Malcolm Lyles Player Profile:
http://www.goriverhawks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1969&path=mhockey
This is posted on the Hockey East website:
UMASS LOWELL CLAIMS FIRST HOCKEY EAST TITLE WITH 1-0 WIN OVER BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Freshman goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stops 36 shots and is named Bill Flynn Hockey East Tournament MVP
It took 29 years from the genesis of Hockey East, but the UMass Lowell River Hawks are finally champions. Just two weeks removed from clinching their first-ever Hockey East regular season title, the River Hawks have added the league's tournament championship trophy to their mantle, courtesy of Saturday's 1-0 win over long-time nemesis Boston University. The Terriers had won eight of the nine Hockey East tournament meetings vs. Lowell all-time, including the championship games in 1994 and 2009, but this night belonged to the Hawks.
The TD Garden crowd of 13,738 had to wait until the 11:09 mark of the final frame to see a goal scored in this one, as two first-year netminders were nevertheless up for the toughest task in the most critical situation. UMass Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich.) stopped all 36 shots he faced en route to claiming the William Flynn Award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. At the other end, Boston University's Sean Maguire (Powell River, B.C.) was nearly Hellebuyck's equal, stopping 28 of 29 with just one blemish.
The winning goal came on a determined backhanded wraparound off the stick of River Hawk junior Derek Arnold (Foxboro, Mass.) Arnold started the play with a breakout from his own zone, sending the puck up to Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego, Calif.) Ruhwedel traded up-ice passes with Arnold before a final pass attempt from the slot that deflected off the stick of teammate Scott Wilson (Oakville, Ont.) and ended up behind the net. Arnold alertly picked up the puck, strode to the other side, and deposited it off of a scrambling Maguire.
The Terriers had a couple of mad scramble chances to tie the score in the final seconds, the most heart-stopping of which was a point blank opportunity for sophomore Cason Hohmann (Arlington, Tx.) who found himself alone with time and the puck just five feet away from Hellebuyck. But like his Terrier teammates, Hohmann couldn't solve the upstart stopper, and the horn blew to end the contest.
After an uneventful first period, the two teams upped the intensity in the second, and the result was a much wider-open frame with plenty of opportunities. The best chance came midway through when UML senior Riley Wetmore (Swanton, Vt.) had a long-armed wraparound that he almost tucked just inside the left post after Maguire lost the puck in traffic on the right. Both teams more than doubled their shot totals of the opening period, with BU firing 18 pucks on UML rookie Connor Hellebuyck and Lowell testing Maguire with 15, but both freshmen were still unbeatable at that point.
That streak nearly ended when UML's Colin Wright (Burlington, Ont.) found himself lurking at center ice after finishing up a penalty very early in the third. Wilson made a quick centering breakout pass and Wright was off to the races. He skated into the slot and shot back against the grain, cleanly beating Maguire but ringing it off the middle of the left post.
Ruhwedel and Wilson joined Hellebuyck on the All-Tournament team. The Terriers also had three members on the squad in forwards Danny O'Regan (Needham, Mass.) and Evan Rodrigues (Etobicoke, Ont.) and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass.)
The Terrier loss almost certainly concludes the illustrious 40-year career of BU head coach Jack Parker, who has eight Hockey East tournament championships to his credit sprinkled among countless other titles. As the tournament winner, UMass Lowell is granted an automatic berth into the NCAA championship tournament, marking its fifth appearance and second consecutive.
No comments:
Post a Comment