..that’s the only word the comes to mind at the moment. I had planned on doing a season review, and still will, but that has to wait for now. As I’m sure you have all read by now, Casey Wellman is gone, Matt Irwin is all but gone, and the departure of James Marcou is imminent. So much for losing to BC being the worst thing to happen to this team!
I’ll start with tCasey. Quite frankly, he had to sign that deal. He gets 900k for three weeks of work, gets a taste of the NHL, and gets another 900k next year. If I were in his spot, I would have taken that deal. Sad to see him go, though as Fear the Triangle alluded too, he didn’t exactly light it up the second half of the season. The silver lining here is that UMass just had the most high profile free agent get signed, and it got a lot of publicity. If he has some success in Minnesota, it’s actually a good thing for the program, putting them on the map and helping attract high caliber recruits. So best of luck to Casey.
Next I’ll tackle Matt Irwin. Leaving after your sophomore year for 100k? Really? And I don’t know what San Jose is watching, but this kid is not ready for the pros. Irwin is a solid Hockey East defensemen right now, that has a very solid slapshot and is an asset on the power play. But he’s still raw. If he developed for another year or two, I think he could be a legitimate NHL prospect. But he’s not at the moment.
And now to James Marcou. I don’t want James to go, and that is totally selfish of me. I think he is pro ready. He is undersized, but that’s never going to change. I don’t know how much another year of development will improve his NHL abilities. Now there is a case to be made about leaving his mark on college hockey history, and being the undisputed greatest player to ever lace up the skates for Massachusetts. But I can’t kill him for leaving if he does go, which seems like a certainty at this point. If he does leave, well, then all I have to say to James is I’ll miss you most of all scarecrow (a Wizard of Oz reference!). Thanks for the memories. I truly loved watching him play, probably more than any other athlete I’ve seen at UMass.
Now what does all this mean for next year? Well, we are going to see just how good this incoming recruiting class is. By all accounts there is a lot of talent coming in. It would have been great to let them develop with Marcou/Wellman etc, but there is no use crying over the spilled milk. The defense is going to be suspect, but the incoming recruits are going to get a trial by fire. Maybe with them all getting significant time in year one, they can compete for Hockey East home ice in year two or three. We shall see. Season review coming in a day or so!
