Here are some of the recruits signed by three Hockey East teams - Providence, Lowell, and Merrimack. I only have names for the Merrimack players at this time. Listed after the player's name are: position, height, weight, high school/last team, and hometown. Providence College (notes provided by PC) ------------------ Dean Capuano, D, 6-1, 185, Mount St Charles Academy; Cranston, Rhode Island...tough, hard-nosed D who moves the puck well in his own zone...natural leader with a good shot...team captain of 1989-90 Mount St Charles state championship team [12th year in a row - mike]...had 5-20-25 points...First Team All-State... 1989-90 Hockey Night in Boston All-Scholastic...HNiB's Rhode Island Defensive Player of the Year. Rob Concannon, LW, 5-10, 165, Northfield Mount Hermon; Dorchester, Massachusetts...excellent two-way player with tremendous quickness...natural scorer with great breakaway speed...led Northfield in scoring with 28-42-70...New England Division I Prep School leading scorer...served as team captain...led Don Bosco High School to 1988-89 Mass. Division I title. Mike Heinke, G, 5-10, 170, Avon Old Farms; Southington, Connecticut... One of the top prep school goaltenders in the country...aggressive stand-up goaltender...good quickness and is a solid technical goalie...had 1.86 GAA this season...helped lead Avon Old Farms to 1988-89 Div. I N.E. Prep School Championship...member of 1988-89 U.S. Select 17 Team...fifth round pick of New Jersey in 1989 NHL draft...named the outstanding goalie of 1989 HNiB All-Star Game... 1989-90 HNiB All-Scholastic...HNiB's Connecticut Outstanding goalie...played in 1990 N.E. Prep All-Star Game. Brian McCarthy, LW/C, 6-2, 195, Pingree School; Salem, Massachusetts... highly skilled player with breakaway speed and outstanding shot... big, strong and tough in the offensive end of the ice...served as team captain at Pingree School and led them to the N.E. Div. II Prep School Championship...all-time leading scorer at Pingree... set single season scoring record at Pingree (80 points) as a junior...named HNiB Div. II Offensive MVP...1989-90 HNiB All- Scholastic...named to All-Tournament Teamn at the Brooks-Governor Dummer Christmas Tournament...played in High School All-American Tournament...named MVP of the Pro-Elite Junior Division...member of the N.E. Prep All-Star Team. Ian Paskowski, D, 5-11, 185, Northwood Prep; Beverly, Massachusetts... Solid, stay-at-home D...very consistent player who moves the puck well and is outstanding in his own zone...righthanded D who had 8-27-35 at Northwood...named to 1988-89 Boston Globe All-Scholastic Team at Beverly High School...played in HNiB All-Scholastic Tournament in 1988-89. Erik Peterson, C/LW, 5-10, 175, Brockton High; Brockton, Massachusetts... Strong two-way player with outstanding hockey skills...handles the puck well and has good speed...team captain at Brockton where he finished career as school's all-time leading scorer...had 31-24-55 this season...named First Team All-Scholastic by Boston Herald and Brockton Enterprise...Second Team All-Scholastic by Boston Globe... Suburban League MVP and leading scorer...HNiB All-Scholastic... played in High School All-American Tourney...member of 1988-89 U.S. Select 16 Team. Brian Ridolfi, RW, 5-8, 165, Northwood; Pawtucket, Rhode Island...Spent high school career at Mount St Charles...quick, scrappy two-way player who gives his all on every shift...co-captain of Northwood with 28-30-58 in 36 games this season...MVP at Schenectady and Northwood Prep Tournaments...when at Mount, was named First Team Providence Journal, First Team Woonsocket Call and First Team All-State by the R.I. Coaches Association...named HNiB All- Scholastic in 1988-89. Bruce Shatel, D, 5-11, 175, Deerfield Academy; Morristown, New Jersey... tough, physical D, strong in his own zone...moves the puck well... can play both D and forward...had 8-29-37 in 24 games...led Deerfield to the N.E. Prep School Tourney...captained team and was recipient of 1989-90 Deerfield Cup...played in N.E. Prep All-Star Game and HNiB All-Scholastic Tourney... Chris Therien, D, 6-4, 220, Northwood Prep; Ottawa, Ontario...co-captain at Northwood...left-handed D with an outstanding shot...gifted and talented player who had 36-28-64 while playing defense...named to All-Tournament Team at the Schenectady and Northwood Tourneys... HNiB All-Scholastic. PC Coach Mike McShane on the Friars' Class of 1994: "With this year's group of incoming freshmen, we get strength, speed, scoring, and defense all in one class. That usually doesn't happen. I really think this will be a solid class. Because we lose 11 seniors to graduation, we will be looking for them to step in and contribute immediately." University of Lowell (notes provided by ULowell) -------------------- Normand Bazin, LW, 6-0, 185, Notre Dame Hounds Tier II; Notre Dame de Lourdes, Manitoba...third member of the Hounds to come to Lowell, joining Dave Stevens (Victoria, B.C.) and Tyler Lovering (Wilcos, Saskatchewan)...tallied 18-25-43 in 30 games in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Shane Henry, C, 5-9, 165, Powell River Paper Kings Tier II; Vancouver, British Columbia...second team all-star in B.C. Junior Hockey League...finished 8th in league in scoring with 50-52-102 in just 45 games...second in league with seven SHG. Mike Murray, RW, 6-1, 185, Cushing Academy; Cumberland, Rhode Island... had 27-28-55 at Cushing. Travis Tucker, D, 6-4, 205, Avon Old Farms; Suffield, Connecticut... HNiB All-Scholastic...played in High School All-American Tournament..."a big, strong, mobile defenseman who should help shore up our defense around the net," says Coach Bill Riley. Also, the Chiefs should have junior D Tomi Maarni (Rauma, Finland) back next season. Maarni served his mandatory one-year military obligation this past year. He was recruited by former Lowell and BU assistant Pertti Hasanen, who just resigned from the BU staff. And, ULowell announced that it is going to move all sports to Division I within the next few years except football which remains Div. III. Currently, only hockey is Div. I, but the basketball team won the NCAA Division II crown a couple of years ago and the baseball team has been nationally ranked in Div. II several times over the past few years. Part of the deal to go to Div. I is that a NEW ARENA will be built in the city of Lowell not far from the school. This should help ULowell's recruiting immensely. The Chiefs have been playing for years at the Tully Forum in Billerica, MA, and players have to drive from school to practice and back every day - and the rink, despite ULowell's valiant attempts to upgrade it, really does need to be replaced. What I can't understand is where the money is going to come from to do this when the state is cutting the hell out of the higher education budget. Merrimack College ----------------- Rob Atkinson, LW, 6-1, 165, Vernon Lakers; Moncton, New Brunswick. Jim Gibson, LW, 6-2, 185, Trinity Pawling; Havertown, Pennsylvania. Dan Hodge, D, 6-3, 215, Buckingham, Brown and Nichols School (prep); Lynnfield, Massachusetts...son of Ken Hodge. Cooper Naylor, C, 6-1, 175, Antigonish Bulldogs; Picton, Nova Scotia. Jason Pagni, D, 6-0, 190, Avon Old Farms; Wallingford, Connecticut. Plus, two more players from Saskatchewan, one with the great hockey name of Findelay - it just rolls off the lips. "Cooper Naylor across center ice, up to Findelay on the left side..." - mike