LOWELL, Mass. — Before Friday’s series opener, I asked UMD coach Scott Sandelin about the return of Will Francis to the Bulldog lineup, and what he thought of Francis’ game Sunday against Manitoba.
Sandelin went from that into talking about the difficult lineup decisions he and his staff are facing in the early going of the season, especially when it comes to the back end.
“We have to make some tough decisions,” Sandelin said. “It’s not easy sitting out Luke Bast and Bods (Riley Bodnarchuk). I think those guys are certainly capable of playing. But I felt it was important to get him (Francis) in this game, a little more meaningful game early in the year.”
Francis’ ice time appeared to be limited, which isn’t a surprise. He’s talked about the challenges of returning from everything his body has been through. It’s a borderline miracle he was able to play any portion of a Division I college hockey game when he had a bone marrow transplant in April.
We hope the staff has plenty of difficult decisions all season long. It means players are staying healthy and continuing to push for playing time.
Now we’ll see if UMD can make the right adjustments and find a way to win on a Saturday night on the road. Never easy, no matter the venue or adversary.
The Bulldogs will want to see progress out of their young players, many of whom had rough games on Friday. Can they respond to the physicality they faced and figure out how to get in better positions to make plays?
We’re about to find out.
Lines?
Lines.
UMD forwards
Perkins – James – Bettens
Shaugabay – Plante (Zam) – Arnott
Molenaar – Smith – Loney
Bentz – Fischer – Bechen
UMD defense
Gallatin – Dubinsky
Pionk – Kleber
Hanson – Bast
Pierce
UMD goalies
Gajan – Knapp – Sandy
UMass-Lowell forwards
Carpentier – Cole – Parks
Truman – Vaarwerk – Eddy
Nemec – Owens – Delaney
Buttazoni – Collins – MacDonald
UMass-Lowell defense
Meehan – Schweighardt
Brandon – Anderson
Jonsson – Robilotti
Kilcullen
UMass-Lowell goalies
Welsch – Halasz – Brandon
(Welsch was listed first on Friday and Halasz started. Coach Norm Bazin indicated during the week that both would play this weekend, but we’ll make no assumptions.)
Comments