The University of Maine is a long, long way from Anchorage, Alaska, but Jeremy Swayman is making the most of his more than 4,400-mile, cross-country trip to the region his future NHL team calls home. It’s been a whirlwind year for Swayman. He’s not only in the midst of his freshman season with the Black Bears, but also he was drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft back last June and earned one of three goaltending slots on the United States team that won a bronze medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo last month.
"I feel like this year has been an upward slope for me, and the rest of the team," said Swayman, whose nine wins through 15 decisions ranked third among freshman netminders at the Division 1 level. "Coming into the season, there were some low expectations for us, so we took the underdog mentality.
"We take it one game at a time. I think it’s been a successful first half, but I want to continue it with the team for the rest of the season as well."
Swayman spearheaded Maine’s nine-game unbeaten run that began at the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after Thanksgiving and lasted until Jan. 12 at Northeastern. He went 5-0-1 and posted a .940 save percentage over that span, missing two games while becoming the first U.S. world juniors player from the Black Bears since Greg Moore in 2004.
With the U.S. team, Swayman — although he played only at the tail end of just one game during the tournament — joined Boston College’s Joseph Woll and Boston University’s Jake Oettinger to form an all-Hockey East goaltending trio. "To put on the USA sweater was a surreal experience. I’ve always wanted to represent my country, so it was special to do it on that stage," Swayman said. "It was really fun to get to know (Woll and Oettinger) there, and I learned a lot. It taught me what it takes to get to the next level."
As the Hockey East season hits its home stretch, Swayman has the Black Bears moving in the right direction. He’s given Maine a chance to win every night, earning a majority of the starting minutes over Weymouth, Mass., native Rob McGovern, who picked up the team’s other three wins.
McGovern, a junior who also was invited to the Bruins’ development camp last summer, evenly split starting time during his freshman season before taking on nearly 80 percent of the load last season. With Swayman at the helm, the two have formed a strong duo that could make the Black Bears a team to watch down the stretch.
"I feel like I’ve gotten the opportunities, and they’ve given us both a fair shot," Swayman said. "We’re successful as a team. It’s really fun being in those games when you’re scoring well and defensive play is strong, but it’s also important that you’re in the games that aren’t so easy. To be able to grow with the team in that direction, I think we’re going to take it really far."
The Notebook
New Hampshire senior Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) made 35 saves in a Jan. 6 tie with Brown to set the school’s career saves record. In his 112th collegiate game, Tirone passed Kevin Regan (South Boston, Mass., 2005-08) with 3,252 career stops. He ranks second in Hockey East to UConn’s Adam Huska in that category this season. …
UMass Lowell’s Norm Bazin earned his 200th career head coaching victory on Jan. 5 when the River Hawks beat Vermont, 6-0, at Tsongas Center. It was his 162nd victory over six seasons at the school from which he graduated in 1994. …
Before Merrimack’s 3-2 win on Jan. 5, when Sami Tavernier scored the winner 13 seconds into OT at XL Center, the Warriors and UConn skated to four consecutive ties in their head-to-head series. Merrimack’s 3-0 home win a week later was the first of nine all-time Hockey East meetings between the teams not decided by one goal or less. After starting the season 2-9-3, Merrimack went 5-2-1 over its next nine games. …
Northeastern’s Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) and Dylan Sikura and Providence’s Brian Pinho (North Andover, Mass.) and Erik Foley (Mansfield, Mass.) lead a total of 12 Hockey East players named to the fan ballot for the 2018 Hobey Baker Award. Online voting is now open at HobeyBaker.com. …
The Friars were one of college hockey’s hottest teams right out of the semester break with a seasonlong, six-game unbeaten streak, vaulting to ninth in the PairWise Rankings prior to the weekend of Jan. 19. Providence surrendered just six goals in that span as junior Hayden Hawkey went 5-0-1 with a 1.01 goalsagainst average and .950 save percentage. ...
In PC’s 5-0, Jan. 3 win over Brown, Pinho notched a goal and an assist to become the 52nd player in Friar history to reach the career 100-point marker. He joins Ross Mauermann, Nick Saracino and Mark Jankowski as the only players to reach the century milestone under seventh-year head coach Nate Leaman. …
Three of the four NCAA players on Hockey Canada’s roster for the 2017 Spengler Cup were from Hockey East: Boston University captain Brandon Hickey, Northeastern’s Jeremy Davies and Sikura. The trio helped Canada win gold for the 15th time in the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world. In addition, UMass’ Cale Makar and BU’s Dante Fabbro were part of the defense on Canada’s gold medal-winning world juniors squad. ...
Thanks to a 6-1 win over Bentley on Jan. 6, Northeastern reached the 12-win mark within its first 20 games of the season for the eighth time in program history and first since 2008-09.
In the Spotlight
Adam Gaudette, Northeastern
The junior from Braintree, Mass., took over the national scoring lead after recording five points in a Jan. 12-13 weekend sweep of Maine, running his season point total to 35 through just 22 games. Named Hockey East Player of the Week for the second time, Gaudette scored four and factored into eight of NU’s first 14 game-winning goals, including an assist — following a two-goal first period — in the opening game against the Black Bears.
Nolan Vesey, Maine
A North Reading, Mass., native and Jimmy’s younger brother, Vesey helped the Black Bears post a nine-game unbeaten run from Nov. 25 to Jan. 12, recording seven of his teamleading nine goals during that span. He finished a personal four-game point streak in a 3-0 win Jan. 6 at Boston University, notching the game-winning goal and an assist. Maine won six of the first seven games this season in which the senior scored a goal.
Niko Hildenbrand, UMass
Hildenbrand opened the calendar year with seven total points in five straight games, including two goals in a 6-3 win over Vermont on Jan. 13 that finished a three-point weekend for the Minutemen. It was his first career multigoal game and included his first shorthanded goal. The Vacaville, Calif., native recorded 11 points over the first 20 games of his sophomore season and sits behind five freshmen and even with a senior in the team scoring race.
The Clash
Providence vs. UMass Lowell
Feb. 16, Schneider Arena, Providence, R.I., 7:15 p.m.
Feb. 17, Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass., 7 p.m.
This series during the second-to-last weekend of the Hockey East regular season will be intriguing no matter what the playoff picture looks like, but it’s likely to have a big impact as the two teams sat third and fourth in the standings as league play resumed in January. Their last five head-to-head meetings have been decided by two goals or less, including a triple-overtime River Hawks win in the league’s first 2016 semifinal at TD Garden.
The Quote
‘Our games are always tight with BU, ever since the (2015) national championship. They’re always charged. We know we get their A game. … I thought they were, by far, one of the best teams we’ve played.’
— Providence coach Nate Leaman after a 2-2 tie at Boston University on Jan. 13, a game that finished a 1-1-1 season series in Hockey East play
