Western College Hockey Blog - All Posts

University of Maine getting closer to landing new hockey coach

2013-05-24T04:29:07Z

According to a source, the University of Maine is expected to announce its new head hockey coach at a press conference Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Bob Corkum is currently serving as the Interim Head Coach following the ouster of Tim Whitehead after twelve years behind the Black Bears bench.

Jeff Cox will have continuing coverage of the search to find a new head hockey coach at Maine. Follow Jeff on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.

2013 NHL Draft Prospect: Boston College Recruit Zach Sanford

2013-05-23T21:50:37Z

Boston College recruit Zach Sanford has come a long way in a few years. He was a very good player for Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH, but has really brought his game to the next level this year playing for Sean Tremblay's Middlesex Islanders in the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL).

His coach at Pinkerton was former Merrimack forward Casey Kesselring, who was a scoring machine at Merrimack in the 1990s. Kesselring said he has known what a talented player Sanford is for a few years now. "I knew him before he got to Pinkerton so I knew what a talented kid he was. When he came in as a freshman, he started off slow, but really took off."

Kesselring said that after an inconsistent sophomore campaign Sanford and his team took off. "His junior year, he really took off and became more consistent." Sanford, along with 2014 BC commit J.D. Dudek, led the Pinkerton Astros to the 2012 New Hampshire State Championship before embarking on his junior career.

It wasn't until February of this year that Sanford committed to Boston College. He had offers early on from Merrimack and UMass-Lowell, but once his game started picking up in the EJHL, the offers from elite schools, such as BC, started rolling in. Kesselring said it took his former player a few games to adjust to the speed of the junior game, compared to the high school level. Including the playoffs, Sanford notched 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points in 44 games played.

Kesselring had nothing but praise for Sanford's offensive abilities. "He's a dominant offensive player. He has good hands and can really maneuver around the other teams' defensemen," said Kesselring who was named the head coach at New Hampton Prep in April.

BC fans can expect to see some impressive moves from the Auburn, NH native. "Zach has a long reach. I would tell people that he's just like a human highlight reel," said Kesselring. "He's a nice kid who lets his play speak for itself," added Kesselring.

The six-foot-three-inch Sanford is a left shot leftwing. "He's gotten better defensively, but he knows he still has some work to do on that part of his game," said Kesselring.

Sanford was ranked as the 83^rd best North American Skater in Central Scouting's Mid-Term Rankings, but he moved all the way up to the 60^th position in the Final Rankings. Most likely he will be drafted somewhere towards the end of the third round, but some teams might see the upside in his game.

Don't be surprised if you hear comparisons to Chris Kreider once Sanford begins playing at The Heights in October.

2013 NHL Draft Prospect: Aidan Muir

2013-05-23T18:21:44Z

One of the bigger wildcards in this summer's NHL Draft is Victory Honda Midget Major forward Aidan Muir. He was the only player to play Midget AAA hockey this season ranked in the top 200 among North American skaters in the final Central Scouting rankings, when he made the highest debut of any newcomer on the list at 108th. Playing in a league that doesn't traditionally yield a lot of NHL draft picks, Muir hasn't received a lot of attention from most media that follow the draft, but an excellent season definitely put him on the radar of a lot of hockey people.

Muir is originally from Brampton,Ontario, but has lived and played hockey for the past number of years in Michigan. He's a case of a "late-bloomer" by NHL Draft standards. Last summer, he attended tryout camps as a free agent for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL and Erie Otters of the OHL , but rather than being a fringe junior player, he chose to return home to play for the Victory Honda Midget Major team where he could get more ice time and play a larger role.

That move proved to be a wise one for him. Muir took a huge step forward in his development at the start of the season and became one of the best players at the U18 level. He began to receive a lot of offers from both USHL and OHL teams to join their teams and gain more exposure, but Muir chose to honor his commitment to his Victory Honda squad, where he had been elected a captain. As his strong play continued, he also began to generate interest from NCAA schools, and in February, he committed to play for Western Michigan. His play also started to draw the attention of NHL teams who began focusing more on him as the season went along. In May, Muir was the first overall selection in the USHL's Entry Draft to the Indiana Ice, where he will play next season.

Muir is a 6'3" 180 lbs. power forward. He's a decent skater for his size, though there is still some room for improvement. With his frame, there's also the potential to add a little more strength. His biggest attribute is his grit and toughness in the dirty areas of the ice along the boards and in front of the net, and that he has the hands to make plays in tight spaces. He's also a very high energy player and a tireless worker.

The biggest concern with Muir heading into the draft is that for as strong of a season as he had, he still did it against lesser competition, which means the risk factor of picking him is all the higher. Last year's draft, however, proved that teams are willing to overlook that risk if they feel a player's upside is high enough, as evidenced by picks like Mark Jankowski in the first round, Anthony Stolarz in the second, and MacKenzie MacEachern in the third. This year's draft is a little deeper than last year's, so teams can afford to be a little pickier, but overall, they don't care where a player comes from, as long as they can see long-term potential.

A good comparison for Muir may be MacEachern, who was the top player in Michigan HS hockey last season, and was eventually drafted early in the 3rd round by the St. Louis Blues In terms of style, Muir is much more of a physical player, while MacEachern is more of a finesse player, but both were bigger players with a lot of upside that played in relative obscurity last season in Michigan. Both were also first round selections in the USHL Entry Draft prior to being drafted. Muir is likely the better prospect of the two, though also in a deeper draft. Expect Muir to be selected somewhere in the middle rounds of the draft. I'd begin looking at selecting Muir somewhere in the late third to early fourth round of the draft, though wouldn't be shocked a team was interested in him even earlier than that.

2013 NHL Draft Prospect: Andrew Copp

2013-05-22T18:36:19Z

So often come NHL Draft season, there are tales of ultra-talented prospects falling down draft boards because of so-called "red flags" that scare away NHL teams. University of Michigan forward, and second-time eligible Andrew Copp is a rare case of a player whose numerous green flags may result in him getting selected much higher than expected.

There are two questions that have to be asked right off the bat when a draft prospect has already been passed over in the draft once before: 1. Why was he not picked last year? and 2. What has he done this year to change that perception?

In Copp's case, he's coming from a fairly unique set of circumstances. Copp is an alum of the US NTDP program. Generally, I'd be very leery of a player coming out of that program that was passed over after being meticulously scouted in his first draft year as all NTDP U18 players are. But Copp wasn't a member of the program in the traditional sense. Because of the way the program is set up, the team keeps a very talented, but somewhat thin roster, since talented young players aren't interested in moving across the country to be a healthy scratch/4^th line fill-in most nights. Copp, being a native of Ann Arbor, where the NTDP is housed, was willing to take on that role of a 14^th forward for the U18s, while also playing quarterback for his local high school football team. Copp was an outstanding quarterback at Skyline High School, though his final season was cut short when he suffered a broken collarbone, which also caused him to miss a good deal of time on the ice.

In the games he did play with the U18 team last year, he wasn't overly productive, as you'd expect given the ice time he saw with them. He also played a few games with the NTDP U17s late in the year, where he was pretty productive against good competition, though obviously not watched as closely by NHL folks since he was playing with the younger group.

So between the limited playing time and injury, it's easy to see why he was passed over last year. What about the ‘this year' part of the equation? Copp once again stayed close to home, joining the University of Michigan as a near walk-on. For much of the first half of the season, Copp performed about to the level of the relatively low expectations most had for him. After scoring a goal in his first career game against Bentley, Copp would go 13 straight games without scoring another point, mostly alternating between playing on the fourth line and being a healthy scratch.

But around the midway point of the season, things began to click for Copp. He recorded his first multi-point game for Michigan in late December at the Great Lakes Invitational, and from there, finished the year with 19 points in his final 22 games, which included a seven-game scoring streak. The only '94-born player to score more points in college hockey from Christmas onward last year was Wisconsin's Nic Kerdiles, a second round pick of Anaheim last summer. With the scoring increase, Copp saw his ice-time increase as well, eventually working his way up to Michigan's top line by the end of the season. Copp showed good skating ability, plays well in the defensive zone and while he's not a tremendously gifted scorer, he plays a gritty game, and picks up points by being willing to go to the front of the net to make plays.

The concern with second-time eligible players is always going to be that they are further along their development curves than their younger counterparts, but that doesn't appear to be the case with Copp at all. If anything, Copp appears to be just scratching the surface of his potential. His football experience shows that he's a pretty gifted athlete, and the fact that he showed so much potential and improvement in his first full year focusing on hockey is very promising as well.

Another positive for Copp is that he is a very high-character player. In addition to being a leader on the football field as a quarterback, he has been voted an alternate captain at Michigan next season by his teammates, as just a sophomore. While he doesn't necessarily project to being the level of player that would be a team captain, filling a team with players like that is never a bad idea.

There is still a good amount of risk involved, which might steer some teams towards other prospects. In a small enough window, you can make anyone look good, and Copp's strong second half with Michigan may just be a hot streak, rather than an indicator of things to come. And while there have certainly been late-bloomers to make it and succeed in the NHL, those stories are usually few and far between.

Still, a player with the type of athleticism Copp has, combined with the potential he showed in the latter half of the year is a very intriguing proposition. Once some of the more established, safer picks are off the boards in the first two rounds of the draft, Copp would appear to be a great choice to be selected in the third round or later.

Top 20 College Hockey Stories of the 2012-13: #1-5

2013-05-21T14:59:51Z

We've reached the final installment of our countdown of the 20 biggest stories in college hockey this past season, with the top 5.Here are the previous installments of this series: #6-10, #11-15, and, #16-20.

#5 Jerry York Breaks the All-Time Wins Record

Jerry York was already one of the most respected and beloved figures in all of college hockey, but he added onto that legacy on December 29th, when a 5-2 win over Alabama-Huntsville at the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis gave York his 925th career victory, surpassing Ron Mason for number one on the all-time wins list among college hockey coaches.

The event itself was a little bittersweet. After roaring out to a 10-1-0 start to the season, there was a possibility of York breaking the record at home, against rival Boston University, but a loss across at BU the night prior, meant York only tied the record against the Terriers. The enjoyment of setting the record was also cut a bit short after the Eagles were demolished 8-1 by Minnesota the following night at the Mariucci Classic. That said, the somewhat quiet nature of the event seemed to fit York's humble nature perfectly.

#4 Yale Wins the National Title

It's hard to believe a team taking home college hockey's biggest prize only checks in at number four on this list, but Yale's seemingly improbable run showed just how flimsy college hockey's postseason can be.

Yale's season seemed to be over after a disastrous weekend at the ECAC tournament, where they were shut out twice, including in the third-place game to rival Quinnipiac, putting their postseason hopes in serious jeopardy. The Bulldogs spent Selection Sunday hoping that Notre Dame would defeat Michigan in the CCHA tournament final so that Yale could secure the final at-large bid at 15th in the Pairwise rankings.

But once they were in the tournament, the Bulldogs looked like a completely different team. They opened up the tournament by upsetting second overall seed Minnesota less than ten seconds into overtime. Next, they completed the WCHA sweep by upsetting North Dakota. At the Frozen Four, they crept past UMass-Lowell in overtime, and dominated Quinnipiac in an all-Connecticut final to claim their first ever national title, defeating three of the tournament's four #1 seeds in the process.

They were from a fluke--a regular season win in any of their three games against Quinnipiac would have had Yale in the tournament as a #2 seed-but their title did show just how random the single-elimination hockey tournament can be.

#3 The CCHA Closes Their Doors; The WCHA Breaks Up

It was another great season of hockey in the CCHA and WCHA, with conference title races coming down to the last weekend of the season, and the WCHA race in particular bringing its' usual excitement in the second half of the year as team's jockeyed for playoff positioning. But the specter of next year's conference realignment hung over the season like a dark cloud. Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson responded to a November fine by the CCHA for criticizing CCHA officiating by saying he was just looking forward to being in Hockey East next year. Even the final conference tournaments for the two leagues as we know them were overshadowed by the Big Ten and NCHC using the opportunity to announce details for their new conference tournaments next year.

It was sad to see what college hockey once was fade into the background, especially when many are skeptical of what the future will bring to the sport.

#2 Jack Parker Retires

The CCHA wasn't the only 40+ year institution to call it quits this year. After 47 years as a player or coach at Boston University, including 40 years as the team head's coach, Jack Parker announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Like his cross-Boston rival Jerry York, Parker was one of the winningest and most respected coaches in college hockey. He finished his career with 876 wins, by far the most by any college hockey coach at a single school. He won three national titles with the Terriers('78, '95, ''09) and was named national coach of the year three times('75, '78, '09). He's coached numerous players to NHL careers, as well as coaching a good core of the 1980 US Olympic team.

Given the nature of college hockey coaching these days, it's unlikely that we'll ever see a coach at a major college program for as long as Parker was at Boston University.

#1 Quinnipiac Really Is That Good

Quinnipiac put together their best season in school history, and were arguably the top team in the country all season. The Bobcats went on a 21-game unbeaten streak in the middle of the season, which helped vault to them to the first national number one national ranking in school history. They clinched both their first ever ECAC regular season title, and the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament by mid-February.

Debate swirled throughout the season about whether the Bobcats were really that good, or just the product of a weak schedule. Quinnipiac's detractors had their "I told you so.."'s ready when the Bobcats entered the NCAA tournament, but Quinnipiac proved they were legit by sweeping through the East regional, which contained reigning national champ Boston College, and defeated WCHA regular season champ St. Cloud in dominating fashion at the Frozen Four. They couldn't quite close the deal on their magical season, laying an egg in the national title game, but the fact that their title game loss came to a team they had dominated three times already in the regular season, showed it was more a fluke of single-elimination hockey.

NCHC Commish Considering New Job

2013-05-21T04:30:32Z

On Friday, the website Inside the Games published a report saying that current NCHC commissioner Jim Scherr was announced as the new chief operating for the inaugural 2015 European Games during the European Olympics Committee Seminar last week.

On Monday, Scherr told USCHO that those reports were "premature," and that he has not accepted the position, but is considering it. North Dakota athletic director and chair of the NCHC board of directors Brian Faison released a statement acknowledging the job offer extended to Scherr, but reiterating that he has not accepted yet."

Scherr's background is in Olympic-level administration, having served as chief executive officer for the United States Olympic Committee. Scherr was named the NCHC's first ever commissioner in early 2012, signing a four and a half year contract, though the league doesn't begin play until next fall.

Atlantic Hockey Raising Scholarship Limits

2013-05-20T14:54:13Z

College Hockey News reported last week that Atlantic Hockey will be raising the number of scholarships that their members will be allowed to give out.

Atlantic Hockey schools currently cap their members at 12 full scholarships per school, while the NCAA maximum is 18 full scholarships per team. Starting the season after next, in 2014-2015, Atlantic Hockey schools will be able to use 13 full scholarships, and the following year, that total will increase to 14 full scholarships.

The move seems like a reasonable compromise for the schools in the league. The league initially set the 12 scholarship limit as a means of keeping costs down, but recently, some of the more western schools in the league have chafed at the limit, wanting to use all 18 scholarships in effort to compete with the rest of college hockey.

The league also has plans of adding a 12th member to the conference after Connecticut leaves the conference to join Hockey East. The league will also be adding video review for all conference games over the next two years.

Over all, this is a nice step forward for Atlantic Hockey and college hockey as a whole. While the game of hockey has grown in the United States over the past decade, growth and opportunities at the top of the US hockey food chain in the NCAA have stagnated. This move makes 22--36 if a new 12th member is added-- new full scholarships available to players. That's like the equivalent of adding two new teams worth of scholarship money into the pool available to players.

BU associate head coach Mike Bavis announces resignation

2013-05-18T10:43:58Z

According to a report on USHR.com, Boston University associate head coach Mike Bavis resigned early Saturday morning. Just five years after graduating from BU, he joined Jack Parker's staff in 1998 and eventually became one of the longest tenured assistants in Terrier program history.

Parker announced his retirement and another former BU player David Quinn was named the 11th head coach in BU history approximately two months ago.

Over the final years of Parker's career, Bavis, who now resides in West Roxbury, Mass., has had to take the reigns from time-to-time while Parker nursed medical troubles. As he told The Boston Hockey Blog, he felt qualified to take over for his mentor and former boss.

"I feel pretty confident the players have responded to me," Bavis said to the BHB. "In some ways I think I'm a little more uniquely positioned to deal with this. As the last couple of years have shown, this is more than just a hockey job."

At the beginning of this past season, Bavis led the team in a two-game sweep of UMass while Parker was troubled with a sore back. Veteran coach of 25 years and Terrier alum Buddy Powers enters his fifth season in the BU program next year, while Mike Geragosian will enter his 15th year as a volunteer assistant.

Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.