McAdam Out, Soderquist In at Bentley

March 7, 2002

Jim McAdam has resigned as head coach at Bentley, according to a school news release today, and has already been replaced with assistant coach and former Falcon standout Ryan Soderquist.

Soderquist, 25, becomes the youngest Division I men’s coach. The 2000 Bentley graduate finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer, and served as an assistant under McAdam the last two seasons.

“I’m excited at the chance to revitalize the Bentley hockey program,” said Soderquist. “I’ve learned a lot in my six years with coach McAdam, and I’m optimistic about our future in the Division I MAAC Hockey League.”

Said school athletic director Bob DiFelice, “We are pleased to have a person who has been affiliated with the program for six years take over the coaching reins and lead the team in pursuit of becoming a competitive team in the MAAC.”

As a senior in 1999-2000, Soderquist wrapped up a sparkling career with 19 goals and 29 assists in 28 games. He finished his career with 84 goals and 89 assists for 173 points, 24 higher than Bentley’s former standard-bearer, John Maguire. The 84 goals was also a school record, and the 89 assists is second on Bentley’s all-time list.

The recipient of numerous honors during his career, Soderquist was Bentley’s captain for two seasons and a first-team All-MAAC honoree. As a senior, he led the MAAC in points per game and assists, and was second in total points.

Soderquist is a native of Stoneham, Mass., and a graduate of Arlington Catholic High School.

McAdam was Bentley’s head coach for nine years, compiling a 101-134-16 record, including 8-49-4 the last two seasons. His tenure saw the Falcons make the move from the ECAC Central to the Division I MAAC. Highlights included winning the ECAC Central regular season championship in 1997.

This Week In The ECAC: March 7, 2002

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy

March 7, 2002

There Are Winners And Losers

Well, it’s all over, it’s time for the second season to begin. And with the last weekend concluded, it’s time for a quick look at who won and who lost last weekend.

The Winners

Cornell — The Big Red win two more and are ready for the playoffs.

Rensselaer — The Engineers got two points from a team they had to pass and then the Engineers got help from Union, Yale, and Brown to take the fifth and final home ice spot.

Princeton — Four huge points move the Tigers up to sixth in the standings and in the process, Princeton passed two teams.

St. Lawrence — The Saints got four points and made the playoffs, something that was not a lock.

Yale — A weekend sweep and the Bulldogs make the playoffs on a hot streak.

Clarkson — A weekend sweep and the Knights secured second place in the ECAC.

Losers

Vermont — The bright side is that the season is over.

Union — What once was a promising chance at home ice and the playoffs is now an ended season, despite one win this past weekend.

Colgate — The Raiders were in the driver’s seat for home ice coming into the weekend. They left in seventh place.

Brown — Just one falter by Colgate and one point for Brown and home ice was theirs. They got zero points and wound up eighth.

We Did Okay

Dartmouth — The Big Green got swept this weekend, but with everything going on around them, still got home ice.

Harvard — Home ice, despite getting swept.

Yale at Cornell

Season Series
11/30 — Cornell 1, @Yale 1
02/09 — @Cornell 3, Yale 2

Only Playoff Matchups
1992 ECAC Quarterfinal — Cornell 4, @Yale 1
1986 ECAC Semifinal — Cornell 3, Yale 2, ot
1985 ECAC Quarterfinals — @Cornell, 9-2, 4-2

The Big Red and the Bulldogs met this past weekend and the Bulldogs needed four straight wins in order to reach the postseason — and they got it. It ended with a big win over Brown at home and propelled Yale into the playoffs.

“To get back-to-back sweeps to end the season is a testament to the character and resiliency of this team,” Yale head coach Tim Taylor said. “We are a damn good tenth-place hockey team.”

The Bulldogs were bolstered by the fact that their lineup was relatively healthy. Nick Deschenes was back this past weekend after suffering a thigh injury, and he contributed to the cause. Evan Wax also was back and Chris Higgins made his presence known, especially after two goals in the waning moments of a 4-3 win over Harvard on Friday night.

The Big Red also swept this past weekend and finished the regular season nine points up on second-place Clarkson. An impressive regular season for the Big Red and also the first 20-win regular season for the Big Red since 1977-78.

But as anyone will tell you, the playoffs are what counts.

“The playoffs are the most important time of the year,” said Big Red coach Mike Schafer. “It’s a great accomplishment [20 wins] and it shows consistency and contribution, great commitment and sacrifice, but this is the time of year that hockey players live and die for.

“We built our team around the playoffs. I like a big strong physical team because you have to win two of three. Now Yale has to play us and the punishment that we’ll give them will carry over from Friday night to Saturday night and we’re the ones that will benefit from our physical play. You have to look at it as a 120-minute game and what you do in the first 60 makes a difference.”

"We built our team around the playoffs. I like a big strong physical team because you have to win two of three."

— Mike Schafer

There is no doubt that the Big Red have the stingiest defense in the ECAC and will use that and the Lynah advantage to their fullest as they look to get back to Lake Placid and the championship game. In order to do that, they must stop Higgins and company from wheeling by playing solid defense.

“Our guys all know who he is and we’ve had a lot of success going into the games and I feel comfortable with any lines facing him,” said Schafer on the match-up between Higgins, et. al., and the Big Red. “The combinations remind me very much of the teams we won the two ECAC Championships with. I couldn’t care less who matches up defensively during the game and that’s what makes a good defensive team and we don’t have a weak link in the middle or on defense. We just have to wear that hockey team down over the course of two evenings.”

So look for a tough physical game from the Big Red with opportunistic scoring. The Big Red will look to capitalize on the power play, which is beginning to pick up steam again and hold the skating dominant Bulldogs.

The Pick: Cornell in two, 3-1 and 4-2

St. Lawrence at Clarkson

Season Series
11/03 — @Clarkson 7, St. Lawrence 6, OT
01/29 — @St. Lawrence 6, Clarkson 5

Last Playoff Matchups
1999 ECAC Championship — Clarkson 3, St. Lawrence 2
1993 ECAC Quarterfinals — @Clarkson, 3-1, 5-3
1991 ECAC Championship — Clarkson 5, St. Lawrence 4
1990 ECAC Quarterfinals — @Clarkson, 4-1, 5-2

What else can you say? It’s the North Country Battle with a trip to Lake Placid on the line. There are no words to sum it up, except, maybe, that this will be one great battle.

The Knights closed out the season with a sweep of Vermont and Dartmouth, giving Clarkson second place in the ECAC.

“We are pleased to end up in the situation that we are in, especially since it was such a wacky season for us,” said Clarkson head coach Mark Morris. “It is a brand new hockey season now that playoff time has rolled around. It is the first time this year that will be able to play with a full lineup since our opening weekend.”

Meanwhile the Saints took seven points in the last two weekends to secure a spot in the playoffs and wound up as the ninth seed.

“Our playoffs started with the Dartmouth and Vermont games,” said Saint head coach Joe Marsh. “We were in a situation where we had to win to keep playing, and the guys came through with two performances at playoff intensity.

“Making the playoffs was important for the seniors and is important for the younger guys who haven’t experienced it yet. And earning a spot with the type of effort we put forth against Dartmouth and Vermont makes it a little sweeter.”

The North Country loves when this happens (except for the hotels) but make no mistake, this is a battle that will live up to all of the hype, especially after the two one-goal games that these two teams split this season.

“With the way the league was this season in terms of being close and competitive, there won’t be any easy playoff series,” said Marsh. “I think both teams are looking forward to a good series. There’s always a little extra adrenaline when we play each other.”

“We look forward to the upcoming series against St. Lawrence,” said Morris. “We have an opportunity right now to make up for a six-goal second period that we had when we visited them earlier this winter. We hope to set the record straight this time. I know we have a lot of things to prove to get back to Lake Placid and take a crack at the ECAC title. The league is so close that we feel we have as good an opportunity to win the ECAC Tournament as anybody in the league.

“If we can do that there will be an opportunity to find our way into the NCAA Tournament again. This past weekend was a good step in the right direction and we positioned ourselves to take a run. With a little luck and a lot of hard work we are hoping that we saved our best for last.”

You can throw out systems and everything in the book when these two play, though it will be a basis for a strong game. Goaltending and timely scoring will win these games for the team moving to Lake Placid.

The Pick: Clarkson in three, 4-3, 4-5, 3-2

Brown at Harvard

Season Series
11/03 — Brown 4, @Harvard 2
12/08 — Harvard 5, @Brown 2

Only Playoff Matchups
1994 ECAC Semifinal — Harvard 5, Brown 1
1993 ECAC Semifinal — Brown 3, Harvard 1
1987 ECAC Quarterfinals — @Harvard, 6-2, 5-2
1971 ECAC Quarterfinal — @Harvard 4, Brown 3

Instead of pontificating about the excitement of a road-partner match-up — the first for these schools since 1994 — let’s address the real story here. No matter how you look at it, we are witnessing one of the most remarkable comebacks for an ECAC program in recent memory. After finishing dead-last in almost everything last year, this Brown team has metamorphosized and now finds itself in a perfect position to extend its fortuitous ways to Lake Placid.

The team’s eighth-place finish in no way explains this phenomenon. This team has shown signs of potential all season long, beginning with its stunning victories over Wisconsin and St. Cloud. Anyone who uttered the word “fluke” after that was quickly proven wrong when the Bears returned to league play and posted six straight wins. The emergence of Yann Danis — hands-down the strongest netminder in the ECAC right now — has really provided a solid foundation for this team.

Brown’s most recent two losses against Princeton and Yale caused them to lose home-ice advantage for the playoffs, and it also lit a fire under the team.

“This was certainly a disappointing loss,” said Brown coach Roger Grillo. “After winning six in a row, we had a chance for home ice. We gave [Princeton] 20 minutes and you cannot do that in this league.”

For all the positive momentum that was generated from the second half of the season, the Bears have to be a bit put off (and most likely motivated) that they finished in eighth place. Couple that with the fact they will have to face off against third-place Harvard — a team that has won only two games since February 1st. Some things don’t make much sense, but they may also prove to be in Brown’s favor.

Harvard is a team that is reeling right now. The team hasn’t been winning and players are noticeably frustrated. Questions swirl around why this is happening, especially considering that players are — for the most part — healthy.

“The hockey gods were with us and we still finished third even though we didn’t do anything to help ourselves,” said Harvard junior Dominic Moore following his team’s 3-0 loss at Princeton. “Hopefully, we can turn it on in the playoffs.”

Harvard will certainly have to find a spark in order to get past Brown. Friday night’s game represents a grudge match between the two teams, with Harvard taking the last contest by a 5-2 margin back in early December.

“We have to forget about it,” said senior captain Peter Capouch. “What’s done is done, and we just have to focus on the playoffs. We’re going to have our hands full [with Brown], and we’re going to have to play our best hockey of the year.”

We couldn’t have summed it up better ourselves.

The Pick: Brown in two, 5-2, 3-2

Colgate at Dartmouth

Season Series
01/11 — @Colgate 3, Dartmouth 2
02/16 — @Dartmouth 4, Colgate 3

Only Playoff Matchup
1993 ECAC Preliminary Round — Colgate 4, @Dartmouth 3, 2OT

This playoff match-up may be the most exciting of them all. In one corner you have Dartmouth, a team that has finally showed signs of life, yet still reeks of vulnerability. Just look at the team’s past six games. The impressive home sweep of Colgate and Cornell was followed up by a four-game losing streak. The good news is that most of those games were close contests, but losses they still were.

“We’re not happy about losing,” said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. “But when the final buzzer sounds, it’s a new day. It’s a new season. We can put the season behind us and get ready to win in the playoffs.”

Standing in the other corner is a Colgate team that took everyone by surprise when it emerged from the ECAC cellar and made a run at a playoff spot. If you went back to the beginning of January, everyone expected Colgate to pack it up early. Not so quick, said Don Vaughan and his players, who ended the regular season just one point away from capturing home ice. Home ice!

“If you had told me back in December that we would have to win one game to secure home ice on the last weekend, I probably would have taken it,” said Vaughan. “We’ve come a long way, we’re still young, we’re learning every night and I’m thrilled to be in the playoffs. I think it’s up for grabs.”

When these two teams last faced off — just two weeks ago — it was a classic back-and-forth battle that required a Jamie Herrington last-second goal to end the deadlock. That victory also secured the Big Green a playoff spot, so motivation was at an all-time high.

“We played a real solid game up there a couple of weeks ago and both teams played a real good game,” said Vaughan. “I think we match up well and Bobby will have his guys prepared and we’ll be prepared. It should be a great weekend.”

Colgate is coming off a disappointing set of losses against Union and Rensselaer, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Raiders posted five wins in their last 10 league games to secure a playoff spot. After facing adversity and naysayers for most of the season, Colgate is ready to give the Big Green a run for their money up in Hanover.

“Our goal from day one has been to win the ECAC championship,” Gaudet said. “Now we’re in the show. We’ve been there before, so I think that experience will help us. We’ve got a good team.”

The Pick: Dartmouth in three, 3-5, 3-2, 6-2

Princeton at Rensselaer

Season Series
12/08 — Princeton 4, @Rensselaer 2
02/15 — Rensselear 5, @Princeton 3

Only Playoff Matchups
1999 ECAC Consolation — Rensselaer 6, Princeton 4
1997 ECAC Consolation — Rensselaer 8, Princeton 4
1995 ECAC Championship — Rensselaer 5, Princeton 1
1985 ECAC Quarterfinals — @Rensselaer, 7-2, 11-4

Last week, Rensselaer fans were rooting hard for Princeton because a Tiger win meant a chance at home ice for the Engineers. This weekend the sentiment oozing from the Rensselaer players isn’t as cordial as the two teams meet in the ECAC first round in Troy, N.Y.

The Tigers are about as high as they have been all season long. With their backs firmly up against the wall heading into the final stretch of the season, Len Quesnelle’s team came up big by posting a 4-0-1 record since a home loss to Rensselaer to cap off the regular season. That impressive stretch run not only assured the team of a playoff spot, but it also pushed the squad over the .500 mark for the first time all year long.

“This one felt good,” said Quesnelle following the team’s 3-0 blanking of Harvard last Saturday night. “We played hard two nights in a row and to finish the year 10-10-2 in the league is a big accomplishment. We have really come together as a team. If we continue to stay close we are going to have some chances in the postseason. This is a special team and a special run.”

If Princeton’s momentum can be matched, it may just be by the Engineers — a team that has certainly stepped up its level of play in the second half of the season. While some were calling Union the team of Capital District, Dan Fridgen and his staff and players were retooling their attack. With a healthy Matt Murley and Marc Cavosie in the lineup, Rensselaer has been the winner in seven of its last nine games and has scored 33 goals in that stretch. Over the last 14 games of the season, the Engineers have gone 9-3-2, scoring 3.42 goals a game and giving up exactly two goals per game.

“We’re getting real good contributions,” said Fridgen. “The defense played real well for us and we have to keep it going; the journey begins now. Compared to where we were and where we’ve been, we’ve come a long way.”

Capturing home ice was a critical accomplishment for the Engineers, especially considering that Rensselaer holds an 11-4-3 record at Houston Fieldhouse this season and is 5-8-1 on the road, and the fact that the Engineers were in last place in the ECAC heading into the last weekend of January when the streak started.

“I’m just real happy for the seniors that they get to come back and play more games here. That’s something we wanted to do all season,” said Fridgen. “About four or five weeks ago we left ourselves little room for error and I give these guys all the credit in the world. They battled back and faced adversity, and they got the job done.”

The Pick: Rensselaer in three, 2-3, 4-2, 5-3

Our Awards

Time to hand out our awards. We’ve seen quite a few games this season and this is based on what we saw, as well as reports and talks with others around the ECAC. Teams are listed in alphabetical order.

ECAC All-Stars First Team
F Marc Cavosie, Jr., Rensselaer
F Chris Higgins, Fr., Yale
F Matt Murley, Sr., Rensselaer
D Kerry Ellis-Toddington, Sr., Clarkson
D Doug Murray, Jr., Cornell
G Yann Danis, So., Brown

ECAC All-Stars Second Team
F Stephen Bâby, Jr., Cornell
F Jamie Herrington, Sr., Dartmouth
F Brett Nowak, Jr., Harvard
D Josh Barker, Sr., Brown
D Trevor Byrne, Jr., Dartmouth
G Matt Underhill, Sr., Cornell

ECAC All-Rookie Team
F Tom Cavanaugh, Harvard
F Chris Higgins, Yale
F Jay Latulippe, Clarkson
D Charlie Cook, Cornell
D Randy Jones, Clarkson
G David LeNeveu, Cornell

Rookie of the Year
At one point Chris Higgins was not the lock he was in the latter half of 2001. But with solid performances late in the season helping the Bulldogs to the playoffs, he gets our nod in a landslide.

Chris Higgins, Yale

Dryden Award
This is another hotly contested race, but in the end, he was the key to the playoff drive and had huge wins over nationally ranked teams and is the basis for the defense that the Brown Bears played.

Yann Danis, Brown

Defensive Forward of the Year
It’s hard to single out one person on the Cornell team as being above the others in terms of defense, but we have to look at the captain of the Big Red. He can play both ends of the ice and leads by example.

Stephen Bâby, Cornell

Defensive Defenseman of the Year
Look no further than the Big Red and the Ivy Player of the Year.

Doug Murray, Cornell

Coach of the Year
Neither preseason poll had the Cornell Big Red on top. All they did was run away with the ECAC title and the Cleary Cup. Nationally ranked for most of the second half of the season, it’s very deserved.

Mike Schafer, Cornell

Player of the Year
This is a tough choice. There are four contenders that come to mind. Matt Murley and Marc Cavosie of Rensselaer, Yann Danis of Brown, and Doug Murray of Cornell.

With Doug Murray winning the Ivy Player of the Year, we can eliminate Danis from the list of contenders. And only one of Murley and Cavosie will be nominated for Player of the Year. We’ll go with higher scorer.

A tough choice, but in the end, Cavosie led his team back, plays both ends of the ice, is on a 17 game point scoring streak and leads the league in offense and ranks statistically among the nations best.

Marc Cavosie, Rensselaer

Hobey Candidates
The ECAC will be represented when the finalists for the Hobey Baker Award are announced. Among those under consideration and those names that would not surprise us amongst the finalists are Cavosie, Murray, Murley, Ellis-Toddington, and Higgins.

It’s Over

Well, at the beginning of the year, we challenged you to pick the ECAC and see who was better at the predicting end of the ECAC. Well, if you remember, here were the picks:

Challenge		Range			Becky and Jayson

1. Clarkson (8)	1-4			1. Cornell
2. Harvard (14)	1-7			2. Dartmouth
3. Cornell (6)	1-6			3. Harvard
4. Dartmouth (4)	1-6			4. Clarkson
5. St. Lawrence	2-7			5. St. Lawrence
6. Rensselaer	2-10			6. Vermont
7. Vermont	5-10			7. Rensselaer
8. Union		8-11			8. Union
9. Colgate	7-12			9. Colgate
10. Yale		6-12			10. Yale
11. Princeton	7-12			11. Princeton
12. Brown	9-12			12. Brown

So how did we do? Who won this competition?

Let’s take the standings.

Here are the final standings based on playoff seeding:

1. Cornell
2. Clarkson
3. Harvard
4. Dartmouth
5. Rensselaer
6. Princeton
7. Colgate
8. Brown
9. St. Lawrence
10. Yale
11. Union
12. Vermont

Now let’s do our comparisons with the points in parentheses.

1. Cornell – Fans (2)/Becky and Jayson (0)
2. Clarkson – Fans (1)/Becky and Jayson (2)
3. Harvard – Fans (1)/Becky and Jayson (0)
4. Dartmouth – Fans (0)/Becky and Jayson (2)
5. Rensselaer – Fans (1)/Becky and Jayson (2)
6. Princeton – Fans (5)/Becky and Jayson (5)
7. Colgate – Fans (1)/Becky and Jayson (1)
8. Brown – Fans (4)/Becky and Jayson (4)
9. St. Lawrence – Fans (4)/Becky and Jayson (4)
10. Yale – Fans (0)/Becky and Jayson (0)
11. Union – Fans (3)/Becky and Jayson (3)
12. Vermont – Fans (5)/Becky and Jayson (6)

The Iron Columnists are humbled. The fans have defeated us, 29-27. Mind you, it took a whole collective of fans, but you did beat us. Our congratulations go out to you.

If It’s So Easy, You Try It

The Iron Columnists are coming back. Next season.

The competition this season:
Vic Brzozowksi t. The Iron Columnists – 7-2-1
The Iron Columnists d. Vic Brzozowksi – 8-3-1 to 7-4-1
Ben Flickinger d. The Iron Columnists – 11-4-2 to 10-5-2
The Iron Columnists d. Ben Flickinger – 5-1-4 to 4-2-4
John Beaber and Lisa McGill t. The Iron Columnists – 6-7-0
The Iron Columnists d. John Beaber and Lisa McGill – 7-5-3 to 6-6-3
Mike Johnson d. The Iron Columnists – 10-3-1 to 6-7-1
Mike Johnson t. The Iron Columnists – 5-5-2
Mike Johnson d. The Iron Columnists – 6-5-1 to 5-6-1
The Iron Columnists d. Mike Johnson – 7-3-2 to 3-7-2
Dave Bryan d. The Iron Columnists – 7-5-0 to 6-6-0

Yes, we ended the season on a loss and it will stick with us until next year.

Thanks this week to Ron Vaccarro, David Sherzer, and Mike Volonnino.

Norwich-Bowdoin: Old Rivalry Renewed

By Chris Lerch

March 7, 2002

Two old rivals square off in this series, with more on the line than probably any time in their storied past.

“The tradition goes back so far,” said Bowdoin head coach Terry Meagher. “It means a lot. The players today might not know of all the tradition, but it’s special to me.”

While Norwich rolled to an ECAC East title and NCAA automatic berth with a 10-1 demolition of MCLA last weekend, Meagher’s Polar Bears were upset by Trinity in the NESCAC semifinals and had to wait to see if they’d get one of the two at-large bids available.

What was the wait like for Bowdoin, which opened the season 16-0-3 but is just 2-4 since then?

“We knew we were going to be considered,” Meagher said. “We were one of probably four or five teams with a decent chance.”

After the semifinal loss, Bowdoin went into the hopper with Trinity, Oswego, Lebanon Valley and Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Pointers were the closest to Bowdoin in the selection criteria, but the Polar Bears came out on top.

“We had a pretty good year, so we knew we had a chance,” said Meagher. “The kids weren’t nervous. They were pretty excited waiting for the news that we’d gotten in.”

This is Bowdoin’s second NCAA appearance. The Polar Bears were swept in the quarterfinals by Wisconsin-River Falls in 1996.

This time around, the opponent is more familiar — the Cadets have been on the Polar Bears’ schedule for decades. This season, Bowdoin topped Norwich 3-1 back on Feb. 1.

“We really respect them,” said Meagher. “They’re one of the best teams we’ve faced all year.”

Norwich outshot Bowdoin 29-19, but could solve netminder Mike Healey just once. Healey, a sophomore from Hamden, Conn., is ninth in Division III in GAA (2.00) and 12th in save percentage (91.7%). His counterpart, freshman Kevin Shieve, is fourth in GAA (1.65) and ninth in save percentage (92.5).

This time, the teams will square off at Kreitzberg Arena, on its larger (200×90) ice surface.

“That always presents a challenge,” said Meagher. “Playing on the bigger sheets means you have to make some adjustments.

“But we’re up to the challenge,” he added.

“It’s going to be a fun weekend.”

This Week In The SUNYAC: March 7, 2002

By Russell Jaslow

March 7, 2002

Here We Go Again

Forgive me for sounding like a broken record. Once again, a SUNYAC playoff series gets stretched to the limit. Out of the five series this year, three went to mini-games, one was decided in overtime in the second game, and the last one went to the third and final game.

A competitive playoff year it certainly was, but the interesting thing is, each and every time, the higher seeded team won. They just had to earn it. Really earn it.

Champs Once More!

Many think that Plattsburgh wins the SUNYAC championship every year. It only seems that way. The fact is, before this amazing six-year streak, the Cardinals never won it more than two consecutive times. The thing is, they had a whole bunch of those two-in-a-row spans. All together, Plattsburgh has been crowned SUNYAC champs 16 times out of 26 years.

Hmmm, I guess it really is close to every year.

The final series was reminiscent of 1996, when Potsdam and Plattsburgh tied the first two games. This time it was 2-2 and 3-3. However, specifically because of that year, they now play a third game, and Plattsburgh took it, 2-1.

Nobody had more than a one-goal lead until that third game. In the first game, Plattsburgh and Oswego traded goals in both the second and third period with the Cardinals taking the lead each time. Both second-period goals were on the power play. Goal scorers, in order, were Guy Come, Andy Rozak, Jeff Marshall, and Rob Smith. Shots on goal were 35-30, Plattsburgh.

Niklas Sundberg for Plattsburgh and Joe Lofberg for Oswego played the entire series.

Game 2 saw almost the same thing. Each team again traded goals, with the difference being Oswego taking the lead each time. This time, the goal scorers in order were Paul Perrier, Brendon Hodge on the power play, Smith, Jason Kilcan, Brian St. John, and Mark Coletta on the power play. Shots on goal were 35-34, Oswego.

Someone had to win, and when Plattsburgh took the only two-goal lead in the series in the second period in game three, it was effectively over. The Cardinals’ tallies were registered by Shawn Banks during a four-on-four and Come. Oswego came back to cut the lead in half on a power play goal by John Hirliman, but Plattsburgh buckled down in the final 30-plus minutes, and stymied the Great Lakers.

Plattsburgh gets the automatic berth into the NCAA, and takes its 20-8-2 record to RIT for the quarterfinal round, a rematch of last year’s national championship finale. For this round, the Cardinals will play two games, with a mini-game to follow, if necessary. Knowing the SUNYAC teams’ propensity to stretch things out, you can bank on this series going to a mini-game.

Th-Th-That’s All Folks

The very first SUNYAC Newsletter I wrote was on Dec. 19, 1994, for the orginal hockey3 e-mail list. Eventually, the column made its way here to USCHO. All told, this is my 119th issue.

It pretty much stayed the same all those years until this season, when I handed it off to Ed Trefzger, who implemented some long overdue changes. All for the positive. I thank him for that. I just couldn’t bring myself to changing my baby. When he asked me to take it back, I continued along that trend.

Most importantly, I (and Ed) hope we have both informed and entertained you, the college hockey and SUNYAC fan.

That’s it for another year. Thanks to all of our readers who make this effort fun. It wouldn’t be worth doing without you.

SUNYAC Trivia

Last Week’s Question

Besides the aforementioned Belanger, how many other players won the SUNYAC Player of the Year and the SUNYAC Tournament MVP?

Three times the SUNYAC Player of the Year also won the SUNYAC Tournament MVP. Like we mentioned last week, Tracey Belanger of Plattsburgh did it in 1999, the same year he won his second consecutive Player of the Year. Sean Fitzgerald of Oswego also won both in the same year, 1989. The other player was Plattsburgh’s Lenny Pereira, who first won the Tournament MVP in 1992 and then the Player of the Year the next season.

Next Year’s Questions

Ed implemented a fun feature with these trivia questions. The only problem is, we pretty much used up all the obvious ones. So, in order to be able to continue this next year, we’ll need your help. Send us some of your SUNYAC related trivia questions (with the answers, please), and we’ll save them up over the summer.

This Week In Hockey East: March 7, 2002

By David H. Hendrickson

March 7, 2002

The Hobey Hopefuls

Visitors to the official Hockey East website over the past two months or so have seen rotating photographs of four players deemed at the head of the Hobey Baker Award class: New Hampshire’s Darren Haydar, Northeastern’s Jim Fahey, Maine’s Mike Morrison, and UMass-Lowell’s Cam McCormick.

The decision to highlight that quartet was made by Hockey East Director of Media Relations Noah Smith along with league webmaster Dan Parkhurst.

“We figured at that point that those were our strongest candidates,” says Smith. “We wanted to narrow it down so that we could be promoting these guys and not inundating the market. For example, [UNH forward Colin] Hemingway certainly deserves attention, but when you promote two from the same position from the same team, it’s kind of tough.”

This perspective can be seen in the materials emanating from UNH itself in which Haydar is listed as a Hobey candidate while Hemingway is getting the push for the All-America team.

Recently, however, Smith and Parkhurst have augmented the original four candidates with Hemingway and Maine defenseman Peter Metcalf.

“We ended up [going with the additional players] eventually because there are only a couple weeks left,” says Smith. “But if you do that too early, you run the risk of turning people off. So we just made the decision that we wanted to get as many teams represented without inundating the market.”

Of course, there are other deserving players who were not added, such as Merrimack’s Anthony Aquino and Boston College’s Tony Voce.

“Aquino could be considered,” says Smith. “Voce could be considered and is a much stronger candidate now than he was then, but Boston College certainly has struggled over the course of the season. It’s hard to sell a player from a team that’s not succeeding.”

Although that may be an unpopular truth for those supporters of schools in the lower end of the standings, most accept the practical realities.

“I think people understand where we’re coming from,” says Smith. “We haven’t heard any formal complaints. People from BC might have said in passing, ‘Why isn’t Voce up there?’ or people from Merrimack said, ‘Why isn’t Aquino up there?’ But most of the individuals involved understand the promotional aspect of it.”

So given all of that, who in the league stands a realistic chance of winning it all?

As the league’s top forward and one of the nation’s top scoring players, Haydar certainly could.

As Hockey East’s best defenseman and the NCAA leader in points from the blueline, Fahey also could be one of the favorites.

Morrison could be a Hobey finalist, considering not only his overall numbers (2.13 GAA, .925 SV%), but also his leadership role in the Black Bears’ coping with the death of their legendary leader, Shawn Walsh, at the beginning of the season. That said, if a goalie wins the award this year, it won’t be Morrison. Almost certainly it would be Michigan State’s Ryan Miller, who’d become the first ever repeat recipient.

After those three, however, the remaining candidates are longshots to become finalists. McCormick’s numbers (1.87 GAA and a .920 save percentage) are right up there with Morrison’s, but now that he’s been supplanted by Jimi St. John, any hopes of being a finalist are over. As for Metcalf and Hemingway, they both come in second in comparison to Fahey and Haydar at the same positions, respectively. They may deserve considerable All-America attention, but would be major surprises as Hobey finalists.

Hobey Spotlight: Jim Fahey

The thing that catches every Hobey voter’s eye is Fahey’s point totals. His 14-29–43 scoring line is 19th among all players and tops among defensemen. But if you talk to Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder, Fahey’s accomplishments go even further.

“What makes him special is his competitiveness,” says Crowder. “He’s a guy that reminds me a lot of Terry O’Reilly. He’s a competitive, competitive guy.

“The other thing that makes him special over a lot of the other guys looking for this award is that he’s doing it with four freshmen [on the blue line]. He’s got a freshman partner; he’s got a freshman goaltender.

“He’s a guy that we’ve relied on a lot. He plays a ton of ice every night. He comes to play every game. He comes to play every practice. At times I wish he might take it easier in practice, but he’s there going full bore the whole time.”

And unlike some offensive defensemen who are turnstiles in their own end, Fahey gets it done in all three zones.

"I was there for one reason and for one reason only — it was our seniors’ last game and I thought I owed it to them that if I could be on the bench, and I gave them my word Wednesday, that I’d give it a shot."

— Chris Serino

“We talked about a month and a half ago [how his play] defensively is going to be a key for him,” says Crowder. “He’s got the points to make people sit up and look and say, ‘This defenseman has got 40-odd points,’ but the other key is for him to play sound defense. I think he’s done that for us.”

Hobey Spotlight: Darren Haydar

For just about the entire season, Haydar has been either at the top of the nation’s scoring list or trailing by only a point or two. His offensive exploits have led the best offense in college hockey.

“He’s a terrific hockey player,” says UNH coach Dick Umile. “He’s proven that for four years. He’s done an awful lot for this program in goal production. He’s one of the top goalscorers in the history of UNH, so obviously as a hockey player he’s there [at a Hobey Baker Award level].

“He does it all. We put him out there at the end of the game. If we’re down two men, he’s the first guy we put out there. Penalty kill, key faceoffs. Everybody is trying to stop him.

“He’s not just doing it with speed. He’s a real smart hockey player who is very clever. He’s been a joy to coach.”

Umile is also quick to add his endorsement of Haydar’s off-ice credentials.

“He’s been very, very involved in the community,” says Umile. “He’s like a little kid with the kids in the community, whether it’s the DARE program or with some kid who isn’t as fortunate as everybody else. In academics, he’s a peer advisor in the Whittemore School of Business.

“He’s just a terrific kid. He’s been a joy for me to coach him. The kid has done everything that has been asked of him and more.”

Hobey Spotlight: Mike Morrison

Despite being more of a longshot than Haydar and Fahey, Morrison may appreciate being a finalist more than any other candidate. After his first three years, the senior had recorded only 22 decisions combined, despite posting numbers such as a 1.96 GAA and a .924 save percentage in 2000-01.

This year, however, Morrison has recorded a very impressive breakout year, wresting the top job from Matt Yeats.

“Michael has really emerged this year as one of the top goalies in the country because he’s worked very hard,” says interim Maine head coach Tim Whitehead. “He’s a big guy who is very athletic. He can pick up a basketball and do a 360.

“He’s just a good athlete. That helps him in the net because he’s able to recover after the first shot and make a second or third save. He loves to play the game and is a real competitor. Those are big strengths.

“He’s really attacked the season. That’s the best thing about it. He’s really determined to make this a special season. He hasn’t play a ton obviously for the first three years, but when he has played, he’s played well.

“This season was an opportunity for Mike to emerge and prove that he can really help our team on a consistent basis and he’s done that.”

The Walter Brown Award Favorite

The Walter Brown Award is given annually to the outstanding American-born college hockey player in New England. As such, you can take the aforementioned Hobey candidates, subtract any Canadian or European players, and add in the cream of the ECAC (and MAAC) crop.

This year’s 12 finalists are: Fahey, Morrison, Voce, Ben Eaves (BC), Mike Ryan (Northeastern), Mike Pandolfo (BU), Jon DiSalvatore (Providence), Sean Collins (UNH), Dan Lombard (Yale goaltender), Peter Capouch (Harvard defenseman), Mike Maturo (Dartmouth forward), and Pat Rissmiller (Holy Cross forward).

It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see any of the Hockey East underclassmen win the award in future years, but this season the choice is clear. In this writer’s opinion, Fahey should dominate the voting.

Serino Benefit

A dinner hosted by family, friends and the college hockey community will be held to honor Merrimack hockey coach Chris Serino on Monday, May 6, 2002. All proceeds will benefit Serino and his family as the coach continues his battle with throat cancer that was discovered at the start of the school year.

Titled “An Evening with Christie Serino — ‘The Coach,'” the night will include dinner, featured speakers and a silent auction. The event will be held from 7-10 p.m. at The Diplomat on Route 1 in Saugus. Cost for the dinner is $50 per person.

There will also be a reception from 6-7 p.m. with Coach Serino and several area celebrities. Cost for the dinner plus reception is $100.

Tickets for the event are now available at the following locations:
Merrimack College Athletic Department (978) 837-5341
Kasabuski Rink, Saugus, Mass. (781) 231-4184
Dynamik Sports, Reading, Mass. (781) 942-1153
Lease One, Lynnfield, Mass. (781) 581-9700

For sponsorship opportunities and additional information on the event, please call (978) 664-0302.

Serino Returns… For Just One Game

Last Friday, Serino returned to the bench for the first time in months to pay tribute to his players being honored for Senior Night.

“[My health] is getting better, but it’s certainly not good enough to coach a game,” said Serino. “I knew I couldn’t finish the season. I was there for one reason and for one reason only — it was our seniors’ last game and I thought I owed it to them that if I could be on the bench, and I gave them my word Wednesday, that I’d give it a shot.

“I didn’t do it thinking it would be a big moral lift for them. I did it out of respect for the seniors on my team who’ve been here and played hard for me over the last four years. I thought that was the least I could do for them on their last game.”

Coach, come back healthy next year!

The Quarterfinal Matchups

Last week, this column speculated that six teams could win the Hockey East tournament without the result being considered a major upset. Based on match-ups and injuries, the list has since dropped to five. Had Boston College drawn BU as an opponent, then that series would have suddenly become a wild card.

The Eagles travelling to Alfond Arena, however, is a different story, especially with defensemen J.D. Forrest and John Adams out of the lineup. As a result, look for three of the four series to finish quickly.

(All figures below based on Hockey East games only to avoid distortions from different strength of schedules.)

No. 1 Seed New Hampshire Hosts No. 8 Seed Merrimack

The Warriors might have preferred playing the Canadian Olympic Team at Salt Lake City over facing the Wildcats on “Lake Winnipesaukee.” It simply makes for the worst possible match-ups: UNH’s offense (first in Hockey East) against Merrimack’s defense (eighth). Merrimack’s offense (eighth) against UNH’s defense (first). The Wildcat special teams (first on the power play and penalty kill) vs. Merrimack’s (eighth and ninth).

The Warriors had captured lightning in a bottle there for a while, but UNH is just too tough.

Picks: UNH 6 Merrimack 2; UNH 5 Merrimack 2 (UNH wins a rubber game, if necessary)

No. 2 Seed Boston University Hosts No. 7 Seed Providence

Of the top three seeds, BU stands the best chance of getting taken to a third game. The Terriers just don’t have the offensive explosiveness that UNH and Maine do.

That said, the Friars don’t appear to have what it takes to push BU to the limit. With a consistency matched only by UNH running the board with the top statistics in the league, PC ranks seventh in team offense (how is that?), defense, power play, and penalty kill.

Picks: BU 3 PC 2; BU 4 PC 1; (BU wins a rubber game, if necessary)

No. 3 Seed Maine Hosts No. 6 Seed Boston College

This was not the ideal match-up for them, but the Eagles might have stolen a game from the
Black Bears with a full lineup.

However, Forrest is as important to the BC defense as Eaves is to the offense. We all know what happened when Eaves was out of the lineup. Adams’ concussion has forced coach Jerry York to shift Ales Dolinar back on defense. Now two positions are weaker.

Depth was the Achilles’ heel of this team during the regular season and will be so again in the playoffs.

As for the Black Bears, they are really on a roll now, especially on offense. It wouldn’t be a shock to see them in the Frozen Four.

Picks: Maine 5 BC 2; Maine 4 BC 2; (Maine wins a rubber game, if necessary)

No. 4 Seed UMass-Lowell Hosts No. 5 Seed Northeastern

While the other series look lopsided, this one could go either way. Ultimately, the two teams may find that the winner was decided last Wednesday when the River Hawks went into Matthews Arena and emerged with home ice. Lowell has posted essentially the same record at home (10-6-1) and on the road (10-5-2), but Northeastern has a monstrous gap (12-4-2 vs. 5-10-1).

The River Hawk power play struggled for much of the season, but has really come around of late. The Huskies can no longer claim a special teams advantage in this matchup.

Instead, Lowell’s experience and home ice will win out.

Picks: Lowell 4 NU 2; NU 4 Lowell 3; Lowell 3 NU 1

TV Talk

Fox Sports New England has announced that this week it will be televising live the Thursday night UMass-Lowell vs. Northeastern match-up and that Saturday and Sunday are wild card games. There will be no game shown on Friday night because of a conflict with the Boston Celtics, who FSNE is contractually obligated to carry live.

What this means for Saturday’s and Sunday’s games remains to be seen. In all likelihood, if Lowell-Northeastern goes to a third game on Saturday, that will be deemed more compelling viewing than a second game in the UNH vs. Merrimack or BU vs. Providence series. That is, unless either the Warriors or Friars appear poised for a major upset. That would make for a tougher call. (The results of the Maine-BC series are irrelevant in this regard because FSNE will not be making the trip to Alfond Arena because of the high production costs.)

It’s hard to conceive FSNE having a choice between two games on Sunday night since that would mean that both UNH and BU had been pushed to a third game of their series. More likely, there will be no Hockey East game to show that night. But stranger things have happened… .

What’s likely to raise the blood pressure of some fans, however, is the outlook for next week. The semifinals at the FleetCenter are poised for Friday night beginning at 4 p.m. and the championship on Saturday is at 8 p.m.. Unfortunately, the Celtics are playing both nights, putting all but the early semifinal game on tape delay.

FSNE has a one-year option that it will have to decide whether to pick up or not after the season. If it is declined, there may be some interesting negotiations looming.

As the deal stands now, no money exchanges hands. Hockey East gets no revenue from the TV package, but doesn’t have to pay a flat fee or production costs the way that, for example, the ECAC does.

One possible scenario, should FSNE decline the option, is for the league to separate the postseason TV rights from the regular season. Given FSNE’s inability to broadcast playoff games live whenever there is a conflict with the Celtics, Hockey East could sell the postseason to an outlet such as NESN and use that money to finance either a separate regular season deal with FSNE or distribute the money to member schools and allow them to make their own deals, such as the one that BU arranged this year that put so many extra Terrier games on TV.

A Little Gambling Talk

Not that I’m a degenerate gambler — I’m a degenerate in other ways — but I came across the following Las Vegas odds to win the national championship. (This comes from Roger Brown, a great guy and UNH beat writer for the Portsmouth Herald. Roger is no degenerate gambler either, but writes a column every year on the topic.)

These odds are as of three weeks ago, as posted by Bally’s Race and Sports Book:

Minnesota 5/2
St. Cloud State 7/2
Denver 9/2
New Hampshire 5/1
Boston University 6/1
Michigan State 6/1
Boston College 7/1
Michigan 10/1
Colorado College 12/1
Northern Michigan 15/1
Maine 20/1
UMass-Lowell 20/1
North Dakota 20/1
Harvard 20/1
Nebraska-Omaha 22/1
Wisconsin 30/1
Ohio State 30/1
Dartmouth 40/1
Clarkson 40/1
Providence 60/1
Alaska-Fairbanks 60/1
Rensselaer 75/1
Minnesota-Duluth 100/1
St. Lawrence 200/1

The rest of the field (all teams not included above) go in at 18/1.

Ignoring oddities such as Alaska-Fairbanks (20-11-3) sharing the same 60-to-1 odds as Providence (13-18-5), here are a few observations.

The best bets, in this writer’s opinion, are New Hampshire, Michigan, and Maine. All three are riding high going into the postseason and have been there before. There will be no happy-to-be-there sentiments. Of the trio, Maine would be the best bargain at 20-to-1.

The worst bets would seem to be the two teams that competed in the NCAA championship game last year, Boston College (18-16-2, but 7-to-1) and North Dakota (16-17-2, but 20-to-1). Veterans of the wagering game will point out that odds are not just a prediction of results, but also are a mirror of public perception. Casual fans, as opposed to the cognoscenti of USCHO readership, may instinctively go for last year’s title combatants even if they are overpriced.

Warning: If you take out a second mortgage on your house, fly out to Las Vegas, place a huge bet on your favorite team and lose… it isn’t my fault. If you win, however, a five-percent finders fee to the Dave Hendrickson Retirement Fund would be appreciated.

A Brain Cramp

When Providence traveled to UMass-Lowell last Friday, almost everyone expected that Nolan Schaefer would get the start in the Friars’ crease. After all, PC still had a chance to finish sixth in the standings with a win. Instead, freshman David Cacciola got the nod and the Friars lost, 6-1.

The reason behind Cacciola’s start, though, is a head-shaker. It turns out that Schaefer, who is one of the few goaltenders that catches with his right hand, had left his catching glove behind at Providence.

If frustrated Friar fans were looking for the perfect symbol to capture a frustratingly disappointing season, they got one.

Numerology

On Feb. 22, BC scored the most goals of its season (seven) on the fewest shots (19).

Haydar has never missed a game in his UNH career. He has now played in 152 straight and is closing in on the school ironman mark held by Mike Souza (156).

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question asked which team entered the postseason with the longest losing streak, but still advanced to the Hockey East semifinals. The answer was the 1997-98 Merrimack Warriors, who entered the league playoffs with a 12-game losing streak, including a 9-1 loss in the regular season finale to BU, but then stunned the Terriers in three games. It was the league’s only upset of a top seed by an number eight.

The first to answer correctly was Scott Kaplan, whose cheer is:

“Go UML! Neuter the Huskies and the Dog House!”

This week’s question notes that Maine has lost only a single men’s Division I postseason game at Alfond Arena. What was the opposing team, date and score? Email me with as many of those three details as you know (or care to guess).

This Week In The CCHA: March 7, 2002

By Paula C. Weston

March 7, 2002

It’s The Super Six

Twelve teams enter. Six teams leave. Two out of three wins you a trip to Detroit.

Must be CCHA playoff time.

No. 12 Lake Superior at No. 1 Michigan

Can David slay Goliath? Not likely.

Now that all 12 CCHA teams are included in the opening round of league playoffs, the difference between first and last is even greater than before. There are reasons why Michigan took the regular-season title, not the least of which is behind the bench.

There are reasons Lake Superior State ended the season in last place, not the least of which is behind the bench.

Here’s how these two match up, by the numbers.

• Goals averaged per conference game: UM 3.46 (first); LSSU 1.36 (last)
• Goals allowed per conference game: UM 2.00 (second); LSSU 3.79 (last)
• Conference power-play percentage: UM .197 (second); LSSU .083 (last)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: UM .917 (second); LSSU .771 (last)
• Top scorers in league play: UM John Shouneyia (7-26–33); LSSU Jeremy Bachusz (2-9–11)
• Top goaltender in league play: UM Josh Blackburn (1.93 GAA, .920 SV%); LSSU Matt Violin (3.18 GAA, .910 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: UM +124; LSSU -276

Lake Superior State leads this all-time series 35-43-6, and the Lakers are 5-5-0 in the last ten meetings, but the Wolverines have won three of the last five. This season, Michigan blanked the Lakers twice, 5-0 (Jan. 31) and 1-0 (Feb. 2).

Michigan and Lake State meet for the first time in CCHA post-season play since 1996, when the Wolverines beat the Lakers 4-3 in the championship game. Michigan is 2-6-0 against Lake State post-season, including 0-2-0 against the Lakers in the first round. To find those games of record, though, you’d have to go all the way back to 1985, when LSSU beat UM in Sault Ste. Marie in two games, 3-1 and 7-6.

The Wolverines are 24-1-0 in the first round of the CCHA tourney during the past 12 years, winning every series, playing every series in Yost Arena. Over those 12 years, only Michigan’s 1998 series against Notre Dame went to three games.

After compiling a .500 record at home during the first half of the season, the Wolverines finish the year with a 10-5-2 home record, and are riding a six-game winning streak into the playoffs. Michigan is 9-1-0 in its last 10 games.

Perhaps a better question than, “Can David slay Goliath?” is this: Will the Lakers score against Michigan this weekend?

No. 11 Bowling Green at No. 2 Michigan State

This is a series that MSU head coach Ron Mason is taking very seriously.

“We know we’ve got a tiger by the tail in Bowling Green,” says Mason. “They’ve proven they can win in the playoffs, as they have in the last two years. They have an excellent goaltender and when they decide they can win a game, they can win a game. They’re older than we are, too.”

In fact, the Falcons are the only team in CCHA history with a winning road record in the first round of league playoffs (16-13-2). Bowling Green has won its last two first-round playoff series on the road, and have won seven of eight first-round series in the last 10 years.

Bowling Green has won first-round playoff series at Michigan, Western Michigan, Lake Superior, and Miami. Last year, the Falcons knocked off Miami in Oxford in two games, then went on to beat Northern Michigan – in Marquette – in the now-defunct CCHA play-in game, en route to The Joe.

At the end of the 1999-2000 season, Bowling Green beat LSSU in Sault Ste. Marie before losing the play-in game to the Mavericks in Omaha.

Says Mason, “We have no delusions of grandeur.”

Neither do the Falcons.

“We’re trying to put together our best opportunity for success up there,” says BG head coach Buddy Powers. “A big part of the equation is Ryan Miller. He just doesn’t let in too many goals.”

The Falcons lost twice to the Spartans during the regular season, and in the one game when BGSU managed to score several goals on Miller – three to be exact – the Spartans registered six of their own.

Bowling Green is just “grinding along,” says Powers, and it’s been a season through which the Falcons just never found the consistency they needed to contend.

“We were close in a lot of games, and we battle hard, but we never seemed to get over that hump,” says Powers. “We thought the Michigan game would be a turnaround for us, but then the following week we got thumped.”

In late January, the Falcons split with the Wolverines in Yost, winning 4-2 and losing 3-2, but the following weekend, BGSU was, indeed, “thumped” by Western at home, 8-1. The Falcons were 2-7-1 in their last ten games.

“When you can’t get over that hump,” says Powers, “you never get that confidence, and things just slide on you.”

The Spartans witnessed a late-season slide of their own, finishing up 5-2-2 in the last nine games of the season, the nine games following Mason’s announcement that he’ll be stepping down as head coach to become Michigan State University’s athletic director.

Last weekend, MSU needed to sweep the Ferris State Bulldogs for a share of the CCHA regular-season title. Instead, after losing to FSU Friday night, the Spartans were forced to watch uber-rival Michigan sweep the WMU Broncos and take the title solo.

“It doesn’t come down to one game,” says Mason. “We went through a spell when we weren’t healthy. I don’t want to blame injuries, but we weren’t as talented as we should have been.

And now that the regular-season title is no longer an automatic ticket to the NCAA tournament, says Mason, “It doesn’t mean as much as it used to,” adding, “especially now that everyone’s in the playoffs.”

Mason’s point: “Playoffs give everyone a second chance.”

Here’s a look at this pairing by the numbers.

• Goals averaged per conference game: MSU 3.11 (fifth); BGSU 2.79 (eighth)
• Goals allowed per conference game: MSU 1.68 (first); BGSU 3.71 (11th)
• Conference power-play percentage: MSU .217 (first); BGSU .135 (ninth)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: MSU .925 (first); BGSU .817 (ninth)
• Top scorers in league play: MSU Brian Maloney (15-14–29); BGSU Greg Day (14-14–28)
• Top goaltender in league play: MSU Ryan Miller (1.64 GAA, .941 SV%); BGSU Tyler Masters (3.43 GAA, .902 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: UM +103; BGSU -82

Says Mason of this series, “One team is as loose as a goose, and the other team tries to win so bad.”

In this equation, Falcons = geese.

"We know we’ve got a tiger by the tail in Bowling Green. They’ve proven they can win in the playoffs, as they have in the last two years."

— Ron Mason

No. 10 Miami at No. 3 Northern Michigan

This series is reminiscent of Dickens:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us… .

A year ago, the Miami RedHawks tied Michigan for second in the league’s final standings, then found themselves staying in Oxford (that’s in Ohio, for those of you at home keeping score) after being upset by Bowling Green in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

This year, Miami finds itself a team without a strong identity. It has been, as head coach Enrico Blasi puts it, a “strange” year.

“The effort — I’ve never questioned that from our guys. The execution, sometimes there’s maybe been an odd bounce here and there that hasn’t gone our way, but for the most part the effort’s always been there.”

The RedHawks and Wildcats have met fairly recently, with Northern beating Miami at home Feb. 15-16, 7-3 and 3-1.

NMU head coach Rick Comley told the Marquette Mining Journal that he wouldn’t be surprised if the RedHawks “have doubts in their mind,” having to return to Marquette so soon after being swept their by Northern. Comley also told the Mining Journal, “We know how they are going to play. They’ve had a rollercoaster year emotionally. We have to play a quality game from the get-go.”

Inside the numbers, this is how these two teams match up.

• Goals averaged per conference game: NMU 3.07 (tie sixth); Miami 2.43 (11th)
• Goals allowed per conference game: NMU 2.46 (fourth); Miami 3.14 (ninth)
• Conference power-play percentage: NMU .157 (fifth); Miami .177 (fourth)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: NMU .847 (fifth); Miami .860 (fourth)
• Top scorers in league play: NMU Chad Theuer (13-16–29); Miami Jason Deskins (7-14–21)
• Top goaltender in league play: NMU Craig Kowalski (2.25 GAA, .916 SV%); Miami David Burleigh (2.94 GAA, .900 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: NMU +102; Miami -134

Miami has dropped eight straight post-season games since making an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996-97, including seven straight in the CCHA tournament. Miami last won Mar. 7-8, 1997, when the RedHawks swept the Buckeyes in the first round of CCHA post-season play.

Northern Michigan is 21-4-1 all-time against Miami, and is 14-1-0 against the RedHawks in Marquette. The only NMU home loss to Miami was a 4-3 overtime decision in 1981.

Miami enters the playoffs after breaking a seven-game losing streak by beating Ohio State 3-1 in the final regular-season game for both squads. In their 0-7-0 streak, the RedHawks averaged just 1.3 goals per game, and were shut out twice.

“We’ll just see what happens,” said Blasi after the win over OSU. “The only thing we can concentrate on is [to] be ready to play. It’s a best two out of three. Aything can happen, as we found out last year.”

No. 9 Ferris State at No. 4 Alaska-Fairbanks

Everyone but Eric Olson of the Omaha World-Herald and I picked the Nanooks to finish last in the CCHA pre-season media poll. Now, don’t we look smart?

UAF makes history this week by hosting a first-round playoff series for the first time in the tenure of the program.

“We’re thrilled to be at home,” UAF head coach Guy Gadowsky told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner earlier this week. “But the reality is that, once the puck drops, being at home is no guarantee of a win. Our crowd has been big for us and the other team has to travel, but that doesn’t guarantee anything.”

Especially against Ferris State, a team that matches well with the Nanooks, and a team against which UAF had zero luck during the regular season. The Bulldogs swept the Nanooks in two 4-1 games in Big Rapids in November – but November was a long time ago.

Ferris State ended the season on a low-high kind of thing. Going 1-5-0 in their last six games, that one Bulldog win was against Michigan State, when the Bulldogs played the spoiler last Friday night by beating the Spartans 3-2 at home and preventing MSU from capturing a share of the CCHA regular-season crown.

The Bulldogs lead this all-time series 20-10-1, are 4-1-0 in their last five games in Fairbanks, and are 2-0-0 vs. the Nanooks in CCHA post-season play.

Ferris State has the tandem of Rob Collins and Chris Kunitz, who have combined for 86 points, the most by a Bulldog duo since 1990-91 (John DePourcq and Rod Taylor).

But the Nanooks have a serious home-ice advantage, not just because it’s 2,753 miles as the crow flies from Big Rapids to Fairbanks. No, the Nanooks will be keen to win to advance to The Joe for the first time in UAF hockey history.

Here are some numbers for you to consider.

• Goals averaged per conference game: UAF 3.25 (fourth); FSU 3.07 (tie sixth)
• Goals allowed per conference game: UAF 3.04 (seventh); FSU 2.96 (sixth)
• Conference power-play percentage: UAF .145 (eighth); FSU .152 (sixth)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: UAF .798 (11th); FSU .838 (sixth)
• Top scorers in league play: UAF Bobby Andrews (11-17–28); FSU Rob Collins (12-28–40)
• Top goaltender in league play: UAF Lance Mayes (2.83 GAA, .904 SV%); FSU Mike Brown (2.62 GAA, .915 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: UAF +28; FSU +11

The Bulldogs have a definite advantage in net, and their speed lends itself well to the Olympic sheet. Both teams have a potentially explosive offense.

Gadowsky told the News-Miner, “I’ve been asked a lot in the past week who I’d like to play and the honest answer is, no one in the CCHA. I don’t think there is a team in this league that feels comfortable with their first-round match-up. Nobody will be looking ahead to the next round.”

For the record, the Nanooks played their first-ever CCHA playoff games at Ferris State, Mar. 12- 13, 1993, losing 8-6 and 7-2.

Let’s call this one of the final Grudges of the season.

No. 8 Notre Dame at No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha

This series may be the only upset in the first round.

On paper, it would appear as though Nebraska-Omaha has nearly every advantage. Goaltender Dan Ellis is arguably one of the best in college hockey. The Bullpen is a formidable barn.

But there’s something about this Notre Dame team, something almost intangible, that sets the Irish apart from past ND squads.

The hockey term for it is heart, and head coach Dave Poulin attributes that to senior David Inman. “David himself has brought a grittier part of himself to the game. That’s a contagious thing. Guys see that on the bench and respond.”

Inman is having a career season. With 14 goals and 17 assists in league play – and six power-play tallies – Inman is definitely one spark that ignites the Irish.

Another is rookie goaltender Morgan Cey, who didn’t play goal until he was 14 years old. “He’s very athletic,” says Poulin. “Goaltending has been a big factor.”

The Irish finished the season strong, and are riding a five-game win streak into the first round of the playoffs, their longest since the beginning of the 1998-99 season. The Mavericks were 4-5-1 in their last ten games of the regular season.

Here’s how this series looks on paper.

• Goals averaged per conference game: UNO 2.57 (ninth); ND 3.39 (second)
• Goals allowed per conference game: UNO 2.29 (third); ND 3.07 (eighth)
• Conference power-play percentage: UNO .128 (10th); ND .150 (seventh)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: UNO .873 (third); ND .807 (10th)
• Top scorers in league play: UNO Jeff Hoggan (15-13–28); ND Connor Dunlop (9-27–36)
• Top goaltender in league play: UNO Dan Ellis (2.22 GAA, .927 SV%); ND Morgan Cey (2.87 GAA, .907 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: UNO +51; ND +74

The Mavericks lead this all-time series 5-2-1, and took two games from Notre Dame Jan. 18-19, winning 3-2 and 4-2 in spite of being outshot 90-46 in the series.

UNO is hosting its second consecutive first-round CCHA playoff series. Last year’s was a doozy, with the Mavericks beating Ohio State in three games, each contest decided by one goal and two going into overtime – one into double OT.

The Mavericks are 6-4-0 all-time in post-season CCHA play, and UNO advanced to The Joe last year and the year before.

The Irish are 7-15-0 all-time in eight CCHA playoff series and have never won a road playoff series. The last time Notre Dame won a playoff series was in 2000 against Ferris State, two games to one.

This series comes down to Dan Ellis, plain and simple. How do you solve him? “If you find somebody who answers that,” says Poulin, “let me know.”

No. 7 Ohio State at No. 6 Western Michigan

Two teams on the negative side of plus/minus. The only two starting goaltenders in the first round whose league save percentages are each lower than .900.

This has all the makings of a complete bust – or of a wicked barn burner.

For Western, this is a good news-bad news scenario. The good news is that the Broncos are hosting their first playoff series since 1996. The bad news is that they’re hosting Ohio State, the only team to sweep Western Michigan in Kalamazoo this season.

Neither team has shown a strong identity this season. The Broncos are potentially explosive offensively, but always lacking on the defensive side of things. The Buckeyes can’t seem to buy a goal, and during the second half of the season their team defense was porous.

The difference here will definitely be in net. It doesn’t matter how many goals Ohio State can manage to produce; if Mike Betz is on, OSU will win. Betz, however, is only as good as the team in front of him, and lately that team has been, well, less than convincing.

Here’s how the Buckeyes and Broncos match up, by the numbers.

• Goals averaged per conference game: WMU 3.29 (third); OSU 2.54 (10th)
• Goals allowed per conference game: WMU 3.29 (10th); OSU 2.89 (fifth)
• Conference power-play percentage: WMU .187 (third); OSU .124 (11th)
• Conference penalty-killing percentage: WMU .836 (seventh); OSU .828 (eighth)
• Top scorers in league play: WMU Mike Bishai (6-20–26); OSU R.J. Umberger (14-14–28)
• Top goaltender in league play: WMU Jeff Reynaert (2.98 GAA, .897 SV%); OSU Mike Betz (2.66 GAA, .895 SV%)
• Team plus/minus in league play: WMU -38; OSU -29

The Buckeyes are 24-45-4 all-time in post-season play, including a 22-43-4 record in the CCHA playoffs. Western Michigan leads this all-time series 56-47-8, but OSU leads the series in Kalamazoo 28-19-4. The Buckeyes are 5-1-1 in their last seven games in Lawson Arena.

The two squads last met in post-season play way back in 1987 in the now-defunct CCHA Consolation Game, with OSU getting the better of WMU 7-4.

Bronco head coach Jim Culhane told the Kalamazoo Gazette, “I’m very confident that if we stick to the script and execute, we’re going to give ourselves an excellent chance to win. But we have to be energized and ready to play, because it could be a long weekend.”

To prepare for this series, the Buckeyes hit the bottle – the peroxide bottle, that is. Every OSU player (except for Pete Broccoli, who’s sporting stitches in his forehead) bleached his hair in a ritualistic attempt to strengthen team unity. According to the online publication the O-Zone, OSU head coach John Markell was happy about his players’ fashion statement. “You want to see things like that. You want to see your team come together in the playoffs and it’s going to take a heck of an effort. If this helps I’m all for it,” said Markell.

Although I admire the OSU players’ urge to hit the salon when times get tough, you can’t solve an entire season’s problems with a single trip to Mr. Clairol.

Mea Culpa, Part I

Last week I unwittingly gave a false account of a certain Michigan-Ohio State brouhaha. I said that Mike Comrie cross-checked Scott Titus to start the whole thing. Alert reader Annette from Ann Arbor reminded me that it was, in fact, Ryan Jestadt (once called “Jesus on crack” by a WMU fan, and now the assistant manager at the OSU Ice Arena) who cross-checked Comrie, after Comrie scored a goal.

It pains me to have slandered the innocent Comrie, whose only contribution to the melée was the goal – and his subsequent sticking of the OSU bench as he skated by it.

I still don’t know why Titus is known as “The Villain,” nor how or why he got double-teamed in the fight.

Now the record is as straight as it’s going to get.

Mea Culpa, Part II

Previously, I had reported that Buddy Powers, Bowling Green head coach, is in the last season of his contract. Powers himself corrected me. He has a year to go after this one on his contract, and he says he isn’t worried about it.

Someone, Please, Hand Me An Aspirin

This gives me a headache: neither Chad Theuer nor Bryce Cockburn received even honorable mention for the All-CCHA teams.

Cup Craziness

Three intrastate cup titles were decided this past weekend, one that seems significant to its victor, one that seemed a forgone conclusion, and one that no one seems to care about.

Alaska Governor’s Cup

Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks play annually for the Governor’s Cup, which is awarded based on head-to-head play in four games during the regular season. The Nanooks won the Cup for the first time since 1998-99, when seniors Aaron Grosul, Bobby Andrews, and Daniel Carriere were rookies.

Sweetening the pot was Fairbanks’ school-record 20th win of the season, a 3-1 victory over UAA in Anchorage – the first UAF win in Anchorage since Oct. 23, 1993, when current Nanook assistant coach Tavis MacMillan was a senior.

Father Cappo Cup

Northern Michigan retained the Father Cappo Cup by beating Lake Superior State in all four regular-season meetings between the squads, the first sweep for the Wildcats since the 1980-81 campaign.

The Ohio Cup

By virtue of goal differential, the Bowling Green Falcons won the Ohio Cup, awarded annually to the Ohio CCHA team with the best head-to-head record against other Ohio CCHA teams.

Recently, the CCHA cluster system has made the number of games BG, Miami, and OSU play against each other uneven (since Miami and OSU are permanent clustermates) but only one Miami- OSU series counts in Cup standings.

All three Ohio teams finished the season with a 2-2-0 record against other Ohio CCHA teams.

Not one of the Ohio CCHA squads seems to care about this Cup, and that may be a symptom of the problems each club is experiencing. Not one of the Ohio CCHA squads seems to care about much of anything.

This Week In The MAAC: March 7, 2002

By Jim Connelly

March 7, 2002

MAAC Quarterfinal Preview

Five months. One game.

For eight MAAC teams that is what it comes down to. Twenty-plus weeks of hard work translates into one shot for the eight MAAC playoff qualifiers to keep their seasons alive, eyes focused on the ultimate goal: a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

To this point, all that has been decided is who stays home, who travels. Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, Holy Cross, and Sacred Heart will play hosts this upcoming weekend. In the back of their minds could be the fact that home teams in the MAAC playoffs are a combined 15-1 (the only road team ever to win was Iona over Canisius in 2000).

But history doesn’t seem to mean much at this point. This season has been a strange one in the MAAC. Parity has taken up residence in the MAAC standings. There’s not much difference between No. 2 seed Quinnipiac and Army in the eighth slot. Add to that the MAAC playoff format — a one-and-done affair — that easily puts even the surest of teams on not-so-thick ice.

Upsets are likely, but you’ll see I take the easy road out and pick the favorites. An explanation is probably necessary. First, as much as I like to glitz things up as a member of the media, that 15-1 home record sticks in the back of my mind. For some reason in the MAAC, more than any league in the country, home ice means everything. Second, the top four seeds all feel destined to me. Mercyhurst dominated the league. Quinnipiac is a fixture in the final four (not to mention the only team to have home ice all four years of the league’s existence). Holy Cross is at home — a place where they’ve never lost in the playoffs. And Sacred Heart — if this isn’t their year, will it ever come?

Under the MAAC’s current playoff format, the regular season is actually worth playing. Three out of the 11 teams don’t make the playoffs. In this writer’s opinion, it gives the regular season some value — some integrity.

Yes, the remaining four clubs — Canisius, Connecticut, Iona, and Army – all have their own merits. And honestly, I’d love to see them pull off upsets.

Enough about my crystal ball. Let’s hear what the coaches had to say.

No.8 Army (9-16-6, 9-11-6 MAAC) at No.1 Mercyhurst (22-9-3, 21-2-3 MAAC)
Saturday, March 9, 2002, 7:00 p.m. ET
Mercyhurst Ice Arena, Erie, Penn.

Season series: Mercyhurst leads 2-1-0
Nov. 9, 2001 — at Mercyhurst 3, Army 2 (OT)
Nov. 10, 2001 — at Mercyhurst 5, Army 2
Mar. 1, 2002 — at Army 3, Mercyhurst 2

Playoff History
First meeting

Everyone wants to be the number-one seed in the playoffs. It’s human nature to want to finish on top. And with the top seed in any sport general comes some advantage. The top seed in the current NCAA ice hockey tournament gets a first-round bye — which is seen as almost too much advantage. In conference tournaments such as the CCHA, top-seeded Michigan has the advantage to face Lake Superior State — a team that won only four league games all year.

But for the MAAC’s top seed Mercyhurst, finishing first doesn’t carry that great a reward. Under the MAAC’s current playoff format, the regular season is actually worth playing. Three out of the 11 teams don’t make the playoffs. In this writer’s opinion, it gives the regular season some value — some integrity.

At the same time, though, the league continues to use a single-elimination quarterfinal, which allows all playoff qualifiers the opportunity to pull off a single-game upset and march to the final four.

The result of these two aspects, unique to the MAAC, is to truly take away much of the advantage for the league’s top seeds. For the fact of the matter lies that Mercyhurst will face number-eight seed Army, a very, very good team, on Saturday night knowing that a loss would end the Lakers’ heralded season.

“I think I’d like to see these series go to best two out of three,” said Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin, whose Lakers have never lost a first-round playoff game in the MAAC. “If you’re one of the top four teams with home ice, you at least get two games at home.”

Surely it’s a longshot for the top seed in the MAAC or any league for the matter to drop a single playoff game to the lowest seed in the tournament. But upsets happen — as proven last weekend.

Friday night, in what ultimately was a preview of this quarterfinal match-up, Army rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit to beat Mercyhurst 3-2. If the Black Knights needed any sort of confidence boost, they found it.

“[Beating Mercyhurst] was part of a great weekend for us,” said Army coach Rob Riley. “It’s good for the morale going into the playoffs. [Coming back from 2-0 down] lets us know that we’re never out of a game.”

Friday’s rally wasn’t the first time this season that Army came back against Mercyhurst. In an early-season battle, Army scored twice in the third to erase a similar 2-0 lead, but fell that night in overtime.

Gotkin, though, remains optimistic. He sited his feeling that his team lost a bit of its “edge” two weeks ago in a game against Sacred Heart (a 5-0 loss, and the first MAAC loss of the season for Mercyhurst). That carried into Friday’s game a bit.

“In the third period [against Army], we didn’t play with an edge. On Saturday [a 5-1 win over Iona], our edge returned,” said Gotkin. “I think our guys were very driven to win the regular season and they did that. But I think quietly — privately — they were hoping to go undefeated.”

Once that undefeated season had passed by the boards, suggested Gotkin, he felt his club wasn’t able to focus.

All that said, that focus — that “edge” as Gotkin puts it — has returned. It was very apparent in Mercyhurst’s domination of Iona on Saturday night, and he hopes it will remain this Saturday at home against Army.

“We have to play our game and do all the things that have made us successful all year long,” Gotkin said. “There’s great parity in the conference and whether we’re playing Army or anybody else, we have to play well. We have to build on what we did on Saturday night.”

In reality, Friday’s loss to Army might have been an eye-opener for Mercyhurst, making Riley believe that he may have wakened a sleeping giant.

“[Mercyhurst] had gone the whole year without a loss and then they lost to Scared Heart and then drop a game to us,” said Riley. “Maybe that’s what they needed to get refocused for the playoffs, but you can’t worry about the other teams, only about your own team.”

All of the mental games aside, the game itself might boil down to a battle of goaltending. Everyone who follows the league knows that Mercyhurst’s Peter Aubry is hands-down the top goalie in the MAAC. But in the opposite net, Army’s Scott Hamilton certainly has what it takes to win the big game.

“Hamilton played great last weekend,” said Riley. “He’s won a lot of big games for us down the stretch.”

Solving Hamilton will be Mercyhurst’s key but containing the Lakers’ offensive attack is top on Army’s list.

The Lakers, simply put, can explode for goals at a moment’s notice. Averaging 3.96 goals per game, the Lakers rank top in the league coupled, with a stingy defense that has held opponents under an average of two goals per game all season long.

Thus, Army cannot fall into a hole against this experience-riddled, defensive-focused Mercyhurst team. Weathering the storm for the first 20 to 30 minutes will give Army the chance to pull off a major playoff upset.

Pick: Last weekend aside, Mercyhurst is simply too strong for Army. The thought of the upset makes for a good story, but Mercyhurst simply won’t let it happen. Mercyhurst, 6-2.
No. 7 Iona (13-17-2, 12-12-2 MAAC) at No. 2 Quinnipiac (17-12-5, 15-6-5 MAAC)
Saturday, March 9, 2002, 7:00 p.m. ET
Northford Ice Pavilion, Northford, Conn.

Season series: Iona leads 2-1-0
Oct. 13, 2001 — at Iona 3, Quinnipiac 1
Oct. 27, 2001 — Iona 4, at Quinnipiac 2
Nov. 16, 2001 — Quinnipiac 5, at Iona 1

Playoff History
Mar. 16, 2000 — Iona 5, Quinnipiac 4; MAAC Semifinal at Connecticut
Mar. 15, 2001 — Quinnipiac 4, Iona 1; MAAC Semifinal at Connecticut

Is it just me or does it seem that every time there’s a big playoff game going on, Quinnipiac and Iona are the focus. It almost seems completely fitting that when the puck drops on the MAAC playoffs, Frank Bretti is behind one bench and Rand Pecknold the other.

We’re going to see it again this Saturday evening. The venue this time is a little different. These two school that have met in the MAAC semifinals the past two seasons will meet a round earlier this year when Quinnipiac hosts Iona in Northford, Conn.

If you had said that these two teams would have met under these circumstances back in October, I guarantee anyone would have had an issue with that. Iona was a pre-season favorite to finish at the top of the league. Quinnipiac had some question marks surrounding its high number of rookies, but most figured they’d be a secure top-five. The potential that the two schools could meet as a No. 4 vs. No. 5 match-up might have been a thought, but as No. 2 vs. No. 7? Never.

That, though, is living proof of just how close the league is this year. With four weeks left, Iona easily could have made its move towards the top. Home ice was still well within its grasp. But injuries and some bad puck luck moved the Gaels south — far south to the seventh slot.

On the other hand, Quinnipiac fought for home ice until the last minute and finished the season with just one loss in its last 12 games. They held off the charge of Holy Cross, Sacred Heart, and Canisius to return to the number-two seed for the second year in a row.

The ironies go far beyond that, though. This is the only series in which the lower seed leads the season series. Iona took two of three from Quinnipiac, but all the games came way back in the early season when Iona was hot and Quinnipiac’s rookies were still getting settled into their dorm rooms.

But everyone knows that ironies belong on paper. In the single-elimination format, sixty minutes of hockey is all that matters.

“If you were to ask any of our players on our team, they’d say we’re disappointed with our finish,” said Bretti, whose Gaels fell to Quinnipiac, 4-1, in last year’s semifinals. “But have we given up? Absolutely not.”

Bretti notes, though, that the fact that his team simply needs one win to recoup its pre-season goal of making it back to the MAAC final four isn’t really a motivator.

“A couple of years ago, we were a legitimate six seed and we went in and knocked some teams off. Then, it was like, ‘Holy smoke,'” said Bretti. “But we’re not going to be able to go in and surprise anybody. We probably aren’t a seventh-place team.”

And that’s something that Pecknold agrees with.

“I certainly don’t think that we’ve won anything drawing Iona in the first round,” said Pecknold.

Iona’s issue to this point has been injuries. Players like defensemen Jean-Paul Chaput, Trevor McCall, and Trevor Aubie, forward John Gilbert, and senior captain Rob Kellogg are all questionable with injuries. That, though, won’t matter in Pecknold’s mind.

“When you’re that banged up, the back-to-back games tend to hurt you,” said Pecknold. “Now, though, it’s just one game so they can go full at it and injuries don’t play as much a role.”

Even without these players in the lineup, Iona has plenty of playoff experience. Visits to the final four the last two years and a surprise championship game appearance in 2000 (that came after upsetting Quinnipiac) give Iona the upper hand in that crucial category.

Quinnipiac, on the other hand, will dress a large number of rookies on Saturday, rookies who will be learning the ropes of playoff pressure for the first time at the college level.

“I think a benefit for us it that even though these freshmen haven’t had a lot of playoff experience at this level, they’ve played a lot of big games before getting here,” said Pecknold. “On top of that, we’ve played the Michigan States and the Providences. Those series were key to teaching us how to compete.”

Tactically, the style of the game will mean a lot to its outcome. In past years both teams had the high-flying offenses and possibly lacked on the defense end. This season, Quinnipiac’s focus has changed to defense, successfully placing itself second in the league in team defense behind Mercyhurst. Iona, on the other hand finished eighth. If this is a defensive battle, Quinnipiac will have the upper hand.

But if Iona can play the run-and-gun offense its become known for, the Gaels stand a solid chance of winning. That’s where Bretti’s focus lies.

“The focus for us it to go out there and try to play our game,” said Bretti. “We’re not going in looking to play a defensive game or sit back. Our concentration is to make sure we’re carrying out our systems.”

That said, Bretti doesn’t expect the game to be a total wide-open affair.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of tremendous opportunities on both sides,” noted Bretti. “It will be interesting to see how Quinnipiac will come out and approach us.

“We’ve gotten away from puck control recently. We’ve played more off-the-glass-and-out hockey. We might have to change that based on the fact that we haven’t been successful. In playoff hockey, though, there’s a tendency to play a little bit safer.”

Either way, this is good old playoff hockey. This is an early-round match-up that could just have easily been played for the championship.

“I think ultimately, you can throw the two versus seven out the window,” said Pecknold. “It’s two teams who are capable of making the run at the championship.”

Pick: Honestly, you want to almost pick the upset here. But injuries may be too much for the Gaels. If their top players return to the lineup, my pick could be very wrong. Otherwise, I should be on the ball. Quinnipiac, 5-3.

No. 6 Connecticut (12-15-7, 11-10-5 MAAC) at No. 3Holy Cross (17-11-5, 15-8-3 MAAC)
Saturday, March 9, 2002, 3:00 p.m. ET
Hart Recreational Complex, Worcester, Mass.

Season series: Holy Cross leads 3-0-0
Dec. 29, 2001 — Holy Cross 4, at Connecticut 1
Feb. 22, 2001 — at Holy Cross 3, Connecticut 2
Feb. 23, 2001– Holy Cross 3, at Connecticut 1

Playoff History
Mar. 19, 1999 — at Holy Cross 4, Connecticut 3 (OT); MAAC Semifinal

Holy Cross entered the 2001-02 season knowing one thing: If the Crusaders qualified for the playoffs, one victory could mean déjà vu. For the second time in the four years of the MAAC league, Holy Cross will host the tournament’s final four. And in case you missed it, the Crusaders won their only championship during the 1998-99 season as hosts of the final four.

Translated, one win in the quarterfinals, even if it came from the number-eight seed, would give the Crusaders a chance to play on home ice for another title.

At the beginning of the season, that certainly seemed like motivation. Who knew, though, that Holy Cross, a team that missed the playoffs last season, could motivate itself not only into the playoffs, but all the way to the number-three seed and first round home ice?

Right now, though, the first-round match-up with the number-six seed, Connecticut, is all head coach Paul Pearl wants his team to focus on.

“If we get caught saying [looking ahead], Connecticut will beat us 7-0,” said Pearl. “There’s not a heck of a lot of difference between the two seed and the eight seed.

“The fact we ended up higher in the standings doesn’t mean much because the point total didn’t show too much of a discrepancy.

“But that’s been the strength of our team — taking things one game at a time. We’ve got to look on a small scale and not at the big picture. Our mindset plays into not looking ahead.”

On the other side of the coin will be a hungry Connecticut team. The Huskies have lost three straight to Holy Cross this season and arrive here as the underdogs.

“We feel good about this. The one-and-done format plays to our favor,” said UConn coach Bruce Marshall. “We’d like to come up there and be a spoiler and I like our chances if we bring our ‘A’ game.

“The league is so close that any one of the bottom four could win this weekend. We might even be able to get on a roll at this point.”

That win, though, will take a yeoman’s effort by UConn special teams. First, the penalty kill will have to shut down the second-best power play in the country. Currently, the Crusaders’ PP unit clicks at a 30.6 percent, or just about a one-in-three efficiency.

“We’re working on penalty kill that’s for sure,” said Marshall. “Penalties are inevitable over 60 minutes, but we need to limit the ones we take. We want to deny them the few times that they get on the power play. And we’ve got to make sure when they get power plays they’re coming at the right time.”

Both teams will be missing a couple of key players. UConn is without forward Matt Owens and defensemen Bret Bostock and Scott Brown. Holy Cross is missing goaltender Ricky Massey, but still has tandem-mate Derek Cunha to carry the load.

March of 1999 was the last time the Hart Center saw playoff hockey. The building has never seen the Crusaders lose in the MAAC playoffs. Pearl hopes things stay that way.

“I think we are ready,” said Pearl. “We’ve played well down the stretch here. We’re playing good defense and we’re staying out of the box.”

Pick: This is the one game I want to pick against the top seed, but the Crusaders are motivated as tournament hosts. Holy Cross, 3-2.

No. 5 Canisius (14-16-4, 13-9-4 MAAC) at No. 4 Sacred Heart (15-13-4, 15-8-3 MAAC)
Saturday, March 9, 2002, 7:00 p.m. ET
Milford Ice Pavilion, Milford, Conn.

Season series: Sacred Heart leads 2-1-0
Oct. 26, 2001– at Sacred Heart 5, Canisius 2
Feb. 9, 2002 — at Sacred Heart 6, Canisius 5 (OT)
Feb. 22, 2002 — at Canisius 3, Sacred Heart 0

Playoff History
First meeting

The No. 4 vs. No. 5 series is a reversal of roles or sorts.

Sacred Heart University, the Mr. Almost of MAAC playoff hockey having lost heartbreaking quarterfinal games three years running, will finally host a playoff game. Sacred Heart’s tie for third place with Holy Cross and the loss of the tiebreaker to the Crusaders gave the Pioneers the final home ice bid.

The Pioneers’ opponent, Canisius College, is quite possibly the team that values home ice the most, facing at least a seven-hour bus ride to all opponents besides Mercyhurst. But this year, for the first time ever, the Griffs are hitting the road after hiccuping the final weekend of the season, tying Army and losing to Iona.

Regardless, the fate-charged Pioneers and the hungry, playoff-experienced Griffs are likely to make for the most entertaining first-round playoff game — though even that hinges on the health of the visiting Griffs.

Spoken by a coach who himself is battling the ‘flu, head coach Brian Cavanaugh says that his club is overcoming both the injury and ‘flu bugs.

“It’s been a long season and a long travel season,” said Cavanaugh, whose Griffs are hitting the road for the second consecutive weekend. “Between sickness and injury, we’re just trying to get healthy.”

Sacred Heart, on the other hand, has battled injuries throughout the season but will enter the playoffs with a full, healthy squad. That sets up well for the Pioneers to play their style of game: a hard-working, hard checking, physical game.

“They won the first two games [this season] and in the first game they physically dominated us,” said Cavanaugh. “The ice surface is smaller than the normal 200-by-85 [feet]. There isn’t much room behind the net. We’ve built our team on speed so a smaller rink is a bit of a disadvantage to us.”

Add to that the fact that the Pioneers boast a lineup of four seniors and 13 juniors who have all tasted playoff victory only to have had it pulled from their tongue the last two seasons. Both times, the Pioneers built third-period leads only to fall in the final 20 minutes.

“Our guys are hungry to win that playoff game,” said Sacred Heart coach Shaun Hannah. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have been there and not got it done. Getting the home ice game gives our team a lot more confidence [to win].”

Not to mention, though, that Sacred Heart only has one loss on home ice this season, a 5-2 decision to league top-dog Mercyhurst. Things really feel like they stack in favor of the Pioneers. But how good is that?

With everything in its court, for the first time entering the playoffs, the pressure is actually on Sacred Heart.

“We have nothing to lose,” said Cavanaugh. “We’re the fifth-place team in the league and we weren’t picked to be at the top in the beginning of the year. So we can go out and play relaxed.”

On the ice, the game will be one of capitalizing. Both teams will get their chances as, though both teams are good defensively, the speed of the respective offenses will keep them from being limited. Whichever club buries its chances will have the advantage.

Hannah believes that his team needs to keep the front of the net clean. Goaltender Eddy Ferhi is rated one of the top goalies in the league, but needs to see the shots to be effective.

“Canisius drives the net hard,” said Hannah. “We’re going to have to be committed to protecting the front of our goal mouth.

“Our goaltending is solid with [Eddy Ferhi]. He plays very well in the big games.”

Cavanaugh’s main concern is quieting the Sacred Heart excitement. Surviving the first 10 to 20 minutes will be a major factor in the game’s outcome.

“I think [Sacred Heart] will be extremely pumped,” said Cavanaugh. “It’s their first time hosting and even when they weren’t hosting, they were a threat to win.

“We have a lot of respect for their team. They have great goaltending and they have defense that can step right up into the play.”

Pick: Welcome to the final four Pioneers. Sacred Heart, 4-3 (OT).

This Week In The WCHA: March 7, 2002

By Todd D. Milewski

March 7, 2002

Let’s Get It Started

Question of the week to WCHA coaches: Do you want to see a different state of mind from your players as the college hockey calendar clicks over into the playoffs?

It was a stumper.

For some, this weekend’s WCHA first round could be a last stand.

“Given our case,” Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said, “we either win or we’re done. I think you have to play with some desperation. You have to play it like it’s your last games.”

Desperation is a common word for some teams when the playoffs start.

“Playoffs are a different mental approach than regular-season games,” Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said. “It’s more of a desperation type of feeling.”

Still, for others, the big change may be a week away. This weekend’s games aren’t the one-and-done, doomsday situation of the NCAA tournament, or even next weekend’s WCHA Final Five.

It’s a best-of-three series, which provides a little more cushion, but still not a whole lot.

“I think it changes maybe a little bit more when you get into single-elimination,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “I think everybody is trying to play the same way that they played the last few weeks. As you get down to the end of the year, things tighten up and you’re trying to get in a playoff mode.”

For some teams, playoff mode is nothing new. When you begin to think, ‘If we lose this game, we’re toast,’ that’s when it’s playoff mode.

“For a number of teams, including ourselves,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said, “it’s been kind of playoff mentality over the last two or three weekends.”

In a sense, though, that playoff mode is just an extension of what coaches would have liked to have seen all season long. It’s the perfect shift, the perfect period, the perfect game that makes a team successful in the postseason.

“What you start harping on when you get to the end of a year is a bad penalty, the bad turnover,” Lucia said. “I think you want to maybe play it a little smarter, you hope your kids will. You’re trying to become that team the whole year. In the heat of the battle at the end of the year, you revert to what you’ve kind of done all year long.”

This is the time of the year when we start losing teams. Five teams will fall out of the league playoffs this weekend.

“It’s down to the situation where there are no more tomorrows if you don’t continue to be successful,” St. Cloud State coach Craig Dahl said. “It adds to the urgency.”

Here’s a look at this weekend’s WCHA first-round playoff games:

Michigan Tech at Denver: A Decision

Gwozdecky sat down with the Pioneers’ goaltenders last week and broke the news: Wade Dubielewicz was going to be the team’s starting goaltender the rest of the way.

It’s not a surprise that Gwozdecky chose Dubielewicz instead of Adam Berkhoel, rather that the Denver coach has chosen at all. He has sounded so sure in the two-goaltender system all season long, and it’s obviously paid off.

Starting with last weekend’s split at North Dakota, Dubielewicz played both games. There are some who mused that Gwozdecky would continue to rotate goaltenders as long as his team was playing. This takes that question out of play for the playoff run.

“I don’t want to sound like we’re boasting at all, but I think Adam has played so well this year that perhaps there would be teams, who if he was playing on other teams he might be their starting goaltender in the playoffs,” Gwozdecky said. “Right now, it’s not so much what Adam hasn’t done, but what Wade has done. For the kind of season and second half he’s had, he’s played at such a higher level than so many other people.”

Michigan Tech lost 3-1 and 7-4 games to the Pioneers in Denver in January. They also were swept by Denver in Houghton in November, 9-2 and 3-1.

The Huskies haven’t had much success in the games they played against a Dubielewicz-backstopped Pioneers team. They scored just three goals on 66 shots in two games.

It won’t help that the Huskies will likely play without freshman forwards Bryan Perez (ankle) and John Hartman (concussion), each of whom suffered an injury last week.

But keep this in mind: The last time a 10th-ranked Tech team played a first-round series in Colorado, the Huskies knocked off Colorado College in three games in 1994. Many consider that to be the biggest upset in the current format of the WCHA playoffs.

Minnesota-Duluth at St. Cloud State: Can’t Avoid ‘Em

UMD may have been the least preferred opponent in the first round, which says an awful lot about the Bulldogs’ second-half run.

Without a WCHA win before the holiday break, they have collected five in the second half. It’s not stellar, but it’s progress. It’s also impressive, considering the circumstances.

Things turned for the better the weekend after a pair of losses at Michigan Tech.

“After the Michigan Tech weekend, we could have gone in the other direction,” Sandelin said. “We turned around and went the right direction and played pretty good hockey. That was probably the turning point of the second half. Which way are we going to go? We beat Anchorage on Friday [Jan. 25, in Anchorage] and, more importantly, beat them on Saturday. We weren’t satisfied with just the one. We kind of built off that.

“I think we’ve become more consistent in our performance. That’s probably why I feel a lot better. Last year, I think we went into the playoffs and I didn’t know what to expect. In a way, I still don’t with this team. I hope the playoffs, with what we’re playing for, brings out the best in our guys.”

Watch to see the impact Judd Medak has for the Bulldogs. He’s involved in 44.6 percent of UMD’s goals.

"What you start harping on when you get to the end of a year is a bad penalty, the bad turnover… . In the heat of the battle at the end of the year, you revert to what you’ve kind of done all year long."

— Don Lucia

A Medak offensive explosion this weekend could be devastating for St. Cloud State, a team that finds itself reeling after being swept by rival Minnesota last weekend.

It wasn’t just that the Huskies were swept by the Gophers — although that, in itself would do it for St. Cloud fans. It’s the way it happened.

“In light of what happened to us last week, and our failure to play a full 60 minutes each night, obviously we got a big helping of humble pie,” Dahl said. “We’re looking for a change in demeanor.

“In our case, we don’t need an infusion of talent. We don’t have a massive set of injuries to deal with. We have the easiest thing of all to fix, and that’s just turning the light on mentally. From, ‘we’ll get this done,’ to, ‘we’d better go back to work.’ To me, that’s an easy thing to fix because that’s just each guy, through individual conversation, realizing where he’s at, admitting where he’s at and saying, ‘I can do better,’ and setting about doing that.”

The Huskies built a successful playoff run last year with a solid finish to the regular season. That buildup isn’t possible this year, so they’ll have to find another way.

North Dakota at Minnesota: The Rivalry

Let’s preface this by saying just about any first-round series for Minnesota could be termed a rivalry series. The Gophers have that quality about them.

But this is one of the big ones for the Gophers, and for the WCHA. The league hasn’t seen a playoff rivalry series like this one since 1998, when Denver played Colorado College and Minnesota played Minnesota-Duluth.

These teams haven’t been far enough apart to create a first-round series since the early ’90s. The Gophers swept the Sioux at Mariucci Arena the last time these teams met in this situation, in 1993.

Lucia doesn’t expect anything that easy for his players.

“One of the things I’m going to tell our guys is, be comfortable with a tie game in the third or be comfortable in overtime,” he said, “because that’s probably what’s going to happen.”

The Gophers are entering the playoffs at full stride, having climbed to No. 2 in the PairWise Rankings. They have won five in a row and eight of the last nine by getting timely scoring and leadership.

Their second-half schedule has prepared them well for the postseason.

“From January on, starting with North Dakota at home, we’ve played a tough schedule,” Lucia said. “Just rival after rival, a lot of road games in tough environments. By playing all these tough teams the second half of the year, I think it’s helped make us a better team.”

North Dakota’s youth could show through this weekend. Remember that the Sioux are playing with more than 10 players that have never been through the WCHA playoffs.

Still, those who have also have a feeling of what it’s like to be there at the end.

“They’ve got a nucleus of guys that have played in the last two national title games,” Lucia said of the Sioux. “Those guys know how to win and know what it takes.”

Sioux goaltender Andy Kollar earned a victory over Denver last Saturday night, not a bad sign for a team whose coach has said recently that the next goalie to play a good game will get a chance to follow it up.

Alaska-Anchorage at Colorado College: Another Chance

As the years go by, the losses grow.

Every year, someone says, “This is Alaska-Anchorage’s best chance to get a win in the WCHA playoffs.”

So far, all the Seawolves have done is add to a WCHA playoff losing streak that has now reached 18.

They’re 0-18 in nine years of league playoff play, and once again we’ll say this is Anchorage’s best chance for a playoff win. This time, it’ll come with a straight face.

This weekend, the Seawolves play Colorado College, a team that they swept (albeit in Anchorage) two weeks ago.

“It’s a totally different mind-set,” UAA defenseman Matt Shasby told the Anchorage Daily News. “Our mind-set is going down there with excitement. In the past, we’ve gone down there thinking, ‘How fast will we be coming home?'”

On the other hand, CC has a bit of a score to settle. Those two losses in Anchorage started a Tigers slide in the Pairwise.

They were seventh before that weekend, then fell to the precarious ninth position. Even after a sweep of Michigan Tech last weekend, they fell one more spot this week, to No. 10.

Meanwhile, the Tigers would doubly want to win this series in two games. Not only would it quickly dispatch of a team that could be a playoff hot potato, but it would give them a little more time to rest before what would likely be a spot in the Thursday-night game at the Final Five.

Minnesota State-Mankato at Wisconsin: Consistency Issues

It would have been almost natural for Wisconsin to take a bit of a breather last Saturday night against Minnesota-Duluth. After winning the first game of the series, that’s what has happened to the Badgers at times, and it’s cost them.

Inconsistency has been the name of the Badgers’ game. Then came the start of last Saturday’s game.

The Badgers showed they could play a full weekend, scoring goals on their first three shifts in a 5-1 victory.

“Nobody predicted that type of thing,” said Sauer, whose team hosts Minnesota State-Mankato this weekend. “We really went to it right off the bat.”

How does that carry over to this weekend?

“The big thing is just the nature of knowing it’s playoffs,” Sauer said, “knowing there’s got to be some desperation play because if you don’t win, the season’s over.”

Wisconsin will start Scott Kabotoff in goal Friday night, but Sauer left the door open for Bernd Bruckler to get some time this weekend.

Mavericks coach Troy Jutting didn’t tip his hand after last weekend’s series against Nebraska-Omaha as to how he’s leaning in goal.

Jon Volp took the loss last Thursday; Jason Jensen got an overtime win on Saturday.

“I think both of our goalies heading into the playoffs can feel confident about the way they are playing,” Jutting told USCHO’s Dusty Sedars.

Mea Culpa

Last week, this column listed Denver’s Gwozdecky and St. Cloud State’s Dahl as the favorites for the league’s coach of the year award.

There was, however, one major oversight: Alaska-Anchorage’s Hill, who, in his first season, doubled the Seawolves’ WCHA point total from 12 last year to 24 this year.

What Was I Thinking?

In late September, weeks of research and hours of talk with those in the know in the WCHA led this columnist to pick North Dakota to win this season’s MacNaughton Cup.

And let that be the last we ever talk of that event.

Here’s a look at the way the WCHA finished, and the way the teams were predicted to finish:

1. Denver: Our prediction was sixth; the WCHA coaches’ was fifth. After years with some things working and some not, everything just came together for the Pioneers this year.

2. St. Cloud State: Both predictions were fourth. The Huskies always managed to keep themselves above the rest of the pack, and it paid off at the end.

3. Minnesota: Our prediction was third; the coaches’ was second. There haven’t been too many sustained highs or lows this season for the Gophers, and that’s probably what put them in third.

4. Colorado College: Our prediction was second; the coaches’ was first. An awful league start put the kibosh on hopes for a league championship. Some slips late ended hopes for third.

5. Wisconsin: Our prediction was fifth; the coaches’ was sixth. The Badgers were just too inconsistent this season to challenge for anything higher.

6 (tie). Minnesota State-Mankato: Both predictions were seventh. The Mavericks proved this season, their third as a full-time member of the league, that they’re going to be one of the teams competing for home ice every year.

6 (tie). Alaska-Anchorage: Both predictions were 10th. No one knew what to expect from Hill. We do now.

6 (tie). North Dakota: Our prediction was, ahem, first; the coaches’ was third. The Sioux were too young to challenge for the title, and they proved it over and over again.

9. Minnesota-Duluth: Both predictions were eighth. If the Bulldogs could have won some league games in the first half, they might have been in that group vying for home ice.

10. Michigan Tech: Both predictions were ninth. Sertich still has some rebuilding to do.

A Sendoff

Sauer was showered in gifts from Wisconsin administration and some of his former players after last Saturday’s game at the Kohl Center. Sauer is retiring at the end of the season.

The capper? A trip to the 2003 Masters golf tournament, provided by the former players.

“You expect the rocking chair and the blanket, maybe the clock and stuff, but a trip to the Masters, you don’t expect that,” Sauer said. “It was neat, that was really a nice gift.”

You Asked

You asked: Why was Greg Shepherd the referee in last Saturday’s Badgers-Bulldogs game?

Turns out Shepherd, the WCHA’s supervisor of officials who is (apparently semi-)retired from on-ice officiating, did it as a tribute to Sauer.

Useless Stat Of The Week

Of the 14 WCHA playoff seasons that have passed since the WCHA shed the two-game, total-goals series in 1987-88, seven have passed without an upset (home team losing) in the first round.

The host teams advanced to the Final Five, or WCHA Playoff Championship, as it as known before 1993, in 1990, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’97, ’98 and 2001.

Tied At The Top

At least WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod doesn’t have to go far to present the MacNaughton Cup this year.

McLeod, who presides over the WCHA office in Denver, will present the trophy to the Pioneers this weekend.

The regular-season title is Denver’s 11th, which ties the Pioneers with North Dakota for the most in WCHA history.

Getting To Know You

Michigan Tech should be very familiar with the city of Denver by now.

For the second time this season, the Huskies are spending the week in the Mile High City, preparing to play the Pioneers.

They were on their way back from Anchorage when they stayed there in advance of the Jan. 11-12 series, and they stayed there this week after last weekend’s series at Colorado College.

The players were on holiday break the first time. They’re on spring break now.

Woody Watch

Sadly, we’re nearing the end of the Clay “Woodrow” Wilson watch for the season. The Michigan Tech freshman defenseman provided another highlight last weekend, though, scoring the Huskies’ only goal of their series against CC.

While surely it was a scorching slap shot, we don’t have that information to be sure. What we do know, though, is that Wilson has four goals and eight assists in his rookie season.

Almost good enough to someday be on the $100,000 bill.

St. Norbert-Wisconsin-Superior: Battle Of The West

By Chris Lerch

March 7, 2002

This series is a rematch of last weekend’s NCHA championship game. Wisconsin-Superior triumphed on a what was described as a “miracle” shot by Kris Wilson from the red line that caught the upper left corner of the net 17:27 into overtime.

The Yellowjackets have the NCHA title, but the Green Knights still got the No. 1 seed in the West, on the basis of an in-region overall record of 23-2-2.

In this case, the difference between being No. 1 and being No. 2 was huge. With a 6-3 east-west split, the NCAA decided to have the mid-week play-in game in the West, between third seeded and MIAC champion St. Thomas and the No. 2 seed Yellowjackets.

Wisconsin-Superior won the first-ever Division III play-in game, 2-1, on Wednesday, setting up a showdown with St. Norbert for a spot in the Division III Frozen Four.

The NCAA’s decision to put the play-in game in the West, as opposed to pairing the fifth and sixth seeds in the East is controversial to say the least. While the committee won’t officially comment, it seems clear that reducing travel played a role. If the East had the play-in game, then one team would have to fly west for the quarterfinals, followed by at least one and most likely two teams flying for the Frozen Four. By putting the play-in game in the West, the survivor of this series will probably be going east next weekend, the only team needing to fly in the tournament.

According to St. Norbert coach Tim Coghlin, fairness was sacrificed.

“This is the worst view of this tournament from the West that I have seen in the 16 years that I’ve been associated with college hockey,” he said.

“Tell the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the East that they have to be in a play-in game next year and see what kind of reaction you get.”

But, according to Coghlin, the east may never have to deal with that a problem like that, especially with new, more stringent site selection criteria.

“Based on this, we’ll never have the Final Four in the West,” he said. “Never again. Besides, the new facilities rules that are in place, basically, we’re the only team that can host, so it’s only an option anyway if we’re in the mix.”

Besides the pairings themselves, there are other problems as a result of the NCAA decision. Due to the play-in game being played on Wednesday, this quarterfinal series will be played on Saturday and Sunday during the evening, as opposed to Friday and Saturday night, which was anticipated long ago.

“They wanted us to play at 1 in the afternoon both days,” said Coghlin. “But the best we can do is 5 o’clock.

“Even with that, we have the high school state championships here (at Cornerstone Community Center) this weekend. We had to move 16 games, and we don’t even have any practice ice on Friday. Neither team does.

“That took a little bit of work, to say the least.”

Coghlin is trying not to have all the chaos affect his team.

“I really can’t expend energy worrying about it,” he said. “I have to get ready for this weekend.”

Which brings us back to hockey. Coghlin must prepare for a two-game series and possible minigame against a Wisconsin-Superior team that defeated his Green Knights last Saturday on a fluke goal in overtime.

“We lost on a weird goal,” he said. “A shot from the red line that kind of knuckleballed in.

“I was proud of the way we played on Saturday. Both teams were exceptional.”

And, from Coghlin’s perspective, there’s a silver lining to the controversy.

“At least we’re at home, ” he said. “And we don’t have to win three games in five days (like Superior does).”

Mile-High Club

By Scott Weighart

March 6, 2002

When Denver University clinched its first MacNaughton Cup since 1986 last Friday night in thrilling fashion — Kevin Doell scored the game-winner with 8.7 ticks left in overtime — it was just another chapter in a storybook season for the Pioneers.

Picked to finish fifth this season in the WCHA Coaches Poll, the Pioneers have done more than win their regular-season conference championship. They have put together a remarkable 28-7-1 record and have been first in the Division I polls for a good part of the season. DU has an inside track on a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament West Regionals.

All of which might lead you to brand this team as an overnight sensation. Hardly. While the Pioneers have exceeded expectations this season, their success has been a work in progress.

Looking to build for success, the Pioneers first needed a successful building. You can almost imagine Pioneer Coach George Gwozdecky in a production of Rink of Dreams, hearing the ghosts of the 1969 championship team whispering.

If you build it, they will come.

Prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Pioneers were forced to cobble together a ramshackle schedule around the greater Denver area while they awaited the construction of the $70 million Daniel L. Ritchie Center for Sports and Wellness. When it was completed, the team could play their games in the state-of-the-art Magness Arena within the complex.

Building Blocks

“A big difference is having a building,” Gwozdecky said. “It’s hard to recruit when all you have is a big hole in the ground: You can only show blueprints so many times. We were playing on odd days all over the area, and that hurt our recruiting efforts.”

One of the first players to be lured to the program by the carrot of a new facility has turned out to be an integral component of today’s national championship contender, goaltender Wade Dubieliwicz.

“It was about three-quarters built when I flew down on my trip,” Dubieliwicz said. “It was something I really looked forward to playing in. When I came down, they were playing in McNicholls Ice Arena, and it’s a five-ten minute haul off-campus — it’s not very convenient. It was so nice to see that building going up on campus. It’s not that big a campus either, so you can pretty much get to it quick from anywhere. It was probably the deciding factor in my going to Denver.”

“Even after coaching for 16 years, I never really know how we’re going to do, I find. We knew that we had Paradise coming back, but after that there were a lot of questions about who would step up and score.”

— Denver coach George Gwozdecky

Two seasons ago, the Pioneers certainly looked like a team that badly needed an infusion of talent. During the 1999-2000 campaign, the team struggled through a nine-game losing streak in which they which they were shut out three times. Over that season, the Pioneers were blanked five times and held to one goal on four other occasions.

“We were slow; we struggled to generate offense,” recalled Gwozdecky. “We had average goaltending.”

With numerous promising recruits in hand with the help of the new facility, the Pioneers showed both significant improvement and growing pains last season, when they compiled a 19-15-4 record. They swept their two games against Minnesota, but were shown the door quickly in the postseason, losing both games at Wisconsin in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

The Pioneers experienced a mixed blessing last season: Their young and talented were thrust into critical roles perhaps before they were ready to handle them. On the flip side, those players gained invaluable experience for this season’s Rocky Mountain summit bid.

“We thought we had a good team last year,” Gwozdecky said. “Last year I joked that our only problem was that we were playing in the wrong league. At one point last year — around February — I think we were sixth in our league and 11th in the Ratings Percentage Index.”

New Expectations

With a better sense of what it would take to win in a challenging league, the players didn’t exactly head for the mountains during the recent off-season.

“We worked hard over the summer; we knew we had a lot of talent coming back,” Dubieliwicz said. “Our freshman class added to that too. But at the same time it was our work ethic over the summer that really got us the edge coming into the season early.”

“We lost a few key players but pretty much the whole nucleus stayed together,” said Connor James, currently leading a small cluster of Pioneers statistically with 36 points in 36 games. “I guess after playing one year in the league you’re a little more comfortable; you know how things go and you’re a little more relaxed out there.

“We did a weight training program in Denver,” added James. “I put on 15 pounds, and that’s helped because last year I was about 150 pounds.”

Still, Gwozdecky and his team could hardly anticipate that they would turn out to be this much better.

“Even after coaching for 16 years, I never really know how we’re going to do, I find,” Gwozdecky said. “We knew that we had [last season’s leading scorer Chris] Paradise coming back, but after that there were a lot of questions about who would step up and score.”

As it turned out, several candidates on that front answered the call — especially in the sophomore and junior classes — allowing the team to boast a balanced attack to go along with great team speed and defense.

Among the juniors, Kevin Doell was a fitting Friday night hero — he’s increased his production from 19 to 35 points thus far this season. Classmate Greg Barber has more than doubled his point production, going from 15 to 31 through the regular-season schedule. Fellow junior Aaron MacKenzie has boosted his numbers in similar fashion, going from eight to 20 points

“Last year [Doell and Barber] only had about 20 points, but you always knew they were going to explode some time because that’s the kind of players they were,” James said.

Not to be outdone, the second-year Pioneers certainly aren’t cursed by a sophomore jinx. James has gone from 27 to 36 points while currently-injured forward Lukas Dora jumped his total from 12 to 26 points

“I have to say Lukas Dora has impressed me the most,” Dubieliwicz said of the group who has emerged. “He’s got a lot of tenacity — he’s an impact player — but at the same time, he gets himself wound up too, so sometimes when the puck finally gets on his stick, it’s tough for him to put it in the net but this year he’s doing well.

“He’s a huge surprise in my mind because he’s the type of player who can turn a game around, and he’s done it a few times this year.”

Add a couple of freshman standouts — Jon Foster has a 7-14-21 total in 32 games played, while Kevin Ulanski has put up 4-15-19 in 28 GP — to go along with stalwarts such as Paradise and Weber, who have produced just as well as expected, and you get a good sense of why this team has helped Gwozdecky surpass his personal best of 27 wins as a head coach (Miami, 1992-1993).

De-Fense

But offense was not the key to winning the MacNaughton Cup. St. Cloud State features considerably greater offensive firepower: Hobey Baker hopeful Mark Hartigan has scored twice as many goals as any Pioneer, and the Huskies have four players with higher point totals than anyone on Denver.

Outstanding team defense, a commitment to two-way play, and solid, confident goaltending have been the critical factors in giving the Pioneers an edge over some tough competition.

Sophomore Adam Berkhoel has improved his netminding totals nicely, and Dubieliwicz looks likely to set all-time DU records for save percentage-topping his own record of .9209 last season. He also could top the Pioneer single-season record for goals-against average — George Kirkwood’s record of 1.84 has stood for over 30 years.

While the junior’s numbers are rather eye-popping — he leads the nation with a .941 save percentage and is tied for third with a 1.79 GAA — all parties agree that he is the beneficiary of an terrific group of experienced defensemen on top of a team focus on both ends of the ice.

“Wade’s playing well, but I don’t think people realize how good our ‘D’ corps is,” James said. “They help him out a ton: All the rebounds that are cleared right away … I’m not trying to take anything from Wade, but the whole defensive corps as a unit plays so well that it enables our goalies to get numbers like that.”

“We’re the kind of team that everybody has to come to play or we’re in trouble,” Dubieliwicz said. “We’re more of a team-oriented club — we’ve got to play both ends of the ice to win a hockey game and that’s what we’ve been doing that all year.”

Accordingly, the No. 1 man between the pipes doesn’t appear likely to get a big head regarding his individual accomplishments.

“It would be nice to have your name up there with a lot of great goaltenders, but at the same time, save percentage and goals-against are more team-oriented things, too,” Dubieliwicz said. “We’re a team that plays well on both ends of the ice; our team defense is good. We’ve got four seniors playing on the blue line for most of the season which definitely helps.”

“We’re a forechecking team — that’s where we get all our chances,” James said. “We don’t go on the rush much; we just go off turnovers. When our forecheck’s working, our team’s playing well. When it’s not, that’s when we get in trouble.”

The Cloud of Speculation

One unexpected bit of trouble did throw the team for a loop in January. With longtime Michigan State Coach Ron Mason announcing he would retire at the end of this season, rampant speculation abounded as to whether Gwozdecky would return to Lansing, where he once had been assistant coach. In retrospect, Gwozdecky concedes that the situation apparently affected his team’s focus in January.

“I didn’t anticipate that it would be a big distraction, and I was surprised that it turned to be more of an issue than I expected — even as a distraction for me,” said Gwozdecky. “So it was great the University stepped up and got something done.”

Gwozdecky signed a contract extension last month, holding a press conference to annonunce the move and put to rest all the questions.

“When all those job offers were coming up, that’s when we were slumping,” James said. “I don’t know if that was the reason or not but if any coach turns down Michigan State — that’s probably one of the best jobs you can take — to stay in Denver …

“He’s definitely shown us that he wants to stay here and win this thing with us. He’s a great coach — he’s not really a yeller or a screamer; he talks to people individually. … It’s good to have him here for all four of my years, that’s for sure.”

Once Gwozdecky was tied up with a contract through 2007, the coach and his players could put their emphasis back on the ice where it belonged. He clearly appreciates the “unique” situation of playing college hockey in Denver.

“You’re not the only game in town, and that can be a good thing,” Gwozdecky said of playing amid the Nuggets, Broncos, Rockies, and Avalanche. “It’s got a fantastic climate: You can ski in the morning and play golf in the afternoon.”

When the Avalanche were new in town, they did a great deal of community outreach to promote hockey in the region and, naturally, sought out kindred spirits and found the Pioneers to be their closest hockey brethren.

“Players have had a chance to rub shoulders with the Avalanche — many of the players used to come to the team party, guys like Peter Forsberg,” Gwozdecky said. “They had young guys who liked meeting some of our co-eds, plus we’ve always had some Swedes and Finns on our teams.”

If all goes well in Ann Arbor and Saint Paul, the Pioneers can claim their first national championship in 33 years. Then the Avalanche will be happy to help them party like it’s 1969.

Women’s Division III Frozen Four Tickets Go On Sale Thursday

USCHO Staff Report

March 5, 2002

Tickets for the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship to be held in Elmira, N.Y. will go on sale this Thursday, March 7 at 9 a.m.

Tickets will first be available at Elmira College’s Speidel Gymnasium at 9 a.m. — 7 p.m. Thursday, and 9 a.m. — noon on Friday. Afterwards, tickets will be sold at the Murray Athletic Center in Pine Valley, site of the Frozen Four, starting at 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

A tournament pass is $20 for adults, $10 for students. One day tickets can also be purchased at $12 for adults, $6 for students.

Elmira College will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Gustavus Adolphus. Manhattanville will play at 4 p.m. against Bowdoin.

The championship game will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with the third-place game scheduled for 4 p.m.

For more information, call (607) 735-1730.

Penn State Wins Third Straight Club Title

USCHO Staff Report

March 4, 2002

The top ranked Nittany Lion Icers (28-4-1) shutout Big Ten rival and seventh ranked Illinois (24-10-1), 4-0 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championship game in front of a standing room only crowd of over 2,500 at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Md. on Sunday.

The Icers were tested by No. 12 Drexel in a tight, 2-1 first-round victory on Feb. 27, before soundly defeating No. 8 Kent State, 8-2, on Friday, and No. 5 Iowa State, 6-2, in the semifinals on Saturday. The victories secured the Icers sixth National Title, their fourth in the past five years and their first ever “three-peat.”

“Avoiding the first-round upset bug was crucial,” said Icers head coach Joe Battista (394-97-21, 15th year). “After watching Ohio and Delaware lose their first-round games, we may have been a little too tight. We won ugly against Drexel but we at least we won. It was the wake-up call that we needed and it showed the guys just how important playing great defense really is if you want to win the title.”

Junior Goalie Scott Graham and the Icer defense turned away 23 Fighting Illini shots to register the first shutout in an ACHA title game since 1995 and to stop an Illinois offense that had scored 22 goals in their first three tournament games, including victories over No. 11 Arizona (5-0), No. 2 Delaware
(9-4) and No. 3 Minot State (9-4).

Sophomore defenseman Curtiss Patrick scored a goal and an assist despite playing with a partially separated shoulder, and senior captain Kyle Jordan, junior forward Neal Price and leading scorer Glenn Zuck each scored to pace the Icers to a solid 4-0 win. Penn State allowed only five goals in four games.

Neal Price was named the Tournament MVP as he led Penn State with two goals and seven assists, while Goalie Scott Graham (1.13 GAA, 95.6% save percentage), defenseman Josh Mandel (2-4–6) and forward Glenn Zuck (4-2–6) were named first team All-Tournament selections.

BC’s Forrest to Miss Rest of Season

USCHO Staff Report

March 4, 2002

Boston College sophomore defenseman J.D. Forrest will miss the remainder of the
season after sustaining tendon and nerve damage in his right forearm. He will undergo surgery on Wednesday, March 6 to repair the damage.

Forrest sustained the injury late in the third period of the Eagles’ 2-1 loss to New Hampshire on Sunday, March 3 at Kelley Rink. He was taken to St.
Elizabeth’s Medical Center where he was examined and released.

Forrest is fourth on the team in scoring with 26 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in 25 games. He was a Hockey East All-Rookie selection last year.

Norwich’s Mclean Sweeps Offensive ECAC East Honors

USCHO Staff Report

March 3, 2002

Forward Kurtis Mclean, a freshman from Norwich, was awarded both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in the ECAC East. Mclean notched 27 goals and added 18 assists to lead Norwich to the ECAC East regular season crown. Mclean also currently leads the nation in goals per game with 1.04.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ Ryan Kiernan was named the ECAC East Goaltender of the Year. Kiernan played in all 26 games for MCLA, and started 23 of them. He amassed a .912 save percentage and 3.22 goals against average in over 1,395 minutes of play this season. Kiernan, a senior, has been consistent in net and led MCLA to a third-place regular-season finish.

Kevin McGonagle, also from MCLA, was tabbed as the ECAC East Coach of the Year. McGonagle has led MCLA to a 13-10-3 record in just his second season behind the bench.

The complete list of awards follows.

ALL EAST FIRST TEAM
Forward-Nick Cote, SO, Massachusetts College
Forward-Kurtis Mclean, FR, Norwich
Forward-Matt Schmidt, SO, Norwich
Defense-Lou DiMasi, SO, Norwich
Defense-Nick Stauder, SR, Salem State
Goaltender-Ryan Kiernan, SR, Massachusetts College

ALL EAST SECOND TEAM
Forward-Pat Bryant, SR, New England College
Forward-Mike Mantenuto, SO, UMass-Boston
Forward-Nick Warriner, FR, New England College
Defense-Dan Haugh, SR, Salem State
Defense-Keith Maurice, SR, Norwich
Goaltender-Matt Collaton, FR, Southern Maine

ALL EAST ROOKIE TEAM
Forward-Vadim Beliaev, Norwich
Forward-Kurtis Mclean, Norwich
Forward-Nick Warriner, New England College
Defense-Brett Adamczyk, Babson
Defense-John Lounsbury, Southern Maine
Goaltender-Matt Collaton, Southern Maine

ECAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kurtis Mclean, Norwich

ECAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Kurtis Mclean, Norwich

ECAC GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Kiernan, Massachusetts College

ECAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Kevin McGonagle, Massachusetts College

Finalists For AHCA D-III Players of the Year Announced

USCHO Staff Report

March 2, 2002

Returning finalists Jerry Galway and Niklas Sundberg highlight the group of finalists announced by the AHCA for its College Division Men’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year award.

All five 2002 finalists are seniors, keyed by RIT defenseman Galway, the 2001 runner-up, from RIT, and goaltender Sundberg of Plattsburgh. Joining those two as finalists are goaltender Christian Carlson, Middlebury; forward Mike Carosi, Bowdoin; and forward Tony Lawrence, St. Thomas.

The 2002 AHCA College Division Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year finalists have also been announced. The list is composed of players from all academic classes, including one freshman, a sophomore, a junior, and three seniors. The finalists are:

Colleen Baude (Sr, forward, RIT)
Shelly Chessie (Jr, forward, Bowdoin)
Catherine Elkins (Sr, defense, Middlebury)
Laura Hurd (Fr, forward, Elmira)
Sarah Moe (Sr, forward, Gustavus Adolphus)
Molly Wasserman (So, forward, Williams)

2002 is the third year that this award will be presented. Players from Middlebury have won both of the first two years.

Galway Takes Top Honors in ECAC West

By Scott Biggar

February 28, 2002

RIT senior Jerry Galway was named ECAC West Player of the Year today. Galway
has 13 goals and 31 assists this season, and 46 goals and 115 assists during his four-year career at RIT. Galway set a school record for assists by a defenseman, and currently leads the nation in points per
game by a defenseman (2.0).

Rob Ligas, a senior from Elmira, was awarded ECAC West Goaltender of the Year. Ligas has played over 1,129 minutes in net this season, and amassed a .911 save percentage and 2.89 goals against average. Ligas has led Elmira to 12 victories this season in 19 starts.

Wayne Wilson from RIT was named ECAC Coach of the Year as he led the Tigers to a 21-2 NCAA regular-season record. In the three seasons that Wilson has coached at RIT, the Tigers have won the ECAC West regular season and playoff title each year. This is the second straight season that Wilson has won the ECAC West Coach of the Year award. He also won the AHCA Coach of the Year in
2000-2001. Wilson has a cumulative record at RIT of 71-11-2.

The ECAC West Rookie of the Year award was given to Jim Sokol from Utica. In the first year of competition for the Pioneers, Sokol led the team with 17 goals and 12 assists. Sokol also led the Pioneers with five power-play goals.

The complete award list follows.

ALL WEST FIRST TEAM
Forward-Mike Bournazakis, JR, RIT
Forward-Steve Kaye, SR, Elmira
Forward-Pierre Rivard, SO, Elmira
Defense-Mike Clarke, JR, Elmira
Defense-Jerry Galway, SR, RIT
Goaltender-Rob Ligas, SR, Elmira

ALL WEST SECOND TEAM
Forward-Dave Schmalenberg, SO, Manhattanville
Forward-Jason Silverthorn, JR, Elmira
Forward-Mike Tarantino, SO, RIT
Defense-Ryan Fairbarn, SO, RIT
Defense-Lawne Snyder, SO, Elmira
Goaltender-Tyler Euverman, JR, RIT

ALL WEST ROOKIE TEAM
Forward-Craig Levey, Hobart
Forward-Roberto Orofiamma, RIT
Forward-Jim Sokol, Utica
Defense-Chris Mann, Elmira
Defense-Ron Mexico, Utica
Goaltender-Adam Lavelle, Hobart

ECAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerry Galway, RIT

ECAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jim Sokol, Utica

ECAC GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Rob Ligas, Elmira

ECAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Wayne Wilson, RIT

This Week in the ECAC West: Feb. 28, 2002

By Scott Biggar

February 28, 2002

The playoffs arrive this weekend. Elmira, Hobart, and Manhattanville will all travel to RIT to compete in the ECAC West’s Final Four-style tournament, and decide who will be crowned champion for 2001-02.

And what could be more fitting for this column than to take a team-by-team look to preview the playoffs?

No. 4 Hobart Statesmen (10-15, 5-5)

Hobart enters the playoffs as the fourth seed, a familiar place for the Statesmen over the past few years. This is the fourth year in a row that Hobart has been in that position, and has faced No. 1 seed RIT in the semifinal round.

The Statesmen have been on a rollercoaster ride the last two weeks.

They defeated Manhattanville by a stunning 7-0 score in a nearly perfectly played game two weeks ago, but then Hobart tanked its last game of the regular season on Saturday, losing to Elmira 12-1.

Which Hobart team will show up in the ECAC West playoffs? Who knows, but it should be entertaining to see. Hobart has never defeated RIT in postseason play.

No. 3 Manhattanville Valiants (16-6-3, 5-4-1)

The Valiants earned the three seed in the tournament with a gutsy victory over Elmira last weekend, 2-1. Manhattanville started the game shorthanded, as two players were held out of the lineup for violating team rules at the hotel earlier in the day. Then, coach Keith Levinthal watched two more players get hurt early in the contest.

“We played most of the game with only 14 guys,” said Levinthal. “It is probably the best win we have had as a program.”

The victory set up a repeat of the semifinal round from the last two ECAC West playoffs between Elmira and Manhattanville.

“We’ve played these guys [Elmira] in the playoffs all three years of our existence,” said Levinthal. “Both games this year have been decided by one goal, and all five games, going back to include last season, have gone right down to the wire. We don’t expect anything different to happen this time.”

Last year, the Valiants defeated Elmira in the semifinals. Manhattanville is mostly healthy entering the playoffs, and is looking to continue its climb towards the championship banner.

On the NCAAs: “It will be a shame the way the tournament is set up,” said Levinthal. “Both teams {RIT and Elmira] deserve to be playing in March.”

No. 2 Elmira Soaring Eagles (17-8, 8-2)

Elmira stumbled against Manhattanville last Friday, and hurt its chances at the NCAAs. However, it wasn’t from lack of effort. The Soaring Eagles poured pressure relentlessly on the Valiant zone, and even had 10 power plays, but just couldn’t put the puck in the net.

“We outplayed [Manhattanville] for 60 minutes,” said Elmira coach Tim Ceglarski. “But we just couldn’t score. If our power play was working at all, it would have been a different story.”

But Elmira bounced right back on Saturday and put a good old-fashioned thrashing of Hobart, winning 12-1.

“[That] was one of our better-played games of the year,” said Ceglarski. “Our guys were flying right from the start.”

Elmira enters the ECAC West playoffs firmly in the No. 2 position, and will face off once again against Manhattanville in the semifinals.

“Our main focus is to get through Manhattanville, and then worry about the finals,” said Ceglarski.

Elmira must win the championship to have a reasonable expectation of an NCAA Pool B bid. But the Soaring Eagles are taking it one game at a time.

On the NCAA’s: “I think it would be a shame if both teams [Elmira and RIT] don’t get a chance to go,” said Ceglarski. “The way the system is right now, it is not conducive to having the best nine teams in the nation in the tournament.”

No. 1 RIT Tigers (21-2, 9-1)

RIT is the most rested of the four teams entering the tournament. Due to its quarter-based academic calendar, the RIT players traditionally take the last week of February off for final exams.

“With the exams, the break is good for us,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson.

The break has given RIT a chance to get healthy as well. The flu that was rampaging through the team three weeks ago is now gone. And several players will be returning from injury, including All-West Rookie Teamer Roberto Orofiamma (6-15-21).

“We have no excuses,” said Wilson. “We are healthy again, and ready to go.”

The Tigers are the three-time defending champions of the ECAC West. The last time RIT failed to hoist a banner into the rafters of Ritter Arena was the ’97-’98 season, when Niagara won the title the year before it transitioned to Division I.

On the NCAAs: “I think it will be a topic for discussion at our conference down in Florida,” said Wilson. “The committee should be able to come up with how much weight is put on each criterion. Also, all the other leagues have safety nets to get into the tournament, so it seems like the ECAC West should be included in those.”

NCAA Pool B Bid Possibilities

Elmira’s hopes for a Pool B bid waned with its loss to Manhattanville last weekend. But the demise of the Soaring Eagles has been greatly exaggerated. Elmira is still in the hunt, but now needs help from teams in other leagues to make its case stronger.

Let’s update the breakdown from last week, using the same criteria as the NCAA Selection Committee.

For all but the last of the criteria below, only in-region games count in the statistics. Games against NCHA and MIAC opponents are ignored.

The NCAA Championship Handbook states that the committee must review all of the criteria in the order that they are listed. However, it allows the committee latitude on how much weight to apply to each criterion.

Scenario 1 — RIT wins the ECAC West championship. NCAA Pool B bid for RIT guaranteed.
Scenario 2 — Elmira loses to Manhattanville in the semifinals. RIT is awarded the NCAA Pool B bid.
Scenario 3 — Elmira defeats RIT to win ECAC West championship. NCAA Pool B bid up for grabs.
Scenario 4 — RIT loses semifinal game to Hobart, and Elmira loses final to Hobart. NCAA Pool B bid up for grabs.

So, only scenarios three and four need to be evaluated for the selection criteria.

Criterion No. 1 — advantage RIT

The first criteria is composed of Winning Percentage, Head to Head Results, and Results Against Common Opponents.

Winning Percentage — advantage RIT. As of the end of the regular season, RIT has a winning percentage of .905, and Elmira trails at .789.

For scenario No. 3 (EC championship), Elmira moves up to a .810 winning percentage and RIT drops to .870. The advantage still is on the RIT side, but the gap narrows.

For scenario No. 4 (RIT semifinal loss), RIT’s winning percentage only drops down to .864, so the Tigers would still maintain the advantage in this category.

Head to Head — push. There was no change in this criterion from last week. Elmira and RIT have split their regular-season contests, each winning one. If they meet again in the ECAC West championship game, the winner would get a huge advantage in this category. The NCAA Selection Committee has stated that the Head to Head category carries a great deal of weight.

Common Opponents — advantage RIT. This is another category where the RIT advantage widened due to Elmira’s loss last weekend. The tally stands at RIT 13-0, Elmira 9-3.

If both pass through to the finals of the tournament unscathed, the numbers would be 10-3 for Elmira and 14-0 for RIT. The Tigers would scoot past Elmira here.

The relative positions of RIT and Elmira remained the same this week, using a mathematical formula that equally weights the three components of Criterion No. 1 among all the eastern teams. RIT ends up ranked No. 2, Elmira No. 6.

Criterion No. 2 — Strength of Schedule — advantage Elmira

This is the category where Elmira continues to hold a distinct advantage. Both Strength of Schedules (SOS) only dropped by .001 due to play over the weekend. Elmira has a .561 SOS, second in the nation in Division III hockey, while RIT’s SOS is much weaker at .512, placing it in the 25th spot.

Assuming both teams pass through to the championship round of the conference playoffs, these numbers will most likely not change at all.

Criterion No. 3 — Teams in the Tournament — push

This category is hard to figure, since we don’t know who is in the NCAA tournament yet. However, if we consider Elmira’s and RIT’s records against teams that are still participating in their respective conference tournaments, then we can get a decent idea of the relative records.

Some of those teams that RIT and Elmira have played were knocked out last week. Elmira’s record against teams still alive is 4-2, while RIT stands 2-1.

Elmira needs to cheer for Plattsburgh (as revolting as that might seem to Elmira fans) to defeat Oswego. If that happens, one loss comes off of Elmira’s record, and a win is removed from RIT’s. That would give Elmira a commanding 4-1 vs. 1-1 lead in this category.

Also, how events unfold in the ECAC Northeast playoffs could have an impact here as well. If Lebanon Valley loses, another loss comes off Elmira’s side of the balance sheet. If Wentworth loses, a loss leaves RIT’s books.

So, if Plattsburgh wins the SUNYAC and Lebanon Valley the ECAC Northeast, then RIT would be left with no games against Teams in the Tournament (0-0 record). Elmira would be smiling with a 4-1 record.

However, if Oswego defeats Plattsburgh, the tables turn. Just that change would leave RIT’s record at 2-1, while Elmira’s record would drop to 2-2.

So, this category remains highly volatile, depending on how the playoffs go in the other leagues.

Conclusion

Elmira needs the cards to fall right for it to get the NCAA Pool B bid. First, the Soaring Eagles need to take care of the business that they can influence, mainly winning the ECAC West championship. That would give them a leg up in Head to Head, and move the Winning Percentages closer. Elmira also needs help from Plattsburgh and Lebanon Valley to give it control of the Teams in the Tournament category.

If those things happen, the Soaring Eagles may just get the NCAA Pool B bid.

If RIT wins the championship, or if Elmira loses in the semifinals, the Tigers are a shoo-in for the Pool B bid. The other scenarios open the door for Elmira, and in those cases RIT would need to wait for the Selection Committee to hand down its decision.

Putting The Weight On His Shoulders

By Marty Hill

February 28, 2002

One year ago, Minnesota-Duluth forward Judd Medak was not in a very enviable position.

A shoulder injury forced him to sit out most of the last quarter of the 2000-01 season, a season which saw his team finish with a 7-28-4 overall record and in the basement of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Yet Medak returned for the end of the season, skating in a 3-2 upset victory over North Dakota in the first game of a WCHA playoff series the Fighting Sioux would eventually win, two games to one. He also shared UMD’s Most Inspirational Player Award.

More honors can be expected to be presented to the senior this season. Through 36 games, Medak leads his team in scoring with 48 points (15 goals, 33 assists). That total is also good enough to be put him in a tie as the fifth-leading point producer in the nation. On top of that, his assist numbers rank third in the country.

He’s been our best player from the beginning of the year. … [He’s] our most consistent guy, he gets a ton of ice time; he plays against everybody’s top line, he relishes in that.

— UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, on Judd Medak

It’s by far the best offensive season the Bulldog captain has enjoyed in his collegiate career. In fact, its more points than Medak compiled in his three previous seasons combined.

To expect Medak to flirt with notching 50 points in his final season would have been equal to expecting seagulls to nest in Duluth in February.

Well, the seagulls haven’t flown north yet, but the winter has been much warmer than usual. And Medak does have two regular-season games left to hit the 50-point mark.

And most importantly, it’s led to improved results for his team. Minnesota-Duluth already has six more wins than last season (13-20-3), and three more in the WCHA (6-17-3) — good enough to ensure that it won’t finish in the conference basement.

Bulldog head coach Scott Sandelin says Medak can be given a lot of credit for the team’s turnaround.

“He’s been our best player from the beginning of the year,” said Sandelin. “[He’s] our most consistent guy, he gets a ton of ice time; he plays against everybody’s top line, he relishes in that.”

What does it take to double one’s offensive production in one season? Medak says part of it can be attributed to his determination to set an example as the team’s captain.

Sandelin says he told Medak to just go out and play, and the Vancouver, B.C., native has done that and much more.

“As a captain, you have to go out and perform and lead by example,” said Medak.

“It was kind of a goal of mine to be in that position. It drives me and it motivates me because that’s the type of person I am. I know from when I was a young guy, you always look up to the older guys and the guy with the letter on his jersey. That definitely does motivate me, and it makes me want to be a better player and just lead by example for the younger guys.”

Combine that motivation with a good offseason workout program (which helped him to win a share of the team’s preseason Ironman competition), and added maturity, and you begin to get the picture.

You could even add that shoulder injury to the list of reasons for the improvement.

“That was kind of the first major injury I’ve had in my career, [and] it kind of opened my eyes,” said Medak.

“I guess I just had a lot of work to do over the summer getting back being close to 100 percent. It drives you and it motivates you. It wasn’t fun ’cause it was the first time I sat in the stands and watched.”

His coach also sees the injury adding to Medak’s drive.

“He was just starting to play, I think he was kind of just starting to come into his own. I think for him, he came back with a strong motivation to have a successful year, individually and more importantly team-wise, and certainly he’s gone out there and done that.”

Sandelin says there’s also been a sharpening of key offensive skills.

“He’s not a guy that’s going to go out there and maybe wow you with his speed,” said Sandelin, a former North Dakota captain. “But he’s improved in so many little areas: Puck skills, I think he’s gotten quicker, very good puck protection along the wall and making plays.

“Part of that comes from experience and confidence, and certainly his offseason strength, and part of it is just that will, that motivation to be that guy that has to set an example.”

At the same time, Medak has not altered a defensive style that he established during his first three years. The education major has continued to take opposing players to school with his on-ice physicality.

Take for example January 26, when Medak placed his body in front of Alaska-Anchorage speedster Steve Cygan in the last minute of a game UMD was leading 3-2. Cygan scooted the puck up the left-wing boards until he ran into Medak and was leveled like a freight train hitting a brick wall. That check helped ensure a Bulldog victory and the team’s first home WCHA sweep in four years.

“I try to take care of my own zone first. I try to play physical and I try to do all those little things first,” said Medak. “Then the points and the goals and all the other stuff just take care of themselves.”

On offense, Medak has been a model of consistency. He scored UMD’s first goal of the season in an upset win over Nebraska-Omaha and finished October with 12 points. He followed that with nine points in November, seven in December, eight in January and eight in February going into the March 2-3 series with North Dakota.

And its not like he limits himself to one part of the ice to score goals. Medak has stretched the twine by jumping on rebounds in front of the net, deflecting point shots, shooting from the point and on breakaways. Add to that his game-winning goal February 1 against Minnesota, when he pounced on a rebound and his momentum sent him crashing into the net behind the puck.

Sandelin says Medak’s play is symbolic of how he wants everyone on his team to perform, and he sees much of it duplicated in his primary linemates, senior Tom Nelson and sophomore Junior Lessard.

Lessard has also seen a dramatic jump in his point totals. After registering just 12 points during his freshman campaign, Lessard is the Bulldogs’ leading goal-scorer with 16, and will be counted on, among others, to lead UMD once Medak and the rest of the senior class move on.

Lessard says he’s constantly trying to apply some of Medak’s strengths into his own style.

“His strongest side is probably to work out in the corner and get out of the corner with the puck, and that’s what I have to work on,” said Lessard, who’s also Medak’s roommate this season.

While this is Medak’s final season wearing the Bulldog maroon and gold, he hopes to see his senior year, the year he wore the “C,” as instrumental in leading UMD back to respectability.

“I kind of wanted to have a part in turning this program back in the right direction,” said Medak. “It’s nice, obviously, to win games and have a smile on your face, but I feel fortunate that I’m in that position for the younger guys that they can start a tradition of their own here.”

This Week in Hockey East: Feb. 28, 2002

By David H. Hendrickson

February 28, 2002

What A Race!

Here we are going into the final week and three teams — New Hampshire, Boston University and Maine — could still take the Hockey East regular season crown. None of their possibilities require oddities like cellar-dwellers sweeping nationally ranked opponents.

Prior to Wednesday night’s UMass-Lowell win over Northeastern, those two teams as well as Boston College had a shot at the remaining home ice berth. Lowell sewed that up with the victory on the road, but that came in both teams’ next-to-last game.

The tightly packed standings are no reflection of league mediocrity where a large number of ordinary teams have failed to distinguish themselves. In fact, one could argue the exact opposite. UNH, BU and Maine are all ranked among the top seven schools in the country; Lowell and Northeastern are also among the Top 15 with BC not far behind and rising fast.

All this promises for a compelling two weeks of Hockey East playoffs following the down-to-the-wire races this weekend. As a result, let’s look at all the teams’ chances before specific matchups cloud the issue.

The Favorites

New Hampshire comes in, arguably, as the favorite. In Hockey East play, the Wildcats have the best offense (4.29 goals per game), the best defense (2.19 goals against per game), the best power play (27.8 percent efficiency) and the second best penalty kill (87.0 percent). And those figures are before Tuesday night’s 6-0 shutout of UMass-Amherst.

Other than that, of course, they stink. (Ba-doom. Ladies and germs, I’ll be doing two shows a night all week. You’ve been a great audience. Tell your friends…)

Levity aside, UNH’s statistical domination goes beyond just the three gold medals and a silver noted above. The Wildcat offense is scoring more than a goal per game more than every team except Maine (3.91 gpg). The power play has run away from the rest of the league (27.8 percent vs. second-place Northeastern’s 21.2).

The only real concern, then, might be the goaltenders, both of whom have had health problems of late. However, concerns about them not being sharp seem almost silly in light of them both recording shutouts in their last start. Michael Ayers returned from wrist tendon surgery on Tuesday to throw a shutout at UMass-Amherst. Matt Carney, who has been back in action for four games now after missing a month with a concussion, shut out UMass-Lowell last Friday.

If the Wildcat goaltending holds up, then, they are the one league team without a discernable weakness. Small wonder that they are the top team in the country in the Pairwise Rankings.

Boston University is in the middle of a stretch run roll, having won nine in a row. Whether that will continue and result in a sweep of Maine this weekend, however, is an open question.

BU certainly has a championship-level team defense, ranking second to New Hampshire (2.36 gapg vs. 2.19 gapg) in that statistic. The Terriers also have clearly the league’s top penalty killers (89.2 percent).

The credit begins with a talented blue line corps that is continuing to play well in the absence of Pat Aufiero, who won’t return from his sliced foot tendon injury until the Hockey East semis. Goaltender Sean Fields has also made a huge leap forward in this his sophomore season.

“We’ve gotten a lot more confident and because of that, we’ve played with a lot more poise,” said coach Jack Parker. “We’ve become a solid forechecking team, but most importantly we’ve become a real solid team regrouping and moving the puck out of our zone and through center ice. Our defense has really matured and played with a lot more poise and I think our forwards are making some great plays through center ice.”

The big question is an offense (3.18 gpg) that has sputtered at times. In part, that’s been because of a power play that earlier in the season seemed to call for declining the penalty. However, that has come around during the recent winning streak.

“We changed the power play early in the streak and we’ve been scoring at about 30 percent since,” said Parker. “Special teams are a huge reason why we’ve been able to win those games and it will continue to be a big part of our success.”

Maine has come on strong down the stretch, posting an 8-2-2 record. The latest victim was UMass-Amherst, which fell last weekend, 7-1 and 7-0. This prompted strong words from UMass coach Don “Toot” Cahoon.

“It was like men playing with boys out there,” he said. “They have a lot of experience and talent…”

The Black Bears have been second only to UNH in offense all year with up-front depth to burn, but it’s been the recent team defense that is most encouraging. Despite a thin blue line, they have now tied BU for the second-best team defense (2.36 gapg) in Hockey East contests.

A lot of credit goes to goaltender Mike Morrison, who was recently named ITECH Goaltender of the Month for the third time. While doubters may wonder about his lack of playoff experience, he’s played in a lot of big games before and his numbers (1.97 GAA, .930 Sv%) speak for themselves.

Not Far Behind

It should be no surprise at all if any of the three teams that are just a step behind the top trio win it. While none of them have been as consistent as the favorites, they’ve still had significant stretches during which they were as dangerous as any team in the league.

Which UMass-Lowell team will show up for the playoffs? The one that was 16-3-1 and ranked third in the country? Or the one that went 1-5-2 soon after, in part because of the absences of its three French Olympians?

“We’re focussed more on the present,” said coach Blaise MacDonald. “We’re a team of today. How are we playing today? We’re playing pretty darned good…. This is a present team; it’s not a past team.”

Goaltender Cam McCormick, who posted mind-boggling statistics for much of the season, has faltered of late and been supplanted by Jimi St. John. (More on that below.) St. John is no stranger to playoff pressure, though. He helped engineer Lowell’s upset at UNH last year that got the River Hawks to the FleetCenter once again.

The defense, which displayed an appalling propensity for key turnovers during the losing streak now seems to be back playing at a high level, based on recent wins over Merrimack and Northeastern.

“They are the spine and backbone of our team,” said MacDonald. “This is the time of the year that defense wins championships. We feed off our defense in a great way.”

The key will be the offense, which has struggled to score. But if the River Hawks can play like they did on Wednesday against Northeastern, they could make some serious noise.

Boston College cost itself a shot at an at-large NCAA berth when it lost six straight games during an injury-plagued January. The Eagles plummeted out of the Top 15 then and haven’t quite made it back, but would, of course, make the NCAAs by winning the Hockey East tournament.

Words that coach Jerry York uttered after a loss in the Beanpot opener late in that losing streak have proven prophetic.

“I told the players, I think we have a championship team in this locker room,” he said. “When we get healthy and back to a full hockey squad, these players will be a lot better because of what we’ve gone through. We’re going to be a dangerous team down the stretch.

After Ben Eaves, in particular, returned to the lineup and the Eagles took off, York commented on his playoff outlook.

“We want to get back to the national tournament and the only avenue we’re going to have is to win the [Hockey East] playoffs,” he said. “But you can’t just wait until March and say, ‘Let’s play well now.’

“There has to be a crescendo. You’ve got to build to it. This is still a pretty young hockey team that’s getting better.”

Youth is the Achilles heel of this team. It could get rattled if things go poorly in the early going.

That said, Eaves leads an offense that is better than its 3.18 goals per game. The bigger question is an inexperienced blue line.

Backing it up are goaltenders Matti Kaltiainen and Tim Kelleher, who have had some inconsistencies, but are now playing as well as they have all season.

It wouldn’t be a shock at all to see BC in the Hockey East title game, playing for not only the crown, but the chance to play in the NCAAs.

Northeastern looked to be close to the UNH-BU-Maine grouping when it went off on an 8-1-1 streak. Since then, however, the Huskies have lost four straight and five of their last six to lose the home ice advantage that had appeared to be within their grasp.

On the plus side, those losses have come against formidable opponents: BU, UNH, BC (twice) and Lowell.

When asked if he was concerned about the loss of momentum heading into the playoffs, Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder expressed annoyance with the question.

“Not really,” he said. “That’s what you guys [in the media] talk about to bring negative factors into it. We’re going ahead. We know what we have to do as a team.

“Wherever you’re at, it’s not going to be easy. This is Hockey East. It’s not like there’s a huge gap between the fourth and fifth place teams. We’ll be ready when it comes time.”

As was the case with BC, youth could be Northeastern’s downfall. Although their boatload of key freshmen have played very well, they’ll have to prove themselves anew in the playoffs.

Jim Fahey anchors a very young defense in front of emerging rookie goaltender Keni Gibson. Mike Ryan leads an underrated offense.

Despite the recent results, don’t count out the Huskies.

A Big Surprise

What to think of the enigmatic Providence Friars? Personally, it’s hard to see them winning it all. As soon as it appears that they are going to start living up to the promise that made them the preseason top pick in Hockey East, they stumble.

The temptation earlier in the season was for Professor Hendrickson to give them an F in Chemistry and consider that the sole answer. But that’s too easy. The whole does seem to be less than the sum of its parts, but if that is indeed a problem it isn’t the only one.

The defense just isn’t what it needs to be. Clearly, Jay Leach and Matt Libby were not only the glue that held the Friars together last year. They were also the core of the blueline talent. This group has been allowing way too many shots for the Friars to be a serious playoff contender.

Goaltender Nolan Schaefer has also let in soft goals at critical junctures. On multiple occasions, the words outside the PC locker room have been, “That goal was a killer. We had to get the air pump on the bench after that.”

Schaefer has gone on to make some big saves, but sometimes with a fragile team it’s tough to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. The returning All-American will have to live up to that reputation and the team defense will have to dramatically cut down on the shots if Providence is to have any serious postseason chance.

Do You Believe In Miracles?

Merrimack could conceivably pull an upset in the quarterfinals if it avoids a matchup with UNH. A Hockey East title, however, would evoke comparisons to the 1980 USA Olympic team.

Don’t tell that to interim coach Mike Doneghey, however.

“I don’t think there are any upsets in this league,” he said recently. “The team that was picked to win it [Providence] is in sixth. The defending national champion [Boston College] is in seventh.”

(BC has since moved up to sixth.)

Doneghey has a point, especially when considering how well the Warriors played in recent wins over Maine and Boston College, two teams no one dismisses come playoff time.

Goaltender Joe Exter seems to have risen to the occasion and the Anthony Aquino, Marco Rosa and Ryan Cordeiro line should be a force. The question will be the other forwards and a young defense that has had its ups and downs.

Over And Out

UMass-Amherst was eliminated from playoff consideration on Tuesday when the Minutemen lost to UNH, 6-0. Combined with two previous losses at Maine, UMass was outscored by the two league titans by a collective score of 20-1 in three games.

“It was like men playing with boys out there,” said coach Don “Toot” Cahoon after one of the losses at Alfond Arena. “They have a lot of experience and talent and we lack that combination….

“We were thoroughly beaten on the scoreboard. There’s a difference in our teams, for sure. It wasn’t a result of our guys not coming to play; we competed from the drop of the puck right through to the end. But we made some critical mistakes and didn’t sustain offense.”

Regardless of how the Minutemen play in their season finale on Sunday against Merrimack, it’s wait-till-next-year time.

Don’t count on UMass staying in the cellar perennially, however. The key will be how Cahoon’s recruiting and development of the many freshmen continues.

Tiebreakers

If two teams finish with the same number of points in the standings, the following tiebreakers will be used, in this order, to determine seeding:

1. Head-to-head results between the tied teams.
2. Number of wins in conference play.
3. Best record against the first-place team(s), then the second-place team(s), then the third-place team(s) and so on.
4. Coin flip.

If more than two teams finish in a tie, the same criteria will be applied to reduce the number of teams tied. Then the process will commence again.

Relevant head-to-head results:

UNH over BU, 2-0-1.

BU leads Maine, 1-0. The remaining two games are this weekend.

UNH split with Maine, 1-1-1, but holds the tiebreaker advantage in the other categories.

BC over NU, 2-1

PC over BC, 2-1

All One Team

When push comes to shove, we’re all really just one big team. The latest example of this will come on Saturday night when the Friends of UNH Hockey will donate a portion of the 50/50 raffle to the Chris Serino Fight for Cancer Fund.

This is a classy move by a classy organization.

Get Well, Coach!

Olympic Favoritism?

Kieron P. Faherty wrote a recent USCHO Letter to the Editor regarding this column’s focus on UMass-Lowell’s three Olympians. Replies to such letters are invariably short, but readers of this column will acknowledge that brevity is not one of my strong suits. As a result, here is Kieron’s letter and my detailed (aka verbose) response.

In Dave Hendrickson’s February 21st column, he expounded at length on the Olympic experience of the Lowell Trio. But what about other Hockey East players in the tourney, and in particular Tomas Pock of UMass Amherst and Austria? Even CNBC (Cable for heavens’ sakes!) explained not only that he played at UMass Amherst but also how he wound up as a Minuteman. Also, how about a mention for Mattias Trattnig (formerly of Maine and also of Austria) or even the BU or BC big names in the tourney?

The fact that Hockey East had so many players and former players in the Olympic tourney speaks volumes about the quality of players the league is continuing to attract. Perhaps all that River Hawk involvement has clouded his judgement? I expected far better from a normally excellent HE column.

Sincerely,

Kieron Faherty

Of course, I agree with Kieron’s “normally excellent HE column” assessment.

As for any favoritism, here is my explanation.

Kieron,

Thanks for the kind words about the column in general. Let me address your concerns about this specific issue.

The fact that I’ve emphasized UMass-Lowell’s three Olympians as opposed to all others has nothing to do with any favoritism.

To begin with, I’ve rarely, if ever, covered the exploits of former Hockey East players after they’ve turned pro. My focus, as well as almost all of USCHO with few exceptions, is on current collegians. As a result, there were really only four relevant Olympians: UMass-Amherst’s Thomas Pock and Lowell’s Yorick Treille, Laurent Meunier and Baptiste Amar.

The reason why the three River Hawks were emphasized over Pock is simply that their loss had an incomparably bigger impact. Look at the numbers. Three players all on one team versus one. Two of the top three returning scorers from last season who had totaled 58 points plus the top recruit versus a 12-point scorer. Treille, Meunier and Amar would have missed eight games each if not for their one-hour-of-sleep flight back compared to four games for Pock. Therefore, a total of 20 player-games missed versus four.

Before the River Hawks lost their Olympians, their record stood at 16-5-1 and they were a weekend removed from being the number three ranked team in the nation. Without them, Lowell was 1-3-2 or 1-5-2 if you also include the weekend that they rushed back for, but were running on fumes. Of course, the Minutemen would have liked to have Pock, but his absence did not have the significant impact of Lowell’s Olympians.

Finally, the story of the River Hawks flying back on one hour of sleep and getting to the rink little more than an hour before game time had a drama that was missing since Pock would have been rushing back only for a UMass exhibition game that weekend.

The decision was entirely based on impact, not bias.

Sincerely,

Dave Hendrickson

The Front Of The Jersey

Coaches often talk about the need to play for the name on the front of the jersey instead of the one on the back. This year, three goaltenders have done exactly that, sacrificing team shutout records by giving way late in a game to a teammate who needs the work.

The latest example came last weekend when interim Maine coach Tim Whitehead pulled Mike Morrison for Matt Yeats with a 4-0 lead, despite Morrison being one shutout away from tying Alfie Michaud’s career mark of six.

“Hockey is a team sport,” said Whitehead. “Mike would be the first to congratulate Matt on a good job in there. Matt has been playing well and we need to get him time. We need to get them both going for the stretch run.”

A similar case occurred during the holiday tournaments when UMass-Amherst senior goaltender Mike Johnson was replaced by freshman Tim Warner just 8:01 short of setting a school shutout mark. The Minutemen were comfortably ahead of Niagara and coach Don “Toot” Cahoon felt Warner needed the work.

“To be honest with you,” said Cahoon, “I would certainly take that as a secondary consideration, and Mike knows he’s going to get the lion’s share of ice. [But] it’s important that I give a good young goalie an opportunity to play some minutes. There was no intent there.”

Unfortunately for Johnson, he hasn’t been able to add a shutout since then and now has only one game left to do it.

A third netminder, UMass-Lowell’s Cam McCormick, has set team records for shutouts in a season (six) and a career (eight). However, he would have added another one to those totals had he not been pulled for Jimi St. John against Army earlier this year after seeing only four shots through two periods.

While the payoff for Morrison and Johnson’s sacrifices have yet to be seen, the River Hawks are now benefiting from McCormick’s lost shutout. St. John had a little less rust on him when McCormick began to falter recently after an unbelievable first half. St. John has won Lowell’s last two games, posting a shutout over Merrimack and allowing only one goal against Northeastern.

Tag Team Goalies, Part II

Some teams have ridden just one goalie for the most part this year. Some have used a tandem. This column recently wrote about UNH’s tag team approach of late, necessitated by injuries.

UMass-Lowell has now joined in on the tag team approach with Jimi St. John supplanting Cam McCormick, who had been discussed as a potential Hobey Baker candidate prior to a recent slump. St. John has allowed a total of just one goal in Lowell’s last two games, both wins.

“I had my time at the beginning of the year,” said St. John, “then Cam stepped up and he went on, but then went into a little slump there or whatever. Now it’s my turn again. Hopefully, I can keep going with it now.”

The approach seems to be working.

“It’s like when you’ve got to bring [Drew] Bledsoe in to beat Pittsburgh, you bring him in,” said coach Blaise MacDonald. “Jimi’s been able to provide that for us.

“But in athletics, you get what you deserve. If you come and work hard and work smart every single day, when your time comes, you’re ready. He’s a good example of people who make their own breaks. When they get the opportunities, they make the most of it. He’s certainly done that.”

His recent success has been all the more rewarding for St. John because of the perseverance he had to display.

“It feels great after sitting a month and then playing a game or two and then sitting another month,” he said. “It just feels great. I had a lot of time to work on things. It feels really good to come back and get these big wins at a special time for this team.”

With the playoffs on the immediate horizon, he provides Lowell with a playoff-tested veteran who had considerable success last year.

“This is the time of the year that we need guys to step up,” he said. “Drawing on that experience from last year, there’s nothing that can get as big as going to the FleetCenter.

“Playing three playoff games at the Whitt last year, that was against one of the best goalies in the country — [Ty Conklin] — at that time. This is drawing back on memories and coming back and hopefully doing it again this year.”

Quotes Of The Week

A prominent Hockey East defenseman to a linesman: “If you got your fat [butt] off the boards, I could clear the puck.”

BC coach Jerry York on Ben Eaves: “There are only a few like him in the country.”

UMass-Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald on Mark Concannon scoring twice in Wednesday’s pivotal win over Northeastern after scoring only three all season: “To use a golf term, he’s been three-putting a lot. He hasn’t been able to find the back of the net…. [The two-goal night] was well-earned.”

Lowell’s Yorick Treille on how far France is from an appearance in the Olympic gold medal game: “Probably 3012.”

Upon Further Review

Several weeks back, one player got a bit carried away describing his team’s togetherness. (The following quotes are paraphrased.)

“We have the best chemistry I’ve ever seen on a team,” he said. “You never see a guy alone. We walk around together. We eat together. We sleep together.”

Ummmm…. sleep together?

“Well, I mean, a lot of us are roommates,” he said. “You know, I just meant…. Actually, let me rephrase that….”

Just wondering…

Where was the extra two-minute penalty for instigating back when I was growing up and one of my three brothers was always causing trouble? I, of course, was an angel….

New Point of Emphasis

If this writer were made Dictator of the Universe, a new rules point of emphasis would be made to combat the frequent knocking of a net off its moorings. If you’ve seen even a single game, you’ve seen that as soon as an offensive opportunity beckons, either the goaltender knocks the net ajar or a defenseman suddenly looks like a beginner on double-runners, windmilling his arms as he plows into the cage to create a stoppage.

Yet I can’t recall the last time I saw a delay of game penalty assessed for even the most blatantly deliberate of such measures.

My solution? If the two-minute penalty isn’t going to be called, let’s electrify the post with a moderately high voltage to provide some disincentive for this abuse.

A more constructive solution is expected to be examined by the NCAA Rules Committee. It will be looking at a proposal to allow goals even after the net has been knocked off its moorings.

Two thumbs up for that.

Trivia Contest

First off, some old business from last week’s column. It said that loyal reader Gary Fay proudly confessed to being the player to take down Wayne Turner resulting in the unsuccessful penalty shot in question and that current BU assistant coach Brian Durocher was the goalie.

One eagle-eyed reader who chose to stay anonymous, however, pointed out that since the penalty shot in question was in 1979 and Fay graduated in 1977 and Durocher in 1978, those two “facts” were impossible.

I wrote Fay, asking if perhaps he’d hauled down so many guys in his time that he’d gotten a guilty conscience that had him pleading guilty even when innocent. Instead, the explanation is that Fay was remembering a takedown of BC’s Richie Smith in ’75 that resulted in a successful penalty shot.

As for last week’s question, it asked what school records or unique achievements Northeastern freshman goaltender Keni Gibson had set this year. There are a couple marks that Gibson is on pace to set, namely save percentage (.908 compared to Marc Robitaille’s .904 in 1997-98) and goals against average (2.59 compared to Mike Gilhooly’s 3.14 two years ago). However, those aren’t records yet. By season’s end, those old marks could still be intact if Gibson falters.

The two confirmed unique achievements are the most wins for a rookie goaltender, 14, surpassing Bruce Racine’s 11 in 1985-86, and recording the school’s first ever shutout of Boston University in 175 games dating back to 1930.

(Mike Salvo also offers up Gibson making the most consecutive starts by a freshman, but that category isn’t listed in the Northeastern record book. NU Hockey Sports Information Director Ben Miller assumes that Gibson now holds the mark, but there isn’t a definitive answer.)

First to respond with the two known records was Todd Cioffi, whose cheer is:

“Go BU, a bye’s in our sights…. Go UML! Beat PC! Go NU! Beat the ‘Mack! Let’s send BC to the Alfond!”

This week’s question asks which team entered the postseason with the longest losing streak, but still advanced to the Hockey East semifinals? Give the team, the year and the losing streak. Email me with as many of the answers as you can muster.

Thanks to John Gould, Jeff Mannix, Sean Caruthers and Jayson Moy.

This Week in the CCHA: Feb. 28, 2002

By Paula C. Weston

February 28, 2002

Finally, Something To Talk About

The regular-season championship is on the line. In terms of an NCAA tournament invitation, it means nothing — but a championship is a championship.

Finally, here’s the obligatory playoff chatter for which you’ve been longing.

Michigan and Michigan State (17-5-4)

How much more even can this thing get? Well, if the teams finish tied in points and wins, remember that they tied each other twice during the regular season.

There is the possibility that the teams will tie in points but not wins, if one team ties its opponent twice this weekend and the other splits. Then the team with the greater number of wins would take the top seed in the first round of the playoffs.

After that, it’s win percentage versus other teams in the league, from the top down. If Michigan State and Michigan end the season tied in points and league wins and Alaska-Fairbanks remains in third place, Michigan will be the regular-season champion because the Wolverines went 3-1-0 against UAF this season, while the Spartans were 1-1-0.

If MSU and UM are tied in wins and points after this weekend and Northern Michigan vaults ahead of UAF in the standings — a possibility, as the Wildcats have two games against Lake State, while the Nanooks are finished with league play — MSU will be top seed because the Spartans were 2-0-0 against NMU, while the Wolverines were 0-2-0.

If UAF and NMU finish tied for points, the Wildcats have that tiebreaker, so the seeding goes to the Spartans.

The Spartans play a home-and-home series against Ferris State this weekend. The Wolverines are home-and-home against Western Michigan. Given WMU’s home record this season — and Lake State’s season-long performance, and the alignment of the planets — I’m guessing the Spartans will be the regular-season champs outright.

Alaska-Fairbanks (15-10-3)

The Nanooks are through with league play. They can finish no higher than third, no lower than fifth.

Should the Nanooks and the fourth-place Wildcats tie in points, they’d also be tied in league wins. Who wins the tiebreaker, then? Northern Michigan, which beat Alaska-Fairbanks twice in Fairbanks, Jan. 25-26.

Should UAF, NMU, and WMU tie for points, NMU has the tiebreaker over UAF (head-to-head), and WMU has the tiebreaker over NMU, giving WMU third place, NMU fourth, and UAF fifth.

Northern Michigan (14-10-2)

The Wildcats are in good position to move ahead of UAF, since NMU is playing LSSU twice this weekend. Should Northern win two against the Lakers this weekend, third place is guaranteed, as NMU would finish with one point more than UAF.

Only Western Michigan can pass Northern this weekend. Should NMU drop two games to LSSU, WMU would need just one win against Michigan to outright pass the Wildcats. Should NMU drop one game to LSSU and WMU sweep Michigan, the Broncos would surpass the Wildcats.

Should WMU take one point from Michigan this weekend and NMU drop both games against LSSU, the Broncos and Wildcats would be tied in both points and league wins. If that happens, Western wins the tiebreaker because of the Broncos’ sweep of Northern Feb. 8-9.

The Wildcats could finish as high as third, but no lower than fifth. Should NMU end the season tied with UNO in points, NMU has the tiebreaker with one more league win than UNO.

Nebraska-Omaha (13-11-4)

The Mavericks are done with league play, and have only to sit back and watch the world around them.

UNO can finish no higher than fifth and no lower than sixth. Should NMU and UNO remain tied in points, UAF would automatically still be in third, and the Wildcats hold the tiebreaker (league wins) over the Mavs.

If Western Michigan takes one point from Michigan this weekend, UNO and WMU end the season tied in points, but the Mavs have the tiebreaker (league wins).

Should WMU surpass UNO and Ohio State win against Miami, OSU and UNO would end tied in league wins and points, and head-to-head — but the Mavericks would win the tiebreaker (goal differential in head-to-head).

Western Michigan (13-10-3)

The Broncos can finish as high as third and as low as seventh.

If WMU, UAF, and NMU all finish the season tied with 33 points each (WMU takes four points from Michigan, NMU takes three from LSSU), each team would also have 15 league wins. Northern has the tiebreaker over UAF (head-to-head), and UAF has the tiebreaker over WMU (head-to-head). Since WMU has the tiebreaker over NMU (head-to-head), WMU would finish third.

To finish fourth, Northern Michigan must not take four points from the Lakers this weekend, and the Broncos must sweep Michigan, which would tie WMU with UAF. UAF has the tiebreaker (head-to-head).

Should Western split with Michigan, the two points would automatically put the Broncos ahead of UNO. If nothing else in the standings from three to five changes, then WMU would finish fourth, NMU fifth, and UNO sixth.

However, WMU splits with Michigan and NMU takes even one point from LSSU, WMU finishes fifth and UNO sixth.

Does your head hurt yet?

If WMU takes no points from Michigan and OSU beats Miami Friday night, the Broncos would finish seventh and OSU sixth. If the Broncs and Bucks finish tied in points — OSU takes a point from Miami, WMU takes none from Michigan — WMU wins the tiebreaker (league wins).

Ohio State (12-11-4)

Ohio State needs to win its lone remaining game against Miami Friday night for a shot at staying home in the first round of the playoffs. The Buckeyes would also need Michigan to beat WMU twice to secure home ice, as the Broncos are one point ahead of the Buckeyes and WMU has the tiebreaker (league wins).

OSU can finish no higher than sixth, no lower than eighth. If the Buckeyes win and the Broncos lose, OSU would tie UNO in points, league wins, and head-to-head, but the Mavericks win on goal differential, giving UNO fifth place and OSU sixth.

Notre Dame is four points behind OSU. To catch the Buckeyes, the Irish need to beat Bowling Green twice this weekend — and if Notre Dame does that, it would tie OSU in points and win on the tiebreaker (league wins). Should this happen, Notre Dame would finish seventh, and probably travel to the friendly confines of Lawson Arena.

Notre Dame (10-12-4) and Ferris State (11-14-1)

The Irish cannot host a first-round series. Notre Dame can finish as high as seventh place, and as low as ninth.

If Notre Dame wins both its games this weekend and OSU loses to Miami Friday night, the Irish would catch OSU in points and win the tiebreaker (league wins) for seventh.

Notre Dame is one point ahead of Ferris State, but the Bulldogs already have an advantage in league wins (11 to the Irish 10). These teams cannot end the season tied in both points and league wins, so FSU has the tiebreaker.

Ferris State can finish no higher than eighth, no lower than ninth. In the unlikely event that FSU sweeps MSU and Notre Dame takes no points from Bowling Green, the Bulldogs will move ahead of the Irish, but they can’t catch the Buckeyes.

Behind them, Miami can catch neither the Irish nor the Bulldogs.

Miami (8-17-2) and Bowling Green (7-16-3)

With one league game remaining, the RedHawks can finish only 10th or 11th. Either way for Miami, it’s either a long trip (UAF, NMU) or a series against Michigan or Michigan State in the first round.

Ouch.

If Miami beats Ohio State Friday night, they’ll have 20 league points, three ahead of Bowling Green. So, should Miami beat OSU, Bowling Green would need three points from Notre Dame this weekend to pass the RedHawks outright.

Miami and Bowling Green can potentially end the season tied in points (19) and league wins (eight), if Miami ties Ohio State and BG splits with Notre Dame. In that case, the Falcons edge the RedHawks in goal differential head-to-head (11-9), as the teams split a pair of games this season.

Lake Superior State (4-20-2)

With just 10 league points, the Lakers are anchored in last place, with no potential to move up. All LSSU can do about the playoffs is wait to see who finishes in the top spot, then make travel plans for either East Lansing or Ann Arbor.

Courtesy Call

So, the Winter Olympics are over, and given the drugs and the French figure-skating judge, you’re still looking for that feel-good sense of sportsmanship.

Well, then you should have been in Ann Arbor last weekend for the OSU-Michigan series.

I’m not kidding. The play was intense, and on the ice things were rough with the potential to get nasty. But they never did — not after Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first ten minutes of the first game, when Ohio State could do nothing but skate around, not in the second period of the Wolverines’ 6-3 win the second night, when the game was anyone’s, really, until Michigan found that sixth goal.

There were penalties. There were words exchanged. At one point, Mike Komisarek and R.J. Umberger were bumping bellies, mask-to-mask, and all one could think of was the potential damage to that valuable real estate.

But at the ends of every period, when the two teams skated off the ice, there was no jostling, no words were exchanged — even though both teams leave the ice by the same door at Yost. In fact, many Buckeye players tried to leave the ice as the Michigan players were leaving, and there was no conflict.

Then, during the post-series handshake, the lack of animosity was palpable. The teams genuinely congratulated each other on two tough games. Players who fought or thought about it when the game clock was ticking were smiling and joking in line.

To the untrained eye, this behavior is baffling.

Both coaches said afterward that the teams just have a healthy respect for each other.

“We never got the sense that we could just take this team for granted,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson, “and we knew we had to work hard. I think our players have great respect for them.”

“Well,” said Berenson’s counterpart, OSU head coach John Markell, “you have to respect Michigan, but I think it goes both ways. I think both teams know that the other is always going to bring their game when they meet.”

Somebody call Hallmark. I feel a moment coming on.

The truth is actually threefold:

1) Players from each team played together elsewhere, so many of these guys really do know and like each other.

2) Each program attempted to land several of the other team’s players for its very own, so there is some familiarity on that level, too.

3) These teams are young, and they just don’t have the collective memory of Michigan owning Ohio State outright for a decade of hockey. No sense of ownership on Michigan’s part; no sense of having been owned by the Buckeyes.

Thank the hockey gods, however, that someone remembered something at Yost. Whenever Buckeye defender Scott Titus was on the ice, a small but enthusiastic group of Michigan fans chanted, “Titus sucks! Titus sucks!” When he was off the ice, the group chanted, “We want Titus! We want Titus!”

It’s shocking that this group would even deign to use the junior’s real name. After all, in the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper, Titus was known as “The Villain” — never a name, though sometimes his number (five) was mentioned — after a Michigan-OSU series two years ago in Columbus.

During the third period of the second game of that series, Mike Comrie — remember him? — cross-checked Titus near the right boards in the OSU end, and a brawl ensued. The only player who did not participate was Josh Blackburn, content to watch it all from his net at the other end.

Jeff Jillson — remember him? — and J.F. Dufour went at it the best, dropping gloves and exchanging slugs. Buckeye goaltender Ray Aho mixed it up with someone a foot taller than he, but memory fails as to whom. However, both Aho and the Wolverine quit their small brawl by mutual consent, both smiling when it was over.

Titus — whom the Michigan student reporters blamed for the fight — was triple-teamed during the melee, hardly causing any damage.

After the game, Mark Kosick said that the Buckeyes were always cheap and dirty, and Eric Meloche responded by calling the Wolverines “weasels.” The Michigan Daily called Titus “The Villain” in every subsequent issue.

Ah, those were the days.

Now, the Buckeyes find themselves not only respecting the Wolverines, but rooting for them this weekend. When asked after OSU’s win over Miami Monday night whether he’d have any trouble pulling for Michigan this weekend, John Markell responded, “Go, Wolverines, go.”

You Just Wouldn’t Understand

In the latest issue of ESPN the Magazine, former MSU player Jeremy Jackson whines about his status in the world of hockey, alleging that he is where he is — with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, as opposed to being a drafted prospect on the fast track to NHL success — at least partly because he’s black.

After disregarding team rules at Michigan State, Jackson was let go by Ron Mason.

In the article, author Shaun Assael says that Georges Laraque of the Edmonton Oilers — himself a black player — tells Jackson that not everything is about race. He quotes Laraque on alleged discrimination as saying, “You know, Jeremy, part of that is your size.”

That’s not all it is. Jackson should also realize that most of it is his lack of discipline, not his race, his need to connect with his roots, his need to find and assert himself for the person he is.

The article implies that Laraque suffers for listening to country/western music — the preference, apparently, of many of the Oilers — in the locker room. Jackson claims that he pretends to like Dave Matthews just to fit in with white players.

Frankly, if that’s the case, I feel sorry for these men. I could never get used to a diet of country music, and if I were forced to listen repeatedly to the Dave Matthews Band — an overrated act if ever there was one — I’d feel culturally violated as well.

Of course, I’m white. A white chick. A white chick who covers hockey. Men’s hockey. In press boxes where the talk can revolve around anything from stick size to breast size. Where breast size — or body size, hair color, age — can determine whether or not you’re taken “seriously” as a reporter.

As a chick, that is. Black or white.

It Took A Full Season, But Look What We Have Here

In this season of true parity — a lesson in “be careful what you wish for” — it took the full schedule for personality of some teams to emerge. There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was in her 80s, and everyone makes the playoffs anyway.

Here’s a brief Girl Reporter synopsis of each team, in the order of this week’s current standings.

Michigan State

The exciting thing about Michigan State this season is that the Spartans are, well, exciting.

Last season, Ron Mason repeatedly said that his Spartans were a different team from those in recent years, one less defensive and more apt to score goals. This season, that is absolutely the case. Taking nothing away from MSU’s excellent defense, this is a squad that can open up a game, explode offensively, and — I didn’t believe it when I saw it myself — give up more than a few odd-man rushes.

Why is this last part so exciting? Because CCHA fans have become bored with mere perfection. The tight, defensive Spartan strategies of years past had lulled non-MSU fans into believing that Spartan hockey was dull. (Disclaimer: not the opinion of the Girl Reporter.) Now that the Spartans have shown that their style of play allows for mistakes here and there, they also have a chance to show fans how amazing they can be at overcoming those mistakes.

And now that the Spartans play a more rounded game — defense and offense, with outstanding goaltending — this team looks as though it has a good chance in the NCAA tourney.

Michigan

Come CCHA fans. Free your minds and the rest will follow. Michigan is the team people love to hate in this conference, but what’s not to love about the 2001-02 Wolverines?

If you were lucky enough to witness Michigan’s win over Mercyhurst in the NCAA 2001 West Regional, you saw something missing from Wolverine hockey in recent years, something that seems to have carried over to this season: enthusiasm. This team plays with an infectious mixture of finesse and grinding, heart without the pretense of past years.

From the very first game of the year, the “Cold War,” this young Michigan squad has shown that in addition to talent, it has a love of the game not clearly evident among Wolverines in recent years. They’re having fun, and they’re fun to watch.

CCHA fans, drop your biases. These Wolverines are players you can root for in the Big Show.

Let’s just hope they remain unsullied by their fawning local press.

Alaska-Fairbanks

If the Nanooks lived any closer to the rest of the conference, this just might seem like a Cinderella story.

With certain criteria stacked against them — being in Alaska, for example — the Nanooks will finish third in CCHA play and host a first-round playoff series for the first time in team history.

I haven’t seen the Nanooks play this season, but I’ve listened to them via the Internet nearly every home series. It’s clear that while goaltending is adequate, netminding and defense are not UAF’s strong points. The Nanooks are averaging 3.25 goals per game in conference play, 3.56 (to lead the league) overall. This is a potentially explosive club but one that can certainly get caught with its defensive guard down.

Anyone who has followed my column through the years knows that I’ve always had a soft spot for the Nanooks, so what I’ve heard from around the league this season — if true — pains me to report. From reliable sources throughout the league, I’ve heard that the Nanooks are deliberately unsportsmanlike, in many aspects of the game. If true, this saddens me.

But, as I’ve been told recently in many email messages from loyal readers, hockey is a man’s sport, so what do I know?

I do know this: no player is an angel who approaches the century mark in penalty minutes, so Voros fans can stop writing to me about his inherent virtue.

With the heart this team has shown this season, UAF has a legitimate shot at capturing the league’s playoff title.

Northern Michigan

I’m going to say this and I don’t care who complains: I love this team.

I saw the Wildcats play two tough, clean games in Columbus early in the season, then saw them take it to the opposition during the Everblades tournament in December. The Cockburn-Theuer combo may very well be the best in the league.

This is a smart, fast, talented team that — like the Nanooks — perennially must overcome certain recruiting obstacles. They are a blue-collar, tenacious bunch, but they will only go as far as Craig Kowalski can take them. Yes, that’s a lot of pressure to put on one sophomore, but that’s the way it is.

Which team will show up for the first round of the playoffs, the Wildcats that beat Bowling Green 4-1 last Friday, or the team that got blanked by BG 6-0 the following night?

Nebraska-Omaha

This is a team that typifies the “parity” of the league this season — as does WMU, OSU, Notre Dame, and Ferris State. A team that can look like the best in the conference, and a team that looks like it utterly lacks direction.

Dan Ellis is a goaltender that isn’t praised enough, and I’m guilty of that as well. Ellis is both tough and elegant in net, a pleasure to watch, and one look at UNO’s stats tell the story of the team with Ellis this season.

The Mavericks ended the CCHA season going 3-4-1 in February. (Don’t talk to me about January’s record, Mavs fans; look at the strength of schedule.) During that stretch, the Mavericks outscored opponents 19-16, thanks to back-to-back shutouts against Miami, but two losses to Michigan and one point from Fairbanks — the two teams on February’s schedule ahead of UNO — are a good indication of why the Mavericks are middle-packers this season.

Inconsistency seems to be the hobgoblin that’s troubling UNO. The Bullpen is a tough place to play, but middle-packers may be upset in the first round of the playoffs.

Western Michigan

It’s a good thing this team can score goals, because the Broncos don’t have a viable defense.

From the net out, this team will have to play better team defense to advance after the first round of the playoffs, let alone through the CCHA tourney in Detroit.

The Broncos have cleaned up their collective act — a relief, given how chippy this team has been in years past — and score more than three goals per game, but WMU gives up three per game as well, outscoring league opponents just 88-82 this season. The team, as a whole, is in the minus, both overall and in league play.

Still, Western is a fun team to watch, capable of breaking a game wide open. They play an intense game.

Ohio State

The heart and soul of this hockey team is the defense, and when the defensive corps is on its game, OSU is nearly unbeatable.

That, however, has happened so inconsistently in this second half of the season that it’s hard to get a read on this team.

Without question, this is a team in need of better leadership — or, at least a team in need of having everyone on the same page. I’m not question captain Jason Crain’s leadership abilities (except when he takes stupid penalties), but I am questioning whether or not this team is focused as a single unit on one, solid, tangible goal.

Mike Betz is as good as the team in front of him; when they’re off, he’s off. When the D-corps is on, the Buckeyes can compensate for any inconsistencies among the frontmen.

Two first-round draft picks and the Buckeyes aren’t scoring goals? Something’s rotten in the state of Ohio.

Notre Dame

The Irish have been a pleasant surprise this season, more focused than they have been in seasons past, vying for the title of “hardest-working team in college hockey.”

Unlike other middle-packers, the Irish have actually improved this season from last, and seem to play with all the heart in the world. The team is collectively on the plus side of things in both overall and conference play (unlike other middle-packers); the goaltending of rookie Morgan Cey has been more than adequate; veterans seem to be playing inspired hockey (David Inman is having a career season).

So many of the games that Notre Dame has lost this season have been by one or two goals that it’s clear that the Irish are just this close to climbing out of the middle of the pack next season — maybe.

Ferris State

The Bulldogs are a tough team, a little on the small side, but fast and skilled. Rob Collins is another player having a career season, and Chris Kunitz is either benefitting from that, or is establishing himself as one talented little instigator.

In net for FSU, Mike Brown and John de Caro have stepped up admirably.

All in all, FSU is a middle-pack team with some talent, some intensity, some speed — and seemingly no desire to climb out of the middle of the pack. There’s nothing wrong with this team, but there’s nothing there to spark the Bulldogs on to bigger and better things.

Miami

Talk about something rotten in the state of Ohio.

Monday night’s match in Columbus between the RedHawks and the Buckeyes was a battle of who wanted to lose less. Neither team had any zip, and Miami looked awful — that’s the only way to put it.

This was surprising, given how hard the Bucks and ‘Hawks usually play each other, no matter where either team is in the standings. To say these squads dislike each other is putting it mildly. Yes, there are some players on each team friendly with players on the other, but the intrastate rivalry has always been intense, so when Monday’s game packed the punch of three-hour-old dishwater, any observer had to know that something was wrong.

And what is wrong with Miami? Lack of heart? Lack of leadership? There are rumors about every team, of course, but there’s nothing substantiated here. It’s a team that just doesn’t seem to have a pulse.

And that’s a shame.

Bowling Green

The Falcons have two players: Tyler Masters and Greg Day.

Masters has a save percentage of .905 overall — respectable — but a goals against average of 3.36. No defense in front of him. Need further proof? The team is a collective -117 overall.

Day has 17 goals and 16 assists, and no other Falcon has goal totals in the double digits.

Buddy Powers’ contract is up at the end of this season. It has yet to be renewed. I like Powers, and would hate to see him go.

If the Falcons have it in them to step up, now would be a good time.

Lake Superior State

The Laker team I saw in Columbus played its heart out. Their coach disagreed, and said that his team has little to no talent.

This is all I know.