THN Hockey East preview:
Predicted order of finish: {aside to Mike M: No surprises here -- it's BU
again. I wonder if all the prognosticators have photocopies of the same
list. -- Bill}
1. Boston University (25-16-2 last year)
2. Maine (33-11-2)
3. Boston College (28-12-1)
4. New Hampshire (17-17-5)
5. Providence (22-10-3)
6. Northeastern (16-19-2)
7. Lowell (13-20-2)
8. Merrimack (10-24-1)
Three reasons why the Terriers will win:
1. A veteran defense. First-team all-New England selections Peter Ahola
and Phil von Stefenelli anchored last year's young defensive unit,
which did quite well under pressure. With the added year's experience,
they should be even better.
2. Scott Cashman. Last season, the Terriers' then-freshman goalie was the
1989-90 rookie of the year and set a BU single-season record for saves
with 1,027.
3. Speedy forwards. Pre-season Hobey Baker picks Tony Amonte and Shawn
McEachern lead a quick Terrier attack.
Top MVP Candidates:
1. David Emma, C, Boston College. A first-team All-American last season,
Emma is a top-quality all-around player, and he has a knack for
heroics.
2. Tony Amonte, RW, Boston University. As a freshman last season, he led
the Terriers in scoring. Gained plenty of experience in the off-season
when he participated in both the US Olympic Sports Festival and the
Goodwill Games.
3. Steve Heinze, RW, Boston College. Has it all -- size, strength, speed,
and scoring touch. A first-team All-American last season.
4. Jean-Yves Roy, RW, Maine. Led all first-year Division I players with
39 goals last season and was a second-team All American selection.
5. Shawn McEachern, C, Boston University. One of the fastest skaters in
college hockey and should do well on a line with Tony Amonte.
6. Scott LaGrand, G, Boston College. Excelled as a freshman down the
stretch last season, helping the Eagles to the NCAA Final Four.
Most underrated players:
1. Savo Mitrovic, RW, New Hampshire. With 51 points last season, Mitrovic
became the first Wildcat player to break the 50-point barrier.
2. Martin Robitaille, C, Maine. Although he is usually overshadowed by
teammates Jean-Yves Roy, Jim Montgomery, and Scott Pellerin, Robitaille
is a terrific player who does not go unnoticed by his coaches.
3. Dave Tomlinson, C, Boston University. Topped the Terriers with a plus-
22 rating last year. A strong defensive player with some punch on
offense. {This part of the article was confusing, because right in the
middle of the blurb on Tomlinson, they mentioned Providence's Mike
Boback as "topping the Terriers..." I'm wondering whether THN meant to
include Boback as an underrated player as well. And what is this
"defensive" stuff? -- Bill}
Best goalies:
1. Scott LaGrand, Boston College.
2. Scott Cashman, Boston University.
3. Scott Richards, Lowell. Richards is only 5-7 and 180 pounds, but he
can win games singlehandedly when he's on.
Best Defensemen:
1. Rob Cowie, Northeastern. Has a chance to grab the spotlight now that
Boston College's Greg Brown has left. Cowie has been a quality
offensive defenseman for three years.
2. Keith Carney, Maine. A second-team All-American last season. Black
Bear head coach Shawn Walsh is very high on him.
3. Peter Ahola, Boston University.
Watch these freshmen:
1. Mike Dunham, G, Maine. Dunham will face a baptism of fire, as he was
tabbed Maine's number one goalie after the departure of Scott King and
Matt DelGuidice, last year's impressive tandem for the Black Bears.
Dunham was a third-round pick by the New Jersey Devils in last June's
NHL draft and was the first American goaltender taken.
2. Keith Tkachuk, LW, Boston University. The Winnipeg Jets picked him in
the first round in the June draft, despite an injury-plagued season as
a high school senior.
3. Patrice Tardif, C, Maine. Scored 62 goals and had 40 assists in
breaking Jean-Yves records in the Quebec CEGEP AA League last season.
He was a third-round pick last June by the St. Louis Blues.
4. Scott LaChance, D, Boston University. Already projected as a top-five
pick in the 1991 NHL draft.
5. Shane Henry, C, Lowell. A gifted scorer.
New Faces:
1. Former Maine assistant Bruce Crowder was named "associate" head coach
at Lowell. Crowder is the head-coach designee and will take over when
current Lowell coach Bill Riley steps down at the end of the season
(after 22 years) to take a faculty position at the university.
2. Blaise McDonald, formerly an assistant at Lowell, has left to become an
assistant at Boston University. He replaces Ben Smith, who took over
the head coaching duties at Dartmouth.
3. Dennis (Red) Gendron takes over Crowder's old job as an assistant coach
at Maine.
And of course, one almost-new face which would have been very unwelcome was
the ol' 50-minute game.
Other notes:
THN mentions Maine and Boston College as the biggest threats to Boston
University's capturing the league championship. Maine has a good set of
forwards and could mount a serious challenge if the goaltending comes
around. Boston College will be in the thick of things, even without all-
everything defenseman Greg Brown, now with the Buffalo Sabres.
Randy Olson, a center at Maine, is a prankster who entertained himself and
apparently hundreds of other people last year at Chicago's O'Hare Airport by
pulling the dollar-bill-and-fishing-line trick: dropping a dollar bill on
the floor and yanking it away with the fishing line when someone bent over
to pick the money up. Ah, the life of a hockey player...
Ah, the life of a sports information specialist, especially the one at
Northeastern. Billy Doherty likes to spice up articles in the Northeastern
media guide and programs with witty comments -- among them, referring to the
puck as an "ebony biscuit" and the goalie as a "dufflebag".
Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86
LET'S GO RED!!
"BARNEY's gonna cry too, after I get through breaking every bone in his body!
Throw your voice at ME, will ya?!"
"Now-now-now don't get mad, Fred."
"Who's mad? I just want to congratulate you on being such a good ventrilo-
quist. I JUST WANNA SHAKE YOUR THROAT!!"
-- "The Flintstones"
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