Bill, thanks again for typing in these previews...
>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}
Yeah, I know. Actually, the coaches' poll is very similar to this
(though it was very close), so maybe everyone else got copies of it
and used that as the basis for their picks. Here's the coaches'
prognostication (coaches were not allowed to rate their own team
and selected the order they thought the other seven teams would
finish):
1. Boston University (3 first place) 45
2. Boston College (3) 43
3. Maine (2) 41
4. New Hampshire 35
5. Northeastern 24
6. Providence 20
7. Lowell 11
8. Merrimack 9
It's kind of interesting that BU is #1 in the country in three of
four polls, but that the coaches' poll was the closest it's ever
been in league history.
The THN preview is a good overview of what to look for in the league,
so I'll just make a few comments:
>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.
Parker said that because he planned on senior Mark Krys and junior Tom
Dion not being available due to injuries (Dion redshirted last year
after knee surgery and Dion had a hernia operation last year) and
also expected to lose Ahola to the NHL, he effectively overrecruited
and now has what he considers to be 9 solid Division I defensemen
(Ahola, Brownschidle, Dion, Foster, Krys, Legault, O'Sullivan,
von Stefenelli, and the only freshman, highly recruited Scott Lachance).
This is the big advantage - depth. All of the first eight have serious
experience. I tend to think BC may have more talented defensemen,
but they are mostly sophomores. Either way, this should not be
an area that will hurt BU this year.
>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.
I've already said that I think a lot of Cashman's success was due to
his teammates. I wonder whether he will have another year as good,
but it may not matter with the team around him. Also, I give a lot
of the credit for Cashman's success to goalie coach Bill Berglund,
who was instrumental in developing Bruce Racine and Rich Burchill
when he was at Northeastern. Believe me, Berglund is one of the top
coaches in the country, and even though you've heard nil about the
part he played in all this, he is the guy to whom Parker owed his
national third-place finish.
>3. Speedy forwards. Pre-season Hobey Baker picks Tony Amonte and Shawn
> McEachern lead a quick Terrier attack.
Parker also said he thinks that these two made the rest of the team
faster. In other words, the way that opposing teams would pull back
when #3 & #15 turned on the jets would carry over even when the other
lines were on the ice.
Parker added that he might try departed Joe Sacco's brother, David
Sacco, up on the Commonwealth Line with #3 & #15.
>Top MVP Candidates:
>3. Steve Heinze, RW, Boston College. Has it all -- size, strength, speed,
> and scoring touch. A first-team All-American last season.
Latest word has the injury-ridden Heinze missing the first few weeks of
the season. He spent the summer rehabilitating his knee after surgery
and just stepped on the ice about a week ago - then he pulled his
groin. Ceglarski said he was thinking about splitting up the HEM
line (Heinze-Emma-Marty McInnis) again but only God knows why, since
he tried this last year and the Eagles struggled, then caught fire
after the line was re-assembled.
The coaches' preseason All-Hockey East team:
G: Scott LaGrand, Boston College
D: Keith Carney, Maine
D: Rob Cowie, Northeastern
F: Tony Amonte, Boston University
F: David Emma, Boston College
F: Jean-Yves Roy, Maine
Note that despite the hoopla over Cashman & his winning the Rookie
of the Year award last year, LaGrand, another sophomore, was the
coaches' pick as the best goalie in Hockey East. Amonte and
Carney are the other two sophomores named to the team. Amonte and
Emma were unanimous picks.
>Most underrated players:
>1. Savo Mitrovic, RW, New Hampshire.
>2. Martin Robitaille, C, Maine.
>3. Dave Tomlinson, C, Boston University.
I don't think any of these three players are underrated, unless THN
means by comparison with guys like Emma et al. Mitrovic has developed
into UNH's best player, Robitaille has been fantastic since his
freshman year, and Tomlinson was MVP of the Beanpot. If you
want some REAL underrated players, try Northeastern C Jay Schiavo,
BU F Ed Ronan, UNH F Scott Morrow, Northeastern D Paul Sacco (cousin
of the BU Saccos), and Providence LW Lyle Wildgoose.
>Best goalies:
>
>1. Scott LaGrand, Boston College.
>2. Scott Cashman, Boston University.
>3. Scott Richards, Lowell.
No argument except that the guy from THN got Richards' name wrong;
it's Mark, not Scott.
>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.
Notice they made no mention of Rob's defense... :-)
Although Cowie creates quite a few opportunities for the Hounds, he
does too many crazy things - like refusing to pull up at the blue
line and heading to the net like a forward, which forces the rest
of the guys to spend too much time watching what he does so someone
can cover for him on D. He is brilliant offensively and Brown
couldn't hold a candle to him in the offensive zone, but I would
like to see him try to balance out his game and become a good
DEFENSEman.
>Watch these freshmen:
It's interesting that none of the five players mentioned (Dunham,
Tkachuk, Tardif, LaChance, Henry) are from Providence, yet the
Friars probably have the best freshman class in Hockey East. PC
lost 11 seniors and Mike McShane will use 9 freshman extensively
from Day 1. I was very, very impressed with the way most of them
played in the Jamboree, and the Friars could be a dark horse to
make some waves. They'll be without star F Mike Boback at least
until December 1. Boback is recovering from a pinched nerve in
his neck caused by a congenital fusion of the third & fourth
vertebrae. He is undergoing therapy.
>New Faces:
Note that New Hampshire coach Bob Kullen has been forced to turn
the reins over to assistant Dick Umile (yoo-MIL-ee) for an unknown
period of time. Kullen, who underwent a heart transplant operation
in 1987 (there was a fantastic article about him in Sports Illustrated
last year), was told by his doctors over the summer that he needed
to rest and take some time off from coaching, so we really
don't know when he will return. It will be interesting to see
how the players react to another change in leadership.
Also, of course, former Northeastern star Jay Heinbuck returns
to the Huskies as an assistant coach. The entire Northeastern
coaching staff is now made up of NU grads.
>Other notes:
>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...
This really made me laugh when I read it last week, but not as
much as when they gave Billy D. some ink in the next line -
>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".
Too bad the guy that wrote this couldn't get it right! It's an
"ebony WAFER", not an ebony biscuit! As for spicing up the articles,
he doesn't intend it, that's just the way he is. I had a great time
working with him high above rinkside at Northeastern for three
years and just generally shooting the you-know-what with him on
the road. When the Huskies came to Merrimack for the brawl game
last year, he was doing color for radio, and when he took me on with
him in between periods for an interview, it was all I could do to
remain serious when he started asking me about the exploits of the
famous Rico Rossi - and to keep it a family show :-). By the way,
Bruce Racine was the original dufflebag, I think, but the term
applies to all goalies - and Billy didn't actually invent it though
he's associated with it in Boston. Billy is the guy who suggested,
when Hockey East came out with its Gift Line last year, that they
should add the Rico Rossi shaver (shaped like a hockey stick).
Rossi holds nearly every penalty record imaginable.
One great story about Billy deals with the time the Hounds were
stuck in a five-hour layover somewhere in the Midwest on the way
to Denver. He went to the airport restaurant, which was packed,
asked to make a reservation for two people in the name of Addalla.
Soon after that, over the airport PA comes this: "Addalla? Two
for Addalla?"
Wonder if Billy knows Randy Olson...
- mike
p.s. by the way, this was a pretty much a summary of what went on
at Media Day that was interesting.
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