Swayman unfazed on big stage for UMaine
Maine’s men’s hockey team gave credence it will be a team to reckon with come Hockey East playoff time thanks to its impressive road sweep of No. 4 Boston College. Black Bears stars were plentiful and came with a certain degree of familial bragging rights.
Senior center Tim Doherty, whose cousin, Teddy, captained the Eagles (2015-16), had two goals and an assist, with the game-winner in Friday’s 3-2 victory. Senior linemate Patrick Shea, whose father, Neil skated on BC’s 1985 Frozen Four team, scored the 3-2 overtime game-winner — set up naturally by Doherty and Mitch Fossier (2-2-4 in the series). Yet, no star rose higher than junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman, a fourth-round draft pick of the Bruins. Swayman had saves totals of 37 and 36 and appeared to relish playing in the Boston area environs.
“I think he does,” said Maine coach Red Gendron.
“He’s really learned to take it one shot at time and not get caught up in the magnitude of the game. The reality is to take it one shot at a time and usually you can pile it up. But if you don’t stay focused on the next play, you can get beat on the next shot. You’ve got to remember that they don’t make the ice any different down here in Boston. The puck doesn’t know where it’s going, whether it’s in or out.”
Swayman had a careerhigh 53 saves on Jan. 26, 2019, against national runner-up UMass. The acrobatic ‘tender followed that with a 52save effort in this year’s opener against Providence. Swayman has made 30 or more saves 38 times (20 this season) so the work load doesn’t appear to be a problem. In his career, the 6-foot-3 Anchorage, Alaska, native is 41-38-11 with a 2.62 goals-against-average and .924 save percentage. This season, Swayman is 12-9-4, 2.30 GAA, .934 SP.
Quiz of the Week
This skater accomplished the rare feat of producing a 50-goal season in the NCAA, American Hockey League, and NHL. Who is he? Answer below.
Bobby V and hockey?
Who knew that ex-Red Sox manager and current Sacred Heart University executive director of athletics Bobby Valentine was a hockey guy at heart? This week, the school announced an intention to build a $60 million hockey and skating facility with a capacity of near 4,000 on its West Campus. Construction is due to begin this summer.
“This arena will be a game-changer for Sacred Heart,” Valentine said in a released statement.
Slapshots
Keep an eye on talented UMass-Lowell freshman left wing Matt Brown (5-16-21 in 25 games). Brown and Swedish classmates Carl Berglund 10-919) and Andre Lee (7-11-18) give the rookie trio the top-three scoring spots for UML. … Seven skaters with local ties are among the 13 nominees for the 25th annual Hockey Humanitarian Award. They are Vermont goalie Matt Beck, Providence defenseman Davis Bunz, Notre Dame forward Cal Burke of Boxboro, Saint Anselm forward Amanda Conger, UConn forward Catherine Crawley, UMassBoston forward Dakota Keene and Stonehill forward James Varney.
Babson (14-3-2) is riding a 14-game (12-0-2) unbeaten streak, longest since a 16game stretch in 2004-05. A potent sophomore contingent has been key, including forwards Ryan Black (8-1523), Matt Wiesner (8-12-20), Mike Egan (11-7-18) of Billerica, and goalie Aidan Murphy (9-0-1, 1.37 GAA, .953 SP) of Walpole . ... Credit Southern Maine goalie Whitney Padgett the difference as the senior made 53 saves to edge Plymouth State, 2-1 . ... New England College sophomore Cianna Weir had 57 saves to blank Nichols, 1-0.
Endicott forwards James Winkler (5-3-8), Mitch Shaheen (2-3-5) of North Andover, Noah Stran (2-2-4) of Wareham, and Jake Simons (1-3-4) had strong efforts against Becker. … Tufts sophomore Cal LeClair, the son of ex-Vermont and NHL great John LeClair, bagged a hat trick (shorthanded game-winner) to beat Wesleyan, 4-2. It was the first hat by a Jumbos skater since Mike Leary in 2015.
Connecticut College senior Connor Rodericks of Buzzards Bay helped shock top-ranked Trinity, 1-0, thanks to 43 saves. Rodericks had 35 saves the next night and senior captain Ryan Petti of Tewksbury notched the winner to upset Wesleyan, 2-1. … Stonehill senior Cameron Wright had his first career hat trick to knot Assumption, 4-4.
Quiz Answer
Brett Hull scored 52 for Minnesota-Duluth in 198586, 50 the next year with Moncton (AHL) and five consecutive 50-plus seasons with St. Louis (NHL) starting in 1989-90.
Drop the puck!