NE Elites loaded with HE’s future

Brian Dumoulin, a future BC defenseman, anchors the NE Elites defense

I made the drive over to the Valley Forum in Haverhill (Ward Hill) on Tuesday night to check out the New England Elites take on the Finland-HIFK Elites at the Hockey Night in Boston Showcase.

The NE Elites is loaded with future Hockey East talent, including future Vermont Catamount Brooks Herrington, who has the potential to be a player like Viktor Stahlberg.

He’s big (6-foot-3), strong and can skate. He uses his body very well, especially around the net and I got the impression watching him that he was in control. He seemed to be the general every time he was on the ice. In the offensive zone, he was setting up the draws, he was telling teammates where to be. He looks like the total package.

Generally speaking, “big” guys take some time to come into their own once they hit the NCAA, so I wouldn’t expect monster numbers as a freshman, but as he grows, he’s going to be a player that the rest of the league knows about.

Trevor vanRiemsdyk, the younger brother of former UNH star forward and Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick James vanRiemsdyk, played defense alongside future BC Eagle Brian Dumoulin. I believe vanRiemsdyk is still uncommitted, and had a good game against Finland. There were times he was beat by some of the speedier Finnish fowards, but he’s a solid prospect. Dumoulin looked very good.

Pat Doherty, another uncommited player from the NH Jr. Monarchs, stood out. The one thing that might keep the speedster from making an impact at a D-I level is his size (he’s only 6-0, 165 pounds). There were times he was clearly being pushed off pucks and losing “strength” battles along the boards, but he has very good foot speed and can handle the puck. He had 29 points in 46 games last year for the Monarchs and is a ‘90 birth year.

Another Monarch, Matt Mangene (a Maine recruit) had a solid game. He’s not a big kid (5-11, 185 pounds) but on the power play he stood at the top of the crease and took a beating. He had a couple of chances to finish early in the third period (with the game tied, I believe), and shot it wide, but he looks like a thick kid, despite his relative average height. He showed some good vision, too, finding seams in the offensive zone.

Future BC’er Brian Billett played net for the Elites, and made some nice stops. Finland, who had some talent as well, aggressively entered the zone and drove to the net with authority. Billett was tested often and made key stops.

The one surprising thing about Finland – they complained about everything. The NE players couldn’t touch a Finnish player without arms flailing in the air and chirps at the officials. I was shocked how much they whined.

As for the game, the NE Elites took a 3-2 win with a Doherty goal in the last minute.

UML’s Hamilton arrested on drug charges

UMass Lowell Athletics

UMass Lowell goaltender Nevin Hamilton was arrested for possession of a Class B substance last week in Ashland, Mass.

Hamilton, who is from Natick, Mass., was arrested alongside 23-year-old Adam Neshe at 10:42 p.m. last Friday on Pond Street in Ashland.

UMass Lowell media relations specialist Christine Gillette could not comment on Hamilton’s arrest when contacted on Thursday.

In Massachusetts, Class B substances include opiates, LSD, oxycontin, cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine, among others. It was not immediately known which substance Hamilton was in possession of when arrested.

The penalty for such a crime in Massachusetts says first-time offenders can be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in a state prison, 2 1/2 years in a jail or house of correction, and/or a fine between $1,000 and $10,000.

Hamilton was between the pipes for the River Hawks in the Hockey East championship game, making 31 saves in a 1-0 loss to Boston University. Hamilton attended Marian Academy in Framingham, as did Neshe, the person whom he was arrested with.

Hamilton went 10-7-1 for UML last season with a 2.15 GAA and a .925 save percentage.

Breaking: Whittet hired as Brown coach

As I posted in early July, it appears that Brendan Whittet has been hired as the next coach at Brown University.

Sources tell College Hockey News that Whittet, the only alumnus interviewed, beat out five other finalists for the position.

UNH speaks on NCAA punishment

"It's an honest mistake" - UNH head coach Dick Umile on 923 e-mail violations to prospective players.

Carrie Doyle, UNH’s senior associate athletic director for NCAA compliance, spoke with the Union Leader today about the university’s probation and recruiting restrictions handed down by the NCAA on Thursday.

“The violations were very focused and very limited,” said Doyle, who previously worked for seven years as an investigator for the NCAA. “Generally speaking, (probation) means it is a time period where the university is under heightened scrutiny by the NCAA and we’ll be monitoring closely what is happening with additional reports.”

According to Doyle, it was UNH associate head coach Scott Borek who sent the 923 impermissible e-mails to prospective players.

Added head coach Dick Umile, “It was an honest mistake. Probation means we can’t make another mistake. We self-reported when we realized a mistake had been made with the scouting software. Hopefully this sort of thing will not happen again.”

Doyle told the Union Leader that the players in question can still be recruited by UNH, receive athletic scholarships from UNH, still sign financial aid agreements and attend the university, however without the student-athletes signing letters of intent, the athletes can back out and opt for another school.

—Analysis—

The bottom line is that UNH violated recruiting rules and deserves the punishment. You have to commend the university for reporting the violations themselves, which I’m sure helped lessen the penalty.

The Wildcats don’t have a history of recruiting violations so the punishment fits the crime for a first-time offender.

Outside of the 30 players in question, the violation doesn’t give UNH a competitive advantage over anyone. And the restrictions put in place by the NCAA severely hinder both UNH’s ability to receive commitments from those players (they can’t receive paid visits to campus) and UNH may also feel leery of any commitments they do receive, given that the players cannot sign a NLOI, meaning they can back out at any time to attend another school.

I’m sure there have been situations like this in the past where coaches/programs have intentionally omitted from reporting the error to the NCAA.

And I believe UNH when it says the violations were an honest mistake; if it was intentional, the university never would have reported themselves to the NCAA.

UNH penalized for recruiting violations

The UNH hockey program has been placed on two-year’s probation by the NCAA due to 923 impermissible e-mails being sent to 30 different prospective players during the 2007-08 season.

The program will also incur several recruiting restrictions, according to the NCAA.

According to the NCAA, an associate head coach sent all of the e-mails using a recruiting software program that allowed the associate head coach to send an e-mail message to multiple prospects through one computer keystroke. Thirty prospective student-athletes received impermissible recruiting contacts from the university prior to June 15 following the conclusion of their freshman or sophomore years in high school.

The associate head coach said during an NCAA disposition that the violations occurred because he misunderstood the relevant recruiting rule and entered date into the recruiting software program according to the prospective student-athletes’ expected enrollment date at the university, rather than their high school graduation. As a result, high school freshman and sophomores were placed in the same category as juniors and seniors.

There was agreement by all involved parties that the case should be categorized as major because the violations were neither isolated nor inadvertent, and the volume of impermissible e-mails provided more than a minimal competitive advantage.

On top of the two-year probation period, UNH will be forced to a reduction by one in the number of permissible recruiters in men’s ice hockey who can be off-campus at any given time from April 24, 2009, through October 23, 2009. The 30 involved prospective student-athletes will not receive an expense-paid visit to the university’s campus and will not be allowed to sign a National Letter of Intent with the University.

Andover’s Drew to tryout for third goalie

Photo courtesy of The Eagle Tribune

Andover’s Nick Drew, a former MVC Division 1 Player of the Year, will tryout with Merrimack this fall in an attempt to fill the vacant third goalie position.

Drew started his high school career at Central Catholic where his grandfather, Bill DeLuca, is deeply involved with the community (his grandfather also owns the DeLuca family auto dealerships throughout the Merrimack Valley). When his younger brother went to Andover High to play hockey for coach  Mario Martiniello, Nick made the switch.

“(My family) brought up the idea of going to Andover High,” Drew told The Eagle Tribune last year. “At first I was reluctant. But my brother was going to Andover High and the more I talked to my friends about it, the more I fell in love with the idea of going back to Andover. I grew up with all the guys on the (Andover) hockey team.”

Drew, in his only year as the Andover starter in 2007-08, started 20 of 21 games his senior year going 13-3-5 while compiling an impressive 1.40 GAA and four shutouts. Over the course of his season at Andover, he allowed more than two goals in a game only twice (a 3-3 tie with Central Catholic and a 3-1 loss to Salem) and held opponents to one goal eight times.

He spent last season PG’ing Tilton Academy where he helped hand Phillips Academy (17-4-4) one of just four losses on its season, making 23 saves in a 2-1 win on the road and holding NHL first-round pick Chris Kreider (who is headed to BC this fall) off the scoresheet.

Drew has been working out with some of the Warriors this summer and is hoping to make the squad when tryouts commence in September. He would join Joe Cannata and Andrew Braithwaite on the Merrimack goaltending roster.

Drew has been playing hockey since age 2, and has been a netminder since he was eight years old.

“I just love playing goalie,” he said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s what makes the position even more fun. I like that I am the last line of defense.”

Cannata, Bigos, Todd take part in NHL Development Camps

Joe Cannata (Vancouver), Kyle Bigos and Jesse Todd (Edmonton) all are participating in NHL Development camps.

Former Warriors Joe Loprieno and Matt Jones are in the Sharks’ camp.

Merrimack SID Brad Davis has some info on the Bigos and Todd’s trip to Edmonton. Bigos was drafted 99th overall by the Oilers in last month’s NHL Draft; Todd is a free agent invitee.

Yopyk takes BCHL head coaching job

Darren Yopyk, who has served as an assistant coach at Merrimack for the last four seasons, has accepted an offer to become the head coach of the Westside Warriors of the British Columbia Hockey League, one of the premiere junior leagues in Canada.

“It is with bittersweet feelings that I accept the head coaching position with Westside,” said Yopyk. “The next step in my coaching career is to take the reins as a head coach, and I am fortunate to get this opportunity with Westside. I want to thank Coach Dennehy for his tremendous guidance and support.  I cannot say enough about the support the program has from the administration, support staff and alumni.  I know the Merrimack hockey program has come a long way over the past four seasons.  I will watch with eager anticipation as they continue to ascend in Hockey East and on the national level.”

Yopyk, who worked primarily with the defensemen and penalty killing units at Merrimack, was promoted to associate head coach before the 2008-09 season. A St. Paul, Alberta native, he oversaw all recruiting efforts, establishing the Alberta pipeline to Merrimack that saw the likes of Chris Barton (Calgary), Karl Stollery (Camrose), Jesse Todd (Calgary), and Kyle Bigos (Upland, CA) enroll at Merrimack in recent years.

“It was with a heavy heart that I accepted Coach Yopyk’s letter of resignation,” said Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy.  “I was also very happy for him and proud as he was offered and accepted the head coaching position for the Westside Warriors of the BCHL.”

Under Yopyk’s guidance, the Warriors set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season for the second straight year and posted a goals-against-average under three in Hockey East for the first time in school history.

“Darren has put his heart and soul into the Merrimack Hockey program,” said Dennehy.  “Now it’s his turn to take the next step in his quest to be a college head coach.  He was the first person I brought into the Merrimack hockey family, and I know how hard a decision this has been for him and wish him nothing but success.  Finally, I would like to thank him for his loyalty and dedication to Merrimack Hockey and its players.”

Yopyk is the only college hockey coach to have earned a Ph.D., which he earned in Psychology, with an emphasis on student-athlete academic performance in 2006.

Westside posted a 37-18-1-4 record last season, finishing in third place in its division.

A national search to replace Yopyk will begin immediately.

Note: I’ll have more on Yopyk’s departure tonight.

MacDonald: “I took it personal when they kept comparing our program to Merrimack”

UMass Lowell head coach Blaise MacDonald sat down with UML radio play-by-play man Bob Ellis for a podcast interview streamed on YouTube. 

During the interview, MacDonald was speaking of the fights the program had to endure to keep it afloat a few years ago when many wanted it to drop out of Hockey East in favor of keeping just the Amherst campus as the “focal point” of UMass and took a small jab at the Merrimack program in the process.

“From a personal standpoint, I look back at the fights we had to try and maintain this program a couple of years ago and I took it personal when they kept comparing our program to Merrimack,” MacDonald said. “I don’t get that. We’ve done a number of things that Merrimack has never done; they haven’t made the playoffs in five years now.

“We were ranked in the top-20 for 11, 14 weeks in recent past, so it’s nice to show some of the people who were involved in trying to extinguish our program that (keeping the program alive) is the right decision.”

Rumor: Whittet has inside track at Brown

There are some rumblings that Dartmouth assistant coach Brendan Whittet could have the inside track to be the next head coach at Brown University.

Brown has received a lot of interest in the job, including numerous Division 1 assistants and Division 3 head coaches. But, according to someone with knowledge of the hiring process, some candidates have had their interest diminish due to Brown capping the salary at $85,000/year.

Whittet is in his 11th season as an assistant on the Dartmouth College staff and 14th season overall in collegiate coaching.

He’s from Providence, R.I. and  graduated from Brown in 1994 with a bachelor of arts degree in organizational behavior and management. 

A former assistant defenseman with the Bears in his playing days at Brown, Whittet was a four-year letter-winner. In his playing career, he appeared in 74 games and helped lead the Bears to an Ivy League title in 1992, two trips to the ECAC Final Four Championship in 1993 and 1994, and an NCAA at-large tournament team selection in 1993.

During Whittet’s high school career he was a two-time Rhode Island all-state and all-league selection at perennial powerhouse Mount St. Charles. He was named the Rhode Island Defensive Player of the Year in 1988-89.