Martin Fillion, UMass-Lowell’s pre-season All-Hockey East goaltender, has been suspended for six games for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, according to an article in The Lowell Sun. Lowell coach Tim Whitehead confirmed after his team’s exhibition win over Concordia that he had banished Fillion to the stands for disciplinary reasons, but declined to elaborate. When asked if … Read more
Hockey East announced its preseason picks during its Media Day held today at the Fleet Center. Boston University took the top spot in the Coaches’ Poll, in which a first place vote is worth one point, second place two points, and so on. They were also the only team to place three players on the … Read more
Senior forward Tim Lovell will decide by December whether he will join the UMass-Amherst Minutemen in mid-season. Lovell, a Norwood, Mass. native, left Maine, where he compiled 21 goals and 40 points statistics last year en route to a selection to the All-Hockey East team. Lovell will choose between two options. He may sit out … Read more
Vermont is the preseason number one team in the 1996-97 ECAC men’s ice hockey coaches poll, according to USA Today. Vermont returns virtually the same lineup that led it to a 27-7-4 record last season and a berth in the NCAA semifinals against Colorado College. The Catamounts received 11 of a possible 12 first place … Read more
In a direct about-face from previous comments that they were staying for their senior years at Maine, Blair Allison and Jeff Tory have now decided to try out for the Canadian National Team. Both players have been All-Hockey East selections the past two years. Tory was also a First Team East All-American in 1995-96. Both … Read more
He began playing hockey at the age of two. A natural athlete, he competed primarily against older players until he was selected to the national Select-16 and Select-17 teams, beginning a streak during which he made every national team he tried out for. Recruited by all the top schools, he selected Boston University, in part … Read more
Maine lost three players this week in the wake of NCAA sanctions against the program, but reportedly will keep two important All-Americans on the roster, according to the Bangor Daily News. Brad Mahoney and Tim Lovell, both seniors, transferred to rival Hockey East schools this week. Mahoney transferred to Northeastern to play for Bruce Crowder. … Read more
Boston University’s Chris O’Sullivan has signed a pro contract with the Calgary Flames, forgoing his senior year. O’Sullivan was drafted as a defenseman on the second round in 1992, prior to his attending BU. In 1992-93 he redshirted after a neck injury felled him after only five games. The following year he was one of … Read more
The NCAA Executive Committee announced today that the University of Maine will retain their 1993 Ice Hockey National Championship. Amid numerous NCAA violations, the one pertaining to Dunham was his acceptance of a stipend when he was the U.S. Olympic tean. The goalie was a member of the 1993 national champions. The Executive Committee met … Read more
It’s not over, yet. During a press conference on the campus of the University of Maine on Wednesday afternoon, school president Frederick Hutchinson and athletic director Suzanne Tyler made it clear that, while, in many cases, the NCAA’s penalties are fair and necessary, the added year of postseason sanction is “excessive.” “That punishment seems excessive, … Read more
The NCAA handed down one of the most “severe penalties in the last few years” to the University of Maine on Wednesday. The NCAA put Maine on four years probation, and banned the ice hockey team from competing in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA also banned Maine from being on television for the 1996-97 … Read more
With 45 student-athletes named to its 1995-96 All-Academic Honor Roll, Hockey East established a new record for the most players named in a season. The Honor Roll was first instituted in 1989. Leading the way was Top Scholar-Athlete Tomas Persson of Northeastern, who compiled a 3.918 GPA for the year in International Business and Finance, … Read more
As first indicated here last Friday, Tim Whitehead has officially been hired as head coach at UMass-Lowell. Whitehead was strongly endorsed by outgoing coach Bruce Crowder, and also received support of many fans and media personalities. Whitehead, 35, was an assistant for five years at UMass-Lowell, and will fill the position vacated when Crowder jumped … Read more
Western Michigan goaltender Marc Magliarditi and Maine forward Jamie Thompson have both recently decided to leave their college teams. Magliarditi, CCHA 1996 Rookie of the Year, has decided to go to Spokane, Wash., to play for the Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. “It leaves a big hole to fill,” said Western Michigan coach Bill … Read more
“My grandmother could recruit All-Americans for that school.” Fans have been known to mutter such comments in reference to a rival where hockey has become a self-perpetuating institution. Western schools like Minnesota, home of the 9,305 automatic sellout and season tickets for standing room only seats, provide the best examples. But the shoe fits for … Read more
UMass-Lowell has selected Tim Whitehead and Blaise MacDonalad as finalists for the vacant head coaching position, according to the Lowell Sun. Both Whitehead and MacDonald have ties to the program and to other Hockey East schools. Whitehead, 35, has been an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell for the past five seasons. He was also an assistant … Read more
UMass-Lowell defenseman Ed Campbell has signed with the New York Rangers. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Campbell, a native of Westboro, Mass., will thus give up his senior year at Lowell. He joins fellow Hockey East juniors Mike Grier of Boston University and Steve McKenna of Merrimack as seniors-to-be who have chosen to turn pro. Campbell’s 326 … Read more
Last year they finished dead last in Hockey East and missed the playoffs. Since beginning league play in 1989-90 they’ve languished in or near the cellar, finishing no higher than sixth. They have, hands down, the worst rink in the league, a true noose around their recruiting necks. And yet, voices heard in North Andover … Read more
No matter what the year, every hockey season has something that makes it special and worth coming back for. This past year, Hockey East had its share of downs, from the tragic injury to Travis Roy in his first shift, to the penalties imposted on Maine for violating NCAA rules. There were the ups too. … Read more