NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Tuesday night’s Hockey East game between Merrimack and New Hampshire was a beautiful tribute to Josh Ciocco. The Warrior assistant coach and former Wildcat captain tragically passed away Oct. 3 at the all-too-young age of 38.
Both Merrimack and New Hampshire players and referees donned name patches bearing Ciocco’s name during the game. Once the puck was dropped, Merrimack took it to the visitors by the tune of a 6-1 thumping in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 2,814 at Lawler Rink.
Scott Borek’s team improved to 2-1 on the young season. Leading the charge offensively was a pair of former prep school stars. Dexter Southfield alum Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) scored a breakaway goal to give Merrimack a 1-0 lead and then added two assists later in the game. Frederick Gunn alum Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.) had two goals.
Jefferies, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the New York Islanders, can finish and he did just that on two separate transitional opportunities. Both tallies came off great passing sequences from linemates, Copponi and Ottoville Leppanen. The late '01 went from four goals as a freshman to 10 in 2021-22 as a sophomore. New York Islanders brass and Merrimack fans hope he can continue finding the back of the net in 2022-23.
Copponi, an undrafted '03, had three points, but he was a factor every shift. He brought energy, delivered physically, and was strong on puck pursuit. Copponi is no stranger to NHL scouts. They’ve seen him since he was at Dexter Southfield. He scored just nine points as a freshman last winter, but he’s up to four this season in just three games. I’m not saying he’s a draft pick, but I’d take him over a couple of prep players on NHL Central Scouting if he can continue to produce and play hard on a consistent basis in Hockey East this season.
Merrimack lost a lot of key pieces on the back end, but their forward group looks solid and has depth. The goaltending duo of Hugo Ollas, Tuesday’s winner, and Zach Borgiel should keep the Warriors in it most nights. Three defensemen who showed mobility and impressed on Tuesday were freshman Zach Bookman, Adam Arvedson and Christian Felton. Belmont Hill product Mike Brown (Belmont, Mass.) had an assist and has exceeded expectations in his one-plus season with the Warriors.
Outside of the action on the ice, one big takeaway from me was Tuesday night would have left Ciocco smiling. He was extremely passionate about college hockey. He’d have loved knowing Lawler Rink was packed, loud and boisterous, and knowing so many NHL scouts turned out to watch the play between the boards.
Providence getting back to its identity
The Merrimack-New Hampshire clash wasn't the only college game I’ve watched in the last week. I also took in Providence’s win over Clarkson at Schneider Arena on Thursday.
Including the 5-2 win over Clarkson, Providence has outscored its opponents 13-4 in three games so far this season. Nate Leaman’s team is 3-0 after Saturday’s 2-1 win at preseason Hockey East favorite Northeastern.
On Thursday night, what struck me was the Friars are getting back to their identity that helped Leaman’s program have such success early in his tenure. They played hard, forechecked with tenacity, and had a mobile defensive corps that accentuated the speed advantage over the Golden Knights.
The first goal PC scored against Clarkson was a good example of what Leaman teams can do to have success. Brett Berard (East Greenwich, R.I.) forced a turnover on the forecheck below the goal line. He got the puck out to the goalmouth where Parker Ford (Wakefield, R.I.) and Jaroslav Chmelar were crashing the net. The latter was able to poke it home for his first collegiate goal.
Boston Bruins pick Riley Duran (Woburn, Mass.) scored twice in the game and tallied another two nights later at Northeastern to increase his team-leading total to four through three games. What caught my eye was that he played center after predominantly playing right wing during his time in midget, prep, the USHL and last year as a freshman. Duran is certainly trending in the right direction. He’s a north-south power forward who hunts pucks and goes to the greasy areas.
While one Bruins prospect looked good, I came away with positives and negatives with freshman goaltender Philip Svedeback’s play. The 2021 fourth-round pick from Stockholm, Sweden, kicked aside 24 of 26. He made two key saves, including one on a breakaway and a kick save to prevent a power play goal from the bumper. That's the positive and his .945 save percentage in three wins is tough to argue against. Negatively, I was concerned with his tracking of pucks and ability to see shots coming through traffic. There were two to three seemingly harmless point shots that he didn’t eat, resulting in juicy rebounds.
I had Providence slotted third in my preseason Hockey East rankings. That’s still probably right, but I definitely feel better about the Friars after seeing them in person Thursday.
Luke Pavicich stands tall for UMass in sweep of Denver
On Friday, I took in one of the wildest games I’ve ever seen. On the first shift of the game, Cal Kiefiuk was kicked out of the game for hitting from behind, giving Denver a five-minute major power play.
Instead of the top-ranked Pioneers capitalizing, UMass scored two shorthanded goals off the sticks of Kenny Connors and Scott Morrow (Darien, Conn.). Later in the period, Tyson Dyck gave UMass a 3-0 lead, despite being outshot 13-6 in the opening 20 minutes.
UMass had to hold on for dear life later in the game, but Greg Carvel’s team skated away with a 4-2 victory. On Saturday, the Minutemen completed the sweep with a 3-0 shutout win over the defending NCAA champion. Kiefiuk redeemed himself, scoring a goal and an assist. Morrow scored what proved to be the game-winning goal 37 seconds into the first period.
https://twitter.com/UMassHockey/status/1582019119972372480?s=20&t=q1zh9QHuOBzVLerNPr9QqA
UMass lost a ton of production from its forwards who graduated or turned pro following the 2021-22 season. Morrow, a second round pick of Carolina, will certainly have to carry a significant load from the blue line. Kiefiuk and fellow senior Reed Lebster will be veterans Carvel will count on up front.
Perhaps the biggest development from the weekend was the play of sophomore goaltender Luke Pavicich. I had seen him play midget hockey with the Buffalo Junior Sabres and he came to UMass quickly after just one solid season in the NAHL with Kenai River. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a good goaltender, but he was unproven. He appeared in just four games last winter while backing up Matt Murray.
The Clarence Center, N.Y., native stopped 75 of 77 shots he faced in the weekend sweep of DU. It pushed his save percentage to .965 on the young season. There’s a long way to go, but UMass coaches have to be pleased with what they’ve seen so far.
I still have some questions about UMass, but the Minutemen and UConn are the two teams that have been pleasant surprises early in the 2022-23 campaign.
Looking ahead to this upcoming weekend, UConn star freshman forward Matthew Wood, the youngest player in college hockey, will bring plenty of fanfare with him as the Huskies face Boston University Friday and Saturday at Agganis Arena. It should be a great series with a ton of NHL scouts in the building. Elsewhere, Providence will have the unenviable task of heading west to face a good Denver team coming off two losses.
