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This Week in the CCHA: Nov. 28, 2002

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Talking Turkey

That would be me. It’s a short week this week, and a brief column.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

And Then There Were None

Going into last weekend’s games, two teams — Michigan and Ohio State — were undefeated in league play.

OSU was swept by Ferris State, and Michigan split with Notre Dame at home, leaving no undefeated conference teams.

Michigan head coach Red Berenson was disappointed with the loss to Notre Dame, a team he said was the best the Wolverines have played since they took on North Dakota.

“We were outshot in both games,” says Berenson. “We had the lead in the third period and gave it up, and we usually don’t do that.”

The Wolverines led 2-1 going into the third, when the Irish scored two unanswered goals to go up one. Michigan finally tied it at 16:05, but Rob Globke netted the game winner just 15 seconds later.

“It was untimely goals that killed us,” Berenson says. “To lose at home is disappointing, and of course, Notre Dame hasn’t had much success in here, and to give them any confidence is also disappointing.”

Before last weekend’s 4-3 win, the Irish had won 18 times in 51 tries in Yost Arena. Michigan still leads this all-time series, 56-37-5.

Meanwhile, in the two games at Ewigleben Arena in Big Rapids last weekend, the Bulldogs and Buckeyes earned enough penalty minutes to become the two most-penalized teams in the league, each team now averaging more than 18 minutes per game.

Check The Stick Before The Shot

In Nebraska-Omaha’s 5-4 win over Northern Michigan last weekend, Wildcat Chris Gobert scored on a penalty shot, using an illegal stick.

Apparently, the UNO bench didn’t challenge Gobert’s stick until after he scored — and by that time, it was already too late.

From the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Rulebook:

“Rule 3-1(d): If a goal is scored with a stick that is found to be illegal, the goal is allowed and the penalty is assessed and begins immediately.”

So after Gobert scored at 18:19 in the third period — pulling the Wildcats within one — he spent the remainder of the game in the box.

College Hockey Showcase

This is the 10th annual Showcase, which features four of the five Big Ten schools with men’s hockey programs. The Showcase was originally played in neutral venues, with all four teams playing in the same place, on the same day.

Now the Showcase is played in campus arenas, and you’d need to have astral projection capabilities to see all four games.

Berenson says that moving the event to campus arenas was necessary because of low attendance in the neutral sites. “Since we went on to the campus sites [attendance] has probably been better. We used to do it in a major rink, and you’d have all four teams right there. It wasn’t as successful in Joe Louis or in the Palace as it was in [Milwaukee’s] Bradley Center.”

You have to wonder now if the growing popularity of college hockey would attract a significant audience in a single arena, over the course of two days.

This year, Wisconsin and Minnesota host, so Michigan and Michigan State travel. For the WCHA side of things, check Todd D. Milewski’s WCHA column.

Michigan (9-2-1, 6-1-1 CCHA)

Red Berenson is both a king of understatement and a master magician. Berenson — whose extraordinary teams have captured two NCAA Championships and made eight trips to the Frozen Four — thinks that his Wolverines have seen more than a little luck in the early going this season, given how banged up the team has been.

But anyone who follows the CCHA knows that Berenson’s team will somehow have it all together by the end of this season, will emerge as a contender for the league title and possibly the national title.

“We’ve had so many injuries to key players that it’s amazing we are where we are,” says Berenson. The Wolverines have been — at times — without John Shouneyia (wrist), Andy Burnes (mono), Milan Gajic (academics), Jed Ortmeyer (MCL), and Jason Ryznar.

Ryznar is questionable this weekend, and Ortmeyer remains out for quite possibly the remainder of the first half of the season.

Still, the Wolverines are in third place in CCHA standings (behind Ferris State and Miami), and Michigan is outscoring opponents 48-23.

And don’t forget freshman goaltender Al Montoya, who won’t be 18 years old until next February. Montoya’s numbers (.928 overall SV%, .929 league SV%) place him among the best netminders in the conference.

Berenson, however, is realistic about his team’s chances out west. “We’re playing on the road. We need to bounce back against Wisconsin. [Wisconsin coach] Mike Eaves has got them working hard and they’re in every game. Our team needs to pick it up if we’re going to come out of there with any success.

“And then we play Minnesota, one of the best teams in the country.”

Berenson says that while Michigan is “better than we were last year at this time,” the Wolverines can improve in several areas.

“Our power play needs work,” says Berenson. “Our PK has been strong. Our offense in general has been sporadic. We don’t have a real big-time scorer, and we need to score by committee.”

Which is exactly what the Wolverines have been doing. Averaging four goals per game, Michigan has been spreading the love. With nary a Wolverine in sight near the top of league scoring, Michigan still manages to be third in the CCHA in overall offense, with players like Dwight Helminen (5-7-12), Jeff Tambellini (6-3-9), Eric Nystrom (5-4-9), and Mark Mink (5-3-8) leading the goal production.

Only three Wolverines are without point this season, and those three have played no more than five games each. Even Montoya has two assists in 12 games.

Berenson says he always looks forward to the Showcase, but adds, “It’s always a strange thing. Thanksgiving does strange things to teams.” He means that a team can play great hockey in the Showcase, and flounder down the stretch.

Michigan State (5-6-0, 3-4-0 CCHA)

“They’re coming. We have many young kids. They try hard. We give up goals we shouldn’t and don’t score as many as we should.”

That’s how head coach Rick Comley describes his Spartans, a team struggling in the post-Miller era of college hockey.

“They’re good kids and they work hard,” says Comley. “There just aren’t as many all-American type players in college hockey.” Comley says that the Spartans could use a Mike Weaver, a Mike York, a Shawn Horcoff.

The Spartans are now winless in three games, having lost to Bowling Green 3-2 last weekend after being swept by Ohio State the week before.

“To win a game or two [in the Showcase] would be tremendous for us, emotionally,” says Comley.

MSU is led offensively by defensemen Brad Fast (6-4-10) and John-Michael Liles (2-7-9), as well as forwards Jim Slater (5-4-9) and Duncan Keith (3-5-8). Like the Wolverines, the Spartans must score by committee — but fewer committee members have contributed to the cause this season, as MSU is being outscored by opponents 37-30 in 11 games overall.

“We’re in the process of getting better,” says Comley. “There are keys to us doing well. We need good goaltending. Our power play has to be effective. Scoring is not easy.”

Matt Migliaccio is solid in net for the Spartans, with a 2.04 goals against average and .922 save percentage. Justin Tobe has struggled, but has seen half the time Migliaccio has seen.

Fans have blamed Comley for Michigan State’s slow start, but anyone who follows college hockey knows that it takes more than just a coaching turnover to turn a program in any given direction. This is a team that was built for Ryan Miller, and anyone who claimed that Miller was merely as good as the defense in front of him should be convinced by MSU’s collective -44 plus/minus rating that Miller was more than the sum of teammates’ parts.

For Comley, this is his first College Hockey Showcase, and he tries to understand what it means to his players. “Obviously there’s something special when Big 10 schools play. I can see that and I sense that. I think the fans love the idea of the two Michigan schools coming into Minneapolis and Madison.”

For fans who take big-school hockey for granted, Comley puts these games into perspective. “Every time you played a Michigan or a Michigan State at home [at Northern Michigan], it was the highlight of the year.”

CCHA Showcase Notes

  • Goals per game: Michigan 4.00 (third), MSU 2.73 (ninth)
  • Goals allowed per game: Michigan 1.92, (first) MSU 3.36 (seventh)
  • Power play: Michigan 19.1% (fourth), MSU 18.3% (sixth)
  • Penalty kill: Michigan 94.1% (first), MSU 81.2% (seventh)
  • Michigan’s top scorer: Dwight Helminen (5-7-12)
  • MSU’s top scorer: Brad Fast (6-4-10)
  • Michigan’s top ‘tender: Al Montoya (.928 SV%, 1.93 GAA)
  • MSU’s top ‘tender: Matt Migliaccio (.922 SV%, 2.04 GAA)

    The Wolverines are the winningest team in Showcase history (12-5-1), and are unbeaten in road Showcase games at campus sites.

    Minnesota leads Michigan 121-113-15 all-time. That’s according to Michigan’s records. Also according to Michigan’s records, the Golden Gophers have faced the Wolverines more times than any other team in Minnesota’s 80-year history.

    (Minnesota has a different story: 117-111-14, with North Dakota facing the Gophers a few more times than have the Wolverines.)

    Minnesota leads its all-time series against Michigan State 97-41-7. MSU leads Wisconsin 44-36-2 all-time.

    The Gophers have won consecutive nonconference home games.

    The Wolverines lead the Wisconsin Badgers 58-48-7, according to Michigan’s records, and Wisconsin is 0-8-1 vs. Michigan in their last nine contests. The Badgers are 2-15-1 in the previous 18 Showcase games.

    Picks: As per usual, I’m going with the CCHA in this year’s Showcase. I know that I’ll be burned at least once. Michigan 4, Wisconsin 2; MSU 3, Minnesota 1; MSU 3, Wisconsin 1; Michigan 4, Minnesota 3

    Games Of The Week

    You were probably expecting the Notre Dame-UAF series, but since Thanksgiving has a familial feel to it, let’s keep it all within one state.

    Lake Superior State (3-9-0, 0-8-0 CCHA) at Western Michigan (5-7-1, 4-6-0 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, Mich.

    The Lakers are looking for their first CCHA win, but more importantly, says head coach Frank Anzalone, they’re looking for a consistent work ethic, game in and game out.

    “The number-one thing we’re looking for is our players working hard every single game, every single shift,” says Anzalone. “It’s a difficult time because we’re trying to reconstruct, and that takes time.”

    To say that the very young Lakers are having difficulty putting the biscuit in the proverbial basket is an understatement; LSSU averages one goal per conference outing, and fewer than two per game overall.

    The Lakers do have two competent goaltenders, Terry Denike (3.57 GAA, .893 SV%) and Matt Violin (3.62 GAA, .894 SV%), and Anzalone wants his players to work on curtailing opponent chances.

    “Our success right now is having all of our players work hard, hopefully limiting the other team,” says Anzalone. “We have shown signs of improvement each weekend. It’s gotten a little bit better.”

    The good news in Sault Ste. Marie is that spirits don’t necessarily sag because players aren’t scoring. The returning players were never goal-scorers to begin with, and the many rookies have little by which to compare themselves.

    “We don’t really have a lot of upperclassmen who have scored,” says Anzalone. “I don’t know if they’re gripping the stick. I think they want to do better. I think they’d like to win a game, [but] I don’t think it’s that sort of frustration.”

    This weekend the Lakers face the Broncos in Lawson Arena, one of the toughest venues in college hockey. “I guess our goal at Western is just to play our best and get good goaltending,” says Anzalone.

    Anzalone’s counterpart, WMU’s Jim Culhane, is not taking the Lakers lightly. “I’m really impressed with their discipline and work ethic,” says Culhane. “They work extremely hard. They keep to their systems really well.”

    Culhane says that sometimes a hungry team is a dangerous team, and there are no teams hungrier than the Lakers.

    “I think we have a lot of respect for the Laker program and a lot of respect for Frank,” says Culhane. “I think what you’re seeing right now is Frank and his staff and his players working on re-energizing the program. Even though they haven’t won in league play, I think they’ve played very, very well.

    “It gives us some concern that we have a very, very hungry hockey team coming into Lawson Arena.”

    The Broncos have been up and down this season, but Culhane sees a recent split with high-flying Ferris State as a turning point for WMU.

    “That win [Nov. 16, 4-1] for us gave the team a lot of confidence and Mike [Mantua] a lot of confidence. Mike has made some big saves in that game.”

    Mantua also scored a goal in that game. Talk about confidence.

    Culhane says that the Broncos “need to play with more consistency, but that’s whether it’s college or pro or whatever. Isn’t that out of the coaches’ handbook or something?”

  • Goals per game: WMU 3.30 (sixth), LSSU 1.00 (12th)
  • Goals allowed per game: WMU 4.00 (tie ninth), LSSU 4.00 (tie ninth)
  • Power play: WMU 13.7 (ninth), LSSU 05.0% (12th)
  • Penalty kill: WMU 77.1% (eighth), LSSU 66.7% 12th
  • WMU’s top scorers: Brent Walton (7-5-12), Jeff Campbell (5-7-12)
  • LSSU’s top scorer: Chris Peterson (2-4–6)
  • WMU’s top ‘tender: Mike Mantua (3.32 GAA, .886 SV%)
  • LSSU’s top ‘tender: Matt Violin (3.62 GAA, .894 SV%)

    The difference between these two squads at this point may be experience. The Lakers are young.

    “We don’t have to be great,” says Anzalone, “but we can’t be bad. The minute we’re bad, the other team gets a goal, and it’s hard for us to come back.”

    He adds, “One of these weekends, something good has to happen.”

    Picks: Lake State’s inability to score is, again, its downfall. WMU 4-1, 4-1

    Quote Of The Week

    It’s Thanksgiving, and what’s Thanksgiving without a little gravy?

    “I know that Western has six or seven guys who can do some damage. Their goalie is very confident this weekend. They probably look at this weekend as a chance to make some gravy, and that’s fine — they should.”

    That’s Anzalone, giving his honest assessment of the LSSU-WMU series this weekend. It should be noted that Anzalone was not being derogatory toward his own players, but rather telling it like it is.

    • This Week in the ECAC: Nov. 28, 2002

    By Jayson Moy and Becky Blaeser
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    It’s a logjam atop the ECAC.

    As the weekends have gone by, Cornell, Harvard and Yale have jumped to the top of the heap, but Brown and Dartmouth are right behind, and it’s close behind those teams as well. Dartmouth knocked off No. 1 Boston College on Tuesday, but let’s get back to league play! It’s much too exciting right now …

    Green Is The Color

    It’s the holidays, which means that it’s time for the Grinch, who happens to be green — like maybe a Christmas tree, except for those of you who have one of those inhuman, blasphemous white or pink or red trees.

    Or like the Big Green of Dartmouth.

    Coming off of a weekend sweep of Yale and Princeton, the Big Green took down No. 1 Boston College on Tuesday night.

    “The guys have a lot of pride in what they represent and by that I mean Dartmouth,” said head coach Bob Gaudet Wednesday. “It’s not always going to happen where you get the bounce. Sometimes you play hard and great and you don’t get the win. As a coach you have to have a sense that it’s a little bit bigger. Last night’s win was a huge win for our program. It helps us more than it hurts Boston College, they’re going to win a lot of games.”

    Lately Dartmouth has been winning a lot of games; the Big Green are on a five-game winning streak and find themselves in a nice position within the ECAC as they head into a four-game stretch in the next month outside of league play.

    “We lost our first couple, but I thought we played well,” said Gaudet. “We played good hockey and I’m not talking about a moral victory with a young team, I’m just talking as a coach with a young team that we played well and competed hard.

    “After that we need to come home and we needed to come back with some solid efforts and build off of it and we did. We played good hockey and we played so-so hockey, but we found a way to win. I think that put us in decent standing in the league and hopefully when the new year rolls around we’ll be healthy and a more mature hockey team.”

    After a game this weekend at Massachusetts, the Big Green head to exams, and an exhibition against the U.S. Under-18 Team before hosting the Auld Lang Syne Classic and then jumping back into league play when 2003 rolls around.

    “We need to work on consistency,” said Gaudet. “We need to work on the here and now. I’m sure we’ll win some and lose some in this stretch, but hopefully we’ll continue to come together as a team. I think the biggest thing for me is that the guys enjoy each other and they’re proud of the uniform they wear, and they represent it well. I’ve said that after ‘L’s too; we need to work hard to hone our skills.”

    The Big Green have gotten a consistent performance in net during the winning streak.

    “[Nick Boucher and Darren Gastrock] have been doing a good job,” said Gaudet. “Bouch has found a way to get wins and make some crucial saves for us. Darren is the same way, they make key plays that make turning points of the game. So much in goaltending people get over-involved in the technical side of it.

    “I like to see guys battle, be out of position and dive back across to stop a puck or make a key save. If you let in a bad one, you let in a bad one — find a way to stop one you shouldn’t. And that’s what they’ve been doing. Dan Yacey is also a good goalie — we just haven’t found the time for him yet.”

    Some had pointed to Dartmouth as being in a rebuilding year with heavy graduation losses from last season, but the Big Green have found themselves with key contributions from younger players and seniors alike.

    Seniors Mike Murray, Pete Summerfelt and Trevor Byrne are in the top six of scoring for the Big Green; sophomore Lee Stempniak leads the team in that statistic, followed closely by freshmen Mike Ouellette and Hugh Jessiman. Eric Przepiorka and Max Guimond have also contributed heavily to the Big Green offense.

    “It’s been said that the young players mature in the new year rather than the first half, and I’ve been pleased by their effort in the first half,” said Gaudet. “If we can get some more consistentcy, we’ll have a pretty solid hockey team, but I am sure there will be ups and downs.”

    A team picked ninth by the coaches in the preseason poll could be proving all of them wrong.

    Way To Go, Dudes

    Sitting underneath the radar is a Union team that heads to Harvard and Brown with five ECAC points and games in hand.

    Before the start of the season, many foresaw that Union’s rise or fall would be predicated on the goaltending with loss of Brandon Snee to graduation.

    Head coach Kevin Sneddon brought in two freshman goaltenders in Kris Mayotte and Tim Roth and before the season began, he had two goalies with different personalities, but the same goal of winning.

    “We have a little bit of California and a little bit of Wall Street,” he said of Mayotte and Roth, respectively.

    Mayotte’s personality has shone through off the ice, but on the ice, Mayotte, from Finleyville, Pa., has been behind four of Union’s ECAC points. Overall Mayotte is 5-0-1 and this past weekend shutout Connecticut for his first collegiate shutout.

    “It was an easy night again — it seems like every time I come up to talk to you guys there’s not much to talk about,” joked Mayotte afterward. “The defense and d-zone coverage, being able to see every shot, it makes my job easy.

    “It’s good to get something like a shutout and to shut the door. You don’t want them all the time but you take what you can get sometimes.”

    “He’s kind of having a dream start for a freshman,” said Sneddon. “He’s a game goalie and he hates to be scored on.”

    Mayotte, who has faced 212 shots in seven games, is living up to what he wanted to do.

    “That’s why I came here. They brought me here to win games,” he said. “I’m getting into the groove, I’m feeling confident and confidence is important for a goalie. I just try to go from game to game with as much confidence as possible.

    “I don’t know what else to say, I don’t face many shots and I don’t face many scoring opportunities. The ones I do, I give up rebounds and the guys clear it out; they take care of me.”

    They did take care of Mayotte Sunday in an 8-0 romp over Connecticut. What makes that result even more impressive is the fact that Union is smack-dab in the middle of finals.

    “They’re wearing the hat of student all week and I tip my hat to them,” said Sneddon. “You wonder if they can leave that outside of the rink and play 60 minutes and stay focused, and they worked hard.

    “I’m glad our offense came alive. If you’re going to score that many goals, you hope that it’s not just one line scoring it.”

    There were 15 different Dutchmen with points on Sunday and between that and Mayotte in goal, the Dutchmen head into an ECAC weekend with momentum.

    “We held UConn to just 15 shots on goal and I’m more impressed with that than I am with the offense,” said Sneddon. “Going into league play next weekend against a Harvard team that’s just offensively dynamic we’ll have to have our ‘A’ game defensively.”

    A Full Tank?

    This weekend Rensselaer also heads to New England to take on Brown and Harvard — maybe with a full complement of players. The Engineers saw Kirk MacDonald play for the first time this past weekend against Mercyhurst.

    “I thought [MacDonald] played real well,” said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. “I thought he and Scott [Basiuk] did a fantastic job of keeping in shape while not in the lineup. I asked Kirk how he was feeling in the third period and he said, ‘Great,’ and now he’s got some game legs under him, which is important going into the league weekend.

    “We’ve missed his presence because he’s an excellent player and he works real hard and it was nice to get him in the lineup and he certainly was champing at the bit to get in the lineup.”

    The Engineers also expect assistant captain Basiuk back on Friday against Brown. Basiuk has been out since the third game of the season. In just one and one-half games this season, Basiuk has a goal and two assists and should provide a boost to an Engineer offense that had been struggling.

    It’s Our Turn

    Yes, we made light of the fact that we’d love to get back to league play. Perhaps some of that is because of a 1-11-3 record against Hockey East this season, with the lone win coming Tuesday when the Big Green knocked off BC.

    Well, let’s take another shot at it. There are some good games this weekend and ECAC-Hockey East matchups abound: Cornell hosting Boston University for two, Clarkson and St. Lawrence going to Northeastern and Providence, and Dartmouth and Princeton taking on Massachusetts.

    And then there’s next weekend when Clarkson and St. Lawrence take on Massachusetts-Lowell and New Hampshire, BU faces Rensselaer, BC plays Harvard, and Princeton takes on Massachusetts again.

    Let’s go ECAC!

    The Best and Worst

    Another edition of our best and worst returns.

    The Best — Dartmouth

    Kudos to the team that knocked off the No. 1 squad in the nation and picked up the league’s first win over Hockey East this season.

    The Worst — Brown

    The Bears had the tables turned on them this weekend. The Bears were shut out twice, something that hasn’t happened since the 1960-61 season.

    Happy, Happy

    A Happy Thanksgiving to all, thanks to all of you for reading so far and we hope that you enjoy. Meanwhile, we’ll turn the reins over to Mike Volonnino next week to take care of all your ECAC needs.

    Thanks to Dan Weinberg for his contributions this week.

    This Week in Hockey East: Nov. 28, 2002

    By
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    Scott Weighart is filling in for Dave Hendrickson.

    Downside-Up

    It has been a curious year for the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks thus far. At this point last season, Blaise MacDonald’s charges were 10-2-0 overall, 6-2-0 in Hockey East. At the moment, they find themselves at 4-8-0 with a cellar-dwelling 0-7-0 conference record.

    But don’t feel too sorry for the River Hawks. For one thing, MacDonald isn’t looking for pity. For another, they are a much better team than their record indicates. Incredibly, Lowell has been outshot only once this season — and that was one of its wins (a 4-1 victory over Colorado College). In their last two games, the River Hawks played at the Whittemore Center and Walter [nl]Brown Arena, undoubtedly two of the toughest rinks in the league for visitors.

    Against UNH and BU in those contests, Lowell put up 34 and 38 shots respectively but lost one-goal games. In fact, the ‘Hawks outshot the Terriers by the stunning margin of 38-17 and dominated the game until the last six minutes. Once again, a deserved victory slipped through their fingers.

    “Whose idea was it to keep score?” quipped MacDonald after the loss.

    “We talk about what are we trying to accomplish here — we talk all about the process,” added MacDonald. “We’ve played very well in most games. Tonight was probably not our best game, but we put together close to 60 minutes. We probably had been playing 50 great minutes. But we try to take out the positive teaching moments, and they’re plentiful. Quite honestly, the goals we give up are more individual breakdowns then they are team breakdowns.”

    Another problem area for Lowell has been inconsistent goaltending. Between Chris Davidson and Dominic Smart, the team’s save percentage is a shaky .842. On the bright side, this seems to be leading to a team-wide commitment to cut down chances.

    “They know they’ve got problems in the goal, so they just deny, deny, deny, and they played fabulous defensively,” said Terrier coach Jack Parker after the 3-2 BU win. “The biggest reason [for the lack of BU shots] was that we spent way too much time in our zone. You’re not going to get shots from 200 feet away, and we couldn’t get the puck out of our zone on the breakouts.”

    MacDonald is not about to hit the panic button, given that his team seems close to turning the corner.

    “It’ll come: Everybody gets their runs and their chances,” MacDonald said. “I would say we haven’t had the best of puck luck, but you make your own puck luck. So we need to do just stick with what we’re doing.”

    The toughest thing for the coach has been the sense that his fourth-year players deserve better results based on how much they contribute to the team. Obviously, the rocky start in the won-loss column will make it impossible to compete for the top spot in the conference standings. Even getting home ice looks like a long shot at the one-third mark of the schedule.

    “I’m most disappointed for our seniors,” MacDonald said. “I’m blessed with an unbelievable senior class, and I want so badly for them to have success. Mark Concannon’s a good example: he’s playing so hard, and he’s been snakebitten.”

    The team’s struggles likely have led to many overlooking a player who quietly has been racking up some of the most impressive offensive numbers in the nation. Team captain Ed McGrane has notched 11 goals in 12 games, leaving him tied for the third in the nation in that category. Only Joe Tallari of Niagara has a better goals-per-game average than the centerman from [nl]Hamilton, Ont. Altogether, McGrane has 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in just 12 games.

    In a conference teeming with excellent forwards, only Lanny Gare of the Wildcats and Providence teammates Jon DiSalvatore and Peter Fregoe have amassed more points than McGrane.

    “I’ve said it before — I think he’s one of the best players in the country,” MacDonald said. “I would not trade Ed McGrane for one player in the country. He plays great defensively; he plays with grit. He’s not a soft player by any stretch of the imagination. He can pound guys, and he can make plays.”

    Despite all of McGrane’s personal success, the results have left him scratching his head.

    “I don’t think I’ve ever played on a team like this,” McGrane said. “It’s one of those situations where you play great, and you lose by one goal every night — you’re still coming up on the short end of the stick. It’s just one of those experiences that you’ve got to learn from and build off of.

    “I think it comes from the seniors,” added McGrane. “You’ve just got to stay positive, every single practice and every single game. You’ve got to feed off of that and find a way to win; it’s as simple as that.”

    MacDonald remains philosophical, keeping the big picture in his players’ minds.

    “I sit here very happy with my ballclub,” MacDonald said. “I wouldn’t trade this team for any team in the league in spite of the fact that we’re 0-7. The St. Louis Rams were 0-5, and they have a shorter season, so I like where we’re at. I like to believe that we’re a team that nobody’s going to want to play in January and February, and that’s when the men’s league really starts.”

    But if Hockey East coaches may need to stock up on their Maalox before playing the River Hawks in the coldest months, the players themselves are the only ones who will bear the brunt of the situation in the short run — they don’t return to action until they host St. Lawrence and Clarkson on December 6 and 7.

    How does MacDonald feel about the long layoff?

    “It’s a good thing for me; it might be a bad thing for the team because they’re going to hear me yelling at them in practice all the time.”

    Don’t be surprised if it’s the River Hawk fans who are yelling — gleefully — on quite a few occasions once Lowell hits the meaty part of the schedule.

    Looking Out For Number One … Cubed

    The USCHO.com poll is a curious sight this week. Three different Hockey East teams received seven or more votes as the top team in the nation: 11 voters picked first for top-ranked Boston College, 10 opted for third-ranked UNH, and seven picked fourth-ranked Maine. Obviously, this is a strong statement for the current quality of play in the conference.

    “That’s incredible,” Wildcat coach Dick Umile said. “What I make of the logjam is — having played against Boston College and Maine this weekend — I’m not surprised because of the caliber of the teams. They’ve got depth; they’ve got everything. Usually the top teams in our league are some of the top teams in the country.”

    “I think what’s happened is the conference as a whole has gotten a lot better. If you look at UMass and Merrimack, what they did last week, you’ll see it’s affected all the teams,” added Umile. “We’re bringing more players into the league because of the strength of the league and its reputation as a whole.”

    Umile also noted that “there’s an awful lot of parity between the top teams in the league.” Indeed, many games between the Hockey East powerhouses this season could have turned out differently based on just one penalty or one bounce. Umile found that out when visiting Orono last weekend.

    “The winning goal was kind of a crazy bounce that got behind us and of all people going in on a breakaway is [Martin] Kariya,” Umile said. “But we had our chances; I thought [Maine goaltender Jim] Howard played well. I thought it was one of our better hockey games. We might have even played better and generated more scoring opportunities than we did against Boston College. We just didn’t score the goals, but we played extremely well in a very difficult place to play.”

    Personally, based not only on record but on their play recently through last weekend, I had Maine first in my rankings. “Mine too,” BU’s Parker said. “I had Maine, BC, Colorado College, UNH.”

    Given that Parker was the only Hockey East coach to put Maine on top in the preseason poll, his judgment is looking pretty good thus far. Albeit with two road games coming up next weekend at Conte Forum, Maine is the only undefeated team remaining in conference play this season.

    “I knew they were going to be tough,” Parker said. “They came in here and rammed us around pretty good. There’s no question that they’ve got a lot of talent and work real hard.”

    With BC getting upset by Dartmouth on Tuesday night, don’t be surprised if the Black Bears garner a few more first-place votes.

    Yet despite all of these interesting developments at the top of the polls, Umile is still most amazed by what’s going at the bottom of the conference standings. He just can’t fathom Lowell being 0-7-0 in conference play.

    “That’s the most incredible thing — they’re a real good team,” Umile said. Told of MacDonald’s comment about no one wanting to play the River Hawks in January and February, Umile chuckled and said, “No one wants to play them now or then!”

    Hockey Philanthropy

    There are always reminders of how many great people there are in the hockey community. Kudos are due to Providence coach Paul Pooley, who received the Partners in Philanthropy Award on Tuesday, November 19 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

    One of 92 Partners in Philanthropy award winners, Pooley was acknowledged for his longtime support of Meeting Street, a home for disabled children. The annual Mayor’s Cup game between Providence and Brown has been used as a substantial fundraising sources for the children’s home. Pooley also has recruited several of his players to volunteer at Meeting Street.

    The Never Ending Story

    Did you notice that former Terrier Rick DiPietro was recalled by the Islanders last weekend? This minor item in the transaction column gave me flashbacks of being responsible for writing the recap of the quadruple-overtime NCAA East Regional game between St. Lawrence and BU back in 2000.

    Sitting in the press area with USCHO’s Dave Hendrickson and Jim Connelly, I think it was somewhere around the fifth or sixth intermission when I became positively giddy. Given that the BU band had long since exhausted its repertoire, I started trying to come up with songs that I wish they had learned for just this occasion: Perhaps Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s song about “the show that never ends” (“Karn Evil 9”); “The Never Ending Story,” Mercury Rev’s “Endlessly,” The Psychedelic Furs’ “Forever Now,” Boston’s “Long Time.”…. I could go on for hours, just like that game.

    I can’t even imagine how exhausting the game was to play, as simply watching it for the purposes of capturing it in prose wiped me out. Given that there were no instant replay facilities available to us, I became obsessed with the possibility that I would sneeze or blink and miss the goal that would conclude one of the longest games in NCAA history.

    Robin Carruthers’ game winner was pretty sudden — and I didn’t really see how the play developed, but at least I basically saw it happen. Afterwards, what impressed me most was how calm Parker was in the press conference. He professed no great disappointment despite missing an opportunity to square off against BC in the semifinals, and mainly talked about how proud he was of his team and how complimentary he was about the officiating under the demanding circumstances.

    Given that I seem to have a soft sport for the fourth-liners, what I would have liked to see almost happened late in the third OT, when Terrier Mike DiMella — looking for his first collegiate goal — had an excellent scoring chance but was denied by Saint netminder Derek Gustafson for one of his 70 saves. Gustafson is now playing for the Houston Aeros in the AHL, hoping for his next chance at the big time with the Minnesota Wild.

    DiPietro, of course, stopped 77 shots in that game, helping to stake his claim as the first-ever goalie to picked first overall in the NHL Draft.

    Trivia Contest

    Given that I’m filling in for Dave Hendrickson in writing this column for a few weeks, Dave thought it would be best to give readers a fairly straightforward question last week. So, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the answer proved to be extremely elusive.

    Here’s what happened: During the recent BU-BC game, Eagle d-man Andrew Alberts received a penalty for playing without his helmet. In the press room after the game, someone asked if anyone could remember the most recent time such a penalty was given in Walter Brown Arena. A few people, including Jack Parker, recalled it as being Tony Amonte and that the referee was Richie Fowkes. Thus, a Hockey East Trivia Question was born.

    However, when the responses started coming in to me last week, I was struck by how many people named Freddy Meyer. Reader William Redfern, though not the first to name Meyer, even cited an exact day: November 4, 2000, versus Merrimack.

    After receiving this remarkably specific “guess,” I eagerly looked back at the USCHO recap of that game, only to find that the deadbeat covering the game for us failed to acknowledge it in the article! I finally called Boston University Sports Information Director Ed Carpenter, who dutifully dug through his archives and confirmed that Meyer had indeed received a penalty for playing without his helmet at 13:13 of the third period. Ed also told me that the referee that day was Jeff Bunyon.

    The first reader to identify Meyer was Mike Klein, while the first to name Amonte was Steve Meline. No one joins the “Get-A-Life Hall of Fame” by being able to name the ref who called the penalty on Amonte, negating a Terrier goal. The ref in question was Richie Fowkes. However, William Redfern did come up with Bunyon (as well as the date and the opponent), so he can be considered a viable candidate.

    “I don’t remember that one,” Parker said. “The reason why I remember the other one is ’cause it cost us a win [against Providence]. We scored a goal in overtime, and they disallowed the goal. I don’t remember the Meyer thing.”

    Now, before anyone makes fun of Dave for not knowing the answer to his own trivia question, I should come clean and note that I was the “deadbeat” who covered the very game in which Meyer received that penalty. I couldn’t remember that and even had to have Dave remind me about Amonte via e-mail — although I was in the press conference where it was discussed just days before.

    Oh, well. As former Vice President Dan Quayle once said — and I’m not making this up — while speaking to representatives of the United Negro College Fund: “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”

    How true indeed.

    For a winning cheer, Mike Klein selects: “Fear the dogs! GO BU!!”. Steve Meline opts for, simply, “GO BU!!!”.

    This week’s question attempts to prove that the term “hockey literature” is not necessarily an oxymoron. After reading the following excerpts of a fairly contemporary short story, identify the story and its author. E-mail Scott Weighart with your guesses. The winner will be notified by Monday; if you haven’t heard by then you either had the wrong answer or someone else beat you to it. Here are four excerpts from various parts of this improbable story of a hockey team on the outskirts of Houston:

    The games were sometimes violent, and always fast. We could never get the hang of the rules, and for us the best part was before the game, when the players crawled around on their knees with their marking crayons, laboring to draw the colorful, crooked lines, already suited up, and wearing the pads that would protect them.

    They skated with their bellies in, those nights, bumped into their opponents without apologies and knocked them to the ice (or were knocked to the ice themselves), and charged around the ice with short savage chopping steps of their skate blades, as if trying in their anger to mince or hash the rink into a slush. Some of them would breathe through gritted teeth and shout, making low animal sounds.

    The Juggernauts had a player we all called Larry Loop. He wasn’t their captain or anything — they were a band, not a team — and Larry Loop was large and chesty, and he raced down the ice in those crunching little high-knee steps whether they were playing against ax murderers or a seminarian’s school…. He was big, and the oldest man on the ice, grey-headed, tufts of it sticking out from behind his savage, painted goalie’s mask — though he was not a goalie — and more often than not when he bumped into people, they went over.

    When he scored, he went wild. He would throw his stick down onto the ice and race off in the opposite direction, in that funny little stamping run, and throw his masked face back, up at the low ceiling, and beat on his chest with his heavy gloved hands, and shout, “I am in LOVE! I am in LOVE!”

    It was funny, and it was frightening, too, to Kirby and me, like a visit to New York City for the first time, and we liked to believe that all the wildness and uncertainty and even danger in the world was contained there on that tiny skating rink, set so far out in the prairie, in the spring, heavy overhead blowers spinning, inside, to prevent the ice from melting.

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

  • As you might have inferred from this week’s trivia question, I probably should sign up for a 12-step program for reading addicts. With this in mind, here are a few haikus that I have written about some of the best books I’ve read this year.
  • First, for The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd:

    Think The Paper Chase
    but in an art school and yet
    darker and weirder.

  • Second, for The Magus by John Fowles:

    Long, literary,
    This mind-bending novel is
    A hall of mirrors

  • Third, for Bel Canto by Ann Patchett:

    Opera and suspense?
    Terrorists co-exist with
    Artsy hostages.

  • Some other great books I read this year included Best American Travel Writing 2001 (edited by Paul Theroux); Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner; The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles; and Henderson The Rain King by Saul Bellow. For somewhat lighter reads, the best bets were Will by G. Gordon Liddy; I Thought My Father Was God (edited by Paul Auster); and Basket Case by Carl Hiassen. I also would recommend Connie Willis for those who like science fiction with compelling plots and realistic characters.
  • If you’re interesting in being on the distribution list for my free newsletter about books — entitled The Pick of the Literate, just e-mail me: [email protected].
  • I’ll have some reflections on this year’s music in next week’s column. After that, Dave should be out on parole and back for his weekly musings.

    • UND Booster Engelstad Dies At 72

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Ralph Engelstad, the North Dakota booster and entrepreneur who funded the new Grand Forks arena that bears his name, died Tuesday night. He was 72.

    Engelstad, one of the most ardent supporters of the school’s Fighting Sioux nickname, had battled cancer in recent years.

    Engelstad

    Engelstad

    The $104 million Ralph Engelstad Arena opened last October. Engelstad was a goaltender at the school from 1948 to 1950 and has long been a contributor to the school.

    “Life teaches you that it is neither right nor just to forget those who have reached out and helped you along the way,” Engelstad wrote in “Fight on Sioux,” a book published by the Grand Forks Herald in 2001.

    Upon announcing plans for the new arena in December 1999, Engelstad said: “Life is full of ups and downs. In business and personally, I have experienced both. But I’ve been very fortunate to land on the upper side more times than I have on the bottom. It is my desire to share a portion of my good fortune with the UND hockey team.”

    Engelstad, who was reclusive and rarely granted interviews, was a well-known philanthropist in North Dakota. He was also a controversial figure, including placing himself at the center of the Fighting Sioux nickname debate.

    In a December 2001 letter to UND president Charles Kupchella, Engelstad said he would pull his funding of the new arena if the school, which had formed a committee to study the Fighting Sioux nickname, dropped the nickname and logo. A day after that letter was received, the North Dakota board of higher education voted 8-0 to keep the name.

    In a statement, WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod said: “We are all saddened today by the loss of Ralph Engelstad. Ralph was a good friend and strong proponent of collegiate hockey and our condolences go out to his family and the University of North Dakota community at this time of Thanksgiving.”

    Engelstad began building his fortune when he purchased land north of Las Vegas, and later sold it to Howard Hughes. In 1971, using the profits from the sale, Engelstad purchased the nine-acre Flamingo-Capri Motel on the Las Vegas Strip. He went on to build the Imperial Palace in 1979, and later opened another Imperial Palace in Biloxi, Miss.

    In 1989, Engelstad was fined $1.5 million by the Nevada Gaming Commission for holding two Nazi theme parties at his casino. Engelstad later said he made a mistake.

    Engelstad is survived by his wife, Betty, a daughter, Kris, and two sisters, Mary Tulper and Phyllis Dooley. Funeral services are pending.

    The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Engelstad Family Foundation/Lung Cancer Research, in care of Bradshaw, Smith Co., 5851 W. Charleston, Las Vegas, NV 89102.

    Six Teams Vie For First Place in USCHO.com Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    An early match-up of the nation’s top-rated teams led to uncertainty in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, as six different teams garnered first-place votes. Boston College, which was No. 1 last week, held onto the top spot, but only by a very narrow margin.

    A Tuesday night match-up between the No. 1 Eagles and last week’s No. 2 New Hampshire resulted in a thrilling overtime win for the Wildcats. To celebrate the victory over the nation’s top team, New Hampshire traveled to Orono to take on Maine, and lost a 2-1 overtime game in an instant classic.

    As a result, New Hampshire dropped to No. 3, Maine rose three places to No. 4, and the first-place votes were split between BC, No. 2 North Dakota, UNH, Maine, and Colorado College and Denver, which tied for fifth place. No team received more than 11 first-place nods.

    This week’s poll featured several other oddities. Despite dropping a 5-2 decision against No. 7 Cornell, Harvard climbed two spots following a 7-1 win over Colgate. In fact, teams ranked 12 through 15 in the poll had a combined weekend record of 2 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties.

    Thanksgiving on Thursday allows for a time of giving thanks, and college hockey fans can give thanks for exciting games that dot the schedule. The annual College Hockey Showcase features Michigan State and No. 8 Michigan traveling to Wisconsin and No. 9 Minnesota, and after hosting No. 13 Harvard on Tuesday, No. 11 Boston University travels to Ithaca for a two game set against No. 7 Cornell.

    The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 40 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 12 beat writers from across the country. The poll is published weekly by the Associated Press.

    Minnesota Unanimous Pick In Women’s Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    With two wins over a ranked opponent, Minnesota captured all 15 first-place votes for the unanimous selection at the top of the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll. The Gophers defeated No. 5 St. Lawrence in two straight games, 5-2 on Friday and 7-2 on Saturday. The losses were the first of the year for the Saints, while Minnesota remains unbeaten at 13-0-1, the only team in the country without a loss.

    Providence turned in a surprising 5-2 win over No. 4 Dartmouth, and as a result climbed three spots to No. 6.

    Princeton enters the poll this week at No. 10, with a win and a tie against last-week’s No. 10, Mercyhurst. The Lakers dropped into the “receiving votes” category.

    Next week features a number of top flight conference match-ups, including No. 4 Dartmouth against No. 5 St. Lawrence and No. 2 Harvard goes to No. 7 Brown in a game that is hard-fought each year. But the highlight is No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth invading the new Ridder Arena for a pair of games against No. 1 Minnesota in a fight for WCHA supremacy.

    The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 15 voters, including 11 coaches of Division I programs and four women’s hockey writers.

    Denver’s Bull Has Suspension Halved

    By
    -

    The two-game suspension to Denver junior forward Max Bull was cut in half by the WCHA’s executive committee on Tuesday.

    Bull will sit out Friday’s non-conference game against Mercyhurst.

    WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod announced the suspension on Nov. 21, citing a collection of events over a two-week span. Bull appealed to the executive committee, which met on a telephone conference call.

    “Our first concern is for the safety of our players and we fully support the Commissioner in sending a strong message to all of our student-athletes in the WCHA that this type of on-ice behavior won’t be tolerated,” said P.J. Hill, the chair of the association and the faculty representative from Alaska-Anchorage.

    “But given that Mr. Bull has no prior track record during his three years as a student-athlete in this league, we feel a one-game suspension is sufficient under these circumstances.”

    Bull, a 21-year-old from Faribault, Minn., was involved in a knee-to-knee collision with Minnesota-Duluth forward Jesse Unklesbay on Nov. 9, a play on which Unklesbay’s left tibia was broken but no penalty was called. Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin asked that the league review the play, and, last week, Bull was issued a warning by the league.

    On Nov. 15, Bull, 5-foot-10 and 193 pounds, was given a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for checking Michigan Tech forward Bryan Perez from behind. A day later, he was whistled for a checking-the-goaltender minor penalty.

    “It was more of a culmination or adding up what happened more than any particular egregious situation,” McLeod said last week. “None of them were real horrible or flagrent acts or anything.”

    McLeod added: “I just had a gut feeling that, after the Duluth incident, I really didn’t get his attention.”

    The executive committee includes McLeod, Hill, Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi, Colorado College faculty representative Ralph Bertrand and UMD coach Scott Sandelin. Sandelin recused himself from voting because his team was involved in one of the events that led up to the suspension.

    In 14 games this season, Bull has two goals. He has nine penalties for 29 minutes.

    This Week in the SUNYAC: Nov. 21, 2002

    By
    -

    My Head Is Spinning

    Excuse me a moment. I need to sit down. I’m getting dizzy.

    There, I feel better now.

    I said this would be an exciting season. I didn’t imagine it would be this exciting.

    Look at what happened last weekend alone:

  • Cortland beat Plattsburgh. That hasn’t happened since disco was in and the hot personal computer was the Apple II.
  • Plattsburgh came within seven seconds of losing both weekend games, which would have been the first time the Cardinals did that in the SUNYAC since … since … well, since ice was created.
  • After Cortland beat Plattsburgh, it turned around and got drummed by Potsdam, which had turned around after losing to Oswego, which turned around only to blow a chance to beat Plattsburgh.
  • Let’s not forget who is in first place — Fredonia. By a game and a half. Undefeated. 4-0.
  • Four teams are tied for second place with Cortland just one point behind. Even this early in the season, this rarely happens in this league.

    • I think I better lie down.

    It’s Been A Lo-o-o-o-ng Time

    Jimmy Carter was President. The United States agreed to give up the Panama Canal. Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem. “You Don’t Have to Be a Star” was a hit song and Star Wars (the very first one) and Rocky (the very first one) were blockbusters. On TV, the show to watch was “Laverne & Shirley.”

    And nobody currently playing in the SUNYAC was even born.

    The year was 1977, the date was January 21 — the last time Cortland defeated Plattsburgh. Until this week.

    The Red Dragons took 1-0 and 2-1 first-period leads on goals by Tim Earl. However, each time Plattsburgh tied it up thanks to David Friel and Brendon Hodge, the latter on the power play.

    “It was an up-tempo game, up and down the ice,” said Cortland coach Tom Cranfield.

    In the second period, Kevin Watters and Dave Ambuhl gave Cortland a two-goal lead. Jason Kilcan got one back before the period ended. The third period remained scoreless, thanks to 15 saves by John Larnerd (42 for the game), to give Cortland a 4-3 win. A win that was a (very) long time coming, ending a 54-game losing streak to the Cardinals.

    “Their goalie played well. They played hard,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery acknowledged. “For the 15 years I’ve been here, we’ve always dodged a bullet every time we’ve been there. Back in 1992, we were down 5-1 going into the third period, and had to come back.”

    Plenty Of Other Excitement

    There was plenty of excitement to go around.

    Plattsburgh and Oswego played to a 4-4 overtime tie. Oswego was down 2-0 only to come back and tie it up.

    Emery recognized a missed opportunity: “When we were up 2-0, we couldn’t find the back of the net, couldn’t get that three goal lead which always breaks the back of your opponent. They played great and came back.”

    Then, down again at 3-2, Oswego scored two goals within 1:29 late in the third period to take a 4-3 lead. With 1:51 left in the third period, the Great Lakers thought they had pulled off a great comeback — until Plattsburgh pulled the goalie, and Brendon Hodge scored with just seven seconds left to tie it up.

    Despite nine shots in the extra period, the game ended deadlocked. Joe Lofberg made 41 saves for Oswego, and Craig Neilson 44 for Plattsburgh.

    The night before, Oswego jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Potsdam, and then had to hang on for a 5-3 win. Five different players scored while Tyson Gajda made 34 saves.

    Potsdam rebounded to blow out Cortland, 8-4. The Bears jumped out to 4-0 and 6-1 leads as Cortland had trouble getting ready for this game after the exciting win over the Cardinals. Mike Snow and Chris Lee each got a pair of goals as Potsdam unleashed 54 shots on net.

    Meanwhile, as all this was going on, Fredonia just kept motoring along. After a scoreless first period, the Blue Devils defeated Geneseo, 3-2, as Jim Gilbride scored a pair. The next night, they beat Brockport, 4-2. Gilbride notched another goal.

    What’s been the key to Fredonia’s surprise success this year?

    “We got great leadership from our three seniors, Will Hamele, Christian Fletcher, and Craig Florkowski. We’re playing a bit harder; playing more together,” explains Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith. “We’re trying to reach our potential every time out. If we reach our potential, we feel good things will happen.”

    Fredonia is back to playing a defensive style, as Hamele only needed to make 18 saves the first night, and 12 the second.

    “We’re staying out of the box, getting the puck in deep; it’s a combination of things,” said Meredith on the opposition’s low shot count.

    Meredith makes another point, “We’re hitting the magic number of three goals a game. Last year we lost three 2-1 games.”

    Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, later in the week Fredonia lost another 2-1 game to Hobart, with that solitary goal scored by Tom Briggs, coming in the last minute with the goalie pulled.

    The Blue Devils have a tough stretch coming up when they return to SUNYAC play facing Buffalo State, Plattsburgh, and Potsdam.

    Meredith has no illusions, “We’re not looking at standings. We’re not worried about standings. We’re trying to take things one period at a time.”

    In other action, after the loss to Fredonia, Geneseo came back to beat Buffalo State, 5-3. Buffalo State was coming off a 7-2 win over Brockport. Joe Urbanik scored four goals and added one assist, while Greg Prybylski got two. Nick Berti made 39 saves for the win.

    The PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout

    If there is a better tournament in Division III hockey, the facts sure don’t support it. Last year alone, three of the four teams in the Frozen Four were Great Northern Shootout teams. Ironically, that was the first year since the tournament began that the national champion was not a Shootout participant.

    So competitive is this tournament that in those first three years, the national champion did not win the Great Northern Shootout in the same season. But a PrimeLink team won the national championship seven years in a row until last season.

    In the past four years, 16 teams were in the Frozen Four. Fifty percent of the time, they were Great Northern Shootout teams. And the one team that hasn’t been to the Frozen Four — Potsdam — has won at least one game the past two years. There is no easy game in this tournament, and this year alone, all four teams are ranked in the top 11 in the nation.

    “A lot of people look at that tournament and say ‘Wow!'” Emery said.

    This year, the two SUNYAC teams square off in the first game. It doesn’t count in the standings, so does that mean the teams don’t care as much? Not according to the coaches.

    “It will be interesting to see how we can do with Plattsburgh,” Potsdam coach Glenn Thomaris said. “They are the cream of the crop.”

    “In Division III, you only play 25 games. As a coach, you can’t afford to take a night off, for one loss could mean losing home ice in the playoffs,” Emery said. “We’re their [Potsdam’s] big game. They will come in playing hard.”

    The tournament is hosted by Norwich this year, in a rink that is larger than normal size (200×90), and even larger than the smallish rinks at the New York schools. The coaches have mixed reactions to that.

    Emery, for one, is not worried: “When we began putting teams like Middlebury on our schedule, we started recruiting more of a skating team. I think the larger rink isn’t a problem for us any more.”

    Thomaris isn’t as confident: “They’re [Plattsburgh] good skaters, and the ice surface is larger. We’re a checking team. We’re going to have to up our play.”

    However, Potsdam does have some pretty good skaters, especially the first line of Eric Peter-Kaiser, Chris Lee, and its leading scorer, Anthony Greer. Of course, Emery is right: the Cardinals do have a lot of great skaters. If both teams are up — and there is no reason to think otherwise — this game should come down to defense and goaltending.

    No matter what happens that first night, each team gets the “privilege” of playing either Middlebury or Norwich. If you’re in the area, don’t miss it. However, you better already have your ticket because the best tournament in Division III hockey is sold out.

    No Rest

    As if the Great Northern Shootout wasn’t enough for Plattsburgh, the Cardinals host Elmira before that. Potsdam plays Hobart the weekend before. Other teams are also playing some tough nonleague competition over the Thanksgiving week. Buffalo State plays a pair at Manhattanville while Cortland faces off against Hobart and Hamilton, and Oswego travels to Williams. Oswego and Brockport also participate in holiday tournaments, competing in the Ben McCabe at Amherst and the Babson Invitational, respectively.

    Then, as if that weren’t enough, conference play resumes on Tuesday as the travel partners square off. There’s no rest for the weary as Plattsburgh and Potsdam play each other again just four days after their game in Norwich, this time at Maxcy Hall. Fredonia puts its undefeated league mark on the line at Buffalo State, and in another key game for second place, Oswego travels to Cortland.

    The Featured Word: Smitten

    At Oswego, a group of female fans hold up a large banner with a player’s name on it in large colorful letters — VASHAW. They hold this banner up the entire game. All three periods. In another section, a similar banner hangs on the wall just above another group of female students.

    Forward Matt Vashaw is very popular with the co-ed population. They are just smitten with him.

    Taking A Week Off

    I’m going to be taking the holiday week off.

    We wish you all a happy and very safe Thanksgiving Day. I’ll see you back here in December with lots of action to catch up on.

    This Week in the CHA: Nov. 21, 2002

    By Geof F. Morris
    -

    Figure This

    Okay, figure this: the CHA should be close this year, and Bemidji State has taken a point in every conference game it’s played. Four games, seven points. If it keeps that pace up, so much for my prediction of the regular-season champion having just 30 points this season.

    Bemidji is riding the hot play of its defense, which is anchored by goaltender Grady Hunt. All three of the Beavers’ wins have come in conference play, and if you’ll remember, coach Tom Serratore held Hunt out of games against Minnesota State because every conference game is important.

    Of last weekend’s sweep, Serratore said, “The whole weekend, it was playoff hockey.”

    Indeed.

    He Wuz ROBBED!

    Speaking of Grady Hunt, let me say that I’m disappointed that he didn’t win the USCHO.com Division I Defensive Player of the Week. Sure, Mike Mantua of Western Michigan scoring a goal was absolutely cool, but Hunt saved 63 of 64 shots last weekend in helping the Beavers win both games against Wayne State. Mantua scored a goal, but he didn’t even start both games last weekend.

    Tom Serratore didn’t lobby me to vote for Hunt, but he did have this to say:

    “Grady was on his A-game, and we’re just playing well defensively as a team. We’re not giving a lot of rebounds and keeping opponents on the perimeter. We need it right now as we haven’t found our offense. Our offense will find itself, but at a time like this, the defense is playing as well as its ever been.”

    If Hunt had won, it would have marked the first time that a non-Big Four player won the POTW. And heck, Hunt wasn’t the only good candidate — Joel Bresciani of Alabama-Huntsville put in a hat trick on Friday night and netted another for a four-goal weekend in anchoring the Charger offense in their sweep of Air Force. Both were the runners-up, which makes me wonder what CHA players are going to have to do to gain national notoriety.

    Looking Back

    BSU-WSU

    The home sweep by the Beavers was undoubtedly impressive. It would take an overtime game — imagine that! — but Bemidji did reinforce its early-season dominance of the conference with the wins.

    Tom Serratore had nothing but praise for the Warriors.

    “Guerrera was awesome,” he said. “Those were two brick walls out there. If you wanted to watch great goaltending and a ton of skill, Bemidji was the place to be this past weekend. Wayne State gave us two tough games, and we were lucky to win.”

    Hunt certainly stood tall, but freshman Ryan Huddy also made his presence known, scoring the game-winner in overtime on Saturday night with just a minute left in the game.

    “The thing with Huds is that he’s a freshman, but he’s playing like a veteran,” Serratore said. “He’s getting more playing time and being rewarded for his great play early.”

    Huddy is one of three Bemidji freshmen to win the conference’s Rookie of the Week designation so far this season, joining Kelly Shields and Peter Jonsson.

    “Those are guys that we didn’t know if they’d really pick it up or not,” Serratore said “It’s a good freshman class right now, there’s no question. Jonsson’s one of our steadiest defenseman. Kuharski has a lot of skill.”

    This class makes it two in a row for Serratore as the sophomores are strong too, highlighted by Andrew Murray and Riley Riddell.

    “It’s a good class, but it just follows up a really great class year,” Serratore said. “Our league is credible right now with kids when we’re recruiting, and they want to come play in the CHA. It makes for a better league.”

    AFA-UAH

    Air Force came in and played well at times, but home ice really spurred the Chargers as they swept at home.

    “This is our ice, and we have a duty to win here,” said captain Mike Funk.

    The wins continued the Falcons’ tough string into Huntsville; the lone Academy win came in a 1989 trip to Alabama.

    “It was a good weekend, but we’re still not doing the little things right all the time,” said Alabama-Huntsville assistant coach Lance West. “When we made mistakes, Air Force capitalized on them.”

    Home ice does help the Chargers, as they play on the slowest ice in the conference by a long shot. If those two games were played at the Cadet Ice Arena, it’s likely that the result would have been different.

    Findlay-Miami

    Hand it to the Oilers and to Jamie VandeSpyker — after the first four RedHawk shots went in past the senior goaltender, who was pulled after six minutes for freshman Jon Horrell, the Oilers took a 9-4 loss that could have demoralized the team.

    The next night, the Oilers traveled down to Oxford for the other end of the home-and-home weekend and played Miami to overtime in their own barn, losing 4-3 when Greg Hogeboom scored with just forty-nine seconds left in sudden death. Give the Oilers credit for coming back with two goals in the third to tie the game, and give VandeSpyker a lot of credit for shaking off a bad night and saving 37-of-41 shots.

    Looking Forward

    This weekend, Air Force will host Findlay. This will be a battle of two young teams who have had solid starts to the season. Findlay’s chemistry is vastly improved, and it’s clear that the team is playing with heart, but frankly, so is Air Force.

    The Falcons kept playing hard in Huntsville last weekend, and they undoubtedly will want to defend the home nest. This should be a fun series to watch, and I’m going to call a split.

    Wayne State will host Alabama-Huntsville this weekend. Sure, anyone can look at the CHA standings and be somewhat surprised that the Warriors are on the bottom, but it’s early and the Warriors were on the road. The Chargers have yet to win on the road this season, and the Warriors have been perfect on home ice.

    That would be a formula for a Warriors sweep but for the fact that that the Detroit boys have played four straight weekends, the last three on the road. The Chargers have kept their confidence through their tough opening stretch, and their legs should be a little fresher. The X-factor will be Jason Durbin, who played last weekend against Bemidji.

    “He looked solid out there,” Serratore said. “That line always gets their opportunities. They’ll get going.”

    Look for a split.

    Bemidji will take their four-game unbeaten streak out East to Clarkson, who recently fired coach Mark Morris. That the Golden Knights came out and played well against Harvard and Brown speaks well for them, and though the team has rallied around interim coach Fred Parker, the Beavers do have the top goaltender in Division I right now.

    “We’re going to go out there and represent the league as best we can,” Serratore said.

    You can expect that the Beavers will give a good effort. Another split.

    Lastly, Niagara travels to Western Michigan for a single game against the Broncos. Dave Burkholder’s team has to like the thought of returning to the Wolverine State after a split at Michigan State two weekends ago. Here’s hoping that the Purple Eagles can defend CHA pride and keep Mike Mantua from repeating as Player of the Week. We’re going with a Niagara win.

    This Week in the CCHA: Nov. 21, 2002

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    Grudge Of The Week

    Let’s get this out of the way, right from the top. Everyone has a grudge against Michigan, okay? Everyone. We’re going to start with me.

    I live in Columbus. It’s “Michigan Weekend” here. What does that mean? In a word, hell.

    It means that if the undefeated Buckeyes (we’re talking pigskin, and I apologize for that) lose to the Wolverines this weekend — even though they are otherwise undefeated — OSU football fans will damn Jim Tressel to hell and curse his seed forever more.

    It means that if the No. 2 Buckeyes win, Buckeye football fans will grouse about the Rose Bowl — because, in all likelihood, a Big Ten (even though it’s really 11 teams) will not go to the Rose Bowl. Avec!

    It means that students at The Ohio State University toilet paper their own campus.

    It means that — win or lose — there will probably be rioting in the undergraduate slums south of campus.

    Coming from a state (New York) with no discernable border-dispute hangover, this alleged rivalry is a mystery to me. Ohioans, in general, seem pretty nice. (Unless they’re driving, of course.) The further north they are, the nicer they seem to me, but that’s probably because I’m a northerner myself.

    Having visited Michigan once or twice, I can safely say that Michiganders are also very nice. In fact, I’m quite fond of Michigan. It’s (mostly) a lovely state where people know how to drive in the snow, dress for winter, and eat properly.

    But because of that school in A-squared, I can’t get a moment’s peace. People yell, “Go Bucks!” at random intervals. Every third car in the city is waving a clip-on OSU flag. Every local news outlet features (if not leads with) this weekend’s “big game,” and what’s worse is that the local newscasters are nothing more than cheerleaders for the Buckeyes.

    It’s like watching coverage of a national political convention, only more glassy-eyed.

    But my biggest beef with Michigan is not really a complaint about the Wolverines, not really a complaint about Michigan hockey — in fact has nothing to do with hockey whatsoever. My biggest grudge against “the whole state of Michigan” is that they egg their southern neighbors on. They fan the flames. They rub salt in old wounds. They know that Buckeyes can’t resist a good goading — them’s fightin’ words, dammit! — and the Michiganders perpetuate this mythical (and I mean that literally) rivalry for the sake of their own amusement.

    They enjoy working Buckeye football fans into a total froth, a display of sixth-grade social mores picked up by national news media and broadcast for the entire known universe to see.

    And my zip code is 43202. That’s my grudge against Michigan.

    Grudge Of The Week, Part Deux

    This is a legitimate, in-the-rink grudge, but these teams don’t meet this weekend. It’s a guarantee, though, Wolverine fans will be rooting for Ferris State this weekend, and Buckeye fans will positively love Notre Dame.

    No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 13 Ohio State

    Each team is 5-0-1 in league play. Each team is tied for goals scored (4.17) and allowed (1.67) in CCHA play.

    The last two undefeated teams in conference play, these two will be duking it out for the regular-season title.

    Red Berenson’s squad has been beaten up, shaken up by offseason departures, and shored up by a young goaltender who has started the season in fine fashion.

    John Markell’s team is deep — in a very scary way. The Buckeyes are fast, also a bit beaten up, and paced by a junior goaltender who is having a career season.

    As someone who’s had to eat crow on many occasions, I won’t mind if I’ll have to do so again in March, but something tells me that this one’s bankable. Especially since Michigan travels to Columbus March 7-8 for the first and only regular-season games between these two clubs, during the last weekend of regular-season play.

    One more thing about this hockey rivalry. When there’s a minute left in a given period at the Schott, and the announcer says, “There’s one minute remaining in the period,” the OSU fans — led by the OSU pep band — say, “And Michigan still sucks.”

    Every time. OSU could be hosting Nebraska-Omaha. Or Colgate. It doesn’t matter.

    Grudge Of The Week, Part III

    It’s Michigan week! Haven’t you heard?

    Notre Dame (4-3-2, 3-3-0 CCHA) at Michigan (8-1-1, 5-0-1 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich.

    The Wolverines lead this series 54-38-5, and Michigan is 6-1-3 vs. Notre Dame in their last 10 meetings.

    This week’s Notre Dame press release calls Yost Arena a “House of Horrors” because of Notre Dame’s lack of success there. Since returning to the CCHA in 1992-93, the Irish are 1-14-1 at Yost, and in their last 17 games there they’re 1-17-1.

    (It should be noted, however, that the “one” in question was significant: a first-round CCHA playoff upset in 1997-98.)

    The last time Notre Dame visited this horrorland, the Irish managed to rally from a 4-2 deficit and escape with a 4-4 tie, snapping a 13-game regular-season losing streak at Yost. That was two years ago. Last year, the Irish and Wolverines tied 3-3 Jan. 4, and Michigan beat Notre Dame 2-1 the following night. Both games were in South Bend.

    For the most part, Michigan has had Notre Dame’s collective number, but this is a new Irish team, a hard-working Irish team, one with a decent goaltender.

    Right?

    With a .903 save percentage in league games, Morgan Cey isn’t exactly a wall in net, but he’s more than good enough to keep Notre Dame competitive in every contest.

    The Irish are 1-1-1 in their last three games, having tied Boston College at home and split with Miami in Oxford. Lest you forget, the Eagles and RedHawks are both ranked teams. In their 3-1 loss to Miami Nov. 8, the Irish threw everything they had at Miami goaltender David Burleigh, but were still down 2-0 after the first and were outshot 37-22 in the game.

    The following night, the RedHawks turned the tables, but the Irish returned the favor. Cey made 44 stops en route to Notre Dame’s 2-1 win.

    Consistency is an issue with Notre Dame. If the Irish can keep the score close against high-powered offenses (Miami, and this Michigan team), they have a chance to take some points.

    Their opponents, however, will be loath to give anything away this weekend. Al Montoya, the CCHA Rookie of the Week, has garnered a .936 save percentage in six league games. Only FSU’s Mike Brown is hotter, and we know what he’s been doing this season.

    The Irish are significantly outmatched offensively and defensively; Michigan ranks second in both categories in league play.

    Special teams are a wash — but, again, it’s Notre Dame’s inconsistency (giving up a late shorthanded goal against Miami cemented that loss) that will be an issue.

    Both teams have potentially explosive forwards, but what Michigan has that Notre Dame lacks is significant depth. For a team that averages 4.17 goals per game in league play, there isn’t a single Wolverine tearing it up; Michigan is, however, scoring by committee, and that could be the undoing of the Irish this weekend.

    Picks: Michigan 4-2, 5-2

    Games Of The Week

    Was there any doubt?

    Ohio State (8-2-1, 5-0-1 CCHA) at Ferris State (9-3-0, 7-1-0 CCHA)
    Friday 7:35 p.m., and Saturday 7:05 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, Mich.

    Two hot offenses. Two solid defenses. Two great goaltenders.

    And neither team has played anyone the other has faced, so who knows what we’re really looking at this weekend?

    “It’s awful early in the year to label anything as a big series, but obviously we’re looking to see how each team stacks up against each other,” says Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels.

    It is difficult to say how this series will pan out. The Bulldogs have the best line in the CCHA at this point, perhaps the best line in college hockey: Chris Kunitz (10-13-23), Jeff Legue (8-7-15), and Derek Nesbitt (4-11-15). Mike Brown is hotter than hot, the defense is tight (the team is +101 in league play), and the entire team is fast.

    The Buckeye special teams are extraordinary, with a power play converting at 30.8%, a penalty kill that’s successful 96.9% of the time, and a goaltender who is making saves he never could just one season ago.

    “We think we have a great penalty kill,” says OSU captain Scott Titus. “We build off that as a team, the guys working out there on the ice. It definitely gets everybody into the game, even the guys who aren’t on the PK.”

    How will these teams match up? According to Daniels — who has seen OSU on tape this week — these should be two tightly contested games.

    “Both teams play a very similar style of hockey,” says Daniels. “They Forecheck similarly, there are a lot of the same philosophies, our systems seem to be similar.”

    One early weakness in the Ohio State game was OSU’s reluctance to take the body. Ever since Cornell came in and reminded the Buckeyes what it was like to get hit, OSU has had no problem with checking.

    Given that Ferris State is never reluctant to check, this series should be an especially physical one, and that may work to OSU’s advantage.

    Another advantage that Ohio State may have — and I stress the word may — is the squad’s depth. The Buckeyes don’t have a “first” line or a “second” line. The lines are labeled by color, and head coach John Markell himself will tell you that there’s no first line.

    The “blue line,” what might be considered a fourth line, consists of Chris Olsgard (3-0-3), Lee Spector (1-1-2), and J.B. Bittner (1-1-2). While this line doesn’t put up incredible numbers, what it does do is give the other three lines a break while maintaining the status quo on the ice.

    “From myself, Spector and Bittner, we love going out there and just banging,” says Olsgard. “That’s what we do and that’s what we’re out there for. It’s nice to actually pop in a couple of goals.

    “Bittner and myself are on the PK, and it gives some of the bigger guys — Umberger and May — a little bit more time to rest and get ready for their shift.”

    Titus adds, “Just seeing that line out there .seeing those guys go out there and busting their tails every shift, everybody builds off that. That’s the type of game they play. If they keep doing that we won’t lose anything [with lines] one through four.”

    Or lines red through blue, as the case may be.

    Kunitz attributes Ferris State’s early success to leadership and chemistry.

    “We’re doing basic things and jelling well as a team right now,” Kunitz told the CCHA earlier this season. “Those are the things you need for early success and we also like to be together, we like hanging out together away from the rink, so it’s just good team chemistry right now.”

    In the same interview, Brown said, “The defensemen have been awesome. It seems that they have a lot of confidence. It seems like a lot of the freshmen are playing like seniors, guys like Jeremy Scherlinck and Steve Later, so they’ve been really solid in front of me, and it’s been working out great.”

    Here’s a look at this top-shelf series, by the league game numbers:

  • Goals per game: OSU 4.17 (tie second), FSU 5.12 (first)
  • Goals allowed per game: OSU 1.67 (tie second), FSU 1.62 (first)
  • Power play: OSU 30.8% (first), FSU 28.6% (tie second)
  • Penalty kill: OSU 96.9% (first), FSU 91.4% (second)
  • FSU’s top scorer: Chris Kunitz (9-11-20)
  • OSU’s top scorer: Scott May (2-8-10)
  • FSU’s top ‘tender: Mike Brown (.948 SV%, 1.50 GAA)
  • OSU’s top ‘tender: Mike Betz (.936 SV%, 1.57 GAA)

    Ironically, no one wants to believe that these two teams are for real. Even though the Buckeyes had just two losses going into last weekend’s sweep of Michigan State — both to top-ten teams — it took that convincing sweep to get OSU ranked.

    Ferris State, which has always been a steady team, also fights perennially for respectability.

    “Every year I’ve been here we’ve been [picked] ninth I think,” said Kunitz earlier this season. “We don’t usually get too much respect until midway through the season or until we do something. We have to prove ourselves and we know that.”

    Neither team seems especially concerned about the proof, though. Each is focusing on its own task at hand.

    The Bulldogs have a definite home-ice advantage, as Ewigleben is a tough place to play and the fans are understandably rabid this season. “We enjoy a home-ice advantage because of our crowd,” says Daniels. “Being at home for us is an edge.”

    The Buckeyes lead this all-time series 48-30-10, but the Bulldogs lead in Big Rapids (20-19-3). OSU leads in the last 10 games, 6-3-1.

    FSU has the home-ice advantage. OSU may be a tad deeper. Everything else is a wash.

    Picks: I’m not picking against the Buckeyes — or the Wolverines — until they lose a league game. OSU 4-3, 5-4

    Eh, It’s Nothing New

    When Mike Mantua scored his first collegiate goal — from his own net, in Lawson Arena — last week in Western Michigan’s 4-1 win over Ferris State, there was one person who wasn’t particularly shocked.

    “We’ve seen it twice,” jokes FSU head coach Bob Daniels. “It’s getting to be a habit here.”

    On Feb. 28, 1998, Michigan State goaltender Chad Alban notched his only collegiate goal in MSU’s 6-3 win over FSU. He became the fourth collegiate goaltender to be credited with a goal, but the first to shoot the puck himself into the opposing net. Alban also registered an assist in that game.

    This time around, Mantua’s goal was an interesting postscript to Ferris State’s first league loss of the season.

    “The defining moment of the game was a penalty shot we had that Mike Mantua stopped,” said Daniels. “The game was 1-1 at that point.and the game was slowly turning in our favor. They had a big crowd there [at Lawson Arena] that night and when Mike stopped that shot that kind of rejuvenated the crowd and gave them an advantage.”

    Mantua said that he had “promised his teammates this year” that he was going to score a goal. He had done so while playing with the Des Moines Buccaneers, and he fired one wide of the Michigan net last season.

    “I just wanted to make sure I got the puck down flat and I wasn’t going to miss this time,” said Mantua, who became the fifth goaltender in collegiate history credited with a goal, the second to have shot the puck himself.

    By the way, Daniels thinks that Western has a pretty good team. “They’ve got a good group of forwards. A good collection of offensive talent there. Jim [Culhane, WMU head coach] would have to speak to it but from my perspective what’s been a little bit questionable has been their goaltending.”

    But not their offensive goaltending.

    A Couple of Things

    Much Ado

    Rumors have been flying about alleged suspensions of key Northern Michigan players. According to everyone I’ve talked to, no one knows anything.

    And everyone “key” made the trip to Omaha.

    Perhaps we’ll find out Friday night if there was anything to this. I’m doubtful.

    Skate With The Spartans

    If you are within driving distance of East Lansing and have a burning desire to spend time on the ice with the men in green and white, you can skate with the Spartans next Tuesday, Nov. 26, from 7 to 8 p.m. in Munn Arena.

    The annual event is sponsored by the MSU Blue Line Club. Says team captain Brad Fast, “This is one of our favorite events and a chance to meet our fans in person.”

    • This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 21, 2002

    By
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    Simply Shocking

    Pretty much everyone knew that Iona, a perennial contender in the MAAC going through the ultimate rebuilding year, would eventually win a game. Few, though, figured that it would come on the road last weekend at Mercyhurst.

    “Shocking” is the best word to describe the fact that a club holding an 0-9-1 record could walk into one of the toughest barns in the league, stay with the Lakers for most of the game (even have a lead in the third period) and pop the game-winner in overtime.

    “It was a great win for us at Mercyhurst considering we’ve always had tough games with those guys up there,” said Iona coach Frank Bretti, whose Gaels have many times played the Lakers with playoff and even championship implications. “They’ve always been meaningful games in the past and Mercyhurst has taken care of business when they’ve had to.”

    Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin, licking the wound a bit, had a premonition that the Gaels wouldn’t simply roll over and die.

    “When Iona was coming in here, I knew that they were much better than their record showed,” Gotkin said. “All you had to do was look at their tie at Alaska-Anchorage. They came in here as a last-place team and played very well, and deserved to win the hockey game.”

    Bretti, whose club generally plays well at home, noted that the distractions of being on campus were getting to his young team. So going on the road for the weekend to play Canisius on Friday night (a 5-3 loss) and Mercyhurst was a major factor in the Gaels’ success.

    “We were looking for a road trip,” said Bretti. “Sometimes with home games and distractions, things can hit you real fast. When you go on the road and put everyone in a hotel, you do things as a team. You have your video session and meals together and that becomes a positive. We’ve been a pretty good team at home in the past but we were looking to get out on the road.”

    The win has given Bretti’s team a bit of confidence that he’d like to see carried into this weekend’s games (a nonleague game Thursday against Massachusetts and a Saturday home game against Fairfield). But, according to the sixth-year coach, the most important change that he’s seen in recent days has been in game preparation.

    “I had said before that after each week of practice, I didn’t feel that our offense felt comfortable together,” said Bretti. “It’s hard to gain confidence when you don’t enter the weekend confident.

    “We still feel that if we’re able to get some cohesion going and can put in some effort we can win a game against anybody in the league. Mercyhurst is a formidable opponent, but entering the weekend we felt better about ourselves. It turned out that this weekend we scored eight goals on the road, which is fantastic.”

    Bretti attributes that offensive confidence to comfort. Sporting a lineup with as many as 12 freshmen on the ice each night has forced the Gaels to try to ingrain an offense while time to hand-hold and teach the system doesn’t exist.

    “With this tough schedule, a loss is a loss; anyone will tell you the same thing,” said Bretti. “You watch the film and say, ‘We could’ve avoided this and that.’

    Where it affects you is that when you put some pressure on the team, and then you’ve got veterans thinking they don’t step up, and freshman feeling bad for making mistakes. And that’s affected us.”

    Now, with players believing in themselves, the obvious challenge is to build off of momentum. The offense, though, isn’t the only area that needs some confidence.

    Between the pipes, Ian Vigier, the player who Bretti calls his best rookie, has seen much of the time in goal. That, though, will have to change this weekend, as Vigier will be out with as the result of a concussion he suffered taking a slapshot off the head in the Mercyhurst game.

    Mike Fraser, who as a sophomore two seasons ago showed signs of brilliance, was forced into action that night and played somewhat respectably — allowing three goals on 16 shots. Most importantly for Iona, though, the offense was able to pull out the victory, giving the goaltender his first win since January 12.

    “That’s what we’re hoping to do [build confidence] with Mike over this weekend because he’ll be playing both games for sure,” Bretti said. “It was great for him to hang in there and get us the ‘W.'”

    If goaltending and the Iona offense can come around, Iona could soon boast a record more indicative of the talent level of the team, rather than one that shows the club’s youth.

    “We’ve dug a hole for ourselves and now we have to get out of it,” said Bretti. “We’ll see what happens.”

    Weekly Awards

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Player of the Week: Brian Herbert, Quinnipiac Senior, F, Langley, British Columbia

    Herbert tallied six points (three goals, three assists) to lead the Bobcats to two wins last weekend. He had a four-point effort against Fairfield (3-1-4) in the inaugural MAAC Hockey League Challenge on Friday at Harbor Yard Arena. Herbert scored the game-winning goal, shorthanded, and added an empty-netter to seal the contest. A night later, he chipped in two assists in the victory over AIC. On the season Herbert has 5-14-19 overall and 4-10-14 in league play. Both totals lead the all MAAC players in scoring on the season.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Goalie of the Week: Jason Carey, Connecticut Junior, G, Oakdale, MN

    Carey tended goal for the Huskies in their first league win of the season, a 3-1 decision over Sacred Heart on Saturday. He stopped 34 shots on goal, including all 14 he faced in the third period while UConn scored three unanswered goals to rally for the win. He held the Pioneers to only one goal, the lowest by a Husky netminder this season. On the season, Carey is 2-2-0 with 3.71 goals against average and an .890 save percentage.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Rookie of the Week: Ryan Swanson, Iona Freshman, D, Maple Grove, MN

    Swanson tallied his first three career points in the Gaels’ weekend split with Canisius and Mercyhurst. The rookie defenseman registered a goal and two assists in the two games. His goal with just one tick left in the second period at Mercyhurst ended a streak of 39 straight Iona power plays without a goal. He also assisted an another Gael power-play goal in the third period of that game. On the season, Swanson has 1-2-3 both overall and in league play.

    Streaking Ahead

    Few people may realize it, but the MAAC is the home of two of the nation’s longest current streaks.

    Its two front-running teams — Holy Cross and Quinnipiac — haven’t visited the loss column in a while. Holy Cross has the nation’s longest current winning streak, having won seven straight. The last Holy Cross loss came October 18, a 6-4 loss at home versus Air Force. In fact, the Crusaders’ only two losses on the year came at home, the second a season-opening 6-1 defeat at the hands of Quinnipiac.

    The Bobcats themselves are riding a 10-game unbeaten streak, 8-0-2 over the stretch. That matches Colorado College’s 10-game unbeaten streak (same 8-0-2 record) for the best in the country. Quinnipiac’s last loss — its only loss of the season — came on October 11, 2-1 to Lake Superior State in the opening game of the Black Bear Classic in Maine.

    Both clubs may have a tough time keeping the streaks alive, though, in the coming weeks. Quinnipiac will face Northeastern, a club that has never lost to a MAAC opponent, Saturday night. That is the middle game of a three-in-five-days stretch for the Bobcats.

    Holy Cross has only a single game this weekend against Connecticut, but then travels to Findlay for two next weekend, to face a club looking to avenge a two-game sweep last season at Holy Cross.

    Road Trip

    Quinnipiac, having posted healthy success both in and out of league this season, will have one of its toughest tests over the next five days.

    Over that time frame the Bobcats will play three road games. The only issue is the geographic location of those games.

    After beginning Friday night at Army, QU faces Northeastern in Boston on Saturday night and then will play a midweek game in Orono, Maine, on Tuesday.

    Head coach Rand Pecknold tried to work out a travel agenda that made sense for his club, but in the end, the only sensible solution was to return to the campus in Hamden, Conn., after each game.

    “We thought about trying to find somewhere halfway between the Army and Boston to stay Friday night,” said Pecknold. “But to go from West Point to Boston, you drive five miles from campus. So we discussed it as a staff and decided to stay at home that night and let the players sleep in their beds.”

    All totaled the Bobcats will travel 1,216 miles, all by bus, over the next five days.

    If only there were frequent busing miles…

    Southern Connecticut Hockey Taking Off

    Last weekend’s Connecticut College Hockey Challenge, played Friday night at Bridgeport, Conn.’s Arena at Harbor Yard, was deemed a success by Sacred Heart head coach Shaun Hannah — along with Fairfield, one of the night’s two host schools.

    “From an event perspective, it was our largest attendance for a home hockey game in our nine-year history,” said Hannah. The overall attendance for the evening was 2,072, a little more than half of what the building’s primary tenant — the American Hockey League’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers — average.

    That, alone, may open the eyes of some in a market that is saturated with sporting events.

    “I think there’s a tremendous potential for a college hockey audience in southern Connecticut,” said Hannah. “Just getting out and talking to people about the MAAC and the showcase was the challenge. A lot of people didn’t know that it was even Division I hockey.”

    Hannah, alone with the other southern Connecticut schools Fairfield and Quinnipiac, hope that the education process can continue to grow in the area and develop each of the programs with it.

    Quinnipiac’s Pecknold said that he would like to see the area’s lone established Division I program — Yale — better embrace MAAC hockey.

    “We’ve been trying to get Yale to do something for years,” said Pecknold. “We never get past the hurdle with Yale, though, to get them to play us.”

    Though not in the same proximity as the Boston schools, Yale, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Fairfield are close enough to do something similar to a rousing success in Boston: the Beanpot.

    “We’d love to have Yale and Quinnipiac involved in a Beanpot-type atmosphere,” said Pecknold. “Look at how the Beanpot started a number of years ago. If you keep doing it over year it becomes a habit for people to go and the numbers go up each year.”

    One positive sign is that Yale this season will include two MAAC schools on its schedule, Connecticut and Holy Cross. But the issue for Quinnipiac remains battling Yale’s nonconference limitations.

    “With Yale only allowed to have seven nonconference games, it might not be realistic for them to play in a Beanpot-type tournament,” said Pecknold. “We’re working just to get them to play one game. It would be a great rivalry to start.”

    Another first

    Iona wasn’t the only club to pick up its first league win. UConn joined the Gaels on Saturday night in removing its name from the previously-winless. The Huskies used their best defensive effort of the season — allowing only one goal — to propel them to a 3-1 victory over Sacred Heart, splitting the two-game weekend series.

    “UConn played a really determined and hungry hockey game on Saturday night,” said Sacred Heart’s Hannah. “It’s difficult [to sweep], especially when it’s a home-and-home.

    “Every team in our league is so tough to play at home. You just have to look at everybody’s home record, and you’ll see sweeps are tough.”

    Lakers Still Searching for Identity

    While Iona can joyfully celebrate its first win of the year, its victim, Mercyhurst, is left scratching its head. Predicted to be first in the MAAC in the preseason poll, the Lakers have had a few bumps in the road, struggling in nonleague play. In the league, things seemed pretty solid until Saturday’s loss, one where Gotkin felt his club didn’t respect its opponent.

    “We just didn’t want it bad enough,” said Gotkin. “I think we felt like we were going to show up and win.

    “Bottom line is we weren’t prepared to play very well. I think we all, players and coaches have to accept that responsibility. But, the good thing is its just one game.”

    A team that has high expectations, the Lakers are still faced with breaking in seven new, though highly touted, recruits. That alone, says Gotkin, is a challenge.

    “We’re still trying to find our identity,” said Gotkin. “It’s a different team than we’ve had the last couple of years. Once we get going here a bit, I think we’ll be okay.”

    The advantage that Mercyhurst will have in the second half of the season is that all of its games are league games. The Lakers play only seven league games before the holiday break, leaving 19 for the new year.

    “I like [the fact that we have games in hand],” said Gotkin. “For us, we get to know one another on the road and in different environments and can become a team [in the first half].

    “The advantage we have is that you have some games in hand, but it’s only an advantage if you win those games.”

    Keep An Eye On…

    Filing this week under teams to watch out for: the Canisius Golden Griffs. A club that coach Brian Cavanaugh touted before the year as young seemed to live up to that name early on, dropping six straight to begin the year.

    But, with freshmen becoming more comfortable and the defense settling down, Canisius has rolled off wins in four of its last five games, including a sweep of Iona and Army at home last weekend. Dating back to last season, it’s only the fourth weekend sweep for the club in its last 21 tries.

    The challenge for the Griffs lies immediately ahead. This weekend Canisius travels to play an improved Bentley team twice, and then plays six of its next seven on the road, including two-game sets at North Dakota and Lake Superior. After that, though, the Griffs can focus on league play, with 15 of their final 17 against MAAC teams.

    This Week in the WCHA: Nov. 21, 2002

    By
    -

    A Preface

    Some thoughts this week, while watching Herb Brooks throw it in reverse.

  • Peter Sejna? Glad we got to see you for three years, anyway.
  • Alaska-Anchorage? Could someone help out Kevin Reiter? Anyone?
  • No points for Zach Parise last weekend? Good thing the Sioux are at home until the year 2042, or some yahoo in the crowd would start the “Overrated” cheer. You know the type.
  • Minnesota State-Mankato 7, St. Cloud State 6? Wait, I think Mankato just scored again. Then St. Cloud. Then Mankato again.
  • Two wins for North Dakota last weekend, moving the Sioux up to No. 3 nationally? At least Dean Blais didn’t have to do his best imitation of an Olympic javelin competitor this week.
  • And finally, Brooks said comments attributed to him by the Grand Forks Herald, saying he advised Parise to go to North Dakota because it has, among other things, the best tradition, are inaccurate? How many people does this make who have been misquoted when talking about Zach Parise? The kid’s explosive, on and off the ice.

    Fast Start

    At 6-0-2, Colorado College is off to the start most people thought it would have for the WCHA season.

    Last season.

    The Tigers were picked by the coaches to win the MacNaughton Cup before last season. Maybe they’re just realizing that potential a year late because they appear to be a strong team this season.

    But the way things have gone with injuries and 0-5 league starts in recent years, can this string last? Or is something bound to interfere with a CC challenge for the regular-season title?

    “As a staff and a team, we’re keeping everything in perspective,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “We have had some things go our way, but we’ve created some opportunities for ourselves.

    “Yeah, I think there’s going to be some things that are going to pop up. We’ve been healthy and we’ve had good goaltending and the special teams have been strong. I think it’s unrealistic to think that all three of those things in particular are going to continue the way they’re at.”

    Health is largely out of their control, but goaltending and special teams aren’t. The Tigers have a weekend off — giving Owens a rare chance to get out and do some scouting — and they take into that break the league lead in power play (29.4 percent), penalty kill (87.3 percent), goals scored (55) and goals allowed (24).

    Curtis McElhinney doesn’t have sterling numbers — 2.38 goals against average, .910 save percentage — but, so far, he’s been a fine answer to one of CC’s biggest questions at the onset of the new season.

    “Especially this past weekend, in a difficult building and against a very good team, he stood in there very calmly, very poised for a young sophomore,” Owens said of McElhinney earning a win and a tie at Minnesota. “It’s been one of our question marks, and he’s certainly risen to the occasion. We’ll see how things continue.”

    Owens added: “We’ve had a lot of different people scoring. For me, that’s the most pleasant surprise. We’ve been able to not just rely on [Peter] Sejna and [Noah] Clarke, even though they had big weekends at Minnesota. Throughout this 12 games, we’ve had a nice sprinkling of scoring from other players as well.”

    Blue on the Blue Line

    When it comes to issues on the Alaska-Anchorage team, Matt Shasby’s string without a goal to start the season probably doesn’t rank very high.

    But it’s indicative of a number of things with the Seawolves, who are mired in a nine-game winless streak.

    Shasby was expected to provide an offensive spark from the blue line. He has no goals and seven assists, but he’s not the only defenseman not putting goals in the net.

    The Seawolves have scored just 17 goals in 10 games this season — or 1.7 per game, not even enough to win if they had Colorado College’s top-ranked defense (the Tigers even allow an average of 2 goals a game).

    Shasby, as with all the UAA defensemen, has the green light to make plays happen from the blue line. It’s just not happening.

    “I don’t think that Matt is being as assertive as he probably was last year in terms of play with the puck in the offensive zone. And I’m not quite sure why,” Seawolves coach John Hill said. “He knows he has the green light, as do most of our defensemen. I know it’s not a confidence thing with him, he has confidence in his ability, he skates the puck up. But we’d love to see him involved more in the offense, whether it’s carrying the puck up and making plays or jumping in holes when they’re open and available.”

    While Seawolves defensemen have their own zone to worry about as well, it seems UAA would take a spark on offense anywhere it could get it.

    Matt Hanson, a freshman, has two power-play goals from the blue line, but that’s it as far as goalscoring from Seawolves defensemen.

    “We need our defensemen to become more active,” Hill said. “It’s something we work on in practice, it’s something that we talk about. We have three to four freshmen defensemen in the lineup, and I’m sure there’s a little bit of hesitancy on their part as they adjust to this level of play, and recognizing when it’s OK and when it’s not. But we’re certainly not holding them back.”

    Question of Consistency

    Some exams, sandwiched around a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Alaska.

    Maybe that’s not the best set of circumstances around which to try to coax a team to be more consistent. It is, however, Denver’s dilemma this week.

    It’s guaranteed no one trying to take the MacNaughton Cup away from the Pioneers is feeling especially sorry for them.

    But one of the things coach George Gwozdecky has noticed through 12 games this season is a struggle to put together six good periods on a weekend. They’ll go after that goal this weekend at Alaska-Anchorage, but after a week in which they’ve practiced only sparingly because of those exams.

    Then again, maybe changing up the procedure will be just what Denver needs after a loss and a tie in its last four games.

    “I sure would like to think that might happen, but I really don’t know,” Gwozdecky said. “Your first reaction is, ‘Oh boy. We’re not going to get a chance to practice on a regular basis and prepare properly like we normally do for an opponent because of exams and because of our travel schedule.’

    “And our travel schedule has been a challenge for us. It’s one thing to fly to Minneapolis and play Minnesota. … But when you have to go to Michigan Tech and then turn around and head up to Anchorage, that’s a little bit more of a demand because of longer travel hours, different modes of transportation.

    “I would hope that with the different week we’ve got this week as far as exams and less practices, perhaps it’ll give the guys an opportunity to concentrate on something else other than hockey. When Wednesday evening rolls around, exams will be over, the quarter will be over and really, our players and our staff won’t have to worry about anything other than hockey over the next six weeks because our winter quarter doesn’t begin until January.”

    The Pioneers have been good enough at the right times to start the season 9-2-1 — maybe it seems beneath them because they started last season 11-1. But Gwozdecky hasn’t seen it all come together yet.

    “We have not shown the great sign of consistency in our games,” he said. “We have played at times well in games and at times very poorly. The consistency of effort, the consistency of execution, the consistency of attitude has not been there for six periods over the course of a weekend. As a result, we have found ourselves at times struggling.

    “That’s the sign of a team that’s still in the development phase and still trying to establish an identity. … We’ve got some work to do to be able to develop that kind of consistency that will allow us to play well over six periods of a weekend.”

    Top Dog

    Isaac Reichmuth is looking like Minnesota-Duluth’s No. 1 goaltender.

    Reichmuth, a freshman, has made six straight starts for the Bulldogs, who are 3-3 in that time.

    In WCHA games, he leads the league with a .925 save percentage (.915 overall). He’s second with a 2.10 goals against average (2.39 overall).

    At first glance, that appears to add up to a track record for a top goaltender. The Bulldogs have senior Rob Anderson on the bench, but there’s something to be said for going with the hot hand.

    “He’s gone in and played very well for us,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said of Reichmuth. “But at the same time, we need two guys. Robbie went in in Denver and played very well, too. He’s given us an opportunity to win a lot of games, and that’s what you ask of a goaltender. For a freshman, I think he’s come in and played very solidly for us. Yet it’s nice to know we still have Robbie, who has proven he’s a good goaltender in this league as well.”

    On the Line

    If they weren’t before, seniors’ jobs in the lineup now are on the line at Alaska-Anchorage.

    Hill said he’s making that public knowledge so his four senior forwards, who have produced just four points, have fair warning.

    “It’s a message and it’s also reality,” Hill said. “I don’t want anyone to feel like they got caught off guard. I want them to know they received ample warning. I don’t want our seniors to be feel like they’re being made to be scapegoats, because they’re not. But I think if you look at their stats and you look at the production and where we’re at right now, I think it’s obvious that they need to do more.

    “I won’t hesitate to go with an all-freshman, sophomore and junior lineup. I can see us with one or two seniors in the lineup. If things are going to continue the way they are, there’s no sense in playing seniors. We might as well start developing for the future.”

    Joe Garvin and Morgan Roach have one goal apiece and Dan Gilkerson and Petr Chytka have one assist each while freshmen and sophomores carry the team.

    Freshman Ales Parez has eight points to lead the team. Sophomore John Hopson leads with five goals and freshman Curtis Glencross has four — that’s more than half of the team’s goalscoring in two players.

    Hill said his freshman class has produced as well as expected, and “they certainly can’t be faulted for our meager offense to date.”

    He added: “I can honestly say that our goalscoring woes are not a result of a lack of hard work. I think guys are trying; maybe pressing a bit too much. We’ve got to do a better job in the offensive zone down low of cycling and keeping the puck down low and finding someone open in the slot area. Until we can do that, it’s going to continue being a struggle.”

    More Fab Freshmen

    Along the same lines as the Seawolves: of Wisconsin’s 28 goals through 10 games this season, 10 have been scored by freshmen.

    Ryan MacMurchy is leading the way with four, while A.J. Degenhardt has three.

    “We said at the beginning of the year that we didn’t know where our goalscoring was going to come from and they were going to have an opportunity to get in there and show what they could do,” Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said of his freshmen at his weekly news conference.

    “We really had no choice. That is what has happened. They are doing the things we have asked them to do, and they’ve been put in situations where they have been able to be successful. That is the way we’re running our team: The kids who are playing well are the ones that will play.

    “It is interesting to talk to the guys — they like that. And I look at it like, ‘Why wouldn’t we do it like that?’ The coaches want to play their best players, and some nights that changes. But if you play well, you are going to play.”

    Hold the Phone

    Maybe, just maybe, Hill will get a few phone calls from parties interested in keeping Parise off the scoreboard.

    After all, his team was the first to do it for an entire weekend.

    “I doubt it,” Hill said of expecting those phone calls. “Most of that’s good goaltending.”

    Reiter, the Seawolves goaltender previously mentioned, was named the WCHA defensive player of the week for stopping 68 of 73 shots last weekend against North Dakota, seven of them from Parise.

    Unfortunately for him, it’s just about the only reward he’s received this season. He’s 1-6-1, a testament to UAA’s lack of scoring more than his goaltending.

    Hill said he feels sorry for Reiter.

    “Kevin has played outstanding for hockey all year for us, not only stopping pucks, but he’s got excellent stick skill,” he said. “He can get a puck out of the zone, he can get it up to one of his teammates to kick-start the transition. Many times we’ve been shorthanded, teams have dumped it in, it’s on the stick and it’s out.

    “He certainly deserves better than what he’s gotten so far. I’m very happy for him. He’s very confident in his game right now. He’s got a lot of fire and focus to him, and I know our coaching staff and his teammates really thrive on that.”

    Win Some, Lose Some

    The good news for UMD: Freshman forward Justin Williams is eligible to play after the school won an appeal with the NCAA.

    The bad news: He’s out for about a month with a broken foot.

    “It’s a tough situation for Justin because of the uncertainty of the thing. It was either one extreme or the other,” Sandelin said. “You really felt for him because, when it’s out of your hands and people are making decisions, you’re on pins and needles.”

    School officials were caught by surprise when the NCAA required a grade reported from a 17th core course — the Bulldogs had been planning for 16. A core course, under NCAA definitions, is a college prep course in English, mathematics, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, computer science or nondoctrinal religion/philosophy.

    With that 17th grade figured in, Williams didn’t meet eligibility requirements.

    Williams’ high school sent the NCAA a letter saying that 17th course wasn’t in fact a core course, and UMD won that appeal.

    Meanwhile, the school had to wait for two weeks on a separate ruling on a Williams test, which it also won.

    Recruiting Roundup

    A look at who signed with what teams in the early signing period:

    Alaska-Anchorage got defensemen Chad Anderson and Mark Smith, who should see ice time right away with seniors Matt Shasby and Steve Suihkonen leaving.

    Colorado College signed three players: forwards Braydon Cox and Jamie Hoffmann and defenseman Lee Sweatt.

    Defenseman Matt Carle chose Denver over hometown UAA, Minnesota and Michigan State. The Pioneers also landed forwards J.D. Corbin and Adrian Veideman. Denver, however, hasn’t heard from forward Ty Morris, who has not passed his SAT, according to the Denver Post

    Michigan Tech got three letters of intent, from defenseman Lars Helminen, forward Jeric Agosta and goaltender Kevin Hachey. Hachey will join the team in the 2004-05 season.

    The family connections continue at Minnesota, where forward Ryan Potulny will join brother Grant next season. Also, defenseman Mike Vannelli, son of Gophers 1974 and 1976 championship teams member Tom Vannelli, will wear maroon and gold. Forward Danny Irmen and defenseman Jake Taylor also signed last week.

    Minnesota-Duluth got a letter of intent from forward Bryan McGregor, but that appears to be all for the early signing period for the Bulldogs.

    Defensemen Chad [nl]Brownlee and Lucas Fransen signed with Minnesota State-Mankato. Forwards Travis Morin and David Backes earlier committed to the Mavs.

    St. Cloud State signed five players, three of them defensemen: Chris Anderson, Grant Clafton and Justin Fletcher. The Huskies also signed forwards Gary Houseman and Nate Raduns. As of Thursday morning, they were waiting by the mailbox for one more signed letter of intent.

    A legacy will continue at Wisconsin as well. Defenseman Ryan Suter joins defenseman Jeff Likens and forward Andrew Joudrey as Badgers signees, and will join father Bob and uncles Gary and John as UW players.

    Meanwhile, North Dakota is waiting on a routine compliance check before releasing the names of its signed players.

    On the Shelf

  • At Denver, goaltender Wade Dubielewicz is being evaluated day by day, Gwozdecky said, to see if he’ll be able to play this weekend at UAA. Dubielewicz suffered a leg injury last weekend, giving Adam Berkhoel a relief opportunity in Friday’s game.

    “I think both of these guys are old enough and experienced and mature enough to understand that if something does happen where they’ve got to play on alternate nights or they’ve got to handle both games, it’s not going to change their preparation,” Gwozdecky said, “it’s not going to change the way they approach each and every game.”

    Also, senior forward Matt Weber won’t make the trip to Anchorage because of a shoulder injury. He may return in time for next weekend’s nonconference games.

  • At St. Cloud State, goaltender Jake Moreland’s right knee shows no ligament damage and doesn’t need surgery, the St. Cloud Times reported. He should play this weekend at UMD.
  • At Minnesota-Duluth, forward Jesse Unklesbay, who’s out with a broken left tibia, joins Williams on the sidelines.

    In Other Words

    St. Cloud State dropped out of the USCHO.com poll this week. It’s the first time the Huskies have been unranked since March 20, 2000, when the poll was only 10 teams. … Michigan Tech coach Mike Sertich on this weekend’s series with Minnesota in the team’s weekly news release: “We’re going to hop on the bus Thursday, fill up on some pasties on the way down and let the chips fall where they may. I think the pasties can make the difference, honestly.” … In each of its losses this season, Denver has allowed two power-play goals. …

    Jim Archibald and the 1947-48 and 1958-59 North Dakota teams will go into the school’s athletics hall of fame this weekend. Archibald played from 1981 to 1985; the 1947-48 team was the school’s first at the Division I level; and the 1958-59 team won the national championship. … They’re streaking: Minnesota’s Troy Riddle has a 12-game point streak, the Gophers’ Thomas Vanek’s point streak is at six games and UMD’s Junior Lessard’s is seven. … St. Cloud State’s Moreland is 5-0 this season, but Jason Montgomery is 0-4-1. The Huskies tried switching the rotation order last weekend, but Montgomery got the loss on Friday and Moreland picked up the win on Saturday. …

    WCHA players of the week were CC’s Sejna on offense, UAA’s Reiter on defense and UMD’s Reichmuth as the top rookie. … You want balance? CC has scored 18 goals in the first period, 18 in the second and 19 in the third this season. The Tigers have allowed eight in the first, nine in the second and seven in the third. Most other teams have large jumps in goal figures between periods. … Last Friday’s 7-6 victory over St. Cloud State was Minnesota State-Mankato’s first over the Huskies as a Division I team. The Mavericks last beat St. Cloud in the 1986-87 season. In Friday’s game, the Mavs were 4-for-7 on the power play. … The average WCHA attendance this season is 6,290. Last season’s average was 6,814.

    • This Week in the ECAC: Nov. 21, 2002

    By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
    -

    Two full weekends of ECAC play have gone by and not much has really been figured out. The only thing we know is that anything can happen in the wild and wacky ECAC. Speaking of wild and wacky…

    Smell The Roses

    If you pay any attention to ECAC hockey, you surely know that the big Harvard at Cornell matchup will take place Friday night at Lynah Rink. We’ve talked at nauseam about the fish, and everyone knows that Big Red fans hate Harvard.

    The fact that the Cornell student newspaper ran a story on Thursday entitled “Harvard — You Still Suck” and then the following day provided a how-to guide for students planning to smuggle fish into the rink speaks clearly to that point.

    Then there are the rampant and always entertaining Message Board posts about the rivalry. If you believe everything that is typed, you now know that Sam Paolini’s mother won the 50-50 raffle at last February’s game, you think that the Harvard coaching staff has been trying desperately to move the game to a neutral site and that the movie Love Story was a work of “Satan or his closest corporeal counterpart.”

    The first statement may well be true, the second is all false and the third is a matter of opinion. What is without question is the fact that the Harvard and Cornell matchup will be entertaining for no other reason than that you have two of the best teams in the league facing off.

    That — and not the number of fish thrown on the ice or mystifying stories made up — is what creates a true rivalry between two schools.

    “When you play certain teams in big games, there’s a natural competitive rivalry,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni, whose team is coming off a weekend sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence. “You create a hostility that is good and healthy; you saw it with Clarkson [last weekend].”

    Mazzoleni has to feel good about this weekend after his team did something that it hasn’t done in eight years — sweep the North Country road trip. The last time it achieved that feat was back in January 1993. In doing so, the Crimson also received some pretty high praise from opposing coaches.

    “They’re the best team in the league — maybe overall, but certainly the best team in the league with the puck,” said St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh, following a game in which his team was routed, 6-1.

    Leading the charge last weekend was Tim Pettit, who scored three goals (two shorthanded) and two assists to earn ECAC Player of the Week honors. Harvard has now won four straight games, which marks the longest regular-season win streak in Mazzoleni’s career there. And right behind Pettit in the scoring column for Harvard is Dom Moore, who will be skating in his 100th career game on Friday night against Cornell.

    The Big Red had a season-opening four-game winning streak, but that came to a halt against Dartmouth last Saturday. After Friday’s clobbering of Vermont, the Big Red had reached “juggernaut” status, but the Big Green brought them down to earth.

    “We played very uninspired hockey for the first two periods,” Cornell head coach Mike Schafer said. “Our guys have to take a look at themselves and ask why they didn’t bring that intensity and focus.”

    But if there’s any doubt that that both the intensity and the focus will be there on Friday, look no further than the fish the Cornell students will be trying to smuggle into Lynah. It should not take long for the Big Red to get right back on the wagon.

    So when the excitement over the rivalry finally calms and the teams continue on their way through the season, the game will be remembered for what it is — a showcase of some of the best, budding talent in the ECAC.

    Asked about his team’s rise to the top, Mazzoleni emphasized the point that a strong league invariably helps propel individual teams into the national spotlight.

    “The ECAC needs Harvard and it needs teams like Vermont to get back up there,” Mazzoleni said. “The league hasn’t had the number of top teams that it had in the past. St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Cornell have pretty much done their yeoman’s share of staying at the top, but we need the Harvards of the world to be there.”

    Seeing Blue

    Yale coach Tim Taylor was asked: if told three months ago that he would have a 3-1 league record at this stage of the season, would he be happy?

    The veteran coach cautiously answered in the affirmative.

    “I guess if you had asked me if I would be satisfied with a 3-1 record at this point, the answer would have been yes,” said Taylor, whose team is coming off a weekend sweep of RPI and Union. “I always expect that we’ll do well and win. I never know in what fashion, but I guess that I am one of those optimistic guys who think that we’ll win every game we play.”

    It’s hard not to be optimistic if you’re a Yale fan, after the team’s explosion out of the gates this season. Pundits expected the Bulldogs to be better, but few anticipated the team stealing some of the spotlight away from top contenders such as Harvard and Cornell. Through four league games, Yale has scored 20 goals, and over the past three contests has posted an average winning margin of four goals.

    “We’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of success and I think that we’ve got an exciting offensive team,” explains Taylor. “We are pretty opportunistic and creative in the offensive zone.”

    When you talk about offense, the immediate focus is on last year’s ECAC Rookie of the Year Chris Higgins, who has been thus far debunking the infamous sophomore jinx. Higgins has scored a point in every game and enters this weekend’s series with seven total points, including one shorthanded tally. However, lurking in the shadows of Higgins is a well-balanced offense that hasn’t really been present at Yale in quite some time and is probably the underlying reason why the team has been so successful this year.

    “What’s nice about the current situation is that we find ourselves in a situation where there is more to worry about than just Chris Higgins,” said Taylor. “He’s our go-to guy, and he’s a comparable offensive threat to a guy like Jeff Hamilton, but he’s a different player than Jeff. There were times in Jeff Hamilton’s days when if they shut down the top line, they made it difficult for us to score.”

    To Taylor’s point, the team’s leading scorer is not Higgins, but junior Ryan Steeves (2-6–8), and it is Christian Jensen who tops the team in game-winning goals with two. Those two players have teamed up with senior Evan Wax to become the most productive line for the team.

    “It’s harder for teams to concentrate on just one line,” said Taylor. “Look at the Union game — it was a terrific game and one where Chris was kept off the goal-scoring sheet. We’ve got a situation in that the goal-scoring threat is spread throughout our lineup, so that creates problems for our opponents.”

    The Bulldogs will face another tough challenge this week when they hit the road for a series against Dartmouth and Vermont — both unpredictable teams. The Big Green showed signs of offensive life last week by knocking off the Big Red, while the Catamounts continued their up-and-down struggle (especially in net) by splitting their series against Cornell and Colgate.

    Although offensively Yale is clicking, the team has yet to prove itself defensively and between the pipes. Scoring droughts happen, so Yale’s true character test will come when it faces that obstacle.

    Says Taylor, “As a coach that places a high priority on defense, I think that we have a long way to go before we’re the hockey team that I think we should be.”

    Don’t Forget

    While the focus this weekend is on the big Harvard-Cornell matchup and Yale’s start, the others involved in ECAC matchups may have some momentum going as well.

    The Big Green swept last weekend after opening the season with two losses on the road. Vermont picked up a win on Saturday night against Colgate after a disastrous loss the night before to Cornell to gain momentum coming into the weekend. And Princeton picked up its first win of the season over Rensselaer on Saturday, holding off the Engineers late. Brown bounced back from a loss to Clarkson to down St. Lawrence on Saturday.

    We’ll see who can keep it up, and who can rebound.

    Outside the Box

    The four teams not in ECAC competition this weekend have to wait to get back in. It wasn’t a great Saturday for any of these four teams, as all suffered a loss the last time out. Going out of the conference gives these teams another chance to tune up, with ECAC games in hand when they come around.

    It’s Over

    Well, it’s officially over at Clarkson: the Mark Morris era.

    For those of us who are ECAC fans, it can’t be denied that the Morris era was a successful one at Clarkson.

    Three ECAC titles, multiple 20-win seasons, NCAA appearances.

    It still unclear what exactly happened on that Saturday afternoon, not to mention what happened in the ensuing 10 days, but one thing is certain: we’re glad it’s over.

    There are still questions to be answered, especially after the comments by Morris last Friday evening — a lot that hasn’t come out. Who knows when it will or if it ever will.

    Either way, we wish Mark the best. He’s always been professional and courteous in our dealings with him and though there were a few tense moments, we have nothing but the utmost respect for him. We hope you land somewhere, doing what you love, soon.

    This Week in the CHA Women’s League: Nov. 21, 2002

    By Craig Roberts
    -

    Like practically any coach, when Niagara mentor Margot Page was asked how her team was playing, she replied, “We could be better.”

    But by no means is she disappointed in her team’s 7-3-0 start coming off its third-place finish at last year’s NCAA Frozen Four.

    “We just need to be more consistent,” Page said. “It’s the little things right now and we need to tighten up a little defensively.”

    After facing just one ranked opponent in its first 10 games, a two-game series against No. 6 Brown in which the Purple Eagles earned a split, Niagara is facing a four-game stretch in which it will face No. 4 Dartmouth and No. 8 New Hampshire, the latter in a two-game series on the road.

    "We knew what we had. … We’ve been pleased with our goaltending."

    — Niagara coach Margot Page, who lost stalwart Tania Pinelli in net after last season.

    Although Page feels her team could be playing better defensively, and that it will need to be sound in its own zone in its next four games to be successful, she’s been pleased with the play of junior Jennifer Mascaro and freshman Breanne Doyle in goal.

    After the Eagles lost Tania Pinelli — who had played 124 games in four years — following last season, many thought goaltending would be a weak spot. Page disagreed with that sentiment from the start.

    “We knew what we had,” she said. “We were confident Jennifer could step in and play and we knew Breanne was good as well. We’ve been pleased with our goaltending.”

    The duo has combined for a 2.30 goals against average and a .918 save percentage, excellent numbers for a tandem which had 353 minutes of collegiate experience entering the season.

    Balanced scoring has also been important for Niagara. Seventeen of 19 skaters have scored points this season and seven different players have accounted for the team’s seven game-winning goals.

    Where are the Purple Eagles at this season?

    Page feels they’re on the right track. With a few adjustments here, and a couple of breaks there, they can get moving along that track over the next two weeks.

    Mercyhurst Gets Respect From Pollsters

    Despite two home losses over the weekend to No. 7 Wisconsin, Mercyhurst retained its No. 10 position in this week’s USCHO poll.

    The 3-2 and 4-2 losses to the Badgers snapped the Lakers’ six-game winning streak, but they have a chance to redeem themselves this weekend with a two-game home series versus Princeton, a team which has been receiving votes in the poll all season.

    December matchups with Brown and Niagara, leading into the Christmas break, will be key contests in positioning Mercyhurst for a second-half run towards a conference title and Frozen Four aspirations.

    CHA “House”Hold Hints

    CHA teams are 17-13-0 against nonleague teams this season … Three of the four teams are .500 or better and Findlay, at 3-5-0, has three nonconference losses to ranked opponents … The Oilers allowed just three goals but lost twice, 2-0 to Connecticut and 1-0 to Providence … Freshman goalie Jessica Moffat gave up just two goals in the two games while stopping 72 shots, including a school-record 52 in the loss to Providence … Mercyhurst senior defenseman Randi Pilger had her streak of 107 consecutive games played ended when she missed the Lakers’ series with Wisconsin due to injury … Teammate C.J. Ireland has played in 109 consecutive games, having played in all of the team’s games during its first four seasons … Wayne State is 0-for-35 on the power play this season and has not scored on its last 40 opportunities, dating back to last season.

    CHA Awards

    Offensive Player of the Week–Heidi Tallqvist, So., F, Findlay
    Defensive Player of the Week–Desirae Clark, So., G, Mercyhurst
    Rookie of the Week–Samantha Shirley, Fr., F, Mercyhurst

    Coming Up

    Niagara at Connecticut (Friday)
    Niagara at No. 4 Dartmouth (Sunday)

    Niagara is 3-0-0 versus Connecticut and 2-5-0 versus Dartmouth … Last season marked the Eagles’ first meetings with UConn, as they swept the season series … Niagara has played five of its seven games against the Big Green in Hanover, N.H., posting a 1-4-0 record at Thompson Arena … Eagle senior forward Melissa Hamilton played in her 100th career game Saturday … The Huskies posted an overtime victory, Nov. 9, at Northeastern, Niagara’s opponent this past weekend … Dartmouth senior Jillian Rockoff also played in her 100th career game over the weekend, a mark which fellow senior Carly Haggard will reach this weekend.

    North Dakota at Findlay (Friday-Saturday)

    These teams are meeting for the first time … Findlay freshman goalie Jessica Moffat may have taken over the team’s number-one position after stopping 72 of 74 shots in a pair of shutout losses over the weekend … Her 1.16 goals against average and .963 save percentage are tops among goalies in the four Division I conferences … Sophomore teammate Heidi Tallqvist leads the nation with four power-play goals … Three UND players — juniors Abbey Strong, Stasia Bakhit and Sherrie White — are returning to Findlay for the first time after transferring from the school following the 2001-02 season … Bakhit is the Sioux’s leading scorer with three goals and six points.

    Princeton at Mercyhurst (Saturday-Sunday)

    Princeton leads the all-time series 3-1-0 … The Tigers won both meetings in Erie, Pa., during the 2000-01 season … The Lakers’ loss Sunday was its first this season when scoring the game’s first goal, after winning their first eight games when taking a 1-0 lead … This weekend’s series will be the final home games of 2002 for Mercyhurst … Five players sit atop the Lakers’ scoring chart with eight points, four of whom are underclassmen and none of whom are seniors … Princeton’s four-game winning streak came to an end over the weekend with 2-1 (ot) and 7-3 losses to No. 8 New Hampshire … The Tigers own two wins over CHA teams this season, opening the season with 5-0 and 2-0 home wins over Wayne State and Findlay, Nov. 2-3.

    Elmira at Wayne State (Saturday-Sunday)

    Elmira downed Wayne State 5-2 last season in the teams’ only previous meeting … All eight of the Warriors games this season seemingly have been decided in the first period … WSU is 3-0-0 when leading after 20 minutes and 0-5-0 when trailing after the first period … While the Warriors are 0-for-35 on the power play this season, the Eagles are 29-for-29 killing penalties … Elmira, the defending NCAA Division III champions, has gotten off to a 7-0-0 start this season, outscoring opponents 57-0.

    This Week in Division III: Nov. 21, 2002

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    Finally

    The 20 teams from the ECAC East and NESCAC get under way this weekend, 35 days after Manhattanville and Geneseo kicked off the Division III season back on October 18.

    Has the wait been hard for those teams?

    “Not really,” said Colby head coach Jim Tortorella. “That’s the situation in our league. You know the parameters. The season starts the third Thursday in November and you plan accordingly.”

    The NESCAC and ECAC East are the only leagues that play hockey exclusively in the winter sports season as defined by the NCAA. While hockey is considered a multi-seasonal sport by the NCAA, the ECAC East and NESCAC voluntarily limit the length of their seasons, eliminating conflicts for multi-sport athletes.

    “I think the Division I season is too long, with too many games,” Tortorella said. “To each their own, but I think the Division III season that some of the leagues are playing is too long.”

    Top-ranked St. Norbert has already played nine games, or 36 percent of its schedule. The NESCAC and ECAC play one fewer game than NCHA teams, so they’ll be busy getting in their 24 games before the 22nd of February when the regular season ends.

    Other than their holiday break from December 8 to January 4, and a single game on Saturday, January 4, the White Mules will play a pair of games every weekend from now until the end of the season.

    “That holiday delay is actually harder than the one at the beginning of the season,” Tortorella said. “You start practice for the season preparing for the first seven games. Then you have a long layoff, and when you come back, you need to prep all over again.”

    There are currently two NESCAC teams and one ECAC East squad in the USCHO.com Division III Men’s poll, but now that play is underway, who winds up there from week to week is anyone’s guess, according to Tortorella.

    “[The NESCAC] is strong from top to bottom,” he said. “Middlebury is still the team to beat, but I think it’s more wide open. The next six or seven teams — Bowdoin, Hamilton, Colby, Williams, Trinity, Amherst — are all going to be very good. And the next set of teams can beat anyone in the league.”

    According to Tortorella, this will be evident come playoff time, where a new structure has been implemented.

    “Now it’s the top eight instead of the top seven. Even if you finish first, you have to win a game to be able to host the semifinals and finals. And the eighth place team definitely has a chance to knock off the first place team. You have to be ready to play every game.”

    Wild and Wacky

    It seems like I say this every year at this time, but the Division III season is off to an unpredictable start. The best example of this is Cortland’s 4-3 win over Plattsburgh. It was the first time the Red Dragons had defeated the Cardinals in 57 attempts a streak that dates back to January of 1977.

    The next night, Plattsburgh came within seven seconds of losing again, needing Brendon Hodge’s late goal to tie Oswego. The loss and the tie guarantee that the Cardinals will finish with their lowest league point total in five years.

    Other shockers include Lawrence’s win over Marian, the Sabres’ first loss in league play in almost two years. The next weekend, the Sabres pulled the upset special, downing Elmira 5-4 in overtime after losing 10-2 to the Soaring Eagles the night before.

    And in what may be the worst start ever by a good team, Gustavus Adolphus is 0-7. The Golden Gusties were a goal away from the NCAA tournament last season and were picked to repeat as runners-up in the MIAC preseason poll. Gustavus has lost four games by a single goal, twice in overtime. Things don’t get any easier this weekend when the Gusties square off against No. 14 St. John’s.

    Turkey Tournament Time

    There’s plenty of hockey action the weekend after Thanksgiving, some of it of the tournament variety. Since there’s no column from me next week, here’s a quick preview:

  • The Primelink Great Northern Shootout (11/29-11/30) — This is usually the best tournament in Division III, and this season is no exception. All four teams, Norwich (No. 2), Middlebury (No. 5), Plattsburgh (No. 7) and Potsdam (No. 11) are ranked.

    Three of the four teams were in the Division IIII Frozen Four back in March. With the exception of Potsdam last season, the host team has won the tournament each year. Norwich hosts this time.

  • The Connecticut College Tournament (11/30-12/1) — Features Johnson & Wales, Fitchburg State, Wesleyan, and the host Camels.
  • The Babson Invitational (11/30-12/1) — Salve Regina, Stonehill, Brockport and the host Beavers square off.
  • The PAL Cup (11/30-12/1) — St. Anselm hosts Assumption, New England and S. New Hampshire.
  • The Ben McCabe Tournament (11/30-12/1) — Hosted by Amherst, this one also includes Trinity, Oswego and Wentworth.
  • The Face-Off Tournament (11/30-12/1) — Hosted by Bowdoin on Saturday and Colby on Sunday, the fixed-pairing format also includes Curry and the Under-18 U.S. National Team.

    Not That It Matters

    I’m polishing off my kids’ leftover Halloween candy as I write this, and this whole “Fun Size” thing is bugging me. You know, the inch-long candy bars emblazoned with the slogan “Fun Size!” on the side.

    Just what the heck is “Fun Size”? Seems to me they’d be more fun if they were large enough to actually take a bite out of ’em, instead of popping them like peanuts. And is it my imagination, or does “Fun Size” get smaller every year? What fun is that?

    And finally, isn’t it ironic that the symbol Microsoft is using to promote its new MSN 8.0 service is a bug?

    • This Week in Hockey East: Nov. 21, 2002

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    When Early Might Be Too Early

    Verbal agreements between schools and recruits have been standard operating procedure for a long time. Coaches can initiate contact with high school players beginning on the July 1 that leads into their senior year, but until the November early signing period when both parties can sign a National Letter of Intent, all agreements are verbal.

    The July 1 date is firm unless a student-athlete initiates the contact. In those cases, a school has every right to respond.

    In recent years that has led to earlier and earlier verbal agreements even to the point where players not yet in their sophomore year of high school are consummating a deal with their school of choice. One example is Jack Johnson, who prior to entering the 10th grade at Shattuck-[nl]St. Mary’s, verbally agreed to attend Michigan, arriving at the school in the fall of 2005.

    Yes, you read that right. A commitment by a player not yet a sophomore in high school for the fall of 2005. A comparable example closer to Hockey East is Chris Bourque — yes, that Bourque — verbally agreeing to attend Boston University.

    Most coaches see this trend as a bad one, fraught with dangers, but potentially a necessary evil to keep up with the Joneses.

    “I think it’s unfortunate that this is developing because I’d be very surprised if students that aren’t even in their junior year, let alone their senior year, are able to make the educated decision,” says Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “They’re very impressionable at that age. I don’t think they’re ready to make those types of serious decisions. Those are big decisions for a family where you’ve got to spend four years at a university. It can change your life in different ways.

    “A lot of these guys that are making these decisions can’t really go wrong, obviously, if they’re picking a BU or a Michigan. Those are great choices, but, at the same time, at that age you don’t know what’s best for you. You don’t know what the best fit is. There are other choices that are excellent and if you don’t give yourself that opportunity and certain teams are pushing students to make those decisions at that young age, I don’t think that’s right either.

    “[At Maine] we’re not getting into that right now. Obviously, we’re going to be forced to look at guys young because we don’t want to miss out on the best players. So we’re getting involved to a lesser extent unwillingly, knowing that we don’t want to miss out on some very good players. If that’s the way it’s going, we’re going to have to get into that theatre, but I don’t really like it.

    “I don’t think it’s great for the kid and the family or the universities because you can’t put your best foot forward and bring him in on an official visit. They can’t spend as much time with the players that are currently in the school. They haven’t even been through their senior year or, in some cases, even their junior year.

    “So I think it’s unfortunate, but if that’s the way it’s going to develop, we’re going to be aware of it. We’ll see if sometimes those early commits are a little too early. We may see the trend go back the other way.”

    Others, such as Mass.-Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald, see it as a potential positive for the athlete, but a negative for the school itself.

    “It’s a great opportunity for the student-athlete to commit to a school early if they know it’s the right school,” says MacDonald. “Most of the kids that grow up in this area here are very well-versed by the time they’re sophomores in high school as to what various schools have to offer and what their perception of that school may be. As opposed to a kid from Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He really doesn’t know.

    “What you see happening is more of the BUs, BCs and UNHs getting some early commitments. That’s fine. Then [at Lowell] we know where we need to go for our players.

    “It’s great for the kids, but for those schools [it’s a risk]. There are a lot of kids who change. I remember in high school playing with some kids who were unbelievable when they were freshmen and sophomores, but they just lost their passion. So it’s a bit of a risk for the schools.”

    Some might wonder how binding a verbal agreement is if a kid blows out his knee, loses his scoring touch or decides that what really matters is sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. MacDonald assumes no wiggle room.

    “If we pursued somebody and got them verbally committed, we’re committed to them regardless,” he says. “If something tragic happened or they just flattened out, hey, that’s the risk you take. We’re only as good as our integrity and our word.”

    BU coach Jack Parker recognizes other downsides for programs such as his own.

    “I think it’s a bad trend in some ways,” he says. “I’m very, very happy with the four commitments we got early. We got some real good kids. We know every one of them is a real good player and we’re very happy with them. We’re not going to be worried about whether we made a mistake or wonder if they’re good enough. That’s no problem at all.

    “But I do think that some other guys might get afraid. [They’d think], ‘Hey, nobody offered me yet. I better jump at something less than what I really want.’ A year later they could have gone to BU or BC and instead they went elsewhere.

    “I think that’s going to come back to haunt us. We may get the early commitments now, but I think it may scare some kids and we might want to take a look at that.

    “In general, other people started this so we’ve had to keep up. That’s all.”

    A Better First Impression This Time Around

    Maine was only one of many schools looking hard at goaltender Jimmy Howard last year when he was playing for the US National Development Program. Now, he’s already in the Black Bears’ record book, as was noted last week, and on Saturday he ran his record to 6-1-0 (1.39 GAA, .943 SV%) with a win over Boston University. That left a much more favorable impression on the Terrier coaches than what they saw last year.

    “We saw him four times last year when we were thinking of recruiting him, and he gave up six goals every time,” says Parker. “Then we didn’t get him and he turned out to be a great goaltender. He’s going to be a real good goaltender, [but] every time we saw him, he didn’t play well.

    “How can we take a guy when every time we see him play he gives up six goals?”

    Another Stalwart on the Eagle Blue Line

    BC defenseman Andrew Alberts (6-4, 215) impressed one and all in the contest against BU, earning the number one star for his goal — a rocket from the point — and strong physical play. He’s taken a major step forward in his sophomore season.

    “Coach [York] has given me the opportunity to be on the power play and that’s given me more confidence in my game itself,” he said after the game. “We’ve got a great defensive corps and all of them are playing well. When the whole team is playing well, you end up playing better and everyone gets better. My progress is [because] of the team.”

    Alberts even had a breakaway, which hasn’t been his typical modus operandi.

    “That’s probably my first breakaway since Bantams,” he said with a grin. “I was in foreign territory.”

    All in the Family

    BC goaltender Tim Kelleher took extra satisfaction in his win over BU since his brother Chris starred for the Terriers from 1994-98, including All-Hockey East honors as a senior. Quieting the Walter [nl]Brown Arena crowd prompted him to say, “I’ve got some bragging rights over my brother because he had a pretty successful career when he was here.”

    Quip of the Week

    Lowell lost a chance last Saturday to gain an important insurance goal when referee John Gravellese blew his whistle prematurely on a delayed penalty call.

    Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald’s comment?

    “Maybe Grav should have drank decaf.”

    Wally Pipp or Carroll Hardy?

    Scott Weighart will be filling in for yours truly the next two weeks. Will I become the next Wally Pipp (the baseball player who Lou Gehrig replaced in the lineup for one game only to remain there for the next 2,129)? Or, as Scott suggests, will he be the next Carroll Hardy (the only man ever to pinch-hit for Ted [nl]Williams)?

    You be the judge.

    Trivia Contest

    Last week’s contest asked you to identify the Hockey East players depicted in the photograph below, which dates back to 1995 when the boys were 14. (Click here to see a larger version of the photo)

    colorscans/20022003/hea_trivia.jpg

    From left to right, the players are: Scott Selig (Northeastern), Freddy Meyer (BU), J.D. Forrest (BC), John Sabo (BU), Todd Jackson (Maine) and Ben Murphy (Maine). For supplying the photo, Tim Doherty deserves a cheer, which is:

    “GO BU!”

    Two readers got all six players. However, the quickest has yet to supply his (or her) cheer, which will be added as soon as it is received.

    This week’s question is a trivia question with a capital T courtesy of the Boston Herald‘s John “Jocko” Connolly. You’ll either need a very good memory or, more likely, resort to guessing to get this one.

    In last Friday’s BC-BU game, Andrew Alberts was assessed a two-minute penalty for playing without his helmet after it was knocked off. (The rule is that a player must either retrieve the helmet or skate to the bench immediately.) Name the last collegiate player given this penalty at Walter Brown Arena. If you can also name the referee that whistled the penalty, you get nominated for the Get-A-Life Hall of Fame. Jocko and BU coach Jack Parker got both off the top of their heads.

    Email Scott Weighart (not Dave) with your responses. The winner will be notified by Tuesday; if you haven’t heard by then you either had the wrong answer or someone else beat you to it.

    Calling All Illiterates…

    Last week’s passages were:

    The hit man’s eyes slowly cleared, and he looked at me with the hate that had helped him survive in prison, that had kept him scheming, kept his brain and body working, kept him fighting back against nightmarish conditions. He needed a sensitive social worker to bring out the best in him, so I jammed the machine pistol against his forehead.

    and

    I gave him the toe of my shoe in the frontal bone of his skull to jar his cerebral hemispheres and make him wonder if perhaps he should have gotten his high school diploma after all.

    and

    Usually on nights when people try to murder me, I drink extra dry martinis. Now I drank mineral water. This was spiritual progress.

    These were from The Game of Thirty by William Kotzwinkle. It’s the first book of his that I’ve read, but won’t be the last. Since nobody answered successfully, I encourage you to check out this witty and wonderfully written suspense novel. The next challenge to your literacy will come in a couple weeks.

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

    I’ve written before about what a fan I am of audiobooks. Unless you have access to a library with a good selection of them (such as Andover, Mass.), however, you may have found that the audio version is more expensive than the book itself, not to mention that most titles are abridged (boo! hiss!).

    However, I’ve found a much less expensive solution. Check out audible.com and see if they have titles that you’re interested in. I opted for their Premier Listener plan, which for $15.95 a month gets me two books a month and (with a year commitment) their MP3-like portable player. So I download two titles a month into my PC and the MP3 player. They also have magazines, newspapers and some unique content that you can subscribe to, such as a biweekly Robin Williams show or the Garrison Keillor monologues, The News From Lake Wobegon.

    Check it out. If you sign up, it’d be nice if you noted “hewriter” as the person who referred you since I’ll get a book credit, but what I’m really looking to do is let people know just how great audiobooks are.

    I still have copies available of Food and Other Enemies, an anthology that includes my short story, “Yeah, But Can She Cook?” Publishers Weekly called it a “witty collection.” Order it from online booksellers or ask me about ordering information since I can send you a less expensive, personalized copy.

    This Week in the ECAC West: Nov. 21, 2002

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    Utica Out of Camp

    As detailed in this space two weeks ago, Utica took advantage of a two-week break to refocus the team and make changes to its game plans. Of particular emphasis was the power-play unit. In the first four contests of the year, the Pioneers had only scored three man-advantage goals on 29 chances.

    The changes have paid immediate dividends. In the last two games, against Elmira and Cortland, the Pioneer power play has been clicking along above a 50 percent rate: four-for-seven, to be exact.

    “We’ve got the personnel to do it,” said Utica coach Gary Heenan. “It looks like we’ve got guys settling in on the power play. We’ve revamped our entire philosophy and system, actually.”

    Neumann Ups and Downs

    The Neumann Knights had a mentally tough week. Coming off a satisfying two periods of hockey against RIT on November 16, Neumann faced three tough games last week.

    The Knights opened the week against local rival Lebanon Valley, also rebuilding this year after graduating half of its team last spring. The mental boost from playing well against RIT seemed to be a distraction for the Neumann players, though, and combined with other logistical problems to throw off their concentration.

    “It was tough to regroup after the RIT game,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo. “It was real tough to focus on Lebanon Valley after the RIT game. We had miscellaneous problems with the bus, and showed up to Hershey Park Arena late. Special teams killed us against Lebanon Valley. We did much better against them this year than we ever have in the past, but I wasn’t real happy with the outcome.”

    Special teams, which require the most mental discipline in hockey, proved the undoing of Neumann in the contest. The Knights failed to convert on any of 12 power-play opportunities, while Lebanon Valley was allowed to tally three power-play goals and three shorthanders.

    “If you look at our even-strength goals against, we aren’t doing too bad at all,” said Russo. “We are spending most of our week now working on power play and penalty kill. That is just a matter of guys getting used to each other. We are starting to get a little more stable in our personnel. We had real strong puck movement on the power play against Hobart. We are definitely working on special teams.”

    Opponents have scored 25 special-teams goals (19 power-play, six shorthanded) against Neumann in only nine games this season. If the Knights can reduce that number, they will be another step forward in their bid to become competitive.

    Neumann’s first priority this season is games against league opponents. Those 10 games form the core of its schedule, and Russo has been spending significant time in preparing for them.

    “We really are trying to focus on our conference games,” said Russo. “We want to get better within the conference first, obviously.”

    Their latest test came last Friday when Hobart visited the Ice Works. The extra preparation paid dividends as Neumann skated with Hobart throughout most of the game. Hobart jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead 2:24 into the contest. But after that, it was dead-even hockey.

    “We were ready for them this time,” said Russo. “They got off to a 2-0 lead like a couple of minutes in to the game, but from then it was a pretty tight game. It just shows our inexperience being up and down, up and down. We are getting to the point now where we can play with teams in spurts. I think this was the best I have seen Neumann play in my five years here.”

    One difference was Neumann’s penalty kill, which clamped down and didn’t allow Hobart any goals on its six power plays. The Statesmen did sneak in a shorthanded goal late in the first period.

    Neumann enjoyed a little role reversal on Saturday against Scranton. Instead of being the dramatic underdog heading into the game, the Knights found themselves not only favored to win, but expected to win.

    Neumann jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. The Knights don’t have much experience in that situation, and spent the rest of the game fighting off several Scranton comebacks. Once again, the Neumann penalty kill played well, shutting down the Scranton power play. However the Neumann power play wasn’t so good, allowing two Scranton shorthanded goals without scoring any of its own. Even though Neumann used several players who have only seen limited ice time, the Knights were able to tally the victory when Justin Riccardi scored 1:19 into overtime.

    “It’s nice to get a win, particularly when you go on the road after a tough game against Hobart,” said Russo.

    Neumann now has time off before hosting RIT the first weekend of December.

    “We have a nice opportunity with a couple of weeks off to get ready for RIT at home,” said Russo. “One of the things that we have gotten back to now is conditioning. With this team, we need to stay in the weight room, stay in the gymnasium. I am taking the chance of these guys getting burned out. But we have this down time, due to how the schedule in our league works out.”

    Officiating in Elmira?

    Several complaints about substandard refereeing at the Elmira Thunderdomes have been aired this season.

    Over the years that I have been covering the ECAC West, I have become less critical of the on-ice officials. Face it, referees have a tough, thankless job, and the biggest compliment you can give a referee is to say that “I didn’t notice the refs tonight.”

    Sometimes I am amazed that there are dedicated individuals even willing to put on the striped jersey and take the abuse heaped on them.

    However, when a series of reports surfaces from different people concerning different games and different situations — but all from the same arena — it is hard to ignore the pattern.

    Elmira has played four home games over the last two weeks, and I have received negative comments about the officiating from multiple sources after each one.

    So I guess it is time to go on my first rant of the season. What finally set me off was the Utica-Elmira game last weekend.

    Utica appears to be the latest victim of poor officiating in Elmira. Trailing 4-2 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third period, captain Jimmy Sokol scored to move Utica within striking distance. As most hockey players who just score do, Sokol threw his arms up in the air in celebration as his linemates gathered around.

    “Tweet” goes the whistle of the referee, and Sokol is escorted to the box with a 10-minute misconduct for taunting.

    “Sokol is like the ‘Lady Byng’ of the league,” said Heenan, referring to the NHL’s annual award for gentlemanly play. “To take my best player out of the game, for the last ten minutes, down a goal, for celebration is ridiculous. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

    Prior to the Elmira game, Sokol had only been called for one minor in four games.

    The remaining minutes of the game got worse for Heenan and his players. Only two minutes remained, Utica was pressing, and the ref puts up his arm to call a delayed penalty against Elmira. The Soaring Eagles touched the puck, the whistle blew, and Utica thought they were going on a power play. Heenan put five skaters on the ice to get ready for the faceoff, when the ref signals Trent Flory from Utica to also get in the box to serve a holding penalty.

    In the ensuing confusion, Utica mistakenly leaves all five players on the ice too long, and the ref tags them for delay of game before the faceoff occurs. All of a sudden, instead of a power play, Utica now is down a skater for the last two minutes of the game, and the Pioneers watched as the contest slipped through their fingers.

    Heenan exchanged heated words with the referee as they walked off the ice, and the ref rewarded the coach a 10-minute misconduct of his own.

    “I told the ref at the end, ‘You go talk to our kids because you are the one who took this game away from us’,” said Heenan. “I had a few choice words in there as well. This is the first hockey game that I saw where I can definitely say that the referee really made a direct impact on the result of the game.”

    “It’s tough when you’re killing penalties most of the night. I thought it was a case, that for whatever reason, the referee wasn’t going to favor us whatsoever. We have been averaging under 16 minutes a game in penalties. When you get 42 minutes, and the other team gets 14, you know there is something obviously wrong there.”

    Perhaps four straight games of inferior officiating at the same location is a statistical anomaly. Maybe it is a matter of assigning the wrong referees to the wrong situations. Or it might be something completely unexpected.

    Whatever the cause might be, the ECAC should utilize the game tapes that have already been submitted to them by various teams to review the situation and correct any deficiencies.

    Grudge of the Week

    This week we rename the “Game of the Week” segment. There are two grudge games on the board this week that teams have been looking forward to since the middle of last season.

    Elmira hosted Plattsburgh on January 12 last season. The Soaring Eagles won the contest, but words were exchanged in the heat of combat between players, coaches, and fans. Those words are still remembered by all involved, and they are adding heat to the meeting on Saturday.

    RIT visits Wentworth on Sunday, bent on avenging its loss last season. Half the RIT squad was suspended for that game, but that really was no excuse. Wentworth played an excellent game and fully took advantage of the situation. This Sunday, the Tigers are looking to give the Leopards a little taste of what a full squad plays like.

    “I don’t think there is any question that we would like to show Wentworth what we are all about,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson.

    Holiday Break

    Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I will not be writing next week. Look for the next installment to be published December 5. I would like to extend my wishes that you and your loved ones enjoy a safe and happy Turkey Day.

    This Week in the WCHA Women’s League: Nov. 21, 2002

    By Craig Roberts
    -

    When talk rolls around to the top goalies in the country, little seems to be said about Minnesota State junior Shari Vogt.

    Even within the WCHA, the names of Wisconsin’s Jackie MacMillan, UMD’s Patricia Sautter and Minnesota’s Jody Horak will come up before anyone gets around to mentioning Vogt.

    vogt

    vogt

    In fact, Vogt’s numbers compare favorably with MacMillan, who has played more games and minutes than any other goalie in the short history of the WCHA.

    Despite having played nearly 2,300 more career minutes than Vogt, MacMillan has just 88 more saves. Vogt, who has faced an average of 15 shots per game more than MacMillan, has a .908 save percentage compared to .909 for the Badger senior.

    MacMillan has twice earned All-WCHA honors while Vogt, the league’s defensive player of the week this week, has not earned similar honors.

    Vogt has toiled in relative obscurity at Minnesota State, which has posted a 9-66-4 overall record during her tenure. Her career record is 7-46-3, a paltry .152 winning percentage.

    Playing in obscurity is nothing new for Vogt, however. She played high school hockey for the River Lake Stars, a combination of high schools. The team fared poorly despite Vogt’s best efforts, which once included a 94-save effort in a 1-0 loss, a feat which earned her a mention by former Los Angeles Kings head coach Barry Melrose on ESPN2’s NHL 2Night.

    Still, it was Minnesota State men’s head coach Troy Jutting’s prompting which led to her recruitment by former coach Todd Carroll. Jutting had Vogt and her sister, Paula, who played collegiately at Minnesota before transferring to St. Benedict’s, at summer hockey camp and noted not only her goaltending skills, but her overall athletic ability.

    A three-sport athlete at Cold Spring-Rocori High School, Vogt excelled in softball, earning all-state honors as a third baseman. She competed on the diving team, and golfs as well.

    “I think she’s a great athlete,” said MSU head coach Jeff Vizenor. “Her athleticism and desire to compete are what make her a great player.”

    The fact that she doesn’t receive the recognition or accolades of some of her contemporaries helps drive her to be better.

    “One thing about Shari is she loves a challenge,” Vizenor said. “She doesn’t want to be given anything. She works harder than anyone on our team — in the weight room, running, biking, on the ice — she’s an incredible worker. She takes those things in stride and uses [them] as motivation to get better.”

    The numbers bear out the fact that she has gotten better. Despite seeing 41 shots per game this season, she has posted a .923 save percentage and a 3.12 goals against average, both marks bettering her career averages.

    “The stats speak loudly for her,” Vizenor said. “When she’s on, she’s one of the best out there. We depend on her to win games. She put us in position on Saturday and we didn’t finish.”

    After posting the Mavericks’ first-ever WCHA shutout Friday, a 43-save effort in a 6-0 win, Vogt stopped 45 shots the next day, singlehandedly keeping her team in a game which it lost 1-0.

    Minnesota State, which has four points in league play, matching its total of the last two seasons combined, is on pace for its best conference finish. To do that, the youthful Mavericks will rely heavily on the goaltending of their unassuming, but certainly not underappreciated, netminder.

    Olympian Wall Leads Group Of WCHA Signees

    Minnesota landed a prize recruit in the form of 2002 U.S. Olympic Team member Lyndsay Wall, who leads a group of four players to sign with the Gophers.

    Minnesota landed a prize recruit in the form of 2002 U.S. Olympic Team member Lyndsay Wall (Churchville, N.Y.), who leads a group of four players to sign with the Gophers during the early signing period, which started Nov. 13.

    Wisconsin is the only other league member, to date, to have signed any recruits, landing three players, including a pair of home-grown players.

    Wall registered an assist and was a team-best +11 in five games at the Salt Lake Olympic Games. Her addition to the Gopher blue line will be crucial next season as they lose seniors Winny Brodt and Ronda Curtin.

    “Lyndsay is a special player, and someone we considered to be the top American defenseman in this year’s recruiting class,” Halldorson said. “She has the combination of size, skill, and composure that you don’t often see at her age. We are fortunate to add such a talented player to our program.”

    The first player to sign with Minnesota this season was fellow blueliner Danielle Ashley (Burlington, Ont.) of the Beatrice Senior Aeros of the National Women’s Hockey League. In April, 2000, Ashley became the youngest member of the Canadian National Team as a 14-year old.

    Joining the duo for the Gophers will be forwards Andrea Nichols (Mountain Iron, Minn.) and Becky Wacker (York, Maine).

    Nichols has led Minnesota in scoring each of the past two years while playing at Hibbing High School. She is in her fifth season with the Bluejackets varsity squad and has racked up 201 goals and 332 points in her first four years.

    Wacker played on the 2000 and 2001 national championship Assabet Valley teams. In addition, she captained the York High School boys varsity team last season, earning team MVP honors.

    The Badgers’ signees are led by Wisconsin natives Kristen Witting (Beloit, Wis.) and forward Heidi Kletzien (Manitowoc, Wis.). The duo is currently playing for the Madison Capitols.

    A three-sport varsity athlete at Beloit Memorial High School, Witting was named rookie of the year for school’s boys varsity team in 2001. Last year, she led Team Wisconsin to the national high school championship.

    Kletzien was a member of the championship team at Hockey Night in Boston in 2000 and was named the tournament’s outstanding forward in 2001.

    Monteleone scored 44 goals and 80 points for the Ohio Flames, which she is currently captaining, last season. She was the leading scorer at the Under-19 national championship in 2002 with 13 points.

    WCHA “House”Hold Hints

    The slowest weekend of the season, aside from teams’ holiday break, is upon the WCHA this weekend … Only four games, involving three league teams, are slated for the weekend … Bemidji State freshman goalie Jill Luebke earned her first collegiate victory, after posting ties in her first two appearances, with a 30-save effort in a 5-3 win over North Dakota … The Beavers have a two-week break surrounding Thanksgiving and don’t return to action until Dec. 6-7 … Minnesota was outshot 35-16 in Sunday’s 4-3 win over current No. 2 Harvard … UMD’s streak of 79 consecutive successful penalty kills came to an end Saturday when Harvard’s Jen Botterill notched a power-play goal … The Bulldogs still have a streak of 50 consecutive penalty kills, dating back to last season, in conference play … Minnesota State’s 6-0 win over St. Cloud State was its first-ever shutout in WCHA play … Junior forward Amanda Osborn tied a school record with four goals in the game … Ohio State sophomore Jennifer Desson scored her first two goals of the season Saturday in the Buckeyes’ 4-2 loss to No. 9 Providence … St. Cloud State freshman Ashley Stewart scored her first collegiate goal Saturday … The shorthanded effort was the only goal scored in the Huskies’ 1-0 win … Karen Rickard’s shorthander Sunday in Wisconsin’s 4-2 win over No. 10 Mercyhurst was the team’s first since Meghan Hunter’s shorthanded effort, Feb. 1, 2001.

    WCHA Awards

    Offensive Player of the Week–Natalie Darwitz, Fr., F, Minnesota
    Defensive Player of the Week–Shari Vogt, Jr., G, Minnesota State
    Rookie of the Week–Krissy Wendell, Fr., F, Minnesota

    Coming Up

    No. 1 Minnesota at No. 5 St. Lawrence (Friday-Saturday)

    Minnesota, with a 4-0-1 record, has never lost to St. Lawrence … The Gophers and Saints are the last remaining unbeaten teams in the country … This weekend’s series will be the first meeting of the teams in Canton, N.Y. … Seven of the Gophers’ nine games in November are against ranked opponents … Junior forward La Toya Clarke, who saw limited ice time over the weekend due to a sprained ankle, is expected to see more this weekend … She did not see action on Minnesota’s special teams in wins over Brown and Harvard, and may be held off the those units again … Freshman forward Natalie Darwitz’s game-winning goal Sunday extended her point-scoring streak to 10 games … Both she and fellow rookie Krissy Wendell have scored in each of the 10 games they have played this season … St. Lawrence sophomore forward Rebecca Russell has scored the game-winning goal in three of the Saints’ six wins … St. Lawrence freshman forward Tracy Muzerall is the half-sister of Minnesota’s all-time leading scorer, Nadine Muzerall.

    Ohio State at No. 7 Wisconsin (Friday-Saturday)

    Wisconsin leads the all-time series 8-1-4 … Badger sophomore forward Amy Vermeulen may be back in the lineup this weekend after completing the fall season with Wisconsin’s soccer team … She was second on the team with 22 points while leading the Badgers to the NCAA’s second round … Wisconsin has posted shutouts in three of its last four meetings with the Buckeyes … … Badger senior goalie Jackie MacMillan, who has played every minute in goal during Wisconsin’s first 12 games this season, has played in 98 career games and is expected to reach 100 Saturday … Despite a 4-3-1 record against ranked opponents, the Badgers are 1-4-1 and last in the WCHA … Ohio State is 0-7-1 against ranked opponents this season … Five different players have scored at least two power-play goals for the Buckeyes.

    First Place Belongs To Elmira In Women’s D3 Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    The Soaring Eagles of Elmira captured first place in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll for the fourth time in four tries this season. With two wins over conference rival No. 6 Plattsburgh, Elmira remains perfect at 7-0-0. The Soaring Eagles put their record and pride on the line this weekend, traveling to Detroit to take on Division I opponent Wayne State in a two game set.

    New this week at No. 10 is Wis.-River Falls, which enters following a 7-0 blowout over MIAC member St. Catherine. Next week is a big test for the Falcons, with two games on the road against Lake Forest, which is a perfect 5-0-0 thus far, and received votes in this week’s poll.

    Next week sees the first games of the season by many top programs, including No. 3 Bowdoin, which hosts Wesleyan and Trinity; No. 5 Middlebury, which travels to Hamilton and Amherst; and No. 6 Williams, which also takes on Amherst and Hamilton.

    Also, we may find out if it is time for a changing of the guard in the MIAC, as upstart St. Thomas, at No. 9 this week, faces traditional powerhouse No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus in a home-and-home series.

    The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 11 voters, all coaches of Division III programs.

    St. Norbert Successfully Defends First in D3 Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    With two more wins, St. Norbert solidified its hold on the first-place ranking in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll. The Green Knights topped St. Olaf 3-1 on Friday, and downed Gustavus Adolphus 6-3 on Saturday. St. Norbert remains perfect at 9-0-0 and received 10 of the 15 first-place votes.

    Norwich, which hasn’t played a game but gets underway this weekend, stayed steady at No. 2, garnering two first-place votes. The Cadets host Connecticut College and Tufts this weekend.

    Appearing for the first time this season is No. 15 Fredonia. The Blue Devils won a pair of road games with conference foes Brockport and Geneseo, and sit alone atop of the SUNYAC standings with a perfect 4-0-0 league record.

    Getting underway this weekend are a number of ranked NESCAC and ECAC East teams like No. 2 Norwich playing Connecticut College and Tufts; No. 5 Middlebury, which hosts Skidmore and Mass. College of Liberal Arts; No. 9 Bowdoin, which travels to St. Anselm and New England College; last-week’s No. 15 Trinity, which takes on Salem State and Southern Maine; and several other teams receiving votes like Salem State, Colby, Hamilton, Williams and New England College.

    The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 15 voters, including coaches and beat writers from across the country.

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