University of Massachusets Athletics
FEATURE: James Marcou In The Boston Herald
December 04, 2009 | Hockey
Dec. 4, 2009
By John Connolly
The Boston Herald
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass coach Don "Toot" Cahoon is no hedge fund proponent. The veteran Minutemen bench boss enjoys reliability.
That's why he sends 5-foot-8 junior forward James Marcou over the boards onto the ice every time a critical situation arises. In return, the clever player has rewarded Cahoon with big-time dividends.
"I think, clearly, James is one of the most creative players in all of college hockey. His ability to see the ice, create space and make plays is uncanny," said Cahoon. "He rises to the occasion and he does it in big moments.
"He stirs the drink. He finds guys in a variety of ways. People do all sorts of things to eliminate him, but he's savvy. He's found a way to get it done."
Marcou, a cousin of Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Jason Grilli, established himself as a potent offensive machine by leading UMass in scoring as a freshman (8 goals, 24 assists) and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie squad.
Last year, Marcou dispelled any talk of the dreaded jinx by setting UMass sophomore marks for assists (32) and points (47) - tying Boston University's Colin Wilson for the HE regular-season scoring title, a first for a UMass skater. The New England Hockey Writers named Marcou a All-NE first-team selection, the first UMass player to garner that honor since current Los Angeles Kings goalie Jon Quick in 2006-07.
"The biggest thing with Marcou is that he has the hockey IQ to play in the NHL. What James needs is more strength and to put on a little more weight," Cahoon said of the 165-pounder. "But he can play an NHL game right now and not look out of place. The only question is can he do it for 100 games, and that will come in time. People said the same thing about (Tampa Bay's) Martin St. Louis, too. (Marcou) just needs time."
This season Marcou, who has been skating with Casey Wellman (11 goals, 9 assists) and T.J. Syner (2 goals, 5 assists), leads UMass with 23 points (4 goals, 19 assists). He's been strong on the power play, with a goal and 11 assists, and is second on the club with a plus-6 rating.
With career numbers of 27 goals and 75 assists, Marcou's next point will move him into a third place tie on the UMass career scoring list with former teammate Cory Quirk (103 career points).
No. 9 UMass hosts No. 14 Boston College at the Mullins Center tonight before a visit to No. 8 UMass-Lowell tomorrow night. Tonight's game with BC has been dubbed "Operation 8K," hoping to set a new single-game hockey attendance mark for the Mullins Center.
"I wouldn't say we're surprised," said Marcou about the fast start. "We finally realized we can be successful. It's a long year, but we learned that my freshman year when we started fast and then didn't have the kind of season we wanted in the second half. More than half of the team has been there for that, so I think going through that experience will help us."
UMass gained a confidence boost from last year's Hockey East playoff loss to Northeastern, when the Minutemen pushed the Huskies into overtime in Game 3 before falling.
"Definitely, coming in after the NU series where we were one goal away from the semifinals gave us a lot of confidence. We wanted to make a statement this season that UMass is for real," Marcou said.
"The coaches (preseason) poll had us in seventh and we wanted to prove we were better than that. We wanted to emphasize tightness and stay focused, and take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead. . . . We want to make sure we're having fun."