Sunday, June 25, 2017

2016-17 Bowdoin Men's Hockey Year in Review

Terry Meagher was back in the Sid opening weekend, but this
time he was just a spectator. 
As we languish in the oblivion of the offseason, we will recap each team's season, as we are wont to do, from last to first.  Next up is the inaugral season of the Jamie Dumont era of Bowdoin hockey. 

8. Bowdoin
2016-17 Reccord
5-12-1 (8th in NESCAC)
8-16-1  Overall

Stats:
Overall (Conf. Rank)                                     Conference Games (Conf. Ranks)
Offense - 3.16 G/GM (3rd                                                      Offense - 2.78 G/GM (3rd)
Defense - 3.72 G/GM (10th)                                                       Defense - 3.61 G/GM (9th)
Power Play - 14/88 15.9% (9th)                                              Power Play - 7/55 12.7% (8th)
Penalty Kill - 90/116 77.6% 9th)                                              Penalty Kill - 64/83 77.1% (9th) 
Penalty Minutes - 12.8/Gm (3rd)                                             Penalty Minutes - 11.1/Gm (5th)


Season Review
Bowdoin men's hockey had only two coaches from 1959 to 2016, Sid Watson - whom the current arena is named after - and Terry Meagher, whom NBCSN did a segment on his final year that aired during the Winter Classic coverage. The two had an impressive 58 year run in the environs of the Pine Tree State that included only four single-digit winning seasons and three of those came under Watson before Meagher had even finished his collegiate playing career at Boston University in 1976.

Jamie Dumont stepped into some big shoes, but he inherited a team that finished third in the NESCAC in 2015-16 and included the majority of the roster intact. Dumont also had a large incoming freshman class and a total of 33 Polar Bears dressed for at least two games this season, but the team could not get into a groove regardless of the lineup in black and white. Bowdoin had a single digit winning season for the first time since 1998-99 and their worst finish in the NESCAC since the league began conference tournament play a year later in 1999-20.

The primary deficiency came on the defensive side of the puck.  Junior goalie Peter Cronin had his lowest save percentage (.900) of his collegiate career (.933 as sophomore and .911 as frosh) and none of his back-ups could do better than an .894 save percentage in the eight games he didn't appear in. Disparities were not limited to offense vs defense, either, as the Polar Bears went a mediocre 5-6-1 at Sid Watson Arena but a terrible 2-10-0 on the road with both wins coming the same weekend in a trip to Tufts and Conn College.

The season ultimately ended with a 4-2 loss at Hamilton in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. The Polar Bears, who won back-to-back NESCAC titles in 2013 and 2014 have now bowed out of the playoffs opening weekend for three straight seasons.


High Point
The aforementioned weekend at Tufts/Conn College left the PBs at 6-4-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the NESCAC right in the thick of things to close out the fall semester. The sweep, along with a non-conference W against Southern Maine,were a welcome way to end the semester following a  pair of one-goal losses in the heated Colby-Bowdoin weekend home-and-home.

After last year's 10 game unbeaten streak down the stretch and the growing pains of a program adjusting to a new coach for he first time in 34 years, it was reasonable to think Bowdoin might have made a push in the second semester....


Low Point 
...but they didn't. The team floundered, going 2-12-1 down the stretch, although both of those were solid wins at home against Trinity and Amherst, 5-1 and 3-1 respectively, showing what the Polar Bears might have done if they could have kept opponents from scoring. 

When the All-NESCAC teams were selected after the regular season, no Bowdoin player made a team for the first time since 2001. 

MVP
Cody Todesco (F, '19) Todesco may not have made the All-NESCAC First Team as he did as a freshman, but the 5'7" prep school product still produced for his new coach to the tune of a 25 point (15-10-25) sophomore campaign. The diminutive forward, who bulked up this past offseason , netted his second hat trick of his career in December with both having come against the Camels of Conn College.

Off the ice, Joe Lace (D, '17) deserves some recognition for enlisting in the Marines. He had his commissioning ceremony in Bowdoin Chapel the weekend of commencement.



The Bowdoin program is under a major transition after nearly six decades of only two men at the helm. 

No comments:

Post a Comment