One of the tastiest Thanksgiving treats for local college hockey fans is the PrimeLink Shootout, which will be held this year at Middlebury College on Friday and Saturday.
As usual, the annual tournament will sport a strong field featuring nationally ranked Division III teams. This year, No. 2 Norwich (6-0-0; 5-0-0 ECAC East) and No. 3 Plattsburgh (7-0-0; 7-0-0 SUNYAC) kick off the event at 4 p.m. Friday, followed by the 7 p.m. encounter between host Middlebury (1-1-2; 1-1-2 NESCAC) and Concordia (4-3-1; 2-1-1 MIAC) of Minnesota.
The consolation game will be at 4 p.m. Saturday with the championship tilt at 7.
The Cadets are coming off a 4-3 win over New England College, Norwich’s closest game to date. Sr F Gerard McEleney (4-4-8) and So F Tyler Piacentini (5-2-7) lead the offense while So Ty Reichnback (1.67; .912) and Fr Braeden Ostepchuk (0.50; .966) have split the goaltending.
The Cardinals have handled their opponents with relative ease with upperclassmen providing stability and scoring. Sr. F Michael Cassidy (5-4-9), Jr F Kevin Emmerling (4-5-9) and Jr D Rich Botting (3-4-7) lead a balanced offense. Jr Spencer Finney (2.25; .917 and So Brady Rouleau (1.34; .942) have split the goaltending.
Middlebury, which has slipped out of the national top 10 in recent seasons, is looking for more offensive production. Shut out 6-0 by Bowdoin in their opener, the Panthers are 1-0-2 in their last three but have scored only seven goals in four games. So F Mike Najjar (2-2-4) and Fr F Vincent Gisonti (2-0-4) have accounted for most of the goals. Jr Liam Moorfield-Yee (1.89; .923) has played the last three games in goal.
This year’s designated visitor, Concordia of Minnesota, is 2-0-1 in its last three after a slow start. So F Garrett Hendrickson (3-9-12), Jr F Jordie Bancroft (6-3-9) and Sr F Andrew Deters (5-4-9) supply offensive spark. So Jordyn Kaufer (2.70; .896) and Fr Alex Reichle (1.50; .939) have each played four games in goal.
Catamounts’ depth challenged: Prior to the season, UVM men’s hockey coach Kevin Sneddon said he believed this year’s team had not only more depth but more quality depth.
That depth, especially among forwards, is being tested after a spate of injuries has sidelined Kyle Reynolds, Malcolm McKinney, Tom Forgione and Travis Blanleil. All four are listed as week-to-week with a variety of ailments.
Reynolds missed all of the 2013-14 season and had struggled a bit to regain his for. His scoring touch has been missed by a Catamount team that, until the 11-1 at UMass, had scratched for offense.
McKinney, a sophomore, didn’t play much as a freshman but he had scored three goals recently, including two in the UMass rout. Late in that game, the 5-foot-8, 164-pound forward took a clean but brutal hit from 6-7, 230-pound Oleg Yavenko, sending McKinney to the sidelines.
Forgione was an instigator a year ago, someone who could provide a jolt of energy for the Catamounts with his speed, grit and tenacity. He has yet to play this year and his return, whenever it is, will be critical for a team that wants to pressure opponents, particularly in the offensive zone.
Blanleil, a freshman, played only two games before he was sidelined.
“The fact that we’re not missing a beat with one player going down and a new player coming in, that will prove very important to us not only through Tuesday’s game but through the weekend as well, not that we’re looking ahead to Maine, but we’re looking at the whole chunk of five games in nine nights,” Sneddon said. “That’s a lot of hockey.
“We’ve got to be smart with our preparations. Our practice times are certainly decreased. We’re not doing a lot of hitting between games,” he said.
The return of any and/or all of the injured forwards should only benefit Vermont as it prepares for a very difficult second half of the Hockey East season. So far, the six HEA foes UVM has faced have a cumulative 13-24-4 league record. The five HEA teams UVM will play in the after Jan. 1 — BU, Lowell, Merrimack, BC and UNH — are a combined 19-11-3 in league competition. Only UNH (1-4-0) is below .500.
Meanwhile, the Catamount defense should get an immediate boost when freshman Trey Phillips becomes eligible after first-semester final exams. The addition of Ori Abramson to the defense will take a little longer even though he will be eligible for St. Lawrence. Abramson has been practicing but not playing with his junior team as he awaits the start of the second semester. He will need time to adjust to college hockey before he plays.
UVM women struggle defensively: Haven’t had the opportunity to catch up with UVM women’s coach Jim Plumer recently but undoubtedly he and his staff are trying to figure out why the Catamounts’ defense has suddenly become so porous.
UVM ran off three straight shutouts in two wins over Union and another against Connecticut before everything unraveled. In the six games since that streak, Vermont has relinquished 30 goals and gone 2-4-0. Both wins were wild non-league affairs against Syracuse.
Of the four losses, the most frustrating was the 5-1 decision at New Hampshsire. That’s a team a rising Vermont team should have defeated. Losing to Boston College by a respectable 4-2 score was fine and losing twice to Northeastern was hardly unexpected, although the 7-3 and 5-1 scores had to rankle.
UVM (8-6-1; 1-4-0 HEA) will try to pull itself together defensively with a pair of games against revitalized Maine (5-8-2; 4-2-1 HEA) at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Saturday and Sunday.
Contact Free Press correspondent Ted Ryan at TedRyanVT@aol.com and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TedRyanVT
