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This Week in the ECAC: Nov. 1, 2001

By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
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Early-Season Battle

When the ECAC finally gets its regular season underway this weekend, many eyes will be turned eastward, waiting to see what this year will bring for the league that is always the last one out of the gate. While teams like Rensselaer and Union have shown signs of potential, others such as Colgate and Vermont have faltered.

Oscillations in the national rankings notwithstanding, there is no doubt that many are curious as to what will transpire when two of the best teams in the ECAC — as predicted by the coaches and media — take to the ice this weekend in an early season battle for league supremacy. The only two teams consistently ranked in the Top 15 through the preseason, No. 15 Dartmouth and No. 11 Harvard, face off on Sunday night in an unusual early in-season contest.

“The rivalry with Harvard is a good one,” said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet. “It’s been like this over the course of time. But we understand that anything we read or is said during the preseason is tempered by the fact that we know that the game is played on the ice and that is where it will happen.”

The Harvard-Dartmouth showdown will take place on Sunday at Bright Hockey Center. And while the anticipation is high on both ends for that game, there is one major roadblock standing in front of the Crimson — Brown. The travel partners will open their seasons the night before in Cambridge.

“To be honest, we haven’t even talked about Dartmouth. We have to focus on Brown,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “Brown will play hard from the time the puck drops till the end of the game. Look at last season, where they lost a lot of one-goal games. If you start to win some of those, it breeds confidence, and then you can go on to win a majority of those. They are a very strong and big defensive team. And I think that [Brian] Eklund is as good as anyone in our league in net.”

The two got an early taste of each other one week ago when the Crimson traveled to Providence for an informal scrimmage. Traditionally, Harvard has used Dartmouth and not Brown as a preseason scrimmage partner. This year, with the schedule pitting the Big Green and Crimson against each other in two of the first three regular season games, both Gaudet and Mazzoleni felt it would be best to save the first encounter for this Sunday night.

Mazzoleni and Grillo then used the open slot and favorable geography to set up a meeting last Wednesday evening. Dominated by situational play, the two teams ended up splitting the two halves of play. And considering the emotional and psychological contrasts of first- and last-ranked teams, the result was a confidence boost for Brown and a reality test for Harvard.

“It went as I expected,” said Mazzoleni. “We won the first half and got smashed the second half. The one thing that any coach will tell you is that you can try to convey a message to a team, but nothing speaks louder than experience. Our guys had their eyes [opened] when they played Brown. Brown is a good team and their record the past couple years is not at all indicative of how they play.”

“We had [the Harvard scrimmage] and an exhibition game on Friday as well,” said Grillo, whose team walked over St. Francis Xavier, 5-0, last Friday night. “I thought that our guys looked good in both games. I was pleased with what I saw and happy with how the older guys have returned and made step in right direction. I think that the attitude is excellent. We went through a frustrating season last year and the guys are excited to get back into it.”

BARKER

BARKER

Brown will surely be a good test for Harvard. While the Bears do not possess the speed, skill and offensive depth of the Crimson, they do have something that the team from Cambridge doesn’t at this point — a big, strong defense (anchored by veteran Josh Barker) and a seasoned goaltender in Eklund. Now no one expects Brown to contain the high-flying Harvard offense, but if they could sneak in a few early goals to rattle the young Crimson defenders and goalie, Grillo believes that anything could happen — especially when this is Harvard’s first game of the year.

“I think that there is certainly a good deal of talent on that team,” said Grillo about his travel partner. “Where they were rated in early season was certainly justified based on the performance of the young guys last year. It’s a team that needs to be respected, and we need to come out and play our games. In the early part of the season, you can’t worry about the other team. We need to worry about playing our game.

“I think that certainly if you look on paper, we lost some of our key scorers last year. Realistically, the young guys that played as much as they did have developed and come long way. I think that we are going to be a well-rounded team and will surprise some people.”

And then the Big Green heads into town. Dartmouth has had the luxury of one exhibition contest against McGill and one versus Moncton. In both contests, the Big Green was able to pepper the opposition with a boatload of shots (a total of 105 in two games) … not all of them found the back of the net, however. More importantly, Gaudet used the McGill game to get a good look at his younger players as all his senior forwards took on the role of spectators that evening.

“I think that we are getting there, but we need to be sharper,” said Gaudet. “It’s been a good preseason for us. Everything happened so quickly. We need to be prepared against an outstanding and highly touted Harvard team. Our preseason has helped us in our preparation, but we will go into Cambridge with a lot of respect for their team.”

Youth won’t be as much of a factor for Dartmouth this year as their core of talent are upperclassmen. In fact, the Big Green is hoping that the experience up and down the roster will help them avoid another slow start like they experienced last year, when they began the regular season with a 1-4 ECAC record.

Harvard, on the other hand, will be rusty. A very young team across the board, the Crimson coaches have been trying to prepare their guys on a number of levels.

“We’ve really put an emphasis on teaching,” said Mazzoleni, who had both of his assistants delay recruiting trips until after the first three weeks of the season so that the team would have a full complement of coaches on hand at practice. “[As a coaching staff] we want to focus our energies on our team. We have a lot of youth in our team — 17 out of the 26. So there are a lot of basic things that we need to get through and not take for granted.”

CAPOUCH

CAPOUCH

The health of captain Peter Capouch is still a question mark as well. Capouch, who will need to shoulder much of the defensive burden left from the retirement of fellow senior Graham Morrell, sat out of the Brown scrimmage last week. And there is the matter of all the hype. After finishing fourth in the league last year and without even stepping onto the ice this year, the Harvard players have been inundated with media requests and national rankings. On paper, their nationally-ranked team is facing the worst team in the league on Saturday night. What is a coaching staff to do?

“I think that’s something that I knew would be a challenge,” said Mazzoleni about the hype. “We are able to recruit kids with good press clippings coming in. A number-one challenge for our staff has been to develop humility with the team. We continue to preach that everything is team, first and foremost before any individual thought. Our team is a work in progress.

“I think the kids are more excited than us. You can only play against yourself in practice so much. [Come Saturday] it will have been three weeks since we started playing.”

And the answer to the question that everyone is asking — Will Crothers is scheduled to get the start in the Harvard net come Saturday night.

The North Country Battle

One of the most storied rivalries in all of sport renews itself this weekend as St. Lawrence travels to take on Clarkson in the ECAC opener for both squads. This is the earliest that these two have battled and the intensity, as always, is high.

The two teams have played four games each, each only winning one of the four. Clarkson has tied one, giving the Knights a 1-2-1 mark, while the Saints have dropped their other three, going 1-3-0 to start the season.

Clarkson opened at home with a win over Miami, then dropped game two of the series.

“We had a lot of fortunate bounces [Friday] night, and we made the most of them,” said Knight head coach Morris. “Momentum is a big determining factor in college hockey. Give Miami credit, they corrected a lot of mistakes, and they played with more heart than we did. A lack of discipline was the key to our downfall.

“These next two weeks are very important for our team right now as we try and get healthy. We are expecting we can do some healing at this point. The rash of injuries that we have suffered in the first couple of weekends has been extraordinary. We are hoping to use this time to tighten up defensively to get ready for league play.”

Meanwhile, the Saints won their first game of the season that same Friday against Lake Superior State before losing game two of the series. The first four games are a learning experience, according to head coach Joe Marsh.

“We know what we have to work on, and we have some time to do it and refine parts of our game,” he said. “We used these first four to see a lot of guys in game action, and now we can start defining our lineup and getting ready for the league season. We’ll have kind of a mini-training camp to work on conditioning and try to work on some of the finer points that take a little more time to perfect. I think we got what we wanted out of the first four games…we tried a lot of different combinations and had the chance to see the new guys under game conditions against tough competition.”

So the rivalry returns, and as always in the North Country, towns, and even families can be split apart by the intensity.

The Big Red Start

Cornell begins its season with a pair of nonconference games against Alabama-Huntsville, looking to reverse last year’s fortunes. The Big Red started last season with two losses, but from the looks of the 8-1 thrashing of Wilfrid Laurier in an exhibition last week, things are going to be different.

“These guys came back in great shape,” said head coach Mike Schafer. “We’re a lot further ahead than we should be at this time of year. We’re off to a good start.”

These two teams have never played each other and the Chargers are in for the Lynah experience.

A Tiger of A Time

STATHOS

STATHOS

Princeton was the second team to beat St. Francis Xavier this past weekend, by a score of 2-1. In such a low-scoring affair, you point to the net, where all three goalies — Dave Stathos, Nate Nomeland and Trevor Clay — played a period.

“I was pleased with our goaltending,” said Tiger head coach Len Quesnelle. “I have confidence in all three of them. Certainly Dave Stathos leads the way, but Nate is hardworking and has played well when given the opportunity, while Trevor has a lot of potential.”

It is likely that two of the three will see action when the Tigers take on Niagara on the road this weekend.

If It’s So Easy, You Try It

Well, the Iron Columnists are back, ready to slice and dice through the ECAC competition this season.

Now, the Iron Columnists are not immune to groveling, so we’ve decided that the groveling of Vic Brzozowski was enough to have him back for his last shot.

If memory serves us right, Vic was soundly defeated in the very first Iron Columnist challenge last season. We see that he is back for another beating. So, Vic Brzozowski, bring your skills into USCHO Stadium and try to take down the Iron Columnists — something you could not do before. Whose picks will reign supreme?

The Picks

Fri.-Sat, Nov. 2-3
Alabama-Huntsville at Cornell
Vic’s Pick — Only reason this is close is because Huntsville has played six times to Cornell’s one. Cornell, 3-2 and 4-2
Becky and Jayson — Cornell, 5-2 and 4-1
Bemidji State at Union
Vic’s Pick — After a long bus ride, the Beavers need one game to get the kinks out. Union, 3-2, then Bemidji State 4-3
Becky and Jayson — Union, 6-2 and 3-1
Princeton at Niagara
Vic’s Pick — It may be wishful thinking on my part that Princeton splits. Niagara, 4-2, then Princeton 3-2
Becky and Jayson — Niagara, 4-1 and 2-1

Saturday, Nov. 3
St. Lawrence at Clarkson
Vic’s Pick — I never pick against the Knights. Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 2
Becky and Jayson — Clarkson 4, St. Lawrence 3
Brown at Harvard
Vic’s Pick — Closer than most people think. Harvard 4, Brown 2
Becky and Jayson — Harvard 6, Brown 4
Iona at Colgate
Vic’s Pick — ‘Gate can’t be as bad as Minnesota made them look. Colgate 5, Iona 2
Becky and Jayson — Colgate 5, Iona 4

Sunday, Nov. 4
Dartmouth at Harvard
Vic’s Pick — Could be a preview of the Lake Placid championship. Harvard 3, Dartmouth 2
Becky and Jayson — Dartmouth 4, Harvard 2

And remember that if you are interested in putting your money where your mouth is, drop us an email to be eligible to be chosen when Vic bites the dust once again.

NCAA Grants CHA Final AQ Eligibility

By Adam Wodon
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The NCAA this week has granted final approval of the CHA’s eligibility for an automatic qualifier to the Division I men’s tournament.

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The news, originally reported by USCHO in August, all but assures the CHA will receive the sixth automatic qualifier, though the final vote must come from the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee at its annual July meetings. Assuming it is approved, and assuming the CHA maintains its current six-team membership, the conference will get an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament in 2003.

As reported in August, the key sticking point was whether the CHA was technically a full-fledged NCAA conference for a long enough period of time. Beacuse of Army’s departure from the league, Findlay’s questionable status, and the oft-rumored departure of Niagara, the issue was in doubt. But the Management Council of the NCAA ruled in August that the league did meet the by-laws retroactive to 1999, and with Findlay’s status confirmed, the NCAA gave the final recognition this week.

“The membership of College Hockey America is extremely pleased to receive confirmation from the NCAA for conference membership retroactive to September, 1999,” said Bob Peters, CHA commissioner. “The growth and development of collegiate hockey over the past decade is unprecedented, and College Hockey America is an example of the ever expanding interest and participation in hockey at all levels.

“Indeed, the CHA is grateful for the support and encouragement from the Division I hockey constituency. We are particularly thankful to commissioner Bruce McLeod and the WCHA for providing direction and leadership since our inception in 1999.”

Jack McDonald, chair of the men’s ice hockey committee, said he expects no trouble for the CHA in getting the automatic bid.

“Personally, I strongly endorse their AQ,” McDonald said. McDonald is also athletic director at Quinnipiac, a member of the MAAC, which just received its AQ last year.

“Based on all they’ve been through with membership — Army, Findlay, Niagara threatening to leave — they’ve been through a lot as an emerging league,” McDonald said. “They are probably are pretty pumped [by the news of becoming eligible], and deserve to be. They’ve been through more than the MAAC.

“The PWR/RPI [ratings numbers] proves they are better than MAAC. So, this is a formality. These schools have all been around a lot longer [than MAAC schools]. Where the real conversation comes in is, how do the other leagues feel about this? This is another at-large spot taken away by an emerging program.”

In August, when it was deemed the CHA met the eligibility requirements dating back to September, 1999, the key sticking point remained Niagara’s potential departure for the MAAC. However, the August decision by the management council seemed to quiet Niagara’s possible desire to leave. Niagara is a MAAC school in other sports, but for hockey, it gives 18 scholarships while the MAAC hockey schools are capped at 11.

College Hockey America, formed on June 15, 1999 with members Air Force, Alabama-Huntsville, Army (now in the MAAC), Bemidji State, Findlay, Niagara and Wayne State, is now in its third season.

Niagara earned the inaugural CHA regular season and tournament titles, while the Alabama-Huntsville won the 2000-01 CHA regular season championship and Wayne State captured the 2001 CHA Tournament crown.

This Week in the MAAC: Nov. 1, 2001

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Hats Off (of sorts) For the Crusaders

Traditions that exist involving hockey players and hair have existed since the beginning of the game. The playoff beard is popular in professional and college hockey, where players with grow facial hair for length of the postseason. And for high school, junior and prep players, many of whom aren’t old enough to grow facial hair, the tradition of shaving heads often takes on the same aura.

But this weekend, the Holy Cross Crusaders will walk onto the ice with shaved heads, as far away from the playoffs as you can imagine. This time, though, will be for a very different reason.

Hockey, particularly at the college and junior level, is one sport in which bonding with teammates is almost as important as knowing how to skate. The Crusaders have decided to shave their heads to show that bond.

Glen Crane, still considered a freshman after missing half of last season, has been diagnosed with a recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease and begins chemotherapy to treat the cancer this week. He came to coach Paul Pearl three weeks ago with the startling news.

Unfortunately, this was all too familiar to the sixth-year coach.

“Glen was diagnosed with the Hodgkin’s last year and he went through the chemo and thought he was back to start playing again,” said Pearl. “He was my best forward through the first two weeks of practice [this year], but he went back to the doctor’s because he was having trouble breathing.”

Both Crane and the doctor had hoped that the breathing difficulty was caused by scar tissue from the original cancer. But it wasn’t.

“We found out before our first exhibition game [that the cancer was back] and his first reaction was, ‘Coach, you’re going to play me, right?'”

Pearl did play Crane that night, and he scored a goal in a 5-3 loss to St. Nick’s. He made it into the lineup the following weekend at Air Force and, according to Pearl’s estimations, played well.

But that was the end of the road for now. Though Crane probably could have played against Bentley last weekend, Pearl decided to keep him out for safety reasons.

Thursday, Crane began his second round of chemotherapy, which Pearl said he accepts better than you could expect from a young player.

“He walks into my office and talks about chemo the way you and I would talk about the flu,” said Pearl. “It’s like, ‘Coach, I can’t be at practice today, because I have chemo.

“He’s really an amazing kid. I know all coaches say that about kids on their team, but he really is. You couldn’t imagine anyone handling this situation like he has.”

Which, most likely, is why his teammates wish to salute their brother.

While Crane is losing his hair to the effects of chemotherapy, the Crusaders will lose theirs to barbershop clippers, as Pearl puts it, “as a sign of solidarity.”

PEARL

PEARL

Pearl noted Crane’s own bravery as a source of hope.

“They’ve seen a lot,” said Pearl, noting that the team went through this last year when Crane was first diagnosed. “They’re a much more mature group because of what they’ve dealt with.

“And Glen is so unbelievably strong about it, and he seems to keep it from weighing on their heads. Maybe inside it weighs on these guys, but there’s no way they’d let it show outside. Glen has been too strong to let them.”

Crane is expected to finish the semester academically, and is likely to miss the second semester. Combined with one semester from last season, Crane will have completed an entire year and will return to Holy Cross as a sophomore.

Crane’s illness may have actually sparked some much-needed fight into the Crusaders early in the season. Not known for starting fast, Holy Cross has posted a 2-1 record in its first three games with wins over Bentley and Air Force.

Pearl credits this success to a coming-of-age or sorts.

“We’re not an old team, but we’ve now got kids with experience,” Pearl said. “I feel like I have four lines and six D out there that can go out and do well.

“Are we the best team in the league? Probably not. But we’re competitive.”

Pearl’s Crusaders will be able to test their mettle this weekend as the team takes the unenviable trip west to Mercyhurst and Canisius, something Pearl notes is never easy.

“Any time you play either of these two guys it’s difficult,” Pearl said. “Whether it’s the beginning or the end, it’s tough to go up there and play.”

One noted area of improvement for the Cross is goaltending. Derek Cunha, who showed signs of brilliance last season, has recorded both wins and will start in goal on Friday night. Cunha is part of a tandem with Rick Massey, also a sophomore. But Pearl can’t say at this point whether the tandem will remain or whether Cunha will become the number-one tender.

“Derek will start on Friday and whatever happens from there happens,” said Pearl. “I just like going with whoever is playing well. I think in the long term, different people end up getting their time.

“Goaltending is definitely a key. Whoever’s in there, we have to have some key saves at key times and we’ve gotten that so far.”

Weekly Awards

ITECH MAAC Hockey League Player of the Week: Adam Tackaberry, Mercyhurst So. F, Nepean, Ontario

Last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year picked up right where he left off, scoring both game-winning goals this weekend and added an assist. Tackaberry scored the only goal of the game, a power-play goal, to beat Fairfield Friday. He also had a power-play goal early in the third period of Saturday’s game to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead against Sacred Heart. Tackaberry had two game-winning goals all of last season.

ITECH MAAC Hockey League Goalie of the Week: Peter Aubry, Mercyhurst Sr., Windsor, Ontario

Aubry, the 2000-01 MAAC Goalie of the Year, is starting his bid to win the honor again. He allowed only two goals in a weekend where the Lakers went onto win both of their games against MAAC opponents. Aubry posted a shutout against Fairfield this weekend, stopping all 25 Stag shots. Against Sacred Heart on Saturday he stopped 24 of 26 shots. His weekend save percentage was .961 and his GAA was 1.00 as the Lakers started conference play.

ITECH MAAC Hockey League Rookie of the Week: Brent Williams, Iona Fr. F, Prince George, B.C.

The rookie forward scored his first three career goals on Friday in Iona’s 6-3 win over American International. His goal 31 seconds into the second period proved to be the game-winner as the Gaels continue to lead the MAAC with seven points. Saturday night against Quinnipiac, Williams assisted on the game-tying goal in the Gaels 4-2 victory.

Bright Lights For Quinnipiac

Predictions for success for Quinnipiac this season have, to say the least, been mixed. So far things have looked good for the Braves even though they’ve dropped two close games to a much-improved Iona team.

Regardless of the results on the ice, off the ice the athletic department has been working hard to improve the team’s image. Actually, the department has done its best to improve the entire state of Quinnipiac athletics.

One major step occurred recently when WCTX, [nl]Connecticut’s UPN affiliate, reached a deal with Quinnipiac to televise five athletics contests — four basketball games and one hockey game.

This comes at the same time at the ECAC hockey league whitewashed its TV deal with NESN, citing high production costs.

The hockey game to be televised is the November 25 contest against in-state rival UConn.

Poor Parade for Pioneers

Last Saturday’s game between Sacred Heart and Mercyhurst certainly could be deemed special. But the reference is anything but for Pioneers coach Shaun Hannah’s club.

Entering the third period tied at one, the Pioneers paraded nine players to the penalty box on separate infractions, including one five-minute major, putting the club shorthanded for 10:16 of the period (4:14 of which was 5-on-3). There would have been even more shorthanded time for the Pioneers had they not surrendered four power-play goals to the Lakers, to bring the grand total on the night to five. Mercyhurst connected on an incredible 5-for-15 on the man advantage that night in the 5-2 victory.

“It was a tough night for penalties, but I don’t think we helped ourselves near the end of the game,” said Hannah. “We scored a power-play goal of our own midway through [the third] and got some momentum and then took our frustrations out in the last five minutes to take it all away.

“We’ve got to get away from that as a team and not let things we can’t control effect our play.

“Mercyhurst has a good power play that moves the puck well. They capitalized on their opportunities on the power play. Just a team you can’t take penalties against.”

Iona Out of Gates Quickly

In a quest to go from bottom of the MAAC to the top in just four years, Iona College has already made an early impact on the standings.

Where most clubs start off the year with nonleague games, Iona this year began with four league games, and has posted a 3-0-1 record, placing it alone in first place.

Starting quickly has always been a good sign for MAAC champions. Mercyhurst didn’t lose a league game last year until January 9, starting the league season 8-0-1. When Quinnipiac captured its second regular-season titles in 1999-2000, they began the year with four league wins before dropping its only league game all season to Mercyhurst. One year earlier, the Braves began 13-1-0, their only loss coming to UConn in mid-November.

Youth Movement at Bentley

Don’t look now, but Bentley was able to record its first win last weekend, a full two months earlier than last season. And that win comes just a week after the Falcons had Fairfield firmly in their grasp before letting the win slip away.

So is there a revitalization in Waltham, Mass.? Seems like a strong possibility.

And leading the revolution are the least likely of citizens — the rookies.

In Saturday’s victory over AIC, all three Bentley goals came off the sticks of rookies — with Brian Goodwin tallying in the first, Nick Carosa tying the game with less than seven minutes to play, and Troy Weibler notching the OT game-winner.

Lest we also forget: between the pipes is rookie Simon St. Pierre from Montreal, Que. — one of only two foreign-born players on the roster.

This Week’s Highlights

Looking at this weekend’s schedule, the best bet for game of the week would have to be Sacred Heart traveling up I-95 to Quinnipiac on Saturday night. After last weekend’s demise against Mercyhurst, the Pioneers will have to face a tough Quinnipiac squad with hopes of proving their worth. The Pioneers were winless in three tries (0-2-1) against Quinnipiac last season.

Only one nonleague game is on tap, but it’s probably one of the most exciting early-season games in the league. Iona, quickly out of the gates, will travel to Colgate, which started the year with four losses (two vs. Nebraska-Omaha, two vs. Minnesota). The Red Raiders may be licking their chops to play a less-experienced MAAC team at this point on the schedule.

Picks Return

An apology to all the readers who have been without my weekly picks thus far. This week, though, will mark the return of my poor guessing … er, my picks.

Thank you, though, to all who wrote wondering why they were missing. Fan mail, as well as hate mail, is always welcome.

This Week in Hockey East: Nov. 1, 2001

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Upon Further Review

I admit it. I was wrong.

(Is there a doctor in the house? My wife just fainted.)

In this year’s Season Preview I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Hockey East’s top five teams seemed clear: Providence, Maine, New Hampshire, Boston College and Boston University. An extremely young UMass-Amherst team appeared destined for good things eventually, but for the cellar this year.

In between stood Merrimack, Northeastern and UMass-Lowell, in no particular order. The order was my rock and a hard place.

I liked Merrimack’s chances if its defense matured and could get scoring out of its second line. I also liked the looks of some of Northeastern’s freshmen, at least on paper, and felt they might be the missing ingredient along with more consistent goaltending.

And I thought UMass-Lowell was a potential home ice team, except… except for the fact that the River Hawks would be losing Yorick Treille, Laurent Meunier and top recruit Baptiste Amar for up to nine league games during the Olympics. That would constitute over a third of Lowell’s Hockey East schedule. To lose that much talent for so many games in a league where last year only 11 points separated last place and playoff home ice and only seven points separated fifth place from ninth seemed potentially fatal.

So without a good candidate for eighth place, I opted for the River Hawks.

It took me all of one game to realize I’d miscalculated at least a little. It took two games to realize I’d miscalculated a lot. After viewing a third Lowell game — its fourth of the season — I realized that “miscalculate” was a euphemism for “Hendrickson, you are a moron!”

To defeat Niagara in the season opener was one thing. To knock off Boston College, 7-2, on the road was another, but could potentially be dismissed since the very young Eagles were missing Ben Eaves. The total domination of Providence, however, for 39 minutes prior to a penalty-infested third period acted like smelling salts after a kick to the head. Devin Rask was on the Friar sidelines, but not even Mario Lemieux could have counteracted Lowell’s control in those two periods of Hockey East’s projected top team.

“It shows that we can be a dominant team when we execute our goals and our plan for that game,” said UML coach Blaise MacDonald. “This is a very harmonious team. There’s a real caring climate in the locker room. You’ll win some games and lose some games in the future, but I think that element will lift us up to where we want to go in the long haul. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Several factors could lead the River Hawks to an impressive finish in that marathon: a lineup that includes eight seniors (plus another two who are injured) and six juniors; the size that leads to winning battles down low; and well-rounded contributions that bode well for surviving the Olympic departure of Treille, Meunier and Amar.

“They’re real good right now,” said Providence coach Paul Pooley after the loss on Friday. “They’re probably one of the better teams in the league. They’ve got eight seniors, a new coach and a lot of energy.”

The experience factor is considerable. Not one of the eight seniors or six juniors is a marginal contributor.

“We could be the oldest team in the country,” said co-captain Chris Gustafson.

Age by itself, however, isn’t an automatic solution.

“Experience is useless unless you access it and learn from it in the future,” said MacDonald. “We’ve been able to do that.”

Despite graduating several of their biggest players up front, the River Hawks are still winning the battles down low and in the corners in the same way that they did so effectively last year down the stretch.

“We went into the [Providence] game thinking we matched up with them well,” said Gustafson. “We went in thinking that down low our defense could outmuscle their forwards and get the puck out of our zone. Our forwards, we assumed were bigger and stronger than their defensemen and would be able to cycle it down low.

“And I think that for the two-thirds of the game [that we dominated], I would attribute to our forwards cycling it so well down low. That’s the best I’ve seen our team do it this year. That’s going to take us a long way.”

Surprisingly, Pooley even expected Lowell’s control of the puck.

“I told the guys they were going to be in our zone and they would cycle the puck and maintain possession,” he said. “We were going to have to bend, but not break and wait for our opportunities and go two-on-one and three-on-two. But we didn’t weather the storm enough to give ourselves a chance….

“It’s no secret,” he said. “They beat us low…. They deserved to win it.”

Perhaps more important than any other factor, though, is the breadth of contributions coming from the River Hawk lineup. Scoring is coming not just from the veterans up front, but also from a defense that after just four games has almost as many goals as returnees from last year totaled in an entire season.

“It’s the systems we’re playing this year that are affecting the offense we’re getting,” said Gustafson. “We’re not taking too many chances. We’re just trying to get in there when we can.”

Penalty killing has been another major strength. Lowell already has two shorthanded goals and has now killed 18 straight infractions. Hidden from cursory views of the box scores is how the man-down units have played so well that they’ve goaded frustrated opponents into penalties themselves. Against Providence, first Steve Slonina and then Dan Fontas contributed in exactly that fashion.

“The penalty killing has been great,” said MacDonald. “We have three units up top: Slonina and [Ed] McGrane [are] dangerous as a penalty-killing unit. [Geoff] Schomogyi and Fontas work so well together. They have that sixth sense. Mark Concannon and Yorick Treille played outstanding [against PC] and did a great job.

“We’re going over the boards ready to kill extremely confident that we’re going to get the kill. It’s a great opportunity to get the momentum swing back our way.”

Of all the positive surprises and unexpectedly strong contributions, MacDonald is loath to pick out a biggest one.

“That’s a difficult question for me to answer because they’re all kind of new to me,” he said. “You can’t feel a guy’s spirit and soul and his competitiveness on tape. In the heat of battle on Friday and Saturday nights, you can define a person’s being athletically.

“There are a lot of guys that I love. I’d have a hard time picking out one person because it’s so balanced. There are so many guys contributing in so many ways.”

Earlier in his Lowell career, Gustafson lost 25 in a row to nationally ranked teams. (Thanks to the Lowell Sun‘s Chaz Scoggins for that note.) Now, however, the senior can point to four wins in the last five contests against nationally ranked teams spanning back to last year.

“We feel we belong,” he said. “Definitely! We think we can play with anyone.”

This week’s USCHO.com poll reflects that sentiment with the River Hawks now at number nine.

“It’s kind of early to worry about national polls,” said Gustafson. “It’s nice, but my eyes are on the big prize.”

And the big prize is…?

“The big prize,” he said, “is sitting in our brand new lounge, eating some pizza and waiting for the national polls and seeing who we’re going to play in the nationals.”

A trip to the NCAAs? Don’t bet the rent check against it.

At the Other End of the Spectrum

After being picked to finish first in Hockey East, the Providence Friars find themselves in last place with the worst overall winning percentage in the league (1-4-0, .200). Not only did they lose to Lowell last Friday, but they followed that up with a loss to UMass-Amherst at home two days later.

“Obviously, we’re not playing like a team that got picked to win Hockey East,” said assistant captain Peter Fregoe after the loss to Lowell. “We’re playing like a team that was picked to finish fifth. We got dominated and it’s just not acceptable.”

Devin Rask was out of the lineup on Friday night due to injury, which prompted some lineup shuffling, but returned on Sunday.

“There are no excuses for us not playing well,” said Fregoe. “It’s not because of the lineup.”

Junior Jon DiSalvatore added, “We have all the tools of the team that should be picked to finish number one, whether it be by default or not, [a reference to not receiving any first-place votes, but still finishing first in total votes]. We show signs of team that is going to be dominant in this league, but whatever is going on this early in the season is just [not fulfilling that promise.]

“We’re still a young team in a lot of areas and we have to learn in certain situations how to win: coming back behind, holding the lead, scoring the first goal and not give away two periods every game.”

Coach Paul Pooley can’t be happy right now, but pointed out, “We’re very, very young even though we’re picked to be very good. We’ve got a lot of growing to do as a hockey team.”

Banner Time

A sell-out crowd of 7,884 at Kelley Rink got to see the Boston College 2001 national championship banner unfurled in a pre-game ceremony prior to last Friday’s win over Notre Dame. In case you just returned from a trip to Pluto, the Eagles earned their title back on April 7, when they defeated North Dakota, 3-2, in overtime at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y.

“The rink crew did a terrific job of lowering it down slowly so it gave you a chance to rethink the scenario,” said BC coach Jerry York. “I thought of Coach [“Snooks”] Kelley. I don’t know why, but I just thought of him as a coach and playing [for him] at BC and all of those years thinking, ‘Hey we’d like to get banner!’ and finally actually getting one to hang.

“He used to talk about that back in the early sixties, saying, ‘Hey, let’s decorate McHugh Forum with some of these banners.’ So I thought back to that real quick.”

Laughing, York then added, “Then I thought about some of those players that we wish were still around: the [Brian] Giontas, the [Bobby] Allens and the [Scott] Clemmensens.”

BC could have held the celebration one week earlier during its home opener against UMass-Lowell, but instead opted for a night against a nonconference foe which is still one of its biggest rivals, Notre Dame. With the hockey and football teams facing off during Rivalry Weekend, the timing couldn’t have been better.

“The protocol was a concern to us because [the start of the game] was going to go late,” says York. “We certainly didn’t want to put a conference game in that situation. [Notre Dame coach] Dave [Poulin] said the protocol would not be a big problem.

“Plus, we’ve got such a great rivalry with Notre Dame. We knew we’d have a big crowd. It was a fitting weekend with the hockey and the football games. We made it a special impact weekend on campus.”

Has Hockey East Sold Out To BU?

One reader wrote to complain about last Sunday’s BU-Merrimack game on Fox Sports New England:

“I’m watching the BU/Merrimack game on Fox Sports New England, and I’m already disgusted with the new play-by-play announcer. THREE TIMES so far in the first period, when tossing to [a] break, he has said ‘You’re watching BU HOCKEY on Fox Sports New England.’ I’m a Maine fan, not a Merrimack fan, but I’m still insulted by the obvious favoritism.”

Is something going on here?

When Hockey East Director of Media Relations Noah Smith was at Northeastern a few years ago, was he really a Boston University mole? Does Supervisor of Officials Brendan Sheehy secretly whisper to his referees and linesmen to call the games the way Terrier coach Jack Parker tells them to? Does Commissioner Joe Bertagna really wear BU boxers?

Fear not. The Hockey East league office has not suddenly become a bastion of favoritism.

The league has its TV package with FOXSNE, but BU added a package of its own with the station. This is no different than UNH’s arrangement with New Hampshire Public TV and Maine’s with WABI.

The game on Sunday was part of the BU package so it actually was correct to call it “BU Hockey on Fox Sports New England.”

He Said… She Said

Here are two very different accounts of the same play, BU goaltender Sean Fields’ game-saving stop on Merrimack’s Anthony Aquino. The Terriers held a 1-0 lead late in the second period when Aquino broke in on a two-on-one with Marco Rosa. BU had dominated territorially, but a tying goal could have swung the momentum hard into Merrimack’s favor. Instead, Fields kept the Warriors off the board and a strong third period by BU put the game safely into the win column.

Athletes don’t get to this level without demanding a lot of themselves and having the confidence they can achieve their goals. Invariably, they’re also humble to a fault, at least when talking to the press.

Those qualities are showcased in the following “He Said… She Said” accounts of the same play.

Fields: “The defenseman played it perfectly. He just let me have the shooter and just pushed him off to the side. If he keeps doing that there isn’t much to shoot at. So it was a pretty easy save actually.”

Aquino: “It was the exact same goal I scored against UNH. I had the exact same play two-on-one. I had the goalie beat. I had him down and he showed me the top corner.

“[Fields] does that all the time. He did that to me a couple times last year and a couple of times in this game. He really likes his glove so he shows you his glove and then he takes it away.”

As for this writer’s impression, it sure looked like a heckuva save to me.

Six-on-three!

Last Friday’s Providence-Lowell game saw a rarity: a six-on-three man advantage with over eight minutes left in the game. The Friars trailed, 4-2, and with a faceoff in the River Hawk end, PC coach Paul Pooley lifted goaltender Nolan Schaefer for yet another attacker.

“If they score a goal there, we don’t deserve to win anyways,” he said.

As it turned out, the River Hawks almost did. Not having to worry about an icing call, Jerramie Domish fired a long shot at the net and didn’t miss by much.

To no one’s surprise, the Friars buzzed around the net threatening during the three-man advantage. They could not score, however, prior to taking a penalty for goaltender interference on a scrum in and around the crease. With the advantage down to only a single man, Pooley returned Schaefer to the net.

“You don’t have a six-on-three situation very often, but we didn’t get the puck to the net and shoot it enough,” said Pooley.

Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald analyzed the strange case of being up three men.

“I would venture to say that Paul Pooley didn’t have a chance to practice his six-on-three,” he said. “That’s what’s hard. You pull the goalie and you have a six-on-three and you just pack the net in.

“We weren’t going to extend ourselves. We stayed sucked back in deep and just had confidence that [goaltender] Jimi [St. John] would make the big save. That’s an opportunity to suck some energy out of them when they don’t score.”

Quip of the Week

When one wise guy in the press box cracked to MacDonald that Ron Hainsey, the departed All-American defenseman, hadn’t scored a point for the River Hawks and had, in fact, become pretty invisible, the River Hawk skipper didn’t miss a beat.

“He’s struggling,” said MacDonald. “I’ve done a poor job of coaching him, quite frankly.”

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question asked which current or former Hockey East coach has won the league’s Bob Kullen Coach of the Year Award more than any other? The tiebreaker went to the first reader who could also identify what years he won.

The correct answer was the late Shawn Walsh, who won the award four times at the helm of the Maine Black Bears: 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1995. BU coach Jack Parker, UNH coach Dick Umile and Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder have each won the award three times.

The first reader to answer correctly with all the right years was Chuck Murray, a message board regular whose winning may strike some as more than a little ironic. Chuck’s cheer is:

“GO UNH!! THE BLUE IS DUE IN 2002!!”

This week’s question asks which team already has six defensemen who have scored at least one goal. Name the team and the defensemen.

Mail your responses to Dave Hendrickson.

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

  • Personally, I wouldn’t have pitched Curt Schilling on anything but his accustomed amount of rest, but the gamble appeared to have paid off until the Yankees batted in the bottom of the ninth. I was pulling into the driveway with Bernie Williams at the plate and Tino Martinez about a minute away from his game-tying blast.

    As the radio fell silent and I opened the car door, my one hope was that I wouldn’t turn on the TV inside to the sound of delirious cheering. The image on my ancient TV trailed the sound by a couple seconds, but I didn’t need to look at the screen to know what had happened. The Bronx Bums had done it again. Oy!

  • Congratulations to Timmy Conway on his first goal. Timmy is the son of Kevin Conway, writer for the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune and all-around great guy. Way to go, Timmy! If you’re practicing shots on your Dad, shoot high.

    • This Week in the CCHA: Nov. 1, 2001

    By
    -

    Sweeps Week

    In Mexico, the first two days of November are known as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. These holidays which coincide with the Catholic holy days of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2) trace their routes back to ancient indigenous peoples who believed that the souls of the dead return every year to their loved ones, to eat, drink, and socialize.

    It’s tradition in Mexico to create altars that include candles, flowers, religious icons, and the favorite foods and beverages of the dead, to welcome them back and encourage them to linger.

    While it’s a little early in the season to sign any team’s death certificate, fans of some squads may consider constructing makeshift altars with pizza, beer, stick tape, and copies of Slap Shot.

    It couldn’t hurt, and hockey players are such a superstitious lot.

    Four days before Halloween, for only the fourth time in the history of the known universe, both Michigan State and Michigan were officially swept in the same weekend, and as a result the Spartans lost their top spot in the USCHO.com poll for the first time since some time late in the last millennium.

    Spooky.

    In Michigan State’s 5-1 loss to Nebraska-Omaha, Ryan Miller was pulled — you read that correctly — after he allowed the fourth goal. It’s the first time Miller has been pulled, also in the history of the known universe.

    Spookier still.

    In Omaha, the Spartans allowed a total of nine goals in two games, losing 4-3 Friday night as well.

    Ron Mason, Michigan State head coach, said there was a very simple reason the Spartans lost two in a row: “We played fine and we didn’t score any goals.”

    Mason is a bit bemused by the hype surrounding the losses. “We lost twice to Miami a couple of years ago. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.”

    The Spartans dropped two in a row to Miami in Oxford Nov. 19-20, 1999 (3-2, 3-0) — nearly two years ago, for those of you who are math challenged. While it may not be the end of the world, CCHA fans shouldn’t start celebrating the end of the reign of the Green and White just yet.

    “They will definitely be there in the end,” says Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley, whose Wildcats took two from Michigan in Yost last weekend. “You can’t count them out. They’re young, and they’ll be even better in a few months.”

    The Spartans are a young team. Two years ago, the CCHA lost one-third of its collective roster to graduation, meaning that one-third of the 2000-01 players were rookies.

    Michigan State is just going through what several programs encountered last season, with nine rookies on the MSU team this year. That influx of new players — even with solid veterans like Miller, Hall, Maloney, Liles, Fast — is bound to change a team.

    “Last year we were a very predictable hockey team,” says Mason. “We knew what to expect every night, and this year we simply don’t know. We’re not as consistent as we were, and you have to be consistent to win in this league.”

    As for Miller, Mason says that he’s confident the 2000-01 Hobey Baker winner will get his groove back. “He let in some goals he doesn’t normally let in [in Omaha]. Ryan’s carrying around a burden. He’s handled it so well in the public, and now he’s got to learn to handle it himself. He will.”

    Miller himself eloquently summed up the 5-1 loss: “Hockey gods aren’t so nice sometimes.”

    Michigan State has not had two losses this early in the season since 1996-97, when the Spartans opened with three straight wins before dropping consecutive games to Boston College and Northeastern.

    Saturday’s 5-1 loss was the worst MSU has suffered since Nov. 26, 1999, when the Spartans lost to Wisconsin 5-1 at Munn during the College Hockey Showcase, and the five UNO goals on Saturday were the most allowed by MSU since Mar. 24, 1999, when Boston College beat Michigan State 6-5 in the NCAA Western Regionals in Minneapolis.

    The nine goals in the two losses to Nebraska-Omaha are also the most the Spartans have allowed in a CCHA series since Feb. 11-12, 1994, when MSU lost and tied at Lake Superior State (11-1, 3-3).

    And finally, to give you an idea of just how different this MSU squad may be from last season’s team: Michigan State gave up at least four goals in each of last weekend’s losses, something that happened just twice during the entire 2000-01 season.

    Looking ahead to the end of the season, Mason, a master of understatement, says, “In the end, who knows if we’ll be there.”

    Don’t you believe him.

    Sweeps, Part Two

    Craig Kowalski has Michigan’s number.

    On Feb. 10, 2001, Kowalski and the Northern Michigan Wildcats blanked the Wolverines 2-0 in Yost Ice Arena. Kowalski had 25 saves in the game. Bryce Cockburn and Fred Mattersdorfer had the two goals, and Chad Theuer assisted on each.

    On Friday, Oct. 26, Kowalski did it again, making 28 saves as the ‘Cats downed Michigan, 1-0 in overtime. Ryan Carrigan had the only goal.

    “It wasn’t a typical one-zero game,” says NMU head coach Rick Comley. “Each team had lots of chances, and it could have been 4-4 or 5-5.”

    Comley says that even though he was busy coaching, he definitely “got the sense” that it was “some game,” just as he knew at the start of Saturday’s contest that the second match would be completely different.

    “It was a little more helter-skelter from the start. You could tell right away that the pucks were going to go in.”

    The final score was 5-3 in favor of the Wildcats, giving NMU the sweep, and giving the fans a lot to cheer about. Says Comley, “Fans like to see goals scored.”

    In spite of the two wins in the very hostile Yost Arena, Comley says fans shouldn’t write off the Wolverines, and shouldn’t anoint the Wildcats. “It’s so early, way too early. Most games have only played four or six games.”

    It may be early in the season, but it is clear that Craig Kowalski is playing very well. The sophomore has a .942 save percentage through four games, and a 1.61 goals-against average.

    Northern Michigan is one of three teams that are sophomore-heavy (the other are Alaska Fairbanks and Ohio State), and Comley says that his youngish team is definitely seasoned. “We only have three seniors, but I think it’s a pretty mature team. Defensively, we could be tighter, but it is early.”

    And Comley says that the Wildcats cannot take this weekend’s opponent, Notre Dame, lightly after beating a top-ranked team twice. “Bowling Green and Notre Dame really play us tough because they’re very physical teams.”

    As is Northern Michigan, the hardest-working team in college hockey.

    Sweeps, Part Three

    While the Mavericks and Wildcats were making quick work of the Spartans and Wolverines, another CCHA team was making noise on the road.

    The Miami RedHawks swept the Ferris State Bulldogs 5-4 and 3-2 in Big Rapids, a difficult and hostile venue for visiting teams.

    And while FSU may not be the ranked foes UNO and NMU faced last weekend, Miami head coach Enrico Blasi says that teams and fans around the league should take the Bulldogs very seriously.

    “They played very well. They probably deserved to win if not one night, both nights,” says Blasi. “Teams should not underestimate Ferris State. They’ve got a good team, they’re well coached, they can skate, and they work hard.”

    In the first match, the squads were tied 2-2 after one, with just one first-period goal scored five-on-five. Miami had a one-goal lead at the end of the second, but Mike Kinnie tied it up for Ferris State midway through the third. It was Mike Kompon’s late power-play goal that gave the RedHawks the win.

    The second contest was back-and-forth as well. After a scoreless first period, the teams were tied 1-1 after two on goals by Miami’s Greg Hogeboom and Ferris State’s Chris Kunitz. Derrick McIver put FSU ahead midway through the third, but Michael Glumac and Danny Stewart answered for the ‘Hawks with two quick goals, giving Miami the sweep.

    “Burleigh played well Saturday,” says Blasi. “We’re getting good contributions from different lines. Glumac’s chipping in. [Derek] Edwardson has been contributing, [and] Greg Hogeboom.”

    Through six games, Hogeboom (6-4-10) leads the RedHawks in scoring, followed by Jason Deskins (1-8-9), Mike Glumac (6-2-8), and Nick Jardine (2-3-5).

    In six games, Burleigh has struggled a bit, with a .882 save percentage and 2.99 GAA.

    Like Mason and Comley, Blasi cautions that the season is very young, and no one should be looking too far ahead — but he feels safe in predicting that the league is wide open, and at this point, everything is up for grabs.

    “You know what it’s going to be this year? It’s going to be timing,” says Blasi, who thinks that in the end, the final standings will come down to, well, the end. “It’s going to be when you get certain teams, what the injury report’s going to be, whether a team is on a roll or whether they’re not.

    “Take your pick.”

    This week, the RedHawks take on the Western Michigan Broncos, who successfully defended the Realm against Maine last week, beating the Black Bears 4-3 before tying them up 2-2, both games in Kalamazoo.

    Rookie Mike Mantua had the win with 29 saves for WMU, another game that went back and forth. Freshman Jeremy Cheyne had two goals for the Broncos, and Brent Rumble and Patrick Dwyer each found the net. Dwyer’s tally was the game-winner, a five-on-three power-play goal at 5:40 in the third.

    Jeff Reynaert had 29 saves in the tie. Paul Davies and Anthony Battaglia had the goals for Western.

    “I remember the first game last year here,” says Blasi of the Broncos. “It was a battle. We’ll be on our best to compete.”

    The Broncos hold a 44-35-6 advantage in this all-time series, but are 19-19-1 against Miami in Goggin Arena. Last year, the RedHawks and Broncos split in Lawson Arena, with Western winning 6-4 the first night (Dec. 1) before Miami took the nightcap, 5-1 (Dec. 2).

    In Goggin during the 2000-01 season, Miami won both games, 4-1 and 7-3 (Feb. 2-3).

    Blasi says if there’s one thing he’d like to see from his team this weekend, it’s consistency. “Sometimes we lose focus. Then again, it’s October.”

    The games against Western also give Blasi the opportunity to bring his all-time coaching record above the .500 mark. Blasi is 37-38-5 all-time after the sweep in Big Rapids. Blasi is 4-1-1 all-time against Western Michigan.

    Not surprisingly, Mike Bishai leads the Broncos in points so far this season (0-9-9), but the freshman Pat Dwyer (4-2-6) has notched four goals in six games to lead WMU in that category. Big, bad defender Dave Cousineau (2-3-5) is tired for third in scoring with Paul Davies (2-3-5), and Dana Lattery (1-4-5).

    Mike Mantua (.883 SV%, 3.23 GAA) has seen more time in net than veteran Jeff Reynaert (.842 SV%, 4.15 GAA), but WMU coach Jim Culhane has indicated that he’s looking to both of them to play.

    Games, Grudges, Complimenting Jerseys…

    What a way to start a season.

    People in Omaha are talking about how Friday night’s hockey game was one of the most exciting hockey games they’ve ever seen in their lives."

    — UNO head coach Mike Kemp, on the Mavs’ first-night victory over then-No. 1 Michigan State.

    On the other side of the back-to-back Michigan State losses were back-to-back Nebraska-Omaha wins. UNO beat MSU 4-3 and 5-1 in Omaha last weekend.

    “They were excellent hockey games,” says Nebraska-Omaha head coach Mike Kemp. “People in Omaha are talking about how Friday night’s hockey game was one of the most exciting hockey games they’ve ever seen in their lives.

    “It was a game that was hard-fought. We had a two-one lead going into the third period, and Michigan State comes back, ties it up early in the third, takes a lead with three minutes to go, and we just had a flurry at the end, scoring two goals in the last two minutes to win the game. It was a very, very exciting finish.”

    Shane Glover and Jeff Hoggan gave the Mavericks their first two goals of the game and a 2-1 lead at the end of one. After a scoreless second period, however, Duncan Keith and Brian Maloney put the Spartans ahead by a goal until Gus Groslie and Glover scored 1:46 apart with less than three minutes to go to give UNO the win.

    “The Saturday night game was much the same,” says Kemp, “a very evenly played game, much more so than the score indicated.”

    Andrew Wong, David Brisson, Aaron Smith, Groslie, and Scotty Turner each netted one in the 5-1 win, completing a rare sweep of Michigan State.

    Danny Ellis had 61 saves in the two games.

    Going into the weekend and facing the then-top-ranked team, Kemp says his team was optimistic but realistic. “The last time^Åwas 1999 when they were swept in a series, so you don’t go into the series thinking that [you’ll sweep], but after you win Friday night, you say, ‘OK. We’ve got a great shot at it.’ Our guys went out and played very, very hard Saturday, played very smart, and we were lucky enough to come out with a win.”

    After two conference games, Nebraska-Omaha has four points, just one behind the Mavericks’ opponent this weekend, Ohio State. With a 5-1-0 record overall, the Mavericks have been “resilient,” says Kemp.

    “We’ve been behind now three of our five wins in the third period and have had to come back and win games late. We haven’t quit, just keep playing. They’re a plucky bunch, I would say.”

    Another key to UNO’s early-season success is the Mavericks’ propensity to follow orders. “They’ve been doing the types of things that we talk to them about,” says Kemp. “They stay to the script. That doesn’t happen a lot [in hockey]. Guys try to improvise, try to do things to make things happen, and consequently for us, having them stay to the script has been a brought success for us. It’s been the reason we win.”

    This weekend, the Mavericks meet the Buckeyes in Columbus, a game highly anticipated by fans of both teams. Friday’s game will be the first meeting between the squads since UNO defeated OSU, 4-3, in double-overtime in the third game of the first-round, best-of-three CCHA playoff series last March. Billy Pugliese had two goals for UNO in that match, including the game-winner.

    Fortunately for Ohio State, Billy Pugliese graduated.

    Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Dave Steckel and J.B. Bittner will miss Friday’s match, having earned game disqualifications in a melee at the end of Ohio State’s 4-3 win over Bowling Green last Saturday, Oct. 27. Bittner scored the game-winner in that contest, assisted by Steckel, with just 27 seconds remaining in regulation.

    “A thing like that can bring a team together, can be something they rally around,” says Ohio State head coach John Markell of the game disqualifications. “This will give some guys a chance to step up and play.”

    Also out for the Buckeyes is Luke Pavlas, who will miss at least a few games with a shoulder injury. Backup goaltender Pete Wishloff is lost for the season, also with a shoulder injury.

    The good news for Ohio State is that Paul Caponigri should be ready to play. Caponigri, a former teammate of UNO netminder Danny Ellis when the two played with the Omaha Lancers, missed the win in Bowling Green with bruised ribs.

    So, for those of you playing musical chairs with the Buckeye roster at home, here’s what’s been happening. Last weekend, Bittner was moved to the first line to play with Steckel and R.J. Umberger because of Caponigri’s absence. This week, Caponigri will be back with Umberger, and someone else will be there to replace Steckel on Friday night.

    Of course, that means that someone else will be in for Bittner. Markell may dress seven defensemen for Friday’s game, as he did against Bowling Green on Saturday.

    Both the Mavericks and the Buckeyes can score. Andrew Wong (3-6-9) leads not only the Mavs but also the CCHA in scoring, followed by teammate Jeff Hoggan (6-5-1). Aaron Smith (3-7-10) is right up there as well, technically tied for third in overall scoring in the CCHA.

    Through six games, UNO is outscoring opponents 25-19, and the Mavericks are second in overall goals per game so far this year, averaging 4.17.

    Three Buckeyes have five points through four games: R.J. Umberger (2- 3-5), Miguel Lafleche (1-4-5), and Dave Steckel (1-4-5). The Bucks and their opponents are dead-even in goal production this season (14), and OSU is tied for third in goals per game (3.50) in overall play so far this season.

    UNO and OSU are close in goals allowed, as well, with Nebraska-Omaha allowing 3.17 per game, and Ohio State allowing 3.50. Ellis (.889 SV%) edges Mike Betz slightly in net (.880), but if these two play like they did in against each other in March, fans are in for a heck of a weekend of hockey.

    What may decide these two games is the way in which Ohio State plays in its own end. Through the first four games of the season, the Buckeyes have looked mediocre to terrible in their own zone, trying to force offensive plays from behind their own blue line and frequently turning over the puck in front of their own cage.

    Another issue is the nearly-empty Value City Arena. In a venue that seats 17,000-plus for hockey, 2,000 to 3,000 loyal fans can’t make much noise. Last season, the Buckeyes were a better road team than home team, and after their three-point weekend against Notre Dame to kick off this campaign, Markell said that this OSU team was going to make every effort to make home feel like home — and feel rough for visiting teams.

    “This is going to be an unbelievably hard-fought series,” says Kemp. “They’ve probably had us red-lettered since last March.”

    Indeed.

    This Week in the ECAC Northeast: Nov. 1, 2001

    By Ed Seero
    -

    The lack of game action in the early going lends itself to a lack of material for a weekly column, but that does not mean that there is nothing to talk about.

    So what is there to talk about?

    Well, this weekend will see a slew of Northeast teams in action and things will be picking up in the coming weeks. We will take a look at this upcoming weekend.

    But first, I thought I would expand on something I originally introduced in the ECAC Northeast season preview.

    In talking to the coaches around the ECAC Northeast before the season, one thing is consistent — positive energy is emanating from everyone in the league. Each and every team believes that they have a shot at making the playoffs and everyone is starting the season on a positive note.

    One of the positives that really jumped out at me is the consensus opinion that the Northeast is a league on the rise. No longer is it a league filled with the proverbial sisters of the poor. That maybe overstating it, the league may never have been the sisters of the poor per se, but there were certainly people around division III hockey circles who gave the Northeast little, if any respect.

    As I said, I touched on this a little bit in the preseason preview with what I hope was a clever analogy to my brother and I playing wiffleball. The point being that other teams and leagues took the Northeast lightly in the past, scheduling teams out of the Northeast either to a fill an open slot in a tournament, or maybe just to try and get an “easy” win. Things are different now. And it is because of the overall improvement of the league.

    Why and in what areas is the Northeast improving? Something thing that became clear in my preseason conversations with the coaches is that the league is definitely a coach-driven league. That said, who better to consult then the coaches themselves? Some coaches had some particularly astute comments on this and most every coach mentioned some of the same things. Here is a little of what they had to say.

    Curry head coach Bob Davies made a comment that summed up the state of the Northeast very well. “The league is improving in all aspects: coaching, commitment by schools, quality of kids playing the game.”

    Reasons for this rise, according to Davies, includes sponsorship, greater commitment level by everyone involved and more full time coaches. He also sees a league where the separation between the teams is not dramatic and a lot of the separation is dependent on the fringe players. “All these teams have talent. Some have more depth than others.”

    Every team having talent means that every team has a chance and if every team has a chance then each and every league contest is meaningful.

    “The league is just so wide open,” said Southern New Hampshire University coach Rene Leclerc. “Nobody is going to run away with it.” This is a good equation for quality hockey being played in any given ECAC Northeast contest.

    Western New England College first year head coach Karl Enroth credits some of the improvement to the fact that there are just more good hockey players out there then there used to be. The sport of hockey is growing. Evidence of this can be seen in the prep school and junior hockey level where there are more strong teams who play a better brand of hockey then in the past. With that there is a wider breadth of players reaching college age who are just better, more polished players.

    “There’s just more kids out there,” said Enroth, who specifically cited junior programs for a good amount of the improvement. “With the growth of the game, there is better coaches out there.”

    This is a very interesting point. No longer is it prep school or bust. There are simply more avenues for kids to take to get noticed and to make themselves good enough to play college hockey. And many of these youth, junior and high school hockey coaches are well-qualified guys who really know their stuff.

    "All these teams have talent. Some have more depth than others."

    — Curry head coach Bob Davies, on the development of the ECAC Northeast

    This is especially true around New England, where most Northeast teams draw most of their talent from. Take a look at the quality options that high school aged New Englanders have now that didn’t exist in the past. From midget teams, to AAA teams, the EJHL, to the IJHL, the Boston Bulldogs, and so forth. And when you add into the mix the guys who are coming from junior programs as far away as Alaska and Canada, you have some real top flight Division III talent coming into the league. One can see how there is an increased number of high caliber players coming into the college ranks.

    Worcester State College head coach John Guiney agrees with those sentiments. “We’ve come a long way,” said Guiney about the Northeast, “The league has gotten better because of depth.”

    Another thing that a number of coaches mentioned is the presence of the NCAA automatic bid, granted to the Northeast last year. This bid ensures that at least one team will be represented in the postseason tournament. According to some coaches, kids are attracted to that because they see it as an opportunity to play meaningful games for a longer period of time. What hockey player doesn’t want to do that? The bid also gives the league a concrete legitimacy that it may have lacked in years prior to the instatement of the automatic bid.

    The presence of full-time coaches is another plus, not to take anything away from part-time coaches. There are certainly part-timers who put every bit as much work into their team as a full-time coach. However, by the very nature of the title, a full-time coach can devote more time to his position and work on things for the betterment of their team and thus, the league. And with more of these present in the Northeast, the league is better off. Recruiting, game prep, media relations — everything is easier for a full-timer; it’s no coincidence that most of the top teams in the conference have full-time guys at the helm.

    For Curry assistant coach Bob Barich, it is cooperation from the administration and the athletic department that has allowed him and head coach Bob Davies to begin to build a better team, which solidifies the quality of league play even further.

    But cooperation is one thing. Financial backing is another. This is another interesting topic cited by Barich as necessary for the improvement of the league. “The schools have to back the teams financially. You can see that certain teams get [financial backing] and certain teams don’t.”

    This is another excellent point. Let’s face it, more money for a program means more resources at a coach’s disposal. This can aid in recruiting, scheduling, uniforms, permanent locker rooms, ice time, everything really. Even the smallest things like spacious stalls, the presence of a nice stick rack, or a snappy paint job in the locker room can attract better talent to a program and these things require money to be spent. The more money you have behind your program, the better off you are.

    Head coach Scott Harlow of Stonehill, a newcomer to the league last year, sees the Northeast as a league on the rise as well. “I think it’s great. I was impressed by it last year,” said Harlow, “The hockey is very strong.”

    I agree.

    Opening Weekend

    The opening weekend of conference play will see a number of intriguing matchups and it could tell us a lot about some teams in the early going.

    Wentworth will take on Stonehill on Friday night at the Bridgewater Ice Arena. This game could answer some questions about both teams. Namely, will the Wentworth youngsters step up to fill the voids lost through graduation and enable Wentworth to remain one of the conference’s top teams? Will Stonehill suffer as a result of their tough early schedule or will they make an announcement to the league that they need to be taken very seriously?

    Stonehill plays Wentworth Friday, Johnson and Wales on Sunday, and Fitchburg State next Wednesday — pretty tough early going. Harlow acknowledged that his early schedule is daunting, but does not seem fazed

    “I think we’ll be all right early on. It will give us a good indication of our team,” he said. “You’ve got to play everyone eventually, so why not [play them] early on?”

    The Paine Webber Classic will be an interesting tournament. Four Northeast teams: Assumption College, Fitchburg State , Salve Regina , and Worcester State will compete for the championship trophy.

    While none of the games count in the conference standings, like the Wentworth and Stonehill game they will help to answer early-season questions for the teams involved.

    Will Salve and Assumption carry over the momentum from the end of last year? Will Fitchburg return to its former self and be a dominant team in the league? What kind of a team is Worcester?

    It is only two games for each team, and every season is usually a series of ups and downs, but these questions will be answered in part by this tournament.

    On Friday, Worcester will play Fitchburg at 5pm and Assumption takes on Salve around 8pm. The winners will face off Saturday at 8pm and the consolation game will be held prior to that at 5pm. The tournament is being hosted by Assumption and all games will be played at the Buffone Ice Arena in Worcester, Mass.

    Last Week

    Lebanon Valley was the only Northeast team in action last week. They took on a Manhattanville squad that garnered 15 votes in the USCHO Division III preseason poll and was 3-0 heading into the game with LVC. The game was Lebanon’s season opener. Tough opening act for the Dutchmen.

    While the Valiants came into the game with three games already under their belts, LVC skated into the contest with under a week’s worth of practices. The Valiants skated away with a 5-3 victory. An empty net goal was scored late in the third, so the game was a tighter contest than the score appeared.

    An encouraging sign for LVC is that junior forward Scott Schilling, who was not eligible for the second half of last year, made his returned presence felt immediately, potting two of the three Dutchmen goals.

    LVC will take on an upstart Utica team this weekend. This will be an interesting matchup as Utica comes into the contest at 0-1-1 but has an older team that cannot be taken lightly.

    While we’re on the topic of Lebanon Valley, I want to personally apologize for an error I made in last week’s season preview. I originally reported that LVC would be unable to host playoff games, as voted by the coaches of the Northeast, which is not true. Lebanon Valley will be able to host playoff games. Again, I apologize for the error and for any confusion it may have caused anyone, especially Coach MacCormack, the Lebanon players and the LVC community.

    And finally…

    Things That Keep Me Up At Night

    Throughout the season I will use this space to convey semi-random, non-ECAC Northeast thoughts about sports that come to me at that critical moment between shutting out the lights and falling asleep. I hate those but sometimes I think they’re noteworthy so I write them down and they entertain me so there’s a chance they will entertain others. I’ll throw them out there just to see what sticks. Feel free to email me about anything either column related or TTKMUAN related. (That’s code for Things that keep me up at night) Here are this week’s entries.

    • Where does the expression “farm team” come from? I really want to know. Can someone who knows email the answer?
    • Who was Mel Kiper, Sr.?
    • There’s a guy on the UNLV football team named “Wagers.” Nice.
    • First of all, mullet humor has gone too far. At first, it was funny and unique. Now you look up the word “mullet” on Yahoo and you get hundreds of search results.

      But it occurred to me the other day as I watched SportsCenter — what is with Curt Schilling’s hairdo?

      Seriously, he seems like a guy who is relatively with-it. Right? I mean, has he never heard of a mullet? Or does he just not believe in sideburns? Either way, it is ridiculous for a grown man who makes the kind of money he does to have that hairdo.

      Don’t even get me started on the fashion mess that is Randy Johnson. He would look at the 1991 University of Moncton team picture and think to himself, ‘Now there’s a sharp-looking bunch of guys.”

      No offense to anyone who is related to, knows, or was on the U of M-NB 1991 team, of course.

    This Week in Division III: Nov. 1, 2001

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    Poll Position

    At the beginning of a sports season, optimism is in the air, and D-III hockey is no exception. Everyone starts out 0-0, and that 2-23 season (or 23-2 season) that finished up last March means nothing anymore.

    But a bit of rain must fall into every coach’s life, and around this time of the season, it comes in the form of preseason polls. Finish at or near the top, you can enjoy a bulls-eye on your back and high expectations from fans for the rest of the season. Finish near the bottom and some of that early season optimism will fade away.

    I’ve already covered the USCHO.com poll, but let’s look at the various conference preseason polls, as well as off-season and early-season news.

    ECAC Northeast

    No surprises with the ECAC Northeast coaches poll as playoff champion Lebanon Valley is expected to win the regular season title. Tufts finished first in the ECAC Northeast in 2000-2001 but has moved to the NESCAC beginning this season.

    It used to be that either Fitchburg State or UMass-Dartmouth would claim the championship year in and year out, but some upstart programs like Lebanon Valley, Johnson & Wales and Salve Regina have started to make some noise. It’s been four years since a team repeated as champion, and with as many as five programs within striking distance of the title, things will be up for grabs this season as well.

    There was a bit of controversy last week when USCHO reported that should Lebanon Valley be eligible to host a playoff game, the league would prohibit it from doing so. Lebanon Valley is by far the longest trip in the ECAC Northeast, which is a cost-containment league (no on-campus rinks, some coaches are part-time). Sources at the ECAC and within the league confirmed this, but according to Lebanon Valley head coach Al MacCormack, there’s no truth to this story.

    USCHO regrets the error, but it’s certainly curious as to how this rumor got started. The Dutchmen have come a long way in just three seasons, so fast in fact that rumors of a switch to another conference (possibly the ECAC West) seem to spring up every few months. No truth to those, either.

    One rumor that did turn out to be true is that the Northeast will expand again next season. The loss of Tufts and St. Michael’s this season will be partially offset by the addition of Franklin Pierce College for the 2002-2003 season. The ECAC accepted the Raven’s proposal to join as a Division II team, meaning that they will play an ECAC Northeast schedule and compete with Assumption, Stonehill, St. Michael’s, St. Anselm and Southern New Hampshire (formally New Hampshire College) for the ECAC Division II title.

    Franklin Pierce currently competes in the Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association, a club league that has sent Johnson & Wales and Salve Regina to the ECAC Northeast in recent years.

    ECAC West

    With two new schools, the ECAC West is beginning to look like a real conference again. Once 17 teams strong, the West had dwindled to just four teams after the departures of Canisius, Niagara and Mercyhurst. Six games doesn’t make for much of a conference schedule.

    The additions of Utica and Neumann give each team a respectable 10 conference games, as well as a respectably-sized preseason poll. RIT is picked to again win the regular season title (the Tigers have taken it each of the past three seasons), but Elmira and Manhattanville also got first place votes.

    Both the Soaring Eagles and the Valiants should be better than last season. Elmira returns a nice group of veterans plus a new coaching staff headed up by former assistant Tim Ceglarski, while Manhattanville lost just one player to graduation, albeit leading scorer Tommy Prate (38 points last season).

    RIT lost two All-Americans (Derek Hahn and Pete Bournazakis) but is very solid at the blue line and added some high scoring freshman.

    Hobart is in rebuilding mode with 15 freshman on the roster, but is a decent 1-1 so far out of conference. The ECAC West as a whole is off to a nice 7-3-1 start in nonconference games.

    Utica and Neumann are the unknowns, but both are following the “Manhattanville Model,” also known as “How To Make the Conference Finals In Just Your Third Year.” With a maximum of one team allowed to make the NCAA tournament each season, things could get very top-heavy in the ECAC West in a few years.

    Besides adding new teams, existing rinks have been updated. Elmira, Hobart and RIT have all made improvements to their facilities, ranging from new locker rooms to new lighting and sound systems.

    ECAC East

    The East won’t even start practicing until November 1st, so fans there will have to satisfied with deconstructing the preseason poll.

    Norwich, upset by New England College in the ECAC East finals last season, is picked to finish first for the third consecutive season (seven first place votes). The Cadets will be without Keith Aucoin, but have enough talent to return to the top. Expect Chris Petracco to step into the leading scorer’s role and challenge for league MVP.

    Salem State was picked to finish second, getting the remaining three first place votes. The Vikings are always in the hunt (29 postseason appearances in the past 30 seasons), and should finish near the top of the standings. Last season’s playoff champ and NCAA representative, New England College, is picked to finish fourth. New head coach Scott Borek will try to repeat despite the loss of all-conference forwards Ralph Aiello and Keith Wallace (90 points between them).

    Picked to finish last are the new kids on the block, St. Michael’s, which moves from the ECAC Northeast. The addition of two more teams to the NESCAC/ECAC East allows for travel partners to be split along conference lines. Gone, for example, is the traditional Middlebury/Norwich “weekend from hell.” Norwich will now be paired with St. Michael’s. Skidmore and MCLA are also now paired, while Babson stays with UMass-Boston, Salem with Southern Maine, and St. Anselm with NEC.

    ECAC East teams begin play on November 16th.

    NESCAC

    NESCAC fans must also patiently wait for their season to start, and they don’t even have a preseason poll to analyze. As a public service, here’s my guess as to what it might look like:

    1. Middlebury
    2. Amherst
    3. Bowdoin
    4. Colby
    5. Hamilton
    6. Trinity
    7. Williams
    8. Conn. College
    9. Wesleyan
    10. Tufts

    Amherst is the big question mark. The Lord Jeffs were a goal away from the NESCAC title and contended for the NCAA at-large berth last season. But they lost their number one defenseman (Jim Smith, NESCAC player of the year) and top goalie Nick Rieser. If those holes can be plugged, Amherst will be in the running again. If not, expect any team in positions three through seven to make a run at Middlebury.

    The Panthers are the clear favorite, more so than last season. They’ll be paired this season with Williams, as the NESCAC and ECAC East split in terms of travel partners (see above). Other new pairings are Amherst-Hamilton and Tufts-Conn. College. Trinity is still paired with Wesleyan, as are traditional partners and long-time rivals Colby and Bowdoin.

    SUNYAC

    Plattsburgh is the clear favorite, and for good reason. The Cardinals may be as good this season as they were last year, while the rest of the league may not be. Oswego and Potsdam should challenge, but both lost a lot to graduation.

    Buffalo State is expected to improve and it should, while Geneseo must face life without its three leading scorers from last season.

    Beyond the top three, one can make a case for any of the other five teams to grab the final three playoff positions. Both Brockport and Cortland sent wake up calls to the rest of the league last weekend. The Golden Eagles, picked to finish last defeated sixth-seeded Geneseo in the consolation round of the Chase Rochester Cup tournament after playing RIT tough the night before. The Cortland Red Dragons are an even bigger surprise. Picked to finish seventh, Cortland is off to a 3-0 start, including wins over conference rivals Potsdam and Fredonia to claim the first ever SUNYAC Challenge preseason tournament.

    MIAC

    Changes abound in the MIAC this season. Teams are starting earlier than ever (the first league games are November 2nd) and the postseason tournament has been changed to a single-elimination final-four format at a pre-determined site. Teams used to play two-game series with a possible minigame over two weekends, but now will take a two-week break after the regular season before the conference playoffs.

    St. Thomas is picked in the preseason poll to repeat as regular season champions, with St. John’s a close second. Last year’s Cinderella, Bethel, is picked to finish fifth and out of the running. But the Royals were picked to finish seventh last season and wound up a goal away from the MIAC championship and a trip to the NCAAs.

    NCHA

    The NCHA has also changed its playoff format for this season. The first round will remain the same, with all eight teams qualifying and using a best of two with a possible minigame format.

    But this season, the four semifinalists will take a weekend off and convene at the site of the highest remaining seed for a single-elimination format.

    That leaves only the SUNYACs with a two-team championship weekend. The ECAC East, NESCAC, ECAC West and MCHA have been using that format for several years. Now the MIAC and NCHA have adopted this format.

    Why? Two main reasons — more games in the post season may mean more losses. When teams are competing for the single at-large bid, anything but a sweep in a best-of-two series can hurt their chances. It’s all about the losses you have at that point. Also, the format helps teams prepare for a possible NCAA Frozen Four. However, the old system helped teams prepare for the first round of the NCAAs, which uses the best-of-two format.

    Looking at the preseason poll, the coaches think the NCHA will be a three-horse race, closely contested by Wisconsin-River Falls, Wisconsin-Superior, and St. Norbert. But also watch out for Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which should improve over last season, and Wisconsin-Stout, slowly becoming a contender in the NCHA.

    MCHA

    No poll has been released, but teams have already begun play. So far, the MCHA has struggled in nonconference play, going 0-7. Conference play begins this weekend.

    In the absence of a poll, here’s my estimate:

    1. Marian
    2. Minnesota-Crookston
    3. MSOE
    4. Northland
    5. Lawrence

    I’m picking the Sabres to repeat as champs. This season, they’ll play Crookston four times instead of using the two-game eight-point series format used the past two years. That’s good news, since those games are some of the best the MCHA has to offer.

    Also good news for the MCHA was that Marian’s proposal to leave in favor of the NCHA was rejected by the NCHA. The vote was along party lines, with the five public Wisconsin schools in opposition and the three private colleges voting “yes”.

    The rejection of the proposal means the MCHA, for now, keeps one of its top teams.

    This Week in the SUNYAC: Nov. 1, 2001

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    First Game, Biggest Game

    It’s finally here. This weekend starts SUNYAC conference play.

    For Oswego and Plattsburgh, Friday’s game is also their first NCAA contest.

    “I think this is going to be the toughest two-game road trip of the year for us. Fortunately, it’s at the beginning of the year for us and we don’t have any injuries,” said Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery, who travels to Cortland on Saturday.

    “Oswego’s always been a tough place to play. They always seem to have a good crowd when they play us. That is our number-one rival in college hockey — probably the best rivalry in Division III. The game is going to be filled with emotion. They’re going to be really jacked up and we’ve got to be ready to play.”

    That boisterous Romney Fieldhouse crowd should be out in large numbers to support the Lakers, but coach George Roll doesn’t want his players to get too absorbed by the atmosphere.

    “Against a team like Plattsburgh, you have to play 60 minutes and you have to stay within your system,” Roll said, “and not get caught up in the crowd, especially because when our team gets too excited, we tend to take a lot of penalties, and that’s not something you want to do against Plattsburgh.

    “We just want to remain realistic in our goals for the weekend and try to get better as the season progresses. The guys are extremely excited to play, but we’ve tried to keep it on an even keel.”

    One decision Roll had to make before this weekend was which goalie would get the start against the Cardinals: Joe Lofberg, Tyson Gajda, or Sebastian Matte.

    “This weekend Tyson’s going to play against Plattsburgh, and we’ll have to see about Saturday. Right now, Tyson has the upper hand as to who is number one and we’ll have to see how the other guys do,” said Roll. “It’s gonna be a difficult situation [this season] in terms of who is going to be number-one.”

    One of Emery’s goals this season is “to try to equal the emotion of our opponent. Being former national champion and being picked No. 1, teams’ emotions are going to be extremely high. And I think when there’s more emotion, you’re going to get faster and you’re going to get stronger. We have to realize that.”

    Emotions will be high at Oswego this Friday as the first game of the season for both teams is also one of their biggest.

    Potsdam Looks For Redemption

    Tom Cranfield’s upstart Cortland Red Dragons host Potsdam Friday. In the first game of the SUNYAC Challenge, the Bears were upset by Cortland, 3-2.

    “I’ll bet that Ed [Seney, Potsdam coach] has got a little redemption on his mind. So it will be an interesting weekend, opening up with Potsdam, and we’ll see where we matchup with Plattsburgh,” said Cranfield.

    “Cortland’s got a good a goalie, and we’re playing them down there, so I’m sure they’re confident they can beat us again. Our guys now are trying to prove that we’re going to be a pretty good team this year. Whether we are or not, we don’t know yet,” said Seney, who has a dozen rookies on the roster.

    The Other Matchups

    Buffalo State and Fredonia visit Geneseo and Brockport in the other travel-partner matchups this weekend.

    In contrast to Plattsburgh and Oswego, both the Bengals and Blue Devils have four games under their belts from the SUNYAC Challenge and the Buffalo State All Sport Invitational, while Geneseo has played three games and Brockport two.

    Does the early-season play give a team a leg up when it comes to conference play?

    “We’ll take every leg up we can get. I think it gives you a little more opportunity to be game savvy.” said Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith. “It allows them to have maybe some of their system down under fire. And it gives them a better taste of the level of intensity that they need to compete, which certainly goes up when you get into conference play.”

    For Brockport’s Brian Dickinson, the win over Geneseo last weekend in the Chase Rochester Cup tournament was important in setting the right tone for the Golden Eagles. “The win last weekend was huge. If we were 0-and-2, and we were coming off the year we had, and you fall behind on Friday, keeping the kids going in the right direction — it makes your job just that much tougher.”

    SUNYAC Challenge A Rotating Event

    This year’s inaugural SUNYAC Challenge replaced Fredonia’s annual Blue Devil tournament, but it won’t be held there every year.

    Potsdam will host the get-together next year, with Buffalo State, Fredonia, and Cortland heading up to Maxcy Hall.

    Fredonia’s Meredith said, “I think the coaches enjoyed getting together. I think the coaches enjoyed having their teams play on the 19th of October.”

    Meredith added, “You come out of that weekend having a good idea about where you stand among your peers and what you need to do to get ready.”

    Potsdam’s Seney, who saw his Bears lose to Cortland, was not as enthusiastic about the tournament.

    “The problem is [the games] count, as far as your record. There’s not many games we have where we can get kids out there, but it’s so early that you might get beat. It’s hard when you have so many new guys to go out there in a must-win game the first game of the year — it doesn’t make much sense.”

    Said Seney, “You don’t have much chance to get the new guys acclimated on special teams. The whole weekend seems to be power play [or] man down. The first game is kind of counterproductive in that sense.”

    Don’t Let Yourself Fall Into That Same Old Trap

    Hockey 101 time.

    Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith says something he sees “all the time” on the Internet — including here at USCHO.com — gives him a chuckle.

    “I have to laugh every time I look at the Internet and see that ‘Fredonia does nothing but trap.’ For people who really know the game, you know that’s not the case at all.”

    But Fredonia does take a defensive-minded approach, right, coach?

    “There’s the difference. There’s a difference between a defensive-minded game and having that mentality, and ‘trapping.'” explained Meredith, who pointed out with more depth than I can include here all the differences between the way the Blue Devils play tough defense and the trap.

    “When you take a game like we played last January against RIT, the No. 1 team in the nation and 50 percent on the power play, our goal is to give ourselves a chance to win that hockey game and be competitive right to the end.

    “What that means is you’d better have a chance to solve that power play, which we did; it means that you just can’t shoot yourself in the foot out of your own zone. That might mean high off the glass or hard off the boards. It might mean taking an icing when you’re under pressure.

    “But to me these are more making smart, easy plays, than all of a sudden getting in trouble and throwing it up the middle. I think that sometimes when you play teams that can capitalize on one mistake, you have to play a simpler game.”

    So, either get it right, folks, or just keep your trap shut.

    SUNYAC Trivia

    Last week’s questions:

    What team won the SUNYAC tournament without winning a game in the championship series?

    Potsdam: the Bears and Plattsburgh tied on two consecutive nights to force a mini-game in the 1996 SUNYAC championship. With a victory in the mini-game — not an official NCAA game — Potsdam advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals.

    And what change was made to the format of the series as a result?

    The SUNYAC championship is now a best-of-three series. Plattsburgh beat Potsdam two games to one in that format in the 2001 SUNYAC championship.

    This week’s question:

    While we’re in the north country, what NCAA ice hockey rule change was precipitated by Potsdam’s pregame drills?

    SUNYAC Game of the Week

    Hands down, it’s Plattsburgh at Oswego.

    The biggest rivals in the SUNYAC start their season against each other. The Cardinals are a heavy favorite, as they will be against most opponents this season, but a rollicking Romney Fieldhouse and some smart play by a physical Lakers squad will make this one a battle to the end and a dandy.

    This Week In The WCHA: Nov. 1, 2001

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    Get Rid of the Ref!

    Can’t you just hear the wisecrack remarks about the WCHA finally getting rid of one of its referees? It’s probably the same thing from followers of Hockey East.

    Hold on there, ye of little faith in officiating.

    Yes, the WCHA and Hockey East have agreed to switch officials, but it’s only on a one-weekend basis. Hockey East ref Jeff Bunyon was in charge of last weekend’s Minnesota-Colgate series at Mariucci Arena, and the WCHA’s Mike Schmitt will work two games in Boston late in November.

    Bunyon received a big compliment from Minnesota coach Don Lucia.

    “I didn’t really notice much,” Lucia said. “It was a pretty easy weekend, so it’s hard to determine how somebody’s going to do under pressure. But I didn’t notice anything different in how it was called.”

    That’s what referees like to hear — they weren’t noticed.

    Greg Shepherd, the WCHA supervisor of officials, and Brendan Sheehy, his counterpart in Hockey East, worked together to make the trade. Shepherd asked for Bunyon; Sheehy asked for Schmitt.

    At least part of the reason for the swap was to give the refs and the teams a look at what the officiating is like on the other side of the college hockey world.

    “They’re pretty close to us as far as officiating style,” Shepherd said of the Eastern officials. “It’s not like it used to be, when teams would think — underline think — that they go out East or come out West and get jobbed. That’s not true anymore.”

    In the NCAA tournament last season, however, some Western coaches mentioned that their games weren’t officiated the way they were used to.

    One big sticking point was that the assistant referees (linesmen by any other name) called penalties on plays that the referee was watching.

    “I think that was a real issue, there was a vast difference East-West,” Lucia said. “In the West, at least in our league, the linesmen weren’t calling penalties in front of the referee. Out there, they were. It was almost like two different systems. The more important issue is to get everyone on the same page.”

    Competition, Please

    Let’s be frank here. Minnesota is thrilled with a 5-0 record, but, with the possible exception of the opening game against North Dakota, hasn’t really been challenged this season.

    Bemidji State? Outscored the Beavers 14-3.

    Colgate? 17-0. At least Bemidji scored.

    The Gophers have outscored opponents 38-8 in this young season, but against teams with a 7-10 combined record.

    So are the Gophers happy to be finally opening their WCHA schedule this weekend? You betcha.

    “Our goal was to try to be 5-0 in nonconference; we were able to do that,” said Lucia, whose Gophers play Michigan Tech in Houghton, Mich., this weekend. “Now we get back into conference play, and the level of competition is going to be a lot higher than we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks.

    “We’re back to a small rink, things are going to happen in a hurry. We’re not going to have the same time to make plays as we’ve had in the past couple of weeks.”

    The Gophers players seem to understand that the way it’s been is not likely to be the way it’ll be, Lucia said.

    Things are going to be more challenging from now on.

    “We scored a lot of goals, but people are making a bigger deal out of it than it is,” Lucia said. “I think our team’s pretty focused on looking ahead and knowing the competition’s going to get more difficult every weekend we go on.”

    Thinking Back

    Denver coach George Gwozdecky was asked what has pleased him the most about the Pioneers’ 4-0 start to the season.

    He paused.

    He paused some more. Maybe it’s because there has been plenty to be happy about.

    “I think one of the things that I’m really pleased with is the fact that our returning players have seen the fruits of their labor,” he said. “Meaning, over the course of the six months of training after the season … they trained harder than I’ve ever seen a team train here.

    “There are times where you say, ‘I hope this translates into some positive type of success,’ so the guys understand that the harder you train, the more likely you are to be successful. We might not be able to light the world on fire, but you definitely will see positive results.”

    One factor in Denver’s strong start is that its offense isn’t defined by one line. Chris Paradise hasn’t been called upon to be the sole breadwinner at forward. He has three points through four games.

    Six players have four points, four players have three points. It’s balance that is carrying the Pioneers early in the year.

    “Some of those guys are slowly starting to become untracked,” Gwozdecky said. “I don’t think everybody’s in sync. We’re still experimenting with our forward lines and our defensive pairings. But Saturday night, some of our upperclassmen forwards had the best game of the early season.”

    Paradise scored his first goal of the season last Saturday against Alaska-Anchorage.

    If, as Gwozdecky claims, the Pioneers’ forwards are just starting to get rolling, there’s no better time than the present. They play rival Colorado College, the preseason favorite to win the WCHA, in a home-and-home series.

    A Trying Saturday

    Tom Wheeler, the father of Wisconsin captain Andy Wheeler, was released from a Grand Forks, N.D., hospital this week. He was hit by a car while jogging last Saturday afternoon.

    Andy Wheeler played in Saturday night’s game against North Dakota, and scored a shorthanded goal.

    “It was scary because of the quickness of how it happened,” Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said. “Andy went to the hospital, got it all straightened out. He came back to the rink, said his dad was going to be fine and we went from there.”

    It was part of a challenging weekend on all fronts for the Badgers. It was their first WCHA series, on the road and in a new building.

    They won Friday and stayed in Saturday’s game before losing. That showed Sauer that his team is as mature as he has claimed.

    Perfect For Now

    Bad news, St. Cloud State fans: Despite a 6-0 record to start the season, the Huskies will not go undefeated this season.

    So said coach Craig Dahl. You know, one of these days, I’d like to hear a coach go out on a limb and say, “Yeah, we’re going to win every game this year.”

    Probably be waiting for a while on that one.

    Still, at 6-0 the Huskies have shattered the best start in Division I team history. They’ve won 15 of their last 16 games going back to last year.

    Dahl said the team is trying to keep things in perspective. Starting 6-0 isn’t going to carry them through the whole season.

    “I think our guys are confident, but we’ve won six games and that’s that,” Dahl said. “We don’t really talk about it too much. We’re trying to take a low-key, even-keel approach to it.”

    Why, Oh Why?

    There are different stages of frustration for a hockey team’s offense. In between the shake-your-head-and-forget-about-it stage and the utter-collapse stage is the point where players start to question how pucks aren’t going into the net.

    Minnesota State-Mankato reached that second level of offensive frustration last weekend against St. Cloud State and, in particular, goaltender Jake Moreland.

    The Mavericks threw all they had at the Huskies goaltender last Saturday — 37 shots — but came away with nothing.

    Jerry Cunningham exemplified Mankato’s day. He had a shot at the net with Moreland looking the wrong way, but the puck went right into the goaltender’s pads.

    “I don’t know how he stopped that,” Cunningham told the Mankato Free Press. “That has to go in.”

    It’s not like the Mavs are hurting for offense — they average 3.67 goals a game early this season. If the frustration of not scoring is allowed to continue, that’s when it becomes a problem.

    A Daunting Task

    In his team’s weekend off, Michigan Tech coach Mike Sertich returned to his home state to do some scouting. He came back to Houghton with eyebrows raised and a firm grasp of what the Huskies face this weekend against Minnesota.

    “That’s a very imposing hockey team we’re up against,” Sertich said. “The success they’ve had in the last three weeks has been a bit overwhelming.”

    For that matter, many of his players went home to Minnesota and got a chance to see the Gophers play on television.

    “I don’t think you have to make it an issue bigger than it is,” Sertich said. “It’s not like we’ve got no chance at all. I’d like to think we have a chance here. Our guys have to understand that we have to play with the least possible margin of error and we can’t be foolish and do stupid things like we did in St. Cloud or we’re going to pay.”

    Get The Keys

    It may be a palace, but is it a home?

    North Dakota concluded its seven-game homestand at the new Ralph Engelstad Arena at 4-3. Considering the Sioux went 12-2-5 at the old Ralph last season, it would be easy to infer one of two things:

    Either the new arena doesn’t intimidate opponents the way the old one did, or the Sioux are struggling to get going this season.

    Some combination of the two is the likely cause. That doesn’t negate, however, the fact that at least some of the element of home-ice advantage seems to be missing.

    The reactionary would advise finding the keys to the old arena, throwing on the lights and playing there, especially because the Sioux won 10 of their first 11 games in the old building when it opened in 1972.

    But North Dakota’s struggles — struggles maybe being too harsh a word — seem to mirror a WCHA trend. Teams in new buildings have had difficulties getting started.

    Wisconsin lost its first two games and four of its first five in the Kohl Center in 1998. Colorado College was 0-2-1 in its first three games at the World Arena in 1998. After winning its first three games at Magness Arena in 1999, Denver lost five straight at its new home.

    This weekend, we finally find out how this North Dakota team will fare outside Ralph’s Palace. The Sioux face what could be their toughest test to date with two games against St. Cloud State at the National Hockey Center.

    SCSU’s Cullen Out

    St. Cloud State forward Joe Cullen will not be able to return from an injured knee this week and will miss the Huskies’ home series against North Dakota.

    The early prognosis was Cullen would miss two to four weeks with the injury. This will be the third weekend he’ll be out.

    “We don’t want to rush him back,” Dahl said, “and he doesn’t want to rush back either because he realizes we have a lot of games left.”

    The Double O Kids

    Chalk it up to the level of the competition if you will, but Minnesota goaltenders Adam Hauser and Justin Johnson still deserve accolades for blanking Colgate for the entire weekend.

    For Hauser, it was old hat. The senior has returned strong after a poor debut to the season in Grand Forks. The shutout on Friday was the eighth of his career, a school record.

    Johnson, a freshman, stopped 28 shots last Saturday for a shutout in his first career start.

    Lucia said he expects to take Hauser and Travis Weber to Houghton this weekend, and have each play a game. He hopes to get Johnson another chance next weekend against Mankato.

    “You get on the road in our league, you have to have good goaltending if you’re going to win,” Lucia said. “We understand we’re not going to score seven or eight goals this weekend. You have to go on the road and try to win with three or four.”

    No Matter

    Here’s a twist: Denver enters this weekend’s Gold Pan series with Colorado College as the team with the higher ranking.

    Say that to Gwozdecky and you might as well be saying, “Blah blah blah ranking blah blah blah.”

    “If this was January and we were looking at the Pairwise Rankings, I would say that is not only legitimate, but it’s something that we’re pleased with,” Gwozdecky said. “That’s not really the case. Both teams are just starting their season.”

    Take Your Pick

    So, which Minnesota-Duluth team will we be seeing this weekend? For that matter, which Alaska-Anchorage team will fans at Sullivan Arena pay to see?

    For the Bulldogs, will it be the one that proved its mettle in gaining two victories last weekend over Rensselaer, or the one whose goaltenders take a night off?

    Will the Seawolves find the spirit and scoring that netted them a win and a tie in their season-opening tournament, or will they find the goals hard to come by like in sweeps by Alaska-Fairbanks and Denver?

    These two teams meet this weekend, with someone needing to take a step forward and show the WCHA that they are going to be the one that is improved this season.

    Duluth is undefeated (4-0) in nonconference games this season after beating Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan and sweeping RPI. But the efforts in those games were in contrast to a sweep at the hands of Minnesota State-Mankato.

    The Bulldogs won a pair of character-building games last weekend, rallying to win on Friday after losing the lead and holding on for a one-goal victory on Saturday.

    Field Set

    Next year’s Nye Frontier Classic will feature host Alaska-Anchorage, Colorado College, Maine and Iona.

    Good News, Bad News

    The Minnesota-Duluth special teams have performed well enough to make Bulldogs followers smile. They’ve also performed poorly enough to make them nauseous.

    The Bulldogs’ power play is third in the WCHA at 34.3 percent. That would be a great statistic for UMD, if only the penalty kill didn’t give back as many goals as the power play earns.

    Through six games, Duluth is killing just 75.9 percent of opponents’ power plays, eighth in the WCHA.

    No Game Today

    Here’s your Clay “Woodrow” Wilson update for the week:

    The Michigan Tech freshman defenseman didn’t play last weekend. That’s OK, though, because neither did his team. Tech was idle, but hosts No. 1 Minnesota this weekend.

    So, for the season, “Woody” has played four games with no goals or assists, and four penalty minutes.

    He Said It

    “If you have the leaders on the team — the older players who are the hardest workers who remind everybody that this is what we believe in, this is what needs to be done, this is how we’re going to do it — if you have that type of attitude, it’s just a natural, everyday occurance. You don’t change because you’ve won a game or because you’ve lost a game.”

    — Denver coach George Gwozdecky, on his players ability to keep up a positive outlook on their own.

    This Week in the ECAC West: Oct. 31, 2001

    By
    -

    League Play in October?

    This obviously must be a scheduling mistake. It is unheard of for the ECAC West to be playing league contests in October. Usually it is mid-December, or later, before the teams start to meet each other in meaningful games. Scheduling blasphemy aside, Manhattanville traveled to Neumann last weekend to kick off the 2001-2002 league schedule.

    “Lesson No. 1 — Don’t play Manhattanville shorthanded,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo.

    The game last Saturday was close after the first period, at least on the scoreboard, with Manhattanville holding a slim 3-2 lead. But Neumann got into penalty trouble in the second period, and Manhattanville scored three power-play goals to take control of the game for good. Another power-play goal in the third period and a couple of even-strength goals scattered here and there were all that the Valiants needed to take the 9-2 decision.

    Freshman Lee Stubbs has been on a tear for Manhattanville so far this season with five goals and four assists in three games.

    “We seem to be a bit more offensive this year,” said Manhattanville coach Keith Levinthal. “And Lee is certainly a part of that.”

    Chris Seifert is also off to a great start, tallying 10 points, following up on the 30-point season he had last year.

    Points Galore

    Prior to the start of this season, RIT coach Wayne Wilson said, “I think defense will be our strongest point this season. We have eight defensemen that can all play. They will be able to generate offense, both getting more points for themselves and will be stronger at getting the puck up to our forwards.”

    How prophetic can a coach be? Well, after two regular-season games, it looks like Wilson knew exactly what he was talking about. The Tigers scored 14 goals in the Chase Rochester Cup, seven from the offense and seven from the defense. And four of the top nine Tigers in points are defensemen.

    Tournament Play

    EUVERMAN

    EUVERMAN

    Hobart met Geneseo in the opening game of the Chase Rochester Cup tournament in what turned out to be a very close game. Hobart built up a 4-1 lead early in the second period, only to see Geneseo come storming back to tie it only a couple of minutes into the third period. A timely power-play goal by freshman Andy Boschetto regained the lead for Hobart, on the way to a 7-4 victory.

    RIT rolled over Brockport in the other opening-round game, 7-0, earning junior netminder Tyler Euverman his sixth shutout.

    On Saturday, the Tigers faced off against Hobart in the championship game. Hobart played tough in the first period, staying tied 1-1. But the RIT steamroller got going in the second stanza and rolled to a 7-1 victory to capture its third straight Rochester Cup title.

    Utica began its inaugural season in the Buffalo State All Sport Invitational Tournament, facing host Buffalo State. The Pioneers took an early lead off a goal by Scot Leygraff. Buffalo State rattled off the next five goals, including two on the power play and one shorthanded tally, on their way to defeating Utica 7-2.

    “Running around on special teams hurt us,” said Utica coach Gary Heenan. “But we learned the lesson, following that game, and talked about it in our team meeting.”

    Utica returned the next night to face Fredonia in the round-robin tournament, and did indeed learn the lesson from the night before, holding Fredonia 0-for-5 on the power play. The Pioneers showed some early character in this contest, coming from behind twice including tying the game midway through the third period, to earn a 2-2 tie at the end of overtime.

    While the game is officially a tie in the NCAA’s records, the tournament format called for a shootout to decide a winner. Ryan Dolan was the last shooter for Utica and scored, giving them the 2-1 edge.

    “Winning it in a shootout, on our last penalty shot taken, that was a feeling that our guys will never forget,” said Heenan.

    Elmira Heads West

    The Soaring Eagles are playing the most Western teams of anyone in the league, and they started that schedule right out of the gate. Elmira opened play with a pair of games at Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

    Coach Tim Ceglarski’s new emphasis on the breakout paid dividends right off the bat in the first game. Elmira jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than four minutes into the game with quick goals by Pierre Rivard and Clark McPherson.

    “We more or less dominated play in the first period,” said Ceglarski, “until things kind of settled in late in the period.”

    Tied 3-3 early in the third period, Rivard and McPherson worked their magic again as each scored breakaway goals to take control of the game on the way to a 6-3 win.

    “We’re a good skating team this year, and need to emphasize the breakout to be successful,” said Ceglarski.

    Saturday’s game wasn’t as good of a story for Elmira. Steve Kaye got the Soaring Eagles on the board first, but Point came back with four unanswered goals to take control of the game.

    “They came out flying in the second game, and we came out a little flat,” said Ceglarski. “They haven’t lost back-to-back games in their barn in a long, long time.” Elmira would eventually lose the contest 5-2 to take a split home.

    Game of the Week

    "I don’t think you are going to get a tougher weekend."

    — Neumann coach Nick Russo, on his squad’s games with Elmira and RIT.

    It’s only week two of the season, and already there is a matchup on the schedule with playoff implications.

    RIT travels to Manhattanville for a contest on Saturday, and the last two contests between these teams at the Valiant’s New Roc City rink have been close affairs, with RIT notching one-goal victories both times. Manhattanville can cement its current position atop the league standings by defeating RIT this time around.

    Elsewhere, Neumann gets the award for toughest weekend. The Knights play at Elmira Friday night, which is the Soaring Eagles’ home opener debuting their renovated facilities. Then Neumann hosts RIT for a Sunday afternoon matinee. Russo said it best when he quipped, “I don’t think you are going to get a tougher weekend.”

    “We wanted to schedule the games like this to give our players an idea of what it was like to face these teams back-to-back on a weekend,” said Russo. “If we are fortunate enough to finish fourth and make the playoffs, they will need to know how to handle great teams back-to-back.”

    BCHL Prospect Thumbnails

    USCHO Staff Report
    - 
    Matt Amado, NOTRE DAME, RW/C, Penticton (BCHL)/Surrey, BC (5'11 165) Born: 7-5-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Surrey Eagles         58    8    5    13    23    BCHL
2000-01 Penticton Panthers    57   14   17    31    55    BCHL    

Kaleb Betts, NEBRASKA-OMAHA, LW/C, Chilliwack (BCHL)/Ridge Meadows, BC (5'9 170) Born: 1-10-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Ridge Meadows         30   13   17    30   133    PIJHL
2000-01 Chilliwack Chiefs     58   17   20    37    79    BCHL    

Cody Bostock, D, Salmon Arm (BCHL)/Salmon Arm, BC (5'11 170) Born: -84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Salmon Arm            46    6   17    23    94    BCHL    

Chad Clower, LW/C, Vernon (BCHL)/Kelowna, BC (5'11 165) Born: 12-14-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Vernon Vipers         50   15   22    37    29    BCHL
2000-01 Vernon Vipers         20    8   16    24    16    BCHL
2001-02 Vernon Vipers                                     BCHL    

Jordan Courtepatte, RW/C, Burnaby (BCHL)/Edmonton, ALB (6' 190) Born: -83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Edmonton MLAC         34   15   14    29    24    AMHL
2000-01 Edmonton MLAC         32   33   24    57    54    AMHL
2000-01 Sherwood Park          1    0    1     1     0    AJHL
2001-02 Burnaby Bulldogs                                  BCHL    

Matt Ellison, NEBRASKA-OMAHA, LW, Cowichan Valley (BCHL)/Duncan, BC (5'11 175) Born: 12-9-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1998-99 Kerry Park Islanders  37   40   47    87   110    VIJHL
1999-00 Cowichan Valley       60   11   23    34    95    BCHL
2000-01 Cowichan Valley       60   22   44    66   102    BCHL    

Brad Farynuk, RENNSELAER, LD, Vernon (BCHL)/Enderby, BC (6'1 195) Born: 1-22-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Vernon Vipers         22    1    4    5     12    BCHL
2000-01 Vernon Vipers         60    9   32    41    43    BCHL    

Brent Gardipy, RD, Trail (BCHL)/Duck Lake, SK (6' 175) Born: 5-22-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Beardy's Blackhawks                               SMHL
2000-01 Beardy's Blackhawks   41   12   22    34    53    SMHL
2001-02 Trail Smoke Eaters                                BCHL    

Brandon Gawryletz, RD, Langley (BCHL)/Trail, BC (6' 180) Born: 5-28-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Trail Smoke Eaters    52    3    7    10    33    BCHL
2000-01 Trail Smoke Eaters    59    5   22    27    35    BCHL
2001-02 Langley Eagles                                    BCHL    

Gabe Gauthier, LW/C, Chilliwack (BCHL)/Buena Park, CA (5'9 185) Born: 1-20-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Chilliwack Chiefs     46   21   34    55    24    BCHL      All-Rookie
2000-01 Chilliwack Chiefs     45   30   51    81    31    BCHL      1st team All-star
2001-02 Chilliwack Chiefs                                 BCHL    

Matt Gibbons, RC, Chilliwack (BCHL)/Richmond, BC (5'10 180) Born: 2-6-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Chilliwack Chiefs     59    7   20    27    58    BCHL
2000-01 Chilliwack Chiefs     56   23   35    58    54    BCHL      1st team All-star
2001-02 Chilliwack Chiefs                                 BCHL    

Tanner Glass, LW, Penticton (BCHL)/Craven, SK (6'1 190) Born: 11-29-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Yorkton Terriers       6    1    0    1      4    SJHL
1999-00 Yorkton Mallers       41   11   18    29   194    SMHL
2000-01 Yorkton Mallers       43   34   32    66   120    SMHL
2000-01 Weyburn Red Wings      2    0    1    1      2    SJHL
2001-02 Penticton Panthers                                BCHL    

Kyle Greentree, LC, Victoria (BCHL)/Victoria, BC (6'2 190) Born: 11-15-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Victoria Salsa        28    7    6    13    11    BCHL
2000-01 Victoria Salsa        59   27   38    65    50    BCHL
2001-02 Victoria Salsa                                    BCHL    

Brian Harris, LW, Trail (BCHL)/North Delta, BC (5'10 170) Born: 2-15-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Surrey Eagles         43   10   16    26    15    BCHL
2001-02 Trail Smoke Eaters                                BCHL    

Kyle Hood, RD, Penticton (BCHL)/Osoyoos, BC (5'11 170) Born: 3-28-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Osoyoos               46   14   34    48    54    KIJHL
2000-01 Penticton Panthers    55    6   17    23    96    BCHL    

Dustin Hughes, LW/C, Surrey (BCHL)/Winnipeg, MB (5'8 160) Born: 10-3-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1998-99 Winnipeg Hawks        39   14   43    57    57    MMHL
1999-00 Winnipeg Hawks        40   36   69   105    84    MMHL
2000-01 Surrey Eagles         50   11   24    35    29    BCHL    

Jamie Jeannotte, RW, Burnaby (BCHL)/Prince Albert, SK (5'11 175) Born: 6-24-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Prince Albert Mintos                              SMHL
2000-01 Prince Albert Mintos  40   27   37    64    60    SMHL
2000-01 Melfort Mustangs       3    0    3     3     2    SJHL
2001-02 Burnaby Bulldogs                                  BCHL    

Mike Kaluzny, RW, Quesnel (BCHL)/Kamloops, BC (6' 178) Born: 6-24-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Quesnel               60   24   32    56   107    BCHL      2nd Team All-star; All-Rookie

Ben Nelson, RW, Cowichan Valley (BCHL)/Spokane, WA (5'11 165) Born: 11-4-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Spokane Braves        46   38   55    93    50    KIJHL
2000-01 Cowichan Valley       54   25   25    50    30    BCHL    

Alex Nikiforuk, RW/C, Burnaby (BCHL)/Kelowna, BC (5'8 163) Born: 9-30-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 North Okanagan        34   31   48    79   104    KIJHL
2000-01 Burnaby Bulldogs      60   27   43    70    96    BCHL      All-Rookie

Michael Ouellette, DARTMOUTH, RW, Merritt (BCHL)/Kamloops, BC (6' 170) Born: 7-6-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Merritt Centennials   58   34   29    63    10    BCHL      All-Rookie

Nathan Oystrick, NORTHERN MICHIGAN, LD, Surrey (BCHL)/Regina, BC (6' 180) Born: 12-17-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1998-99 Regina Canadians      43    6   22    28   214    SMHL
1999-00 Notre Dame Hounds     17    0    0    0     57    SJHL
1999-00 Regina Canadians      29    9   19    28   180    SMHL      1st
2000-01 Surrey Eagles         60    9   35    44   224    BCHL      All-Rookie

Darcy Marr, DARTMOUTH, RW, Surrey (BCHL)/Abbotsford, BC (5'10 155) Born: 7-5-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Surrey Eagles         57    5    3    8      8    BCHL
2000-01 Surrey Eagles         26   10    4   14      4    BCHL    

David Morelli, NEBRASKA-OMAHA, LW/C, Vernon (BCHL)/Vernon, BC (5'11 170) Born: 1-4-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Vernon Vipers         28    6    8    14     4    BCHL
2000-01 Vernon Vipers         57   21   25    46    28    BCHL    

Rod Pelley, LW, Prince George (BCHL)/Kitimat, BC (6' 180) Born: 9-1-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Prince George         54   14   21    35    31    BCHL    

Jarrett Sampson, DARTMOUTH, LW, Surrey (BCHL)/Prince Albert, SK (6' 170) Born: 4-8-82
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1998-99 Prince Albert Mintos  48   12   16    28    64    SMHL
1999-00 Prince Albert Mintos  44   35   50    85    68    SMHL      MVP; 1st Team All-star
2000-01 Surrey Eagles         60   25   36    61    65    BCHL    

Brent Shepheard, LW, Nanaimo (BCHL)/Cowichan Valley, BC (5'10 160) Born: 2-15-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1998-99 Kerry Park Islanders  38   24   26    50    50    VIJHL
1999-00 Nanaimo Clippers      53   10    9    19    65    BCHL
2000-01 Nanaimo Clippers      60   29   24    53   108    BCHL    

Jeff Tambellini, LW/C, Chilliwack (BCHL)/Vancouver, BC (5'11 183) Born: 4-13-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Port Coquitlam Bucs   41   30   34    64    12    PIJHL
2000-01 Chilliwack Chiefs     54   21   30    51    13    BCHL
2001-02 Chilliwack Chiefs                                 BCHL    

David Van der Gulik, BOSTON UNIVERSITY, LW, Chilliwack (BCHL)/Abbotsford, BC (6' 175) Born: 4-20-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
1999-00 Abbotsford Pilots     41   35   46    81    84    PIJHL
2000-01 Chilliwack Chiefs     60   42   38    80    61    BCHL      All-Rookie
2001-02 Chilliwack Chiefs                                 BCHL    

Ben Walter, LW, Langley (BCHL)/Semihamoo, BC (6' 195) Born: 5-11-84
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Langley Hornets       50    8   22    30    19    BCHL
2001-02 Langley Hornets                                   BCHL    

Craig Zubersky, NEBRASKA-OMAHA, RD, Victoria (BCHL)/Victoria, BC (6' 170) Born: 5-31-83
Year    Team                  GP    G    A   PTS    PM    League    Honors
2000-01 Victoria Salsa        57    4   21    25    38    BCHL

    This Week in Women’s Hockey: Nov. 1, 2001

    By David R. De Remer
    -

    Just Another Olympic Year

    Within an hour of winning the Inaugural Women’s Frozen Four last March, Minnesota-Duluth coach Shannon Miller was already brimming with optimism about 2001-02, and with good reason. None of her players from European national teams would be missing for any key stretch of the season.

    “We’ve been negotiating with the Swedish and Finnish National Teams and those players will only be gone five weeks all next year,” Miller said. “The WCHA has been accommodating in its scheduling and we only play on three of those five weekends.”

    That means that Maria Rooth, the Frozen Four MVP, as well as goaltender Tuula Puputti and forwards Hanne Sikio and Erica Holst won’t be missing much during the Olympic stretch from Feb. 8-24. Miller still couldn’t quite schedule around the Four Nations Cup, held in Finland from Nov. 1-11, as the Bulldogs will be playing at Wisconsin this weekend. The Badgers will be looking to match Minnesota’s success against UMD during the Four Nations Cup last year, when the Gophers pounded the Bulldogs by scores of 4-0 and 8-0.

    College hockey teams stocked with U.S. and Canadian National Team players aren’t quite as lucky as UMD. As in the last Olympic Year of 1998, the Americans and Canadians have both been centralized since this summer and will be out of college hockey all season. The ECAC North, namely Harvard, Princeton, St. Lawrence and Dartmouth, have been hit the hardest by Olympic absences.

    With respect to Harvard, 2001 Patty Kazmaier winner Jennifer Botterill will be postponing her senior season for a year, and U.S. defenseman Angela Ruggiero will be deferring her junior year of eligibility for the second year in a row. U.S. forward Julie Chu intends to enroll in Harvard next year. That leaves the Crimson with just nine returning veterans and seven freshmen on its roster and its lowest national ranking since 1998, the last Olympic year. As in many programs across the country, incoming recruits will be more crucial than ever this year at Harvard.

    “[The freshmen] have made a good combination with our veterans and everyone is gelling pretty well together and on the right page,” said Harvard coach Katey Stone. “I’m excited. I think we’re going to continue the Harvard tradition of outworking people.”

    Princeton, which has been without Annamarie Holmes since fall of 2000, bid farewell to Andrea Kilbourne this fall. St. Lawrence will be losing Isabelle Chartrand to the Canadian National Team. Saint forward Gina Kinsbury left school and made the original 30-player Canadian roster, but she has already been released from the team.

    Dartmouth’s Correne Bredin will wait another year to finish out her career as she plays for Team Canada. Her absence will make it hard for Dartmouth, which had already lost six seniors to graduation, to match its fast start from last season. The Big Green does have a strong recruiting class this year, as two Canadian U-22 National Team forwards, Cheryl Muranko and Meagan Walton, are among the newcomers.

    “I think we had a magical season last year, but we can’t keep looking back,” said Dartmouth coach Judy Oberting. “It was a very veteran team last year. This team is different, and we’ve got immense potential, but it’s going to be a different kind of year.”

    Not every program in the country lost players to the Nationals, Northeastern has welcomed back Brooke White, who left for the 2000-01 U.S. squad but was cut early from this year’s roster. She has scored two goals and three assists already this season to help the Huskies to a quick 4-0 start, including a sweep of St. Lawrence on the road last weekend — early evidence of how Olympic roster moves will affect the balance of power in college hockey.

    “Brooke White brings a lot of speed to our team and experience at the highest level,” said Northeastern coach Joy Woog. “I know she had a great experience [with U.S.A. Hockey] but it just didn’t happen for her this year.”

    The WCHA was hardly shaken by the U.S. and Canadian programs this season. There no Western players on the Canadian National Team roster. U.S. and Wisconsin defenseman Nicole Uliasz is the only experienced WCHA player to postpone her eligibility. Meanwhile, Minnesota will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of forward Krissy Wendell — the U.S. National Team’s leading scorer during 2000-01 — next season.

    UMD’s relative strength in teams of returning national team players — including Russian freshman Kristina Petrovskaia — has made the Bulldogs the clear preseason favorites. But the ‘Dogs haven’t been running away from anyone to start the season. Providence played UMD to close 5-3 and 1-0 games during team’s opening weekends. Kelli Halcisak, who was Ohio State’s leading scorer last season, came to Providence in search of a more intimate school environment and has given the Friars an immediate boost.

    “We’re not satisfied with the result,” said Providence coach Bob Deraney. “But we’re a predominantly young team with 15 freshman and sophomores and nine juniors and seniors, and with them [UMD] not losing anybody, it was an eye-opening experience for our players.”

    The next weekend, UMD blew out Minnesota 7-0, a major role reversal from last season’s early Gopher-Bulldog results. But Minnesota came back to tie UMD, 1-1, the next day. Nothing is guaranteed.

    A Split Decision

    "It’s necessary because there’s a lot of growth in women’s college hockey and these new teams needed a place to play."

    — Dartmouth coach Judy Oberting, on splitting the enlarged ECAC into two leagues.

    The ECAC will have a new look this season as it splits into two leagues, with the arbitrary geographic titles of ECAC North (or ECAC 9) and the ECAC East (or ECAC 8). The addition of four programs to the ECAC — Quinnipiac, Connecticut, Vermont and Colgate — made the split necessary.

    “There was no other solution other than to break up because you can’t have a league with 17 teams in it, particularly when you play in the Ivy League and you’re strapped to 29 games, so there had to be some flexibility somewhere,” Stone said.

    “It’s necessary because there’s a lot of growth in women’s college hockey and these new teams needed a place to play,” Oberting added. “But the competition will still be high.”

    Among the newcomers, Colgate and Vermont of the ECAC North were both top-10 Division III programs. Quinnipiac made the jump from the club level, while Connecticut, who is led by former Northeastern coach Heather Linstad, debuted as a Division I independent last season. Woog believes that it will be tough for the new programs to grow up quickly.

    “It’ll take them some time because there are so many opportunities for young kids to play now,” she said. “The talent is spread around and now there a lot of teams going for the high-quality Olympic athletes.”

    But Stone was cautious about overlooking the new programs. Harvard opens against Colgate on Saturday.

    “I don’t think were going to have any holidays all year,” Stone said. “Lot’s of times schools have put a lot of money into the program to get it going very quickly. We saw Duluth do it. We saw Minnesota do it. Why can’t Colgate and Vermont do it? You never know.”

    Most of the traditional college hockey rivalries between the East and North teams will be maintained despite the split. For instance, the Beanpot will continue as always, and Brown and Harvard will continue to play New Hampshire, Northeastern and Providence. Naturally, not everyone could get exactly what they wanted.

    “I think we were fortunate to be able to schedule our larger rivals,” Oberting said. “But we won’t play Northeastern. Niagara will be very good but we couldn’t fit them.”

    The ECAC North, which includes the six Ivy schools that don’t start play until this weekend, will play a double round-robin. The ECAC East will play a triple round-robin during the regular season.

    The split brings an end to any heated competition for ECAC playoff spots. Where once 13 teams had to battle for eight spots, each league will now have its own eight-team playoff. Deraney was optimistic about that implication.

    “I think it’s good because it gives you something to play for, especially the emerging teams,” he said.

    Getting the U Going

    Another key administrative development in the offseason was Hockey East’s announcement that it would start a new women’s hockey league by 2004-05. Currently five of the nine Hockey East Schools — New Hampshire, Providence, Northeastern, Maine, and Boston College — sponsor college hockey.

    All five of those schools are in the ECAC East. Deraney said that the success of Hockey East in the men’s game gives him reason for optimism.

    “We’re excited about being with a group of teams that share similar philosophies,” Deraney said. “All I can say is that the success that the men have had at the national level bodes well that what they’re doing works well in the hockey realm.”

    Coaches across all of college hockey were excited about the growth prospects.

    “Hopefully it will get the U [UMass-Amherst and UMass-Lowell] going, and I’m hoping the other schools [Merrimack and Boston University] will step up and sponsor women’s college hockey,” Oberting said.

    With the advent of Hockey East, there is finally a reason to believe that the women’s Beanpot might actually be four teams deep. Northeastern and more recently Harvard have dominated the competition throughout its history.

    “I think it’s going to raise the standard for the other teams in Hockey East that haven’t been doing enough for their programs,” Stone said.

    Recruiting Preview: British Columbia Hockey League

    By Chris Heisenberg
    -

    (This is the first in a series of articles about the 2001 recruiting outlook)

    The regular season has started in the British Columbia Hockey League, and doubtlessly dozens of NCAA recruiters are busy scouring the practices and games to get a first view this year’s top recruits.

    Many of the players are already known to the scouts from their performances last season, while newcomers are getting their first chance to strut their stuff for the recruiters. For college teams, the next few weeks before the November early signing period will allow the coaches to evaluate the progress of veteran BCHLers compared to the development of BCHL rookies.

    The returning veterans

    Among the players already known to the scouts are a quintet of top returning forwards, David Van der Gulik, Jeff Tambellini, Gabe Gauthier, Alex Nikiforuk and Kyle Greentree, each of whom has already shown the ability to play at a top level, and has attracted quite a bit of attention.

    Three members of this group hail from Chilliwack, suggesting that the Chiefs should be an offensive powerhouse this year. This includes Van der Gulik, who potted 42 goals on the way to becoming the BCHL’s rookie of the year last season, and who committed to Boston University in July. A solid winger, he has been touted by some as perhaps the BCHL’s top prospect.

    Another Chief forward, Gauthier has been heralded as a star since the age of 14, and the native of Los Angeles is now in this third season in the junior loop. His vision and puck skills allow him to slow up the game in the offensive zone, and he finished as the youngest player in the BCHL’s top-10 scoring chart.

    Tambellini, is a pure finesse centerman, and earned a spot on Canada’s Under-18 team, a rarity for a Junior A player. Greentree from last year’s BCHL champion, the Victoria Salsa, is a tremendous skater for his 6-foot-2 size, and has scored regularly since arriving in Victoria in the middle of the 1999-00 season. On the other end of the spectrum, Nikiforuk, from Burnaby, is an offensive waterbug at 5-8, who will miss the first part of the season recovering from a torn ACL suffered during a playoff practice. His academics have also drawn attention of a variety of Ivy League schools.

    Like Van der Gulik, a number of the BCHL’s returning stars are already spoken for. Dartmouth received early commitments from a trio of BCHL forwards, Jarrett Sampson, Mike Ouellette and Darcy Marr. Nebraska-Omaha has made large inroads in the BCHL, and has already secured commitments from four youngsters: Vernon’s David Morelli, Chilliwack’s Kaleb Betts, Cowichan Valley’s Matt Ellison, and Victoria finesse defenseman Craig Zubersky.

    Others headed to the CCHA are Penticton’s Matt Amado, headed toward Notre Dame, and Surrey’s Nathan Oystrick who has already committed to Northern Michigan. Vernon’s Chad Clower recently committed to Minnesota State-Mankato after coming off a promising season interrupted by a shoulder injury.

    This still leaves a number of returning players available, and the next tier of prospects includes Quesnel’s Mike Kaluzny, Cowichan Valley’s Ben Nelson and Prince George’s Rod Pelley. Kaluzny earned all-rookie and second team all-star honors last season, and is a ferocious forechecker, who still averaged close to a point a game.

    Nelson, from south of the border in Spokane, Wash., netted 25 goals as a freshman, while Pelley is the youngest of the group. Although his rookie scoring totals were modest, he participated with Team Pacific in the Under-17 tournament last winter, and will be called upon to fill the offensive losses in the Prince George lineup.

    Two other members of the Team Pacific, Ben Walter and Brian Harris, look to make some noise. Walter, son of former NHLer Ryan Walter (who, as a side-note, earned 1978 WHL Player-of-the-Year honors over Jeff Tambellini’s dad, Steve) brings his dad’s character to the game. Harris was relegated to a supporting role behind a potent Surrey attack, and now becomes a top dog at Trail.

    Another player to watch is Surrey’s slight playmaking center Dustin Hughes, who set Manitoba Midget league records for assists and points in 1999-00, and debuted with a modest 35 point season with Surrey. Left wing Brent Shepheard of Nanaimo nearly eclipsed the 30-goal plateau as an 18-year old, and should easily break that barrier this year. Chilliwack’s center Matt Gibbons tends to get overlooked in the powerful Chilliwack offense, but always finds a way to contribute.

    The run-and-gun BCHL is generally not known for its defense, but a couple of defenders stand out. Second-year defender Oystrick turned down overtures to play major junior hockey for his hometown Regina Pats, and should be among the BCHL’s top rearguards. For those looking for offensive jump, there is Penticton defenseman Kyle Hood, who has drawn the most interest. He should begin to showcase his offense skill he previewed last year playing in Duncan Keith’s shadow.

    Also pushing for consideration are Vernon’s Brad Farynuk, already committed to RPI, and Zubersky, already headed to Nebraska-Omaha. Other youngsters hoping to crack the BCHL list are Langley’s Brandon Gawryletz, traded during the offseason from Trail to Langley, and has good natural ability, Ross Goff, who is bouncing back from a knee injury, and Trail’s Tyler Gow.

    The league newcomers

    The BCHL is traditionally a favorite recruiting front for most NCAA schools, and that reputation means the league usually draws several players who earn scholarships in their first year. This year is no exception, as a group of touted midget stars dot the rosters of several BCHL teams, and training camp allows the recruiters their first glimpse of these players and to gauge and their ability to make the jump.

    This year’s crop of Saskatchewan Midget League stars migrating to the BCHL includes Penticton’s Tanner Glass (6th in SMHL scoring), Kurtis Peterson (10th in SMHL scoring), and Derek Gallagher; Salmon Arm’s Josh Cudmore (7th in SMHL scoring); Burnaby’s Jamie Jeanotte (9th in SMHL Scoring); Trail’s Brent Gardipy (SMHL top scoring defenseman), and Surrey’s leftwingers Grant Selinger and Chad Richardson, each of whom hopes to follow the path of last year’s Saskatchewan imports Brendan Bernakevich (Harvard), Tyson Teplitsky (UNH), Ryan MacMurchy (Wisconsin), Sampson (Dartmouth) and Oystrick (Northern Michigan) who earned NCAA scholarships.

    From the Alberta Midget League come scorers Jordan Courtepatte (9th in AMHL scoring, now at Burnaby) and Josh Weeks (now at Powell River), both of whom should garner NCAA scrutiny. From eastern Canada, the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia midget team that participated in the Canadian National Midget finals last season sent Nick Binder, a right winger to Vernon and Mark Carberry, Binder’s small darting center, to Quesnel.

    From within British Columbia, the expansion Coquitlam Express added 17-year old Brett Hemingway, who showed his offensive touch by notching three assists in his first game, while Trail features Mick Lawrence, a tough right winger with good scoring touch. Other newcomers on defense that bear watching are Salmon Arm’s Cody Bostock, a steady performer who joined Harris, Tambellini, Pelley and Walter on 2001 Team Pacific and Vernon’s Matt Waddell, a taller, physical defenseman.

    Each of the above listed newcomers have strong credentials from their respective leagues, suggesting that they may attract a significant amount of NCAA scholarship attention over the next few years.

    Finally, a different type of newcomer — one taking a year off from college — is Myles Kuharski who is poised to put up big numbers with Nanaimo after a freshman year at Lake Superior.

    In goal, Trail’s Isaac Reichsmuth is the early leader among the BCHL veterans, while Penticton’s rookie Matt Zaba (SMHL 1st team all-star) steps into the number one role.

    NEXT: The AJHL

    (Chris Heisenberg runs the most authoritative recruiting page on the Web.)

    Back to Work

    By David Gonzales
    -

    “As for the men who perpetrated these acts, there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame.” — British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    The hockey world was rocked along with the rest of the world by the events of Sept. 11. The full effects of those attacks have been thoroughly covered by the international media as well as here on U.S. College Hockey Online. Most of the sports world took until Sept. 17 to even begin getting back to business, but in the college hockey recruiting game, much like the game itself, there was not that much time to recover.

    The Thursday after the attacks the Hy-Vee Buc Bowl, the first of two junior hockey preseason tournaments, began in Des Moines, Iowa. Although the tournament did take Friday off for the National Day of Mourning, the United States Hockey League, which hosted the event, believed the tournament must be played.

    “Commissioner [Gino] Gasparini struggled with that decision,” said USHL President Butch Johnson. “Obviously when the nation takes a day of mourning we will also. But in the next breath, the President says we have to move on.”

    This next weekend, the Wells Fargo Super 16 was played in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Some coaches couldn’t attend the Buc Bowl due to cancelled flights, in particular along the East Coast. Some, however, did manage to make it to the tournaments in spite of the many travel problems they encountered. With many flights cancelled coaches had to make other plans to get to the tournament locations.

    Ohio State assistant coach Casey Jones decided to drive to the Buc Bowl after the tragedy, and stayed in the state of Iowa for the few days between the tournaments rather than make the trip back to Columbus. Michigan State assistant David McAuliffe made several attempts to get to Des Moines by plane, but decided to wait until the Super 16 because the earliest the airlines could get him to Des Moines was Saturday, leaving only the last one-third of the tournament for evaluations.

    The importance of junior hockey preseason tournaments to college recruitment can’t be overstated. The current NCAA recruiting rules are strict. In fact, strict might be a bit of on understatement.

    NCAA teams are allowed only seven total contacts with a player over the course of a year. Only three of those seven are actual “contacts.” The other four are evaluations. Each of these preseason tournaments, however, counts as only one evaluation. Confused yet? Let’s try to explain.

    Though the coaches might get to see a player play in three or four games in a tournament, it counts as only one of the seven evaluations. That means it’s possible to see a player perform in six games during the two preseason tournaments and have it count as only two evaluations, leaving five more possible contacts. If a coach sees the player in six regular-season games, he would have only one possible contact remaining with that player.

    There is another large factor in the importance of the pre-season junior hockey tournaments.

    “It’s a good chance to compare several players against each other at the same time,” said McAuliffe, “to see if you’re on the right path.”

    That’s not to say that any permanent decision is made on the performances in these tournaments. More than one coach in attendance stressed that this is just a starting point for recruiting efforts, stressing that some of the players have not played at all during the summer. One coach added that he would “check where they are in a month” to get a better idea if it was a player he might want to recruit.

    “It gives us an early indicator of the talent pool in the league,” said Johnson, “It’s a great motivational tool for the players.”

    As for the recruits themselves, it was obvious by the level of play that they were aware of the heavy scouting presence. The Danville Wings of the North American Hockey League, which sees far fewer scouts than the USHL during the regular season, finished the Super 16 with a 2-1 record. Danville may be the class of that league this season. It returns 12 Junior A veterans and also landed Left Winger Chris Busby, who spent last season with Brown University.

    Due to more of those NCAA recruiting rules, college coaches are not permitted to comment on players who have not yet signed a letter of intent to attend a college. U.S. College Hockey Online will try to provide progress reports for some of the 2001-2002 recruits as soon as they begin to sign letters of intent.

    Fortunately, college coaches were not the only ones attending the tournaments. The National Hockey League was also anxious to get a look at the future of college hockey. Scouts from several NHL organizations were in attendance, for the obvious reasons, and another reason, which, as was stated by more than one NHL scout, “is no secret.”

    The man who is “no secret” is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound Austrian forward named Thomas Vanek. Vanek returns for his second season in the uniform of the Sioux Falls Stampede. Last season he was the cream of the USHL crop with 29 points (10-9) in only 20 USHL regular-season games.

    The NHL scouts may have to wait, however. Vanek’s birthday is Jan. 19, 1984, meaning he would be too young to enter this years draft should he choose to go to college. If he chooses to opt-in to the draft rather than attend school, look for him to be an early-round pick.

    Vanek was not the only player who impressed over the Super 16 weekend. College coaches can’t comment, so I’m going to have to go out on my own for this one. I’ve chosen two young men who were very impressive during the short time I watched them in their tournament games.

    Ales Parez from the Chicago Steel provides very good skill at a forward position. The 6-2, 195-pounder from the Czech Republic is in his final year of junior hockey eligibility. If he puts on some weight he could develop into a very skilled power forward. Look for one of the more aggressive checking college squads to scoop him up.

    Finally, a former teammate of Vanek should make a big impression this season in Topeka. Jon Booras is only 5-10 and 180 pounds, but plays much bigger. He showed his ability to play both an effective forward, and a threat from the point on the power play. It was also quite obvious in how he handled his teammates on the ice that some outstanding leadership potential is present in his game.

    On a final note, it’s important for everyone in sports to help in the world’s healing process. A portion of the proceeds from last month’s games were donated to charities helping in the recovery effort. In Cedar Rapids, there were no searches. There were no metal detectors. In spite of the fear many people have at this time, the fans, scouts, and coaches gathered to watch hockey as one. Let’s hope that spirit spreads as quickly as possible.

    NCAA Passes ‘Common Start Date’ Legislation

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    The Division I Management Council of the NCAA recently passed an amendment to its by-laws creating a common start date for men’s ice hockey.

    This legislation will not take effect until August, 2004.

    This date will be the Saturday of the 25th full weekend prior to the first round of the NCAA tournament. If the legislation took effect this season, that date would fall on Sept. 29-30. In 2004, it falls on Oct. 2.

    The previous legislation said games and practices could not start before Sept. 7, or the institution’s first day of classes for the fall term, whichever was earliest — although, most teams did not start until later in September.

    In effect, this will push the start of the season up a week, although starting in 2002-03, the NCAA tournament will be pushed up a week as well.

    This season, three teams played exhibitions against Canadian schools on the weekend of Sept. 26. The following Friday, Oct. 5, was the Hall of Fame Game between Minnesota and North Dakota, followed a day later by a number of games.

    The controversial original legislation, proposed by the ECAC and MAAC, would have added a provision prohibiting games from being played until two weeks after the practice start date. For 2004-05, that would have meant no games could be played before Oct. 16.

    The proposal — as well as officials from the MAAC and ECAC — drew intense criticism from the hockey community, and the legislation was amended.

    Hockey East, WCHA to Swap Top Officials

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Prompted by the NCAA, the WCHA and Hockey East have come to an agreement to exchange high-rated referees on a limited basis.

    Experimenting with this new arrangement, Hockey East’s Jeff Bunyon will be officiating both Colgate-Minnesota games this weekend at the Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis. Well-known WCHA official Mike Schmitt will be flown East in late November to referee two games: Clarkson at Northeastern on Friday, Nov. 23, and Cornell at Boston University the next day. The Cornell-BU game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net New England.

    “This is something we have been hoping to do for awhile,” said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna, who also serves as Chair of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee.

    “We wanted top officials who have a good chance to work the NCAA Tournament. This gives them a chance to become familiar outside their normal areas and to ensure that we will have a national crew of officials working the same game with the same rule book.”

    All the games involve three leagues. In Minneapolis, a Hockey East referee will officiate a WCHA vs. ECAC game. Next month, a WCHA official will oversee a Hockey East vs. ECAC game. Local assistant referees will be used at each site.

    “It will be a good thing for the officials to get a feel for the nuances of the different leagues,” said WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod. “Much of the credit for this arrangement should go to our two supervisors, Greg Shepherd (WCHA) and Brendan Sheehy (Hockey East). They have a good working relationship.”

    Bunyon, in his 12th year as a Hockey East official, is a native of Belmont, Mass. He is one of the top-ranked officials in the league and has worked numerous Hockey East and Beanpot championship games.

    Mike Schmitt is one of the nation’s top officials, having worked a number of NCAA championship finals, including last April’s Boston College vs. North Dakota game and the 1998 Boston College-Michigan final.

    Both conferences would consider expanding this program in the future, and there are talks currently going on between the CCHA and the ECAC along the same lines.

    This Week in the ECAC: Oct. 25, 2001

    By Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy
    -

    Why Not Rensselaer?

    We guess that question has been answered. A win over No. 6 New Hampshire propelled the Rensselaer Engineers into the Top 15 at No. 15. The 6-4 win at home last weekend was enough to impress the voters.

    “We had some timely scoring, and our penalty killing did a great job,” said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. “We knew they had a great offense, and they were a speedy team. But we just played solid defense, and Kevin [Kurk] played a solid game in the pipes.

    “I thought we came out and played them pretty physical, and then we laid off of them a little bit, but then we came out banging again in the third period. It was evident that we have pretty good conditioning at this point of the season. It’s pretty big to win games in the third period, and that was a nice win in the third.”

    CAVOSIE

    CAVOSIE

    The timely scoring came from Marc Cavosie, this week’s ECAC Player of the Week, an even strength goal, and a shorthanded goal to seal the win.

    “He’s just playing real well right now, and he has it going offensively. He came back this summer real focused, and ready to play,” said Fridgen. “He’s certainly a player that you have to have on that power play — you add Matt [Murley] on that power play, and it’s hard to cover both of them.”

    “I worked real hard this offseason, and got in real good condition,” said Cavosie. “I feel good physically, and the shots seem to be going my way, and the bounces are too. And my linemates are really hustling for me. [Andrew] MacPherson and [Ryan] Shields are working hard for me, and I don’t know if I could get what I get.”

    Cavosie’s attitude is not going unnoticed by those around him.

    “I don’t think he’s thinking about that from a points perspective right now,” said Fridgen about his five goals in two games start. “He’s concerned with playing well on both sides of the puck. Whether it’s setting up goals, or scoring goals, or preventing goals, he’s getting the job done, and what’s he’s doing is trying to play as consistent as he can.”

    The Engineers have moved into the Top 15 in the polls, but that is not a concern right now for Fridgen, and the Engineers. They have a game plan going into this weekend’s series at Minnesota-Duluth after the big win over New Hampshire.

    “It gives us a boost of confidence,” said Fridgen on the win. “But it’s pretty early right now, and what we’re trying to do is get our identity, and play our game. Play some physical play, score some timely goals, and I am more concerned with that than who we are playing right now.”

    So Why Not Union?

    We guess you have to ask the question again.

    “Why Not Union?”

    Union is still 2-0-0, and the Dutchmen had last weekend off. But in the latest USCHO poll, the Dutchmen actually lost points in the polling. Nothing changed. Just one of those things, we guess.

    “Ah, the old poll questions,” said head coach Kevin Sneddon. “It’s not a concern of mine or anyone in our program. We are a far more focused group this year. We worry about the day-to-day process of getting better as a team, and not about what others think of us. The wins will come from a commitment by each player to play his role, and sacrifice for the good of the team, not by reading our media clippings.”

    The Dutchmen will get the chance to prove it some more as they take on Merrimack this weekend in North Andover. With the hot start, the Dutchmen probably would have loved to play games last weekend.

    “A week off can provide a team with both pros, and cons, but we always look at things from a positive perspective,” said Sneddon. “We missed some class time in order to bus out to Notre Dame, so the week off allowed our student-athletes to catch up with their schoolwork. It also allowed us some recovery time to heal some of our injuries from the weekend at Notre Dame. Lastly, it afforded us the time to work on specific areas of our game that we needed to address after watching video from the two games against Notre Dame.”

    The interesting part of the Dutchmen wins at Notre Dame was the fact that they were two different games. The first game was a low-scoring defensive tilt, while the second game was more wide open. In the third period the first night Brandon Snee was trying to preserve the shutout. The second night in the third period, the Dutchmen roared back to overtake the Fighting Irish.

    All signs of encouragement right off the bat.

    “I actually thought we played a more well rounded game the first night,” said Sneddon. “We came out flying in the first two periods, and set the tempo of the game. Notre Dame did a great job of turning their game around for the third period, and fortunately, we sustained the lead to win 2-1. Despite the score, we still generated a lot of offensive opportunities [odd-man rushes, two breakaways].

    “The next night, I thought Notre Dame was the better team for the first period. We came out with a better effort in the second, and an even stronger effort in the last 10 minutes of the third period. It was nice to see us score seven goals…the last time we did that was a practice in 1998! [note: Union last scored seven goals in a 7-1 win over Army on 11/19/99] It was nice to see us utilize our speed, and excel in areas like penalty kill and power play.”

    The Dutchmen head to Merrimack hoping to sustain the good start, but Sneddon knows it will be tough.

    “We are planning to see a very good Merrimack team this weekend,” he said. “Coach Serino, and his staff have done an excellent job with the Merrimack program, and as a result, they have built a team that can beat anyone in the country. We have a lot of respect for their entire team, and in particular, their top line. Players like Aquino, Parillo, and Rosa will give us a headache if we are not prepared for them.

    “On a side note, we all wish Chris a speedy recovery, and hope to see him Friday night.”

    Growing Pains

    It’s just two games into the season, but there is already proof that there will be growing pains for Colgate.

    This past weekend the Raiders dropped a pair to Nebraska-Omaha. On Friday the Raiders led heading into the third period, and on Saturday they had a shot at coming back to tie in the third. Growing pains on opening weekend indeed.

    “I was pleased with the way we bounced back from some of those goals, but it’s still never acceptable to lose like that,” said head coach Don Vaughan about Friday. “We made some rookie mistakes.”

    “We’ve got to get tougher around our net,” he said after Saturday’s loss. “We need to do a better job of taking care of business in our own end. I thought they just wanted it a little more around our cage.”

    Not only that, but the Raiders also need to get into game condition, something that Vaughan thought was evident this weekend.

    “I think some of our guys just aren’t where they need to be physically,” he said. “You try, and get to that place physically, and conditionally but it’s tough to do unless you play games.”

    The Raiders also head to Minnesota this weekend for a pair at Mariucci Arena. The offense seems to be there with eight goals in the first two games, but that also needs some work.

    “We still have to get some of the other guys to get there,” explained Vaughan. “[Etienne] Morin, and [P.J.] Yedon, they played well, but we have to spread it around some more. It’s not going to be a situation where we’re going to have one or two guys like Darryl Campbell or Andy McDonald that had 50 goals between them. We’re going to have to get several guys to score seven or eight goals each.”

    So It Begins …

    …at least for a handful of Ivy teams. With just under two weeks of ice time under their belts — the Ivy League allowed official practices to commence on October 15 — Brown, Princeton, Yale, and Cornell will attempt to rid themselves of the offseason cobwebs this weekend in exhibition contests.

    The Bears face off against St. Francis Xavier on Friday night. The X-Men, a team a goal away from capturing the Canadian university championship last season, will serve as a good challenge for Roger Grillo’s squad despite losing two of its top scorers from last season.

    Earlier this month, St. Francis Xavier was shut out by Boston University, 4-0, but rebounded for a 5-3 win over Don “Toot” Cahoon’s UMass-Amherst team. Speaking of Cahoon, his former team, Princeton, will take on the X-Men in an exhibition contest the following night in Princeton, N.J.

    The next night the X-Men travel to Yale to conclude the three-game swing.

    Cornell welcomes another Canadian college team — the Golden Hawks of Wilfrid Laurier — to its barn on Saturday night before jumping into a two-game nonconference battle with Alabama-Huntsville next weekend.

    Following this weekend’s action, Harvard will be the only Division I team left in the nation yet to play an organized contest. Harvard — aside from an informal scrimmage against Brown — won’t officially play in a game until its season-opening contest against the Bears on November 3.

    Patriotism Shines Through

    In the midst of all the sadness, and loss caused by the September 11th tragedy, there was a poignant display of patriotism at Gutterson Fieldhouse last weekend. Prior to the Catamounts’ Saturday night loss to Boston University, 10 members of the Vermont Air Guard — all former UVM players — presented their former head coach with two photos and an American flag. One of the photos showed the Vermont Air Guard F-16 flying cover over New York City following the terrorist attacks.

    The Catamounts next take the ice this Saturday in an exhibition contest against Moncton.

    The Odd

    "You just can’t do that; that’s a penalty."

    — Colgate head coach Don Vaughan, on Rob Brown’s unusual holding-the-stick infraction last weekend.

    Last weekend, Rob Brown of Colgate was whistled for a two-minute minor for holding the stick. Not very unusual, except for how it occurred.

    Brown and Nebraska-Omaha’s David Brisson went into the corner. Then there was a stick on the ice. Brown carried the puck over to the left side and started the rush with a pass. All the time Brisson was chasing him, and motioning towards him, and screaming. Why?

    “Apparently the referee said [Brown] just grabbed the stick out of [Brisson’s] hands,” said Colgate head coach Don Vaughan. “You just can’t do that; that’s a penalty.”

    At first, Brown didn’t seem to think so, vehemently arguing that it was his stick when the officials came towards him. Brisson, likewise, was arguing that it was his stick. The two got into a tug-of-war with the stick as the rope. Neither wanted to give it up. Finally the officials stepped in, and took control of the stick.

    The officials looked at it, and it turned out to have Brisson’s number 10 on it.

    Oops.

    If It’s So Easy, You Try It

    The first episode of the Iron Columnists will take place on November 2. What will you challengers bring to the table? How will the Iron Columnists strike back?

    Line up if you’re interested in putting your money where your mouth is; drop us an email to be eligible to take on the Iron Columnists this season.

    This Week in the CCHA: Oct. 25, 2001

    By
    -

    Trick or Treat?

    One of CCHA Commissioner Tom Anastos’ strengths is his frankness. Anastos won’t dodge an issue, and he doesn’t sugar-coat anything.

    And when I aired my concerns for — and dislike of — the CCHA’s new post-season playoff format last week, I thought it only fair to give Anastos a chance to share what’s on his mind about the new system.

    “We’ve got to find a way to bring some sizzle back into the CCHA playoffs,” says Anastos. “When we were one of the first leagues to [have a tournament], there was tons of excitement, lots to do. That’s waned.”

    The new playoff format has everyone participating in the first round, with the top six teams hosting. Six teams then move on to the Championship Tournament at Joe Louis Arena, where the top two seeds get a bye.

    The playoffs will be spread over three days, as opposed to the previous two. Anastos admits that there are both positive and potentially negative aspects to the new plan.

    “One of our problems is that people have a certain perception of the city of Detroit, and I think Detroit is making an effort to revitalize,” says Anastos. “We’ve got to do a better job of trying to make this more of a hockey tournament.”

    To that end, says the commish, the CCHA spent a good portion of the summer talking with the Detroit convention bureau, with Olympia Entertainment to ensure that fans have a variety of things to do during the three-day weekend. Anastos says he wants “local restaurants and bars … to make a bigger commitment to making it a CCHA weekend.”

    When the CCHA played a consolation game, fans of all four teams in attendance stayed for the whole two days. To keep CCHA fans through three days, Anastos says, “We will have to coordinate some entertainment and hospitality.”

    Another concern is that of fan attendance. Anastos says that given the geography of the league, transporting large numbers of fans from distant schools may be a problem — especially during the Friday games that pit the No. 6 seed against No. 3, and No. 4 vs. No. 5.

    “We know it’s going to be difficult to attract crowds on a Friday. It is now. Why would it be any different?”

    Logistical concerns aside, Anastos says that the only real negative is the potential for some teams to take a hit in the Pairwise Rankings.

    “Frankly, where this concerns me, now you’re having your top-seeded teams playing lower teams. This may be a problem especially now that each league has only one automatic bid [to the NCAA post-season tournament].”

    The pluses, however, outweigh the minuses, according to Anastos, and the new system is better than the 10-team tournament with a play-in game.

    “Frankly, I wasn’t particularly fond of it [10-team format]. Logistically, it was very challenging for the teams involved.”

    Anastos says the potential for disaster was evident with the 10-team format, and uses last year’s playoffs to illustrate. Western Michigan and Northern Michigan met in Marquette for a first-round series that went to three games, ending on a Sunday. Nebraska-Omaha traveled to Michigan for the Tuesday play-in, but could easily have hosted that match.

    “Western Michigan or Northern Michigan could have gone to Omaha. They would’ve had to bus to Green Bay, then jump on a puddle-jumper to get ultimately to Omaha. Their equipment would have been shipped separately.

    “We’re just not a league that can travel by bus anywhere. It’s very difficult that time of year to get a charter [plane], because so many sports teams are traveling. It worked out but it was risky.”

    Although Anastos says he can’t criticize the way the 10-team format worked because it proved to be financially successful, he’s been pushing for a change since he became commissioner. The new format was just one of many options.

    “We considered all things. One proposal was to play the playoffs over two weeks — but that didn’t seem to work because of schedule restraints, and now would be even tougher because the NCAA has passed legislation about the starting date of practice.

    “One is that we’ve gone with the schedule format that we’ve wrestled with, and it’s not a perfect world — but it seems to be the best option for us.”

    One criticism that Anastos wants to address directly is the idea that the end-of-season drama is over now that teams are no longer fighting simply to make the playoffs.

    “I don’t actually agree with that. On a technical basis, you can say that’s absolutely true… but no matter the number, they’re still playing for positions.”

    In fact, Anastos says that “he personally wouldn’t support this format” if the CCHA played a 60-game schedule, but because the league plays far fewer games, he says the jockeying for position will be exciting.

    “I think the dynamic has changed in a playoff race. Your regular season, and the importance of it, is different. Now it’s a race for home ice and position.”

    Another plus, says Anastos, is that teams who have never hosted first-round series now have the potential to do so, which generates fan interest, revenue, and excitement for the teams themselves. “All 12 schools and their fans know that there’s a 50 percent chance that they’re going to go to Joe Louis Arena.”

    And excitement, says Anastos, is the primary goal of the new playoff system.

    “I do know the downside with what we’re dealing with,” says the Commissioner, “but one of the main reasons for it would be to revitalize our championship.”

    Tricky…

    The NCAA has amended its bylaws to legislate a common starting date for men’s and women’s ice hockey.

    The bylaw amended is 17.13.2, and it pertains to preseason practice. It now reads, “A member institution shall not commence practice sessions in ice hockey prior to the Saturday of the 25th full weekend prior to the first-round of the NCAA championship.”

    Before the change, the bylaw stated that schools had to wait until September 7 or an individual institution’s first day of classes for the fall term, whichever came first.

    What does this mean? Well, had this bylaw been in effect this year, practice would have begun no earlier than September 29. The new rule effectively shaves a little off the season, something that can be a hardship on teams west of Pennsylvania.

    CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos says that while a common starting date helps draw attention to the sport, the CCHA was against this legislation.

    “We would have liked to have seen 26 weeks. First of all, we can’t travel during weeknights, as many eastern teams can. Two, many of our buildings now are multi- purpose buildings. It ties your hands more about scheduling.”

    Anastos says the league can “live with it.”

    The bylaw itself, writes the NCAA, “is alternate legislation to current Proposal No. 2000- 82.” That proposal, championed by Rick Ensor and the MAAC, would have legislated the actual number of games played by each Division I team. The opposition to Proposal No. 2000-82 was nearly unanimous.

    Treats? A Goody Bag!

    As everyone in college hockey knows by now, Michigan State head coach Ron Mason earned his 900th win Oct. 20 with the
    Spartans’ 2-0 win over Ferris State    , while Michigan head coach Red Berenson notched his 450th with the Wolverines’ 5-3 victory over Western the same night.

    Through the years, each coach has seen any number of players go on to success in the National Hockey League. In the Oct. 25 game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Columbus Blue Jackets, four men who played for these two great coaches were in the arena, three on the Oilers’ roster, and one with the Blue Jackets. Each said that his former coach and his experience in the CCHA helped him get to where he is today.

    Former Wolverine defenseman and current Blue Jacket Blake Sloan remembered Berenson warmly, and said that his former coach taught him responsibility.

    “The biggest thing that Red gave to me was making me accountable every day at the rink, of taking care of business away from the rink as far as academics were concerned, and taking care of extracurricular activities.

    “When you came to the rink … you put your best foot forward, you worked hard for the team, and he demanded that every day of you.

    “You could see it in his eyes every day, too. He was one of those guys who came to the rink and gave everything he had to support that program throughout the year, and I think it shows with the players that he’s got and the records he’s achieved.”

    Another former Wolverine and current Oiler, Mike Comrie, said that he learned much from the Michigan coaching staff. “Coach Berenson helped me out a lot on my defensive game. Up until college hockey, I hadn’t played too much defense … but once you get to college, you realize how important defense is. It transfers to the pro game.”

    Comrie’s linemate, former Spartan Anson Carter, echoed Comrie’s thoughts about how important learning defense was while playing in college, as most forwards who eventually make the transition from college to pro must have strong defensive skills to play on the third and fourth lines, where they usually start with a pro team.

    “When you make that transition to pro hockey, you might not play on one of the first two lines right away … you pay your dues on the third or fourth line. Being in a program like that [MSU] made it a lot easier to make the transition [to the pros], to have that defensive schooling.”

    Carter added that it was playing specifically for Michigan State that helped him build his skills as a two-way player. “When you play there, you have to be accountable to your teammates, and if you’re not going to play defensive hockey, you’re not going to play.”

    Like Carter, former Spartan and current Edmonton forward Shawn Horcoff said that it was more than just playing college hockey that helped him get where he is now. “It was going to Michigan State and playing for Coach Mason. He really emphasizes from the get-go that the quickest route to the NHL is through good defense. As long as you can play in your zone, you’re going to get time on the ice.”

    As different as Coaches Mason and Berenson are, and as fiercely and notoriously competitive as they are, they have more in common than most fans know, more beyond the loyalty of their former players.

    In fact, it’s safe to say that players who go through the Michigan State and Michigan programs learn about tolerance and compassion as well as camaraderie, and here’s proof:

    Mike Comrie and Shawn Horcoff are not only teammates, but the two are close friends and roommates on the road.

    “Horcoff and I are pretty much best friends,” was Comrie’s shocking admission. “We’re pretty close.

    Added Horcoff, “We’re really tight now. We’re roommates on the road and we spend a lot of time together. It just shows you what hockey is all about. We battled through the years there, and I’d never met him before he came to Edmonton, but we clicked from the beginning, and we get along great.”

    If that isn’t scary, what is?

    Monster Mashers

    Here’s a pleasant surprise: my reports of Notre Dame’s early demise may be slightly exaggerated.

    “They played hard every shift,” said Ohio State captain Jason Crain, after the Buckeyes took three of four points from the Irish in Columbus last weekend, skating to a 4-4 tie Saturday and beating Notre Dame 3-2 Sunday.

    In fact, the Irish worked through every shift, followed through with every hit, capitalized on Buckeye defensive turnovers, and forechecked aggressively throughout the two contests.

    OSU head coach John Markell said that he saw a difference between last year’s Notre Dame squad and this year’s team. “I told Dave Poulin at [CCHA] media day that his team was picked too low. We played a good hockey team out there. They have talent, and they never let up.”

    A Notre Dame newcomer to watch is left wing Brad Wanchulak (Edson, Alb.), a tenacious, energetic player who pestered Buckeyes any place they were on the ice, during any kind of situation.

    “Before he came here, he was given free reign to do whatever he wanted,” said Dave Poulin, Notre Dame head coach. “That shows now. He’s going to be a good player.”

    Wanchulak is a solid, big six-footer with speed, agility, good puck-handling skills, and the ability to read the game while on the ice. “He sees the whole game,” said Poulin.

    Another bright spot for the Irish was rookie netminder Morgan Cey (Wilkie, Sask.), who made a gazillion saves in the two games.

    The challenge now for the Irish is to win those close games, said Poulin. “We’re learning how.”

    What remains to be seen, however, is how hard Notre Dame will continue to play if — and I mean if — the Irish don’t start winning those close ones.

    Games of the Week

    It’s nothing sinister: just two good teams going at it in one great venue.

    No. 1 Michigan State (3-0-1, 3-0-1 CCHA) at No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha (3-1-0, 3-1-0 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m., Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Neb.

    These two games will be the 10th and 11th meetings between the Spartans and Mavericks, with Michigan State holding a 7-2-0 edge in the all-time series. MSU was the last team to sweep UNO in the Omaha Civic Auditorium, beating the Mavs 5-2 and 6-2, Oct. 15-16 1999.

    But the Mavericks were the last team to beat the Spartans in Munn Ice Arena, winning a 2- 1 decision Oct. 20, 2000.

    It’s a love-love kind of thing.

    This series pits two of the three teams in the CCHA ranked in the USCHO.com weekly Poll. Through four games this season, the Spartans are outshooting their opponents 149-78, averaging 37.25 shots on goal per game compared to opponents’ 19.5.

    The incomparable Ryan Miller has a goals-against average of 0.98 (yes, you read that correctly), with a save percentage of .949 through his first four games. Posting two shutouts (over LSSU and FSU) doesn’t hurt his cause, either.

    On the other side of the puck — and playing for a team that is not Michigan State — Jeff Hoggan is on fire. The Maverick forward has five goals and five assists for 10 points in just four games.

    It’s awfully early in the season to speculate about special teams, road vs. home, blah blah blah, but it’s safe to say that the combination of the stingy Spartans and the home-ice-loving Mavericks makes for two very good games of hockey.

    And just in case you’re wondering, Michigan State is 25-2-6 in October since 1997.

    Grudge of the Week

    I like to call this one “The First Annual Pitts Bowl.”

    No. 6 Michigan (2-2-1, 1-1-1 CCHA) at Northern Michigan (1-0-1, 1-0-1 CCHA)
    Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich.

    This year the two-game series with Northern Michigan is not quite so scary for Michigan because the Wolverines don’t have to stoop to traveling to Marquette.

    In late November of 2000, alert CCHA fans discovered that any trip to the Upper Peninsula, Marquette, Mich., and/or the Berry Events Center is a genuine hardship for the Michigan Wolverine hockey program, according to one columnist for the Ann Arbor News.

    The UP-roar was great, the columnist was shocked at the clamor, and the Wolverines took three points from the Wildcats in Marquette, winning 6-2 Dec. 1, and skating to a 2-2 tie the following night.

    Even without the melodramatic accompaniment, any meeting between the Wolverines and Wildcats can be considered a grudge match, as Michigan holds a 15-10-3 edge in all-time series, and Michigan head coach Red Berenson owns an 11-3-3 record against Northern Michigan and NMU head coach Rick Comley.

    Believe it or not, in this all-time series the Wolverines trail 5-6-0 at home against the Wildcats, but are 5-1-3 in their last nine meetings with the ‘Cats.

    Something else to consider: Northern Michigan is the only team in the CCHA whom Michigan has never swept in a two-game series, but the Wildcats have swept the Wolverines once, 4-2 and 7-6, in Ann Arbor, Feb. 24-25, 1984.

    The 2001-02 season marks the first time since Northern Michigan rejoined the CCHA in 1997-98 that the Wolverines haven’t had to make that wretched trip to Marquette. Unfortunately for those who think a trip to the Yoop and a smaller school are beneath the dignity of the Wolverine program, Michigan does have to cross the Mackinac Bridge this season, for one single game against Lake Superior State on Jan. 31.

    Oh, the humanity.

    “I Got a Rock…”

    Only one person wrote in last week with the name of the poet from whom I stole shamelessly for my season preview. That person was none other than USCHO’s own Chris Lerch, our resident Division III Supreme Leader.

    It’s just Chris’s tough luck that USCHO.com employees are ineligible to win the million-dollar prize from last week’s trivia contest.

    This Week in the SUNYAC: Oct. 25, 2001

    By
    -

    An Opportunity Too Good To Pass Up

    Coming back to Cortland is a homecoming for Tom Cranfield.

    “The program means a lot to me. It’s kind of special when you can return home and coach the program that you played for,” Cranfield said.

    And what a way to return to your alma mater!

    In his first two games as head coach at Cortland, Cranfield saw his team upset Potsdam and Fredonia, two teams picked to finish well ahead of the Red Dragons — who were not even chosen to make the playoffs — in the SUNYAC coaches poll.

    Those wins made some people sit up and take notice.

    “It was a pleasant surprise from our standpoint. We had a lot of young players step up; it looks like we’ve got some good young talent,” said Cranfield.

    “We worked hard enough to win. Potsdam is an extremely skilled team, and I think we caught them a little off guard.”

    Cortland goalie John Larnerd made 17 saves against Potsdam, giving up two on the power play, and allowing just one power-play goal on 30 shots against host Fredonia. Larnerd, a junior, was named tournament MVP.

    “He is the best goalie I’ve ever worked with at any level,” said Cranfield, who says his goaltending is his team’s biggest strength.

    Cranfield succeeds 2001 SUNYAC Coach of the Year Tim Vanini, who left to pursue a doctorate at Michigan State. Last season, the Red Dragons made the playoffs for the first time since Cranfield’s senior year, the 1992-93 season, when the team went 19-9.

    "I just love this place. I have a passion for the program and a passion for the game of hockey. It’s just one of those things that I just couldn’t pass up."

    — First-year Cortland coach Tom Cranfield, whose Red Dragons have opened the season with consecutive upset wins.

    Cranfield, a defenseman and captain for former coach Al MacCormack, now at Lebanon Valley, is still Cortland’s all-time leader in assists, with 73. He also assisted MacCormack from 1993-95.

    Cranfield wasn’t looking for a college coaching position until the opening at Cortland. “I don’t know if I would have left [Northfield Mount Hermon Prep] for any other school.”

    “I just love this place. I have a passion for the program and a passion for the game of hockey. It’s just one of those things that I just couldn’t pass up.”

    Two upset wins right out of the box doesn’t hurt either.

    Hey, maybe sometimes you can go home again.

    The Right Foot

    The other SUNYAC program with a new man behind the bench is Geneseo.

    Former Bowling Green assistant coach Brian Hills becomes only the second head coach the Ice Knights have had since Paul Duffy inaugurated the program in the 1975-76 season.

    Despite having three of the top 15 scorers in Division III, the Ice Knights finished in the middle of the pack in the SUNYAC last season. The college’s desire to improve the program attracted Hills to the job.

    “The school itself wants to raise to the bar here for hockey,” said Hills. “[Geneseo] has a great reputation academically, and if we can raise the level of our play with the hockey team, I think it can be a real gem of a school in Division III hockey.”

    Does a new coach mean changes for the Ice Knights?

    “I think pretty much everything I’m doing here is new to them.

    “The guys have been real excited about the drills we’ve been doing, and the structure of the practices, and the intensity of the practices,” Hills added.

    Hills’ Division I experience — as a two-time first-team All-American, as CCHA Player of the Year, and his seven years as an assistant — has rubbed off on the team.

    “One of the players commented to me that he liked that we were bringing a D-I mentality to a D-III program,” said Hills.

    The first-year coach says that also includes conduct away from the rink: “We’ve demanded a lot of discipline from the kids off ice here, and set in place some rules and some behavior and some dress codes and things like that.”

    One difference between D-I and D-III, though, is funding. The Ice Knights have already begun some fundraising efforts to pay for things things that scholarship players might take for granted.

    “Some of the things D-I program kids get for free, here they have to work for them,” said Hills. “And you know, maybe they value those items a little more because they have to put some work into it.”

    Continuing the involvement he had with youth hockey at Bowling Green, Hills has reached out to young people in Geneseo, N.Y., starting up a “Junior Knights” program.

    Ice Knights players are getting involved, too.

    “Our guys are going to work in the youth hockey program once or twice a month with different teams. We’ve had guys out on the ice with youth hockey programs already,” said Hills.

    While the Ice Knights have already played one game this season, dropping a 10-1 decision at rising Manhattanville, Hills said he really won’t be able to see how his team matches up, “until I’ve seen some of the other D-III programs and how we fare against them.

    “We struggled last Saturday in the game, and I told the guys on Monday that I’m looking for much improved effort come this Friday.

    “I don’t know if guys were uptight last weekend, or didn’t get off on the right foot, but it’s important for us to get off on the right foot Friday.”

    In his short time at Geneseo, Hills already has.

    A Good Problem To Have

    Oswego coach George Roll has a tough choice to make, but it’s one many coaches would give their eye teeth for: deciding which goalie to start when you have three who can do the job.

    The Lakers are off until they open their NCAA season next weekend hosting two tough SUNYAC rivals, Plattsburgh and Potsdam.

    Last Friday, in exhibition against Wilfred Laurier, Roll gave each netminder a period to show his stuff.

    Junior Joe Lofberg was in net for the first period, seeing only five shots and allowing one goal. But that power-play tally would have hung most any goalie out to dry: The attacker committed Lofberg to the goalie’s left before switching to the backhand, then tapped the puck underneath when Lofberg moved to put his skate against the opposite post.

    Lofberg, who played in seven games behind senior Gabe Accardi as a freshman, saw action in 17 games last season for the Lakers, amassing an 11-5-0 record with a 3.23 GAA, and a .888 save percentage.

    Sophomore Tyson Gajda got the nod for the second stanza, stopping all nine shots he faced, during a penalty-filled period that allowed power play opportunities for both sides. Splitting time with Lofberg, Gajda had a 6-4-1 record as a freshman, a 2.75 GAA and a .904 save percentage. The tie, the only regular-season blemish against RIT, came in relief, with Gajda blanking a Tiger squad that had taken an early first-period 3-0 lead.

    Roll said he was pleased with the play of both his veterans.

    Transfer Sebastian Matte, also a sophomore, was in goal for the last period. Matte gave up a couple of early goals, and seemed just a bit nervous at first, facing 10 shots, and making some big saves, in a period of end-to-end hockey.

    “It was his first game [for Oswego], and he can play better than that,” said Roll, who also pointed out that giveaways in the zone, “freshman mistakes,” led to the two goals.

    Matte came to Oswego from Salem State, where a transfer to the Vikings last season, Kaleb Christenson, had most of the time in net. In four games, Matte had 3-1 record, a .944 save percentage, and a 1.44 GAA.

    After the exhibition, Roll said, with a bit of a smile, “It’s a tough position for a coach to be in when you’ve got three good ones in goal.”

    Since any of the three has the skills to start for a majority of the teams in Division III, Roll has depth in a position where an injury can make or break a season. And he has the flexibility that not every coach has: to play the hot netminder in any given game.

    It’s a position most of his colleagues in the coaching ranks will never be fortunate enough to face, but, then again, they won’t have to find enough playing time for three strong goalies, either.

    Tournaments In Western New York

    This weekend finds four SUNYAC teams in tournaments.

    Brockport and Geneseo join the two other Rochester-area schools, RIT and Hobart, in the third annual Chase Rochester Cup Tournament.

    Brockport coach Brian Dickinson is looking for a better result for his team than last year, when the Golden Eagles dropped the tournament championship to the Tigers 10-1, and lost on home ice during the regular season 14-2.

    With some attitude problems gone from the team, a healthy roster, and some promising recruits, Dickinson looks for a better showing.

    “Last year was not what our coaching philosophy is about … [It] was one of those years where nothing went right, and it snowballed into some bad apples … and they were the dominant personalities in our locker room.”

    After watching a tape of the second game against the Tigers, in which Brockport hung on through the first two-thirds of the contest, Dickinson believes that if his team can work hard and keep it close, they have a shot at RIT in the tournament’s first round.

    Steve Tippett will get the nod in goal for Brockport. Tippett had a bit of an off season last year, said Dickinson. “He’s worked very hard, and I think he’ll do very well.”

    What does Geneseo’s Brian Hills expect in this weekend’s Rochester Cup?

    “I know what to expect from RIT … there’s no question there we’re facing one of the ultimate powerhouses in Division III hockey.”

    About the other three participants, “We’re all middle-of-the-pack teams in our leagues — and I’m looking for our team to build on what I’ve been teaching them.”

    Meanwhile, Buffalo State hosts its All Sport Invitational, with the Bengals and Fredonia each facing Milwaukee School of Engineering and Utica College.

    Buffalo State is Utica’s first varsity opponent, so it’s difficult to know what to expect.

    “I’ll tell you what, right now I’m scared to death,” said Jim Fowler, now in his sixth season as Bengals head coach, who compared the start Utica’s new program to that of Manhattanville a few years back.

    “They’ve had a year to recruit, and I’ve seen the roster they’ve brought in … it’s pretty scary. [It’s] their first collegiate game and you know they’re going to be pretty excited.”

    Fowler says MSOE is not to be overlooked, either. The Bengals played a couple of close games in Milwaukee last season, and the Raiders’ new coach, Mark Ostapina, has brought in some new recruits.

    Buffalo State needs to be more disciplined this weekend, says Fowler. The Bengals had 42 minutes of penalties in games against Fredonia and Potsdam.

    Fowler’s squad, scoreless in six periods last weekend, needs to take advantage of scoring chances, too. “In our first period we had eight 2-on-1’s, and I think we hit the net on about three of them.”

    Expect the Bengals to hit the net a few times this weekend.

    Around The Empire State

    • Geneseo’s Brian Hills, Bowling Green ’83, joins two fellow alums — RIT’s Wayne Wilson (’84), and Oswego’s George Roll (’86) — in western New York. Bowling Green head coach Buddy Powers (’76), who Hills and Wilson both assisted, and who was himself an assistant to Jerry York when all three played there, beat them all to the area, coaching RIT in the 1988-89 season.
    • An Oct. 12 exhibition by the Plattsburgh men’s and women’s hockey teams raised over $3,000 to benefit the relief effort in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Two co-ed teams played two 25-minutes halves before 800 in attendance. The women’s team starts its inaugural season Nov. 3.
    • Will Hamele of Fredonia and Potsdam’s Ryan Venturelli each notched career shutout number three last weekend in wins over Buffalo State.
    • Along with other changes in the program, Geneseo has renovated its Ira S. Wilson arena dressing room, with new paint, an Ice Knights logo, and new padding to replace the carpet and, according to reliable sources, to rid the place of the carpet’s lingering odor.

    SUNYAC Trivia, Parts One and Two

    What team won the SUNYAC tournament without winning a game in the championship series?

    And what change was made to the format of the series as a result?

    Answer Me This

    Don’t you hate it when colleges don’t put a link to their athletic department on their home page? Do they really think hiding athletics under “Current Students” and then from there under “Campus Life” makes them better academically?

    Next Week

    Next week starts the SUNYAC conference schedule. In addition to this regular column, we’ll preview the season with a look at each team.

    This Week in the MAAC: Oct. 25, 2001

    By
    -

    Quinnipiac Repeats At Q-Cup

    For the second consecutive year, the Quinnipiac Braves are victors in their own tournament, the Q-Cup. With a 5-2 victory over Bentley in the semi-finals and a 5-1 win over AIC in the finals, the Braves took home the trophy in what some would call a watered-down tournament.

    The less-than-first-rate field included the above mentioned along with Fairfield leaving folks to question whether the Braves were simply looking to add hardware to the shelf.

    Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold, though, said an easy schedule wasn’t the goal.

    “It just depends on the year, and which teams we can get,” Pecknold said. “Last year we had Air Force, and we used to always have Iona. They just couldn’t fit it into their schedules [this year].”

    Pecknold actually defended the strength of the teams that did play.

    “Fairfield and Bentley were better than they were last year. And AIC was solid — they played us pretty well.”

    Probably the highlight of the tournament was the 57-save performance by AIC rookie netminder Frank Novello over Fairfield that led the Yellow Jackets into the title game, 3-2.

    Weekly Awards

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Player of the Week: Ryan Olson, Quinnipiac Sr., F, Pincher Creek, Alberta

    Olson was named MVP of the Quinnipiac Cup for helping Quinnipiac win the championship against AIC 5-1, with a one goal and one assist effort on Saturday night. Olsen scored three goals and one assist on the weekend including the game winner against Bentley on Friday night 5-2, helping his team capture the championship.

    Also Nominated: Patrick Tabb (AIC), Greg Kealey (Holy Cross), Kelly Bararuk (Iona), Ron D’Angelo (UConn), Chris Duggan (Canisius)

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Goalie of the Week: Frank Novello, American International Fr., G, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario

    Novello had an outstanding game in AIC’s first win of the season against Fairfield, 3-2, in the opening round of the Quinnipiac Cup. The freshman goaltender had 57 saves and only let in 2 goals in AIC’s 3-2 victory. Frank was named to the All-Tournament team after his team had lost to Quinnipiac 5-1 in the championship game in which he had stopped 30 shots.

    Also Nominated: Scott Galenza (Iona)

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Rookie of the Week: Andrew McKay, Holy Cross Fr, F, Bellefeuville, QUE

    McKay scored a goal in each of the Crusader’s games this weekend against Air Force. He scored his first collegiate career goal on a power play in the first period of Friday night’s game. Holy Cross lost to Air Force 4-3 on Friday night, but bounced back on Saturday night beating the Falcons 7-6.

    Also Nominated: Brent Williams (Iona)

    Limited Nonleague Success Is Lone Highlight

    The MAAC continued to struggle against out-of-conference opponents last weekend, with losses for Mercyhurst and Sacred Heart among the conference lowlights.

    The only silver lining in the nonleague cloud were victories by Canisius and Holy Cross over Alabama-Huntsville and Air Force respectfully. Both team had near sweeps in their two-game series, as both feel by one goal in the Friday night matchups. Holy Cross came back for a 7-6 shootout win on Saturday, which the Griffs blew away UAH, 9-3, in the second game.

    Among the nonleague losses was an 0-3 record against Hockey East opponents. Northeastern used three power-play goals to knock off Mercyhurst, despite the excellent play of back-up goaltender Matt Cifelli. Providence routed Sacred Heart, 8-1, scoring eight unanswered goals after Sacred Heart took the early 1-0 lead. And UConn followed-up its impressive tie against Iona on Friday with a 6-0 loss to UMass-Lowell on Saturday.

    This week’s only nonleague matchup is UConn traveling to Bemidji State. The next major contest to watch is Iona traveling to Colgate one week later.

    Major Blunder For Bentley

    Since joining the MAAC three years ago, things haven’t exactly gone Bentley’s way. Struggling to qualify for the playoff in season one, the Falcons didn’t even come close last season, finishing in last place in the 11-team league.

    This past weekend, the Falcons finished last in the Q-Cup, this year comprised of all MAAC members, with Fairfield and AIC joining Bentley and Quinnipiac. The only good news for Jim McAdam’s squad was that the games didn’t count in the MAAC schedule.

    After losing on Friday night, 5-2, to host Quinnipiac, the Falcons looked to be head to victory on Saturday. Leading 5-2 against Fairfield in the consolation game, Bentley’s Andy Peters took one penalty he’ll probably never forget. Peters was called for hitting from behind, issued a five-minute major and also given a game disqualification.

    With Bentley skating a man down, Fairfield ripped off four — count ’em, four — power-play goals to take a 6-5 lead that they would hold on to in victory. The four tallies brought the game total for PP goals to six for Fairfield. The Stags went six-for-nine with the man advantage, one night after going zero-for-five against AIC in defeat.

    “Our conditioning level is one of our strongest suits,” said Fairfield coach Jim Hunt. “So with the penalty coming late in the game, our legs were fresh.

    “We had some many power plays over the weekend, and we were just trying to throw it to the net. We did that early in the five-minute major and it worked, and we gained a spark.”

    And as they say, the rest is history.

    Bruises For Stags

    The five-minute major that sparked the rally for Fairfield Saturday also added to the list of injuries that the Stags suffered over the weekend.

    To put it mildly, the improved depth of the Stags is being tested early in the season. Four Fairfield players ended up in the hospital after hits that Hunt thought warranted punishment.

    When asked about the major assessed to Bentley, Hunt said: “It was a long-overdue call over the course of the weekend. We had four guys hospitalized over the weekend and things were getting out of control.”

    The Stags’ injuries included concussions to Ryan Tormey and Tom Palladino, a broken shoulder for Vin Tampone and a broken wrist for Peter Hams. Tormey returned this season after suffering from a concussion much of last year. He and Palladino are expected to play this weekend.

    Stirring The Pot

    I’ll tell you that when I sat down to write last week’s column about the MAAC increasing its scholarship limit, that never did I think that it would create such conversation among MAAC fans.

    Certainly, it’s safe to say that the fans of the MAAC believe strongly in their product and the success. Most of those very fans realize that an increase in the scholarship limit would automatically add another step of legitimacy to the league provided that the member institutions can afford the financial commitment that accompanies.

    In the same breath, I will say that the coaches that have addressed this issue with me and other media are all supportive. Does that mean that every coach supports 18 scholarships? No. But those who have been vocal about this certainly believe in the need to become competitive with more established programs in the NCAA, and that will be best addressed with an increase in scholarship revenues.

    One fan on the USCHO message board noted that talk of this increase, particularly by Mercyhurst’s Rick Gotkin, came as a result of the MAAC’s near-upset in the NCAA tournament last year. I have to say that this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Most coaches have been pressing to see additional scholarship funds since nonleague competition began two years ago. It doesn’t take Albert Einstein to figure out that it is difficult to compete with powerhouse programs without this funding. What the MAAC has accomplished, in my mind, is incredible.

    One promise — we’ll continue to monitor this situation and report as time goes on.

    Mea Culpa

    Mixed with all the fan mail that I obtained this past week, were plenty of emails from the Army contingent regarding a grave mistake on my part in last week’s column. It seems that in discussing facilities of the member schools, I overlooked the Black Knights’ gem of a building, Tate Rink. Probably the biggest sin seeing that Army, by far, has the nicest on-campus rink, seating more than 2,000 spectators with a full-sized lobby and locker room facilities missing from most other MAAC rinks.

    So as promised to all those who wrote, I apologize to the Army family for forgetting!

    Early Rematch Highlights Week

    Probably the marquee matchup in the MAAC this week is the early-season rematch of Quinnipiac and Iona. The two teams opened the MAAC season for the fourth year in a row on October 12, with a 3-1 Iona victory that night.

    This time, though, the setting has changed. A raucous Quinnipiac environment will greet the Gaels, looking to stay undefeated in MAAC play.

    “We were packed on both Friday and Saturday, which was nice,” said Pecknold in reference to the Q-Cup, held in Northford, Conn., last weekend. They expect another sellout this Saturday.

    Both teams will play the night before, making fatigue a bit of an early-season issue. Quinnipiac travels to Army, while Iona is home against AIC.

    According to Pecknold, fatigue shouldn’t be a factor, but it may not mix well with inexperience.

    “Iona has to play Friday night as well, but they’re at home and have to travel [to Quinnipiac on Saturday] too,” Pecknold said. “[Fatigue is] only a factor because there are so many freshmen in the lineup and they have to get used to it.”

    Remembering the first game between the clubs, Pecknold noted that the 3-1 loss was probably generous on the scoreboard, feeling his Braves were outplayed that night.

    “[Iona] played better than a 2-1 win with an empty-netter,” said Pecknold. “I really think they’re a great team. This is the first time I thought they had a team, not just a few kids to carry the mail. And it shows. [They had us] running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”

    With the traditional rivalry moving to Connecticut, look for an early-season war to develop.

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