Bentley Drops the Puck on 2018-19 Season Friday at Home vs. Merrimack
The Matchup: Bentley will drop the puck on its 2018-19 season on Friday night at Bentley Arena vs. the Merrimack Warriors of the Hockey East Conference in the first season opener at the new arena. After three games at the Arena at the end of last season, 2018-19 marks the first full season for the hockey team in their new on-campus home.
Friday's game will be the first of 18 home games at Bentley Arena this season, and the first of four non-conference games, with UMass-Lowell (Oct. 27), Harvard (Dec. 4) and Dartmouth (Jan. 5) also set to visit.
Merrimack got its season underway last weekend with a pair of non-conference home games against Lake Superior State of the WHCA that saw the Lakers take both games, by scores of 5-4 and 1-0. The Warriors will face another Atlantic Hockey team on Saturday night when they visit Army West Point.
Follow the Game: All Bentley Atlantic Hockey games, and all home games, can again be seen on AtlanticHockey.TV this season. Bentley's channel can be accessed at the following link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bentleyhockey/
The cost is $104.99 for the season, and $10.99 for a day pass.
Single game tickets and parking passes can be purchased at https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/12892/the-bentley-arena
Setting the Stage for 18-19: Bentley returns 18 players from last season's squad (9 forwards, 7 defensemen, 2 goalies), with 10 newcomers added to the ranks.
Sophomore Luke Santerno is the leading returning scorer after he recorded 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points last season, while senior defenseman Tanner Jago is the team's second highest returning scorer after six goals and 22 assists last season. Other high scorers returning are senior Drew Callin (6-20-26) and junior Jonathan Desbiens (12-9-21).
Junior goalie Aidan Pelino returns between the pipes with 36 starts in his first two seasons. On the blueline, five defensemen return who played in at least 31 games last season. Juniors Connor Brassard and Brett Orr both played in 36 of 37 games, while Jago and sophomore Charlie Marchand each played in 35. Senior Alexey Solovyev suited up in 31 games.
Among the team's 10 newcomers is forward Jakov Novak, who became the program's first NHL draft pick in June when he was selected by the Ottawa Senators. There are two transfers, Drew Best (Univ. of Vermont) and Sam Kauppila (St. Lawrence), both forwards. Defenseman Luke Orysiuk was named first team All-NAHL last season, while goalie Fraser Kirk was named the OJHL Goalie of the Year.
The Captains: Jago and junior forward Ryner Gorowsky will wear the C this season as Bentley's team captains. His 28 points last season was third most among defensemen in Atlantic Hockey, and his 0.80 points per game average was ranked 14th nationally among defensemen. He's also excelled on the power play, with his 20 points on the man-advantage second most in the conference in 2017-18.
He'll enter his senior season with 58 points (10 goals, 48 assists) in 114 career games played.
Gorowsky has been one of the team's top forwards in his two seasons. He's racked up 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points in 59 career games, while also being one of the team's top penalty killers. He was named to the Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie team for the 2016-17 season after he notched seven goals and 16 assists.
Bentley vs. Hockey East: Bentley has beaten a Hockey East team in eight of the last 10 seasons, with the wins coming against six different teams; UMass-Lowell (2017-18), UNH (16-17), Northeastern (10-11, 12-13, 15-16), Boston Univ. (13-14), UMass (09-10) and Maine (08-09). Later this season, they will host Lowell, and travel to Boston College (Nov. 23) and UNH (Dec. 30).
Last Meeting: Bentley and Merrimack played last season in North Andover, with the Warriors winning 5-2. Defensemen Brett Orr and Tanner Jago had the Bentley goals. This will be the 8th all-time meeting between the two programs.
Up Next: Bentley is off on Saturday, but plays two midweek games next week at AIC, on Tuesday and Thursday night, to begin its Atlantic Hockey slate. The teams played four times last season, with the season series ending 1-1-2.