The role of UMass hockey team head coach Greg Carvel repeats himself starting with a new layout list, avoiding complacency

In October 2019, UMass hockey head coach Greg Carvel met with reporters for the first time since his team ran into the Frozen Four and lost in the national championship game just a few months before. It was the first appearance of the programs on Frozen Four.

I’ve never been as excited about a season, but also as nervous as one season, because I’m scared to death of all the complacency on the program, Carvel said at the time. But also excited about the challenge of maintaining the program.

Two years later, UMass is in the very same place. Its clear Carvel kept the contract going and kept his program UMass lifted the national championship in April.

But the fear of complacency, simply content with just one championship, still passes through the locker room.

It starts with me, Carvel told NCAA.com last week. I think things flow from the coach through the team. If they see me acting smug, they are happy. I’ve placed a lot of responsibility on me to lead the players so they see me and how I move forward.

Not that they weren’t happy with winning the championship. It just wasn’t the ultimate goal. It was just the next step. The next step is to try to repeat and complacency is a big concern.

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Avoiding dissatisfaction is not the only speed limit that UMass will play as champion in 2021-22. Minutemen lost two key defenders to the NHL. One was Marc Del Gaizo, on whom Carvel relied heavily in all situations. The other was Zac Jones, who was a puck moving guru and a key wheel in a power game.

They were very big shoes to fill, but so were Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro as well as Jake McLaughlin, Carvel said.

Minutemen has brought a parent transfer to Slava Denim via Denver to help in the background. They also add freshmen Ryan Ufko and Scott Morrow, two newcomers that Carvel has high hopes for.

Both were included in the NHL draft this summer. Morrow rose to 40th place in Carolina Hurricanes. Nashville Predators chose Ufko in the fourth round.

I think I have a very strong background again, Carvel said. We have eight team defenders and all eight children can play. It will become a competition. It’s the first time I feel like it’s going to be really hard to decide which six kids get to play from night to night.

Front-end transfer Carson Gicewicz UMass’s top scorer last season is now gone. Carvel and coaching staff brought Cornell forward forward Cam Donaldson from Cornell.

Donaldson will be 5-8, 170 pounds. His best season at Cornell came in 2018-19, when he scored 25 points in 34 matches. Among others, he did not play for the ECAC last season.

He’s going to score … I expect him to be an important part of our attack, Carvel said of Donaldson. He is a fun player to watch, very changeable, good IQ, great vision.

Last season, then-freshman Josh Lopina rose and became a major player in the UMass attack, centering the top six lines between Bobby Trivigno and Garrett Wait.

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Carvel then sees freshman Lucas Mercur, Hurricanes ’sixth-round choice at the 2020 NHL check-in, and makes a similar leap.

He looked good early, Carvel said. He could be at the beginning of the career of the top six players.

The sure bet Carvel knows he can make for his team this year is a good and consistent online game.

For the first time in his collegiate career, goalkeeper Matt Murray, who is now a graduate student, keeps the net to himself. When he was a freshman, he fought second-year student Ryan Wischow for a starting job. Filip Lindberg arrived next season and woke up three years back and forth with Murray.

Lindberg signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the interim, leaving Murray last.

I’m glad for Matt that there’s a big difference between him and our other goalkeepers now, which has never been the case for him, Carvel said. He carries the weight. I hope he plays every game. I hope he has figures like last year, and I hope the team plays really well in front of him and he has an excellent year and he signs the contract at the end of the year, as Lindberg did last year.

Murray played 14 matches last year, going 10-4 and scoring 1.97 goals on average. His best and most important start came against Minnesota Duluth in the Frozen Four, stopping 36 shots and leading UMass to victory 3-2.

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Carvel begins his sixth season as UMass headquarters. Each season has been better than the previous one, and the program has gone through 180.

When we got here five years ago, UMass was far from the dream of winning championships, Carvel said. You ask, how does it feel to win a championship? I don’t think of that game. I think about what we’ve done to build our culture, which is a big reason why we win, and I’m really proud of that.

Now that Carvel has brought UMass University to the top of the hockey mountain, the ability to keep it there starts with him.

That time begins now.