The way Nolan Redler sees it, hockey is a simple game, especially when you’re playing on a line with UMass-Boston teammate Colin Larkin.
"He’s big, he’s fast, he can shoot the hell out of the puck," said Redler (Winchester, Mass.). "Playing with him is give him the puck, get out of his way and go to the net."
As Division 3 seasons paused for their holiday breaks, nobody in the nation had crashed the net better than Redler, whose 15 goals led all of Division 3, and no line has been more productive than the one that has the 6-foot-3 Larkin centering left wing Redler and freshman Zack Bross.
But to bounce back from a disappointing 2016-17 season, one that saw 11 freshmen thrust into the lineup with uneven results following a Frozen Four campaign, the Beacons (10-3) needed more stability on the other end of the ice. They found it with goalie Bailey MacBurnie (Beverly, Mass.), a Division 1 prospect out of St. Mary’s High School in Lynn, Mass., and Salisbury School, who transferred to UMB at midseason last year after playing the first semester at Sacred Heart.
While the Beacons are scoring better than 4½ goals a game, the fifth-highest total in Division 3, the 6-foot-2 MacBurnie has been a rock in net, with a 9-1 record, 1.91 goals-against average and .925 save percentage.
"He gives us a chance to win every game, that’s for darn sure," said UMB coach Pete Belisle (Manville, R.I.).
It’s nearly 3,000 miles from Trail, British Columbia, to Boston, but that’s where MacBurnie and Redler, familiar from playing against each other growing up, cemented a friendship that’s carried on at UMB.
"It was a blast out there," said MacBurnie. "The level of hockey (in the BCHL) is just phenomenal. The year we were there there were three first-round draft picks (Tyson Jost, Dante Fabbro and Dennis Cholowski). There were numerous D-1 commits."
They were the only two New Englanders on the Trail Smoke Eaters, playing in a small city of about 7,000 just north of the Canada-U.S. border in eastern Washington, only a few miles from the fictional setting of the cult TV show "Twin Peaks."
"Nolan and I, we’d hang out every day," said MacBurnie. "If we weren’t at the rink hanging out we were with our team watching a movie or something."
"Us Mass. boys have a different mentality," said Redler.
When MacBurnie was considering his options last year after spending the first semester at Sacred Heart, where he didn’t see any playing time, one of the people he talked to was Redler, who was one of those 11 freshmen thrust into the fire at UMB.
"He made it known that they were a young team and were going to be pretty good the next few years," MacBurnie said.
"I didn’t have to do a lot to sell him," said Redler. "He just wanted to play."
MacBurnie, who’d been recruited by Belisle when he was playing in Trail, started nine games down the stretch, including a 5-1 win over rival Babson at Fenway Park. He finished with a 2.61 GAA and .919 save percentage.
"We got him maybe a semester late, but we’re glad that we got him," said Belisle. "He loves the game and works hard at it. … He’s earned his net. He’s definitely been outstanding."
Up front, no line in Division 3 has been more productive than the one featuring Larkin (12-11-23), Redler (15-6-21) and Bross (6-15-21). With 125 career points, Larkin has cracked UMB’s alltime top five. He’s a reason Redler has thrived this season, but also a reason he struggled at times as a freshman.
"Especially playing with Colin," said Redler. "You never knew what he was going to do up there. Catching up with him was the hardest thing I had to do."
At 5-foot-7, Redler plays a productive game, but also a tenacious game. It’s what he was doing all the way back at Winchester High School, when sometimes the goalie he was trying to beat was MacBurnie, of St. Mary’s.
"I’m going to line up with the guy next to me and I’m not going to let him beat me, no matter what it takes," he said.
"I just love him," said Belisle. "He keeps our locker room loose. He’s one of those kids that you just look at and smile. And he’s tough for a little guy. He doesn’t have a cannon for a shot, but he knows how to find the net."
With 10 wins already, the Beacons are two away from matching last year’s total. They’re only a point behind first-place Norwich in the NEHC race and tied with Hobart for second.
MacBurnie has been a winner just about everywhere he’s gone. He was named conference MVP at St. Mary’s and backstopped Salisbury to the Stuart/Corkery (elite) title, earning tourney MVP honors. In his season with Trail, he set a team record by playing in 51 games.
At the holiday break, he sees parallels.
"I’ve been on a number of real good hockey teams," he said. "You kind of get that feeling that we have something special here and we have to keep the train rolling. What I’m excited about is I think the best hasn’t come yet."
