Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory
Can't believe this thread was buried deep in the second page only 18 days to puck drop. So here's my effort to revive it. But first, a disclaimer: My crystal ball has been notoriously unreliable over the years and is now out-of-warranty. That being said:
Tournament Champs: BU
NCAA: NU/BU/BC/Lowell/ND
POY: Ryan Fitzgerald (BC)/Nolan Stevens (NU) (tie)
COY: Jim Madigan (NU)
ROY: One of the legion of freshman goaltenders
Best goalie: Cal Petersen (ND)
Coach fired/retiring:
--Jerry York (BC): Retirement is possible but I don’t see him wanting to go out on what looks to be (for him) a down year
--Kevin Sneddon (UVM): Vultures have been seen circling the skies over The Gut
--Jeff Jackson (ND): Not being fired or retired but won’t have Hockey East referees to kick around anymore.
1 – BU: With a stream of likely one-and-dones coming in, the ratdogs can lay claim to being the Kentucky of college hockey. On paper, they’re the team to beat assuming all the egos fit through the tunnel, and upperclassmen like Doyle Somerby and Bobo Carpenter are able to provide stability and leadership.
2 – NU: Minimal impact from graduation/defections + underclassmen with a championship year under their belts + strong freshman class = Great Expectations. But they will also have a bulls-eye on their backs.
3 – ND: Jeff Jackson will have these guys amped up to leave some forget-me-nots all around the league, especially at Northeastern which, more than any other team, made the Irish’s stay in Hockey East ummm….uncomfortable. And having arguably the best goaltender in the league won’t hurt.
4 – UML: Lowell recruiting classes are rarely remarkable but Norm Bazin always seems to be able to whip them into a formidable force. That, together with the fact that they’ll be deep in returning veterans leads me to give UML a slight nod over BC. Goaltending is the big question.
5 – BC: This is a program that reloads rather than rebuilds although they’re reloading more than they thought they’d have to. While the incoming names don’t leave me as awestruck as in the past, there will be no shortage of veteran leadership, despite all of the defections. Goaltending is the great unknown, what with two freshmen trying to fill Demko’s skates.
6 – UConn: My darkhorse team. If it’s true that the way to build a team is from the goal on out, this team has the goal part more than covered. They also have a few guys who can put the puck in the net (including one named Letunov) and should be a team that poses a genuine threat.
7 – PC: I dope-slapped myself when I realized I rated a Nate Leaman team this low but PC may have no choice but to rebuild. They got hit hard by graduation, which creates depth issues. Nice incoming class but not enough of them, IMO. But with a returning goalie named Hayden Hawkey, it can’t be all bad.
8 – Mack: This could be another surprise team, given the core of returning veterans, especially on defense. If Drew Vogler and/or Colin Delia can step up in goal, Mack could be a difficult team to score against.
9 – UVM: The defection of Packy Munson to Denver places the goaltending load squarely on the shoulders of Mike Santaguida, who has plenty of experience but also has been frustratingly inconsistent. Key graduation losses on the blueline won’t help.
10 – UNH: Other than bringing in another VanRiemsdyk for everyone to yell at, nothing much going on here.
11 – Maine: If there’s light at the end of the tunnel, it’s that Maine seems to be finding some success on the recruiting trail. Some promising incoming freshman will not be enough to offset graduation losses plus the defection of Dan Renouf to a Red Wings ELC.
12 – UMass: Bringing in Greg Carvel as Head Coach is the best thing to happen to this program in years but way too much damage has been done to expect him to be able to meaningfully turn things around in his first year. If he somehow does, he becomes COY material.
All-Name Team: Hayden Hawkey, (PC) (Captain); Brett Boeing, Shane Bear, Ryan Badger, Maddison Smiley (all UMass); Craig Puffer (UVM). Coach: Greg Carvel (UMass)
