With eight freshmen on the roster and a first-time starting goaltender in rising junior Hayden Hawkey, it took time for the Providence Friars to find their stride last year.
Seventh-year head coach Nate Leaman liked where his team finished .up, winning 22 games and setting a program record with its fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance, all despite falling to eventual Frozen Four semifinalist Notre Dame in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
"It was pretty much survival and growth in the first half, but then I thought we kind of got it a little bit in the second half, really got better and started to understand who we wanted to be as a team," Leaman said. "Now, we have a lot of young returners that we’re hoping continue to develop and take a step in the right direction."
The Friars entered last season without their top four scorers from the year prior, but all three of their 30-plus-point men are back in 2017-18. Brian Pinho (North Andover, Mass.) leads the way after nearly doubling his previous career point total with 40 points in 39 games as a junior, including the highest assist total (28) from a Friar since 2003.
Pinho skated between junior Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass.) and sophomore Josh Wilkins on Providence’s top unit a year ago, and the three combined for one-third of its total scoring. The trio and Scott Conway, a junior transfer from Penn State, were the team’s four double-digit goal scorers.
The confidence and maturity built late last season will help. Now though, it’s a fresh slate for the Friars.
"The freshmen last year definitely feel more comfortable fitting into our systems, so we’re excited to have a good core back," said Pinho, whose 18 points led all Friar freshmen during their national championship season of 2015. "We want to build off that and be even better.
"A lot of guys played really well last year, but that was the past, so we’ve kind of pushed that away," he added.
After gaining strength during a hard summer of workouts, Pinho seems poised for a strong finish to his collegiate career. Leaman, too, is confident in what the St. John’s Prep product and Washington Capitals draftee can do to return the Friars toward the top of Hockey East.
"I’ve seen a really good confidence out of Brian. He put a lot of work in during the summer, and I think he’s ready to have a really good year," Leaman said. "The big thing with Brian is just playing his game, not trying to do anything extra, because his game was very good last year. If he plays his game, he’s going to have a successful senior year and help lead our team."
BOSTON COLLEGE will compete with sophomore Joseph Woll in goal again, but Jerry York’s club moves into 2017-18 without its top five scorers from last season: graduates Austin Cangelosi, Matthew Gaudreau, Ryan Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) and Scott Savage, and Ottawa Senators rookie Colin White (Hanover, Mass.). Junior J.D. Dudek (Auburn, N.H.) and sophomore David Cotton combined for 23 goals, while Christopher Brown is the Eagles’ top returning scorer after a 26-point sophomore year. Casey Carreau (Acushnet, Mass.) is a notable newcomer fresh off a 61-point senior season at Thayer Academy and winning the John Carlton Memorial Award, given to New England’s best high school player. Juniors Casey Fitzgerald (North Reading, Mass.) and Michael Kim lead a defense that loses only Savage and returns four who played as freshmen, including Connor Moore, who contributed 13 points while playing in all 40 games.
Would-be juniors Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson are now Boston Bruins and reigning Hockey East Rookie of the Year Clayton Keller a Coyote, but David Quinn (Cranston, R.I.) always seems to solve the puzzle at BOSTON UNIVERSITY, where a 24-win squad last year included just three seniors. Patrick Harper (New Canaan, Conn.) trailed only Keller in the league’s rookie scoring race with 24 assists and 37 points a year ago. Bobo Carpenter (North Reading, Mass.) and Jordan Greenway return as juniors, while Brandon Hickey is a senior anchor for a defense that also includes sophomores Dante Fabbro and Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.), who combined for 11 goals and 18 assists. Jake Oettinger led all Hockey East goalies with a 2.09 goals-against in league play as a rookie. Rookie forward Shane Bowers and defenseman David Farrance were ranked as two of the top 50 North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting before this past June’s draft.
Despite a largely veteran team, CONNECTICUT loses two of its four best forwards from a season ago as 19-goal, 32-point scorer Tage Thompson (Orange, Conn.) signed with the St Louis Blues and Evan Richardson graduated. Senior Spencer Naas, who scored 15 goals, and junior Maxim Letunov both return, while Max Kalter looks to take a step up after a 20-point sophomore campaign. USHL champion Adam Karashik (Ridgefield, Conn.) joins a defense corps that includes three seniors — Johnny Austin, David Drake and Derek Pratt (Mount Hermon, Mass.) — who each played in at least 30 games last season. Rob Nichols graduated from the net, but Adam Huska played a majority of the Hockey East action as a freshman, posting a .928 save percentage in 15 league contests.
MAINE saw its overall win total increase last season for the first time since 2013, but fifth-year head coach Red Gendron’s Black Bears are back without their top scorer and setup man in Blaine Byron and Cam Brown, respectively. Nolan Vesey (North Reading, Mass.) leads the offense after scoring a team-high seven of his 13 goals as a junior on the power play, while sophomore Chase Pearson’s 14 goals ranked second to Byron. Junior Brendan Robbins (Nashua, N.H.) and sophomores Patrick Shea (Marshfield, Mass.) and Mitchell Fossier all scored at least 16 points. The defense looks strong with senior Mark Hamilton (Winthrop, Mass.), junior Rob Michel and sophomore Patrick Holway (Cohasset, Mass.) returning. Junior Rob McGovern (Weymouth, Mass.) is the incumbent starter in goal, but freshman and Bruins fourth-round draft pick Jeremy Swayman joins the fold.
UMASS has nowhere to go but up after finishing with just two Hockey East wins for the second straight season in 2016-17. Second-year head coach Greg Carvel welcomes a pair of top-50 draft picks from June in Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro to provide a much-needed boost on defense, while freshman Matt Murray comes in from the USHL’s Fargo Force to join sophomore returning starter Ryan Wischow in net. Makar, who last played for the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits, was Colorado’s No. 4 overall pick. The Minutemen lose leading scorers Steven Iacobellis and Ray Pigozzi to graduation, but juniors Austin Plevy and Kurt Keats and sophomore Griff Jeszka were the team’s only other double-digit scorers.
UMASS-LOWELL will search for its seventh consecutive 20-win season under Norm Bazin without its top two forwards and defensemen over the past two years. C.J. Smith signed with Buffalo after leading the team in goals for three straight seasons, while Joe Gambardella, Michael Kapla and Dylan Zink graduated. John Edwardh leads the offense after topping his previous career totals with a 19-goal, 39-point junior season and is one of four 20-point scorers returning to the lineup, joining sophomore forward Ryan Lohin, defenseman Mattias Goransson and senior Jake Kamrass. Chris Forney and Tommy Panico are returning seniors on defense, and newcomer Croix Evingson was a Winnipeg draftee in June.
MERRIMACK loses a pair of 15-pluspoint scorers in Hampus Gustafsson and Chris LeBlanc to graduation, while goaltender Collin Delia signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in July after a strong development camp, but 13th-year head coach Mark Dennehy’s team is otherwise largely intact. Senior Brett Seney and three more of last season’s top five forwards — senior Jace Hennig, sophomore Sami Tavernier and junior Ludvig Larsson — return. Johnathan Kovacevic returns on defense after finishing the season with 19 points, good for fourth among Hockey East’s rookie blueliners, while senior Jared Kolquist and junior Alex Carle scored more than 10 points from the back. Juniors Drew Vogler and Craig Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) are the returning goaltenders, while Logan Halladay is a freshman from the USHL.
Three of NEW HAMPSHIRE’s top eight scorers on last year’s 15-win team were freshmen, and six of them return in total for head coach Dick Umile’s 27th and final season in Durham. The two lost are Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Matias Cleland, who combined for 99 points and were tied for the Hockey East scoring lead overall and among defensemen, respectively. Seniors Michael McNicholas and Jason Salvaggio (Hanson, Mass.) scored doubledigit goals as Kelleher’s linemates, while Patrick Grasso finished his freshman season as one of the team’s three 20-goal scorers. The Wildcats also lose Dylan Maller on defense, but Cameron Marks and goaltender Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) are fourth-year anchors in the back. Newcomers Max Gildon and Benton Maass were grabbed by NHL clubs in June. Up front, Eric MacAdams (Salem, Mass.) is a strong local prospect from Austin Prep and the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints.
NORTHEASTERN scored the secondmost goals in Hockey East last season and its power play clicked at 27.9 percent, but a defense that allowed close to three goals per game dropped the Huskies to eighth at season’s end. Only Zach Aston-Reese and John Stevens are lost from last season’s top 10 scorers, so sixth-year head coach Jim Madigan’s offense looks lethal again with senior Dylan Sikura and junior Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) as two of just five players in the country returning from 50-point seasons. Senior Garret Cockerill’s 33 points are more than any returning defenseman in the league, and freshman Cayden Primeau — a 14-game winner in net for the USHL’s Lincoln Stars with USA Hockey experience — will be a worthy challenger to Ryan Ruck, who put up an .897 save percentage as a sophomore.
PROVIDENCE entered last season without its top four scorers from the year prior and still finished fifth in Hockey East and with 22 overall wins, but the Friars are stocked well, returning all four of their double-digit goal scorers in senior Brian Pinho (North Andover, Mass.), junior Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass.), sophomore Josh Wilkins and junior Scott Conway. Nate Leaman’s club had five freshmen post at least 10 points last season, including Wilkins and defenseman Jacob Bryson with more than 20 apiece. Jake Walman left to the St. Louis Blues a year early, but Islanders third-round draft pick Ben Mirageas (Newburyport, Mass.) will provide a young boost from USHL champion Chicago. Hayden Hawkey was a firsttime starter as a sophomore, overcoming a slow start to finish with the league’s fourth-best goals-against average at 2.19.
VERMONT developed solid depth en route to a 20-win season and sixth-place league finish last year, so 14th-year head coach Kevin Sneddon has options on offense even after four of his top seven scorers graduated. Junior Brian Bowen (Littleton, Mass.) and sophomore Ross Colton pace the returners after posting identical 12-15-27 lines, while junior Craig Puffer scored 11 goals. A Tampa Bay Lightning draftee, Colton was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. UVM’s class of 12 newcomers includes Minnesota draftee Bryce Misley and regional products Ace Cowans (Beverly, Mass.) and Alex Esposito (West Haven, Conn.). Senior Trey Phillips and sophomores Matt O’Donnell and Jake Massie are returners on defense, while goaltender Stefanos Lekkas started all but six of UVM’s games as a freshman, amassing a .911 save percentage.
