1. UNH: 18 points, 8-2-2
2. BC: 16 points, 7-3-2
3. Maine: 15 points, 7-4-1
4. UMass: 12 points, 6-4-0
5. Lowell: 11 points, 5-4-1
6. UVM: 10 points, 4-5-2
7. Northeastern: 9 points, 4-7-1
8. Merrimack: 8 points, 4-6-0
9. BU: 6 points, 2-7-2
10. PC: 5 points, 2-7-1
Stats:
Gibbons: 5-11-16
C Atkinson: 8-7-15
Smith: 9-5-14
Sneep: 6-8-14
Hayes: 4-8-12
Carey: 5-6-11
J Whitney: 4-6-10
Mullane: 3-6-9
S Whitney: 2-6-8
Cross: 3-4-7
Muse: 6-3-2 2.70 .893
Milner: 4-0-0 2.26 .905
Overall, have to be very impressed with the team thus far they have won at some tough places (@ ND, @ UMass, @ Maine, & @ BU) and won games that they should have (NU, BU, Clarkson, & Harvard) but the thing I am most impressed with is that this team brings it every game, every shift. Something going forward that is going to serve is very well is we are one of the top scoring teams in the country but we don't have single player in the top 50 nationally. Another surprise has been the production from the D offensively, last year our leading scorer from D was Tim Kunes (3-8-11) & Sneep (2-9-11), this year we are one pace to have four top that and Sneep is on pace to get over 30 points. The emergence of Milner has eased Muse back into the starting role coming off major surgery and to top it off he has played very well. I think the fact that this team is finally healthy (knock on wood) is huge, there were many injuries beyond the typical bumps and bruises that occurred last year without public knowledge from multiple hernias to a player with multiple hernias to obviously Muse being in pain every time he went into the butterfly.
MVP: Carl Sneep
He is much more confident with the puck, going back towards how he played on the NCAA title run and it is especially impressive considering how he played his freshman at times throughout his career. He also is very active offensively, who could have imagined Sneep being #3 in goals on a team that was supposed to be and is high powered. He has also been very solid on D being the leader of the team that is #1 in goals allowed. Which brings me to the final reason he is the MVP, right now on D, of the players who play, we have 1 Sr, 0 Jr, 2 So. (who combined had played about a year coming into this year), & 3 Fr. there were question marks all over the D and he has been the steady rock that the unit needed, who would have believed I'm saying that after watching him for 3 years?
Surprise: Parker Milner
Coach York hasn't used a rotation of any type in five years when Schneider was a freshman. The emergence of Milner not only has allowed Muse to rest after a very demanding surgery in which has wasn't allowed to play during the summer but he has played very well. When the surgery first occurred and recovery was on going there was talk of Muse missing up to a semester's worth of hockey but Milner has played well enough to wrestle time from Muse.
Room to Breakout: Kreider
I hesitate to put someone in this category but if I had to it would probably be him. You never know what you are going to get with a freshman (especially one that could be a HS senior right now) but he has shown flashes of unbelievable skill. For example blowing by four UVM players down the boards and then deking the goalie out of his pads and finishing with a backhand or snapping off some of the hardest wristers I have seen in my four years during the exhibition games. However there are games when he just disappears so going forward all I want to see is consistently because he obviously has the talent.
Going forward this team has the talent to do significant damage nationally and the game at Denver in a couple of weeks should be a good barometer. After a semester of playing what feels like every game on the road (they will go almost 2 months away from Conte) they do have a home bias to their schedule going forward. The home and home against UNH to end the year probably will decide the HE regular season title as I don't see UNH running away from the pack. Nationally we are #2 in the PWR which essentially determine seedings for the NCAA and there isn't an eastern school until Quinnipiac at #8 so it seems almost assured that we will be in Worcester. The balance of scoring, the solid D and a rested Muse is a recipe for another deep tourney run.
