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This Week in the WCHA: Jan. 31, 2008

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This conference can’t ever be nice and predictable, can it? Six teams remain separated by three points and the Fighting Sioux are edging the Colorado duo for league superiority.

Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week

Red Baron WCHA Co-Offensive Players of the Week: Jimmy Kerr, MTU and Jason Wiley, MSU-M.
Why: Kerr had four points (1g, 3a), seven shots on goal and was a +2 to help his Huskies become the first WCHA team to take three points from Colorado College all season. Wiley, on the other hand, also had four points (2g, 2a) as well as five shots on goal and was a +3 as his Mavericks swept their home-and-home series with St. Cloud State.
Also Nominated: T.J. Oshie, UND.

Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Alex Stalock, tUMD.
Why: Let in just one goal, stopping 49 of 50 shots for a .980 saves percentage, in his Bulldogs’ non-conference road sweep of then-No. 15 Mass.-Lowell. This is the third time he’s won the weekly honor.
Also Nominated: Jack Hillen, CC; John Schwarz, MTU; Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, UND; Shane Connelly, UW.

Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week: Patrick Johnson, UW.
Why: Scored one goal and assisted on two others, had four shots on goal and was a +3 in his Badgers’ three-point weekend over Minnesota.
Also Nominated: Stephen Schultz, CC; Bennett Royer, MTU; Andrew Sackrison, MSU-M.

Keeping Up With the Pros — Monthly Drive-By

Shh, if you don’t like it, just scroll down a bit. You only have to deal with this once a month. As a side note, though, go Mavericks and Badgers.

NHL: Dany Heatley, UW — 25-31-56, t-15th overall.
AHL: Grant Stevenson, MSU-M — 24-27-51, 5th overall.
ECHL: Travis Morin, MSU-M — 20-27-47, 9th overall.
IHL: Tab Lardner, MTU — 29-24-53, 2nd overall.
CHL: Alex Leavitt, UW — 25-44-69, 1st overall.

Random Notes (and Commentary!) From Around the League

MTU — You can tell it’s Hobey season — the Huskies have started encouraging their fans to vote for junior goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak in fan balloting at www.hobeybaker.org for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

Speaking of WCHA “Vote for Hobey” candidates, there are a few — some that make sense and some that don’t. I mean, CC’s Richard Bachman is awesome, but he is only a freshman. He’s got a couple years to try for this award. Still, a sophomore won it last year, so who knows?

The rest of the “candidates” in alphabetical order: UND’s Ryan Duncan (last year’s winner); UND’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux; SCSU’s Ryan Lasch; DU’s Peter Mannino; UW’s Jamie McBain; tUMD’s Josh Meyers; SCSU’s Andreas Nodl; UND’s T.J. Oshie; CC’s Chad Rau; SCSU’s Garrett Roe; tUMD’s Alex Stalock; UW’s Ben Street; DU’s Brock Trotter; UW’s Kyle Turris; UM’s Blake Wheeler; MSU-M’s Mike Zacharias.

MSU-M — We’ve got more promos at Mankato this weekend. Get to the arena early on Friday for the game against Denver (first 1,000 fans early) and you’ll get a free MSU stress puck, courtesy of MSU Security.

Since I’m a puck collector, if any of you out there want to pick one up for me, I’ll buy you a beer (or pretzel or something if you don’t drink) … probably at the WCHA Red Baron Final Five or at the Frozen Four.

I also got a press release in my e-mail box late in the day from the Mavericks — “Minnesota State has launched a campaign aimed at improving the game-day experience for fans attending Maverick athletic events that will combine increased communication about expectations for fan behavior with strengthened enforcement of university policies.”

Basically, Maverick fans, if you swear, cut it out. This isn’t that surprising — several schools have tried to up the sportsmanship level and curb the vulgarity, if you will — most notably Boston University after the 2006 NCAA Regional. From the sounds of things, the “fan sportsmanship” issue was a big one at the 2008 NCAA Convention, so be prepared for your school to be next …

Reader Mailbag

In perusing the comments to this here column on the USCHO Fan Forum, I came across something by poster SJHovey, dispelling the “facts” behind the supposed post-holiday break surge UND has put together every year under coach Dave Hakstol.

I talked to the Sioux’s sports information director in terms of hockey, Dan Benson, about the myths and the facts and he thinks that if the Sioux have played better in the second half, it’s all part of the team understanding roles.

“We’ve always had decent second halves,” he said. “I think what part of it is, is roles — people learn what their role is and then they’ve seemed to gel; find some combos as far as lines and stuff that have worked well so they’ve managed to play hard and have some success with that.”

Granted, I don’t think that is specific to the Sioux — in theory, shouldn’t every team have good second halves if that were the result? Still, Benson thinks that if the team does “surge” this year, it’ll just be a result of what should have happened earlier.

“I know the coaches felt that we played pretty well all year long,” he said. “We lost a couple close ones and played well; now we’ve had a good bounce of the puck here and there … overall it’s been fairly consistent all year long; we’ve just managed to win some games.

“I feel this team will play well the rest of the season,” he continued. “It seems like as a whole they’ve played well and we’ll see where that leads us — a lot of tough teams in the WCHA — you don’t know where things are going to end up.

“As far as a surge, of course all of us connected with the team certainly hope we’ll finish strong.”

I also received a few other e-mails. One, from Ray Schaper, involves the Hobey candidate process — “… there are four elements to meet the criteria and I keep seeing people listed as possible recipients that clearly DO NOT meet them.” He then mentions the Fighting Sioux’s T.J. Oshie, a player listed on the “Vote for Hobey” Web site — and a player who has been arrested twice within the past year — and wonders why he’s even up there.

To that, I can only respond that, Ray, don’t take the fan voting phase that seriously. The fan vote only counts for 1% of the final vote — virtually nothing. I’m pretty sure they just toss up a whole bunch of people with good numbers for the fan vote and actually consider the true criteria of the award when it gets to the final 10 candidates and the Hobey Hat Trick.

I also got an e-mail from David Roberts asking what Wisconsin needs to do to make it into the tourney outside of stealing the autobid from winning the WCHA Red Baron Final Five and if the Badgers hosting the regional makes them a more appealing choice as an at-large bid.

Well, I’m no PairWise genius (I leave that up to Jayson Moy), but the Badgers are tied for 13th right now with Northeastern. For them to make it into the tourney guaranteed, I would say the Badgers should aim to make it up to 10th to be completely safe in case all the conferences end up having autobids that aren’t already high enough up in the rankings (unlikely, but you never know).

For them to do that, they need to put together a strong final month. The Badgers have the advantage of playing in the Best Conference in College Hockey where nine of the 10 teams are in the top 25 of the PairWise, which will help them out given any tie-breakers. As for hosting a regional, that should not play a role, since the committee goes by the numbers when picking at-large teams.

What do you say, faithful readers?

Match-Ups By the Numbers

Four conference series again this week, as well as our last non-conference tilt of the season, as Clarkson comes out to the unfriendly confines of World Arena, where the Tigers are unbeaten so far this season.

Michigan Tech @ Alaska-Anchorage
Overall Records: MTU — 10-11-3 (6-8-2 WCHA). UAA — 6-12-6 (2-12-4 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: MTU leads the overall series, 23-21-7.
Top Scorers: MTU — Peter Rouleau (9-10-19). UAA — Kevin Clark (7-13-20).
Goaltenders: MTU — Rob Nolan (13 gp, 6-7, 2.69 GAA, .897 sv %), Michael-Lee Teslak (12 gp, 4-4-3, 1.73 GAA, .934 sv %). UAA — Jon Olthuis (22 gp, 5-10-6, 3.04 GAA, .881 sv %).

No. 3 North Dakota @ No. 18 Minnesota
Overall Records: UND — 16-8-1 (13-7 WCHA). UM — 12-11-5 (6-9-3 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: UM leads the overall series, 137-121-11.
Top Scorers: UND — T.J. Oshie (12-14-26), Ryan Duncan (10-16-26). UM — Blake Wheeler (13-12-25).
Goaltenders: UND — Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (25 gp, 16-8-1, 1.80 GAA, .932 sv %). UM — Jeff Frazee (14 gp, 6-7, 2.93 GAA, .890 sv %), Alex Kangas (14 gp, 5-4-5, 2.28 GAA, .918 sv %).

No. 4 Denver @ Minnesota State
Overall Records: DU — 18-6 (12-4 WCHA). MSU-M — 11-10-4 (5-9-4 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: DU leads the overall series, 14-11-4.
Top Scorers: DU — Brock Trotter (13-18-31). MSU-M — Trevor Bruess (6-14-20).
Goaltenders: DU — Peter Mannino (23 gp, 17-6, 2.09 GAA, .922 sv %). MSU-M — Mike Zacharias (22 gp, 10-7-4, 2.21 GAA, .919 sv %).

No. 12 Minnesota-Duluth @ No. 11 Wisconsin
Overall Records: tUMD — 10-8-6 (6-7-5 WCHA). UW — 11-10-5 (7-8-3 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: UW leads the overall series, 83-54-12.
Top Scorers: tUMD — Nick Kemp (7-7-14), Jason Garrison (5-9-14). UW — Kyle Turris (10-16-26).
Goaltenders: tUMD — Alex Stalock (24 gp, 10-8-6, 2.18 GAA, .919 sv %). UW — Shane Connelly (23 gp, 10-10-3, 2.50 GAA, .912 sv %).

No. 10 Clarkson @ No. 6 Colorado College
Overall Records: CU — 15-7-2 (10-3-1 ECAC). CC — 18-7-1 (15-4-1 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: CC leads the overall series, 7-0-1.
Top Scorers: CU — Steve Zalewski (15-7-22), Chris D’Alvise (8-14-22). CC — Chad Rau (19-11-30).
Goaltenders: CU — David Leggio (23 gp, 15-6-2, 2.07 GAA, .926 sv %). CC — Richard Bachman (21gp, 16-4-1, 1.76 GAA, .934 sv %).

I’m Trying Here

I know that the last few weeks have been a bit lacking in terms of actual content and quotes and what-have-you. In my defense, I try — it’s just that I’m busy and the people I try to get in contact with make me look lazy. I have tons of things I want to put in here every week that end up getting scrapped because I don’t have the supporting quotes or comments.

Since I’m based out of Colorado, I’d also prefer not to do stuff printed solely about the Colorado teams, just because I have the easiest access to their coaches/staff/players … even if it does add a bit more to this here space of Internet every week.

This Week in D-I Women’s Hockey: Jan. 31, 2008

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View from the Middle

If you want to get the scoop on what makes a baseball team click, as a catcher. He sees it all.

Likewise, if you want to know what makes a hockey line click, ask the gal in the middle. The good ones seem to have eyes in the back of their heads, and can thread those tape-to-tape passes to waiting wingers for proper burial.

Such is certainly the case with Wayne State�s Lindsay DiPietro, who center�s D-I�s most prolific line.

With wingers Melissa Boal (29-22-51) and Sam Poyton (24-24-48) on her flanks, DiPietro (12-36-48) has racked up more helpers than anyone else in the country.

The trio, all of them juniors from Ontario, occupy spots No. 2, 3, and T-3 in the national scoring parade, with only Mercyhurst�s Meghan Agosta (36-22-58) seated above them.

�I�ve got talented wingers,� said DiPietro, dishing out compliments as deftly as she doles out pin-point passes. �It�s unbelievable. Just the plays they make, and just how they get open, (makes) it some much fun to play. I haven�t had this much fun in a really long time.�

Fun for her, not so much fun for beleaguered backliners who have to try and stop her from stick handling through them.

It�s in that same slippery manner that DiPietro (�no, I�m not related to Rick, but I wish I was”), tries to swivel through a reporter�s questions.

Such as, �so Lindsay, what�s the scouting report on your wingers?�

�And give away their strengths,� she replied with a laugh. �Come on now.�

Reminded that there are no secrets in hockey, she shifts speeds and motors on.

�Both of them are pure goal scorers,� she said. �It�s pretty easy when the find open ice. If you can get them a pass, they�ll put the puck in the net. It makes my job a lot easier.

�Mel is really fast. Her take off speed is just phenomenal. So she can beat a lot of players, one on one. Sam is bigger (5-foot-10, seven inches taller than Boal) and she�s more of a grinder. But a finesse player at the same time. She�s not afraid to go into the corners and get the puck, which helps me out a lot. They�re just phenomenal players, both of them. They have different assets, but they both put the puck in the net.�

Still, they can�t finish without the puck, and that�s where DiPietro�s own skills come to the fore.

�I think I�m good at seeing the open ice,� she said, after a little prodding. �The fact that they can break into that open ice helps a lot. I like to pass the puck. That�s no surprise. So I just try to find them. They just play off my ability to get them the puck. They make good plays, and I just dish it.�

A key to any line�s success lies in its ability to communicate. But each troika has it�s own communication style.

With this bunch (somebody please, come up with a catchy name for them, huh�), �mum� seems to be the watch word.

�You know,� she said, �we don�t talk a lot, to be honest. We just know where we�re going to be. We�ve been together for so long. We just have a feeling. They�ll call �Linds, Linds, I�m open�. But for the most part, I can sense where they are, and I can make a lot of blind passes. Not to say I like to. But I can, knowing that they�re going to be there. I just tell them, �keep your stick on the ice, and I�ll find you.��

Of course one can�t discuss Wayne State pucks and avoid bringing up the impending demise of the men�s team, which will disband after this season.

The sense of loss is felt deeply in the women�s dressing room.

�It�s disappointing,� DiPietro said. �Having a men�s program is like having 25 other guys who know exactly what you�re going through, day-to-day. How long the season is, how grueling. They know exactly what we go through. So it�s a really good support system. So for the girls who have close friends on the men�s team, it�s sad to see it go.�

DiPietro said it�s up to the women to pick up the Warrior hockey banner and hoist it aloft.

�It puts a lot of pressure on us, now,� she said. �But it�s okay. At least we�re still around and kicking.�

As we were saying, she sees the ice.

Every square inch of it.

Bowl Runneth Over

Not that the field for the NCAA�s Hockey Humanitarian Award, now down to eight semifinalists, isn�t worthy enough.

But you could make a case for adding precisely 5,377 more souls to the list of nominees.

That�s the number of good-hearted people who streamed into Wisconsin�s Kohl Center last Saturday for the contest between St. Cloud State (now No. 10) and the fifth-ranked Badgers.

The crowd, the largest ever for an NCAA women�s game, came out to root on their Badgers, the two-time national champions, in response to UW�s �Fill the Bowl� promotion.

More importantly, a $1 donation from each ticket sold was made to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

�The event was a tremendous success,� said UW spokesman Adam Augustine. �Since 5,377 fans showed up for the game, that amount of money was presented to Second Harvest following the game. That translates into roughly 37,639 meals for the local community.�

Oh, gosh by golly, that�s good goin�, don�t ya know.

This Week in the ECAC East and NESCAC

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Hard to believe that the calendar rolls into February this weekend and that we are heading down the stretch run in the season where both leagues are very competitive for all of the playoff spots.

Fondly referencing a ‘Badger Bob’ Johnson quote, Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher noted that “we are right in that hockey tunnel and we’ll be out of it before you know it.”

Just four weeks remain in the regular season and for some squads that are playing well right now probably wouldn’t mind if the playoffs started now. For others this is where they need get to get it going to playing some quality hockey and making a final push for position in the standings. Either way the competition isn’t getting any easier and points will be cherished in each of the remaining weekends.

The teams are revved up, the fans are stoked, and the coaches blood pressure is undoubtedly higher than usual. It is going to be a wild ride.

Cadets Cruising

Two six game winning streaks this season have Norwich sitting pretty at the top of the ECAC East standings. According to head coach Mike McShane, they are doing it with improved defense and goaltending from one familiar face and one new contributor.

“We are playing seven defensemen right now,” commented McShane. “It’s an area of strength for us right now over the past couple of seasons where we were somewhat inconsistent on the blue line. Despite some injuries that have had some guys out for awhile, we have had good depth and now are pretty healthy for our difficult schedule in February.”

Phil Sbrocchi (1-11-12) and Tyler Stitt (0-3-3) have been dependable blue liners for the Cadets and freshman Sylvain Messier (2-7-9) has returned from injury to play a regular shift and quarterback one of the power play units with his quick passing and accurate shot from the point.

In goal, Norwich has enjoyed a successful sophomore campaign by last year’s surprise starter David Thompson (9-1-0 record, .892 save percentage, and 2.22 goals against average) who according to his coach has been fabulous. The surprise contributor has been sophomore Ryan Kligensmith (5-0-0, .950 1.19) who has stepped in for Chance Gieni and posted some impressive performances for the Cadets.

“Ryan’s a military student,” noted McShane. “He really got serious about his training program over the summer and put in some serious time working out with the weights and a goalie coach back home while he was working hockey camps all summer. It was like we sent home a boy and a man came back to campus. He has been terrific and gives us a solid tandem of goaltenders coming into the final part of the regular season schedule.”

Up front the usual suspects, Cleaver and Kashirsky, continue to produce and score big goals for the Cadets. But the coach also likes what he sees from some of the other lines and the balance his team is showing offensively. DJ Fimiani (5-19-24), Rico Piatelli (6-3-9), Eric Lauriault (7-8-15) and Chad Anderson (6-8-14) are among the contributors who keep the opposing teams honest, precluding them from paying too much attention to the Norwich top guns.

This weekend finds Norwich facing a hungry St. Anselm squad along with the ever-competitive New England College Pilgrims who always give the Cadets a good battle.

“I think we have one of the toughest schedules to finish the season,” observed McShane. “None of the remaining games are easy but we are playing well right now and have most of our guys back healthy so we would like to keep the momentum going these last few weeks.”

Definitely on a roll right now, Norwich next faces Middlebury in their annual match-up which will most likely reveal a lot about how two league leaders are shaping up headed towards the playoffs.

More Middlebury Magic

While attending a coaching clinic in early December following the Panthers 3-1 loss to Southern Maine, Middlebury coach Bill Beaney noted that his best two players were his goalies and that unless his squad found some offense and more consistent play things were going to be tough for the Panthers.

Fast forward to a second half jump started by knocking off Plattsburgh just before the break and the Panthers have been on a roll having won ten games in a row and outscoring their opponents 45-21, including a 9-4 romp over Bowdoin.

As expected the offense is led by senior Mickey Gilchrist (10-10-20) who got off to a slow start this season but has found his scoring touch in the second half. He has been supported by defenseman Tom Maldonado (5-15-20) who likely will join his teammate in passing the century mark for career points in an upcoming game. The Bronx native is high on Beaney list of players who make an impact on and off the ice.

Senior Tom Maldonado has been a key to their 10 game win streak. (Will Costello)

Senior Tom Maldonado has been a key to their 10 game win streak. (Will Costello)

“Tom is a real quality kid,” noted Beaney. “He’s from the Bronx, New York and has been a big part of our success from the time he arrived as a freshman. He has been a great student here and really exemplifies the character of athlete we want to bring here to Middlebury. He is a great leader on and off the ice and he is really having a terrific season this year.”

When asked about what got his team going, coach Beaney pointed to grasping the system and attention to detail. .

“We probably take a little longer to get all of the pieces put together,” he said “Our system requires some thought and decision making that takes some time for all of the players to get on the same page. We really saw a commitment to the details by the players in both the offensive and defensive ends and they are out having fun with it right now.

“Defensively, we changed some things on our penalty kill and went from being one of the best at it to being one of the worst — we did some adjusting there and right now everything is coming together pretty well. We are getting rewarded for our hard work with some goals by guys like Scott Bartlett and Mason Graddock and that really keeps us going. Even our goaltending, which has been good has been more consistent — we could fall on our faces tomorrow but right now it’s going pretty well.”

Last weekend, ironically at NEC where coach Beaney started his career, he achieved career victory number 500 when the Panthers won on the road, 6-3. Never one to search out the spotlight, coach Beaney did take a moment to reflect on the significance of the milestone victory.

“It really says a lot about the number of great players we have had here over the past 20 years. But also, the great assistant coaches, trainers who are so important, our bus driver who has been the same guy for 19 years, the rink and Zamboni crew — really everyone who has made a contribution to our success as a program. It really comes down to the players, but also to the school that creates the environment for us all to be successful.”

It’s probably not a surprise that the Panthers are leading their conference, but unlike last season they have found their cadence early which might augur trouble for the rest of the NESCAC teams entering February.

Vikings Racking up Victories

Look out ECAC East! If you are searching for a spoiler this year, look no further than Salem State. They have played pretty consistent hockey and have some important wins to show for their efforts, including a 4-1 victory over Babson last weekend to close out a weekend sweep and pick up four important points in the standings. The Vikings have won five in a row and six of their last seven headed into this weekend’s home match-up with rivals Bowdoin and Colby.

“It’s always fun to play against Bowdoin,” noted head coach Bill O’Neill. “Terry and I go all the way back to our playing days at BU and we always have good games against each other. We played them in the finals of our tournament in December and lost to them so we know we have to do things a little better than we did just a month or so ago.”

A cast of young guns is leading the way for the Vikings, spearheaded by freshman Justin Fox (11-15-26) who also leads the team in power-play goals and game-winning goals this season.

“Justin is a really good player,” noted O’Neill. “He can do some special things offensively and he has made the adjustments to play at this level pretty quickly as have some other guys like Mike Genovese and Chris McInnis. We are still trying to put all of the pieces together so we can get better and with no easy games you know we will have to keep working on it.”

Another name player who has flown under the radar for a lot of people — excluding the teams he has shutdown — is junior goaltender Ryan Hatch. Hatch (10-6-0, .904, 2.88) has played virtually every game for Salem State and has the confidence of his coach and his teammates.

“Ryan is really solid,” noted O’Neill. “He is dependable and has great toughness in being able to play back to back each and every weekend. I think we have another great goalie in James Lacour who always is ready to go any game and prepares to be ready to play but Ryan is our guy and he has played big for us all season.

Putting an emphasis on continuing their hot play at the right time of the year is the fact that they play four of their last six games against ECAC East opponents. A home ice playoff berth is definitely a possibility for the Vikings, especially if they can get a little better play from their special teams during the final month of the season.

It’s still tight and while some familiar names are at the top of the standings there is still a lot of hockey to be played, points to be had.

Drop the puck!

Ahead Of Schedule

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When Mike Sisti recruited Meghan Agosta, outworking more prestigious schools, he knew he had enticed a franchise player to come to Mercyhurst.

But the 5-foot-6 sophomore has proven everyone wrong: She’s developed into one of the best forwards in the college (and international game) long before anticipated.

And there’s nowhere to go but up.

Currently her 2.23 points per game as well as her 58 points (36-22) in 26 contests are second only to Wayne State’s Melissa Boal, who averages 2.23 points a game. Agosta has 26 goals to Boal’s 21, and is first or second nationally in five categories.

Mercyhurst is, in fact, a scoring machine, averaging 4.10 points a game, third behind Minnesota-Duluth (4.12) and Wayne State (4.08).

Mercyhurst junior Valerie Chouinard is 12th in the nation in overall scoring (1.46 ppg) and many of the team’s other players are among the leaders in College Hockey America.

So Agosta is in good company, although her own success has opened up more scoring opportunities for her teammates.

“Without a doubt, she’s one of the best hockey players out there,” Sisti said of the Ruthven, Ont., native. “She’s always going to be that great, dominant player.”

But this soon? And at the international and collegiate levels?

During the recent European Air Canada Cup in Ravensburg, Germany, Agosta was named the top forward in the U-22 tournament, leading Canada to a gold medal with a stirring offensive show in which Agosta scored five goals and had seven assists, including a goal and two assists in the medal game against Finland.

“She’s a hero in her country,” Sisti pointed out.

“Whenever I’m able to represent my country I’m so proud,” Agosta said recently. “But I learned a lot from my college team.” Always a confident player, she said in Germany her belief in herself was even greater because she was one of the older players on the team and so more was expected of her.

“I’m always confident — I never go into a game nervous,” she said. “I knew I had a pretty good tournament but in the final game we had to work our way in,” she said. She also enjoyed bonding with players she normally faces in college — though Jones and Chouinard were also on the team, so there was some comfort zone in playing together.

Agosta said there are differences in the two levels of play. “I think the college game is a lot quicker,” she said.

She’s also a different player from last season.

“Last year she was younger and had to learn what college hockey is all about,” said Sisti. That learning is still going on, but she’s clearly graduated to the next level.

“The good thing is she’s getting better every day,” he said. “Last year, she had about the same numbers but she’s a much better hockey player this year because she’s learned how to train, and she’s continually improving her work ethic and working on playing when she doesn’t have the puck,” he said.

Jones said Agosta’s natural speed is her greatest asset, an observation Sisti confirmed.

She may have the quickest first three or four steps of anyone in her age group,” the coach said. “Her first couple steps are so quick; she is explosive.”

Jones said Agosta’s leadership is also more noticeable from last year, when the upperclassmen were more in control of the team, as they usually are.

“She knows the system and she knows the game better and has stepped into an off-ice leadership role as well,” Jones said. “She’s really grown as a player and now realizes her own strengths.”

“I’m not one to tell someone else what to do,” said Agosta, “but I’ll help someone become better.”

“A player of her magnitude and presence should be a leader,” added the coach.

Agosta has spent more time in the weight room and it shows, Sisti said. “She’s learning how to train.”

Agosta is also working on improving her defense. Too often an explosive offensive player is a little slow getting back on defense. But Agosta is set on continual improvement in all aspects of the game. “Coach has stressed skating back and picking up your man. In little things like that, I’m improving,” she said.

“Because she has this competitive drive, she wants to continue to improve and not rest on her laurels,” Sisti said.

“The key in hockey is learning each day,” said Agosta. “I knew the coaching staff here would make me a better player and still I have more than two years left.”

Mercyhurst, ranked sixth in the latest USCHO Division I poll, is 19-5-2 heading into games Feb. 8 and 9 against Wayne State, contests that should be high scoring affairs. Although the team is smart enough to focus on one game at a time, Agosta knows only through continuing improvement will they make the NCAA Final Eight and possibly beyond. They were beaten last year by Minnesota-Duluth in the quarterfinals.

A lot of that is on her shoulders, even though she’s surrounded by a bevy of talent.

“She’s definitely chipping away at becoming a very special player,” said Sisti.

This Week in SUNYAC

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Saving A Season

Buffalo State entered the weekend of December 7-8 with what appeared to be a lost season. They were 2-8-2 overall with a four game losing streak and winless in seven straight. Worse, they were only 1-4-2 in the SUNYAC just 10 months after hosting their first playoff game in school history. This was making the 2006-7 season look like a fluke.

“That was a tough part of the season for us,” admits Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere. “We were playing a lot of good hockey against some very tough teams — Manhattanville, Hobart twice, teams within our conference. We lost a lot of close games. Bounces weren’t helping us, and we weren’t helping ourselves.”

Since then, Buffalo State has not lost, winning seven in a row and then getting a tie in their eighth game. More importantly, they went 3-0-1 in the league and suddenly find themselves not only in the playoff hunt, but currently tied for the last home spot for the first round.

“Just tried to stay the course,” Carriere said.

The Bengals kicked off the winning streak against arguably weak competition. However, when you need to turn the season around, winning is winning, no matter who it is against.

“People might have looked at those games and said, gee, they are gimme games,” Carriere said. “You talk to any coach, when it comes to non-conference games, they are not a walk in the park. Two games we played against Lebanon Valley were close games, Morrisville were unbelievably close games, and going to Johnson and Wales were two really close game as well.

The fact that we were getting wins without our top scorer in the lineup shows we were stepping up. Kerry Barchan, Nick Petriello, Kyle Gunn-Taylor were stepping up. A lot of gumption came out of those wins taking care of business.”

Freshman Nick Petriello leads Buffalo State with as 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) on the season.

Freshman Nick Petriello leads Buffalo State with as 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) on the season.

In those first 12 games, Buffalo State let up more than three goals in a game seven times. Since then, they have not let up more than three goals in a game. Offensively, they averaged 2.25 goals a game while being shutout twice. During their winning streak, they have averaged almost 4.6 goals per game and only once scored less than three goals in a game which was the tie.

Gunn-Taylor has improved his overall stats to a 2.45 GAA (third best in the league) and .907 save percentage (fifth), upping his record to 6-3-3 (fourth best winning percentage).

Impressively, offensively this turnaround has been led by two rookies, Nick Petriello and Kerry Barchan, who are now the top two scorers on the team.

“I kind of put Barchan and Petriello in the same class,” Carriere said. “They are two freshmen who were pretty big wheels in the programs they came from. Then, they came here and there’s always a little bit of a transition of the junior kids coming into college hockey understanding they are not the big show anymore, and you can’t just kind of fool
around and slow things down. You have to speed things up.”

Buffalo State Bengals freshman forward Kerry Barchan.

Buffalo State Bengals freshman forward Kerry Barchan.

Two-thirds of Barchan’s production came in the latter 40% of the season as he scored six goals and six assists for a total of nine goals and nine assists. Petriello, the team leader with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists), got more than half of that (5-9-14) during the turnaround.

“I think we got two guys there who are just on the cusp of understanding they have to be complete players,” Carriere said. “Kerry Barchan is getting physical and when he does that and goes and uses his skating ability and uses his hockey strength and his size to battle for pucks, his skill level is great. When you put all that together, he’s a hockey
player. It’s fun to watch how effective he is.”

Buffalo State still needs to improve their penalty killing which is a dismal 76.0% overall, worst in the league and an even worse percentage within the conference at 67.6%, easily last in SUNYAC. It will help by cutting down on penalties. They have already made a start.

In the first 12 games, the opposition averaged 7.1 power plays while the Bengals only gave up 5.0 power play opportunities since then. In fact, the turnaround started before the winning streak. In the first eight games, the average power plays against were 8.0 and only 5.3 since then.

What originally appeared to be a lost season with no playoff hopes now looks like it could be a repeat home playoff performance by the Bengals.

“We’re playing with confidence now,” Carriere said.

SUNYAC Short Shots

Plattsburgh overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat Oswego in overtime, 3-2, on a goal by Ward Smith … The Cardinals won in dramatic fashion again the next night by the same 3-2 score on a Dylan Clarke goal with 45 seconds left in regulation against Cortland … Despite being down 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3, Cortland salvaged a tie against Potsdam, going four for eight on the power play as Graham Fallon scored twice including the tying goal … Oswego only let up 15 shots as Ryan Scott registered his eighth career shutout in a 6-0 win over Potsdam … Joe Curry scored twice for Buffalo State as they beat Geneseo, 5-3 … Colin Sarfeh scored a controversial third period winning goal in Fredonia’s 4-3
victory over Brockport … Despite getting 50 shots on goal, Fredonia lost to Geneseo 4-3 as Derek Jokic made 47 saves and the Ice Knights got a pair of goals from both Dan Brown and Mathieu Cyr … Brockport got an early third period goal by Steve Seedhouse to tie Buffalo State, 2-2, as Nick Lynch got both Bengals’ goals … Plattsburgh’s Bryan Hince has been named the SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week for the entire month of
January.

Game of the Week

The pressure continues to build as everyone still has a strong chance at the playoffs, at hosting a game, and some with the possibility of a bye — all that and teams within one win or loss from large positional swings playing each other.

Take Brockport at Cortland Friday. Now there’s a candidate for Game of the Week. Both teams are currently out of postseason play, so the one that loses could quite possibly be permanently out. The winner could once again not only consider a playoff spot, but a home berth as well; wild positional swings indeed.

Then, there’s Fredonia at Potsdam. Fredonia is looking to get back on the tail of Oswego for a bye. Potsdam is looking to get back on the tail of Fredonia for a home spot. A loss by either team destroys their respective hopes of looking up and will send them scrambling just to maintain their status quo.

On Saturday, the Geneseo at Cortland game might become the game to decide a playoff spot down the road. How’s that for double-double pressure for the Red Dragons? And how will Geneseo react after playing a guaranteed tough game in Oswego the night before?

There’s also the possibility that Geneseo, Cortland, and Brockport all go 1-1 this weekend, and we’re right back where we started — but with one fewer weekend in the regular season — in determining who amongst those three teams gets the final playoff spot.

All that said, in my view the game of the week is Buffalo State at Potsdam. Granted, a lot depends on what happens Friday and beyond, but these two teams may very well be playing each other in the first round. This game could decide who gets to host whom.

That’s the best case. The worst case is this game decides which one of these teams may slip down the standings into oblivion — after all, they are both only two points ahead of being out of the playoffs.

“I have a lot of respect for coach Saul,” Carriere said of his opponent. “I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a very organized guy who will have his team ready to play. It’s going to be physical which is what you expect in the last half of the season.”

That and a heck of a lot of pressure.

On The Periphery

Last week, I was trying to write a racing piece for my own Web site. I was getting nowhere. So, I switched over to this column. I was equally fruitless. Ah, good old solitaire. I won four straight games, tying my record! I guess I did something useful…

Writer’s block — is it real? Or is it, as one novelist once told me, an excuse to procrastinate?

I don’t know. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I need to finish this column…

This Week in the CHA: Jan. 31, 2008

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Niagara may be peaking at just the right time.

Just a week after sweeping Wayne State, the Purple Eagles roared into Quinnipiac and swept the then-12th-ranked Bobcats out of their own rink. And rather convincingly, too, in busting the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at 10 games. QU hadn’t lost since Nov. 30.

NU took a 5-1 win Friday night and then rallied for a 5-3 win Saturday night in its first games this year against a nationally-ranked opponent.

Dan Sullivan, sophomore Ryan Olidis (first NCAA goal), Matt Caruana, Ryan Annesley and David Ross scored Friday night to back Juliano Pagliero’s 30-save outing.

“This game was one of our most thorough efforts in all areas this season,” said NU head coach Dave Burkholder. “We got off to such a great start and took the crowd out of it. We rolled all four lines all night and I couldn’t tell our first line from our fourth line.”

“We swept Quinnipiac at home last year so I think we had some confidence going into the game,” said Pagliero. “We knew it would be difficult to pull off a win in their barn, especially with their national status.”

Trailing 2-1 after the first period Saturday night, Niagara pulled off another upset.

Les Reaney, earning his 99th career point, opened the scoring for the Purple Eagles, putting Niagara on the board just 2:19 into the first period. Tyler Gotto, Caruana, Kyle Rogers and Chris Moran tallied the other NU goals.

Rogers’ goal proved to be the difference-maker.

“Matt won the faceoff and (Vince) Rocco found my stick,” said Rogers. “Honestly, I didn’t even see the puck. All the credit has to go to Caruana and Rocco for making the play.”

Pagliero stopped 32 shots for his 11th win of the year.

“Back-to-back nights, playing as well as we did says a lot about the character in the locker room,” Burkholder said. “We offensively scored some highlight-reel goals and I was very impressed with our transition game.”

Niagara’s win finished a four-game undefeated road trip and marks the first time since the last time it met the then-No. 16 Bobcats at Dwyer Arena on Jan. 19-20, 2007, that the Purple Eagles had swept a nationally-ranked team.

Still, NU only received votes in this week’s USCHO.com/CSTV Poll and couldn’t crack the top 20.

Maybe next week, eh?

Wayne State Sweeps UAH Back To Huntsville

Wayne State achieved several milestones last weekend in its home sweep of Alabama-Huntsville.

A 2-0 victory on Friday night marked Wayne State’s first shutout since a 4-0 result against UAH on March 5, 2005.

WSU goaltender Brett Bothwell made history as well, not only by earning his first career shutout, but by notching an assist on the Warriors’ second goal of the game. He became just the second netminder in school history to earn a helper; David Guerrera did it twice previously — March 7, 2002 against Niagara and October 26, 2002 versus St. Lawrence.

With under four minutes to go in the middle stanza, Bothwell cleared the puck out to Tylor Michel on the left boards, who then fired a pass around the defensive zone to Jared Katz on the opposite side. Katz skated up and found Michel charging up the middle and he blasted a slapshot into the top corner.

Captain Mike Forgie netted the other goal. Katz assisted on both.

Blake MacNicol stopped 18 shots for the Chargers.

Saturday night, freshman forward Chris Kushneriuk made his first collegiate goal a memorable one in scoring the game-winner with 50 seconds remaining in overtime for a 4-3 win.

Tyler Ruel created a turnover in the UAH zone and after his shot hit the pads of Alabama-Huntsville goalie Cameron Talbot, Kushneriuk collected the rebound for his first career goal.

Wayne State held a 3-0 lead on three power-play goals, but saw it slip away as UAH netted three straight even-strength goals over a 10-minute span in the third period before Kushneriuk’s heroics.

The Warriors are 2-0-2 in overtime games this season and have lost just once in their last 15 games that have gone to OT.

Derek Punches scored twice and Matt Krug added the other. Stavros Paskaris and Derek Bachynski contributed two assists each as the Warriors swept a series against the Chargers for the first time since Feb. 28-29, 2004 in Huntsville.

Josh Murray, Andrew Coburn and Kevin Morrison scored for UAH and Talbot kicked out 22 shots.

Bothwell finished with 26 saves for WSU.

And just think: only four home games left for WSU — Feb. 8-9 against Robert Morris and March 8-9 against Niagara.

BSU Takes Three Points From Colonials

Bemidji State played the rude hosts last weekend in taking three points from visiting Robert Morris.

Matt Pope registered his second two-goal game of the season, but the CHA’s leading scorer, RMU’s Ryan Cruthers, potted a pair of his own in the third period to force a 2-2 stalemate in the opening game Friday night.

The tie stretched BSU’s unbeaten streak in overtime games to 11 games — a mark that reaches back to a March 11, 2006 victory over Alabama-Huntsville. BSU is 3-0-8 during this run.

Matt Climie turned away 28 RMU shots, while Christian Boucher recorded 40 saves at the other end.

Through the clutter of 24 penalties for a total of 83 minutes, Climie’s school-record 12th career shutout propelled Bemidji State to a 4-0 victory over Robert Morris Saturday night. Climie turned away all 19 RMU shots to match Jack Horner’s team record for shutouts in a season with five. Horner set the record during the 1976-77 season.

For BSU, 11 different players had a hand in the scoring. Matt Francis, Graham McManamin, Pope and Travis Winter scored goals for the Beavers.

The game was physical from the opening faceoff, but during the final 20 minutes, the level of physical play was elevated. Sixty-five minutes were served in the box for 11 penalties between the teams. Robert Morris took the brunt of the calls as four players received 10-minute misconduct penalties including a game misconduct to Kyle Frieday for checking from behind.

The blanking of RMU not only extends his own career shutout mark at the school, but Climie also vaults past Grady Hunt and into sole possession of the top spot on BSU’s Division I-era wins list with 41.

Climie also moves to eighth in the nation in save percentage (.930) while his goals-against average dropped to 1.69 to place him third among all D-I goaltenders.

Boucher turned away 37 shots in the loss, allowing all four BSU goals.

“Bemidji State was the better team on the weekend,” Colonials head coach Derek Schooley said. “They played with passion and energy and were good at both ends of the ice.”

The three-point weekend snaps a three-game losing streak to the Colonials and stretches BSU’s lead in the all-time series to 9-5-1. Saturday’s victory also gives the Beavers (21) an extra two points of separation between them and third-place Robert Morris (12) in the season standings which could give BSU a bit a breathing room down the stretch as the Colonials still hold four games in hand.

RMU Can’t Buy A Win

Playing its first home game in 46 days last Tuesday night, Robert Morris dropped a 5-2 decision to Princeton.

Chris Margott and freshman Brandon Gay (first collegiate goal) scored for RMU in the loss. Starting goalie Jim Patterson allowed four goals on 25 shots, while Wes Russell stopped all nine shots that he faced in a relief role.

Purple Eagles Get Two Syracuse Commitments

With backup goalie Scott Mollison graduating this spring, Niagara will be in need of another goaltender and has found one in Syracuse Stars 20-year-old Chris Noonan.

The Purple Eagles also got a commitment from Noonan’s Syracuse teammate, forward Kurt Akers.

Noonan, who is in his second season with the Eastern Junior Hockey League team, was excited to finally make his college decision.

“It has always been my goal to play Division 1 college hockey and I am glad I now have that opportunity,” said Noonan. “As a 20-year-old, it gets intense knowing it’s your last year to secure a college deal, but all the hard work has paid off. Playing in Syracuse has given me every opportunity to do so and I want to thank my coaches and teammates.”

Noonan, from the western Michigan town of Portage, was a Northern Division All-Star this year and currently has a .918 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average. His record of 16-6-3 includes three shutouts.

“I’m so proud of Chris,” said Syracuse head coach Chris Firriolo. “He came into camp really focused and his work ethic has been outstanding all year long. It can be scary for a 20-year-old coming back to play his last year of juniors without a college deal, but we told Chris all the hard work is going to pay off. He’s certainly been one of the top goaltenders in this league the last two years and I think Niagara University is a great fit for Chris and a chance for him to earn playing time early on.”

Akers, an 18-year-old from Glenview, Ill, mirrored Noonan’s emotions at making his college choice.

“Playing Division 1 College Hockey has always been what I have wanted to do ever since I can remember,” Akers said. “I feel privileged to have this opportunity to play for Niagara University. It’s a great program with a strong commitment to achieving success and I’m very happy to become a part of it.”

Firriolo noted that although just a rookie, Akers has made an impact with the Stars.

“Kurt has been a tremendous addition to the Syracuse program this year,” said Firriolo. “He’s been a key player in every situation for us all year long. He’s simply a complete hockey player. He’s a workhorse with a lot of speed, real strong puck skills and has great vision on the ice. Kurt’s been one of our top goalscorers this year and has played a huge role on our power play and penalty kill units. He’s a very strong student who wants to study pre-med and I think Niagara will afford him every opportunity to succeed both on and off the ice.”

Akers was a Northern Division All-Star selection this year who presently is tied for sixth in the league in goals scored with 20. He has been honored with both the EJHL Offensive Player of the Week Award and the EJHL Rookie of the Week Award this season.

CHA Rumors Abound

Yet more talk this week on the future of the CHA.

Might the Canadian schools’ invasion help? Probably not. Why? Because the University of British Columbia is not in the CHA’s pseudo-footprint. Or is it?

There is also still talk of a proposition that has Canisius and Mercyhurst “joining” the CHA and dividing Atlantic Hockey into two divisions.

That makes sense to a point, so we’ll see what the college hockey decision-makers make sense of in the coming months.

You know the drill by now — stay tuned.

This Week in Hockey East: Jan. 31, 2008

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Six?

Yes, you have to account for the tournament champions in the six conferences so being in the PairWise’s top 16 isn’t good enough. That only puts you on the bubble.

Even so, what were the odds when the season started that Hockey East would have six teams in the top 16… and those six wouldn’t include either Boston University or Maine?

You’ve got to love it for the kids who play for Providence, Northeastern, Massachusetts-Lowell and Massachusetts. They’re all in the mix as the regular season moves to its final two months and that wasn’t an automatic before the season started for any of them.

Making A Move

Early in the season, it was looking like it would be a long one for the Providence College Friars. They lost their first four games and stood 1-5-1 after seven. Since then, however, they’ve gone 10-5-2 with last weekend’s sweep of Northeastern launching them into third place in Hockey East and 11th in the PairWise.

That would be called a big-time turnaround.

While PC coach Tim Army contends that his 0-4 club was playing much better than its record, he admits that the 10-5-2 edition had taken it up a notch.

“We’re reading better off of each other,” he says. “We’re playing a little more consistently.

“There are times that with a lot of freshman and sophomores playing we might read a situation and just not be aware of what everyone else is doing. It sometimes can cost you. I think as we’ve progressed we’re just doing a better job of being able to think more as a group on the ice. That really helps.”

During the losing stretches, Army preached focusing on the process of getting better. Now that the wins are coming in bunches and the PairWise is painting an attractive picture, he isn’t changing that tune.

“It’s something you’ve got to stress every day,” he says. “If you don’t stress it, your team can focus on other factors that they can’t control. You can’t necessarily control whether you win or lose. The way you can control it is by playing the best possible game you can play and getting better every day as a group and as an individual.

“When you’re able to win some games, it certainly helps the confidence level inside the locker room. You still preach about taking it one day at a time and trying to get better every day, but with that success they’re feeling real positive so you build off of those emotions as well.”

One of the keys to the Friars’ success has been the two offensively talented blueliners they have in Matt Taormina and Cody Wild. Taormina (7-14-21) trails team leader Jon Rheault by only a single point and Wild (4-13-17) isn’t far behind despite missing four games.

“We’ve always encouraged our defense to be part of our offense,” Army says. “We’ve tried to establish and create that as a staple of our program.

“Obviously Matt and Coty are the lead guys in that department with their numbers, but we also get that kind of activity from Mark Fayne, Eric Baier, Joey Lavin, Trevor Ludwig, and David Cavanagh. It’s been important for us.”

Although it has had a few dry stretches, the PC power play now ranks second in Hockey East with a 23.2 percent conversion rate and was a major factor this weekend with three goals on Friday and another two on Saturday.

“That’s always going to be a springboard for your offense,” Army says. “You need to have good players on your power play in order to produce like that because teams like Northeastern have exceptionally good penalty killing units.

“I think we’ve got 10 good players that play on our power play and that’s why we have a good one. You try to put the right people together and have your sticks lined up the right way and then you give them an opportunity to try to figure the game out for themselves.

“Matt and Cody are a couple of defensemen who have that [special] feel and instinct on the power play. Their ability to move the puck, their ability to be a threat from 55-60 feet with their shots, and their ability to quarterback the power play unit [are big factors in its success].”

Pierce Norton has also been able to bury six power-play goals, along with another five while at even strength. The junior has really blossomed this year, his 19 points already surpassing his combined totals from his first two seasons.

“He’s got a great stick and he’s really good down around the net,” Army says. “He’s really good from the top of the circle in. He’s big and rangy and tough. He’s certainly willing to go into those high traffic areas where you’ve got to get some secondary opportunities to score some goals. He’s got a good nose around that net.

“[But] I think what’s helped elevate his game is really preparing himself off the ice to be ready to play and the experience he’s gained playing against such good competition.”

Back Where They Belong

Before their Nov. 30 game, the Boston College Eagles were staring at an 0-for-November. Their 3-4-5 record — 2-3-4 within Hockey East — didn’t come close to matching preseason expectations.

They had lost Brett Motherwell and Brian O’Hanley to disciplinary suspension following the season-opening loss to Michigan and also lost Brock Bradford to injury in that same game. But a losing record and going 0-for-a-month was still a radical departure from the script.

Since winning that game against archrival Boston University, however, BC has gone undefeated in league play, suffering only a single loss to Clarkson while rolling up a 9-1-2 record. That’s despite Motherwell and O’Hanley not returning and Bradford lasting only four games before once again fracturing his left humerus.

“Even in the rough stretch we had in November, there were some pretty good signs that we were going to be a pretty good club,” BC coach Jerry York says. “The games were very competitive. The losses were generally by one goal.

“We’ve just become a better team as we’ve progressed through the schedule and practices. We’ve gotten a little more hardened by the process.

“The one steadfast has been Johnny Muse in goal. He’s been posting outstanding numbers right from the start of the year.

“Losing Motherwell and O’Hanley, we had to come up with some different defensive combinations and Timmy Kunes and Anthony Aiello have really taken advantage of more ice time and have become a really solid back of the blueline. Timmy Filangieri is having a exceptional year for us. He’s really developed into a top flight defensemen.”

Although the Friars may have something to say about it with their games in hand, BC and New Hampshire have now put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. That matches preseason expectations but has taken some time in developing.

“We had two genuine All-American candidates in Motherwell and Brock Bradford that we lost for the season,” York says. “We’ve had to become a different type of hockey club. So I think the projections were right but with those two key losses we took a step back.

“But we’ve been able to work around that. Now we’re playing very good hockey. Timmy Filangieri has really stepped to the forefront on defense and Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney are really coming on hard as young kids who offset a little bit of losing Brock. We’re a much different club than we thought we were going to be back in early September.”

Friday’s game against Providence will be a key one in the Hockey East race, but even so BC will have to fight the temptation of looking ahead to Monday night’s Beanpot matchup with BU. In some circles, the Beanpot trumps all.

“One of our goals when we start the year is to win the Beanpot,” York says. “We haven’t been as successful as we would have liked.

“You climb that ladder. The Beanpot is key, but then it gets more difficult. You try to win the league [regular season] championship. It gets even more difficult when you try to win the Hockey East Tournament, and then the NCAA regionals and then the Frozen Four trying to get a national title. It just ramps up.

“For us, the Beanpot is a real goal and then they just get loftier. This is the first one we really go after. You can’t win the triple crown unless you win the first one.”

Taking A Tumble

The last three weeks have not been kind to UMass. Since rising to fifth in the country, a stratosphere new to the program, the Minutemen have failed to win a game with only a single point in six league contests.

From the penthouse to the outhouse…

“It’s pretty simple,” UMass coach Don “Toot” Cahoon says. “Any athlete that’s been involved in pretty serious competition will tell you that focus becomes a major factor. As much as you talk about it, you can lose your focus if you allow your mind to wander a little bit.

“I think that has to some degree affected us and to recapture a total focus is not an easy thing to do. You can make improvements and I think we have. Who’s to say how it’s going to play out?”

Timing didn’t do UMass any favors. The players ended classes on Dec. 18 and didn’t return until this week.

“When our kids go on this huge intersession, it’s traditionally a really tough time of the year for us,” Cahoon says. “We need some stimulus during that time.

“There was so much discussion about the quality of the tournament we were going to and the challenge that we faced — [opponents Notre Dame and Colorado College, both in the top 10] — it seemed to be easy to maintain focus for that tournament.

“Then we had a two-week gap before UNH came in here where we didn’t play games. That’s where you could see little things seeping in. Who’s to say we have the ability to recapture that focus? We’ll find out what our resiliency is over time.”

Arguably, the fall from fifth in the country is one of those growing pains that comes from taking a program to a level it’s never been at before.

“Every coach in our league has probably read Pat Riley’s book The Winner Within,” Cahoon says. “In the book there is a chapter referred to as “The Innocent Climb” and then after that there’s a chapter called “Mastery.”

“The Innocent Climb always ends with a stumble and a fall because you’re going through it blind for the first time. It’s new to you or to the guys that are playing for you. It’s not until you really have mastery in place – a complete understanding of how you do things and why you do things and consistency in doing those things — that you enjoy the success that the BCs and the North Dakotas and the Michigans of the world seem to enjoy year in and year out.”

Taking A Big Step Back

The BU Terriers had seemed to be righting the ship until last weekend, going 3-0-2 within the league and positioning themselves for a home ice berth. Their home-and-home series with UNH, however, brought that momentum to a screeching halt.

While they were admittedly playing a terrific team in UNH, BU coach Jack Parker was even more upset with how the Terriers lost, especially in the rematch game on Saturday at home.

“We tried to play hard in the first two periods, got back in the game with three goals in the second period, and then inexplicably we go out in the third period and absolutely lay an egg,” Parker said after the sweep. “We had two shots in the third period.

“We acted like we were disinterested in the third period. There was no emotion. You’d think we’d be all jacked up. [It was] almost as if they were waiting to lose. A sad display by my team tonight; a great display by UNH.

“We’re in bad shape now because team-wise we don’t feel very good about ourselves, we haven’t got any confidence, we just let four points slip away that were very important to us and now we’re two games under .500 in the league. We’ve got to dig ourselves out of a hole again just to make the playoffs never mind get home ice.”

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question involved one of the five league teams that would have qualified for the national tournament if the season ended that day. In that team’s most recent NCAA appearance, it lost to the eventual national champion in the first round, but would have taken a third-period lead if instant replay had been used. The goaltender involved in the play went on to be a Boston Bruin.

In 1994, Northeastern’s Dan Lupo put a shot past Lake Superior State’s Blaine Lacher that crossed the line according to almost everyone viewing the instant replay. The Lakers, who did not get an opening round bye, won each of their NCAA tournament games in overtime until shellacking BU in the title game, 9-1.

First to answer correctly was Scott Donnelly whose cheer is:

“Let’s Go Low-ell, clap-clap, clap-clap-clap!!”

This week’s question asks what Hockey East player suffered a bicycling accident that left him in a coma but recovered to play after a year of rehabilitation and was honored with what has become one of the most prestigious national awards.

E-mail me with the player, the award and the year. The winner will be notified by Tuesday night; if you haven’t heard by then you either had the wrong answer or someone else beat you to it.

And Finally, Not That It Has Anything To Do With Anything, But…

• Do you like free food? If so, go to my daughter’s blog where she began a contest last week to welcome USCHO visitors. If you leave a comment, you’ll be eligible for free baked goodies. But the contest ends on Saturday when she gets up — that means about two in the afternoon — so act now.

• There’s a part of me that’s worried that this Super Bowl could be a replay of the one in 2001 when the Rams had the unstoppable offense and no one gave the Patriots a chance. But there’s an even bigger part of me that thinks that the warmer weather and faster track will shift the Pats’ offense into its highest, most unstoppable gear.

• A rotation with both Johan Santana and Josh Beckett would have been a delight to see, but I’m happy as long as Santana didn’t go to the Yankees.

• GO PATS!

Thanks to Scott Weighart, Jim Connelly and as always, my wife Brenda.

This Week in the CCHA: Jan. 31, 2008

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“Although Thy Breath Be Rude”

For much of the geographic area of the CCHA, Tuesday and Wednesday were extraordinarily windy days. Many folks throughout Michigan and Ohio were left without power, nearly 60,000 in Detroit alone. A rare January tornado ripped through Indiana.

There are several theories to explain what happened midweek throughout the Midwest. Atmospheric scientists tell us that most wind is the result of temperature variations within given air masses, or differences in air pressure.

Then there’s the Mars-direct theory. A friend of mine whose dabblings in astrology become more interesting — and eerily accurate — after a few apple martinis reminded me that the planet Mars was “going direct” on Wednesday. Planets circle the sun (can we at least all agree on this?) and occasionally, from our vantage point on Earth, appear to be moving backward (retrograde) in their orbits. A planet’s powers are diminished during this retrograde. Mars is a masculine planet. My friend was arguing that Mars was simply announcing his presence with authority.

Another friend had a theory that also involved heavenly bodies. On Tuesday night, Asteroid 2007 TU24 zipped by our planet just 1.4 times the distance from Earth to the moon. That, both astronomers and astrologers concur, is a cosmic near-miss, and that — according to this gal — meant big winds a-blowin’.

But everyone’s all wet about this. I like The Weather Channel as much as the next girl and my astrologically inclined friends are interesting in their own ways, but none of these folks was taking into account the real reason for this week’s havoc.

Clearly, all of this cosmic-atmospheric bluster only mean one thing: No. 1 Miami vs. No. 2 Michigan.

In fact, I’m surprised by the lack of seismic-related volcanic activity. Perhaps that’s in the cards for next week. Or maybe somebody’s slacking.

Sure, it’s more than a week away, and the CCHA is more than the sum of the top two teams in the nation, and the RedHawks aren’t even playing this week. But don’t you feel it yet?

They’re feeling it in Oxford. The RedHawks return home to a weekend off this week after sweeping the Nanooks in Fairbanks, outscoring Alaska 9-2 in two games with Jeff Zatkoff earning his second consecutive shutout in Friday’s 2-0 win. With no immediate games, Miami is thinking ahead to the second weekend in February, when the Wolverines come to town.

“There’s been so much hype after Christmas about the Michigan series,” head coach Enrico Blasi told CSTV this week. “We really try to focus our attention on the task at hand, control the things that we can control, and make sure that we were taking care of business week to week leading up to Michigan.

“We wanted to make sure that we were playing for something, and in order to do that we had to win some games before that.”

It seems as though Miami has found a way to make every game count, with just three losses on the season and the highest win percentage in the nation (.893). It’s Blasi deceptively simple philosophy that success comes from within and radiates out — that you take care of your own team first, and the rest will follow — that has built a RedHawk team that is living up to its potential this season.

In Ann Arbor, another coach has done a remarkable job with another team, one that has exceeded all expectations this season. The Wolverines, who also have three losses and the second-best win percentage in the nation going into the weekend (.865), will be keenly aware of their two games in hand over the resting RedHawks this week.

Last weekend when Miami was taking four points from Alaska, Michigan took just one point from sworn enemy Michigan State, leaving the Wolverines three points out of first place behind the ‘Hawks. Michigan welcomes a hard-playing, eighth-place Northern Michigan team to Yost Arena this weekend.

So, is it fair that Michigan will play a better-rested Miami team in the RedHawks’ own barn? Should things not go Michigan’s way next week, head coach Red Berenson might make a comment about the scheduling, not by way of excuse but as a point of information.

You know the adage about love and war. And Mars is direct, after all.

Every once in a while, when I fancy myself a writer, I read something so beautiful and time-tested that I’m reminded of my own status as a hack. While reading up on wind this week, I came across this lovely song from Shakespeare’s As You Like It:

Blow, blow thou winter wind,
Thou art not so kind
As man’s ingratitude.

Reminds me of the email I’ve been getting from fans decidedly west of the CCHA, who blow often and hard about the unfairness of the PairWise Rankings and the apparent deluded nature of the USCHO.com/CSTV poll.

No. 1 Miami vs. No. 2 Michigan. It’s a gift. A token of love. And just in time for Valentine’s Day.

“We Are All Soldiers Fit to Fight”

Speaking of gifts, what a fantastic series between Michigan State and Michigan last week. With its speed, suspense, and overall level of play, the Friday 1-0 Spartan win was made for television.

What a great thing for the Spartan seniors, who had never won in Yost. “It’s an unbelievable feeling coming into this building,” said Jeff Lerg, who recorded his second consecutive shutout in Friday’s win, and allowed just two goals on the weekend for a two-game save percentage of .965.

It was, apparently, a horrible thing for the entire Wolverine team. Senior Chad Kolarik told the Lansing State Journal that Friday’s loss was “embarrassing.”

“It was our only home game against Michigan State and we lost it. We talked all week about how we had to win this one game.”

Bryan Lerg’s game-winning, power-play goal Friday may have gone in off a Michigan defender’s stick, something we’ve all seen often enough in close, tense games.

In Saturday’s 2-2 tie at The Palace in Auburn Hills, two Michigan freshmen — Max Pacioretty and Matt Rust — netted the goals for the Wolverines. Rust scored with just 1:38 left in regulation to send the game to OT.

“Our young kids got a great experience playing in here, and we easily could have won the game,” said Berenson after the tie.

The games were phenomenal, exactly what you’d hope for when these titans clash. What’s as interesting as the fact that the series lived up to its build, though, is that each of these teams seemed to feel as though it had something to prove with the contests.

The CCHA is still battling the notion that it’s a weak league and therefore its top teams’ records and rankings are somehow inflated. The Wolverines, while ranked No. 1 last weekend, were aware that they’re considered either lucky (they’re young, as we hear often) or benefiting from beating up on the lower teams in the league.

After the 2-2 tie, Berenson indirectly reminded people that the Spartans were last year’s national champion for real reasons, and that they’re playing like champs now.

“Look at their team,” said Berenson. “They had only given up three goals in the past five games, and four of those games had been on the road. So goals are tough to come by against Michigan State.”

And the No. 5, third-place, defending-national-champion Spartans — the team with the fourth-best win percentage in the country (.722) — had to feel as though the college hockey community didn’t even know they existed going into the weekend. This year, the Wolverines and the RedHawks are all anyone can talk about, and if the talking is done outside of the CCHA, it’s never flattering.

Following the tie, Spartan senior defenseman Daniel Vukovic revealed as much about the MSU locker room as he did about the way people view Michigan State.

“Three out of four against the number-one team in the nation shows that we can play with anyone,” said Vukovic.

And through it all, who gets the shaft? Billy Sauer. Can you imagine allowing three goals in a weekend against the defending national champions for a two-game save percentage of .952 and earning just one point?

Love and war, baby. Love and war.

Jeff Lerg, Superstar

For the fourth straight week, Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg is the CCHA’s Goaltender of the Week, so it comes as no surprise that he’s also the league’s Player of the Month for January.

In January, the junior went 5-0-3, with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .959 save percentage. Half his games in the month came against ranked opponents, and his consecutive shutouts (against Ohio State and Michigan) were the first back-to-back blankings of his career.

“Full Many a Flower Is Born to Blush Unseen…”

“…and waste its sweetness on the desert air.” This line from Thomas Gray’s poem “Elegy,” made more famous by Susan Sarandon’s character Annie Savoy in Bull Durham, is what comes to mind every time I think about players such as these:

• Ohio State’s Tom Goebel, who scored four goals in two road games — a win and a loss — against last-place Lake Superior State, and who is 14th in the nation in goals per game (0.62).

• Ferris State’s Mitch O’Keefe, who was in net for FSU’s tie against Western last week, and whose save percentage of .926 is 11th-best in the country.

• Bowling Green’s Derek Whitmore, who keeps company among the top goal-scorers in the nation by averaging 0.83 per game (tied for second-best in the country).

• Alaska’s Tyler Eckford, who leads the nation in points per game among defensemen (0.96), and assisted on the Nanooks’ second goal against Miami last weekend.

• Lake Superior State’s Nathan Perkovich, who has 13 goals and is 21st in the nation in goals per game (0.57).

• LSSU’s Zac MacVoy, who had two goals against OSU last weekend, including the game-winner in overtime Saturday.

Shielded From Harm

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Those who follow college hockey might have gotten a surprise if they watched the 2008 World Junior Championships. Whether the player was Wisconsin’s Kyle Turris, Minnesota’s Ryan Flynn, Michigan’s Max Pacioretty, or New Hampshire’s James vanRiemsdyk, almost every college hockey player participating in the World Junior Championships had ditched the ubiquitous full face mask of college hockey for the half shield seen so often in the NHL.

Ask the NCAA why it requires the full facemask in college hockey and the cited reason is injury risk.

“Basically, it stems from findings of a study done by Dr. Alan Ashare that shows full shields prevent more than 70,000 eye and face injuries per year,” said NCAA spokeswoman Jennifer Kearns. “We’ve done some research through our injury surveillance systems and it has proven that these masks prevent a lot of eye and face injuries and that there haven’t been any blinding eye injuries in any player who was wearing full face protection. So, the NCAA, our membership has decided that this is a good way to go to protect our student-athletes and their eyes and their vision. It’s just a precaution.”

Wisconsin's Kyle Turris, pictured here with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, is among the college players who prefer the half shield (photo: Melissa Wade).

Wisconsin’s Kyle Turris, pictured here with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, is among the college players who prefer the half shield (photo: Melissa Wade).

The use of face shields in the college game is a relatively recent development. The NCAA started recommending the use of face shields at the start of the 1978-79 season. Eastern teams started wearing the face shields in 1979, and the NCAA required their use by all teams at the start of the 1980-81 season.

For a brief period, you could have two teams sporting different levels of protection, and sometimes problems arose. When the New Hampshire Wildcats played the Ohio State Buckeyes in November 1979, the Wildcats sported face shields while the Buckeyes did not. Several fights broke out, and the Wildcats ended up forfeiting two games to the Buckeyes.

This incident seems to bolster the opinion of Dr. Michael Stuart, the chief medical officer for USA Hockey, who feels that if the NCAA ever allows visors instead of full face shields, it has to be universal.

“Part of the problem as I see it is uniformity; my honest opinion is, and I’m not saying you should, but if the NCAA wants to make a change, that change should be all or none, meaning everybody wears a visor, or everybody wears full protection,” said Stuart. “If some players decided to wear full facial protection and some decide to wear visors, then the argument that the sticks may come down only applies to part of the group, so those who do not have full facial protection are at increased risk.”

Given that more and more college players go on to play in professional leagues, an argument could be made that players should start to get used to playing without the cage earlier. Some also believe that use of full cages has led to an increase in high-sticking and roughing penalties, and a decrease in respect between players.

Denver Pioneers sophomore forward Tyler Ruegsegger found that wearing the visor in the World Junior Championships did make him more aware of his stick. “It definitely makes you more aware of keeping your stick down on the ice when you get high-sticking penalties, things like that.”

“From a player’s standpoint, or at least from what they tell me, they are more respectful, at least with high-sticking, if you are not wearing a face mask and your opponent is not wearing a face mask,” said Stuart. “There’s a lot of interesting and I think valid reasons why you would want to go to a visor compared to a face mask.

“Some proponents in the NCAA would say you should take the mask off because a full face mask gives players a sense of protection so they become more reckless, especially with high-sticking, and they become more reckless with body-checking and using their head as a weapon, therefore increasing the risk of concussion or cervical spine injury, although that has never been proven. Numerous studies have not shown an increased risk of injury to the head or neck in players who wear full facial protection.”

If you ask the players, you get a variety of opinions, although the fact that many players abandoned the full shield at the World Junior Championships seems to indicate a lot would do the same in the NCAA if they had the option.

“I hate the cage,” said Wisconsin Badgers’ star freshman Kyle Turris. “It’s something that you have to play with, but I really don’t like it. It feels like it always gets in the way. It’s just not very comfortable. I feel like it obstructs my vision a little bit too, but that’s part of college. It’s just something that would be nice if the NCAA looked into. I would definitely wear a half shield if I had the opportunity.”

Ruegsegger has a more mixed opinion on the half shield, and is fine with wearing the cage in the college game.

“As far as the cage and the half shield, I like the cage,” said Ruegsegger. “I don’t know; it’s my preference personally. The divider sometimes gets fogged up or scratched, so I prefer the cage.”

Of course, when Ruegsegger has participated in camps with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he has worn the half shield.

“I’ll do what the Leafs say to do,” laughs Ruegsegger. “I mean, you get hit in the jaw here or there, stuff like that, but if the other players are playing smart, with their stick down, I think it’s all right.”

Despite the fact that many like Turris would probably go to a half shield if the NCAA allowed it, the NCAA hasn’t looked at it at this point.

“The staff liaison who works with the NCAA rules committee says that this does come up now and then because of the professionals not using a full face protector, but there hasn’t been anything proposed to change it,” stated Kearns. “Our member institutions, just to make sure our players are protected and safe, that’s what our membership has decided is best for our student-athletes.”

Pioneers’ coach George Gwozdecky says that it has been looked at, but he doesn’t see the face shields coming off.

“They’ve looked at it for years, and as soon as the medical people get involved, and the lawyers get involved, the discussion ends. There’s no question that someone’s health is without a doubt the top priority for our medical people, our trainers, the safety standards people, so as a result, the health of the student-athlete comes first.”

While the use of visors does decrease the incidence of injury to the face or eye, it doesn’t completely eliminate it. Players have suffered serious injuries even while wearing the visor. In his studies, Stuart found that 95 percent of players at the NHL level injure their face at some point in their career, including facial fractures, eye injuries, lost teeth, and lacerations.

A study by the American Medical Association found there was a 2.31 times greater risk of players sustaining a facial laceration or dental injury when wearing a half shield vs. a full shield.

Stuart believes there are valid arguments for both using a half shield and using a full shield, but also indicates that if the NCAA goes to the half shield, there would be more injuries.

“I agree with a lot of the arguments on both sides, but it’s clear to me that if you remove full facial protection in the NCAA, you will have an increased incidence of injury to the face, and accompanying those injures to the face could be injuries to the eye, and those could be serious and permanent. Maybe it won’t happen, but there certainly is that risk.”

This Week in D-III Women’s Hockey: Jan. 31, 2008

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With the end of January upon us, the beginning of February signals the start of the home stretch run in Division III women’s hockey. For teams like Elmira, Amherst, Trinity, Superior, RIT, and St. Thomas it’s time to make their best pitch for an NCAA tournament bid if they fail to win an automatic bid.

Middlebury (holds tie-breaker over Amherst with a better overall record), Plattsburgh, Manhattanville, and Gustavus Adolphus control their own destiny right now and are in the best position to win their respective conference titles. Middlebury is also in the driver’s seat to be the host of the Frozen Four. However, they still have challenging games remaining against Amherst and Plattsburgh as well as playing six of their final nine games away from the friendly confines of the Kenyon Ice Arena.

Going along with the NCAA tournament outlook, lets dip a little bit into the race for the 2008 Laura Hurd Award, given to the top Division III women’s player as voted on by the American Hockey Coaches Association.

This season presents us with a very intriguing dilemma. Traditionally, the award has been given to a senior and seemingly rewarding a career rather than a single season. This year, there is just one senior in the top 10 nationally for scoring in Superior’s Stacy Anderson (15-12-27).

Plattsburgh junior Danielle Blanchard leads the country in scoring (18-14-32) and is arguably the best player in all of Division III. Many thought Blanchard should have won the award last year, leading Plattsburgh to an undefeated season and a national championship while scoring 51 points.

Not to be outdone, Manhattanville junior Danielle Nagymarosi has started to pick up her play. Nagymarosi led the nation in scoring last season at RIT with 61 points. This year, she is leading the Valiants’ offense with 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points. She also leads the country in game winning goals.

Out west, Nicole Grossmann has been Stevens Point’s go-to girl in the clutch with 17 goals and nine assists for 26 points. The junior forward is second to Blanchard in the nation in goals scored and is tied for the lead with Amherst’s Tarasai Karega in power play goals with eight each.

Super(ior) Resurgence

The Superior Yellow Jackets (12-4-1) currently sit in sole possession of second place in the NCHA (7-2-1) and the chief challenger to Stevens Point and their undefeated season. However, this was nowhere near the case throughout most of the first half of the season and into the second half after the Jackets lost to River Falls 5-4 in overtime on Jan. 12.

Superior struggled through the first half of the season dropping games to Adrian, Stevens Point, and Gustavus Adolphus. The Jackets lacked a marquee win on their schedule up until this past weekend when Superior swept a hot River Falls team 4-0 and 3-2.

“We’re going well now,” said Superior head coach Dan Laughlin. “Our goal was to stay in the upper half of our conference and have a chance to compete in the post-season. We control our own destiny.”

Laughlin attributed the Jackets’ slow start to being a young team and working through the growing process and the transition to D-III hockey.

“We have a young team so the chemistry took awhile to develop,” Laughlin said. “We couldn’t expect miracles right away. The girls have been working hard though and we’re coming together at the right time for the stretch run.”

As part of the growing process, two of Superior’s young star scorers — Shana Katz and Lindsey Legree — have been in the box a little bit more than you’d like to see. Legree is second on the team in scoring, but leads the team in penalty minutes with 34.

“We’ve been taking a few too many penalties but it’s part of the transition to Division III,” Laughlin said. “The game is called a little tighter here. The big problem is we have been taking penalties at the wrong time. Special teams are going to be huge for us.”

Superior travels to winless Concordia (WI) and Lake Forest this weekend before their looming showdown with Stevens Point next weekend at Wessman Arena.

“We all know as a team that it doesn’t matter who we play, every game is important,” Laughlin said. “We’re going to focus on Concordia and our team and worry about Point when that comes.”

Tribute to the Troops

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, the Norwich Cadets will host the inaugural “Tribute To The Troops” night to recognize 45 current or former Norwich students serving our country in Iraq or Afghanistan. St. Michael’s College comes to the Kreitzberg Arena at 7 p.m. to take part in this historic event for Division III women’s hockey.

Heading the planning committee were Norwich head coach Mark Bolding and assistant coach Dana Bean.

“Our assistant coach Dana Bean has had the idea for awhile and now we’re finally putting it into action,” Bolding said. “It’s a natural fit for us being a military school and it’s unique because we are the only women’s military school with a hockey team.”

Bean and Bolding rather quickly gathered a list of 45 names of Norwich students and decided to make special commemorative jerseys for the team and the event that would list a name of a NU student currently serving overseas.

“We worked with a company that was great with us and we were able to get a very heavy camouflage practice-like jersey with a ton of detail on it for $70 each,” Bolding said.

The event was made possible through a ton of help from other people as the St. Michael’s game was originally scheduled for a weekend.

“Chris Donovan (St. Michael’s head coach) is a Norwich graduate and he was more than willing to help us out,” Bolding said. “Also, Tuesday is one of the few nights we could get radio coverage from WDEV’s George Commo. We’re going to have our color guard there to present the colors and we’re hoping to draw between 600 and 800 fans or more to the event.”

After the game, the jerseys will be packaged up and sent overseas to their respective alums’ name on the back.

Events like these are great for the sport of Division III women’s hockey and my hat is off to the Norwich coaching staff and everyone else that had a part in the planning of this event.

Speaking of the Cadets, Norwich and Mark Bolding are in their first Division III season after being a club team for at least five years before.

So far, the Cadets have had mixed results in their inaugural season of NCAA play. Currently, Norwich sits at 6-7-2 overall on the season and in ninth place in the ECAC East with a 3-5-2 record in conference play.

“We’re not doing too bad,” Bolding said. “We’ve been sitting around .500 all year. We’ve been a little inconsistent but we don’t have a lot of depth so it’s not been unexpected.”

The Norwich University name is well known in the college hockey world as the men’s team is constantly a national title contender year in and year out behind legendary coach Mike McShane. With such a successful men’s program it’d be expected that the women’s program would have a little extra pressure to perform well because of the precedent the men’s team has set.

“We definitely feel a little bit of pressure, especially when we’re out recruiting,” Bolding said. “Recruits know Norwich has a very good reputation and having a successful men’s team reminds we have to keep doing our job. It keeps us going and trying to go the extra mile to get better.”

Because of the previous club hockey years, Norwich has an untraditional number of upperclassmen for a first year hockey team. Just half of the team is freshmen and the rest are upperclassmen brought over from the club hockey team.

“We still do have a lot of freshmen but we also have a lot of players from our club hockey team last year,” Bolding said. “Everyone works hard in practice to get better and that’s always great to see.”

However, hands down, junior all-everything captain Sophie LeClerc leads the Cadets.

“Sophie (LeClerc) is consistent,” Bolding said. “She plays great defense and can score. She never quits and brings everybody else’s game up around her. She’s also a local kid from Vermont and many of the young kids look up to her at clinics.”

The Cadets have the ability to finish off their first collegiate season very strong as just two of their remaining nine games come against teams with a winning record.

With one season under their belt, a strong hockey tradition, and class events like Tribute for the Troops nights, the future is certainly bright in Northfield, Vt., for not just one hockey team, but two.

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Jan. 31, 2008

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Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics: Goalie Edition

As promised last week, some goalie love … in a roundabout sort of way.

Many of you will recall my prodigious praise for Brown’s Dan Rosen last season, as he went all brick-wall on us for a few months in a row to start his collegiate career. He introduced himself to the NCAA by saving better than nine out of 10 shots in each of his first 10 appearances, including nine straight complete games. While he did not accomplish such a feat in nine games of the 27, he did stop 95 percent of shots on net in eight outings.

Heck, he allowed a single goal in games with 36, 38, 47, and 48 shots against.

Even after his hot streak subsided, he still finished his frosh campaign with a .920 save percentage and 2.74 goals-against in 27 games — all without a single shutout.

This season, Rosen has (understandably) failed to live up to his near-mythical performance of ’06-07. He started the season with four consecutive .900-plus games, and has six in total so far, but also admits to a 3.51 goals-against average and an overall save percentage 25 points off last season’s.

There are as many potential explanations for Rosen’s fall-off as there have been shots on net (427 in 13 games, for the record). First, there’s the workload. Facing 33 shots a game will burn you out, no matter who you are. You think Marty Brodeur would still be playing 97 games a year if he hadn’t stood behind Stevens, Niedermayer and Daneyko for all those seasons? Even if you have a respectable d-corps in front of you, sometimes too much ice too soon can prove lethal. Just ask Blaine Lacher.

Perhaps the team in front of him changed in ways that made a repeat performance unlikely. The Bears’ top four rear-guards are juniors and seniors, but it’s not just the defense; are the forwards backchecking as hard as they did last season? Is the penalty-kill as effective? Can the defense clear rebounds, block shots and give Rosen clear looks as well as last year?

No one would admit to it, but maybe the sophomore figured that success would come as quickly and easily this year as it did before. After all, since he put up ridiculous figures in his first 10 games, wouldn’t the 10, 20, 30 following be even easier, even more second-nature?

And of course, there’s the opposition variable. Even if you play the same guys the same way you did last year, that has no bearing on how well the opponents will play.

Throw in a splash of potential health or personal issues, puck-luck, or the incremental difference in Jupiter’s gravitational pull since last winter, and you get a discrepancy.

Believe it or not, this section isn’t all about Dan Rosen. He’s just an example of how some goalies can light up like a supernova for a series, a month, a season, the playoffs, and then fade away before they’re even tagged with a decent nickname.

It happens to other players, of course, but never as spectacularly as with goalies. And in the ECAC, goalies are everything. So who’s pulling a Rosen this season (and furthermore, is it a Rookie-Rosen or a Rebound-Rosen?) And who is in it for the long haul, the four-year Brodeurs and Roys, who will always be there for you? Away we go

Yale’s Billy Blase is one to watch; he’s a Rookie-Rosen at least. His overall goals-against is 15 points better (at 1.86) than anyone else in the conference, and his .928 save rate is three thousandths of a point behind Cornell’s Ben Scrivens. The sophomore only made two appearances last year, but has only surrendered more than two goals in five of the 16 games he’s started this year (three three-goal games, two with four against).

Scrivens might have the makings of a Mr. Dependable. Despite playing in what can be a distracting rotation last season, he still wrapped up the year with a 2.30/.911 line in a dozen appearances. This season, the sophomore commanded the reins with a 2.01 goals-against and .931 save percentage in 18 games overall. He’s had some hiccups (coughing up five to Boston University, three goals on seven shots against Clarkson, and leaving after one goal and one save against UMass-Lowell), but by and large he has been a steady presence behind a sufficient-though-fallible defensive line.

Clarkson senior David Leggio’s value should go without saying. The defending Dryden Award winner has been better than .910/2.60 since filling Tech’s number-one role as a sophomore, and his numbers just keep getting better. While only saving at a .908 rate in limited play as a frosh, Leggio jumped to .913 as a sophomore. Then .930 last year … and this season, he’s within reach of beating that mark, at .926 through 23 games. He has three shutouts and three more one-goal performances to his name already this season; indubitably, more shall follow.

Mark Dekanich, too. The Colgate senior’s save rate is .924, following last year’s .923 and his sophomore season’s .924. Talk about consistency And even though you wouldn’t guess it by looking at the standings, Dex’s goals-against average is better than it’s ever been as a starter at 2.17. Dekanich matches Leggio in shutouts too, with a trio. Let’s face it: should the trend hold (and he’s already played 22 games), Dekanich might be in the midst of his best season to date. ECAC, take notice, because this show is worth the price of admission.

Without getting into too much detail, Saints soph Alex Petizian is in Rebound-Rosen mode, along with the rest of his team (and Rosen himself). He’s sub-.900 and 84 points short of last year’s finish, and is hovering around 3.5 goals-against per game.

Jury’s out: Princeton’s Zane Kalemba. Is this the beginning of his ascent, or is he a middling ‘tender with a powerful offense? Union’s Justin Mrazek and Dartmouth’s Mike Devine are having somewhat anomalous seasons (Mrazek, good; Devine, not so much), but they’re both seniors, so analysis is probably moot.

Game of the Week

I’m going to try rolling out a couple of new sections in the column, where I tag both a specific game and a team’s overall weekend as being the most pivotal such events on the docket.

Princeton @ Rensselaer: Saturday, 7 p.m.

It’s the Big Red Freakout! It’s also the meeting of one of the league’s top teams, Princeton, and one that’s under more teams than it’s on top of, in Rensselaer.

The programs are surprising in opposite ways thus far. The Tigers were picked to finish eighth by the coaches and media (and seventh by yours truly) in the preseason poll, and yet were in possession of first place as of two weeks ago. RPI, well, the Engineers were picked low, but I doubt even their heartiest detractors expected the Engineers to suffer a 10-game losing streak midseason.

It’s the second game of the weekend for each team, and RPI hasn’t lost a Freakout! game in decades.

“The fans at RPI are with you through thick and thin,” said volunteer assistant coach (and former Engineer captain) Ben Barr. But the Big Red Freakout! is an entirely different beast.

“You can be there an hour before the game, and the place is packed; it’s electric. It’s one of those things that seems to be sold out before tickets even go on sale.”

RPI head coach Seth Appert deferred to Barr on the Freakout!, as Appert has only experienced one so far, and none as a player.

Early each February for the past quarter-century, the school’s Alumni Weekend has corresponded with an otherwise everyday hockey game. It’s not a Homecoming game; there is no traditional pageantry or pomp to accompany the game. It is as though an arbitrary contest were picked off the calendar, but everyone in Troy knows when it is and where to be.

“You kinda get goosebumps as you walk out” to the ice, said Barr. “You don’t want to let your community down, or your school.” The energy is raw, dynamic, and contagious.

Barr noted a couple of contests from his playing days, in which rival Clarkson had come to town for the Freakout! “You can get jacked up, and let the moment control you a bit and get you running around,” Barr said of some of the undesirable side effects.

While that happened against ‘Tech, it didn’t sink the ‘Tute.

“We came back from down 3-0 [in 2002] and 2-0 [2004] late to win. It’s not the way you want to do it, but the fans loved it,” Barr recalled.

“Right now, this is one of the toughest weeks of the season,” said Appert, whose team draws Quinnipiac on Friday before the big fiesta on Saturday. “The power play’s taken a step in the right direction [2-for-6 last weekend] … Quinnipiac has one of the most dynamic offenses in our league.”

Appert and the team are focused first and foremost on Friday. But if you feel a little extra buzz around the Capital District on Saturday evening, now you know why.

Crucial Weekend

Union, vs. Princeton & Quinnipiac

Union’s on the rise, or so it appears. The Dutchmen host the Tigers and Bobcats this weekend, and — let’s face it — Nate Leaman is psyched.

“Obviously we’re excited about it. Princeton’s a very formidable opponent; well-coached, and playing very well this year,” said Union’s man at the helm.

“When you watch them on tape, you see, they’re not a fluke. They really get their forwards out of the [defensive] zone early … it’s important that you keep them in front of you at all times. We’ve had some problems with that.”

Princeton edged the UC by a goal in the Garden State back in the fall, but Union beat Quinnipiac by the same 4-3 score the previous night. Both sets of Cats are in the top four of the league; QU is a point ahead of Union, while Princeton is up a mere deuce.

“[Quinnipiac] is very similar to Princeton, with a lot of dangerous forwards,” Leaman said.

The Dutch are 7-1-3 at home this season, which means a lot to Leaman. However, he was sure to point out that home games aren’t easy points.

“We obviously play with a lot of confidence at home, but so do most teams in this league.”

Both games are at 7 p.m. at the Achilles.

Beanpot Banter

Harvard hasn’t claimed Boston’s coveted Beanpot in 15 years, a drought only five years shorter than crosstown Northeastern’s. While last year looked as promising as any for the Ivy to break its dry spell, instead the Crimson found themselves finishing last for the 18th time in the tournament’s history.

This season, Harvard limps into the fabled tourney 7-9-3, having just bookended a nine-game winless streak with wins over Dartmouth — one on December 1, one on January 26. The team takes on Brown Friday night before the ‘Pot on Monday.

“It’s been a little bit of a frustrating season so far,” said fourth-year Crimson coach and Harvard grad Ted Donato. “We rose as far as 11th in the entire country … but then had a tough January.”

The unique characteristic of the Beanpot when compared to other tournaments is obviously that it involves the same exclusive quartet year-in and year-out, for the past 56 seasons. It may not, therefore, always get teams enjoying their best years, but what it occasionally lacks in star power it makes up for in sheer loathing.

The Beanpot is a two-week, four-game, four-team grudge match unlike any other in the sport.

“I don’t put a lot of stock in records [in this tournament],” Donato continued in his address to the Beanpot Luncheon crowd on Tuesday. “It’s one night, one game. There are a lot of players in this room who [can take over a game].”

“The Beanpot always has importance, but this year it happens at a very good time for us,” said Donato. “We had a nice start [to the season], but have hit a tough stretch. This is a chance to prove to ourselves — and to prove to the rest of the country — that we’re a tough team.”

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Jan. 31, 2008

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It’s a Goaltender’s League

Atlantic Hockey is a goaltender’s league. It’s a key to the conference’s parity, the reason why any team can (and has) beaten every other, the reason why the standings are so close.

The loss of Eric Ehn, either until the playoffs or for the rest of his college hockey career, removes the marquee player, the face of the league, from the spotlight. So now perhaps the college hockey world will turn its attention to what those of us who follow the league have known all along — there are some dynamite goaltenders in this league.

“Everybody has a good goalie,” said Army coach Brian Riley, whose team has won three consecutive 2-1 contests, all by scoring twice in the third period to erase 1-0 deficits. “You’re not going to see a lot of 7-6 games, especially in the playoffs.”

Riley has three pretty good goalies, but the hot hand lately has belonged to junior Josh Kassel, who spearheaded the Black Knights’ run last season that fell just short in the AHA title game.

Last weekend, Kassel stopped 58 of 60 shots to lead Army to a sweep of archrival Air Force. Both games were played in front of huge crowds and national TV audiences.

“‘Kash’ is playing with a lot of confidence,” said Riley. “It started the weekend before against Canisius. The second night was a game we had to win (after a 3-0 loss the night before). He played really well and earned the right to start against Air Force.

“We’re living dangerously only scoring two goals a game, but playing (Air Force) and giving up only two goals on the weekend was quite an accomplishment.”

The three wins in a row halted a two-month skid for the Black Knights, who had won just one game since November 17.

“We weren’t playing bad,” said Riley. “We were getting shots but they weren’t going in. We were having some fluky goals scored against us. Last Saturday against Canisius we scored kind of a fluky goal. We felt like maybe the tide was turning. That win was big for us going into the weekend with Air Force.”

Army hosts another hot team with a hot goaltender, Connecticut, this weekend.

“We’re expecting low-scoring games,” said Riley. “Both goalies are playing well right now, and both teams are doing a good job killing penalties and that starts with your goalie.”

The Black Knights picked up at least two points on every other team last weekend and vaulted into fourth. UConn was in the AHA basement two weeks ago, but is now tied for sixth, just three points behind Army. Just five points separate second from ninth place.

“It’s crazy,” said Riley. “At this point in the season last year, you could start to pencil in who were going be the top-tier teams, who was going to be in the middle, and at the bottom. But this year it’s wide open. I haven’t learned all the tie-breakers yet, but I’m sure I’m going to need to.”

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week for January 28, 2008:
Beau Erickson — Connecticut
It’s rare for a goalie to be named Player of the Week, but Erickson is a worthy candidate, stopping 70 of 71 shots last weekend as UConn took three points from RIT. It was the second straight weekend Erickson had made 70 saves. He’s averaging over 30 saves a game and now has 691 on the season, second in the nation.

Goaltender of the Week for January 28, 2008:
Josh Kassel — Army
Kassel made 58 saves last weekend in a huge pair of 2-1 wins over Air Force.

Rookie of the Week for January 28, 2008:
Erik Peterson — Bentley
The freshman had four goals last weekend, two each in a pair of 3-3 ties with Mercyhurst.
Peterson is now tied for the league lead among rookie scorers and leads the Falcons with 12 goals.

Growing Up

The Connecticut Huskies have had their share of highs and lows this season, including finding themselves in the AHA basement two weeks ago. But Bruce Marshall’s young team is showing more consistency lately, taking six points in its last two series with wins and ties against Mercyhurst and RIT. Goaltender Beau Erickson made 70 saves in each series, but it wasn’t just goaltending that’s led to UConn’s recent success.

“We’re a work in progress,” said Marshall. “We’ve got 15 freshmen and just one senior captain (Charles Solberg). We’ve had to overcome injuries like everybody else. But it’s been a lot of work by everybody.”

Erickson has been the mainstay, making over 30 saves a game. The sophomore is already fourth all-time on the school’s save list for the D-I era with 1,239 so far.

“Beau has been the perfect guy for the job,” said Marshall. “He’s steady. He doesn’t get rattled. His preparation has been excellent.”

Marshall said that his team defense is better as well, but he wants his offense to turn up the gas.

“Even games where we’ve been outshot 2-1 it’s not feeling like we’re getting peppered,” he said. “We’re getting chances but we’re not shooting as much as we need to. Maybe that comes with being a young team. Everybody’s passing the puck and trying not to be selfish. We’re telling them to be more selfish.”

One of the hardest things to do with a young team is get consistency, to make sure that the highs aren’t too high and the lows don’t bury a team. Marshall says his team is learning.

“They need to understand dosage,” he said. “You’re not going to get cured by swallowing the whole bottle at once. When they play well one night, it’s not a cure-all. We have a tough series ahead of us. We need to stay focused for all 60 minutes.”

Around the League

Air Force: The Ehn-less Falcons have scored just three goals in their last three games, and Air Force’s current three-game losing streak is its longest this season.

AIC: The Yellow Jackets suffered heartbreak on Sunday at Dartmouth, giving up a goal with one second to play and having to settle for a 3-3 tie. AIC has been a tough opponent for ECAC teams this season, also tying RPI and losing by a single goal at Quinnipiac.

Canisius: The Griffs’ penalty-killing streak came to end last weekend against Merrimack, when they finally surrendered a power-play goal after stopping 37 consecutive attempts, a school record.

Mercyhurst: The Lakers had tied Bentley only twice in 29 previous meetings, but played to a pair of 3-3 games with the Falcons last weekend. Mercyhurst has already played in seven overtime contests this season (0-2-5)

This Week in the ECAC Northeast

By Paul C. Altmeyer Jr.
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As the newcomer to the ECAC NE, Becker College is having a respectable campaign, currently sitting in the middle of the pack, four points out from second place but in a four way tie for fourth place.

“This is our second year of existence,” coach Steve Hoar stated. “I think the ECAC NE is a very strong, competitive league, and in the cross-over games have proven themselves with the other leagues. It’s a great league, and parents and prospects should realize that.”

With a 6-4-0 conference record, and 9-9-1 overall, the Hawks are putting in a respectable campaign, but it hasn’t been easy.

“We’re going through some growing pains, no question about it. It’s been a learning experience,” Hoar said. “I don’t know what a junior or senior looks like! We want to compete, and hopefully make the playoffs. That would be a nice achievement for our team, and that’s our goal.”

Becker played a strong game earlier this month against Curry College, and even led after two periods before eventually losing, 7-5. Hoar felt this was a good chance to see how his squad would compete against one of the elite teams in the conference.

Stated Hoar: “We want to earn their respect and compete, get a little puck luck, and get a ‘W.’”

Hoar, who had coached at Plattsburgh State in the 80s, and Tufts in the 90s, originally came to Becker last season to help then-coach Craig Barnett. He took over as head coach when Barnett, who ironically had played for Hoar at Plattsburgh, left Becker to become Mercyhurst College’s associate director of athletics in December of 2006. He was named AD in August of 2007.

One pleasant surprise for Becker this year has been the play of sophomore forward Jared Kersner. The Maryland native currently leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in as many games. His heady play has resulted in two shorthanded goals, and he doesn’t spend much time in the penalty box, only being whistled for three minors so far.

“Most of our offense is spread out,” said Hoar. “We have no first line. We have a balanced attack. Whatever line plays well, that’s my first line for the evening.”

One unit that the Hawks have relied on is the trio of Anthony Libonati, Robert Higgins, and Mike Caprio. The latter is a sophomore. Libonati and Higgins are both freshmen, and Libonati is second on the team in scoring, with nine goals and seven assists in 18 games. All three players bring some grit to the offense, as well.

On the blue line, Hoar is pleased with very pleased with the play of Jim Ceglarek.

“He’s the consummate student-athlete; he’s a leader, just a very coach-able individual. As a sophomore, he’s the captain of the team, and he also plays baseball here.”

The Chicago native also provides a spark offensively, tallying one goal and seven assists for the Hawks.

Other defensemen catching the eye of their coach are John Nogatch, a transfer from Wayne State, who Hoar says is “a strong player and has a presence,” and Brad Jones, who according to his coach has “been the most pleasant surprise.”

As far as goaltending, Hoar is very comfortable with Tony Stoehr, a transfer from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

“He didn’t play much at River Falls. This has been a new beginning for him, a coming out. Through his play he’s made us more competitive.”

Hoar currently has a record of 9-9-1 and a save percentage of .905, good for fifth best in the conference. Stoehr’s goals against average is 3.20. No goalie has played more minutes than Stoehr, who has logged 1,123:30 so far.

Overall, Hoar knows there’s work to be done with his squad, and he also realizes what a strong league he’s now a part of.

“You look at these rosters, they’re going national, and it’s junior dominated. The whole recruiting landscape has changed. There’s a lot of parity in the league. In the past, it was a two horse race between Curry and UMass Dartmouth. Now you look at Suffolk, Nichols, Fitchburg State, and Wentworth.”

Hoar feels the league gains respect as some of the top teams fare well in non-conference games.

“The league is more respectable when you see Curry or UMass-Dartmouth doing well against the other ECAC teams. We’re not at that stage yet, but the big difference from last year is that we’re much more competitive this year. We’re thrilled to be in this league. Hopefully we’ll make continued improvement in every game. There’s a lot of hockey left to be played.”

Congrats, Bill

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Middlebury head coach Bill Beaney won his 500th game last Saturday with a 6-3 win over New England College, ironically the school where he won his first college hockey game. Beaney won 86 games at NEC before making the move to Middlebury, where he has compiled a record of 414-115-28, including eight national titles.

Beaney is the 18th coach in NCAA history to win 500 games and is second among active coaches in Division III. Mike McShane at Norwich has 516 wins, but he won 244 of those at the Division I level. The all-time record for Division III wins is held by Don Roberts, who retired at Gustavus Adolphus in 1997 with 532 wins. If Beaney sticks around two more seasons, he’ll probably break that record.

The Panthers are diverting slightly from their normal pattern of getting off to a slow start (for them anyway), picking up speed before hitting a road bump in January, and then getting stronger down the stretch, winning the NESCAC and going deep into the NCAA tournament. No bump this time as Middlebury has won 10 in a row and has been steadily moving up the USCHO.com poll.

Beanpot Banter

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Tuesday was the annual Beanpot Luncheon, officially kicking off the 56th Annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament, which will begin play next Monday, February 4. This yearly “kick-off” event brings together representatives from each of the tournament’s four schools – Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern.

The luncheon has become a bit of a schmooze-fest, though long-time tournament director Steve Nazro continues in his attempt to improve the event. This year’s luncheon featured a trio of inductees into the Beanpot Hall of Fame – former BU goaltender Dan Brady, who led the Terriers to consecutive Beanpots in 1971 and ’72; former Northeastern defenseman Jim Averill, an instrumental part of NU’s back-to-back ‘Pot winners in 1984 and ’85; and the late Bill Flynn, former athletic director at BC.

The event’s keynote address was delivered by Nashville Predators General Manager Dave Poile, who urged players to conisider careers in professional hockey, not necessarily as players, but as front office personnel. Poile had a quintet of Predators staff with him, all of whom had roots to college hockey in the Boston area, including former Boston University Terrier Jeff Kealty, the team’s newly appointed chief amateur scout.

Missing from this year’s affair, though, was legendary BU bench boss Jack Parker, who was home battling the flu. Said assistant coach Mike Bavis, who addressed those gathered in Parker’s absence: “For those in the media who are embellishing Coach Parker’s early demise, rest assured he’ll be back in the training room with Mike Boyle tomorrow at practice.”

A Well-Timed Affair

Two of the coaches who will lead their teams into the Beanpot – BC’s Jerry York and Northeastern’s Greg Cronin – both noted that the Beanpot comes at a good time in the schedule. Both, though, had different reasons.

“It’s like a ladder that you have to keep climbing,” said York of the college hockey season. He noted that his team can use the Beanpot to begin preparing for the high-pressure regular season and post-season games that lie ahead.

The Eagles enter the Beanpot as possibly the hottest team. BC has suffered just a single loss in its last 12 games, going 9-1-2 over that span.

At the other end of the spectrum are the Northeastern Huskies, which put together an impressive 11-game winning streak earlier in the season but hit a major road bump in January, going 1-4-1 in its last six.

Cronin is hoping that the Beanpot can turn the season back around for the Huskies, a team that hasn’t won this tournament in 20 years.

“It comes at a good time for us,” said Cronin. “You never want to use the Beanpot to turn around things, but this is a case where it just may.”

Now in his third year behind the bench for the Terriers, Cronin said that his club is approaching this year’s tournament in a different way.

“No one has talked about it,” said Cronin, noting that the fact that this year’s team doesn’t need to use the Beanpot as the defining moment for the season.

Banged Up Eagles

Though BC enters the tournament as the favorite, the club could be nursing some significant injuries come Monday. With Brock Bradford out for the season after re-fracturing his humeris, captain Mike Brennan took a big hit last weekend in the opening period of Saturday night’s game at Maine.

According to York, Brennan is suffering from headaches, even though baseline testing didn’t indicate that he has suffered a concussion. His availability for this weekend’s game against Providence and Monday’s Beanpot semifinal against Boston University remain unclear.

Asked if there was a forward who could move back to play defense, York said it’s likely the team would skate with just five defenseman if the inury is short-term. Should there be a need to find a more permanent replacement, senior Matt Greene would be the likely candidate.

Beanpot Notes

– Favorite or not, history says that Boston College is the underdog in Monday’s second semifinal game against Boston University. The Eagles have not defeated the Terriers in an opening round game since 1981 (0-8 since). In fact, BC has won just three of the 18 semifinal games against the Terriers, and of those three wins, the Eagles went on to win the title just once (1963).

– This year’s field of Beanpot goaltenders do not exactly ooze with experience. Northeastern’s Brad Thiessen leads the dufflebags with two Beanpot games played, both coming last season. Harvard’s Kyle Richter has one game, last year’s semifinal loss to BC. BC sports a freshman goaltender in John Muse and neither Karson Gillespie or Brett Bennett at BU have made a Beanpot start in their careers.

– Each of this Monday’s opening round games will be broadcast on New England Sports Network (NESN). Tom Caron, Andy Brickley, Bob Beers, Tim Sweeney and Kathryn Tappen will comprise the broadcast team. NESN will also carry the Beanpot championship game on February 11.

This Week in the ECAC West

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To Have A Humanitarian

Over the years, I have highlighted the community outreach in the ECAC West in this column. Every team has programs to get the players out of the rinks and into the communities helping on numerous community service projects.

Now, three programs have been recognized on a national level for the efforts of their players.

Humanitarian Nomination and Finalist

Two ECAC West players were among the 22 nationally, and eight within Division III, that were nominated for this year’s Hockey Humanitarian Award. Hobart’s Ryan Adler and Utica’s Adam Dekker both received the recognition for work they have done in the community.

Dekker, a senior, has given his time on countless service projects during his four years at Utica including the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, the Holland Patent Elementary School’s Reading Program, and America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk.

After being named a nominee on January 21, Adler became one of eight finalists for the award on January 28. He now will be interviewed by the selection committee and then await the announcement of the winner on April 11 at the Frozen Four in Denver, CO.

Adler was inspired to do community service at Hobart after a conversation with Michigan State’s Drew Miller, who he played with growing up. Miller started an organization called “Spartan Buddies” in which Michigan State players visit pediatric patients on a daily basis on a rotation, playing video games and other activities to lift their spirits.

“I was talking to him, telling him how great the community here was, and was trying to find a program that would fit,” said Adler. “We came up with Hobart Hockey Helpers and thought we could do community based projects, instead of just regular stuff.”

“Hobart Hockey Helpers is a name and logo that we use for all of our community service. It has given us some kind of identity,” said Statesmen coach Mark Taylor. “Ryan came to me and said ‘Coach, I want to do something with my time’. He was proactive and that is how we got here.”

Since its inception, Hobart Hockey Helpers has partnered with the Wounded Warriors Project, assisting severely wounded veterans who have returned home.

Hobart junior Ryan Adler.

Hobart junior Ryan Adler.

Adler has rallied his teammates to Hobart Hockey Helpers, both to support the Wounded Warriors project and for other community service.

“[My teammates] have been extremely helpful,” said Adler. “I talked with them before we started and made sure we were all on the same page and could give a couple hours of their time for projects. And they were all on board.”

The impact of Adler’s efforts are being felt even beyond the immediate Geneva, NY area.

“Out of the blue, we got an email from Kyle Moore that played for me my first year,” said Taylor. “He is a sergeant over in Iraq and said ‘I couldn’t be prouder with what you guys are doing.’ That has spurred something on as he sent us a flag that his platoon carried.”

The Humanitarian Award is a little bit of an enigma. The nominees expend hours and hours working in the community because they can make a difference in other people’s lives, not because they are looking for recognition. But the award brings an awareness to projects, and can inspire others to become active in their own community.

“I think it means more to have a humanitarian,” said Taylor. “It is great to have a nominee and finalist for the publicity, but I am glad we have the humanitarian. It is great that it recognizes those kids that are out there doing it, and inspires guys to do it. It is great for our program, but it is better for what it does. To me this award is most important because it creates a ripple effect on others to step forward and do for others”

Community Service Award of Merit

Manhattanville College was presented with the National Association of Division III Athletic Directors/Jostens Community Service Award of Merit at the NCAA Convention two weeks ago.

The hockey team earned the award in the One Time Project category for work it did with the 2007 Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Wheelchair games held September 29, 2007 in White Plains, NY. Athletes from across the country in just about every age group participated in the primarily track and field contests.

The Valiant hockey players cheered on the athletes, helped to time and score various events, and assisted in guiding athletes through a slalom course.

“It is a good tribute to the guys,” said Manhattanville coach Keith Levinthal.
“They do an absurd amount of community service. People sometimes assume that the guys go to school, play hockey, and that is it. And that is not the way it is at all. I’m happy for them. We demand so much out of these guys it is nice to have someone say thanks to them.”

In addition to the Wheelchair Games, the Valiants hockey team has participated in several other community service events so far this season. By the end of the academic year, the team will have put in well over 1,000 hours of community service.

Oh Yeah, Hockey

Even with all the off-ice activities, the on-ice competition continued this weekend at a furious pace. Despite the best efforts of Utica, Elmira remained red hot with a pair of home victories.

The Pioneers ran out to a 2-0 lead in the first period Friday night, but the wheels came off the bus during a five minute major penalty late in the second period where Elmira scored twice and took the lead. Utica came back in the third period, sending the game to overtime, but penalty trouble again let Greg Moore score at the 2:50 mark and give the win to Elmira.

Elmira came out stronger on Saturday, scored early, and then withstood another furious comeback bid by Utica to sweep the weekend and keep its commanding six point lead in the league standings.

Manhattanville, meanwhile, helped Hobart celebrate the completion of the project to enclose The Cooler, the Statesmen’s home rink. Unfortunately for the Statesmen, Manhattanville played strong team hockey all weekend and swept both games.

Hobart threw a grand dedication party on Saturday, with speeches by local and college dignitaries who were instrumental in completing this long overdue project.

Two weeks ago against Fredonia, Jason Murfitt moved to the top of the Manhattanville record books in the career goals scored category. When Murfitt scored midway through the second period, it was his 47th career goal. He surpassed the previous mark set by Tommy Prate who posted 46 goals over a short two year career at Manhattanville.

“What is really special is that [Jason Murfitt] handles so much ice time defensively, it would be really interesting to see what he could do offensively if we didn’t have to utilize him in that type of stuff so much,” said Levinthal. “He is the best defensive center we have ever had, by far.”

The league standings, close for most of the season, have started to fracture a bit. Still perfect Elmira is in the driver’s seat with 16 points and a six point lead.

Manhattanville and Neumann make up the second tier as they are tied in second place with 10 points. But the Valiants have two games in hand on the Knights, both against Lebanon Valley, so Manhattanville looks to have the upper hand.
The third tier comprises Hobart and Utica, tied with six points. Utica holds the advantage in this grouping, with a game in hand. However, it is unclear how much of an advantage that truly is. The difference in the remaining schedule is slight.

Hobart has three games remaining against Elmira, while Utica has a pair against Manhattanville and another pair against Neumann. The battle between these two teams could come down to their February 15 and 16 meeting at Hobart.

Lebanon Valley might yet play the role of the wildcard in the race for the playoffs. With series against Hobart, Manhattanville, and Utica, the Flying Dutchmen are capable of stealing a game and throwing the playoff race into chaos.

Game of the Week

Elmira at Neumann is the highlight series this weekend. The goal lamps should light early and often in this series as the teams spout the top two offenses in the league.

But the difference may very well come down to defense. Elmira has it in spades, while the Neumann defenders have been struggling a bit to find their identity.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback: January 29

By Jim Connelly and Scott Brown
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Scott: Well, Jim, it looks like the usual order of things has been restored in Hockey East, with New Hampshire and Boston College back on top of the standings. I have to confess that I’m disappointed, not because I don’t like those schools, but I do like surprises, and the UMass/Mass-Lowell/Northeastern triumvirate was one of the best stories of the first half of the season. Now it looks like Providence is trying to be the surprise team — the Friars’ game with Boston College this Friday should tell us a little something about both teams, wouldn’t you say?

Jim: Brownie, when you look at everything top to bottom in Hockey East, it seems that two of the perennial top four won’t be there come season’s end. BU is struggling and really didn’t look like much of a powerhouse against UNH last weekend, while Maine may be in just too much of a hole to come back. I would say that I don’t want to be any team playing either of those two teams come first round of the playoffs. All that said, that makes room for two new teams in the top four. I love the way that Providence is playing right now. I saw the Friars really take it to Michigan (but strangely lose, 6-0) and then hammer Michigan State back at Christmas. I then got a look at them hammering Lowell only to come out on the short end because of a few major lapses on the Friars’ part. Truth be told, if this team can pull it together for 60 minutes each night, they’re a true power. I was glad to see them earn some respect in the polls this week. Talking about the polls, your alma mater, Michigan State, certainly made a statement that they deserve respect in the polls.

Jeff Lerg has been key to Michigan State's successful followup to its national championship (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

Jeff Lerg has been key to Michigan State’s successful followup to its national championship (photo: Ray Bartnikowski).

Scott: Very kind of you to give me an opening to brag about my Spartans. You know, the funny thing about Michigan State the last couple of years is that although the Spartans definitely still play defense, there’s a lot more offense than folks might realize. MSU is seventh in the nation in goals per game and 12th in scoring defense, giving the Spartans a goal-per-game scoring differential on their opponents. And unlike the Ryan Miller era, during which shots on net by State’s opponents were few and far between, Jeff Lerg is seeing a lot of rubber — nearly 30 shots per contest, more than any other netminder. By the way, we all know scoring is down these days, but what does it say about the game that a goals against average of 2.17 is only 17th in the country, and a save percentage of .925 is 13th?

Jim: You make a really good point about scoring defense and goaltending. Not to sound like that guy who tells stories about the past, but I do remember my days at Lowell when Dwayne Roloson was an All-American with a goals against average around 4.00 and a save percentage around .910. What a difference there is in today’s game. I do believe that a lot of this has to do with both the improvement in equipment as well as the changes in coaching. College goaltenders are getting better instruction now than ever. As for MSU, I agree that they can certainly score and that makes a major difference when you already have a decent defense in place. But as you point out, this team isn’t exactly the greatest in helping out its goaltender. Jeff Lerg sees way too many shots per game. That is something that generally becomes much more evident the later you go in the post-season.

Scott: Agreed. Especially when you get to single-elimination in the NCAA tournament, all it takes is one goal at the right time to produce a national champion, and it goes without saying that a shot on net is a prerequisite for scoring that goal. Lerg had to stop a lot of shots last year too, but the numbers are up even further this season. But since we’re talking about the postseason, is it too early to start rummaging through the PairWise? Last season at the WCHA Final Five, I was besieged by questions about why we were projecting just three WCHA teams and five from Hockey East in the national tournament. The fact then was that teams like Denver were simply on the wrong side of the bubble while Massachusetts was on the good side. Well, here we go again with the dogfight — right now, teams 10 through 18 in the PWR are all from the WCHA or Hockey East, with UMass and UML just on the wrong side at the moment. Your thoughts?

Jim: The most important thing to remember about the PairWise is that NOTHING matters until every regular and conference tournament game has been played. All that said, the PairWise gives us reason to speculate. And just like Tom Brady’s leg/ankle/foot, speculation is what drives this world. Right now, I think that UMass and Lowell belong on the wrong side of the bubble. The Minutemen are solid but inconsistent, while Lowell, last weekend against Minnesota-Duluth, didn’t seem to match up to the WCHA’s competition. I only saw Saturday’s game, but the Bulldogs ran all over the River Hawks, dominating the game physically. If that’s the style of hockey that the WCHA will deliver, in general, in the postseason, they should have an advantage against the east. All this said, we’re ignoring the fact that the RedHawks are back at the top of the poll. Miami seems to be playing very well right now. This is an idle week for Miami, but next week brings what could be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup with Michigan. Good timing for a clash of the titans, no?

Scott: Nothing like a series between the top two teams in the nation to generate some press, that’s for sure. I think we’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating: it’s really something what Rico Blasi has accomplished with the RedHawk program. They’re heading toward a fourth NCAA appearance in five seasons, and with Notre Dame in ascendancy alongside the usual suspects in Michigan and Michigan State, you now have four top-caliber programs in the CCHA that should contend for national titles for years to come. And it’s a good thing Miami’s got Blasi signed until pretty much the end of time, because he’s young, he’s successful — in short, he’s the perfect candidate for a big-budget program to try to steal.

Jim: I do like your optimism about the CCHA, but also am cautious of the fact that all of this is cyclical. I do, though, recall Jerry York talking recently at the Frozen Four about the fact that success breeds success. If your team wins, the upperclassmen on that team leave a legacy for the underclassmen. At the same time your school becomes more attractive to recruits. That’s why the continued success of teams like Notre Dame and UMass, both looking for their second consecutive NCAA bids, could be important to change the current complexion of college hockey. For now, though, we can worry about the stretch run. Oh, and the Beanpot, of course, which will be a major topic come next week. Until then…

Bracketology: Jan. 29, 2008

By
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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 the NCAA tournament would look if the season ended today.

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

This is another installment of Bracketology, and we’ll be bringing you a new one every week until we make our final picks before the field is announced.

Here are the facts:

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

• There are four regional sites (East — Albany, N.Y.. Northeast — Worcester, Mass., Midwest — Madison, Wis., West — Colorado Springs, Colo.)

• 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 four host institutions this year, Rensselaer in Albany, Holy Cross in Worcester, Wisconsin in Madison and Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

• 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 the 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 six automatic qualifiers and 10 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.”

The biggest change this year is the fact that in past years the NCAA included a bonus factor for “good” nonconference wins. This year, it is no more. There are no more bonus points for anything.

So it becomes pretty easy this year, doesn’t it? Take the straight PairWise Rankings (PWR) and then follow the rules and you have the tournament. It’s that easy, right?

You know better than that.

Given these facts, here are the top 16 of the current PWR, and the current conference leaders (through all games of January 28, 2008):

1 Miami
2 Michigan
3 Denver
4 New Hampshire
5 Colorado College
6 North Dakota
7 Michigan State
8t Clarkson
8t Notre Dame
10 Boston College
11 Providence
12 Minn.-Duluth
13t Northeastern
13t Wisconsin
15 Mass.-Lowell
16 Massachusetts
— Bemidji State
— RIT

Current conference leaders:

Atlantic Hockey: RIT
CHA: Bemidji State
CCHA: Michigan
ECAC: Clarkson
Hockey East: New Hampshire
WCHA: Colorado College

Notes

• 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 teams not listed are Bemidji State and RIT.

Let’s look at the ties, which consist of Notre Dame and Clarkson at eight and Northeastern and Wisconsin at 13.

Head-to-head we get Notre Dame and Northeastern besting their bubbles.

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

1 Miami
2 Michigan
3 Denver
4 New Hampshire
5 Colorado College
6 North Dakota
7 Michigan State
8 Notre Dame
9 Clarkson
10 Boston College
11 Providence
12 Minn.-Duluth
13 Northeastern
14 Wisconsin
15 Bemidji State
16 RIT

Step Two

Now it’s time to assign the seeds.

No. 1 Seeds – Miami, Michigan, Denver, New Hampshire
No. 2 Seeds – Colorado College, North Dakota, Michigan State, Notre Dame
No. 3 Seeds – Clarkson, Boston College, Providence, Minn.-Duluth
No. 4 Seeds – Northeastern, Wisconsin, Bemidji State, RIT

Step Three

Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals. Following the guidelines, there are no host teams in this grouping, so that rule does not need to be enforced.

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

No. 1 Miami is placed in the Midwest Regional in Madison.
No. 2 Michigan is placed in the East Regional in Albany.
No. 3 Denver is then placed in the West Regional in Colorado Springs.
No. 4 New Hampshire is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.

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 (unless you are a host school, in which case you must be assigned to your home regional).

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 v. No. 8, No. 2 v. No. 7, No. 3 v. No. 6 and No. 4 v. No. 5.

So therefore:

No. 2 Seeds

Because Colorado College is hosting a regional, it is placed first.

No. 5 Colorado College is placed in No. 3 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 8 Notre Dame is placed in No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 7 Michigan State is placed in No. 2 Michigan’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 6 North Dakota is placed in No. 4 New Hampshire’s Regional, the Northeast 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.

Therefore:

No. 9 Clarkson is placed in No. 8 Notre Dame’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 10 Boston College is placed in No. 7 Michigan State’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 11 Providence is placed in No. 5 Colorado College’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 12 Minn.-Duluth is placed in No. 6 North Dakota’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

No. 4 Seeds

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

Since Wisconsin is hosting a regional, it must be placed first.

No. 14 Wisconsin is sent to Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 16 RIT is sent to Michigan’s Regional, the East Regional
No. 15 Bemidji State is sent to Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 13 Northeastern is sent to New Hampshire’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

The brackets as we have set them up:

West Regional:

Bemidji State vs. Denver
Providence vs. Colorado College

Midwest Regional:

Wisconsin vs. Miami
Clarkson vs. Notre Dame

East Regional:

RIT vs. Michigan
Boston College vs. Michigan State

Northeast Regional:

Northeastern vs. New Hampshire
Minn.-Duluth vs. North Dakota

Our first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have the two in the Northeast Regional in Northeastern vs. New Hampshire and Minn.-Duluth vs. North Dakota. We cannot switch out Wisconsin, so we make the change of Northeastern and Bemidji State.

Then we can’t move Minn.-Duluth to the West Regional because it creates another intra-conference matchup, so we swap the Bulldogs with Boston College.

So the tournament is now fixed.

West Regional:

Northeastern vs. Denver
Providence vs. Colorado College

Midwest Regional:

Wisconsin vs. Miami
Clarkson vs. Notre Dame

East Regional:

RIT vs. Michigan
Minn.-Duluth vs. Michigan State

Northeast Regional:

Bemidji State vs. New Hampshire
Boston College vs. North Dakota

Let’s examine our brackets and see what we like and what we dislike.

The most glaring one is that overall number-one seed Miami is facing Wisconsin. In Madison.

And attendance in Albany will be horrific.

What, oh what, can we do?

Let’s start again, knowing that what we have already done doesn’t work out so well for our overall number-one seed.

Last week I hesitated to move Michigan out of the number-one overall seed because of attendance issues, as I thought it would mess with the integrity of the bracket. But moving the number-one overall seed away from the closest venue to have it avoid the number 14 seed — now that is good reasoning for protecting the integrity of the bracket.

So let’s reseed with one different move to start out with and see what we get. Let’s give the number-one overall seed, Miami, a placement in Albany, the East Regional.

Redo Starting From Step 3 Above

Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals. Following the guidelines, there are no host teams in this grouping, so that rule does not need to be reinforced.

We now place the other No. 1 seeds.

No. 1 Miami is placed in the East Regional in Albany.
No. 2 Michigan is placed in the Midwest Regional in Madison.
No. 3 Denver is then placed in the West Regional in Colorado Springs.
No. 4 New Hampshire is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.

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 (unless you are a host school, in which case you must be assigned to your home regional).

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 v. No. 8, No. 2 v. No. 7, No. 3 v. No. 6 and No. 4 v. No. 5.

So therefore:

No. 2 Seeds

Because Colorado College is hosting a regional, it is placed first.

No. 5 Colorado College is placed in No. 3 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 8 Notre Dame is placed in No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 7 Michigan State is placed in No. 2 Michigan’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 6 North Dakota is placed in No. 4 New Hampshire’s Regional, the Northeast 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.

Therefore:

No. 9 Clarkson is placed in No. 8 Notre Dame’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 10 Boston College is placed in No. 7 Michigan State’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 11 Providence is placed in No. 5 Colorado College’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 12 Minn.-Duluth is placed in No. 6 North Dakota’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

No. 4 Seeds

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

Since Wisconsin is hosting a regional, it must be placed first.

No. 14 Wisconsin is sent to Michigan’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 16 RIT is sent to Miami’s Regional, the East Regional
No. 15 Bemidji State is sent to Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 13 Northeastern is sent to New Hampshire’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

The brackets as we have set them up:

West Regional:

Bemidji State vs. Denver
Providence vs. Colorado College

Midwest Regional:

Wisconsin vs. Michigan
Boston College vs. Michigan State

East Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Clarkson vs. Notre Dame

Northeast Regional:

Northeastern vs. New Hampshire
Minn.-Duluth vs. North Dakota

Where are our intra-conference matchups? Again in the Northeast Regional. We switch Northeastern with Bemidji State and Minn.-Duluth with Boston College.

Our new brackets:

West Regional:

Northeastern vs. Denver
Providence vs. Colorado College

Midwest Regional:

Wisconsin vs. Michigan
Minn.-Duluth vs. Michigan State

East Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Clarkson vs. Notre Dame

Northeast Regional:

Bemidji State vs. New Hampshire
Boston College vs. North Dakota

So let’s look at our brackets again.

So now I am happy with protecting my number-one overall seed. Miami is playing the overall number-16 seed. And at the same time, I have taken care of some of the attendance issues in Albany, because I’ve also gotten Clarkson there.

But, now I have really, really given the number-two overall seed the shaft. Michigan now gets to play Wisconsin in Madison.

So what can I do? There is one change I can make. I can swap Michigan and New Hampshire.

What does that do?

The pros are that the number-two overall seed gets the overall number-15 seed. I’ve protected the integrity of the bracket. The lowest number one-banded team has the least desirable matchup. Again, not great, but it protects the integrity.

The cons — I’ve taken a Hockey East team out of Worcester, therefore perhaps dropping the attendance number. I haven’t done that in Madison, since Wisconsin, Michigan State and Minn.-Duluth will provide the attendance.

So it comes down to this: take a little bit of attendance away in Worcester in order to protect the integrity of the bracket.

In my mind, you go with integrity of the bracket. I said that last week when I wouldn’t move Michigan, which was the number-one overall seed. I’ll say it again this week.

So I make a switch. I swap Michigan and New Hampshire.

West Regional:

Northeastern vs. Denver
Providence vs. Colorado College

Midwest Regional:

Wisconsin vs. New Hampshire
Minn.-Duluth vs. Michigan State

East Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Clarkson vs. Notre Dame

Northeast Regional:

Bemidji State vs. Michigan
Boston College vs. North Dakota

I think I like it now.

OK, so our bracket above is what I’m calling for this week.

That’s it for this week, and it was a tough one, that’s for sure. We’ll be back with another analysis next week.

Miami Reclaims Top Spot In USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

USCHO Staff Report
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A one-point weekend for Michigan opened the door for a new No. 1 in Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, and the Miami RedHawks charged through the gap, taking 49 of 50 first-place votes to supplant the Wolverines at the top of the rankings.

Miami, which swept Alaska last weekend, returned to the No. 1 position with Michigan in second place after losing and tying against Michigan State, which rose to No. 5 this week. In between were third-ranked North Dakota, up one spot after sweeping Alaska-Anchorage, and No. 4 Denver; the Pioneers were idle last weekend.

No. 6 Colorado College tied and lost at Michigan Tech to drop three spots, followed by New Hampshire, which held in seventh place after two wins against Boston University. Notre Dame came in at No. 8 in the wake of a sweep of Bowling Green.

Boston College was ninth this week after taking three points against Maine. Clarkson again rounded out the top half of the poll at No. 10, beating Rensselaer and Union over the weekend.

Wisconsin shot up five places to 11th with a win and a tie versus archrival Minnesota, and Minnesota-Duluth made a still bigger move, up seven spots to No. 12 after a sweep of Massachusetts-Lowell. Northeastern slipped two places to 13th after losing twice to Providence, which joined the rankings at No. 14 this week. Massachusetts was 15th with a loss and a tie against Vermont.

Massachusetts-Lowell was No. 16, tied in the voting with Quinnipiac, which fell four places after losing two games to Niagara. Minnesota came in at No. 18, with Princeton — still on break for exams — in 19th and then St. Cloud State at No. 20, down seven positions after losing two to Minnesota State.

Dropping out this week was Air Force.

Soaring Eagles Fly High

By Nicholas Jon Wood
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Elmira is a wingman no more. After playing second fiddle to St. Norbert for a good six weeks, the Soaring Eagles parlayed three wins into 16 first place votes (nearly completely reversing the margin of 17-3 enjoyed last week by the Green Knights) and D-III’s number one ranking — a fitting perch for the nation’s only undefeated team.

Four voters did not think St. Norbert’s weekend — a 3-0 blanking of UW-Eau Claire and a 2-2 tie with UW-Stevens Points — merited such a demotion. Winners of their last seven, Plattsburgh earned four more points, closing the margin between second and third place to 14.

The fourth and fifth teams, Manhattanville (13-3-1) and Middlebury (13-2-1), have now combined to win 14 games in a row. The latter’s streak — 10 straight; they haven’t lost since Dec. 1 — is eye-popping.

After besting UW-Superior and falling to St. Scholastica in overtime, UW-River Falls slipped two spots to sixth.

Equally hot as Manhattanville and Middlebury is Norwich. Outscoring opponents Trinity and Wesleyan, 11-2, the seventh ranked Cadets have won six in a row and are now 14-3 on the season with all three losses coming to ranked teams (two to No. 3 Plattsburgh and their season opener, an 8-3 defeat at No. 14 Southern Maine).

Formerly sixth ranked St. Thomas fell to eighth after splitting a series with Gustavus Adolphus.

The biggest ascension this week goes to Bowdoin. Capitalizing on inconsistent play above them and two hard-fought victories — 3-2 over Conn. College 2 and 4-2 over Tufts — the Polar Bears rose three spots to ninth. After a sweep at the hands of new-No. 4 Manhattanville, Hobart fell two rungs to No. 10 on the D-III ladder.

Similar to last week, teams 11 through 15 are a consistent jumble, the constant ebb-and-flow emanating from multiple factors including teams playing the more difficult parts of their schedules and the heightened intensity with the postseason fast approaching.

Adrian, Division III’s new juggernaut, might be the exception to that rule, however. Just two weeks after bounding onto the poll at No. 15, the Bulldogs, winners of 10 straight, have climbed two spots for the second week in a row. Of course, when you outscore your opponent 25-1 — including an 18-1 walloping on Friday just six days after putting up another 14 goals — pollsters are likely to be impressed.

University of Wisconsin-Stout fell two spots to No. 12 while Babson, by virtue of its 2-1 weekend (including a triumph over then-No. 11 Southern Maine) ascended one spot. Defending national champion Oswego and the aforementioned Huskies each earned 44 points, good for a tie for No. 14 nationally.

For the second straight week no new teams entered the top 15.

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