Hockey Friars Start Second Half

This weekend represents the PC hockey team crossing the mid point of their season. As such it appears the team is at a crossroads as to what direction the rest of the season will take. If they step up home ice is certainly possible.

Still it is best to remember even Merrimack in the Hockey East cellar has made some noise this year. So while many signs point in a positive direction, what direction the fickle winds of Hockey East blow is still an unknown.

A review of the first half shows that following the November 1 loss to Boston University the Friars have posted a 6-2-1 record. The biggest highlights are a pair of road wins at the University of Maine, which had been a house of horror for past Friar teams and a rebound win against Michigan State at the Great Lakes Invitational.

The most encouraging sign is the offense has begun to run far smoother then it has since the first half of Tim Army’s first season. In those 9 games the Friars have scored 35 goals (almost 4 goals a game). For reference in their first 7 games they scored only 15 goals. Also at a similar point last season the Friars were in the midst of a terrible offensive dry spell that saw the power play become a negative and from November 17 through February 16 of last season (a total of 18 games) they scored but 27 goals and posted a 4-13-1 record.

When I spoke to the coach about the incoming recruits he mentioned the biggest disappointment he felt in the first half was the one point weekend Providence had during the 9 game stretch where they ended up with a tie with Lowell and lost in overtime to UNH. He seemed to believe the team had reached a point where they were performing up to expectations, then let down giving away key points in the standings. From the way he spoke he took the early struggles as learning lessons.

Since their early struggles the lines have been shaken up. Right now Providence has spread the newcomers throughout their 4 lines and not played 2 full freshmen lines. They have also given senior Trevor Ludwig regular ice time to balance the inexperience of two freshmen defensemen getting regular shifts.

Evident by their play this is a team that plays in constant motion. While some of the rough edges might still show, it is encouraging that the team can maintain the up-tempo style with far fewer breakdowns then earlier in the season. Also while several teams have contained the Friar’s speed it is clear this team is quicker then other teams to the puck, cutting off transitional passes, and driving to the net.

Freshmen mistakes are beginning to disappear. For instance early in the season three of the freshmen each were penalized with a major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting from behind. The result was putting their team in difficult spot. With a young team those type of penalties are going to happen as the players adjust to the fact the college game is faster then the game they played in either preps or junior hockey. Since the BU game the Friars have shave an additional minute a game from the penalty totals on average per game. Currently they are the 8th least penalized team in the nation.

Watching the team I see several signs that bode well for success. First and foremost is the success on the special teams. Counting all games played the Friars have the top penalty kill and the top power play unit among all Hockey East teams. Maintaining close to that pace will be key in second half success since many coaches will tell you special team success is the difference between winning and losing.

More generally the fact the freshmen have become more involved in the scoring is a good sign. The most encouraging is that Kyle MacKinnon has now scored 4 goals. Matt Germain, Ian O’Connor and Eric Baier have all started to pick up assists on goals now they have shuffled lines and defensive pairings. O’Connor also scored his first goal of his career against Brown.

We are also seeing on two levels one of the approaches to building consistency in his team the coach spoke about as he was talking about his expectations for next year’s freshmen. The gist of which was you don’t expect your incoming freshmen to replace the departed seniors but your leaders and second year players need to step up. Now with a year’s experience three sophomores are making more contributions to the team. John Cavanagh has notched a pair of goals during the recent streak and been a key factor on the power play. He missed the first four games of the season.. Greg Collins has been a steady contributor all year and has been playing on the same line as MacKinnon since he began to score goals. Mark Fayne has continued his steady defensive play and he too is becoming a regular contributor to the offense from the blue line.

The second level is the work of the veterans. Jon Rheault is off to the best season of his PC career. Right now he projects to score 20 goals and to amass over 40 points. No one has attained either of those marks since the 2002-03 season. Also as mentioned before Trevor Ludwig is giving the team both a veteran hand and solid minutes as the team’s 6th defenseman. That is keeping both the top and younger defensemen fresh.

A trio of juniors have also stepped up. Co-Captain Kyle Laughlin is one point away from tying his career high in points. Pierce Norton has scored more goals and points this year then in his first two seasons combined. Finally defenseman Matt Taormina is the lone defenseman in the country to be average better then a point a game.

PC’s weakest area has been in net. To this point this is the 3rd year in a row where PC has not had a solid backup goaltender to call on. For the second consecutive year Ryan Simpson has remained on the sidelines due to injury. That unfortunately puts a large burden on senior goalie Tyler Sims. In short as Sims goes so goes the Friars. To this point Sims has a sub .910 save percent which people seem to agree is the break off point from your average goalie to one who can carry you through rough spots. On the other hand Sims has 3 shutouts including on the two on the road at Vermont and Maine. Simpson is also now back on skates and practicing which hopefully means the cautiously optimistic hopes the coach expressed when discussing his future recruiting needs will be met now.

At the moment the team is tied for 6th place with Boston University. Providence has played the fewest league games, nine. That means they have one to three games in hand on everyone. They sit only 5 points out of first place, two points out of third place. Further if you look at the teams you will see it is not the usual suspects in the top spots. All that seems to indicate there should be many chances to move up in the standings in the second half.

That climb begins this weekend. Lowell is one of the teams in the 3rd place tie ahead of PC. The Riverhawks failed to make the playoffs last year as they were the youngest team in the league. Now they with a year’s experience the Hawks are pushing hard to take home ice. They are lead by a pair of sophomore goalies, Carter Hutton and Nevin Hamilton, possess a stingy defense, led by two more sophomores, Barry Goers and Jeremy Dehner, and five of their top 8 scorers are sophomores, including Goers. Lowell is one of three teams to have played 12 league games, which does make them susceptible to being caught by teams with games in hand.

The lone team that might be performing to the standards that people expected in the pre-season is UNH. They sit tied with Northeastern for 1st place, though they too are one of the teams having played 12 games. They are led by a quartet of seniors, Mike Radja and Matt Fornataro up front, Brad Flaishans on the blue line, and Kevin Regan in net. They have also gotten a solid contribution from super freshman James VanReimsdyke. They have completed their series with co-leader Northeastern and with Lowell. They have a pair of games remaining with each other Hockey East school, except for the full 3 games in their series with Vermont. The Friar’s series with them is February 15 and 16th, with the 15th being one of the key games left on the Friar’s schedule.

Northeastern is a team totally made over by their third year coach during his tenure. They are anchored by their sophomore goalie Brad Thiessen, who has played all but one period this season. They have a balanced attack led by junior Joe Vitale and sophomore Randy Guzior. Having played 11 games they and completed their series with UNH with the edge in their favor, the Huskies appear to be in strong position to secure a home ice spot.

Another preseason favorite that has not yet clicked as they figured is Boston College. BC lacks depth this season due to the dismissal from the team of a pair of defensemen. They are also adjusting to life post Corey Schneider, which means taking the good with the bad with a freshman goalie. They recently had one freshman forward sign the major junior OHL, thus giving up his college eligibility. Still the team has a high octane offense led by all star Nathan Gerbe, Benn Ferriero, Joe Whitney, and Ben Smith. Freshman goalie John Muse seems to be adjusting nicely to college play.

One team PC finds themselves behind is UMass, who the Friars gained three of four points from when they played in the first half. Some thought the Minutemen would fall back to the crowd when their Jon Quick, the goalie who backboned their success last season, left to go pro, but they have gotten solid work from late recruit Paul Dainton. Since the last time they played the Friars they have gone 7-1-3 with wins over both BC and UNH. Their return next weekend to Schneider is another key match-up in the Friar’s attempt to move into a home ice > berth.

On the underachieving side of the ledger are Vermont, Boston University, and Maine. BU is tied with the Friars and are always a dangerous second half club. They spent the first half trying to rebuild the defensive element of their game. They are breaking in a pair of freshmen defenseman and have replaced their All American goalie with far less experienced players. Several of their players just participated in the World Juniors and if they get their feet back on the ground it might be a signal that BU will once again play a key role in the final Hockey East standings. The Terriers proved a tough match-up in November for PC, so the remaining two games will play a critical role in determining the Friar’s seed.

Vermont and Maine have similar problems where they have not produced enough goals to take the pressure off young defenses. Both schools saw a top scorer leave school early to go pro last summer. Maine lost several other top scorers to graduation and Vermont several key defensemen. Both teams came into the year with goalies regarded among the best in Hockey East. Vermont had senior Joe Fallon and Maine has Ben Bishop. Their stats tell the story of their team’s early season struggles. If either can get on a hot streak and carry a team either Maine or Vermont pose a threat to the teams above them. PC has two games with Vermont and one with Maine left on the schedule. All three games will be played at Schneider Arena.

Lastly while the odds are longer that Merrimack will rise up to make the playoffs they have been playing solid competitive hockey for the first time in several years. They have benefited from the return of Rob Ricci from a school imposed suspension, the development of several sophomores and the fact a couple of freshmen have stepped right in. The Friars have yet to play Merrimack this year, which means they have 3 games against them, two of which are on the road.

The next few weeks will decide the fate of the Friar’s season. Five of their last seven games are against BU, BC and UNH. The major factor to watch for is that whomever is in goal gives Providence a consistent effort and a provides the team with the chance to win. Based on the assumption they will get such goaltending and that the play of the last two months continues PC’s fortunes should continue to rise.