On Tue, 2 Nov 1993, Michael C. Machnik wrote:
 
> Tony writes:
> >Hockey East Player of the week:
> >LW  Cooper Naylor, Merrimack
>
> Naylor had the game-winning goal against RPI Friday, the one that
> wasn't signaled by the goal judge but was called by the referee.  It
> was the third of three goals (by three lines) in 31 seconds.  He added
> a goal and an assist against Army.  This surprised me; I guess no one
> else had a big weekend.  I didn't even think he was Merrimack's best
> player in the two games, although he was solid all-around and has
> contributed on offense the way Merrimack needs him to.
 
Cooper has historically been more of a defensive forward, but the
capability for him to contribute offensively has always been there.  From
talking to Coach Anderson after games last year, I definitely got the
impression that although they were always immensely pleased with Cooper's
consistent effort, they felt he had the potential to score more goals.
There were games last year when Cooper played very aggressively in the
offensive zone, but was snakebit, and then he'd return to a more
defensive mode of play.  However, his experience is a definite plus.
This year's senior class is the first class that was recruited
specifically to play in Hockey East and has three years experience in the
league (Merrimack's late entrance to HEA for the '89-'90 campaign was too
late to affect recruiting significantly.
 
>
> >Rookies of the week:
> >LW  Greg Bullock, UMass-Lowell
> >G   Martin Legault, Merrimack
>
> Legault stopped 42 of 44 shots in the RPI win and rested Sunday.  His
> GAA stands at 2.00 through 2 games, save % of .941.
>
 
Legault was very sharp against RPI, especially late when the Engineers
were threatening to tie.
 
 
> >Wow!  Mike must be going crazy!  First, Merrimack is undefeated at 3-0, then
> >the Warriors get votes in the national polls, finally, two of the three awards
> >go to Merrimack player!!  Quite a week for the big M's.
>
> It's nice to see the recognition, but I'm not going to proclaim them
> HE contenders or anything.  Head coach Ron Anderson said after the
> Army game that if they'd played 3 HE teams they'd be 0-3 and that they
> needed an "attitude adjustment".  I'm remaining cautiously optimistic.
>
 
Anderson's quote seems also typically cautious.  There are Hockey East
teams that probably aren't as good as RPI that the Mack might have
beaten.  However, Anderson knows that overconfidence won't help his team
next weekend against Maine (no matter how overrated everybody says they
are-- they're still pretty darn good.)
 
David M. Josselyn
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