Archive for the 'Hockey East' Category

20 Current or Future Hockey East Players Drafted

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

Sixty-eight current or future college players were selected in this weekend’s NHL Entry Draft, and 20 of them represent Hockey East (including future member Notre Dame). Here is a list of all those picks and their expected years of arrival on campus.

Boston University led the way with eight recruits drafted, including five from this year’s incoming class. Eleven other Hockey East players who were ranked by NHL Central Scouting went undrafted, led by surprise non-picks Frank Vatrano (BC, 2012) and Paul DeJersey (Providence, 2012). Both of them were ranked among the top 100 North American skaters.

First Round
14 (Buffalo)- F Zemgus Girgensons (Vermont, 2012)
21 (Calgary)- F Mark Jankowski (Providence, 2012 or 2013)
23 (Florida)- D Michael Matheson (BC, 2012)

Second Round
56 (St. Louis)- F Sam Kurker (BU, 2012)
61 (Dallas)- F Devin Shore (Maine, 2012)

Third Round
75 (Calgary)- G Jon Gillies (Providence, 2012)
79 (Chicago)- F Chris Calnan (BC, 2013)
85 (Boston)- D Matt Grzelcyk (BU, 2012)

Fourth Round
98 (Minnesota)- F Adam Gilmour (BC, 2013)
100 (Washington)- F Thomas Di Pauli (Notre Dame, 2012 or 2013)
107 (Washington)- F Austin Wuthrich (Notre Dame, Soph.)
113 (Pittsburgh)- G Sean Maguire (BU, 2012)

Fifth Round
125 (NY Islanders)- D Doyle Somerby (BU, 2013)
130 (Winnipeg)- G Connor Hellebuyck (Lowell, 2012)
136 (Ottawa)- F Robbie Baillargeon (BU, 2013)
138 (San Jose)- F Danny O’Regan (BU, 2012)
147 (Vancouver)- D Ben Hutton (Maine, 2012)

Sixth Round
177 (Vancouver)- F Wesley Myron (BU, 2012)

Seventh Round
183 (Dallas)- D Dmitry Sinitsyn (Lowell, Soph.)
189 (Carolina)- F Brendan Collier (BU, 2013)

Early Names in the UMass Coaching Search

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Late Tuesday morning, we learned, first from Fear the Triangle, that UMass coach Don Cahoon had stepped from his post of 12 years. While Cahoon remains silent and John McCutcheon remains as evasive as possible regarding the cause of his former employee’s dismay, some names have come the forefront as possible replacements.

For the most part, fewer than 24 hours after the news broke, we don’t know too much about the candidates. With the season under way in about four months, McCutcheon and his staff will have to move quickly in replacing Cahoon. Below is list of names I’ve heard from some of my sources around the country, while others are nothing more than my own speculation.

The Favorites: (more…)

Report: BU’s Clendening Signs with Blackhawks

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Boston University defenseman Adam Clendening has signed with the Chicago Blackhawks and will forgo his final two years of school, according to RDS’s Renaud Lavoie. Clendening’s deal is for three years at $650,000 per season, Lavoie reports.

Clendening tallied four goals and 29 assists and earned a spot on the Hockey East First Team last season. As a freshman, he registered five goals and 21 assists and made the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. The Blackhawks picked Clendening in the second round (36th overall) in the 2011 NHL draft.

Rumors circulated in December that Clendening might leave BU mid-season, but he shot those down in an interview with College Hockey News. The rumors naturally popped up again once the season was over, but sources told CHN that the Blackhawks wanted him to stay at BU another season. On Thursday night, Clendening told The Boston Hockey Blog that Chicago showed increased interest lately and that he “felt it was the right time.”

Clendening’s departure leaves BU with five returning defensemen, plus incoming freshman Matt Grzelcyk. The Terriers will almost certainly add another defenseman or two over the summer. One possibility would be Marc Hetnik, who was originally committed for this fall before it was decided that he’d spend another season playing for the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL.

If the Terriers can fill their defensive holes without using Clendening’s scholarship, they could potentially use that to go after USHL Player of the Year Kevin Roy, who is reportedly looking into getting out of his commitment to Brown. The Pipeline Show named BU as one of the schools Roy would be interested in if he does decommit.

Reports: Top Prospect Jon Gillies Picks PC Over Quebec

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Jon Gillies, one of the top goaltending prospects in this summer’s NHL draft, will play for Providence next season, according to multiple reports. Gillies had originally committed to Northeastern, but he chose to decommit earlier this spring when Chris Rawlings elected to stay for his senior season.

Gillies narrowed his choices down to Providence, Notre Dame and the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Andrew Weiss of Future Considerations reported over the weekend that Gillies had eliminated Notre Dame from consideration. Gillies’ pick of Providence over Quebec was reported by both Weiss and Nathan Fournier of the Maine Hockey Journal. He told Weiss that he picked Providence because it allowed him “more time to develop if needed.”

Gillies, a native of South Portland, Maine, played for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League this past season. The 6-foot-5 netminder led the league with 31 wins and ranked fourth with a .915 save percentage. Gillies was recently ranked sixth among North American goalies in NHL Central Scouting’s final draft rankings.

The Friars now have four goalies lined up for next year’s roster — Gillies, senior Russ Stein, sophomore Julien Laplante and incoming freshman Dylan Wells. Gillies adds to an already-impressive recruiting class for second-year coach Nate Leaman. He joins, among others, fellow NHL draft hopefuls Mark Jankowski and Paul DeJersey, both of whom were ranked among Central Scouting’s top 100 North American skaters.

26 Hockey East Recruits Make Central Scouting’s Final Rankings

Monday, April 9th, 2012

NHL Central Scouting released its final rankings for the 2012 draft on Monday. As expected, Hockey East is well represented. Eleven players committed to Hockey East schools cracked the top 100 among North American skaters, and 22 (updated to 23) total made the 210-player list. In addition, two Hockey East commits (updated to three) were ranked among the top 35 North American goalies. Below the jump is the full list of Hockey East recruits to make the list. All players are expected to be on campus next season unless otherwise noted. (more…)

Hockey East Championship Game Preview: Maine/BC

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

On Saturday night Boston College will take on the University of Maine Black Bears in the Hockey East Championship game. Boston College will be looking for their third consecutive Lamoriello trophy while Maine will be looking for their first title since 2004.

Boston College defeated Providence College 4-2 on Friday night in the first semifinal led by depth scoring and four different goal scorers. Johnny Gaudreau scored the game winning goal for the Eagles and Paul Carey had a goal and an assist in the game. Boston College enters the championship game on a 14 game winning streak.

Maine enters the Championship game off a win against Boston University on Friday night in the second semifinal.  Maine got solid goaltending from Dan Sullivan late in the game to seal the victory. Will O Neill had his game of the year as he scored two goals and assisted on another. Maine also received two goals from Joey Diamond on the night. (more…)

Maine knocks off BU in the semifinals, 5-3

Friday, March 16th, 2012

The matchup of Maine and Boston University in tonight’s semifinal game proved to be as gritty and hard fought as thought, as the Black Bears and Terriers battled goal by goal for a chance to play in the Hockey East Championship.

Although BU struck early in the first period with a goal from Alex Chiasson at 2:46 when Chris Connolly set Chiasson up and the junior forward was able to throw Maine sophomore goaltender Dan Sullivan off, creating space to slide it past him, an early lead would not prove to be enough for the Terriers as they were knocked off by Maine, 5-3.

“I can’t describe how disappointed I was in our team’s effort tonight,” BU head coach Jack Parker said. “We gave up opportunity after opportunity… we looked like we were afraid to lose. We looked like we were trying not to lose instead of trying to win.”

Maine’s second line, namely Matt Mangene, created early scoring opportunities for the Black Bears, but they were unable to capitalize leaving BU with the lead coming out of the first. Kieran Millan’s goaltending for BU kept Maine down, stopping a wrister from Brian Flynn after covering a backhander from Mangene in the first.

After allowing Chiasson’s goal, the goaltending on the other end of the ice matched Millan’s, as Sullivan recovered well, stopping the next five BU shots and only allowing three of BU’s total 31 shots.

Early on, frustrations mounted as Joey Diamond and Evan Rodrigues were sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct, but Maine’s frustrations came to an end just 46 seconds into the second when a BU player fell on the loose puck in front of the goal, bringing it into the net with him to tie it up, 1-1.

(more…)

BC Defeats Providence, 4-2, Advances to Hockey East Finals

Friday, March 16th, 2012

BOSTON — It was not the semifinal matchup most expected at the outset of the Hockey East playoffs. But Providence upset UMass Lowell and earned the right to face Boston College, which had made quick work of Massachusetts in the quarterfinals.

However, the Providence defense, which was key in the victories over Lowell, was no match for the BC offense. The Friars fell, 4-2, despite a pair of first-period goals. BC will face the winner of Boston University and Maine in Friday’s second semifinal.

As much as the Eagles generated offense and kept puck possession, Friday’s win was far from the dominant performance that BC typically delivers this time of year. Many expected the game to be a replay of a pair of 3-0 and 7-0 victories for the team over the Friars about one month ago.

“We’re in that mode where we just try to win and advance,” BC coach Jerry York said. “Providence played us hard — there was certainly a lot of action to start the game with four goals.”

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The Takeaway: BU earns spot at the Garden in double OT

Sunday, March 11th, 2012

BOSTON – After over 86 minutes of hockey, 118 saves and 127 shots on goal, the Boston University and University of New Hampshire quarterfinal series came down to just one goal in double overtime.

It came from BU’s Alex Chiasson, who already had three assists on the night, six minutes and 42 seconds into that second overtime period to clinch tonight’s win, and a trip to the Garden, for the Terriers.

What I saw

UNH came out with full force and controlled puck possession early in the first period, dominating shots on goal 16 to 4.  After an early goal from BU’s Evan Rodrigues, the Wildcats countered with four unanswered goals, giving them a 4-1 advantage midway through the game. The Terrier response in the second half of the game wasn’t so much due to any fault of UNH, but more because BU elevated their own level of play to match that of the Wildcats.

It was impossible to ignore the two players at either end of the ice tonight, and with 68 saves from senior Kieran Millan and 50 saves from freshman Casey DeSmith, it’s easy to see why. Once again, Millan kept BU in this game in the first half when their production slipped, and again towards the end when he made a glove save on a Stevie Moses slapper in overtime. Millan’s 68 saves made for a personal record on his last night playing at Agganis Arena.

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The Takeaway: Providence Advances to Garden for First Time Since 2001

Sunday, March 11th, 2012

LOWELL, Mass. — Ross Mauermann scored the lone goal and Alex Beaudry stopped all 29 shots he faced to lead Providence to a 1-0 win over Massachusetts-Lowell in Sunday’s decisive Game 3. With the win, the Friars earned their first trip to the Hockey East semifinals since 2001. Mauermann scored seven minutes into the game when he deflected an Alex Velischek shot through Doug Carr’s five-hole. The River Hawks’ best chances to tie it came in the final 10 minutes, but Beaudry stood tall to help Providence finish off the upset.

What I saw

-A great goaltending duel. Beaudry obviously stopped everything that came his way, including the River Hawks’ onslaught in the final 10 minutes. At the other end, Carr stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced, including 16 from the grade-A area. He faced several odd-man rushes and was the only reason Lowell even had a chance to tie it late. In the third period alone, Carr made nine saves on shots from inside the faceoff dots.

-Riley Wetmore, who usually centers Lowell’s top line, played at far less than 100 percent. Before Sunday’s game, the UML fan blog The Ice Is Life tweeted that Wetmore had a broken hand, while UML coach Norm Bazin said after the game that it was a “lower body injury.” Wetmore didn’t take any faceoffs, missed shifts, and saw most of his ice time come with the fourth line. Bazin admitted after the game that Wetmore shouldn’t have played. (more…)