Hockey East: Stephane Da Costa Signs with Ottawa Senators

The saga is over.

Merrimack sophomore forward Stephane Da Costa has signed with the Ottawa Senators. His contract is a two-year entry-level deal, likely to be laden with the same incentives that the contracts Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall signed last off-season, making it worth up to 3.95 million dollars annually.

The all-Hockey East talent is slated to play in the NHL beginning on Saturday when the Sens face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing in the NHL at all this season will knock one year off of his contract, so he'll be under contract next season and will then be a restricted free agent.

Da Costa, who scored 90 points in 67 games as a Warrior, was one of the biggest forces behind the success of Merrimack over the past two seasons, a span which saw them make the NCAA Tournament for the first time as an affiliated school, earn their first-ever national ranking (as high as 4th in February), host two Hockey East quarterfinals and make it to their first-ever conference championship game.

He will be a big part of a rebuilding Ottawa squad that includes familiar face Bobby Butler, who graduated from UNH in 2010.

Merrimack fans will get one more chance to see Da Costa in Boston before the summer arrives, as Ottawa comes to face the Boston Bruins next Saturday, April 9th in a 1 PM matinee showdown.

New England D-I Men's Hockey Awards Announced

For those of you left with a bitter taste in your mouth after Merrimack was all but snubbed in the Hockey East annual awards department, your justice has been delivered. The 2010-11 New England Hockey Awards - voted on by coaches and media alike - have been announced today, and the Warriors are well-represented. So, too, is Yale, but nobody really cares.

Goalies    John Muse, Sr. (Boston College)
Ryan Rondeau, Sr. (Yale)

Defense    
Brian Dumoulin, So. (Boston College)
Blake Kessel, Jr. (New Hampshire)
Danny Biega, So. (Harvard)
Karl Stollery, Jr. (Merrimack)

Forwards    Cam Atkinson, Jr. (Boston College)
Gustav Nyquist, Jr. (Maine)
Paul Thompson, Sr. (New Hampshire)
Stephane Da Costa, So. (Merrimack)
Andrew Miller, So. (Yale)
Brian O’Neill, So. (Yale)


2010-11 New England Hockey Awards
Clark Hodder Award – Division I Coach of the Year
Mark Dennehy (Merrimack)

Leonard Fowle Award – Most Valuable Player
Paul Thompson, Sr., F (New Hampshire)

George C. Carens Award – Rookie of the Year
Charlie Coyle, Fr., F (Boston University)

Herb Gallagher Award – Best Forward
Paul Thompson, Sr., F (New Hampshire)

Bob Monahan Award – Best Defenseman
Brian Dumoulin. So., D (Boston College)

Paul Hines Award – Most Improved Player
Ryan Rondeau, Sr., G (Yale)

Frank Jones Award – Best Defensive Forward
Tanner House, Sr., F (Maine)

Joe Tomasello Award - Unsung Hero Award
Mike Daly, Jr., D (Holy Cross)

Parker/York Award – Contribution to New England Hockey
Jim Logue (Boston College)


The site hasn't been updated yet, but to view past award winners, check out http://www.newenglandallstars.com/.

Hockey East: Where Do They Go From Here?

Of Hockey East’s top 15 scorers in 2010-11, only two - Maine’s Brian Flynn and Spencer Abbott - will be returning to school in the fall of 2011. With a large crop of offensive talent having graduated and the cornerstones of a strong junior class - BC’s Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes and Maine’s Gustav Nyquist among them - cashing in their NHL paychecks (and let’s not forget all-world sophomore Stephane Da Costa from Merrimack, either), the teams that succeed in the conference next year are going to be those who get a lot of production from their youngsters.

The top 25 returning scorers are as follows:

Spencer Abbott, Maine 17-23=40
Brian Flynn, Maine 20-16=36
Alex Chiasson, BU 14-20=34
Ryan Flanigan, Merrimack 16-18=34
Brian Dumoulin, BC 3-30=33
David Vallorani, Lowell 12-19=31
Jesse Todd, Merrimack 17-14=31
Riley Wetmore, Lowell 14-16=30
Mike Collins, Merrimack 14-16=30
Pat Mullane, BC 8-21=29
Daniel Hobbs, UMass 12-16=28
Chris Connolly, BU 10-18=28
Sebastian Stalberg, Vermont 9-19=28
Brodie Reid, Northeastern 11-17=28
Corey Trivino, BU 8-20=28
T.J. Syner, UMass 9-18=27
Karl Stollery, Merrimack 6-21=27
Blake Kessel, UNH 5-22=27
Charlie Coyle, BU 7-19=26
Paul Carey, BC 13-13=26
Stevie Moses, UNH 14-12=26
Adam Clendening, BU, 5-21=26
Michael Pereira, UMass 12-13=25
Sahir Gill, BU 6-19=25
Chris Kreider, BC 11-13=24

By school:
BU (6) 50-117=167
Merrimack (4) 53-69=122
BC (4) 35-77=112
UMass (3) 33-47=80
Maine (2) 37-49=76
Lowell (2) 26-35=61
UNH (2) 19-34=53
Vermont (1) 9-19=28
Northeastern (1) 11-17=28
Providence (0)

Strangely, Northeastern - despite returning only one top-25 scorer - is in some of the best shape of all the schools. Merrimack will be a different team without Da Costa, BC will be a much younger team that will have to work harder to open the ice for guys like Kreider and Mullane, and while BU could be a threat, the way they mailed it in a few weeks ago leaves a lot of question marks.

A look at the total offense each team has lost:

BC (5) 75-93=168
UNH (6) 55-105 = 160
Maine (6) 51-87=138
Merrimack (8) 36-94=130
Northeastern (5) 48-74=122
Providence (7) 34-57=91
Vermont (7) 29-43=72
Lowell (5) 16-24=40
BU (2) 22-21=41
UMass (7) 16-16=32

The picture becomes clearer. Is there any reason why BU shouldn’t walk to a Beanpot and Hockey East title? If there is, it’s either UMass or UNH, two schools which proved that they can get offense from underclassmen without any problem. But the effect of losing players isn’t just felt in points. UNH’s Sislo-DeSimone-Thomspon line was the best the league had last year; Northeastern’s line of Wade MacLeod, Steve Silva and Tyler McNeely was one of the reasons the Huskies had such a strong second half. While BC announced the promotion of Tommy Cross from Assistant Captain to full-fledged team leader earlier this week, both of those teams are losing their captains (UNH, it seems, will name Kessel its captain for 2011-12 sooner than later).

Of course, there’s still time for underclassmen to sign with agents and depart. There are very strong and very talented recruiting classes coming to Vermont, Boston College and UNH - more on those at a later date. There’s the chance that coaching staffs may recognize their offensive deficiencies and change their game to stymie opponents and try to win a bevy of 2-1 games. But that’s hardly par for the course in Hockey East.

BC will still be good. UNH will still be good. Providence will again be awful, as they rebuild from the loss of nearly 50% of their offense and their coach. Lowell should improve under new leadership. UMass, Northeastern and Vermont are the wild cards. BU should be great. Maine will likely slip a bit.

But this is all on paper. The same paper on which Boston College should have thumped Colorado College. The same paper where UNH had no chance against Miami. The same paper where Merrimack couldn’t be ranked in the top-five nationally if everyone else let them six months ago.

That’s the problem with an extended offseason. There’s always too much time to think.

Notre Dame Defeats UNH, Hockey East Not Represented in Frozen Four For First Time In Six Years

Of the four teams in the Northeast Regional, Notre Dame traveled the farthest to get to Manchester, NH this weekend. Unlike the other three teams, they’re the only one that’ll be making another trip after this one.

After dispatching Merrimack in overtime on Saturday night, the Fighting Irish jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and held on, beating nearly-homestanding UNH 2-1 to secure a berth in the Frozen Four in two weeks in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“It’s more fun when there’s a great atmosphere - we’ve played well on the road all year, but we didn’t want to think too far ahead,” said sophomore goaltender Mike Johnson - who stopped 37 of 38 UNH attempts - “we just wanted to worry about the process and not worry about anything that we couldn’t control.”

After the Wildcats jumped on Notre Dame early, outshooting the visitors ten to two, Stephen Johns blasted a shot from the point, which made its way through a cluttered UNH defense that wound up screening UNH goaltender Matt Di Girolamo just 7:26 into the first period.

It looked like nobody would score again, but after a UNH chance by John Henrion was denied, Billy Maday got a pass on his backhand and beat Di Girolamo high on the blocker side from about five feet out with only five seconds remaining in the second period.

Di Girolamo, who was run over by Ben Ryan just seconds into the second frame, was very slow to get to his feet, but skated off the pain. The sophomore from Ambler, PA recovered to have one of his better games of the year, stopping 36 shots to keep UNH in it. Di Girolamo - who started every game of the season and postseason in net for the Wildcats, finished the season with the most saves in the nation.

“He’s proven all year from day one, people asked when we got to the tourney if he could handle the pressure in the playoffs, he was terrific again tonight.” said UNH coach Dick Umile.

Ryan was whistled for charging the goalie, but UNH’s power play wasn’t able to convert, going 0-for-3 on the night and finishing the season on an 0-for-19 slump.

The Wildcats started the third period sluggish, but finally generated some opportunities towards the middle of the period, and captain Mike Sislo finally found the back of the net at the 13:37 mark to give the UNH hope, but they weren’t able to convert when David Gerths went for hooking at 15:57 and a Mike Beck tripping penalty at 18:16 sealed their fate as they weren’t able to get the puck out of the zone to get a chance with the clock winding down.

Johnson - who controlled nearly every UNH shot he faced - credited the team in front of him for the backcheck, keeping the defense on the blue line and allowing him to see every puck. “They got sticks in passing lanes, deflected pucks and blocked them as well. All the credit goes to them; we couldn’t have won without them.”

Notre Dame will face the University of Minnesota-Duluth, which upset number-one seed Yale in the East regional to earn its berth in the Frozen Four. Michigan and North Dakota - teams which have gone a combined 24-1-1 in their last 26 games - make up the other national semifinal.

After winning the last three national championships, this will be the first year in which Hockey East isn’t represented in the Frozen Four since 2005, when Minnesota, North Dakota, Denver and Colorado College were the national semifinalists.

NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament 2011: Bracket Challenge

Haven't gotten enough bracketology yet? Has your March Madness basketball bracket crashed and burned? Here's another chance to score big!

This year, Something's Bruin is partnering up with our sister site, Sieves the Day, to bring you our first ever bracket challenge.

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Download yourself a copy of this bracket. Fill it out. Boom.
2. Make sure you're following both @something_bruin and @sievestheday on twitter.
3. Tweet your bracket at us, along with your pick for tournament MVP.
4. Profit!

POINTS SYSTEM:

You're awarded:
1 point for correctly selecting a winning team in the first round
2 points for second round teams
4 points for third round teams (Frozen 4 round)
8 points for correctly selecting the champion
+10 for a completely correct Frozen 4 selection
+10 for correct pick of the Tourney MVP
DOUBLE POINTS FOR UPSETS. For example, if you select Air Force and they beat Yale in the first round, since AF was a 16-seed and Yale was a 1, you get two points instead of one.

PRIZES:

First place wins a pair of tickets to the first home game of the 2011 season, college hockey team of their choice.
Second place wins a t-shirt, college hockey team of their choice.

Also infinite bragging rights! So get picking!

2011 Hockey East Playoffs: Merrimack Looks To Beat BC, Win First Conference Championship

It was a Friday night in late October when Boston College defenseman Tommy Cross got tangled up fending up a Merrimack forward and found himself down on the ice. The result was a sprained knee, which sidelined Cross for two months.

The result of the game - the first of three between Merrimack and BC on the season - was a 3-2 Eagles win. It was the last time that Merrimack - which went 2-1 in the season series against each of the teams that finished above it (BC, New Hampshire and Boston University) in Hockey East - would lose to the Eagles.

Saturday night at TD Garden, Merrimack will play in its first conference championship in its 21 years at the Division-I level, while Boston College has a chance to even the season series and, more importantly, take home its tenth Lou Lamorello Trophy as champion of the Hockey East tournament.

Cam Atkinson leads BC with 4-1=5 totals against Merrimack this season, while Stephane Da Costa leads Merrimack with 1-4=5 totals against the Eagles.

Da Costa, who returned three weeks ago from a knee injury of his own, has re-ignited a Merrimack offense that struggled through five games without him, scoring only ten goals - a far cry from the 5.2 goals per game that they averaged with him in the lineup in 2011.

Meanwhile, Cross has stabilized the blue line for BC, providing a consistent threat to go both ways with an ability to shoot the puck and a fearlessness when it comes to getting deep and working in the cycle with the Eagles’ forwards. His return has been welcomed by John Muse, who - despite owning a school-record 16 postseason wins - has relied on his offense to keep him in games, rather than the other way around.

On the other end, Joe Cannata suffered a few butterflies early in his first-ever appearance at TD Garden Friday night, where he muffed the first puck he saw - a dump attempt that was deflected off a Merrimack stick - and watched it go into the net behind him. The goal was overturned as UNH was ruled offsides, and Cannata only let one puck past him the rest of the night.

The title game will feature two teams that can score at will, but are also very adept at shutting opposing teams down - BC is first overall in scoring offense and defense, while Merrimack sits second in the conference in both categories. They’re one-two on the power play and one-three on the power play, and one-two in special teams overall. Muse and Cannata are first and second in goals against and in wins on the season, and both teams have five players in the top 25 of conference scoring.

It’s fitting that the two most statistically complete teams in the conference are playing one game to decide who hoists the conference trophy. Boston College will go for its seventh straight win on TD Garden ice when they lace up the skates on Saturday, but don’t expect Merrimack’s lack of experience to factor in; the Warriors didn’t look at all like rookies on Saturday night when they played their first game in 13 seasons in Boston.

It’s BC’s game to lose, but they’re up against a team they’ve already lost to twice this season. And perhaps more importantly, a team that doesn’t have any interest in what they should or shouldn’t do, but only what they accomplish.

2011 Hockey East Playoffs: Merrimack Edges UNH To Advance To First-Ever Conference Title Game

BOSTON, MA - Merrimack College joined Hockey East in 1990. 21 years later, they’re finally going to their first conference championship.

An early error by Joe Cannata was overturned, and Elliott Sheen scored twice for the Warriors, who knocked off two-seed UNH with a 4-1 win Friday night.

A dump by Blake Kessel hit a Merrimack defenseman’s stick and hopped over Cannata’s glove and into the Merrimack net only 24 seconds in, but the Wildcats were ruled offsides on the play and the goal was overturned.

“Good thing I’m not a shortstop,” Cannata deadpanned after the game, acknowledging that he started a little slow, but that the goal being disallowed didn’t do much to help.

Some seven minutes later, Stevie Moses scored the only goal his team would tally, getting the puck in the slot and blasting it over Cannata’s shoulder.

Three minutes later, a listless attack by UNH’s Mike Sislo was thwarted by Merrimack’s Ryan Flanigan, who picked off the puck and started a two-man shorthanded break with Stephane Da Costa. After Da Costa drew two UNH defenders, he fired the puck over to Flanigan who beat Matt Di Girolamo with a snipe over his glove.

Sheen scored what would turn out to be the game-winner on a deflection of Brendan Ellis’ shot from the point at 16:15 of the first period. Ellis would assist on Mike Collins’ goal 14 minutes into the third, and Sheen capped off the scoring by potting an empty-net short-handed goal with only seven seconds remaining.

Of Merrimack’s first trip to the conference championship game, Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said that his players and administration deserve all the praise.

“When I first got here, I was worried that my assistant coaches’ names weren’t going to be announced correctly pre-game,” said Dennehy, who’s turned the program around from a perennial bottom-dweller to sudden national title contender in a matter of six years.

Merrimack will face top seed Boston College, which defeated Northeastern, 5-4, earlier Friday night.

Hockey East Playoffs: BC Puts Northeastern On Ice, Advances To 6th Final In 7 Years

Northeastern vs. Boston College
BOSTON, MA - Boston College overcame an early deficit, shaky goaltending, some questionable calls and a late charge by Northeastern to advance to their 15th Hockey East championship and their sixth in seventh years.

Senior captain Tyler McNeely opened the scoring for Northeastern at 13:48 of the first period when he knocked a puck into BC’s Joe Whitney and into the Boston College net. The Huskies had numerous chances when John Muse wasn’t able to control rebounds early on, but weren’t able to extend their lead.

Boston College senior Brian Gibbons responded with a goal of his own at 16:05 of the first, and after one the two teams were tied, despite Northeastern having controlled play in the BC end for much of the period.

They weren’t able to sustain the energy in the second, however, as a series of bad penalties led to BC power play goals by Kevin Hayes and Tommy Cross, and a third goal by Steven Whitney, which the sophomore from Reading, MA scored on the backhand, reaching across his body while being taken to the ice by Northeastern’s Jamie Oleksiak. The shot crossed up Huskies netminder Chris Rawlings, who watched the puck soar above his left shoulder.

Rawlings was pulled in favor of Clay Witt after the second period, and Northeastern responded how they’ve always responded in front of the freshman goalie all season long: with vigor and energy. Despite allowing another goal to Pat Mullane, the Huskies drew three Eagles penalties in 3:16. Garrett Vermeersch scored on a 6-on-3 advantage after Greg Cronin pulled Witt for the extra attacker and Wade MacLeod scored his second goal of the game with just 1:03 to play to make it a one-goal game.

BC’s power play finished 3-for-6 on the night, while Northeastern went 2-for-9.

The Huskies weren’t able to get the equalizer, however, and Muse - who stopped 33 shots on the night - earned his school-best 16th postseason win.

Hockey East All-Rookie Team Announced

Hockey East has announced its All-Rookie team, and BU and Northeastern are the big winners. Each school had two student-athletes make the list, while Maine, UMass, BC and Merrimack each had one. Below is the list:


G: Dan Sullivan, Maine (York, Pa.)
D: Anthony Bitetto, Northeastern (Island Park, N.Y.)
D: Adam Clendening, Boston University (Wheatfield, N.Y.)
F: Bill Arnold, Boston College (Needham, Mass.)
F: Charlie Coyle, Boston University (East Weymouth, Mass.)
F: Mike Collins, Merrimack (Boston, Mass.)
F: Michael Pereira, Massachusetts (West Haven, Conn.)
F: Brodie Reid, Northeastern (Delta, B.C.)

Both Pereira and Coyle were unanimous selections.

Weekly Honors - And Your Semi-Finalists Are..

Merrimack's Ryan Flanigan is one of two Athletic Republic Co-Players of the Week after leading the Warriors to a win with two goals and three assists for a six point weekend, ending with a +7 rating overall this weekend against Maine. On Saturday he managed three asists and one goal.

BC's Jimmy Hayes is the second Co-Player of the Week after scoring four out of eight goals (hat trick included) during BC's weekend sweep over UMass.

Northeastern's Brody Reid is the Pro Ambitious Rookie of the Week after notching a point in every game during the quarterfinals. On Sunday he had a career-high of three points after two goals and one assist. So far in the post-season, the freshman has managed to score three goals and two assists.

UNH's Matt Di Girolamo is the Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week after he stopped 56 out of 60 goals in a sweep over UVM in the Hockey East quarterfinals. For the weekend, Di Gi achieved a 2.00 GAA and .9333 sv%.

Northeastern Upsets BU, Hockey East Semi-Finals Set

Northeastern 5 at Boston University 4 - Northeastern wins series, two games to one
BOSTON, MA - Northeastern netminder Chris Rawlings was pulled just six shots into Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Terriers. In the series’ deciding game, he stayed on the ice for the entire game, and helped fend off a late Terrier charge to send BU packing and the Huskies on to the Hockey East semi-finals.

Visiting Northeastern got two goals from Brodie Reid, and Steve Silva, Wade MacLeod and Cody Ferriero also tallied for the Huskies, who needed every goal they got as BU mounted a late charge, scoring twice in the final 1:22 to make it a game.

The third period featured six goals, three of which were scored on the power play and one by MacLeod with an empty net. Matt Nieto, Alex Chiasson, Justin Courtnall and Wade Megan scored for BU, but Rawlings made 31 saves to earn the win.

Northeastern’s power play went 2-for-6, while BU was 3-for-6 with the man advantage.

Things got chippy in the postgame handshake line, and Northeastern’s team had to be escorted off the ice before they could reconcile their differences with BU, who they’d played their last five games against.

With the win, Northeastern will face Boston College in a rematch of the Beanpot championship Friday night at TD Garden in the 5 PM game. UNH and Merrimack will face off at 8.

Northeastern will head to the Hockey East semi-finals for the second time in three years, and will go as the only team needing wins to be ensured a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Hockey East Playoffs: March Sweeps - BC, UNH, Merrimack Advance In Two Games

at Boston College 4, UMass 2 - Boston College wins series, 2 games to zero

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Thanks to Jimmy Hayes, Boston College has some accessories to add to their 2011 hardware.

Hayes registered a hat trick, scoring first for the Eagles, potting the game-winner and registering an empty-net goal with 23 seconds to go as regular-season champion Boston College swept UMass out of the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East playoffs.

Joe Whitney had the other goal for BC, which advances to the conference semifinals for the seventh straight season. Chase Langeraap opened the scoring for the Minutemen only 21 seconds in, giving UMass hope with its second strong start in as many nights, but it wasn’t to be for Toot Cahoon’s squad.

John Muse made 18 saves to preserve the win for the Eagles, who went 1-for-5 on the man advantage, while UMass wasn’t able to convert on their five man-advantage chances.

at New Hampshire 4, Vermont 3 - UNH wins series, 2 games to zero

DUHRAM, NH - It had been a long two seasons for Dick Umile, whose UNH teams hadn’t advanced past the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East playoffs since 2008. A year after winning the opening game of a series with Vermont before falling 1-0 in the next two, they left nothing to chance.

After UVM’s Ben Albertson opened the scoring at 3:49 of the second period, the Wildcats answered with three straight goals. Austin Block scored on a partially screened breakaway at 17:14, and Stevie Moses tipped Brett Kostolansky’s blast from the right point 42 seconds later to give second-seeded UNH a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Paul Thompson extended the lead to 3-1 on a wicked wrister  at 9:06 of the third, but Vermont came back to tie it at three with less than four minutes to go. UNH captain Mike Sislo responded, scoring his 13th goal with exactly three minutes remaining.

Despite going 0-for-8 on the power play, UNH outshot Vermont 39 to 28. The Catamounts were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

Matt Di Girolamo stopped 25 shots for the win.

at Merrimack 6, Maine 2 - Merrimack wins series, 2 games to zero

ANDOVER, MA - Mark Dennehy’s squad celebrated its second home playoff series the right way this time, skating Maine out of the building as the Warriors advanced to Boston for just the second time in team history.

Carter Madsen recorded a hat trick for Merrimack, which also got goals from Mike Collins, Ryan Flanigan and Jeff Velleca. Flanigan added three assists for his first career four-point night.

Jeff Dimmen and Brian Flynn scored for Maine, which struggled to find an answer for Merrimack’s aggressive forecheck. After not allowing five goals once all season, Dan Sullivan let five pucks past him for the second straight night, before giving way to Shawn Sirman in the third period.

Despite the teams being whistled for a combined 66 penalty minutes, Merrimack had only three power play chances. They converted on one of them, while Maine’s vaunted power play attack was held quiet on their four opportunities.

Joe Cannata made 29 saves to earn the win for Merrimack, which hasn’t played in the Hockey East quarterfinals since 1998.