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December 20, 2006

Breaking Ground (by Brian Fitzsimmons)

Breaking Ground

by Brian Fitzsimmons

It's a good bet that avid Connecticut sports fans still cherish the memories of Emeka Okafor gracing the courts at the Hartford Civic Center and Gampel Pavilion. The same heartfelt recollections harkens back to the days when the likes of Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen and Scotty Burrell donned Husky blue. It's a fact that for the past two decades, Connecticut sports have been dominated by UConn basketball - both men's and women's. Combined, UConn has captured eight Division 1 NCAA basketball championships dating back to 1995.

The pride Connecticut sports fans take in the success of UConn basketball is well deserved: In 2004, the University of Connecticut became the first school to capture men's and women's NCAA Division 1 basketball championships in the same season. It is also the only college in which both its active basketball head coaches are enshrined at the National Basketball Hall of Fame. And while both teams continue to set the standard of athletic excellence in Connecticut, the Nutmeg State is becoming a hotbed for another winter sport: NCAA hockey.

Yale is the Connecticut team with the richest hockey history. And Quinnipiac, with its gorgeous new rink tucked amid the Hamden hills, is ranked 17th in the nation according to the most recent NCAA poll. But if you scan down just below the top 20 to the other teams receiving national votes, you'll find an exciting, upstart team that calls Fairfield County home: the Sacred Heart University Pioneers, who offer plenty for Connecticut hockey fans to cheer about, including a legitimate Hobey Baker Award candidate, a goaltender drafted by the New Jersey Devils and the 2005-06 Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) Rookie of the Year.

And that's only the beginning.

Star-Making Performance

 

It was a frigid night in late January 2006, and goaltender Jason Smith was having the type of evening SHU hockey fans had become accustomed to, with cat-like reflexes and acrobatic saves by the bushel basket. And while deafening cheers resounded all evening, cascading off the walls and throughout the Milford Ice Pavilion, the Pioneers' home rink, the loudest ovation was reserved for after the game, when Smith skated off the ice with 54 saves vs. AHA rival Mercyhurst, tying a school record held by himself. By season's end, the St. Lambert, Quebec native would finish No. 13 in the nation in goals-against average and No. 8 in saves percentage.

Throughout the campaign, Smith's supporting cast contributed in a big way as Pierre-Luc O'Brien broke the school's record for total points and assists in a season, skating on the same line as Bear Trapp, the Regina, Saskatchewan native with one of the more colorful hockey names in recent memory. Trapp was a pleasant surprise in 2005-06, tallying 43 points (including six game-winning goals) and earning Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie of the Year accolades.

In the end, however, SHU's foray into the spotlight ended with thud when the Pioneers lost to UConn, a lower seed, in the AHA playoffs. The disappointing loss to its in-state rivals wasn't the end for the Pioneers, however. Rather, it was a springboard into the 2006-2007 season.

"We learned that we must be ready to play every game the same way no matter who the opponent is," says junior forward Alexandre Parent, one of several Pioneers recruited by head coach Shaun Hannah out of hockey-rich Quebec. "We have also learned how to react when things do not go our way during a game. We believe in our ability to win games more than ever in the past."

That positive attitude has permeated the Pioneer locker room, playing a huge role in the Pioneers' early success in the 2006-07 campaign. At press time, SHU sits atop the Atlantic Hockey standings with a 7-2-4 conference record (9-4-4 overall), a one-point lead over RIT, a two-point margin over Air Force and Army, and a three-point cushion over Holy Cross.

Early in the season, the Pioneers started to make national noise with a hard-fought 7-5 loss to perennial national powerhouse Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. (Michigan State is ranked No. 14 nationally at press time.)

At press time, O'Brien, a 5-10, 180-pound senior forward, is second in the league in goals scored (12) and tied for second in overall points (27). But the big news on the SHU's Fairfield campus is that the Nicolet, Quebec native has emerged as a legitimate Hoby Baker Award candidate (hockey's version of the Heisman), having been named Division 1 National Player of the Month for November.

"It's all about having fun," said O'Brien after a big Pioneer win over reigning league champion Holy Cross in November. "We play better when we have fun, actually."

Success and fun usually go hand in hand, and so it is for the SHU Pioneers, a team that has come a long way in a fairly short period of time.

"We've come along way from last year and years past," observes Smith, who was tabbed as Atlantic Hockey's Goaltender of the Week in early December. "We've bonded a lot to this point, and now everyone knows their roles - where they stand or where they should be."

Ironically, the 6'1 senior heard the news of his name being called by the New Jersey Devils in 2003, but wasn't a full-time starter for SHU until last season because of the presence of Kevin LaPointe, who broke into the Detroit Red Wings organization for a short period of time. After LaPointe's departure, there were some initial concerns about Smith's experience between the pipes - concerns the athletic Smith were quick to allay.

"[Smith] always comes up huge for us," says O'Brien. "It seems he's the one who steps up his game when we need it, and he's one heck of a competitor."

While Smith's primary role is to stop shots, he also serves as mentor for goaltender-in-waiting Stefan Drew, a 5-11, 170-pound sophomore hailing from Dugald, Manitoba.

Last year's early exit in the postseason has raised some natural questions, even among the most ardent of SHU's supporters. The Pioneers answered their doubters with sweeps of Holy Cross and Mercyhurst in key early-season weekend series. Then, the Pioneers traveled to take on AHA newcomer Air Force in the rarified air of Colorado Springs, Colo. for a weekend series in early December. Down 3-2 in the first game, Parent sent the contest into overtime with a game-tying goal at 18:36 of the third period. Smith, with 35 saves in both games, allowed the Pioneers to return home from their first trip to the Rockies with two of four possible points.

This year's group has proved itself to be resilient, and has started to re-write the script from last season's unanticipated early postseason exit. There's a big story in the making, and this is only the first chapter.

Power Play:

  • While all of SHU's games are broadcast on the Internet (www.SacredHeartPioneers.com), many of the Pioneers' more high-profile games are simulcast on one of the strongest radio signals in the state, WICC 600 AM in Bridgeport. Upcoming games on WICC: Jan. 6 (@ Cornell), Jan. 20 (@ Dartmoth), Feb. 9 and 10 (@ Mercyhurst), Feb. 16 (@ Holy Cross). Game time for all is 7 p.m.
  • The voice of SHU hockey on WICC, Jeff Holtz, is a familiar voice for many Fairfield County commuters. He is also known as "Commander Jeff" - WICC's "eye in the sky" for its morning and afternoon drive-time traffic reports.
  • Bear Trapp was named AHA's Player of the Week for Nov. 20-26. He was instrumental in the Pioneers' charge into first place that week with a tie with Army and a win over in-state rival UConn.
  • Next up for SHU: A weekend series this week (Dec. 21-22) vs. Bentley at the Milford Ice Pavilion, followed by a trip to Cornell (Jan. 6) and AIC (Jan. 9).
  • The Pioneers' home schedule for the rest of the 2006-2007 season: RIT (Jan. 12 and 13), Canisius (Jan. 26 and 27), UConn (Feb. 2), Holy Cross (Feb. 17) and Army (Feb. 24). All home games are played at the Milford Ice Pavilion and begin at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.SacredHartPioneers.com.