To his left, Michael Harris crossed the blue line and headed for the corner boards. To his right, Joe Breslin glided into the zone and circled toward the net.
Spellacy fired a pass down to Harris, who shoved past a physically inferior defenseman and swung the puck forward onto Breslin’s stick.
Bang. Like so many times before, the trio combined for an effortless goal.
In its second year together, Ohio’s top forward line knows how to operate. And so far, its big players with even bigger talent are having their way.
“A lot of coaches, they’ll overthink it,” coach Sean Hogan said. “They’ll be like, ‘I want to spread out the scoring. I want to put good guys on different lines.’ I just say put them all together and let them dominate.”
Simply put, Ohio’s top liners are physically larger than most opposing defensemen.
Harris stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 220 pounds. Breslin is 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds. Spellacy stands 6-foot-4 and is 215 pounds, rounding out the group of big bodies who aren’t easily pushed around.
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Their size advantage allows them to set up behind the net and squeeze the puck up against the boards.
“That way it’s hard for guys to knock us off the puck,” Spellacy said. “Then if me, Breslin or Harry find a soft spot in the slot, we’ll work it out of the corner and hit that guy in the slot for a goal or a chance on net.”
The proof is on the stat sheet, where the trio finished top-three in points last season for the Bobcats. This year they’ve combined for 12 goals in 12 games.
But physical superiority isn’t the only reason they dominate their opposition.
“I think since we’ve been playing with each other — we’ve already had a year under our belt — it’s like, we just know where each other are going to be,” Breslin said. “We know where one of us is going to pass it.”
Two-year line combinations are rare in collegiate hockey. Breslin and Spellacy are in their third year playing together, having spent some time on the same line as freshmen.
And though each player is large, with enough speed and shooting ability to be dangerous, all three bring their own qualities to the grouping.
Breslin, who isn’t “ultra-fast” according to Hogan, visualizes most plays and sets up his linemates.
“(Breslin is) more of the playmaker,” Harris said. “Skill-wise, I’d say (he) takes the cake.”
Spellacy possesses the greatest combination of size and shiftiness. Once he’s parked in front of the crease, he rarely budges.
“He shields the puck well,” Hogan said. “Then when he’s close to the net, he finds the net.”
Hogan said an NHL-equivalent for Spellacy’s playing style might be ex-Detroit Red Wing Tomas Holmström, who made a living off his net presence.
The marvel of Harris’s skillset is his blistering shot. Any time he has the puck, his whole team wants him to shoot.
“I’ve never really played with anyone who had a hard shot like him,” Spellacy said.
Harris happily epitomizes the "shoot first, ask questions later" mantra.
“I close my eyes and shoot as hard as I can,” Harris said. “That’s what I’m here to do.”
But Harris, a senior, only has so much time left with his junior linemates.
“That’ll definitely be weird,” Spellacy said. “Playing with (Harris) for two years now, Breslin for two-and-a-half, it’d be weird to see someone else playing left wing.”
For now, Ohio’s top line is expected to account for an exorbitant slice of the offensive pie. Its size, speed and chemistry suggest it can stomach that demand.
But something every great line needs is missing: an awesome nickname.
Harris shook his head in disgust when he realized that. But he figured Hogan could come up with something.
“I’m usually pretty funny with that kind of stuff,” Hogan, who struggled to find the right words, said.
Assistant coach Phil Oberlin popped his head into Hogan’s office with a suggestion: Goon Squad.
Given their sheer size, Ohio’s top liners could pass with that nickname. Plus, Hogan didn’t have any other ideas.
“There you go,” Hogan said.
@JordanHorrobin
jh950614@ohio.edu
