The following is from the 1994-95 Merrimack prospectus, authored by
SID Jim Seavey.
 
"NEWCOMERS: [Head Coach Ron] Anderson and assistants Stu Irving, Andy
Heinze and Mike Geragosian have added another excellent recruiting
class to the Merrimack fold, with a concentration this season on the
forward spots to help improve the offense.  Among the newcomers at
forward are freshmen Jon Duggan (Billerica, Mass./Tyngsboro Jr.
Huskies), Tim Hirsch (Arlington, Mass./New Hampton Prep), Jim Sapienza
(North Quincy, Mass./North Quincy), Jason Feeley (Medford,
Mass./Phillips Andover), Casey Kesselring (Cambridge, Ont./Notre Dame
Hounds), Tom O'Grady (Brampton, Ont./Bramalea Blues Tier II Jr.),
Gaetan Poirier (Sainte Antoine, N.B./Gloucester Rangers), and Martin
Laroche (Cornwall, Ont./Brockville Braves).
 
Junior Alex MacLellan (Tewksbury, Mass.), a transfer from Union, and
freshman Chris Silvestro (West Yarmouth, Mass./Canterbury Prep) are
newcomers on defense this season for Merrimack, while freshman Tim
Thompson (Islandia, N.Y./Long Island Breakers) will challenge in
goal."
 
So the breakdown by numbers is as follows...
FORWARD: 10 returnees, 8 newcomers.
DEFENSE: 8 returnees, 2 newcomers.
GOAL: 2 returnees, 1 newcomer.
 
The strength of the team will probably be defense with 4 seniors, 1
junior and 3 sophomores returning to man the blueline, an area
Anderson says "we've invested a great deal of time in."  2 new players
should challenge the returnees and result in a good deal of quality at
that position.  Marty Legault and Eric Thibeault will be sophomores in
net, and both had solid freshman years with Legault seeing better than
85% of the action and opening quite a few eyes.
 
Forwards with more than a year of DivI experience total only 4, with
an additional 6 who saw a lot of time as freshmen.  Among those 6, two
are actually listed as juniors eligibility wise, Daryl Krauss and
Claudio Peca.  Merrimack averaged only 3.21 goals/game in HE play last
season, and as Anderson says, "You don't win too many league games
with that average.  We must identify the personnel and means to
improve our offensive production while maintaining our defense."  That
means that the 8 newcomers at forward are likely to get a good look
and offensive improvement will depend on some of them being able to
contribute in their first season.  But it will also be necessary for
the upperclassmen to raise their scoring output, too.  The league race
could be close enough that an improvement of another goal a game
might mean a spot in the top 4 and home ice.
 
2 changes in scheduling have taken place.  The opening weekend trip to
Dalhousie in Nova Scotia will not be a Fri-Sat affair; rather, the
games will be played Sat night and Sun afternoon, 10/22-23.  Also, the
Merrimack at Maine game Sun 2/12/95 has been adjusted to a 7 pm start
time from the previous 4 pm.
 
88 days until opening night. :-)
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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