The Standard doesn’t change, shirk or flinch.
Adhering to it brought the UMass hockey program a national championship, two Hockey East titles and two Frozen Four berths among still piling victories. It requires commitment, effort and sacrifice on and off the ice.
The presumed strength or weakness of an opponent doesn’t alter The Standard, either. It remains a heartbeat, consistent, ongoing and paramount.
“There’s a standard of play. The players know whether we’re winning or losing, if they’re not playing at it, they’re going to hear about it,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “Let’s just keep working on that standard, keep pushing it forward.”
UMass satisfied The Standard – as much as it can be – in a weekend sweep against then-No. 1 Denver at the Mullins Center over the weekend. It won’t diminish when Union visits Friday and Saturday (both 7 p.m. ESPN-Plus).
“We got a lot better from Friday to Saturday. We made some adjustments, we played harder. We played more to our identity,” Carvel said. “We’ve got things we still need to be better at. We’re gonna focus on ourselves, make sure we continue to out work and out compete and stay tight to our systems and how we play. I’ll never disrespect anyone at this level. Every team can win.”
Union (2-3-1) was supposed to host the Minutemen last season. The Dutchmen entered COVID-19 protocols the day before the New Years series was supposed to begin. UMass hasn’t faced Union, the 2014 national champions, since Oct. 19, 2019 at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen have won four in a row against the Dutchmen and six out of seven. Their last loss was in overtime Dec. 11, 2015. UMass holds a 10-3-1 advantage in the series.
But this isn’t the same Union team. New coach Josh Hauge took over after six years on the Clarkson staff, replacing Rick Bennett after he resigned following an investigation into his coaching style and practices following an investigation.
The new-look Dutchmen feature 17 underclassmen.
“The new coach is highly regarded. Usually you get a new coach there will be some new looks and some new energy,” Carvel said.
Union players have captured the season’s first two ECAC Rookie of the Week Awards: defensemen John Prokop and Nick Young. Nate Hanley leads the Dutchmen with eight points and six assists, while Tyler Watkins has scored a team-high four goals.
JUSTLY REWARDED – UMass goalie Luke Pavicich received his first Hockey East Player of the week award after backstopping the Minutemen to both wins over No. 1 Denver. He stopped 75 of the 77 shots he faced, including 45 on Friday. Both Denver goals came with an extra attacker, and Pavicich earned his first career shutout Saturday.
He ranks fourth in the country in save percentage (.965) and sixth in goals against average (1.33). Both are the second-best marks in Hockey East behind UConn’s Logan Terness.
Sophomore defenseman Scott Morrow earned Hockey East Defender of the Week honors after scoring in each game and helping the Minutemen kill a five-minute major penalty. It was his third conference weekly honor after being named the league’s rookie of the week twice last season.
SHARE THE WEALTH – Seven Minutemen have scored a goal this season, and no one has more than two (Reed Lebster and Morrow). Some of those scorers include freshmen Kenny Connors and Tyson Dyck, who opened their UMass accounts against the Pioneers. They’ve played on the fourth line with fellow freshman Cole O’Hara, who also had an assist.
“This is as deep of a forward group as we’ve had. Those freshmen are a huge part of it. We can play them as a fourth line and match them up with other fourth lines,” Carvel said. “They’re all smart players. They’re going to get better quickly.”
POLL POSITION – The Minutemen jumped to No. 6 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men’s College Hockey polls after sweeping the Pioneers, which dropped from No. 1 to No. 4.
Minnesota ascended to No. 1, while Minnesota State (No. 2) and Quinnipiac (No. 3) also received first-place votes.
WAY TOO EARLY STATS – UMass ranks third in the country in scoring defense allowing just 1.33 goals per game. The Minutemen are also in the nation’s top 10 in winning 56 percent of their face-offs (No. 8) and killing 88.9 percent of penalties (No. 9).
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.