Checking in on the Hockey East Class of 2011

Now that the flurry of post-post-season comings and goings are over, it's time to see how the Hockey East class of 2011 is faring in their post-collegiate careers.

Since his season ended - perhaps prematurely - at the hands of Notre Dame, Stephane Da Costa is the only Hockey East-er to head straight to the NHL. Playing for the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Da Costa recorded a shot, but no points and was a minus-one in the Sens' 4-2 loss to the suddenly frisky Toronto Maple Leafs.

Other HEA alums who are poised to see time at the NHL level in the next season include reigning conference player of the year Paul Thompson, who has three point (1-2) in three games for the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and is a plus-four - a surprise for a player who didn't do much back-checking as a student-athlete. His former linemate Mike Sislo signed a two-year, entry-level deal with the New Jersey Devils on Sunday; while Sislo will finish the season at AHL Albany this year, he could compete for time in a Devils roster full of holes next season.

Former Boston College standout Cam Atkinson has played in two games with AHL Springfield (MA), and is 2-2=4 in those games with a plus-one rating. His former teammate Jimmy Hayes has played three games for the Rockford IceHogs - AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks - but is yet to register a point and is a minus-one in those games. Don't be thrown by the AHL's website saying that he's playing D for Rockford - he's still on the right wing.

Ex-Maine Black Bear Gustav Nyquist has 1-2=3 totals through four games with Detroit Red Wings' affiliate Grand Rapids, and has a plus-one rating as well.

Below are the stats for all Hockey East 2011 alums through their first few days/weeks as professionals:

ECHL

UMass - F Chase Langeraap (SC) - 8 GP, 2-0=2, +2
Merrimack - F Joe Cucci (SC) - 2 GP, 0-1=1, Even
Vermont - F Josh Burrows (BKR) - 7 GP, 1-0=1, +5


AHL
BC - F Cam Atkinson (SPFLD) 2 GP, 2-2=4, +1
BC - F Jimmy Hayes (ROC) 3 GP, 0-0=0, -1
BU - F Joe Pereira (WOR)- 1 GP, 0-0=0
BU - D David Warsofsky (PRV) - 7 GP, 0-1=1, +1
Maine - F Tanner House (OKC) 3 GP, 1-1=2, +1
Maine - F Gustav Nyquist (GRP) 4 GP, 1-2=3, +1
Maine - D Jeff Dimmen (POR) 2 GP, -1
Maine - D Mike Banwell (ALB) 1 GP, 0-0=0, -1
UMass - G Paul Dainton (SPFLD)- 1-2-0, 2.71, .923
Merrimack - F Chris Barton (BPT) - 1 GP
Northeastern - F Tyler McNeely (BPT) - 6 GP, 2-1=3, +4
Northeastern - F Wade MacLeod (SPFLD)- 5 GP, 1-0=1, -1
UNH - D Matt Campanale (BPT) - 1 GP
UNH - F Paul Thompson (WBS) - 3 GP, 1-2=3, +4
Vermont - D Kevan Miller (PRV) 3 GP, 0-0=0, Even


NHL

Merrimack - F Stephane Da Costa (OTT) - 1 GP, -1



Signings

Merrimack Captain D Adam Ross - ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings
UNH Captain F Mike Sislo - NHL New Jersey Devils (assigned to Albany)
Maine D Josh Van Dyk - NHL Edmonton Oilers (assigned to Abbotsford, has not yet played)

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.

Home Cooking: All Higher Seeds Win On First Full Night Of Hockey East Playoffs

at Boston College 4, UMass 1

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Jimmy Hayes showed up at just the right time. After the Minutemen outshot the Hockey East regular season champs 6-1 through the first ten minutes of the game, Hayes beat UMass goaltender Paul Dainton to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

They wouldn’t look back.

Cam Atkinson scored his league-leading 28th goal of the year just 14 seconds into the second period, and by the time UMass’ Daniel Hobbs scored a power play goal at 11:52 of the middle frame, the Minutemen were already down 3-0 and BC cruised to a 4-1 victory at Conte Forum. John Muse stopped 26 shots to preserve the win for Boston College, which moved a win away from its seventh straight appearance in the Hockey East semifinals.

Dainton stopped 31 shots for UMass, but it wasn’t enough as Toot Cahoon’s squad couldn’t find the depth to skate with BC or the offense to make up for it.

UMass had eight opportunities with the man advantage, but was only able to convert once. BC went 1-for-6 on the power play.

The Minutemen and Eagles face off at 7 PM Saturday night at Conte Forum with UMass’ season on the line.

at New Hampshire 3, Vermont 1

DURHAM, NH - Stevie Moses nearly registered more shots himself than his entire team did a week earlier, recording 10 attempts on net, and closing the scoring off a beautiful feed from Mike Borisenok early in the third period to cap a 3-1 Wildcats win.

Despite being outshot 14-4 in the first period, UNH took an early lead on Paul Thompson’s 27th goal of the season at 4:23. It seemed as though that might be the game-winner for a long time, as Matt Di Girolamo was superb against a solid Catamounts attack.

The lone Vermont goal came when Sebastian Stalberg - who had a great chance in the first on a wrap-around that Di Girolamo sprawled backwards with his arm over his head to glove away - was able to pry lose a rebound and put the puck between the UNH goaltender’s legs.

UNH was successful on its only power play chance when Phil DeSimone scored the game’s second goal with four seconds remaining in a Dan Lawson tripping penalty. Vermont went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Di Girolamo stopped 32 Vermont shots to earn the win in his first career Hockey East playoff game.

UNH and Vermont go at it again Saturday night as the Wildcats look to avenge last season’s early playoff exit when they beat the Cats 7-4 on Friday night but lost successive 1-0 decisions on Saturday and Sunday and were unable to advance in the Hockey East tournament.

at Boston University 5, Northeastern 2

BOSTON, MA - BU spotted Northeastern an early lead when Brodie Reid scored his ninth goal of the year at 3:25 of the first period, but pushed back to even the series and extend their season for at least one more game, winning a 5-2 decision at Agganis Arena.

Joe Pereira tallied twice for the Terriers, including an empty-net goal with just 35 seconds remaining, and Matt Nieto, Kevin Gilroy and Ryan Ruikka added markers for BU, which struggled to find any offense in a 4-2 loss to Northeastern on Thursday night.

Jamie Oleksiak also scored for Northeastern, making it a 3-2 game after two periods, but BU was too much for the Huskies in the third. Clay Witt, who has faced BU in three of the five games that he’s played this season, made 29 saves in relief of Chris Rawlings, who allowed three of the six shots he saw to go by him.

Kieran Millan made 30 saves to earn the win for BU, which needs to at least advance to the Hockey East semifinals to have a chance at playing in the NCAA tournament.

Despite drawing ten Northeastern penalties, BU was only able to convert on one power play. Northeastern went 1-for-7 with the extra man.

The series will pause briefly as Agganis Arena hosts the America East Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday before resuming Sunday night at 7 PM with both team’s seasons on the line.

at Merrimack 5, Maine 4

ANDOVER, MA - The Black Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead nearly halfway through the action, and it looked like the Warriors were going to suffer a similar fate to the one they experienced two weeks ago in Orono.

Three unanswered goals later, Merrimack was in charge and held off multiple attempts at a comeback to take a 1-0 series advantage.

Gustav Nyquist scored his 50th career goal for Maine to open the scoring, and added two assists later to finish with three points. Robby Dee scored twice for the Black Bears and added an assist as well.

While Maine held Joe Cucci and Mike Collins pointless on the night, Merrimack found its scoring from lower down the lineup chart. Elliott Sheen scored twice and Ryan Flanigan added a goal and an assist, as the Warriors’ third line contributed three goals and two assists on the night.

Dan Sullivan - who’d been strong in net recently for Maine - gave up five goals on 24 shots. It was the first time Sullivan had given up five goals all season, though he was pulled twice in games in which he gave up three goals in a period.

The Black Bears lost despite going 3-for-5 on the power play and holding Merrimack to only three man-advantage chances, which they converted one of. 

Joe Cannata stopped 20 Maine shots to earn the win.

The series continues Saturday night, presumably with Maine’s season on the line. Saturday’s game will be televised on NESN and starts at 7:30 PM.

Hockey East Playoff Matchups Announced

With the conclusion of the regular season, the Hockey East playoff matchups have been determined - and mercifully, without the use of any tiebreakers. Boston College’s 4-3 win over UNH on Saturday night gave them first place in the conference, while Northeastern’s 4-3 win over Boston University ensured that they’ll be heading right back to Agganis Arena to face the Terriers in the quarterfinals. Maine - which swept Merrimack in Orono by a composite score of 11-1 just a week ago - will face the Warriors at Lawler Arena and Vermont will return to the Whittemore Center, where last year it ousted homestanding UNH in the opening round of the playoffs.

(8) UMass at (1) Boston College
Boston College swept the season series, winning two games at the Mullins Center and a third at home against the Minutemen. Cam Atkinson has a team-high six points (1-5=6) against UMass, and John Muse was in net for all three BC wins. 

(5) Maine at (4) Merrimack
After losing 7-1 at Lawler Arena in early January, the Black Bears welcomed Mark Dennehy’s team back to Maine by beating them handily, 4-0 and 7-1 just last weekend. Chris Barton (1-3=4) leads the Warriors in scoring against Maine this year, while Gustav Nyquist (1-4=5) leads Maine, but there are three Black Bears that have registered four points against Joe Cannata, who’s been suddenly fallible in the last two weeks of the season. In 160 minutes against Merrimack, Dan Sullivan has allowed five goals, four of them coming in the January game. Cannata has allowed 10 goals in 135:55 against Maine.

(6) Northeastern at (3) Boston University
Since the 2009 Beanpot, every game between the Terriers and the Huskies has ended in a tie or in a one-goal differential. Clay Witt has been on the decisive end of two games against BU this season, going 1-1 with a .915 save percentage. Anthony Bitetto (0-3=3) leads the Huskies in scoring against Kieran Millan (2-1-0) and the Terriers, while Charlie Coyle (1-4=5) leads BU in scoring against their neighborhood rivals. 

(7) Vermont at (2) New Hampshire
UNH seems to have had Vermont’s number this year, going 2-0-1 with a 5-1 and 6-1 victory. Paul Thompson (3-3=6) and Mike Sislo (0-6=6) lead the Wildcats in scoring against Keven Snedden’s squad, and  Tobias Nilson-Roos (2-0=2) leads the Catamounts in scoring. Matt Di Girolamo has been in net for each - and every - game for UNH this season, posting a .941 save percentage against Vermont.

Curtain Call: The Final Weekend Preview...Kinda

UNH @, vs. BC
This series puts even those classic Yale-Union games to shame. UNH can make Saturday’s game meaningless with a win on Friday night at Conte Forum, where they’ve already won once this season. But BC can make Saturday’s return match at the Whit a very interesting one if they’re able to get any points at home on Friday.
We’ve been talking about this all year: John Muse versus Matt Di Girolamo; Paul Thompson against Tommy Cross; Cam Atkinson against Blake Kessel. Problem is, apart from the goaltending battle, it’s not coming down to them. What it is going to come down to, simply, is which team gets the better effort from its role players. Thompson will score - if he doesn’t, his line will; Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes and Chris Kreider will do the same for BC. UNH will need a continued strong effort from reigning Hockey East rookie of the month Kevin Goumas; they’ll need more work from Stevie Moses and John Henrion, each of whom has elevated his game quite nicely in the second half of the season. BC will look to Brian Gibbons, Joe Whitney and Kevin Hayes, among others.
There’s no real preview to write for this one - both these teams are very good. UNH would be well-served to sweep and convince themselves that they can, in fact, play in March - even if it’s just the first weekend. But they won’t. And BC won’t, either. One team gets three points this weekend. Newsflash: It’s not the defending national champs.

BU @, vs. Northeastern
A great series in its own regard, but for much different reasons than BC-UNH. Northeastern can’t move either direction in the Hockey East Rankings, but they can help ensure themselves the quarterfinal matchup that they want by beating BU mercilessly and hoping Merrimack does enough to climb up into third place. They could also ensure themselves a similarly favorable matchup by beating the snot out of BU so that the Terriers don’t have enough men left to ice a team in the event that they maintain their grip on third place. One way or the other, the Huskies are certain to play with an eye on the scoreboard, as the last thing that they want is to face a suddenly hot Maine team at Alfond Arena next weekend.
Since head coach Greg Cronin was suspended by the school two weeks ago, Northeastern has gone 1-1-2 against two top ten teams, upsetting then-number one Boston College at Matthews Arena after they nearly upset them twice in the previous five days. They’re playing inspired hockey for Sebastien Leplante, who’s done an admirable job of gathering the troops. But good and good enough to beat Jack Parker - who always seems to have the Huskies’ number - are two completely different scenarios. Kieran Millan has been riding a hot streak for BU - a really hot one if you don’t count the Beanpot. But, if you ignore Chris Rawlings’ two worst games of the last month - both seven goal-against efforts against BC - he’s actually been better.
BU’s offense has been anemic at best against teams that play mediocre defense at best. Northeastern plays very good defense. BU’s physical game has been lacking against teams that aren’t very physical. Northeastern plays very physical. BU’s missing one of its leaders and perhaps best offensive blueliner in David Warsofsky, who should miss another weekend with symptoms of a concussion. Northeastern’s healthy for the first time in a very long time, and should know just how to attack the hole that Warsofsky’s absence leaves behind.
Yes, on paper this weekend looks like a wash. But remember that the Terriers haven’t lost a conference game in their last nine games, that Parker coaches his teams to be their best in March and that the Terriers need as many points as they can get to have home ice at all in the quarterfinals and we may see a different BU team.

Providence @, vs. Merrimack
You want to say this is a no-contest, that Mack should walk away with four points and about a +13 goal differential in two games, relegating Providence to another March spent watching other teams play hockey tournaments that they could have been a part of. You want to say that Merrimack’s going to be so pissed after getting swept - nay, embarrassed - by Maine that they’re going to take it out on Tim Army’s hapless bunch. You definitely want to say that Alex Beaudry has had to invest in new sheets numerous times this week since he’s been up all night wetting the bed thinking about facing Merrimack’s attack.
You’d be right to say all that, but Providence knows they still have a shot at the Hockey East playoffs - a place they haven’t been in quite a while - and you can never underestimate a desperate squad. Even if they’re playing an angry one. On paper, Providence has no chance. They’ll elevate their game, for sure, but they don’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Warriors and they don’t have the defense to shut them down.
Then again, neither did Maine.

Maine @ UMass
Speaking of the Black Bears, they roll into Amherst riding a five-game conference win streak and fresh off a statement weekend against Merrimack. That statement? They may actually be the real deal. UMass welcomes Maine as they cling to their playoff life and hope to not back into a guaranteed battle with a top-ten team in the opening round of the Hockey East playoffs.
Don’t expect Maine to be as hot as they were last weekend - especially not at an arena where they’ve lost seven straight - but there’s no reason that they can’t get four more points and make a run at the three-seed and home ice next weekend. And if they do, it could be game over for the rest of the conference.

Lowell @ Vermont
It’s not right to say that Vermont’s clinched a Hockey East playoff spot - especially after Lowell played spoiler admirably against Providence last weekend. The Catamounts do, after all, need at least two points this weekend to guarantee themselves a playoff spot. Or for Providence to lose to Merrimack. I mean...yeah. See you next weekend, UVM. As for this weekend...