Brian Goff writes:
>   Does Vermont have anything besides goaltender Tim Thomas this
>year?
 
Yes, definitely.  Vermont had one of the top freshman classes in the
country last year; besides Thomas, who finished fourth in the league
in GAA (3.11), they placed forwards Martin St Louis and Eric Perrin on
the All-Rookie Team.  Perrin was the ECAC Rookie of the Year with
24-21--45, while St Louis led the team in scoring with 15-36--51.
 
Senior Dominique Ducharme (12-31--43) also returns along with three
other forwards who had 15 points or more.
 
The Catamounts don't have much in the way of offense from their
defensemen, but they may be able to get away with it with the set of
forwards they have.  Overall, their defense played pretty well in
front of Thomas from what I saw, and they have 7 regulars returning.
 
Vermont is experienced at all positions and pretty well balanced
except for the lack of proven production on D.  But I think that will
be enough to at least place them among the top teams in the ECAC.  I'm
surprised that they haven't gotten more mention in the pre-season
polls than what I have seen so far.
 
My sleeper team in the ECAC is Colgate, if G Matt Weder can stay
healthy and if he and fellow dufflebag Jason Gates become more
consistent.
 
>   What is in the plans for Jeff Kealty this year. He has great
>hockey sense but needs to put on about 40-50 pounds to be a good
>defenseman. Will he get much playing time for BU this year?
 
Somehow, I doubt BU wants him to put on that much weight - he's
already 6-4/190. :-)  If O'Sullivan does play up front as projected,
that leaves 7 quality defensemen, and although I haven't seen Kealty
play yet, I have to think he will step in immediately as one of the
starting six.  Parker has apparently said that he thinks this year's
group of defensemen is the best ever at BU.
 
On another note, I noticed that Ethan Philpott, who was a freshman at
Harvard last year, has left the Crimson to spend a year in the Midwest
in the USHL.  Philpott was highly touted last season but apparently
had a rough first year.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
<<<<< Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (station TBA for 94-95) >>>>>