After one season at Boston College, a blue-blood program in a college hockey hotbed, Timmy Lovell transferred across the country to a school that’s just getting started, Arizona State.
While the sample size to date is obviously very small, early returns are positive for the 19-year-old defenseman from Hingham, Mass.
In fact, after four games, Lovell’s line of 1-5-6 makes him the top-scoring D-man in the country.
While he isn’t satisfied with the Sun Devils’ 1-3 record – a split with UMass-Lowell and two losses to 11th-ranked Denver – all indications are that Lovell is finding his game in the desert.
That is something he did not foresee happening in Chestnut Hill.
“Last year at BC wasn’t the best fit for me personally, for my game. I’m an offensive defenseman, like to make plays, get involved in the offense,’’ said Lovell, who played 18 games and was credited with two assists as a BC freshman.
“I think I’m good defensively also. I don’t get a lot of credit for it. I’m obviously not, like, a shutdown D, but I skate really well, use my stick and my mind to outthink opponents so they can’t get around me.
“BC didn’t really give me a chance to play my game. The defensive system was just getting it and moving it and staying back, trying not to get beat. I didn’t think that’s who I was and why they recruited me.’’
Settling on Arizona State was not a difficult call.
The Sun Devils recruited Lovell a few years earlier, before he committed to Ohio State in 2018 and later changed to BC in 2019.
“ASU recruited me when I was 15, actually. They were the first school to reach out to me. I was really small back then, too. I want to say I was 4-10, 85 pounds, in my freshman year. They actively recruited me and offered me a full scholarship.
“It was one of my top-end choices, it was between Ohio State, ASU and Northeastern. Those were my top three when I was 15-16,’’ said Lovell, who will get a visit from his parents and siblings for the home series against New Hampshire this weekend.
He couldn’t be happier with the move. “Obviously, I think this is the best place for me to play. It’s showed with the numbers. I’m getting a good chance to play and I think I’ve produced pretty good so far,’’ he said.
Size is a part of the conversation any time Lovell’s name comes up. That’s how it’s been from the time he started making his mark with the Boston Advantage, the South Shore youth program founded and run by his father, Tim, and uncle Joe.
His skating ability and head for the game were there for all to see, but so was his diminutive stature.
I recall watching Lovell play a handful of games as a 16-year-old with the NAHL’s Northeast Generals in 2018-19. While he says he is now 5-foot-8 and 150, back then he was 5-4, 125.
“It was challenging, going against those (bigger, older) guys. It was a little intimidating at first. I think I got the hang of it pretty good. I probably just understood my role – get it, move it, get involved in the offense when you can. It was faster and more physical, so I had to watch myself,’’ he said.
Lovell quickly climbed the ladder to the USHL, first with Chicago and then Des Moines before enrolling at BC.
He’s always played with swagger and it’s served him well.
“As I’ve grown as a player, I’ve always been really confident in myself. That’s a big part of me. It’s who I am, just proving people wrong with my size. I can use my size to my advantage. I can cut tighter than a lot of people because I’m smaller, so I use that to my advantage.
“I look at the positives. That how I’ve gotten myself to where I am today, I’ve thought positive and not looking at things too serious. I just took one step at a time. I think I’ve progressed a good amount and I’m trying to continue that,’’ he said.
While Lovell hasn’t been drafted, he continues to get looks from NHL scouts.
“I’ve talked to a couple of teams already. I’ve had a good start, but obviously I have to continue it,’’ he said.
Merrimack dodges a bullet
When Merrimack junior defenseman Declan Carlile had to be helped off the ice during the third period at Providence College last week, it looked as if the junior defenseman might have suffered a serious injury.
Luckily for Merrimack, that did not prove to be the case.
The 21-year-old Carlile, who scored both Warrior goals in a 5-2 loss to PC, practiced the next day, played on Saturday night against Sacred Heart and set up a power-play goal in Merrimack’s win.
He was named Hockey East Defender of the Week on Tuesday.
“He is a three-situation, 200-foot, ultra-competitive hockey player,’’ said Merrimack coach Scott Borek.
Carlile led Hockey East in blocked shots as a freshman and was second last season.
“It’s insane he wasn’t drafted. He’s our best penalty killer. He plays with a swagger that gives our team confidence. He gives us a chance, in every situation, because he competes so freaking hard. It’s not surprising to me the success that he’s had, because that’s how he practices,’’ said Borek.
Adams back on the board
You had to feel good for Notre Dame’s Jack Adams (Boxford, Mass.) on Saturday night.
Adams earned his first point in two-and-a-half years when he made a slick pass through a seam to Hunter Strand for a power play goal in the second period of a season-opening win for the Irish over Long Island University.
Adams’ last point came on St. Patrick’s Day in 2019. Playing for Union, he earned a helper on a goal by Sean Harrison in a 4-2 loss to Cornell in the ECAC playoffs.
That was a few months before he went down with a serious knee injury at Detroit’s development camp. It’s been a hard road since then for Adams, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Wings in 2017.
After rehabbing his knee, he transferred to Providence College last December and played six scoreless games. In the offseason, he moved on to Notre Dame as a grad student.
His last goal came on March 8, 2019, in a win over Colgate.
Big matchups in Minny
The Ice Breaker in Duluth features four of the top 10 teams in the country according to the polls.
No. 1 Minnesota State plays No. 10 Providence in the opener on Friday, followed by No. 3 Michigan against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth. Friday’s winners and losers face off on Saturday.
“It’ll be Big-Boy Hockey. I was looking at Duluth and Mankato’s roster and they’re very old. Duluth I know has eight seniors and graduate students. It’ll be old, heavy hockey. It’s a great test for us, we’re looking forward to it,’’ said PC coach Nate Leaman.
“We’re definitely going to be tested to play our best. You love those opportunities with your team early in the season, to see what they’re about, see what they’re made of. But for us, it’s about using our strengths, getting out and playing to our strengths. That’s what I’m going to be focused on, no matter our opponent.’’
