{"id":61536,"date":"2015-01-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=61536"},"modified":"2020-08-24T19:02:29","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T00:02:29","slug":"a-few-years-later-and-at-a-different-school-providences-mingoia-having-expected-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2015\/01\/08\/a-few-years-later-and-at-a-different-school-providences-mingoia-having-expected-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"A few years later and at a different school, Providence’s Mingoia having expected impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Trevor Mingoia transferred to Providence after a season at Union (photo: Melissa Wade).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Providence coach Nate Leaman recruited Trevor Mingoia out of Berkshire School, there was a point at which he never thought he would see the fruits of the talented forward who needed to gain a few pounds.<\/p>\n

Leaman, of course, recruited Mingoia to play for Union but that same summer left Schenectady, N.Y., for Providence, leaving Mingoia to Leaman’s former-assistant-turned-head-coach Rick Bennett.<\/p>\n

But for reasons Leaman doesn’t know, things didn’t work out at Union and after one season in New York’s Capital District, Mingoia was gone, headed for Tri-City in the USHL. With Mingoia back on the market, if you will, Leaman recruited him again, this time to head to Providence.<\/p>\n

Now, a little more than a year after Mingoia first stepped into the Friars lineup, he is having the impact that Leaman was confident he could have when he recruited him before the 2011-12 season.<\/p>\n

“He’s matured as a player,” Leaman said of Mingoia, who leads the Friars in goals (11) and points (19). “Coming into this year, he felt a lot more comfortable.<\/p>\n

“He’s got a good stick and he’s a smart guy. He’s really good at hunting down pucks.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t say that things have turned for him or this has been a magical year. I think it’s always been what Trevor’s potential is. He’s feeling a lot more comfortable on the ice.”<\/p>\n

Leaman remembers back to when he recruited Mingoia out of prep school, saying that he had a “really good head for the game.” But he also said that Mingoia was a skinny kid that needed to grow into his 5-foot-11 frame.<\/p>\n

That maturity came in the year in the USHL, when Leaman and his staff regained contact. Mingoia arrived at Providence last season and stepped into the lineup right after Thanksgiving. In 26 games, he began to show his ability to impact the club but, according to Leaman, “It’s never easy to step into a team like that.”<\/p>\n

This season, Mingoia’s stick talents and his nose for the net are showing consistently. He has potted nine goals in his last 11 games and has been a big part of a Providence power play that began the year without a goal in its first 21 attempts and at one point was 3-for-49. At 12-for-99, the man-up unit still isn’t clicking like gangbusters, but the knowledge that the puck actually can<\/i> go in the net on the power play can be traced to Mingoia, who has five tallies with the man advantage, and Shane Luke, who has four.<\/p>\n

“Both of our power-play units have really good chemistry right now,” said Leaman. “They both go out and have a good feel of how to approach it and they are working hard.”<\/p>\n

All of that has led to an improved play that has the Friars 9-1 in their last 10 games after beginning the year 4-5-2 against a Murderer’s Row type of schedule. Besides playing a tough schedule to begin the year that included five of the first six games on the road and four of those six games against teams that have now held the top spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll (Boston University and North Dakota), Leaman said he felt his team’s confidence was getting dented by frustrating moments.<\/p>\n

“I thought we were playing some good hockey earlier in the season, but for whatever reason the puck wasn’t going in the net for us,” said Leaman. “We were getting great chances. But [confidence] has turned our way a little bit.<\/p>\n

“Now when we hit three or four posts, we know the next one is going in. We don’t drop our shoulders and feel like we’re never going to score.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Merrimack is 11-6-2 overall but just 4-4-1 in Hockey East play (photo: Jim Rosvold).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How legit is Merrimack?<\/h4>\n

The above headline is something I have subtly questioned in writing and significantly questioned in my head to this point in the season. Just how good is this Merrimack team that stands at 11-6-2 overall, but is .500 in Hockey East?<\/p>\n

I’ve questioned how tough Merrimack’s schedule has been to date, playing four games against Atlantic Hockey opponents (against which Hockey East collectively holds a 14-2 record) and two against Clarkson, which is below .500 but 4-1-2 in ECAC Hockey and at the break was 1-2-1 against nationally ranked opponents.<\/p>\n

But I’ll admit that last Friday night’s victory over Minnesota and a tough loss to UMass-Lowell the following day at the Mariucci Classic has opened my eyes. I’m not yet a believer that this is an NCAA tournament team, but this Merrimack club’s success hasn’t been due to playing cupcake opponents.<\/p>\n

First off, Rasmus Tirronen has emerged into one of Hockey East elite goaltenders. He looks confident in the net and his oversized frame frustrates shooters. When he gets out of position, he’s quick to recover and can make tough saves, as Minnesota learned on Friday:<\/p>\n