Durham, NH.-  New Hampshire and St. Cloud  played an even first period on goals by John Henrion and Kevin Gravel.  UNH never trailed in the game and would use a key second period goal by Austin Block with 1 minute, 9 seconds to go in the period to take the lead for good.

Nick Sorkin led UNH offensively with a goal and an assist, while Dalton Speelman continued his early season emergence with an assist on Sorkin’s goal, seven minutes into the second period. Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the insurance goal with 14:38 remaining in the third period to ice the game at 4-2 in favor of the Wildcats. UNH improves its record to 2-0-0 on the season in completing a series sweep of St Cloud. (more…)

DURHAM, N.H. — Dick Umile recorded his 500th career win Friday night as New Hampshire beat St. Cloud State 5-3 in its season opener. Umile becomes the 12th coach, sixth active, to reach the milestone at the Division-I level. He also becomes just the seventh coach to win 500 games at one school.

“The guys gave me the game puck,” Umile said, “and I said, ‘It’s all about having a lot of good hockey players.’ If you last long enough coaching good hockey players, they win hockey games. I just happen to be fortunate enough to be coaching this program with a lot of good hockey players.”

Dalton Speelman led the way Friday night with two goals and an assist in his first game since last November. Connor Hardowa (3 assists), Trevor van Riemsdyk (1 goal, 1 assist), Kevin Goumas (2 assists) and Grayson Downing (2 assists) all registered multi-point games for UNH (1-0-0). Ben Hanowski had a goal and an assist for St. Cloud (0-1-0), and Nic Dowd had two assists.

Hardowa and Speelman both said after the game that it was an honor to be part of Umile’s milestone night.

“We’ve been waiting pretty much all summer for that one,” Hardowa said. “We couldn’t get him that last one last year at BU. It’s nice to see him get that 500th. Not too many people have done it. It’s an honor to be a part of the program when he gets that one. A lot of guys put in a lot of effort to get those 500. We’re just a small piece of it.” (more…)

Lowell, MASS.- Vermont entered the Tsongas Center as the easy underdog against Massachusetts-Lowell but hung around the River Hawks for large portions of the game and went back to Burlington with a key point in Hockey East play. Lowell was able to use a porous turnover late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead on the Catamounts, but the score would not hold as Vermont would score a goal off the stick of Colin Markison with 8:43 remaining in the third to tie the game.

Vermont would control the latter portions of the game but the score would remain tied and both teams would come out with a point in both teams’ Hockey East opener.  The game was hard fought on both sides and a great College Hockey game to watch for the 6711 that attended, which was a UMass-Lowell record for a home opener. The crowd was also the second largest  in River Hawk history. (more…)

BOSTON — A three-goal first period lead Wednesday looked like it might turn into the same old story for Northeastern when Merrimack battled back in the second period and left the Huskies fighting for the win in the game’s final minutes. An empty netter from assistant captain Robbie Vrolyk sealed it for Northeastern with a 4-2 victory over the Warriors.

After missing the postseason by a point last season, the Huskies began this year’s conference play with a big first period offensively. Fifty three seconds into play, freshman defenseman Colton Saucerman passed to senior forward Garrett Vermeersch from the right point and Vermeersch deflected it over the shoulder of Merrimack goaltender Rasmus Tirronen. Northeastern struck again within five minutes of puck drop when forward Joseph Manno took a feed from freshman Kevin Roy to make it 2-0.

The offensive contribution from Roy continued in the first period, this time with a goal of his own on the power play. With that the Huskies ended the first period with a 3-0 lead, but the Warriors answered in the second period. First, sophomore forward Quinn Gould beat senior goaltender Chris Rawlings on a bouncing puck in front of the net to put Merrimack on the board. Justin Mansfield made it 3-2 with just under five minutes to play in the second.

Northeastern managed to hold on throughout the third period, picking up their first two extremely valuable Hockey East points of the season.

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Orono, ME. – Maine needed a rebound game after the disappointment last night, instead they managed a tie against a team that was handled by Boston College 6-0 on Saturday night. New Brunswick drew first blood at the seven minute mark of the first period as Cam Critchlow sniped one past Maine goaltender, Martin Ouellette. Maine would score the equalizer seven minutes later as Beattie took a pass from Devin Shore and buried it past the Varsity Reds netminder to tie the game at one.

The second period was controlled territorially by Maine but was an evenly played period by both teams. Devin Shore gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead 1:11 into the second and the lead would stand for 20 minutes. Chad Denny would score for the Reds two minutes into the third to tie the game and that’s where the game would end, not without a little drama at the end. At the end of the overtime it appeared that the Varsity Reds had scored but it came 0.2 seconds after the final horn and thus the game ended in a draw. (more…)

BOSTON — Boston University beat the University of Toronto 5-0 in an exhibition game Sunday. The Terriers outshot the Varsity Blues 50-17 and completely dominated the game from start to finish. All five goals came on the power play, as the Terriers amassed 23 shots on 12 man-up chances. Alexx Privitera (3 assists), Cason Hohmann (1 goal, 1 assist), Matt Grzelcyk (2 assists) and Ahti Oksanen (2 assists) all posted multi-point games. BU opens the regular season against Providence on Saturday.

What I saw
-The Terriers scored five power-play goals and generated a ton of chances on the man advantage. Their entries were smooth, their passes were crisp, and they consistently had traffic in front of the net. The first goal came when Grzelcyk fed Matt Nieto for a one-timer, with Sahir Gill setting a screen in front. The second came off another Grzelcyk feed, this one to Oksanen. Gill and Evan Rodrigues were both at the top of the crease, and Rodrigues ended up with the deflection goal. Yasin Cisse added a third when he poked home a loose puck following a Privitera shot. Mike Moran scored on a rebound as well, and Hohmann’s came on a nice pass from Oksanen. The Terriers certainly have the weapons to have a strong power play, but it was a little surprising to see things clicking so well after just one full practice. Toronto’s penalty kill wasn’t good at all, but BU’s power play still deserves a lot of credit. (more…)

Orono, Maine. – Maine dominated the first period against Quinnipiac and scored a quick goal 3:41 into the game off the stick of Steven Swavely. The goal came off a face-off where his brother, Jon Swavely tipped the puck and Steven buried it under the arm of Quinnipiac senior goaltender Eric Hartzell. The goal was not enough as Quinnipiac would used a strong performance from their goaltender Eric Hartzell and defeated Quinnipiac 2-1.

The Quinnipiac goaltender was strong all night and helped Rand Pecknold’s troops to the win, possibly in some ways a steal win. The goal early in the second period changed the momentum of the game. When Travis St-Denis scored two minutes into the second it turned a game that Maine was dominating into a game that Quinnipiac actually had a shot to win. Despite not showing much for most of the third period, Quinnipiac got the game winner with 1:26 left to go in the game. The goal proved to be a dagger on opening night for Maine. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell beat the University of Toronto 5-2 in an exhibition game Saturday. The River Hawks opened the scoring 7:54 in when freshman Michael Colantone buried a Terrence Wallin rebound. Toronto’s Paul Van De Velde tied the game at one two minutes later, but then Joseph Pendenza scored a pair of goals to give Lowell a 3-1 lead after one.

Scott Wilson scored late in the second and freshman defenseman Greg Amlong capped the scoring with a power-play goal in the third. Freshman goalie Connor Hellebuyck played the first half of the game and stopped 12 of 13 shots, while Doug Carr saved seven of eight in the second half. The River Hawks open the regular season against Vermont on Friday.

What I saw
-Redshirt freshman defenseman Dmitry Sinitsyn played his first real game in more than a year. The seventh-round pick of the Dallas Stars wasn’t playing anywhere to start last season due to visa issues, then he committed to Lowell and redshirted the second half while practicing with the team. Obviously both Norm Bazin and the Stars saw a lot of promise in the offensive blue-liner, and he showed flashes of that Saturday, notably leading a couple rushes up ice. Sinitsyn also looked a bit rusty at times, but that was obviously to be expected. Bazin said it will be good for Sinitsyn to watch some video and be able to see where he should be in certain situations. (more…)

Freshman forward Frank Vatrano has withdrawn from Boston College, the school announced on Wednesday. Vatrano, who spent the last two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program, was considered one of the top players in BC’s freshman class. He will return to the Boston Junior Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, where he played before joining the USNTDP. In doing so, Vatrano maintains his NCAA eligibility.

According to Mike McMahon of The Eagle-Tribune, Vatrano left BC over an “academic issue” related to an admissions test. Coach Jerry York told The Heights (BC’s student paper) that he could not comment on whether Vatrano chose to leave or if he was asked to leave.

“Frank Vatrano has withdrawn from the University,” York told the paper. “Per policy at BC, we’re not allowed to discuss any academic issues. But we’re certainly going to miss him. He’s a terrific young guy and we wish him nothing but the best.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Vatrano was claimed by the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. There was also speculation that he might sign with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In the end, though, Vatrano elected to go to the EJHL.

UPDATE: According to U.S. Hockey Report, Vatrano failed to get through NCAA Clearinghouse, meaning he would have been ineligible to play. USHR also reports that Vatrano still plans on playing NCAA hockey once he gains eligibility, although it may not be at BC.

The Hockey East Writers & Broadcasters Association has picked Boston College to defend its regular-season title. The Eagles received 21 of 25 first-place votes to top this year’s preseason media poll. Massachusetts-Lowell, which tied for second last season, picked up three first-place votes and placed second in the poll. Boston University and New Hampshire rounded out the top four, while Providence, Maine (which got one first-place vote), Merrimack and Northeastern filled spots five through eight. Massachusetts and Vermont occupied the bottom two spots.

I was one of the three people who picked Lowell first. Obviously I have no problem with BC taking the top spot. I get it. The Eagles are the defending national champs and they’ve won three straight league titles. I would not be surprised at all if they did the same thing again this year. But, as of right now, I just think the River Hawks have fewer question marks. They return eight of their top 10 scorers and six defensemen who saw regular playing time, while BC returns just five of its top 10 scorers and three starting defensemen. Both teams return their starting goalie, and both are very good. The Eagles bring in a better recruiting class on paper, but Lowell’s incoming class is nothing to scoff at either. So did I really go out on a limb by picking Lowell? I don’t think so.

My ballot was different in two other places as well. I had Providence ahead of UNH for the fourth and final home ice spot, and I had UMass and Merrimack flipped. UNH could very well make the jump into the top four after finishing sixth last year, especially with Casey DeSmith starting in net from Day 1, but I think the Friars will ride the momentum they built at the end of last season, when they beat Lowell in the quarterfinals to reach the Garden for the first time in 10 years. Providence also brings in one of the best freshman classes in the league.

UMass went through a wild coaching search this summer, which I’m guessing is the main reason my peers have them out of the playoffs. However, the Minutemen return all but three point-scorers from last season, so I think it’s more likely they actually improve on last season’s eighth-place finish. Merrimack, meanwhile, loses star goaltender Joe Cannata and four of its top five scorers, which is why I have the Warriors tumbling to ninth.

The media also picked a preseason All-Hockey East Team. Maine’s Joey Diamond, BC’s Johnny Gaudreau, BU’s Matt Nieto and Lowell’s Scott Wilson were selected at forward (due to a tie, four were named). The two defensemen were BU’s Garrett Noonan and Lowell’s Chad Ruhwedel, while BC’s Parker Milner got the nod in goal. I have no problem with any of that because I picked the exact same team, minus Diamond, who would have been my fourth forward if I could have picked that many.

You can find the full media poll here.