The first calendar month on the college hockey season has come and gone with a few intriguing developments, especially in Hockey East.
With most of the action taking place out-of-conference, it’s important to note that Hockey East is 22-17-5 against the rest of college hockey. League teams have a couple of marquee wins, including UMass Lowell’s victory at Minnesota Duluth and Boston College defending home ice against Wisconsin.
On the darker side, Hockey East is just 2-4-2 against Atlantic Hockey foes, which is concerning to say the least. In a short college hockey season, it’s never too early to be concerned about getting behind the eight ball in terms of Pairwise implications.
As was noted in the season preview, numerous Hockey East teams were negatively impacted by early departures. It’s been interesting to watch how teams and coaching staffs have adapted to change. Northeastern and Providence have made adjustments that are paying off while UMass Lowell is having success with a lot of underclassmen.
Northeastern: Doing more with less
After splitting last weekend’s road trip to St. Cloud State, Northeastern is off to an impressive 4-1-1 start. The Huskies have had to adapt a few times over the last two years. First, it was the loss of three huge forwards, including Hobey Baker Award winner Adam Gaudette prior to 2018-19. Now, NU is moving on without star goaltender Cayden Primeau, who turned pro with the Montreal Canadiens, and puck-moving defenseman Jeremy Davies, who left early to play in the Milwaukee Admirals organization.
Northeastern went from a run-and-gun offensive style in 2017-18, averaging 3.58 goals per game, which was fifth best in college hockey. Contrast that to this season where the Huskies were averaging 2.33 goals for per game while allowing 1.33 goals against per game.
It’s obviously a small sample size, but the Huskies have done a good job cutting down on shots on goal against per game. Northeastern is allowing just 25.33 shots on goal per game this year as opposed to last year when they allowed over 30 shots on goal against per game.
The naysayers will point out that NU allowed over 30 shots on goal against in the two games it didn’t win and those were two of the three games against the best competition. There is still a lot for Northeastern to prove, but so far it would appear Northeastern is adapting and playing a tighter game, knowing its defense is the position of most depth and talent.
Another feather in the cap of the Northeastern coaching staff comes in the early returns at the goaltending position. After Primeau abruptly departed earlier than thought, the staff was left scrambling to find a replacement for the 2019-20 season.
With slim pickings that late in the recruiting process, NU elected to bring in Craig Pantano, a grad transfer from Merrimack. The Bridgewater, Mass., native was a former walk-on at Merrimack who didn’t play meaningful minutes until his final two seasons. He had his flashes and moments for the Warriors, but he finished 2018-19 with a .889 save percentage.
Suffice to say, Pantano’s .947 save percentage comes as a shock to most. He ranks third in that category nationally while being tops among Hockey East goaltenders.
Another pleasant surprise has been John Picking, who has a goal and three assists in six games. An under-recruited player out of the Boston Junior Bruins in the USPHL, Picking has exceeded everyone’s expectations in even producing in the slightest at the collegiate level. His development as a player should be seen as a direct credit to the Northeastern coaching staff.
Friars moving forward
Outside of a disappoint overtime loss against Holy Cross, the early season can be considered a positive for Providence. The 4-2-0 Friars have two impressive road wins at BC and Clarkson while picking up the pieces after the departure of four underclassmen and two valuable seniors.
Vegas Golden Knights draft pick Jack Dugan leads the way with four goals and 10 assists while New Jersey Devils prospect Tyce Thompson comes in with five goals and six assists. Junior and top un-drafted free agent Greg Printz has six goals and four assists to start the season.
Providence is often criticized for playing a boring, defensive style that is not conducive to developing as an offensive player. There are a few interesting tidbits to disprove that notion. The Friars are the only team in Hockey East with four players averaging over a point per game.
Dugan flew a little under the radar before heading to Northwood and then onto the Chicago Steel. But, focusing on Thompson and Print shows a trend of players who Leaman has made into better prospects.
Thompson put up less than a half point per game in the USHL and put up less than a point per game in two prep seasons at Salisbury. He had a solid freshman season that led to his selection in the 2019 NHL Draft. Now, he’s seemingly ready to ratchet up his production further.
Printz was a half point per game guy in the USHL and is now turning heads and becoming one of the more coveted free agents in college hockey.
Another key to the early season success is graduate transfer Michael Lackey, who came over from Harvard. He has a .941 save percentage while playing every minute so far for the Friars.
River Hawks soaring
As mentioned earlier, UMass Lowell has perhaps the most impressive win of the young season by going into Duluth and upending the two-time NCAA defending champion.
Senior goaltender Tyler Wall has a .947 save percentage and has a record of 4-1-2. Freshman Logan Neaton took the loss in the team’s game against Colgate. Wall had a solid rookie campaign for Norm Bazin’s team, but has battle consistency and confidence issues since then. If he can stay true to form, UML should be a serious contender for home ice in the Hockey East playoffs.
Another senior, Kenny Hausinger, leads the River Hawks in scoring with four goals and five assists. After that, it’s all about the underclassmen. Freshman Matt Brown is tied for the team lead in scoring with three goals and six assists. Carl Berglund and Andre Lee, a Los Angeles Kings pick, come in after that.
Bazin’s team is coming off a three-point weekend thanks to a comeback tie against Boston University and an overtime road win at Providence. The loss and tie against Colgate was truly baffling, but other than that, it appears that Lowell is ready to prove preseason naysayers wrong.
Defense hurting Eagles
Boston College is the 44th ranked team in the nation in terms of shots on goal against per game. Obviously, shots come in all forms, but that’s not a good omen for the Eagles going forward.
Outside of the first game of the season, a 5-3 win over Wisconsin, BC has given up more than 30 shots in every other contest. Jerry York’s team has lost three in a row following a 2-0 start.
Freshman goaltender Spencer Knight, a first round pick of the Florida Panthers, is a terrific talent, but he can only carry the Eagles so far. He looked good against Wisconsin and Colgate, but if his defense isn’t providing the needed support in front of him, there’s only so much he can do.
Seniors David Cotton and Julius Matilla both have two goals and six assists to lead the way offensively. I’ve only seen BC once in person, that season opener against Wisconsin. Freshmen Matt Boldy and Alex Newhook, both first rounders, looked good in that game, but they’ve combined for just two goals and no assists in five games.
I’m not ready to write off the Eagles yet. Losses to top-ranked Denver and to Providence aren’t that troubling. I picked them first in the preseason, like many others did. However, there’s reason for concern in Chestnut Hill.
A new group of youngsters at UMass
When head coach Greg Carvel and his staff took over at UMass, there was a serious rebuild needed. There has been no shortage of young players who’ve contributed to the success of the Minutemen since then.
2019 Hobey Baker Award winner Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro both moved on after just two seasons, and are already playing in the NHL. Sophomores Mitchell Chaffee and John Leonard, now juniors, were two key cogs up front last season.
Chaffee is tied for the lead in scoring this season with freshman defenseman Zac Jones, a New York Rangers draft pick. An undersized defenseman, Jones has continued to prove doubters wrong. He’s mobile and has a good stick, but his hockey sense is superb. He has two goals and five assists. Fellow rookies Cal Kiefiuk and Reed Lebster both have five points.
Befuddling Terriers
Injury woes are adding up for Boston University. To start the season, Ty Amonte was out for the year. Now, leading scorer Patrick Harper and defensive regular Cam Crotty are day-to-day while Logan Cockerill, Jack DeBoer and Sam Stevens are still out a while.
I saw BU’s game second game of the season against Northern Michigan. The Terriers skated to a 4-4 tie, but were up, 4-1, into the third period. For the first two periods, BU looked really good, played with energy, and seemed like a new team.
The third period was full of discipline issues and defensive lapses. The goaltending has been a serious issue with graduate transfer Sam Tucker holding a 2-0-2 record, despite having a .892 save percentage. Sophomore Vinnie Purpura has a .879 save percentage in a losing effort in the series finale against NMU.
BU has plenty of talent, as it usually has, and the team is above .500. But, this weekend in Orono for a pair against Maine could be pivotal. On paper, the Terriers should be able to handle the Black Bears, but weird things happen at the Alfond, and the goaltending advantage sways heavily in Maine’s favor.
Rebounding Black Bears
The first weekend of the season was a disaster for Maine. There's no way to sugarcoat it. Red Gendron's team lost, 7-0, to Providence and then came home and got blanked, 5-0, by New Brunswick in an exhibition game.
Thanks to an easy home series a weekend later, the Black Bears bounced back. Then, the team went on the road and split with Quinnipiac and downed Vermont in Burlington.
Maine enters this weekend's two-game home series against BU with a 4-2 record. That definitely looked less than likely following the first weekend. Gendron's team will need to take advantage of home cooking with four of its next six at home. BU and UNH are the opponents for those four games. In between is a road series at Lowell and then two road games against Northeastern and UMass, respectively, follow.
In other words, these home games are huge if Maine is going to make some moves towards earning a playoff spot. Kudos to un-drafted free agent, junior Eduards Tralmaks, who leads the team in scoring with six goals and three assists. Even more impressive is Bruins draft pick Jeremy Swayman, who has a .940 save percentage, despite getting shellacked in that season opener at Providence.
