Season previews for teams
Rene LeClerc is preparing for his final season behind the Southern New Hampshire University bench. The likeable coach, who also played for SNHU, will hand the reins over to assistant Ken Hutchins next year. When asked how his team looks this year, LeClerc didn’t ponder long for the answer. “Our strength is going to be … Read more
Team Overview: “Young but very quick,” is how coach Terry Meagher categorizes his Bowdoin squad this season. “We will have a lot of new faces and some shoes to fill with the departures of Adam (Dann) and George (Papachristopoulos) but we have a nice returning nucleus and some good leadership for this team.” Senior captain … Read more
Chris MacPherson is getting his squad ready at Salve Regina, and he knows what he’s got so far. “We have some pretty good speed and a pretty solid defensive corps, but a young team overall, with a lot of freshman and sophomores.” Amongst the returning players, junior defenseman Brian Goodwin will be leaned on heavily. … Read more
Lou Izzi at Nichols is feeling optimistic. “All of our key guys are back. We’re pretty solid all the way around.” One of the key players Izzi will rely on is sophomore goalie Keith Fink. As a freshman, Fink recorded school records for wins (16) and saves (762) and posted a .902 save percentage, while … Read more
At Framingham State, “We had a very thorough try out process. We saw kids multiple times in every aspect,” coach Chris Heaney said. He also realizes they were one of the worst teams in the country last year, a fact that he knows “they can’t escape.” Heaney will have several freshmen in the lineup, producing … Read more
Curry coach Rob Davies pondered a question about his team’s strengths. “I think team speed, and the fact that I don’t think we have any special players in any one zone, but above average players in all three zones. I think we have some strengths on the blue line, too.” Davies has two new goalies … Read more
In southeastern Massachusetts, coach John Rolli of UMass Dartmouth is getting ready to do something he’s done for the past 22 years — coach his hockey team. Rolli has a career record of 441-116-19, making him one of the nation’s most successful coaches, but he would rather discuss his team. “I think our strength will … Read more
Worcester State coach John Guiney sees his team coming along. “We’re getting a little more mature as far as experience, and we’ve brought in new players.” Fourteen new players, to be precise, and they will join fourteen returning players. “We would get behind a lot last year by a goal or two, and that just … Read more
At Fitchburg State, Dean Fuller has an experienced squad to work with this year. “We have a lot of seniors, maybe seven, coming back, and we’ll have pretty good depth at all positions. If we can stay healthy with our seniors, we’ll be all right.” Last year’s four top scorers are back, and they’re all … Read more
Team Overview: Last season the Bantams struggled to find themselves offensively and were a bit more generous in allowing other teams to score. They found there game heading down the stretch and managed to make it into the final four of the conference tournament. Like others in the league, Coach John Dunham will have a … Read more
It would be somewhat easy for me to take a look at last year’s preview of the NESCAC conference and repeat many of the comments brought forth by the league coaches there are a lot of similar themes. Like last year the defending league and national champions are coming out of Middlebury and everyone has … Read more
Team Overview: For head coach Chris Potter, this is the third recruiting class coming in as he has built the program. His primary focus early on has been on the defensive end of the ice and it has paid dividends with the Cardinals yielding only 61 total goals last season. “When I first came here … Read more
Team Overview: Amherst is exactly one of the teams who was at the top of the standings in January (second place) and finished in sixth on the basis of results in a handful of games. “This league is just so tough,” said head coach Jack Arena. “Whether you are playing the NESCACs or the ECAC … Read more
Chris Glionna, entering his third year behind the Suffolk University bench, is excited about his team’s chances this year, and especially about a return to the playoffs. “We’ve only been there once since 1992, and I’d like to make the jump this year. Offensively, we can score with anybody. John Rocchio is one of the … Read more
Team Overview: “We basically won with really good team defense and exceptional goaltending,” said Middlebury coach Bill Beaney. “In fact we were a little challenged offensively which we would like to change this year.” Hard to believe a team that scored 137 goals last season was challenged offensively especially with junior Mickey Gilchrist (24-26-50) and … Read more
Up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Plymouth State coach Brett Tryder is coming off of two strong years. He has nine of twelve forwards returning, meaning three full lines will be intact. Senior Goose Lacroix will be counted on to at least equal his more than point a game average from last year, … Read more
Team Overview: The Mules enter this season looking for some depth having played several games down the stretch with a limited number of skaters. “We will have a lot better numbers this season, noted head Coach Jim Tortorella. We have a nice mix of some veteran guys and some new guys that should help us. … Read more
Team Overview: Injuries took their toll on the Jumbos coming down the stretch last season as they seemed poised to make the conference playoffs. This year head coach Brian Murphy likes his overall numbers which should provide some much needed depth: “We will have better numbers so we shouldn’t get caught only dressing 13 or … Read more
Team Overview: The Ephs’ second-place finish last season might have been a surprise to everyone else but coach Bill Kangas: “You just want to keep building momentum and its cliché, but play better in every game than one you played the night before. We were fairly young last season but those guys have a full … Read more
Team Overview: OK, not to beat a dead horse but head coach Jim Ward will have a very young team this year and expects the team to grow literally game by game. “We will probably have fifteen or more freshmen and sophomores in the lineup every night,” noted Ward. “I have really been impressed with … Read more