{"id":27683,"date":"2005-10-20T19:20:14","date_gmt":"2005-10-21T00:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2005\/10\/20\/this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-20-2005\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:56:19","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:56:19","slug":"this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-20-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2005\/10\/20\/this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-20-2005\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Hockey East: Oct. 20, 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"
It never happens in college sports, of course, but is a staple of the professional scene. There’s an expansion draft to provide talent to a newly formed team. A general manager must protect those players most important to the team in terms of salary, age, position and contribution.<\/p>\n
Forgetting about salary, let’s do that for the teams within Hockey East. Assume that there’s a new program at the University of Nowheresville and each existing school can protect only two players. UofN will then get to select a single player, after which more can be protected.<\/p>\n
The key is to identify the two most important players, not just for this year, but in the years to come. A senior will contribute for one year, but a freshman for four. So youth is a major factor. <\/p>\n
Position is also an issue. There has to be a strong bias in favor of goaltenders since a team goes nowhere without strength between the pipes.<\/p>\n
Here, then, are this GM’s choices.<\/p>\n
Merrimack<\/b><\/p>\n
Based on this year alone, the one obvious no-brainer choice would be all-everything defenseman Bryan Schmidt. A second likely selection would be Brent Gough.<\/p>\n
However, what about the future? Schmidt and Gough are both seniors and the Warrior program is in the building phase. Wouldn’t it, then, make more sense to go with freshmen or perhaps sophomores? <\/p>\n
In this case, we’ll mix and match. It’ll be Schmidt based on pure performance and sophomore Hank Carisio, who already has goals in his first two games.<\/p>\n
Northeastern<\/b><\/p>\n
In terms of talent, Mike Morris is the obvious choice. After that, no other candidate stands out head and shoulders above all others. Morris, like Schmidt, is a senior. <\/p>\n
Given the importance of the goaltending position, what about junior Adam Geragosian, who sparkled against North Dakota and might be the answer in the post-Keni Gibson Era? Or what about freshman Doug Jewer, a highly thought of recruit?<\/p>\n
Once again, we’ll mix and match and go with Morris and one of the goaltenders. Based on Jewer being a freshman, we’ll roll the dice that four years of him makes for a better value than two years of Geragosian.<\/p>\n
Providence<\/b><\/p>\n
There are a host of upperclassmen who might qualify, but none stand out the way that Schmidt and Morris do at Merrimack and Northeastern.<\/p>\n
So let’s go with sophomore Tyler Sims in goal. Despite a tough opening game, Sims proved himself last year and is a clear talent among the younger players. <\/p>\n
The other spot may be a gamble, but we’ll go with freshman defenseman Matt Taormina. Before even the first practice, PC coach Tim Army was effusive in his praise for what this offensively-skilled blueliner could do, so sight unseen we’re going with the rookie.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts<\/b><\/p>\n
One could make a case that the single most indispensable player has been Matt Anderson, but like the other go-to guys at UMass, he’s a senior. <\/p>\n
We’ll go with younger players instead. Thinking goaltending first, we’ll take freshman Jon Quick. He was a highly regarded recruit who has gotten off to a good start.<\/p>\n
The other spot goes to P.J. Fenton, who some saw as a role player when he first arrived at UMass, but who has turned himself into a productive scorer.<\/p>\n
Vermont<\/b><\/p>\n
This is the easiest team of all to pick. Yes, there are some strong upperclassmen, but two sophomores stand out.<\/p>\n
Joe Fallon is young, a goaltender and very, very good. Last year’s ECAC Rookie of the Year, Fallon is a no-brainer.<\/p>\n
The other pick is Torrey Mitchell, who totaled 30 points as a freshman and earned All-Rookie Team honors.<\/p>\n
Maine<\/b><\/p>\n
The choices get tougher on this team with a lot of depth, but no real superstars.<\/p>\n
But based on his stellar performances so far, there’s no way we can leave freshman goaltender Ben Bishop off the list. Winner of back-to-back league awards, he’s got three games under his belt and already has a goals-against average under two and a save percentage of .923.<\/p>\n
Add in Bret Tyler, the sophomore defenseman who totaled 20 points last year, and you’ve got two strong young players to anchor the defensive positions.<\/p>\n
Boston University<\/b><\/p>\n
With the ongoing preference for anchoring the goaltending position, how can you not take John Curry, even if he is a junior? He was a revelation last year and in BU’s lone game this season picked up where he left off, allowing only a single goal.<\/p>\n
The other pick is a tougher one, but goes to sophomore Pete MacArthur, who accumulated 27 points last season and scored twice in the Terriers’ opener against Lowell.<\/p>\n
Massachusetts-Lowell<\/b><\/p>\n
Most of the key River Hawk contributors are upperclassmen, but the significant exception is sophomore goaltender Peter Vetri. Considering how poor goaltending sank Lowell in recent seasons, Vetri is an obvious choice.<\/p>\n
And in many respects, so is the other one. Cleve Kinley may be a junior, but you don’t get many defensemen like him, so he and Vetri are the picks.<\/p>\n
Boston College<\/b><\/p>\n
The first choice is sophomore goaltender Cory Schneider, who despite a misstep out of the gate, will be a big difference-maker for the Eagles this year.<\/p>\n
Then it gets tough.<\/p>\n
Do you go with junior Brian Boyle, a first-round NHL draft pick and a 19-goal scorer last year? How about highly-regarded recruit Brock Bradford?<\/p>\n
Bradford doesn’t have a point yet, but he’ll get the nod since there’s a pretty good chance that the 6-7 Boyle will turn pro next year anyway.<\/p>\n
New Hampshire<\/b><\/p>\n
There’s been an emphasis on youth and goaltending so far and we won’t stop now. <\/p>\n
We’ll take sophomore netminder Kevin Regan to anchor that position. <\/p>\n
Then it gets brutally tough. How do you ignore three juniors — Brett Hemingway, Jacob Micflikier and Daniel Winnik — who are the top returning scorers in the league? Can you project which of them may turn pro next year, making them “virtual seniors”?<\/p>\n
We’ll stick with youth and go for sophomore Mike Radja, although there may be last-minute waffling and a possible switch to Matt Fornataro.<\/p>\n
Hey, it’s an interesting exercise. Your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n