The Worst Seasons in the Past 25 Years Part 27: Massachusetts
Welcome to the Worst Season in the Past 25 Years, a series in which r/CollegeHockey reviews the worst season for all 60 Division I teams over the summer to alleviate the crushing boredom known as the off-season and take a horrific tour down memory lane.
If you are interested in writing an entry for your team, please let me know via PM. I’ll be posting entries on weekdays at approximately at 6 pm Eastern time and will be going in alphabetical order. If an entry is not posted at that time, assume that “real life” has gotten in the way and that I am not able to post. If I am aware in advance that I will not post at 6 pm on a particular day, I will announce it in prior posts as a heads up.
And now.../r/CollegeHockey presents the Massachusetts Minutemen! Amworst, as r/collegehockey likes to call UMass Amherst, has had ice hockey since the early parts of the 20th century. They dropped their program to DII in the 1960s, spending two decades there before disbanding the team. The team was later recreated in 1993 as an independent before joining Hockey East the following year.
However, the worst season for the Minutemen has been…
2016-2017 Record: 5-2-29 (W-D-L); Hockey East: 2-1-19 (W-D-L; wooden spooners)
Wins: Colorado College, Army West Point, @Merrimack, Noter Dame, Alabama Huntsville*
Ties: UConn, St. Lawrence^
Losses: CC, @Quinnipiac, New Hampshire, Boston College, Vermont, @UNH, Vermont^, Notre Dame, @UConn, @Princeton, Arizona State (x2), @Minnesota*, American International, Boston-, Lowell, @Boston College, @Maine (x2), Northeastern, @Boston, @Northeastern, @Lowell, Merrimack, Lowell, Providence, @Providence (x3)#
*Mariucci Classic
^ Friendship Four
-Game at Fenway Park
#Two of these losses were in the Hockey East tourney, first round; this series followed Amworst’s last regular season game @Providence. Biggest Beatdown: BC 6 - Amworst 1
Head Coach: Greg Carvel
This was the first Minutemen season under the guidance of Carvel. Steven Iacobellis and Ray Pigozzi had the most goals with eight; Iacobellis had the most assists with 13. In goal, Ryan Wischow had a save percentage of .897 and a GAA of 3.28.
The Minutemen started their season with a game against Dalhousie, a Canadian team, winning 7-5. The following weekend, Colorado College visited UMass for a split series. A home win against Army West Point preceded a Tuesday game at Quinnipiac. Conference play began with losses to New Hampshire and Boston College.
A tie (v UConn) and a win (@Merrimack) began the month of November. Losses to Vermont in conference play and the Friendship Four sandwiched a loss at UNH. UMass’ time in the FF ended with a tie to St. Lawrence.
December started with a split series with Noter Dame. Losses on the road to UConn and Princeton were followed by a sweep from Arizona State. A win over Alabama Huntsville was followed by defeat against Minnesota in the Mariucci Classic.
There were no wins or ties in the new year for the Minutemen. For a laundry list of defeats, look at the “losses” column above and start from American International. In the Hockey East tourney, Providence won in two after facing UMass four times in the row at the end of the season.
As noted before, this was Carvel’s ice cream first season in charge. UMass had two committed players drafted early on in this year’s NHL draft. Hopefully this means that Carvel and his staff are decent recruiters. If true, UMass can build for a better future and perhaps challenge for a Hockey East title.
For Week 6 of this series, we will look at the worst seasons in recent memory for the following schools: UMass Lowell, and Mercyhurst. Once again, if you are interested in doing the entry for your favorite school, shoot me a PM. Your school, name, and date will be added at the end of each post to serve as a reminder. So far, the following people have inquired about a spot:
| School | Username | Tentative Date |
|---|---|---|
| UML | u/LantisEscudo | 7/13 |
| Northeastern | u/therevengeance | 8/2 |
| Penn State | u/saucysalesman | 8/8 |
| RPI | u/Nicholas1227 | 8/16 |
| Union | u/azurearmor | 8/22 |
| Vermont | u/LocksTheFox | 8/23 |
Finally, a shoutout to u/saucysalesman who inspired the idea of this series for doing one for football over at r/cfb. Additionally, thanks to r/CollegeBasketball for the idea of the sub-par MS Paint logos for each school.
Previous Entries in the Worst Seasons Series:
Posted Jul 12, 2017, 9:59 PM UTC