Better to warm up than strain a muscle.
The UMass hockey team is ramping up properly to the 2022-23 season, learning lessons from too rapid an opening last year. An exhibition against Sacred Heart began the Minutemen’s campaign Saturday – a 3-2 loss, but one that provided valuable intel without dinging UMass’ record like last year’s opening sweep against Minnesota State, one of the nation’s best teams.
The Minutemen don’t play a game that counts until this coming Saturday at AIC in Springfield.
“I do like the run up this year much better,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “I thought there were glaring issues Saturday night, which we now have a week to address and adjust and be ready for a team in AIC that’s always very well coached and always a strong team. Then that leads us to Denver, who I believe is No. 1 in the polls. I’m glad we’ve got an exhibition and a regular season game before we take on Denver. That will help us, and our game will come a long way in these two weeks.”
The match up with the defending national champion Pioneers was supposed to happen during the 2020-21 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic and its largely conference-only scheduling pushed the game back even further to Oct. 14-15 this year. The Minutemen also host Union for two games the following weekend before dipping into Hockey East play.
Sacred Heart put away two goals Saturday in the game’s first 10 minutes as the Minutemen cycled through new lineup combinations and a new goaltender. Seeing his team on the ice gives Carvel a chance to tweak and address those holes before they see the Yellowjackets.
“The biggest issue was management. All three of their goals, we just turned the puck over and then they transitioned and scored the goal. I don’t feel like Sacred Heart did a lot to beat us. We beat ourselves with how we managed the puck,” Carvel said. “The new players, they got a sense of the compete level necessary, and I need to see these freshmen. I thought system wise they did a decent job, but just understanding how we play and the intensity involved and the commitment to do so. But overall it’s not unexpected at all. I think we got to manage pucks way better. If we have the puck we’ll create more offense instead of chasing the game like we did.”
KEEP THE FAITH – Three seniors will wear the leadership letters for UMass. Eric Faith is assuming the mantle of captain, while Reed Lebster and Jerry Harding will serve as assistant captains.
Faith has skated in 66 games for the Minutemen and accumulated three goals and eight assists.
“Eric, to me is our captain because last year he proved to me he plays to our identity. He’s extremely conscientious, responsible, reliable player… is a 4.0 student, in tremendous shape,” Carvel said. “He’s what UMass hockey is.”
Lebster has amassed 82 games for UMass, while Harding has played in 69.
“Jerry’s the voice of the group. He’s got the big personality, really cares about his teammates and is recognized by his teammates for that,” Carvel said. “They’re the seniors, and they’re the guys that do things the right way. That’s the most important thing.”
STAFF INJECTION – In addition to new players, UMass is integrating nearly an entirely new assistant coaching staff. Tom Upton joined the Minutemen from the USHL, while Nolan Gluchowski was promoted after a season as a volunteer assistant. Former UMass player Jacob Pritchard, who played in the 2019 championship game, is back with the program as a volunteer assistant.
“It’s the same as the other big, I don’t want to say issue, but it’s reality,” Carvel said. “For five years, those spots didn’t change, really. We went from very unusually not having any change on our staff to this year with extreme change. Just like the players it takes time, and there’s growing pains there as well, coaches figuring out how I like things done, standard to play our systems. There’s a lot of balls in the air and a lot of puzzle pieces that we’re just trying to put in order and provide some stability.”
BOHLINGER HURT – UMass will be without its Hockey East title-winning goal scorer defenseman Aaron Bohlinger for the foreseeable future.
“He’s recovering from surgery, and I don’t know when we’ll see him,” Carvel said.
POLLS – UMass is ranked No. 13 in the USCHO poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College coaches poll. The aforementioned Pioneers top both polls. Northeastern leads all Hockey East teams at No. 8 in both, while Boston University sits at No. 12.
UMass Lowell checks in at No. 15 with Providence right behind the Riverhawks at 16.
Clarkson, who UMass will see at the KwikTrip Holiday FaceOff in Milwaukee, Wisc., in late December, is ranked No. 17.
PRIMETIME – Nine UMass hockey games will appear on NESN networks this season, five on the road and four from the Mullins Center. They include Nov. 4 at Providence, Nov. 11 vs. Boston University and Nov. 18 at New Hampshire all on NESN at 7 p.m.
UMass Lowell’s Dec. 3 visit to the Mullins Center will play on NESN-Plus (7 p.m.).
New Hampshire’s game at UMass at 3 p.m. Jan. 15 is on NESN, while the Hockey East championship rematch with UConn on Jan. 20 and the Minutemen’s trip to Tsongas to play the Riverhawks on Jan 27 are on NESN-Plus in addition to UMass Feb. 3 game at Providence. Vermont’s Feb. 11 jaunt to Amherst is on NESN.
NESN will also broadcast the Hockey East semifinals and final from TD Garden on March 17-18.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.