It was a busy weekend for Maine recruits as the USHL held it’s annual preseason Fall Classic, the EJHL opened it’s season, and the two junior “A” leagues in Ontario (OJHL and CCHL) are well underway.

At the USHL Fall Classic, Ryan Lomberg opened the Fall Classic in style with a goal and an assist as he led the Muskegon Lumberjacks to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Steel. He was held pointless in the games against the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Green Bay Gamblers.

He led the team in the preseason in scoring with one goal and three assists in five games.

The Muskegon Lumberjack open the season up Friday against the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders on Friday.

Fellow USHL rookie and former teammate of Lomberg’s at the Hill Academy, Daniel Renouf went pointless in the Youngstown Phantoms three games down in Sioux City.

The Phantoms open their regular season also on Friday against the USA National Team Development Programs.

Matt Morris had a solid Fall Classic for the Dubuque Fighting Saints as he recorded a 4-0 shutout against the Omaha Lancers and a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Storm. In the exhibition schedule, he went 2-0 with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage.

Morris and the Jim Montgomery Fighting Saints open their USHL title defense against Green Bay.

Hot Start for Morgan and Brown
Two New Hampshire Junior Monarchs teammates are leading the team in scoring after four games.

Both Brian Morgan and Cam Brown had a big game on Saturday against the New Jersey Hitmen.

Morgan had two goals and an assist in the 4-2 victory and Brown pitched in with three assists. Also in that game Dylan Gareau of the Hitmen was left pointless, but had two goals on the weekend against the Bridgewater Bandits and the Valley Junior Warriors.

Brian Harris opened the season with the Boston Junior Bruins and assist against the Philadelphia Revolution.

Shore off to a stellar start in the OJHL
Devin Shore hasn’t been the Whitby Fury line-up in two weeks, but for good reason. Last week he took part in the Canada East evaluation camp for the World Junior “A” Challenge which will be held in November. In four games with the Fury he has 8 goals and 2 assists.

Swann Boisvert is also off to solid start with the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the CCHL. In six games he has a goal and five assists. He also took part in the Canada East evaluation camp last week.

It has been a slow start for 16-year old BJ Salerno, who’s pointless in five games with the North York Rangers of the OJHL.

Maine ranked in both national hockey polls
The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team is ranked in both the USA Today/USA Hockey top-15 preseason poll and the USCHO.com preseason top-25 poll, which were announced on Monday.

Maine, which opens the season against the Merrimack College on Oct. 7, is ranked No. 15 in the nation in the USA Today/USA Hockey top-15 preseason poll, while at No. 16 in the USCHO.com top-25 poll.

Norte Dame is ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll, with Miami as the No. 1 ranked team in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll.

Maine Women take home opening weekend honors
After a successful weekend for the University of Maine women’s ice hockey team, beating Sacred Heart by a combined score of 14-1, the hardware came in on Monday as three players earned Hockey East honors. Danielle Ward, a senior forward, was named the Pure Hockey Player of the Week, scoring two goals and two assists in both games against the Pioneers.

Rookie forward Jennifer More was named the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week after scoring two goals and an assist in her first two games as a Black Bear and Melissa Gagnon, who is a senior this season, was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week after a stalwart performance on the blueline, allowing a single goal on only 24 total shots this weekend against Sacred Heart.