Date Posted:09:00:31 03/25/04 Thu Author: matunuck Subject: good article on HC's recruiting in Canada
Canadian connection the key
Dams, Kealey lead HC into regional
By Jennifer Toland, Worcester Telegram &Amp; Gazette, 3/25/2004
COLORADO SPRINGS -- Jeff Dams and Greg Kealey grew up about 10 minutes from each other in Ontario, but never really got to know each other until they migrated some seven hours south to Worcester. "And it's been all downhill from there," joked Kealey, eliciting a laugh from Dams, his hockey linemate and close friend.
Actually, things couldn't be better for Dams, Kealey, and the rest of the Crusaders as they prepare for their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Holy Cross (22-9-4) faces top-seeded North Dakota (29-7-3) at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in the West Regional at World Arena.
"It's a great opportunity for us to play the No. 1 team," Kealey said. "I'm looking forward to getting going with it."
The Crusaders' already successful season, in which they have tied a team record for wins, can be largely attributed to the play of Dams, a right wing, and Kealey, a center, who along with freshman James Sixsmith, make up Holy Cross's first line. The senior pair keyed the Crusaders' offense, Dams with 14 goals and 25 assists for a team-leading 39 points, and Kealey with 15 goals and 19 assists.
"It's the first year we played together all year on the same line," Dams said. "We have played together on the power play and we've always kind of clicked on the power play."
Dams and Kealey, who first met while playing against each other in the Central Junior A Hockey League in Ottawa, Dams for the Smiths Falls Bears and Kealey for the Nepean Raiders, were Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl's first recruits from Canada and the program's first foreign-born players.
"They were trying something new by coming here and it was a pretty big leap of faith," Pearl said. "We couldn't have picked two better kids to have gotten from there for their hockey ability and for their personalities because that next year they were like our Canadian recruiters. They helped pave the way."
Holy Cross now has nine Canadians on its roster. Pearl, who was the Canadian recruiter when he was an assistant at Brown, started in Ontario, which is driving distance from Holy Cross, but has expanded his recruiting efforts to include New Brunswick (sophomore Pierre Napert-Frenette) and British Columbia (freshman Frank O'Grady).
"We feel like we have to be able to recruit across North America," Pearl said. "Being in Canada opens us up to eight more [junior] leagues where there's really good hockey played. Dams and Kealey really started us on our way and opened us up to another country. That's a lot of kids to be able to recruit."
Dams and Kealey were impressed with Pearl and excited about the opportunity to play Division 1 college hockey. Dams made an early decision to go to Holy Cross. Kealey waited, but as it turned out, his cousin's boss graduated from Holy Cross, so he soon found out that the school had a great academic reputation. Then Kealey learned Dams would be attending Holy Cross. That was one of the clinchers.
"I knew there were no Canadians here, but with Jeff coming I knew I wouldn't be on my own," Kealey said. "A major factor was that we were coming here together."
Both made an immediate impact. Kealey played in 32 games as a freshman and tied for first on the team in scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists. Dams played in 31 games his first year and registered eight goals, including four on the power play, and 13 assists. They've both been among the team's scoring leaders ever since.
Dams, who finished second in the Atlantic Hockey conference in scoring this season, was Holy Cross's only first-team all-league selection.
"He's as skilled a player as I've had," Pearl said. "He's right up there with [Pat] Rissmiller [playing for the Cleveland Barons of the AHL] in terms of his ability to make plays. He's a kid if you ask him to improve on something, he will."
Kealey was named Atlantic Hockey's best defensive forward. He was named the MVP of the Atlantic Hockey tournament after scoring five goals and adding two assists in the Crusaders' three victories.
"He's a big-game player," Dams said of Kealey. "He plays hard and he scores timely goals. The playoffs was probably the best I've seen him play, and it was what we needed to win."
The players and coaches voted Kealey captain of this year's team by a resounding 29-1 tally. The one dissenting vote was Kealey's.
"That's not a shot at the other kids," Pearl said of the near-unanimous vote. "That's just Kealey. He's been running the room since he was a freshman. You automatically respect him. The kids respect him and listen to him."
Pearl credits Dams, Kealey, and the other six seniors with changing the atmosphere of the locker room, bringing the team closer, and ultimately taking the program where it's never been. As freshmen, this year's seniors won only eight games, "but you could see a difference then," Pearl said. "We started to come with their freshman class. They got us going."
Longtime Bruins TV announcer Dave Shea is well aware that Bob Cousy and Tommy Heinsohn played basketball at Holy Cross.
"I can also think of Gordie Lockbaum and some of the football guys at the Cross, like Peter Muldoon, but I can't think of any hockey players," Shea admitted.
That's about to change. Holy Cross will play in the NCAA Division 1 Hockey Tournament for the first time tomorrow, and Shea will announce the game live on NESN at 7:30 p.m.
The Crusaders, who probably have the least amount of hockey tradition of the 16 teams in the tournament, will take on top-seeded and seven-time NCAA champion North Dakota in the opening round of the West Regional in Colorado Springs.
Shea plans to learn as much as he can about the Crusaders when he watches them practice today in Colorado Springs. He'll learn then that senior captain Greg Kealey was MVP of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament, defenseman R.J. Irving of Marlboro was an all-tournament pick, and goaltender Tony Quesada stopped 80 of 81 shots he faced in HC's three tourney victories.
Shea is already very familiar with HC coach Paul Pearl, though. Pearl worked youth hockey clinics sponsored by Shea's defunct hockey magazine at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro.
"Knowing Paul as I do, I'm thrilled for him," Shea said. "I hope they do pull off the upset. What a great story that would be."
If the No. 16-seeded Crusaders somehow upset the No. 1 seed, Quesada, Kealey and Irving would become household names in college hockey.
"I think they can play with them," Shea said. "I really do. There's a lot of talent on that North Dakota club, but if the Cross doesn't get too sucked into the bright lights and the aura of being in the NCAA Tournament, they can play with them."
Shea knows North Dakota's tradition, having called its 1997 NCAA title win over Boston University. His analyst will be Jim Paradise, former Colorado College and IHL player.
HC senior Brad Holzwart will call the game on HC campus radio station WCHC (88.1 FM).
College hockey is on a high these days after Maine's thrilling, 2-1 triple-overtime win over UMass Saturday in the Hockey East final.
"That should sell a non-fan on thinking about becoming a fan," said Shea, who watched the game on NESN. "That was as good as it gets."
NESN will also have Celtics radio voice Sean Grande and Bob Norton calling Maine-Harvard live at 5 p.m. tomorrow, and the Ohio State-Wisconsin game on tape delay at 10 p.m. Both are NCAA East Regional games from Albany, N.Y.
On Saturday, Channel 56 will televise Eric Frede and Cap Raeder announcing the BC-Niagara Northeast Regional at noon, and NESN will join the Michigan-New Hampshire Northeast Regional in progress at 3:30 p.m. after the Red Sox.
If HC upsets North Dakota, NESN will air the West Regional final on tape delay Saturday night after the Bruins play Montreal. On Sunday, NESN will carry the Northeast Regional final live at 4 p.m.
Sean McDonough and Norton will call the Frozen Four semifinals April 8 on ESPN2 and the final on April 10 on ESPN.
