When coach Scott Paluch looks through the glass at the opposing team’s bench tomorrow night a familiar face and team will appear in his vision.
That face will belong to his former coach Jerry York, who Paluch played under for four seasons (1984-88).
The team he’ll see is the fourth-ranked Boston College Eagles, where Paluch was an associate head coach under York for seven years before coming to the University. He helped coach the Eagles to a national championship in 2001 after making four consecutive Frozen Four appearances starting in 1997.
It’s the opening weekend of the season and tonight the Falcons will welcome Merrimack before entertaining BC tomorrow. Both face-offs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
“Now it all starts for good,” Paluch said. “It’s a real exciting weekend with two Hockey East teams coming in here to play us and Michigan, making it a really neat inter-conference split series.”
Tomorrow will mark only the second time that Paluch and York have coached against each other with the first coming back in 2002 at the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. The Falcons lost the semi-final game 6-5.
“The first and foremost thing is we get to play a highly-ranked opponent,” Paluch said. “It’s always good to have meaningful people back, but I think Jerry would be the first to say that the most important thing is that it’s a very good hockey game.”
For York, it will mark only the sixth time he’s had to coach against the team he once guided for 15 years (1979-94) and only the second time that his team has come to the University Ice Arena. The last came during the 1996-97 season when the Eagles visited the Falcons for a two-game weekend series.
While at the University, York led the Falcons to six NCAA berths, including the school’s only national championship in 1984. His teams also captured four Central Collegiate Hockey Association titles and one tournament championship in 1988.
York’s Eagles are a very young and talented team that features mostly underclassmen mixed in with a good bunch of returning veterans. There are 17 underclassmen that make up the 25-man roster, which includes this year’s fifth-rated recruiting class with newcomers Brock Bradford, Tim Filangieri, Nathan Gerbe, Tim Kunes and Brett Motherwell.
Veterans Brian Boyle, Dan Bertram and Chris Collins return as the top players of a team that lost in the NCAA East Regional final last season after capturing both the Hockey East regular season and tournament championships.
The team still has one of their two anchors in the net from their championship team in sophomore Cory Schneider, who’s coming off a freshman season in which he earned Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors. His 13-1-4 record in 18 games made him one of the top goalies in the nation as he posted an amazing 1.83 goals against average and .924 save percentage.
Though BC presents a big challenge for Paluch’s team, he has tried to keep their focus on the task at hand.
“There is no talk of Boston College right now,” he said. “Our players understand that our whole focus is on Merrimack. We open up the season against Merrimack and they’re a hard working team with a terrific new coach in Mark Dennehy.”
Dennehy inherits a Warriors team that is picked to finish last in Hockey East after struggling to an 8-26-2 record last season.
His team is led by one of the best defensemen in the conference, captain Bryan Schmidt.
Big defensive play is also something the Falcons are looking for out of their talented defensive-core, which is deeper this season than any other season under Paluch.
Thus far the defensemen have scored three goals in both the exhibition game against Windsor and the inter-squad game on Saturday.
“It’s great out there,” defenseman Jeremy Bronson said. “We’re all really good defensemen and it’s always a challenge for us getting to compete with each other for time on the ice. We got a lot of guys returning and we got three new freshmen along with Tim Maxwell, a transfer, so I think we’ll be alright.”
Coach Paluch liked how his team held up in the scrimmage on Saturday and feels his team is coming along well.
“It was another step forward as we prepare for the first weekend,” he said. “I liked the energy we had out there and I think we’re getting closer to being a little more consistent in our passing and finishing off some plays.”
The Falcon’s young players have continued to look impressive as once again they had a strong performance in the scrimmage. Defenseman Kevin Schmidt, freshman, scored the game-winner for the white team as he, forward Brandon Svendson and goalie Jimmy Spratt, came in as the three biggest impact players in the class and have continued to play well.
“It’s so much easier for young guys to fit in when they got upperclassmen that make them feel comfortable and help them along,” Paluch said. “That’s a big part of the transition for any of the young guys and I feel our upperclassmen have done that.”
Falcon defenseman Jon Ralph, freshman, sustained a bruised ankle in Saturday’s inter-squad game, but returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to be ready if needed.
Coach Paluch is also awaiting news on freshman forward Justin Liut’s knee after he injured it during Monday practice.
Michael Hodgson, who didn’t play in Saturday’s scrimmage after experiencing concussion-like symptoms, also returned to practice this week and was said to be having no problems.
