Trinity's National Championship
In case you forgot, the NESCAC's own Trinity College conquered the D-III men's hockey world and won a national title in March. The Bantams did quite a bit of celebrating - and rightfully so - with everything from visiting the Connecticut Governor to getting honored at Fenway and even getting team tattoos.
The Bants keep nearly all their offensive firepower from last year's title team (though they lost a majority of their blue line corps) and enter the season with quite a deal of hype. The USCHO and D3Hockey.com pre-season polls both have Matt Greason's squad in the number one position and New England Hockey Journal did a cover story on the team and interviewed junior forward Sean Orlando.
Coach Greason did a couple of interviews this fall with D3Hockey.com Managing Editor and friend of HITC, Ray Biggs, as well as ESPN Radio's Hartford Affiliate. Greason talked to Biggs about recruiting, defending the title, the strength of the 'Cac his out of conference schedule and the retirement of some NESCAC hockey legends. The ESPN 97.9's "Pulse of the Region" interview starts around 19:30.
Coaching Carousel
You should have heard by now that legendary Middlebury coach Bill Beaney retired in March from coaching men's hockey and was replaced by Skidmore coach and former Middlebury assitant, Neil Sinclair. Beaney did, however, remain on as Middlebury men's golf coach and won his third straight NESCAC Coach of the Year award this fall.
Tufts longtime head coach Brian Murphy also left in May and his position wasn't filled until the university announced his replacement, prep school coach Pat Norton in August. Norton played his college puck at University of New Hampshire in the early 90s before going on to a career as a college assistant at both the DI/DIII levels and then as a head coach at the prep school level for the past decade.
The hits just kept on-a-comin' when NESCAC establishment and Bowdoin men's hockey coach Terry Meagher announced in October that this season, his 33rd behind the bench, would be his last. With Meagher's mentor and arena namesake Sidney Watson coaching the team before him, this offseason's coaching hire will be just the third for the Polar Bears since 1959.
NESCAC in the Pros
This is the first time since 2010 that the NESCAC won't have an alum at the AHL level as Bowdoin alum Jon Landry ('06) didn't land on a AAA hockey roster despite leading his team, the Hershey Bears, in +/- last season.
At the AA level, Middlebury alum and golf standout Robbie Donahoe ('14) moved up from the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) - in which he won a league title with the Knoxville Ice Bears in his first pro season - to the ECHL's Manchester Monarchs. The Monarchs were the LA Kings AAA affiliate last season, but that team switched places with the Ontario Reign for this season in the AHL's massive migration (5 teams) to California.
Donahoe has 3 points (0-3-3) in nine games with the Monarchs, but was placed on injury reserve yesterday .
At the A level, the most common for NESCAC alums, several players have taken their talents south of the Mason Dixon in the SPHL. Middlebury alum Louis Belisle ('14) is in his second season with the Columbus Cottonmouths with whom he earned SPHL All-First Team honors as a Defenseman last season. This year he has moved up to forward and is currently sixth in the league in scoring with nine points (4-5-9) in eight games.
The Hunstville Havoc feature two rookie forwards in Trinity's Jackson Brewer ('15) and Bowdoin's John McGinnis ('15). Brewer went from national champion Trinity to SPHL champion Knoxville, where he notched four points (2-2-4) in eight games before being released this week. He was quickly picked up by the Havoc, who have included McGinnis on the roster since opening day. The Cocoa, FL native has three points (1-2-3) in eight games for the Alabama based team.
Everbody's Shufflin, Shufflin
D-III hockey leagues saw some shaking up during the offseason. In October, it was announced that the sixteen team ECAC-East would break off from the ECAC and form a new league, the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) effective this season. The league keeps its ten men's member schools and will keep it's automatic bid to the NCAA D-III men's hockey tournament (the women's will as well).
The ECAC will also lose the ECAC-E within a year as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) also announced that they will have a D-III league starting in 2016-17. The current nine team men's ECAC-E (including new member Endicott) will join University of New England - which means UNE will break away after only one year in the NEHC - to form the new ten team conference The new CCC
That leaves only the ECAC-West left as the ECAC brand for D-III. Since the seven member ECAC-W doesn't have an automatic bid (it is adding an eighth team in Stevenson University in 2016-17) to the D-III tournament, we all have to wonder if the ECAC is in its final days of the D-III level.
The NESCAC will certainly not disband anytime soon and we'll just leave you with this little tidbit...
DIII Hockey News: NESCAC will remain the NESCAC conference and will still be more elite academically than your conference.
— Hockey in the 'Cac (@hockeyinthecac) October 1, 2015
Movember
November is not just the start of NESCAC Men's hockey season, it's also Movember, an international movement where men grow moustaches to raise money and awareness for men's health issues such as prostate cancer.
If you have ever watched Minnesota high school hockey or the NHL playoffs, you know hockey players are fans of the facial hair - from shitty to stylish - so clearly NESCAC hockey players, who are also men of moral character (hopefully), participate in Movember.
Last year, the NESCAC puckers raised over $26,000 (led by Amherst) and the ten teams of the Cac have set a benchmark of $30,000 this season. To donate to your favorite team and see some pics of the boys muzzles, check out the NESCAC site.
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