I was chatting with Jared DeMichiel, the UMass associate head coach, while watching a midget game recently at Mount St. Charles. It was the day after the NFL’s Thursday night season opener featuring the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I asked him if he’d watched Tom Brady and company. No, … [Read more...]
College Confidential: How Hockey East is preparing for 2021-22
We all know COVID-19 made a mess of the 2020-21 Hockey East season. But, to borrow a line from noted scribe Bill Shakespeare, all’s well that ends well. Under first-year commissioner Steve Metcalf, Hockey East in fits and starts slogged through the regular season and postseason tournament, before … [Read more...]
Dominic Franco: Challenge accepted
In his four years at Army West Point, Dominic Franco learned a few things about overcoming challenges, on and off the ice. So when the Scituate, R.I., native struggled at the start of his rookie season with the Rochester Americans earlier this year, he knew what to do. “He was in over his head at … [Read more...]
College Confidential: Greg Carvel’s leadership qualities spark UMass renaissance
Watching Greg Carvel and his players celebrate UMass’s first Hockey East tournament championship on Saturday night, I thought of a conversation with associate head coach Ben Barr in March 2017. It was near the end of Carvel’s first season in Amherst. When I say the Minutemen were bad that year, I’m … [Read more...]
College Confidential: Hockey East championship forecast
After watching some very entertaining hockey in the Big Ten and NCHC tournaments earlier this week, I wondered if Hockey East could match it. Hell, yes! was the resounding answer. UMass Lowell’s wild, stunning comeback win over top seed Boston College, 6-5, after 92 minutes of hockey on Wednesday … [Read more...]
College Confidential: Forecasting the 2021 Hockey East semifinals
It’s not exactly a surprise that Boston College, UMass, Providence College and UMass Lowell will battle it out in the Hockey East semifinals on Wednesday. If you are surprised, then maybe you paid no attention when the annual preseason coaches’ poll was released in November. The top four in the poll … [Read more...]