Recruit Update ▲ McElhenie, Boeing Land At UMass

UMass has secured commitments today from a couple of left-shooting centers for this fall.  The first came from forward Brett Boeing, who left Michigan Tech after his first semester this past winter.  Boeing will be eligible to suit up for the Minutemen for the 2nd semester this coming season and could make his debut at the Mariucci Classic in Minnesota.  The second came a few hours later from Luke McElhenie.  Both players played most recently in the USHL.

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Recruit Update ▲ McLaughlin & Suter Commit To UMass

The first recruiting class of UMass coach Greg Carvel  is beginning to take shape as the Minutemen have recently gotten commitments from two USHL players.  Fargo Force defenseman Jake McLaughlin and Sioux Falls Stampede center Jack Suter are the latest players to sign on with Carvel and his staff after Griff Jeszka became their very first recruit a couple weeks ago.

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Up To The Minute ▲ Jeszka Commits; Frozen Fenway & Other Scheduling News

I last posted exactly a month ago.  I did not expect to go so long between posts but first I went to Florida to drink a lot of Cigar City Brewing attend a wedding and when I got back I just couldn’t find the time and/or motivation to write.  But after some time to recover from the feverish rate of positing as the season ended and the subsequent coaching moves were made, I think I’m finally ready to start spending some time on UMass hockey again.

It’s the offseason so there isn’t a ton to catch up on, especially since the focus of Coach Carvel and his staff has likely been more on getting settled in Amherst than actual hockey stuff.  But there were a few major developments since the last post.

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Up To The Minute ▲ Carvel Officially Names His Staff; Recruit Update; Vatrano Gains Some Hardware

In last week’s post I mentioned that UMass coach Greg Carvel would likely name Ben Barr, Jared DeMichiel, and Brennen McHugh to his staff in the coming days.  That day was today as the hiring of Barr and Demichiel as assistant coaches and McHugh as Director of Hockey Operations became official.

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Up To The Minute ▲ Assistant News; Recruit Update; State Of The Triangle

This will be a mixed bag of a post since there’s a few things to catch up on.  It makes sense to start off with this story that ran in the Collegian by Ross Gienieczko where he covers a lot of ground with Greg Carvel who has jumped into the everyday work of being the UMass hockey coach.  In the article Carvel talks about filling in his staff, Toot Cahoon, and the fate of committed recruits.

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Up To The Minute ▲ Additional Carvel Coverage

Here is some additional coverage of Greg Carvel being named Massachusetts head coach since my last post.

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New Era Begins ▲ Carvel Introduced As UMass Head Coach

Greg Carvel was officially introduced as the 14th head coach of the Massachusetts hockey program this morning in Amherst.  Carvel opened up his remarks by recalling a conversation with legendary Amherst College coach Jack Arena who told his former assistant coach that UMass “is a home run, they just need the right guy.  You’re the guy.”

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View From Section U ▲ Crunching Carvel’s Numbers

Ahead of coach Greg Carvel’s formal introduction as head coach of Massachusetts hockey I’ve been taking a look at some numbers, as I tend to do.  The story of UMass’ struggles in recent years was easily told through their statistics.  So let’s take a look at the Saint Lawrence Saints’ team statistics from Carvel’s four years in Canton and see what’s to learn from them.

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Carvel Era Begins ▲ Bamford Chooses Saint Lawrence Head Coach To Lead Minutemen

The state of the Massachusetts hockey program has fallen on such hard times in recent years that some have said it will take an act of God to turn the program around.  Well athletic director Ryan Bamford has chosen a Saint to elevate UMass hockey to the promised land that has mostly eluded the program in its history.  Today Bamford announced that Saint Lawrence head coach Greg Carvel is the new coach of Minuteman hockey, signing a five-year deal to oversee the program.

https://twitter.com/UMassADBamford/status/714891791938494464

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Recruit Update ▲ Bear, Makar Win Brooks Team Awards

In my last recruit update I passed along the news that recruits Cale Makar and Matt Murray were named award winners for the AJHL.  Well recently the Brooks Bandits held an on-ice ceremony to announce their team awards and a couple of Minutebandits were winners.  Cale Makar was named co-Rookie of the Year while Shane Bear won Defenseman of the year.  You can view the ceremony here. 

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