2013-14 Hamilton Men's Hockey Season in Review

As teams get eliminated from NESCAC play, we'll review their season. We start this week with the two teams that didn't make the playoffs, #10 Tufts and #9 Hamilton.

9.  Hamilton Continentals 

2013-2014 Record:
5-15-3 Overall
4-12-2 NESCAC (9th in NESCAC)

Stats:
Overall  (Conference Rank)                       Conference Games (conf. rank)
Offense: 2.43 G/GM (9th)                              Offense: 2.39 G/GM (9th)

Defense: 3.61 G/GM (9th)                               Defense: 3.61 G/GM (9th)

Power Play: 20/110 -16.8% (8th)                    Power Play: 13/94 -13.8% (9th) 

Penalty Kill: 97/122 - 79.5% (7th)                   Penalty Kill: 73/94 - 77.7% (9th)

Penalty Minutes Per Game - 16.0 (1st)           Penalty Minutes Per Game - 16.3 (1st)


Preseason predictions
Hamilton projected to be either sixth or eight in the NESCAC, depending on who was prognosticating. USCHO and our preseason poll had rhe Conts going eighth, while the WordPress Blog and D3Hockey.com (D3H) had Hamilton at sixth. Nationally, the D3H computer projections had the Continentals finishing 56th out of 79 D-II/III teams, behind every other 'Cac school.

Season Review
Hamilton started out 2013-14 as they did 2012-13, getting swept by travel partner Amherst.  The Continentals opened up the second weekend of the season with an 8-5 win over Wesleyan at Sage Rink, a bit of redemption for the 11-3 beating Wesleyan handed Hamilton the last time they had been in Clinton, NY. After losing to Trinity in a game they lead after two periods to close out the weekend, the Continentals traveled to upstate New York for their only easy non-conference game of the season against SUNY Canton.

The Conts would beat the 'Roos before heading home to close out 2013 in what proved to be their best weekend of the season. A tremendous 38 save effort by senior netminder Joe Quattrocchi (G, '14) earned the Conts a 1-1 tie with then undefeated and nationally ranked Williams. Hamilton then followed it up with a win against nationally ranked Middlebury. 

The high would not last long as Hamilton lost two of their top defensemen after the Middlebury game. 2013 All-NESCAC Second Team member Marko Brelih (D, '16) suffered an injury against the Panthers that would limit him to just six games the rest of the season. A more permanent loss was that of Bennett Schneider (D, '13.5), who graduated early and now plays for the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Profesional Hockey League. Several other former 'CaCers play in the SPHL, including recent grads Scott Harff (D, '13) of Colby and Nick Craven (F, '13) of Wesleyan.

Penalties, like this game misconduct from Jon Carkeek (#3),
plagued the Continentals all season. 

The Conts would go 2-12-2 the rest of the way, with the only two victories coming against last placed Tufts. Workhorse goaltender Quattrocchi went down in the first period of a January 10th loss to Bowdoin and would not return again until the final weekend of the regular season. In his absence, 
freshman Charlie Fennell (G, '17) took over for a five game stretch that included the first victory over the Jumbos.

After Fennell gave up five goals in the first period to tough non-conference foe Geneseo, junior goaltender Zach Arnold (G, '15) saw his first minutes of college hockey action. Arnold made 30 saves and gave up 0 goals in the final two periods of the loss and earned his first collegiate start in the OOC finale against cross-town rival Utica. In front of 4,000 fans at the Aud, Arnold and the Conts earned a 4-4 tie against the nationally ranked Pioneers.

Fennell and Arnold would split time down the stretch until Quattrocchi came back for the final weekend at Williams/Middlebury. The Conts, who had looked like a lock for the playoffs to open 2014, needed at least three points and no more than a Wesleyan tie in the final two games to make the playoffs. 

Hamilton would be swept and the Continentals missed the playoffs for  only the third time in the conference's 15 year tournament history. The other two times came in back-to-back years (2007, 08).  That was right before Norm Bazin, currently coach of the top 10 D-I UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, arrived at Hamilton. In three years in Clinton, NY, Bazin led the Conts to seventh, sixth and first place finishes. Current coach Rob Haberbusch just completed his third year as Continental coach and has led the buff and blue to conference finishes of eighth, eighth and now ninth.

High Point
The three point 2013 finale weekend against nationally ranked Williams/Middlebury. The Conts looked like they could be a real player in the NESCAC playoff race headed into 2014. 

Low Point
The 3-2 OT loss to Colby on February 8th. The deflating loss made a Hamilton playoff appearance a longshot and even led to a USCHO fan forum thread asking if there is a Hamilton conspiracy theory due to the lack of a shakeup in the Athletic Department despite poor performance in athletics including hockey. 

MVP
Mike DiMare (F, '14) Four years after earning NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors, DiMare rebounded from an injury plagued 2012-13 to lead the Continentals in points (9-18-27). Unfortunately for the Continentals, 23 of those points came in his first 12 games of the season with only four points coming in the final 11.