Merrimack Releases 2011-12 home schedule

With star forward Stephane da Costa gone to the ranks of the NHL, many would imagine the year ahead to be a re-building year for Merrimack.

Not so. Consider it, instead, a re-stocking year.

Merrimack, which brings in a glut of young talent to replace da Costa and its talented exiting senior class, released its home schedule today. The slate features dates with Union and Army, as well as Connecticut.

The Warriors have home series with Northeastern, Maine, Providence and UNH scheduled in 2011-12.

Expect the rest of their schedule to be available within the next couple weeks. The entire home schedule is available below. It can also be viewed online here.

October
15	Sat	Army
21	Fri	Northeastern   *
22	Sat	Connecticut
November
4	Fri	Northeastern   *
December
3	Sat	Providence   *
7	Wed	Vermont   *
17	Sat	Union
January
13	Fri	Maine   *
14	Sat	Maine   *
20	Fri	New Hampshire   *
29	Sun	Providence   *
February
3	Fri	Boston U.   *
11	Sat	New Hampshire   *
18	Sat	Boston College   *
March
3	Sat	Massachusetts   *

Hockey East Class of 2011: How Did They Fare?

The ECHL, AHL and NHL regular seasons have all come to a close, and with the seasons ending, so too are many Hockey East 2011 alums done playing for the season. 

Of all the alums, former Northeastern captain Tyler McNeely impressed the most during a brief stint in the AHL, netting five goals, recording four assists and finishing with a plus-nine rating in ten games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Both Stephane Da Costa (Merrimack) and Matt Campanale  (UNH) donned NHL sweaters, but neither registered a point during their play with Ottawa and the New York Islanders, respectively. 

John Muse impressed in his lone start with the Portland Pirates, stopping 33 of 35 shots in an overtime win. Former teammate Cam Atkinson played in five games for Springfield, scoring three goals and adding two assists. 

Former BU captain Joe Pereira played a single game with the Worcester Sharks before being traded to Bridgeport, where he scored five points in ten games. 

Hockey East player of the year Paul Thompson played in four games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, tallying three points and a plus-four rating. 

ECHL

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

AHL

BC - F Cam Atkinson (SPFLD) 5 GP, 3-2=5, +2
BC - F Jimmy Hayes (RFD) 7 GP, 0-0=0, Even
BC - F Joe Whitney (POR) 1 GP, 0-1=1, +1
BC - G John Muse (POR) 1-0-0, 1.85 GA, .943 Sv %
BU - F Joe Pereira (WOR) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even; (BPT) 10 GP, 2-3=5, +1
BU - D David Warsofsky (PRV) 10 GP, 0-3=3, +3
Maine - F Tanner House (OKC) 6 GP, 1-4=5, +3
Maine - F Gustav Nyquist (GRP) 8 GP, 1-3=4, +1
Maine - D Jeff Dimmen (POR) 7 GP, 0-1=1, -4
Maine - D Mike Banwell (ALB) 4 GP, 0-1=1, -5
Maine - D Josh Van Dyk (ABB) 1 GP 0-0=0, Even
UMass - G Paul Dainton (SPFLD) 2-2-0, 2.63 GA, .912 Sv %
Merrimack - F Chris Barton (BPT) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even
Northeastern - F Wade MacLeod (SPFLD) 9 GP, 1-2=3, -5
Northeastern - F Tyler McNeely (BPT)  10 GP, 5-6=11, +9
UNH - D Matt Campanale (BPT) 5 GP, 0-0=0, Even
UNH - F Paul Thompson (WBS) 6 GP, 1-2=3, +4
UNH - F Mike Sislo (ALB) 3 GP, 0-0=0, -5
Vermont - D Kevan Miller (PRV) 6 GP, 0-0=0, +2


NHL

Merrimack - F Stephane Da Costa (OTT) 4 GP, 0-0=0, -1
UNH - D Matt Campanale (NYI) 1 GP, 0-0=0, Even

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)

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.

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.