RinkWise podcast: Scott Borek on Merrimack’s hot start, building the program

Scott Borek has played a large role in Merrimack's resurgence. (Merrimack Athletics)

Merrimack is not a historic men’s Hockey East powerhouse. But this season, the program looks to be charting a new course.

The Warriors sit in fourth place in Hockey East. Nationally, they rank No. 12 in USCHO’s latest poll. They also have one of the most exciting players in the nation: junior Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.). He has six goals and 20 points in 15 games this season.

Scott Borek (Waterville, Maine) is at the helm of Merrimack and has been for five seasons. While this one has been a success so far, it’s been an even tougher challenge since the death of assistant coach Josh Ciocco in October.

Borek joined the latest RinkWise podcast to discuss the challenges of this season, as well as the challenges that come with building a successful college hockey program.

On the success of this year’s team: 

Borek: “I really attribute this to our growth in goaltending. Hugo Ollas, who was a freshman last year, got off to a slower start. Zach Borgiel who had come out of the previous year as a starter but hadn’t been the starter really. He was sharing the opportunity with two other guys. So they both went into the year almost like rookies and as they grew our team grew. And then this year they both came in and hit the ground running. Goaltending has been a huge part of it. I also think for the first time since I’ve been here, we’ve had depth in the lineup certainly up front. We can score goals on all four of our lines. We’re a very mature team, a little bit older, and that’s been helpful as well.”

On what he pitches to players when recruiting: 

Borek: “Number one has been the campus. I think people, especially in New England, have no idea what we have to offer as a campus. Number two has been the flexibility of the school. You can do anything you want academically here. I’ve never worked someplace where we could have an engineering student be a hockey player. That can happen here and it’s because of the size, it’s because of the user-friendly mentality. That’s been really positive to our recruiting to attract some very good students that can do more here.”