AMHERST — Greg Carvel didn’t learn much about his team from Thursday’s practice.
It was UMass’ first skate since Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to Northeastern, but Carvel wasn’t going to judge the effort or response from his team. Ultimately, he said it’s about getting results this weekend when the fourth-ranked Minutemen (1-1-0) welcome Union (0-4-0) for a two-game series at the Mullins Center.
Even though UMass split its contests in the first week of the season, Carvel has been displeased with how the Minutemen played in those two contests. On Tuesday, he directed the attention to the veterans that comprise the first two lines, but Thursday said the effort in the first two games wasn’t up to the program’s standards.
“It’s not just the top six, it’s the whole team, everybody needs to be better,” Carvel said. “We’re two games in, two games that were subpar performances. We all understand it’s not just the players, it’s the coaches, staff, myself, I take the lead in that, we all need to be better.”
The veterans have yet to really produce for the Minutemen in the first two games on both ends of the ice. Mitchell Chaffee had two goals and an assist in the season-opening win over RPI, but the assist came on the power play and one of the goals was an empty-net tally. The junior captain and junior center Philip Lagunov are the only two returning players to score a point this season with Lagunov picking up an assist on Chaffee’s empty-netter.
But what was more problematic Tuesday was how easily Northeastern was able to pin Chaffee and his linemates — juniors Oliver Chau and Jake Gaudet — in the UMass defensive zone. The trio struggled to clear pucks out of the zone or maintain possession in the offensive zone in the loss to the Huskies. It was the top line that was on the ice for Northeastern’s first goal as they chased the puck in the defensive zone for more than a minute before the Huskies were able to knock home the loose puck.
Chaffee said the line expects more out of itself and it needs to use its size and physicality more to help assert control of the game.
“We’re all juniors, we’ve been playing together for a while, we should be dominating out there and we felt like we didn’t make an impact on the game like we should be doing,” Chaffee said. “We should be physically taking it to other lines, we’re one of the bigger lines (in the country) and I feel like we can dominate there. That’s where we have to start.”
SHIFTING LINES — Carvel made five changes in his skaters between Friday and Tuesday, only one of which was forced by injury. It was a common occurrence early last year for Carvel to mix and match the bottom two lines, and the same process is playing out again this year.
The big difference this season is that there are more freshmen in the mix to earn playing time on the third and fourth lines, and finding young players consistent enough in UMass’ system is difficult. However, Carvel also has more options for the final four or five forward spots than he had last season, making the decisions that much more difficult.
“Primarily with the freshmen, you’re trying to figure out who you can trust,” Carvel said. “By trust, I mean, they know where to be, how we check, where they need to be on the ice and once they’re there, can they win a battle or stave off a check. I tell all of them, I’m way more concerned about what you do without the puck than what you do with it. It’s the kids who can earn our trust, play hard, play fast, physical and play to our identity, those kids will fill the bottom six.”
LEONARD ADDS NEW ROLE — Carvel called junior winger John Leonard the Minutemen’s best player through two games, and it’s hard to argue with him.
The Amherst native is faster, stronger and quicker than he’s been in previous seasons, and he’s taking on more responsibility with the team as well. Leonard asked to help kill penalties this season, and he’s been an integral part of the UMass penalty kill unit, which has killed off all nine power plays it has faced thus far.
“I love talented forwards who can kill penalties,” Carvel said after Tuesday’s loss. “Leonard has improved a lot since last year and we’ve given him more responsibilities and he’s done a great job killing penalties. … I like having those skill forwards because you have to handle pucks on the kill to be able to get it down the ice. Leno’s played on the half wall, he knows what it’s like to get that pressure on the half wall and he’s done a good job killing penalties.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.