In the second of two scrimmages before the season opener, Merrimack's White
Team defeated the Blue Team this evening, 8-2, before a crowd of about 50.
 
Martin Legault went the whole way in net for White and stopped 28 of 30
shots, while Eric Thibeault and Jim McNiff split duties for Blue and
allowed 5 and 3 goals respectively.  Behind Legault, White built a 5-0 lead
halfway through the game before Blue got on the board.  Shots were even at
30-30.
 
Penalties were whistled down by the HE refs but were only recorded and not
put up on the board.  Thus, there were no power plays and the entire 60
mins was played 5x5.
 
Tim Hirsch, who played JV last year, tallied the hat trick while playing
with JV linemates Sean Sweeney and Jon Duggan.  Other White goals were
scored by Sweeney, Claudio Peca (2), and freshmen F Rejean Stringer
(pronounced "strahn-JAY") and D Darrel Scoville.  Blue goals were scored by
freshman D Roland Grelle and one other that I missed (Grelle set it up).
 
Legault looked very strong, although his defense was also better than that
of the Blue Team.  And although his line did not score, rookie F Kris
Porter impressed the heck out of me.  In fact, all of the freshmen did - Fs
Porter and  Stringer and Ds Scoville and Grelle all look like immediate
impact players in a third straight superb recruiting class for Ron
Anderson.  I recall how last year, Shawn Walsh noted that Anderson had
landed two straight good classes of impact recruits and that a third
straight should enable him to turn the corner.
 
The result is that there will be a lot of depth on this team at all
positions.  11 forwards return who played last year plus the two freshmen
who will certainly play, and also the emergence of a guy like Hirsch into
the mix leaves some tough decisions to be made.  The top six Ds should
comprise one of the better blueline sets in the country, with Scoville and
Grelle adding dimensions that were somewhat missing before - a good combo
of size, speed, and shooting, as Scoville ripped off a blast late in the
game for a goal.  Grelle played solid D and stayed with his man, and also
set up some nice plays.
 
The negative was that the returning upperclassman forwards had trouble
putting the puck in the net despite skating well.  The more impressive
players tended to be the ones who were fighting for positions, like the
newcomers and last year's JV players.  But the lines of Beck-Laroche-Porter
and Poirier-Stringer-Peca look like the best at this point, with
Krauss-Kesselring-Johnson not far behind.  Still, I will not be surprised
to see someone like Hirsch in the lineup Friday.
 
Opening night is Friday, October 13, with Merrimack hosting McGill in a
nonconference game that will count in the overall record and stats but not
in the NCAA record/stats.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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