“I am enthused to get back on campus after four years of being away from college hockey. Hockey East is arguably the best conference in the country. And that’s something that I want to help [with]. I want to help be the best hockey program we can be. And football. And basketball. And I think we can get there.”
All posts for the month March, 2015
Bamford Introduced As UMass AD; Recruit Update: Leonard Named ESPN Boston’s “Mr. Hockey”
Posted by rocks22 on March 24, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/24/bamford-introduced-as-umass-ad-recruit-update-leonard-named-espn-bostons-mr-hockey/
Ryan Bamford Named UMass Athletic Director
The University of Massachusetts today named Ryan Bamford as Athletic Director, replacing John McCutcheon who left for UC-Santa Barbara last month. Bamford will be officially introduced at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Bamford was most recently the Senior Associate AD at Georgia Tech where he oversaw football, basketball, and baseball as well as facilities and game operations.
Posted by rocks22 on March 23, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/23/ryan-bamford-named-umass-athletic-director/
Massie Commits to UMass; Yevenko Signs With Adirondack
UMass picked up a commitment, likely for fall of 2016, from defenseman Jake Massie. Massie played this past season for prep school Kimball Union Academy where he was coached by former Maine coach Tim Whitehead. Massie’s commitment comes on the heels of that of Brian Scoville, another strong prep defenseman who played for Cushing.
Posted by rocks22 on March 22, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/22/massie-commits-to-umass-yevenko-signs-with-adirondack/
Montour Named To All-Rookie Team; Kravchenko Snubbed
Brandon Montour was named to the All-Rookie team by the the Hockey East coaches today. This is a big honor for the former Minuteman and really is a testament to how dominant he was in his short time in Amherst. As I mentioned earlier in the week I personally did not pick Montour for my ballot for the Hockey East Writers & Broadcasters Association All-Rookie team as I gave the nod to those who played the entirety of the league slate. But I certainly can understand those would make their selections based on how they played in the league games, even if they didn’t get the chance to play in all of them.
Posted by rocks22 on March 18, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/18/montour-named-to-all-rookie-team-kravchenko-snubbed/
Recruit Update: Post-Season Honors For Pelton-Byce And Leonard
The season is over for Massachusetts hockey but not so for all of its recruits. It’s been a couple weeks so let’s take a look at the future Minutemen.
Posted by rocks22 on March 17, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/17/recruit-update-post-season-honors-for-pelton-byce-and-leonard/
Montour Makes His Departure Official; FTT Hockey East Awards
Brandon Montour made official what was first reported over the weekend that he indeed is going to forgo his final three years at UMass and sign with the Anaheim Ducks. I shared my thoughts on the subject on Saturday when his impending departure was first reported. While I wish UMass fans had gotten to see him in the maroon and white for longer than 21 games, I wish him well in his pro career.
Posted by rocks22 on March 16, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/16/montour-makes-his-departure-official-ftt-hockey-east-awards/
Report: Brandon Montour Leaves UMass, WIll Sign With Anaheim Ducks
Brandon Montour we hardly knew ye. Montour’s career with Massachusetts hockey has come to an end after just one semester as he will sign with the team that made him a second round draft pick, the Anaheim Ducks. He leaves after only 21 games with the Minutemen, but they were a productive 21. Montour had 3 goals and 17 assists in his time in college and his 20 points were 4th best among all freshmen defenseman nationally despite playing in significantly less games.
Posted by rocks22 on March 14, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/14/report-brandon-montour-leaves-umass-will-sign-with-anaheim-ducks/
Season Recap Part II: The Coaching Situation
Throughout the season people have regularly asked me my opinion on John Micheletto, the job he’s done at UMass, and if I thought he should keep his job. My answer to them was I didn’t want to get too much into “the coaching situation” while there was still hockey being played because I wanted to see how the season played out and I also didn’t want to get caught up in a trap of constantly talking about it. My worry was if I opened the Pandora’s Box of my views on the coaching and state of the program that it would dominate my postings from then on and take away from the regular game previews, recaps, and writing about the players. Well the season is over. I’ve written just about all I have to say about the 2014-15 season, so let’s talk coaching.
Posted by rocks22 on March 12, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/12/season-recap-part-ii-the-coaching-situation/
Vatrano Signs With Bruins, Forgoes Final Two Years At UMass
Fresh off his 18 goal season for the Minutemen RS sophomore forward Frank Vatrano signed a free agent contract with the Boston Bruins today, ending his career at UMass after one season (plus that one playoff game no one counts). This is obviously great news for Vatrano who was able to turn his stellar season into an opportunity to play professional hockey with the local team. The Bruins will gain a great skating forward with a quick, but powerful shot. To my knowledge Vatrano is the first Minuteman to sign a contract with the Bruins, though Marvin Degon and Tim Lovell played for the Providence Bruins previously and Dusty Demianiuk landed a spot at Bruins training camp after winning NESN’s “Be A Bruin” reality show.
Posted by rocks22 on March 12, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/12/vatrano-signs-with-bruins-forgoes-final-two-years-at-umass/
Season Recap Part I
You can say one thing, this surely was a memorable season. Not really for the right reasons though. To say the season was a disappointing one would be an understatement. It started poorly back in October, reached depths that I thought the program would never ever see again, showed some inconsistent promise later on, and then fell completely flat in the final two games. Not much was expected of this team considering they lost two hundred-point scorers last season in Mike Pereira and Conor Sheary as well as other key contributors like Branden Gracel and Joel Hanley. Plus the team had nine freshman to start the season and the jewel of the class, Brandon Montour, wouldn’t even join the team until second semester. Still, it was hoped that, perhaps after some early growing pains, the team would be able to make a material improvement upon last year’s 8 wins and 10th place finish. That did not happen.
Posted by rocks22 on March 11, 2015
https://fearthetriangle.com/2015/03/11/season-recap-part-i-2/
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