HOCKEY EAST SEASON PREVIEW

With the Hockey East season about to begin, the best college hockey league in the country did the impossible.  It grew stronger.  After having three of the four Frozen Four teams in the 1999 NCAA Tournament (Boston College, Championship Game Runner up UNH and NCAA Champion Maine), how can Hockey East get better?  Well one look at the recruiting classes of the Hockey East programs shows that the majority of the best recruits are coming or staying east.  The traditional powers will be getting their first class recruits as usual, but programs like Providence have made a huge step up with their incoming classes, and UMass Lowell, Merrimack and Northeastern also added blue chip prospects.

With the top notch recruits, great players coming back, what can be expected from Hockey East this year? I feel that this league will be just as good as last year, and once again the internal competition between the teams will get the better teams ready for the NCAA Tournament just as it did last year. While Hockey East is just one division, this most likely will be a two tier race. The top four teams will most likely be BC, UNH, Maine and Providence, and the next five will most likely be Boston University, Northeastern, UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell and Merrimack. The teams in the two tiers will most likely stay where they are slated, but the bottom five will be intriguing in that they are all talented enough to move anywhere from 5 to 9. If nothing else it will be an interesting year.

1. Boston College Eagles. Seems only right to rank the #1 team in the country at the top of the Hockey East rankings as well. The Eagles have one of the strongest offensive teams in the country, and their defense isn't too bad either. The problem, if they have one, is in goal, as junior Scott Clemmenson (26-12-4, 88.8% of shots saved, 2.02 GAA) hasn't yet stood up and made anyone take notice. While his numbers so far have been good, for a team that is expected to win the national championship, Clemmenson needs to be better. Of course, having the quality of defenseman that he has in front of him night in and night out always helps. Blue liners Bobby Allen (9-23-32), Marty Hughes(3-8-11), and Mike Mottau (3-38-41) are three of the best defensemen in the league. Super sophomore Brooks Orpik will begin to climb up that chart as well soon. At forward, once again, the top three are at the top of the league, seniors Blake Bellefeuille (24-25-49) and Jeff Farkas (32-25-57) along with Hockey East Preseason MVP junior Brian Gionta (27-33-60) make this a formidable team. But while they will be putting numbers up on the scoreboard, they need the goaltending to get to a higher level before they can carry that championship away at the end of the year.

2. UNH Wildcats. The runners up in the NCAA Tournament last year, the Wildcats have one thing that BC doesn't have. A very reliable goaltending situation. Junior Ty Conklin put up incredible numbers last year (18-3-1, 92.3%, 1.84 GAA) and seems headed for a repeat of last year. The defense in front of him will be solid once again with seniors Jayme Filipowicz and Dan Enders as well as juniors Eric Lind and Mark White. Up front, while the loss of Hobey Baker Winner Jason Krog will hurt, there is still a lot of talent left, including last years rookie of the year, Darren Haydar (31-30-61). Haydar will have plenty of help from juniors Jason Shipulski and John Sadowski. Along with more talented incoming forwards, this team will once again score a lot of goals, and should make things interesting with BC all year long.

3. Maine Black Bears. The Black Bears were hurt tremendously by the quality of players they lost last year. Goalie Alfie Michaud left early to join the pros, and with the graduation of a talented senior class (including Steve Kariya, the Bears will have to fight to stay at the top of Hockey East. But when you return players with the talent level that Maine brings back, there will still be a lot of smiles up at Alfond this year. Forwards Corey Larose 21-31-52) and Dan Kerluke (23-19-42), as well as Ben Guite and Niko Dimitrakos will need to continue their play from last year. They will get added help from freshman Martin Kariya, yes HIS kid brother. In defense, Peter Metcalf, who led the returning blue liners in scoring (6-17-23), Doug Janik and Robert Ek will carry the load. The question for Maine comes in net, as sophomores Mike Morrison and Matt Yeats will finally get a chance to prove themselves. If either can be on the level of Michaud, watch out for the Bears.

4. Providence Friars. This Friars team is one of the most underrated in the country. With a great incoming class to help shore up the team, the key for this team will be to play up to its talent level, which is very high. Senior forwards Jerry Keefe (16-36-52) and Fernando Pisani (14-47-51) are very talented, with great shots and have the ability to hold on to the puck. Drew Omicioli and Heath Gordon will have to pick up their games and help provide a stable second line for the Friars. On defense, seniors Josh MacNevin and Jason Ialongo hilight a talented group of blueliners. This team, just like any other, will need their goaltending to step up, as Boyd Ballard will need to improve on last years 3.64 GAA. With Coach Paul Pooley's teams, the second half is always better than the first, so if they can get off to a reasonable start this year....

5. Boston University Terriers. Does BU belong this high, I'm not sure, but it's tough to imagine a Jack Parker team even being placed this low in the preseason. BU lost a lot of talent last year, either through graduation (Goalie Michel Larocque) or through transfers (Russ Bartlett). Returning up front are seniors Chris Heron and Tommi Degerman and with a very good incoming class, including highly sought after John Sabo, the forward situation looks good. Defensively, juniors Joe DiPenta and Colin Sheen along with sophomore Chris Dyment will have to pick up the slack for a young group of blue-liners. In net is the biggest question mark for the Terriers, as sophomore Jason Tapp and freshman sensation Rick DiPietro will be fighting for the starting spot. With two untested players, BU's defense will have to step up big to help out their goaltenders.

6. Northeastern Huskies. It's still amazing to think of the Huskies as the last place team in Hockey East last year. Expect a big jump from them this year, and that jump will be led by senior forwards Billy Newson (7-14-21 in 26 games), Todd Barclay (19-11-30) and Roger Holeczy(4-26-30). More talent follows behind the big guns in super soph Willie Levesque and incoming freshman Mike Ryan. The defense will be keyed by juniors Mike Jozefowicz, John Peterman and sophomore Jim Fahey. In net will be another sophomore, Jason Braun who will have some experience in front of him, which should assist in bringing down his 3.61 GAA from last year.

7. UMass Amherst Minutemen. UMass Amherst, along with UNH, has the best goaltending in the league. While junior Markus Helanen's numbers didn't look great (10-19-2, 89.9%, 3.28 GAA), he kept the Minutemen in a lot of games that they arguably didn't belong in. The key for this team will be scoring goals, and it's tough to see where that point production will come from. Seniors Jeff Blanchard and Nathan Sell along with sophomore Jeff Turner will need to increase their production, as none of the three averaged even over 0.75 points per game. The defense will be strong again, even with the early departure of Dean Stork. Justin Shaw, Joe Culgin and Randy Drohan will lead the Minuteman defense in front of Helanen.

8. UMass Lowell River Hawks. The River Hawks preview can be checked out separately, and will be ready next week ... I promise!

9. Merrimack Warriors. The Warriors could probably be a mid level team in any other conference but this one. But they just lost too much offensive talent to graduation last year in Kris Porter and Rejean Stringer. Returning up front is senior Sandy Cohen, junior John Pyliotis and sophomore Greg Classen, who is the leading returning scorer for Merrimack (14-11-25). On the blue line, seniors Drew Hale, Tony White and Mike Rodrigues bring experience, while 6'5" Stephen Moon will apply the physical presence. In goal, junior Tom Welby returns, with good numbers from last year with a weak defense in front of him. His 9-20-1, 89.6%, 3.56 GAA can be expected to get better this year.

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