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This Week in the WCHA: Nov. 7, 2002

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… And a Hockey Game Broke Out

Not to go off on a rant or anything, but …

No matter how many college hockey coaches go on the record saying fighting has no place in their game, it happens. It happened before and it’ll happen again.

It happened last weekend, when eight players were ejected after a brawl at the North Dakota-Yale game on Saturday.

But the infrequency with which we see a major donnybrook in the college game makes it tolerable. A handful of occasions each season won’t bring the game into disrepute.

And the NCAA has a proper way to deal with these situations. A one-game suspension should be enough to dissuade those who were quick to drop the gloves in junior hockey — that they let them get away with it there is another story — to keep them on in college. Those who fight in college know the punishment, so the decision is up to them.

The only gray area is the one North Dakota found itself in this week. It had four players given game disqualification penalties, meaning they’re out for Friday’s game at St. Cloud State. But the Sioux — or “the squad from Grand Forks,” as they’re known in St. Cloud, but more on that later — may have had a valid argument that two of their players were over-penalized.

North Dakota claims defenseman Nick Fuher and forward Kevin Spiewak never dropped their gloves, and were given DQs only because they didn’t return to the bench while the fight was going on. Forwards Ryan Hale and Rory McMahon also were ejected for the Sioux.

The penalty for not going to the bench during a fight is supposed to be two minutes. But ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco turned down appeals from both teams this week to have two of the DQs commuted for each side.

That decision leaves the Sioux slightly unsettled for their WCHA opener Friday night. The WCHA allows teams to take 22 players on the road, and with two goaltenders that means they’ll take 20 skaters.

If coach Dean Blais wants the suspended four to play on Saturday, he’ll have to play with only 16 skaters on Friday, instead of the usual 18.

On (And Off) The Air

Who said the life of a WCHA radio play-by-play announcer is uneventful?

You could be challenged to a fight by someone in the crowd, much like North Dakota radio man Tim Hennessy was last Saturday as part of fight night at Ingalls Rink. Or you could never get off the ground, the fate dealt upon first-year Michigan Tech announcer Dirk Hembroff last Friday when his flight out of Houghton, Mich., was delayed because of mechanical problems.

That makes it quite possibly the most interesting week on WCHA radio in recent memory. Not that there’s much to compare it to.

Just as the Sioux and Yale were duking it out on the ice, Hennessy was having a verbal exchange with a fan a few rows in front of the press box at Ingalls Rink.

At one point, the fan challenged Hennessy to step outside.

“I stayed on the air because I thought if the guy beats me or something, that’s good radio,” Hennessy said.

Meanwhile, Hembroff never did make it to Colorado Springs for Friday’s game. Michigan Tech sports information director Dave Fischer — you may know him as the man behind the podium on those Frozen Four news conferences on ESPNews — took over behind the microphone, drawing on his collegiate experience calling Minnesota-Duluth men’s basketball and football games.

Fischer convinced Tech athletics director Rick Yeo to join him as the color commentator, and they got some radio equipment from Colorado College play-by-play announcer Jeff Thomas and KRDO to get through the broadcast. Hembroff arrived in time to announce Sunday afternoon’s game.

One Step on the Way

Isaac Reichmuth has a long road ahead of him if he’s going to be Minnesota-Duluth’s top goaltender this season.

With senior Rob Anderson likely to get most of the playing time as the seasoned veteran, Reichmuth knows he’ll have to make the best out of the time he gets in the crease.

“I just have to play as well as I can when I get the opportunity to play,” Reichmuth said. “As much or as little as I get isn’t up to me. I don’t know really where I see myself fitting in. I want to play as much as possible, so I’ll just play as well as I can when I get the chance.”

For starters, he made a good impression last weekend. Reichmuth was named the WCHA’s defensive player of the week after helping the Bulldogs claim a win and a tie at Alaska-Anchorage. They were the freshman’s first two WCHA games.

He was forced to make only 15 saves in a 3-2 win on Friday but got an assist on Tyler Brosz’s game-winning goal, sending back a Seawolves dump-in and creating a scoring opportunity. He had 25 saves in Saturday’s 2-2 tie.

Along the way, he made some saves that were magnified by the tight series. The three points were a solid start to the league season for the Bulldogs.

“We’re trying to have a turnaround year and get things going,” said Reichmuth, who is from Fruitvale, B.C. “To get a couple wins early is big for anyone.”

A win this weekend would be another building block for Reichmuth and the Bulldogs, last season’s ninth-place team in the league. They go to Denver to play the No. 1 Pioneers, a ranking that makes it easy to get excited to play.

“The top teams always get the toughest games because everyone plays so hard against them,” Reichmuth said. “We have to go there and play as hard as we can. … Wherever the chips fall, they fall.”

A Follow-Up

In the interest of being thorough: The WCHA’s non-conference record has surged to 26-13-5. You may remember that, two weeks ago, the WCHA’s record in games outside the league was 15-11-4.

Troubled Times

Maybe it wasn’t the panic button being pushed by the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, but it was pretty close last Friday night.

After losing a two-goal lead for the third time in five games and losing 3-2 to UMD last Friday, the words weren’t kind.

“I’ve chewed on them and chewed on them and chewed on them,” Seawolves coach John Hill told the Anchorage Daily News. “I don’t even know where to go anymore. I had a few things to say to some of them tonight that weren’t very nice.”

The big point of contention is a lack of production from juniors and seniors who are vital cogs in the UAA scoring system.

In six games this season, the Seawolves’ juniors and seniors have chipped in a grand total of two goals. Not per game — two goals in six games. Seniors Joe Garvin, Morgan Roach, Dan Gilkerson and Petr Chytka each has one point; junior defenseman Matt Shasby has three assists; junior forward Vladimir Novak doesn’t have a point.

Most of the scoring has come from the line of freshman Curtis Glencross, freshman Ales Parez and sophomore John Hopson, which is fabulous for the young players. But they won’t carry the team very far, which is becoming more and more apparent as fewer and fewer goals go in from the upperclassmen.

Holiday on Hold

A holiday tournament in Colorado Springs has been a topic of discussion for Colorado College since it stopped being an annual participant in the Denver Cup after the 1999-2000 season.

When it comes right down to it, money is a big reason why there isn’t a tournament at the World Arena. A tournament would need a major sponsor, and right now, it isn’t a hot topic around the CC athletics department.

But there’s another reason CC athletics director Joel Nielsen is a bit leery of a holiday tournament — the nine other tournaments scheduled for Christmastime.

“The landscape has changed, almost like in bowl games. There are so many bowl games it almost gets watered down,” Nielsen said. “We’re not just going to throw one together. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right.”

The first 10 NCAA championships were held at the Broadmoor Ice Palace, with the support of the Broadmoor Hotel. That kind of history, plus the Tigers’ spacious new home, the World Arena, makes CC a good candidate for a tournament.

But everything comes back to costs. A big chunk of the expenses of running a tournament is paying for the other three teams to get there. That’s why sponsorships are crucial.

“The cost of doing things isn’t going down,” Nielsen said.

With the number of other holiday tournaments going up, too, don’t look for another in Colorado Springs soon.

Final Five Ticketing

Five-game packages for the WCHA Final Five, March 20-22 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., will go on sale on Nov. 29.

Until Jan. 13, tickets will be reserved only as blocks of seats, not the seat locations themselves. Seat locations for those already having purchased packages will be determined on Jan. 10. They sell for $115 for lower level, club level, and the sides of the upper level. The ends of the upper level go for $50.

On Jan. 13, ticket packages with locations will go on sale. Group sales begin on Jan. 20 and single-game tickets go on sale on March 3.

Packages can be purchased through Ticketmaster — (651) 989-5151 or www.ticketmaster.com — or at the Xcel Energy Center box office.

It’s Policy

It is policy in the St. Cloud State athletics department to not use Native American nicknames in any publications or in announcements at games.

That goes for this weekend’s series against North Dakota, meaning the Sioux are known as “the squad from Grand Forks” in the Huskies’ weekly press release.

The Huskies used to give the same treatment to teams from Morningside College of Sioux City, Iowa, formerly known as the Maroon Chiefs. Morningside is now the Mustangs.

Demonstrations by groups opposing the use of Native American nicknames are expected before Friday’s game.

On The Shelf

  • At Minnesota, add Jon Waibel to the growing list of Gophers watching from the sidelines. Waibel — you may know him from the Web site www.thewaibelfactor.com or from having never missed a game in his collegiate career before last Saturday — suffered a broken right hand after scoring three goals last Friday against Alabama-Huntsville. The part he probably won’t tell his grandkids about is that he hurt himself punching the glass in celebration. He’ll miss four to six weeks.

    Also, Jerrid Reinholz suffered a broken jaw last Saturday and will miss at least this weekend’s games at Minnesota State-Mankato. Grant Potulny (leg) and Barry Tallackson (separated shoulder) also are out, leaving the Gophers with 21 healthy skaters, only 13 of them forwards.

  • At Minnesota-Duluth, sophomore center Brett Hammond is listed as questionable for this weekend’s series at Denver with a broken left hand, an injury suffered last Friday at Anchorage. He missed last Saturday’s game.

    In Other Words

    Through eight games this season, Denver has allowed only one goal in the third period. … KDMD in Anchorage, Alaska, has plans to televise nine Seawolves road games this season. The first two are next weekend, Nov. 15 and 16, at North Dakota. … Steven Johns scored the 5,000th goal in the Minnesota State-Mankato program’s 33-year history last Saturday in a 3-1 win over Bemidji State. … For the first time in his collegiate career, “Wonderboy” Zach Parise didn’t score a goal last weekend. He gets a pass, however — he had seven assists in a pair of victories and leads Division I scorers with 3.33 points per game. …

    Seawolves goaltender Chris King will not make this weekend’s trip to CC because of “conduct detrimental to the team,” UAA coach John Hill told the Anchorage Daily News. Hill declined to elaborate. It’s unknown whether that also means King will miss next weekend’s series at North Dakota, since the Seawolves are not returning to Anchorage between series. … It would behoove anyone going to Friday’s St. Cloud State-North Dakota game to park at the National Hockey Center early. A Bill Cosby show at a nearby building is scheduled for the same time and the parking lots will fill up quickly. …

    WCHA players of the week were North Dakota’s Brandon Bochenski (four goals, one assist) on offense, UMD’s Reichmuth on defense and Minnesota’s Thomas Vanek (three goals, four assists) as the newcomer. … Next weekend is the first with five WCHA series, meaning all 10 league teams are playing WCHA games.

    • This Week in Division III: Nov. 7, 2002

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    Is the Season Too Long?

    There’s a proposal on the table (actually an amendment to an amendment of a proposal) to reduce the Division III winter sports season from 21 weeks to 19 weeks. Even though schools will be allowed flexibility in terms of when they start their seasons (allowing for variable lengths of winter breaks), this will obviously have an effect on hockey. The most likely scenario will be teams being allowed to start practice in third Monday of October, as opposed to the first Monday in October as many do now.

    The NESCAC and the ECAC East have a self-imposed limit of approximately 17 weeks now, with the ECAC Northeast and MIAC currently around 18 weeks. The NCHA, the ECAC West, the SUNYAC and the MCHA take full advantage of the current 21-week rule, starting games over a month before the NESCAC and ECAC East. St. Norbert, ranked second in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll, will play seven games, over a quarter of its season, before top-ranked Norwich takes the ice in competition.

    As one might expect, the proposed change is being met with mixed response. St. Norbert coach Tim Coghlin would like to see things remain the same.

    “I don’t like it at all,” he said. “It’s yet another example of following suit with other sports, and I think it’s a mistake. ”

    You can’t treat all sports the same, according to Coghlin.

    “Hockey is a seven-game series sport,” he said. “You can’t keep cutting it back. It’s a long season because it’s supposed to be a long season.

    “I think it’s a mistake to go to single-elimination playoffs for the same reason.”

    Coghlin, who starred for Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the late 80’s remembers a time when Division III teams played close to 30 regular-season games, and as many as 10 or 12 postseason contests.

    “I’m a traditionalist,” he said. “I miss when we were able to play more games.”

    The main reasons given for the proposed change are to make it easier for multi-sport athletes, and to further emphasize academics by reducing time away from the classroom.

    “It’s no big deal,” said Coghlin about time away from school. “I think our players will miss one Friday this semester and one Friday next semester. That’s it.”

    If anything, the change might actually increase time away from class, according to Coghlin.

    “If the season gets shorter, then you’re playing three games a week, and you’re traveling on weeknights. That’s worse. The longer season means you have weekdays and some weekends off.”

    In terms of the overall college experience, a longer season might be the way to go as well.

    “I think it’s better for freshmen,” said Coghlin. There’s still plenty of time to acclimate to school before the season starts, and a longer season allows a slower pace to acclimate to hockey.”

    Bowdoin head coach Terry Meagher, meanwhile, has no problem with the proposal. He likes his current 17-week season, which won’t have an effect on Bowdoin, a NESCAC school.

    “I like it the way that it is (in the NESCAC)”, said Meagher “. Our system allows for the two- or three-sport athlete, which is important to the Division III philosophy.”

    It’s also important to the athletic success of Bowdoin, which has a large number of programs for a small school.

    “We have 31 varsity sports, and we’re not a big school, so we need to encourage and look for athletes that play more than one sport,” said Meagher.

    The Bowdoin coach estimated that 50% of his team plays other sports.

    “The captain of our team is also the captain of the football team,” said Meagher. “He plays his final (football) game this weekend.”

    If the Polar Bears were already in the midst of their season, many players would have to choose between hockey and another sport, which, according to Meagher, runs counter to the purpose of Bowdoin athletics.

    “It’s part of the educational process,” he said. “Our players are exposed to more than one coach, which improves their learning process — to see more than one approach.”

    “We’re here for more than just winning hockey games,” Meagher said. “If it were just all about wins, it might as well be Beer League.”

    Mailbag

    I got several emails on my column last week, most taking me to task for saying that the idea that officiating does not affect the outcome of a game is “one of the dumbest things I have ever heard”.

    In response: I’m not changing my mind. Let me try to change yours. Here are some typical examples:

    Baseball – One of the most famous (infamous?) examples is Don Denkinger’s call at first base in game six of the 1985 World Series that may have cost the Cardinals the title. Hypothetically, a likely scenario is a blown call at the plate that either ends or wins a game, based on the umpire’s judgment. Or what about a close ball-strike call that gives a batter another chance, allowing him to get the game-winning hit with two outs?

    Football – Well, they have instant replay for a reason. There are many. many opportunities for the outcome of a game to turn on a blown call or a judgement on pass interference, holding away from the play on a potential scoring chance, etc.

    Basketball – The NBA is beginning to use instant replay, again for a reason. Also, how tightly a game is called affects the number of trips to the line teams take and how long a star player can stay in the game without fouling out.

    Hockey – Power plays are so important to a team’s chances that how a game is called obviously affects the result. A finesse team with a good power play would have an advantage in a tightly-called game; a physical team could dominate a game if things are let go.

    And while I’m at it, here’s another dumb thing concerning officiating — the punishment of coaches and players who dare to be critical. Two recent cases in college hockey were Dave Burkholder at Niagara and Chris Serino at Merrimack being sanctioned for giving their opinion, or, in some people’s minds, stating the obvious. Players have bad games. Coaches have bad games. The idea that officials do not, or that pointing this out somehow ruins the integrity of the game, is ridiculous.

    On the other hand, officials have no forum like a press conference to respond to criticism. Their work must speak for itself, and the vast majority of the time it does, and does well.

    Still, I think we’re all smart enough to know the difference between an emotional outburst like the one delivered by Maine’s Peter Metcalf after last year’s overtime loss in the NCAA Division I title game, and a reasoned assessment of a bad job. Let’s let opinions be heard without fear of repercussion.

    And keep those emails coming.

    This Week in Hockey East: Nov. 7, 2002

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    The Biggest Surprise

    There have been pleasant surprises aplenty in the league so far, but perhaps the best is how well Massachusetts is playing. After knocking off Northeastern last weekend — on the road, no less — the Minutemen moved to a 2-3 record, a fine achievement for a building program with only five players who aren’t freshmen or sophomores. Even more encouraging is that the 2-3 mark could be 4-1 had the breaks gone a little differently in two overtime losses.

    “My attitude about the breaks is woulda-coulda-shoulda,” says UMass coach Don Cahoon. “Every team out there is saying, ‘Geez, if this didn’t happen or that didn’t happen, we could be in better circumstances.’ I haven’t said that.

    “We feel that we’re skating a little bit better and we’re playing with a little bit more confidence. That all bodes well, hopefully, for the development of a better week-to-week effort.”

    One key element to the success has been freshman goaltender Gabe Winer, who has started all but one game. Winer earned Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors last week as a result of his play in the win over Northeastern and the 2-1 overtime loss to high-flying Providence. Considering that goaltender was a major question mark for UMass coming into the season, Winer’s start looms large.

    “He seems to be comfortable in the position,” says Cahoon. “He’s not rattled by the game situation. That oftentimes is the undoing of a young player. There are a lot of guys around the league who are very capable players, but when they get into game situations they can get really rattled.

    “Gabe seems to be very calm and has a real good mentality. I like to use this phrase with goaltenders — their disposition for the position. He makes assessments of his play and doesn’t seem to get too up or too down. That, I think, will serve him well.”

    Cahoon cautions, however, that Winer’s playing time isn’t going to continue at its present rate, which has been every minute since relieving Tim Warner in the season opener.

    “Gabe certainly knows that it’s a game-to-game type of situation and we’ve got a couple other goaltenders that are very much in the mix and it won’t be all-Gabe, all-year-long,” says Cahoon. “That’s too much to ask of a young player, but he’s certainly going to be a mainstay for us.”

    This early-season success will be put to a test this weekend when the Minutemen travel to the inhospitable confines of Alfond Arena, where Maine posted a 15-2-3 record last year.

    “No question, [it’ll be a difficult test],” says Cahoon. “Our kids will grow from the experience regardless of the outcome.” He then laughs and adds, “But we’ll grow a lot more if we can play well and win. We grow, nonetheless, from just being in that experience.”

    Thanks A Lot, Roommate!

    You’re a senior and you’ve never gotten a hat trick in your collegiate career. You have two goals in this game, however, and your coach has sent you out to protect a one-goal lead in the final minute. The goaltender has been pulled and the puck gets pushed past the opposing defense and you’re breaking two-on-none with no one between you and your first collegiate hat trick.

    With the Holy Grail seemingly in your grasp, you hear a whistle. The sure thing has slipped through your fingers. It turns out that there was one person between you and your first collegiate hat trick. Your roommate.

    On Friday night, BU’s John Sabo experienced the so-close-but-yet-so-far hat trick that disappeared when his roommate, Freddy Meyer, tangled with an opponent behind the play.

    Sabo took the situation in stride, though.

    “It’s all right,” he said after the game with a laugh. “I was just looking at trying to get across the red line, but the whistle blew. There’s nothing you can do about it. I’m just happy to leave here with a win.”

    Meyer recounted his side of the story one night later.

    “[John] game me a little hard time once we got back to our room,” said Meyer with a grin. “I didn’t really realize it. I was just holding on, [doing] whatever I could do to keep the puck out of the net. Later on, I found out that they were going on a two-on-oh.”

    Perhaps Meyer will be sleeping with one eye open for the next week or two…

    Looking at the 15-Second Faceoff Rule

    The early returns on the 15-second faceoff rule are overwhelmingly positive, but there may still be some adjustments forthcoming.

    The average time of a Hockey East contest has dropped from 2:25 to 2:09, based on October games other than those that went into overtime and those that were broadcast on TV (since the new rule doesn’t apply there). Eliminating 16 minutes of dead time has resulted in a faster overall pace and is a definite improvement.

    That said, it may not quite be a finished product.

    “It’s working,” says Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. “[But] there’s some sense from some of the coaches that they’d like tinker with it a little bit. The one suggestion [I’ve heard] is that the NHL, instead of doing five seconds for the visiting team to change then five for the home and then five to drop it, they go five-eight-five to give the home team a little more realistic chance to match lines.

    “So if you accept the philosophy that the home team should have an advantage, the current system might be diluting that advantage. [New Hampshire’s] Richard Umile, Donnie Lucia from Minnesota, and Mike Eaves from Wisconsin have all said that they’d like the home team to get a little bit more of a break.”

    All of which seems quite reasonable, a minor tweak to a major improvement.

    Hitting From Behind

    Saturday’s game between BU and UNH raised the ire of both teams’ fans based on the officiating of John Gravellese. One key sequence included an apparent Freddy Meyer leg check that was uncalled followed soon after by Meyer tackling a UNH player behind the play, but in full view of a linesman who was perhaps only 10 feet away. With neither offense whistled, a Wildcat took matters into his own hands and hit Meyer from behind.

    BU coach Jack Parker brought special attention to the officiating in the post-game press conference, tip-toeing around the ban on criticism of officials.

    “It was nice to do such a great job killing penalties,” said Parker. “The way the game was called, we had to kill a lot of penalties.”

    He paused for effect and said again, “The way the game was called, we had to kill a lot of penalties.

    “I’m concerned about hitting from behind, which is a dangerous part of the game. I’m concerned about hitting from behind and so is the NCAA rulebook concerned about hitting from behind. They want to make sure that we call that.”

    After Parker was asked to clarify his comment, he said, “I’m referring to a lot of times. I know that hitting from behind is a situation that supposedly is going to be emphasized all the time. And we’ll have it emphasized in the future. I don’t think it was emphasized tonight.”

    Hockey East is, in fact, in the process of reminding coaches and officials of the dangers of hits from behind and the need to penalize these infractions in all cases.

    “Not so much from that game,” says Bertagna, “[but] what we do on a regular basis — somewhat monthly, maybe more so early in the year and then it takes care of itself — is we do bulletins, as I think every league does, to our officials.

    “In the bulletin there [may be] things that have come down from the NCAA. Let’s say, as you get into the season you find some inconsistencies where changes made in the rule book [have resulted in] some contradictory sections because things [were changed in one place] and the language wasn’t cleaned up in another. So the NCAA tells us things they want to get out to the coaches [and officials]. Then, in our own observation, we’ll get some other things out.

    “I believe that there’s an [upcoming] reminder to the referees [regarding] the gray areas. It’s hard in some of these areas [to know] whether it’s a boarding or a hit-from behind or whether it’s a major or a minor. They’ve got some discretion.

    “The message we gave the officials in the preseason meetings was: when in doubt, come down on the side of the more severe penalty in the areas of hitting from behind. The downside of that particular call and a kid potentially getting hurt is so serious that we want to make sure that they’re making the right call and when they’ve got a choice and they’re not sure, make the more serious call. That reminder will be going out again.”

    This writer’s observation is that while there was provocation in at least the most egregious hit from behind, no league can allow such actions. No offense warrants the possibility of a player spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

    Can Meyer play cheap at times? Yes. He’s a terrific player, but he can antagonize and instigate with the best of them. One night, a fellow scribe playfully set the over-under on Meyer jabbing an opponent with his stick at one minute. Yours truly took the over. Yours truly lost.

    Leg checks, even when the result of attempted hip checks gone awry, must also be punished given the career-ending possibilities they entail.

    So Meyer was no choir boy.

    However, nothing excuses a hit from behind. This is not like one uncalled trip or slash canceling out another.

    The guess is that next time a similar situation arises, Gravellese will make at least two calls that he didn’t make on Saturday night.

    Playoff Tickets

    It actually isn’t too soon to start thinking about Hockey East playoff tickets. They aren’t on sale yet, but will be in time for holiday gift-buying.

    “Last year, we got them on sale before Christmas so they could be Christmas gifts,” says Bertagna. “We haven’t had that conversation yet with the FleetCenter, but we will [so] they’ll be on sale just before the holidays.”

    Maine’s Nonconference Schedule

    Some Black Bear fans are less than pleased with their team’s strength of schedule this year. Of the 12 games scheduled between Hockey East teams and those from the two new conferences — the MAAC and CHA — Maine has four of them. The team took care of business in the first two of such matchups last weekend, shutting out Mercyhurst, 5-0 and 7-0, but some have wondered why a perennial powerhouse is scheduling the newcomers more than any other team in the league. After all, Boston College and BU don’t have the new leagues at all on their schedules and UNH has only one such team, Connecticut, a potential rival state school.

    The answer boils down to two facts. The first is that Maine is playing an extra two games this year because of its participation in the Nye Frontier Classic held in Anchorage, Alaska. The NCAA gives teams a two-game exemption to compensate for the difficult trek to Alaska. Without the exemption, the Alaska-Fairbanks and Alaska-Anchorage programs would have difficulty surviving. So for starters, Maine had two more openings to fill than usual.

    The other factor comes down to the bottom line. MAAC and CHA teams that are eager to play “the big boys” will naturally be more eager than are teams from the established conferences to come to Alfond Arena without a reciprocal trip to their home venue. It’s no coincidence that all four Maine games against MAAC opponents are at home.

    Check out many of the perennial powers who routinely draw huge crowds and you’ll see a similar imbalance of home and away nonconference games. Opponents perceived as equals won’t accept a one-way arrangement, but will insist on an I-visit-you-this-year and you-visit-me-next year approach. Those programs which are still building, however, will take the monetary guarantee and hit the road.

    “Sometimes it’s just the way it goes,” says Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “We tried to get some opponents from other [traditional] conferences to come here and play in Alfond, but we couldn’t get anyone to come in, quite honestly. We were a little disappointed in that.

    “Next year, as it turns out, we have to go out on the road to play some teams from the other conferences so we’re going to St. Lawrence for two games. The negative, of course, is that budget-wise this is the revenue-producing sport up here so it’s a negative that we’ve got to go on the road. But the positive is that it’s good for the team to go on the road and get those games.”

    Quip of the Week

    Freddy Meyer — a native of Sanbornville, New Hampshire — had a host of friendly faces watching him as the Terriers invaded the Whittemore Center.

    “It’s always fun to have them see me play,” he said. “They came down in a bus, about 50 or 60 friends and family from my town.”

    To which, one writer responded, “Was anybody left?”

    A Little Perspective, Please

    There were some interesting missives in the inbox this week, the most extreme coming from BU fans. I had picked the Terriers to lose games at Northeastern and New Hampshire, a fact that upset some readers on Commonwealth Avenue. Here’s one friendly note:

    Hey Hendrickson, you better get your head checked…. You should feel ashamed of yourself for saying BU would lose both games this weekend. I expect an apology to all BU fans in next week’s column.

    An apology to all BU fans? Gimme a break! Did all BU fans owe me an apology when the Terriers tied Vermont and lost to Merrimack, both games I picked them to win? Good grief.

    Although I make the best effort I can to pick ’em right (so that I can lord my success over my colleagues at the Frozen Four), the picks are no life-and-death matter. Have fun with them, but don’t be offended.

    I’ll further defend those particular picks. BU’s offense was struggling to score goals. Northeastern was coming off a tie against UNH while the Wildcats had taken three-of-four points from Minnesota and had yet to lose a game. Most importantly, though, both contests were on the road for BU. Last year, UNH posted a 16-2-1 home record while a Northeastern team that finished two games over .500 overall was 12-4-2 at home. Picking two BU road losses was quite reasonable even though they turned out to be incorrect.

    Heck, think about the teams at the bottom of the standings. I pick against them more than two times in a row. I had one Sports Information Director ask me kiddingly once, “Are you ever going to pick us to win?”

    Getting picked to lose two games isn’t the end of the world. On some weekends, it can even be a harbinger of four points.

    Obligatory disclaimer: The above correspondent is not at all representative of BU fans as a whole.

    Trivia Contest

    First, some old business. A week ago, Tara would have been giving her cheer, but computer problems prevented her from submitting it. So here’s her belated cheer:

    “Go Friars!”

    As for last week’s question, it revolved around Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves coaching against BC, a team on which his sons, Ben and Patrick, play. The challenge was to name the one other (to my knowledge) D-I coach who similarly faced a team on which his son played. It turns out that there were more answers than one, a fact I would have been aware of had I been current in reading the column of my WCHA colleague, Todd D. Milewski.

    Answer number one was Minnesota coach Doug Woog whose son Steve played at Northern Michigan in the early 1990s. First to get that answer was Louis Fuoco, whose cheer is:

    “Gimme a B!”
    “B!”
    “Gimme a U!”
    “U!”
    “Whaddaya got?”
    “BOOOOOOO!”

    Answer number two was Army coach Jack Riley going against his son Rob, who played at Boston College in the mid-to-late 1970s. Quickest with that one was Seth Frink, whose cheer is:

    “Go ‘Cats. This is our year!”

    Answer number three, which neither Todd nor I had, but Allan P. Vaughan got, was Northeastern coach Fernie Flaman and his son Terry, who lettered at Harvard in 1968, ’69 and ’70. Allan’s cheer is:

    “GO BU!!!!!!”

    A fourth possibility which was not correct was Western Michigan’s Mark Wilkinson, who played for his father Bill until the elder Wilkinson left to coach at Wayne State. Those two teams never met during Mark’s junior and senior years, so that was a great guess that turned out to be incorrect.

    May I be shot if I ever pose another question for which there are multiple possible answers…

    This week’s contest finishes off the hat trick of lopsided early-season results. (The first two involved UNH’s 10-0 pasting of Vermont and Providence’s 11-0 over Iona.) On Oct. 11, Northeastern defeated Connecticut, 10-1. Name the season and opponent when the Huskies last won by that exact score. Email Dave Hendrickson’s trivia account 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 two passages were from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling:

    “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are.”

    and…

    “Have you ever heard of a plan when so many things could go wrong?”

    I love this series, which is by all means not just for kids. All books should be this much fun.

    First to get this one right was Todd Cioffi, who provided a list of favorites, of which one is: Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen.

    This week’s passage comes from the beginning — the second paragraph, to be precise — of a wonderful short story.

    When I was five, a Clark Bar was as fat around as the gripping end of a Louisville Slugger, and pretty nearly six inches long, and they used real chocolate to coat it, and it crunched very nicely when you bit into the center, and the paper it came wrapped in smelled fresh and good when you peeled off one end to hold the bar so it wouldn’t melt onto your fingers. Today, a Clark Bar is as thin as a credit card, they use something artificial and awful-tasting instead of pure chocolate, the thing is soft and soggy, it costs fifteen or twenty cents instead of a decent, correct nickel, and they wrap it so you think it’s the same size it was twenty years ago, only it isn’t; it’s slim and ugly and nasty tasting and not worth a penny, much less fifteen or twenty cents.

    Email Dave Hendrickson with the name of the story and the author. The winner, who will be notified by Tuesday, gets recognized and can mention the title of a favorite book of his or her own. If you haven’t heard by then, you either had the wrong answer or someone else beat you to it.

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

  • Last week I mentioned that Stephen King’s latest novel, From a Buick 8 “left me cold,” which some readers found ambiguous. To clarify, I think it’s one of the horrormeister’s least successful novels. King, who I admire greatly, experiments with a couple techniques, but I don’t think they work out very well. The entire book is told in retrospect, a succession of flashbacks related by various people. Flashbacks are always tricky for a novelist and telling the entire story as a sequence of flashbacks is a significant risk. Additionally, he uses a rotating first-person viewpoint. That is, the story is told in an “I did this and then I did that” form with the “I” person changing from chapter to chapter. I’m all for an established writer taking creative risks, but I don’t think this one turned out that well. Of course, I’ll still buy his next one the minute it comes out. And the one after that. And the one after that. The guy has earned the intense loyalty of his fans. Even the 1992-93 Black Bears lost one game.
  • How priceless is it that New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon has told Mo Vaughn to lose some weight? Were he still here, Mo would blame management for their insensitivity and lack of respect. Hey, I carry some extra lard myself, but I’m not a professional athlete being paid megabucks to keep my body in peak shape. Mo’s condition is a disgrace. That said, he’ll probably listen to Wilpon this time. Why? The Mets can terminate the rest of Bloated Mo’s bloated contract ($32 million over the remaining two years) if he doesn’t. Of course, it’s not about the money…
  • Let’s hope the Boston baseball writers and talkshow hosts don’t paint Bill James with the same brushstrokes as StatMan. James’ ideas have worked out pretty well in places like Oakland. If guys like Shea Hillenbrand looked more at on base percentage and never saw a batting average again, they might get a truer picture of what it takes to win.
  • Why Larry Lucchino hasn’t interviewed me yet for the Red Sox GM position is beyond me.
  • Okay, everybody. Hop back on the Patriots bandwagon….

    • This Week in the CCHA: Nov. 7, 2002

    By
    -

    Voros Watch

    Alaska-Fairbanks’ Aaron Voros has a tumor in his leg, and has returned to his home in Vancouver.

    Voros learned of the tumor after receiving results of a bone scan on Monday. Because of the waiting list for Canada’s subsidized health care, it is not known how long Voros will have to wait before a biopsy can be done.

    Quoted in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Voros said, “It doesn’t seem real right now, I keep praying that I’ll wake up, that this is just a nightmare. I’m pretty worried about it. I am just going to keep my faith in God and hopefully everything will work out.”

    I’ve been keeping a watch on Voros this season because of the way he racked up penalties along with points during 2001-02, his rookie year. It never occurred to me that I’d be keeping an eye on him for more serious reasons.

    This certainly puts penalties into perspective, doesn’t it?

    Not In My Backyard

    “No coach wants to say it, but everyone worries that Danny Ellis will get hot against your team. You know it’s just a matter of time.”

    That, from a CCHA coach this week about the Nebraska-Omaha junior netminder. And every coach in the league is hoping that RJ Umberger, Brian Maloney, and any number of Michigan forwards find their groove against some other coach’s team.

    Chemistry

    The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines chemistry as “the basic characteristics of substances and the different ways in which they react or combine with other substances.”

    The substance in question is Ferris State hockey. How covalent can you get?

    “Obviously, Mike Brown is playing very well,” said FSU head coach Bob Daniels. Brown (.957 SV%, 1.38 GAA) is — again — CCHA Defensive Player of the Week, the first player to be so honored four consecutive weeks in one season.

    Most recently, the Bulldogs went to Alaska and beat UAF 5-0 and 5-1. Oct. 25-26, FSU traveled to South Bend and beat Notre Dame 5-2 and 4-1. While those scores look lopsided to the average fan, Daniels cautions that the games were much harder-fought than the stats would lead you to believe.

    “Realistically, when I look at the games, when you look at the score you think, ‘They were able to win fairly easily,’ but that’s not the case,” said Daniels. “Every game is a one-goal differential going into the third, and then Mike Brown was able to make the key saves, and that’s the difference.”

    Well, technically speaking, some FSU games were a two-goal difference going into the final 20 minutes, but here’s what Daniels means. The Bulldogs play a tight game, leading an opponent by one or two goals going into the third. In the third, opponents pour it on trying to solve Brown. Brown becomes a wall, frustrating opponents and jazzing the Bulldogs.

    The combination of opponent frustration and FSU confidence adds up to more third-period Bulldog goals, lopsided-looking wins, and a team that’s on a serious roll.

    “We feel pretty good about ourselves,” said Daniels. “I think we’ve got a pretty good grip on things here; we’ve got confidence, but we’re grounded.”

    For example, said Daniels, when the team set goals before the season began, none had to do with coming out of the gate fast. “All the goals seem to have to do with how you finish. It’s a long way to the finish.”

    If Ferris State were the sum of Mike Brown, everyone would be waiting for the other shoe to drop. The scary thing about the Bulldogs this season is that they have the whole package.

    “We got beat by Ferris, plain and simple,” said Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin. “They’re a very, very good team. They’re hitting on all cylinders right now. They’re transitioning well. Their speed is very evident up front. I think they’re bigger than they’ve been up front.

    “There’s a reason they’re 6-0-0 [in conference].”

    One reason is Brown; another is Ferris State’s explosive offense, led by Chris Kunitz.

    Kunitz (10-10-20) leads the league in scoring, and is flanked by Jeff Legue (7-4-11) and Derek Nesbitt (3-8-11). Nesbitt was moved from left to right wing this season, and it “just gelled,” said Daniels.

    “Chris Kunitz, that’s reality,” Daniels said. “There’s nothing fluky about it.”

    If FSU were a one-line team — just one more element more than the sum of Mike Brown — CCHA opponents might breathe a little easier. But against Fairbanks last Friday night, four different Bulldogs tallied goals and none of them was named Kunitz, Legue, or Nesbitt (although Kunitz did have the second assist on Greg Rallo’s power-play goal).

    Another strong point for FSU this year is defense, something unexpected, according to Daniels.

    “I was very nervous about what we were going to do with that; we had three freshmen (Steve Later, Jeremy Scherlinck, and Andrew Winnik) coming in. They have really stepped up and played well.”

    Senior Phil Meyer has been moved from offense to defense. “We saw him play both offense and defense for the Soo Indians [NAHL]. We can’t take the credit for how he’s playing defensively, [but] maybe we deserve some of the blame for not moving him back there sooner.”

    So, what’s the difference between this FSU squad and last year’s team, which finished ninth in the standings in spite of being sixth in the league in nearly every category? Daniels isn’t certain, but it may have to do with timing.

    “We were in the hunt [for home ice] when Mike Brown went down with his knee injury. Then Chris Kunitz injured his knee and we were without him for the playoffs.”

    Daniels is enjoying his team’s early-season success, but he calls it “pretty well-tempered, too. As easy as it comes, it can go.”

    As for the publicity in a league dominated by the Michigans and Michigan States, said Daniels, “I’d rather it [the attention FSU is receiving] be the norm. The reality is that this is not the norm, at least over the last few years. If we all had our druthers, this would be a ho-hum kind of thing.”

    Daniels said the truest barometer of his team’s progress will be the first setback the Bulldogs face. “We’re going to take a nick — that’s our next test. This can’t go on forever in our league. I think our team is pretty well-grounded, too. They realize we have a long season ahead of us.”

    In spite of Ferris State’s 7-1-0 start, Daniels and his coaching staff do not take lightly this weekend’s visitors, the Wayne State Warriors, led by former Western Michigan head coach Bill Wilkinson — but it’s quite possible that the Bulldog players don’t know what they’re in for.

    “They have a good team. He’s a great coach,” said Daniels. “Another thing, too, is they had the longest unbeaten streak in college hockey going into last weekend.

    “The hard part is that once you get in season playing nonconference [games], I don’t care who you’re playing, there’s a natural tendency to let down, to take a breather. I don’t care if it’s Maine you’re playing.”

    The “breather” for the ‘Dogs — and for CCHA opponents — is short; Ferris State returns to league play with a home-and-home series against Western Michigan Nov. 15-16.

    Games Of The Week

    If you didn’t think Bowling Green was a test last week for the Miami RedHawks, then you’re not Enrico Blasi. This week, Miami travels to Notre Dame.

    Miami (8-2-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) at Notre Dame (3-2-2, 2-2-0 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m., Joyce Center, South Bend, Ind.

    The Miami RedHawks are one hot team, plowing through opponents seemingly at will, and carrying a five-game win streak into this weekend against Notre Dame.

    But don’t think that’s gotten to them.

    “Just like every other weekend we talk about, it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge,” said Miami head coach Blasi. “They’re well-coached, they have a lot of skill. They have arguably one of the best players in the country in Rob Globke.

    “For them to tie Boston College tells me that they’re a hell of a team.”

    The RedHawks — with nine newcomers to their roster this season — are tearing it up offensively, but Blasi said that Miami’s formula for early-season success is a simple one, one that hasn’t changed since he took the job as head coach in 1999.

    “We just play hard. Everyone is contributing, whether they’re in the lineup or not. Joe Pomaranski was asked to play forward last weekend, and he did so without hesitating.”

    Blasi said that he credits the seniors, especially, with Miami’s quick start. “I think the seniors and juniors are really doing a good job in the locker room and keeping everyone focused. The seniors have been through a lot.”

    Last year, the RedHawks finished 9-17-2, in spite of a fast start. At midseason, Miami seemed to take a downward turn, and the RedHawks lost all seven games they played in February.

    The confidence, teamwork, and success are welcome this year, but Blasi and his upperclassmen remember.

    “It works both ways,” said Blasi. “We were on the other end of that a year ago, when we didn’t have any confidence. There’s no question that when things are going well, it continues.”

    Blasi also credits David Burleigh for keeping the RedHawks in some close games and giving the offense confidence — much as Mike Brown is doing for Ferris State.

    Burleigh was certainly “the difference” in Miami’s 3-2 win over Bowling Green last Friday night. “They [BGSU] played great on Friday night. I thought they worked hard and executed their game plan pretty well.”

    (Blasi also notes that he thinks that Bowling Green won’t remain a cellar-dweller for long, under the direction of Scotty Paluch.)

    The RedHawks are outscoring opponents in every period — and 51-21 overall — but watch out for those 20 minutes in the middle, where it’s Miami 21, everyone else 6.

    None of this is good news for Miami’s opponent this week. It seems that Notre Dame is a bit short on that legendary Irish luck. Two weeks after facing the league’s highest-scoring offense and toughest defense, one week after facing one of the top teams in the country, the Fighting Irish host Miami, the league’s second-highest scoring offense and third-toughest defense.

    The Irish tied No. 2 Boston College last weekend, 3-3, in what Poulin calls “a big emotional weekend.” Every year, when the Irish and Eagles meet in football, their hockey counterparts play a game as well. It’s become quite a rivalry.

    “The Holy Cross Fathers vs. the Jesuits — we can’t even have the same priests,” said head coach Poulin.

    Poulin has been watching tape on the RedHawks all week. “They have a very good team. “They play with real confidence. They’re special teams are, well, special.

    “We’re going to have to play very, very well.”

    If Notre Dame has an edge this weekend — and a slight edge at that — it’s goaltender Morgan Cey, who had a rough couple of games but rebounded with 35 saves in the tie against BC.

    Another plus for Notre Dame — although not necessarily an advantage this weekend, per se — is the improved Irish special teams. Last year, the Irish PP performed at 14.6%.

    Here are some numbers to consider for this series:

  • Goals per game: Miami 5.10 (second), Notre Dame 3.57 (fourth)
  • Goals allowed per game: Miami 2.10 (third), Notre Dame 3.43 (sixth)
  • Power play: Miami 25.4% (third), Notre Dame 21.6% (fifth)
  • Penalty kill: Miami 82.5% (fifth), Notre Dame 80.6% (tie seventh)
  • Miami’s top scorer: Mike Kompon (7-11-18, second in league)
  • Notre Dame’s top scorer: Rob Globke (6-4-10)
  • Miami’s top ‘tender: David Burleigh (.897 SV%, 2.00 GAA)
  • Notre Dame’s top ‘tender: Morgan Cey (.902 SV%, 3.11 GAA)
  • Notre Dame leads this all-time series 20-10-5
  • Miami is 5-9-4 all-time in South Bend

    Most recently, these teams split a pair in Oxford, with Notre Dame winning in overtime Jan. 25, 2002, and Miami taking the game the following night.

    Picks: My gut tells me that the Irish have something in them, and maybe even something to prove this weekend, but I can’t call against a team as hot as Miami. Miami 5-3, 4-2

    Note Of The Week

    If a few names on the Notre Dame roster sound hauntingly familiar, they should. Connor Dunlop’s father, Blake, played 11 seasons of pro hockey, including the NHL. Neil Komadoski’s father, Neil Sr., played eight seasons in the NHL, and Yan Stastny’s dad, Peter — one of my all-time favorite players — spent 15 years in the NHL (as if we could forget).

    • This Week in the WCHA Women’s League: Nov. 7, 2002

    By Craig Roberts
    -

    Although teams have lost players in the past due to commitments with their respective national teams, at no time will those absences be more apparent than this weekend as a dozen players from WCHA teams take part in the Four Nations Cup, featuring Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States, in Kitchener, Ontario.

    For No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth and head coach Shannon Miller, it’s nothing new. But with seven of her players invited, Miller realized not everyone could go.

    In the past, the Bulldogs have lost top scorers Erika Holst and Maria Rooth to Team Sweden, and Hanne Sikio to Team Finland along with other players. For some of their absences, Miller was able schedule games around the international events to lessen the impact of the missing players.

    However, Nov. 10-11, 2000, the Bulldogs were without their top three scorers and goalie Tuula Puputti, heading into a two-game set at Minnesota. UMD took its lumps, dropping 4-0 and 8-0 decisions, but Miller took it in stride.

    “It hasn’t really been a problem in the past,” she said. “We just live through it.”

    Later that season, her team won the first NCAA championship in women’s hockey, returning to Mariucci Arena to claim the title.

    Last season, just a month after getting key players back from the Olympics, UMD claimed its second title despite playing poorly at season’s end.

    Although missing key players hurts the team because of their absence — not to mention the toll international travel can take — Miller said it has also helped over the last two seasons.

    “It helps you because your third and fourth line players get ice time that they normally wouldn’t,” she said. “They play on the power play and penalty kill, they get more shifts and become better players.”

    During last year’s Frozen Four, only one of UMD’s top four scorers, Holst, notched a goal during the tournament; Tricia Guest, who scored the championship-winning goal, had scored just 11 career goals in two seasons before giving the Bulldogs their second title.

    This year, UMD faces a tough test in travelling to Ohio State without four players — Caroline Ouellette of Canada and Finns Sikio, Satu Kiipeli and Nora Tallus. Holst and Rooth took part in Sweden’s first two games but are travelling to Columbus for the weekend series with the Buckeyes. American Jenny Potter turned down an opportunity to play with Team USA to be in her Bulldog uniform.

    The decision of who went and who stayed was made amongst the seven players.

    "When I recruit, I want to attract the best players and, to do that, you have to let them represent their countries when they have the opportunity."

    — Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson, on the impact of international tournaments.

    “I explained the situation to them,” Miller said. “Each of them has a different relationship with their national team so I let them talk it through amongst themselves. They talked for about 45 minutes, came and asked me some questions, talked for another 15-20 minutes and made the decision.”

    For No. 2 Minnesota, which hosts an improving Bemidji State squad at home this weekend, four players will be absent from the line, including the team’s top two scorers, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell, one of its top defensemen, Winny Brodt, and its second-leading scorer from last season, Kelly Stephens.

    Losing players of their status, both Miller and Gopher head coach Laura Halldorson agree, is the price you pay for having them.

    “When I recruit, I want to attract the best players and, to do that, you have to let them represent their countries when they have the opportunity,” Halldorson said. “This is one of those situations that come up when you have great players.

    “We’ve talked about this as a league as far as trying to schedule around international events but, with this many players gone, it’s different than in the past. Some of the challenges we face are trying to figure out how to best handle situations like this.”

    Besides the 10 players from the nation’s top two team who will be gone this weekend, No. 5 Wisconsin will be without defenseman Kerry Weiland and Carla MacLeod, the latter a Team Canada member who is out of action with a broken ankle. The Badgers struggled with the two defensemen out of the lineup against Minnesota Saturday, with Team USA member Weiland out due to illness, and they will try to snap a four-game winless streak at home against St. Cloud State, which will be without the services of forward Jossefin Pettersson, who will be playing with Team Sweden.

    Ohio State will feel the loss of defenseman Emma Laaksonen, playing with Team Finland, as the team’s top defenseman and a key to their power play, which has struggled of late, converting just one of its last 23 opportunities.

    The loss of key players can be magnified later in the season when selection are made for the NCAA championship. With just four teams invited, losses any time during the season can come back to haunt a squad.

    Next year, the problem could be even greater. The Women’s Frozen Four, which was originally slated to be played at the New Haven Coliseum, would be during the Internaional Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship, a situation which could seriously affect several teams’ championship aspirations.

    However, with the move of the Frozen Four from New Haven to Providence, dates have not been finalized and both Miller and Halldorson, whose teams were part of last year’s championship, are hoping the NCAA decides not to put coaches and players in the position of deciding where to play.

    The idea behind pushing the Women’s Frozen Four back to April, the same weekend as the men’s Frozen Four, was in hopes of gaining more exposure. However, in that situation, women’s college hockey would be put on a national stage with the possibility of not having its best players to showcase.

    In that situation, girls’ and women’s hockey as a whole will suffer.

    Huskies Getting Healthy

    St. Cloud State, returning to action after a much-needed week off, may have all of its players available for action for the first time this season when the Huskies take on Wisconsin.

    Captain and top defenseman Kobi Kawamoto has not suited up this season to due a broken foot. Her return to the lineup is crucial for a team that has struggled to move the puck out of its own zone.

    Four other players, including team goal-scoring leader Melanie Pudsey, have missed games due to injury and are expected to dress for the games against the Badgers.

    “It doesn’t mean they’re all 100 percent,” head coach Jason Lesteberg said. “But it’s a step in the right direction.”

    What Do I Need To Do For A Win?

    Averaging nearly 42 shots against her, Minnesota State’s Shari Vogt has to wonder what else she can do to get a win. In 2-1 and 3-2 losses to No. 10 Mercyhurst over the weekend, she stopped 93 of 98 shots, including a 50-save effort in the series finale.

    Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti, whose team is 8-2-0 despite struggling offensively, was not displeased with his team’s effort against the Mavericks in claiming a pair of wins.

    “We created a lot of opportunities,” he said. “Sometimes we just weren’t getting the bounces but [Vogt] made a lot of great saves.”

    Vogt has faced 45 or more shots in three of seven starts this season, including a 69-shot barrage, in which she made a school-record 63 saves, in a 6-1 loss to Minnesota-Duluth.

    Unfortunately for Vogt, nights like that are nothing new. She once recorded 93 saves in a 1-0 loss in high school, in a 45-minute game.

    WCHA “House”Hold Hints

    Minnesota head coach Laura Halldorson became just the seventh coach in women’s college hockey to reach 200 career wins when the Gophers defeated Wisconsin 2-1 Saturday … She is now tied for sixth in wins and third among active coaches … She is the third female coach to reach the 200-win plateau, joining Brown’s Digit Murphy and former New Hampshire coach Karen Kay … Minnesota defenseman Ashley Allbrecht, the Ms. Hockey Award winner as the state’s top senior high school player last season, may return to the Gopher lineup this weekend. She has missed the last two weeks with an unspecified injury … Minnesota State has showed a modest offensive improvement. After being shut out eight times last season and 29 times over the last three seasons, the Mavericks have scored each in their first eight games this season.

    Twelve of the WCHA’s top 15 scorers play for either Minnesota or Minnesota-Duluth. The two teams meet in Minneapolis, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 … UMD continued its impress special teams play over the weekend, going 7-for-15 on the power play and 10-for-10 on the penalty kill … The Bulldogs have not allowed a power-play goal in 50 opportunities this season … Wisconsin has played the strongest schedule in the country to date, facing ranked opponents in six of its first eight games … After hosting St. Cloud State this weekend, the Badgers will travel to 10th-ranked Mercyhurst … UMD assistant coach Shawna Davidson will be inducted into the Wildcat Athletic Council Hall of Fame Saturday when UNH holds its annual Hall of Fame banquet … A four-year letterwinner, she finished her career fourth in career scoring for UNH defensemen, and is currently sixth … She was named UNH’s Athlete of the Year as a sophomore in 1990 and competed with Team USA in three World Championships, winning silver in 1990, 1992 and 1994.

    WCHA Awards

    Offensive Player of the Week–Jenny Potter, Jr., F, Minnesota-Duluth
    Defensive Player of the Week–Anik Coté, Jr., G, Bemidji State
    Rookie of the Week–Natalie Darwitz, Fr., F, Minnesota

    Coming Up

    No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth at Ohio State (Friday-Saturday)

    UMD is 12-1-2 in 15 meetings with Ohio State, including a 4-1-1 mark in games at OSU Arena … Maria Rooth recorded her 11th career hat trick in the Bulldogs’ 13-0 win over North Dakota last Friday … Erika Holst, Caroline Ouellette and Jenny Potter have each scored a point in UMD’s first eight games this season … Holst has multiple points in all eight games … The Bulldogs have been successful on 59 consecutive penalty kills … OSU’s Katie Frohreich was the last player to score a power-play goal against UMD, doing so in UMD’s 6-2 win, March 9, 2002, in the third-place game at the WCHA Final Five … The Buckeyes are 1-for-23 on the power play after going 7-for-12 in a season-opening series sweep at Minnesota State … OSU was 0-for-7 in last weekend’s series at Bemidji State … The Buckeyes have scored just four goals in their last four games … During that span they have allowed 11 goals and outshot opponents 123-109.

    St. Cloud State at No. 5 Wisconsin (Friday-Saturday)

    Wisconsin leads the all-time series 10-2-0 … The Badgers have won all six meetings in Madison … SCSU is being outshot by an average of 35-19 through seven games … For the first time in history, Wisconsin finds itself at the bottom of the conference standings after taking just one point in four games … Badger scoring leader Megan Hunter was held scoreless in both games last weekend at Minnesota, snapping a 16-game point-scoring streak … Four of the Badgers’ first six series this season are against opponents who have been ranked nationally … With a shortage of defensemen last weekend, Wisconsin’s all-time scoring leader, Kendra Antony, was temporarily moved from forward to the blue line.

    North Dakota at Minnesota State (Friday-Saturday)

    These two teams are meeting for the first time … Kearstin Solberg’s two-goal performance Sunday was the first by a Maverick since Amy Egli scored twice in a 3-2 overtime win at St. Cloud State, Jan. 26, 2002 … Solberg’s team-high five points through eight games puts her halfway to her freshman total of 10 points last season … MSU has allowed 15 power-play goals in eight games while going just 2-for-49 itself … The Mavericks have not scored on their last 16 power-play chances … UND goalie Margaret-Ann Hinkley faced 66 shots in Friday’s 13-0 loss at Minnesota-Duluth and Amber Hasbargen faced 51 Saturday in a 5-0 loss … Despite the Sioux giving up 18 goals last weekend, Sherrie White remained on the positive side of the plus/minus ledger with a +1 through five games.

    Bemidji State at No. 2 Minnesota (Friday-Saturday)

    Minnesota leads the all-time series 11-0-2 … The Gophers are 5-0-1 at home versus the Beavers … Three of the teams’ four meetings last year went to overtime … Bemidji State senior Lisa Peters played in her 100th career game over the weekend … BSU freshman goalie Jill Luebke made her collegiate debut Friday, stopping 28 of 29 shots in a 1-1 tie with Ohio State … Despite a 3-4-1 record, the Beavers have posted a goals against average of 1.96 with a .924 save percentage … BSU has successfully killed 18 consecutive power plays and is 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in its last three games … The Gophers have trailed their opponents for just seven seconds in 480 minutes of play … They’ve played with the lead for 376:05.

    This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 7, 2002

    By
    -

    Upsets Abound

    Just when you thought MAAC hockey was relatively predictable, somehow some team finds a way to throw a curveball.

    Last week there was not one, but two major curves that started far inside and ended up right down the middle of the plate. One was in league play, the other a nonleague outcome versus a “Big Four” team.

    We’ll start with Sunday and work our way back. What should have been another overly predictable loss for Canisius, a club that entered Saturday’s game with a 0-6-0 record, having been outscored 34-9 in those six games, was anything but.

    The Griffs opponent, Sacred Heart, hadn’t played a league game yet but should have been more than prepared. The Pioneers entered with a 0-2-2 record, but also faced the likes of Bemidji State and Colgate on back-to-back road weekends. Though coming away with only the pair of ties with Bemidji, Sacred Heart lost two one-goal games to ECAC member Colgate, and showed a lot of promise entering its league opener.

    And then upset number one struck.

    Sacred Heart let Canisius hang around late in the game, and a Marc Bouffard goal with 2:21 remaining sent the game to overtime. When Andrew Dawe scored in the final two minutes of the extra session, the upset was complete.

    On Saturday night, it was emerging conference-favorite Holy Cross that shook the hockey world, earning the MAAC’s fifth-ever “Big Four” win and the second in just three weeks. But the amazement shouldn’t come only from the win at Union, but more with how the win happened.

    It has become almost a no-brainer that when a MAAC team steals a win from the Big Four, generally that is exactly what happens: a goaltender steals the show. Two weeks ago, Connecticut’s Jason Carey turned in a 39-save performance against Colgate; two years ago Justin Eddy stopped 45 shots in a 3-2 Quinnipiac win over this same Union club.

    But Saturday night, that was hardly the case. There was no nail-biting watching Holy Cross hold on to squeak out the win. Goaltender Tony Quesada didn’t have to stand on his head — rather, he turned aside a routine 24 shots.

    Nope, this was a game that Holy Cross controlled throughout. An early first-period goal gave the Cross the lead. From there, it just kept working hard and eventually expanded the lead, developing a 2-0 cushion early in the third on the power play.

    Even when Union struck with five minutes remaining to pull within a goal, there was no quit in the Crusaders.

    “Two years ago, we would have folded up the tent when they scored to make it 2-1,” said junior Jeff Dams, who assisted on a Brandon Doria goal to answer the Union tally 58 seconds later.

    Dams would later add a goal of his own to account for the 4-1 final.

    “We would have shut it down,” he added. “This year, and even last year, it’s a different team, it’s a different mindset in the room. We’re confident in ourselves.”

    Head coach Paul Pearl noted that the win was an example of executing his game plan to a T.

    “It was a good team effort and we played very well defensively,” said Pearl. “We were always able to have guys in position.

    “But that’s just the way we play. We try to limit opportunities to score. We try to win it on the special teams and fortunately it worked out.”

    Pearl admitted that his game plan was risky if his team’s power play did not click, but the Holy Cross man advantage has worked well over the last couple of years. (see: “Crusader Power” later in the column for more on the Holy Cross PP).

    He cautioned, however, that despite the major win, the time for enjoying it is over.

    “There’s a confidence that should be brewing. But that confidence should be exactly that — confidence — and now we have to move on. We’ve got a lot of games left to play.”

    The next test will be Holy Cross’ upset companion this past weekend, Canisius. If Holy Cross falls into the same trap as Sacred Heart, the smiles from the Union victory will quickly be washed away.

    “Canisius is a good hockey team,” said Pearl. “I have no doubt that [head coach] Brian [Cavanaugh] will have those guys coming in loaded for bear. Ever since year one, we’ve had a good rivalry with those guys and the outcomes of the games are unpredictable.”

    This was Holy Cross’ first win over an ECAC opponent.

    Weekly Awards

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Player of the Week: Jeff Dams, Holy Cross, Manotick, Ont.

    Dams had four points in one game against Union this week, scoring his first goal of the season in the first period to put HC up 1-0. He scored again late in the third period to give the Crusaders a 4-1 cushion. He also assisted on Holy Cross’ two other goals, including the game-winner scored by Pierre Napert-Frenette. Dams now leads the team in points with 13 and in assists with 11.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Goalie of the Week: Brad Roberts, Army, Cassville, NY

    The freshman netminder backstopped Army to consecutive victories over Iona on Friday and Saturday. Roberts stopped a combined 61 shots in the two games and picked up his first career shutout Friday in the Black Knights’ 3-0 win. He recorded a .984 save percentage in the two games and held the Gaels scoreless on nine power plays. His 34 stops on Saturday were also a career high.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Rookie of the Week: Tony Quesada, Holy Cross, South Freeport, ME

    Quesada notched his fourth career win over Union on Saturday night. He posted 24 saves in 60 minutes of action in the 4-1 win. He now holds a 4-1-0 record in net this season and raised his save percentage to .898.

    Garceau, Knights Sweep Iona Aside

    The Army Black Knights got off to their best-ever MAAC league start last weekend with a low-scoring sweep of local rival Iona. Playing a home-and-home series with the Gaels, the Army defense limited Iona to just one goal in 120 minutes — a first-period tally on Saturday night.

    Friday night’s hero was sophomore Chris Garceau. Following up an impressive rookie campaign, Garceau is showing he’s ready to become an impact player this season. In Friday’s game, his early third-period goal broke a scoreless deadlock. He would later assist on an insurance goal and pot an empty-netter to seal the 3-0 victory.

    “He’s a good young player in our league,” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold, whose squad faced Army on Tuesday. “He’s definitely one of Army’s top two forwards.”

    Garceau grew up in Guilford, Conn., less than ten miles from the Quinnipiac campus. Still, he never landed on Pecknold’s radar screen.

    “I dropped the ball and should’ve been more aggressive and recruited him,” said Pecknold. “I wish I could turn back the clock, but you can’t.”

    Luckily for the Bobcats, Garceau wasn’t too much of a factor, registering only an assist, Tuesday night when the Bobcats beat Army, 4-2.

    Also impressive on the weekend was goaltender Brad Roberts. The rookie netminder earned his first two career wins while making 27 saves on Friday And 34 saves on Saturday. Roberts has appeared in all five games for Army this season. He’s posted impressive numbers, a .926 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average, but the Black Knights have only scored nine goals in five games to support him.

    “He’s definitely in the top tier of goaltenders in our league. I was really impressed with him,” said Pecknold.

    Crusader Power

    For the second consecutive season, the Holy Cross power play has impressed at some opportune times. Last year, the Crusaders PP clicked with an efficiency rating just above 30 percent, one of the best in the nation.

    The man advantage unit is again moving in the right direction. A three-goal outburst last week against Union on the power play propelled the Crusaders to the upset victory. According to Pearl, though, there isn’t a lot to his team’s PP success.

    “I tell the guys to have a good power play you just have to keep the puck in the zone,” said Pearl. “If you keep the puck in the zone for a minute and a half each time, eventually, you’re going to score.”

    Pearl also noted that predicting power-play success is impossible.

    “I would tell you that against Iona when we went 0-for-5 on the power play and it was as good as it’s ever looked,” laughed Pearl. “But then one of the power-play goals against Union we scored on a long shot.

    “Sometimes things happen like that. Sometimes you run into a goaltender who gets across and makes the saves … Any team that has a good power play seems to have success in bunches. They’ll go 4-for-9 or something like that. That’s what helps along the way.”

    Blitzed Down East

    Last week, Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin was given quote of the week honors for his comments on playing No. 10 Maine last weekend.

    “If we don’t play well, it could be a real tough weekend,” said Gotkin. “Then again, if we do play well it could be a real tough weekend.”

    Playing well or not, the rare underdog Lakers walked into Maine’s Alfond Arena only to walk out with two losses, 5-0 and 7-0, and a constant headache from listing to the combined 9,343 Maine faithful cheer the Black Bears’ 12 goals over the two nights.

    Even after suffering the back-to-back whitewashings, Gotkin was still able to keep perspective.

    “We weren’t able to hang with Maine at Maine,” said Gotkin. “Am I shocked? No, I’m not shocked. I’m disappointed, but I’m not shocked.

    “Maine is better than Mercyhurst, Make no mistake,” he added. “Anyone that thinks otherwise is not thinking realistically. Someday we hope we’re going to compete with Maine. That day wasn’t last weekend for Mercyhurst, unfortunately.

    When asked if it was a good or bad experience for his team, Gotkin had only positives to talk about.

    “I’m glad to play those games,” Gotkin quipped. “And I’m looking forward to playing number-one Denver and number-eight Colorado College.

    “We knew playing this out-of-conference schedule that we could go 0-for.”

    Looking for silver linings in the otherwise tough weekend, Gotkin found some:

    “I liked our mood and out focus. On top of that, our goaltending was solid. We did some good things. We didn’t do enough good things for two games to beat a team like Maine. But there were things we did that I liked.”

    Mercyhurst will welcome its return to MAAC league play this weekend with a set at Fairfield and Connecticut.

    Finally Fairfield

    After three weeks of heartbreaks, Fairfield finally broke through last Sunday to earn its first win of the season.

    Even for a program that has struggled in the past few years it may seem strange to tout a win in the team’s fifth game of the season as being “big,” but the way things have gone for the Stags, it was almost major.

    Fairfield possesses a 1-3-1 record right now, but hasn’t lost a game by more than two goals. After dropping a 4-3 decision to American International to open the season at the Q-Cup, Fairfield then fell the following night in the consolation game, 6-4, to Bentley — a game that saw Fairfield lose a two-goal lead.

    Without high expectations, the Stags went into hostile Vermont two weekends ago and nearly pulled off the upset, but fell short in overtime.

    Last Friday against Connecticut, Fairfield again went to overtime, and held on for the tie.

    So a one-goal lead in the third period on Sunday against Bentley couldn’t have been that comforting. Still, the Stags held off the Falcons to avenge their opening-weekend loss, by a 3-2 decision.

    Run, Forrest, Run

    He may not be able to catch shrimp like Forrest Gump, but Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold proved he sure can run like him.

    Pecknold, running his first race of any kind, finished last weekend’s New York City Marathon in about four and a half hours, good for a finish somewhere between 18,000th and 19,000th.

    “My God, it was hard, though,” said Pecknold about the 26-mile jog.

    Pecknold was on the bench Tuesday night when his team faced Army.

    “I’m finally starting to feel better now,” he said.

    North Dakota, Yale Suspensions Will Stand

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Following discussions between Yale officals, the WCHA and the ECAC, Saturday’s game disqualification penalties to eight players on North Dakota and Yale will stand.

    The game DQs — which carry with it an automatic one-game suspension — were levied following a melee that broke out in the second period of North Dakota’s 7-3 win in New Haven. It started after North Dakota players took exception to a perceived dirty hit by Yale star Chris Higgins against North Dakota’s Matt Jones.

    According to Rule 4, Section 10 of the NCAA rule book, regarding Supplementary Discipline, the league office was not at liberty to change the ruling. Additional penalties can be awarded after the fact, but penalties may not be taken away. The rule reads:

    The proper disciplinary authority may, at the conclusion of the game, and at its discretion, investigate any incident that occurs in connection with any game and may assess additional suspensions for any offense committed before, during or after a game by a player, coach or nonplaying personnel, independent of whether such offense had been penalized by a referee. The proper disciplinary authority may not decrease any penalties assessed before, during or after the game by the on-ice officials.

    North Dakota Defenseman Nick Fuher and forwards Kevin Spiewak, Ryan Hale and Rory McMahon; and Yale’s Chris Higgins, Stacey Bauman, Evan Wax and Nick Deschenes were the players involved and will all sit out their team’s next game.

    North Dakota coach Dean Blais and Yale coach Tim Taylor both believed that two of their players had not thrown a punch, and should not have been given game disqualifications. The WCHA office — on behalf of North Dakota — and Yale officials, each inquired with the ECAC office about the situation. According to ECAC assistant commissioner Steve Hagwell, both parties understood the NCAA rules, and after brief discussions, accepted the fact that the game disqualifications could not be changed.

    Blais remained unconvinced.

    “He [ECAC referee Peter Torgerson] said he threw [Spiewak and Fuher] out because they didn’t go back to their benches,” Blais said to the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald. “Well, that’s not how the rule reads. You have to throw a punch to get a fighting penalty. But the [ECAC] looked at the tape of the game, and they stood by the referee’s decision.”

    Blais pointed out that the NCAA rule book mandates only a minor penalty for failure to report to the player bench during a fight.

    However, the ECAC said it stood by the referee’s decision, not necessarily because of its review of the tape, but because the rules state clearly that no reduction of penalty is even allowed.

    The North Dakota players will miss the team’s WCHA opener against St. Cloud State on Friday. Yale’s quartet must sit out its league opener at Cornell on Friday.

    UAF’s Voros Has Bone Tumor

    USCHO Staff Report
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    Alaska-Fairbanks sophomore forward Aaron Voros has returned home to Vancouver after he was diagnosed with a bone tumor in his leg.

    According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Voros will soon have a biopsy to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant.

    “It’s a shocker. My knee had been bothering me, but we thought it was a ligament; then I felt a lump,” Voros said to the Daily News-Miner. “There are still a lot of tests to be done. Everything has escalated so fast, from a checkup on the knee, to having an X-ray, an MRI, a bone scan and then a biopsy.”

    Voros is not sure how quickly the biopsy can take place.

    “We are looking at options,” Voros said to the newspaper. “I’m hoping we can fast track, but that might cost money. Money is not an issue though, we have friends of the family that will help out. I just want to get the best treatment I can and hopefully get it taken care of. Right now I have as many questions as anyone.”

    UAF coach Guy Gadowsky met with the rest of the team Tuesday to break the news.

    “It was just shock, concern,” Gadowsky told the newspaper. “No one is thinking about hockey right now. The only one who was caring about the season was Aaron. Before he left he told me to tell the team ‘hi’ and to start winning in Omaha.”

    Voros is an eighth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2001. As a freshmen, the 6-foot-4, 195-pounded led UAF with 18 goals and was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team.

    In eight games this season, Voros has one goal and three assists.

    A Special Player

    By Jim Lothrop
    -

    To get an idea of just how awesome of an athlete Rod Langway was, one need only look at the awards and accomplishments: Two Norris Trophies as the NHL’s best defenseman; the first American player to win the award; winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1979; selected as an NHL All-Star eight times; runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for league MVP as voted by the players in 1982; etc. … etc. …

    Yet that’s only part of the story. Rod Langway attended New Hampshire, which already had one of the best Division I programs in college hockey before he arrived in 1975.

    Thing of it is, he was recruited by UNH to play football.

    “I was recruited by some pretty big schools. Notre Dame, Florida State,” says Langway. “But I wanted to play both football and hockey. I knew I couldn’t get into Harvard, and Vermont had dropped their football program. It basically came down to Boston College, Holy Cross, and UNH.

    “The main reason I came here [to UNH] was Dave O’Connor,” says Langway of the former assistant coach for both the football and hockey teams. “It was one of the most honest interviews I had ever had. I told him, ‘I’m not going to UNH unless I can play both hockey and football.’ Dave went to [former UNH head hockey coach] Charlie Holt, and says, ‘Can this guy Langway play hockey for you?’, and Charlie says ‘Sure … he can play anytime he wants to.’ Then they went to Andy [Mooradian, former UNH athletic director], and he says it was O.K. So I decided to come here.”

    Langway was honored the weekend of Oct. 18 at UNH for his upcoming induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Nov. 4. That accomplishment will complete the trifecta for Langway, who was inducted into the UNH Hall of Fame in 1990, and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

    “It’s just a tremendous honor; it’s the icing on my career,” says the 15-year NHL veteran regarding his upcoming induction. “There’s nothing left after I get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, unless I get into coaching, which is pretty unlikely,”

    Currently, Langway lives with his wife, Teresa, and their newborn daughter, Maya Rose, in Richmond, Va. Langway works in the family business, in heat treatment operations for metal machine shops.

    During his brief stay at New Hampshire (1975-1977), Langway quickly made an impact for both the football and hockey programs. Langway was recruited as a quarterback out of Randolph (Mass.) high school (myth has it he could throw a football 70 yards … standing still). However, he was redshirted his freshman year because of an injury to his throwing shoulder that required surgery. New Hampshire had a strong football team in 1976, and when he was healthy enough to return, Langway found himself third on the depth chart at quarterback.

    No bother. Langway was so adept out on the football field, he became the team’s starting outside linebacker, helping UNH win the Yankee Conference and gain a berth in the Division II playoffs.

    “He had a great year,” says current UNH football coach Sean McDonnell, who was Langway’s teammate that season. “The first thing you saw was his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). The second thing was that he was a heck of an athlete. He could get off blocks and he was a tough kid. … He was in great shape all of the time. He was a phenom.”

    "I would say this, though, to the guys playing [collegiately] now: If it’s a case of becoming a pro versus becoming an All-American, I’d say be an All-American. Stay in school."

    — NHL Hall-of-Famer Rod Langway

    “We’ve had some great linebackers here at UNH,” says former longtime head football coach Bill Bowes, “and Rod Langway could have been the best. He had that God-given ability. The kid could have played any sport he wanted to.”

    How good of an athlete was Langway? Three days after UNH dropped its Division II playoff game to Montana State, 17-16 on a missed extra point, he was skating for the hockey team in a game against RPI.

    “He was the best player on the ice,” says O’Connor of that particular game.

    Later that same school year, Langway helped lead New Hampshire into the NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament for the first time in school history. In a game at the old Olympia in Detroit that is down in history as one of the most exciting (and stunning) semifinals in NCAA hockey history, the Wildcats lost to eventual-champion Wisconsin, 4-3, in overtime, after squandering a 3-1 lead.

    No Wildcat fan will forget the conclusion: On a faceoff in the UNH end in the extra session, the Wisconsin player just shot the puck when it was dropped, rather than try to win it back to the point. Somehow the puck went past goalie Dan Magnarelli, and Wildcat fans were heartbroken.

    “They had a couple of All-Americans; Mark Johnson at center. I had a pretty good game that day. I outplayed them,” says Langway of that fateful game, without the slightest hint of arrogance or pompousness. Just pure fact. “We heard later on that they [the Badgers] absolutely did not want to play us in that game.”

    Says O’Connor, “[Langway] was immense. Scouts called Charlie and told him he was the most impressive guy in the NCAA tournament.”

    For his career at UNH, Langway recorded 13 goals and 56 assists for 69 points — all in just 65 games. He scored 10 goals in his second season, a mark he would surpass just once in the NHL, where he was known as the ultimate defensive defenseman.

    The scouts indeed took notice. Montreal selected Langway with the first pick in the second round of the National Hockey League draft that year. However the Canadiens were in no rush, and urged Langway to stay in school, since they were loaded on defense at the time.

    Not long after the NHL draft was completed, the Birmingham Bulls of the fledgling World Hockey Association took notice of how high Montreal was on Langway, and they made him the first pick overall in that league’s draft, at a time when American college hockey players weren’t highly regarded.

    The Bulls made Langway, who was married at the time, an offer he couldn’t refuse: A guaranteed contract for three years at the whopping salary of $30,000 per year. And with that, Langway’s playing days at UNH were over.

    “It was time to go,” says Langway without hesitation or a hint of regret. “Thirty thousand dollars, guaranteed for three years … hey, my goal in going to college was just to get a scholarship. I never had any inkling of playing professionally.

    “I would say this, though, to the guys playing [collegiately] now: If it’s a case of becoming a pro versus becoming an All-American, I’d say be an All-American. Stay in school.”

    Of all the UNH memories, Langway says Holt’s presence was the biggest.

    “Charlie was like a fixture here, with that black hat he always wore,” says Langway. “You couldn’t say a bad word about him. In fact, I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him.”

    Holt was soft-spoken, and Langway heard him raise his voice just once.

    “It was during a big game against Clarkson,” says Langway. “[Forward] Bobby Miller got into a scrum after the first period had ended, and got thrown out for the rest of the game. When he finally got into the locker room, Charlie just chewed him up and down like I’d never seen him do before.

    “Charlie almost suspended him right then and there for two games, but we had to play the next night against St. Lawrence, and one of the coaches whispered to Charlie that Miller had some die-hard friends and family that had made the trip to New York, so he let Bobby off the hook.”

    That 1976-77 squad went 27-12 and came oh-so-close to playing in the school’s first-ever national championship game.

    “I just remember a great group of guys,” says Langway. “Cliff Cox and Ralph Cox (no relation); Bobby Miller had 89 points that season. And we had a freshman class that was phenomenal that year — Bruce Crowder, Bobby Gould, Tim Burke, Paul Powers. It just rolls off my lips. Most of those guys went on to play in the NHL.”

    Oh yeah, Langway also played with a couple of decent players in the National Hockey League.

    “The three best players I ever played with were Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, and Serge Savard. It was kind of nice having Ken Dryden back there in goal, too,” says Langway of his four seasons with the Canadiens.

    After Montreal’s dynasty ended, Langway was traded to Washington, where he played the last 11 seasons of his NHL career. He scored just 13 goals in the last nine years of his career, during an era when 50-goal scorers were much more common, but won Norris Trophies anyway. That’s how good his defense was.

    You get a certain feeling of warmth and genuineness from talking to Langway. At the media conference, he greeted each of the writers with a big smile and even bigger handshake. Even for big guys, your hand feels as though it has been through a trash compactor.

    The unassuming Langway has equally fond memories of the town and the campus itself as well as his hockey playing days here.

    “UNH is famous for down-to-earth people,” says Langway. “I didn’t want to leave. Heck, I even loved the practices here. I lived across the street from the old arena [Snively]. I’d be there at 2 p.m. for a 4 p.m. practice.”

    Thinking about whether being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the greatness of his career in general, has finally sunk in, Langway sits back, crosses his arms, and takes a deep sigh.

    “When I was told that I was getting elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, I started sweating,” he says. “I always thought in college that I was an average player, maybe a bit of a late bloomer. When I open up a hockey encyclopedia, and I see my picture, I still can’t believe it.

    “I can’t get used to it. I never will.”

    Special thanks to Al Pike, staff sports writer for Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, N.H., for his contributions to this feature.

    Minnesota-Duluth Stays First In Women’s Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
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    The top of the USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll looked remarkably similar to last week, as the top team, Minnesota-Duluth, handily won two games against North Dakota by a combined score of 18-0, and No. 2 Minnesota completed a 3-1, 2-1 sweep of No. 5 Wisconsin. Despite going 0-3-1 in the last four games, Wisconsin climbed one spot after facing the top two teams in the country in succesive weekends.

    No. 4 Dartmouth got underway in style with a 7-0 win over Vermont, followed by a closely-fought 3-2 win over No. 8 Providence. No. 6 St. Lawrence moved up a spot in the poll despite not playing a game, as Brown fell to No. 7 with a split with unranked Niagara.

    St. Lawrence will face a test this weekend, hosting Hockey East powerhouse New Hampshire, currently ranked at No. 9. New Hampshire is looking for a measure of respect to go with a perfect 7-0-0 record thus far. Dartmouth will also hope for a big weekend, as it faces visiting Brown and No. 3 Harvard.

    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.

    Norwich No. 1 Again In D-III Ranking

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Norwich remained first in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll, earning eight first-place votes despite not having played a game thus far this season. St. Norbert used a two-win weekend, including a 2-1 victory at No. 4 Wis.-Superior, to strengthen its grip on second place. The Green Knights received three first-place votes.

    RIT captured the remaining four first-place votes and finished at No. 3 following a 4-3 overtime victory against Potsdam on Saturday. Potsdam makes its first appearance in the poll this season at No. 11 this week.

    Also new this week is No. 15 St. John’s, with back-to-back wins over Augsburg as the MIAC opened play. Elsewhere, Manhattanville and Elmira tied for 12th place in the rankings, each earning 43 points. Manhattanville dumped Neumann 5-1 on Wednesday, while Elmira eked by Oswego, 4-3 in overtime.

    On the horizon, No. 6 Plattsburgh gets underway this coming weekend, hosting Geneseo and Brockport. The NCHA seems to be a battleground every weekend, with this week’s featured matchup being a contest between No. 2 St. Norbert and No. 10 Wis.-Stevens Point. Elsewhere, No. 3 RIT hosts No. 12 Manhattanville, as each tries to get two all-important ECAC West points.

    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.

    D3 Women’s Poll Shows Elmira

    USCHO Staff Report
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    Elmira captured first-place honors in the first regular-season edition of the USCHO.com Division III Women’s Poll, but despite outscoring this weekend’s opponent, Chatham, by a combined 24-0 score and improving to 4-0-0 in the process, the Soaring Eagles do not have a stranglehold on first place.

    No. 2 Manhattanville garnered one first-place vote, despite having a 0-1-0 mark. The catch? That game was a 3-1 loss to Division I member Wayne State, in which the Valiants played even with the Warriors throughout the contest.

    With two noticeable wins over St. Mary’s, Wis.-Stevens Point captured the fourth spot outright. The Pointers were tied with Middlebury, No. 5 this week, in preseason voting.

    Wis.-River Falls made a statement, downing MIAC members Augsburg and No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus to climb into the No. 9 spot.

    Coming up, the MIAC and the NCHA continue to trade blows, as No. 4 Wis.-Stevens Point takes its crack at No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus in a pair of games, and No. 9 Wis.-River Falls takes on St. Mary’s and St. Thomas, two teams receiving votes in this week’s poll.

    The USCHO.com Poll is compiled by U.S. College Hockey Online, and consists of 12 voters, all coaches of Division III programs.

    Denver Tops Chaotic Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
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    Denver reclaimed the top spot in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll on the strength of two convincing wins, both games by a 5-3 score, against a visiting Wisconsin. The Pioneers captured 27 first-place votes when last week’s No. 1 team, New Hampshire, dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 7 Boston University and correspondingly fell to No. 3 this week.

    While Denver finished with a healthy majority of first-place votes and
    with a significant lead over No. 2 Boston College, a whopping eight teams
    received at least one first-place vote. Four undefeated teams are in the
    top ten, and three received a first-place vote: No. 2 Boston College at
    5-0-1 (three first-place votes), No. 5 North Dakota at 6-0-0 (two), No. 10
    Providence at 7-0-0 (one). Cornell, with a 3-1 win over battle-tested Ohio
    State, improved to 1-0-0 and held steady in the No. 8 slot.

    Also receiving first-place votes were No. 3 New Hampshire, which downed
    Merrimack 4-3 before the loss to the Terriers; No. 4 Minnesota, which won
    a two game set against visiting Alabama-Huntsville; and No. 7 Boston
    University, which won a wild 7-6 game against Northeastern before the 3-2
    thriller in Durham.

    Entering the poll this week is No. 14 Miami, owners of an impressive 8-2
    record, including a sweep of then-ranked Northern Michigan two weeks ago.

    Coming up this weekend is a WCHA feud as North Dakota travels to the
    National Hockey Center to take on No. 15 St. Cloud for two games.
    Providence will put it’s newly-found top 10 status on the line with a
    home-and-home series with Northeastern, and No. 13 Michigan State returns
    to action, hosting Niagara for a set.

    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.

    St. Thomas Tops MIAC Preseason Poll

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Defending champion St. Thomas is picked to repeat by MIAC coaches in the
    league’s 2002-2003 pre-season poll.

    The Tommies received seven of nine first-place votes, with the other two going to last year’s runner-up, Gustavus Adolphus. The Golden Gusties lost to St. Thomas in overtime of the MIAC championship game last season.

    Not much is expected to change from last season to this one, according to the poll. The team order in the pre-season poll matches exactly the final standings from last season.

    MIAC Men’s Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll

    (first-place votes in parentheses)

    1. St. Thomas (7)
    2. Gustavus Adolphus(2)
    3. Augsburg
    4. Saint John’s
    5. Concordia-Moorhead
    6. Saint Mary’s
    7. Hamline
    8. St. Olaf
    9. Bethel

    2004 Women’s FF Still Looking for Venue

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    The 2004 Women’s Frozen Four could be played in Providence, R.I.

    The tournament had been scheduled for the New Haven Coliseum, but the coliseum closed on Aug. 31 because of economic problems.

    The New Haven Register reported this week that Yale and the ECAC, the Frozen Four hosts, have recommended the tournament be played at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.

    The newspaper said the NCAA women’s ice hockey committee would consider the recommendation this week. If approved, it would be sent to the NCAA championship cabinet.

    Wayne Dean, a senior associate athletic director at Yale, told the Journal that arenas in Hartford and Bridgeport, both in Connecticut, showed “mild” interest in hosting the tournament.

    ‘Hatewise,’ It’s A Rivalry Worth Watching

    By
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    For Boston University fans, there’s no team to hate like Boston College. Outside of Matthews Arena before the Terriers took on Northeastern, enterprising BU fans were selling T-shirts that proclaimed “BC Sucks.” Newcomers to the scene might have wondered what BC has to do with a Boston University-Northeastern contest, but, in fact, BC has everything to do with BU fandom. It’s an instinctive impulse that radiates from some deep primordial level.

    Increasingly, though, Northeastern has also slipped onto BU fan’s radar screens, especially following last year’s Beanpot championship game. The Huskies had BU on the ropes, leading 3-2 going into the third period, before the Terriers came back to win what they like to refer to as “The BU Invitational.”

    The close call made an impression. For some, it warranted a first pilgrimage to the foreign soil of Matthews Arena.

    “It’s a pretty important game because they’re a Beanpot rival,” said Tony Maiolino, sitting at center ice with his friend Steve Moore, both clad in scarlet-and-white jerseys. “We beat them last year in the Beanpot and it’s the first rematch right after that and we want to prove to them that we can still take them.”

    Moore concurs. “Northeastern has gotten much better the last couple years so now — especially after last year’s Beanpot game and the way we won it in the end — you know they want to beat us. It’s become a really big game.

    “In the past it was almost like a gimme against Northeastern. But now they’re in the same class as BC, BU and UNH. So hockeywise it’s a big rivalry, but I don’t know that hatewise it’s as much as BC.”

    Hatewise. A perfectly apt description of BC-BU.

    “The difference is that we hate BC,” Moore continued. “Not just hockey. We just don’t like BC. We don’t really have it out for Northeastern like we do against BC. We just don’t like BC.

    “But Northeastern … we’re starting to not like them a lot more.”

    Hatewise.

    "They’ve been known as being a little better than us, so we’ve got to go out there and show them who’s boss and who’s going to win this thing."

    — Northeastern fan Rich Therrien

    Starting to not like them a lot more.

    What beautiful phrases for those who appreciate a good rivalry.

    “BC and BU, that’s more like the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry,” said Maiolino. “It’s always going to be that way. But this is definitely starting to grow. It’s going to sneak up on people.”

    The sneaking is over for Northeastern fans. From their perspective, BU is already Public Enemy Number One.

    This week, fliers urged NU fans to don the school colors and “black out BU.” They did so in numbers, ranging from the diehard to Amy Leedham, who was attending her first game but had nonetheless painted “NU” on her face.

    Of course, the raucous student section known as the Doghouse carried the day in its support, looking like a sea of black that extended even to the faces of several members painted that color. Two females students had their midriffs painted “NU.” Several males lifted their black shirts in unison to display their message, one letter per chest, “BU SUXX.”

    “You see black just everywhere,” said Rich Therrien, who along with his friend Steve Souza had painted his face black. “You look through the audience and there’s black everywhere with little specks of red.”

    The Huskies’ 22-53-2 record against BU since the formation of Hockey East may have diminished the rivalry in some Terrier fans’ eyes, but has led to the Doghouse placing a virtual bullseye on Terrier jerseys.

    “They’ve been known as being a little better than us, so we’ve got to go out there and show them who’s boss and who’s going to win this thing,” said Therrien.

    When asked if a gun was put to their head and they had to pick one team that they would most savor a win over, the two answered in near unison.

    “BU, probably,” said Souza.

    “BU, definitely,” said Therrien.

    As it turned out, BU scored a mere 17 seconds into the game, quieting what had been a raucous building for a few seconds.

    Then the cheers of “Let’s Go Huskies!” resumed.

    “We knew we were going to come back,” said Souza. “It gave us a little more [reason] to cheer a little harder.”

    Souza’s optimism seemed appropriate as he uttered the words during the first intermission since Northeastern led, 3-1. Boston University roared back, however, scoring five unanswered goals in the second period.

    In seats behind the Husky bench, long-time NU fan Tim Costello had to listen to Coleman McCarron — a youngster who described himself as the “number one BU fan” — gloat about the Terriers success and predict a 15-3 outcome.

    As it turned out, Northeastern rallied in the third period and if not for an inability to capitalize on a full two-minute five-on-three could have avoided falling short, 7-6.

    Boston University held on to take the win, though, and drive the head-to-head records even higher in its favor: 54-22-2 since the formation of Hockey East and 125-46-2 all-time.

    For now, then, the focus of both teams shifts to other opponents until a home-and-home series during the first weekend in January. Followed, perhaps, by another meeting in the Beanpot championship game.

    This Week in Hockey East: Oct. 31, 2002

    By
    -

    Ranking the Dufflebags

    The truism is that no team ever goes far without strong goaltending. Not in youth hockey. Not in high school. And certainly not in Hockey East.

    The parity in college hockey today has reduced the margin of error to such miniscule proportions that almost no team can survive a sieve in its own nets. As a result, let’s gauge the returning number one netminders in the league. (We’ll look at the newcomers in a future column.)

    Sure-fire All-Americans

    None.

    The league is coming off one of those rare years when it had no All-American, let alone one that would be returning. ECAC goaltenders Matt Underhill (Cornell) and Yan Denis (Brown) swept the awards last year, one of only four seasons in which that happened. (The others were 1989-90, 1995-96 and 1996-97.)

    The reality is that none of this year’s class of returning Hockey East goaltenders is a sure thing to be up for national honors in the way that, for example, Ty Conklin was once he established himself as a sophomore.

    The Head of the Class

    Michael Ayers (New Hampshire) is the closest thing the league has to a mortal lock for postseason honors. He set a Hockey East record for save percentage in league games (.938) last year. After a rocky baptism in his first game, he went all the way to the Frozen Four without once giving up more than four goals, and only allowing that many on three occasions. He compiled a 14-1-1 record during that stretch.

    Of course, for UNH fans of a Red-Soxian bent, the operative phrase above is, “all the way to the Frozen Four” since Ayers did surrender seven goals in a haunting loss to Maine and looked bad in the process. Between that and the credit that also must go to the Wildcat team defense for Ayers’ great numbers, the junior isn’t yet a shoo-in for honors.

    Keni Gibson (Northeastern) ranks behind only Ayers based on his performances last year through early February. After overcoming early season back problems that limited him to only a single contest through the middle of November, Gibson was magical through early February, after which Northeastern coaches felt he hit the wall because of playing almost every single game.

    Gibson’s lone question marks center around his less than stellar play over those last five weeks of the season.

    The Middle of the Pack:

    One can make a case for almost all the remaining number one goalies, one of two of which will likely separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

    Nolan Schaefer (Providence) comes with the most impressive pedigree of the lot, given that he earned All-America honors two years ago as a sophomore. Last season, however, was a sub-par one with too many soft goals. Even his award-winning season had some questions attached to it.

    Here’s what this observer wrote in the Providence 2001-2002 season preview before his struggles:

    However, questions still linger, at least in this writer’s mind. Halfway through last season, he might have been the league MVP, but his dominating play faltered down the stretch and became rather ordinary. In his first 12 games, he allowed only 20 goals and posted a stunning .943 save percentage. In only three of those 12 games did he allow three or more goals.

    Schaefer’s last 13 games offer a sharp contrast. He surrendered three or more goals all but once for a total of 43. His save percentage was only .888. While the second half schedule — most notably four games against Boston College to none in the first half — can account for some of the difference, the impression remains that Schaefer was simply not as sharp.

    Those questions still remain. There’s been sustained excellence in the past. Can Schaefer do it all season long?

    Sean Fields (Boston University) could also be the one to make the leap forward. He’s been solid for the Terriers since entering the league as a young freshman, but has not yet elevated his game to the next level. The physical tools appear to be there so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn All-Hockey East honors before his collegiate career ends.

    Joe Exter (Merrimack) may have stats that fall below those of his middle-of-the-pack brethren, but the senior hasn’t had the same level of support around him. Last season, he saw at least 30 shots in all but four of the 27 full games in which he played (including nine contests with 40 or more, culminating in a 67-shot playoff OT thriller with UNH), yet he still maintained an .899 save percentage.

    Matti Kaltiainen and Tim Kelleher (Boston College) split the time in the Eagle crease last year and could do so again this year unless one of the two get hot. Kaltiainen has the bigger upside of the two, considering that he’s two years younger and may be more comfortable this season having adjusted to the different language, culture and food — not to mention rink size –from his native Finland.

    Kelleher had several notable performances last year, but his low moments included three games in which he surrendered seven goals. His detractors could argue that his struggles should put him below the middle of the pack. Look back, however, to his freshman year. By January, it looked as though he’d supplant Scott Clemmensen as BC’s number one goaltender. Although the exact opposite happened, Kelleher still finished with a 2.02 GAA and a save percentage of .919. The physical talent is there; this writer feels he just needs to get back to the level of confidence he exuded when he first entered the league. The question is, will he?

    The Jury Is Still Out

    Tim Warner (Massachusetts) is the only returning backup goaltender who has an opening to move into at least a tandem this year. In 10 games last season, however, he posted a 5.16 GAA and a save percentage of .856. Those aren’t promising numbers. Nonetheless, he was considered a talented recruit coming out of prep school and wouldn’t be the first goalie to struggle as a freshman before making his mark in the league.

    Friar Five-Oh

    Last year, they were picked to finish first in Hockey East — a fact they no doubt are very, very sick of hearing about — but started poorly and finished even worse. The Providence Friars lost their first four games to teams from the traditional four conferences and ended the season without a win after Feb. 2.

    It’ll be months before they get a chance to rectify the latter of those ills, but the former has been taken care of quite nicely, thank you. Providence now stands at 5-0-0 and will be a heavy favorite to make that 7-0-0 by weekend’s end.

    While three of the five wins have come against teams (MSU-Mankato and Iona) that are collectively 0-7-2, the other two were over Union (2-1-2) and, most impressively, Massachusetts-Lowell (3-3-0, but with four of its games against nationally ranked teams).

    “The goaltending has been good,” says coach Paul Pooley. “I think our work ethic has been very good. And we’ve had balance up until the other night when Peter [Fregoe’s] line obviously had a big hand in that victory [over Lowell]. We’ve had four lines going and we’ve had contributions from a lot of different people.”

    The big line of Fregoe (8-7–15), Jon DiSalvatore (5-10–15) and Devin Rask (2-6–8) has been one of the most dangerous ones in the league, as expected. Fregoe and DiSalvatore are tied for second in the country in scoring. The trio accounted for five of the six goals in the 6-5 overtime win over Lowell.

    However, in just the five games Peter Zingoni has added six goals, Chris Chaput has five assists and both Cody Loughlean and Torry Gajda have buried some important tallies as well.

    As a whole, the Friars are averaging 6.40 goals per game, tops in Hockey East.

    “We’ve had a lot of energy from different guys,” says Pooley. “Obviously, Johnny and Peter and Devin have done what they’ve needed to do and everyone else has added to the mix.”

    The goaltending by Nolan Schaefer (2.61 GAA, .925 Sv%) and freshman Bobby Goepfert (1.50 GAA, .945 Sv%) has helped place the Friars third in league defensive statistics (2.20 goals against per game). While freshmen goaltenders usually aren’t expected to excel right out of the gate, Goepfert’s success comes as no surprise to Pooley, considering the netminder’s success last year in the USHL where he was named league Player of the Year.

    “He’s played a lot of hockey the last couple years and seen a lot of shots,” says Pooley. “He’s an individual who feels very comfortable in the net no matter whether he’s getting 15 shots or 40 shots. He plays at a high level and as more than a freshman. I kind of anticipated this.”

    Pooley isn’t looking ahead to next weekend, when a potential sweep of Northeastern would make PC 9-0, or the Tuesday after that when his squad faces its first nationally ranked opponent, Boston College. When asked what key point in the season might indicate how high his team can climb, he answers without hesitation.

    “Friday night at UMass,” he says. “It’s our first road game. We’re not looking at the last five games; we’re worrying about Friday.

    “We need to be better. We’ve indicated to the guys about four areas that we need to work on to get better. We’re working on our D-zone coverage, faceoffs, specialty teams and our forecheck. Those are the areas we need to continually improve on.”

    An Ethical Dilemma

    When Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves faced Boston College last weekend and only had to deal with one of this two sons, he averted a no-win ethical question. Patrick Eaves not only played, but scored two goals, including a goalscorer’s special, one that would have warmed the cockles of Dad’s heart had it not been a shot to his team’s solar plexus. Ben Eaves, however, was sidelined with a rib injury.

    Had Ben Eaves tried to play through the pain, however, the following ethical dilemma would have presented itself to the elder Eaves. Assuming that he knew about the injury, would he tell his team to be particularly physical with his own son?

    A rabid Badger fan might question his all-out commitment to winning if Eaves chose to protect his son’s health at his team’s expense. Alternatively, many would label him a heartless you-know-what if he told his players to target Ben and make sure they hit him hard at every opportunity. (One can imagine Mrs. Eaves telling the coach, “You can just sleep on the couch, Mr. Winning Isn’t The Big Thing, It’s The Only Thing. And you can stay there until my boy is back in the lineup…”)

    Mike Eaves gave reporters the old razzle dazzle, avoiding that hot potato as smoothly as his sons elude defenders.

    “I never tell my players to hurt someone,” he said. “I don’t believe in that. But I do tell them to play hard.”

    When informed that he had danced around the question, Eaves grinned and said, “I know.”

    Still a Wild Card

    One of the wild cards coming into the season remains exactly that. Maine, which in the preseason was pegged for fourth place in Hockey East but which has also ranged anywhere from fifth to tenth in the USCHO.com poll, now stands at 3-1-1.

    While the statistics this early in the season must be taken with many grains of salt, the Black Bears’ offense and defense rankings are about the opposite of expectations. Their offense, 4.00 goals per game, puts them squarely in the middle of Hockey East at fifth place while their defense, 2.00 goals allowed per game, is tied for first with New Hampshire.

    Maine’s goaltending had been expected to be the major question mark since there was no collegiate experience at all. Frank Doyle, a sophomore, had practiced with the team last year, but had played no games because of Mike Morrison and Matt Yeats’ presence. Jimmy Howard was a highly regarded recruit out of the U.S. National Team, but still would just be an 18-year old freshman. The defense also had holes to fill following key departures.

    As a result, a statistic of allowing only two goals per game is encouraging no matter how few games it’s based on. Howard’s numbers (1.42 GAA, .934 Sv%) are the better of the two, but Doyle’s (2.88 GAA, .891) aren’t exactly chopped liver either.

    “It’s a little early to say, but we are pleased with how our defense and goalies are progressing,” says coach Tim Whitehead. “We’re trying to do our best to limit the quality scoring chances for the opponent. So far, we’ve been reasonably successful with that. We just have to keep working week-to-week.

    “We can expect some highs and lows there; we’re just trying to be as consistent as we can. We’re pleased, though.”

    The offense, though ranked in the middle of the pack, has scored at least four goals in all but one game, a blanking delivered by Colorado College, the one nationally ranked team the Black Bears have faced. Predictably, Colin Shields leads the goalscoring, including four already on the power play, and Martin Kariya leads the playmaking. As much as there are no surprises there, there’s also the expected depth up front with six other forwards already notching their first goals.

    “We’re getting contributions from a lot of different people,” says Whitehead. “That’s going to be the best way for us to be successful, but we feel that we have a pretty balanced attack. The offense is good, [but] we’ve really been focussing on our team defense.”

    Schizo Fever

    Northeastern and Wisconsin combined for one of the most exaggerated role reversals in recent memory. On Friday night, Northeastern battled tooth and nail with top-ranked New Hampshire and emerged with a well-deserved 2-2 tie. Meanwhile, Wisconsin faced Boston College and found itself down, 4-0, before the game was eight minutes old. While the final score read, 4-2, the Badgers were never in it and it remained a 4-1 contest until the closing minutes.

    One night later, however, with the Huskies hosting Wisconsin, the tables were turned. This time, the Badgers led, 4-0, before the game was 16 minutes old. Having been shut out on the power play by BC, they went 3-for-3 against Northeastern.

    For the second straight night, but in differing ways, the PA system could have been playing “Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” by the second period.

    “We didn’t come out and play,” said NU coach Bruce Crowder. “Part of that was us and part of it was Wisconsin. They lost [the night before]. They were a little hungrier. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves. Everybody was patting us on the back about what happened [against UNH]. I think a lot of guys figured we’d just have to throw our skates on and we’d be talking about happy things after the game.

    “You’ve got to come to play every night in college hockey because [if you don’t] you’re going to get spanked and we definitely got spanked tonight.”

    Trivia Contest

    Last week’s question recognized Providence’s 11-0 whitewashing of Iona and asked what year the Friars last matched that score and who was the opponent. The answer was Maine on Feb. 6, 1982. We had a very quick winner, but unfortunately that person never submitted a cheer. As a result, the runner-up, Todd Cioffi — who had won the previous week — offers the following substitute cheer :

    “Ancient proverb: May your favorite team do as well as Dave Hendrickson’s picks for the first two weeks.”

    Check’s in the mail, Todd.

    This week’s question revolves around Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves coaching against BC, a team on which his sons, Ben and Patrick, play. Name the one other (to my knowledge) D-I coach who similarly faced a team on which his son played.

    Email Dave Hendrickson’s trivia account with your responses. 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.

    Calling All Illiterates…

    Hey, I’m a writer so I naturally love books. As a result, in this brief section I’ll include a notable passage or two from a favorite book and I’ll recognize the first reader who correctly determines its origin.

    This week’s two passages should make the answer an easy one:

    “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are.”

    and…

    “Have you ever heard of a plan when so many things could go wrong?”

    Email Dave Hendrickson with the name of the novel and the author. The winner gets recognized and can mention the title of a favorite book of his or her own. The true reward, though, was in the reading to begin with.

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

  • I’ve enjoyed virtually every single one of the Stephen King books I’ve read. And I’ve read almost every single one of his. In my opinion, he’s one of the great storytellers of our time. But “From a Buick 8” left me cold.
  • Why is it that the owner of a professional sports team in Boston cashed in and it wasn’t Jeremy Jacobs? How much longer before the Boston Beancounters can become the Bruins once again?
  • After the Patriots’ two explosive wins to open the season, who’d have thought that they’d be on the ropes heading into the Bledsoe Bowl?
  • It’s great to see Drew succeed, especially after the way he was maligned by so many talkshow nitwits last year. But I was kinda hoping he’d do well while the Bills went oh-for-the-season so that draft pick would garner another Richard Seymour. Now the Pats will probably get another Seymour, but the Seymour of the last few losses rather than last year’s dominant player.
  • Shannon O’Brien’s playing of the gender card based on Mitt Romney’s use of the word “unbecoming” is simply pathetic. That’s been a gender-neutral term for as long as I can remember. Dictionary.com’s two examples of the word are “an unbecoming dress” and “conduct unbecoming an officer.” Sounds like traditional feminine and masculine uses to me.
  • Which is not to say that I’m planning on voting for, or against, Romney. It’s just a commentary on how totally devoid of substance most political campaigns have become. Those two don’t differ on enough topics to debate the issues as opposed to semantic nonsense?
  • That said, get out there and vote on Tuesday, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Flat Earther. If 100 percent of all Iraqis can vote…

    • This Week in the WCHA: Oct. 31, 2002

    By
    -

    The Topic

    Question of the day: Is (insert WCHA team) as far along as it should be by this point of the season?

    Answer of the day: It depends who you ask, and it depends on what the greater goal is. (How’s that for coach-speak?)

    For instance, George Gwozdecky and his Denver team have their eyes a lot higher than do, say, Troy Jutting and Minnesota State-Mankato. Therefore, it’s easier for Jutting to say, yeah, our team is where it should be despite an 0-3-1 record. Gwozdecky surely would prefer to answer those questions with a national championship trophy in his hands.

    It’s only a few weeks into the season, but we’re inquisitive. So, with the help of some of the league’s coaches, here are the answers to the question above:

  • If forced to answer yes or no, Alaska-Anchorage coach John Hill would say no. But he says that without having seen his best lineup on the ice because of injuries, so he’s not worrying that the Seawolves are falling behind.
  • A lot of things are going well at Colorado College, so the answer there is yes. Peter Sejna has taken command of the offense, Tom Preissing has taken command of the defense and Curtis McElhinney seems stable in goal.

    “I’m comfortable with where we’re at,” coach Scott Owens said. “To be honest, our record [4-1-1] is a little bit better than I thought it would be with nine freshmen and two sophomores that haven’t played much.

    “I don’t think we’re behind the learning curve; I think we’re right at it. I don’t think we’re way ahead of it other than the fact that maybe our overall record as a team is a little bit better.”

  • Denver‘s loss to Boston College has been its only shortcoming, but it was magnified nationally. Otherwise, the Pioneers seem to be poised to get back to the level they reached last season. They could be viewed as a maybe, but Gwozdecky is inclined to answer no.

    “The six nonconference games that we’ve played have at least identified areas of our team that are relatively incomplete,” Gwozdecky said. “Did I expect that? I think so. … I think we’re, in a sense, still establishing an identity for ourselves.”

  • In the tough games, Michigan Tech has been there every step of the way. That puts the Huskies at yes. However, they’ve been able to claim only a tie in two games against Minnesota and one against Northern Michigan.

    Coach Mike Sertich said he couldn’t answer the question because his team is so young and he didn’t form an opinion on where he hoped it would be at this time. He did admit, however, that he’s pleased with the progress the Huskies have made so far.

    “We’re different than we were two weeks ago,” Sertich said.

    At this point in the season, they’re probably a yes, but continual success will continue to elude them until they take the step that helps them win close games.

  • Minnesota coach Don Lucia said his team has one more tie than he thought it’d have — figure out whether it’s against New Hampshire or Michigan Tech — but this is about where he figured they’d be. That doesn’t mean the Gophers are playing well, however. But, considering where they could be without the big guns of last season, they’re a yes.

    “When I look at our team right now, in some ways, we’re where I thought we would be,” Lucia said. “I think our freshmen have come in and contributed, maybe even moreso than I thought. What’s going to be a real key for us is we have to get more production from some of our veterans.”

  • At 0-2-2 after four home games, Minnesota-Duluth looks like a no. A quick start would have helped the Bulldogs climb out of the doldrums, but it hasn’t happened.
  • Jutting knew his young Minnesota State-Mankato team would need some time to develop, so he said yes. This is a team that will take its lumps, but the key is for the Mavericks to progress as the season goes along so the coach can continue to say they’re where they should be.

    “I think we’ve gotten better every game, which is something that we knew we’d have to do with a young team,” Jutting said. “In terms of what I expected and where I expect us to be, I’d like to score a few more goals than we have — we’ve had two games where we’ve had 40 shots on net and scored one goal and another where we had 31 shots on net and scored one goal.”

  • Everything looks A-OK at North Dakota, too, especially when considered against last season, coach Dean Blais said. The freshman that were in the majority last season have experience with them as sophomores, and a 4-0 record with a win over nationally ranked Michigan hasn’t given Blais much reason to complain.
  • Like at Anchorage, the results at St. Cloud State are skewed because of injuries. Let’s use last Friday’s game against Mankato as an example: The Huskies’ offense was good enough to provide a 5-0 lead, but the team let that slip away before winning in OT. The SCSU offense appears to be on par, but the inconsistency of the team defense makes the Huskies a no. Maybe there should be an asterisk there, however, because of the injuries.
  • Friday and Saturday games are more than simply 24 hours apart at Wisconsin — they’re light years apart in performance so far this season. On Fridays, lackluster is the word; on Saturdays, it’s redemption. Six games into the season, the coaching staff should know what it’s going to get from its players.

    But Mike Eaves knew there was going to be a lot of learning going on at Wisconsin, so he can say yes, his team is where he thinks it should be in conditioning, work ethic and understanding of new systems. The next step, Eaves said, is to work on that consistency problem.

    One More in the Rafters

    Don Lucia hopes this banner ceremony goes better than the first he witnessed as Minnesota’s coach.

    The Gophers will celebrate last season’s national championship on Friday by unveiling a banner in the rafters of Mariucci Arena.

    In his first game as Gophers coach, Lucia watched as Maine attempted to drop its 1999 national championship banner from the ceiling at Alfond Arena. No dice — the banner didn’t unroll.

    The Gophers’ ceremony, before a nonconference game against Alabama-Huntsville, is sure to summon memories of Grant Potulny’s game-winning goal against the Black Bears last April. But it won’t exactly be complete without those players who aren’t with the team anymore but played a big role in last season’s team.

    “It’s a special moment, but it probably means more to the fans,” Lucia said. “It’s too bad you can’t do it last spring when the team is together. You’re raising the banner based on what happened last year, not what’s going on this year.”

    Television coverage is planned at the start of Friday’s broadcast on Fox Sports Net North (Minnesota).

    No Slacking Off

    It would have been easy for Mike Eaves to skip that 7:45 a.m. Badminton class at Wisconsin in the 1970s, but he didn’t. That’s one of the things that showed Gwozdecky that Eaves was serious about everything he does.

    Eaves and Gwozdecky were teammates at Wisconsin, even linemates for a few games in Eaves’ freshman season, 1974-75. This weekend, they’ll be on opposite benches at the Kohl Center.

    “There’s no question that he was extremely diligent with everything he approached: his hockey, his school, even his social life,” Gwozdecky said of Eaves, with whom he won the 1977 NCAA championship at Wisconsin. “He really was as focused as an athlete could be during those years on his hockey and his school.”

    For his part, Eaves remembers Gwozdecky more for the spark he provided on the ice. Gwozdecky had 43 points in 96 games from 1973 to 1977.

    “George was a little buzzsaw,” said Eaves, who had a slightly higher total of 267 points in 160 games from 1974 to 1978. “He could really skate and he created energy by running into people and he’d get the crowd going in the game.”

    That energy from Gwozdecky and diligence from Eaves apparently carried over to the classroom. The Denver coach said he and Eaves often were selected to demonstrate activities in their physical education classes.

    And some of the characteristics Eaves is trying to instill in his Badgers players now — following the system and having a tremendous work ethic to name a couple — were evident when he roamed the Madison campus.

    “Could I envision in those days that he would be a coach or I was going to be a coach? No,” Gwozdecky said. “But you could really see the focus he had and the tremendous desire he had to be the best player in the league. There weren’t too many practices that I recall where Mike didn’t give everything he had. He was a hard worker, he was a talented athlete, he was a very good student-athlete.”

    Parise Production

    Maybe we’ll just start telling you when Zach Parise doesn’t get a hat trick.

    Through four games in his collegiate career, the North Dakota freshman phenom has two hat tricks, eight goals and 13 points.

    The cynic would point out that those three-goal specials came against Canisius of the MAAC and Niagara of CHA. At this rate, however, Parise likely will make that cynic eat his words when the Sioux finally start their WCHA schedule.

    5 for the Road

    Minnesota State-Mankato likely will be better off for falling behind 5-0 last Friday at St. Cloud State.

    Trust Jutting on this one.

    The Mavericks undoubtedly will find themselves down a few goals plenty of times between now and the rest of the season. After rallying to tie the Huskies last weekend, what’s stopping them from rallying from any other deficit?

    That Mankato lost that game 6-5 in overtime had to be disheartening, but the rally just to get there almost makes up for it.

    “Friday night, the first period we were horrible. We couldn’t have been any worse than we were, probably,” Jutting said. “While you never like to go down 5-0, it’s good to have a game early in the season where you have to battle back and you have to battle through some adversity, and especially if you can do it like we did.

    “Granted, losing that game in overtime after battling all the way back hurts a little bit, but it also gives the kids a sense of confidence that, ‘Hey, we’re not out of any game. If we keep playing hard and keep doing the things that we’re capable of doing, we can get ourselves back in a game.'”

    Late League Starters

    Blais is just fine with not having a WCHA game through the first three weeks of North Dakota’s season. As he sees it, it’s all the more time to work out the early-season bugs with no points on the line.

    Next weekend, the Sioux will be the last team with a WCHA opener, playing at St. Cloud State. By that time, they’ll have played six nonconference games and an exhibition.

    “I think that’s the way it should be,” Blais said. “Just because you can experiment with your lineup. Everyone wants to win, but if you should happen to lose because of not [having] the right combination of players or personnel where they should be, it’s not that devastating.

    “It’s intense, but it’s not as intense as the regular season. Certainly, you’re going to be intense any time you put on a jersey, but it just gives you more time to experiment and see how everything’s working. If you should happen to not perform well, it’s not as devastating as those 28 league games.”

    On The Shelf

  • At Minnesota, forward Barry Tallackson will miss six to eight weeks with a separation of the acromioclavicular joint in a shoulder. In two weeks, the Gophers have lost 6-foot-2 Grant Potulny (broken leg, ligament damage) and 6-4 Tallackson for significant periods of time, taking away a good bit of the size from their offense.

    “I’ve always said, you can go without your key guys for a week or two. The longer you have to go without them, the more it has an impact,” Lucia said. “The good thing is, it should strengthen our team for the second half of the year, when it becomes even more important. We just have to hang in there.”

  • At Denver, the Pioneers should get one or two of the three players hampered by knee injuries back this weekend. Greg Barber could be back Friday or Saturday at Wisconsin, and the same could be said for Brett Skinner. They hope to have Jon Foster back in time for next week’s series against Minnesota-Duluth.

    “As soon as the guys were injured, we thought we’ve lost them for a good duration of time,” Gwozdecky said. “At this point in time, it looks like the injuries were severe but not as severe as we thought they were going to be.”

  • At Alaska-Anchorage, Dallas Steward and Jim Dahl should be available for the first time this season in this weekend’s series against Minnesota-Duluth. Steward has been out with a sprained knee ligament; Dahl with a broken hand. Joe Garvin remains out with a broken hand.
  • At St. Cloud State, the rundown goes like this: Forward Ryan Malone likely is out this weekend with a hip pointer; forward Matt Hendricks suffered a broken wrist last Saturday, but could play against Rensselaer; forward Brian Schuster suffered a separated shoulder last Saturday and will be out for two weeks; and defenseman Jeff Finger’s injured foot, on further review, is broken.
  • At Wisconsin, X-rays determined defenseman Jon Krall’s injured left foot isn’t broken, but there may be ligament damage, Eaves said. “We’ll take it day by day,” Eaves said.
  • At Minnesota State-Mankato, fourth-line winger Adam Gerlach sat out last Saturday night with a thigh bruise after being one of the Mavericks’ best players in their comeback last Friday. He should be in the lineup against Bemidji State this weekend.

    In Other Words

    Eight former WCHA players currently based in Europe have been selected for the U.S. team to play in the Deutschland Cup Nov. 8-10 in Hanover, Germany. They are: defenseman Brett Hauer (Minnesota-Duluth) and Nick Naumenko (North Dakota); and forwards Mark Beaufait (Northern Michigan), Brian Bonin (Minnesota), Kelly Fairchild (Wisconsin), Pat Mikesch (Michigan Tech), Derek Plante (UMD) and Chris Tancill (UW). … WCHA weekly award winners were Denver’s Kevin Doell on offense, Minnesota State-Mankato’s Jason Jensen on defense and Parise as the top rookie.

    • This Week in the CHA Women’s League: Oct. 31, 2002

    By Craig Roberts
    -

    When Findlay won the first game in CHA Women’s history two weeks ago, it made people stand up and take notice of the Oilers.

    After all, they had never beaten Niagara, the co-favorites to win the conference, a team coming off of a third-place finish at the Women’s Frozen Four.

    “That was a real positive for us,” Findlay head coach Adam Brinker said. “We took a thumping from Minnesota but we worked hard and got better.”

    Even though the Oilers split that series, they came back to sweep Colgate last weekend and their 3-3-0 start is the first time in four years that they have been at the .500 mark.

    Brinker is pleased with his team’s early success and feels confident his team will continue to get better.

    “We have more than one player and one line going for us,” he said. “We have the type of team that is going to be in the underdog role so we know we’ll be in some battles.

    “I know it’s a cliche, but we’re trying to take things one weekend at a time and get better each week.”

    Despite having a young team, a squad which has lost players who left the program before becoming seniors, the Oilers have a good nucleus, led by senior Melissa Oliver, one of just three seniors who have been part of the program during its first four years of existence.

    Despite having a young team, a squad which has lost players who left the program before becoming seniors, the [Findlay] Oilers have a good nucleus.

    “We’re not even on the same chart,” she said when comparing this year’s squad with those of the past. “The hardest thing was that we didn’t have any seniors to look up to and show us what we needed to do.

    “The last two years we’ve added players with a lot of talent and good attitudes. It’s gotten more competitive each year within the team to not only earn a job but to keep your spot.”

    Thee of the team’s top four scorers this year are underclassmen and nine of the 12 players who have notched points are freshmen and sophomores. The Oilers also got a 26-save effort from freshman Jessica Moffat, making her collegiate debut, in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Colgate.

    “A lot of people have chipped in so far,” Brinker said. “But (sophomore Heidi) Tallqvist has a five-game scoring streak and (sophomore Tanya) Truszkowski got the game-winning goal against Niagara. (Freshman Hilary) Foord and (sophomore Julie) Robert are playing well on defense and we had three players score their first goals against Colgate.”

    Oliver wants to be able to lead her team to a successful season during her final campaign but realizes that the team’s goals have to be attainable.

    “We all like to say that our goal is to win it all,” she said. “But we really want to put Findlay on the map. Niagara is a more recognizable team and to walk away from there with a win was amazing. I think we caught a lot of people off guard and showed that we’re here to play.

    “We’ve struggled a bit in the past but we have great team chemistry this year and everyone is on the same page. We’re looking to have a strong season.”

    Findlay goes on the road for three games before returning home for six straight games. With 10 games remaining before Christmas, the Oilers have high hopes of being over .500 heading into the break for the first time since 1999, when they did not play an established program until the second half of the season.

    And with those hopes lie the foundation for the future of the Oiler program.

    CHA “House”Hold Hints

    Findlay sophomore Jenn Jessopp recorded her first career hat trick in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Colgate … Freshman goalie Jessica Moffat made her collegiate debut in the same game and promptly posted a 26-save shutout … Niagara freshman goalie Breanne Doyle also earned her first career shutout Saturday, a 20-save effort in a 2-0 conference win over Wayne State … Mercyhurst senior goalie stopped 31 of 32 shots in posting 3-0 and 2-1 wins over St. Cloud State … Wayne State has played 21 different players in its first three games … Eight players have yet to see action.

    CHA Awards

    Offensive Player of the Week–Jenn Jessopp, So., F, Findlay
    Defensive Player of the Week–Tiffany Ribble, Sr., G, Mercyhurst
    Rookie of the Week–Amy Jack, Fr., F, Niagara

    Coming Up

    Niagara at No. 5 Brown (Friday-Saturday)

    Brown leads the all-time series 7-1-1 and is 3-0-1 at home against the Purple Eagles … This marks the first matchup of the season between teams that reached the NCAA championship last season … This weekend’s series is Niagara’s first road trip of the season … Freshman Breanne Doyle has won both of her starts in goal for Niagara this year … Sophomore center Teresa Marchese-Del Monte has scored in all four games this season.

    No. 10 Mercyhurst at Minnesota State (Saturday-Sunday)

    Mercyhurst is 5-0-0 against MSU … The Lakers have allowed just four goals in those five contests … Mercyhurst won both games at Mankato last year by 3-1 counts … Four of the Mavericks eight goals this season have been scored by newcomers … MSU sophomore forward Kristina Koga notched her first career goal in Friday’s 6-2 loss to Bemidji State … Saturday’s win was the Mavericks’ first conference home victory in nearly three years, with their last win coming against the Beavers as well, Nov. 28, 1999 … Mercyhurst is 4-0-0 against WCHA opponents this season … The Lakers have yet to play a CHA games this season, the last team to do so … Mercyhurst’s 6-2-0 start is its best in four seasons.

    Findlay at Yale (Saturday)
    Findlay at Princeton (Sunday)

    Princeton defeated Findlay, 3-0, Jan. 23, 2000, in the teams’ only previous meeting … The Oilers have never played Yale … Freshmen Kelly Ramsey, Hilary Foord, and Nicole Richardson all scored their first collegiate goals during the Oilers’ sweep of Colgate … Findlay senior captain Melissa Oliver is the team’s only player averaging more than a point per game for her career, with 105 points in 103 games … Sophomore Heidi Tallqvist has already scored more than half as many points as she did during her rookie campaign … The Oilers’ leading scorer this year has eight points after tallying 14 last season.

    Wayne State at Princeton (Saturday)
    Wayne State at Yale (Sunday)

    Wayne State has not recorded a win against either opponent, going 0-1-2 in three meetings with Yale while losing its only previous meeting with Princeton … Junior Anna VanderMarliere and sophomore Tina Thibideau have combined to stop 72 of 78 shots in the team’s first three games … The Warriors are 0-for-10 on the power play … Only seven WSU players have recorded points this season and none have multiple points.

    This Week in the CCHA: Oct. 31, 2002

    By
    -

    Scary?

    Ladies and gentlemen, the 5-1-0 Ferris State Bulldogs.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the 6-2-0 Miami RedHawks.

    Treats

    There is no magic formula for the early success of both FSU and Miami. Each team is averaging over five goals per game in overall play.

    In fact, in the early going, every school’s offense seems to be producing with the notable exception of Lake Superior State. Michigan State and Nebraska-Omaha are each averaging 3.17 goals per game in overall play — and they’re tied for eighth in offensive production.

    Trick?

    Yes, three. Notre Dame’s Rob Globke and Aaron Gill, and Northern Michigan’s Alan Swanson.

    So, It’s Halloween, And You Haven’t Got A Thing To Do.

    Halloween lacking the excitement of days gone by? Sure, it’s always fun to toilet paper your next-door neighbor — let alone his house and yard — but it’s so, well, predictable. Besides, he always retaliates — every friggin’ year -by painting the cat.

    You’re in a holiday rut. You need to jazz up that old routine, create some new traditions, break your own jack-o-lantern for a change.

    Why not join your favorite team in commemorating this autumnal event? Here’s a look at how each team in the league adds its own special touch to the season’s festivities.

    Alaska-Fairbanks

    In ancient times, people of the north would carve elaborate temples in the ice floes, and light them with candles to welcome back the dead. This would happen from July through the following May, roughly the entire length of winter in what is now known as Alaska.

    These days, the Nanooks are lighting candles on the eve of Dia De Los Muertos, the day of the dead, to welcome back the spirit of their offense of days gone by.

    Averaging 2.33 goals per game while giving up 3.67, UAF needs to find the path back to its winning ways of just one season ago — or risk perpetuating the curse of Coach of the Year.

    Bowling Green

    Now, this is a team that’s dressed year-round for Halloween. Even the lines in the BGSU Ice Arena are prepared.

    (Of course, the goalie creases were not prepared during the first weekend of play — but that’s another story.)

    The Falcons celebrate Halloween by re-enacting John Carpenter’s Halloween. They’re really true to the original except that no one’s sister dies, there are no knives, and the blood on the ice belongs to the players.

    Tyler Masters and Jordan Sigalet do, however, wear really cool masks, and the only Michael on the team — Mike Falk — is pretty much avoided for most of the day.

    While John Carpenter is a native of Bowling Green in a state directly south of Ohio, this tradition at the BGSU Ice Arena, inexplicably, lives on.

    Ferris State

    This one is easy for fans to follow: Dress up like a dog. Scare the hell out of opposing goaltenders.

    Lake Superior State

    Much like the Nanooks are lighting candles to welcome former (successful) spirits on this eve of Dia De Los Muertos, the Lakers are lighting really, really big candles on this day to signify what is known as El Año de la Gloria Anterior.

    According to Coach Anzalone, all that’s needed for success this year is, well, the players he had 20 years ago.

    Miami

    Have you seen The Birds? Do you know what Mike Kompon, Greg Hogeboom, Derek Edwardson, and Vince Pulera are doing to the opposition? These four are responsible for nearly half of Miami’s overall goal production this season.

    You have brought the evil here.

    Michigan

    The rumors you’ve heard about the Wolverines performing binding ceremonies to prevent hot players from leaving early are entirely untrue. In fact, the Wolverines merely avoid ladders, black cats, and cracks in sidewalks on this day — or any day, given the injury and illness bug that seems to plague this team.

    It wouldn’t hurt to light a candle for these guys, and think good thoughts about their bones.

    Michigan State

    Being the land-grant university in the state of Michigan, MSU’s Halloween tradition is rooted (get it? rooted?) in farming activities that go back literally dozens of days — carving up the competition.

    Lake State was MSU’s first pumpkin this season. Only three Spartans have notched (notched — get it?) more than one goal this season: Brad Fast (6-3-9), Duncan Keith (3-2-5), and Corey Potter (2-0-2).

    That’s through six games. That is scary.

    Nebraska-Omaha

    Have you heard of the tradition of corning? It’s new to me, but they have a lot of corn in Nebraska (maybe you’ve heard), and this is how it’s done:

    Go into a cornfield. Pick some corn. Shuck some corn. Put said corn into brown paper bags. Hide bags from parents.

    After dark, throw these bags of corn at unsuspecting houses, preferably those with aluminum siding. This allegedly causes no damage, but makes an awesome racket. Run like hell when you’re done.

    Now that you know this, you should know that the Mavericks never, ever do this for Halloween. Instead, they engage in your standard disappearing act. This week, rookie defender Craig Zubersky vanished.

    Northern Michigan

    The Wildcats like to celebrate in a very traditional manner — in costume. Two weeks ago, NMU wore the “contender” costume, beating MSU 10-4 in a weekend split with the Spartans.

    Last weekend, however, the ‘Cats looked more like dogs in Goggin Arena, giving up 13 goals to the RedHawks.

    This week, look for new NMU costumes — the “really-ticked-and-going-to-take-it-out-on-a-weaker-team” look.

    Notre Dame

    Ah, the Irish! As everyone knows, Halloween is rooted in Celtic tradition, and the holiday was co-opted by the Catholic Church.

    The Celts celebrated Halloween as the Sabbath of Samhain, the Celtic god of the dead. This holiday marked the end of summer and beginning of winter — your standard harvest and long nights kind of thing.

    As is fitting the weekend, the Fighting Irish exchange a game or two with fellow Catholic school Boston College.

    How should you celebrate in the Notre Dame tradition? Confess, of course.

    Ohio State

    The Buckeyes play hockey in one of the most typically American cities in the U.S. Name a fast-food chain, a retail chain, an entertainment trend, and you’ll probably find it here. Columbus is the home of Wendy’s, the birthplace of the ATM and gas pump. The banana split was invented here.

    In the spirit of such Americana, OSU has a very traditional Halloween celebration. It’s called trick or treat. If they’re playing on the road, there’s a 50-50 chance the Buckeyes will be tricked; if they’re home, the fans may be treated to some good hockey and a win or two.

    This weekend, OSU hosts two ECAC squads, and very well may win both games, but the fans have a tradition of their own, one not limited to Halloween. Even if OSU beats Cornell and Colgate this weekend, the fans will still find a way to demand John Markell’s head on a platter.

    Western Michigan

    In Germany, people put their knives away on Halloween, so as to minimize the risk to returning spirits.

    In Kalamazoo, the fans don’t need knives to hurt returning CCHA opponents, and the Broncos need no other Halloween tradition than their very scary fans.

    Games Of The Week

    It’s the red-hot RedHawks vs. the floundering Falcons. Thus begins the battle for the Ohio Cup.

    Bowling Green (2-5-0, 0-4-0 CCHA) at Miami (6-2-0, 3-1-0 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Goggin Arena, Oxford, Ohio

    BGSU head coach and all-around nice guy Scott Paluch isn’t daunted by the Falcons’ trip down I-75 this weekend — not because he’s overconfident about his team’s chances against Miami, but because these will be the second and third meetings between the clubs this season.

    “We saw them earlier,” said Paluch, whose Falcons lost to the RedHawks 2-1 in the title game of the Lefty McFadden Invitational Oct. 5. “[Falcon goaltender] Tyler Masters played extremely well. The game was up in the air until the last five minutes, but they scored late in the third for the win.”

    To say that the Falcons have struggled this year is an understatement. BGSU has been outscored by opponents 30-18 in seven games, and last week came from behind to beat Findlay 4-3.

    “They’re [Findlay] off to a good start,” said Paluch. “It was a pretty even game for most of the game. We found ourselves down three-one in the third, got a power-play goal to make it three-two, then two, good hard-working goals.”

    It was rookie Brett Pilkington who scored on the power play at 9:29 to give the Falcons some momentum. D’Arcy McConvey tied the game at 13:59, and Ryan Minnabarriet had the game-winner with 1:02 left in regulation.

    That kind of work ethic pleases Paluch, and is the foundation on which he wants to rebuild the Falcons.

    “What we’ve had right from the time we’ve met last April as a team, through the summer, through preseason and now in practice is that this group has worked extremely hard,” said Paluch. “We want to establish a core work ethic kind of as a staple of our team, and we’ve had that — on the ice and off the ice. Guys have gone out on campus being visible as good representatives of the program.”

    Paluch knew before returning to his alma mater that there would be a period of “feeling out” before anyone saw results, and he remains very optimistic about the future of the program.

    “We’ve been tackling a lot of points,” said Paluch. “We’ve been very solid in goal. Both goaltenders [Masters and Sigalet].have played extremely well. We’ve tackled a lot of issues on team defense.

    “We’re improving every week, so we’re happy about that. I think one of our biggest hurdles this year is creating scoring chances.”

    Improving this week against Miami will be challenging. The RedHawks are outscoring opponents 42-18 (20-9 in CCHA play), and have outshot opponents 327-149 through eight games this season.

    “Right now they’re as quick a team as there is in the league,” said Paluch of Miami. “Their defensemen create turnovers so that their forwards can jump into scoring chances.”

    Here are some points to consider in this intrastate pairing. Stats are from overall play.

  • Goals per game: Miami 5.25 (first), BGSU 2.57 (10th)
  • Goals allowed per game: Miami 2.25 (third), BGSU 4.29 (tie 10th)
  • Power play: Miami 21.4% (sixth), BGSU 22.6% (tie fifth)
  • Penalty kill: Miami 81.2% (fourth), BGSU 78.4% (eighth)
  • Miami’s top scorer: Mike Kompon (6-9-15, second in league)
  • BGSU’s top scorers: Steve Brudzewski (3-3-6) and Mark Wires (4-2-6)
  • Miami’s top ‘tender: David Burleigh (.885 SV%, 2.13 GAA)
  • BGSU’s top ‘tender: Tyler Masters (.887 SV%, 4.40 GAA)

    By the way, this would also be the Grudge of the Week, were not there so many new faces on the RedHawk squad. The last time these two teams met in Goggin, BGSU upset the No. 2-seeded RedHawks (4-3, 4-3 OT) in the first round of the CCHA playoffs to advance to the last non-Super Six CCHA championship tourney (Mar. 8-9, 2001).

    The Falcons are 24-12-2 overall in Goggin, but are 4-5-1 in their last 10 trips to Oxford.

    Unless something ghoulish happens to either team before this weekend’s series, the Miami offense should overwhelm the Falcons.

    Pick: 5-2, 5-2

    Voros Watch

    UAF sophomore forward Aaron Voros earned two minor penalties for four minutes against Michigan last weekend, bringing his season total to seven penalties for 14 minutes.

    He also registered one goal and one assist in the two-game series.

    My Voros picks for last week? “Picks: In Ann Arbor, expect Voros to earn two points and no more than four minutes in the box.”

    It’s a thing of beauty.

    Speaking of things of beauty, it should be noted that the Nanooks are the least penalized team in the CCHA, averaging fewer than 10 minutes (9.67) in the box per game.

    Picks: This week, with Ferris State in Fairbanks, Voros succumbs to a little — a very little — bit of frustration. Three penalties for six minutes, and two points.

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