2015-16 Colby Mules Men's Hockey Season Review

As we enter the 2015-16 academic calendar and the fall athletic season, we are reviewing the 2015-16 campaigns for each of the NESCAC men's hockey teams from #10 to #1.  Next up is seventh place Colby (actually tied with Tufts for seventh but Mules won tie breaker for playoff seeding)

Emerson Verrier started all 25 games in net for Colby in '15-16

7. Colby Mules

2015-16 Reccord
6-9-3 (tied for 7th in NESCAC)
9-11-5 Overall


Stats:
Overall (Conf. Rank)                                     Conference Games (Conf. Ranks)
Offense - 2.52 G/GM (6th)                                                         Offense - 2.28 G/GM (7th)
Defense - 2.72 G/GM (7th)                                                         Defense - 2.72 G/GM (8th)
Power Play - 19/96 19.8% (2nd)                                              Power Play - 12/66 18.2% (4th)
Penalty Kill - 71/82 86.6% (3rd)                                              Penalty Kill - 48/56 85.7% (3rd) 
Penalty Minutes - 7.3 /Gm (10th)                                             Penalty Minutes - 6.9 /Gm (9th) 


Season Review
Colby looked to rebound in 2015-16 from a 2014-15 endeavor that saw them close out the season on the wrong side of the NESCAC playoff divide in ninth place. The first change for five year coach Blaise MacDonald  was a switch from the underclassmen/upperclassmen goalie carousel of seniors Sam/Parker/Jordan Nathan and then freshman Emerson Verrier to just the sophomore Verrier. The New York native was a workhorse, playing in all 25 games and posting a 2.56 GAA and a .918 Save% (though that won't be the case in 2016-17, as he appears to no longer be at Colby) .

The Mules had a back-and-forth season never winning more than  two-in-a row, but also never losing more than two-in-a row. Colby kept it close in conference games with fifteen of their nineteen NESCAC games (including playoffs) being decided by two goals or less.  In the ever fierce rivalry with Bowdoin, Colby shut out the Polar Bears at home 3-0 before losing in Brunswick 4-2 the next night.

In OOC action, they fought nationally ranked UMass-Boston to a 1-1 tie and made it to the finals of the Plattsburgh New Year's tournament where they lost to the host Cardinals 3-0.

After beating Tufts on the closing day of the regular season to earn the seventh spot in the playoffs, the Mules were rewarded with a trip to Hartford to take on the defending national champion Trinity Bantams in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. The Mules fought hard, including 44 saves from Verrier, but the season ended in a 3-1 loss.

High Point
Colby opened up the first weekend of February on the road with an exciting 2-1 OT win (thanks to a Devin Albert tally) over then ranked Hamilton, who had spanked the Mules in Waterville less than a month prior. The win followed a 7-4 drubbing of in state rival University of New England - who was on a 7-1-1 run of their own prior to the loss - and had MacDonald's men in contention for a home playoff game with seven games to play.

Low Point 
Just a month prior to that win in Clinton, NY, Colby fell apart at home to open the 2016 NESCAC schedule. The Continentals were only up 2-1 1 15 minutes into the second frame, but two more Hamilton goals to close out the second and three in the third gave Colby their worst loss of the season. The boys did not despair, though, as they closed out the weekend with a 5-2 win over Amherst to salvage the weekend.

MVP
Jack Burton (D, '17) The skilled blueliner finished second on the team in goal scoring (7) and third overall in points (7-10-17), including leading the team in game winning goals in conference games at two.

Always sucks when your season ends. A step in the right direction for this program, we've laid a solid foundation for the future.

— Chris Hall (@chall4431) February 28, 2016