New England Hockey Journal - December 2015 - B4

ECAC HOCKEY

O

n Friday the
13th of November,
Quinnipiac junior
Sam Anas scored
his 50th NCAA
goal, a 15-foot wrist shot into the
top shelf, a signature goal.
It took half a period before
the Quinnipiac Jumbotron acknowledged the milestone during the Bobcats' 4-1 win over
Harvard. Coach Rand Pecknold
needs prodding to praise his
5-foot-8 sniper, though Anas
has scored goals at a higher clip
than BC's Johnny Gaudreau
through their first two years
in college and has reached 50
career goals much faster than
Harvard's Jimmy Vesey.
Last year Anas finished his
season on a devastating scoring clip, racking up goals in
five consecutive games during
the final stages of the season,
including a dramatic gamewinning goal to help knock out
defending champion Union in
the ECAC quarterfinals. But a
nasty collision in the late stages
of that series blew out his knee.
He had to watch his Quinnipiac
teammates concede the ECAC
championship tournament to
Harvard from the stands in Lake
Placid before limping through
the Bobcats' NCAA elimination
at the hands of North Dakota. A
healthy Anas has since returned
to the Quinnipiac lineup and is
scoring at his regular clip for
the Bobcats. His 50th career
goal helped the Bobcats to their
first ever 9-0 start to a season.
We caught up with Anas the
night he reached his magical
milestone in Hamden.
NEHJ: Was it kind of appropriate that Landon Smith
set you up for magic No. 50?
Sam Anas: Yeah, it's been
fun playing with him for the
last two years. Obviously it's
an individual accomplishment,
but there's so many guys that
have helped me get there along
the way. Whether it's Matthew Peca, Travis St. Denis, the
Jones twins, it goes down as an
individual thing but it's a team
thing. I have a lot of guys to
thank for helping me get there.
NEHJ: Sam, last time Quinnipiac played Harvard, you
were in the upper deck of the
1980 Rink at Lake Placid. Was

Q&A: SAM ANAS

'I think any
time you are
in the stands,
whether you
are injured or
not, and see
your team
lose, especially in the
playoffs, is
tough, but
that's just the
way it goes.'

n Undefeated Quinnipiac rolls on, while Anas savors No. 50

years? You look like you play
a heavier game, but describe
it yourself.
Anas: I try to do a lot more.
Obviously my freshman year
I was playing with the Jones
twins and they were always running and gunning. I kind of try
and take a little bit more of a
role like that now, trying to set
an example for younger guys.
I try and play an honest game,
play physical when I can. I'm
not the biggest guy, but I know
sometimes it helps. I'm trying
to get better defensively and
hopefully keep scoring some
goals and setting up my linemates when I can.

John Crouch/J. Alexander Imaging

By Tim Rappleye

digital bonus

there any added incentive to
get back out there?
Anas: I don't think individually. As a team, we knew that
Harvard ended our chances at
the Whitelaw (ECAC tournament championship trophy).
It's one thing that was shown

this year - the picture of Harvard's championship - so that
was a little fuel to the fire this
week. It felt good to get the win.
NEHJ: Was it frustrating to
be in the stands last year?
Anas: Yeah. I think any time

NEHJ: You do look bigger. You're a heavier player,
aren't you?
Anas: Yeah, I've gained
about 15 pounds since my
freshman year. So definitely
that weight room in there has
been a big factor for me, and
our strength coach, 'Coach P'
(Brijesh Patel), has been awesome and he's really helped me
out.

you are in the stands, whether
you are injured or not, and see
your team lose, especially in the
playoffs, is tough, but that's just
the way it goes.

NEHJ: What's it like to
be on a team that has such
depth in scoring?
Anas: It's awesome. For me
it's fun to score goals, but winning trumps scoring. If I'm not
scoring and we're winning, I'm
happier than if I'm scoring and
we're not winning. It's great
to have secondary scoring. It's
awesome to see those guys
scoring goals and everyone's
having fun.

NEHJ: How have you
changed over your three

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December 2015

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