After an expectation shattering 2014-15 season, St. Lawrence entered 2015-16 with slightly more excitement. Picked to finish second in preseason polls, they wound up in fourth and returning to Lake Placid, losing to Harvard in overtime.
It started out pretty well for St. Lawrence, as the first half saw them head into their midseason break with a 10-5-2 record, their best record at the midpoint since 2005-6. They endured a disappointingly characteristic slide in January which dropped them out of the picture for an at-large bid, but they bounced back with a strong end to the season, highlighted by wins in overtime over Cornell and Quinnipiac to secure the final home ice spot.
Then, the hockey gods granted SLU fans wish, setting up the route 11 rivalry in the playoffs, an insanely close 2 game sweep in favor of the good guys. Harvard then delivered the final slap in the face, defeating SLU 2-1 in overtime with a goal scored off Kyle Criscuolo's face.
The offseason hasn't exactly been a harbinger of positivity with the announcement that Greg Carvel accepted the position at UMass, leaving SLU without a head coach and an assistant since Jared DeMichiel will be joining Carvell at UMass. This wasn't a position Bob Durocher thought he would be in, so we'll see how this plays out, but for now, I leave you with some postseason awards to hopefully alleviate the sting of the last month of SLU hockey.
It started out pretty well for St. Lawrence, as the first half saw them head into their midseason break with a 10-5-2 record, their best record at the midpoint since 2005-6. They endured a disappointingly characteristic slide in January which dropped them out of the picture for an at-large bid, but they bounced back with a strong end to the season, highlighted by wins in overtime over Cornell and Quinnipiac to secure the final home ice spot.
Then, the hockey gods granted SLU fans wish, setting up the route 11 rivalry in the playoffs, an insanely close 2 game sweep in favor of the good guys. Harvard then delivered the final slap in the face, defeating SLU 2-1 in overtime with a goal scored off Kyle Criscuolo's face.
The offseason hasn't exactly been a harbinger of positivity with the announcement that Greg Carvel accepted the position at UMass, leaving SLU without a head coach and an assistant since Jared DeMichiel will be joining Carvell at UMass. This wasn't a position Bob Durocher thought he would be in, so we'll see how this plays out, but for now, I leave you with some postseason awards to hopefully alleviate the sting of the last month of SLU hockey.
Most Valuable Player: Gavin Bayreuther
Hot take alert right here: SLU's leading scorer was their MVP. However, given people's tendency to pick Kyle Hayton, this is slightly less than usual, but I really feel like this team owed a lot of success to the way Bayreuther played this season.
He became the first SLU defenseman to lead the team in scoring, putting up 29 points in 37 games. He was an all-American, second team all-east, first team all-ECAC, and though I don't have a way to track it, was definitely no worse than third in time-on-ice for SLU, if not first. I'm not sure how you go with anyone else. That's not to say that Kyle Hayton wasn't deserving of recognition. But Bayreuther's campaign was historic for SLU and absolutely integral to the success of this team.
Rookie of the Year: Jacob Pritchard
My god, the hot takes just keep coming! Pritch had a tough start to his college career in terms of points, and he caught some heat from some people who expected more out of him, but he was playing with a broken finger, and I can tell you, playing with a hangover is bad enough, I don't know how he did it.
Fast forward to the end of the season, and Pritch finished tied for 4th on the team in scoring with 21 points, thanks in large part to a 13-game point streak that, technically speaking, hasn't ended yet. He can look to continue it next year.
He will remain the top line winger, though has some experience at center, a position SLU is currently lacking. Keep your eyes on him, he's the real deal.
Most Underrated: Ben Masella and Matt Purmal
This one might actually qualify as, at the very least, a lukewarm take. Purmal and Masella don't light up the scoresheet, with just 9 points apiece. But, when you consider that they played third pair minutes and combined had about one minute of time on ice during a power play, those numbers aren't terrible.
The importance of Masella and Purmal comes when you examine their roles in comparison to the other four defensemen. Sweetman and Gluchowski were consistently together, and Bayreuther played through three partners, with Graham, McMullan and Gicewicz all seeing time with him. But what Masella and Purmal provided was stability and the ability to roll three D-pairs, even late in close games.
It's comforting to know that you can put your third pair out to start in the D-zone so that your three offensive dynamos can focus slightly more on generating offense. By god did it work too.
And that's a wrap folks. Season three is in the books, and they'll be some changes to the blog before next season. (Bringing on some help to get more content out and considering a complete redesign of the site) For now, stay classy and go easy on Carvel.
"The offseason hasn't exactly been a harbinger of positivity with the announcement that Greg Carvel accepted the position at UMass, leaving SLU without a head coach and an assistant since Jared DeMichiel will be joining Carvel at UMass."
ReplyDeletehas Jared's departure been confirmed? don't see him listed on the UMass staff ....
It's pretty much confirmed. Nothing has technically been confirmed publicly, but in our private conversations, he has essentially confirmed it. It hinged on whether Carvel would have to retain the old UMass assistants, whom he released last week
Delete4.12.16 uh-oh. off the coaching roster on Athletics page. so guess an announcement to come from U Mass
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