January 18, 2013

Merrimack Game Notes

 

The University of Maine men's ice hockey team hosts Merrimack for a two-game Hockey East series this weekend. In a scheduling oddity, the teams will play three straight games. The two teams played last Saturday night in No. Andover, Mass. with the Warriors skating to a 6-0 win. Maine is 5-13-3 on the season and 1-8-3 in Hockey East play. Merrimack is 8-9-4 overall, 6-5-1 in conference play. 

 

A LOOK BACK: Merrimack downed Maine 6-0 last Saturday night at Lawler Arena in No. Andover, Mass. The Warriors took a 1-0 lead when Mike Collins scored his 10th goal of the season at 15:06 of the first period. Quinn Gould made it a 2-0 Merrimack lead at 19:12 of the first period. The Warriors added second period goals by John Heffernan, Vinny Scotti and Collins to extend their lead to 5-0 after two periods of play. Brendan Ellis capped the scoring midway through the third period to make it a 6-0 final. 

Maine outshot Merrimack 30-26 in the game. Maine was 0-for-8 on the power play, while Merrimack finished 2-for-8. 

Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) made 13 saves in 26:11. He fell to 3-6-3 on the season. Ouellette was replaced by Matt Morris (Ridgewood, N.J.) who stopped seven shots in 33:49. Sam Marotta made 30 saves in goal for the Warriors and improves to 5-4-2. 

 

SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.) who has five goals and five assists for 10 points. Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) is adding nine points on two goals and seven assists. Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) has four goals and three assists for seven points. Kyle Beattie (Avondale, Ariz.), Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.) and Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) each have two goals and five assists for seven points as well. Steven Swavely (Reading, Pa.) is chipping in with a goal and five assists for six points. Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) has three goals and two assists, while Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) is adding two goals and three assists. Stu Higgins (Troy, Mich.) and Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.) each have a goal and three assists for four points. Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, N.Y.) is adding a pair of goals. Jake Rutt (Scarborough, Maine) and Will Merchant (Eagan, Minn.) each have a goal and an assist. Jon Swavely (Reading, Pa.), Nick Pryor (St. Paul, Minn.) and Brice O'Connor (Londonderry, N.H.) each have a pair of assists on the season. Klas Leidermark (Gavle, Sweden), Kyle Williams (Bowdoinham, Maine) and Bill Norman (Stockholm, Sweden) have each tallied a goal, while Martin Ouellette has an assist. 

Ouellette is 3-6-3 on the season with a 2.29 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. He has one shutout on the season. Matt Morris is 2-1-0 with a 2.83 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) is 0-6-0 with a 3.34 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. 

 

FLORIDA COLLEGE CLASSIC CHAMPIONS: Maine won its second straight Florida College Classic on Dec 28 and 29. The Black Bears became the first team in the 13 year history of the tournament to win back-to-back titles. Kyle Beattie was named the Shawn Walsh Most Valuable Player, while Devin Shore and Matt Morris were each named to the All-Tournament team.

 

FIRST CAREER GOAL: Eight different Black Bears have tallied their first career goal this season:

Steven Swavely Oct. 6 vs. Quinnipiac

Will Merchant Nov. 2 vs. Boston College

Ben Hutton Nov. 9 at UMass Lowell 

Devin Shore Nov. 10 at UMass Lowell 

Kyle Williams Nov. 10 at UMass Lowell 

Jake Rutt Nov. 16 vs. Massachusetts

Ryan Lomberg Dec. 28 vs. Minnesota Duluth

Bill Norman Jan. 11 at Northeastern

 

MORRIS NAMED HOCKEY EAST PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Matt Morris was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Wednesday, Jan. 2. Morris stopped 22 of 23 shots that he faced against #11 Cornell in the 2012 Florida College Classic Championship game. 

 

LEEN MEAN SCORING MACHINE: After scoring just a single goal in his rookie season, sophomore Connor Leen leads Maine in both goals scored with five and in points with 10. 

 

A COMEBACK AGAINST CORNELL: Maine trailed Cornell 3-0 on Dec. 29 in the title game of the 2012 Florida College Classic before scoring five straight goals to take a 5-3 lead. The Black Bears finished the game with a season high six goals. 

 

NINE OF 12 GAMES DECIDED BY ONE GOAL OR TIED: Nine of Maine's last 12 games have either been decided by one goal or a tie. The Black Bears snapped that with a 6-4 victory over #11 Cornell on Dec. 29. Maine's game with Mercyhurst on Jan. 5 was a one goal game, before the Lakers scored a pair of empty net goals. The Black Bears then skated to a 1-1 draw with Northeastern, before falling at Merrimack 6-0. 

 

MARK NEMEC NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE: Mark Nemec has been named one of 20 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. From these 20 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the 2012-2013 Senior CLASS Award in February. Those 10 finalists will be placed on an official ballot for a national vote. The award honors seniors who are committed to staying in school and portraying the values of community, classroom, character and competition. 

 

GAA DROPPING FOR MAINE: In Maine's last 12 games, the Black Bears have given up an average of 2.42 goals per game. Only four times in that span did the Black Bears give up more than two goals. Maine defeated UMass 4-3 on Nov. 10 and defeated Cornell 6-4 on Dec. 29. The Black Bears fell to Mercyhurst 5-2 on Jan. 5, however, two of the goals were empty net goals.  

 

50 POINTS: Senior Kyle Beattie tallied his 50th career point on Saturday, Dec. 29 in the 2012 Florida College Classic. He becomes the third Black Bear to reach the milestone. He currently has 52 career points. Senior Adam Shemansky tallied his 50th career point on Saturday, Dec. 1 against Vermont. He currently has 51 career points. Joey Diamond has currently scored 87 points in his University of Maine career. 

 

DIAMOND MAINE'S ALL-TIME PENALTY LEADER: Joey Diamond has 393 career penalty minutes, the most in Maine history. He surpassed Prestin Ryan (2001-04) with six penalty minutes in the game against Massachusetts on Nov. 16. In other words, Diamond has spent six hours and 33 minutes in the penalty box.  

 

FRESHMAN LEADING THE WAY ON OFFENSE: Maine's freshman class is leading the way on offense. The rookies have tallied 35.6 percent of Maine's total offense. The senior class is close behind, with 34.5 percent of the total scoring. The sophomores are chipping in with 18.4 percent of the offense, while the junior class has added 11.5 percent. 

   

SIX GOALS: Maine scored a season-high six goals in its win over Cornell in the Florida College Classic Title game. It is the most goals that the Black Bears have scored since defeating Northeastern 7-1 on Feb. 25, 2012. 

 

OUELLETTE A REGULAR AMONG THE THREE STARS AS OF LATE: Martin Ouellette has been a fixture among the three starts of late. He was the top star in Maine's win over UMass Lowell. He finished as the game's second star in the 2-2 draw with UMass. He has been named the game's third star on three different occasions lately. 

 

SIX STRAIGHT GAMES FOR DIAMOND: Senior Joey Diamond has tallied a goal in six straight games against Vermont. He had a goal against the Catamounts in the final game between the two teams during the 2010-2011 season. He scored a goal in each of the three games last season and notched a goal in each game against Vermont the weekend of Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. 

 

MAINE'S DEFENSE CHIPPING IN ON OFFENSE: In Maine's 4-3 win over UMass Lowell on Nov. 10, five of the six assists in the game were tallied by defensemen. Mike Cornell dished out a pair of assists, while Nick Pryor, Brice O'Connor and Ben Hutton each had one. 

 

STARTING NINE STRAIGHT: Junior netminder Martin Ouellette had started the past nine games for the Black Bears before rookie Matt Morris got the start on Saturday, Jan. 5 against Mercyhurst. It is the first time in his career that he has got the start in nine straight. He once started three straight games as a freshman.

 

100 GAMES PLATEAU: Maine has five different players who have seen action in 100 or more career games. Joey Diamond and Mark Nemec lead the way, each having seen action in 120 games. Adam Shemansky has played in 115 games, while Mike Cornell has skated in 111. Kyle Beattie reached the milestone at the Florida College Classic and has played in 104 career games. 

 

CAREER-HIGH 41 SAVES: Maine goalie Dan Sullivan stopped a career high 41 shots on Sunday, Nov. 4 in Maine's 4-0 loss to New Hampshire. His previous career-high of 39 saves was set in the 2012 Hockey East title game and tied on Oct. 27 at Providence. 

 

54 SHOTS ON GOAL: Maine recorded 54 shots on goal in its 4-3 win over Army on Oct. 13 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.

 

GETTING THE START: Martin Ouellette got the start in goal for the Black Bears on Friday, Oct. 26 at Providence. It was his first start since Nov. 11, 2011 against UMass Lowell. Three of Ouellette's four career wins prior to this year had come against Providence. Ouellette also got the start for Maine against top-ranked Boston College on Nov. 2.

 

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.  

 

WHAT'S NEW: Maine adds eight newcomers for the 2012-2013 season. Ben Hutton, Conor Riley and Kyle Williams 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. 

 mong the forwards are Ryan Lomberg 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. 

 oalie 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 on Oct. 6 vs. Quinnipiac. What makes the feat even more memorable was that the goal was scored on an assist from his older brother, Jon. The Swavely brothers played on the same line the first three games of the season, prior to Jon getting hurt. 

 

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

 

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. 

 

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 LED 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. 

 

O'CONNOR, CONNOR AND CONOR: Connor is a popular name on the Black Bears this season. Maine has junior defenseman Brice O'Connor, sophomore forward Connor Leen and freshman forward Conor Riley. 

 

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. 

 

A LOOK AT MERRIMACK: Merrimack is 8-9-4 on the season and 6-5-1 in Hockey East play. The Warriors are led by Mike Collins who has 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points. Connor Toomey is adding three goals and nine assists for 12 points. Brendan Ellis has three goals and eight assists for 11 points. Josh Myers and Jordan Heywood each have 10 points on four goals and six assists. Rhett Bly has four goals and five assists for nine points. Kyle Bigos and John Heffernan are each chipping in with three goals and six assists. Dan Kolomatis also has nine points via two goals and seven assists. 

 am Marotta is 5-4-2 with a 2.15 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Rasmus Tirronen has played in 10 games. He is 3-5-2 with a 2.58 goals against average and a .905 save percentage. 

Merrimack is coached by Mike Dennehy (Boston College '91) who is in his eighth season with the Warriors. He has a record of 97-139-33 at Merrimack and an overall record of 100-166-37 in his ninth season as a head coach. He is assisted by associate head coach Glenn Stewart (New Hampshire '94), Curtis Carr (Kent State '03) and Jim Healey (Merrimack '07). 

 

MAINE AND MERRIMACK ALL-TIME: Maine and Merrimack have met 87 times with the Black Bears holding a 62-18-7 edge in the all-time series. The teams played six times last season with Merrimack winning three of the games and one of them finishing in a tie. Maine, however, won two of three in the Hockey East quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. The two teams have met in the Hockey East quarterfinals in each of the past two seasons. Merrimack beat Maine 6-0 last Saturday night.