Robbie Vrolyk scored his first goal in nearly a full calendar year on Saturday. (Photo: Hockey East)
BURLINGTON, VT. — The Huskies finished off the weekend sweep of the Vermont Catamounts with a 4-2 victory Saturday night. Robbie Vrolyk scored his first goal since last February, Alex Tuckerman notched his third of the year and freshman Dan Cornell tallied his second of the season before Cody Ferriero wrapped up the game with an empty netter. With the win, Northeastern revitalized its fading playoff hopes and swept its first weekend series with an opponent.
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Ben Horner Hockey, Press Pass Vermont
With just under two weeks until the regular season opens, we take a closer look at the UNH Wildcats.
Last year: 22-11-6, (17-6-4), 2nd in Hockey East, eliminated in 2nd round of NCAA tournament
What Happened: New Hampshire got off to a scorching hot start last year, losing only two of their first 17 games, and setting up a dogfight with Boston College to see who would sit at the top of Hockey East. The Wildcats were unable to duplicate the success of their 2009-10 though, finishing second in the regular season after being swept by BC on the last weekend of the season and setting up a playoff meeting with rivals Vermont. After easily dispatching the Catamounts, New Hampshire faced off against Merrimack in the Hockey East Semifinals, losing 4-1. Despite the loss, the Wildcats still made it into the NCAA tournament. There, they defeated Miami in the first round before falling to Notre Dame in the Regional Final, ending their season, once again, with “no hardware”.
Key Losses:
- Paul Thompson: In his senior season, the Derry, N.H. native posted a career year. Thompson set career highs in goals (28), assists (24), and points (52) en route to being named one of ten Hobey Baker Award finalists and tying Cam Atkinson for the Hockey East scoring lead. So valuable to UNH’s offense was Thompson that the Wildcats were 19-4-5 when he tallied at least one point and 15-3-2 in games he found the back of the net.
- Mike Sislo: Playing on a line with Thompson for most of the year, Sislo was a major benefactor of Thompson’s stellar play, posting career highs in points and assists and finishing with a final line of 15-33-48.
- Phil DeSimone: Another player who spent the majority of the season on a line with Thompson, DeSimone enjoyed his best year in a UNH sweater in 2010-11. His final line of 10-31-41 represented career highs in goals, assists, and points, as he and Sislo played provider for many of Thompson’s 28 goals.
Key Returners:
- Stevie Moses: Back for his senior season, Moses will be asked to help fill the massive hole left by the departures of the entire first line of Thompson, Sislo and DeSimone. As a junior, Moses posted 14 goals and 12 assists for 24 points, with the goal and point totals marking career-bests. Named an assistant captain for 2011-12 by head coach Dick Umile, Moses will have to prove that he can help lead the Wildcats both in the locker room and on offense.
- Matt Di Girolamo: After serving as Brian Foster’s back-up for his first two seasons at UNH, Di Girolamo jumped into the starting role last year and didn’t disappoint. Di Girolamo had the top save percentage (.923), second-best goals-against average (2.44) and third best winning percentage (.641) among Hockey East net minders, playing in every contest UNH skated in.
2011-12 Outlook: There is no way around it; UNH has huge gaps to fill on offense this year if the Wildcats want to retain their spot as one of Hockey East’s top teams. After graduating three players that accounted for over 40% of UNH’s scoring last year, head coach Dick Umile has a big task ahead of him. The good news for the Wildcats is that their roster still has plenty of offensive talent with players like Moses, Dalton Speelman, and John Henrion returning, in addition to retaining the core of their blue line, minus Blake Kessel who left school a year early to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers. If Di Girolamo has another strong season in goal and the Wildcats can find a way to pick up the slack on scoring, odds are we will see them battling for top spot in Hockey East. That last question is a big “if” however, and unless Umile and UNH can find an answer somewhere, it will be one that hangs over their whole season.
- Ben Horner
Ben Horner Hockey Fall Preview, Hockey East, UNH
Speaking at this afternoon’s press conference, Northeastern AD Peter Roby and new head coach Jim Madigan gave their thoughts on the hiring process, as well as looking towards a successful future.
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Ben Horner Audio, Hockey, Press Pass Jim Madigan
While Alex was on vacation, Ben, Jared, and Mari were hard at work in studio, breaking down the final weekend of the Hockey East regular season, including the race for the Conference title and the logjam at the top of the standings.
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Ben Horner Audio Hockey East This Week
Next up on the Hockey East This Week season preview is UVM, so come along as we take a look at the team from Burlington.
Last Year: 17-15-7 (9-11-7 HEA), 8th in Hockey East, Hockey East Semifinalist, Lost in NCAA first round.
What Happened: The Catamounts spent 2009-2010 overachieving for the most part. Looking at their record, you would have said there was no way they could have made the NCAA tournament. But helped in large part by their strong results out-of-conference (including a win over Denver) and a Hockey East quarterfinal win over top seed New Hampshire, they squeaked in only to be bounced out by Wisconsin in the first round
Key Losses:
- Brayden Irwin: The first of three key losses for Vermont. Irwin, the leading scorer with 15 G and 19 A (34 Pts), is off to the NHL to join fellow Catamount Victor Stahlberg in Toronto. Losing your leading scorer is never an easy fix.
- Colin Vock: Number two on the “trifecta” for UVM. Vock was second in scoring, lighting the lamp 11 times, and helping on 17 others. That’s the top two scorers gone so far…
- Brian Roloff: And this fine gentleman makes number three. Roloff was third in scoring with 27 points (behind the two guys listed above).
- Justin Milo: Milo only played in 20 games last year before being kicked off the team for reasons still unknown.
Key Returners:
- Rob Madore: Returning for his Junior year, Madore was the main reason Vermont was able to make a run to the Garden last Spring, shutting out New Hampshire in Games 2 and 3 of their Quarter Final series. Sporting the third best GAA in the conference last year, Madore will look to improve on that this year if called upon to carry UVM.
- Jack Downing: Quietly added 21 points and will be called upon to set up offensive chances yet again for the Catamounts this season.
The Outlook: At first glance it’s not necessarily a good one for Vermont. They’ve lost their top three scorers and their top blue-liner in Patrick Cullity. Yes, they are bringing back Rob Madore in net, and Justin Milo is coming back, but it’s still hard to see them coming up with the production to adequately replace Irwin, Vock, and Roloff. They will need some help from unexpected sources to fill the gaps left by the departing seniors. Looking at it from the outside, the Catamounts look like a middle of the table team at best.
Ben Horner Hockey Hockey East, Vermont
We at WRBB are thrilled to offer you the next installment of our Hockey East team previews, the Providence College Friars.
Last Year: 10-20-4 (5-18-4), last in Hockey East, fourth straight year with a losing record.
What Happened: Providence opened their 2009-2010 season fairly well, posting a 5-2 record in October, including a win over Notre Dame. However, the wheels started to fall off as the season progressed into the teeth of the conference schedule, and Providence quickly fell to the back of the pack. In fact, from January through the end of the season, the Friars won only three times over the span of their final 17 games. The end result was a below-.500 record and a spot on the bottom of the standings.
Key Losses:
- Mark Fayne: As one of only four seniors on the team last year, Fayne played in all of Providence’s 34 games. He only notched 22 points (5 G, 17 A) which is not impossible to replace, but with a team like PC, you have to wonder who is going to pick up the slack?
Key Returners:
- Alex Beaudry: Now a junior, Beaudry has been a saving grace for the Friars (and Tim Army) over the last couple of seasons. Beaudry had the second best save percentage in the conference last year, and has proved himself a very capable netminder over the last year and a half. He’ll definitely steal a game or two for Providence this season.
- Kyle MacKinnon: MacKinnon has played at least 30 games a year during his first three seasons, so barring injury, the senior will be clocking a lot of ice time. Over those three years he has also steadily increased his scoring, something he will certainly be looking to do again this year. His 12 goals and 13 assists in 09-10 led the Friar attack, but he will undoubtedly have to step up those numbers if Providence is to go anywhere this year.
- Matt Bergland: The only other returning player with over 20 points last year (23 to be exact), Bergland is another player who will really have to take his game to another level if the Friars are going to climb out of the basement of the standings. Whether or not he will be able to is another on a long list of questions for Tim Army’s team.
The Outlook: Any time a team can return its two leading scorers it makes a head coach happy. The worry for PC Coach Tim Army will be whether or not MacKinnon and Bergland return with enough offense to help a team that was dead last in scoring last year. The Friars will certainly be hoping for a big contribution from newcomer Damian Cross, who lit up the Canadian Junior Hockey League with 53 G and 87 A this past season. However, even if he proves to be this year’s Stephane Da Costa, it’s hard to see him carrying Providence to any sort of success, so it might be a case of “baby-steps” in Providence, as the rebuild continues. Despite their apparent shortcomings on offense, look for PC to scratch and claw at the seventh and eighth spots in the league, as a return to the playoffs might not be out of the question.
Ben Horner The Dog Pound Hockey East, Providence
Hockey East This Week’s conference preview continues with a look at defending national champs, Boston College.
Last Year: 29-10-3 (16-8-3) Beanpot Champions, Hockey East Champions, National Champions
What Happened: Last year’s Eagles were the textbook definition of a team getting hot at the right time, even though they had a consistent run all year long. Starting with a 7-1 drubbing of Northeastern on February 21, Boston College went undefeated to the wire, posting a 12-0-1 record on their run to the program’s fourth national title. The Eagles’ season looked on the verge of sputtering when John Muse hit a mid-season slump. However, their shoot-first offense (1385 SOG, the most in Hockey East) came through in the end, as the team from Chestnut Hill lit the lamp 171 times last year.
Key Losses:
- Carl Sneep (D) – Sneep posted career-highs in goals and assists last year while playing in 42 games. What will be harder for BC to replace will be his voice of leadership in a young defense corps.
- Ben Smith (F) – Sure, the Eagles won’t be hurting for offense this year, but it’s still hard to replace a 37 point scorer with 16 G.
Key Returners:
- Cam Atkinson (F) – First on this list couldn’t be anyone but Atkinson. The nation’s leading goal-scorer in 2009-2010 with 30 tallies, Atkinson will be looking to anchor the BC offense again this year.
- Brian Dumoulin (D) – Dumoulin posted numbers uncharacteristic of a freshman blue-liner last year, including a team-leading +/- of 40. His 21 A show that he has great on ice-vision, something that will be very valuable following the departure of Sneep.
- Brian Gibbons (F) – Senior, and a returning 50 point scorer. Having him on this list is a no-brainer.
The Outlook: Boston College had a bit of a tumultuous offseason; three players (whose names you should know by now) were charged in connection with an incident involving alcohol, minors, and a Green Line trolley, in addition to losing a recruit to a conference rival. However, you have to believe coach Jerry York will have those distractions out of the way by the time October rolls around. The Eagles look like they are set for another solid season, as they are returning all but four skaters. Combine their high-powered offense with a solid defense and good goaltending, it’s hard to see Boston College being anywhere but near the top of the standings this year.
Ben Horner Hockey Boston College, Hockey East
Keith Lavon, Patrick McHugh, Ben Horner, former Husky Joe Piccuirro, and the Huntington News’ Nathan Vaughan break down the Huskies’ 56-7 loss.
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Ben Horner Audio, Football
Penalties, lost opportunities sink Huskies as they fall to #20 Maine 17-7
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Ben Horner Football, QuickCast Maine
