Before this season began, Merrimack hadn't bested the Terriers since February of 2004. Over that span, BU won an insane 15 in a row against the Mack, outscoring the Warriors 61-23. It's no coincidence that the Warriors haven't played beyond the regular season in that time either, as tonight will mark the Warriors' first trip to the Hockey East tournament in six seasons.
But the past is the past, and the Warriors are a new team. Thanks to a re-built offense and an infusion of young talent, Merrimack is playing better than they have in years, and is finally giving fans in North Andover something to cheer about. They're also coming into this series hot, riding a 6-2-2 stretch to close out the season and crash the Hockey East Playoff Party.
These Aren't The Same Old Warriors
But do the upstart Warriors have what it takes to end the National Champion's shot at defending their crown?The straw stirring the drink for the Warriors is Freshman Frenchman Stephane Da Costa. Da Costa is a Hobey Baker possibility as a rookie, and is a certainty to take home the Hockey East Rookie of the Year award, seeing as he as won the Rookie of the Month award each of the 5 times it has been handed out. In all likelihood, he'll also bring home the national honor for best freshman as well, a tremendous nod to Merrimack's international scouting.
Da Costa is third in the nation with 1.45 points per game thanks to his insane 45 points in just 31 contests. Some are already wondering whether Da Costa is the best player in the 53 year history of the Merrimack program.
Stephane Da Costa Has Been a Beast For the Warriors
Coach Brian Dennehy says of Da Costa, "What he gives us is the ability to take a game into his hands and do some special things. He’s made some plays at this level that not many are capable of making.” Dennehy also told College Hockey News that Da Costa is the best player he has ever coached.
The explosive young forward is on his way to forging a long career, at Merrimack and beyond, but for now Da Costa will settle for making an impact and drawing the defense's attention every single time he goes near the puck. He's been held off the scoresheet just six times all season long, and he has the ability to go berserk on any given night. His five goal outburst early in the year against Army should prove that.
Fellow freshman forward Brandon Brodhag has been another excellent addition to the forward corps. The high-octane product of the North American Hockey League has had a modest statistical effort for the Warriors this season, but has come up big against the Terriers this season. Brodhag's two-goal game led Mack to their first win over the Terriers since 2004.
But the freshmen aren't the only ones making noise for the Warriors. Junior forwards Chris Barton and Joe Coochy Coochy Cucci have each had solid seasons for the Blue and Gold. Barton has led the Warrior's power play unit to a 22.9% conversion rate, good for third in the nation.
Barton Has Seven Power Play Goals This Season
On his team's power play success, Dennehy said, "We got off to a pretty good start with the power play, and it has just snowballed from there. We have more depth in the skilled areas and can put two units out there. Just outworking the penalty kill can be successful. The fact that we can go two units deep has helped. There’s no secret that we have a pretty special player in Stephane. He’s someone that most teams realize that they have to keep an eye on.”
But as good as Merrimack's offense has been, their defense has been equally shaky. Mack has given up 3.15 goals per game, sixth in Hockey East. The goaltending combination of Joe Cannata and Andrew Braithwaite haven't been great, but they've actually been better than Kieran Millan. That being said, Braithwaite has only won two games since December 4th. While that indicates that we may see Cannata tomorrow, BU fans should hope it's Braithwaite in goal. The senior has allowed 9 goals while making just 34 saves in his 4 periods of play against the Terriers this year.
The most striking fact about Merrimack is their inability to win on the road. While the friendly confines of Lawler Rink have propelled Merrimack to a 12-3-1 record at home, the Warriors have been anything but on the road. Mack is 3-13-1 away from home this year, including two losses at Agganis Arena.
Lawler May Be Ugly, But It's Been Kind to the Warriors this Year
Despite that horrible road mark, the Warriors have recorded all three of their road victories in the past month. They also won their most recent contest away from home, blanking Providence 5-0 at Schneider.
Merrimack is a good, young, up and coming team. If not for their poor performances on the road, it would almost seem likely that the Warriors and their young guns would best the Terriers. But with their road woes under consideration, the situation becomes a bit more murky.
Crappy road record or not, the Warriors are going to bring it this weekend. This is not the same Mack team that was an extra bye week for its Hockey East competitors. This is a new, scary Mack team, that very well could come into Agganis and upset the established order.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment