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D-III Quarters: St. John’s at Wisconsin-Superior

By Ed Trefzger
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March 8, 2001

Momentum is on the side of both teams as St. John’s visits Wisconsin-Superior in the quarterfinal round of the NCAAs.

The MIAC champion Johnnies are 10-1-3 in the latter half of the season, while the only blemish on a 21-game unbeaten string for the host Yellowjackets is a tie with Wisconsin-River Falls in the NCHA championship series.

Superior enters the tournament with a 27-3-1 record, the best in school history, while the Johnnies are 15-10-3.

But a successful streak to end the season isn’t the only thing these two teams have in common. Both started the campaign with uncertainty.

Last September, Superior’s longtime head coach and athletic director Steve Nelson stepped down to become commissioner of the America West Hockey League, a junior league based in Montana. Dan Stauber, an assistant under Nelson and a player on Nelson’s first Yellowjackets squad, was named interim head coach for the season.

The change happened so close to the start of the school year that some recruits only found out when they got on campus. “We couldn’t find them fast enough to tell them,” explained Stauber.

It took a few games to get the team on track; Superior dropped three of its first four conference games. “Any time you have a transition like that, you’ll have some rocky roads, and we had ours early,” said Stauber.

Even so, the NCHA Coach of the Year also attributes much of his team’s achievements to how readily they responded to changes he brought to the program.

“The seniors on the team accepted the responsibility to make [the transition] go smoothly,” said Stauber, who noted that he didn’t introduce an entirely different philosophy, but did bring in “a few wrinkles.”

Stauber added, “I’ve been around enough to know you don’t change too many things, or you’ll sink.”

While the Yellowjackets were adjusting to their new coach and system, the Johnnies were going through the struggles that come with being a young team.

Gregory

“It took us a while to mature,” said St. John’s head coach John Harrington. “We were working at it, but didn’t have much to show. When you’re young, you’re inconsistent.”

One thing Harrington did to gain some consistency was to give the starting job in goal to sophomore Rick Gregory. “We had been rotating goaltenders every other game, and we decided to go with [Gregory] primarily. He’s played great for us in the last two months,” he said.

Gregory is 8-0-3 since getting the nod, with a 2.08 goals against average and a save percentage of .922 in those 11 games.

Another contributor to the Johnnies’ turnaround since starting 5-9-1 is the midseason transfer of former North Dakota forward Mike Possin. The junior, who had been recruited by St. John’s before signing with the Fighting Sioux, has scored 11 goals and added eight assists in 16 games, but Harrington says what Possin brings to the team is more than his presence on the ice.

“Not only does he have a lot of skill, but I think our guys learned a lot about preparation for games from him,” said Harrington. “He was on the national championship team [at North Dakota] and he was in the program when they won a couple of WCHA championships, so he understands what it takes to be successful and how players prepare for big games.”

Solid goaltending has also been key for the Yellowjackets in their unbeaten stretch. Following the stellar career of goalie Tom Pink, in net for Superior is sophomore Nate Ziemski, who started his college career at Cortland, but transferred last year.

Ziemski

“He’s from Duluth, [Minnesota,] where I’m from, and I saw him play in high school,” said Stauber.

Stauber was concerned about the large amount of time Ziemski had spent without playing. “We didn’t know how he would respond, and he has responded very well. We knew he had the talent. But not seeing any game action in a year and a half? That’s pretty difficult.”

This season, Ziemski is making up for the time off by leading Division III in minutes played. In 29 starts, he has a 25-3-1 record, with a .908 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.13.

In front of their goalie, the Yellowjackets’ stingy defense has allowed only about 22 shots on goal per game.

Superior has gained a reputation for being physical that Stauber says is undeserved: “I don’t know why we keep getting the rap that we’re a physical team. If [the situation] presents itself, fine, but we would love to get up and down the rink. We want to play the skill game.”

The Yellowjackets, averaging 4.78 goals per game, do indeed have players who can score.

Two seniors lead Superior in scoring: Ivan Prokic, with 22 goals and 16 assists, and Jeff Glowa, with 14 goals and 23 assists. Thirteen of Prokic’s goals have been on the power play, while Glowa has three tallies short-handed. Both forwards, along with Ziemski and senior defenseman Milan Tomaska were named to the 2001 All-NCHA team.

St. John’s isn’t the same kind of offensive threat as Superior, with only four players at the 20 point mark or above. “We don’t have a lot of guys with the big numbers. We get things done by committee,” said Harrington.

The eighth-year head coach is pleased that some players who had been quiet for the Johnnies in the regular season have come through with timely goals in the MIAC playoffs. Harrington said he looked to players to step up in the postseason, and “abandoned any preconceived notions” about them he might have had.

“I think our whole team has improved, and going into the playoffs … I said, ‘It’s a clean slate, right now this is the way we’re going, impress me.'”

The two teams met just once this season, in the first game for both after the semester break. Visiting St. John’s led Superior 3-1 after two periods, but the Yellowjackets responded with three goals in the third to squeak out a 4-3 victory.

Harrington said the game was a good learning experience, despite the loss. “We got some confidence that we can play with good teams.”

Wisconsin-Superior claimed its third straight NCAA bid with the 2001 NCHA championship.

Stauber believes both teams have improved since their lone meeting. “I don’t think it was a game that either one of us liked.”

This is the third consecutive NCAA tournament for Superior, and ninth overall. The Yellowjackets were runners-up to Middlebury in 1999 after shocking host Norwich in the semifinals. The Cadets returned the favor in last year’s tourney, ousting the host team 5-4 in overtime at Superior’s Wessman Arena in that tournament’s penultimate round.

That playoff experience is a big plus for Superior, according to Stauber. “It’s going to help us from the standpoint of jitters — playoff jitters, NCAA jitters — I don’t think we’ll be as tight.”

St. John’s makes its third trip to the tournament and its first since 1997, when the Johnnies finished third after losing a semifinal to that year’s champion, Middlebury. In 1996, St. John’s lost a two-game NCAA quarterfinal series to Superior.

The young Johnnies, who won their conference as the third seed, come into this series as underdogs as well.

“Severe underdogs,” emphasized Harrington, who knows more than a little about the subject, having been a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. “I don’t know how we could be considered anything else. Superior’s big and strong and a mature team, and it’s amazing … whatever we’ve done pales in comparison to the streak they’ve put together.”

This Week In The WCHA: March 8, 2001

By Todd D. Milewski
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March 8, 2001

The Entertainer

His view of the game may have changed, but Mike Sertich still knows how to entertain a crowd.

A group of reporters crowded around the longtime Minnesota-Duluth and Michigan Tech coach after Friday night’s game at the Kohl Center. He answered all the questions, then bantered with one of the writers about a recent story.

The reporter said he’d get Sertich a copy of the story. Sertich’s response? He’d read it. …

“I’m almost done with that Hooked on Phonics class.”

Life isn’t all jokes for Sertich, who took a while to look at himself after stepping down from his position at Duluth, which he held for 18 years. He talked about his new view of the game, and what he learned from his departure from Duluth in a story that debuted this week on USCHO.

People’s Choice Awards

You, the faithful readers of USCHO, apparently think alike.

Last week, I asked you to vote for the WCHA postseason awards — player of the year, coach of the year, defensive player of the year, rookie of the year and first-team goaltender.

When the results were tallied, few of the categories were close.

North Dakota’s Jeff Panzer was the runaway winner for player of the year, and who can argue with that? Sure, an argument can be made for some players, but no one has dominated the WCHA the way Panzer has this season.

But for all the accolades, Panzer’s biggest feat might have been convincing even the toughest fans — in his case, Minnesota’s — that he’s the best player in the league.

“He’s probably the best WCHA forward since Brian Bonin,” wrote a reader who identified himself simply as Mike from Minnesota.

The numbers are nice — he has 22 goals and 48 assists for 70 points — but to some, it’s the intangibles that make the senior the tops.

“Amazing unselfishness — he knows he could score more goals, but prefers to dish the puck and let others finish the job,” James Kuhn wrote. “Heart of a champion — he is not big, he just plays that way. How could this fantastic season for Panzer go unrewarded? Jeff deserves the highest honor in the WCHA.”

The pick for defensive player of the year was Minnesota’s Jordan Leopold. The problem with picking the defensive star is that one automatically turns to points. After all, it’s the most available statistic. But it doesn’t always apply to defensemen.

Leopold plays on the Gophers’ power play, which accounts for more than half of his 43 points.

But Leopold has earned his share of recognition as a defenseman.

“The guy never gets beat defensively and makes it look pretty easy most of the time,” Jon Morris wrote. “Add his offensive output to that, a great shot and skating ability and you have the winner.”

Said Scott Eisentrager: “Jordan has anchored the Gophers’ defense this year and been one of the main reasons the team has done a 180 from last season on the defensive end of the ice.”

Like it must be painful for a Minnesota fan to admit a North Dakota player is the best in the league, it’s tough for a St. Cloud State fan to credit a Gophers player.

“This is similar to a mortal sin for me to admit that a Gopher is the best at his position,” Huskies fan Andy Roeser wrote. “I don’t think he is the best defensive defenseman, but the way he truly is the commander of their potent power play makes him my choice.”

The sentiment, if not the delivery, was nice anyway.

A few weeks back, I proclaimed Colorado College forward Peter Sejna to be my pick for rookie of the year. The readers agreed, but it was closer than some may have imagined.

Minnesota’s Grant Potulny received his share of votes, but even some who voted for the Gophers phenom saw that it was just Sejna’s year.

He’s fifth in the WCHA with 47 points (third in the league with 23 goals), and has helped keep CC together through some difficult times this year.

“No other freshmen has made as big of an impact on his team as Sejna has,” Aaron Perrault wrote.

“On a team that already had some top-notch scorers returning, he has stood out,” Roeser added. “He’s no Dany Heatley, but he’s the best this year.”

For the foreseeable future, all WCHA freshmen will be compared to Wisconsin’s Heatley, who took the league by storm as a rookie last year. That’s somewhat unfortunate because the chances there will be another player like Heatley taking the ice for a WCHA team soon is slim.

But Sejna has made his transition to the college game look seamless, a credit to someone who has only been in this country for three years.

The readers selected St. Cloud State’s Scott Meyer as the first-team goaltender by a 2-to-1 margin over Minnesota’s Adam Hauser.

And who said the last weekend of the regular season doesn’t mean anything for individual awards? Meyer may have locked up a spot on the first team by helping the Huskies sweep the Gophers.

It swayed at least one fan.

“After this last weekend’s games, I would respectfully like to change my vote for goaltender to Scott Meyer of St. Cloud,” wrote Jeremy Lundy, who last week voted for Hauser. “He was amazing against the Gophers and put up the stats this year with four freshman defensemen in front of him. St. Cloud will go as far as he can carry them.”

It seems goaltending may determine who travels farthest in the national tournament. Meyer’s hot right now, which is fortunate for St. Cloud. But anyone can make a run once the playoffs start.

The coach of the year, if the readers have their say, will be Minnesota’s Don Lucia. After a marginal year in his first season, Lucia is back to the kind of form that put him on top of the league at Colorado College.

“He has brought back a team that used to be the best or near-best every year in only two years,” John Kinzer wrote. “He got them to believe in themselves.”

Bill Robeck wrote: “Lucia has found a way to amass the talent-filled Gophers into a cohesive unit. He has them as one of the hardest-working teams in the league and has the Gophers heading back to the big dance.”

If you’re interested, the WCHA will announce its awards before the start of the Final Five, March 15 at 4 p.m. at the Landmark Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Trivia Question

Who was the first man to be honored as the WCHA’s coach of the year? Answer later.

The Final Countdown

Debate the merits of a 10-team tournament or a Final Five all you want. The simple fact is, everyone gets another shot this weekend.

Slip up this weekend, though, and for most teams there won’t be yet another shot.

Here’s a quick look at this weekend’s first-round series. The winners will end up in St. Paul next weekend.

The Return Home, aka Minnesota-Duluth at North Dakota

Dean Blais is expecting a rousing ovation at the start of his North Dakota team’s series against Minnesota-Duluth.

This time, it’ll be for his team.

Scott Sandelin is still highly regarded in Grand Forks a year after accepting a job as Duluth’s head coach. He spent six years as an assistant to Blais.

But now, on his second trip back this season, he’s just an opposing coach.

“They won’t be giving him a standing ovation,” Blais said, “Now he’s the enemy. I know he’s going to come over here and try to take some points this weekend.”

For his part, Sandelin just wants to get off on the right foot.

“I guess it’s only fitting that I go up there to that rink,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get that first one and put some pressure on them.”

The MacNaughton Cup is in the Sioux’s hands, but they’re not quite sure how it’s going to be presented. Blais doesn’t want the players to be distracted from the overall goal of defending their national championship. But you can’t get to the national championship if you don’t take the steps to get there.

“We have [the Cup] locked up so players concentrate on playing Duluth,” Blais said. “We want to concentrate all our efforts on getting to the Final Five.”

Watch this: Check out how Blais plays his goaltenders this weekend. Will one get pulled after a bad outing on Friday? On the Duluth end, watch to see if the Bulldogs get intimidated in Engelstad Arena. If they do, good night now.

Less Is More, aka Alaska-Anchorage at St. Cloud State

Everyone’s wondering exactly how far St. Cloud State can go this year. The simple answer is that the Huskies can go until they lose.

The more verbose answer has to deal with staying fresh and being the most prepared team on the ice. Huskies coach Craig Dahl has cut back on the practice time in recent weeks, trying to keep his players from wearing out before game time.

“We’ve adopted this year the less-is-more theory,” he said. “We haven’t practiced on Monday for a month. … It’s seemed to keep our guys relatively fresh.”

That could come into play as the teams dwindle. The best fit team, mentally and physically, could get an advantage.

Alaska-Anchorage coach Dean Talafous, whose job has been rumored to be in jeopardy, isn’t planning on doing anything different this weekend.

“We’re just trying to prepare to be our best,” he said. “St. Cloud, you could argue is as good as anybody in the country right now. But we can’t go in there with fear. We have to play our game and see what happens.”

Watch this: Will St. Cloud carry over the high of the success against Minnesota last weekend? Will Anchorage be bolstered by three points against rival Fairbanks?

Battling Back, aka Michigan Tech at Minnesota

Michigan Tech and Minnesota each lost two games last weekend, but in vastly different ways. The Huskies came oh-so close to tripping up Wisconsin twice, while Minnesota was never in its series against St. Cloud.

That would give the momentum advantage to Tech, but Minnesota’s skill advantage probably negates that.

Also in Minnesota’s favor is the thumping the Gophers put on the Huskies in the teams’ last series at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota won 8-3 and 5-1.

Tech took 76 minutes in penalties in the first game, then only 10 in the second game. There were two different styles for the Huskies that weekend.

“Wait until you see the third style. … I don’t know what it is yet,” Sertich said. “The big thing is we got distracted. I don’t think we’re as aggressive as people think we are.”

Watch this: How long will it take Minnesota to shake off last weekend? How long can Michigan Tech stay on a relative high from last weekend’s excellent performance?

Second Verse, aka Minnesota State-Mankato at Colorado College

Chances are Colorado College and Minnesota State-Mankato are going to have seen too much of each other by the time this weekend closes.

The Tigers and the Mavericks will face each other for the third, fourth and possibly fifth straight times after last weekend’s series split.

“It’s not a big issue that we’re playing them this many times in a row,” CC coach Scott Owens said.

What could be a big issue is the style of play. The teams saw the entire spectrum of hockey last weekend, from clean to dirty and everywhere in between.

There were 18 minutes of penalties called in last Friday’s 3-2 Mankato victory. In a 7-0 Tigers rout last Saturday, there were 52 penalty minutes.

“We hurt ourselves on Saturday night with our lack of discipline,” Mankato coach Troy Jutting said. “I thought Friday night was one of the better games I’ve seen in this league. I would like to think that’s the kind of game that’s going to happen out in Colorado.”

Said Owens: “I don’t know what’s going to happen. If they play like they did Friday night, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Watch this: Mankato has to keep CC’s big scorers quiet. A high-scoring game probably doesn’t help the Mavericks.

Sudstown, aka Denver at Wisconsin

Don’t worry about Wisconsin losing home-ice advantage by playing its first-round series at the building formerly known as the Dane County Coliseum.

The suds will take care of everything.

The Coliseum’s celebrated beer gardens, one of the staples of Wisconsin hockey lost in the shuffle to the Kohl Center, comes back this weekend. The Badgers were forced out of their home building by the Wisconsin girls basketball tournament.

“People are excited about being able to drink a beer and watch a hockey game, so that’s a positive,” Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said.

On the ice, this could be the most intriguing series because of the way these teams fought tooth-and-nail for the last home-ice spot. Wisconsin got it by one point.

“They’ve done a great job staying ahead of us in the last two weeks,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said.

What could put Wisconsin over the top this weekend is really no surprise. Heatley has started to make his mark on games again, something that was missing for a good part of the season.

“It’s going to be a real challenge for us to keep him under wraps,” Gwozdecky said.

Watch this: The Badgers have to love the numbers. They’re 28-2 in the WCHA playoffs at the Coliseum and 7-0-2 this year on NHL-size ice (the Coliseum converted back to 200×85 after the Badgers men’s team left). Denver has, statistically, the best goaltender in the league in Wade Dubielewicz. Can he carry the Pioneers?

Trivia Answer

Michigan Tech’s John MacInnes was named the WCHA’s first coach of the year after the 1959-60 season.

He Said It

“A lot of us, I’m sure, are going to be kicked out of the coaching position, but Bob was carried off.”

— North Dakota’s Blais, on Bob Peters, the retiring Bemidji State coach who was carried off the ice by his players after his final game, against the Sioux last Saturday.

News and Views

How’s this for the friendly skies? Denver is scheduled to fly United to Madison, Wis., for this weekend’s playoff series. According to a source, United’s union won’t allow its employees to lift packages weighing more than 100 pounds, meaning the Pioneers had to arrange for their skate sharpener and stick bags to be transported via FedEx. Gwozdecky is reportedly not too happy with the situation. Imagine what might happen if FedEx doesn’t come through.

Michigan Tech goaltender Brian Rogers turned in a tremendous performance at Wisconsin last weekend, stopping 75 of the 81 shots he saw. He kept the Huskies in the series with some dazzling stops and a lot more of the ordinary variety. He’ll probably need more dazzling ones this weekend against Minnesota.

On the Docket

The league’s playoff field is cut in half this weekend, setting up next weekend’s Final Five. The play-in game is at 7:05 p.m. Central on Thursday. Semifinals are set for 2:05 and 7:05 p.m. on Friday. The consolation game is 2:05 p.m. Saturday and the Broadmoor Trophy game is at 7:05 that night.

All five games take place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

D-III Quarters: New England College at Wisconsin-River Falls

By Chris Lerch
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March 8, 2001

Back in mid-November, the New England College Pilgrims started the 2000-2001 hockey season with a road trip to Vermont to face powerhouses Middlebury and Norwich.

The results?

Middlebury 8, NEC 0.

Norwich 12, NEC 1.

Last weekend, the Pilgrims returned to Vermont as the number-three seed in the ECAC East playoffs and came away with the title, defeating Salem State 4-1 and beating defending conference and national champion Norwich 2-1. New England’s two victims last weekend had shut out the Pilgrims by a combined score of 15-0 in the regular season.

Quite a turnaround, but New England head coach Mark Ostapina has an explanation for the slow start.

“Our chiller had to be replaced right before the season started,” he said. “We had almost no ice time and that put us behind the eight-ball.

“In my heart of hearts, I knew we had a strong team, and we were in shape from our off-ice training, but there’s no substitute for skating.”

The team had a meeting on the bus on the way back from that Vermont trip, and Ostapina told his team some of the positives that he had seen.

“I saw things in both games that I liked,” he said. “At the beginning of the periods, the first five or 10 minutes, when we were fresh, I thought we played with [Norwich and Middlebury]. But we just didn’t have our legs.”

The team won a few nonconference games after that, building towards a 4-3 overtime win at Hamilton, a team the Pilgrims had never beaten.

“That was the physical turning point of the season,” said Ostapina. “The mental turning point was the next day, when we lost [12-3] to Geneseo. We knew we could play with the best teams, but learned that we had to be mentally prepared for every game.”

Aiello

New England College won its next five games, including a 3-1 win over Potsdam, which was ranked at the time. Since Christmas, NEC is 16-3.

Ostapina is proud of all of his players, but one in particular.

“I can’t say enough about Ralph Aiello. I think he’s the best player in Division III. He had a hat trick for us against Salem State. That was huge. He’s been a leader on and off the ice.

Aiello, a senior from Toronto, Ont., has 25 goals and 29 assists so far this season, good for seventh in the nation. He’s been named to the All-ECAC East First Team.

“I think he’s our version of Mark Messier,” Ostapina added. “He doesn’t wear the ‘C,’ but he’s really a fourth captain and the players all look to him.”

Ostapina has platooned goaltenders Sumner Stetson and Ryan Thompson this season, but has decided to go with the hot hand down the stretch. That would be Thompson, who transferred from Potsdam after last season.

“Ryan played both games last weekend, and against UMass-Boston the week before. Our goaltending coach, Ed Walsh, has been working with him and he’s been playing really well down the stretch.”

Thompson made a combined 67 saves on 69 shots vs. Salem State and Norwich last weekend.

What can the Pilgrims expect from their hosts, the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons?

“I haven’t seen them, since the NCHA has a no-tape policy,” said Ostapina. “But I know that they’re very good defensively. They extend their defense well and shut you down. They play a Western, clutch-and-grab style that will look different to us after the NESCAC style, which is more wide-open.”

Ostapina should be familiar with both, having played at Wisconsin and coached at UMass-Lowell and Alaska-Anchorage.

Freeman

“We’re going to try to get them to play our game. Our strength is down low, and we’ll try to work it from there.”

Wisconsin-River Falls has seen its share of ups and downs this season as well. Head coach Steve Freeman says his team is ready.

“We’re excited to be here,” said Freeman, whose team received the Pool C bid, the lone at-large bid available to teams not winning the automatic bid for their conference. “I think that we’ve proved we deserve to be in this tournament.”

UWRF was given the nod over Amherst, even though the Lord Jeffs had a better winning percentage (.740 to .700). Sources on the selection committee indicated that it was the Falcons’ tough schedule that compensated for a slightly weaker record.

“Playing in the NCHA, which is a very tough conference with Superior, St. Norbert, Stevens Point and, this season, Stout, has made us earn this,” Freeman said.

The Falcons started strong, opening the season 8-0-1, but then hit a stretch where they went just 5-6, and lost their leading scorer, Shane Fukushima, who turned pro.

“We have a young team, 18 freshmen and sophomores, and ran into some tough opponents,” said Freeman. “But we got through that.”

Vezina

River Falls then won its next eight in a row to finish the regular season in second place in the NCHA, and ranked fifth in the nation.

The Falcons then made it to the NCHA finals, but fell to Wisconsin-Superior. After tying the first night to snap the YellowJackets’ 19-game winning streak, UWRF dropped a 4-2 decision on Saturday.

Then the waiting began for the phone call that came on Sunday night.

“I know they’re a fast, skilled team,” said Freeman of his opponents this weekend. “We’re going to try to play our game.”

That game emphasizes defense and goaltending, and the man between the pipes has been key to the Falcons all season. Jacque Vezina, a sophomore from Hudson, Wis., has a .905 save percentage and a 2.42 GAA, ninth-best in Division III.

“We believe in ourselves, and what we can accomplish,” said Freeman. “And we’re home, which is very important to us. We’ve played really well at home this season.”

D-III Quarters: Lebanon Valley at RIT

By Scott Biggar
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March 8, 2001

The Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen (18-7-2) travel to Rochester, N.Y., to take on the RIT Tigers (24-0-1) for NCAA quarterfinal action on March 9 and 10.

While on the surface, this might look like the proverbial David of the ECAC Northeast taking on Goliath in the No. 1 team in the nation, the Dutchmen have been on a roll lately.

“RIT is the premier team in the nation this season. But we have nothing to lose. All we need to do is play hard, try our best, and see what we can do,” said Lebanon Valley head coach Al MacCormack.

RIT and Lebanon Valley have never met in competition, though four common opponents give some sense of comparison: Elmira, Geneseo, Hobart, and Manttanville. Lebanon Valley went 1-3-1 against those opponents, while RIT was 10-0.

“Any time you win a championship, it says something about your program, and Lebanon Valley won theirs the hard way,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “We’re trying to figure Lebanon Valley out, just like they’re probably trying to figure us out.”

The Lebanon Valley team is only three years old. MacCormack left his position as head coach of Cortland State to build the Dutchman program from the ground up, and he has them off to a quick start.

“We built our program to be a strong Northeast team,” MacCormack said simply.

The Road To The NCAAs

24-0-1.

That pretty much sums up how RIT got to the NCAAs. The Tigers are undefeated in NCAA competition this year, with the only blemish being a tie at the hands of Oswego State. RIT has been ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll for the past nine weeks, and has defeated nationally-ranked teams like Plattsburgh, Oswego, and Elmira, as well as Division I Air Force along the way.

As on most teams, injuries occurred. At one point in the season, RIT was down to four healthy defensemen, and was without both its starting goaltender and captain. But the Tigers have recovered during the waning weeks of the regular season, just in time for the stretch drive and the Pool B bid to the NCAA tournament.

“We’re healthy, knock on wood. Everything down the stretch has been going good, so we’re ready to just play and play hard,” said Wilson.

Meanwhile, after a rollercoaster year Lebanon Valley finished fourth in the regular-season ECAC Northeast standings.

The Dutchmen began the Northeast playoffs by defeating UMass-Dartmouth in the quarterfinals as they hosted their first playoff game ever. Then Lebanon Valley hit the road, upsetting Johnson & Wales and knocking off defending league champion Wentworth.

“The Wentworth win was huge. We had lost to them at home earlier in the season. To go on the road, and defeat them there … wasn’t to be expected.” said MacCormack.

With the Northeast title in hand, Lebanon Valley earned the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament.

“It was inconceivable for us to be here, in the NCAAs, after only three years,” said MacCormack.

“We started strong, then dropped a few, won a few, and dropped a few more. But now we are on the upswing, have won eight in a row, and are peaking at the right time of the year.”

Comparing the Teams

OFFENSE: Lebanon Valley is led by sophomore Brian Yingling, an ECAC Northeast First-Team All-Star. Yingling has notched 24 goals and 23 assists on the season, including four game-winners, and sits in 13th in the nation in points per game and tied for 11th in goals per game.

“He’s a hard-nosed hockey player. He is very deceiving when you watch him, but he is always a threat to score when he’s on the ice,” said MacCormack.

The Dutchmen are averaging a very respectable 4.19 goals per game and have led more than 52 percent of the minutes that they have played this season.

The RIT first-unit power play celebrates. L-R: Sam Hill, Jerry Galway, Derek Hahn, Peter Bournazakis, Mike Bournazakis.

Look at the top of the RIT scoring statistics and you will notice that a pair of brothers, senior Peter and sophomore Mike Bournazakis, were both named ECAC West First-Team All-Stars.

Both are tied for the team lead in points with 61, but got there through different paths. Peter has 30 goals and 31 assists, while younger brother Mike has 19 goals and 42 assists. Both are pushing various season and career scoring records at RIT.

“I don’t think it could be a friendlier battle than two brothers going for the scoring title,” said Wilson. “It is special to have two brothers playing with each other like this.”

Even with the Bournazakis brothers, the key to RIT’s offense is depth. Fully eight players are averaging more than a point per game — three of those are averaging two per game — and the team is working on a 7.40 goals per game average, No. 1 in the nation. The NCAA offensive leaderboard is littered with RIT players, more than can be listed here.

“Everyone on this team is so unselfish, it is scary to a point,” said Wilson.

DEFENSE: An ECAC West coach recently described RIT junior co-captain Jerry Galway as “the best D-III defenseman I have ever seen.”

High praise indeed for Galway, who has amassed 13 goals and 36 assists on the season, is sixth in the nation in scoring points per game, and a First-Team All-Star. Galway is the heart and soul of the RIT defensive squad and is a major reason for its success this season after sitting out all last year due to a shoulder injury in the first game.

He returned this year stronger than ever, and quarterbacks the Tiger power play.

“Jerry is our best player, on a team loaded with great players. He is able to play both the physical game and the finesse game when needed,” said Wilson. RIT’s defense allowed opponents only 2.2 goals per game.

A pair of sophomores anchor Lebanon Valley on the blue line. Tim Rink, another First-Team All-Star, and Ben Kwon, a Second-Team All-Star, are both offensive-minded defenseman. Rink has notched six goals and 23 assists on the season so far, while Kwon tallied four goals and 12 assists.

“Tim Rink has a very hard shot from the point,” said MacCormack. The Dutchman defense is limiting opponents to a stingy 2.7 goals per game, ranked 11th in the nation.

GOALTENDING: During the regular season and playoffs, MacCormack rotated games between his two junior netminders, Lincoln Matlock and Kevin Block. Both put up similar, and very good, numbers: Block tallied a 9-2-1 record, .919 save percentage and 2.46 goals against average, while Matlock earned a 9-5-1 record, .918 save percentage and 2.84 goals against average. But who will MacCormack start for the games against RIT?

“I don’t know that yet. I have to talk to the guys, and I have to make a tough decision on which to play,” said MacCormack. Block is from Webster, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, so this series is a homecoming of sorts for him.

The two Dutchman goalies have very different styles. Block likes to roam a lot and moves the puck very well. He also is quite good at playing the angles. Matlock, on the other hand, is much bigger, four inches taller than Block, and tends to be a stay-at-home goalie.

Euverman

Matlock likes to play a style more back in the net, using his size to his advantage to block large portions of the goal. Matlock is ranked 10th in the nation in both save percentage and goals against.

Unlike Lebanon Valley, RIT has relied on a single goaltender as a starter. Sophomore Tyler Euverman started 22 of RIT’s contests this season, and amassed very respectable numbers, including a .925 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average and a 22-0 record, earning him First-Team All-Star honors.

“Ty proved himself both last year and this year. He’s always there when we need him, particularly in big games. And that is comforting to a coach,” said Wilson.

Euverman is currently ranked fourth in the nation in save percentage and fifth in goals against average.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A pillar in the RIT success this season has been its special teams. Wilson usually cycles between two power-play units, and both have been rolling along at an astronomical pace, converting on 44.1% of their chances, tops in the nation.

“This is just unreal. We really feed off our power-play success, and it has come through for us all season long,” said Wilson.

The Tiger penalty killing hasn’t been a slouch either, killing off 88.7% of their opponent’s power plays.

The strength of the Lebanon Valley special teams is penalty killing. The Dutchmen have been very stingy, killing off a stellar 84.6% of their shorthanded situations this season, 11th-best in the nation.

“We use three units on the penalty kill. I switch them on and off the ice as often as possible, and try to only keep them out there for 20 seconds at a time,” said MacCormack.

Lebanon Valley also thinks offensively during the man-down situations: the Dutchmen have scored 11 shorthanded goals this year.

WRAP-UP: Can Lebanon Valley’s David slay the RIT Goliath?

The Dutchmen will need to play their best series of the year. But if the Lebanon Valley penalty kill can stymie the unbelievably good RIT power play, and then stay close in 5-on-5 situations, the Dutchmen might be able to pull off the upset, but that sure is a tall order for the young Dutchmen to achieve.

What could be the difference in this series is playoff experience. This is RIT’s sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA playoffs. The upperclassmen know what it takes to win in this round, and also what it feels like to lose. And that could give RIT a big advantage at crunch time.

Middlebury Leads Qualifiers Into AWCHA D-III Championship

By Russell Jaslow
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March 8, 2001

The second annual American Women’s College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) Division III national championship will be held at the ESL Centre in Rochester, N.Y., on March 9 and 10, and most folks are already preparing to write their Middlebury Panthers championship story.

Not so fast, say the three other schools in this year’s tournament.

The Williams Ephs, St. Mary’s Cardinals, and Gustavus Adolphus Gusties didn’t come all this way just to roll over and hand it the defending champions. However, if any of those schools want to pull an upset, they are going to have to overcome a powerhouse not unlike the North Carolina women’s soccer team.

The semifinal round takes place Friday with the first game, at 4:00 p.m., pairing ECAC champ Middlebury against MIAC runner-up St. Mary’s. The nightcap is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. between MIAC champion Gustavus Adolphus and the ECAC runner-up, Williams.

The consolation and championship games take place at the same times the following night.

Single-day passes are $8 for adults and $5 for students. All session passes are $12 for adults and $8 for students. For information, contact the ESL Centre at (716) 424-4625.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (22-5-1) — The Gusties are the only team familiar with everybody in the tournament. In an Eastern trip earlier in the year, they lost to Middlebury, 4-1, and Williams, 2-1. In the latter game, they outshot Williams, 62-29. Despite losing, that has got to give them some confidence going into their semifinal game against the Ephs. They also went 2-1-1 against St. Mary’s, including a 1-0-1 win in the MIAC championship series.

Gustavus loves to score goals — the Gusties are outscoring their opponents, 164-41, the highest margin in the tournament — and average 49 shots on net. Without question the hottest player on the team is junior Sarah Moe, who despite not even joining the team till January, leads the squad in scoring with 25 goals — 23 of which came in the last 13 games — and 17 assists for 42 points.

Other lamplighters to watch are MacKenzie Stensland (17-13–30), Nikki Norton (13-15–28), Katie Deschneau (12-15–27), Becca Levine (10-16–26), Noelle Skalko (11-14–25), and Jess Brandanger (12-11–23).

The Gusties’ defense allows their opponents under 17 shots per game, and when the opposition does get to the net, Michelle Schaefer and Molly O’Donnell share the duties to prevent those shots from getting in. Schaefer has a 0.97 goals against average with a .915 save percentage. while O’Donnell has a 1.72 GAA and a .914 SV%.

MIDDLEBURY (21-1-1) — This team is a juggernaut, boasting an amazing 113-game (112-0-1) unbeaten streak in ECAC play. As a matter of fact, the Panthers haven’t lost an ECAC game since the league began in 1995-96.

"Every time we step on the ice, our opponents are going to come at us with everything they’ve got. They want to be the ones to finally beat us."

— Middlebury coach Bill Mandigo, on the Panthers’ winning streak

Of course, their one tie did come this year against Bowdoin, so perhaps the competition is finally catching up.

They are led by the AHCA National Player of the Year, Michelle Labbe. She’s scored 24 goals and 32 assists this season.

“Perhaps her greatest hockey attribute is that she practices as hard as she plays,” says coach Bill Mandigo. “I wish more of my players were like her.”

If you happen to stop Labbe, then you have to deal with double-digit goal scorers and twin sisters Erin Neil (15-25–40) and Amber Neil (12-17–29), as well as Angela Kapus (11-13–24).

Let’s suppose you do stop them, too. Then you have to deal with scoring goals against a Middlebury team that has let up 18 all year, producing 10 shutouts, and has two goaltenders with fractional goals against averages. Junior Megan Hutchinson has played in two-thirds of her team’s games with a 0.80 GAA. Freshman Kati Madouras has seen plenty of action and proudly displays a 0.74 GAA.

Mandigo knows what it’s like to defend the streak. “Every time we step on the ice, our opponents are going to come at us with everything they’ve got. They want to be the ones to finally beat us.”

ST. MARY’S (21-6-1) — If you can hold St. Mary’s close in the first period, you stand a chance. That’s because the Cardinals outscore their opponents in the opening period, 55-11.

St. Mary’s has won a lot of individual awards this season. First-year coach Duncan Ryhorchuk was named MIAC Coach of the Year. Four players made the All-MIAC team: Tennie McCabe, Missy Westergren, Missie Meemken, and Mo Hayes. McCabe was also named the MIAC Player of the Year.

However, the squad would love to turn those individual honors into a team award. Having lost out on the conference title, they have set their sights on the national championship.

Obviously, they will look to McCabe to lead the way. She led the team in goals with 28, seven on the power play, and points with 47. Three other players also have over 30 points: Westergren (22-20–42), Christy Hicks (16-18–34), and Emily Kearns (21-11–32).

Missie Meemken has seen most of the action in goal, going 15-6-1 with a 1.65 GAA and a .941 SV%. Don’t expect to see anybody else in net this weekend.

Is SMU intimidated by its semifinal opponent? Not according to Ryhorchuk.

“If we go out and play the way we are capable of playing — from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer — we can play with any team in the country. We can’t get all caught up in that streak stuff.”

WILLIAMS (20-4-1) — Being the number-two team in the country has to feel good — but not when the number-one team is in your conference and keeps beating you.

Well, this weekend Williams may get one more shot at its nemesis, Middlebury, and one more chance to finally come out from the shadows of the Vermont school.

First, though, Williams needs to get by Gustavus Adolphus. No easy task, that, as their regular-season matchup with the Gusties showed. Williams may have won that contest, 2-1, but they were outshot 62-29. Only the heroics of Monelle Quevillon saved the night with 61 stops. Quevillon has been outstanding all year with a 1.51 GAA and .942 SV%,, but Williams can’t rely solely on her again.

Rather, the Ephs will need offense from the trio of freshmen who were their top three scorers. Topping the list was Molly Wasserman, who led the ECAC in scoring with 38 goals and 29 assists for 67 points. So good was Wasserman, she was a finalist for AHCA National Player of the Year, and of course won the ECAC Rookie of the Year.

Victoria Scott, who was named to the All-ECAC Second team, has 20 goals and 29 assist for 49 points. Scott is already proven big-game player: in the ECAC quarterfinals against Bowdoin, she scored four goals and assisted on the other in a 5-4 overtime win. The other freshman is Katherine Nichol (5-13–18). Julia Karoly also has double-digit goals with 10.

Needless to say, Williams is looking forward to its rematch with Gustavus.

“We’re excited about the challenge of playing Gustavus Adolphus again, as they are a good team and a good skating team,” said coach Joe Milam. “It will be a challenge, and our team is all about meeting a challenge.”

This Week In The ECAC: March 8, 2001

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
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March 8, 2001

With the regular year all shaken out, it’s time for the second season to begin.

Congratulations to Clarkson for winning the regular-season crown, but unlike past years, that title doesn’t mean an automatic NCAA bid. So the fight for the Whitelaw Trophy begins in earnest this weekend.

Vermont at Clarkson

This Season – Clarkson, 5-2 @Clarkson and 4-1 @Vermont
Last Playoff Meeting – 1998 First Round – Clarkson, 2-1 (ot), 5-3, @Clarkson

Call them what you want, but in the end, they are the ECAC regular-season champions for the ninth time. The Clarkson Golden Knights stepped it up in the second half of the season and finished 2001 with a 15-4 record — reeling off a 9-1 stretch in their last 10 ECAC games, including seven in a row to capture the title.

“We are awfully proud of this year,” said coach Mark Morris. “I am happy for the seniors and I am happy for the whole team. We started out at the bottom of the pack and worked our way right to the top, and now we’ve got another banner in the rafters. This is a real accomplishment for us. We’ve had a lot of departures to pro hockey and some other related incidents the last couple of years that have really changed the face of this hockey team. We have a lot of youth, so it is very rewarding to see how much we have grown this year. We are delighted with the outcome of the regular season.”

Call them what you want, but in the end, they are in the ECAC playoffs. An 8-4 win over St. Lawrence and a loss by Colgate to Rensselaer put Vermont into the tournament by the tip of the Cats’ collective tails. Vermont started the ECAC season with a 5-0 record, but in calendar year 2001 the Cats were the opposite of the Golden Knights. The Cats went 3-12-2 in 2001, had lost five in a row before defeating St. Lawrence and went from first in the ECAC to 10th by the time it was all said and done.

“There was a just a feeling we weren’t going to let it go this way,” senior captain Jerry Gernander told the Burlington Free Press after Saturday’s game. “I think having it maybe be our last game fired up a few guys a little bit more.”

“We’ve been trying,” said Ryan Cox to the Free Press. “I don’t know what it’s been, but we found it tonight. I think we showed [tonight] that we’re not quitters, that we’re not going to give up.”

The two teams will meet again after playing each other this past weekend, with Clarkson winning 4-1 at Vermont. It only gets tougher for the Cats as they have to step into Cheel, a place no ECAC opponent has won in the playoffs.

Union at St. Lawrence

This Season – St. Lawrence, 5-2 @St. Lawrence, 6-0 @Union
Last Playoff Meeting – 2000 First Round – St. Lawrence, 8-4, 4-3 (ot), @St. Lawrence

Call it deja vu. These two teams met in the first round of last year’s playoffs — St. Lawrence downed Union and went on to win the ECAC championship. The Saints are obviously hoping that lightning strikes twice, while the Dutchmen are hoping to make this year a different one.

“It’s important that we played in the playoffs last year,” said Dutchmen coach Kevin Sneddon. “For our guys to get that experience, we have literally everyone back from that team, and we know what to expect from the playoffs. We’re looking at it as a very positive experience and we’re looking forward to get up there.”

Both teams are coming off of weekends in which they were swept. St. Lawrence lost the lead in the ECAC after getting swept by Dartmouth and Vermont, while Union moved into the playoffs despite getting swept by Colgate and Cornell.

“It was a disappointing weekend not in that we lost, but in that we didn’t play as well as we had hoped,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “We didn’t go in with a gun to our head as far as the playoffs were concerned, but we did want to try to repeat as regular season champions. We lost a lot of the little battles for the puck both nights and weren’t as focused as we could have been.”

“We have to take a look at the positives,” said Sneddon. “I didn’t think we played against Colgate, and they were a team fighting for their lives, and we learned a lesson from it. That was our first taste of playoff hockey and the next night I thought we rebounded real well with a good game against Cornell. We played near perfect hockey in terms of defense. Coming out of there we felt we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the hockey game. I think if anything, we’re looking at it as a positive that we’ve already had a taste of playoff hockey and on the road too. That should help us out going to St. Lawrence.”

The Saints have been playing without Erik Anderson, which has had an effect. But with Anderson in the lineup, the Saints are deadly, especially at Appleton.

“We have a chance to make a third straight trip to Lake Placid and we are playing at home,” said Marsh. “It isn’t going to be easy, the whole season has shown just how tight this league really is, and that was pointed out to us pretty dramatically this weekend — but if we can play the way we are capable of playing, we have the chance to advance.”

What could make the difference this weekend is defense. Sneddon certainly knows that offense is hard to come by.

“I would be more concerned if we weren’t generating those chances,” he said in regards to generating offense. “We’re not an offensive team and we need to concern ourselves with defense first. We are generating the opportunities and we just have to capitalize on our chances. The players know that and as coaches there’s nothing we can do about it, they have to bury their chances.”

Even though the seedings may be two and nine, there’s not a lot of difference in the ECAC and both teams certainly know that. This is going to be one tough series: the Saints hope to repeat as ECAC champions and the Dutchmen are looking to get to Lake Placid for the first time.

“It doesn’t quite come down to X’s and O’s right now,” said Sneddon. “It comes down to character and execution and I feel comfortable that we’re ready to do that.”

Yale at Harvard

This Season – Yale, 3-1 @Yale, Harvard, 6-4 @Harvard
Last Playoff Meeting – 1998 Consolation – Harvard, 4-1, @Lake Placid

It’s a ticket seller’s dream: Harvard and Yale facing off in the first round of ECAC playoffs — for the first time ever in an elimination situation. It has everything you would want — history, rivalry, drama, and more importantly, the interest of the respective student bodies. Over the past few years, it has been no secret that the rowdy Harvard fans of the past are no longer. Although a third-place finish for the Crimson in the ECAC race will certainly help bring the students back to Bright Hockey Center in years to come, the playoff matchup with Yale will have a more immediate effect.

The rivalry has been very unique over the years. For quite some time, the pattern was predictable. No matter how strong either team was in a given year, Harvard would always win in Cambridge, while Yale would be victorious in New Haven. Even during the Crimson glory years of the late ’80s and early ’90s, the pattern stuck. It wasn’t until recently when the Bulldogs began to find chinks in the Harvard home-ice armor and vice versa. A nightmare for coaches, but a rush of adrenaline for fans. Nowadays, it’s not so easy to predict the outcome when these two teams meet. What makes this season even more interesting is that you have two teams who have proven that they are pretty evenly matched when you stick them on the ice. The scouting reports read almost identically:

Fast-skating team; generates speed effectively at neutral ice; struggles to create deep in the offensive zone; will take the body when necessary; prone to defensive breakdowns; solid goaltending; relies heavily on special-teams play.

Earlier this year, the Bulldogs defeated the Crimson in front of a sold-out crowd, 3-1, but Harvard was without the services of its two top freshmen, Tyler Kolarik and Tim Pettit. Just one week ago, Harvard snuck by Yale, 6-4, but the Bulldogs were playing with Dan Lombard, who suffered a punctured lung the day before. All of that buildup makes this upcoming series even that much more interesting.

“We have a chance to control our destiny in the playoffs,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni, whose team enters this weekend with a 7-4-1 record at home versus a 6-8-1 mark on the road. “It’s huge for us to open the playoffs at home because we are not a very good road team. Now we have to take care of business with no excuses.”

Harvard will have to contend with a Yale team that has finally figured out how to score goals. In its last five games, the Bulldogs are averaging 5.2 goals per game. It’s no surprise that Jeff Hamilton amassed 13 points in that stretch, but Luke Earl has been unstoppable at times, posting 15 points in five games. Teams also have to watch out for Ben Stafford and freshman Jeff Dwyer — arguably one of the best newcomers in the league this season.

Hamilton collected two assists last weekend against Harvard, but the Crimson did a good job containing the prolific scorer. Matchup-wise, Harvard was able neutralize the Yale offense as most of the Bulldogs’ scoring opportunities came off of Harvard defensive breakdowns.

“Against Harvard we are going to have to find some better matchups,” said Yale coach Tim Taylor. “They had the right guys out there at the right time [last weekend]. We have to stop digging ourselves holes though, because they get tougher and tougher to climb out of.”

And then there is the situation with Dan Lombard. Following the injury to the starting netminder on Thursday afternoon, Taylor gave the starting nod to freshman Peter Dobrowolski, who had only 10:43 of collegiate goaltending experience heading into the weekend stint. Dobrowolski held his own (58 saves) but there is no replacement for Lombard, who has been the savior for the Yale defense all year long.

The key to this weekend’s matchup will certainly be momentum. Harvard needs to get the crowd involved early and use that energy to finish off the series as quickly as possible. Yale isn’t afraid of Harvard — in fact, the Bulldogs feel better equipped to face the Crimson than probably any other ECAC team. Yale has also proven that it will fight to the end as was evidenced by its ability to regroup in the face of an early 3-0 deficit last weekend. Harvard possesses more overall talent and team speed, but Yale has the edge if this series turns into a long, physical battle.

Princeton at Cornell

This Season – Cornell, 3-0 @Cornell, Princeton, 4-1 @Princeton
Last Playoff Meeting – 1999 First Round – Princeton, 4-4 (ot), 6-5, @Princeton

A double-edged sword? That’s probably a good phrase to describe the news that Princeton would be heading to Ithaca for the first round of playoffs. The knee-jerk reaction is disappointment, since no team likes to play at Lynah. During the regular season, it’s an intimidating environment, but it’s even worse during the playoffs.

However, if you take a step back, the matchup becomes more intriguing. Cornell has lost five of its last eight games and is struggling offensively. Princeton, on the other hand, is playing its best hockey of the year and has proven in the past to be a good playoff team.

The gap between fourth and seventh place just got smaller.

“[Securing home ice is] a big burden off our guys’ shoulders,” said Cornell coach Mike Schafer. “I think they’ve been really feeling the pressure here in the last couple of weeks. We’re looking forward to playing Princeton in the playoffs. I like our matchup. The way we played our hockey at home tonight, it’s going to be very difficult for teams to come into this rink.”

Throughout its scoring drought, Cornell has responded with a suffocating defense. Over its last 12 games, the Big Red has allowed teams to average just over two goals a game. That statistic is ultra-important for a team that has scored only 1.75 goals per game during the 12-game stretch. Despite the offensive doldrums, Cornell managed to salvage home ice, but just barely. It took a 2-1 victory against Union on Saturday night to accomplish that feat.

“Guys have to put it in the back of the net; it’s been our problem for a long period of time here and it just continues,” said Schafer. “We have a lot of shots on net and we’re not executing. That’s the bottom line. … Our guys are frustrated and they should be, but they’re not getting the puck into the back of the net.”

Princeton has had more luck scoring goals during the latter half of the season, but its main problems have been a lack of consistent play and an abundance of defensive breakdowns. The Tigers will be bolstered by the return of senior Kirk Lamb, who sat out Saturday night’s game against Harvard to rest a sore knee. Even without Lamb — the team’s leading scorer — Princeton played one of its best games of the year against the Crimson.

“We battled back from a 2-0 deficit on the road against a good team,” said Princeton coach Lenny Quesnelle following the 2-2 tie to Harvard. “That we did it with our captain out is just a further credit to our character.”

The Tigers were able to find open ice and create many offensive chances. More importantly, the team was much more efficient and effective in front of its own net. There were far fewer loose rebounds left in front of netminder Dave Stathos, who along with Shane Campbell, Matt Maglione and Chris Corrinet, has been a surprise contributor, game in and game out, this season. Princeton will also look to use its physical presence to knock Cornell off its game plan. The Tigers are much more successful when they can disrupt offensive flow early on and not allow teams to cycle in the offensive zone.

“It’s been a trademark of our team,” Quesnelle said. “If we’re physical, we give ourselves a very good chance to win.”

Cornell is also a very physical team. Schafer knows that, but he also knows that at this stage of the season his team’s fate is in the hands of his players. If they can find a way to end the scoring drought they will most likely win the series. If they don’t — well — it will certainly be a long offseason for the fourth-place Big Red.

“It’s in their hands. There’s nothing else that we can do as a coaching staff,” said Schafer. “We’ve talked to the guys, we’ve shown them video, they’re well-prepared. They’re the ones that are on the ice and they’re the ones that have to execute. What more can they do except for when that chance arises, to finish? And I can’t give them the confidence to do that. They have to get that confidence themselves.”

Rensselaer at Dartmouth

This Season – Dartmouth, 2-1 @Dartmouth, Rensselaer, 4-2 @Rensselaer
Last Playoff Meeting – 2000 First Round – Rensselaer, 7-2, 3-2 (ot), @Rensselaer

It’s another case of deja vu in the ECAC playoffs. Last season, these two teams met in Troy, with the Engineers blowing past the Big Green in the first game — but then they had to go to the last minute of the second game to tie it, before winning in overtime to advance to Lake Placid. This season, the matchup is the same, but the venue has changed, which might make a difference.

Last weekend the Big Green took down St. Lawrence to clinch home ice, and then was defeated by Clarkson as the Golden Knights capture the ECAC title. But once again, the home ice can make a difference, or at least one Big Green skater thinks so.

“I think good things are going to happen for us next weekend,” said tri-captain Michael Byrne. “We’re a confident team when we’re at home. I didn’t think anyone could beat us here, but I guess Clarkson proved me wrong.

“I think we’re going to be a tough team to beat next week at home.”

But is it that much of a factor?

“Home ice certainly matters, [and] we had our opportunities earlier on, but hindsight is 20-20,” said Engineer coach Dan Fridgen. “We wanted to get a couple of wins this weekend and let things take care of themselves. If we’re on the road, we’re on the road. And we deal with it.”

The Engineers did what they had to do to secure home ice, as they picked up wins over Cornell and Colgate on the road, but didn’t receive help from others and, though tied with Dartmouth in the standings, lost the tiebreaker.

“We certainly would have liked to have been home and we did everything we could do to get home picking up the two wins this weekend,” said Fridgen. “We just have to move forward and going to Dartmouth, that’s alright, both of our sweeps have been on the road this year.

These two split a pair of games this past season, with each winning on home ice. Those two games were consecutive, split by six days. Dartmouth won the first game and the Engineers the second.

“We’re two evenly matched teams, that’s all it is,” said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet after the two-game “series.”

One more fact in this home-ice discussion: Dartmouth is 10-5-0 at home, while Rensselaer is 7-8-0 on the road.

If one looks at last season, the Big Green almost pushed last year’s series to three games, but a late Pete Gardiner goal tied the game and then Carson Butterwick won it for the Engineers. With that series win, the Engineers’ record against the Big Green over the last 20 games was 15-5 and 10-1 over the last 11 games.

“All that stuff is history,” said Gaudet about the streaks. “But you know, these guys didn’t have much to do with that except that late last year they played in the playoffs. To be honest, they were a better team than we were last year and we gave them everything we could in that second game last year, and that’s the whole history with this team. It’s newsworthy, but it doesn’t matter who we play, it’s the same game.”

So, this season at home, streaks and history aside, the Big Green have a chance at avenging last year’s playoff loss to the Engineers.

In the process they will try to make it to Lake Placid for the first time.

“I’m very proud of the guys for putting ourselves in a position to play at home,” said Gaudet. “I think it’s an excellent accomplishment for this team.

“On the other hand, I told them that that’s not what we’re after. That’s a step along the way. What we’re after is winning the ECAC championship.”

Our All-ECAC Picks

Here they are, our picks for the Awards that will be handed out next Thursday, March 15, in Lake Placid.

ECAC All-Rookie Team

Our choices are based on what we have seen this year. And to think these folks have three more years left in this league (hopefully).

F – Rob McFeeters, Clarkson – A powerful skater with a touch who propelled Clarkson late in the season.

F – Tim Pettit, Harvard – One of the heralded group of freshmen in Cambridge, Pettit showed he will be a force.

F – Ryan Vesce, Cornell – This youngster will be the sniper that everyone talks about when discussing the Big Red.

D – Jeff Dwyer, Yale – In the tradition of Ray Giroux, Dwyer showed he is big time, and he’ll stay that way in New Haven.

D – Matt Maglione, Princeton – Nade a nice impact on the blue line for the Tigers this year and is one of the reasons the Tigers are there.

G – Nathan Marsters, Rensselaer – What an impact he has made as a one-man rescue squad for the Engineers on numerous occasions this season.

MARSTERS

ECAC Rookie of the Year

This one was tough to pick — there were a lot of good candidates out there. But would Rensselaer have been where it is without this player’s work? It’s highly doubtful.

Nathan Marsters, G, Rensselaer

ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year

Misapprehensions abound about this award. Is it really for the defenseman that plays the best defense, or is it for the one that plays the best defense and offense at the same time? In either case, our pick is:

Kent Huskins, Clarkson

ECAC Defensive Forward of the Year

This is really a tough one, but take a look at the team from Ithaca and what this sophomore has done. He has controlled the defensive-zone draws and is out there in defensive and offensive situations. Our pick?

Matt McRae, Cornell

The Dryden Award

He came out of nowhere to make a splash. In the beginning everyone was thinking about how two other goalies would do in Potsdam, but in the end, it was the third guy everyone was talking about.

Mike Walsh, Clarkson

All-ECAC Second Team

G – Oliver Jonas, Harvard – Kept the Crimson in games this season and backstopped his way to home ice.

D – Matt Desrosiers, St. Lawrence – With big holes to fill on defense, he was more than up to the challenge.

D – Cory Murphy, Colgate – Despite not being in the playoffs, Murphy has led his team from the blue line both defensively and offensively.

F – Jeff Hamilton, Yale – How many times have you heard, “Stop Hamilton and you stop Yale”?

F – Kirk Lamb, Princeton – Through the good and the bad, Lamb has led his team.

F – Matt Murley, Rensselaer – The most important offensive cog in the Engineer arsenal, Murley leads the Engineer skaters.

All-ECAC First Team

G – Mike Walsh, Clarkson – I think we’ve said it all above.

D – Trevor Byrne, Dartmouth – Just a sophomore, he perhaps has ECAC Player of the Year in his future.

D – Kent Huskins, Clarkson – The Golden Knights need him and he delivers.

F – Erik Anderson, St. Lawrence – The complete player.

F – Mike Gellard, St. Lawrence – Led the league in scoring. Though at times overshadowed, he gets the job done.

F – Dominic Moore, Harvard – What a breakout year he had. He and Byrne will be battling for future Player of the Year honors.

ANDERSON

ECAC Player of the Year

He gets it done offensively and defensively. He’s out there when the game is on the line, and he takes the game out of line at times as well. As we said above, he is the complete player.

Erik Anderson, St. Lawrence

If It’s So Easy, You Try It

The Iron Columnists did not lose this past week. But then again, we didn’t win either. It was a tie.

The contest thus far:

Becky and Jayson d. Vic Brzozowski – (10-2-2) – (8-5-1)
Becky and Jayson d. Tayt Brooks – (7-7-1) – (5-9-1)
Becky and Jayson d. Michele Kelley – (5-4-3) – (2-7-3)
Becky and Jayson d. C.J. Poux – (9-4-2) – (6-7-2)
Becky and Jayson d. Shawn Natole – (5-8-0) – (3-10-0)
Becky and Jayson t. Julian Saltman – (7-4-2) – (7-4-2)
Becky and Jayson d. Julian Saltman – (9-2-0) – (6-5-0)
Becky and Jayson d. Steve Lombardo – (8-4-1) – (6-6-1)
Normand Chouinard d. Becky and Jayson – (8-4-0) – (4-8-0)
Normand Chouinard d. Becky and Jayson – (7-4-1) – (6-5-1)
Normand Chouinard d. Becky and Jayson – (9-1-2) – (5-5-2)
Becky and Jayson t. Normand Chouinard – (6-4-2) – (6-4-2)

If memory serves us right, there is always next year. Thanks to all for the fun — except Normand.

Thanks to Dave Sherzer, Mike Volonnino and Charles Persons for their contributions this week.

This Week In The CCHA: March 8, 2001

By Paula C. Weston
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March 8, 2001

And The Season Begins, Again

It’s playoff hockey, and anything can happen.

Or can it?

How likely is it that Alaska Fairbanks will steal one from Michigan State, or that Bowling Green will win the Battle of Ohio, or that Ohio State will get through Omaha to a play-in game somewhere in Michigan?

Not likely.

This season the rebounding CCHA — with the enthusiasm of nearly 100 rookies, three second-year head coaches, and genuine parity if you throw Michigan State out of the mix — remains a two-tier league, and the teams who rose to the top to secure home ice did not do so by accident.

Michigan State is a well-coached machine, with balanced scoring and defense and a not-so-secret weapon in net.

Miami is an experienced team whose veterans have weathered a coaching change and more than a few crises through the years. Add a smart young coach and you see why the RedHawks finished second.

Michigan is Michigan. They haven’t finished lower than (a tie for) second in 10 years.

Nebraska-Omaha is another team with experienced veterans, young talent, and the advantage of trial-by-fire in the playoffs in its inaugural season. Talk about a confidence builder.

And Northern Michigan is the hardest-working team in college hockey, team with a never-say-die attitude and one of the best coaches in the business.

Do you see any surprises in this brand-new season? I don’t.

Of course, I’m often wrong.

Each series is best of three, and each is Friday through Sunday, except for the Battle of Ohio, which is Thursday-Saturday.

You’ve Won A Fabulous, All-Expenses Paid Trip To East Lansing!

Congratulations, Nanooks, for making the postseason tournament for the first time in three years! Your reward is Michigan State in the first round.

No. 10 Alaska Fairbanks (9-17-8, 7-14-7 CCHA) at No. 1 Michigan State (28-4-4, 21-4-3 CCHA)

After a solid first half of the 2000-2001 season, the Nanooks went 2-6-0 against league opponents in February, and finished the year with a tie and loss against in-state rivals Alaska Anchorage. True, four of those February losses were on the road, and three of the losses were against Michigan State and Miami, but from October through the end of January, the Nanooks took at least a point from every opponent in a two-game series (with the exception of Anchorage in October), so the end of the regular season was anything but strong for UAF.

The Nanooks are led offensively by senior forwards Jim Lawrence (14-15–29) and Ryan Reinheller (9-7–16), junior forward Bobby Andrews (9-15–24), sophomore forward Blaine Bablitz (7-16-23), and freshman forward Cam Keith (9-10-19).

UAF defenders Daniel Carriere, Darren Tymstra, and my boyfriend Chad Hamilton are the only active Nanooks with goals against Michigan State.

The Nanook net is defended by freshman Preston McKay, who has set new school records with his 2.59 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. Former Nanook goalie Alba Brice (3.01 GAA, .906 SV%) holds the previous records.

Thirteen active Spartans have scored at least a goal against UAF, and even goaltender Ryan Miller has an assist against the Nanooks. The Spartan dominance over Fairbanks is led by senior forward Rustyn Dolyny, who has six goals and 12 assists all-time against the Nanooks, and who leads the Spartans in scoring this season with 11 goals and 24 assists for 36 points.

Speaking of Ryan Miller, the super sophomore goaltender has especially impressive numbers against UAF. In three contests versus the Nanooks, Miller is 3-0-0 with a 0.33 GAA and .981 save percentage.

Michigan State leads the all-time series against Alaska Fairbanks 19-4-0, and the Spartans are 10- 3-0 in Munn Arena when hosting the Nanooks.

Michigan State enters the first round of the league playoffs with an 11-game win streak vs. Fairbanks, dating back to Jan. 3, 1998. This streak includes seven wins at home.

In addition to nearly every other advantage you can imagine coming into this series against UAF, Michigan State has not lost a CCHA first-round playoff series since 1990-91, and have not dropped a home playoff series since the current best-of-three format was adopted in 1984-85. The Spartans’ record when hosting in the first round is 30-2-0, and they’ve won nine straight first- round playoff series.

The Spartans hope to capture both the regular-season and playoff championships for the second time in four years, and the Nanooks are their first casualty. Michigan State is the only CCHA opponent from whom second-year UAF head coach Guy Gadowsky has never taken a point.

Picks: Michigan State 4-1, 4-2

The Battle of Ohio

The Falcons and RedHawks have never met in postseason play, and the ‘Hawks are so confident that they’ve gone blonde for the occasion.

No. 9 Bowling Green (13-18-5, 8-15-5 CCHA) at No. 2 Miami (20-14-2, 17-10-1 CCHA)

The Falcons are the only CCHA team with a winning road record (13-12-2), and have won first-round series at Michigan, Western Michigan, and Lake Superior State, but the RedHawks are 8-1-0 at home in first-round playoff action, and head coach Enrico Blasi says his team knows there’s more at stake than just a trip to The Joe with these contests.

“Obviously, in the back of your mind, you’re thinking that if you don’t win you don’t go on,” says Blasi. This year, the CCHA has just one auto-bid to the NCAA tournament, and that goes to the winner of the championship tournament next weekend in Detroit.

Blasi says that Miami is not underestimating Bowling Green, a team that vaulted into postseason action at the last possible minute, edging out Notre Dame by a point in the last weekend of regular- season play.

“That’s the beauty of playing in the CCHA,” says Blasi. “Everything’s so tight, everyone’s playing with [a playoff] mind set. We’ve been playing with that mind set for four or five weeks. With the exception of Michigan State, everyone’s really been in the same position for a while now.”

The Falcons are led by in scoring by junior forward Greg Day (20-22–42), senior forward Ryan Murphy (20-13–33), and junior forward Scott Hewson (8- 19–27). Day has at least a point in 12 of his last 15 games, with 11 goals and 18 assists in the past 21 games.

Sophomore goaltender Tyler Masters (2.52 GAA, .919 SV%) broke two school records Friday, Mar. 2, when he shutout Ferris State 1-0. His five career shutouts surpasses the previous mark of four, and his three this season break the previous single-season mark of two. Masters is currently first in the CCHA with 787 saves, which tells you more than a little about the Falcon squad.

The RedHawks are 12-18-0 in their previous 30 CCHA playoff appearances, and this is the fourth time Miami has hosted a first-round series.

Miami is led in scoring by Jason Deskins (19-20–39), a junior forward who should have made the CCHA First Team. Senior forwards Gregor Krajnc (15-15–30), Pat Leahy (11-19–30), and Ernie Hartlieb (10-12–22), are also among Miami’s offensive threats, as are rookie forwards Derek Edwardson (6-19–25) and Mike Kompon (10-11–21).

The sophomore David Burleigh (2.69 GAA, .899 SV%) has been the workhorse in net for the RedHawks, logging 1,874 minutes. Burleigh has allowed just three goals in his last three outings, and his 2.69 goals-against average is the best in school history.

Bowling Green leads this all-time series 50-22-5, but the RedHawks swept the Falcons in Goggin in January.

Picks: After Bowling Green stunned the RedHawks 4-3 in the first game, Miami battles back to take the second and third games 4-2, 4-2

Love’s Labors? Lost

These two squads split a home-and-home series this season, each winning in its own barn. The weekend was marred, however, by chippiness that escalated into an out-and-out brawl at the end of the game in Ewigleben. Few opponents like the Wolverines; the Bulldogs like them even less.

No. 8 Ferris State (13-18-5, 9-15-4 CCHA) at No. 3 Michigan (22-11-5, 16-9-3 CCHA)

The Bulldogs and Wolverines managed to amass 266 penalties in a two-game lovefest earlier this season, but Michigan head coach Red Berenson doesn’t think bad blood will be a factor in this first-round series.

“If you understand what’s going on — and I think both teams understand playoff games are more important than any bad feeling — I don’t think that will be an issue,” says Berenson. “Still the way Ferris plays, we know we’ll be in for tough, physical games.”

Berenson is the first to admit that this Wolverine squad hasn’t had the flash of previous Michigan teams. “Our team has had good games and not so good games. I thought we finished off pretty well. For all intents and purposes, we finished in second place.”

In fact, the Wolverines went 3-4-1 in their last nine games, dropping their regular-season finale to first-place Michigan State hard-fought 3-1 game in which Berenson says the team played very well.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season in similar fashion, with a 4-5-1 record during their last 10 games, but Ferris State rides a four-game losing streak into the playoffs.

There’s no doubt that each team was anchored by its goaltender this season. In fact, both Josh Blackburn and Phil Osaer were named to the league’s Second Team, and each has played in the shadow of another netminder a few miles down the road.

Overall this season, Michigan’s Blackburn posted a 2.29 GAA and .906 save percentage, while Ferris State’s Osaer finished second overall in goals against (2.18) to Ryan Miller, and recorded a .913 overall save percentage.

Each is even better in conference play, where Blackburn (1.97 GAA, .914 SV%) is second to Miller, and Osaer (2.19 GAA, .913 SV%) is third.

Berenson says that Blackburn has been Michigan’s most consistent player. “He’s been solid start to finish.”

Other Wolverines qualifying for solid seasons include sophomores Andy Hilbert (23- 34–57) and Mike Cammalleri (22-32–52).

With these Wolverines, there’s more of a team effort in all aspects of the game than has been in season past. As a team, Michigan is +177 overall (+123 CCHA), and 17 players have at least one goal. Even Blackburn has contributed offensively, with five assists in regular-season play.

For Ferris State, junior Rob Collins (15-17–32), senior Kevin Swider (15- 17–32), and sophomore Chris Kunitz (16-12–28) are responsible for 44.0 percent of the team’s offensive production this season, and the trio has also generated 52.3 percent of the team’s goal-scoring. Collins is on a personal mission, with career-best numbers.

After those three, however, the Ferris State offense drops off sharply, with no other Bulldogs recording goals in the double digits this season. Ferris State is 11th in goal scoring both in overall (2.44 per game) and CCHA (2.29 per game) play.

One bright spot for Ferris State of late is its penalty kill, which has allowed just one power-play goal in 26 chances (96.2 percent efficiency) in its last five outings.

Michigan is 7-4-1 in its last 12 meetings against Ferris State, dating back to Dec. 31, 1996, and the Wolverines are 13-4-1 in the last 18 meetings between the two teams. Michigan is 12-3-0 at home against Ferris State, including a 7-2-0 mark in the last nine games.

Michigan beat the Bulldogs 4-1 Nov. 10 in Ann Arbor, and lost 5-4 the following night in Big Rapids.

In spite of the difference on paper, Berenson is not one to take any opponent lightly, especially one who has already beaten his Wolverines once this season. “The parity in this league is so tight, if you’re not sharp or desperate, anyone can beat you and will beat you.”

But maybe not this weekend.

Pick: Michigan in two games, 5-2 and 4-3

Clash Of The Midwestern Semi-Titans

The good news for the Buckeyes is that they are one of three CCHA teams to have beaten the Mavericks in the fabled Bullpen. The bad news is that the Feb. 16, 4-3 win was the last time Ohio State took a point from anyone.

No. 7 Ohio State (16-16-2, 13-13-2 CCHA) at No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha (22-13-3, 15-10-3 CCHA)

Each team’s home city has a diverse metropolitan population, a good art museum, and a lovely zoo. Each team draws about 8,000 people per game.

Of course, the difference is that the Buckeyes play in the cavernous Value City Arena, while the Mavs pack the Civic Center to the rafters with rabid UNO fanatics.

(And beer. Don’t forget the beer.)

There’s a reason why the Mavericks were 12-3-1 at home against non-Findlay opponents this season: the Bullpen is a wicked place to play. With change-filled milk jugs, cowbells, and fans who are absolutely loony about UNO hockey, the Mavericks have arguably the most serious home- ice advantage in the league.

But, boy, the Buckeyes love playing on the road. While a .500 record isn’t particularly stellar, Ohio State is 9-5-2 on the road (compared to 7-9-0 at home), with impressive road wins against Maine, Miami, and these Mavericks.

UNO head coach Mike Kemp says that Ohio State’s 4-3 win in Omaha is something the Mavericks will bear in mind. “I think it’s one of those things that will get our attention. When they come in here, it’ll be a dog fight. They really took it to us the first night. Both games were hard- fought. That second game was really a 3-1 game.”

After losing 4-3 to OSU, Omaha came back to beat the Buckeyes 6-1, a loss that was the first in the five-game skid that closed out the regular season for Ohio State. “In the second game, we had chances to score^Åbut what failed in the second game was specialty teams,” says John Markell, Ohio State head coach. “We had a shorthanded goal scored against us, and three power-play goals. Other than that, it was a very close game.”

While the Mavericks finished up strong, going 5-2-1 in February (and with two March wins over Findlay, but who’s counting?), the Buckeyes are not necessarily limping into Omaha. During their last regular-season game, the Bucks lost 3-0 to Miami but ironically recaptures some momentum in the final two periods of the season. After allowing two goals in the first seven minutes of the contest, Ohio State returned from a time out a different team, allowing just five shots in the second and third periods of that game. The third goal was an empty netter.

Both of these teams can score. UNO is averaging 3.07 goals per conference game to OSU’s 2.89, although Ohio State has notched just six goals in its last five outings.

Sophomore forward and CCHA First Teamer David Brisson (19-25–44) leads the Mavericks in scoring, followed by junior Jeff Hoggan (11-16–27), sophomore defender and First Teamer Greg Zanon (10-14–24), and freshman forward Andrew Wong (12-9–21).

In net for UNO is All-Rookie Team goaltender Dan Ellis (2.47 GAA, .912 SV%).

For the Buckeyes, senior forward Jean-Francois Dufour (14-20–34) and rookie forward R.J. Umberger (14-20–34) lead the team in scoring, followed by freshmen Dave Steckel (16-16–32) and Paul Caponigri (11-15–26).

Freshman goaltender Mike Betz (3.01 GAA, .895 SV%) has been the netminder of record for most of this season.

The Buckeyes have a 3-1-0 edge in this brief all-time series, and are 21-41-4 all-time in the CCHA tournament. Ohio State returns to playoff action for the first time since the 1998-99 season, and the Buckeyes have made 18 postseason appearances in the past 19 years.

The Mavericks, of course, have perfect postseason attendance, having made the playoffs their first two season in the league including this year.

Both teams know what’s in store this weekend, hockey played hard, and no easy wins. “It’s going to take timely goal scoring, and good solid team defense,” says Markell. “We’re going to have to do a lot of the little things right — from goaltending all the way to the centermen. We’re going to have to be responsible out there. As long as we carry responsibility out there with emotion, we give ourselves a chance.”

He adds that the Buckeyes are “actually excited to play in that building because of the atmosphere. This is what big-time college is about, this kind of pressure.”

Hosting their first playoff series, the Mavericks were seasoned by taking the long route to Detroit last season, says Kemp. “A blessing of being a road playoff team last year is that we had to learn fast.”

Kemp says, “Last year our goal was to make the playoffs. This year our goal was to be a host team for the first round.”

Makes you wonder what the Mavericks are aiming for next season. Total world domination, perhaps?

Picks: Nebraska-Omaha in two games, 4-3 and 4-3

Mirror, Mirror

When all was said and done, at the end of the regular season the Wildcats had 12 league wins, 10 league losses, and six ties in conference play. So did the Broncos. But how each team made its journey through the 2000-2001 campaign says much about how this series will unfold.

No. 6 Western Michigan (19-11-6, 12-10-6 CCHA) at No. 5 Northern Michigan (16-11-7, 12-10-6 CCHA)

“Both teams are pretty evenly matched,” says Western Michigan head coach Jim Culhane.

On the surface, anyway.

Final standings aside, let’s take a look at some pertinent facts regarding each team in regular-season league play.

Western Michigan averaged 3.46 goals per game to Northern Michigan’s 2.71.
Northern Michigan allowed 2.54 goals per game to Western’s 3.43.
Western Michigan’s power play clicked along at 20.4 percent, compared to Northern’s 14.0 percent.
Western Michigan’s penalty kill was effective 83.3 percent of the time, to Northern’s 80.8.
And it would behoove Western to learn to kill penalties more efficiently, given that the Broncos average 23.36 minutes per game in the box, while the Wildcats are relative choirboys (17.36).
Of course, the Broncos are led by the top two scorers in CCHA play, Mike Bishai (20- 41–61, 17-26–43 CCHA) and Dave Gove (22-35–57, 18-25–43). This is the third time in CCHA history that teammates have shared the league scoring crown. Northern Michigan’s Mike Miekle and Bill Joyce (1977-78) and Bowling Green’s John Markell and Mark Wells (1976-77) managed the feat 20-odd years ago.

Western Michigan has serious firepower, with Jeff Campbell (23-24–47) and Steve Rymsha (22-25–47) tied for third in team scoring.

What’s suspect with Western Michigan is defense. Jeff Reynaert (2.99 GAA, .903 SV%) has played solid hockey all season, but he has inconsistent help in front of the net. The Broncos are a run-and-gun team, and if they can’t force their opponent into that pattern during the game, they’re in for a hard time.

The Wildcats prove the adage, “Slow and steady wins the race.” While Western Michigan came out of the gate this season like a horse possessed, Northern’s season was more balanced, with a young team learning as the season progressed.

Chad Theuer (10-23–33) led the Wildcats in regular-season scoring, followed by Bryce Cockburn (19-10–29), Terry Harrison (13-15–28), and Chris Gobert (10-16–26). The ‘Cats as a team finished the season +119 overall (+71 CCHA).

Senior Dan Ragusett (2.31 GAA, .919 SV%) and freshman Craig Kowalski (2.61 GAA, .910 SV%) split time in the Wildcat net. For my money, Ragusett is still one of the more entertaining goaltenders to watch, with a wicked quick glove hand.

The Broncos and Wildcats last met in postseason action in 1983-84, when Western took a two- game set in Marquette. Culhane was a Bronco rookie that season, in case you’re counting.

Western Michigan has lost 11 straight postseason games, dating back to the 1994 CCHA playoffs.

The Wildcats have finished fifth or higher each season since rejoining the CCHA in 1997-98. Northern is 12-11-7 all-time in the CCHA Tournament, with an 8-3-4 record at home. The Wildcats have lost just one first-round series at home, including last year’s series when Northern lost in three games to Nebraska-Omaha.

While Culhane says his team is “pretty confident,” he knows that the Olympic sheet of ice in Marquette may be a disadvantage for the Broncos. “There’s so much more room up there that positioning is critical so that you don’t get caught with odd-man rushes.”

That may be Western’s undoing in this series. While the added room gives the run-and-gun offense of the Broncos plenty of space to play, Western’s weakness is recovering at the other end, and the Bronco defense may have difficulty on the bigger ice surface.

Picks: Northern in two games, 4-3 and 5-4

And Lest We Forget…

In Tuesday night’s play-in game, I’ll take Nebraska-Omaha over anyone at the Bullpen, 4-3.

This Week In Hockey East: March 8, 2001

By David H. Hendrickson
-
March 8, 2001

Home Ice Dominance

What is the toughest rink to enter as a visitor and come out with a win?

“Maine is obviously the toughest place to play,” says Providence coach Paul Pooley, reflecting the consensus opinion of Hockey East coaches.

Polled on the verge of this year’s quarterfinal playoff series, the surviving eight coaches were decisive, but not unanimous as to the runner-up. New Hampshire came in second, besting Boston University with a two-to-one margin.

“For us, it’s the Whittemore Center because of the size of the rink combined with the jump that the players get from their crowd,” says Maine coach Shawn Walsh. “Number two would be BU because of the low ceiling. It’s the same idea, the jump that the BU players get.”

(Interestingly enough, one coach asked to submit a surprising third tough home ice venue, Merrimack, noting how well the Warriors play there.)

Of course, that’s not to say that the other arenas make for easy pickings at all.

“Who wants to play BC in their rink?” says one coach. “Or Providence?”

Another coach also notes that a team’s home ice dominance and the strength of its players are so inextricably entwined that the one can’t be evaluated without the other.

“It’s less the physical plant of the venue and more of how good is the other team,” he says. “It varies with who’s got the jerseys on. That’s a bigger factor than how long a trip it is or anything else. The fans can’t get on the ice and play.”

Perhaps no team illustrates this better than BU. The Terriers finished this disappointing regular season with only an 8-7-1 home record after years in which their more dominant personnel made Walter Brown Arena a very hostile venue for visitors.

“Our building has been tough over a long period of time for people to come in and play,” says BU coach Jack Parker. “We’ve had a great home-ice advantage here when we’ve been playing well.”

The operative phrase, of course, is “when we’ve been playing well.”

That said, Maine and UNH are the two places that, more than any others in the coaches’ current opinion, “get things rocking.” Ironically, those are the same two arenas where longtime observers say that it’s quieter now than in the raucous good old days.

“Alfond is not as loud,” says Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder. “I was an assistant up there before they blew out the sides. It’s definitely not as loud as it was before, but the decibels can get up there pretty good still.”

That’s a point that New Hampshire coach Dick Umile confirms with a rueful chuckle.

“When they start going, let me tell you, you can’t even hear yourself on the bench,” he says.

As for UNH’s move from the Lively Snively Arena to the Whittemore Center, the noise might be less consistent than in the old days, perhaps in part because of the need for more “corporate” fans to help pay for the new facility.

“There’s probably some truth to that,” says Umile. “Sometimes they get content and comfortable and don’t generate the enthusiasm based on the opponent. That’s natural even though in our league there’s no such thing [as an easy opponent] because of the parity.

“But we have close to 7,000 people when you count the standing room. When they want to get going, it’s as loud as you can get it and louder than Snively.”

Good old days or not, Northeastern and UMass-Lowell will have their work cut out for them as they enter the Lions’ Dens of the Alfond and Whittemore Center, respectively, this weekend. Merrimack and BU may also find that the Conte Forum and Schneider Arena are no more hospitable.

“Home ice is home ice,” says Walsh. “It’s still helpful. If there’s any change, it’s that some of the teams in the early nineties were more dominant than they are now. There’s more parity now.”

What Happened To The Thursday Night Telecast?

In past years, Fox Sports Net New England has televised Hockey East quarterfinal games on Thursday, Saturday and, if any series are still alive, Sunday. Friday has typically already been taken for Boston Celtics broadcasts.

This Thursday, however, the only way that you can see UNH vs. UMass-Lowell or Maine vs. Northeastern is to have a ticket. Combined with the uncertainty of a third game on Sunday between Boston College and Merrimack or Providence and Boston University, that leaves only Saturday night as the one sure-thing broadcast of the quarterfinals.

This is the result of the contract renewal Hockey East signed with Fox earlier this year and the ensuing “mini-negotiation” for the selection of games.

“Fox holds the right to choose the games because they’re paying the bills,” says Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna. “But they have always been open to me to plead my case if there’s a certain school that hasn’t been on or a certain game that I want.

“This year I wanted to convince them to do a [regular season] game from Maine because they’ve gotten into the habit of just doing the games from the Boston schools and UNH.”

Those venues are ideal for broadcasts because the teams are traditionally strong and the fans are likely to fill the seats and be noisy for the key TV matchups. Weaker teams are tougher to showcase and it’s difficult to convince a TV viewer that the game is significant if the cameras show row after row of empty seats.

“It’s tricky,” says Bertagna. “I try to be responsive to [all] the schools, but in a way you kind of have to earn your way on. We want to have good games, compelling games with good teams. If you win, you’re going to get on more often.”

Maine fits the desired profile of a strong team with an ardent following, but includes one major problem: geography. Production costs are significantly higher when all the equipment and personnel has to travel four or five hours to Orono. That becomes a prohibitive problem during the playoffs when scheduling uncertainties preclude advance planning. So Bertagna pushed for a regular season telecast from Alfond Arena.

“I thought Maine made a strong case that the only time Fox had done a game in Maine before this year was the highest rating we ever got for a regular season game,” he says. “That was a couple years ago — [Feb. 7, 1999] — when UNH went up there in a 4-3 game.

“The atmosphere is the kind of thing we’re trying to sell: the painted faces, the noise, Alfond Arena, Shawn and the history.”

While there were all those things that Hockey East wanted to showcase, the impact on Fox’s bottom line still made it far from an easy sell.

“The card that I finally played,” says Bertagna, “was I said, ‘Look, if you will agree to go up to Maine — if it’s clearly just a matter of dollars and cents — I’d be willing to concede the Thursday night game [since] nothing is really decided that night.

“So they agreed to go up to Maine. At the time they did it, there was some question whether they might be able to do both, but they have [since] decided not to do the Thursday game, following up on my offer.”

While trading away, in effect, the telecast of a playoff game for a regular season contest may seem backwards to some fans, it probably isn’t, especially once the problems with a Thursday broadcast are considered.

“A lot of times, the attendance isn’t great on the first night,” says Bertagna. “People know that they have to buy two and possibly three tickets.

“The other issue is that [a broadcast team] will often feel compelled once they start with a series to stay with the series just because they’ve kind of teased the audience.”

It comes across as contradictory to pump up the current series as great entertainment if you’re going to abandon it for another one on Saturday. The old dictum applies: dance with the one that brung you.

“If you do a Thursday game, you feel obligated to do the [same two teams] on Saturday if it goes three games even though there may be a more compelling game,” says Bertagna. “You feel obligated to the viewer that you started off with.”

As a result, Bertagna feels the loss of Thursday night’s broadcast was more than made up for by a showcase game in Maine — a 3-1 win over BU that included an empty net goal — and an overall successful year with Fox.

“I was glad they did [the game at Maine],” he says. “Just about the only thing we didn’t get from them this year is that everybody but Merrimack got on. UMass got on and they hadn’t been on very much in the past.”

So without locking into a series on Thursday, all options for the Saturday telecast remain open. The only thing that has been decided is that there will be a 10:45 Friday night conference call to decide the matter.

“[Fox is] going to wait and make their decision after they see what it looks like on Friday,” says Bertagna. “They want to have the best game for the fans.

“So if you have a repeat of the Merrimack – BU huge upset of ’98 and Merrimack wins on Friday, you [might] see Merrimack with that drama unfolding on Saturday. If BC wins and UNH-Lowell is in a game three, then they’ll do that [third game].

“But they also said they could take a chance. BC could lose Friday and we’re looking at either their second game with Merrimack or UNH-Lowell [in a game three]. We could take a chance that BC will win the second game, do UNH-Lowell on Saturday and have a BC-Merrimack third game on Sunday.

“What they’re looking for is deciding games. The perfect situation for both of us is that both Saturday and Sunday we get deciding games, UNH and Lowell going three games on Saturday and either of the other two series going three games and going to Sunday.

“The worst case scenario is that there’ll be no Sunday games because they both wrap up in two.”

That scenario actually unfolded last year when Hockey East’s four NCAA-bound teams — BU, UNH, BC and Maine — all swept their quarterfinal series. This season’s matchups, however, look too close for that.

“I’ve said all along that I’d be shocked if we got a repeat of last year when the four favorites swept,” says Bertagna. “I just don’t see that happening this year.”

Who Gets The Early Semifinal Game?

With the Hockey East semifinal games slated to go off at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. next Friday, the question arises of which team gets the early game and an extra three hours of recuperation.

The answer is: it depends.

“It’s purposely vague in our own handbook because we wait to see the geography and the seed,” says Bertagna. “I’ll give you an example. If BC was playing BU and UNH was playing whomever, in all likelihood UNH would play the late game because it would allow UNH fans to travel and get there.

“Part of the history of this is when we did not have the ticket advance that we have now. The walk-up sales were a huge part of the [total] ticket sales. So in order to accommodate those people travelling the farthest distance to get out of work and to buy the tickets on site, we’ve left it vague so that it gave the FleetCenter and us the ability to get together and put our heads together and see which matchup makes the most sense.

“From a seeding point of view, a lot of the top seeds like to play early so they have the longer rest if they advance to the championship game. But on the other hand, if UNH was that team, they want their fans to be able to get there. So there’s been no magic way to do it.”

Although one might instinctively assume that Maine would then be most likely to get the late game because of its geography, that isn’t necessarily the case.

“Some people have made the argument with Maine that the distance to travel is so long that even for the late game, [fans] would have to take the day off to catch it because it’s four and a half hours or whatever it is,” says Bertagna. “They couldn’t get out of work, get in the car and go to the game where a UNH fan could work to five, get in the car and catch the late game.”

All this, however, could change in the future. As noted in last week’s column, Hockey East has already sold over 20,000 tickets for this year’s event. It wouldn’t be a shock if both nights again sold out, which could mean an eventual shift toward rewarding the top seed with the extra three hours of rest rather than focusing on what will sell the most tickets.

“In theory, if we get to the point like with the NCAAs where the whole weekend is sold out in advance, then we wouldn’t have to think this way,” says Bertagna. “We could just do it by seed.

“But currently, it is left open to the FleetCenter and myself getting together after the quarterfinals and seeing what makes the most sense and then announcing it as soon as possible.”

Four Bids?

After a season in which it looked as if Hockey East would receive at most three berths in the NCAA tournament, last weekend’s action put the league on pace to earn four. Here are the Pairwise Rankings as they appear going into the weekend.

1 Michigan State (CCHA) 29
2 Boston College (HEA) 28
3 North Dakota (WCHA) 27
4 St. Cloud (WCHA) 25
5 Minnesota (WCHA) 25
6 Michigan (CCHA) 24
7 New Hampshire (HEA) 21
8 Clarkson (ECAC) 21
9 Colorado College (WCHA) 20
10 Maine (HEA) 20
11 Providence (HEA) 19

(Eleven is the key number right now since one of the 12 berths must be reserved for the MAAC, which doesn’t have a member among the top-ranked teams.)

Boston College in a strong position to gain the East’s lone bye. New Hampshire remains in good shape at number seven. Maine jumped to number 10 with its sweep of Providence, putting the Black Bears in the mix for the first time. And Providence is hanging on to the last berth at number 11, despite last weekend’s double dip at Alfond Arena.

Admittedly, the league isn’t showing the strength of two years ago, when it put three teams into the Frozen Four, nor last year when it only missed that mark by BU’s clanging a post in overtime. Remember that last season Hockey East placed four teams in the nation’s top eight virtually wire-to-wire.

While there aren’t four league teams in the top eight right now, putting four teams in the NCAAs in a “down” year may actually be a show of strength in itself. Besides, using the last two years as yardsticks for present and future success may not be fair.

“Because of the attention we got in Anaheim [in 1999, getting three teams to the Frozen Four], all of a sudden that has become something that we’re always going to be compared to,” says Bertagna. “Getting three out of four [in the Frozen Four] has happened so few times.

“To get three in the Final Four [in 1999] and then two last season and then if this year we only get one, people are going to call that a slide. It’s a little bit of a specious argument because three of four is kind of a contrived standard.

“My point has always been that in a perfect year you have one or two gaudy teams at the top getting those top four or five rankings and then everybody else is so tight that you’re going to see the numbers eight and nine teams knocking off the number one and two teams.

“We’ve almost had that. The only thing we haven’t had is that our number two team — whoever it is, it’s kind of hard to determine — hasn’t been up quite as high. So instead of having two in the top five, we’ve got that one flagbearer and then we’ve got three teams in the five to ten range.

“I’ll take it. I don’t know that it signifies any drop-off.”

It also bears noting that the four bids could easily drop to two or even one. Getting upset in the league quarterfinals could be disastrous for either UNH, Maine or Providence. The latter two might even need to sweep their quarterfinal games to keep pace.

“Things are so tight that the difference between sweeping your quarterfinals and taking two out of three is huge,” says Bertagna. “That could be the thing that knocks you out of the tournament because you stumbled once against a low-rated team.”

A further very real danger lurks in the form of tournament upset winners. For example, if someone other than Clarkson wins the ECAC tourney, that team would get an automatic bid and Clarkson would also get a bid unless it fell hard in the selection criteria. That would knock Providence out, as things stand today.

Add in a second upset — someone other than Michigan State or Michigan in the CCHA or a team other than North Dakota, Minnesota, St. Cloud State or Colorado College in the WCHA — and that would bump Maine if all other factors remain equal.

“The playoffs for about seven teams are going to dictate which two or three get in,” says Walsh.

So it may be four. It may be three. It may be two. Or it may be just one.

“Though I’d like to be able to hang my hat on four teams [making it] if it was today,” says Bertagna, “the thing that’s risky is that every time there’s a tournament upset winner, it looks like we’re the league that’s going to get chopped from the bottom.”

No. 1 Seed Boston College Hosts No. 8 Merrimack

Nov. 17 at Merrimack: BC won, 6-1
Nov. 21 at BC: BC won, 7-2
Jan. 16 at Merrimack: Merrimack won, 6-3

Boston College enters the postseason fresh off its first regular season championship since 1991. The Eagles have won their last three games and are 11-2-1 since the Jan. 16 loss to Merrimack. Included in that stretch are sweeps of Providence, Maine and, oh yeah, a Beanpot championship.

“We feel very good about our club,” says coach Jerry York. “Looking back, it’s the most regular season wins we’ve had in this stretch of four years. I’m excited by that because it shows real consistency throughout the year.”

York adds an easily overlooked factor in that success.

“Our depth has been very good for us,” he says. “That’s helped us an awful lot. We play six defensemen on a fairly regular basis. Our fourth line plays more than it’s ever played.”

Goaltender Scott Clemmensen is expected to be over his bruised knee.

Despite the mismatch on paper, York remains wary of Merrimack, especially in light of the January loss.

“Whenever number one plays number eight,” says York, “there are always the trappings: ‘Hey, you should advance. It’s going to be easy.’ That’s part of what we have to deal with. We, as players and coaches, know just how difficult Merrimack played us during the course of the year and how well they’ve played against other top teams.

“They spanked us around pretty good up at Merrimack. That takes away any thought that, hey, it’s going to be easy, because it isn’t. That was a good wakeup call for us. They played very well that night and earned a lot of respect from our club with that showing.

“I don’t think it’s ever a hard sell in our league when you play a league opponent, just because Hockey East has been so balanced over the last few years. There are so many good clubs in our conference. We know we’re going to have to play very well in all three zones and have some jump and enthusiasm to get to the FleetCenter.”

As for Merrimack, it faces the daunting task of having to knock off the nation’s number two team while its own squad is banged up.

“We’re going to need everybody healthy and everybody playing at their best to even have a shot in this series,” says coach Chris Serino. “Let’s face the facts. That’s just being honest.”

That candor, however, gives way to a glimmer of optimism based on the Warriors’ showing in the last two games. With their playoff lives at stake, they tied Maine, 1-1, and defeated BU at Walter Brown Arena, 3-2.

“I like the way we responded to the pressure,” says Serino. “We knew we needed points. With two games left to play, we had Maine and BU and we took three out of four. So I like the momentum we’re going in with. At least the last couple games, we’re finding ways to get it done. Hopefully, we can do the same thing this weekend.”

Serino concedes that the Eagles’ talent can be daunting.

“I don’t think there are any matchups you can put against them because most teams that they play against, they have three lines better than anybody’s top line,” he says. “So it’s very tough to match up against them.”

Which is not to say that Serino is just throwing up his hands and getting his golf clubs out. There’s a plan.

“One of the most important things against them is you can’t turn the puck over,” he says. “You have to try to get it in their zone, keep it low and not turn it over. The two games we lost to them, we turned it over a million times. The game we won, we didn’t turn it over many times.

“In order to keep them from attacking, you have to keep the puck in their end. Once they get it out of there or once they transition on you, they’re tough to stop.

“The other thing is that when they come into your end, you’ve got to pay attention to detail on defense. You can’t be running around. Guys can’t be making mistakes.

“Against them, as much as you have to play good offense, you have to support the puck defensively against them, because there are times that they’re going to break you down on individual talent. So you have to have someone there to support the puck defensively.

“Those are the things we’re going to work on. And obviously we’ve got to get a good job out of our goaltenders. We’ll see what happens.”

Tom Welby is scheduled to man the crease on Friday, followed by Joe Exter on Saturday.

No. 2 Seed Maine Hosts No. 7 Northeastern

Nov. 4 at Northeastern: Tie, 1-1
Dec. 1 at Maine: Maine won, 5-1
Dec. 3 at Maine: Tie, 3-3

Maine’s sweep of Providence last weekend put an exclamation point on its 7-1-1 record since the start of February. The Black Bears have risen from the depths to finish second in Hockey East and be on pace for an NCAA bid, albeit as a borderline case.

“We’re clearly playing the best hockey we’ve played all year,” says coach Shawn Walsh. “Any time you hold a Providence team to [35] shots in two games, you’re on all cylinders.”

Maine outshot Providence in every period: 12-4, 10-3 and 12-4 in a first game in which only 11 Friars shots were allowed and 13-8, 13-5 and 15-11 in the second.

Why the turnaround from early-season struggles?

“We’re healthy, that’s number one,” says Walsh. “Number two is that we’re extremely confident. We’ve found some pieces that have quietly helped fill in the missing blanks offensively.”

The most obvious piece is Michael Schutte, the erstwhile defenseman turned sniper on a line with Martin Kariya and Matthias Trattnig. Schutte is the reigning USCHO Player of the Week and has posted nine goals and five assists in just the last seven games.

“He’s an obvious one,” says Walsh, “but Donnie Richardson has played really well the last four games. He hasn’t had anything to show for it, but he’s electrifying. He’s doing what we thought he’d do when we brought him in.

“[Robert] Liscak has just emerged. He’s playing his best hockey.”

Liscak now has five goals and two assists in his last eight games.

The contributions of Schutte, Richardson and Liscak have led to Maine’s biggest strength, its depth.

“They’re all on different lines,” says Walsh. “We have, I think, a nine-goal scorer on all four lines at least. [To be precise, one of the four will have an eight-goal scorer.] That’s the key to our team. We play four lines. We keep coming with four. Every line has guys that can score now.

“There’s not a drop-off. We play all six defensemen. It’s just been a coming together.”

The spreading out of firepower up front has been typical of recent Black Bear teams.

“I just think that you cater your coaching to your personnel,” says Walsh. “In the last five or six years, we’ve been more of a balanced, unsung team. We usually go to the Hockey East banquet, but don’t have many awards. But by the end of the year, by the end of the playoffs, we’re in the hunt. It’s just been the team that’s been the key.”

Despite their hot ways, the Black Bears won’t necessarily have an easy time with Northeastern, which has been a tough matchup for them the last couple years.

“I think they’ve been a tough matchup for everybody,” says Walsh. “Bruce really has them so they know how to play. They’re not going to beat themselves very often.

“They’re one of those dark horse teams that our league has that most leagues don’t have. Typically, the seventh seed [in a nine-team league] isn’t going to be a threat. Northeastern is anything but a seventh seed.

“This year, we played three times and tied twice so that in itself tells you how close [it is]. We’ve got to worry about playing our game on all cylinders and take the chips as they fall.”

From Northeastern’s perspective, it must not only overcome the most daunting home ice in the league, but will also be without top goalscorer Mike Ryan (17-12–29) for the first game. Ryan was assessed a game disqualification for a butt-end in the Huskies’ butt-ugly season finale against UMass-Lowell in which a league-record 179 penalty minutes were levied.

For a team that has struggled on offense, the loss of Ryan could be the final nail in the coffin of a disappointing season. The Huskies opened the year looking like a potential NCAA tournament qualifier, but have finished with a 3-7-0 record since the start of February.

“Obviously, we’ve got a little adversity ahead of us with Mike being out,” says Crowder. “It’s an unfortunate thing, but you’re not going to change the scoresheet. You just have to move on.

“We’re hoping to get good news and get [defenseman] Arik Engbrecht back into our lineup. He’s been out for the last couple weekends and he’s a kid that we definitely need defensively.

“The other thing is that going up to Maine is obviously a challenge. The flip side for us is that it’s a situation where we can get the kids right out of Boston and get them focused and worry about the thing at hand instead of driving back and forth and back and forth every day [for a local opponent].”

In the absence of positive momentum, the Huskies will have to create their own momentum this weekend.

“We’ve got to get ourselves refocused,” says Crowder. “The season is over now and as they always say, it’s a whole ‘nother season. Each team is just four wins away from a Hockey East championship and we’re no different than BC, Maine or BU right now in that regard.”

No. 3 Seed Providence Hosts No. 6 Boston University

Oct. 28 at Providence: Tie, 4-4
Feb. 16 at Providence: Providence won, 4-3
Feb. 17 at BU: Tie, 5-5

Ask Providence College coach Paul Pooley how much of a factor its sweep at the hands of Maine will have on the playoffs and his answer is as emphatic as it is concise.

“None.”

Forget about loss of momentum or any of that.

“Maine is a pretty tough place to play,” he says. “We didn’t play great on Friday, but we still had a chance to steal the hockey game. Saturday night, we played much, much better. When you’re up in Maine, some of your weaknesses during the game certainly get exploited.”

Since this weekend’s games will be back at home and, if successful, the week after that at the FleetCenter, the Friars’ 12-year winless streak at Alfond Arena is irrelevant.

What is relevant is that almost as much as Alfond has had their number in the past, they’ve had Boston University’s number in Hockey East tournament play. Since the league’s inception in 1984-85, the two schools have met 11 times in the tournament with the Friars holding a 7-4 advantage, including a 5-1 record in the quarterfinals. They are the only team with a winning record against the Terriers in the league tournament.

That said, BU remains an opponent that has seen a lost of postseason action and will pose problems for the Friars.

“In our league, whether you’re facing Merrimack, Northeastern, Boston University or Lowell, you’re going to have a tremendously tough first round,” says Pooley. “To be honest, there’s really not much difference.

“What’s the difference between 23 points and 21 points and 18 points [fifth, sixth and seventh place]? You’re looking at minimal things.

“As Dick Umile said at the [Hockey East] banquet, ‘It’s tougher to get to our Final Four than the NCAAs.’ I think everybody in the league believes that. There’s really not much difference at this point between hockey clubs. Whoever executes will win the first rounds.”

Specifically, there are a few factors the Pooley is focusing on.

“Their power play is one thing you really have to watch,” he says. “It’s been very, very good all year. [Brian] Collins and [Dan] Cavanaugh and [Carl] Corazzini are all good hockey players with [Pat] Aufiero and [Mike] Bussoli and [Freddie] Meyer [at the points]. They’re all good hockey players. They’ve got a good team and it’s going to be a battle for us.

“I told our guys, ‘No matter if we’re seeded second or third, it doesn’t matter. We’re still going to have a dang war. That’s just the way it’s going to be.'”

For BU, this season is showing an uncomfortable number of similarities to two years ago. In 1998-99, the Terriers posted a 14-20-3 record, lost to Providence in a three-game quarterfinal and went home to figure out what went wrong.

A similar result this weekend will result in the exact same record as two seasons past. Both years, BU stumbled into the postseason: 2-4-1 in 1998-99 and 1-6-1 this year.

“I was real disappointed in our overall effort the last few games, especially against Boston College in the last game of the year,” says coach Jack Parker.

“The good thing about the season that we completed is that it’s over. That’s about the only good thing about it as far as we’re concerned.

“Now we’ve got the second season starting up and we’ve got our hands full with a real solid Providence team, a team that we’ve had struggles with at their place over a number of years, including the playoff two years ago.

“I certainly didn’t want to get them in the playoffs, but you could look at it and say who the hell do you want to get?”

It may be coincidence, but BU’s 1-6-1 dry spell began with the weekend leading into the Beanpot championship game. In past years, the Terriers could draw on the emotion of winning another ‘Pot as a springboard for the stretch drive when bodies are bruised and the motivational tank is down to fumes. Instead of the lift they’ve gotten the last six years, the Terriers got the opposite.

“Letting that slip away certainly had a psychological downer effect on the team,” says Parker. “We played pretty well the next couple of nights … but we lost our last three games, all of which were at home. That was very, very difficult to swallow.”

Of course, the tribulations of the last month and a half can all be erased with four wins in the next two weekends. Whether the first step against Providence can happen may boil down to a few factors.

“Special teams will be a huge key,” says Parker. “They’re in the middle of the pack as far as power-play efficiency in the league, but against us they’ve done real well on the power play. We’ve got to make sure we stay out of the box, which is something we killed ourselves [with] against BC. We were very undisciplined that way.

“We’ve got to make sure we do a better job killing the penalties. We’ve done very well overall for the year on the power play, but of late we haven’t played well on it and therefore we’ve got to make sure that we crank that up.

“Besides special teams, just being able to control play in either zone [will be important], not letting them have all kinds of time and puck possession in our zone and seeing if we can have puck possession in their zone.”

No. 4 Seed New Hampshire Hosts No. 5 UMass-Lowell

Oct. 28 at UNH: UNH won, 4-3
Dec. 1 at Lowell: Tie, 2-2
Dec. 2 at UNH: Tie, 0-0

New Hampshire lost a little bit of the momentum it had been building when it was off the final weekend in February. Before that, the Wildcats had won three of four and had looked particularly strong in a weekend split with BC. After the week off, however, they frittered away a Friday night game against UMass-Amherst before coming back the next night to finish the regular season with a 3-0 win.

“We’re as healthy as we’ve been,” says coach Dick Umile. “We got Matt Swain back. That weekend that we were off helped in that category.

“As far as how well we’re playing, I’m not going to take anything away from UMass’s effort, but we were probably a little sloppy with the puck the first night. We played very well the second night. Maybe it took us the extra night to get back at it. We gave up a disappointing loss, but overall I think we’re playing pretty well heading into the playoffs.”

Without question, UNH’s number one weapon in the postseason will be Hobey Baker candidate Ty Conklin. His shutout in the regular season finale set a new Hockey East record of four in one season.

“There’s no question that he’s the backbone of our team,” says Umile. “If there’s a better goaltender in the East, you’re going to have to prove that to me. I know there are some guys that have played well, but not consistently like he’s done. There’s no question he’s the top goaltender in the East, if not the country.

“Defensively, our team has played well. Ty hasn’t had to make 60 saves per game, but I think that he, along with the team defense, have done a pretty good job overall this season. It’s probably one of the reasons why we’re in the position that we’re in.

“When I say that position, coming in fourth in Hockey East is not a disappointment. It’s only one game that separated second from fourth. It was that close.

“We’ve struggled in scoring goals, but defense has been strong for our team and Ty has been the backbone of it.”

This weekend should be a fascinating matchup. Will transition offense dominate and tip the scales for the Wildcats or will Lowell’s size advantage predominate as the River Hawks control play along the boards?

“We found out back in November that Lowell is a very good team with names like [Yorick] Treille and [Ron] Hainsey and [Laurent] Meunier,” says Umile. “With guys like Kyle Kidney, they’re a big, strong team.

“But I think they’re skilled and I don’t think they’ve gotten the credit they deserve in terms of their skill. They do a lot of good things. They’re really strong down low and you have to handle them.

“Hopefully, we can control them down low and do a good job and create some transition. But they’re a real good team. I think [UML coach] Timmy [Whitehead] has done a tremendous job coaching them this year. It’s going to be a good matchup.”

Other than a sweep at the hands of Providence two weeks ago, UMass-Lowell has established itself as one of the league’s toughest opponents after a disastrous start. Since back-to-back ties with UNH to open December, the River Hawks have gone 9-5-1 in the league with two of the losses coming to BC and another two to PC.

“We feel good,” says Whitehead. “We feel like we’ve been playing good hockey since Thanksgiving. We’re excited to go up to UNH. We know they’re a very strong team. obviously, and we have our hands full with that matchup, but we like that rink and we feel that we can play some good hockey up there.”

Like the rink? Convention wisdom would say that a team like Lowell’s would be better suited for an NHL-sized ice surface than UNH’s Olympic sheet.

“They’ve got a home ice advantage, but at the same time we seem to play well at that arena,” says Whitehead. ” We played twice up there this year and I thought we played well both times.

“I like the atmosphere up there and I think our players enjoy that atmosphere. I think they’re looking forward to it. UNH is more comfortable on that ice, but our guys are looking forward to the [challenge].”

Other than Mark Concannon and Josh Reed, who were both lost for the season in mid-to-late January, the River Hawks are healthy.

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question asked: what Boston-area school does UMass-Amherst hold the best all-time record against? (Cambridge, Brookline and Chestnut Hill are considered to be in the Boston area. North Andover and Lowell are not.) The following hint was added: you may need to think beyond the usual boundaries.

The correct answer was MIT, against which the Minutemen have an all-time record of 20-9-1 (.683). Runners-up were Boston State 12-8-0 (.600) and Tufts (4-4-0) .500.

Of course, what made the question difficult is that it has been decades since UMass last played the Engineers. That was a 15-0 win for the Minutemen back on Dec. 2, 1967. The two schools’ women’s teams, however, faced off much more recently. The Beavers, as the MIT women’s team is known, defeated UMass on Nov. 7, 1996, 3-1.

Kieron P. Faherty was first to identify MIT as the Minutemen’s most frequent Beantown victim. His cheer is:

“GO UMASS! Next year is our year!”

The final trivia question of the season asks what characteristic is identical for all four Hockey East quarterfinal matchups? Be as specific as possible.

Send your answers or wild guesses to Dave Hendrickson.

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

My daughter, Nicole, turned 18 recently. This, of course, prompted some serious reminiscing on my part.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that she was a tiny chatterbox, always ready for a sleepover at a new friend’s house or a trip to Nana’s or Grammy’s. Or that I was reading her stories of Ricki Ticki Tavi or the Sesame Street characters who wanted to play baseball, but feared the dragons who said, “Argle snargle higgledly snoo.” (That was dragon-speak for “We want to play baseball, too.”)

There were many USCHO columns and features written on my laptop during swim meets between her events. There have been many plays, especially Rent, that she and I have enjoyed together as she’s gotten older. For many years now, she’s sent her witty barbs in my direction with deadly accuracy, punctuated with a joyous laugh.

Now my little girl is a woman.

And I could not possibly be more proud.

She has fought through a brutal stretch of bad health, the worst of which was getting mono twice within one year. She is the best friend one could imagine and not just to those who everyone else befriends. She’s a lot of fun to be with.

Simply put, the world is a much better place with her in it.

Nicole, I’ve been one very lucky guy to be your Dad.

Publishers Weekly called it a “witty collection.” Click here for information about Food and Other Enemies, an anthology that includes Dave Hendrickson’s latest short story, “Yeah, But Can She Cook?”

Rensselaer AD Ducatte Retires

USCHO Staff Report
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March 8, 2001

Rensselaer director of athletics Bob Ducatte announced his retirement today after 34 years at the school. Ducatte, who has spent the past 30 years as the athletics director, will remain in his position until June 30.

“This is a position and a school that I feel passionately for,” Ducatte said. “It’s hard to say goodbye, but, it’s time I moved on to the next stage of my life. My wife and I have both worked extremely hard for many, many years and it is now time that we enjoyed ourselves outside of the workplace.”

During his tenure as athletics director, Ducatte led the growth of the department from 12 sports to 23, including all 11 of Rensselaer’s women’s intercollegiate varsity teams. Among RPI’s 23 varsity teams is a Division I men’s hockey team which won the NCAA National Championship in 1985.

Ducatte also helped establish and coordinate the Transit Trophy Game in football as well as the annual men’s hockey “Big Red Freakout!”. Off the field, he began the men’s hockey grant-in-aid program, the department’s internship program and he was instrumental in the forming of the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ducatte served as the tournament director of several NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey East Regional Tournaments as well as the 1992 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship. This April he will again serve as the tournament director of the Frozen Four, the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship.

Ducatte, 64, came to Rensselaer in 1967 as head coach of the baseball team and assistant coach of the football team. He was named the school’s athletics director in 1971, succeeding Warren Lutes.

A Second Chance

By Todd D. Milewski
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March 8, 2001

Mike Sertich just took a little time to himself.

He did some fishing, let his hair grow long, grew a beard. In other words, he did all the things last summer that he couldn’t do in 18 years at Minnesota-Duluth.

Sertich also did some thinking. He allowed himself to absorb what had happened in the last few years.

He didn’t particularly care for much of it.

His reign as the top man at Duluth came to an end last season. Officially he resigned, though there’s little question the school’s administration had at least one hand on his back on his way out the door.

Mike Sertich succeeded Tim Watters as MTU head coach earlier this season.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever step foot in a rink for a college game again. He worried about the questions he’d be asked about what happened in Duluth if he ever applied for another job, and maybe about what answers he would give.

He started thinking about what it meant to be a coach. He experienced a kind of burnout in his last years at Duluth, and knew he had neglected the things that were truly important to him.

Once he realized all these things, he went about changing them.

It all started to make sense again for Sertich, and that’s when Rick Yeo called. The Michigan Tech athletics director had just seen Tim Watters resign as coach. Being friends with Sertich for many years, he knew that was a way he could turn for help.

All of a sudden, Sertich had to apply all of his newfound wisdom as to what was really important to coaching again.

“I have a picture of a lone wolf. When I went to Houghton, I put it up,” Sertich said. “That was the only thing I had in my apartment. I took a magic marker and I put under there, ‘Just be yourself.’ That was going to be my credo and God help me if I get away from that.”

As far as anyone can tell, he’s still on track.

He’s taken hockey to a new level at Michigan Tech, and that’s not even considering a step up in the number of wins.

At the end of the WCHA’s regular season, he was 7-12-2 at Tech — not a great figure, but not too bad for coming to the team on short notice.

He’s helped the team that set a NCAA record for most losses in a season last year realize there’s more than one way to go through a season. Sertich has brought the fun back to the game.

Imagine this: rumor has it that at practice one day, Sertich showed up wearing a bandana and earrings, just to liven things up.

“One night [the players] came for practice and [Sertich] said, ‘We’re not going to have practice,'” legendary Tech radio voice Bob Olson said. “They went out to one of the outdoor rinks in Houghton and played shinny [a form of pickup hockey], just to have fun.

“He’s spent probably more time with the players off the ice than he has on the ice, just building up their confidence. I know the confidence factor is a big thing.”

The Renaissance

Sertich hasn’t been in Houghton long. He was hired on an interim basis on Nov. 8 and was hired full time on Jan. 17 (his contract runs through the 2004-2005 season). But it’s no secret he’s been having a ball.

“Oh, hell, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said. “It’s a complete and total renaissance.”

It probably took a complete makeover to get Sertich back into the game. The way his term at Duluth ended left a bit of a bad taste in his mouth.

“I know he appreciates being able to be back in the game because he didn’t want to get out of it at the time he did, and under those circumstances,” said Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer, who called Sertich his closest friend in hockey.

Sertich’s last year in Duluth was riddled with rumors of his imminent departure. Message boards were filled with calls for his head.

He announced his resignation before the season ended and threw in a few jabs at the lack of an on-campus arena at the news conference.

So maybe the half-season out of hockey was exactly what Sertich needed. He needed some time to step away from the game and look at himself.

He became more philosophical in his outlook toward life and how hockey fit into it.

“I think I have [become more philosophical], but only because I had the time to be introspective,” Sertich said. “I took time away from the daily game and the hubbub of daily life and spent it in the woods, kind of got back to the basics of life.

“I had lost sight of a lot of things; a lot of things that I thought were important weren’t. Your family comes first, any way you look at it. And your friends, and your health. When you look at all the guys that suffer from coaching burnout, run from the ghosts of the past and all the things which they can’t control, it’s little wonder why guys don’t stay in the game long anymore and why the turnover is so great.”

Sertich wasn’t sure if he would ever associate burnout with college hockey. There was a time not too long ago that the game at the college level was considered small-time nationally. It wasn’t much of a revenue producer, so attendance and victories weren’t paramount.

They are now.

“Hockey used to be insulated from that, but now with bigger buildings and fancier buildings, expectations rise,” Sertich said. “It’s hard to fulfill the expectations of fans, it’s hard to fulfill the expectations of your boss and the program. But the only thing that matters is fulfilling your own expectations. That other stuff, it’ll take care of itself in time. I lost sight of that.”

The Second Chance

Sertich has called this his second chance. But he knows he paid a big price to get where he is today.

He said he suffered through a lot of humiliation and embarrassment in his years at Duluth, leading to his own personal burnout.

"You’re walking and you see the mountains ahead and you’re worrying about the mountains. But realistically, what tires you out is that rock in your shoe … In a lot of my colleagues, I see that and I hear that. I’ve been fortunate to have a second chance, but a second chance that was kind of costly."

— Mike Sertich

“I was fighting some mystical and mythical gremlins, you might say, that really, perhaps weren’t even there,” said Sertich, who was 15-22 in his last season at UMD, 1999-2000. “It’s funny. Fans have probably never had more of an opportunity to place indictments on the programs than they do now, with talk radio, Web sites, chat rooms, message boards. It’s pretty condemning. It’s pretty damning. It’s pretty negative.

“In all my years, I’ve never seen a coach yet that really went out there and tried to lose or wanted to lose. Now with all these avenues to come down on these guys … it’s subtle, but it’s always there. You’re walking and you see the mountains ahead and you’re worrying about the mountains. But realistically, what tires you out is that rock in your shoe. You’re gassed before you even get to the mountain, and that’s what happens.

“In a lot of my colleagues, I see that and I hear that. I’ve been fortunate to have a second chance, but a second chance that was kind of costly.”

The Teacher

But Sertich knows the good he can do in his second chance. A teacher by trade, he’s carried that experience into the coaching ranks.

In a game late this season at Wisconsin, he called timeout to talk strategy. In that situation, most coaches will talk to just the players who are going to be on the ice.

Sertich sat up on the boards in front of the players, clipboard in hand, to diagram plays. The entire team crowded around him.

“I don’t think there’s anything that’s more gratifying than to see someone grab an idea and improve upon it,” he said. “When you give them a concept and they execute it, and you start to see them have success — and it doesn’t always come in wins. The wins will come, but I think what happens is the understanding comes first. Once I think you reach that point of understanding, then it takes off.

“I think in order for them to be successful, the whole environment has to be positive. I look back at my career, I didn’t like when my parents yelled at me. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like to be yelled at at school, I didn’t like to be yelled at by coaches. I don’t think kids like to be yelled at either. If you keep it positive, you can learn.”

Said Sauer: “There’s not one coach in hockey that feels better about his kids than [Sertich] does.”

He’ll have another new challenge next year, as he continues to mold the Huskies into a team of his own. It started in his first game with the team, in which observers saw an emphasis on forechecking and a new breakout pattern.

The success in the win column may not materialize soon. That, however, may not be too troubling to Sertich.

“Every year’s a new challenge. That’s the essence of coaching,” he said. “It’s still teaching, it’s still keeping the environment positive, where kids want to come to the rink. It’s a game; it’s supposed to be fun, but there’s times you have to work hard.

“You don’t have to hate coming to the rink. I think any time you get caught in that as an athlete or a coach, you’re a time bomb.”

Knowing What’s Important

In his time away from the game, Sertich realized there’s a fine line between putting your all into the game and putting your all into the game while disassociating yourself from everything else.

He knows his health and his family well being suffered when he was focusing solely on hockey.

“If you don’t prioritize things, don’t take time for yourself, you get married to the game, you lose your health,” he said. “You don’t need to do that. You don’t need to lose your health in order to be a master of the game. It’s not all X’s and O’s, it’s managing people. I think that once you learn that, you get a totally different perspective on the game.

“I understand how important winning is and ticket sales is, but a lot of that stuff I can’t do anything about. I just have to go and take care of the kids and help them. If I get away from that, I’m in trouble.”

He hasn’t strayed from that yet. He’s renewed the enthusiasm in the Michigan Tech hockey program, the city of Houghton and, perhaps most importantly, himself.

“I’m Mike Sertich, who moved to Houghton, Mich,” he said. “I’m no different than any other guy who goes to work every Monday morning, loves his weekends, looks forward to the recreational parts of it. My life is very simple. I’m not going to get caught up in trying to be someone, someplace. I’m going to be me, and that’s the way I’m going to be.

“That’s what I learned.”

D-III Quarters: Plattsburgh at Middlebury

By Russell Jaslow
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March 8, 2001

It was the closest quarterfinal matchup of last year’s NCAA Division III playoffs, and it appears to be the closest quarterfinal matchup this year.

Of course, we’re talking about the Plattsburgh Cardinals at Middlebury Panthers showdown.

How close was it last year?

So close that nobody actually won a real game. Plattsburgh ended Middlebury’s five-year streak of national championships, but tied both games in the series, 1-1 and 4-4. The mini-game also ended in a tie, 0-0. It wasn’t until the first sudden death overtime that someone finally won.

How close will this year be?

For starters, they split their two regular-season games. Not only that, they were by the same score, 3-0. Middlebury came out on top early in the season during the Primelink Great Northern Shootout. Plattsburgh returned the favor at home in January.

Both are coming off emotionally-demanding conference championships. Plattsburgh needed all three games to knock off Potsdam, while Middlebury took overtime to overcome Amherst in a penalty-ridden game complete with Panthers coach Bill Beaney getting tossed.

The pollsters say they are close too. In the final USCHO.com poll, Middlebury is ranked third, Plattsburgh fourth.

Just how much closer do you want? How about low-scoring games? Plattsburgh may have the fifth-rated offense in the country, but they will be going against the number-one defense. Meanwhile, Middlebury’s offense is ranked 13th, but Plattsburgh’s defense is seventh. Power-play goals? Forget it. Middlebury has the top penalty kill in the nation. Plattsburgh is third.

PLATTSBURGH — Offensively, the Cardinals’ strongest asset is that everybody can score. In order to beat the top defense in the country, they will have to rely on this strength.

“We don’t have a number-one line,” says coach Bob Emery. “All our lines work hard.”

Hodge

But if you have to mark somebody, Middlebury had better keep an eye on Brendon Hodge.

Not only is Hodge the team’s leading scorer with 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points, including three shorthanded tallies, but Hodge appears to be peaking at the right time. He was red-hot in the SUNYAC finals, scoring four goals and adding three assists, including a hat trick in game one, and has a slapshot that every goalie fears.

But like we said, scoring can come from almost anywhere. Jason Kilcan (18-19–37), Mark Coletta (16-16–32), Derrick Shaw (16-13–29), Joe Dolci (13-15–28), Peter Ollari (10-18–28), Bryan Murray (6-21–27), and Rob Retter (9-9–18) will all burn you if you are paying too much attention to Hodge.

Plattsburgh also has a strong power play, converting 24% of its chances. Even more importantly, the Cardinals stop 89.7% of their opponents’ opportunities. Plattsburgh can beat you with special teams alone.

Defensively, it all starts with Niklas Sundberg, arguably one of the best goaltenders in the country. He sports a 2.31 GAA and .921 save percentage that helped him to a 23-5-0 record. But perhaps his most important asset is his ability to come up big when it counts.

Emery is fully aware of that. “It’s going to come down to goaltending, and we need Nik to be better than their goalie,” he says.

Sundberg will be helped in front by Peter Ollari, Bryan Murray, Bobby Owen, Sean Chaytors, and Andre Carriere.

Plattsburgh may score a lot, but the Cardinals don’t get into shootouts. They only let up five or more goals in a game three times this season, and four goals twice. This is one stingy defense.

Still, the key for the Cardinals will be to not allow the conference series to drain them, both emotionally and physically.

“It was a battle all weekend,” Emery said after winning the SUNYAC title. “If you go into our locker room right now, you won’t see the players with much energy left.”

Injuries to some key players could play a part. Murray (jaw and eyes) is probable; Mike Daoust (knee) is day-to-day; Tyler Keenen (concussion) is ready if needed; and Carriere (back) is day-to-day. Brian Toussaint and Guy Come are out for this weekend.

“Injuries have been such a dilemma for us that nothing surprises us now,” Emery told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican. “To get this far with as many manpower-games we have lost this season is unbelievable.”

MIDDLEBURY — Tradition is the name of the game for the Panthers. Five straight national championships saw to that. What better way to avenge the end of that streak than to have another opportunity against the team that ended it?

That alone could be enough to drive Middlebury this weekend.

Middlebury hasn’t slowed a bit as the Panthers went through another outstanding season at 23-2-1. Their only losses came to Trinity, in overtime, and to Plattsburgh. Since then, the Panthers have won 13 in a row.

However, their latest victory was a wild one, defeating Amherst 4-3 in overtime for the NESCAC championship. That game had just about everything, including the rare sight of coach Bill Beaney getting ejected. But even that couldn’t stop the Panthers from heading to the NCAAs once again.

“Against all odds the team has had a really great year,” Beaney said.

Carlsson

As usual, defense is the prime point of excellence for Middlebury. The Panthers have shut out their opponents 11 times and allowed just 36 goals. They have let up more than three goals just twice.

This is, in large part, due to the exploits of junior Christian Carlsson, who has continued a line of exceptional goaltenders with a national-best 1.25 GAA and a .934 save pct. His backup, freshman Marc Scheuer, is ready to follow in his footsteps. In action this year, Scheuer has a 1.64 GAA and .908 save pct. If anything happens to Carlsson, there will be no concerns when Scheuer comes in.

The defensemen get lost in the publicity over Carlsson and Middlebury’s offense, but that’s not to say they go unnoticed by the coaching staff. Juniors Ryan Constantine and Grayson Fertig “do a great job night in and night out,” says Beaney, as they simply do their job keeping pressure off of Carlsson.

Just because they rely on defense doesn’t mean they cannot score — the Panthers, as noted above, are 13th best in the nation on offense.

Senior Scott Goldman leads the way with 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points, while the top goalscorer is freshman Adam Foote with 19; Foote also has 12 assists for a total of 31 points. Other double-digit goal scorers are Matt Dunn with 13 and Kevin Cooper with 10.

Watch out for Goldman and Foote on the power play, where they have nine and eight goals, respectively.

Lastly, one advantage Middlebury has over Plattsburgh is the venue. The Panthers have never lost to the Cardinals at home.

CHA Honors Award Winners at Final Five

USCHO Staff Report
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March 8, 2001

The second annual College Hockey America postseason tournament kicked off with an awards ceremony honoring the five qualifying teams and conference award winners.

Kielkucki

Air Force senior goaltender Marc Kielkucki earned College Hockey America Player of the Year honors after leading the Air Force Academy to their second straight CHA Final Five appearance. Kielkucki posted a 6-9-1 record in the CHA this season and a 2.95 goals-against average with a .910 save percentage.

Findlay goaltender Kevin Fines, a freshman from Sarnia, Ont., earned Rookie of the Year honors after leading the CHA in save percentage (.924). Fines posted a 4-6-1 record in the CHA and a 2.97 goals-against average. He was also named to the All-CHA Second Team.

Air Force’s Scott Bradley, a senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., got the nod as the Student-Athlete of the Year. Bradley recorded one goal and 14 assists for 15 points in 19 games in league play during the regular season.

Findlay head coach Craig Barnett was named the CHA Coach of the Year after guiding the Oilers to a second straight CHA Final Five appearance. Barnett’s Oilers posted a 10-14-2 record overall and a 8-10-2 record in league play. The record in league play was good for a fourth-place tie with Air Force. Barnett’s team was picked to finish sixth in the CHA Preseason Coaches Poll.

All-CHA First Team

F Brian Gornick, Air Force, Jr. (St. Paul, Minn.)
F Dwayne Blais, Alabama-Huntsville, Sr. (Sudbury, Ont.)
F Jason Durbin, Wayne State, So. (Trenton, Mich.)
D Brant Somerville, Findlay, Jr. (Scarborough, Ont.)
D Darren Curry, Ala.-Huntsville, Sr. (Manotick, Ont.)
G Marc Kielkucki, Air Force, Sr. (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)

All-CHA Second Team

F Karlis Zirnis, Alabama-Huntsville, So. (Riga, Latvia)
F Bernie Sigrist, Niagara, So. (Toronto, Ont.)
F Andy Berg, Air Force, So. (Stillwater, Minn.)
D Clay Simmons, Bemidji State, So. (Princeton, B.C.)
D Tyler Kindle, Wayne State (Portage, Mich.)
G Kevin Fines, Findlay, Fr. (Sarnia, Ont.)

All-CHA Rookie Team

F Aaron Weegar, Findlay, Fr. (Potsdam, N.Y.)
F Christian Olson, Findlay, Fr. (Edina, Minn.)
F Chris Vail, Wayne State, Fr. (Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich.)
D Joe Locallo, Air Force, Fr. (Chicago, Ill.)
D Bryce Methven, Bemidji State, Fr. (Mora, Minn.)
G Kevin Fines, Findlay, Fr. (Sarnia, Ont.)

Player of the Year: Marc Kielkucki, Air Force, Sr. (Brooklyn Park, Minn.)
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Fines, Findlay, Fr. (Sarnia, Ont.)
Coach of the Year: Craig Barnett, Findlay
Student-Athlete of the Year: Scott Bradley, Air Force, Sr. (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Changing the Rules

By Adam Wodon
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March 7, 2001

The issue of amateurism deregulation and its impact on college hockey, followed by USCHO for the last 18 months, is about to come to a head. The subcommittee in charge of creating the legislation’s language is meeting one last time to work on tweaks based upon concerns heard at the NCAA’s January meetings.

To summarize: the series of legislative initiatives, known as the Deregulation of Amateurism, would allow players to sign a contract, accept prize money and enter a professional draft before entering college without jeopardizing their future NCAA eligibility. The idea is that the aforementioned things do not present an unfair advantage, in and of themselves, and should not be grounds for ineligibility.

This, the NCAA hoped, would benefit the student-athlete that often got lost in the association’s bureaucracy. The only basis for ineligibilty under the new legislation would be the number of years past your high school graduation year (18 years old), in which you participated competitively in your sport. This would prevent, for example, a 22-year old European enrolling as a freshman basketball player, something the NCAA determined provides a much more direct competitive advantage than the concept of entering a draft.

While this seems like a winning situation for most American student-athletes, it drastically changes the recruiting playing field, especially in the big-time sports. There was a rather outspoken contingent that came out against the legislation during the January meetings, particularly basketball coaches who believe its passing could open a can of worms.

But the subcommittee put in charge of creating the legislation is standing behind it.

“The subcommittee still believes firmly in the legislation,” says Lisa Dehon, staff liaison to the subcommittee on Amateurism and Agents, “mostly that it would be best for prospective student-athletes.”

The implications of the initial legislation were particularly negative for hockey, however. That’s because many, if not most, hockey players don’t enter college until after having played junior and prep school hockey, well after their 18th birthday. All of those players would have been required to sit a year in residence, and lose a year of NCAA eligibility.

The outcry from the hockey world was immediate, but it prompted a rarely seen cooperation between the hockey community and the NCAA to rectify the situation. Hockey administrators were quickly invited to speak to the subcommittee and explain their issues, and an amendment was made that exempted those players.

“We do not have an ice hockey expert on the committee, and once we made the decision to try and understand as much as we could, we relied on the commissioners and others in hockey to tell us how hockey as a sport operates,” said Christine Grant, subcommittee chair and women’s athletic director at Iowa. “I received a great education on ice hockey.”

Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni says, “Our association lobbied the right people. The coaches on this thing were ready.”

There was still one remaining major implication, however; the opening of doors to Canadian major junior players to enter college without penalty. Currently, the NCAA considers those players to be semi-professional, and once playing major junior, you can’t enroll and play at a U.S. college without severe penalties. Under the new legislation, what you did before age 18 wouldn’t have mattered.

This newfound freedom for previous major junior players was hailed by many insiders and fans as a major victory for college hockey. Now, players once stuck in the major junior system, could leave for U.S. colleges at will, opening up a new source of recruits.

This is what everyone wanted, right? The ability to recapture players that get sucked away to the major junior system, sometimes at 15 years old, before college recruiters could even contact them?

However, there is a sizable contingent of college coaches, perhaps half or more, who believe this is a very bad idea for college hockey.

“There are leagues — Hockey East was one — that were split,” says Joe Bertagna, commissioner of Hockey East and director of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). “Some like it, others are saying it’s bad. Without a penalty to pay [for going to major junior to begin with], you may never get them back.”

With these concerns in mind, Dehon and fellow NCAA staff liaison Bill Saum went to the annual coaches’ convention in Naples, Fla., last April to listen to the concerns of all sides.

“It was a pretty lively session as people started to realize the implications of everything,” says Bertagna.

“[The commissioners] went out to lunch with them after the formal session with the coaches. They came away from the trip on their own thinking there’s one more thing they have to do.”

What the subcommittee did, then, was put in another amendment, that players in major junior at age 16 and 17 could still leave for college, but would still have to sit a year in residence and lose a year of NCAA eligibility for each year of juniors played.

This caught many hockey people by surprise. They say Dehon and Saum left the meetings without any indication of what they would do, then suddenly, last summer, the change was made.

“We never came to a single position [at the meetings],” says Bertagna. “So when we heard about [the amendment], we thought, ‘Where did that come from?'”

Nonetheless, Dehon and the subcommittee believed this was a compromise position.

“We heard from both camps,” Dehon says. “It appeared to us that there was still a significant concern with the U.S. hockey community that major juniors can recruit at such a young age, and kids make decisions, and they were fearful of kids going into the major junior system before they were interested in college. The new proposal is still a significant proposal, but it allows for an individual that has made a mistake to still have college eligibility. It served both purposes.”

Ironically, the factions for and against allowing major junior players to join the collegiate ranks point to the same reasons.

Those against major junior players leaving to come to college say that players make the choice at a young age, when they are easily persuaded by the major junior coaches. And, they believe, once they go to major junior, they won’t come back.

The other side says, players are forced to make a choice at a young age, and there are many kids who do so now and choose major junior, and then are stuck there.

The latter seems to be protecting the interests of the players, while the former seems bent on protecting college hockey’s interests. But that’s not an entirely fair assessment.

Sure, the rules would allow a player sucked into the major junior system to leave after a couple of years. But, say those against opening the doors, there are real concerns that major junior teams would restrict NCAA teams’ access to those players, causing them to be stuck there anyway.

“The problem is, you let a kid go, they are not going to accomodate his academic needs. And they’re going to taint him,” says Mazzoleni, who believes college programs are gaining ground on major juniors. “They are going to have morning practices, which is going to hurt him academically. They’re not going to let you visit the kid — how are you even going to recruit the kid? And they’re going to get him in their environment and you’re never going to get him back.

Does Mazzoleni still feel bad about a kid who gets stuck early, after having to make a decision at 15 years old?

“They know the rules,” he says.

“The biggest problem is the Grade 12 year, because kids are ready. They’re maybe better than what Tier II hockey is, so they don’t want to play Tier II because they want to continue to accelerate their game. So instead of being patient [they jump]. That’s the one things that kills college.”

Despite the major junior debate, there’s been a distinct feel-good atmosphere created between the NCAA and college hockey. The amount of cooperation between the two sides has been unprecedented. What started out as ignorance of college hockey by the committee, and a fear by the hockey people of the NCAA’s heavy hand, quickly became a love-fest.

“What I heard before I was a commissioner was that the NCAA would do whatever it wanted to do,” CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said to the NCAA News. “But our voice was definitely requested. I learned in this process that you could be heard. I applaud the NCAA’s willingness to take the time to learn what our differences were and help us come to a solution.”

NCAA President Cedric Dempsey said, “While some in the hockey community may have a certain level of discomfort about the amateurism deregulation, they have never refused to make their own recommendations or consider alternatives. I believe that as a result of this invaluable partnership, the amateurism proposals address the unique aspects and concerns of ice hockey and show what can be accomplished.”

With these changes, however, we are left with legislation that, at this point, has been largely gutted as it pertains to hockey. Still, there are some aspects that will have positive effects for prospective student athletes.

For example, being able to sign a contract or enter a draft, and still enroll in college will let kids feel out their chances, and then go to college if it appears there is not enough money or opportunity to be had in the pros. This is good, because a player should not be dissuaded from attending college just because they put out feelers on their career. Why would you want to prevent kids from going to college?

But as we near a final vote of the Management Council at the April NCAA convention, the legislation’s future is uncertain. While the issue of major junior eligibilty was clearly the biggest point of contention in college hockey, other concerns are casting into doubt whether the legislation will pass at all.

The part about accepting prize money is still the biggest hangup. Basketball coaches are afraid, but haven’t been specific. In general, they are simply afraid that the new legislation will cause more problems than it solves.

“We’ve tried to ask them on numerous occasions to pinpoint their concerns, and to date we only get, ‘We hate all of it,'” says Dehon. “It’s difficult to find a compromise that way.”

A far cry from the hockey community.

“Tell me about it. They are the poster child for cooperation. It’s two groups coming together and educating each other,” Dehon says.

The question, at this point, is whether the basketball coaches have enough influence on their athletic directors and conference commissioners that make up the Management Council.

“That’s the $64,000 question. I’m still optimistic,” says Dehon.

“There are some concerns and issues that are still out there. Hopefully we can consider and address those issues in such a way that will make people more comfortable with the proposals. Even without that, the subcommittee will say it’s a good package. We’ll deal with the concerns that are quantifiable, rather than worst-case senarios. You can always come up with one [of those], but they’re hard to address.”

Bertagna adds, “We’re battling decades of comfort level over thinking what’s bad.”

With all the hockey-specific amendments, whatever happens, there probably won’t be the kind of monumental change that was originally anticipated, and/or feared.

“At this point, people really want to know what is going to happen,” said ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco to the NCAA News. “Major junior leagues are using the amateurism proposals against us in the recruiting wars. It needs to be voted on.”

If, after years of work, the legislation is shot down in April, how will the subcommittee react?

“The subcommittee will feel victory in knowing they did the job that was to be done,” says Dehon. “But there will be a sense of loss that we had a chance to help student-athletes and it didn’t work out.”

Five Sophomores Featured on All-CCHA First Team

USCHO Staff Report
-
March 7, 2001

Two-time first-team honoree Jeff Jillson, a junior defenseman from Michigan, is the oldest player on a CCHA’s First-Team all-Conference squad that includes five sophomores.

Miller

Jillson is making his second consecutive appearance on the First Team. Michigan State sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller and Western Michigan forward David Gove, second-team selections last year, are the only other repeat performers on either team.

Sophomore forward David Brisson and sophomore defenseman Greg Zanon are the first players ever selected all-Conference from Nebraska-Omaha. They are the fastest players on an expansion team to be selected first-team all-CCHA since Ted Speers earned all-league honors for Michigan in 1982-83, one year after the Wolverines joined the CCHA.

Michigan teammates, sophomore forwards Mike Cammalleri and Andy Hilbert, round out the first-team’s forward line, both earning their first all-CCHA honors. It is the fourth time in the last eight years a pair of Wolverine frontliners have been first-team forward selections.

Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller’s First-Team all-Conference Selection continues a streak of four straight years that a Spartan goaltender has been named either First- or Second-Team all-CCHA. Miller, who was a Second Team honoree last season, follows in the footsteps of Chad Alban (First — 1997-98) and Joe Blackburn (Second — 1998-99).

Second Team selections Mike Bisahi and David Gove, a junior and senior, respectively, from Western Michigan, mark the first time since 1995-96 (Marc Magliarditi — First Team and Jeremy Brown — Second Team) that two Broncos have earned all-Conference honors in the same year. They are joined up front by Miami University’s Jason Deskins. Deskins, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, earned honorable mention all-CCHA in 1998-99.

On defense for the Second Team are junior Andrew Hutchinson and sophomore John-Michael Liles from Michigan State. They complete the Spartans’ sweep of the position, becoming the first defensive tandem to do it on either team since MSU’s Gary Haight and Don McSween both collected First-Team accolades in 1984-85.

The teams were selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches and are based on performances in league games. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.

2000-01 CCHA all-Conference Teams

FIRST TEAM
F Andy Hilbert, SO, Michigan
F Mike Cammalleri, SO, Michigan
F David Brisson, SO, Nebraska-Omaha
D Jeff Jillson, JR, Michigan
D Greg Zanon, SO, Nebraska-Omaha
G Ryan Miller, SO, Michigan State

SECOND TEAM
F Mike Bishai, JR, Western Michigan
F Jason Deskins, JR, Miami
F David Gove, SR, Western Michigan
D Andrew Hutchinson, JR, Michigan State
D John-Michael Liles, SO, Michigan State
G Josh Blackburn, JR, Michigan
G Phil Osaer, JR, Ferris State

2000-01 All-Academic Team

F Dan Carlson, Sr., Notre Dame
F Jim Lawrence, Sr., Alaska-Fairbanks
F Dave Noel-Bernier, Sr., Nebraska-Omaha
F Curtis Valentine, Sr., Bowling Green
F David Gove, Sr., Western Michigan
D Jim Dube, Sr., Ferris State
D Jeff Jillson, Jr., Michigan
D Daniel Samuelsson, Jr., Nebraska-Omaha

2000-01 Bauer/CCHA All-Rookie Team

F Jeff Campbell, Western Michigan (Hensall, Ont.)
F Dave Steckel, Ohio State (Westbend, Wis.)
F R.J. Umberger, Ohio State (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
D Mike Komisarek, Michigan (Islip Terrace, N.Y.)
D Brett Lebda, Notre Dame (Buffalo Grove, Ill.)
G Dan Ellis, Nebraska-Omaha (Orangeville, Ont.)

ECAC West Newsletter: March 7, 2001

By Scott Biggar
-
March 7, 2001

RIT Sweeps To ECAC West Title

RIT swept through the ECAC West playoffs, downing Hobart in the semifinals and Manhattanville in the finals to take its third straight ECAC West crown. The Manhattanville Valiants reached the finals with an upset win over the Elmira Soaring Eagles in the semis.

Playoff Overview

No. 2 ELMIRA (16-10-0) 5 vs. No. 3 MANHATTANVILLE (14-10-2) 6 (3/2): Manhattanvile scored just 17 seconds in to the first period, and rode that momentum throughout the game. Elmira kept battling back from deficits all night long, but couldn’t manage to tally a go-ahead goal.

“We’re still a young team … To have this kind of a win in only our second year is just monstrous,” said Manhattanville coach Keith Levinthal.

The Soaring Eagles answered the opening goal by the Valiants, 32 seconds later, to tie the game, the first of three ties during the contest. Manhattanville kept up relentless pressure, peppering the Elmira net with 23 shots in the first period alone. The work paid off for the Valiants, who notched the next two goals midway through the period to take a 3-1 lead. Elmira chipped away at the lead in the waning seconds of the period, but found itself on the short side of a 3-2 scoreboard at the end of the first period.

Elmira tied it up early in the second period, 3-3, but the Valiants repeated the pattern as they scored the next two goals, only to watch as Elmira tied it up with two quick goals midway through the third period. The Soaring Eagles used an unlikely hero to climb back in to the game. Freshman Matt Howarth, who had scored a single goal all season, scored twice in this game, both times to tie the score.

“He is a hard-working kid who we moved to center a couple of weeks ago. He had a career game,” said Elmira coach Glenn Thomaris.

But the pattern held, and the next goal went to Manhattanville just 1:10 after Elmira tied it up. That was the end of the scoring, and the Valiants celebrated advancing to the ECAC West final in only their second season.

No. 1 RIT (23-0-1) 9 vs. No. 4 HOBART (6-15-4) 1 (3/2): The No. 1 seed Tigers held serve in the second semifinal game, and trounced No. 4 seed Hobart. The Tigers held a distinct territorial advantage most of the game, and outshot the Statesmen 48-17 in the contest.

RIT scored twice in the opening 6:22 of the game, and it looked like they were off to the races. But the Hobart defense solidified and netminder Chris Connolly made some key saves to stem the Tiger tide.

RIT managed its third goal midway through the second period. Hobart got on the board very late in the period, and going in to the second intermission it looked like Hobart might be able to pull the second upset of the night.

Hobart, loaded with seniors, came out in the third period with a will. The Statesmen played RIT tough early in the period, but couldn’t get anything past RIT netminder Tyler Euverman.

Three goals in quick succession midway through the third period by RIT deflated Hobart, and that was the game. RIT’s third line of Sam Hill, Errol McDonald, and Mike Tarantino had a stellar game, notching two goals and five assists in the contest.

No. 3 MANHATTANVILLE (14-11-2) 2 vs. No. 1 RIT (24-0-1) 8 (3/3): When the teams were skating at even strength, play in this game was even, with entertaining end-to-end action. Unfortunately for Manhattanville, the two teams didn’t skate even strength very much, as there was a steady parade of players from both sides to the sin bin. The longest stretch of even-strength play was only eight minutes, early in the second period.

Special teams were the difference, as RIT scored four goals on nine power plays while Manhattanville didn’t manage any tallies on six of its own.

“We thought coming in to this game that discipline might win or lose it for either team,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson.

He was right.

RIT was up 2-0 after the first period. With the early parts of the second period played at even strength, the Valiants made a game of it, putting pressure on the RIT net and keeping the Tigers’ offense towards the outside.

But the Manhattanville bus must have been equipped by Firestone, because the wheels exploded midway through the second period to send the Valiants crashing. RIT scored two goals separated by only 26 seconds, starting at the 10:33 mark, and it was all over for Manhattanville after that.

The Valiants didn’t give up, but the Tiger feeding frenzy never gave them any breathing room. RIT went on to score four more goals before the end of the contest, while Manhattanville chipped in two goals in the closing moments.

The win gave RIT its third straight ECAC West championship, and eighth overall. Tiger Sam Hill was named the tournament MVP, notching four goals and three assists on the weekend.

Into The NCAAs

Undefeated RIT (24-0-1), ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll for the ninth straight week, was awarded the No. 1 East seed for the NCAA tournament, and will host the No. 5 East seed Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen (18-7-2) — the ECAC Northeast champions — in quarterfinal action this weekend at RIT’s Ritter Arena.

RIT and Lebanon Valley have never met before, but looking at four common opponents this season (Manhattanville, Elmira, Hobart and Geneseo), LVC was 1-3-1 against those teams with a win over Hobart and a tie with Manhattanville. RIT was 10-0 against those four teams.

Conclusion

As the NCAA playoffs begin, this is the final weekly installment of the ECAC West column. But it’s not over yet. Look for an “ECAC West Year in Review” issue to come out in a couple of weeks. Each of the four teams’ seasons will be covered, including the high and low points, the stars and the duds — and I will see if I can get the coaches to give some insight into next year’s schedule and recruits.

So stay tuned…

This Week In Women’s Hockey: March 7, 2001

By Zevi Gutfreund
-
March 7, 2001

The Postseason, Week One: The WCHA

The regular season is finally over (with only one upset in the final weekend — No. 6 Brown losing at Maine, 3-2). While the ECAC tournament begins with four quarterfinal matchups, it’s now or never in the WCHA. The three-round tournament begins Thursday in Rochester, Minn., and a champion will be crowned on Saturday.

Two teams — No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth and No. 3 Minnesota — have an inside track at the NCAA tournament, but the Bulldogs and Gophers must avoid upsets and perhaps reach the championship game to solidify their respective bids to the inaugural Frozen Four. Here’s how the teams shape up heading into the playoffs:

1. Minnesota (23-7-2, 18-4-2)

As regular-season champions the Gophers have a bye in the first round of the tournament, and will play the winner of the St. Cloud – Ohio State matchup. While this should give the defending national champs a relatively safe road to the conference title game, Minnesota has lost to both the Huskies and the Buckeyes in the last month.

“This is an experienced team and we know what it will take to get to the NCAAs,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson, who carries nine seniors on her roster. “St. Cloud and Ohio State are both capable of beating us, and we will have to show up to play or our season could be over.”

Should Minnesota survive St. Cloud or Ohio State in the WCHA semifinal, they would likely face archrival UMD in the final. In a two-game series in Duluth last weekend, the Gophers tied and lost to the Bulldogs, 2-2 and 3-1. While losing to UMD would not eliminate Minnesota from playoff consideration, it would influence the seedings in the NCAA tournament.

To beat UMD’s high-flying offense, Minnesota will have to rely on the strong goaltending of senior Erica Killewald, who leads the conference in GAA (2.02) and save percentage (.919), and senior defenseman Courtney Kennedy. The Gophers will also need some timely goals from scorers like La Toya Clarke (19g, 32a), Ambria Thomas (25g, 22a) and Nadine Muzerall (27g, 18a).

2. Minnesota-Duluth (23-5-4, 15-5-4)

The Bulldogs managed to turn things around against Minnesota last Saturday, winning 3-2 after tying the Gophers the night before and losing at St. Cloud a week earlier. But UMD is certainly capable of sweeping through the three-game tournament and winning the conference title, as it did during last year’s inaugural WCHA playoffs.

The Duluth offense has the most depth in the country. Three players (Maria Rooth, Hanne Sikio and Erika Holst) have at least 45 points, and an additional three (Satu Kiipeli, Sanna Peura and Joanne Eustace) have more than 30 each. UMD, which averages 5.34 goals a game, managed to score seven goals in three consecutive games in late February, and if the Bulldogs can match those figures this weekend they should be unstoppable.

Defensively, sophomore netminder Tuula Puputti will be expected to make some big stops. That’s what she did last Saturday against Minnesota, holding the Gophers scoreless over the final 1:46 of regulation, when Halldorson pulled Killewald and sent six skaters at Puputti in a seemingly endless flurry.

3. Wisconsin (19-8-5, 13-6-5)

Wisconsin has the best shot to unseat Minnesota or UMD, the team it will likely face in the semifinals. The Badgers tied the Bulldogs twice last month at home, and they tied Minnesota once in their own building as well. Unfortunately for Wisconsin, the WCHA tournament is not in Madison, but the Badgers should still be competitive at a neutral site like Rochester.

Wisconsin is led by freshman Meghan Hunter, who leads the conference in both goals (38) and points (71). Along with forward Kendra Antony (17g, 29a) and defenseman Kerry Weiland (12g, 31a), Hunter will have to score if the Badgers hope to reach the conference championship game on Saturday.

Weiland and Sis Paulsen will have to get the dirty work done at the blueline for goaltender Jackie MacMillan (2.57 GAA, .899 save percentage), who must use her big-game experience to keep Wisconsin competitive in the tournament semifinal.

4. St. Cloud State (17-5-2, 12-10-2)

The Huskies are probably the most improved team in the WCHA this season. St. Cloud has pulled off the upset before, with wins over Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth in recent weeks.

St. Cloud’s strong freshman class is improving with each game. Ricki-Lee Doyle (26g, 36a) is one of the league’s most consistent scorers, Roxanne Stang (26g, 13a) has already had several hat tricks in her young career, and Kobi Kawamoto (17g, 22a) is turning into a premier scorer from the blueline. Junior Fiona McLeod (12g, 35a), who switched from forward to defense this season, will have to provide experience and leadership to this rookie corps if the Huskies are to make a run for the conference championship this weekend.

5. Ohio State (16-15-3, 11-10-3)

The Buckeyes could be the X-factor in the tournament. Ohio State might be the team best-suited to stop a high-scoring team like St. Cloud, thanks to a defense that allows just 2.74 goals a game.

“The key to playing well at this time of the year is confidence and playing together as a team,” said Ohio State coach Jackie Barto. “We emphasize playing outstanding team defense and we have improved greatly in this area over the course of our season. We take a lot of pride in playing very well at the defensive end of the ice.”

Indeed, the Buckeyes recently shut out the Huskies in a pair of games at St. Cloud, 4-0 and 2-0. Goaltender April Stojak recorded 34 saves on the weekend, but the key to the Ohio State defense is the quality of play at the blue line, particularly from standout rookie defensemen Kelli Halcisak (13g, 25a) and Emma Laaksonen (17g, 19a), who also happen to lead the Buckeyes in scoring. Sophomore Emily Hudak (3g, 22a) provides experience to the defensive zone.

The key to Ohio State’s success in the postseason, however, will be the production it can get offensively. Forward Shana Frost (20g, 14a) is the team’s most explosive scorer, but she will need help from her supporting cast, particularly senior Corinne Rosen (14g, 17a) and rookie Jeanne Chapple (8g, 15a) to penetrate the St. Cloud net.

6. Bemidji State (9-23-1, 6-17-1)

The Beavers will have a tough time advancing past the first round. Wisconsin, Bemidji’s first-round opponent, beat the Beavers twice last weekend in Madison, 4-2 and 7-1. Sophomore Amber Fryklund (26g, 22a) is the team’s most reliable scorer, but she will have her work cut out for her against the likes of MacMillan, Paulsen and Weiland.

7. Minnesota State-Mankato (0-23-1, 2-30-2)

This is almost an unfair matchup for Minnesota-Duluth, against a team that was winless in conference play. The Bulldogs shut out the Mavericks in all four contests during the regular season. Expect another goose-egg from Mankato on Thursday.

Kennedy Earns WCHA Women’s Player of the Year Award

USCHO Staff Report
-
March 7, 2001

Minnesota senior Courtney Kennedy took home Player of the Year honors, at the second annual WCHA Women’s Championship Banquet today. The Woburn, Mass., native led all defenseman in league scoring with 35 points on 10 goals and 25 assists. Kennedy was the heart of a defense that averaged 2.09 goals against to lead the conference. She was also chosen as the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year.

This season’s winner of the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year Award went to Bemidji State’s Bre Dedrickson. The sophomore goaltender has a 3.6 cumulative grade point average after recording a 4.0 for the fall semester with a 21-credit course load in sport psychology.

Wisconsin’s Meghan Hunter was named 2000-01 WCHA Rookie of the Year after finishing the season as the nation’s leading scorer. Honored twice during the season as player of the week, and once as rookie of the week, the Oil Springs, Ont., native recorded 38 goals, 33 assists and 71 points. The freshman also led the country with 29 power-play points and five hat tricks.

Selected as co-coaches of the year were Laura Halldorson of Minnesota and Kerry Wethington of St. Cloud State. Halldorson led the Gophers to their first WCHA regular-season title with an 18-4-2 conference mark and 23-7-2 overall record. The Plymouth, Minn., native led Minnesota to the 1999-2000 AWCHA national championship.

Wethington led the Huskies to a fourth-place league finish with a 12-10-2 league rcord. Hailing from Roseville, Minn., Wethington directed St. Cloud State to its first above-.500 finish with an overall mark of 17-15-2, and made the Huskies one of three league teams to beat each other team at least once.

Voting for the WCHA awards was done by the conference head coaches and sports information directors. The Defensive Player of the Year Award was chosen solely by the head coaches, while the Student-Athlete of the Year was chosen by institutional representatives.

Player of the Year: Courtney Kennedy, Minnesota
Student-Athlete of the Year: Bre Dedrickson, Bemidji State
Defensive Player of the Year: Courtney Kennedy, Minnesota
Rookie of the Year: Meghan Hunter, Wisconsin
Coach of the Year: Laura Halldorson, Minnesota; Kerry Wethington, St. Cloud State

2000-01 All-WCHA First Team

F Meghan Hunter, Wisconsin (Fr., Oil Springs, Ont.)
F Maria Rooth, Minnesota-Duluth (So., Angelholm, Sweden)
F Hanne Sikio, Minnesota-Duluth (So., Lempaala, Finland)
D Courtney Kennedy, Minnesota (Sr., Woburn, Mass.)
D Kerry Weiland, Wisconsin (So., Palmer, Alaska)
G Erica Killewald, Minnesota (Sr., Troy, Mich.)

2000-01 All-WCHA Second Team

F La Toya Clarke, Minnesota (Fr., Pickering, Ont.)
F Ricki-Lee Doyle, St. Cloud State (Fr., Calgary, Alberta)
F Ambria Thomas, Minnesota (Sr., Fairbanks, Alaska)
D Kobi Kawamoto, St. Cloud State (Fr., Surrey, B.C.)
D Fiona McLeod, St. Cloud State (Jr., Toronto, Ont.)
G Tuula Puputti, Minnesota-Duluth (So., Kuopio, Finland)

SUNYAC Newsletter: March 7, 2001

By Russell Jaslow
-
March 7, 2001

Plattsburgh Makes It Five In A Row, Will Play Middlebury In NCAA Quarters

It’s becoming almost routine, but don’t tell that to Plattsburgh. The Cardinals won another SUNYAC championship, their fifth in a row and 15th overall last weekend. However, this one took Plattsburgh the longest to win as Potsdam stretched the series out to three games before the Cardinals finally put the Bears away in a rare Sunday-afternoon contest, two game to one.

Plattsburgh will once again represent the SUNYAC in the NCAA playoffs as it squares off against the Middlebury Panthers. These two teams met last year in the quarterfinals when the Cardinals ended Middlebury’s five-year reign as national champions. Then, the series was played in Plattsburgh. This time, Plattsburgh will have to cross Lake Champlain to pay a visit to Middlebury.

Championship Series Report

PLATTSBURGH DEFEATS POTSDAM, 2-1 — The series started and ended as most expected, with Plattsburgh controlling games one and three, 6-3 and 5-1. In between, Potsdam put a scare into Plattsburgh’s quest by winning game two, 6-2.

The first game saw the potent Plattsburgh power play turn the contest around. The Cardinals only had two power-play opportunities, but they made the most of them, scoring both times, turning a 2-1 deficit into a lead they would not relinquish.

After a scoreless first period, Brendon Hodge put Plattsburgh up. Joe Wlodarczyk and Nick Eagan scored within 25 seconds to put the Bears in front. Then, Plattsburgh scored their two power-play goals by Rob Retter and Hodge to end the second period ahead 3-2. Paul Dowe gave Plattsburgh a two-goal margin, but Wlodarczyk’s second goal would bring it back to one. Ryan Wilson scored an insurance goal, and Hodge’s empty-netter for a hat trick completed the scoring. Niklas Sundberg made 33 saves for the win.

Back to the wall, Potsdam responded with a convincing win. After Ryan Venturelli kept the Cardinals off the board early on, Potsdam’s offense took over, opening a 3-0 lead on goals by Mike Snow, Erick Curtis, and Jeff Milroy. Plattsburgh’s Jeff Hopkins got one back midway through the second. However, Sean Darke quickly responded with a breakaway goal, followed 57 seconds later by another breakaway goal by Brendon Knight.

The third period was a formality as the teams traded goals: Hodge scored, followed by Wlodarczyk. Venturelli made 25 saves in Potsdam’s first win in Stafford Arena since 1985.

Potsdam came out strong in the third game, but Sundberg kept them at bay. Plattsburgh was not to be denied, and they slowly took control of the game, eventually smothering the Bears. Wilson scored a late first-period goal to give Plattsburgh the lead. Shawn Banks scored a power-play goal in the second — then, the killer was tallied by Shaw, shorthanded.

Sean Darke would get one back for the Bears while on the power play, but by then Potsdam had come unraveled, committing a string of penalties. The third period saw Kilcan (power play) and Shaw (shorthanded empty-netter) score ceremonial goals. Sundberg made 30 saves.

Potsdam’s season came to an end, but not before a school record for most wins (20-8-3) and best winning percentage (.694). Plattsburgh takes its 25-5-0 record to Middlebury hoping to extend the season by four more games.

Previous SUNYAC Champions

1978 -- Plattsburgh 1985 -- Plattsburgh 1993 -- Plattsburgh
1979 -- Plattsburgh 1986 -- Geneseo 1994 -- Fredonia
1980 -- Oswego 1987 -- Plattsburgh 1995 -- Fredonia
1981 -- Oswego 1988 -- Plattsburgh 1996 -- Potsdam
1982 -- Oswego 1989 -- Oswego 1997 -- Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh 1990 -- Plattsburgh 1998 -- Plattsburgh
1983 -- Plattsburgh 1991 -- Oswego 1999 -- Plattsburgh
1984 -- Oswego 1992 -- Plattsburgh 2000 -- Plattsburgh

1978-1984: Championship determined by conference record
1985: Tournament play begins, top four teams qualify
1993: Two-game format with mini-game begins
1997: Three-game format for finals only begins
1998: Top six teams qualify, with byes to first two teams

2000-01 All-SUNYAC Team And Awards

FIRST TEAM Pos SECOND TEAM
Aaron Coleman Geneseo F Sean Darke Potsdam
Brendon Hodge Plattsburgh F Derek Kern Oswego
Jason Kilcan Plattsburgh F John Sullivan Oswego
Bryan Murray Plattsburgh D B.J. Bouschor Fredonia
Dave Weagle Potsdam D Kyle Langdon Geneseo
Will Hamele Fredonia G Niklas Sundberg Plattsburgh

Player Of The Year: Will Hamele, Fredonia
Rookie Of The Year: Mike Lukajic, Oswego
Coach Of The Year: Tim Vanini, Cortland

ECAC Announces Women’s Division III Award Winners

USCHO Staff Report
-
March 7, 2001

Middlebury’s Michelle Labbe led the way in the ECAC Women’s Division III awards presentations, earning Player of the Year honors. Labbe, who was also the conference’s tournament Most Valuable Player, finished with 44 points (17-27) in the league and helped lead the Panthers to their sixth straight ECAC championship.

Head coach Bill Mandigo was named the Coach of the Year; he has guided the Panthers to a 112-0-1 record in ECAC play over the last six seasons — the only six seasons of ECAC Women’s Division III play.

The ECAC Women’s Division III Rookie of the Year, Molly Wasserman, came from the runners-up in the tournament, Williams. Wasserman led the league in scoring (30-22-52) and also placed herself on the First Team of ECAC All-Stars.

The First Team featured another Panther, Amber Neil on defense. Sacred Heart’s Sarah Bergin was the other defensive pick, while Colgate’s Heather Murphy was the other forward pick.

Vermont’s Tiffany Hayes picked up the Goaltender of the Year honors with a 0.78 GAA and a .963 save percentage. She also nailed down the goaltender spot on the First Team.

ECAC Women’s Division III Player of the Year

Michelle Labbe, F, Middlebury

ECAC Women’s Division III Rookie of the Year

Molly Wasserman, F, Williams

ECAC Women’s Division III Goaltender of the Year

Tiffany Hayes, Vermont

ECAC Women’s Division III Coach of the Year

Bill Mandigo, Middlebury

ECAC Women’s Division III First Team All-Stars

F Michelle Labbe, Middlebury
F Heather Murphy, Colgate
F Molly Wasserman, Williams
D Amber Neil, Middlebury
D Sarah Bergin, Sacred Heart
G Tiffany Hayes, Vermont

ECAC Women’s Division III Second Team All-Stars

F Shelly Chessie, Bowdoin
F Paula Dady, Hamilton
F Victoria Scott, Williams
D Genna Allegrezza, Manhattanville
D Catherine Elkins, Middlebury
G Emma DeSimmone, Wesleyan

ECAC Women’s Division III All-Rookie Team

F Molly Wasserman, Williams
F Victoria Scott, Williams
F Caitlin Hornyak, Colgate
D Rhiannon Amor, Sacred Heart
D Lindsey Neilson, Vermont
G Karen Jamnik, Southern Maine

1...1,4641,4651,466...1,535 Page 1,465 of 1,535

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