Today's _Providence Journal_ contains both good and bad news
regarding the Friars.  The good news, of course, is that
they open their season tonight, and that they will get some
coverage, (at least when the Providence Bruins are
out-of-town.)  The bad news is the game is on the road and
that the PJ's Dave Chapman is again doing the write-ups,
8-).
 
According to the Journal, Coach Paul Pooley will be using a
system similar to the one he worked with under Jeff Jackson
at Lake State - a disciplined style, relying on  solid
defensive work.  (IMHO that's a good thing since no one this
year is likely to accuse PC of having too much offense.
It's also alot easier to teach solid defense than to create
scorers.)
 
He wants to play four balanced lines in every game, but has
yet to establish a lineup.  Practices have contained changes
almost every day as he gets to know the players.  "If we get
set too early it takes away from our ability to develop as a
team."
 
The Friar's will be at Army tonight and then head to Vermont
for a much tougher match Sunday.
 
Personal observations--
Without a doubt the Friars biggest weaknesses are their
youth, size and lack of firepower.  They will be forced to
rely heavily on senior Chad Quenneville, last year's scoring
leader. One big question will be "Queenie's" ability at 5-9,
160, to stand up to the attention and abuse he's bound to
take from opponents. Also important to their success will be
senior Brady Kramer, (6-2, 195) a real hustler, who I think
is very under-rated. The team's only other senior is Jon
LaVarre.
 
The Friars, who only lost four players from last year's
team, will also need some of the 11 juniors and 8 sophs on
the squad to step up. I did expect that having lost so
little to graduation, they would have been ranked higher in
the various polls. Thankfully, the standings are still
determined by playing the games!  8-)
 
Big things are still hoped for from Joe Hulbig (jr, 6-3,
216), a ferocious hitter with a big slap shot, but with a
tendency to loose his intensity and/or take dumb penalties.
He has yet to live up to his billing coming out of HS but
has the skills to make a major difference.  I wouldn't be
surprised to seem him on the first line as Quenneville's
guardian angel.  The blue line, I expect, will be anchored
by Scott Balboni and Dennis Souza, along with Justin Gould,
Jon Rowe and Hal Gill. None of them are flashy or as big as
Chris Therien who left for the Canadian Olympic team and is
now with the Flyers, but they are all capable of a solid
game.  Soph Russ Guzior showed a good scoring touch on
occasion last year and could blossom.  Goalies Dan Dennis
and Bob Bell have both proven they can get hot if someone's
clearing the puck in front of them.
 
Based on last week's Black & White game, I'd say the Friars
have a ways to go.  If you're going to play a disciplined
style relying on defense, you don't want to see the frequent
3 on 2's and 2 on 1's which I saw. Only four freshmen
skated, which was not surprising considering the late hiring
of Coach Pooley.  Unfortunately, none of which made any
impression at all.  The team, who on too many occasions in
recent years looked like they were sleep-walking
(sleep-skating?) should benefit from the change behind the
bench and another year's experience.  Most of the roster was
forced to step right in as freshmen with little chance to
adapt. But, with most of the rest of Hockey East also having
their problems anything (almost) could happen.  A top half
finish would be respectable (and more than most are
expecting of them.)  I don't think home ice for the playoffs
is out of the question.
 
Any one else see enough of this team to offer some thoughts?
 
-- Bill