A new season of Division 1 men’s college hockey is underway.
Seven New England clubs began regular-season play between Saturday and Sunday nights. The season-opening slate included a dominant start to a new era at Boston University, Hockey East preseason favorite Northeastern’s debut, and a conference series right off the bat.
The rest of the weekend featured exhibition play. There were some head-to-head action between local clubs, while the rest took on Canadian colleges that made the trip south.
The season will kick into high gear beginning Friday, but there was plenty to discuss from the opening weekend. Here’s what we learned during this past weekend of college hockey.
1. Pandolfo era at BU starts fast
Boston University’s season under new bench boss Jay Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.) couldn’t have started any better as seven different players found the back of the net in Saturday night’s 8-2 win over Bentley. Freshman Ryan Greene led the way with two goals and an assist.
It was the Terriers’ fifth win over their last seven season-openers.
“As a first-time head coach, the players were ready to play,” Pandolfo said. “Obviously, that makes me happy, and I think that was one of our focuses this year. Starting on time is important to us and we did that. … It looked like the guys were playing with confidence.”
Pandolfo, the former Bruins assistant coach who was officially elevated from an associate head coaching role in May, has inherited a roster that includes a total of 10 seniors — the most of any Hockey East team — and eight of the team’s top nine scorers from a season ago.
Speed and skill are standard traits of most BU teams, but the veteran experience that this group has could go a long way as the season continues.
2. Terriers’ freshmen showed out
As much as BU’s veteran core — and junior netminder Drew Commesso (Norwell, Mass.) — will be a key to its season, the season-opener belonged to the freshmen. The first-year class combined for five goals and eight assists in the rout.
“I can’t say enough about how the freshmen showed up,” Pandolfo said. “They’ve been like that since day one when practice started, so it’s fun to see (them contribute).”
Greene centered an all-freshman line with Jeremy Wilmer and Quinn Hutson on his wings, while National Team Development Program product Devin Kaplan joined the top unit with junior Luke Tuch and senior Jay O’Brien (Hingham, Mass.).
The power play included four rookies. Wilmer scored a goal and matched Greene’s and defenseman Lane Hutson’s three points, while Kaplan also scored his first goal as a Terrier.
The all-freshman line developed chemistry from their first time together on the ice.
“We’ve been playing together basically the whole time, so practice definitely helps,” Greene said, “Those two guys, they’re smart hockey players. They make it super easy. … We’re all going through the same things (as freshmen). There were some jitters, but we handled it well.”
3. Wood impresses as UConn takes Hockey East lead
October has just begun, but UConn already sits atop the Hockey East standings after sweeping Vermont in a weekend series with 4-1 and 3-1 victories.
While sophomore Logan Terness (15 saves on Saturday) and freshman Arsenii Sergeev (24 saves on Sunday) both earned victories in goal, the youngest player in college hockey didn’t need much time to prove that he belonged at just 17 years old.
Freshman Matthew Wood, whose 18th birthday isn’t until February, fired off the Huskies’ opening goal of each game on the power play and added an assist on BU grad transfer Ty Amonte’s (Norwell, Mass.) goal during Sunday’s third period.
Coach Mike Cavanaugh (North Andover, Mass.) believed that Wood was ready to make the jump to college from the BCHL a year early. Based on early returns, that view was certainly right.
4. Goaltending questions abound
UConn wasn’t the only New England club to showcase two different goaltenders during the opening weekend. Others, including the opposing Vermont side, are looking to settle into a rhythm at the position as well.
The three-time defending Atlantic Hockey champions from American International have three transfers and a returning senior goaltender. Returnee Jarrett Fiske, who backed up Jake Kucharski (now at Omaha) and Alec Calvaruso (graduated) last year, impressed coach Eric Lang in the early going and drew the opening start at Alaska.
Both Yellow Jacket stoppers were outstanding in low-scoring games. Fiske made 33 saves in a 1-1 tie before Western Michigan transfer Alex Aslanidis tended the net during Sunday’s 2-1 setback and stopped 27 pucks.
Providence is in a similar situation, though it had a pair of exhibitions to look at options to replace Jaxson Stauber. Omaha grad transfer Austin Roden got more work in a 29-save effort against Western Ontario, as freshman Bruins prospect Philip Svedebäck opposed a fellow tight defensive-minded team, Yaniv Perets-led Quinnipiac, which extended its lead and won the game with senior Ethan de Jong’s two power-play goals in the third period.
5. Northeastern comes through in OT
On Saturday, Hockey East’s preseason favorites needed overtime to outlast a pesky Long Island team.
The Huskies were major offseason winners after the nation’s top returning goal scorer in senior Aidan McDonough (Milton, Mass.) and Mike Richter Award-winner Devon Levi both opted to return for another season, but this was another team that saw freshmen dominate the night in a 3-2 win.
Freshman defenseman Vinny Borgesi netted the overtime winner with an assist from second-round NHL draftee Cam Lund (Bridgewater, Mass.), who followed BU transfer Braden Doyle (Lynnfield, Mass.) onto the scoresheet.
6. UMass Lowell starts with a bang
The graduation of Owen Savory left goaltending as a question mark at UMass Lowell. Until now.
The River Hawks put together a dominant performance in Saturday’s 4-0 win over St. Lawrence. Alaska graduate transfer Gustavs Davis Grigals made 27 saves, becoming the first netminder to record a shutout in his debut with the program.
They also benefited from a fast start as three seniors scored in the first period, including Brian Chambers (Weymouth, Mass.) with the opening game-winner.
7. Plenty to learn for Bentley
The result wasn’t pretty, but Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist liked the response of his team to score goals late in the first and second periods against BU. Top center Harrison Scott and Quinnipiac transfer Nick Bochen — who was one of just five healthy defensemen in the lineup after some bumps and bruises plagued the team during game week — lit the lamp.
The Falcons often challenge Hockey East teams, having won 12 such games since the 2008-09 season. There’s another chance against Northeastern in December after the team has an opportunity to build upon its start in Atlantic Hockey play.
“I was really proud of the team in terms of our compete and our fight,” Soderquist said. “But, then it comes down to execution and being sharper. That’s where we fell short. … We scheduled heavy early, so this helps us big time. We’re going to learn who we are” with 13 newcomers, including nine freshmen.
8. It’s not how you start
Boston College and Massachusetts lost exhibition games to Atlantic Hockey foes Holy Cross and Sacred Heart, respectively, on Saturday.
The two Hockey East clubs are both replacing key pieces including the Minutemen’s reigning All-American Bobby Trivigno, but these games offer valuable lessons for the many months and games that lie ahead. Both teams opted to play all three of their goaltenders.
“You need to play these games to learn a lot about your team,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “You get coaxed into practicing against yourself for a month, so you think you know what’s going on. Until you play, you don’t.”
Carvel noted that his team lost an exhibition game to Dartmouth last year on its way to a repeat Hockey East title and NCAA tournament appearance. It’s not the end of the world, especially against a talented, rising program that returns its top seven scorers including Atlantic Hockey Preseason Co-Player of the Year Neil Shea (Marshfield, Mass.).
BC got a first glimpse of its highly touted freshman, Cutter Gauthier, the No. 5 overall draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers who sent home a one-timer on the power play in his unofficial debut.
