October 10, 2011

ATHLETIC REPUBLIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK #10 BRIAN FLYNN, MAINE (Senior Forward; Lynnfield, Mass.) Flynn scored a goal and dished out four assists for five points in Maine's 6-3 win over Northeastern on Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena. His goal proved to be the game-winner against the Huskies. He posted three shots on goal with a +3 plus/minus rating in the game. PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK #13 JOHNNY GAUDREAU, BOSTON COLLEGE (Freshman Forward; Carneys Point, N.J.) Gaudreau notched a game-high four points (1g,3a) in his second collegiate game, a 6-2 win at No. 3 North Dakota, and was a +4 in two BC wins. PURE HOCKEY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK #31 KIERAN MILLAN, BOSTON UNIVERSITY (Senior Goaltender; Edmonton, Alta.) Millan stopped all 35 shots he faced against UNH on Saturday to earn his sixth career shutout and tie Sean Fields' BU record for career goaltender wins at 62. HOCKEY EAST TEAM OF THE WEEK BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES The Eagles won their third Ice Breaker Tournament Championship in school history over the weekend with victories against Michigan State and host No. 3 North Dakota. BC scored 11 goals on the weekend and held their opponents to one power play goal in 10 chances.

Athletic Republic Player of the Week Brian Flynn of Maine ARMY ROTC THREE STARS AWARD At the conclusion of each Hockey East game, the " Army ROTC Three Stars of The Game" are selected. Here are the 2011-2012 season leaders to date: Rk. Name Cl. Pos. School 1. Spencer Abbott Sr. F ME   Justin Daniels Jr. F NU   Kieran Millan Sr. G BU   Jesse Todd Sr. F MC

HOCKEY EAST WEEKLY TOP PERFORMERS

Spencer Abbott, Maine (Sr., F, Hamilton, Ont.) Had two goals and an assist in 6-3 win over Northeastern.

Bill Arnold, BC (So., F, Needham, Mass.) Recorded a team-high five points (1g,4a) and +4 rating in wins over Michigan State and No. 3 North Dakota.

Anthony Bitetto, NU (So., D, Island Park, N.Y.) Had a goal and an assits in Sunday's game at Maine.

Kevin Boyle, UMass (Fr., G, Manalapan, N.J.) Notched 29 saves on 32 shots in his collegiate debut vs. Northeastern Friday.

Joe Cannata, MC (Sr., G, Wakefield, Mass.) Led Merrimack to its first win at Maine since 1997 with 22 saves in a 2-1 win.

Alex Chiasson, BU (Jr., F, St. Augustin, Que.) Tallied a goal, an assist and a +2 rating in Terrier's season-opening 5-0 win over No. 12 UNH.

Chris Connolly, BU (Sr., F, Duluth, Minn.) Had the primary assist on BU's first two goals in a 5-0 win over No. 12 UNH.

Justin Daniels, NU (Jr. F, Suffern, N.Y.) Posted his first-career two-goal game in the season opener against UMass.

Joey Diamond Maine, (Jr., F, Long Beach, N.Y.) Scored a goal and dished out a pair of assists in Maine's 6-3 win over Northeastern on Sunday.

Matt Di Girolamo, UNH (Sr., G, Ambler, Pa.) Stopped 32 shots, including double figures in all three periods in the loss to BU Saturday.

Chris Kreider, BC (Jr., F, Boxford, Mass.) Earned Ice Breaker MVP honors after scoring once in each BC win.

Parker Milner, BC (Jr., G, Pittsburgh, Pa.) Captured two wins with a .907 save percentage in two Ice Breaker Invitational wins with 39 saves.

Pat Mullane, BC (Jr., G, Wallingford, Conn.) Tallied four points (2g,2a) and a +4 rating in two Ice Breaker wins.

Braden Pimm, NU (So., F, Fort St. John, B.C.) He forced OT with his game-tying goal vs.UMass with two seconds left and notched three assists in his first two games.

Vinny Saponari, NU (Jr., F, Powder Springs, Ga.) Registered four points (1g,3a) in two games over the weekend vs. UMass and Maine.

Conor Sheary, UMass (So., F, Melrose, Mass.) Had a career-high two assists in the 3-3 tie with Northeastern.

Jesse Todd, MC (Sr., F, Camrose, Alta.) Netted the game-winning goal, scoring on a short-handed breakaway in a 2-1 win over Maine.

CAREER FIRSTS/MILESTONES/WHO's HOT

Patrick Brown, BC (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) Scored his first collegiate goal at 4:17 of the second period of a 5-2 win over Michigan State (Oct. 7)

Johnny Gaudreau, BC (Carneys Point, N.J.) Tallied his first four collegiate points, including his first career goal on against North Dakota (Oct. 8)

Steven Guzzo, UMass (Oakville, Ont.) Made his collegiate debut Friday, after suffering a season-ending injury prior to the 2010-11 season-opening game

Merrimack College Defeated Maine in third straight meeting for the first time in school history

Merrimack's penalty kill Went 9-for-9 in the win at Maine, killing two separate 3-on-5 situations totaling 1:35 in penalty kill time

Vinny Saponari, NU (Powder Springs, Ga.) Surpassed the 50-point plateau on Sunday with a goal and an assist. Through 84 career games, Saponari has gathered 51 points (20-31-51)

Destry Straight, BC (West Vancouver, B.C.) Recorded his first collegiate point, an assist, in a 5-2 win over Michigan State on Oct. 8 in his first career game for the Eagles

T.J. Syner, UMass (Springfield, Mass.) Played in his 100th career game on Friday at Northeastern, where he scored his 25th career goal

TEAM NOTES

Boston College: Five players earned Ice Breaker All-Tournament honors; Parker Milner, Patch Alber, Tommy Cross, Bill Arnold and Chris Kreider…Eight players scored Boston College's 11 goals in the team's two Ice Breaker Invitational wins…Three freshmen forwards made their collegiate debuts in BC's 5-2 season-opening win over the Spartans; Johnny Gaudreau, Danny Linell (Great Neck, N.Y.) and Destry Straight... Junior defenseman Patch Alber (Clifton Park, N.Y.) netted his fifth career goal and first since Nov. 28, 2010 against the Spartans. BC and MSU met for the first time since the 2007 National Championship Game in St. Louis...BC improved to 13-5 in season-opening games under head coach Jerry York…Against North Dakota, BC scored four times in the middle period which marked the first time the team scored four times in a period since a 6-0 home win over Vermont on Nov. 28, 2010…BC improved to 4-0-1 against the Fighting Sioux in the last five meetings and evened the 23-game all-time series at 11-11-1...BC improved to 7-3-1 against North Dakota under Jerry York…Mullane scored two goals on three shots attempted in two wins.

Boston University: The Terriers opened their season with a convincing 5-0 victory over No. 12 New Hampshire on Saturday, marking the first time the team kicked off a season with a shutout since 1997…Senior Kieran Millan made 35 saves to record his sixth career shutout and tie Sean Fields '04 for first at BU in career goaltending wins at 62…BU has recorded only one shutout in each of the past two seasons…Millan has a 1.84 goals-against average, a .946 save percentage and a 10- 3-2 record in the Hockey East play during the 2011 calendar year (15 games)…Saturday's game marked just the second time since 1989 that the Terriers kicked off the year by opening their home and league schedules…The 5-0 result against UNH was the Terriers' most decisive victory since an 8-3 triumph over Ohio State on March 28, 2009, in the first round of the NCAA Northeast Regional and its most decisive shutout since an identical 5-0 win over UNH on Jan. 23, 2009… A total of 20 former Terriers started the year in the NHL (9) or the AHL (11).

Maine: Maine opened the season with a Hockey East game for the second year in a row…Maine defeated UMass Lowell 8-2 in the seasonopener a year ago…Senior defenseman and captain Will O'Neill (Salem, Mass.) has been named one of the 20 official candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award…Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) had a goal and four assists in Maine's 6-3 win over Northeastern…Flynn currently leads all Black Bears in career points with 113…Flynn leads all Black Bears, having seen action in 114 consecutive games played…Flynn ended last season with a nine-game scoring streak, but saw that come to an end when he was held scoreless against Merrimack in the seasonopener… Four rookies saw their first career action for the Black Bears over the weekend.

Massachusetts: Five Minutemen made their collegiate debuts on Friday compared to eight in 2010-11…The tie at Northeastern was the first season-opening tie for UMass since the 1918-19 season and just the third all-time since 1908…UMass is now 0-4-1 in season-opening games against Hockey East opponents…UMass' last season opener that went to overtime was against No. 13 Clarkson in 2007 (L,1-2). UMass-Lowell: UMass Lowell played it annual preseason exhibition contest at the Chelmsford Forum on Saturday night, tying New Brunswick 3-3. Since elevating the program to Division I, the River Hawks are 17- 3-3 in exhibition games and are currently riding a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2). UMass Lowell and new head coach Norm Bazin open the season this weekend on Oct. 14-15 in Mankato, Minn. against Minnesota State. First year River Hawk head coaches have had mixed results in their debuts behind the bench, combining for a 2-3-0 record. Among the victories, Tim Whitehead won his debut against Massachusetts, 5-2, on Oct. 25, 1996 with the help his first-year assistant Bazin. UMass Lowell has a brief, but rich history with Minnesota State (2-3-0) that dates back to each programs' respective Division II days. The clubs met in the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons from 1979-81, with Lowell winning two of the three contests. The Chiefs won their first ever National Championship on March 17, 1979 against then-named Mankato State, 6-4.

Merrimack: Merrimack opened the season with a 2-1 win at #16/15 Maine, defeating the Black Bears for the first time in Orono since 1997…Merrimack was 0-20-2 in its last 22 at Maine and 5-36-2 lifetime…The win was the third straight over the Black Bears, marking the first time in school history Merrimack has won three straight over Maine…Merrimack is now 7-2-2 in its last 11 season openers and improved to 2-0-1 in its last three Hockey East openers…Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) earned his 43rd career win, most in the school's Division I history, with 22 saves…Jesse Todd (Camrose, AB), who had six game-winners last year, second-most in the league, opened the season with a game-winner, scoring short-handed in the second period… Merrimack was ranked 15th nationally in the USCHO preseason poll, earning its first-ever preseason national ranking…Merrimack and WBIN-TV announced a partnership to televise at least three games live from Lawler Arena beginning December 17 against Union. This marks the first TV contract for Merrimack in school history…Senior assistant captain Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY) was selected as a candidate for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award…The Warriors, who are 26-5-2 at home since the start of the 2009-10 season, host Army in the home opener Saturday at 7 p.m.

New Hampshire: UNH dropped its season opener 5-0 at Boston University on Saturday night...The Wildcats were only shutout once in 2010-11 during the final weekend of the regular season...New Hampshire is trying to avoid back-to-back losses when it travels to Northeastern on Friday...UNH only lost back-to-back game twice in 2010-11...The 'Cats will open at home Saturday night against Boston College...New Hampshire opened last year's home slate with a 3-3 tie with Michigan...Senior Matt Di Girolamo turned aside 32 shots in the season opener including double figures in all three frames...Last season he led the nation in saves with 1145.

Northeastern: The Northeastern men's hockey team treated the Huskies fans to a 3-3 overtime thriller against Massachusetts in both the season opener and head coach Jim Madigan's first-career game as sophomore Braden Pimm netted an extra attacker goal with two seconds left in regulation at Matthews Arena. Friday's contest marked the first time Northeastern and UMass met in the season opener as Madigan went 65 minutes in his introduction to Hockey East. The Huskies unbeaten streak of six games (4-0-2) is the longest against any other squad in the conference. In his first contest as head coach, Madigan's tie marks a program first. No coach has ever skated to a tie in his first game behind the bench. The last time Northeastern opened with a tie was at the Kendall Hockey Classic against Alaska-Fairbanks on Oct. 10, 2008. Junior Justin Daniels broke through in the season opener against UMass by scoring Northeastern's first two goals of the season. It was the Suffern, N.Y. native's first-career two-goal game after suffering a goal-less season in 2010-11. Junior transfer Vinny Saponari joined Pimm and J. Daniels as two-point getters on Friday evening in his first-career game donning a Huskies sweater. Saponari tallied two assists in the opener and followed up that performance with a short-handed goal and assists at Maine on Sunday. Saponari's man-down tally was the first of NU's kind of the season. Sophomore Anthony Bitetto joined the multi-point club in 2011-12 with a goal and an assist at Maine. Bitetto's goal was the first marker by a Northeastern defenseman this season. Heading into Friday's contest against New Hampshire, Saponari, Pimm and senior captain Mike McLaughlin are riding two-game point streaks. McLaughlin assisted in Friday's game and followed it up with his first goal of the season at Maine.

Providence College: Providence College will open the 61st season of Friar Hockey on Friday, October 14 against Boston University… In addition, PC Head Coach Nate Leaman will make his debut behind the Friar bench…The Friars are 36-23-1 all-time in season openers, including wins in back-to-back seasons…Providence also is 13-12-2 in Hockey East openers, including last season's triumph over Northeastern…Providence returns 18 letter-winners from last season's team, including junior forward Tim Schaller, senior defenseman Daniel New and senior goalie Alex Beaudry...Providence will play nine of its first 11 games on home ice, including two home contests against defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth (Oct. 21-22).

Vermont: Vermont returns 78% of its scoring and four of its top five overall scorers from last year...Three of Vermont's newcomers in 2011-12 have been selected in the NHL draft: graduate student Brett Bruneteau (Washington) and freshmen Michael Paliotta (Chicago) and Nick Luukko (Philadelphia)...The Catamounts are seeking their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four seasons...Vermont begins the regular season with its first-ever trip to Mariucci Arena for a two-game series against Minnesota on Oct. 21 and 23...Vermont senior goaltender Rob Madore will be playing in his 100th career game in UVM's season-opener.