in Hilton Head, S.C., the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee agreed to recommend four future sites for the 2000-2003 Division I championships. Previously, the NCAA had awarded the following championships (semifinals and final):

1997 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI (host: Wisconsin)
1998 FleetCenter, Boston, MA (host: Boston University)
1999 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, CA (host: Alaska-Anchorage)

The following sites and hosts were also recommended by the Committee:

2000 Civic Center, Providence, RI (host: Providence College)
2001 Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY (host: Rensselaer)
2002 Civic Center, St Paul, MN (host: Minnesota)
2003 Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, NY (host: Canisius, Niagara, and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

Buffalo is the only one of the new sites that has not yet hosted an NCAA tournament. All of the host schools are classified as Division I, although Canisius and Niagara are considered to be Division I Independents. Niagara begins varsity play in the 1996-97 season.

The 1997 championship will be the 50th anniversary of the NCAA tournament, and will be held on March 27 and 29, 1997.

In addition to the championship sites, the Committee recommended the following regional sites for 1998 and 1999:

1998 East Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY (host: Rensselaer)
1998 West Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI (host: Michigan)
1999 East Centrum, Worcester, MA (host: Boston University)
1999 West Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI (host: Wisconsin)

Previously, the NCAA had selected the following regional sites for the 1997 tournament:

1997 East Centrum, Worcester, MA (host: Boston University)
1997 West Grand Rapids Arena, Grand Rapids, MI (host: Western Michigan)

The NCAA still has to approve the recommended sites, but it is anticipated that all will be.

The Committee also agreed on several other plans of action, many of which will have a long-reaching effect upon the game.

END SOUGHT TO CONFLICT WITH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Recognizing that the Championships has long been overshadowed by the Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Championships, the Committee agreed to recommend a change in scheduling.

Under the new plan, the semifinals and finals would be played on the 14th Friday and Sunday of each year. This would result in the event being held one week later than usual and one week after the conclusion of the basketball championships. Currently, the semifinals and final are played on the fifth Thursday and Saturday of March, or the first weekend in April if March has only four weekends.

The regionals would continue to be held on the 12th weekend of the year, or the third weekend of March.

The implications for such a change are many. Primarily, the event would have a chance to stand on its own as one of the top collegiate sporting events of the season, possibly drawing more fan and media interest. By playing the championship game on Sunday, the door is opened to attracting network television on a weekend normally devoid of interest in college sports.

However, the plan would also result in a ten day break for competing teams between the regionals and the semifinals. In the past, teams that have had to endure such a break have tended to not fare well. Yet, under the plan, all four teams would have the same break period. That means the same period of time to both recover from injuries and to stay on top of their game for the ensuing championships.

The Committee cited several other reasons for the proposed change, including a decrease in missed class time within a short time period, more time for the local organizers to promote the event to fans and media, and reduced air fare and travel accommodations due to the ten days off between the regionals and semifinals.

In all, the proposed change appears to be one that has been a long time in coming and one that could go a long ways towards enabling Division I hockey to stand on its own as a viable and exciting sport.

TWO AUTOMATIC BIDS PER CONFERENCE

The Committee also recommended that the four Division I ice hockey conferences (CCHA, ECAC, Hockey East, WCHA) receive two automatic bids each for the 1997 tournament. Currently, each conference receives one automatic bid, and that bid is awarded to the team that wins the conference postseason tournament. Each conference also is guaranteed a total of at least two bids under the current process.

However, in recent years, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament Selection Committee has voluntarily augmented the process by awarding an additional bid to the conference regular season champion in the event that the regular season and tournament are not won by the same team.

The policy was put into place following the 1993-94 season, in which Colorado College won the WCHA regular season title but was upset in the first round by Michigan Tech and did not receive an at-large bid.

The recommended change appears to be little more than a formality, as the current policy of ensuring that regular season and tournament champions receive bids likely would receive official recognition.

Yet, one big question remaining to be answered is how the second bid would be awarded in the event that the same team wins both titles. Several possibilities exist, including awarding the bid to either the regular season runner-up or the tournament runner-up.

REPLAY INSTITUTED FOR 1997

College hockey fans will notice several changes beginning with the 1997 championship. The Committee voted to use instant replay in the semifinals and final, which are all televised. It is unknown whether the use of instant replay could extend to the regionals, where some games have not been televised in recent years.

The decision comes just months after a controversial end to the Division I semifinal between Colorado College and Vermont, in which the Tigers posted a 4-3 win at 9:31 of double overtime on the strength of a goal by Chad Remackel. Replays appeared to show the goal being scored by Remackel on a hand pass from Jay McNeill, but replay was not available as a tool to the officials working the game.

The manner in which replay would be employed has yet to be determined. Several possibilities exist, including restricting the decision on whether to use replay to the on-ice officiating crew, having an off-ice official in the press box for the purpose of viewing replays, and disallowing replay in all circumstances except those concerning a goal.

Concerns include the ability of replay to adequately detail the actual circumstances of a play, the need to have enough camera angles to cover all possibilities, and the inevitable delay that would result when a replay is being evaluated. These concerns have been most evident in the use of replay in past years by the NFL and the NHL, and the NCAA will need to devise a plan that will address these and other stumbling blocks.

Hockey would be in the vanguard of collegiate sports in this area, as currently no other NCAA championship utilizes instant replay as an officiating aid.

OFFICIATING REDESIGNED; SLOGANS APLENTY

With the creation of the new three-man officiating system, the Committee voted to put the system into place for the 1997 championship.

Recently, the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee voted to employ a new officiating system designed to replace the previous two referee, one linesman system. The new system provides for one head referee and two assistant referees, with the assistant referees having additional but limited power to call penalties.

The system is designed to alleviate concerns with having complete on-ice power resting in the hands of more than one official, as well as keeping the strength of allowing more than one official to call penalties.

In recent years, the refusal of the CCHA to abide by the NCAA sanctioned two referee, one linesman system has meant that CCHA officials were not allowed to work NCAA tournament games. The CCHA had returned to the one referee, two linesman system after one year despite having been informed that officials working under that system would not be allowed to work the NCAA tournament. The decision means that officials from all four major conferences will once again be able to officiate in tournament competition.

In addition, the committee agreed to request permission to develop a slogan for the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship in order to help the event create its own identity and promote it. This will also allow the NCAA to protect the “Final Four” trademark of the Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Championships. A contest will be held throughout the collegiate hockey community to come up with slogans. Fans will have input and be able to submit ideas for consideration.

DIVISION III CONSIDERS CHANGE IN CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT

In a move that could signal a drastic change in the way that the NCAA Ice Hockey Championships are conducted, the Divisions II and III Men’s Ice Hockey Committee recently agreed to investigate the possibility of combining the Division III Championship with that of Division I.

The Committee met from June 3-6 in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and voted to send a letter to the chair of the Division I committee to ask about the interest they would have in such an agreement and the feasibility of the same.

The proposal was based upon the noted success of the combined Division I and III Men’s Lacrosse Championships. For the past five years, the Division III Lacrosse Championship Game has been held on the day between the Division I semifinals and final at the same site. The average attendance at the Division III game during that time has been over 12,000, with over 18,000 attending this year’s final.

It is not known what the Division I committee’s response will be yet. Certainly, such an arrangement would provide additional exposure for Division III hockey and would draw well, especially if tickets were sold in conjunction with the Division I championships. The Division III championships have also tended to be held at out of the way locations and have suffered from low attendance.

However, the proposed scheduling change in the Division I championships could result in the Division III championship being played two or three weeks later than usual. Currently, Division III conducts its semifinals and final on the same weekend that Division I holds its regionals. With Division III typically having a shorter length of season than Division I, there could be concerns with Division III teams playing into April.

An ideal site to begin such a combined championship event would be Boston, the site of the 1998 Division I championships. Besides being home to several Division I teams, Boston is a short drive from many of the current Division III schools, most of which are in the East region.

The Committee agreed to keep the same formats for the 1997 Division II and III Men’s Ice Hockey Championships. The 1997 Division II finals, which have been a best-of-two affair between the top two teams chosen to compete, will be held on March 14-15, 1997, at the campus site of the higher seed. There is no semifinal in Division II, which consists of only about a dozen teams at this time.

The 1997 Division III semifinals and final will be held on March 21-22, 1997. In recent years, the Division III championships have been conducted at a campus site, and this is not expected to change for 1997.

In addition, the Committee discussed automatic qualification and its impact on the Division III tournament, agreeing to award automatic bids for 1997 to three conferences: the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA), and the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). This is identical to last year.

Out of the Ashes

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Last year they finished dead last in Hockey East and missed the playoffs. Since beginning league play in 1989-90 they’ve languished in or near the cellar, finishing no higher than sixth. They have, hands down, the worst rink in the league, a true noose around their recruiting necks. And yet, voices heard in North Andover are waxing optimistic.

Has something funny gotten into the water, or are the Merrimack College Warriors poised for a big season?

Skeptics can be forgiven if they greet such thoughts with hoots of derision. After all, similar words were written about the 1995-96 squad, a team that was picked for fifth place in the league’s preseason poll but crashed and burned its way to last place after one close loss followed another. Finishing last in 1989-90 was expected, but finishing last in 1995-96 was a shock, depressing enough to test the mettle of even the most ardent Warriors fan.

Rumblings began that perhaps Merrimack should have never left the comfortable confines of Division II where the Warriors were proud owners of a national championship and seven ECAC Division II championships, including three straight prior to their entry into Hockey East.

To make matters even worse, the L.A. Kings recently lured captain and team MVP Steve McKenna away from his senior year with an offer he couldn’t refuse. At 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, McKenna leaves a huge defensive and leadership void.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

Surprisingly, the play could still have a happy ending. The first plot shift involves the best recruiting class since the move to Division I. Leading that class, at least in terms of fanfare, is Jayson Philbin.

Philbin tallied 111 career goals and 215 career assists while leading New England Prep school scoring the last two years at Cushing Academy. A self-described “smash-mouth” player, Philbin has all the makings of a fan favorite.

Of even greater long-term significance is that Philbin, who spurned UNH in his selection, is the first marquee local player to choose Merrimack over more established programs.

Additionally, forward Chris Halecki of Andover and Tabor Academy (29-36-65 in his senior year) also chose the Warriors over a Hockey East rival, in this case Northeastern. If Merrimack recruiters can turn this into a trend, most probably involving other talented prospects at Cushing, then the program will indeed have turned the recruiting corner.

Another recruit, Sandy Cohen, has been overshadowed by the arrival of local legend Philbin, but could reverse that equation next season. Cohen played for the Sioux City Musketeers this past season in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Although his 27-27–54 point totals in 42 regular season games were among the league leaders, what has really opened eyes is the way he was able to take his game to another level in the postseason.

In the USHL playoffs he talled 10-10-20 in nine games, as ninth place Sioux City pulled a first round upset and gave eventual champ Green Bay all it could handle in the semis. Cohen then upped the ante by leading the Musketeers to a second place finish in the US Junior A Hockey National Championship Tournament, scoring seven goals and five assists in three round robin games, including a tournament record five goals in an 8-6 win over American Frontier Hockey League champion Billings, Mont. Cohen could be just the sniper that the Warriors have lacked since Jim Vesey notched 40 goals in 1987-8.

Two other recruits, goaltender Cris Classen and defenseman Andrew Fox, could also fill important roles.

Although the team appears well established in goal with Martin Legault and Eric Thibeault, Classen has some predicting that he’ll be pushing the upperclassmen for time in the nets before the season is over.

Fox, a defenseman from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), compiled some fine offensive statistics (13-31-44 in 64 games) and was named his team’s MVP and won its “Outstanding Ability and Gentlemanly Conduct” award.

Ironically, Fox (62 PIM in 64 games) will be replacing Tom Costa (400 career PIM in 127 games) on the blueline, almost certainly resulting in fewer shorthanded and 4-on-4 situations.

Objectively, Merrimack’s recruiting class still lags behind those of some other Hockey East schools.

Boston College’s signings of Jeff Farkas, Mike Mottau, and Blake Bellefeuille constitute the top recruiting class in the league and could propel the Eagles into a top three finish. Boston University, rarely a slouch in the recruiting department, signed blue-chipper Tom Poti early, added a potential Mike Pomichter clone in Dan Lacouture, and recently added 17-year old phenom Chris Heron, who could outshine them all before he’s done.

Overemphasizing that Merrimack’s recruits still fall short of BU’s and BC’s, however, misses the point. The Warriors may not be ready yet to fight toe-to-toe for recruits with league giants who sport numerous championships, rabid fans, and superior facilities. However, they may have reached at least parity with the next recruiting tier in the league, schools like UMass-Lowell, Providence College, and Northeastern.

If so, then Merrimack may have the talent to start winning their share of all the close games — they had a 4-14 record in games decided by two goals or less — that plagued them last year.

Ultimately, the future for Merrimack pivots on the rumored building of a new rink. UNH and UMass-Amherst have recently built state-of-the-art facilities, and by all accounts UMass-Lowell is not far behind. It would seem that no amount of hard work and salesmanship will be able to sustain effective recruiting of top athletes to a building that is a laughingstock compared to others around the league.

Although this issue seems far from decided, it could determine whether the strength of the 1996 recruits is a temporary blip in an otherwise flat line or the beginning of an upwards surge.

Although the incoming freshmen are receiving the lion’s share of attention, most teams live and die by the contributions of the upperclassmen. Last year’s juniors formed the core of the team and although McKenna’s departure is a significant loss, the others should be expected to elevate their games as seniors. This is especially true in net.

Martin Legault was selected to the All-Hockey East team as a sophomore in 1994-95. Although his statistics this past year seemed to point to a comparable performance, Legault missed all but eight minutes against BU and Maine, two of the three top teams in the league. As a result, his deceptively solid stats were compiled against primarily weaker teams. The importance of Legault’s return to All-league form cannot be overstated.

John Jakopin, who moved to forward in midseason to team with Rob Beck and Martin Laroche on Merrimack’s top line, will likely return to the blueline in the wake of McKenna’s departure. Beck, who led the team in scoring with 16-19–35 overall totals, will need to add to those totals to compare with the top scorers around the league. Six other key seniors join Legault, Jakopin, and Beck to form the best group of upperclassmen in recent Merrimack history and could provide the experience that is often the difference during nailbiters.

Additionally, the junior year is one when many players emerge and Laroche (16-16-32), Gaetan Poirier (10-13-23), and Casey Kesselring (an injury-plagued 8-8-16) are already well along that path.

Laroche, who doubles as one of the team’s best defensive forwards, and Poirier made big strides in their sophomore seasons and together with Kesselring provide a lot of offensive potential.

Finally, defenseman Darryl Scoville was named to the All-Hockey East Rookie team, posting 6-19-25 point totals, a new record for Warrior freshman defensemen.

This talent base far exceeds that of the overmatched Merrimack squads that took the ice in the first few Warrior seasons in Hockey East, and is also superior to the improved, but still lacking, talent found on squads the last couple years. The 1989-90 squad received a rude awakening, being outscored 64-128 while posting a 3-18 league record. There were many problems specific to that inaugural season, ranging from huge losses to graduation to the foot-dragging by school trustees on the decision to join Hockey East, a delay that significantly damaged recruiting efforts.

However, by not not fielding a competitive squad that year, the school likely injected a ripple effect into downstream years as well. As recently as the 1992-93 season, Merrimack traveled to Maine and was pummeled 14-1 and then 11-2.

In the past couple years, however, the Warriors have progressed beyond those hapless predecessors. After the 1994-95 season, Martin Legault became the first Merrimack player selected to the All-Hockey East team. Additionally, the team has placed a player on the Hockey East All-Rookie team each year since 1993.

Three of those four players — Jakopin, Kesselring, and Scoville — return to the team next year. Although McKenna’s defection to the pros was an important loss, it also marked the third Warrior defensemen in the last calendar year to sign to play either in the upper minors (AHL or IHL) or with NHL teams.

Merrimack can no longer be considered a Hockey East punching bag bereft of talent. League superpower Boston University learned this first-hand the last two years, succumbing to the upstart Warriors 3-2 in January 1995 and again 7-4 in February 1996.

Clearly, in recent years the team has shed its early Hockey East roots of incompetence and progressed to its current state of good-but-not-quite-good- enough. Double-digit goal differentials have been replaced by one- and two- goal losses. Can the Warriors move to the next level?

It has been said that recruiting determines who wins the five-on-five battles, but that coaching can steal wins with the special teams. This may be yet another hoary, old chestnut that makes its way into the lexicon of hockey aficionados without necessarily being true. But if there is substance to the saying, then coach Ron Anderson and his staff could go a long way to translating the L’s into W’s by focusing more on the special teams.

Last year in Hockey East games only UMass-Amherst had a worse penalty killing record, while on the power play only BC and the Minutemen had worse totals. Unfortunately, this was not a single season fluke. The previous year, 1994-5, the Warriors had similarly lackluster special teams play, finishing sixth and seventh on the power play and penalty kill, respectively.

Coach Anderson enters the season in the final year of his contract. This could make him a convenient scapegoat for some fans and alumni. Frustrated Warrior followers, however, should recognize that Anderson has been dealt a meager hand, ranging from the substandard facilities to what seems like apathy from the college and its administration.

Anderson has been in a situation that few college coaches could have overcome. However, he may need to take responsibility for using improved special teams play to wring more wins out of the cards he’s been dealt. In particular, with a potential All-league goalie and a solid defense, it would seem inexcusable if Merrimack again finishes eighth out of nine teams in penalty killing.

A repeat performance will doom efforts to reach .500 and seriously challenge for playoff home ice.

Can the Warriors emerge from the ashes of the 1995-96 season? Several months remain before the dropping of the first puck, but the earliest signs are that they have a reasonable chance.

The blend of fresh new blood, experience, and optimism could combine to produce surprising results in North Andover. A good start may be of paramount importance, though, since fuses may be short following this past year. But if the team starts strong, the same skeptics who crowed “I told you so,” in 1995-96 may be rendered speechless.

1995-96 Hockey East Year in Review

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No matter what the year, every hockey season has something that makes it special and worth coming back for. This past year, Hockey East had its share of downs, from the tragic injury to Travis Roy in his first shift, to the penalties imposted on Maine for violating NCAA rules.

There were the ups too. The exciting season put together by the UMass-Lowell River Hawks and their “sweep” of No. 1 Boston University, to the upstart Providence Friars winning their first Hockey East Championship since the league started in 1985.

Let’s look at each team individually, and assess not only their 1995-96 season performance, but also their future.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

(30-7-3 overall, 17-5-2 in Hockey East – 1st place)

Tragically, the signature moment of BU’s season came on opening night when Travis Roy crumpled to the ice paralyzed, minutes after the raising of the 1995 National Championship banner. The seemingly unavoidable nature of the accident, the charismatic likableness of its victim, and its heart-rending occurrence eleven seconds into the fulfillment of Travis’s lifelong dream combined to form a haunting backdrop for BU’s 1995-96 season.

Ironically, this dark moment may have become college hockey’s finest hour. An outpouring of support mushroomed that continues to this day, a tribute to the fraternity of fans that has put aside rivalries to help raise money for Travis’s staggering medical bills. College hockey stands unified praying for a miracle for Travis.

In the wake of this tragedy, the mantle of leadership fell heavily on the shoulders of captain Jay Pandolfo. Coming off an injury-plagued junior season, Pandolfo responded with a year that earned him first team All-America and All-Hockey East honors and a Hobey Baker nomination. Pandolfo (38-29–67 overall, 22-18–40 in HE) got off to a great start, including a shorthanded hat trick, and dueled with sophomore teammate Chris Drury (35-32–67 overall, 22-20–42 in HE) for league scoring honors all season. Drury was also a Hobey Baker finalist, All-Hockey East, and a second team All-American.

Midway through the season BU looked invincible. They began 1996 perched atop college hockey with a 15-1-1 record. Some pundits claimed the squad to be superior to the previous year’s national championship team. Although preseason All-Hockey East picks Chris O’Sullivan and Mike Grier were having statistically disappointing years, Pandolfo, Drury, and defenseman Jon Coleman were having monster seasons while Bob Lachance and Sean Bates were racking up points that would have made headlines elsewhere. Meanwhile, Tom Noble was compiling some of the best goalie stats in Hockey East.

The first serious chinks in the armor developed when UMass-Lowell swept the Terriers 8-6 and 5-4 during the last weekend in January. The losses exposed defensive problems and made some wonder whether BU’s goaltending was as good as its statistics. Coach Jack Parker had to abandon his goalie rotation and primarily go with Tom Noble. Even more troublesome, though, were the problems among the defensemen. Although Coleman was having a great year, other blueliners were struggling. Eventually Parker had to sacrifice some scoring punch and shift O’Sullivan back to defense. Despite closing the regular season first or second in all the polls, the Terriers were giving their fans reason to be concerned.

After overwhelming UMass-Amherst in the HE quarterfinals, BU seemed the prohibitive favorite against upstart Providence College. But the Friars struck for a 5-2 lead and this time BU’s penchant for playing less than sixty minutes at full throttle came back to haunt them as PC held on for a 5-4 win. Then, in the NCAA regional they took a presumably safe 3-0 lead into the final period against Clarkson but had to hang on for a 3-2 squeaker. It was an ominous entry into the national championship semifinals. There they were throttled by the eventual champion Michigan Wolverines, who dominated the opening minutes to the tune of an 18-1 shot advantage, en route to a 4-0 triumph. For most programs, a loss in the national semifinals would be the end of a successful season; at BU, however, there remained feelings that more had been within reach.

The 96-97 squad will again be loaded with talent, barring a mass exodus of the many Terrier high NHL draft picks. The departing seniors include Doug Wood, Lachance, Pandolfo, and the courageous J.P. McKersie. McKersie, who was almost killed when hit by a car two years ago, never quite returned to his old skill level, but was an inspiration to teammates and fans alike. The returning stars include Drury, Grier, O’Sullivan, Coleman, Bates, and Noble. Supplementing the already stacked deck of talent will be defenseman Tom Poti, one of the most highly regarded recruits in the nation. Jack Parker, who celebrated his 500th career win this past year, will have many more W’s headed his way with talent like that on his roster.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-LOWELL

(26-10-4 overall, 16-6-2 in Hockey East – 2nd place)

When Lowell coach Bruce Crowder and his players talked at the onset of the season about making the NCAA tournament most people thought they were nuts. Fifth place finishers in Hockey East (11-12-1, 17-19-4 overall) the previous year, the River Hawks had no marquee recruits, nothing but question marks in net, and had lost league scoring leader Greg Bullock to the International Hockey League. The Hockey East coaches had pegged them for sixth place in their preseason poll, a selection which began to appear optimistic when UML could manage only ties against lightly regarded Air Force in their second and third games of the year.

But Lowell’s schedule for October through December included only three games against teams that would finish over .500, allowing them to pile up unimpressive wins while fitting together the pieces to the puzzle. Since at that point they had posted a 9-2-2 record against sub-.500 teams while struggling to the tune of 0-2-1 against the winning teams, Lowell seemed like a nice bunch of overachievers who would grab home ice for the playoffs, make a little noise, and then get on with their lives. When they split their first four games in January against middle-of-the-road competition, the “good but not great” label seemed ready for indelible ink.

The pieces to the puzzle, however, had been quietly falling into place. During the last weekend in January, the puzzle became complete. The River Hawks entered Walter Brown Arena, a place where they had *never* won a game, and prepared for battle with top ranked Boston University, who sat atop the polls with an 18-1-3 record. A classic David versus Goliath matchup. Not only did they beat the Terriers 8-6, but they completed the sweep back at the Tully Forum in front of a sardine-packed overflow crowd. Armed with the knowledge that they could play with anybody, the River Hawks rolled through the rest of the regular season, finishing a white hot 12-1-1, going 7-1 against teams over .500 from January on.

After sweeping Northeastern in the Hockey East quarterfinals, Lowell entered the third period of the semifinals leading Maine 2-1 with a HE championship matchup against a Providence team they had owned all season only one period away. Maine, however, dominated that third period as did BU in the consolation game. Although the double-dip was disappointing, the River Hawks hoped for atonement in the NCAA tournament.

Shocked at being sent to the West regional despite being the third seeded Eastern team, Lowell prepared to be the “home” team against the Michigan State Spartans in Munn Arena for the second time in three years. There they rose to the challenge, winning 6-2 in front of a sea of Spartan green. One game away from their first ever NCAA championship semifinal, Lowell fell to eventual finalist Colorado College 5-3.

The single biggest key to their dramatic turnaround was goaltender Marty Fillion. In 94-95, the River Hawks had endured the weakest goaltending in Hockey East; this year, however, Fillion had emerged to become among the top half of all league netminders.

Brendan Concannon earned his Most Improved Player honors, finishing fourth among Hockey East scorers (11-23–34, 23-39–62 overall). All-Hockey East forward Christian Sbrocca (10-23–33, 17-42–59 overall), Jeff Daw, and Neil Donovan provided the bulk of the offense but former bit players like Marc Salsman and Ryan Sandholm emerged from the shadows to give UML some of the best depth in the country. In fact, all nine forwards on Lowell’s top three line finished with double-digit goals scored. Although it was Dave Barozzino whose twelve goals set a school record for defenseman, Ed Campbell, David Mayes, and Mike Nicholishin also anchored a solid defense.

Next year the single most important returning member will be Coach Bruce Crowder, winner of national Coach of the Year honors. Since most of the offense is graduating, Crowder could shift UML to a more defensive style to best utilize the returning talent. Departing are Sbrocca, Concannon, Daw, Jon Mahoney, David Dartsch, and Bill Riga at forward as well as Barozzino and Mayes on the blueline.

This wealth of senior leadership was instrumental in Lowell’s excellence in close games (8-2 in one-goal games and 5-1 in those decided by two goals) and could prove hard to replace. Neil Donovan, who slumped over the last half of the season, will lead the remaining forwards; it remains to be seen if role players like Salsman and Sandholm, who were effective as finishing touches to their lines, can step up and be forces themselves. Campbell (assuming he doesn’t go pro) and Nicholishin will be the defensive leaders. Goaltender Scott Fankhouser returns from a year in juniors; this could make this year’s backup Craig Lindsey the odd man out. Whether Crowder can wave his magic wand yet again with next year’s young squad remains to be seen, but the growing legion of UML fans have learned to be optimistic.

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE

(26-9-4 overall, 14-6-4 in Hockey East – 3rd place)

From the moment Maine skated off the ice in Providence, RI in April of 1995 Maine’s goal for the past season was simple: to return to the national championship game and this time bring home the hardware. Maine only lost three seniors after the successful 94-95 campaign, but they were all on defense. Chris Imes, Dave MacIsaac and Jacques Rodrigue all graduated following the 1994-95 season.

The experienced Black Bears started slow. After winning the Great Western Freezeout Tournament in Southern California, they lost games to eventual National Champion Michigan, and Boston University. Maine could only manage two ties at home against New Hampshire, and after a loss to Providence the next week Maine was 5-3-2 and people were questioning if this team really had what it took to win it all.

Maine would regroup however. They would shut Boston College out on consecutive nights (5-0 and 4-0) which snowballed into an eight-game winning streak for the Black Bears. In fact Maine would go unbeaten in 10 straight games and pushed their record to 14-3-3, a solid contender.

But it was not to be. On December 21, 1995 the University of Maine announced the findings of an 18-month, $400,000-plus self-investigation of their athletics department. The investigation found that 27 of the 40 NCAA violations uncovered were against the hockey program and levied stiff sanctions against the Hockey Bears.

The hockey program was banned by the university from competing in the 1996 NCAA Tournament, their head coach Shawn Walsh was suspended without pay for a period of one year, their top-recruiter, Grant Standbrook was forbidden from recruiting off-campus for a period of six-months, and Greg Cronin was also forbidden from recruiting off-campus for one month. Maine also gave up two scholarships for the 1996-7 season, and one for the following year. Cronin was given the reins, and Maine’s dream to return to the national title game was over just as the season had hit the halfway point.

At times over the last part of the year Maine was an average team. They finished the year 12-6-1 under Cronin, and would wind up finishing third in Hockey East, while placing second in the Hockey East Tournament.

Perhaps the proudest moment of the year for Maine hockey fans came in the Hockey East semi-final game against UMass-Lowell. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period Maine got 4 unanswered goals to pull away from the River Hawks and win 5-2. Providence would beat Maine 3-2 in the Hockey East Championship game to end the Black Bears season at 26-9-4.

It is difficult to sum up the season for the University of Maine, because no one will know what kind of effect the University’s self-imposed penalties had on the team. Clearly there were times this team let down because of it, but the team never did give up.

Cronin was in a similar situation with Colorado College several years back. Once the program was sanctioned, the coaching staff lost complete control of the team, and the players broke both team and civilian rules, dragging the freshman with them.

To the credit of the Maine players, they did not break. The team hung in there, and had the chance to go out a winner in the Hockey East Championship game but fell just shy.

There were bright spots for Maine individually as well. Several players had great years, including Tim Lovell (21-19–40), and Shawn Wansborough (27-16–43). Lovell missed the playoffs because of a leg injury, but Dan Shermerhorn was key down the stretch. Shermerhorn picked up much of the scoring slack and finished with a impressive 20-23–43.

Also, newcomer Brett Clark was a big part of filling the defensive holes left by the departure of Imes, MacIsaac and Rodrigue. Clark was runner-up for Hockey East Rookie of the Year, and was on the Hockey East Rookie team. Teammate Steve Kariya was also on that team. Junior Jeff Tory also had a solid campaign as his 41 points from the blueline (4-37) earned him All-American honors for the second consecutive year.

Maine only loses three players, forwards Brad Purdie, and Tony Frenette, along with backup goalie Blair Marsh. While Maine waits for the NCAA to rule on their case June 1-3, clearly the man-power is there for another championship run by the Black Bears in 1996-7.

PROVIDENCE COLLEGE

(21-15-3 overall, 12-9-3 in Hockey East – 4th-place)

When Paul Pooley’s Providence College Friars went to the Hockey East Championship game in 1995, people labeled it a great run, but never did anyone really they think it would happen again this year.

The Friars were picked to be in the lower-half of Hockey East in 1995-6 but ended up squeaking into fourth-place one point ahead of Boston College. The biggest key to this was their 12-4-2 start overall, the execution of Pooley’s defensive minded system and the play of All-Hockey East Goaltender Dan Dennis.

Injuries would plaque the Friars, and they would drop 4 in a row, then 5 of 6, and then 7 of 9. The cries of “I told you so” seemed to echo around Hockey East as Providence drifted back toward the pack.

When Providence met Boston College in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, most people thought the red-hot Eagles would probably pull off the upset. However, a healthy, determined Providence team disposed of them in two games, and then moved on to the Hockey East Final Four to meet defending national champion Boston University.

The Friars stunned the Terriers early and often then hung on to win 5-4. Providence would play the following night for the Hockey East Championship against Maine. It was the second year in a row that the Friars would play in the title game, and this time they were on the money side of a 3-2 score.

Providence would advance to East Lansing, Mich. and the NCAA Tournament. Minnesota knocked them off 5-1 bringing their impressive season to a close in the first round.

Three players were key to Providence’s first Hockey East Championship since 1985. Joe Hulbig (Hockey East Tournament MVP) was especially good against Boston University and Maine scoring key goals, as was freshman Mike Omicioli. Omicioli was named to the All-Tournament team with teammate Jason Gould, who led Providence’s terrific defensive effort, and goalie Dan Dennis, who played brilliantly at times this season. Dennis was certainly a key to Providence’s successful year. Dennis finished with a 3.33 goals against average and a nice .898 save percentage in 37 games for the Friars.

Another key to Providence’s success was the close-checking, slow-down defensive style that Paul Pooley has instilled in his team. Pooley, who came from Lake Superior State in 1994, has shown in the past two Hockey East tournaments that his system can and does work. Providence has taken stuffing the passing lanes and cycling down low and made them into a science. They were especially effective at shutting down teams like Boston University and Maine for long periods of time, while taking great advantage of power-plays and odd man rushes.

Next year’s seniors will have the benefit of having two years under this system, but Providence will lose some key players from its blueline crew. Justin Gould, Scott Balboni, Jon Rowe, Jay Kenney and Eric Sundquist all depart to graduation from the defense. Providence also loses some important forwards in Dennis Burke, Joe Hulbig, Trevor Hanson, and Mike Gambino. Certainly this will leave some gaps for the defensive-minded Pooley, but with Dennis returning he will at the very least have a proven goaltender to count on and if Pooley gets a good freshman class, he could once again surprise the critics.

BOSTON COLLEGE

(16-17-3 overall, 12-10-2 in Hockey East – 5th place)

The names roll off the tongues of the BC faithful: Leetch, Janney, Stevens, Emma, and Brown. The glory years under Len Ceglarski were easy times to be a fan. The Eagles team of 84-85 is still considered by many to be the greatest college hockey team ever.

But the golden memories have dimmed for BC fans, replaced by one losing season after another. In recent years the program hit rock bottom when a disgraced Steve Cedorchuk was fired in the wake of a scholarship scandal to be replaced by the Bruins’ Mike Milbury, only to have Milbury flee without coaching a single game. If the time-honored adage that adversity builds character is true, BC fans entered this season with quite enough character, thank you, can we please start having some fun?

The Eagles had closed out the 94-95 campaign with an embarrassing loss in the play-in round of the Hockey East playoffs in front of a nearly empty Conte Forum. The Hockey East preseason picks showed little reason for optimism, projecting BC to finish next to last. When the team stood 7-12-3 in mid-January, it seemed like “deja vu all over again.”

But a five-game win streak propelled the Eagles into a fight for playoff home ice. Although they fell short of that goal, their record of 9-3-0 down the stretch bode well for their opening round matchup against Providence College. Indeed, that playoff series seemed to match two teams going in opposite directions. The Friars had started strong, but had faded down the stretch. If momentum counted for anything, the smart prognosticator would have chosen the red-hot Eagles. But 5-2 and 4-2 losses ended the BC season.

In retrospect, the Eagles may not have been quite as good as their late season record seemed to indicate. Examining their record another way, they piled up a record of 9-3-0 against the four Hockey East teams finishing below them, while only going 3-10-2 against the four above them (including regular season, playoffs, and Beanpot contests). Nonetheless, the wins over Maine and BU down the stretch and the generally more consistent play during the latter half of the year were positive signs that the young squad held considerable promise.

Although it would be tempting (and obvious) to conclude that the turnaround from last year was due solely to Hockey East Rookie of the Year Marty Reasoner (16-29-45 overall, 12-19-31 in HE), that would overlook, among other things, the terrific season also had by linemate David Hymovitz (26-19-45 overall, 16-14-30 in HE). Hymovitz was chosen to the All Hockey East squad, the only Eagle so honored.

Additionally, the freshman class consisted of more than just Reasoner. In perhaps the brightest news for BC fans, the eight members of the freshman class (110 points) outpointed the four sophomores (41 points), eight juniors (72 points), and six seniors (99 points). As these players mature and become more productive, BC’s fortunes should rise with them.

The hardest members to replace next year will be Hymovitz and Don Chase up front as well as Tom Ashe and Greg Callahan on the blueline. Reasoner will need to pick up where he left off this year, while some potential sniper will need to replace Hymovitz as the recipient of Reasoner’s playmaking prowess.

Greg Taylor (assuming he doesn’t turn pro) will be expected to be one of the elite netminders in the league. Mike Correia returns from a strong year in juniors to back Taylor up. Continued development by this year’s freshman class will be key along with the integration of another strong group of recruits led by Mass public school standout Blake Bellefeuille. (Special thanks to Rick McAdoo.)

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

(12-18-4 overall, 8-12-4 in Hockey East – 6th place)

Perhaps the largest disappointment in Hockey East this year was the play of the New Hampshire Wildcats. Hockey East’s 1994-95 3rd-place team, NCAA Tournament participant, and preseason Hockey East third place team never materialized despite having bragging rights to some of the most talented players in the league.

Things started well for the Wildcats. They began the year 3-1-2 including two ties at Maine, and they kicked off the opening of their new Towse Rink with a thrilling 6-5 overtime victory over the Boston University Terriers. After losing the back end of the home-and-home with BU, UNH would proceed to get swept by Merrimack. Those three losses began a period of nine games in which UNH would only go 2-7.

They never really rebounded. Over the rest of the season they didn’t play above .500, splitting four straight series and finished the season at Maine being swept in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. They finished the back stretch a disappointing 2-5-2.

The disappointment for Wildcat fans can be attributed directly to weak goaltending. Senior Trent Cavicchi never got on his game, and struggled with a goals against average of over 4 goals a game. Cavicchi struggled so much that eventually UNH Coach Dick Umile went away from him and gave the reins to sophomore Brian LaRochelle. LaRochelle played well at times, and certainly was enough to give UNH fans hope, but he was not the answer either as his inexperience proved to be his largest handicap.

The clear strength for the Wildcats was their offense. UNH boasted the 16th ranked scoring offense in the country, despite finishing 6th in the league. Their offense is young, and deep. They are led by junior Eric Boguniecki who in only 32 games racked up 23 goals and 28 assists for 52 points. He was tied for second in league scoring with BU’s Jay Pandolfo at 40 points (20-20). Boguniecki really picked it up late in the year after recovering from an injury and was the leader down the stretch for the Wildcats.

Two sophomores were also key to the UNH attack. 1995 Hockey East Rookie of the Year Mark Mowers had another great year with 21 goals and 26 assists for 47 points. Erik Nickulas scored 26 goals to lead his team, but tailed off toward the end of the season.

UNH’s defense, at times weak, will get weaker through graduation. Of the six graduating seniors, two are defenseman in Todd Hall and Steve Pleau; Cavicchi is also lost to graduation.

Certainly the loss of these three players will be felt, none more so than Hall, who was admired around the league after he had another great season, earning him All-Hockey East honors after he lost his sister in a tragic accident in November. Other graduating seniors are Mike Sullivan, Tom O’Brien and Pat Norton.

The core of the UNH offense (Boguniecki, Mowers and Nickalus) will return, and if they land some quality recruits to shore up the defense and goaltending this team will make some noise.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

(10-21-5 overall, 6-13-5 in Hockey East – 7th place)

Coming off a fourth place Hockey East finish in 94-95, the Huskies were again expected to be at least a middle-of-the-pack team. Projected to finish fourth in the league’s preseason poll, the Huskies based much of their optimism on preseason All-Hockey East selections defenseman Dan McGillis and forward Jordan Shields.

The Huskies, however, got off to a poor start, salvaging only a tie in their first five games. They continued to stumble along, entering the new year with only three wins and two ties in their pockets. Having played far below expectations, the Huskies appeared to turn the corner with a 6-2-2 streak, the most notable of these a 4-1 win over Harvard in the Beanpot semifinals. This would result in the Huskies’ first appearance in a Beanpot title game since 1988, when they won their fourth title. A fifth Beanpot might salvage the season and perhaps springboard the team to a strong finish.

Unfortunately, the final was a sloppily played 11-4 humiliation at the hands of BU. The Fleet Center began emptying after two periods and the clicking of remote control buttons could be heard all over New England. Indeed, the game served as a springboard for the rest of the season, although not the one Northeastern fans had hoped for. The Huskies would win only one more game before being eliminated from the playoffs in two straight games at the hands of UMass-Lowell.

Most of NU’s problems could be traced to a lack of offense. The squad finished dead last in Hockey East in goals scored. Jordan Shields, who was supplanted on the first line, had a solid but unspectacular season, finishing 11-18-29 in Hockey East games, a few points off the pace of his junior year. Although the scoring was sparse, the defense was solid, anchored by All-American Dan McGillis.

The goaltending tandem of Mike Veisor and Todd Reynolds kept the Huskies in a lot of low scoring games. Although Reynolds did struggle due to injury problems in some games midway through the season, his .905 save percentage in league contests still bested that of all other Hockey East goalies.

Despite the disappointing year, the Huskies sported some of the best nicknames in college hockey. Mike “Bud” Veisor and Dan “Dobie” McGillis won top honors in the Best Individual Nickname category. Additionally, the top line of Mike Santonelli, Mike Collett, and Danny Lupo was dubbed the “Catholic Line” since all three originate from Boston area Catholic high schools.

Next year would appear to be a rebuilding one for the Hunnington Hounds. They will be losing their top performers at all positions: goalies Veisor and Todd Reynolds, defenseman McGillis, and forwards Shields, Collet, Lupo, Craig Carmody, and Tomas Persson.

Since Hockey East is expected to eliminate shootouts next year, Northeastern will also be “graduating” its prowess in that category; for the second year in a row they won all five of their shootouts. To avoid the lower regions of league standings next season, the Huskies will need some underclassmen to rise to the challenge while also getting production out of this year’s recruits.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-AMHERST

(10-18-6 overall, 4-14-6 in Hockey East – 8th place)

There aren’t many programs that would look at an 8th place finish as a successful season, but it was that for the second-year UMass-Amherst hockey program. After being the Hockey East punching bag the year before, UMass-Amherst finished solidly in 8th and made the Hockey East quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

UMass-Amherst began their 1995-6 season by winning 4 of their first 5 games, and 6 of 9 to start out surprisingly well at 6-3. Even though most of the competition was not all that tough, they did post a win over UMass-Lowell, who went to the NCAA Tournament. For UMass-Amherst it did serve their purpose, it gave them confidence something a fledgling program needs badly.

The strong start would not continue for UMass-Amherst, but it was enough to keep them in 8th place as they held on down the stretch. UMass-Amherst would go 1-10-6 after the Christmas games, their one win over Merrimack giving them the series sweep and the key to finishing in 8th place. One of the six ties was also notable since that gave the Minutemen a 1-1-1 record against rival sister school UMass-Lowell; winning the resulting shootout gave them the tiebreaker and the Alumni Cup, to be awarded annually to the winner of the series. This is a rivalry that will bear watching.

By making the playoffs, the limping Minutemen were awarded the right to play Hockey East Regular Season Champion, and defending National Champion, Boston University. UMass-Amherst hung tough the first game, losing only 5-2, but the final game of UMass-Amherst’s season will sting throughout the summer as Boston University plastered them 14-1.

UMass-Amherst was led by forwards Rob Bonneau and Sal Manganaro. Bonneau led UMass-Amherst in assists with 30 (16-30-46) while Manganaro led the team in goals with 23 (23-23-46). Manganaro had also led the Minutemen in scoring for the 1994-5 season. Manganaro will be lost to graduation while Bonneau will be called upon to fill the scoring void.

Another big hole for UMass-Amherst coach Joe Mallen to fill is the loss of two senior defenseman. Dale Hooper and Jaynen Rissling were UMass-Amherst’s best defensemen throughout the season; Rissling was also the Minutemen captain. Other losses for UMass-Amherst are backup goalie David Killduff, and forward Jon Jacques.

UMass-Amherst will need to count on more than just Bonneau to keep them competitive in 1996-7. Goaltender Brian Regan, while not posting the numbers, is regarded as one of the best goalies in Hockey East. Regan, spectacular at times, will need to improve his consistency. They need a solid season from him.

Assistant Captains Mike Evans and Blair Wagar also will need to step up both in the locker room and on the ice to fill the void left by Manganaro. Certainly Joe Mallen surpassed expectations this year; who knows what UMass-Amherst will bring to the table next year.

MERRIMACK COLLEGE

(10-19-5 overall, 4-18-2 in Hockey East – 9th-place)

Certainly 1995-96 was a year of disappointment for the Merrimack Warriors. Picked to fight for home-ice in Hockey East, the Warriors finished dead last and out of the playoffs. Rather than naming them the most disappointing team in the league, perhaps the moniker “Tough Luck Kids” would be more appropriate.

Unlike other last place Merrimack teams, this one was not the laughingstock of the league by any means. Merrimack played in 18 games decided by two goals or less, but only compiled a 4-14 record in those games. At 10-19-5, that 10 game difference played a huge part in why Merrimack missed the Hockey East playoffs.

There were a few shining moments for this 1995-96 Merrimack Warrior team, the largest of which was a late season 7-4 victory over Hockey East Regular Season Champion Boston University. This win went a long way towards reinforcing the idea that Merrimack was perhaps the best last place team Hockey East may have seen in the last few years, if not ever, and spoke to the parity which the league exhibited this season.

The other huge moment was the home-and-home sweep of the then-No. 10 ranked UNH Wildcats. This sweep was the beginning of the end for UNH, who went on a long skid following this series.

Merrimack only won one other Hockey East game, that against Northeastern. Merrimack struggled against teams it needed to beat all year long. Perhaps the best case was losing all three games to UMass-Amherst. This cemented the Warriors in last place with little hope of moving out, despite the late season collapse by the Minutemen.

People around the Merrimack program will tell you two things. First, that this team, while being labeled overrated, was still a quality team. Their only problem was that they didn’t know how to win. Great defense and solid goaltending led Merrimack to many a close game, but only rarely did they get the elusive “W”. Lastly, people around Merrimack will tell you that they look ahead to next year with great expectation.

While losing key players in Tom Costa, Ryan Mailhiot, Chris Davis, next year’s team will be filled with quality senior leadership. Most of these seniors have experienced the frustration of two straight seasons of being competitive but not winning the close games. They will no longer be satisfied with “just being close”. Couple that with one of the best recruiting classes in Merrimack’s Division I history, and Merrimack could in fact fight for the home ice people thought they’d get this year.

They will need to get more consistent in every area. When the goaltending, defense and forwards all played solidly Merrimack was a team to be reckoned with, but when one part let down it seemed to put the entire team behind the eight ball. Merrimack will need goalie Martin Legault to return to the form of 1994-5 when he had a .903 save percentage and a 3.39 goals against average in 28 games.

Legault’s defense will continue to be important for the Warriors. They will be led by Steve McKenna, and Hockey East All-Rookie Darrel Scoville. John Jakopin, who moved to forward during the late stages of the 95-96 season, may move back to defense with several recruits expected to step right in at forward. The move would reunite Merrimack’s twin towers on defense with McKenna (6-foot-8 235 pounds) and Jakopin (6-foot-6 235 pounds). While having the talent at defense they will need to be more consistent in their own zone.

If Merrimack can count on their young players up front, and gain the consistency in their own end Merrimack may well enjoy their best Hockey East season in 1996-97. (special thanks to Merrimack Sports Information Director Tom Caraccioli)

The 1995-96 Hockey East season will not soon be forgotten. Much happened, both on and off the ice, that will be hard to let go of. As we tie the final knot in this season, let’s not look at where we came from, but where we are now. College hockey, as a fraternity, grew closer this past season. With that in mind, we should all be anxiously looking over our shoulder waiting for October and the birth of a new season.

Hats off to CC

By Tim Brule
-

When Colorado College won the 1995-96 WCHA regular season championships, they became the first team in WCHA history to win three consecutive championships. These three championships followed a long dry spell for Tiger hockey.
Colorado College last NCAA championship was in 1957. Since this time, CC managed to finish above .500 in conference only 6 times. This includes the current streak of three first place finishes.

Colorado Colleges yearly WCHA finishes

1958   3      1971   8      1984   6
1959*  -      1972   9      1985   6
1960   4      1973   9      1986   7
1961   7      1974   9      1987   6
1962   7      1975   3      1988   8
1963   5      1976   6      1989   8
1964   6      1977   8      1990   7
1965   7      1978   5      1991   8
1966   7      1979   8      1992   4
1967   7      1980   3      1993   9
1968   7      1981   7      1994   1
1969   7      1982   6      1995   1
1970   9      1983   6      1996   1
* WIHL dissolves

After finishing in last place in 1992-93, the Tigers hired Don Lucia as their new Head Coach. In 1993-94 the Tigers were again expected to reside in the basement of the WCHA. Led by senior defenseman Shawn Reid and a young talented sophomore class, CC shocked the league going from last to first.

Their dream season was cut short by first team All-American goalie Jamie Ram and the Michigan Tech Huskies in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Following these losses came a bigger loss. Despite finishing first in the WCHA, CC was not invited to the 1994 NCAA Hockey Tournament.

In 1994-95, CC again won the WCHA regular season championship. The Tigers featured a high powered offense, capable of scoring in bunches. Leading this offensive surge was Peter Geronozzo (29-28-57), Colin Schmidt (26-31-57), Jay McNeil (33-18-51) and Chad Ramackel (17-31-48) all of which were Juniors. The Tigers made a strong post-season run.

Winning a dramatic come from behind overtime game 5-4 versus host Minnesota, to put the Tigers in the championship game against Wisconsin. CC fortunes stopped here. The Badgers won another dramatic overtime game 4-3, capping off a fantastic WCHA Final 5. For their first place conference finish and second place playoff finish the Tigers were awarded a bye in 1995 NCAA Hockey Tournament.

As fortunes and NCAA seedings would have it, CC faced long time rival Minnesota for the sixth time of the season in their first game of the NCAA playoffs. The playoff experienced Gophers got their revenge for the OT loss in the WCHA Final 5, ending the Tigers season with a convincing 5-2 victory.

Despite this loss, things looked upbeat for Colorado. They were losing three key defensive players, but their top guns were all returning. Further, CC incoming freshman class was loaded (Brian Swanson, Scott Swanson, Jason Clark and Jon Austin). They also returned two solid netminders in Judd Lambert and Ryan Bach. The only team that stood in their way was the Gophers.

In a classic match up, Feb 9-10, CC came into Minnesota and split a pair of hard fought games. These games solidified CC’s hold on the WCHA regular season title for a record third straight year.

Now CC is posed to make a run at the next level. They have the talent, the depth, and after last year the playoff experience. The Tigers are going to be a very difficult opponent to beat in the postseason.

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