Crowded at the top
Unranked Babson efforts to join region’s Div. 3 elite
NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY
The landscape of Division 3 hockey is in a state of flux at the top, where the nation’s elite are jockeying for position each week.
Six New England schools currently are ranked among the top 15: No. 2 Endicott, No. 3 Trinity, No. 9 UMass-Boston, No. 11 Norwich, No. 12 Salve Regina and No. 14 Colby.
Last year, coach Mike McShane’s Norwich skaters turned back Trinity, 4-1, to win the Div. 3 NCAA title.
The tight ranks were on display last weekend at the W.B. Mason Winter Classic in Plattsburgh, N.Y. On Friday, unranked Babson (7-5-2) battled into overtime, 1-1, against coach R.J. Tolan’s Endicott squad before Beavers freshman Nick Rosa scored in the third round of the shootout against Gulls goalie Justin Ketola. Babson junior goalie Matt Pompa then stopped Gulls defenseman Logan Day, who already had 22 points on the season and is three behind team leader Ross Olsson of Billerica. The next night, Babson fell to host Plattsburgh State, 4-1, while Endicott thrashed Tufts, 8-1, with Olsson connecting for a goal and two assists.
“Certainly, Division 3 has never been in a better place. Every coach is a great coach and every kid coming in is a great athlete,” said Babson coach Jamie Rice. “These kids have got to this level by passion and commitment to the game of hockey. The (recruiting) pool is a little deeper and everyone is getting great players. I don’t know where the No.9 hitter is hiding these days.’’
Quiz of the week
This ex-Bruin led Canada to a silver medal while leading the 1992 Olympics in scoring. Who was he?
Like father, like son
Ryan Donato of Scituate has been on fire of late for Harvard. The Crimson junior forward is riding a 14-game scoring streak (14-8-22) while earning National Player of the Month in college hockey.
Donato was a second-round pick of the Bruins in the 2014 draft, so he could someday follow in the footsteps of his father, Harvard coach Ted Donato, by wearing a Bruins sweater while playing in the NHL. Ryan already has matched Ted by being named to a U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team and the younger Donato will represent his nation in the upcoming 2018 Games in South Korea.
The elder Donato also played at Harvard before joining the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, where he tied for the team scoring lead with four goals, three assists in eight games for the Americans.
“Basically, I guess, there certainly are some similarities. At this point, without (his) having gone through the Olympic experience,” Ted Donato said, “I’m probably focused more on the differences.
“We traveled together for a full year (in 1992). We were all college players, playing a full exhibition schedule, traveling all over the world, it seemed. So, I would say there is some similarity in the great feeling and great memories that you have and as a parent to look back at the same experience that you had as player it re-energizes you.’’
Ted talked about a telephone chat he had with Bill Cleary, his own coach and a legendary twotime U.S. Olympian and hero of the 1960 Gold Medal winning team at Squaw Valley, Calif.
“Funny you should ask that because Bill called today to congratulate Ryan and wish him the best. Those that know Cleary know that, for him, the Olympics was the ultimate place to perform and when you have a chance to go to the Olympics, it represents so many great things and to be at a place where so many athletes sacrificed to get there, it’s a really pretty neat.’’
Ryan said the non-NHL Olympics opens a new door, “Our goal is to come home with a gold medal just like any other (U.S.) team would want to do. We want to make the most out of this decision and roll with it and hopefully come home with the gold medal,’’ he said.
Congrats to UMass-Lowell coach Norm Bazin as his River Hawks beat Vermont, 6-0, to hand him coaching victory No.200. Bazin is 201-108-28 in 11 seasons, including 163-77-21 in eight campaigns with the River Hawks.
Quiz answer
Former RPI star Joe Juneau had 6-9-15 in eight games. Drop the puck!