New England Hockey Journal Replica Sample - 18

ATLANTIC HOCKEY

Presented by

CONTENT BY JONATHAN SIGAL

NEHJ Atlantic
Player of Year

BELMONT PRODUCT BARROW ON RISE AT CROSS

Charles
Williams

 Charlie Barrow

or Charlie Barrow, the theme of his 2016-17 season at Holy Cross
was gradual improvement.
The freshman defenseman came in with no expectations, nor did
David Berard (West Warwick, R.I.) lump any on, despite Barrow being
named to the BCHL All-Rookie Team as a member of the Coquitlam
Express just a year ago. Rather, in the 5-foot-11, 160-pound blueliner's
own eyes, his success for the Crusaders always was going to be defined
by proving he's a complete player.
"Being a smaller defenseman, they stress taking pucks away from
guys and fronting in front of the net instead of getting into physical
battles that I probably won't be winning," the Belmont, Mass., native
said. "Little things like that I made strides in, and once I got more
comfortable with that I started to trust myself jumping up into plays
and doing the offensive things that I enjoy."
Barrow did just that, chipping in 15 points in 33 games, but Berard
said the Belmont Hill School product withstood a trial by fire of sorts.
Holy Cross thrust him into the lineup in its first game, an 8-2 win over
Niagara on Oct. 7, and he never looked back, often paired alongside
sophomore Johnny Coughlin.

"All in all, it was probably a pretty productive first year and he
generated more of his points at the end of the year than he did at the
beginning," Berard said. "That's the growth he had away from the puck,
which allowed him to do more with the puck."
Now, with coaching points in place, the task before Barrow is
continuing on an upward trajectory. The Crusaders will bring in a fivemember freshman class, with two being defensemen.
From that, Barrow acknowledged that competition will be stiff, but
also stressed that he's optimistic about next season. After all, he said,
Holy Cross went 3-3-1 against teams that made the NCAA tournament
and graduates only two seniors.
And, Barrow said, with a full training regimen in hand, his improvement will only continue.
"I know I have to utilize this summer more than I ever have to get
bigger and stronger so I can compete harder next year," Barrow said. "I
want to be the guy for Coach to look at to play in all situations. I want
to get there so I can keep on contributing to our team defensively and
offensively and do the best that I can."
- JONATHAN SIGAL

THE QUOTE

'To me, it was a very difficult decision to leave Canisius
and something that we were very proud we had built.'

Mark Seliger

Sr., G, Canisius

Was it ever in doubt? Most
players are lucky to receive any
postseason award, but it seemed
as though a new one rolled in
every week for Williams, a transfer from Ferris State. He was
named a first-team All-American
for the east region, piggybacking
on finalist nods for the Hobey
Baker and Mike Richter awards.
Backstopping the Golden
Griffins, Williams helped his
squad post a program-record 17game unbeaten streak, and his
production was simply stellar. To
name a few: 1.82 goals-against
average, .943 save percentage, six shutouts and a 21-7-5
overall record. What's even
more impressive about Williams'
season is his fellow first-team
All-Americans included Adam
Fox (Harvard),
Charlie
McAvoy
(Boston University), Zach
Aston-Reese
(Northeastern), Spencer
Foo (Union)
and Mike Vecchione (Union)
- practically a who's who of
college hockey.

NEHJ Atlantic
Rookie of Year

Francis
Marotte

Fr., G, Robert Morris

A 6-foot-1 netminder out
of Longueuil, Que., he posted
a .931 save percentage, 2.08
goals-against average and
17-8-3 mark.
Marrotte was
a rock for the
Colonials,
and head
coach Derek
Schooley has
to be confident knowing
he has the rookie standout back
for another go-around.

- Former Canisius coach Dave Smith, the new man in charge at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

18 NEW ENGLAND HOCKEY JOURNAL May 2017

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