October 19, 2012

St. Lawrence Notes

The University of Maine men's ice hockey team returns home this weekend to host St. Lawrence for a pair of games. Maine is coming off a weekend split at the 2012 Ice Breaker Tournament. The Black Bears fell to Notre Dame 1-0, before rebounding to defeat Army 4-3.  St Lawrence split a pair of games at Western Michigan last weekend. 

 

A LOOK BACK: Trailing 2-0 early in the second period, Maine scored three goals in the span of 2:27 against Army on Saturday night to take a 3-2 lead. Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) put Maine on the board with a goal at 11:24, Klas Leidermark (Gavle, Sweden) tied the game at 12:35 and Stu Higgins (Troy, Mich.) gave Maine the lead at 13:51. The Black Knights tied the game at 3-3 at 9:01 of the third period, but it did not take Maine long to respond. Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) tipped home a Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) shot from the point just 55 second later to give the Black Bears the 4-3 lead, a lead it would not relinquish. 

Matt Morris (Ridgewood, N.J.) made his first collegiate start in goal for the Black Bears and finished with 21 saves. Rob Tadazak made 50 saves in net for Army. 

Maine outshot Army 54-24 in the game. The Black Bears were scoreless in three power play chances, while Army did not convert on its lone opportunity. 

 

54 SHOTS ON GOAL: Maine recorded 54 shots on goal in its 4-3 win over Army last Saturday night in the 2012 Ice Breaker Tournament. It is the most shots on goal for the Black Bears since registering 61 shots against UMass in the Hockey East Title game in 2004. Maine won that game in four overtimes.

 

ROOKIES MAKING AN IMPACT: Maine's rookies are making a big impact this season. Seven freshman have seen action in games this year for the Black Bears. Steven Swavely (Reading, Pa.) has a goal, while Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario), Will Merchant (Eagan, Minn.) and Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) have each added an assist. Conor Riley (Massena, N.Y.) has seen action in all three games, while Bill Norman (Stockholm, Sweden) has played in a pair. Matt Morris (Ridgewood, N.J.) picked up the win in goal in Maine's victory over Army.

 

PERFECT PENALTY KILL: Maine has not allowed a power play goal in eight chances this season. Quinnipiac was 0-2, Notre Dame 0-for-5 and Army 0-for-1. 

 

OUTSTANDING PLAY: Despite being 0-2-0 on the season, Maine goalie Dan Sullivan has played outstanding. He allowed just one goal to Notre Dame and a pair to Quinnipiac. He has an impressive 1.53 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. 

 

STEVEN SWAVELY NAMED HOCKEY EAST PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Steven Swavely was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 8. Swavely scored Maine's lone goal in the season-opener against Quinnipiac, with an assist from his older brother, Jon.  

 

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Joey Diamond and Stu Higgins, who each have a goal and an assist for two points. Klas Leidermark, Mark Anthoine and Steven Swavely are each chipping in with a goal. Will Merchant, Jon Swavely (Reading, Pa.), Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.), Ben Hutton and Devin Shore all have an assist on the season. 

Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) has played in two games in goal. He is 0-2-0 with a 1.53 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. Matt Morris is 1-0-0 with a 3.00 goals against average and a .875 save percentage.  

 

WHAT'S NEW: Maine adds eight newcomers for the 2012-2013 season. Ben Hutton, Conor Riley and Kyle Williams (Bowdoinham, Maine) join the Black Bears on defense. Also seeing action this year will be redshirt freshman Bill Norman. Hutton, who was a fifth round draft choice of the Vancouver Canucks, played last season for the Nepean Raiders. Riley, who can play both forward and defense, was the EJHL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011-2012. Williams comes to the Black Bears via the New Hampshire Monarchs, where he helped lead the team to the 2012 EJHL title. 

Among the forwards are Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) who led the Muskegon Lumberjacks in scoring last season. Will Merchant, who was captain for Eagan High School last year, recently played in the 2012 All-American Prospects game. Devin Shore, who was selected in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, played for the Whitby Fury last year. He scored 58 points in 41 games last year. Steven Swavely was captain a year ago for the New Jersey Hitmen, where he averaged over a point a game. 

Goalie Matt Morris played for former Maine captain Jim Montgomery and the Dubuque Fighting Sioux. He finished 19-13-2 with a 2.58 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. 

 

A MEMORABLE GAME FOR THE SWAVELY FAMILY: Rookie Steven Swavely scored his first collegiate goal just 3:41 into his first game. What makes the feat even more memorable was that the goal was scored on an assist from his older brother, Jon. The Swavely brothers have played on the same line in the first three games of the season. 

 

THREE NEW CAPTAINS FOR THE BLACK BEARS: Maine has three captains for the 2012-2013 season. Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.), Joey Diamond and Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, N.Y.) will each wear a C for the Black Bears this season. 

 

PLAYING IN 100 GAMES: Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.) played in his 100th career game on Saturday, Oct. 13 against Army.  Mark Nemec played in his 100th career game on Saturday, Oct. 6 against Quinnipiac. He became the second Black Bear to reach the 100 games played plateau, joining teammate Joey Diamond. Nemec has played in 102 career games, while Diamond has seen action in 103 games. 

 

A GOAL IN GAME ONE: Steven Swavely became the first Black Bear rookie to get a goal in his collegiate debut since Adam Shemansky scored in his opening game against Union on Oct. 9, 2009. 

 

ALL-AMERICAN PROSPECTS GAME: Will Merchant played in the inaugural All-American Prospects Game on Saturday, Sept. 29 in Buffalo, N.Y. The game featured the 40 top American prospects for the 2013 NHL Draft. 

 

DIAMOND SECOND AMONG ALL-TIME PENALTY LEADERS: Joey Diamond has 341 career penalty minutes, which ranks second most in Maine history. He is 17 penalty minutes shy of Prestin Ryan's school record of 359 career penalty minutes. 

 

A PAIR OF BROTHERS: Maine has a pair of brothers on the team this season in Jon and Steven Swavely. Jon, a junior on the team, is joined by his younger brother, Steven. They become the 11th pair of brothers in Maine history joining: David and Jack Capuano, Chris and Peter Ferraro, Barrett and Chris Heisten, John and Keenan Hopson, Paul, Steve and Martin Kariya, Anders and Magnus Lundback, Mike and Matt Lundin, Jason and Shawn Mansoff, Jim and John Tortorella, Eric and Jason Weinrich. 

 

ANTHOINE, DIAMOND LEAD NATION IN POWER PLAY GOALS LAST SEASON: Mark Anthoine and Joey Diamond each scored 11 power play goals last season to tie for the national lead. Maine finished second as a team in power play percentage. In addition, then senior Spencer Abbott led the nation in points per game and assists per game. 

 

FEELING A DRAFT: A pair of Black Bears were selected in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Freshman Devin Shore was chosen in the Second Round, 61st overall, by the Dallas Stars. Classmate Ben Hutton was taken in the Fifth Round, 147th overall by the Vancouver Canucks. 

 

CLOSE TO HOME: St. Lawrence is a familiar foe for freshman Conor Riley. Canton, N.Y., where St. Lawrence is located, is just 30 miles southwest of his hometown of Massena, N.Y. Canton is also just 100 minutes southwest of Rouses Point, N.Y., hometown of Maine captain Mark Nemec. 

 

A LOOK AT ST. LAWRENCE: St. Lawrence enters play this weekend with a record of 1-1-0. The Saints defeated Western Michigan in their season-opener, before dropping the second game 3-2. 

St. Lawrence is led by Kyle Flanagan, who has three goals and an assist for four points. Two of his goals have come via the power play. Greg Carey has one goal and three assists for four points as well. Chris Martin is adding a goal and an assist. George Hughes and Justin Baker each have a pair of assists.  Jeremy Wick has added a goal. 

Matt Weninger has played in both games in goal. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.99 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.

 St. Lawrence is coached by Greg Carvel (St. Lawrence '93) who is in his second season. He has a record of 15-20-3. He is assisted by associate head coach Mike Hurlbut (St. Lawrence '89) and Kris Mayotte (Union '06). 

 

MAINE AND ST. LAWRENCE ALL-TIME: Maine and St. Lawrence have played 15 times with the Black Bears holding an 11-4-0 lead in the all-time series. The two teams last played on Nov. 28, 2009 at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Black Bears won the game 10-1. Joey Diamond scored a goal in the game, while Adam Shemansky, Kyle Beattie and Mike Cornell each chipped in with an assist. Mark Nemec and Klas Leidermark both also saw action in the game. 

 

St. Lawrence (11-4-0)

Date Site Result GWG Maine Goalie(s)

3-1-80 Appleton Arena 4-2 W ROB ZAMEJC

2-7-81 ALFOND ARENA 6-3 W

1-30-82 Appleton Arena 4-6 L

11-26-82 ALFOND ARENA 3-4 L Paul Castron Pete Smith (38)

1-27-84 Appleton Arena 1-11 L Mark Bonneau Jean Lacoste (21), Ray Roy (26)

1-15-94 Appleton Arena 7-2 W MIKE LATENDRESSE Blair Allison (31)

1-14-95 ALFOND ARENA 7-1 W TONY FRENETTE Blair Allison (10), Blair Marsh (6)

1-15-95 ALFOND ARENA 3-1 W BARRY CLUKEY Blair Allison (23)

1-13-96 Appleton Arena 5-0 W DAN SHERMERHORN Blair Allison (18)

10-21-00 ALFOND ARENA 8-2 W MATHIAS TRATTNIG Matt Yeats (12), Trapper Clark (3)

10-24-03 Appleton Arena 3-2 W KEITH JOHNSON Jimmy Howard (22)

10-25-03 Appleton Arena 7-2 W TROY BARNES Frank Doyle (20)

10-22-04 ALFOND ARENA 0-1 L John Zeiler Jimmy Howard (25)

10-23-04 ALFOND ARENA 4-3 W GREG MOORE Jimmy Howard (24)

11-28-09 Cumberland County CC 10-1 W TANNER HOUSE Scott Darling (17), Dave Wilson (5)

 

STREAKING BLACK BEARS: Three returning Black Bears have played in 45 or more consecutive games. The following is the current consecutive games streak:

 

Name Games

Mark Anthoine 58

Adam Shemansky 47

Mark Nemec 45

 

ALFOND ARENA FEATURED IN WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE: The Alfond Arena was one of several college hockey arenas featured in a Wall Street Journal article on Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. Alfond Arena was listed as having the best atmosphere in college hockey. 

 

HOCKEY EAST ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS: Thirteen Black Bears were among a Hockey East league-record 100 student-athletes named to the league's 2011-12 All-Academic Team Each student-athlete achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better in each of the two academic periods during which he was actively competing. The Black Bear list was highlighted by Theo Andersson and Mark Nemec, who were each honored for the third time in their careers. Mike Cornell, Brian Flynn, Brice O'Connor, Josh Seeley, Dan Sullivan and Jon Swavely were named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team for the second time in their careers. Mark Anthoine, Andrew Cerretani, Connor Leen, Bill Norman and Jake Rutt received recognition for the first time in their careers. 

 

CLIMBING MT. KATAHDIN: The men's ice hockey team hiked Mt. Katahdin, Maine's largest mountain, prior to the start of the 2012-2013 season. The team did not make it to the top, however, as the weather was nasty and the rocks were icy. The mountain, located in northern Maine, is 5,267 feet high.