UMASS-NEWMASS 2025-2026

[Jack Hanson]

Another weekend, another split. And again, about what they deserved. Pathetic crowd on Saturday, it really makes me not want to make the drive out much anymore.

So, some mistakes and dumb penalties again a problem, but all very fixable. We're going from the 2nd tallest team in Cornell to the shortest of them all in Maine. I taped the 2nd BU/Maine game. BU is pretty big themselves and that didn't seem to bother Maine much. Their forechecking was relentless, I think it's going to give the Minutemen fits. Both of those teams gave up alot of soft goals, but to me most of them looked exactly like the softies Hrabal gives up , wristers from the circle, glove side. I'll be happy with another split here.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Maine preview.

UMass hockey takes on Maine in first Hockey East series

UMass hockey hosted Maine in search of its first Hockey East points.

dailycollegian.com

 

[kahunak]

Split with Omaha, Cornell and now Maine. Will it be a .500 season? What happened to Hrabel? Jackson with a shutout! Changes in goal afoot in Amherst? Jencko is the real deal so far. BC up next. Would love to see a sweep there!!!

 

[Jack Hanson]

Yup, another weekend, another split. Fortunately I missed everything about the first game vs Maine. Taped game 2 and just finished watching. Strong response after the no-show on Thursday. Jackson Irving was the story of the weekend for sure. I think a couple of those Maine shots go in if Hrabel is in net. Maine is pesky. Definitely one of the favorites to win in HEA, but I still don't see any success in the NCAA's. They're too small. I liked that Lipinsky guy they picked up from CHL, but they don't enough guys like that come March. Charlie Russell is a little punk. Sure Van Tassell is also a bit of a punk, but he's a big punk and he's ours. ;-).

BC looks vulnerable. Still, a sweep might be too much to hope for. I'll be happy with another split. I'll spare putting up the Daily Collegian stories this weekend, except for one analyzing Hrabal's season so far. The weak glove was mentioned by Carvel, although he was letting him off the hook for most of what he's let in.

Donato: Breaking down Michael Hrabal’s start

Breaking down why UMass goalie Michael Hrabal’s .911 save percentage doesn’t tell the whole truth.

dailycollegian.com

 

[Jack Hanson]

Another weekend and another - no! - got what they deserved this time. Zero points vs BC. Not really a surprise, except for a couple of BC fans that didn't think it would be this easy for them. The Minutemen are big. I'm starting think they're slow. If they're not slow then Carvel is doing a crap job getting them ready for games. The only guy on the Minutemen side that looked like he belonged on the same ice as BC was Jack Musa. There were a couple of very brief flashes with the return of Bo Cosman. And if I squinted hard enough I can convince myself that Nycz is a keeper. The rest of these guys are seriously overrated at this point in time. The defense was supposed to be a strength. I don't know why, when Owen Murray is a first pairing guy, but the experts said it was. Instead we get sloppy, half-assed passes, timid play in the corners, panic at any sign of a forecheck. Dell'Elce sucks too.

I'm talking to myself here. Collegian recaps, read'm and weep. I'm outta here.

UMass hockey dismantled 7-3 by Boston College

The No. 12 Massachusetts hockey team suffered a demoralizing 7-3 loss to No. 18 Boston College on Friday. The Eagles (5-4-1, 3-2 Hockey East) outshot, outpossessed and outplayed the Minutemen (7-5, 1-3) for nearly the whole game. UMass entered the second period with a 2-1 lead after Jack Musa...

dailycollegian.com

Boston College dominates UMass hockey 4-0 in Saturday night clash

An undermanned Boston College team thrashed the Massachusetts hockey team 4-0 on Saturday night. The Eagles (6-4-1, 4-2 Hockey East) were without star players Andre Gasseau and Teddy Stiga but had no problem dismantling a lackluster Minutemen (7-6, 1-4 HEA) group who couldn’t secure their fifth...

dailycollegian.com

 

[kahunak]

The BC weekend was a disaster. Good thing UMASS is known for their defense. It seems that UMASS has no shot against team that have a bunch of scorers. 11-3 doesn't do it.

I wish Carvel could recruit some notable scorers as well. No matter how good your defense is, scoring zero goals is not going to win you games. This year all the tough HE games are front loaded on the schedule where last year they were back loaded. They need some 6 point weekends.

The Providence victory was nice- we'll see how they do tonight. The roller coaster continues.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Fake Jack Hanson is giving out his Christmas Gifts, Awards, and Wishes to his favorite Minutemen.

To Michael Hrabal: The Mister Magoo Coke Bottle eye wear collection. Big Mike is good for one or two highlight reel saves per game, especially when that 6-7 frame is sprawled across the ice. But he can't pick up the puck beyond 5 or 6 feet to save his life or even an occasional game.

Francesco Dell'Elce: Some white figure skates. Fran - do you mind if I call him Fran - sure does look pretty, swishing around in the o-zone for several minutes before finally deciding to make a cross ice pass that even the parking lot attendant outside sees coming. Sometimes it makes it all the way to his teammate. More often, not. All that pretty skating doesn't seem to help much in getting the puck out of his own end however.

Mikey DeAngelo: An illustrated hardcopy edition of "The Art of the Faceoff" by Yanic Perrault (foreword by Rod Brind'Amour). And a box of Whitman Chocolates, since faceoffs are my only real complaint with the kid.

Nick Van Tassell: An autographed picture of Brad Marchand. Can we also arrange a one-on-one session with the Rat on how to actually put the puck in the net once in a while?

Matthew Wilde: A one-way bus ticket back to Rochester. No one in Amherst will be nominating him for a Hobey Baker anytime soon.

Jack Musa: How do I nominate THIS kid for a Hobey? He's the only one that brings it every night.

Jackson Irving: His name on every starting lineup for the next two seasons.

Landon Nycz and Vaclav Nestrasil: Three full years in Amherst please. You're not ready for the big time just yet, not even close. Trust me Vaclav, you don't want to live in Rockford Illinois. Even the hot Rockford American chicks your age are bundled up 9 months of the year. We don't know where Landon is bound just yet because he only just turned 18, and he might even be ready to step right into the Big Time, AFTER is junior season.

I could go on, but there are two, tops, UMass fans in this Popsicle Stand so that's a wrap. Looking forward to UMass climbing all the way up to 10th, or even 9th place before the HEA season wraps.

 

[kahunak]

No idea what to make of this season. Every week the unexpected happens (usually bad) then they win a game. Irving with shutouts...who knew? Hope they can pull it together for the rest of the season...otherwise I'm onto lacrosse.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Hey, another weekend another split. I think we'd take that vs BU. We're playing for nothing other than player development at this point. I'd say making other HEA opponents miserable as well, but most of them are already there.

Hrabal is back, temporarily anyway. I suppose that makes his departure for the pros more likely at the end of the season, although I bet he finishes the semester first. We seem to be in good shape goalie-wise next season. My main wish is that Jack Musa returns for his Senior year, but that could go either way. One wonders what guys like O'Hara are telling him about life in the minors.

On to Merrimack. Is our lone Merrimack guy that knows some of my old Austin Prep classmates still around? It's tough posting anything about our teams when we're the only ones here.

 

[RENCEB]

Hey, another weekend another split. I think we'd take that vs BU. We're playing for nothing other than player development at this point. I'd say making other HEA opponents miserable as well, but most of them are already there.

Hrabal is back, temporarily anyway. I suppose that makes his departure for the pros more likely at the end of the season, although I bet he finishes the semester first. We seem to be in good shape goalie-wise next season. My main wish is that Jack Musa returns for his Senior year, but that could go either way. One wonders what guys like O'Hara are telling him about life in the minors.

On to Merrimack. Is our lone Merrimack guy that knows some of my old Austin Prep classmates still around? It's tough posting anything about our teams when we're the only ones here.

Yes I am! Heading up to the beautifully (ahem) renovated Lawler Rink at the Volpe center for tonight's tilt.
I thought about starting an MC thread for the remainder of the season. Would possibly be the lastest in the season that a thread has ever been created.
Warriors are mildly hot recently with 5 straight wins. Lundgren in net has played every minute of every game this year. He is very solid (2.63 GAA and .918 save %). They have more skill than in recent years. Hoskin (transfer from Niagara) is averaging a point a game. A lot of underclassmen (but not necessarily young). Justin Gill has been a really nice additon, and Nick Pierre is very quick.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Hey RenceB, glad you're still around. We were toying with the idea of heading out to Amherst tomorrow. I'm not sure about the weather, it's about an hour of hilly driving, it might snow on the way home, and the atmosphere is usually morgue-like during intercession. The Minutemen have had trouble scoring. They've had alot of trouble in their own end as well. So, these games have been hard to watch. We're probably staying home, but you enjoy that awesome rink of yours tonight. Old School! It must be one of the oldest in HEA now with Matthews shuttering. One of these years I have to see a game there.

I don't have much more intelligent to say, so here's the Daily Collegian writeup. The student writers have been better than usual this season.

UMass hockey continues conference play with home-and-home against Merrimack

The Massachusetts hockey team is gearing up for a home-and-home series with Merrimack on Friday and Saturday to continue Hockey East play. After splitting a series with No. 20 Boston University, where the Minutemen (10-10, 3-7 HEA) traded shutouts with the Terriers, UMass will look to hold up...

dailycollegian.com

 

[RENCEB]

Well congrats on the sweep as UMass continues their slow climb up the standings and Merrimack slides into the basement. If Hrabel keeps playing well, you guys will be in the mix. Good luck the rest of the season.

 

[Jack Hanson]

I wasn't expecting a sweep but we'll take it! I find it interesting that HEA suspended Justin Gill one game for that hit to the head of Mikey DeAngelo, and Gill still managed to get listed as one of the performers of the week. For two assists and getting tossed midway through the second game?

It's on to Vermont, who has been a thorn in Carvel's side for a couple of years now. Two road wins would give the NPI a boost. It's somehow already up to 28. The NCAA's are not happening this year, but moving up a few more spots before the end of the season would be nice. At least one UVM fan thinks this weekend is a "brief soft part" of their schedule. We'll see how well that take ages.

 

[kahunak]

Sweep of Vermont made the weekend pleasurable. A couple of shutouts bodes well for the Minutemen. Up to 21 on the NPI now. The schedule has gotten much easier and the next five games could really help the NPI if they could win them all. Not so absurd to think that now compared to the beginning of the season. There is still a tiny hope of making the NCAAs. GO UMASS!

 

[VermontfaninNY]

Was at Saturday's game half watching the game half corralling two slightly feral kids but thought Cat's out played them. At some point when we put up 64 shots on goal over a weekend and couldn't find a way to beat sasquatch all you can do is tip your hat.

Agreed, I thought the refs were pretty good Saturday all things considered, from my view I thought that shot went in the bottom corner of the net than out, but they decided awfully quickly with the review it hit post so it was probably right.

I am not sure I am even the same species as that goalie when he's on skates.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Congratulations to Hrabal, HEA player of the week. Also, congratulations to Jack Musa for his Hobey nomination! I voted for him. Also a couple of my favorite HEA opponents got a vote, Vinny Borgesi from NU and Dean Letorneau from BC. Not doing the daily voting thing, but all 3 get one from me.

So much for VT fan Rufus and his "brief soft" part of UVM's schedule. Honestly I was expecting a split. Especially with DeAngelo, Cosman, and Van Tassell all out with injuries. Changing up the defensive pairings has made a difference. Nycz and Keenan as the first pairing - love it! Putting the short, stocky, but very pugnacious Hanrahan next to pretty boy Dell'Elce was also an inspired move. And the demotion of Murray and Olvsestad from first pairing to third has certainly helped Olvestad's game for sure. Just one game this week vs Northeastern for the 4th and last time. And then three in a row vs Lowell, those will get ugly by the end.

 

[cinnamoroll]

06 F Maxim Massé commits to UMass- one of the more highly sought after QMJHL players. Great get. Plays for Chicoutimi who are all in this year. 3rd round pick to Anaheim in 2024- he was floated as a potential 1st rounder earlier that season but had a down draft year. Looks great this season. 63 points in 43 games

 

[kahunak]

Another grinding win. Will they ever win a game 5-1? Up to 19 on the NPI.

 

[Jack Hanson]

Up to 18 after BC defeated Harvard in the Beanpot. I'm not getting my hopes up, they've left absolutely no margin for error. I only saw 2 of the 7 games on this streak so my opinion is useless, but they did not look very impressive in either one. They have at least 8 games left, and I have a hard picturing them taking 6 out of 8, which still would probably leave them on the outside looking in. That Lowell game? I saw the same team that has a hard time handling a good forecheck. I saw the same shaky goaltending that Hrabal was giving us early in the season.

On the plus side, congrats to Jack Musa, HEA player of the week. And to HEA rookie of the week Justin Kerr! I hope we get some news on Nestrasil soon, but Carvel is always very stingy giving out information. I still have no idea what's going on with Bo Cosman or Van Tassell. Boo to those useless NESN clowns covering the Lowell game. We saw Nestrasil facedown on the ice, no moving. He eventually did get on his knees, and the TV cutaway. We heard nothing until the middle of the 3rd, and even then the bench girl started mentioning it and those two nitwits had the attention spans of a couple of gnats and didn't let her finish the reporting.

cinnamoroll, thanks for the recruiting news. I have a hard time looking at my 2 freebie sources of this stuff. Every year I see far more commits than roster spots. I don't know what a commit means in college hockey.

 

[cinnamoroll]

cinnamoroll, thanks for the recruiting news. I have a hard time looking at my 2 freebie sources of this stuff. Every year I see far more commits than roster spots. I don't know what a commit means in college hockey.

i think with the transfer portal, players going pro, and overall the ever changing landscape it’s become a better safe than sorry sort of thing for teams. sometimes plans change and a spot that was meant to be open isn’t there anymore, or sometimes a spot that wasn’t needs to be filled. the new pool of eligible players has increased the talent pool and if you have the chance to recruit someone with higher upside who fits, the team should be pursuing that. it isn’t always anyone’s fault, often just timelines don’t match or they committed young and are looking for something different (Kirsch is the latter from what i’ve heard).

it’s also good to not have to rush players- look at Dean Letourneau’s freshman year vs this year. they didn’t plan for Will Smith turning pro and it forced them to get him to college before he was ready. by having more commits lined up, coaches can also convince players to move their arrival date another year, say if a high caliber player who is aging out of juniors is interested. of course this can also cause them to decommit and look elsewhere (DU asked Finn McLaughlin to wait a year so he went to Minnesota), in which you have the next man up.

afaik point of concrete commitment is when they sign the letter of intent, which doesn’t always happen immediately, it’s usually closer to actual enrollment than people committed 2+ years out. Heisenberg usually can indicate if that has happened yet in his spreadsheet. decommits aren’t always immediately flagged as well if they aren’t in a league that displays commits on lineups.

tl;dr- college hockey recruiting requires flexibility for an ever changing landscape.