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Looking ahead to ECAC Northeast and MASCAC playoffs

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First they ran the gauntlet. Then, they ran the table.

Curry entered conference play in January coming off a brutal stretch of nonconference games that included four ranked teams. They understandably struggled, winning only one game during that six-game period.

However, the Colonels ran off a 10-game unbeaten streak since then and have clinched the top spot in the ECAC Northeast, regardless of what happens in Thursday’s makeup game with Wentworth.

A 4-1 win at Johnson and Wales last Thursday clinched the title for Curry, who after rallying against the pesky Wildcats in last year’s championship game had to fight them off down the stretch for the league title. The Colonels’ only conference loss came in their first conference game of the year against Western New England on Nov. 18.

Wentworth, who claimed the regular season title before being upset by JWU in the semifinals last year, will get the No. 2 seed with a win. A tie or loss would hand the second seed and a first-round bye the Wildcats, who closed the season by losing two in a row.

Whoever gets the third seed will host Western New England Saturday at a time to announced by the conference.

The Golden Bears made it to the playoffs thanks to Dan Monahan’s overtime goal against Suffolk Saturday. The score ended the Rams’ season and assured WNEC of advancing to the playoffs.

The only quarterfinal game set for Saturday is fourth-seeded Becker hosting fifth-seeded Nichols.

Becker (7-4-3, 10-12-3) swept the season series 2-0, while Nichols endured a five-game losing streak down the stretch before ending the regular season with a win over JWU.

The Hawks finished five points ahead of Nichols (6-8, 12-12-1), but only had one more win on the season.

Neither team boasts a distinct advantage on special teams, but Nichols does lead the conference with seven short-handed goals, while Becker ranks last while on the power play.

Branden Parkhouse (4-12) and Korby Anderson (7-8) led the Hawks in conference scoring, while Jake Rosenthal played a league-high 831:57 in net, but saw his numbers drop a bit from last season.

For Nichols, freshman Dylan Woodring has started the last three games in place of Jacob Rinn. Woodring has come up with some big saves over the last few games, including 35 in the win against JWU, and isn’t afraid of coming out to play the puck.

Offensively, the Bisons have four players with double digit points in conference play, led by Zach Kohn (3-14) and Will Munson (5-11).

Look for an uptempo game on Becker’s home ice.  Woodring stopped 14-of-15 shots in relief of Rinn during the team’s first meeting on Nov. 17 A strong performance by the freshman would certainly go a long way in Nichols’ upset bid.

Check back later for playoff times, as well as a  breakdown of Saturday’s other quarterfinal game.

Elsewhere in the ECAC Northeast
Western New England swept the conferences weekly awards, as Alan Martin was  the player of the week while Eric Sorenson was honored as the top goalie and Monahan was named top rookie. They haven’t been announced yet, but here’s my stab at the yearly conference honors.

Player of the Year: Jeremiah Ketts, Johnson and Wales. Ketts is a playmaker on one of the league’s most explosive teams. There’s no doubt there’s talent around him, but there’s also no doubting the junior’s numbers. He led the ECAC Northeast with 27 points and 15 goals, with a league-best 11 coming on the power play.

Goalie of the Year and Rookie of the Year: Chris Azzano, Wentworth. It’s been a bit of a down year in the conference for goalies, but Azzano stepped in for injured starter Mike Jarboe in December and ensured the Leopards didn’t miss a beat. The freshman is second in the league in save percentage and third in goals-against-average. JWU’s Matt Cooper could make a run for the top goalie as well. Both Robert Dawson and Robert Owens at Curry have put up good numbers in conference play, but splitting time in net hurts their chances.

Azzano should be a lock for Rookie of the Year as well, with Becker forward Korby Anderson making a case, as well as Wentworth forward Cory Lillie, or Western New England’s Dan Monahan.

Coach of the Year: Erik Noack, Johnson and Wales. After making a run to the conference tournament game as the sixth seed, the Wildcats spent much of this season atop the conference before being knocked off by Curry. Improved defense has been the key for JWU this season, with Noack bringing in help for goalie Matt Cooper. Other possibilities include Wentworth’s R.J. Tolan, or Western New England’s Greg Heffernan.

MASCAC Mess
While virtually every other D-III conference is beginning the postseason this week, the MASCAC is prepping to wrap up the regular season this weekend.

Similar to last year, there’s a jumble of teams fighting for position entering the playoffs.

Salem State, Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and Plymouth State are currently separated by three points at the top, while Westfield State and Framingham State are tied for the sixth seed and final playoff spot. With a slate of games scheduled for Thursday, the outlook should be clearer heading into Saturday’s season finale. Check back Friday for a breakdown of the final day of the regular season.

Loose Pucks
Special thanks to Nichols Sports Information Director Hillary Haynes for the scouting report on Woodring… The plan is to try and cover one of the quarterfinal matchups this weekend…keep an eye on the blog and Twitter for updates Saturday on both the playoffs and MASCAC regular season finale.

MCHA, MIAC, and NCHA playoff outlook

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I was 6-2 in predicting the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association’s first-round playoff outcomes last weekend. Good, right? Well, this is where the old saying about statistics never lying but liars using statistics comes into play.

Yes, I perfectly forecasted results in six regulation playoff games, but missed the mark entirely on two mini-games that eventually sent No. 6 Wisconsin-River Falls and No. 4 Wisconsin-Stevens Point to this weekend’s semifinals. I incorrectly picked Wisconsin-Stout and Wisconsin-Eau Claire to advance along with Wisconsin-Superior. As predicted, No. 2-seed Yellowjackets made short order of No. 7-seed St. Scholastica in their first-round series.

So, I was only half right on the NCHA’s final four, which is nothing to brag about.

Now, the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference start their respective playoffs this weekend, and my 39-27-4 overall predication record is likely to see some seismic fluctuations.

NCHA semifinals (Winners advance to Peters Cup championship March 5, with the highest remaining seed serving as host)
Saturday, Feb. 28
Wisconsin-River Falls at St. Norbert. The No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seed Green Knights had the weekend off to further calibrate their already finely-tuned attack, while the plucky No. 6 Falcons (12-13-2, 7-10-1) were nothing short of heroic in their quarterfinal upset over No. 3 Wisconsin-Stout. UW-River Falls’ Josh Calleja scored with eight seconds left in regulation to force a decisive mini-game after the Blue Devils’ Robert Carr notched what appeared to have been the game-winner less than a minute earlier. The Falcons prevailed in the mini-game, 2-0, with Martin Sundstedt and Justin Brossman scoring.

UW-River Falls’ storybook weekend will carry little currency when pitted against host St. Norbert (20-4-1, 14-3-1), which is 11-0 at home and boasts NCHA Player of the Year B.J. O’Brien in net (17-2-1, 1.59 goals-against, .932 save-percentage).  St. Norbert 3-1 .

Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wisconsin-Superior. The question for the No. 2 Yellowjackets (15-11-1, 10-8-1) is whether they have been able to totally eradicate the goal-drought demons that plagued them during a recent woeful 1-7 stretch when they were shutout four times. The team was comprehensive in defeating St. Scholastica twice, 4-2 and 5-2, in the quarterfinals last weekend, but face a No. 4-seed Pointers’ squad instilled with self-belief (8-3-1 since Jan. 1). UW-Stevens Point (13-13-1, 8-9-1) eeked out a 1-0 win to force a decisive mini-game against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. The Pointers also beat the Yellowjackets, 4-3, at home in their most recent encounter Feb. 5. The Pointers’ surging form, coupled with the Yellowjackets’ less-than-invincible 7-7 home record, points to an upset. UW-Stevens Point 3-2.

MCHA quarterfinals (Winners advance to face No. 5 Adrian and Marian in Harris Cup finals at Adrian’s Arrington Ice Arena March 5-6)
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26
Northland at Lawrence. The visiting LumberJacks are on a better run of late, winning three of their last four, including an impressive 4-1 home victory over Marian Feb. 18. By contrast, the Vikings have dropped three of their last four, which included a not-so-impressive drubbing by Finlanda last Saturday. Lawrence (12-12-1, 10-10) holds a 3-1 regular-season series edge over Northland, but the Lumberjacks have the firepower — namely leading scorer Colin McIntosh (14 goals, 19 assists, 33 points) — to upset the slumbering Vikings at home. Northland 5-3, 6-2.

Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 26-27
Lake Forest at Milwaukee School of Engineering. The No. 11 Raiders should be able to shake any ill-effects of being swept at home by No. 5 Adrian last weekend and handle a listing Lake Forest team. The Foresters (5-19-1, 5-14-1) have lost eight of their last nine, with the lone win coming against cellar-dwelling Concordia (Wis.) Feb. 18. MSOE’s Jordan Keizer is tied for No. 1 in the nation with 23 goals, while Raiders goalie Connor Toomey’s 1.75 goals-against ranks No. 2 nationally. MSOE 6-1, 5-0.

MIAC – First Round (Winner advances to face No. 15 Hamline on Saturday)
Friday, Feb. 25
Augsburg at Gustavus Adolphus. The Gusties (14-9-2, 8-6-2) have been wildly inconsistent lately, pulling off a 5-4 overtime victory at home to Saint Mary’s to clinch a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season Saturday. Meanwhile, Augsburg (14-8-3, 8-6-2) went unbeaten in its last seven contests to snag the MIAC’s final playoff position. Home advantage gives the Gusties a slight edge in this battle of two otherwise evenly matched teams. Gustavus 4-2.

Semifinals (Winners advance to championship game March 2)
Saturday, Feb. 26
Gustavus at Hamline. The No. 15 Pipers (14-6-5, 9-3-1) were uneven down the stretch, going 2-3-2 in their last seven games. Scott Bell’s team clinched first place — and with it home-ice advantage in the playoffs — by throttling Concordia (Minn.), 7-4, on the last day of the regular season. That victory was more emblematic of an NCAA tournament-bound team and was a stark turnaround after being shutout 4-0 the previous night. The Pipers and Gusties split their regular-season series, with both teams winning at each other’s home. Hamline possesses a little more depth and overall savvy to advance. Hamline 3-1.

Concordia (Minn.) at St. Thomas. The visiting Cobbers (11-10-4, 7-5-4) have been playing their best hockey in the last month (6-2-1), which included winning four consecutive one-goal games. One of those narrow victories included a 3-2 decision over the Tommies on the road Jan. 15. St. Thomas (14-9-2, 9-5-2) is unbeaten in its last six outings (4-0-2) and holds a 2-1 regular-season series edge over upstart Concordia. The Tommies were also idle last weekend, which leaves them well-rested to focus on the task at hand (or vulnerable to a slow start depending on your point of view). This match up also features two freshmen goalies in the Cobbers’ Kelly Andrew (10-6-3, 2.85 GAA, .903 save-pct.) and the Tommies’ Geoff Sadjadi (9-5, 2.90 GAA,. .896 save-pct). St. Thomas’ home-ice advantage provides a whisker-thin edge. St. Thomas 3-2.

Playoff practice

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Absolutely nothing beats the excitement of playoff hockey. After an incredibly exciting regular season, the stakes are much higher now, as it is now win or go home for the teams remaining in the conference tournaments. This week I thought it important to focus on how the teams are preparing for Saturday, the playoff prep.

The Bowdoin College Polar Bears saw some interesting highs and lows over the final three weeks of the season, where they went from first to fifth on one weekend, battled back to a tie for third on the final weekend, and lost out on two tiebreakers to end up in fifth and face an opening round road game against an Amherst team that defeated them earlier in the season by a score of 3-2.

“It’s just great,” commented coach Terry Meagher. “It really is great for our kids to compete at this level all season and now have it come down to the focus of just one game. They come out everyday to  work hard and enjoy the fulfillment of playing hard and playing well against great opponents all season, so the thought of it all coming to an abrupt end is really not something anyone on our staff or the kids in the locker room is focused on right now.”

So how do teams get ready? They practice like they do all season and, for the most part, the coaches try to keep the schedule and routine as normal as possible, so to the players it seems like any other week in the regular season. For this writer, the fun came in an invite to be part of the Polar Bears first practice after the weekend’s conclusion to the regular season. I grabbed the skates, stick and gloves and off to practice I went.

Open ice was available for players from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. and is fondly referred to as the “arts and crafts” portion of the program. Players began filtering out for the optional skate, where the focus was getting loose and working on stickhandling and their shot through some self-made drills and reorienting some players on the injured list to a less rigorous workout. One thing was obvious: the joy of being on the ice as a member of the Bowdoin team and playing with guys they like to be with was obvious in the gamesmanship during the time available before practice.

After the Zamboni resurfaced the ice, practice began with some hard skating and a little cardiovascular work to get the blood flowing, during what was going to be a high-speed session lasting about an hour and 40 minutes. Static stretching came next at center ice, where all of the players stretched around the center ice circle and worked into the practice mindset.

“Not many teams are probably spending time doing much of the stretching on the ice,” stated Meagher. “We really do it to get kids talking with each other and focused on hockey having come from the classroom, lab or library, where there is a shift in the mindset from academics to what we are trying to do on the ice. It gives the kids a little adjustment period before we get into the meat of the practice.”

The team was divided into black and white groups as designated by their practice jerseys. Assistant coach Jeff Pellegrini took his group down one end, where the goals was reversed to face the end boards the players played a full contact two-on-two game trying to create offensive chances for one pair and defending the goal for the other. The clear focus was to win the one-on-one battles in the corners that often are the difference between winning and losing in a game.

Down the other end, the players with Meagher went through as series of breakouts, forechecking and half-ice five-on-five play geared toward working on things to tighten up defensive zone clears and coverages, as well as prepare for likely alignments they would see from Amherst based on analysis of the prior game. This was full speed stuff where whistles were often signs of times to focus on particular positioning, puck play, and ice coverage, but also to encourage and complement the strong execution the team was showing on the ice to their coach.

Each group went through several reps at full speed, with quick analysis or adjustments made with the instant acknowledgement of a team that has been doing these things all season. When I say full speed, I quickly learned having, inadvertently stepped up at the far blue line where I was run over by sophomore Robert Toczlowski, or, as his teammates call him, ‘Toz.’ Lots of laughter from the team, but no damage done other than to my pride. Real game situations include that long breakout or home run pass, and it was awesome to see the execution done against no pressure, two forecheckers or in full five-on-five play.

“Jump him, pressure, adjacent, and Chicago,” ordered Meagher to the attacking group in the offensive zone. “Let’s make sure we get the timing right. You never want to commit or go too soon. Let’s make sure we get the timing right.”

As a former player and current coach at the youth level, I thought I was familiar with all of the terminology, especially the “coachspeak” of today. So when I heard Chicago, my ears perked up and I had to find out more.

Standing in line, I asked Jordan Lalor what Chicago meant.

“It’s when you don’t really have a specific assignment in the zone, but read the play and freelance.”

Basically, it’s what Meagher uses to have players leveraging their hockey IQ in recognizing situations and adjusting real-time to the play in trying to creat opportunities to get possession or develop scoring opportunities. Just where did the term Chicago come from?

“About 15 years ago, I called Shawn Walsh over at Maine because I felt my team was getting a bit too regimented in how they were working the power play. Shawn said, ‘Terry, I just ran into the same thing just last week, so I called my good friend Mike Keenan out with the Blackhawks. Mike told me that he had just gone through the same thing last month and decided to put his five best guys together: Roenick, Chelios, Amonte, etc., and just let them play it freeform without a defined structure. I thought that was great, and we did the same thing, calling it Chicago. Now when kids hear it, they know it’s about having some freedom to improvise, based on where their teammates and opponents are and what is going on in specific situations.”

The practice then shifted to some focus on transition hockey, with a full line backchecking, and then everyone got a break when the Zamboni came out to clean the heavily snow covered ice before some scrimmaging. Full sheet scrimmaging gave way to black vs. white four-on-four, with the winners only having to do two-thirds the number of sprints at the end of practice. The black team made quick work of the games, and whites got the extra skating at the end of almost two hours of hard skating.

For most teams that may have been enough, but more “arts and crafts” was in store for most of the players, who took advantage of the clean sheet to work on things, including several games of showdown with the goalies. Showdown is where an offensive player gets two chances to score against the goalie. First, a 20-foot shot from the slot, followed by a quick breakaway and in close deking opportunity. Fail to score and you are out. It didn’t take long to be the first out, but goaltenders Richard Nerland and Stevie Messina made the guys work hard for everything. You could see the fun and pure enjoyment of competing, as one by one players reluctantly left the ice to go get dinner and head back to their studies.

“This is about as hard as they will go this week, especially at this time of the year,” stated Meagher. “Tomorrow, we will work on some scout team stuff, video analysis and special teams . We want to make sure we are ready to go against this opponent who beat us earlier in the year.”

From everything I saw, the Polar Bears look ready. I want to extend my thanks for the opportunity to participate in practice to the coaches and players, and yes, even ‘Toz.’ It was truly a privilege to be out there with such terrific players and see how practice drives the game performances.

Been through the prep, so what do the quarterfinals look like this weekend? Here are my prognostications.

NESCAC
No. 8 Wesleyan @ No. 1 Hamilton. These teams played way back in November and the Cardinals beat Hamilton. While going just 3-3-3 at home this season, the Continentals have been amazing away from Sage Rink. Wesleyan took out a season’s worth of offensive frustration out on UNE in the last game by scoring 14 goals, but that’s not likely this week. It’s the playoffs so it will be close. Hamilton 3, Wesleyan 2.

No. 7 Trinity @ No. 2 Williams. Trinity won the regular season match-up by a score of 5-0. That is not going to happen here, but the outcome is likely going to be placed on the shoulders of either Ryan Purdy of Williams or Wes Vesprini of Trinity. Both goaltenders have been exceptional this season, but Vesprini has led the Bantams second half resurgence. Something about the playoffs for coach Cataruzolo’s teams. Trinity 3, Williams 2.

No. 6 Colby @ No. 3 Middlebury. The regular season match-up went to the Panthers at Colby by a score of 4-1. Both teams are playing very well right now after appearing to be in danger of missing the conference tournament in the first half of the season.  Middlebury’s offense has woken up, as has their play at home. Middlebury 4, Colby 2.

No. 5 Bowdoin @ No. 4 Amherst. The four/five match-up is always the most intriguing, but frankly, this year all of the first round games are intriguing. Bowdoin surrendered a 2-0 lead in losing 3-2 in the regular season, so expect this one to be close again. Lots of seniors from Bowdoin that want a return shot at the title. Bowdoin 3, Amherst 2.

ECAC East
No. 8 UNE @ No. 1 Norwich. While the Nor’easters have been assaulting some NESCAC teams in the last few weeks (three wins), they have not had that kind of success in their own conference. Parker Carroll seems to complete the package for the defending champions, who know what it takes to win it all. Norwich 5, UNE 1.

No. 7 NEC @ No. 2 Castleton. The Spartans are driven this season, and while they did not realize their goal of winning the regular season, they still have the league title and NCAA goals ready for the taking. NEC has struggled with consistency all year, and the offense has suddenly evaporated at the wrong time of the year. Castleton 5, NEC 2.

No. 6 Southern Maine @ No. 3 Massachusetts-Boston. If the outbreak by Zach Joy in the final weekend is a portent of good things for the Huskies, then the Beacons could be in trouble. Like the rest, this game could go either way, and a lot will be on the shoulders of goalies with very limited playoff experience. Other experience favors the Huskies. USM 4, UMB 3.

No. 5 Babson @ No. 4 Skidmore. Either of these teams can light it up when they are on, but that has been part of the problem this season for both teams. Babson could have been hosting this game, but really fell off in the past two weeks, while Skidmore did enough to get home ice. The Thoroughbreds are much more like their name at home. Skidmore 5, Babson 4.

Well, here we go. By the end of the day Saturday, the season will be likely over for eight teams, so get out root your team on and enjoy the ride.

Play for today, live for tomorrow — drop the puck!

2011 Ice Breaker moved to North Dakota; Boston College, Michigan State, Air Force also in field

USCHO Staff Report
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A change in plans for the 2011 Ice Breaker Tournament has the event moving to Grand Forks, N.D., where North Dakota, Boston College, Michigan State and Air Force will make up the field.

The Oct. 7-8 tournament was originally scheduled for a second straight season in St. Louis, but a conflict with the NHL schedule of the St. Louis Blues prompted the move, said Paul Kelly, executive director of College Hockey Inc.

The Hockey Commissioners Association and the St. Louis Sports Commission mutually agreed to move the tournament to Grand Forks, Kelly said, to avoid a split schedule like in this season’s event, which took place on Friday and Sunday because of a Blues game on Saturday.

The 2012 event is still scheduled for Kansas City, Mo., Kelly said.

The 2011 edition at Ralph Engelstad Arena will the the 15th Ice Breaker.

Sullivan, Hagelin, Biega named USCHO’s Three Stars for Feb. 23

USCHO Staff Report
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THIRD STAR

Danny Biega, Harvard: The Crimson have been busy, playing three games in five days, and the sophomore defenseman has been busy finding his way to the score sheet. He had a goal in each of those games, at Cornell, at Colgate and at Brown, and added three assists for a six-point week. :: Danny Biega’s player page

 Harvard's Danny Biega. (Harvard Athletics)

SECOND STAR

Carl Hagelin, Michigan: The senior forward went eight games without a goal — the longest drought since the start of his sophomore season — until scoring twice on Saturday against Western michigan. The first tied the game in the final minute of regulation, and the second gave the Wolverines a 5-4 victory in the final seconds of overtime. :: Carl Hagelin’s player page

 Michigan's Carl Hagelin. (Michigan Athletics)

FIRST STAR

Dan Sullivan, Maine: Last week, it was Rochester Institute of Technology’s Shane Madolora recording back-to-back shutouts. This week, Sullivan stopped all 49 shots he faced in a weekend blanking of Massachusetts-Lowell. They were the first two shutouts of the freshman’s collegiate career. :: Dan Sullivan’s player page

 Maine's Dan Sullivan. (Maine Athletics)

After each weekend’s games, make your nomination at www.uscho.com/threestars

Bracketology: Can it be this simple?

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It’s time once again to do what we like to call Bracketology, college hockey style. It’s our weekly look at how I believe the NCAA tournament will wind up come selection time.

It’s a look into what are the possible thought processes behind selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams.

This is the next installment of our Bracketology, and we’ll be bringing you a new one every week until we make our final picks before the field is announced on March 20. Make sure to check out our other entries on the Bracketology Blog, where we’ll keep you entertained, guessing and educated throughout the rest of the season.

Here are the facts:

• Sixteen teams are selected to participate in the national tournament.

• There are four regional sites (East — Bridgeport, Conn.; Northeast — Manchester, N.H.; Midwest — Green Bay, Wis.; West — St. Louis)

• A host institution which is invited to the tournament plays in the regional for which it is the host, and cannot be moved. There are three host institutions this year, Yale in Bridgeport, New Hampshire in Manchester and Michigan Tech in Green Bay. St. Louis’ host is the CCHA, not a specific team.

• Seedings will not be switched, as opposed to years past. To avoid undesirable first-round matchups, including intra-conference games (see below), teams will be moved among regionals, not reseeded.

Here are the NCAA’s guidelines on the matter, per a meeting of the championship committee:

In setting up the tournament, the committee begins with a list of priorities to ensure a successful tournament on all fronts, including competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site. For the model, the following is a basic set of priorities:

• The top four teams as ranked by the committee are the four No. 1 seeds and will be placed in the bracket so that if all four teams advance to the Men’s Frozen Four, the No. 1 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed will play the No. 3 seed in the semifinals.

• Host institutions that qualify will be placed at home.

• No. 1 seeds are placed as close to home as possible in order of their ranking 1-4.

• Conference matchups in first round are avoided, unless five or more teams from one conference are selected, then the integrity of the bracket will be preserved.

• Once the five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams are selected, the next step is to develop four groups from the committee’s ranking of 1-16. The top four teams are the No. 1 seeds. The next four are targeted as No. 2 seeds. The next four are No. 3 seeds and the last four are No. 4 seeds. These groupings will be referred to as “bands.”

Given these facts, here is the top 16 of the current PairWise Rankings (PWR), and the conference leaders (through all games of Feb. 22, 2011):

1 Yale
2 North Dakota
3 Boston College
4t Merrimack
4t Denver
6 Michigan
7 Minnesota-Duluth
8t Union
8t Nebraska-Omaha
10 Notre Dame
11t New Hampshire
11t Miami
11t Rensselaer
14 Wisconsin
15 Western Michigan
16t Boston University
16t Dartmouth
— Rochester Institute of Technology

Current conference leaders based on winning percentage:

Atlantic Hockey: RIT
CCHA: Michigan (Michigan wins tiebreaker over Notre Dame via conference wins)
ECAC: Union
Hockey East: New Hampshire
WCHA: North Dakota

Notes

• The Bracketology assumes that the season has ended and there are no more games to be played. i.e., the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow.

• Because there are an uneven amount of games played inside each conference, I will be using winning percentage, not points accumulated, to determine who the current leader in each conference is. This team is my assumed conference tournament champion.

Step one

From the committee’s report, choose the 16 teams in the tournament.

We break ties in the PWR by looking at the individual comparisons among the tied teams, and add in any current league leaders that are not currently in the top 16. The only team that is not is RIT.

From there, we can start looking at the ties and bubbles in a more detailed fashion.

We break all of our ties based upon the RPI.

Therefore the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, are:

1 Yale
2 North Dakota
3 Boston College
4 Merrimack
5 Denver
6 Michigan
7 Minnesota-Duluth
8 Union
9 Nebraska-Omaha
10 Notre Dame
11 New Hampshire
12 Miami
13 Rensselaer
14 Wisconsin
15 Western Michigan
16 RIT

Step two

Now it’s time to assign the seeds.

No. 1 seeds — Yale, North Dakota, Boston College, Merrimack
No. 2 seeds — Denver, Michigan, Minnesota-Duluth, Union
No. 3 seeds — Nebraska-Omaha, Notre Dame, New Hampshire, Miami
No. 4 seeds — Rensselaer, Wisconsin, Western Michigan, RIT

Step three

Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals. Following the guidelines, there is one host team in this grouping, Yale, so Yale must be placed in its home regional, the East Regional, Bridgeport.

We now place the other No. 1 seeds based on proximity to the regional sites.

No. 1 Yale is placed in the East Regional in Bridgeport.
No. 2 North Dakota is placed in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay.
No. 3 Boston College is placed in the Northeast Regional in Manchester.
No. 4 Merrimack is placed in the West Regional in St. Louis.

Step four

Now we place the other 12 teams so as to avoid intra-conference matchups if possible.

Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding.

If this is the case, as it was last year, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.

So therefore:

No. 2 seeds

No. 8 Union is placed in No. 1 Yale’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 2 North Dakota’s regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 6 Michigan is placed in No. 3 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
No. 5 Denver is placed in No. 4 Merrimack’s regional, the West Regional.

No. 3 seeds

Our bracketing system has one regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16, another with 2, 7, 10, 15, another with 3, 6, 11, 14 and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.

We have to place New Hampshire, the Northeast Regional host, first.

Therefore:

No. 11 New Hampshire is placed in No. 6 Michigan’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
No. 9 Nebraska-Omaha is placed in No. 8 Union’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 10 Notre Dame is placed in No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth’s regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 12 Miami is placed in No. 5 Denver’s regional, the West Regional.

No. 4 seeds

One more time, taking No. 16 vs. No. 1, No. 15 vs. No. 2, etc.

No. 16 RIT is sent to No. 1 Yale’s regional, the East Regional.
No. 15 Western Michigan is sent to No. 2 North Dakota’s regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 14 Wisconsin is sent to No. 3 Boston College’s regional, the Northeast Regional.
No. 13 Rensselaer is sent to No. 4 Merrimack’s regional, the West Regional.

The brackets as we have set them up:

West Regional (St. Louis):
13 Rensselaer vs. 4 Merrimack
12 Miami vs. 5 Denver

Midwest Regional (Green Bay):
15 Western Michigan vs. 2 North Dakota
10 Notre Dame vs. 7 Minnesota-Duluth

East Regional (Bridgeport):
16 RIT vs. 1 Yale
9 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 8 Union

Northeast Regional (Manchester):
14 Wisconsin vs. 3 Boston College
11 New Hampshire vs. 6 Michigan

Our first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have none.

This is about as perfect as we can get it.

But we can make one little switch, just to boost some attendance: Wisconsin and Rensselaer.

West Regional (St. Louis):
14 Wisconsin vs. 4 Merrimack
12 Miami vs. 5 Denver

Midwest Regional (Green Bay):
15 Western Michigan vs. 2 North Dakota
10 Notre Dame vs. 7 Minnesota-Duluth

East Regional (Bridgeport):
16 RIT vs. 1 Yale
9 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 8 Union

Northeast Regional (Manchester):
13 Rensselaer vs. 3 Boston College
11 New Hampshire vs. 6 Michigan

What else can we do for bracket integrity or attendance? Is there anything more we can do?

Nothing. It looks good from my standpoint.

I bet the committee wishes it was this easy come selection day.

More thoughts and education and plain wit on the blog. We’ll see you here next week for the next Bracketology.

BC, Merrimack in battle to stay east in NCAAs

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Boston College and Merrimack may be engaged in a three-way battle with New Hampshire for the Hockey East regular season title, but the Eagles and the Warriors are also engrained in a race that may send one of these two teams west when the NCAA field is announced.

Both the Eagles and the Warriors currently rank in the top four of the PairWise Rankings (PWR), meaning both would be number one seeds in the NCAA tournament. Another number one team, though, is Yale which currently looks like a near lock to remain in the top four. The Bulldogs, though, are a host of the Bridgeport regional, thus must play in that regional as one of the host schools.

Thus, if both Merrimack and BC are number one seeds, one will play in Manchester and the other would have to be shipped to either Green Bay or St. Louis. The bid in Manchester would go to the team that has the higher PWR between the Eagles and Merrimack.

Right now, that team is Boston College, though only by a whisker. The Eagles sit #3 in the PWR after a tie and loss last weekend against Northeastern. Merrimack is in a tie for fourth in the PWR, though would take the 4th spot by virtue of a higher RPI than Denver.

The individual comparison between Merrimack and Boston College, though, really depicts just how close this race is.

BC has a slightly higher RPI and gets one point for that. They also have a slightly higher record against common opponents and get a second point for that. Merrimack will win the comparison for record against teams under consideration, though must play two more games against TUCs, something that will happen this weekend when they play Maine. Thus, after this weekend, the likely comparison will be 2-1 in BC’s favor. But then you must add in head-to-head play. Each team receives a point for a win in the head-to-head series. Merrimack, thus, gets two more points and BC gets one (that, alone, amplifies how important the head-to-head games were this season).

Final comparison will show a 3-3 tie. When there is a tie, the team with the higher RPI wins the tie breaker, thus right now BC, assuming they keep a higher RPI that Merrimack, would get the nod.

This tie could be broken, though, should BC and Merrimack meet in the post-season. Imagine a game between the two at the Garden that may not only be for a Hockey East title but also to avoid heading west in the NCAA tournament. Talk about some added weight.

All of this could change – significantly – should either team slip down the stretch.

And one other thing of note: New Hampshire could put another wrinkle into this whole scenario. UNH currently sits at the top of a 3-way tie for 11th in the PWR. Should the Wildcats finish the season between 13 and 15 in the PWR that would make them a #4 seed in the NCAA tournament. And because UNH is the host of the Manchester regional, they have to be placed in that region.

Because the NCAA doesn’t allow first-round matchups from the same conference, no Hockey East team would be allowed as the number one seed in Manchester if UNH is the fourth seed. That could result in both BC and Merrimack packing their bags for the big dance.

Titles all that’s left to accomplish for Mercyhurst’s Agosta

By Jason Karnosky
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There is no mistaking that Meghan Agosta is one of the most decorated athletes in women’s college hockey history.

She owns a national scoring title, the NCAA record for most career points with 294, and is tied for the top spot all time with 150 career goals.

Mercyhurst's Meghan Agosta. (Ed Mailliard)
Mercyhurst's Meghan Agosta owns the NCAA career record for points with 294 (photo: Ed Mailliard).

However, there are still two honors missing from the Mercyhurst College senior’s trophy case: the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the nation’s top player and an NCAA championship. The two-time gold medalist hopes that 2010-11 is the year both finally occur.

“Points and [individual awards] don’t really matter for me because I just go out and play,” said Agosta, who broke Harvard forward Julie Chu’s mark of 285 points with a four-point effort against Wayne State on Feb. 4. “As a team, we are all striving for the same goal — to win our final game for a national championship, but we’re trying to not look too far ahead because it’s what we do now that is going to put us in that position.”

Despite Agosta’s gaudy career with the Lakers, the success of Mercyhurst as a program began long before the Ruthven, Ontario, native ever put on the school’s blue and green uniform.

Under the guidance of Michael Sisti — the only coach in the program’s history — Mercyhurst has finished with 20 or more wins in every season since 2000-01. The Lakers have made the last six NCAA tournaments and competed in the past two Frozen Fours.

“We were fortunate enough to have some character people on our first ever team that had some success and got us on the map quickly,” Sisti said. “But the best thing we have going for us is our continued success. That’s pretty attractive for recruits and it has helped us land some of the players that we have today.”

This season, Sisti earned a remarkable personal honor, becoming just the seventh women’s college hockey coach to win at least 300 games.

“Without a doubt it’s a source of pride for us to see Coach Sisti reach that mark,” Agosta said. “He’s brought this program to the next level in a short period of time and recruits who are interested in Mercyhurst certainly take note of his accomplishments.”

During the 2009-10 campaign, Mercyhurst competed without Agosta, who took the year off to skate for Team Canada. All the Lakers did in Agosta’s absence was win 30 games for the third time in the past four years and have then-junior forward Vicki Bendus win the Patty Kazmaier Award.

“With Mercyhurst being a smaller school, maybe some people write us off,” said Bendus, the first Patty Kazmaier winner from Mercyhurst. “But it’s a lot of fun playing here and embracing that underdog role as we try to prove everyone else wrong.”

Meanwhile, Agosta won her second Olympic gold medal, leading all scorers in Vancouver with nine goals and 15 points.

“Being here at Mercyhurst for three years and having Coach Sisti push me to reach that next level helped me out a lot when I was playing for Canada,” Agosta said. “I’ve become a much better player and person because of him.”

This season, Agosta leads a veteran-laden Mercyhurst squad looking to finally win an NCAA championship after several near misses in the past.

Nine of the squad’s top 10 scorers are upperclassmen, including seniors Bendus and Agosta. Those nine skaters were all part of the Lakers’ closest call, when Mercyhurst dropped a 5-0 decision to Wisconsin in the 2009 national championship game.

“To be honest, we had a pretty young team and I don’t think we played our best game,” Agosta said. “This year we only have three freshmen and we are a lot more experienced. The nerves got the better of us back then, but I think now we are a lot more mature as team.”

This season, Agosta is gunning for her second national scoring title. She leads the race by a narrow margin with 77 points.

“We are behind her 100 percent in trying to help her win those individual awards,” Bendus said. “But Meghan like the rest of us is all about winning and that’s the only goal she really cares about.”

Agosta’s nearest pursuers includes two of her American Olympic foes — Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight of top-ranked Wisconsin. Knight has nothing but respect for her rival scorer.

“We’re definitely keeping an eye on Mercyhurst led by Meghan Agosta, who is an amazing player,” Knight said. “When we played them a few years ago I remember one my teammates saying, ‘Don’t worry about me on offense because I will be busy covering Agosta.'”

The nation’s leading goal scorer would look forward to the challenge of trying to stop Agosta one last time in the NCAA tournament.

“They have a great team, and with all the players back from the Olympics on both squads, it would be a great matchup between Wisconsin and Mercyhurst,” Knight said.

The other factor Mercyhurst has going for it as it pursues a national title this season is a home-ice advantage.

The 2011 Frozen Four will be played in the Lakers’ backyard at Tullio Arena in Erie, Pa. The home of the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, Tullio will seat around 6,000 fans for the tournament, including a large contingent of Mercyhurst’s faithful.

“There are a lot of great teams out there and there still is a lot left to be decided this year,” Sisti said. “But if we are playing well and do get into the final game with all of our fans here supporting us, I like our chances.”

Winning a national championship would put a fitting final stamp on Agosta’s impressive career.

“That’s one of the biggest reasons why I came back here for one last season, to try to bring a title to Mercyhurst,” Agosta said. “It’s not going to be easy, just like winning the gold medal on home soil wasn’t last year, but we are going to do whatever we can to win a national championship.”

SUNYAC Playoff Preview

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Home Ice, No Advantage?
You work all year for home ice advantage in the playoffs, and then you end up playing a team that beat you on your home ice earlier in the season.

“I think when you look at the two first round games, you are splitting hairs,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “Let’s be honest, the home team should be favorites being they played well to be the home team. Yet, there’s a lot of pressure on the home team to win.”

Buffalo State completed the season with its best finish ever, third place. Their reward is to host Fredonia, who beat them in Buffalo, 6-4.

Morrisville just missed hosting its first playoff game, so they instead go on the road to Plattsburgh, where they beat the Cardinals back in November, 3-2.

“It’s a one-game season,” Morrisville coach Brian Grady said. “Anything can happen.”

Anything can happen. Whether you are home or away.

PLAY-IN PREVIEWS
(All statistics in the previews are for conference play only.)

Morrisville (8-7-1, 11-12-1) at Plattsburgh (9-7-0, 17-7-1)
Interestingly, both these teams aren’t exactly where they wanted to be. Plattsburgh played exceptionally well outside the conference. In fact, overall, Plattsburgh has the second best record amongst SUNYAC teams. Yet, they finished fourth in the league. The Cardinals probably figured with their overall record, they would also be high enough in the standings to get a bye in the first round.

Meanwhile, Morrisville had their first home playoff spot within their grasp, and let it slip away with two losses in the final weekend.

Yet, here they are, and they have a playoff game to win.

“Certainly, not the way we wanted to enter the playoffs, but we’re here,” Grady said. “It’s exciting. It’s exciting for our program. All of our hard work is rewarded. It’s a testament to our team’s efforts. Obviously, we would have liked to be home, but we’re happy where we’re at.

“We saw that last year, losing to Fredonia in the last regular season game, 7-1. Then, turning it around and win in the playoffs. That’s the way we’re approaching it. We’ve washed our hands of last weekend.”

Ironically, Morrisville may be better off where they are. Besides the aforementioned win at Plattsburgh, the Mustangs are 5-2-1 on the road, but only 3-5-0 at home.

“For some reason, our team seems to rise to the stage,” Grady said. “We’ve played well on the road. The guys seem to be more comfortable on the road. It certainly is opposite of the way I felt when I played. But, it certainly brings us confidence.”

Meanwhile, Plattsburgh also does not play as well at home, with a 4-4 mark while they are 5-3 on the road.

Nonetheless, Plattsburgh does have a lot of things going for it — second best offense at four goals per game (with Morrisville third at 3.69), the second best power play in the league at 25.9 percent, while Morrisville is the most penalized (19.7 minutes per game), and the least penalized team at just nine minutes per game.

Eric Satim (8-12-20) and Dylan Clarke (10-6-16) lead the way upfront.It appeared goaltending was finally getting settled with Josh Leis (2.96 goals against average, .874 save percentage) apparently winning the number one spot. However, down the stretch, Ryan Williams (2.45 GAA, .880 save pct.) was once again getting opportunities. A confidence issue in this position is not what the Cardinals want to see at this point in the season.

There is no confidence issue for Morrisville with Caylin Relkoff (3.03 GAA, .909 save pct.). The senior would love nothing more than to continue a career that helped his team make huge strides over the past four years.

He’ll need help, and he’ll get if from Tyler Swan (8-10-18), Bobby Cass (3-10-13), and Geoff Matzel (7-6-13). However, the Mustangs will not have the services of defenseman Daniel Morello, sitting out after a game disqualification last Saturday.

“We just have to play at the level we’re capable of,” Grady said. “We just have to play at the level we’ve shown we’re capable of. It’s going to be a challenge. They’re a battle tested team in the playoffs.”

Fredonia (7-8-1, 12-12-1) at Buffalo State (8-5-3, 12-10-3)
The only time Buffalo State got to host a playoff game, they lost to Fredonia in double overtime. Now, they get to host again … and play Fredonia again.

They split the season series, each winning on the road, with Buffalo State’s coming in overtime. They both enter the playoffs playing well. Buffalo State has won three in a row and four out of their last five. Fredonia is 2-1-1 in their last four.

The most impressive stat goes to Buffalo State. They have let up just two even-strength goals in the last five games. The last time they let up more than one five-on-five goal in a game was when they played Fredonia. The Blue Devils also scored four power-play goals in that game.

“We’re playing really well,” Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere said. “We evaluated the last Fredonia game. They got up on us 5-1, and that wasn’t acceptable. Fredonia is the most disciplined team in the conference. They have a great power play.”

The Blue Devils have a 23.5 percent power play efficiency, third best in the league. Mat Hehr leads the team with seven power-play goals followed by Bryan Ross with five. However, the big problem Fredonia will have to overcome is having their second leading scorer, Jordan Oye (10-11-21), suspended because of a game disqualification this past Saturday.

When you are going up against an outstanding freshman goaltender, the last thing you want is to have one of your snipers in street clothes.

Yet, missing Oye has not deterred Fredonia’s confidence.

“Excited,” Meredith explains the team’s attitude. “We’re a sixth seed. We get to go on the road. There’s no pressure playing the third seed. As a sixth seed, no one is expecting you to do anything. As opposed to traveling four to six hours, we get to travel just 45 minutes, so we’re happy with that.”

Buffalo State may be a young team, but they will be relying on their senior, Nick Petriello (4-15-19). Trevor McKinney leads in goals with 10.

“We’re a young team,” Carriere said. “We’re not worried about too many systems. Just have to worry about the guys getting nervous.”

However, this game will ultimately come down to goaltending, a battle of freshmen goaltending. Fredonia’s Mark Friesen (2.43 goals against average, .920 save percentage) versus Buffalo State’s Kevin Carr (2.59 GAA, .927 save pct.).

“Very happy [with Friesen],” Meredith said. “He’s playing the way we want him to play. He’s playing the way we envisioned at this time of year.”

“He’s special,” Carriere said of Carr. “As a freshman coming in, I knew we had something special. It couldn’t have worked out better. He knows he needs to be a calm and calculated type of guy for us. We’re going to rely on him.”

With this type of goaltending, maybe we’ll see another double overtime classic.

Who’s holding the target now?

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Players of the week

Player of the week: Danny Biega, Harvard

Harvard’s sophomore blueliner scored three goals and six points in three games this week, helping the Crimson take a desperately needed four points at Cornell and Brown. Biega began the weekend with the game-winning power-play goal in Ithaca, added Harvard’s lone goal at Colgate on the power play on Saturday, and made it three for three with another power-play, game-winning goal at Brown on Tuesday night. Biega is seventh in the league in conference points and leads ECAC Hockey defensemen in league scoring with nine goals and 21 points.

Honorable mention: Rob Kleebaum, Princeton (4-0-4, +1, hat trick vs. Yale); Kelly Zajac, Union (3-1-4 at Clarkson and SLU); Andrew Miller, Yale (1-3-4, +2 at Princeton)

Rookie of the week: Greg Carey, St. Lawrence

This frequent phenom did most of his damage on Friday, scoring twice in the Saints’ 5-3 upset of RPI. His power-play goal in the first period gave SLU the lead for good, and he gave his Canton comrades a bit of an extra cushion with the game’s next goal, as well. He added an assist in the loss to Union, placing him 10th in the league in conference scoring with 19 points, and his goals boosted him to double-digits and a fifth-place standing among all ECAC snipers with 10.

Honorable mention: Andrew Calof, Princeton (1-2-3, +2 vs. Brown and Yale); Kenny Agostino, Yale (1-2-3 at QU at Princeton)

Goalie of the week: Ryan Carroll, Harvard

Carroll’s second outing of the week, a 2-1 win at Brown, put the senior ahead of the pack for this honor. In stopping 63 of 67 shots against Cornell and Bruno, Carroll improved his league save percentage to .920 and diminished his ECAC goals-against average to 2.91 in nine starts.

Honorable mention: Eric Mihalik, Colgate (4 goals against, 64 shots vs. Dartmouth and Harvard); Ryan Rondeau, Yale (5 goals against, 71 shots at QU and Princeton); Andy Iles, Cornell (2 goals against, 33 shots vs. Dartmouth); Kyle Richter, Harvard (2 goals against, 28 shots at Colgate); Keith Kinkaid, Union (5 goals against, 55 shots at Clarkson and SLU)

Who’s the real class of the league?

It didn’t happen all at once, but it’s a bit startling nonetheless: with only two games remaining, Union is in the driver’s seat in the race for the regular-season crown. Whither Yale, we wonder?

The Bulldogs and Dutchmen are clearly the class of the league: Union’s 33 points and Yale’s 32 are two perfect weeks’ work ahead of Cornell and Dartmouth (24 points each). They are the two highest-scoring teams in the conference, and two of the top three defenses (Union’s 41 goals against are the fewest in ECAC Hockey; Dartmouth is second with 42 against, and Yale third, with 44).

So there’s little argument that the Blue and Dutch are anything but the top two squads heading into the playoffs. The question that has no clear answer yet is, who should be considered the favorite?

I’m not here to answer that, only propose a few points of consideration.

Union has only lost twice since the holiday break, while Yale has dropped four decisions since Christmas. More tellingly, Union has out-scored opponents 61-32 in those 16 games, and beat all comers by a 57-11 score in 14 conference contests in that stretch. Yale hasn’t exactly slogged through the second half, but the Bulldogs’ unique form of domination looked a little less, well, dominant as the calendar flipped: The Elis have a 60-35 goal differential in their last 15 games, but that spread shrunk in league play to 50-32 in 14 games.

Is the burden of bearing a year-long target wearing on the Bulldogs? Are teams saving their best shots for Yale, while Union has yet to develop that very elite form of respect? This is a meat-grinder league, and as Union head coach Nate Leaman told me last week, sometimes you can play your very best and still not win in this conference. I don’t know which team is better, or which side will carry the banner for ECAC Hockey come tourney time.

The one thing I do know is, it’ll be a lot of fun watching them sort it out on the ice.

My Top 20

Not much change in the teams, just some jostling at the top… very little room for error in the Top 10 right now.

1. Yale
2. North Dakota
3. Union
4. Boston College
5. Merrimack
6. Minnesota-Duluth
7. Denver
8. New Hampshire
9. Rensselaer
10. Miami
11. Dartmouth
12. Michigan
13. Notre Dame
14. Wisconsin
15. Princeton
16. Western Michigan
17. Boston University
18. Nebraska-Omaha
19. Maine
20. Cornell

The Home Stretch

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We’re down the the final 12 games of the Atlantic Hockey season, and there’s still much to be decided. One bye in each scheduling pod is locked up, but the other two are up for grabs.

Here’s the lowdown:

RIT – The Tigers have clinched first place and a first-round bye. They’ll host the lowest remaining seed in the quarterfinals March 11-13.

Robert Morris – The Colonials play at Air Force this weekend. Take two points and the other West pod bye is theirs. RMU has clinched a home playoff game in the event it doesn’t earn the bye.

Holy Cross – The Crusaders have clinched a first round bye and could finish as high as second place overall in the standings.

Air Force – The Falcons need three points against Robert Morris or they’ll have to console themselves with a home playoff game.

Niagara – The Purple Eagles a locked in to a home ice first-round playoff game.

Mercyhurst – The Lakers will be on the road in the first round of the playoffs, going to either Niagara, Robert Morris or Air Force.

Connecticut – The Huskies need three points this weekend against American International to sew up the remaining east pod bye.

Canisius – See Mercyhurst

Bentley – The Falcons are still alive for a bye. They trail UConn by two points but hold the tiebreaker over the Huskies. They’ve clinched at least a home playoff game if they don’t get the bye.

Army – See Bentley, except Army holds the tiebreaker with Bentley but loses it to UConn.

American International and Sacred Heart – Both are going to be on the road in the first round of the playoffs, at either UConn, Bentley, or Army.

USCHO.com AHA Player of the Week:

Mark Dube , Army – The junior had five points, including a natural hat-trick on Friday to lead the Black Knights to their first sweep of the season.

Honorables:

Jason Fabian, Air Force – The rookie had four points including three goals to help the Falcons to a sweep at Mercyhurst.

Brett Gensler, Bentley – Another rookie with a four-point weekend, Gensler had a pair of goals and a pair of assists last weekend against UConn.

Shayne Stockton, Holy Cross – And yes, one more four point rookie weekend. Stockton had four assists as the Crusaders took three of four points from Sacred Heart,

Mike Hull, Army – Hull had a whopping six assists in a sweep of AIC.

Everett Sheen, Holy Cross – The senior had three goals last weekend. He has 98 career points to date.

Getting My Vote

My USCHO.com Men’s D-I Poll ballot this week:
1. North Dakota
2. Boston College
3. Yale
4. Merrimack
5. Union
6. Denver
7. Duluth
8. UNH
9, Notre Dame
10. Miami
11. Michigan
12. Notre Dame
13. Wsconsin
14. UNO
15. RPI
16. Boston University
17. Western Michigan
18. Minnesota
19. Cornell
20. Princeton

Weekend Rewind Feb. 22

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Four out of the five conferences have wrapped up their regular season schedules and every single one of those leagues had a different regular season champion than they did last year.

Wis. River Falls completed its undefeated regular season with a 22-0-3 mark to claim the NCHA crown. The Falcons are just the second team in NCAA D-III history to make it through the regular season unbeaten. Plattsburgh was the only other team to accomplish the feat when they went 27-0-2 on its way to winning the 2007 National Championship.

RIT (22-1-2) won its first ECAC West regular season title with a 15-1-2 record. Even though the Tigers were tied with Plattsburgh in the standings, RIT held the tie-breaker and thus gained the conference tournament hosting rights.

Norwich (22-3-1) claimed its first ECAC East regular season title with a undefeated mark of 17-0-1. The Cadets were the first time to finish undefeated in the ECAC East regular season since Manhattanville accomplished the feat in 2001-2002.

Middlebury (18-4-1) regained the top spot in the NESCAC after a two-year absence. The Panthers finished with a 14-1-1 mark to beat out Amherst, Trinity and Bowdoin.

The only league that still has to wrap-up its regular season is the MIAC as per usual, the Minnesota schools end their regular season a week later than the rest of the leagues.

After being a jumbled mess for much of the season, Gustavus Adolphus has once again emerged from the pack as the leader of the league with 26 points, which is four points clear of second-place St. Thomas. Bethel and St. Olaf are tied with 20 points each for third place, while St. Mary’s is clinging to the fifth and final playoff spot with 19 points. Concordia-Moorhead sits just one point behind in sixth and St. Catherine lurks three points behind in seventh.

The two matchups this week pit St. Thomas and Concordia-Moorhead, as well as St. Mary’s and St. Olaf against each other in home and home series.  The Tommies and Gusties have already clinched playoff spots, but the other three are still plenty up for grabs and those two series will have a major impact on how it all shakes out.

As I have done over the past few years, I will continue to do a list of all the teams that have played their final game of the 2010-2011 season as it happens week-by-week. I got the idea originally from the former Division III men’s national writer, Chris Lerch.

There are nine teams that have played their final game so far this season.

1.Plymouth State
2.Chatham
3.Cortland
4.Buffalo State
5.Potsdam
6.Marian
7.Finlandia
8.St. Scholastica
9.Wesleyan

After this weekend’s games, the list will double and come close to tripling.

The NCAA released its second set of regional rankings this afternoon and you can find them at the following link: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/icehockey-women/d3/regional_rankings_

East:

1.RIT
2.Norwich
3.Plattsburgh
4.Middlebury
5.Trinity
6.Amherst
7.Elmira
8.Manhattanville
9.Neumann
West
1.River Falls
2.Gustavus Adolphus
3.Adrian
4.Superior
5.Eau Claire
6.Stevens Point
7.Concordia-Wis.

Right now it looks the seven teams that would get in, assuming all the teams that lead their conference, win their conference tournament would be; RIT, Norwich, Plattsburgh, Middlebury, Trinity, River Falls and Gustavus Adolphus. However, rarely does it actually work out that way so we’ve got plenty of hockey left to be played in the next two weeks.

Player of the Week – Julie Fortier, Norwich

Julie, a junior forward from Saint-Malachie, Que. had four goals to help lead the Cadets to a 3-0 week; including two huge wins over Middlebury and Manhattanville. Fortier tallied the game-tying goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 win against Middlebury to stop the Panthers’ momentum after they had scored two straight goals in the second period. She also tallied a goal in a 4-2 win over Manhattanville, which was Norwich’s first win on home ice against the Valiants and only second ever. Fortier capped her impressive week with two goals against Nichols to lead the Cadets to a 7-0 win. Fortier has 20 goals and 14 assists for 34 points this season.

Goalie of the Week – Cindy Fortin, Norwich

Cindy, a senior goalie from Quebec City, Que. backstopped the Cadets to two important wins over Middlebury and Manhattanville. She made 11 saves in a 3-2 win over Middlebury and then 22 more in a 4-2 win over Manhattanville. She has won 14 straight games in goal for the Cadets since dropping the season opener to RIT. Fortin is 14-1-0 on the year with a 1.73 goals against average and a .910 save percentage with two shutouts.

Rookie of the Week – Megan Myers, Utica

Megan, a freshman forward from Las Vegas, Nevada scored five goals and added an assist over the weekend in two games against nationally-ranked Amherst and Plattsburgh. Myers netted a hat trick and also dished out an assist in a 6-5 loss to the Lord Jeffs on Thursday night. She then added both Utica goals in a 3-2 loss to Plattsburgh on Saturday night. Myers has 19 goals and 12 assists on the season for 31 points, which leads the team.

Foregone conclusion: No. 1 UND will house MacNaughton for 12th time

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North Dakota may be ahead by only two points heading into the final two weeks of the regular season but go ahead and send the MacNaughton Cup en route to Houghton, Mich. That’s where the Sioux will clinch the regular season title.

UND was up and down after the WCHA schedule resumed in January, going 2-3 with home losses to Minnesota and Nebraska-Omaha and a loss at Colorado College. The Sioux is unbeaten in the five games since and most recently, took three points at St. Cloud State this weekend.

Add it up and UND is ranked first in Division I for the first time this season although the Sioux is still ranked second behind Yale in the PairWise Rankings. It proves UND’s depth while it endures key injuries to Chay Genoway and Danny Kristo.

UND’s remaining schedule suggests the Sioux (in first place with 35 points) won’t lose any ground to Denver (33 points), Minnesota-Duluth (32) or UNO (32). Ninth-place Bemidji State rolls into Grand Forks, Friday. UND finishes at last-place Michigan Tech so the Sioux could and should finish the season with 43 points and take the Cup.

It’s been 41 years, two weeks and one day since UND lost to BSU and the Sioux has lost just once in Houghton over a 23-game stretch going back to 1995.

Denver has the best chance, if any, to catch the Sioux. The Pioneers have to go to third-place UNO and host ninth-place SCSU and even if the Pioneers run the table, they’ll probably still fall short to UND and its weak schedule.

It’ll be tough for UMD and UNO to gain ground on first or second place. They will likely finish third and fourth (in no particular order). The teams face each other in Duluth to end the season, which has split written all over it.

The top four teams have all clinched home ice for the first round of the playoffs and there are still two spots left. Minnesota has the schedule (home vs. MTU and at BSU) that has the potential for eight points in the standings which easily gives the Gophers the No. 5 spot.

That shines the spotlight on the season finale series between Wisconsin and Colorado College next week in Madison. The series could decide who gets the final home ice spot the following week and don’t be surprised if UW/CC is a first-round matchup as well.

Right now, Wisconsin and its No. 13 PairWise Rank is the last team into the NCAA Tournament picture. The latest bracketology suggests the Badgers would be a four seed, joining the WCHA’s top four teams in the tournament.

Minnesota and CC are both on the outside looking in at 18th and 19th, respectively, in the PairWise. The Gophers should gnaw their way back into the top 15 of the PairWise by the end of the regular season and with a Final Five appearance, could get an at-large bid.

CC’s remaining schedule will make it a lot more tough for the Tigers to reach the top 15 of the PairWise and will have to go deep into the Final Five to get an at-large bid or win the tournament to get the auto-bid (I say top 15 in the PairWise because the Atlantic Hockey champion won’t be in the top 16, which already takes away one at-large bid).

This is an exciting time of the season for college hockey. The races are heating up, playoffs are around the corner and the Final Five is less than a month away. Enjoy the show.

The weekend that was: Week 20

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On the fly

Friday, February 18

Brown 3 at Princeton 7

Brown senior Harry Zolnierczyk tied the game at 1 apiece 6:38 into play, but it was all downhill from there for Bruno as the Tigers scored three straight (twice, actually) to pull away. Seniors Kevin Lohry and Tayler Fedun each scored twice for Princeton, which also got goals from freshmen Andrew Calof and Andrew Ammon, and sophomore Rob Kleebaum. Senior Alan Reynolds saved 30 of 33, while Brown needed two ‘keepers – junior Mike Clemente (14 saves) and rookie Marco DeFilippo (22 saves) – to wrap up the loss. Junior Bobby Farnham and senior Jesse Fratkin also scored for Brown, which lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-6-0). The win snapped a four-game winless slide for Princeton (0-3-1).

Dartmouth 3 at Colgate 5

The Raiders scored twice on four power plays while holding Dartmouth to 1/6 on the advantage, as Colgate stunned the Big Green in Hamilton. Senior Francois Brisebois scored twice, and rookie Chris Wagner and sophomores Jeremy Price and Kurtis Bartliff each scored once for Colgate as well. Freshman Eric Mihalik stopped 33 of 36, besting Dartmouth junior counterpart James Mello (28 saves). Sophomore Dustin Walsh, junior Connor Goggin and senior Adam Estoclet scored for Dartmouth.

Harvard 4 at Cornell 3

Harvard’s three power-play goals made all the difference, as sophomore Danny Biega’s PP snipe with 7:21 left lifted Harvard to its first win over the Big Red in six games (1-5-0). Junior Alex Killorn scored twice and senior Michael Biega added another for the Crimson, who stretched a season-long unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1). Senior Ryan Carroll (27 saves) also helped Harvard stymie Cornell on each of the Big Red’s three power plays, while Cornell junior Mike Garman (24 saves) couldn’t quite match Carroll’s feat. Sophomores John Esposito and Nick D’Agostino and senior Joe Devin scored for Cornell, who fell to the Crimson at Lynah for the first time since March of 2008.

Rensselaer 3 at St. Lawrence 5

The Saints held the Engineers to eight shots each period, and scored five times on 24 shots to chase RPI junior Allen York (24 saves) from the net in his first game back from a concussion. Freshman Greg Carey scored twice for SLU, while sophomore Jordan Dewey and seniors Jared Keller and Sean Flanagan contributed with goals as well; junior Robby Moss stopped 21 in the win. Rensselaer sophomore Bryce Merriam made seven saves in relief of York, but goals by sophomore C.J. Lee, junior Josh Rabbani and senior Jeff Foss weren’t enough to keep RPI from its third straight loss.

Union 4 at Clarkson 3 (ot)

Clarkson surrendered only a single power-play goal on seven opportunities to Union’s robust PP unit, and scored three third-period goals to force overtime… but it still wasn’t enough, as sophomore Wayne Simpson’s overtime goal lifted the Dutchmen to an eighth consecutive win. Sophomore Greg Coburn, junior Kelly Zajac and senior John Simpson also lit the lamp for Union, which got 25 saves out of sophomore Keith Kinkaid. Clarkson freshman Ben Sexton scored in his first game back from a broken leg, and junior Corey Tamblyn and senior Scott Freeman also chipped in in the third period. Junior goalie Paul Karpowich made 34 saves on 38 shots.

Yale 6 at Quinnipiac 1

Four goals in the game’s first 32 minutes paced Yale to an easy win, thanks in large part to senior Ryan Rondeau’s 30 saves. Senior Denny Kearney scored twice; juniors Kevin Limbert and Brian O’Neill and seniors Jimmy Martin and Ken Trentowski each scored as well for the Bulldogs. Rookie Kellen Jones scored QU’s only goal, as sophomore Eric Hartzell (23 saves) and junior Dan Clarke (13 saves) split duty handling Yale’s 42 shots.

Saturday, February 19

Brown 2 at Quinnipiac 2 (ot)

Bruno came back from a 2-0 second-period deficit, as Clemente (39 saves) stopped all 27 shots faced after the first intermission and rookies Dennis Robertson and Mark Hourihan drew Brown even to wrest a point from the Bobcats. Sophomore Russell Goodman and junior Scott Zurevinski scored first-period power-play goals for QU, and Hartzell stopped 29 of 31 as the ‘Cats snapped a three-game losing streak.

Dartmouth 2 at Cornell 3 (ot)

The Big Red bounced back from Friday’s loss and a 1-0 second-period deficit on Saturday to sink the Big Green. Senior Tyler Roeszler’s overtime strike – his second of the game – sent Dartmouth to a second consecutive loss for the first time since early November as freshman Andy Iles stopped 31 of 33 Big Green shots. Junior Locke Jillson also scored for Cornell, which won for the sixth time in 10 games (6-2-2). Mello’s 24 saves in the Dartmouth net were good enough to get to overtime, but Estoclet and junior Nick Walsh couldn’t find a third goal-scorer to put DC over the top.

Harvard 1 at Colgate 2

The Raiders exacted revenge on the Crimson, jumping them in the standings, and won their fourth in five games (4-1-0) with sophomore Robbie Bourdon’s late goal. Mihalik’s 27 saves were fittingly one better than Harvard senior Kyle Richter’s 26, as the visitors couldn’t hold the lead built by Danny Biega’s first-period power-play goal. Wagner drew ‘Gate even minutes later, and Bourdon’s dagger ended Harvard’s modest three-game unbeaten run (2-0-1).

Rensselaer 5 at Clarkson 1

Clarkson scored first, but RPI laughed last as the Engineers scored five straight to bury the Knights. Freshmen Guy Leboeuf and Johnny Rogic, sophs Marty O’Grady and Greg Burgdoerfer, and junior Alex Angers-Goulet disappointed the home crowd, as did York (20 saves), who earned his first win back from his injury. Senior Brandon DeFazio accounted for ‘Tech’s only goal, and Karpowich stopped 29 of 33 while RPI snapped its three-game losing skid.

Union 5 at St. Lawrence 2

Like its North Country neighbor, SLU saw an early lead promptly buried under a sea of five straight visitors’ goals. Zajac scored twice for the Dutchmen, and Wayne Simpson and Welsh also scored for the second night in a row; sophomore Kyle Bodie tallied as well as Kinkaid made 25 saves as Union won its ninth in a row. Freshman Kyle Essery and junior Jacob Drewiske tallied for St. Lawrence, while freshman Matt Weninger (18 saves) and junior Joe Spadaccini (2 saves) shared responsibility for the loss – SLU’s third in four games (1-3-0).

Sunday, February 20

Yale 5 at Princeton 4

The uppity Tigers jumped out to a quick lead, but couldn’t hold 3-0 or 4-3 leads as the Elis ground out the road victory. Rondeau stopped 36 of 40 for his 21st win of the year, while Princeton counterpart Reynolds made 27 saves in the loss. Miller and O’Neill scored again for Yale, as did freshman Kenny Agostino, junior Charles Brockett and senior Chris Cahill as the team won its third straight. Kleebaum scored three times in the game’s first 26 minutes and senior Mike Kramer also found the twine for the Tigers.

Tuesday, February 22

Harvard visits Brown tonight to bring the duo even with the rest of the league at 20 games in the bag. The Crimson hope to jump Colgate again to get out of the basement, while Brown has its eye on a first-round homestand: Bruno needs three points to catch Quinnipiac and/or Clarkson for the eighth spot, and anything short of a win will put the Bears at very long odds for that feat.

In retrospect…

Last week: 7-4-1

Season record: 128-61-21 (.660)

Women’s poll has Wisconsin a unanimous No. 1

USCHO Staff Report
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Wisconsin garnered all 15 first-place votes to maintain their No. 1 ranking in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll.

Cornell sits firmly at No. 2 and then Mercyhurst jumps two places to No. 3, tied with Minnesota this week.

Boston University drops a spot to No. 5, while Minnesota-Duluth stays sixth, Boston College stays at No. 7 and North Dakota is still No. 8.

New No. 9 Dartmouth trades spots with Providence, the tenth-ranked team this week.

SUNYAC wrap: Feb. 21

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It’s All Settled … For Now
The regular season is over. For six teams, the second season begins. But first, a look back at what transpired this past weekend.
The first key match-up of the weekend was Buffalo State at Morrisville. It turned out to be a case of the freshman goaltender outdoing the senior goaltender. Morrisville outshot the Bengals, 44-20, yet Kevin Carr stopped every single one of them while Caylin Relkoff only stopped 17. The 3-0 victory clinched third place for Buffalo State, the highest finish in school history.
Taylor McGraw led things off with his first collegiate goal and point at 7:07 of the first period. Sean Murray scored on the power play at 8:25 of the second. Then, the killer came 1:06 later while shorthanded thanks to Trevor McKinney’s 17th of the season.
This meant the next key match-up was Morrisville hosting Fredonia. The Mustangs needed to win in order to host for the first time ever. Morrisville tried everything they could to do just that, but blew a 3-0 lead, losing in overtime, 6-5.
The early lead was built on goals by Rob Sgarbossa, Derek Matheson, and Ryan Marcuz, the first two on the power play 32 seconds apart in the opening period. Fredonia then scored three in a row — even strength (Brett Mueller), power play (Bryan Ross), and short-handed (Billy Sanborn).
Morrisville retook the lead on a Matheson power-play goal before the second period ended. Fredonia took its first lead of the game, scoring twice in the first half of the third period by Mat Hehr and Ross. Tyler Swan tied it up on the power play with 2:46 left in regulation.
Hehr scored the game-winner on a power play in overtime. The loss for Morrisville meant they travel to Plattsburgh on Wednesday instead of the other way around.
However, at least they made the playoffs, and we’ll have plenty of coverage this busy week, with previews before the play-in round and the semifinal round, as well as a play-in wrap-up after the first round. We’ll also have game coverage from one of the semifinal contests.
Last week’s picks got me a 5-2 record to finish the season out at 91-31-9 (.729).
Other Highlights
– It was close after two periods, as Oswego led Geneseo 1-0. Then Oswego blew it open in the final period en route to a 7-1 win, thanks to two power-play goals, a short-handed goal (Owen Kelly), a hat trick by Chris Laganiere, and five assists by Ian Boots. Paul Beckwith made 28 saves.
– Oswego also had no problems against Brockport, despite falling behind 1-0, winning by the same 7-1 score. They outshot Brockport, 54-19. Boots and Paul Rodrigues both got a pair of goals.
– Plattsburgh also had an easy time, cruising by Potsdam, 9-2. Patrick Jobb got a hat trick, Vick Schlueter scored short-handed. Ryan Williams and Josh Leis shared duties in net. The win enabled Plattsburgh to stay home for the first round of the playoffs.
– Cortland ended its season with a 5-3 win over Brockport. Jarrett Gold got his 100th career point, becoming the 10th player in Cortland history to do so. The game was nip and tuck for the first two periods until Jake Saville’s third period power-play goal put the game away. The scoring ended when Brockport’s Tom Galiani scored on a penalty shot. Dan Jewell made 40 saves for the win.
– The weekend started out well for Geneseo with a 6-3 win over Cortland. However, Geneseo was behind after one period, 3-2. Then, the Ice Knights scored four unanswered second period goals, including a Michael Forgione short-hander, to pull away. Zachary Vit had two goals and two assists.
SUNYAC Players of the Week (selected by the conference)
Player of the Week: Ian Boots, Oswego (F, Jr., Akwesasne, N.Y.). Tallied eight points on two goals and six assists during 7-1 wins over Brockport and Geneseo this past weekend. In Friday’s victory, Boots tied the game at 1-1 with a power-play goal midway through the first period to jumpstart the offense before adding another goal and an assist in the third period. During Saturday’s contest, Boots posted five assists in a six-goal third period, with two assists coming on the power play and another coming while short-handed.
Rookie of the Week: Joel Zangara, Cortland (D/F, Buffalo, N.Y.). Has switched between defense and forward this season, scored his first two goals of his career in back-to-back games this past weekend. In a 6-3 setback to Geneseo, he netted his first career goal late in the first period to give the Red Dragons a 3-2 lead. In a 5-3 win versus Brockport, Zangara scored the game winner with a one timer in front during the second period.
Goaltender of the Week: Kevin Carr, Buffalo State (Fr., Unionville, Ontario). Recorded his third career shutout, backstopping the Bengals to a 3-0 victory in the regular season finale at Morrisville Friday night, despite being outshot 44-20.

North Dakota new No. 1 in men’s poll

USCHO Staff Report
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North Dakota is the new No. 1-ranked team in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

The Sioux were second last week, but made the jump to No. 1 this week with 21 first-place votes.

Boston College tumbles from the top spot to No. 2, while Yale remains No. 3, Merrimack jumps two spots to No. 4 and Union is up a pair to No. 5.

Denver falls to No. 6 from No. 4, Minnesota-Duluth also dropped two ranks to No. 7, Notre Dame rises one to No. 8, trading places with New Hampshire, and Michigan is back in the top 10, climbing one notch from their No. 11 ranking last week.

Miami is now No. 11, falling out of the top 10, Nebraska-Omaha is at 12, switching with Wisconsin, Rensselaer stays at No. 14 and Boston University does the same at No. 15.

Maine rises three spots to No. 16, Western Michigan holds steady at No. 17, Dartmouth falls two places to No. 18, Colorado College is up one to No. 19 and Minnesota enters the rankings this week at No. 20.

15 guys you'll miss

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As the regular season draws to a close, here are 15 seniors whose contributions made the CCHA a more interesting place during the last four years. Most of these are guys who won’t show up on any end-of-season league awards radar, but who will be missed nonetheless.

  • Nanooks defenseman Bryant Molle (Penticton, B.C.) and forward Kevin Petovello (Sparwood, B.C.). Shared team honors for most improved players in 2008-09, each of these guys is an integral part of what makes Alaska tick.
  • Falcons goaltender Nick Eno (Howell, Mich.) and forward David Solway (Green Bay, Wisc.). Two players on a team that never gave up, on a team that sometimes did.
  • Bulldogs forward Mike Embach (Orland Park, Ill.). Quietly and steadily improved every year.
  • Lakers forward Will Acton (Stouffville, Ont.). Workaday forward who emerged as one of the top LSSU players in his junior and senior years.
  • RedHawks defenseman Vincent LoVerde (Chicago, Ill.). An excellent stay-at-home defenseman often overlooked on a team with an explosive offense.
  • Wolverines forward Ben Winnett (New Westminster, B.C.). Another workhorse on a team with headline names.
  • Spartans forward Dustin Gazley (Novi, Mich.). One of the most tenacious forwards to play the game, and sometimes the only guy on the ice for MSU who showed a spark in dark times.
  • Wildcats forward Jared Brown (Gardner, Kan.) and defenseman Erik Spady (Deroche, B.C.). Brown played in over 120 games his first three seasons and defines the term “role-player.” Spady is the prototypical stay-at-home defenseman – who happened to score a goal in the NCAA tournament.
  • Fighting Irish forward Ryan Guentzel (Woodbury, Minn.) A role-playing captain who leads by example on a team that is practically nothing but role-players.
  • Buckeyes forwards Peter Boyd (Cambridge-Narrows, N.B.) and Sergio Somma (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Boyd’s another role-player and Somma’s the never-say-die player who has never received accolades – and never complained about it.
  • Broncos goaltender Jerry Kuhn (Southgate, Mich.). Known this season because of Western’s incredible run, but worked hard in obscurity for a long, long time.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback: A suspension’s impact

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski
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Jim: As I was making out my ballot this week, Todd, it struck me that many of the top 20 teams didn’t exactly have banner weekends. That begins at the top, where Boston College mustered only a tie in two games against Northeastern. The Huskies were a motivated bunch after their head coach was suspended hours before the series began. I was at both games and have to say that Northeastern could’ve won both games as it outplayed BC on both nights. After winning another Beanpot last Monday, it looked like the Eagles were on the right path but now they’re two points behind New Hampshire with two weekends to play.

Todd: When I’m voting, I jot down all the results of the last week and circle the losses in red. I had a lot of red on my legal pad Sunday night, especially in the lower half of the top 20. But with the three BC-Northeastern games last week, I think we saw that the Huskies aren’t that far away from being a quality team, despite their record. You wrote about it in a pre-Beanpot feature. Then again, most teams with three shots at the No. 1 team in the country in a week are going to be pretty pumped.

How do you think the suspensions of Greg Cronin and assistant Albie O’Connell are going to impact the Huskies for the rest of this season, and maybe beyond?

Jim: I think that the suspensions right now are having a positive impact on Northeastern. The team certainly rallied around the situation. The long-term effects, though, are still to be seen. As I mentioned in a commentary piece, the situation could be worse than imagined because Northeastern is already on probation with the NCAA. Obviously, unless there is a formal investigation and report, we may not know exactly what happened. But I fear the worst and hope for the best at Northeastern. They’re a program that has completely turned around under Greg Cronin. It wouldn’t be a good time to shake the apple cart on Huntington Avenue.

Todd: I agree with what you wrote in that column, that Northeastern should have been the cleanest program in hockey given Cronin’s association with two programs that faced sanctions. But you can also understand why people would be skeptical. Deservedly or not, being part of NCAA penalties is something that stays with a coach through the rest of his career, and you have to wonder what a third strike would mean to Cronin’s future in college hockey.

Jim: Though I am not one who likes to perpetuate rumors, I had a number of people say to me this weekend that this could be what sends Greg Cronin back to professional hockey. Selfishly, I hope it isn’t. But I’m also of the school that believes that NCAA rules are oftentimes ridiculous, so I wouldn’t blame any coach who gets fed up with them.

Todd: It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this in the coming weeks and months. But in the much more immediate sense, college hockey has big things happening this week, when three conferences end their regular seasons and two will crown a champion. Rochester Institute of Technology already has the Atlantic Hockey title wrapped up, but the CCHA and ECAC Hockey will go down to the wire.

Notre Dame leads Michigan by one point in the CCHA; Union leads Yale by one point in the ECAC. Think the orders are going to change on the final weekend?

Jim: One point is nothing in the CCHA, as the possibility of a shootout in either team’s games this weekend could be all it takes to flip the standings. I say that league is a coin flip. In the ECAC, I feel like neither team has a cakewalk as Union faces Quinnipiac and Princeton and Yale squares off with Cornell and Colgate. Both teams have the advantage of playing at home. My gut says that Union has simply come too far to let this slip away in the final weekend. This would cap off a dream season for the Dutchmen. Well, at least a dream regular season.

Todd: It would be quite an accomplishment for Union, the last-place team in the ECAC four short years ago, to be the champion. But I’m guessing that a first appearance in the NCAA tournament as a Division I team would mean a whole lot more to the Dutchmen. And, really, it should mean something to all of the ECAC and show those teams that are struggling to get by now that better times might not be too far away.

Jim: That is the one thing about the past four or five years about the ECAC — so many different teams have been in the running for the NCAA tournament. This, obviously, will be the year when the league could break out with three or four entries and given the fact that Rensselaer and Union are likely to be two of those, it indeed should give hopes to the league’s bottom. Then again, Harvard is the league’s bottom this year and it is just a few years removed from its last NCAA bid.

Todd: Whatever happens, I think this year will be a highlight for the ECAC, which now has two teams in the top five of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. I know some people will never be convinced about the ECAC’s overall strength, but Yale and Union have proven over and over again this season how good they are.

Jim: So what games are grabbing your attention this weekend? I mentioned the big ECAC tilts, but in Hockey East I think that fans will be watching to see if Northeastern can do to New Hampshire what it did last weekend to BC. The Merrimack-Maine series is another big one as the Warriors are in position to jump into the top spot in Hockey East if either UNH or BC stumble.

Todd: Beyond the first-place battle in the CCHA, the race for fifth place and the last first-round playoff bye is one to watch. While fifth-place Northern Michigan is hosting Michigan, Ferris State, Lake Superior State and Ohio State still have a chance of catching up and getting next weekend off. Ohio State hosts Ferris State Thursday and Friday.

In the WCHA, Denver and Nebraska-Omaha try to keep their MacNaughton Cup hopes alive in a two-game series in Omaha. The Pioneers are two points behind first-place North Dakota, and the Mavericks are another point back in a tie for third. All that and plenty of scoreboard-watching ahead.

MCHA, MIAC and NCHA wrap: Feb. 21

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Adrian earned a first-round bye in the Harris Cup playoffs by sweeping Milwaukee School of Engineering on the road this weekend, which may have caught observers by surprise, but not the Bulldogs faithful.
Adrian’s 3-1 triumph Friday night clinched the team’s fourth-consecutive regular-season crown, as the Bulldogs held a 2-0-1 head-to-head series edge, which would be used if the teams finished in a first-place tie.
Until this weekend’s pivotal showdown, neither Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association team budged a millimeter in their dogged pursuit for the No. 1 spot.
No clear-cut winner emerged in the teams’ previous meeting Jan. 14-15, which resulted in a 6-1 Adrian victory followed by a 2-2 tie. The Bulldogs held a 1-0 edge, but ill-timed penalties enabled the Raiders to go up 2-1 before Zach Graham’s third-period goal rescued a draw in the Jan. 15 tussle.
This weekend though, the Bulldogs (21-3-1, 18-1-1) made a statement by methodically defeating the Raiders by an identical 3-1 score.
Jordan Watts nabbed the game-winner in Friday’s contest. Eric Miller put the Bulldogs on the board 40 seconds into the second period before the Raiders’ Jordan Keizer evened things with his 23rd goal of the season. Kyle Watson scored an empty-netter with 1:37 left.
Bulldogs netminder Brad Fogal made 35 saves to record his 20th win this season.
In Saturday’s rematch, Shawn Skelly and Sam Kuzyk scored as Adrian opened a 2-0 in the second before MSOE’s Nick Gorup replied. Josh Cousineau nabbed the insurance marker with 1:08 left.
Fogal (21-3-1) turned away 27 of 28 shots to procure the win.
With Marian (18-7, 15-5) securing the Northern Division crown and a first-round bye, MSOE (19-5-1, 16-3-1) will face Lake Forest (5-19-1, 5-14-1) in the quarterfinals. Lawrence (12-12-1, 10-10) meets Northland (9-14-2, 8-10-2) in the other quarterfinal.
As reigning Harris Cup champs, Adrian hosts this season’s playoff games at Arrington Ice Arena March 5-6. The MCHA playoff winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MIAC logjam broken
Hamline grabbed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title, but not without causing a few palpitations in Piperville.
The Pipers, who were tied for first with idle St. Thomas on 20 points, only needed a point from its weekend series with host Concordia (Minn.) to clinch the top spot and a first-round playoff bye.
The prospect of a four-way tie for first place also loomed entering the final weekend, as Gustavus Adolphus and Concordia, with 16 points each, also were mathematically eligible for a share of the MIAC crown.
The Cobbers kept first place in their sights, winning Friday’s series opener with the Pipers, 4-0, as netminder Kelly Andrew stopped 32 shots for the shutout. Brian Kang, Braden Rahman, Trent Johnson and Marc Harrie provided Concordia’s goals.
On Saturday, the Pipers’ Jordan VanGilder netted the game-winner en route to a hat-trick performance as Hamline prevailed in a 7-4 goalfest. VanGilder scored two of his three markers in the third period — with Brian Arrigoni adding another — as the Pipers erupted for three unanswered goals in the final frame. Second-period goals by Concordia’s Pat Dietz and Ben Payne tied the contest at 4-4 entering the third.
Gustavus split its home-and-home series with Saint Mary’s, losing 4-3 to the Cardinals on Friday before rebounding with a 5-4 overtime win on Saturday.
Augsburg grabbed the final playoff spot by sweeping Bethel, 5-4 (OT) and 4-2, in a home-and-home tilt. The Auggies’ B.J. McClellan scored 59 seconds into overtime to provide Friday’s victory.
No. 4-seed Gustavus (14-9-2, 8-6-2) hosts No. 5-seed Augsburg (14-8-3, 8-6-2) in the first-round game on Friday. The winner will face No. 1-seed and hosts Hamline (14-6-5, 9-3-4) in a semifinal at 2 p.m. Saturday. No. 2-seed St. Thomas (14-9-2, 9-5-2) hosts No. 3-seed Concordia (11-10-4, 7-5-4) in the other semi at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The championship takes place Wednesday, March 2, with the highest remaining seed serving as hosts. The winner gets an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
NCHA semifinals set
Sixth-seed Wisconsin-River Falls advanced to this Saturday’s Peters Cup semifinals after upsetting No. 3-seed Wisconsin-Stout in dramatic fashion.
The Falcons prevailed 2-0 in a 20-minute mini-game after winning 4-3 in overtime Saturday to extend the two-game quarterfinal series. Sean Roadhouse scored with 29 seconds left in OT of the regulation game, which necessitated the 20-minute mini-session to settle the series.
UW-River Falls rallied twice in Saturday’s regulation contest, erasing a 2-0 UW-Stout lead on goals by Justin Brossman and Geoff Shewmake in the second period and then tying the contest at 3-3 as Josh Calleja scored with eight seconds left in the third period. Robert Carr, who had two goals in the game, scored with a minute remaining to give the Blue Devils a short-lived 3-2 lead.
Martin Sundstedt and Brossman scored goals in the mini-game that followed.
The Falcons (12-13-1, 7-10-1) travel to No. 2 nationally-ranked St. Norbert (20-4-1, 14-3-1) Saturday while No. 2-seed Wisconsin-Superior (15-11-1, 10-8) hosts No. 4 seed Wisconsin-Stevens Point (13-13-1, 8-9-1) in the day’s other semifinal
UW-Superior swept St. Scholastica, 4-2 and 5-2, in its quarterfinal series while UW-Stevens Point needed a 1-0 mini-game victory to settle its quarterfinal tilt with No. 5-seed Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday.
The Pointers’ Sean McNeely scored the lone goal in Saturday’s 1-0 victory, which tied the series after UW-Eau Claire won 4-2 on Friday. Nic Polaski netted the game-winner in the mini-game.
McNeely’s heroics was buttressed by goalie Nick Graves’ 32-save shutout performance in Saturday’s rematch.

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