Hockey East media day

BOSTON - Maybe it's a testament to Hockey East's depth, or maybe coaches just don't put too much thought into the picks. But several Hockey East coaches at Wednesday's league media day at TD Garden (yes, formerly TDBanknorth Garden) offered insight on the polls and how it relates to the league picture.

“I know when I’m filling out the poll I have a tough time
picking a team,” Vermont Coach Kevin Sneddon said. “I look at Merrimack and see
the growth and what Mark (Dennehy, Merrimack Coach) is doing there. I thought
they were one of the toughest teams to play against. Night in and night out,
all the coaches will say that you’re challenged. It’s extremely difficult to
pick where a team will finish because each game, it’s anybody’s for the
taking."

UMass-Lowell Coach Blaise MacDonald's team was voted second behind Boston University,

"I wasn't surprised, and we as coaches feel strongly about the players we have," MacDonald said. "Given how we played the whole season out last year, and in particular down the stretch, it's easy to see how we got into the top grouping."

MacDonald believes his team's success last year - the River Hawks came within a game of winning the Hockey East title and possibly earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament - will bode well this season.

"You can talk about experience but until you go through it, until you have tangible evidence you can get it done, that's the most important thing," said MacDonald, whose team returns 12 seniors and return junior All-American defenseman Maury Edwards.

BU Coach Jack Parker said his vote for No. 1  was UMass-Lowell, which lost to the
Terriers in the Hockey East championship. But he was droll about his rationale.

“You can’t pick yourself,” Parker said. “I still wouldn’t
pick myself.”

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There are so many sophomore goalies in Hockey East this season, including Maine's Scott Darling, Vermont's Rob Madore, Providence's Alex Beaudry and Boston U's Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheiser. But Providence Coach Tim Army believes the youth of the goaltenders can be looked at both ways.

"To me, it illustrates the dynamic now of kids coming to college later and of kids leaving earlier because of the (NHL) collective bargaining agreement," said Army, a former Portland Pirates coach. "I also think it's a reflection of the state of our game at the NCAA level. I don't know if it's good or bad."

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On a separate note, the New York Islanders assigned former Maine player Greg Moore to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League.

Moore, a Lisbon native who played at Maine from 2002 to 2006, played in six preseason games for the Islanders, scoring a goal.