ECRHA Round Table - Marple & ZRink

Jesse: Hey Bill- been a long time since we've done one of our roundtables. Let's chat about the first couple weeks of the season, shall we?

 

Bill: It has been a while and it is nice to be able to bring such a great feature back to the players for the second season in a row.

 

I say we focus on the first regular season event, Marple, and go from there, what do you think?

 

Jesse: Sounds good to me. Let's start with Division I- had a lot of good games there. Who stood out to you?

 

Bill: At this point, I have to go with Neumann. They have started out strong, going 2-0-1 in the regular season, and a perfect 3-0-0 in the preseason. Despite having the settle for a tie against West Chester, I'd say that Neumann looked like the better team.

 

Jesse: That's a pretty fair statement. I was sort of bummed that they didn't play Towson, who also went 2-0-1 this weekend, with their lone tie being to West Chester, as well.

But as a whole, I would agree that Neumann was the best looking team during the ECRHA's inaugural weekend.

 

Bill: Towson is going to be a dangerous team as the season progresses, it just seemed to me that they were off as a team and not clicking on all cylinders like last postseason when they went on a memorable run.

 

Jesse: Agreed. Although it's certainly early, and even though it's a good indicator of things to come, ultimately a season is judged on what happens at regionals.

 

Bill: Despite some outstanding individual performances this weekend, we need to come to an agreement on 3 players to be named as our players of the week. With my first nomination I would like to recognize Anthony Ehinger of Neumann. In 3 games, he scored 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points, good for second on his team, but more importantly to me, he registered 2 game winning goals for Neumann.

 

Bill: Now both goals were scored early in contests won handily by Neumann (10-2 and 6-0), but good players put games away when the opportunity exists and I feel Ehinger did just that.

 

Jesse: Boy, that name sounds familiar, huh? Ehinger definitely had great weekend, pacing the Neumann attack with 3 points per game. Another Neumann player I would like to nominate is goaltender Mike Maczynski. Mike went 2-0-1 this weekend, with a GAA of 1.33 and save percentage of .918. He looked confident all weekend, and although he wasn't overly worked (49 shots in 3 games), he played very well when called upon.

 

Bill: Maczynski had a good weekend for Neumann, but there is one final Knight that I would like to mention and that is Shane Fox. After Ed Jones took home the Rookie of the Year Award last season, I think Fox could be have opened up and early lead in that category for this season, scoring 7 goals and assists on 3 others for 10 points in his ECRHA debut.

 

Jesse: Good point. In addition, a lot of the Division I goalies had very good opening weekends. Even though Temple went winless, Benjamin Dahms kept the Owls in all of their games, turning aside 98 out of 113 shots on the weekend.

 

Bill: Despite putting up solid numbers this weekend, Dahms looked uncomfortable in goal at times, however, knowing Ben, I would expect him to improve as the season progresses.

 

Jesse: Let's go with this, then: 1. Ehinger 2. Maczynski 3. Fox

Sound good to you?

 

Bill: I can agree to that.

 

Jesse: Perfect. Let's move to Division II.

 

Jesse: I'd like to nominate two Delaware players to start it off: Justin Kozak and Gerard Gallo. Both had 11 points. If you believe assists carry more weight than goals, you would like Kozak's performance, as he had 10 helpers on the weekend. If you are a fan of goal scoring- Gallo's your guy, as he netted 5 goals.

 

Bill: Justin and Gerard had great weekends, leading UD to a 2-1-0 record. I don't care who you play, getting 10 assists in one weekend is a very impressive feat. I'd like to nominate a Rutgers player as well, Jeffrey O'Connell scored 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points for the Scarlet Knights.

 

Jesse: Agreed. Although winless in their opening weekends, Albany's Nicholas Vitale and Cornell's Kenneth Bogart had good opening weekends, as Vitale netted 7 points, and Bogart scored 5 out of the 6 Cornell goals on the weekend, each pacing their respective team's attack.

 

Bill: Yea, both teams had rough starts to their season. The final player I would like to mention is Adrian Orio from Drexel, in 3 games he posted a 2-0-1 record with a GAA and a .890 SPCT. With three close games to open the season, an off night from Orio could have easily cost Drexel a victory.

 

Jesse: Good point. I think based on that, I would nominate my three as: Kozak, O'Connell, Orio. You?

 

Bill: I can agree to that.

 

Jesse: Sick. What's next?

 

Bill: B Division.

 

Jesse: Alright, let's hear it. Start us off, Bill.

 

Bill: I am going to let the first two nominations come from Twitter:

 

@MikeGetz Matt Shackleton for Temple B deserves a mention for some strong numbers in net at the Marple event.

 

@bryan_boyle26 Jeremy Hesidenz of Slippery Rock B for putting up 8 pts in his 1st career #ECRHA weekend #ECRHAroundtable

 

I can't say I disagree. Shackleton went 3-0-0 with a 1.48 GAA and .926 SPCT, you aren't really going to see much better numbers from a goalie.

 

Jesse: Those are Phil DaSilva-esque numbers, if I may say so myself. Good contributions from some of our twitter followers, for sure.

 

Bill: Agreed, Hesidenz preformed well for Slippery Rock, new to the B Division. Scoring 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points to lead Slippery Rock to a 2-1-0 record.

 

Any strike your fancy?

 

Jesse: Speaking of the Owls, a couple Temple forwards had good weekends, as Matt Phillipes (3-4-7) and Rob Degregorio (5-1-6) had very good weekends, pacing the Temple offense.

 

Bill: Agreed. It seems to me that Phillipes had a very balanced weekend, so what do you value more, goal scoring or balanced scoring?

 

Jesse: Balanced scoring. I'd give Phillipes the third spot, with Hesidenz and Shackleton being 1-2.

 

Bill: I have Shackleton being #1.

 

Jesse: Sounds good to me, I am all for goalies getting the credit.

 

Bill: This is a complete turnaround for me, usually I am spilling hate on goalies, not sure what is going on.

 

Jesse: Alright, let's move on...let's talk about the Glastonbury event, shall we?

 

Bill: Let's do, first off, I want to address the B Division, the Northeastern/Hofstra game was awesome ending in a 1-1 tie.

Jesse: Sounded like it was a really good game.

 

Bill: A pair of Northeastern players really stuck out to me, Conner Peterson who scored 7 goals in 3 games and Cam Sylvia who scored a goal and added 6 assists.

 

Bill: I think I'll let Robert Lerro from Northeastern (DII) say it:

 

@Bobby_Light49 My vote for B player has to go to Cam Sylvia from NU kid was an assist machine in his first ever ECRHA event #ECRHARoundtable

 

Jesse: I noticed that. A pair of goalies seemed to shine this past weekend, as Craig Camara (1.00 GAA, .931 save pct.) and Dane Osmanski (1.01 GAA, .893 save pct.) had great weekends.

 

Bill: Yes, both goalies played outstanding in the 1-1 tie, turning asisde 28 of the 30 shots they faced.

 

Jesse: That's some good goaltending there.

 

Bill: Like always, we need to come with a 1-2-3, And my votes go Camara, Osmanski, Sylvia, what do you think?

 

Bill: Yes, both goalies played outstanding in the 1-1 tie, turning asisde 28 of the 30 shots they faced.

 

Jesse: That's some good goaltending there.

 

Bill: Like always, we need to come with a 1-2-3, And my votes go Camara, Osmanski, Sylvia, what do you think?

 

Jesse: I'm on board with that. It's tough to leave off a guy who had 7 goals in a weekend, but I think it's the right thing to do. #sorryconner

 

Bill: It should make you feel better that 5 of the 7 goals were scored after Northeastern was leading by 4 goals in 11-2 and 8-0 victories.

 

Jesse: I noticed. That's why I tend to agree that each of the goaltender's performances were a little more important in Glastonbury.

 

Bill: Time to move on, I'll let you pick the Division.

 

Jesse: Like my favorite Mighty Ducks movie, I will pick D II.

 

Jesse: I'm going to start it off by giving some props to Robert Lerro from Northeastern and Corey Bauman from UMass-Amherst, who posted 14 and 10 points over the course of the weekend, respectively. Lerro leads DII in goals (7) and points (14).

Bill: It's hard to find the right words to describe how talented both Baumann a 3rd-Team All-American form last season and Robert Lerro are. Both players are always in the running for top players in DII in the league.

 

As for someone I am surprised you didn't mention, I got Luke Lindsay-Brisbin on my list, how about these for some sick numbers from a goalie: 2-0-0, .51 GAA, .938 SPCT, SO

 

Jesse: Agreed- both are very vital to their team, and fun to watch.

 

Bill: Anyone else come to mind in D2, Adam Banks excluded?

 

Jesse: Both Northeastern goalies had great weekends. I will say- I think Boston goalie Mark Flitsch had a pretty good weekend, all things considered. Even though his GAA was 4.50 in the two games he played, he also saw 70 shots in 2 games, turning away 61 for a very good .871 save percentage. He stopped 27 shots in the win against UMass, which was huge for Boston. He stopped 34 in a 4-0 loss to Northeastern, which kept Boston in that game, as well.

 

Bill: Yea, that Boston-Northeastern game was a 1-0 game after two periods mainly because of the goaltending, Northeastern dominated the shots 23-12 and had control for most of the contest, but solid defense and Flitsch help keep the game close, Northeastern pulled away in the 3rd scoring 3 goals on 15 shots. The shots ended up 38-17 in the game and if Boston could have generated some offense they might have been able to pull the upset.

 

Jesse: That being said- who do you nominate for the players of the week for Division II?

 

Bill: I go with Lerro, Baumann, and Luke Lindsay-Brisbin

 

Jesse: Done and done. Let's continue on.

 

Bill: I say we take on D3 and leave D1 for last, what do you think?

 

Jesse: Sounds good to me.

 

Bill: I'll lead off with another goalie to make this interesting.

 

Jesse: You're crazy.

 

Bill: I gotta give props to Jesse Silverberg from Baruch, he was on fire this weekend in net, going 1-0-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .925 SPCT. In a division that has typically struggled to have game changing goalies, he could be the one, if he is hot, his team could ride him deep into the playoffs.

 

Jesse: Let's stop giving goalies so much credit. I want to nominate Jared Bly from Syracuse- they had a good weekend, going 1-1-1, and his 11 points were the main reason why.

 

Bill: For sure, scoring 6 goals and adding 5 assists, he is one of the best players in all of DIII. Scranton started to pick up on that in the last game of the weekend, attempting to shadow him and he still managed to set up a goal in the 3rd period, the key for Bly is, if given attention all game, will he be able to be contained?

 

Jesse: He did a lot of this last year, so I don't think so.

 

Bill: It will be a good storyline to follow all season. Another player who lit up the stat sheet this weekend was CJ Murray from Scranton, scoring 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points. After playing DII last season, Murray has to be poised for an explosive season this year and the early returns are promising.

 

Jesse: His teammate, Andrew Clarke, wasn't too shabby either- posting 6 goals en route to 10 points over the course of the weekend. Bly, Clarke, and Murray are tied for first in goals, each having 6.

 

 

Bill: Clarke did have a good weekend, but I lean towards his teammate Murray because Clarke found himself being tossed in the 2nd period of the Baruch game, leaving his team to fight back in the 3rd period without him, something they accomplished for a 5-4 victory.

 

Jesse: I'd say then: Murray, Silverberg, Bly.

 

Bill: Alright then, time for the final division, Division I.

 

Jesse: Let's do it up, Bill.

 

Bill: Right off the bat, I want to say, the Rhode Island-Stony Brook series this weekend was outstanding, the first game was a 2-1 victory for Stony Brook and the second game was a 4-4 tie. Rhode Island was leading 3-1 in the third period before going down 4-3 before tying the game. Rhode Island showed they are not a team to be taken lightly and on any given day can come out on top.

 

Jesse: For sure. You can't really sleep on any team in Division 1 this year.

 

Bill: That being said, just like last weekend was all about Neumann, this weekend is all about Hofstra. They went 3-0-0 on the weekend, outscoring the competition 24-1.

 

Jesse: You really just don't get much better than that over the course of a weekend. Unless, of course, you score that 25th goal.

Bill: The only goal they surrendered was to Rhode Island on the power play, when Anthony Benning fired one just under the cross bar passed a well screened Jared Occhicone.

 

me: A goal-less weekend would have certainly been impressive. That being said, des Occhicone get you vote for number one player of the weekend?

 

Bill: Without a doubt, let’s look at the numbers: 3-0-0, .33 GAA, .970 SPCT, 2 SO

Also got these two nice tidbits from Twitter:

 

@HofstraHockey Jared Occhicone and the Pride saw their shutout streak end at 124 minutes and 27 seconds, by far the longest in school history.

@DoctorD18 Jared occhicone from @HofstraHockey . 3 games 2 shutouts and 1 goal allowed #ECRHARoundTable

 

When you put up a 124 minute and 27 second shut out streak in roller hockey, you deserve to be the player of the week.

 

Jesse: Probably one of the better goaltending performances for a weekend we've seen in a long time.

 

Bill: Agreed, the other two players who were all over the stat sheet, Pat Rosa and Chris Culot.

 

Jesse: Given their 3-0-0 record, is Hofstra the early favorite in Division I?

 

Bill: I still say that distinction falls to the Neumann Knights, but I wouldn't count out Hofstra from being a top 4 seed to the regional tournament.

 

Jesse: Way to go out on a limb there, Bill.

 

Bill: So, are we good with Occhicone, Rosa, Culot?

 

Jesse: I agree. First couple weekends have been exciting- are you looking forward to anything in particular this weekend in Williamsport?

 

Bill: Yes, #5 Notre Dame vs. #8 Oklahoma, it’s going to be a good game, hoping my Irish can pull out the upset, despite being the higher ranked team.

 

Bill: Additionally, gotta think that the #10 Shippensburg Red Raiders vs. the #4 Bloomsburg Huskies matchup is going to be a stellar contest as well, talk about offense.

 

Jesse: Hard-hitting, insightful commentary as always from Bill Bourque. Compelling and rich. Thanks, Bill.

Bill: That's all for this edition of the ECRHA Round Table, please send us comments, input and questions on twitter @ECRHAHockey and we will try to include them next week. Good luck to all the teams this weekend in Williamsport, it should be a great event.