UMass hockey ‘slipped’ this season but will adjust

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Staff Writer

Published: 03-09-2023 4:06 PM

CHESTNUT HILL – The maroon helmets never changed. Massachusetts still spread across their chests in maroon or white. But it still didn’t look like the same UMass hockey team this season. At least, UMass hockey as constructed over the past four seasons.

The Minutemen ended their season Wednesday with a loss at Boston College in the Hockey East tournament preliminary round, their earliest exit since 2016-17, Greg Carvel’s first season. They’d won the previous two titles and played in the previous three semifinals.

“I'm in deep reflection and evaluation of how things have gotten south so quickly. Obviously I've been thinking a lot here the second half of the year when things haven't gone very well,” Carvel said. “A lot of adjustments need to be made. I think some things have slipped. There's areas that I know you can't fix in the middle of the season. I know how this program found success, and we've gotten away from that in a lot of ways.”

That starts with recruiting the right players. UMass attracted a different caliber of prospect once Hobey Baker winner Cale Makar came through and it won a national championship. Those aren’t the kind of players that made UMass a national champion.

“When complacency kind of seeps in, and after we won the national championship it was a real concern that it was gonna seep in,” Carvel said. “You get to a point where you're recruiting kids because of what you did. We used to recruit kids because of what we wanted to be. I just trusted our recruiting. It slipped. Everything's ultimately my responsibility.”

They also have to be talented. UMass lacked what Carvel called “difference makers” this season. A Minuteman didn’t reach double digit goals until Taylor Makar scored his 10th Wednesday against the Eagles. By comparison, Boston College has five double-digit scorers.

“You have to have difference makers. Last year it was Bobby Trivigno. Before that it was John Leonard,” Carvel said. “I like the group we have coming in next year. I think we could have a couple of difference makers. Ultimately, I do believe that will trumps skill, and we’ve got to get back to being a harder edge team.”

In many ways the Minutemen are no longer the team that won the national championship. Only eight players from that squad played for the program this season. Four are seniors: Cal Kiefiuk, Reed Lebster, Jerry Harding and the captain Eric Faith. They won two Hockey East tournament titles in addition to the national championship.

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“You can't take away from them. They were part of winning teams. The quality of the kids in the group is outstanding. Professors were sending me emails complimenting me just the quality of the people they are, which I'm extremely proud of,” Carvel said. “They're good kids. They're really good kids. They leave here as they've accomplished a lot during their college hockey career that most kids don't.”

Carvel did his best to prepare that senior group, which also includes Michigan State transfer Josh Nodler and graduate student Matt Koopman for the end of their careers.

“Make sure you don't have any regrets when it comes to the end. I still remember very clearly my last game in college hockey. It’s hard for most kids 20 to 23 years old. You never lost a loved one. You don't really know loss in your life. And it's a new feeling, and it's dark,” Carvel said. “These kids commit and sacrifice so much of their lives to get to this level of hockey. Then it's gone, and you don't have a choice. It's over.

“The worst feeling you'll have is if you get to this point tonight,” he continued. “You say, ‘God damn, I should have done more.’ But the greatest feeling you'll ever have is you get to this point you're like, ‘I gave everything I had. I did it the right way.’ That's my job as a coach to make sure when they get to this night, that's what they feel. It's the responsibility of coaches to do that, to challenge kids to help push them. Sometimes they don't like it. A lot of times it's uncomfortable, but it's because I know you don't want to have that feeling of regret when you get to the end of the line.”

But it’s not the end of the line for Carvel or the rest of the Minutemen. He’ll take the lessons from this season and apply them to next year’s version of UMass hockey.

“The concerns I had going into the year ended up being major issues for us. I've got new assistant coaches now, and I've been telling them all year long, ‘this is what you need to be looking for when you go on the road.’ I said, ‘don't bring a kid if you can't do this, this and this.’ We’re learning our lesson right now,” Carvel said. “I'm excited about the group. We’ve got some really good players coming back. I think we got good players coming in. This was a big drop. We'd finished one, two or three for like four years in a row, earned some respect in the league. Now we’ve got to earn it back again.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>