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Wolverines Climb Atop Reshuffled USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

USCHO Staff Report
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A wild weekend of games dramatically rearranged Monday’s USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll, with unbeaten Michigan coming out on top by a solid margin. The Wolverines, who beat Boston College 3-2 Friday and then Merrimack 9-2 Sunday, picked up 21 first-place votes to leapfrog all the way from seventh place.

Michigan, now 4-0-0 on the young season, was trailed by No. 2 Cornell, which moved up a spot and garnered eight first-place votes. The Big Red, as an Ivy program, does not open its 2005-06 schedule until Oct. 28 against Michigan State.

Ohio State and Colorado College, which split a series in Colorado Springs last weekend, each moved up two spots to finish third and fourth, respectively. Maine, which swept two-time defending national champion Denver, spiked seven places to No. 5.

Next at No. 6 was Boston College, which beat Bowling Green after losing to Michigan and fell two spots. Seventh place went to Minnesota, last week’s top-ranked team, which earned just one of four points at home against Alaska-Fairbanks.

North Dakota was ranked No. 8 after sweeping Northeastern, and Denver was ninth, down from second after getting swept at Maine. Michigan State, which played only an exhibition game last weekend, held firm at No. 10.

New Hampshire, Boston University, Wisconsin, Bemidji State and Vermont nailed down the 11th through 15th positions. The Beavers climbed six spots from last week’s poll debut after their sweep of Minnesota State.

No. 16 was Northern Michigan, followed by Dartmouth, Harvard, UAF and St. Lawrence to round out the Top 20.

Dropping out of the poll this week were Colgate and Massachusetts-Lowell.

2005-06 RIT Season Preview

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As RIT enters its first season in Division I, more things have remained the same than have changed.

For example, the roster includes 17 players from last season’s team.

“We did bring in what I think are a lot of players — nine,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “I didn’t want to get on a cycle where you bring in 15 guys and then not be able to recruit because you’ve got an unbalanced roster. I believe in our guys. There’s a fine line between the third-tier D-I programs and top Division III programs. We’re going to be better than most people might think.”

Returning players expected to make an impact at the Division I level include junior Darren Doherty (23 points last season) as well as a trio of sophomores, Matt Smith, Rickey Walton and Simon Lambert. All are coming off strong rookie seasons.

Newcomers up front include Jesse Newman and Brennen Sarazin. Steve Pinizotto, another highly-touted recruit, comes into the season with an injury and won’t be available until November.

Wilson says that he likes what he has up front, but it will be the defense and goaltending that make or break his team’s first season in Division I.

“One thing that going to be different in D-I is that every game is a tight game,” he said. “There aren’t any 13-1 blowouts. We have to stay focused every minute of every game.”

Anchoring the defense will be senior captain Marc Hyman. who was All-ECAC West last season. Tony Bifulco is the other senior blueliner — the rest are all freshmen and sophomores.

“We’ve got a young defense,” said Wilson. “They’ll have to grow up fast.”

Three goaltenders will battle for the starting spot, with incumbent senior George Eliopoulos being challenged by sophomore Jocelyn Guimond and freshman Louis Menard.

“It’s wide-open at this point,” said Wilson. I think all our goalies are capable but we are looking for one to compete at a high level consistently. All will get a chance in our first few games.”

Wilson was able to put together a competitive and attractive schedule on short notice — thanks, he says, to the college hockey community.

“We got good cooperation from everyone,” he said. “The ultimate is teams helping us out by playing us at home. My hat is off to them, and to all the teams that are helping us. Some very high-profile teams are helping us.”

The Tigers’ guests this season include St. Lawrence, Union, Canisius, Air Force and Quinnipiac. Road opponents include Cornell, Clarkson, Rensselaer and Bowling Green.

“Our goal at this point is to take at least one point each weekend,” said Wilson. “We want to compete and show we belong.”

Preaching What He Practiced

By Dave Starman
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Red Berenson is certainly consistent in his beliefs.

43 years ago, following the 1962 Frozen Four in Utica, N.Y., Berenson turned pro with the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first player to ever go right from the NCAA to the NHL. However, he was intent on completing his four years of eligibility before making the jump to the NHL, something some of his players today, and others in the college ranks are having a tough time doing.

With the new collective bargaining agreement, NHL teams have more incentive to lure drafted college players out of the NCAA and into the pro ranks before they complete their eligibility. Drafted collegians not signed by Aug. 15 of their year of graduation become free agents. NHL teams that have drafted them don’t want to see that happen, so they work to get them signed early.

BERENSON

BERENSON

Berenson could have jumped. The Canadiens had been after him since his freshman year. He didn’t, completing a career that saw him establish a single-season record for goals (43) and compile nine hat tricks in his last season.

It was only after that consolation game in the 1962 tournament that Berenson left for the pros. He was approached by Kenny Reardon, the assistant GM of the Habs, who asked him if he wanted to turn pro.

“I’ll turn pro, but only with Montreal, I don’t want to go to the farm team,” he told Reardon. I could just imagine Mike Brown saying that to Vancouver Canucks assistant GM Steve Tambellini when he left early, along with Steve’s son Jeff, who bolted to Los Angeles.

Reardon promised him he was going to play for the Canadiens. The two embarked on a drive across New York state and then Massachusetts to Boston, where the Canadiens would their archrivals, the Boston Bruins, at the Boston Garden the next night.

“It was St. Patrick’s Day, in Boston,” recalled Berenson as he sat in his office at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor. “We’re trying to get in, and all these drunken loony fans are trying to get out of the city after a Celtics game and a day of reveling. It was a zoo.”

At the team hotel, Reardon and Berenson sat down to do a contract. Berenson asked for $20,000. Reardon almost dropped dead.

“$20,000? We didn’t pay Beliveau that much!” Reardon told Berenson. The coach laughed as he remembered that interaction.

Berenson meant over two years, and after a little while, he got $7,000 a season for two years, and a $6,000 signing bonus.

The Habs arrived that night, and Berenson knew a couple of the players. The next morning, in his chair in front of a radiator in the corner of the cramped, black-painted visitors’ dressing room at the Garden, Berenson marveled at the array of players around him, starting with Richard, Moore, Geffrion, Beliveau, and a goalie named Jacques Plante, who quickly schooled the young rookie.

“Play good defense, that’s what we do here,” Plante told him.

“Later I found out he was going for the Vezina [Trophy], and he didn’t want some college kid blowing his chances,” Berenson said, once again with an animated grin.

Berenson does not remember much from that game in Boston other than Plante’s lecture and the radiator he sat in front of. He does remember the next game, in Detroit, at the old Olympia, 35 miles from his Michigan campus.

“My teammates were all there — my gosh, were they thrilled for me. It was just so exciting. I scored my first NHL goal that night in Detroit, in front of those guys. What a special game.”

Berenson went on to play 17 seasons in the NHL with Detroit, Montreal, St. Louis, and the New York Rangers, retiring 13 games short of 1,000. During his career, he managed to complete his undergraduate degree from the School of Business Administration in 1962, and a Master of Business Administration in 1966. He began work on that three days after the Canadiens won the 1965 Stanley Cup.

Reminiscing about his start in pro hockey, Berenson remarked that he is still preaching what he believed when he was a college hockey player, and that is to stay in school, finish your four years, and then embark on your pro career.

He is one of the most outspoken coaches when it comes to players leaving early when they are not ready to play in the NHL.

“I have always said that if the kid is ready before he is a four-year player, I’ll drive him to the airport myself. However, most of these kids are rushing out to do what, play in the minor leagues? For what?”

Recently-departed Mike Brown scored 21 total points in two seasons at Michigan when the Canucks, who had drafted him in the fifth round of the 2004 draft, offered him a contract he felt he could not turn down.

“Up until a week before school, he was set to return. Then Vancouver came into the scene and offered him a contract and he bit on it. I was surprised and disappointed.”

Goaltender Al Montoya, the sixth overall pick by the Rangers in the same draft, also left — though that was somewhat expected.

Berenson told USCHO that “it’s disappointing to lose a player going into his senior year. He had a lot of pressure from the Rangers to turn pro. I wish he would have stayed and enjoyed his senior season.”

A week before Brown’s decision came Tambellini’s. The son of a Stanley Cup winner — Steve won the Cup with the 1980 New York Islanders — he announced he was off to join the Los Angeles Kings organization, which had made him a first-round pick in the 2003 draft, 27th overall.

“It’s a sad part of the game when money takes over and diverts top players before they can finish school. It has been Jeff Tambellini’s dream to play at the top level and hopefully he can attain that. I wish he would have stayed for his senior season and had a great final year to his career,” read Berenson’s quote in the story on USCHO.

There is no hiding Berenson’s feelings on the subject, and he seems to be in the minority at times. Some schools see it as a badge of success for a player to leave the program and turn pro at any time. Berenson has seen so many Michigan players move onto the NHL that completing their senior season is what matters to him — or at least that the player is ready for the NHL when he departs early.

Berenson will keep preaching to his players to play until the NCAA says they can’t play any more. However, with the amazing array of talent he brings in each year, that will be tough to do. The NHL carrot will always dangle from the center-ice scoreboard at Yost.

Berenson will put 11 highly-touted freshmen on the ice on a nightly basis this season, including some high draft choices. Will Jack Johnson stay four years? How about goalie Billy Sauer, or Andrew Cogliano? Then again, T.J. Hensick is a marvel to watch, and I’m sure the Colorado Avalanche would love to see him in Denver next season.

How long they, and future Michigan stars, stay is uncertain. What is for sure, and what continues to ensure Michigan’s success, is Red Berenson behind the Michigan bench.

A picture of consistency in an inconsistent business.

This Week in the CCHA: Oct. 13, 2005

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Editor’s note: a previous version of this article reported on an altercation during Northern Michigan’s intrasquad scrimmage, information which has subsequently been determined to be unreliable. USCHO.com apologizes for the error.

Like I Never Really Left

It’s a brand-new season, but I felt as though the last one never ended, thanks to the email I received from fans all summer long. Much of that mail was pleasant, and I appreciate that there are those among you who took the time to say, “Hello!” throughout the offseason.

And, as always, I am overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of Northern Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha fans. The weekly updates about my lack of enthusiastic coverage of their respective teams — in June, July — can only be described as dedicated.

I’m excited about this CCHA season, and I think that fans around the league should be as well. I’m also excited about this USCHO season, as it’s our 10th full season of bringing you the best college hockey coverage, anywhere.

I couldn’t ask for a better group of colleagues. The USCHO writers are the most insanely dedicated I know, next to those fans from you-know-where.

Thank you, all, for coming back for more.

Some Hardware to Start the Season

There’s nothing like a trophy to begin a season and delay the inevitable “Fire Comley” threads on local message boards.

Ever since Rick Comley took the reins at No. 12 Michigan State, hockey fans have been calling for the talented head coach’s head on a platter because the Spartans went through a post-Mason, post-Miller (of the Ryan variety) phase — you know, the transition that nearly every program goes through after a coaching change.

Capturing the title in the Lefty McFadden Invitational last weekend in Dayton was more than just the right way to kick off the 2005-2006 campaign; it was an odd mix of opening night and final exam for the Spartans, a team that needs to present a more consistent face this season and dispel myths of the program’s early demise.

MSU beat Wayne State 5-1 in the opening contest before shutting out last year’s national championship runner-up, No. 9 North Dakota, 3-0. The media may be buzzing with the blanking of the Fighting Sioux, but the real accomplishments of the weekend extend beyond that victory and the title.

“Going in, I thought the Wayne State game was probably the most important of the two,” says MSU head coach Rick Comley. “You have to prove that you can beat the teams you’re supposed to beat.”

The opening-night jitters hit the Spartans early, as the Warriors scored just nine seconds into that contest to take the 1-0 lead, but MSU settled down and responded rookie Justin Adelkader’s first career goal at 12:03 on the power play, then scored twice in the second and twice in the third.

After Adelkader scored, the usual cast of characters produced the remaining goals — Drew Miller, Jim McKenzie, Colton Fretter, Bryan Lerg, Chris Mueller (times two), David Booth — providing impressive evidence of MSU’s balance up front.

“We are much more balanced this year,” says Comley, “not just in terms of position but class as well. We have more speed.”

And, of course, Dominic Vicari allowed just one goal on 41 shots for the weekend, earning his 13th career shutout in the process.

The pluses for MSU from the Lefty: hardware, goal production from every class, eight goals in two games, one goal allowed in two games, an average of 34.5 shots in two games, a shutout of last year’s runner-up.

Anything else?

Comley says he “liked the potential” of the weekend. He’s the first to caution that it’s a long season, but he certainly likes what he saw. “We have a younger, more enthusiastic group.”

That youth includes a sophomore class that found its feet in the second half of the season, guys that scored goals, like Lerg, McKenzie, Mueller.

Comley says the win over the Sioux — Michigan State’s first since 1979 — is even more impressive because of North Dakota’s “ultra elite young talent,” and for a second you can almost believe him until you realize that, no matter what his team’s record last year, he’s still coaching at Michigan State.

Comley also says that his squad wasn’t the only one to show up and represent the CCHA against the WCHA in Dayton. “Miami threw everything they had at them [North Dakota], but Parise was outstanding.”

Indeed, the RedHawks outshot the Sioux 37-22, but junior goaltender Jordan Parise can do that to anyone.

“Miami has talented, fast forwards, a good group up front,” says Comley. Indeed they do.

Because of a scheduling fluke, the Spartans step back into exhibition play against Western Ontario Saturday before beginning CCHA play opposite No. 7 Michigan Oct. 22.

A Rematch of Sorts

No. 5 Ohio State returns a favor to No. 6 Colorado College with two games in Colorado Springs this weekend. Last December, the Tigers flew to Columbus to participate in the first annual Ohio Hockey Classic, hosted by OSU in Nationwide Arena.

The Tigers and Buckeyes played arguably the best midseason college hockey game Columbus fans had ever seen, resulting in a 2-2 overtime. CC won the tourney by virtue of a shootout.

While the Tigers have been bitten by the early injury bug, they have also played more hockey — more real hockey — than have the Buckeyes, who have a couple of dings of their own.

Last week, CC took the Ice Breaker Invitational with wins over Union and No. 12 Maine, and beat Maine without the services of forwards Braydon Cox, Jimmy Kilpatrick, Aaron Slattengren, and Scott Thauwald, and defenseman Jake Gannon, all out with injuries.

The Buckeyes have played just one exhibition game, a 6-1 win over Western Ontario.

As good as OSU is on paper and in reality — deep, very deep — and as banged up as is CC, the big ice surface, the travel, the altitude, and the Tigers’ early season experience all work against the Buckeyes this weekend.

Add to that a little history. In the past three seasons, the Buckeyes have begun their D-I schedule with road losses to ranked teams: New Hampshire 5-1 in last year’s Ice Breaker (with a 3-1 loss to St. Cloud the next day); Denver 5-2 in last year’s Lefty McFadden; and Minnesota 7-2 in the Hall of Fame game in St. Paul in 2002-2003.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to Oct. 27, 2000, for OSU’s last quality road win over a ranked nonconference opponent. That was a 3-2 overtime win against Maine in the challenging Alfond Arena. The Bucks earned a split that weekend.

The Buckeyes took steps to banish these nonconference blues; they flew to Colorado Wednesday to become acclimated to the altitude. And they have any number of weapons in their arsenal to compete in these games. They are a very, very fast team with perhaps the fastest defensive corps in the league, but OSU prefers a physical game, something less likely on the larger ice surface.

And there’s the matter of penalty calling, which we saw varied widely among the leagues last season.

They’ll be without senior forward Dan Knapp until midseason. Knapp’s absence is officially undisclosed.

Other Notables

• Two Hockey East teams, No. 4 Boston College and Merrimack, travel to play No. 7 Michigan and Bowling Green this weekend. On Friday, BC faces off against Michigan and Merrimack’s in Bowling Green, and the teams swap nonconference opponents Saturday. Michigan has lost its last four straight against BC and six of the last seven meetings, with the only win for the Wolverines the 1998 NCAA championship.

• The Wolverines swept visiting Quinnipiac last weekend — something that warms the hearts of many fans for strictly off-ice reasons — and Matt Hunwick netted his second career hat trick in the 5-3 Saturday win.

• Michigan is off to its first 2-0-0 start since 1999-2000.

• The Falcons need just 4,449 fans to hit the two-million mark in the refurbished but still humble BGSU Ice Arena.

• BGSU is 2-1-0 in regular-season openers under fourth-year head coach Scott Paluch.

• Nebraska-Omaha defends the Maverick Stampede title this weekend at the Qwest Center with a game against Army Friday. No. 8 New Hampshire and Ferris State — those two-time Badger Showdown champions — round out the field. Last year, UNO won the Stampede for the first time in five seasons.

• Alaska-Fairbanks celebrates the return of junior defenseman and captain Jordan Hendry. Hendry, the spark of UAF’s blue line, missed most of last season to an injury.

• The CCHA is 5-1-0 in nonconference play in the early going, the loss being Miami’s to North Dakota at the Lefty. Let’s hope this is a trend.

Next Week

The return of the Games of the Week, a new Girl Reporter award for defensemen — yes, it’s a soft spot, okay? — trivia, a little perspective on 10 years of USCHO and college hockey and history and everything else, and my cat, Moxy, will make all the picks.

I’m just kidding about the last one. Really.

This Week in the ECACHL: Oct. 13, 2005

By Timothy Muir McDonald
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Half of the teams in the ECAC Hockey League began their season a week ago while the other half — the six ECACHL schools that are also Ivy League institutions — won’t officially take the ice for their first regular-season games until a full three weeks later.

While not every conference in the country has a common start date for all its league members, the three-week gap between games of the non-Ivies and the Ivies is seen nowhere else in college hockey. As a result, it creates an un-level playing field during the opening months of the season. Exactly who that un-level playing field favors, though, is very much open to interpretation.

“I think it’s a distinct disadvantage [to start late],” said Harvard coach Ted Donato.

“After four or six games — which is what the difference is sometimes when we meet the other teams — it’s a huge difference, especially on special teams,” he continued.

“It’s obviously a disadvantage [to start later], but that’s what we’ve always dealt with; it’s nothing new,” agreed Cornell coach Mike Schafer.

Even for a veteran coach like Schafer, the Ivy League’s later start date has an obvious impact — both in terms of ice time at practice and in terms of games played — during the first few weeks of the season.

“You go into [the season opener] knowing you’re going to be far from perfect,” he said. “You’re a long way from where you want to be at the end of the season.”

And early this season at the ECACHL Media Day, Schafer stressed the challenges of getting off to a strong start, especially when you are facing teams that have already utilized weeks’ worth of practices and games to improve. He highlighted his team’s season opener on October 28 at Lynah against the Michigan State Spartans.

“Michigan State will be a real test for us because we’ll have like five practices under our belts and that’ll be practically their seventh and eighth games,” Schafer said.

Other coaches from around the league see the opposite side of the coin, instead emphasizing the disadvantages of starting early in October and noting the advantage that a later start date gives down the line.

“The Ivies get a longer training camp with their team,” said Union coach Nate Leaman.

“For us, we only get one week of practice — and a short week at that because this year we were on the road and had to travel [to Colorado],” he added.

“For myself, who’s seen it from both sides, it’s a lot tougher than what the Ivies have to deal with.”

Leaman’s experience on both sides of the fence comes from his current stint as head coach of Union, which began at the start of the 2003-04 season, and from his four seasons as an assistant coach at Harvard with former head coach Mark Mazzoleni. And despite the opinions of Donato and Schafer, Leaman is not alone in thinking that a later start is actually an advantage for the Ivy League teams.

“The Ivies start [practices] only 15 days later, so it’s only a disadvantage early on in the season,” Brown coach Roger Grillo said. “But our guys are maybe a little fresher later on in the season. And there’s more time to get our kids in hockey shape [at the start].”

Woes Out West … For Union

While Joe Marsh’s St. Lawrence Saints were splitting a pair of overtime decisions at Wisconsin, Union and Quinnipiac were both facing their share of difficulties as young teams playing in hostile road environments.

“We went out [to Colorado Springs] and competed with an extremely young team,” said Leaman. “We had 12 freshmen and sophomores in our lineup, and only four seniors. We had four defensemen who didn’t play Division I hockey last year.

“We made some real fundamental mistakes,” he added. “We’re hopefully going to take experience from last week and try to learn from it.”

A second-period collapse — five goals allowed, including two power-play goals — doomed Union’s chances against Colorado College, but what frustrated Leaman and his team more than the opening night struggles against CC was the poor defensive play and netminding against Air Force during the second night of the Icebreaker Tournament.

“Against Air Force it was tough because after the first period the scoring chances were five-to-five but the score was 5-0,” Leaman said.

Leaman pulled sophomore goaltender Justin Mrazek after a first period where he allowed five goals on 14 shots, but by that point the damage had been done.

And For Quinnipiac, Some Woes As Well …

Quinnipiac’s first assignment as a member of the ECAC Hockey League was to travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a pair of games against the Wolverines. Not an easy assignment, especially after coach Rand Pecknold lost 10 of his veteran players to graduation last spring. What might have been just as challenging for Pecknold’s young team as the players lined up across the ice was the intimidating environment in which they found themselves.

“Yost Ice Arena, I would consider it one of the toughest places to play in college hockey,” Pecknold said. “It’s such a hostile environment; it’s packed and the students like to get into it, and like to agitate.”

“Our competitiveness was solid on the weekend, but there were a few lapses,” Pecknold said. “There were a lot of cobwebs, on both sides. The power plays especially — they just weren’t crisp.”

The Bobcats went 0-for-6 with the man-advantage on opening night, and then posted a 2-for-10 success rate during a tightly-called second game.

Despite the 3-1 and 5-3 losses, the experience — both of playing a team like Michigan and playing within a hostile environment — was one of the positives that Pecknold identified.

“We played them tough,” Pecknold said. “I was really hoping that we could squeak out a win or a tie on the weekend.”

“Michigan is a very good team, certainly one I expect to be in the Top 5 in the country by the end of the year.”

Dazzling In Debut

Former Hobey Baker finalist and Brown Bear netminder Yann Danis is currently on the roster of the Montreal Canadiens, serving as a backup to talented starter Jose Thèodore. When Canadiens coach Claude Julien decided to rest Thèodore for a game against the high-scoring Atlanta Thrashers on October 12, Danis made the most of his opportunity in net.

The Canadiens defeated the Thrashers 2-0, and Danis stopped all 32 shots he faced. By blanking the opposition, Danis became the first Habs goaltender in more than 30 years to record a shutout in his debut. His coach and many former teammates watched the familiar yet highlight-worthy performance during his first NHL game.

“He keeps doing what he always did so well for us,” Grillo. “He’s a special kid and a special player.

“And if he keeps playing like that, [more playing time] will be well warranted.”

Games To Mark On Your Calendar

College Sports Television (CSTV) will televise seven ECACHL games this season, including three regular season contests in the men’s hockey league. The first of those highly anticipated encounters, an October 7 encounter between ECAC Hockey League newcomer Quinnipiac and the Michigan Wolverines in Yost Ice Arena, served as the opening night kick-off for the hockey season on CSTV. The other two highly anticipated contests are:

• A clash in Hanover, N.H., between the Harvard Crimson and the Dartmouth Big Green on December 16.

• And a February 18 rematch of last year’s ECACHL Championship game when the Crimson face off against Cornell at historic Lynah Rink.

Additionally ESPNU — the college-focused arm of the ESPN empire — will broadcast five regular season contests, some on tape delay. The five games are:

• College hockey’s oldest rivalry will be the first of the five games to be televised when Brown travels to Bright Hockey Center to face the Crimson on the afternoon of November 20th.

• If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Grand Forks, N.D., on either December 29 or 30, you should stop by Ralph Engelstad Arena and catch the rare matchup between the Fighting Sioux and the visiting Crimson.

For those not fortunate enough to be in some part of the Plain States just before New Year’s, the 8:30 p.m. ET contest on December 30 will be shown live on ESPNU. North Dakota will play Harvard again as part of a home-and-home series between the two, but likely not until the 2007-08 season at the earliest.

• Starr Rink and the Colgate Raiders will host two broadcasts on ESPNU, both of which will be shown on tape delay. On January 28 Colgate will host Brown, and on February 4th Cornell comes to town.

• The final regular season broadcast on ESPNU will be an Ivy League match between the Tigers of Princeton and the Big Green of Dartmouth in Thompson Arena.

While those contests will draw a national television audience for CSTV and ESPNU, they aren’t the only high profile matchups that dot the ECACHL schedule for 2005-2006. Here are some other key dates that you should make sure to mark on your calendar.

• December 3 is a good night to be in the capital city of Rhode Island as the Brown Bears and the Providence Friars fight it out for a year’s worth of bragging rights in the Mayor’s Cup.

“That’s always been a pretty big game for us,” said Bears coach Roger Grillo. “And it’s going to stay that way.”

The ongoing series has been a back-and-forth affair over the last five seasons, with each team winning a pair of games and skating to a tight 1-1 tie during the 2003-2004 season.

Interestingly, the Bears’ two wins bookended the five-year span. The three seasons in between saw the best Brown teams in a decade, teams anchored in net by the estimable Hobey Baker finalist Yann Danis, go winless against the Friars.

• Quite possibly the best holiday hockey tournament in the country takes place in balmy Estero, Fla., on December 27 and 28. This year’s Florida College Classic Tournament features Northeastern and Minnesota-Duluth alongside perennial players Maine and Cornell.

Because of the exam and winter break schedule at Cornell, the tournament always presents a challenge to Mike Schafer’s team.

“We get maybe two practices in between our last game before Christmas [on December 3] and when we go down [to Florida] for the tournament.”

“It’s a critical [pair of games], and difficult one,” he continued. “The Florida College Classic — it’s a great tournament, but we’ve even considered not scheduling it in future years.

• January 8 is the date of a highly anticipated showdown in the Nutmeg State as the Bobcats of Quinnipiac skate against the Bulldogs of Yale for the first time ever.

One of the side benefits of having Quinnipiac replace Vermont as the ECACHL’s 12th team is the ready-made rivalry that will exist against Yale. Although they will not be travel partners — Quinnipiac will pair with Princeton for the coming season, and Yale will now be united with Brown — the close proximity of the two Connecticut schools will help to create a strong rivalry.

“It’s two towns — New Haven and Hamden — that are right next to each other,” said Yale coach Tim Taylor.

“People have been talking about a Yale — Quinnipiac game for years,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “That rivalry is already in full force, and we’ve never played once.”

“It has great rivalry written all over it,” agreed Taylor. “Hopefully it will live up to the potential.”

• The third intrastate rivalry on the calendars takes place less than a week later as New Hampshire and Dartmouth battle for Granite State bragging rights at the Verizon Wireless Center in Manchester on January 14.

• The historic Beanpot begins, as always, on the first Monday in February at the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston. Boston College faces Northeastern in the matinee game on February 6, leaving Harvard to face Boston University in the nightcap. The Consolation and Championship are a week later.

• The always entertaining Big Red Freakout! enters its 29th year when the Engineers of Rensselaer play host to Brown. Always an exciting venue to play in, Houston Field House and the enthusiastic crowd for the Freakout! give RPI a night of Lynah-like home-ice advantage.

This Week in Hockey East: Oct. 13, 2005

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From The Home Office In Wakefield, Massachusetts…

Welcome back, my friends.

This marks USCHO’s 10-year anniversary as it does mine writing here about Hockey East. For long-time readers and newbies alike, thanks for your attention.

It’s been interesting to see this space evolve from previews of the weekend’s games to the current column format. The previews were okay, but at the end of the weekend their usefulness was over and done with. Also, by the time the season was halfway done, it became increasingly difficult for coaches to say something about the upcoming games that hadn’t been said many times already. I mean, how many different ways can the theme “goaltending and special teams” be recycled?

So this space became a column and, with that change, came a multitude of possibilities. One of which, the top 10 list, I don’t believe I’ve ever used.

But what better time than a 10-year anniversary for a top 10 list?

Here then are the top 10 reasons why this will be a terrific year to be a Hockey East fan.

May I have a drumroll please…

Reason Number 10: The season got off to a great start with the dedication of the Jack Parker Rink at Boston University.

This can be a harsh business for coaches who, for reasons sometimes out of their control, don’t produce the requisite win-loss ratios. So it’s especially gratifying to see something special happen at the other end of the spectrum.

And the naming of the Jack Parker Rink at BU and its recent dedication are about as special as it gets.

Parker, whose 715 wins place him fourth on the all-time list and behind only Boston College coach Jerry York among active coaches, is a very special one. No only has he been extraordinarily successful, but he’s built a devoted following among Terrier alums by going the extra mile.

Perhaps the most telling moment at the dedication ceremonies came when assistant coach Mike Bavis said in a video following comments by Travis Roy, “We all have our difficult times in life. When people at BU do, Coach is there.”

Bavis knows whereof he speaks. His twin brother, Mark, was aboard one of the planes flown into the World Trade Center on September 11th.

Opposing fans may hate Parker’s guts because he’s synonymous with one of their top rivals and he’s been so irritatingly successful.

But even if he walks out of your arena with a win, making you grit your teeth with frustration, you still have to admire the coach and the man.

The phrase “The Jack Parker Arena” is a great honor and one richly deserved.

Number 9: The regular season should end with a bang.

Admittedly, it’s tough to top the last two years when the final weekend included New Hampshire playing a home-and-home with Boston University while Boston College tangled with Maine.

But this season’s regular season finale is none too shabby. The likely marquee series will be New Hampshire and Boston College, the two favorites in both the coaches’ preseason poll and USCHO’s Season Preview.

The other matchup that could catch loads of attention will be Massachusetts-Lowell and Vermont. Neither program is yet in the ranks of the perennial powerhouses; for now, that designation rests only with BU, BC, Maine and UNH. But both programs bear watching. The River Hawks could seriously challenge the likes of UNH and BC for the title. And as for Vermont, more on the Catamounts later. (With a skilled writer, that’s called “foreshadowing,” but with a hack like me it’s called “spilling the beans.”)

Number 8: More offense thanks to the rules changes

Yes, the games that opened the season last year were about as exciting as watching paint dry. In many of them, the Zamboni needed only to resurface the path to the penalty box. Newspaper box scores that included penalties in addition to goals and assists stood a very good chance of wiping out entire rain forests.

But it worked.

Unencumbered by interference and obstruction, skilled players enjoyed more room to show off the dazzling moves that fans enjoy.

It took some time for teams to adjust, and the rules do frustrate some of the more cerebral players who over the years had refined the fine art of toeing the line of what is and is not a penalty, but the game is better for it.

Number 7: The hat trick of new coaches at Providence, Northeastern and Merrimack.

Who can predict how things will turn out at these three schools? Both the coaches and yours truly picked the trio to finish in the bottom three slots in Hockey East. But who knows?

It could be a short-term boost of energy as each player redoubles his efforts to make a good first impression.

On the other hand, it could be a train wreck as three teams on the lower end of the talent totem pole struggle with new systems and approaches.

It should be interesting.

Number 6: The Chase To Replace

Who will rise to the challenge?

That became the theme for Maine, BC and Lowell when all three programs took major broadsides late in the summer as a result of Jimmy Howard, Patrick Eaves and Ben Walter all turning pro early.

Doom-and-gloomers might have raised the white flag, but the coaches’ response might best be summed up in the words of UML coach Blaise MacDonald. “With every loss is another tremendous opportunity. We have a lot of very talented players who are poised for breakout types of seasons.”

While fans of those programs certainly would have preferred that their stars came back for another year, it still makes for good drama to see who will step to the fore.

The early returns give evidence of that. Howard, who broke records as a sophomore with a 1.19 goals against average and a .956 save percentage, will be sorely missed, but both of his replacements in the Maine nets have done well in their first game: Matt Lundin (1.00 GAA, .917 Sv%) and Ben Bishop (2.87, .919). Bishop earned Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors.

For Lowell, Mark Pandolfo was the first to fill the Ben Walter void, scoring three goals in the River Hawks’ two games. Hockey East named him Player of the Week.

BC has not yet played since its exhibition game was cancelled due to poor ice conditions.

So the drama unfolds for those three teams. It’s more of a white knuckle experience without the three stars back, but it sure won’t be boring.

Number 5: The UNH Offense.

How’d you like to be UNH coach Dick Umile or a Wildcat fan and be able to say that even though you lost the top two scorers in the league last year — Sean Collins and Preston Callander — you still have the top three returning threats. That would be Jacob Micflikier, Brett Hemingway and Daniel Winnik, all of whom broke the 40-point barrier last season as sophomores. Yeah, you read that correctly. No typo or brain cramp by yours truly. Not one of those three will be a senior.

Oh yeah, there’s also Brian Yandle on the blue line as well as on the point on the power play. Yandle led Hockey East defensemen in scoring last year, just in case you wondered.

And to make this bounty an embarrassment of riches, there are Josh Ciocco, Matt Fornataro and Mike Radja, all of whom hit the 20-point threshold as underclassmen. Fornataro and Radja performed the feat as freshmen despite the logjam of talent in front of them. It’s only logical that with more ice time, bigger scoring roles and opportunities on the power play they’re almost a lock to take their production to the next level.

Games at the Whittemore Center will be a blast this year. Other than for opposing defensemen and goaltenders, of course. The over-under on the tossing of the fish should be roughly the 7:13 mark of the first period.

With all due respect to Boston College, I can’t understand why UNH wasn’t a near-unanimous choice to top Hockey East in the coaches’ preseason poll.

Number 4: The Vermont wild card.

How good is this team?

Hockey East snobs — and I’ll confess to having a bit of that nose in the air — will look at the Catamounts’ impressive record last year and say, “Let’s see you do it here in the big time. Then we’ll be impressed.”

Such snobs will have a point. There have been many ECACHL teams to respect in recent years. (So please hold the hate mail.) But there have been more elite Hockey East teams and the top-to-bottom depth has been considerably stronger. The interconference records have been testimony to that.

So UVM’s accomplishments can’t be dismissed, but they do carry an asterisk.

Still, I’m reminded of the Catamount teams a decade ago that featured Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin and how in the NCAA tournament, no one gave them a chance. Until they saw them play.

Number 3: Great barns.

The arena situation within the league has only gotten better.

The Whittemore Center has been a personal favorite based on atmosphere, exciting teams to watch, press box sight lines and proximity to where I live. Many of the other arenas could point to strengths of their own, but the Whitt had it all.

Then along came The Jack Parker Rink at BU. Folks, if you haven’t been there, it’s an astonishing facility.

And a barn of a much different type that is new to Hockey East is Vermont’s Gutterson Field House. No one will confuse it with the edifice at BU, but it’s a charming, homey building filled with passionate fans. Add it to the list of excellent places to watch a game.

Number 2: More TV coverage than you can shake a stick at.

Without peeking ahead, guess how many Hockey East games will be on the tube this year? That includes satellite, cable and over the air stations.

No peeking! Have you no principles?

The answer is 70, a motherlode of coverage.

Of course, you need to get your lazy butt to some real live games, too, but when that isn’t possible, or if you just want to supplement your diet of college hockey with a few more helpings, then how good is having 70 telecasts?

And The Number 1 Reason Why This Will Be A Terrific Year To Be A Hockey East Fan: We’re Wickid Good

Check out the polls.

Six of the 10 league teams were in the preseason national rankings and a seventh received votes. That is, all but the new-coach trio of Providence, Northeastern and Merrimack entered the season on the national stage. The same holds true after the first week.

That bodes well for nonconference games in the early going and the NCAA tournament in the spring. The WCHA may once again be a tough nut to crack, but Hockey East appears to have many candidates to take their best shot.

All in all, there’s a smorgasbord of excitement ahead.

In Due Time

This year’s inaugural trivia contest will debut either next week or the week after. If this delay outrages you, feel free to vent in an email sent to [email protected].

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

I need to tell you about the most consummate team player I know.

I lead a life that is crammed full to overflowing. There’s a day job that has become exceptionally challenging of late, writing for USCHO, teaching in the evening and then several other personal endeavors that consume considerable time. There are not enough hours in each day.

As a result, I frequently find myself in a squeeze. A deadline looms that I appear to have no chance of making.

The phrase “I am doomed” or words to that effect appear on my lips all too often. In such moments of distress, my wife Brenda unfailingly asks what she can do to help.

I often joke that I’ve been married for 29 years … five of the best years of my life.

But she’s a saint not only for putting up with my attempts at humor, but also for riding to the rescue when the pressure hits.

The latest example came when I was so far behind any reasonable milestones for writing the season preview that it bordered on the absurd. Unwilling to let go prematurely of some other endeavors I considered of great import, I had painted myself into the corner yet again.

Brenda, of course, came to the rescue.

She performed the most mundane of all tasks, transcribing interviews. We are talking hours of work here and work of the most boring variety. She willingly did it to bail me out.

That, my friends, is a consummate team player.

There were, of course, moments of unintentional comedy based on her unfamiliarity with the players.

Gionta was transcribed as “Jaunter” and Micflikier was just “M.” And there were just question marks for Van der Gulik.

Not to mention a transcription of a player as having “automatic point deduction” instead of “automatic point production.”

Good for a few laughs.

But heroic in bailing me out for the umpteenth time. For which a big thank you is due.

Of course, given the team player that I am, I’ll finish with one more point.

If you loved the season preview, thank you. I appreciate the compliment.

If you hated the season preview, then blame Brenda. I wouldn’t have finished it without her.

This Week in the WCHA: Oct. 13, 2005

By
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First things first:

• After a nice run through Minnesota last weekend, where do you think the University of Alberta would finish in the WCHA standings? A one-goal loss to Minnesota and wins over Minnesota State and St. Cloud State probably puts Alberta in the middle of the pack, if you conveniently neglect the fact that they were exhibition games.

• Months of study and countless pages of research went into our WCHA picks for the season. And then we saw that, with the exception of two spots, the league coaches had it the same way, virtually negating any chance of us being right this season. All right, it was about 10 minutes. And a much-scribbled-on half-sheet of paper.

• Hobey Patrosso? Hey, it’s never too early to start the hype.

• That was a dubious start for Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. Losing twice at home to Bemidji State shows there’s a lot of work ahead, but you had to expect that with the number of young players on the team.

• What’s with North Dakota and penalty shots in the season opener? Last year, Drew Stafford won the first game of the year with an overtime penalty shot at Maine. Last Friday, Jordan Parise stopped Miami’s Chris Michael — one of 37 saves in a 3-0 victory.

First-Year Focus

In a few months, we’ll know whether the production matches the hype with the WCHA’s freshman class. For now, all we can look at is the number of NHL draft picks in the rookie class and project that this will be a solid group.

That’s what everyone seems to be saying about the top first-year players. Nineteen of the 75 freshmen enter college with an NHL draft pick attached to their name, and six of them are first-rounders.

Before any of them even stepped on the ice this season, there was a leaguewide appreciation of the quality of this group.

“It’s sick good,” Colorado College coach Scott Owens said. “And it’s not just Minnesota or North Dakota. It’s all the way across. It’s other programs that are getting players. We’re very proud of Chad Rau. I think [of] Denver and Chris Butler.

“Our league is getting a lot of top players. This is kind of the place to go right now. The way it’s run, the way it’s viewed, the exposure, the venues, the support from the schools … it’s great to be a WCHA fan right now, not just for an individual team but for the entire league, to watch these kids play and then to follow their progress in the pros.”

It might not be just Minnesota and North Dakota getting the top-end players, but those two teams grabbed a good share of them this season.

In their 13-player freshman class, the Sioux have six draft picks. Three of them — defenseman Brian Lee and Joe Finley and forward T.J. Oshie — were first-round selections this season.

Four of Minnesota’s freshmen are draft picks, and that doesn’t even include the rookie everyone will watch this season. Forward Phil Kessel isn’t eligible until next year’s draft, and he’s being touted as a potential No. 1 overall pick.

“He’s a great hockey player that’ll have to go through some growing pains,” said Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, who coached Kessel during last year’s World Junior Championship. “You look at our league, we voted Phil unanimous (for the preseason rookie of the year) as coaches, but I think there’s a lot of other freshmen in this league that are going to have similar impacts. I think his learning curve will be quicker. He’s played at a high level and played against some competition that some of the other players haven’t.”

The eyes on Kessel will probably help one of the highest selections among this year’s rookie class. The Gophers’ Blake Wheeler, the fifth overall pick in 2004, has been spared some of the attention he normally would have received early this season.

Gophers coach Don Lucia cautioned that in his 13 seasons in the WCHA, he hasn’t seen a truly dominant freshman, saying they often take a while to get acclimated to the league.

With the experience this year’s group has, that transition period might not be as much of a factor this season.

“I think it’s as good a freshman class coming into the WCHA as there has been in a long time,” Lucia said. “I think that’s a result of some of the top players in the country or in North America being from this region. If the top players are out on the east coast, it’s going to be hard for the WCHA to track them.

“But when you have a good nucleus of kids that are playing in the USHL or from the state of Minnesota or Wisconsin or from this area, it goes a long way to helping us to attract. The facilities that have been built in the WCHA and probably the success of the last four or five years at the national level have certainly added to the attraction.”

Trivial Matters

Which WCHA team went the most regular-season games without a loss to start the season a year ago? Answer below.

Bruised Start

Injuries have hurt Colorado College long-term in the past, so the Tigers can only hope a lot of work for team trainer Richard Quincy early this year isn’t foreshadowing the season.

The latest loss was freshman forward Andreas Vlassopoulos, who dislocated his kneecap last Friday and is out two weeks, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs.

That left the Tigers with only 17 skaters for last Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory over Maine in the Ice Breaker Invitational. CC was already without forwards Braydon Cox, Aaron Slattengren, Jimmy Kilpatrick and Scott Thauwald and defenseman Jake Gannon due to various injuries.

CC had a list of injuries accumulated in the first weeks of the 2003-04 season and couldn’t get that season to take off. Last season, which brought 31 wins and a trip to the Frozen Four, was much calmer on the injury front.

So it has to be a concern for CC to be getting started on the wrong foot with injuries this season, especially with No. 5 Ohio State coming to town this weekend for a key early non-conference series. The Tigers haven’t lost to a non-WCHA team since falling to Michigan in the 2003 NCAA quarterfinals.

But why should CC have to change anything with the way Derek Patrosso started the season last weekend? The sophomore winger put up a hat trick in a 6-1 win over Union on Friday and scored the overtime winner against Maine.

Video On Pause

The leaguewide debut of video replay for disputed goals has been delayed as the league waits for the last pieces of equipment that will be installed at WCHA arenas.

Originally scheduled to be in place for the start of the season, the system now won’t be operational until the weekend of Oct. 28-29. Colorado College and Denver, which hosted the successful trial run of the system last season, will continue to use the old equipment until then.

But 21 games — four of them league contests — will be played without the technology, and the league can only hope that isn’t the difference in a game.

“I hope we don’t miss anything,” WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said.

The system was designed by Sanford, Fla.,-based XOS Technologies, whose software the league is using to distribute game tapes via the Internet this season.

First to Fall

Michigan Tech freshman forward Alex Lord was the WCHA’s first victim of the new rule that calls for checking from behind to be punished with a five-minute major and either a game misconduct or a game disqualification.

Lord was sent off for a hit in the second period against Mercyhurst last Friday, but he wasn’t the only WCHA player disciplined.

North Dakota’s Matt Smaby and Wisconsin’s Robbie Earl each got called for checking from behind in the third period of each’s game Saturday.

All three players were given game misconducts to accompany the penalty, meaning they didn’t have to miss their team’s next game.

Welcome Party

The regular-season openers for the WCHA’s two new head coaches have Dave Shyiak at his new home and Bob Motzko at his old one.

While Shyiak is leading his Alaska-Anchorage team in the Nye Frontier Classic, Motzko takes St. Cloud State to Northern Michigan, where Shyiak was a player and assistant coach.

Shyiak conveyed the sense of excitement you’d expect from a first-year coach.

“It’s a fresh start for a lot of players and obviously the program and for me,” he said. “It’s a great way to kick off the season and it’s traditionally been a great tournament. I think our guys are ready. We’re still trying to figure out where players are slotted in and get defensive pairings. As it is every time this year, it’s always a challenge and we’re still molding our team together.”

The Seawolves got a glimpse at what could be a scoring bonus for them in a 7-1 exhibition victory over the University of Windsor last Friday. Chris Tarkir had a hat trick, scoring on a power play, shorthanded and at even strength.

Tarkir, a sophomore, scored six goals last season and is one of the players who could help get the UAA offense into gear with a good season.

This weekend’s tournament — the Seawolves face Rensselaer and Vermont — will provide more of a test.

“We’re still trying to find out where we are as a team, identify what type of team we have and identify what type of team we are,” Shyiak said. “This is going to be another measuring stick for us this weekend to find out what our team is all about.”

In Other Words

• Patrosso was the WCHA offensive player of the week, while Parise took defensive honors and Michigan Tech defenseman Geoff Kinrade was named the rookie of the week.

• Warner Brothers got video footage from a mid-1990s St. Cloud State game for use in the production of “North Country,” a movie starring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand. Not too many degrees of separation there between “North Country” and “Fargo,” which featured a clip of a Minnesota-Wisconsin game and starred McDormand.

• The last time Wisconsin opened with two overtime games was the 1976-77 season, when the Badgers and Michigan traded 7-6 victories. Wisconsin concluded that season by beating Michigan in overtime for the national championship. What are the odds, then, on the Badgers and St. Lawrence going OT in Milwaukee on April 8?

• Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State will compete against each other for the DQ Cup this season. Twelve games count toward the standings, and five points are given for a win and two for a tie.

• Oct. 22 has been designated as Craig Dahl Appreciation Night at St. Cloud State. Dahl resigned in August after 18 years as the Huskies’ head coach.

• Trivia answer: Minnesota-Duluth, six games (5-0-1).

The Final Word

Denver gets an early test this weekend with a trip to Maine for a two-game series and a rematch of the 2004 NCAA title game. Skates in the crease are OK this time.

USCHO Women’s Game of the Week:
Providence at UConn

By Brian Schulz
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Seven months ago, Providence defeated Connecticut to earn Hockey East’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. This weekend, the Friars and the Huskies meet again to open their 2005-06 conference slate. Both teams will sport something of a new look, having lost a combined 20 players from last season’s rosters. Make no mistake, however. Hockey East has the makings of a new big-time rivalry in this Connecticut-Rhode Island border skirmish.

Game Time: Sat. 2 p.m. ET (Broadcast Links)

No. 9 Providence (0-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 Hockey East)

Top Scorers (2004-05): Karen Thatcher, Sr., F (25-33-58), Sonny Watrous, Jr., F (21-18-39), Kristin Gigliotti, Jr., D (6-17-23)
Top Goaltenders: Jana Bugden, Sr. (DNP); Lauren Florio, Jr., (1-1-0, 3.30, .861), Katie Scott, Fr.
Scoring Offense: 3.19 (9th)
Scoring Defense: 2.68 (16th)
Penalty Minutes: 14.2 (10th)
Power Play: 43 of 234, 18.4% (8th)
Penalty Kill: 210 of 241, 87.1% (9th)

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A season-ending flurry and a conference championship have become almost commonplace for the Providence Friars. What Coach Bob Deraney is hoping for in his seventh season is more consistency in his team’s health translating to more consistent performance throughout the schedule. The irony is that the consistency may hinge in large part on two seniors who missed all of last year due to injury. Goaltender Jana Bugden reported to camp healthy and in great shape. Bugden recorded 33 wins, a 1.94 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage in two seasons as a starter. Center Ashley Payton returns to center the top line after averaging just under a point per contest over her last two years in uniform, though Deraney concedes the 5’11 forward may need more time to fully shake off the rust.

The good news is the team has some established components. Up front, reigning Hockey East Co-Player of the Year Karen Thatcher posted more points (58) than any returning player in the nation. 2004 Rookie of the Year Sonny Watrous improved all of her totals as a sophomore. On defense, sophomore Kathleen Smith returns after making the All-Hockey East Second Team as a rookie, and junior Kristin Gigliotti notched the biggest goal of the 2004-05 season for the Friars when she snapped a 1-1 tie with UConn late in the third period of the conference title game. One caveat, however: Thatcher remains on the radar for the U.S. National Team and Coach Deraney says he is preparing the team for the possibility its best player will have to exchange uniforms at some point before season’s end.

Connecticut (0-1-0 overall, 0-0-0 Hockey East)

Top Scorers (2004-05): Jaclyn Hawkins, So., F (25-14-39), Natalie Vibert, Jr., D (8-11-19), Leslie Hurlbut, Jr., F (4-7-11)
Top Goaltender: Kaitlyn Shain, Sr. (12-8-4, 2.27, .924)
Scoring Offense: 2.64 (15th)
Scoring Defense: 2.44 (15th)
Penalty Minutes: 11.4 (25th)
Power Play: 40 of 234, 17.1% (12th)
Penalty Kill: 161 of 191, 84.3% (16th)

JACLYN HAWKINS

JACLYN HAWKINS
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One game and one exhibition probably wasn’t enough for Coach Heather Linstad to find out everything about a team trying to replace nine seniors but 40 saves against the defending national champions in their rink was probably enough to tell her and everyone else that Kaitlyn Shain has not cooled down much over the offseason. Linstad calls her defense the “glue of the team” and it’s easy to see why with First Team All-Hockey East selection Natalie Vibert and captains Jennifer Houlden and Alicia Ramolla all back along the blueline. More questions lie up front where five of the top nine positions were held by seniors and where conference Rookie of the Year Jaclyn Hawkins needs some backup after having a hand in 41 percent of the team’s offense a year ago. Linstad, however, is confident that players like Leslie Hurlbut, Katie Van Deveire, Britney Chandler, and Bridget King (among returnees), along with Nicole Tritter and Kristen Russell (among rookies) are poised to support Hawkins at the offensive end. Having Vibert’s skating and playmaking skills along the backline should help the scoring cause as well.

The tricky part to figuring out life after the Class of 2005 is that the Huskies are looking to start this season more like last year’s 10-3-4 ending than last year’s 6-9-4 beginning. 21 of UConn’s 36 contests a year ago were ties or one-goal decisions and there’s little reason to expect the scores to open up much in Huskyland during a year when results across the country figure to be tighter than they have ever been. In close games, confidence can play a huge role especially for a young team. There aren’t many better ways for Connecticut to build confidence than by beating the conference champions in its home opener.

This Week in the CHA: Oct. 13, 2005

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College Hockey America is funny like that.

Then again, college hockey in general is funny like that.

It’s the old adage that a team’s preseason outlook always includes a postseason title and chance at NCAA glory. If that’s now at the top of teams’ preseason “to do” lists, they shouldn’t bother showing up.

Last weekend in the CHA, five of the six teams played nonconference opponents and fared well. Bemidji State swept Minnesota-Duluth in what some construed as an upset, Niagara split with Clarkson, Air Force nearly downed Maine — though Robert Morris and Wayne State had forgettable weekends.

But don’t fret.

Lest we forget, two years ago when Findlay went into Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing and shocked Michigan State, 4-3 and that Wayne State likewise beat MSU later that season. Or even last spring, when Bemidji State wouldn’t go down until overtime against eventual national champion Denver. Niagara also holds a win over New Hampshire two seasons ago.

Anything is possible.

Wayne State’s next two games are exhibitions and Niagara’s game this weekend has the potential to require extra security as they battle crosstown rival Canisius on the road. Robert Morris lost to the Penn State club team last weekend and sees the opposite end of the spectrum this weekend against the always-talented U.S. Under-18 National Team in Ann Arbor. It doesn’t get any easier.

But college hockey is funny like that. Count the number of times you’ve seen or heard a college coach say something along the lines of, “Any team can beat any one on any given night” or the infamous, “If we play 60 minutes, we can beat anyone” — or the proverbial bringing of the ‘A’ game that tags a win along with it.

The CHA is a Division I college hockey conference. It’s not “the WCHA, CCHA, ECAC and Hockey East and then the other two,” as one CHA coach said recently, and who can argue?

Any team from any conference that nearly unseats the national champions in the first round has obvious talent, skill and luck. A championship-caliber team has oodles of all three items and in the CHA, all half-dozen teams rely on that trifecta of talent, skill and luck to go out game after game and get on the level of the more-established programs.

Upsets happen in sports, but in the CHA they’re becoming commonplace. Do you hear that, Minnesota-Duluth? Michigan State? You weren’t laughing back on March 26, were you, Denver?

And the season is just starting.

Warriors Forging Rivalry With State Club Team?

Wayne State opened its exhibition season last week against the Oakland University club team with an 8-0 win. It was a game WSU obviously expected to win, but for those involved, the game between the two Michigan schools may have added significance.

Located about 45 minutes from Detroit in Rochester, OU is a perennial ACHA powerhouse, as evidenced by its national championship two years ago and a runner-up finish this past spring.

But don’t expect the Golden Grizzlies to make a bid for the CHA or even Division I status. All they want right now is to get some games in against D-I teams, and Wayne State was happy to open that door.

“I’d love it if we could play them every year,” first-year OU coach Sean Hogan said. “But it’s up to [WSU coach Bill Wilkinson] if he wants to. We’re just fortunate he gave me a call and offered us this opportunity. Yeah, we lost, but there’s a reason his guys are on scholarships and my guys pay to play.”

Wilkinson added that putting a game or two against Oakland each year wouldn’t be a bad thing. He said that a tune-up game against a lower-level team can do good for a team entering a new season.

“We wanted to work on some of our new systems and get the boys into game scenarios,” said Wilkinson, now in his seventh year with the Warriors. “Was it a game we should have won 8-0? Yes. But did Oakland battle and take it to us? Yes. It’d be nice to get a sort of rivalry going and to maybe play them more down the road. We’ll see.

The Warriors and Grizzlies meet again Oct. 19 in Detroit at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum.

Falcons break the ice, barely fall to Maine

Air Force held a 1-0 lead over then-11th-ranked Maine with six minutes left in the third period last Friday at the IceBreaker Invitational, but Maine rallied for three power-play goals to steal a 3-1 win. Eric Ehn gave the Falcons the lead early in the third period after the first two stanzas went scoreless.

Though it was notch in the loss column, Air Force coach Frank Serratore wasn’t sour at all.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,” Serratore said. “But my heart bleeds for them. They played so hard and we were in control of the game until it was taken away from us. If those penalties were five-minute majors, then our game is in trouble. They were maybe a two-minute minor. Maybe.”

The Falcons regrouped and dominated Union Saturday night, 9-2, in a game that saw Air Force score nine or more goals for just the fourth time in team history. Junior goalie Ben Worker also saw college ice for the first time and played the final six minutes and change. Fifteen skaters recorded points in the game.

“If we have that kind of effort every night, there will be a lot of happy nights for the Falcons,” said Serratore. “We gave the same effort on Friday, but just had a better outcome (Saturday).”

Beavers Get Into Top 20

Last week was Bemidji State’s time to show they’re not in a rebuilding mode and they exceeded those thoughts with two wins over then-ranked Minnesota-Duluth.

The Beavers, now in the national polls for the first time in their Division I era, were outshot by Duluth, 43-18 on Friday night, yet escaped with a 3-2 win. That auspicious mark set a school record for fewest shots on goal in a victory.

Bemidji State completed the sweep with a 5-1 win Saturday night to help jump them to the No. 20 spot in the USCHO.com weekly poll.

“All around the league, you see teams with depth and quality players,” coach Tom Serratore said. “We play a nonconference schedule for a reason; other teams want to play us.”

Mulherin Back To Lead Huntsville Charge

Having UAH senior Bruce Mulherin on the all-CHA First Team is a no-brainer. He was part of the talented trio last year with Jared Ross and Craig Bushey, but with Ross and Bushey having graduated, Mulherin is the man for the Chargers now.

“If [Mulherin] cuts down his penalty minutes, he can pick up right where Jared left off,” said UAH coach Doug Ross, who then reconsidered.

“Really, he doesn’t need to do that. He needs to pick up where he left off.”

Senior defenseman Jeremy Schreiber was named to the All-USCHO Third Team and was the sole CHA player named to any of the USCHO preseason squads. He’s also the first Charger to be named to such a team by USCHO.

NU Goalie Back In Full Swing

Last year during a team practice, Niagara goaltender Jeff Van Nynatten injured an index finger and sat out nearly half the season before returning down the stretch. The senior is back this season on Monteagle Ridge with aspirations of reclaiming CHA glory.

Van Nynatten led NU to the CHA title in 2004 as a sophomore.

Against Clarkson last Friday, Van Nynatten stopped 49 shots, a career best, in a 6-3 win at Dwyer Arena. He was backed up by freshman Ted Cook, who scored his first two collegiate goals, and classmate Les Reaney, who added three assists.

“I thought our top line of Reaney, Sean Bentivoglio and Justin Cross got us going in the first period,” Purple Eagles’ coach Dave Burkholder said. “Every time they got on the ice something good happened.”

Clarkson caught a couple breaks and scored four third-period goals to win, 5-2, Saturday.

Senior forward Randy Harris made his return to the NU lineup after a three-year absence battling respiratory problems. He scored twice in the first game against Clarkson and assisted on two more in the second game.

Along with Maine senior Derek Damon, Ferris State alternate captain Nick Scheible, Nebraska-Omaha defenseman Jason Krischuk, Robert Morris co-captain Kurt Wright, St. Lawrence senior Simon Watson, Yale defenseman Mike Grobe, Michigan Tech blueliner Pekka Saittakari, Minnesota State defenseman Jon Dubel, St. Cloud State goaltender Jason Montgomery and forward Josh Singer, Harris is one of a handful of 25-year-olds (1980 birthdates) in NCAA Division I hockey this season and is the oldest CHA player.

Colonials Need Wins In Early Going

It never looks good on a schedule to lose to a club team, but that’s what happened last weekend for Robert Morris as it suffered a 3-2 setback to seven-time ACHA national champion Penn State. Had the “seven-time ACHA national champion” bit not been attached to the winning team, it may have been a different story.

Some positives went the Colonials’ way against the Nittany Lions. Sophomore Jace Buzek had a hand in both goals by scoring one and assisting on Sean Berkstresser’s tally 33 seconds into the game. RMU outshot Penn State, 43-24, but PSU goalie Paul Mammola played like a Division I netminder in getting the exhibition win.

The next day, Robert Morris outshot Canisius, 42-19, including 20-1 in the third period.

Coach Derek Schooley still has a positive outlook as in the preseason coaches’ poll, RMU was picked fifth.

“Obviously in our second year as a program, it’s for us to take a step forward as a program,” said Schooley. “The league coaches recognized the surprising record we had in our first-year and with that, recognized that we are going to be a better team in 2005-06.”

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Oct. 13, 2005

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WCHA Who?

It’s the power conference in the country. Last year, the WCHA put four teams in the Frozen Four, an unprecedented accomplishment.

As season three of Atlantic Hockey began last weekend, no AHA team had ever beaten a WHCA foe. And that dated back to the old days of the MAAC league.

Enter Mercyhurst.

The Lakers, who always put together one of the tougher non-league schedules in Atlantic Hockey, began the year with a 16-hour bus ride to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to play WCHA member Michigan Tech.

No, Michigan Tech is not among the annual Frozen Four contenders from the WCHA, but yes, it’s still a WCHA team and a pretty decent one at that.

The Lakers kept the 0-for streak of Atlantic Hockey alive on Friday night, falling, 4-3, in what head coach Rick Gotkin described as a very well-played game for Mercyhurst.

One night later, though, the skies opened, angels’ voices sang and light shone down upon the small school from Erie, Penn. A 5-2 victory for Lakers over Michigan Tech ended the drought against college hockey’s power conference and gave everyone in Atlantic Hockey reason to celebrate.

“I’m not totally sure we didn’t play better on Friday, but Saturday was still a great win,” said Gotkin. “[Michigan Tech is] a WCHA team that swept Minnesota last year and beat national champion Denver.”

In earning the win, Gotkin also got a small surprise from his goaltender. With the opportunity to start rookie Tyler Small, the coaching staff decided to take a look at the young goaltender and liked what they saw.

“The goal was to try to see as many different people as we could in nonconference games,” said Gotkin. “Putting [returning number-one goaltender] Mike Ella in on Friday was a no-brainer and he played well.

“But we made a decision to go with Tyler Small on Saturday and he showed lots of poise and confidence. We like how calm he was and how confident he seemed. We were ecstatic. He did a great job. You don’t win games like that without excellent goaltending.”

On the night, Small stopped 41 shots, a night after Ella made 25 saves in the 4-3 loss.

In addition to the play of Small, Gotkin was excited to see both his returning scorers, as well as a couple of rookie players, all get involved in the scoring.

“Ben Cottreau, Scott Champagne and Dave Borrelli all played very well,” said Gotkin. “But we got some neat offense from a line we created with [rookie] Brent Robinson, Kerry Bowman and Jon Asselstine. They played great both games. I was very impressed with the way the freshman, Brent Robinson, played.”

In total, the Robinson-Bowman-Asselstine line accounted for two goals for six points, while the top line of Cottreau-Champagne-Borrelli toped that with four goals and nine points.

Adding to the superlatives was defenseman Jamie Hunt, who according to Gotkin was “the best player on the ice for both teams.

“He was everywhere — offensively, defensively. We used him in every situation — to kill penalties, to quarterback the power play. Everything.

“We hoped he could pick up where [graduated senior] T.J. Kemp left off and last weekend was what we hoped to see from Jamie.”

This weekend, the Lakers return home for somewhat of a backwards schedule, playing an exhibition against Brock University on Friday night. There, Gotkin hopes to get a look at his third goaltender, Jordan Wakefield, who missed all of last season with an injury but according to Gotkin is back to 100 percent.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week

Mike Ruberto — Canisius: In a week when there were very few games, you might think that the winners of the weekly awards might not have earned the recognition. That’s not true for any of this week’s three award winners, particularly Ruberto, who potted two goals and added three assists for a five-point weekend and a plus-3 rating in a 6-4 victory over Robert Morris. At this pace, Ruberto could post a 150-point season. No pressure, though.

Goaltender of the Week

Tyler Small — Mercyhurst: On a weekend that featured some top-notch rookie goaltending, Mercyhurst’s Small led the way. He earned the first-ever victory for an Atlantic Hockey team against a WCHA club as the Lakers beat Michigan Tech, 5-2. Small made a large contribution, stopping 41 of the 43 shots he faced.

Rookie of the Week

Dan Griffin — Canisius How does a rookie goaltender make his mark on a team? How about picking up a 6-4 win in the season opener by posting 38 saves? That’s exactly what Giffin did in a 6-4 victory over Robert Morris. Griffin is filling some big shoes after the graduation of Bryan Worosz, and it looks at the start, at least, that he’s doing a pretty good job.

Franck-ly Speaking

In what has been kept a quiet news story by the school, Mercyhurst released goaltender Andy Franck last week for what Rick Gotkin called “an internal matter.”

Franck was one of four goaltenders who began the season on the Mercyhurst roster, all four of whom Gotkin said prior to the season had a chance at playing.

“We’re disappointed that Andy’s no longer with our team. It was an internal matter that we can’t get into the ins and outs of it,” said Gotkin. “But we wish Andy nothing but the best.

“We coaches do this because we love being with the kids, so when something like this happens I feel like I failed. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with the team and we’ve headed in different directions.”

In an anonymous email that I received, the author said that Franck missed a morning goaltender’s practice that he wasn’t informed about and that this was the third time that Franck had missed or was late to a meeting or practice.

Gotkin wouldn’t comment on the email, simply stating that it was an internal matter that the school will not discuss.

Franck had some decent times with the Lakers, having posted a 20-6-0 record his freshman year, leading Mercyhurst to the NCAA tournament. Last year, though, as a junior, Franck struggled a bit midway through the season and was replaced by Mike Ella, who took the team on a 9-0-0 run to end the season that brought the Lakers from fifth place to its first Atlantic Hockey championship and third NCAA berth.

The move still leaves Mercyhurst will three top-notch goaltenders in Ella, Wakefield and Small.

Hats Off

…to Canisius coach Dave Smith, who, coaching his first-ever game behind the Canisius bench, entered Atlantic Hockey with a boom. His Griffs earned a 6-4 road win over Robert Morris.

“It felt good to get my first win but better to see the guys respond to what we put in,” said Smith. “We had our ups and our downs but it felt like we had the game under control.”

Smith was particularly happy with the play of Ruberto, who potted two goals and five points.

“Mike Ruberto has shown the ability to play,” said Smith. “He was good in junior hockey and he had a pretty good freshman year. His line with Michael Cohen and Joel Kitchen clicked real well and if we’re going to be successful, we need those guys to be playing every night.”

With the win, Smith is only 341 short of passing Brian Cavanaugh, the school’s all-time winningest coach.

Quest for the Cup

Not Lord Stanley, but rather the Commissioners’ Cup — a year-long series between each of the six leagues which identifies interleague games to count towards a final standing — is looking quite good this year for Atlantic Hockey.

Last weekend, Atlantic Hockey played two of the identified games versus Commissioners’ Cup opponents and won both — Mercyhurst 5-2 over Michigan Tech and Canisius 6-4 over Robert Morris.

For the record, last year Atlantic Hockey finished last in the Commissioners’ Cup standings.

Everyone’s In Action

With a continuation of a bunch of non-league play this weekend, every Atlantic Hockey team will finally hit someone besides teammates, even if just for exhibition. Two clubs, Holy Cross and AIC, are both still in preseason mode as AIC will face St. Nick’s while Holy Cross hosts Canada’s Royal Military College.

The rest of the league will play games that count, with the highlight possibly being Bentley. The Falcons will head to the Q-Cup tournament hosted by Quinnipiac and face what appears to be a strong Air Force team on Friday night, and then either the host Bobcats or RIT.

It will either be old or new for the Falcons: if they face Air Force and RIT, it will be a prelude of what’s to come as both teams will enter Atlantic Hockey next year. If it’s Air Force and Quinnipiac, of course, they’ll get to play Quinnipiac, which left Atlantic Hockey this season for the ECACHL.

Gophers Take Over Top Spot In USCHO.com/CSTV Poll

USCHO Staff Report
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Despite the fact that neither has played an official game yet, voters in the USCHO.com/CSTV Division I men’s poll flip-flopped their opinions of the top two teams Monday, leaving Minnesota in the No. 1 slot.

The Gophers, who open their season at home against Alaska-Fairbanks this weekend, outpaced Denver despite the fact that the Pioneers earned more first-place votes (23 to Minnesota’s 15).

Similarly, the third- and fourth-place teams swapped spots, as Cornell moved up to No. 3, just ahead of No. 4 Boston College. In fifth for the second straight week was Ohio State, and Colorado College, which took the Ice Breaker Invitational with a two-win weekend, was sixth.

Michigan, the victor in a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac, came in seventh, followed by idle New Hampshire and then North Dakota, which split a pair of games at the Ice Breaker Invitational. Michigan State, which beat UND to take the Lefty McFadden Invitational title, was next at No. 10.

Wisconsin and Maine, both of which went 1-1 on the weekend, were 11th and 12th, respectively, followed by Northern Michigan, Boston University and Dartmouth.

Colgate beat Massachusetts-Lowell to move up to No. 16, with Harvard and then the aforementioned River Hawks in the next two spots. Vermont was again No. 19, and Bemidji State debuted at No. 20 after sweeping a road series at Minnesota-Duluth, which dropped out of the poll.

Women’s Outside Sources (International)

USCHO Staff Report
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USCHO.com is now providing the most comprehensive web log of women’s college hockey news across the country. Please send article suggestions here (bylined articles within past week only).

*www.bugmenot.com can be a valuable resource for those wishing to avoid site registrations.

Pre-Olympic Results

Goyette scores 100th for Canada in romp over U.S.
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 10/8/05

Canadian women skate past U.S.
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 10/7/05


Potter Returns to Familiar Ice
By Wade Petrick, usahockey.com, 10/2/05

Team USA tops All-Stars
By Christa Lawler, Duluth News Tribune, 10/2/05

No First Game Jitters for Women’s National Team
By Joshua Nichols, usahockey.com, 10/1/05

Nats savour return home

By Adam Wazny, Winnepeg Sun, 10/1/05

Former Gopher shows she’s worthy
By Rachel Blount, Star Tribune, 10/1/05


Darwitz nets 2 for U.S.
By Marcus R. Fuller, Pioneer Press, 10/1/05

Wall rejoins national team
By Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 10/1/05

Olympic desire still burns
By Rachel Blount, Star Tribune, 9/30/05

Road to Olympics begins today
By Kevin Allenspach, St. Cloud Times, 9/29/05

Four Nation’s Cup

Canada gets Four Nations title over U.S.
Canadian Press, 9/4/05

Canada gets win over Finland

Canadian Press, 9/3/05

Canadian women blank U.S. in Finland
Canadian Press, 9/2/05

Resor named to Team USA
By David Fierro, Greenwich Times, 9/1/05

Taking on the World: Minnesota’s ‘All-World’ trio gears up for one more run
By Elliot Olshanksky, CSTV.com, 8/31/05

Wickenheiser scores 100th international goal in Canada win over Sweden
Canadian Press, 8/31/05

Buccigross: Granato deserved better ending
By John Buccigross, ESPN.com, 8/30/05

Weatherston gets the nod
By David Trifunov, The Chronicle-Journal, 8/27/05

Parsons Makes the Cut
By Damian Vega, Milford Daily News, 8/27/05

US puts veteran Granato on ice
By John Powers, Boston Globe, 8/26/05

Minnesota players fuel rivalry
By John Shipley, Pioneer Press, 8/26/05

Granato left off ’06 roster
By Vicki Michaelis, USA Today, 8/26/05

Coach surprises fans by leaving 2002 Olympian off hockey roster
By Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 8/26/05

Alaskan named to national hockey team
By Ron Wilmot, Anchorage Daily News, 8/26/05

Granato, Looney sadly pass the torch
By John Niyo, The Detroit News, 8/26/05

Vogt makes U.S. National Team
By Kevin Allenspach, St. Cloud Times, 8/26/05

Local women hope for Olympics call
By Jon Paul Morosi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 8/25/05

Wall helps show the way
By Kevin Oklobzija, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 8/19/05

2005 Women’s World Championships

Canada loses hockey gold in shootout
TSN.ca, 4/9/05

U.S. women snap Canada’s string of hockey titles
Associated Press, 4/9/05

Canada’s reign ends: U.S. wins women’s world title
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/9/05

Another border battle as Canada, U.S. go for women’s hockey gold
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/9/05

Canada advances to women’s hockey final
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/8/05

U.S. Women’s National Team finds unlikely fan support in Sweden
By Jamie Fabos, USA Hockey, 4/7/05

Apps turns it on
By Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, 4/6/05

Canada Blanks Swedes
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/6/05

Team Canada’s hockey mom
By Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, 4/6/05

Communication is key for Davidson
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/5/05

Women’s worlds about to get interesting
By Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, 4/5/05

Even the goaltender got a point
By Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail, 4/4/05

Canada routs Russia
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/4/05

World hockey event a family affair

By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/3/05

Canada thumps Kazakhstan
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/3/05

Kazakhstan outmatched

By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/3/05

Gillian Apps – Canada’s new generation with a great hockey heritage
By Szymon Szemberg, IIHF.com, 4/2/05

Sweden struggles against Russia, but wins
By Szymon Szemberg, IIHF.com, 4/2/05

Pushovers no more: Swedish women are confident
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 4/2/05

Officiating of women’s international hockey lagging
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 3/31/05

Canada wants status quo in women’s worlds

By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 3/30/05

Hockey history at stake
By Donna Spencer, Canadian Press, 3/29/05

‘Tobans to soak up worldly experience

By Paul Friesen, Winnepeg Sun, 3/29/05

Canadian Women Blow Away United States

USCHO Staff Report
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Canada dealt the U.S. Women’s National Team its worst loss since the 2002 Four Nations Cup by a 6-0 margin on Saturday afternoon before a boisterous Saskatchewan crowd of over 5,000. The win completed a Canadian sweep of two games this week in the province.

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Canada opened the scoring just under two minutes into the first when Vicky Sunohara (Northeastern ’89) slipped one past USA starting goalie, Chanda Gunn (Northeastern ’04).

Six minutes later Canada increased its lead when Dartmouth senior Katie Weatherston scored from the low slot after a nifty pass from Gina Kingsbury (St. Lawrence ’04).

Canada went up 3-0 when veteran forward Danielle Goyette scored her 100th career international goal on a pass from captain Cassie Campbell parked behind the net.

Charline Labonte continued to stand strong in net for Canada and deny the USA any quality chances.

Dartmouth senior Cherie Piper added a fourth goal on a power play for Canada one minute in to the second period. Meghan Agosta scored Canada’s fifth goal when she fired a shot over USA’s replacement goalie Pam Dreyer’s shoulder 1:25 into the third period to put Canada ahead 5-0.

Jayne Hefford scored Canada’s final goal with 25 seconds remaining to give Canada a 6-0 victory. This is the fourth consecutive win for Canada over the USA since the Women’s World Championships.

Charline Labonte made 23 saves in the Canadian victory, earning her fifth career shut-out. Danielle Goyette took home the player of the game honours for Canada, and Chanda Gunn was named player of the game for the USA. Dreyer (Brown ’04) and Gunn each let up three goals.

Canada will face the USA five more times prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics. The next time these two teams meet will be in a pre-Olympic Tournament in Turin, Italy on November 10.

2005-06 Women’s Hockey East Season Prevew

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The last two seasons have resulted in two Hockey East regular season championships for New Hampshire, but never the elusive postseason championship or NCAA berth. Why would this year be any different? Well, a roster of 23 players instead of the 16 UNH dressed for its season finale a year ago will go a long way towards fielding a championship team.

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UNH appeared to have enough talent to win the title back in October, but they didn’t have enough healthy bodies come March. Now the roster is loaded with numbers and with talent. The Wildcats graduated just one player from last year’s team, and the thin-as-paper defense from a year ago is thick with strong recruits, an All-League transfer, and a captain returned from injury. A team that could barely compete for a league title is suddenly a national contender again.

While UNH is the clear league favorite, no one would be too shocked if Providence came through with the Hockey East crown. After all, it’s been since 2000-01 that the Friars ended a season without winning their league’s postseason championship, including the three titles since Hockey East’s inception. Providence lost a couple key players last year, but they still return Conference Co-Player of the Year Karen Thatcher and bring back goalie Jana Bugden after a one year hiatus.

UNH and Providence owned the league’s top two spots until Connecticut finally broke their duopoly by beating the Wildcats in the Hockey East semifinals a year ago. The graduation of nine Husky seniors in the offseason has tempered expectations, but the team still returns one of the league’s most talented players at every position.

While the league’s top three programs are well-developed, the league’s other five teams are still catching up. Boston College’s Tom Mutch took a big step forward when his first recruiting class lifted the program into the postseason, and his second class appears to be about as strong. Northeastern’s Laura Schuler had to rebuild last season when many of the team’s top players transferred out before she arrived, but a year removed from that disaster, the program should improve quickly. Maine’s Guy Perron is in his second season as well.

Rounding out the league are its two newest members Vermont and Boston University. The Catamounts hope to find new success with a new league after four years in the ECACHL. Boston University’s addition to D-I means that the women’s Beanpot will finally have four varsities just like the men’s – just another milestone in the growth of the sport.

1. New Hampshire

UNH's Melissa Bourdon stops Providence's Karen Thatcher (Photo: Josh Gibney)

UNH’s Melissa Bourdon stops Providence’s Karen Thatcher (Photo: Josh Gibney)

2004-05 Record: (21-8-6, 13-3-4 Hockey East)
Head Coach: Brian McCloskey (71-25-12, 4th season) was the AHCA national coach of the year runner-up after serving nine years as an assistant.
2004-05 Stat Summary: UNH led Hockey East in offense, defense, power play, and penalty kill, despite only sharing the regular season title with Providence. Nationally, the Wildcats performed best on the penalty kill (3rd) and defense (5th). The offense at 7th wasn’t so shabby either.
Key Departures: Stephanie Jones (23-19-42), the co-Hockey East Player of the Year and the team’s No. 2 scorer, was the team’s only loss to graduation.
Key Returnees: Junior Nicole Hekle (19-33-52) is one of the top returning scorers in the nation, and Lindsay Hansen (9-29-38) was the top scorer the season before last. Sophomores Leah Craig (12-16-28) and Taylor Palazeti (15-12-27) were both among the top freshmen scorers nationally a year ago. Sophomore tri-captain Martine Garland is welcomed back after missing nearly all of last season with a broken ankle. Both she and Nicole Goguen have Canadian Under-22 experience. In net the Wildcats bring veteran Melissa Bourdon (18-6-4, .913, 1.99), the league’s top goalie a year ago, although like the whole team, she struggled down the stretch.
Key Newcomers: The freshman class of four is small on numbers but big on talent. Defenseman Kacey Bellamy, a Berkshire Prep co-MVP, should make an immediate impact, as will 5’11 All-ISL defenseman Maggie Joyce. Small yet quick Sam Faber boosts the forward lines, while another 5’11 player Angela Taylor, who hails from Scotland, is a unique talent who played both basketball and hockey at the national level. The biggest impact of all could come from senior transfer from Brown Amy McLaughlin, who was a First Team All-ECAC defenseman in 2004.
Outlook: Led by Hekle, UNH is one of the deepest offensive teams in the country. The blueline corps are also deep with old and young talent, but it will take time to integrate everyone into the team’s system. Melissa Bourdon struggled late last season, but so did the rest of the team, and a healthy team in front will be healthy for her confidence. UNH’s strong penalty kill should be just as good as a year ago, and the power play should be even better. All the pieces appear to be in place for a league championship, and there’s no reason why the Wildcats can’t make the Frozen Four.

2. Providence

2004-05 Record: (21-11-5, 14-4-2 Hockey East)
Head Coach: (124-67-23, seventh season)
2004-05 Stat Summary: The Friars were 9th nationally on penalty kill but were an uncharacteristic 16th on defense.
Key Departures: First Team All-League Rush Zimmerman (26-30-56) graduated and moved into contention for the U.S. National Team. The team also lost three veteran defensemen and goalie Amy Thomas (20-10-5, 2.53, .896).
Key Returnees: Senior Karen Thatcher (25-33-58) is the nation’s top returning scorer despite missing part of the season with an appendectomy. Junior Sonny Watrous (21-18-39) is a former league Rookie of the Year. Junior Kristin Gigliotti (6-17-23) led the team’s defensemen and scoring and netted the league championship game-winner. Sophomore Kathleen Smith (2-15-17) was an All-League defenseman. Junior Jana Bugden (career 33-17-7, .915, 1.94) missed all of last season after a subpar sophomore year, and hopes to regain her exceptional freshman year form.
Key Newcomers: Good things come in pairs for the Friars, who have two recruits each from the NAHA (Watrous’ alma matter), two from Ontario, and two from New England Preps as part of their eight recruits. Among them are Cushing Prep captain Meredith George and NAHA goalie Stacey Scott, who holds the school record for goals against average.
Outlook: Bugden’s return could boost an area of weakness from a year ago. The only question is whether the Bugden of 2002-03 or 2003-04 shows up. Providence’s top offensive and defensive talent remains strong, so the team should remain an NCAA contender. The experience of a lopsided NCAA defeat a year ago should only boost the team’s competitive fire.

3. Connecticut

JACLYN HAWKINS

JACLYN HAWKINS

2004-05 Record: (16-12-8, 11-5-4 Hockey East)
Head Coach: Heather Linstad (50-82-21, 6th season) built the new UConn program to its best season ever a year ago. In the 90s, she went 161-71-27 as coach of Northeastern, including the 1997 ECAC title.
2004-05 Stat Summary: UConn was ranked in the middle of the pack nationally in both offense and defense.
Key Departures: The Huskies graduated nine seniors from Linstad’s inaugural recruiting class, including five of its top seven scorers. Tiffany Ownes (14-17-31) was the team’s second-leading scorer. Goalie Shannon Murphy (4-4-4, 2.52, .915) had a solid career that ended with reduced playing time as a senior.
Key Returnees: Jaclyn Hawkins (25-14-39) was the league’s Rookie of the Year, Natalie Vibert (8-11-19) was an All-League defenseman, and Kaitlyn Shain (12-8-4, 2.27, .924) was the league’s top goalie down the stretch.
Key Newcomers: The Huskies bring in three forwards, two defensemen, and a goalie. Among the highlights are Jodie Charison, who scored twice in the U-19 Club National Championship for Shattuck-St. Mary’s. Another strong forward is Jena Danzig, who played for Vancouver in the NWHL and in the NAHA.
Outlook: Many of the league’s coaches counted out the Huskies because of their roster turnover, but talents like Hawkins, Shain and Vibert should be enough to give UConn one of Hockey East’s four playoff spots once again.

4. Boston College

2004-05 Record: (10-20-4, 6-11-3 Hockey East)
Head Coach: Tom Mutch (16-42-7, 3rd season)
2004-05 Stat Summary: The Eagles matched UNH for the best power play in Hockey East but were dead last on the penalty kill. They were in the league’s bottom half in both offense and defense.
Key Departures: Captain and All-League defenseman Sarah Carlson (3-6-9) was the Hockey Humanitarian winner, and Kerri Sanders (7-16-23) was the team’s third-leading scorer. Lisa Davis was once the team’s top goalie before seeing limited time last season.
Key Returnees: Deb Spillane (19-16-35) ranked among the nation’s top scoring freshmen along with Sarah Feldman (16-12-28). Alison Quandt (8-13-3, .889, 3.14) got hot on occasion last season.
Key Newcomers: BC has two of the league’s superstar recruits. Becky Zavisza, Berkshire’s other co-MVP alongside UNH’s Bellamy, is one of the only freshmen to have played at the senior U.S. National Festival. Goalie Johanna Ellison was ranked by many as the top goalie in Minnesota high school hockey, and she should compete for playing time right away.
Outlook: Boston College still has question marks among its defensive corp, but this team’s young offensive talent should be fun to watch.

5. Northeastern

2004-05 Record: (3-25-4 2-15-3 Hockey East)
Head Coach: Laura Schuler, a Northeastern alum and former Canadian Olympian, starts her second season since coming over from UMass-Boston to coach her alma matter.
2004-05 Stat Summary: Northeastern ranked last in Hockey East and among the worst nationally in offense and defense. The Huskies led Hockey East in penalty minutes and ranked fourth nationally.
Key Departures: Captain Lori DiGiacomo (3-12-15) made personal sacrifices to fill gaping holes in Northeastern’s defense a year ago. She’s the teams’ only departing senior.
Key Returnees: Junior Amy Goodney (8-15-23) was the team’s top scorer and a freshman All-Rookie selection. Marisa Hourihan (3-25-4, 4.00, .906) posted ugly numbers but she and the team improved down the stretch.
Key Newcomers: Colleen Sanborn, the fourth-leading scorer all-time in Mass. public high school hockey, is a walk-on who Schuler says could be a diamond in the rough. The class includes captains of some of the nation’s top club teams, including forward Ali Bielawski of Assabet Valley and defenseman Brenna Frost of the Syracuse Stars. The class includes three freshmen, three defensemen, and a goalie.
Outlook: Northeastern has nowhere to go but up. Schuler was put in a tough spot as a coach a year ago, but now she has her first recruiting class in place and some help on the coaching staff. The schedule this season will be more favorable than the brutal one full of NCAA title contenders that previous coach Joy Woog left behind. The Huskies came close to pulling upsets every now and then, but could never finish the job. The team that went 0-4-4 in overtime a year ago might turn the corner in some of those games this season.

6. Maine

2004-05 Record: (14-15-3, 5-13-2 Hockey East)
Head Coach: Guy Perron is in his 2nd season since leaving his longtime post as a Maine men’s assistant.
2004-05 Stat Summary: Maine was in the bottom half of Hockey East in most categories and particularly struggled with the worst power play in the league.
Key Departures: The team lost its three leading scorers Tristan Desmet (17-14-31), Andrea Steranko (10-13-23), and Cheryl White (12-10-22).
Key Returnees: Junior Sonia Corriveau (8-10-18) has been her class’ top scorer the last two years. Junior Kelly Law (2-5-7) was an All-League defenseman. Rachel Gettings (14-15-2, 2.35, .878) earned the bulk of starts for the Black Bears.
Key Newcomers: Maine’s recruiting class of six includes two goalies and three who played in Canada’s Esso Nationals. 5’11 defenseman Chantal Jaillet was a top scorer for Team New Brunswick at Esso Nationals. Vanessa Vani played for Team Ontario, Patricia Gagnon had nearly a point per game for Team Quebec.
Outlook: Maine’s overall record improved last season but the team’s league performance did not. Perron will need more time to build this team in his own image.

7. Boston University

2004-05 Record: New program
Head Coach: Brian Durocher starts up BU’s women’s program after spending the last eight years as the Terrier men’s associate head coach.
Key Transfers Junior forward Cara Hendry (3-3-6), who comes over from Minnesota State, will be the team’s first captain. Jessica Lortie (8-7-15) was D-III Southern Maine’s second-leading scorer. Junior Ashley Watkins has 33 career points for New England college. Sophomore Stephanie Armstrong (3-11-14) was Union’s third-leading scorer.
Key Newcomers: Defenseman Amanda Shaw was a member of the Canadian national inline team. Diminutive forward Gina Kearns was the second-leading scorer on her high school boys team in New Jersey. Goalie Allyse Wilcox was the top goalie for the Michigan Honeybaked club.
Outlook: Durocher says the program will sport an underdog, nothing-to-lose mentality. Don’t be surprised if they make some noise.

8. Vermont

2004-05 Record: (3-25-4 2-15-3 ECACHL)
Head Coach: Dennis Miller (10th season, 67-148-21) oversaw the progression of Vermont from D-III to D-I in 2001.
2004-05 Stat Summary: Vermont was in the middle of the pack nationally on defense but ranked dead last in offense and near the bottom on the power play.
Key Departures: Kami Cote (5-26-3, 2.69, .924) was the First Team All-ECACHL goalie.
Key Returnees: Hilary Johnson (8-9-17) has been Vermont’s top scorer for two seasons.
Key Newcomers: The Vermont class of six includes, Sarah Smiddy, captain of the Honeybaked club and Danielle Ramirez, a member of the Cal Selects squad.
Outlook: Vermont needs a lot of improvement offensively, and Cote’s departure won’t help on the other end. Moving to Hockey East gives the Catamounts a fresh start, but they still have a long way to go.

Antal Lifts Canada Women Over U.S. Before Hometown Saskatchewan Crowd

USCHO Staff Report
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We’ve heard this story before. A third period goal by former Cornell player Dana Antal broke a third period tie to give Canada a victory over the United States. While the stakes weren’t so high this time – Antal’s last two third period game-winners were in the most recent Four Nations Cup finals – this one might have meant just as much. Antal, a native of Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, shined before a hometown crowd of 3,351 at Regina in Thursday night’s 3-2 win.

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Canada trailed 2-1 after Katie King (Brown ’97) scored just 47 second into the third period past longtime U.S. nemesis Kim St. Pierre on a short-side backhand. But penalties from Rush Zimmerman (Providence ’05) and Courtney Kennedy (Minnesota ’01) put the U.S. down 5-on-3. Just as the first penalty was about to expire, Canada veteran Danielle Goyette tapped one in at the side of the net to tie the game 2-2.

That set the stage two minutes later for Antal’s shot to deflect off a U.S. defenseman and just under the crossbar for the only lead Canada would need. Canada beat Chanda Gunn (Northeastern ’04), a stone wall in the 2005 Worlds, for two goals on 15 shots in the third period. Shari Vogt (Minnesota State ’04) started the first two periods for the U.S. and allowed one goal on 16 shots.

The first and last minutes of periods proved key in this game as three of five goals were scored in those stretches. Canada opened the scoring with 35 seconds left in the first period on a breakaway goal when forward Jennifer Botterill (Harvard ’03) slipped a backhand shot between the legs of Vogt. In the final minute of the second period, Kennedy blasted a point shot past a screened St-Pierre to tie the game 1-1.

The U.S. power plays struggles continued with an 0-for-7 performance, while Canada was 1-for-8. The shots were even 31 apiece.

The matchup was the third of several U.S. vs. Canada matchups that will prepare both teams for the Olympics. Canada will face the USA at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 8th at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon before returning back to Calgary. This game will also be broadcast live on TSN/RDS in Canada.

2005-06 Alaska-Fairbanks Season Preview

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History teaches everything, including the future. — Lamartine

The UAF Nanooks will look to their most recent history, namely last year, to learn what’s necessary to take them to their immediate future.

“We got older in age marginally, but by class and experience we’re younger,” says head coach Tavis MacMillan.

Just how young is this Nanook team? Twenty players on the current roster have freshman or sophomore class status, but the team’s average age is over 21 years. Unlike better established and more centrally located programs, UAF doesn’t have the luxury of recruiting kids fresh out of high school, giving the team an interesting mix of relative worldliness and inexperience.

MacMillan anticipates that this lively combination will propel the Nanooks through a challenging first half. “Youth brings a certain amount of energy and excitement to your program. To a certain degree they’re oblivious to certain things, which at times can be very helpful, especially when you’re in a cluster with Michigan and Michigan State.

The Nanooks have three league home series in the first half of the season, one each against clustermates Michigan and Michigan State, with Northern Michigan sandwiched in between. To kick off the second half of the season, UAF travels for back-to-back series against the Wolverines and Spartans.

MacMillan says that the battle-tested Nanooks will be a much better team at the end of the year than we will at the start — maybe not in the standings … but the progression of this year’s team will mirror last year’s.”

With so many youngsters on the roster, leadership is one thing that will emerge as the season progresses, says MacMillan. “The one area that is tough is the loss of Jared Sylvestre. Sly had a certain presence on this team.”

Tavis MacMillan enters season two at the helm for UAF.

Tavis MacMillan enters season two at the helm for UAF.

One area about which MacMillan feels fairly comfortable is offense; UAF returns seven of its top 10 scorers from a year ago. “In scoring, we will be led by a small group of players. Kyle Greentree, who led our team in scoring as a freshman, Curtis Fraser, Kelly Czuy, and Ryan McLeod will have to do the bulk of our scoring if we are to be successful,” says MacMillan. “They are four talented kids who we will lean on.”

MacMillan also says that the Nanooks have made progress in shoring up their weakest positions: goaltending and defense. Starting netminder and very likable guy Wylie Rogers will be challenged by two newcomers, Brandon Cross and Chad Johnson. It appears that UAF recruited for height when it came to netminding; both are well over six feet tall. MacMillan says that Johnson is more likely to challenge Rogers immediately with “the ability to be a special goaltender in this league, and a pro player some day.”

Even before the new season has begun, the Nanooks have been bitten by the injury bug. McLeod and winger Jordan Emmerson have returned to the lineup, but defenseman Brandon Gawryletz and forward Aaron Lee are still out. But returning to play after missing nearly all of last season is defenseman Jordan Hendry, who logged over 70 games his first two seasons with the Nanooks.

In addition to improved goaltending and defense, in order to progress this season, the Nanooks will have to play better outside of their comfort zone, away from the Olympic sheet at the Carlson Center. UAF was 8-4-4 at home last season, 7-11-0 away.

Inexperience and a tough schedule are no match for MacMillan’s enthusiasm. The second-year head coach said he trusted the youth of his team last year, and the Nanooks did improve; this year, he’s history repeating.

“I like the youth of our team. I think it was our strength last year and will continue to be one of our strengths. When you’re an older guy who’s been to the rink every day for three years … those young guys can provide a little jump.”

2005-06 Ohio State Season Preview

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History is full of delightful reversals, where the opposite of what one predicts comes true. — Edmund Carpenter.

For the first time in the history of such things — preseason polls, Ohio State hockey — the Buckeyes are expected to finish first in the CCHA this season. All but one CCHA coach picked OSU to top the standings in preseason, and that’s only because head coaches are prohibited from voting for their own teams.

The honor “hasn’t been easy to come by,” says John Markell. “Obviously, a lot of things had to fall in place, but it’s only paper. We still have to go out there and prove it.”

OSU is one model for what Notre Dame wants to become, a school with a rich athletic history — most notably a rich football history — that has become or is at least in the process of becoming a CCHA powerhouse.

Last year, the Buckeyes were one of two CCHA squads to receive NCAA tournament invitations, and OSU accomplished that with a large freshman class after graduating the first group of seniors to win the CCHA postseason championship since 1972. It was certainly a turning point in the Buckeye program, and one that may have even taken OSU itself by surprise.

“Last year, we weren’t quite sure what we had, so fourth, fifth place was where we thought we should be [in preseason polls], too,” says Markell.

This year, the Buckeyes know what they have: depth at every position, a ton of experience, and the ability to spend a lot of time in the penalty box.

“We are going to have to score by committee,” says Markell, and what a committee it is. Sophomores Tom Fritsche and Domenic Maiani, juniors Matt Beaudoin — a killer on the power play — and Bryce Anderson, and seniors Rod Pelley and Dan Knapp, all well-known offensive threats.

“We have a tremendous amount of talent up front, players with the ability to put the puck in the net,” says Markell.

OSU's Domenic Maiani saw action over the summer at the World Junior evaluation camp (photo: Melissa Wade).

OSU’s Domenic Maiani saw action over the summer at the World Junior evaluation camp (photo: Melissa Wade).

Defensively, the Buckeyes return their entire D-corps, including senior Nate Guenin and junior Sean Collins. Both are big, fast, and mostly smart defenders who saw much improvement in their two-way skills last year. The emergence of Collins as an offensive threat was a welcome bonus.

And in net, OSU returns senior Dave Caruso, the quirky, lightning-fast goaltender who is the CCHA’s preseason pick for first-team honors. Backing him up is talented sophomore Ian Keserich.

“We are fortunate to have seniors at key positions, especially in net,” says Markell, who added that Keserich “had a very good World Junior tryout.”

What lingering skeptics want to see this season is the true barometer of a program’s rise to power: the maintenance of a certain level of play. OSU lost only two players who saw ice time last season, captain JB Bittner and role player Lee Spector. While just one man, Bittner was the heart and soul of Buckeye hockey, often forcing something out of nothing, whether taking shot after shot with his body on the penalty kill or giving the Buckeyes the man advantage when most needed by drawing an opponent into a penalty.

But Markell wants to do more than maintain. After a crushing 3-2 loss to Cornell in NCAA West Regional Semifinal action to end last season, Markell says that OSU must do much more.

“We had a pretty good year, but the main question I asked our guys was, ‘What did we win?’ We had a good year, and we didn’t win anything. We didn’t win our tournament, we didn’t win the league championship, we didn’t win the league playoffs, we didn’t win anything.

“That’s left a bad taste in our mouth. We know how well we played against Cornell, and we didn’t win. Status quo isn’t good enough. Our guys have known that since that last hockey game. We played very well and we didn’t win, so we have to play even better.”

Oh yeah — and OSU needs to stay out of the penalty box. Seriously.

2005-06 CCHA Season Preview

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The 2005-2006 CCHA: Tiers or Tears?

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” So said Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana, a Pulitzer Prize nominee whose early-20th century output rivaled only Emerson in volume and insight.

“On paper, I think our league is really going to be improved.” So said Canadian-born American head coach Red Berenson, who enters his 22nd season at Michigan, where he has twice helped the Wolverines to national championships and brought in nine regular-season and seven postseason CCHA titles.

Who are you going to believe? The guy who wrote A Hermit of Carmel, and Other Poems, or the guy who can seemingly pull nationally contending teams out of his, er, roster?

Rod Pelley is a first-team All-CCHA preseason pick for OSU, which looks to build on last year's successes.

Rod Pelley is a first-team All-CCHA preseason pick for OSU, which looks to build on last year’s successes.

October is an optimistic time for all of college hockey, when everything exists in the potential, but this year it feels like October has come too soon on the heels of a seriously disappointing postseason for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, when March saw just two teams invited to the NCAA tournament, and neither of those teams advancing to the Frozen Four.

Again.

Sure, the Wolverines made those three straight Frozen Four appearances (2001-2003) and Michigan State showed up in 2001, but in the last decade, only three teams from the CCHA — all of them Big Ten schools — have made it to the Frozen Four, with Michigan being the league’s most outstanding representative, having won the national championship in 1996 and 1998.

Last year, the Wolverines watched a three-goal lead over Colorado College slip away in the Midwest Regional Final, while Ohio State — that third Big Ten team — threw everything it had at Cornell’s David McKee in a 3-2 West Regional Semifinal loss.

Two seasons ago, the CCHA placed a league-high five teams in the NCAA tournament, and had no wins to show for it in April.

One theory surrounding the CCHA’s relative lack of strength compared to that of other leagues is the way in which the CCHA embraces rules changes with gusto. Last year, the CCHA and league commissioner Tom Anastos spearheaded the new rules enforcement, which arguably made games much more exciting within the league — played closer to the game’s original intent — but may have put the league at a disadvantage among the general college hockey population.

It took the league — referees, coaches, and players — nearly half the 2004-05 season to adjust to the zealously enforced rules, which produced equal parts frustration and mighty fine special-teams play.

At media day, Berenson sang the praises of the effects of the recent rules enforcements and suggested that the National Hockey League take a closer look at college hockey’s progress in rules enforcement. “The hockey is much improved at the college level. Overall, we have a better product than we had two years ago. Last year, we stood up here and talked about what it should be like, but Tom [Anastos] and his staff have really stuck to it.”

Alternative theories about the league’s seeming lack of greater-scheme luster include the teams’ allegedly stubborn adherence to outdated systems, the sheer size of the league, the cluster system, and a serious misalignment of planetary energy.

At the end of the day, however, it may just be the cycle of things. The CCHA has been rebuilding relative to other leagues, and the October optimism — at least among the coaches — belies history.

Colton Fretter is one of the reliable returnees for the Spartans (photo: Christopher Brian Dudek).

Colton Fretter is one of the reliable returnees for the Spartans (photo: Christopher Brian Dudek).

“The CCHA is a young league, and with those players returning this could easily be one of the best leagues in the country,” Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle said at this year’s media day.

Kyle may be absolutely right. While his own Wildcats are plenty experienced, half the Michigan roster is new, the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks welcome 10 newcomers, the Bowling Green Falcons are freshman-heavy, the Western Michigan Broncos have a lot of new blood, and a full half of the teams in the league bid their 2004-05 starting goaltenders adieu before this campaign began.

“I think one of the things that the CCHA has always been known for is the quality of goaltending,” said Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels. “Teams such as Ohio State [and] Michigan State have a leg up on everyone. The story is which team is going to realize good goaltending first.”

Berenson is concerned about his own nets, left to the less experienced after Al Montoya opted for professional hockey rather than a senior season.

“How many times have you seen great freshman goalie performances? It’s always been a league of good goalkeeping, but it’s going to be important right from the start, and we have some question marks there.”

Experience in net — or incredibly good young talent — may separate the CCHA haves from the have-nots. The league has always been a two-tier affair, with Michigan dominating the upper echelon for nearly as long as many of the league’s players have been alive. The Spartans kept the Wolverines company for quite a while, and now the Buckeyes are trying to create a little tradition of their own near the top of the league.

And Berenson is eager to have company consistently at the top. “On paper, I think our league is really going to be improved. I think it’s good that Ohio State is becoming a perennial power in the league. I’m sure Jeff Jackson will get Notre Dame going.”

All big schools with big budgets. Somehow, that is both encouraging — everyone wants to raise the profile of college hockey, after all — and deeply disappointing.

Something’s got to give in this league. Let us not prove correct the mutterings of George Bernard Shaw, who warned, “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.”

What did he know, anyway? Party poop.

Here’s a look at each team’s impending season, in order of predicted finish.

Jack Johnson keys a talented freshman class for Red Berenson's Wolverine squad.

Jack Johnson keys a talented freshman class for Red Berenson’s Wolverine squad.

1. Michigan

Head coach: Red Berenson, 22nd season
2004-05 record: 31-8-3, 23-3-2 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: first
Predicted ceiling/basement: first/fifth
The here and now: This is one young hockey team, with 11 freshmen on the roster. Still, the Wolverines haven’t finished lower than second place in CCHA play since the Reagan administration, and this isn’t the first big freshman class Michigan has seen in that span. “The Michigan team will have a different look to it this year with so many different faces,” said Berenson. New look, but will the outcome be any different?

2. Ohio State

Head coach: John Markell, 12th season
2004-05 record: 27-11-4, 21-5-2 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: second
Predicted ceiling/basement: first/fourth
The here and now: The Buckeyes return all but two key players this season, and are arguably one of the deepest, most balanced teams in the country. Last season, with 13 freshmen on the roster, OSU produced consistently but ultimately did nothing, said Markell. “We had a good year, and we didn’t win anything. We didn’t win our tournament, we didn’t win the league championship, we didn’t win the league playoffs, we didn’t win anything. Status quo isn’t good enough.”

3. Northern Michigan

Head coach: Walt Kyle, fourth season
2004-05 record: 22-11-7, 17-7-4 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: third
Predicted ceiling/basement: first/fifth
The here and now: The Wildcats are an interesting combination this season: one of the most experienced teams in the country but with untested goaltending. NMU’s strength lies in its depth and its nearly impenetrable defense — but how impenetrable that D will be without Tuomas Tarkki in net remains to be seen. Said Kyle, “I think that we feel that we had a good run the last half of last year, and really made some strides in becoming the type of team that we want to become.”

4. Michigan State

Head coach: Rick Comley, fourth season
2004-05 record: 20-17-4, 12-13-3 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: sixth
Predicted ceiling/basement: third/sixth
The here and now: To say that the Spartans have been rebuilding is unfair; transitioning is the more accurate term. With an offense that didn’t wake up until midseason last year, MSU struggled to find consistency in its game. Will this be the season that the Spartans finally buy into Comley’s game, wholesale? “I feel good about our hockey team,” said Comley. “The thing I like most about our hockey team is our balance.”

5. Nebraska-Omaha

Head coach: Mike Kemp, ninth season
2004-05 record: 19-16-4, 13-11-4 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: fourth
Predicted ceiling/basement: third/sixth
The here and now: After a couple of dismal, long years, the Mavericks pulled a great season together, earning Kemp CCHA Coach of the Year honors, and returning UNO to Joe Louis Arena. Another of the league’s more experienced teams with an explosive offense, the question for the Mavs is between the pipes. “I think the keys to our team’s success will rest with our forwards,” said Kemp. “We have tremendous depth at forward.”

6. Miami

Head coach: Enrico Blasi, seventh season
2004-05 record: 15-18-5, 11-13-4 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: seventh
Predicted ceiling/basement: second/sixth
The here and now: Last year, the RedHawks were so injured and ill that there were weeks when Blasi couldn’t field a full roster. If everyone stays healthy, Miami will be able to send off Goggin Arena in style, with a fast, exciting offense and a tough blue line. But what about the net? “I think our question mark is in goal. We have two young men that will battle for that position,” the coach said.

7. Alaska-Fairbanks

Head coach: Tavis MacMillan, second season
2004-05 record: 17-16-4, 11-14-3 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: eighth
Predicted ceiling/basement: fifth/eighth
The here and now: Last year, with 11 rookies on the roster, the Nanooks saw success at home but struggled on the road. By the end of the season, those seasoned newcomers were playing more consistently, but UAF turned over another large senior class and is young, again, this year. “We have a good mix of youth and older players,” said MacMillan, “and I think it is obviously a challenge for us, this season with the expectations that we have and others have for us to come back and have a successful season.”

8. Bowling Green

Head coach: Scott Paluch, fourth season
2004-05 record: 16-16-4, 13-12-3 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: fifth
Predicted ceiling/basement: fifth/eighth
The here and now: The undisputed big story of the 2004-05 Falcon season was goaltender Jordan Sigalet, whose struggle with multiple sclerosis during his senior year inspired and motivated his entire team. With Sigalet gone, the Falcons may have difficulty finding an identity. “I think the important thing our goalies realize is that we are not asking anyone to be Jordan or do anything that Jordan did, but to give us the opportunity to be in games and to win games.”

9. Notre Dame

Head coach: Jeff Jackson, first season
2004-05 record: 5-27-6, 3-20-5 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: 12th
Predicted ceiling/basement: eighth/12th
The here and now: The longtime enigma of the CCHA, the Fighting Irish are starting fresh with a new coach, and things can only get better. Jackson returns to college hockey with no preconceived notions about how the Irish found three league wins for last place last season, but you can bet he’s done his homework. “I told the players I am going in with a clean slate. I have made an extreme effort not to evaluate them. Last year it was difficult to say what happened or who was responsible.”

10. Lake Superior State

Head coach: Jim Roque, first season
2004-05 record: 9-22-7, 8-14-6 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: ninth
Predicted ceiling/basement: ninth/12th
The here and now: Like the Irish, the Lakers welcome a new head coach, but one who is completely familiar with the LSSU team, having served as the Laker assistant. Everyone knows the Lakers can play defense, and LSSU is one of just a handful of teams to return a proven starter in net. “I think our biggest challenge is to score goals. We feel some guys throughout our lineup have that kind of ability. I think they just need to be given the opportunity to try and showcase their ability to score some goals.”

11. Ferris State

Head coach: Bob Daniels, 14th season
2004-05 record: 13-22-4, 7-17-4 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: tie 10th
Predicted ceiling/basement: ninth/12th
The here and now: Just three seasons ago, the Bulldogs were making their first-ever NCAA appearance after capturing their first-ever regular-season CCHA title. FSU turns over a number of players, many of whom were on that squad, but Daniels sees that as something that can become a positive. “We have some good players that I think … given the ice time that our departing seniors had a year ago, will prove to be some name players in the league.”

12. Western Michigan

Head coach: Jim Culhane, eighth season
2004-05 record: 14-21-2, 8-18-2 CCHA
2004-05 CCHA finish: tie 10th
Predicted ceiling/basement: ninth/12th
The here and now: The Broncos have a creative offense that can find the net from almost anywhere, in nearly any given situation. On the other side of the blue line, however, is where things go astray for WMU, a team that could score three goals a night and give up four. Said Culhane, “We played in 16 one-goal games last year; eight we won and eight we lost. Obviously, we want to improve on that.”

2005-06 Nebraska-Omaha Season Preview

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History isn’t really about the past, settling old scores. It’s about defining the present and who we are. — Ken Burns

Three summers ago, the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks were rocked by a number of departures. Both players and coaches left unexpectedly, some just before the beginning of the new season.

Last year, after spending the 2003-04 season looking up from last place, the Mavericks finished fourth and returned to Detroit for the CCHA Super Six, just deserts for a young team that had to learn under pressure the season before.

Fast forward to the summer of 2005, and UNO and head coach Mike Kemp deserve nothing more than the chance to build on that remarkable season, unfettered by any sudden, unexpected redesigns.

“Like so many other teams,” says Kemp, “the question mark for our team will be in goal where Chris Holt left us in late August to pursue a career with the New York Rangers.”

Ouch.

One major difference between 2003 and 2005 is the experience and maturity the Mavericks bring to the locker room and the ice. This year’s squad is a mix of underclassmen and time-tested juniors and seniors; those juniors are the ones that Kemp often said had to grow up in a hurry two years ago.

“I think the keys to our team’s success will rest with our forwards,” says Kemp. The Mavericks return some of the most talented and creative veterans in the league, players who can skate and pull offense out of nothingness.

“We have tremendous depth at the forward position, led by first team all-conference returnee Scott Parse, who will be a junior this year with our program, and last season’s rookie of the year and national freshman scoring leader, Bill Thomas.”

Two other junior forwards who come immediately to mind are Kaleb Betts and Alex Nikiforuk, while other experienced forwards include seniors Mike Lefley and Micah Sanford, as well as sophomore Brandon Scero.

Scott Parse put up 49 points in 2004-05, and UNO will ask for more of the same.

Scott Parse put up 49 points in 2004-05, and UNO will ask for more of the same.

Kemp says that the defense returns “virtually intact” after graduating just one senior and returning eight guys who have seen plenty of action, several of whom were baptized two seasons ago, including Bobby Henderson and Dan Knapp.

Compared to an offense that was among the top 10 in the country, the defense needs tightening. While Holt was fairly consistent in net last season, he wasn’t stellar, so maybe his departure will serve two purposes: force the D to play better in front of a less experienced goaltender, and ultimately provide better goaltending in a new player for UNO.

Kemp says that three guys — sophomore Eric Aarnio, freshmen Greg Barnett and Jerad Kaufmann — will be “battling for ice time.”

In six games last season, Aarnio put up unimpressive numbers (5.97 GAA), but both Barnett and Kaufmann bring extensive junior experience to the position. Barnett backstopped the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) while Kaufmann was the starter for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL).

“We are excited about the upcoming season,” says Kemp, and why not? In front of the net, this is a Maverick team that is poised and experienced, one that has already been through one trial by fire and one with enough firepower to push the established top-tier teams.

2005-06 Miami Season Preview

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History is the great propagator of doubt. — A.J.P. Taylor

Miami deserves a better fate than that of sixth in the CCHA preseason coaches’ poll, seventh in the media poll.

Yes, the RedHawks struggled last season — to put a team on the ice. Once they got there, however, they really knew how to play. In the second half of the 2004-05 regular season, Miami went 8-6-2. That may not seem like much about which to crow, but given how sick and injured Miami was at midseason, it makes a fan wonder what would have happened if a healthy Miami team had, say, five more weeks of play.

In early December of last season, Miami head coach Enrico Blasi bemoaned that the second half of the season couldn’t come soon enough for him. He threatened — jokingly — to skip practice altogether and go straight to games, since most of Miami’s injuries came during practice. At one point, there were three RedHawk blueliners playing offense.

Add to the injury and illness bug an ailment better diagnosed in hindsight: Brandon Crawford-West-ism. The junior goaltender missed several games during the season — was benched, really — because of an attitude that led him straight to an early departure.

Certain healthy RedHawks showed flashes of brilliance last season, though, especially down the stretch. This Miami team is loaded with talent, with one of the most potentially explosive offenses in the league and one of the CCHA’s tightest defenses. What remains to be seen is who will man the cage.

“We are led by our captain Andy Greene, an All-American,” says Blasi. Greene, arguably one of the best defensemen in the country, is joined by the dynamic two-way sophomore, Mitch Ganzak, sophomore Brad Robbins, and senior Matt Davis.

Andy Greene is the cornerstone of the RedHawk defense (photo: Jason Waldowski).

Andy Greene is the cornerstone of the RedHawk defense (photo: Jason Waldowski).

“Up front, we are led by Matt Christie, Marty Guerin, and Nathan Davis, who had good seasons a year ago. They had injuries they had to deal with a year ago and we are looking forward to hopefully having them in the lineup for an entire season.

“I think our question mark is in goal. We have two young men that will battle for that position — Charlie Effinger played some games for us last year down the stretch and Jeff Zatkoff.”

Effinger went 4-2-0 last year, with a two-game sweep against Ferris State in Big Rapids in February. Zatkoff posted a 2.55 goals-against average and .914 save percentage with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers last season.

This year, the RedHawks play in the only completely non-Michigan cluster in the CCHA, one that includes permanent “rival” partner Ohio State, plus Bowling Green and Notre Dame. Blasi is well aware that scheduling may have a good deal to do with how his team ends its season.

“It’s a tough league. We are in a tough cluster. Every night is a battle.” Okay, so he’s watched Bull Durham too many times, but Blasi has a point; the RedHawks, Falcons, and Buckeyes tend to beat up on each other nearly every season, without regard of individual standings, and the Fighting Irish under Jeff Jackson’s tutelage are an unknown quantity.

The RedHawks have the offense and defense necessary to finish in top three in the league, but they’ve always — always — been inconsistent in net. Given the turnover between the pipes league-wide and Miami’s depth at every other position, goaltending may be the least of the RedHawks’ concerns.

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