At 8:11 PM -0400 8/21/96, Paul Gentile wrote:
> I can seem to understand where all this talk of Maine players going to BU
> gets any credence. I would be astounded to learn of such a move. Any
> talk in this regard ... that pretends to be serious ... is simply nonsense.
> Obvious to me are two simple facts ... 1st) Jack Parker has a list of
> candidates already, players he had to turn down this year who could
> easily be picked up in time for school. 2nd) B.U. isn't going to admit a
> senior who spent three+ years at Maine.
These are both good points and they work together. The big reason why I
can see some coaches not opting to award a scholarship to a Maine senior is
that he would only be around for a year and that scholarship could be used
on a player who would be able to develop. Still, nothing says that someone
like Lovell couldn't choose to pay his own way to BU or anyplace else even
if not offered a scholarship. That would surprise me; I don't think it
would be worth the cost just to get to play in the postseason. Not my call
though and anything can happen.
> >>> BU once looked to be returning with the nucleus that one the hockey
> >>> east last year ... yadda, yadda, yadda, <SNIP>
>
> BU will not only survive, but they will dominate and separate themselves
> from the pack in definitely a larger fashion than the close race last year.
> Their domination will not be due to the fact that they're a better team than
> last year, but more so to a decline in the power of Lowell and Maine.
Also a decline in the overall strength of the league. The teams that are
going to be weaker than last year, and there will be a number of them, are
going to find it tougher to beat BU.
Yet, I don't see BU running away with it. They're going to have a problem
with depth, especially on defense. Any injuries to key players will be
magnified because Parker chooses to go with a smaller roster than many
coaches. A team like BC, especially if the freshmen are as good as
projected, could give them a run for their money. BC's D has come around
and Taylor seems to be getting more consistent as he matures.
I can see teams like BC, UNH, and Merrimack having a solid chance to post
at least one win against every other team, and that includes BU.
...
> Lowell - I wouldn't count Lowell out ... they have had an uncanny way
> of proving all the predictions ludicrous in recent years. These kids have
> been shown ... and some have helped ... what working-class talent and
> inspired play can accomplish. I'm not sure they'll avoid "missing a beat"
> due to the coaching change, but I'm hoping. Fillion will backstop this club.
> They'll be uncharacteristically stronger with defense, but that's what
> anchored their oncoming anyhow. Coach Whitehead said he never
> would have taken the job if he didn't think this club could contend for a
> national title in two years.
They yet may, but I can't see how they're going to overcome losing 8 of
their top 10 scorers and their three best defensemen and still finish third
this year. Fillion also has to watch out for Fankhouser, who returns from
the SJHL and will either split time with Fillion or win the job outright.
But Lowell doesn't seem to have much other than goaltending, and even then,
Fankhouser seems to have a better shot at carrying them than Fillion.
Fillion was much better last year than as a rookie, but he was still
inconsistent and depended a lot on his experienced seniors to bail him out.
His weaknesses may be more apparent this season and he will be counted on a
lot more. Lowell looks like a lower echelon team to me, but if they do
much better, Lowell fans will be saying "Bruce who?" :-)
> Merrimack - No way that team should've finished last. This year's team
> is improved, so I expect this team to contend for home ice in opening
> round of playoffs. Like Lowell, success is promised largely due to a
> returning high-caliber netminder. Legault could be first team all-star if he
> gets some wins. Big loss in Poirier.
I pretty much agree, although I have them 5th (assuming most of the Maine
seniors return) with a shot at 4th. But what I don't understand is the
idea I've heard (from others too) that Poirier was a big loss. Oddly
enough, people who follow Merrimack primarily, don't see it as a huge loss
and certainly think it is one they can overcome given the added experience
of the returning players and the scoring that is coming in.
I put together a listing of box scores for the Merrimack media guide for
this season and found that most of Poirier's ten goals came either in
losses or wins over weak teams. I definitely think those ten goals can be
made up, and they'll need to come in bigger games.
Poirier was a guy who seemed to have potential to break out and have a
great year either this year or next. If that was going to happen, i.e. 20
goals/40 points or more, then it would be a bigger loss. But that can't be
counted on, and based on his first two seasons, he sure doesn't rank as a
player whose loss is insurmountable. I expect others to pick up the slack,
and I'll even go as far as to say Merrimack will still score more goals per
game this year than last. That's the key.
And don't discount the possibility of Chris Classen challenging Legault
(and Thibeault) for ice time. Their third string goalie, if there is one,
could wind up being better than some teams' starters.
Four guys to watch for Merrimack: Jayson Philbin, Sandy Cohen, Martin
Laroche, and John Jakopin. Philbin and Cohen are incoming snipers and on
reputation alone are the two best offensive players Merrimack has landed
since joining HE. Laroche is a solid two way player and has a realistic
shot as a junior at 20-20--40 or more, especially if he plays with Philbin.
And Jakopin will return to D to cover for McKenna and, I think, prove
himself as one of the league's better blueliners at both ends of the ice,
possibly garnering some votes for All-HE.
And I didn't even mention Darrel Scoville (All-Rookie D) or Rob Beck
(leading scorer). If Clark and Tory wind up with the Canadian Nationals,
Merrimack has two strong candidates for All-HE defense in Scoville and
Jakopin. Only Jon Coleman of BU would return as an All-HE D from last year.
Stop me before I get too optimistic. :-)
> UNH - Definitely a great recruiting class ... but this team is
>questionable.
> I'd let Larochelle back up some new talent. UNH doesn't need to waste
> another year going with a mediocre senior. Of course its hard to judge
> the goal-keeping with that erratic defensive corps.
UNH may have found its netminder of the future in either Matile or
Erbsland. I believe Matile is ineligible for the first ten games or so due
to having played in major junior (he sat out last year), so off the bat, it
will probably be up to Larochelle and Erbsland to do the job. But I expect
that by the end of the year, they'll have at least one guy they can count
on. And while the defense loses a lot in Hall mainly, they seem to have
recruited well and these guys should come around soon. If the big guns can
win high scoring games early on, by the end they'll be a team to watch.
I'd put them 4th, possibly 3rd if Maine loses too many seniors.
BTW, the idea that UNH and Merrimack can contend for home ice shows the
relative weakness of the league. In almost any other year, there would be
enough other strong teams that home ice would be tougher to gain - not that
it is guaranteed for these teams this year.
...
> Providence - Brenare, Green and the crafty Lake should help this club
> win some. But, they've lost too much ... including nearly all of "that magic"
> that won them the HE title (all but Dennis).
The big thing that hurts PC is graduating 5 Ds who played down the stretch.
The new guys will need some time to learn Pooley's system. And Dennis will
see more quality shots than last year. The returning Fs like Guzior,
Brannare, Green, Omicioli, and Dillabough will need to increase their
output while the team defense comes together. Could be another team that
has it all together by the end of the year after a slow start. How can you
go against Pooley? :-)
> Northeastern - Crowder will take a year at least in getting the
> Smithy-ness out of his players and installing a Bruce-zing style of play.
> Too bad though, Lupo would have been ideal under Bruce ... Shields
> would have spent considerable bench time.
I don't see how the Huskies can overcome scoring losses of McGillis, Lupo,
Shields, and Collett, and on top of that, they have no proven netminder nor
as far as I can see, a recruit who we know will be "the man". I like some
of the returning Ds like Schuhwerk and Klyn, but boy, will they have their
work cut out with goalies Veisor and Reynolds gone along with iron man D
McGillis.
> Amherst - Still showing occasional glimpses they'll contend some day.
UMA seems like a team that will be about the same as last year, yet that
could be enough to move them up just a bit with the weakness of some other
teams. Overall, though, I don't think they've started landing the quality
of recruits that I expected them to. They haven't reached the point of
stealing away top players from the established teams. They do have some
solid returnees at all positions in Bonneau, Norris, Norton and Regan, but
depth will be a problem against the better teams.
> Standings ...
>
> BU 19-4-1 98
...
BTW, the shootout is gone this year. As far as I know, that means a return
to the 2-1-0 point system (thus BU would have 39 pts here).
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93
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