Ryan Poehling’s future up in the air after NCAA loss
Bergevin wants him to turn pro, possibly with Laval, but he may go back to college
What’s next for Ryan Poehling? That’s the question that arose Friday after the top-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies were upset 2-1 by No. 16 American International College in the first round of the NCAA hockey championships in Fargo, N.D. Poehling, who was the Canadiens’ first-round draft choice in 2017, has another year of collegiate eligibility, but Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has indicated he would like Poehling to begin his pro career. But Bergevin probably didn’t think Poehling would be available this early. St. Cloud State has been ranked No. 1 for most of this season, while American International is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament after winning the lightly regarded Atlantic Hockey Conference. Poehling’s availability means it is possible he could play a few games in Laval or even spend some time with the Canadiens this season. The one rub might be concern about his health. He was injured in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs and returned to practice only on Thursday. While basketball’s March Madness is attracting a lot of attention from fans and bettors, the 16-team NCAA hockey tournament offers some games of particular interest for Montreal fans, with four Canadiens’ draft choices in action along with a dozen players with local pedigrees. Poehling won’t get a chance to renew acquaintances with another Canadiens’ prospect in the West Regional final Saturday. Centre Brett Stapley, a seventh-round draft pick last June, is playing for the No. 6 Denver Pioneers, who advanced with a 2-0 win over No. 9 Ohio State. Stapley has had a successful freshman season with five goals and 19 points. Harvard captain Lewis ZerterGossage of Montreal saw his collegiate career end when the Crimson was blanked 4-0 by No. 4 Massachusetts. Zerter-Gossage was never drafted, but he attended the Canadiens’ development camp two years ago. The Harvard roster also included Frédéric Grégoire of St-Lambert and Marshall Rifai of Beaconsfield. Next up for UMass is the winner of the late game between No. 7 Clarkson and No. 12 Notre Dame. Clarkson has two Montreal-area players. LaSalle’s Connor McCarthy, who played at Loyola High School and Dawson College, is a six-foot-seven, 230-pound sophomore defenceman who has four goals and nine assists. Devin Brosseau is junior forward from St-Lambert who has 14 goals and 14 assists. The most interesting game Saturday from a Montreal perspective matches No. 5 Northeastern against No. 10 Cornell. Northeastern is backstopped by Canadiens prospect Cayden Primeau, who is one of five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the top goaltender in U.S. college hockey. Primeau, who was a seventh-round draft pick two years ago, has emerged as a solid prospect after two seasons of college hockey. He has a 25-9-1 record with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage this season. Northeastern’s top scorer is junior defenceman Jeremy Davies of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. Davis, who was drafted by New Jersey in 2016, is an All-American who had eight goals and 27 assists. Also patrolling the blue line for the Hockey East champs is Jordan Harris, a freshman who was drafted by the Canadiens in the third round last June. He has 12 points and his lone goal was a game-winner. Cornell’s top defenceman is junior Yanni Kaldis from Montreal. A former Dawson College athlete of the year, he has 27 points, including four goals. No. 3 Minnesota State plays No. 11 Providence. The Friars have an NHL prospect in senior Vincent Desharnais, a six-footsix defenceman from Laval who is an Edmonton draft choice. Montrealer Vimal Sukumaran is a junior forward who had five goals and five assists. The Providence goaltender is Hayden Hawkey who was drafted by the Canadiens in 2014, but his rights were traded to Edmonton last year. Arizona State, in only its third season of Division I hockey, will play No. 8 Quinnipiac. There are no Quebec players on either team, but Arizona State has a familiar name in Austin Lemieux, the son of Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. The freshman winger has four goals and nine assists. Minnesota-Duluth, the No. 2 seed, plays No. 15 Bowling Green, whose roster includes Frédéric Letourneau, a Montrealer who has seven goals and seven assists.