I went down to the first Merrimack Blue-Gold scrimmage Thursday night
(odd that it's called that, since the players wear blue and white :-)),
and as you'd expect from the first game action, there were some good
things to see and some question marks.
 
First, there's a change in off-ice personnel this season.  Former
assistant Scott McPherson, who recruited much of this year's freshman
class, received an offer he could not refuse from UMass and is now an
assistant for the Minutemen - who Merrimack will face in its first
game October 23rd (tape delayed to 10/24 on NESN).  I consider this a
devastating loss for Merrimack even though McPherson had only been
there for a year (after several at his alma mater, Lowell), and it
sounds like Merrimack tried its best to keep McPherson but just
couldn't match the offer made by UMass.  McPherson seems to have done
an outstanding job of recruiting and I'd been looking forward to
seeing what he would have done over the next few years.  I am sure he
will prove to be a very valuable addition to Joe Mallen's staff at
UMass and wish him the best of luck.
 
Moving up into the part-time assistant role is former Warrior goalie
Brian D'Accord.  And, aboard this year is former Merrimack star Andy
Heinze as a volunteer assistant.  Andy, the brother of Steve, finished
his career as one of the all-time leading scorers for the Warriors and
was one of the bright spots in a difficult opening HE campaign for
Merrimack in 1989-90.  No one around these parts will forget his
third-period natural hat trick in the second game of the 1990 HE
quarterfinals to upset BC and force a third game in the series.
 
There have been some structural changes made to the Volpe Center (NOT
Complex) over the summer, as well.  Immediately noticeable when you
walk in will be the new weight room with the fishbowl glass, located
where the offices used to be.  The offices have been moved into a new
two-story addition to the center, built off the basketball gym.  Also,
the former squash courts have been turned into a function room that
will be used by the Merrimack booster club before and after all games.
BTW, any ideas for a new rink appear to be dead in the water at this
time, but continued renovation of the existing building seems likely.
One of the obstacles to doing work on the rink portion itself has bee
the Hockey Night in Boston tourney, which occupies the rink for nearly
a month straight over the summer.
 
In the scrimmage, the White team beat the Blue team 7-4, led by senior
Cooper Naylor who potted 2 or 3 goals on a line with Rob Atkinson and
Matt Adams.  The Blue team's Mark Goble, who was named to the HE
All-Rookie Team last year, also played well and three of those four
will probably make up the top line.  After that, it's up for grabs.
There's a lot of speed, as you'd expect from a Ron Anderson-coached
team - maybe more speed than Merrimack has ever had.  But there will
also be a lot of inexperience as well as not much size up front.
 
On defense it's a different story.  4 experienced players return, led
by Mark Cornforth and Danny Hodge.  Chris Ross and Tom Costa both had
good years last year, and Costa has bulked up over the summer which
should help him immensely since he likes to play the physical game.
Add to this transfer Dean Capuano (Providence) and the freshman Twin
Towers, John Jakopin and Steve McKenna (both over 6-5, 225), and you
have the makings of one of the better defensive corps in HE -
certainly the best Merrimack has had in several years.  The Towers
were impressive in their first game action, especially Jakopin who can
hit and move the puck and has a blistering shot.  Though they're
listed on the roster as numbers 5 & 16, both had to wear #23 on
opposite teams in the scrimmage.  That's the former number of Guy
Ragault (6-4, 220) and they were the only jerseys those two could fit
into. :-)
 
There's still a ways to go before anything is decided in goal.  Matt
Poska and Martin Legault got the starts and neither particularly
shone, but it's early.  Legault is a freshman, and Poska is a senior
who played only six minutes last year behind Mike Doneghey and Dan
Millar.  Millar, who would have been a sophomore and got off to a
great start last season before struggling the rest of the way, did not
return this year.  Though the teams flew up and down the ice all
night, only 5 of the 11 goals were scored in the first two periods.
While the defense played well over the first two, they seemed to tire
in the third and also there were two new goalies (Eric Thibeault, Jim
McNiff) in for the third.
 
In short, there's still a long ways to go before the opener vs UMass
and three more scrimmages - Sat night (10/9) at 6 pm, Wed night
(10/13) at 6 pm, and an exhibition Sat 10/16 at 7 pm vs Brock
University of Canada.  Admission is free to all three.
 
Finally, one of the traditions prior to Blue-Gold games has been for the
freshmen from the respective countries to sing the Canadian and US
national anthems, and this year was no different.  However, while the
Canadian freshmen didn't do a bad job on "O Canada", the Americans
absolutely butchered "The Star Spangled Banner".  Huey Lewis won't be
fearing for his job anytime soon...
---
Mike Machnik            [log in to unmask]        [log in to unmask]
Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors                  *HMN*  11/13/93
(All opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)