Very soon, Hockey East fans will be voting for the HE All-Decade Team,
this being the 10th season of HE play. Dates and places where voting
will be conducted:
Boston College Fri 1/28 vs Mass Lowell
Boston University Sat 1/29 vs Merrimack
Maine Fri 1/28 vs Northeastern
Mass Lowell Sat 1/29 vs Boston College
Merrimack Fri 1/28 vs Boston University
New Hampshire Sat 1/29 vs Providence
Northeastern Fri 2/4 vs Providence
Providence Fri 1/28 vs New Hampshire
At some point after that, the HE administration will choose the
All-Decade Team from among the finalists, I believe. I didn't catch
all the details.
This got me thinking about my All-Decade Team. I think fans will be
allowed to vote for 6 players, but I will choose a First and Second
Team.
Some criteria I chose to go by are as follows:
* Players must have played in HE (i.e., pre-HE players for Merrimack
such as Jim Vesey, Rich Pion and Jim Hrivnak are not eligible).
* Among those eligible, I tried to weigh longevity accomplishments
against outstanding single-season accomplishments of players who
weren't around long (i.e. Brian Leetch). For example, Paul Kariya
might have been the best player ever to actually play in HE, but are
Jim Montgomery's career accomplishments more worthy of a spot? I
say yes, but I wouldn't argue against Kariya.
MIKE'S HOCKEY EAST ALL-DECADE TEAM
FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Chris Terreri, Providence G Bruce Racine, Northeastern
D Greg Brown, Boston College D Keith Carney, Maine
D Brian Leetch, Boston College D Rob Cowie, Northeastern
F Jim Montgomery, Maine F Paul Kariya, Maine
F David Emma, Boston College F Shawn McEachern, Boston University
F Jon Morris, Lowell F Rob Gaudreau, Providence
Honorable Mention
G Scott King (Maine), Scott Gordon (Boston College).
D Bob Beers (Maine), Claude Lodin (Northeastern).
F David Capuano (Maine), Jean-Yves Roy (Maine), Craig Janney (Boston
College), John Cullen (Boston University), Dan Shea (Boston College),
Mike Boback (Providence), Tony Amonte (Boston University).
Looking at the league's history, HE has had many great forwards and
so-so defense and goaltending. Providence's Rob Gaudreau is the only
player to ever be named All-Hockey East as a forward one year and as a
defenseman the next. I chose to put him on my team as a forward. I'm
wondering if anyone can think of another player to have achieved this
unusual accomplishment.
I have several other awards I would give out. Some are not surprises,
some might be.
COACH OF THE DECADE
Shawn Walsh, Maine. No surprise. Redefined the way hockey was to be
played in Hockey East. Six straight 30 win seasons. 3 regular season
first place finishes, three tournament championships. Played a major
part in taking all of college hockey to a higher level.
PLAYER OF THE DECADE
Jim Montgomery, Maine. All-time leading scorer in Eastern college hockey.
Four of the most outstanding seasons I have ever seen any player have.
Only fitting that his career ended with a national title.
AGITATOR OF THE DECADE
Rico Rossi, Northeastern. Broke school's career penalty minute mark
while a sophomore. All-time PIM leader in HE. Yet, also a
talented scorer and had the ability to fire a team up in seconds.
One of those guys you hated if he was an opponent, but you secretly
wished he was on your team.
TEAM OF THE DECADE
1986-87 Boston College. Eagles go 31-8-0, 26-6-0 HE while playing
every game on the road against one of the tougher combined HE/WCHA
schedules ever. Long list of great players includes: Brian Leetch,
Craig Janney, Kevin Stevens, Dan Shea, Ken Hodge Jr., Greg Brown,
David Littman, and Tim Sweeney.
GAME OF THE DECADE (tie)
1985 HE Championship (Prov 2, BC 1 - 2 ot). The Octopus single-handedly
gains the Friars an NC$$ tourney bid.
1991 HE Championship (BU 4, Maine 3 - ot). McEachern scores the winner
in OT against the two most powerful teams the league has ever had in
one season. Coaches Walsh and Parker duel back and forth in an attempt
to get the upper hand.
PERFORMANCE OF THE DECADE, ONE GAME (tie)
Chris Terreri, G, Prov, 1985 HE Championship. The Octopus makes 65 saves
on 66 shots as the Friars win in double overtime and get an NC$$ bid.
Joe Sacco, F, BU, Game 2 of 1990 HE Quarterfinals. Sacco scores 5 goals
in 5-2 win over NU to stave off elimination; Terriers would win series.
Headline next day reads: "Joe Sacco 5, Northeastern 2". Oddly enough,
two days later Boston College's Marty McInnis ties Sacco's record for
goals in a playoff game by also scoring 5 in 8-5 win against Merrimack.
PERFORMANCE OF THE DECADE, ONE SEASON
Paul Kariya, Maine, 1992-93. Kariya enters the league and tallies 25 goals,
75 assists for 100 points in just 39 GP and becomes the only freshman ever
to win the Hobey Baker. Falls 11 points short of tying Craig Janney's
record for HE points in a season - but Janney played 8 more games.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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