Season previews for teams
Five years ago, Canisius coach Dave Smith brought in a large, talented rookie class that included the dynamic duo of Cory Conacher and Vincent Scarcella. Each of the past four seasons, the Golden Griffins improved, culminating in their first trip to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals under Smith. Now that the class of 2011 has moved … Read more
Decimated by graduation and transfers, Mercyhurst must replace 60 percent of its offense as well as longtime starting goaltender Ryan Zapolski. “This is one of the youngest teams we’ve had,” said coach Rick Gotkin, who is entering his 24th season behind the bench, coaching every year of varsity hockey at Mercyhurst. “You can look at … Read more
Robert Morris made an impressive splash in Atlantic Hockey last season, its first in the league. The Colonials spent the early part of the season in first place, and were near the top of the standings the entire way, finishing fifth but just three points out of second place. But the most successful class in … Read more
The Connecticut Huskies are coming off a breakthrough season that saw them advance to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals for the first time in five years. Coach Bruce Marshall said now that his team, which returns a strong nucleus from last season, including eight of its top 10 scorers, has gotten a taste of winning, it’s … Read more
Last season, Air Force entered the post-Andrew Volkening era and things turned out just fine. Led by Jacques Lamoureux (44 points), and getting steady and later hot goaltending from rookie Jason Torf, the Falcons captured their fourth Atlantic Hockey playoff title in five seasons. But now Lamoureux is gone, as well as stalwarts Derrick Burnett, … Read more
The Bentley Falcons had a hard time scoring goals last season, and the loss of two of their top three forwards presents a difficult challenge. Eric Peterson, who was second on the team with 12 goals last season, has graduated, along with linemate Dustin Cloutier (10 goals). Back is sophomore Brett Gensler, who had a … Read more
Rochester Institute of Technology lost its two top scorers but returns a nucleus that was a goal or two away from returning to the NCAA tournament. The departed duo of Andrew Favot and Tyler Brenner combined for 84 points, including 16 power-play goals. But the next seven top point-getters are back, as well as the … Read more
For the second straight season, it looked like the American International Yellow Jackets were going to finish out of the Atlantic Hockey basement. But in the end, Gary Wright’s team couldn’t get over the hump. “The last two years, we dropped into last on the last day of the season,” he said. “That wasn’t an … Read more
Last season Holy Cross posted 17 wins, the most since its dream season of 2005-06. The Crusaders went 10-2-3 down the stretch and made their first appearance in the league semifinals since 2006, giving eventual champion Air Force all it could handle in a 3-2 loss. Holy Cross lost key players at each position, but … Read more
Last year, Niagara entered Atlantic Hockey unsure of where its scoring punch was going to come from. The team had lost a good percentage of its offense. Lo and behold, the senior duo of Paul Zanette and Brian Haczyk went from role players to prime-time stars. They combined for 90 points and Zanette was the … Read more
Two years ago, Army’s line of Owen Mayer, Eric Sefchik and Cody Omilusik was one of the best in Atlantic Hockey. Last season, only Omilusik remained, and he was the Black Knights’ chief offensive weapon, tallying 18 goals. But with Omilusik now gone, coach Brian Riley needs some or all of his large senior class … Read more
Norm Bazin knows what it is like to face challenges. As a player at Massachusetts-Lowell in the mid-1990s, he transformed from a role player to one of the leading scorers on one of Lowell’s best teams ever. As an assistant at Colorado College, Bazin successfully recruited some of the game’s top players — including Hobey … Read more
Maine had one of the top three offenses in Hockey East last year, but lost 121 points of production from just three forwards. Can the Black Bears fill those holes and retain their elite goalscoring status? Well, they certainly have a good start in seniors Spencer Abbott and Brian Flynn, who both finished in the … Read more
Last year’s Boston University squad — the youngest ever in coach Jack Parker’s 38 years — displayed an inconsistency that befitted its youth as much as it frustrated its fans. The Terriers started and finished strong (at least until the playoffs) but struggled in the middle. “The best thing that could possibly happen to our … Read more
Many people see New Hampshire as a team of question marks. Having lost their top four scorers — the entire first line of Paul Thompson, Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone, all of whom graduated, along with top-scoring defenseman Blake Kessel, who signed an NHL contract — there is reason for concern of where the offense … Read more
Northeastern’s first-year head coach Jim Madigan uses the word whirlwind to describe the last eight weeks of his life. Named the replacement for Greg Cronin late in the summer, Madigan has done everything in his power just to try to get acclimated. “I finally feel like we’re getting into a routine,” Madigan said. “The last … Read more
Stephane Da Costa, Stephane Da Costa, what’ll Merrimack do without Stephane Da Costa? The refrain has been repeated so many times, it sounds like schoolyard singsong performed while jumping rope. Yet the fact is that Da Costa scored all of one goal after the first weekend in February last season. He drew attention, to be … Read more
Last year’s national coach of the year, Nate Leaman, built Union into an ECAC Hockey regular season champion and an NCAA tournament team. He’s got his work cut out for him, though, at Providence, which missed the Hockey East playoffs the last two seasons. “Right now we’re focused on building our program one day at … Read more
Coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, including a Frozen Four berth in 2008, last season was, in an understatement, disappointing for Vermont. The Catamounts struggled to an 8-20-8 regular season record and were swept out of the Hockey East quarterfinals by New Hampshire. Thus, for coach Kevin Sneddon, the 2011-12 season is as much about … Read more
Whether Massachusetts can crack the top half of Hockey East comes down largely to one position: goaltender. Prior to graduating, Paul Dainton played almost every game in the Minutemen nets and played well. Freshmen Kevin Boyle and Steve Mastalerz may be well regarded, but that’s no guarantee of success. Sophomore Jeff Teglia struggled in his … Read more