In an exhibition game last Friday night, the UMass-Lowell RiverHawks came from
behind to beat Concordia 4-3 in OT on a shorthanded goal by Jon Mahoney.
The RiverHawks scored on the first shift of the game and then proceeded to
spend a lot of time in the penalty box, *lead* by Aaron Kriss, one of only three
seniors on the team.  Since Mike made a point in his Hockey East preview of
mentioning Christian Sbrocca's need to stay out of the penalty box, I'll add
that Sbrocca didn't take a single penalty the entire game.  Personally, I don't
see his 80 PIMs last year as being a problem, but then I also don't agree with
Mike's prediction of a Mass-Lowell seventh place finish in Hockey East.  :-)
 
Since results aren't really that important for an exhibition game, I'll just
finish by saying that UML fell behind 3-2 in the third only to tie it and then
win in the OT with Mahoney's top shelf wrister.  What follows are a few player
evaluations:
 
(all of the above is from memory so if I butcher the spelling on any of the new
players, my apologies...)
 
In Goal:
 
Craig Lindsey - He replaced Rollie in the third period in a few blowouts last
year, but is basically as untested as the rookies.  He didn't give up any
goals, but there were more clangs off the post than in an Eric Montross free
throw shooting exhibition.  I wasn't overly impressed.  It's probably still
his job to lose, though...
 
Fankhauser - He played in the second period and gave up one goal.  Too early
to tell.
 
Martin Fillion - He played in the third period and OT.  He *did* give up two
goals in the third, but his performance in the OT left me feeling that he could
be the best of the whole lot.  The first goal he gave up was a shot from the
point through a heavy screen.  He clearly never saw the shot.  The other goal
was only a few seconds into another Concordia power play.  What really stood
out in my mind, though, was the way he stoned Concordia a couple times in OT.
Is he a hot and cold goalie, or is he the real thing and the other two goals
weren't his fault?  Too early to tell, but based purely on this one game, he'd
be my starting goalie against Mass-Amherst next Saturday.
 
On defense:
 
Aaron Kriss - One of only three seniors (and one of the others, Eric Brown,
did not play), Kriss was the single biggest disappointment of the entire night.
Out of all the many shoes the RiverHawks have to fill this year, Kriss seemed
more likely to fill Travis Tucker's shoes as career penalty minutes king than
Shane Henry's or Kerry Angus's shoes as quarterbacks on the powerplay.  In a
game in which he didn't play particularly well in any facet, he was a fish out
of water on the point on the powerplay.
 
A new kid, Nikolishin (or something like that) got a lot of time.  If he can
contribute as a freshman like Ed Campbell did last year, it will really help
replace Kerry Angus and solidify the blueline.
 
Forwards:
 
Bullock is clearly the cream of the crop here.  He and Sbrocca are the two
biggest threats and the fixtures on the powerplay.  After that, the picture
becomes more muddled.  Jeff Daw, who showed so much promise as a freshman only
to halfway disappear as a sophomore, will be the captain this year in a move
that seems to define the word "bizarre".  However, he looked *much* better
than he ever looked last year, so it wouldn't be a shock to see him on the
powerplay and be number three scorer on the team.  If you'd ever asked me to
give odds on *that* last year...
 
David Dartsch, a junior transfer from Kent State, played left wing on Bullock's
line and will be a key piece of the puzzle.  If he stays on Bullock's line,
he'll put up the numbers.  Jon Mahoney is my candidate for being this year's
Norm Bazin.  Last year Bazin came from nowhere to be a key scorer; if Mahoney
can become consistent he could fill that same role.  Ryan Golden, who was 6' 4"
last year, hasn't shrunk.  He'll never have Bullock's soft hands, but he could
be an effective role player.
 
I was disappointed that Neil Donovan didn't have a better game.  At the end of
last year, I projected Donovan as the third scorer behind Bullock and Sbrocca.
He wasn't that effective, however, and could win up off the top two lines.
Perhaps it was just one game, and Crowder was getting a look at a lot of
players, but it was an unpleasant surprise.
 
None of the rookies leaped right out at you, certainly none the way that
Bullock did last year.  A guy I coach with liked a kid named Henderson, but I
wasn't impressed.   Jarrod DiBona, the local kid who played at Matignon (I
believe) and then redshirted last year, didn't appear to dress.
 
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