>Trevor Roenick, younger brother of Jeremy Roenick,  Reggie Cardinal,
>Also Barry Clukey just might break thru and show that he belongs in the
>starting line up......
 
Latendresse was mentioned, and I think he ranks not only as Maine's
best returning forward but also one of the best in HE (20-19--39 in 33
games).   Among the others, Roenick had 4-3--7 in 32 GP, Cardinal had
9-16--25 in 36 GP, and Clukey had 7-3--10 in 28 GP.  Dan Shermerhorn
had 10-15--25 in 35 GP.
 
Maine certainly does appear to have a weakness up front with the
Ferraros gone - Latendresse is the best and both Cardinal and
Shermerhorn showed flashes of brilliance last season.  I really like
Cardinal; he has great hands and is as quick as they come.  But after
these three, I think there is a lot of room for the highly touted
newcomers to get some time.  Roenick and Clukey seem to be good bids
to play every night, but I wouldn't expect them to be huge
pointgetters.
 
Despite the question mark at forward, no one else in Hockey East with
the probable exception of BU has a lot of depth and talent at that
position.  So while there is room for a team like Maine to have some
rookies or other players step up and shine, there are also a bunch of
other teams in the same position.  Recruiting will play a big part in
the outcome of HE this coming season, IMO.  There's room for a dark
horse (Merrimack?) to pull off a surprise and make waves.
 
>But I think you've hit the nerve of U-Maine's problems, when the Twins
>and Kariya were recruited, no one would have thought they would be gone
>two years later.
 
Like Sarah said, I have to think that the Maine folks did not expect
that they would see much of these three players after one season -
prior to their enrolling at Maine.  The Ferraros seemed good bids to
play in the Olympics and then turn pro.  And most thought Kariya would
only play another half season, go to the Olympics and also turn pro.
When you get players of that caliber to come to your school, chances
are very good they will not stick around too long.  That's what
happened at BU a few years ago with Amonte, Tkachuk, Lachance, Ahola,
etc.
 
Unfortunately, while I think Maine had ample time to prepare for the
departure of Kariya, they did not know that the Ferraros would be gone
until the recruiting for this coming season had pretty much been
finished.  That complicates things even more.  There was reason to
believe the Ferraros would return after all, but then it didn't
happen.
 
Also, Tardif turned pro with a season of eligibility left, but there
were indications a while ago that he would not be back.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
<<<<< Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (station TBA for 94-95) >>>>>