The University of Massachusetts has not been the most desired destination for college hockey prospects in New England for much of the past decade, but Greg Carvel has helped to change that connotation by leaps and bounds in just over a year’s work on the job in Amherst.
His second season as head coach started with uncertainty as he welcomed 15 new players into the program, including a 13-member freshman class that is the largest in the Division 1 men’s ranks. But, the gains are immediately visible.
"I didn’t really know what to expect going into the year because we were going to be so young. And, not just young, but there were (15) players that had never worn the jersey. You knew you needed to do a lot of the groundwork," said Carvel, who guided St. Lawrence University, his alma mater, for five years before taking over at UMass prior to last season.
"What I’ve been most happy about my team is that … every night, our kids come and they’re ready to compete. I think there’s a lot more pride in the jersey right now. We’re not a high-skilled team by any means, but we’re competitive."
Still, there are monumental "gets" on the roster that helped the Minutemen achieve that consistency and success the program had not seen in years; their nine wins at the holiday break marked the most by a UMass team since 2009 and surpassed last season’s total by four.
Freshmen defensemen Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro both entrusted Carvel to lead the next stage of their development after being selected in the first and second rounds, respectively, of last June’s NHL Entry Draft,. Forward John Leonard did the same in returning to his hometown for college following a twoyear stint in Green Bay, where he played in the United States Hockey League after a standout career at local power Springfield Cathedral High School.
Carvel is looking to fill his program with players who simply want to be Minutemen. These three — and the rest of the incoming class of which they are part — are a great start.
Leonard frequented the Mullins Center while his father, John, was an assistant basketball coach for the Minutemen from 2001-05, so he’s seen the hockey program’s peaks and valleys for some time. He wants to be a Minuteman.
"Playing in your hometown is something a lot of people can’t do, so it’s a pretty special opportunity for me," said Leonard. "I’ve wanted to play here my whole life. Growing up, me and my buddies would always go to the games and my dad was coaching there, so to be in the (player’s) shoes now, it’s really cool."
The road to Amherst lasted much longer for Ferraro and Makar, who both made the trip down from Canada to patrol the UMass blue line.
An uptempo style of play is not their only similarity. Both remained loyal to the program during its rise as Makar was committed by John Micheletto and the previous coaching staff, while current UMass associate head coach Ben Barr recruited Ferraro to Western Michigan University before taking a position on Carvel’s staff.
Canadian players are exposed to numerous different routes in their hockey lives, but both saw the significant impact Carvel has had on the UMass program in such a short time, as well as the benefit his years of professional coaching experience can have on their development.
"At the time of the coaching change, I just wanted to stay loyal and see what happened," said Makar, selected with the No. 4 overall pick in June by the Colorado Avalanche. "I knew they were going to get somebody good in here. Carvel’s record of coaching in the NHL and being able to coach (Ottawa Senators star Erik) Karlsson at a young age, it’s pretty special."
"They’re one of the main reasons why I made my decision to come to UMass," Ferraro said of Carvel and his coaching staff, which includes Barr and assistant coach Jared DeMichiel. "I know Coach Greg likes his ‘D’ to be mobile and involved offensively. I think that works well in my favor. … They’re all so passionate and so excited when they come to the rink every day, and that just picks up the overall energy of the team."
Every great hockey team builds from the goaltender on out, and the Minutemen have sophomore Ryan Wischow and freshman Matt Murray — ranked 29th among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting last April — both seeing time in net. Ferraro and Makar are just the pieces to help do that. As players who like to push the pace and create offense in transition, they fit the style of play Carvel is aiming for, and they both saw the opportunity to play a key role within a growing program right off the bat.
"Mario simply outworks and outwills everybody on the ice … (and) I think Cale knew he was going to come here and be the number-one defenseman," Carvel said. "In order to develop, you have to play those minutes and an important role in the team."
They’re great people, too. That’s big. When working to build up a team’s culture, Carvel says what they both bring to the table checks off all the boxes.
"Those two kids have no selfishness to them whatsoever," Carvel said. "It’s not by chance that certain people make it to the NHL; they make it because they’re high-principal people, high character. Mario and Cale are both those kind of kids."
The Minutemen are focused on the here and now. With two players for whom a professional career is imminent and a strong supporting cast coming together, the future is bright.
"We’re extremely young, but I don’t think any of us would want it any other way," said Leonard. "We get to play those minutes and push each other harder than I’ve ever been pushed before; we make each other better. Another thing that makes us a real special group is how close we are, so I think that bond goes a long way."
That bond came by no accident. Carvel credits director of athletics Ryan Bamford for his recent investments into the program, allowing nearly the entire team to settle in on campus together before the start of the academic year, train and take classes for several weeks.
It was a key period of time for the team, setting it on the right path to building a healthy culture and establishing an identity for this season. While such a setup is common at other Hockey East institutions, this year marked the first time UMass had its hockey players to campus during the summer months.
"It would have been a lot more difficult if these guys started showing up on September 1 and you’ve only got a couple of weeks to build a culture, build relationships and get your systems together," Carvel said.
While youth is evident with a quick glance at the UMass roster, its few leaders have been instrumental in setting the right course. As there is no singular captain, Carvel points to Massachusetts natives Josh Couturier (Byfield) and Niko Rufo (Stoneham) as well as defenseman Jake Horton — the team’s lone "true senior" — for helping to do just that.
Both Couturier and Rufo joined UMass from other Hockey East institutions; Couturier from Boston College, and Rufo from Providence as a graduate transfer. They had options to continue their collegiate careers elsewhere, but they didn’t. They wanted to be Minutemen, and they have bought in to everything that Carvel has preached right away.
"It’s critical how important these two guys have been," Carvel said of Couturier and Rufo, who was a member of the Friars’ first-ever national championship team in 2015. "We’ve played all these freshmen and they’ve done a good job, but if they didn’t have some veteran leadership, I doubt they’d be doing as well and their consistency wouldn’t be as good."
At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Couturier brings a needed physical element to the UMass defense. For Rufo, there was an opportunity — similar to Makar’s — to play in a top-line role and contribute on the power play, and his 11 points through the season’s first 16 games were more than he produced in 47 games over three seasons at Providence.
Opportunity. That is what Carvel and the Minutemen are providing.
Soon enough, Amherst will be more of a destination for some of the top collegiate hockey prospects from Massachusetts and New England in general. Carvel already is starting to see his staff’s work paying dividends. The renovations that have been made to Mullins Center in the form of a new locker room, training room and new scoreboards over the past few seasons have not hurt, either.
"I’ve said to the team until recently that UMass has been invisible in the world of college hockey. Our common goal is to bring UMass into visibility and make it a place where Massachusetts kids want to be," Carvel said. "What we offer is impressive, but we just have to get to the point where kids are coming to us before we come to them.
"We understand that the high-end kids in Massachusetts look at the other schools as their top choice right now, and that’s fine. We’re comfortable that it will get to a point where we’re seen in the same light."
