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This Week In The CCHA: Feb. 8, 2001

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It’s So Fine. It’s Sunshine.

Say the word and you’ll be free. Say the word, and be like me.

On Feb. 14, the Christian and Christian-influenced world celebrates Valentine’s Day, a secular holiday that nearly single-handedly supports the greeting card, floral, and chocolate industries, as well as serving as a reminder that men and women really are two different species.

Women are, after all, from Venus. Haven’t you heard?

Those of us not inclined to commercial sentimentality may well wonder at the timing of Valentine’s Day, right in the middle of the month of February, also known as the Home Stretch, the Separator of Boys from Men, and the Month of Endless Post-Season Speculation.

On the surface, February — tainted by lace doilies, pink and red overkill, and a winged, smirking, naked cherub who slings his arrows anywhere he pleases without fear of a single whistle — seems like a slap in the face to all things manly, especially that most macho of sports, college hockey.

After all, men are from Mars. Right?

But let’s not be hasty here, judging a month by its lone holiday of mass consumption (the President’s Day mark-down sales are no competition, and I’m still waiting on the Punxsutawney Phil logowear craze to hit).

Named after a third-century Roman Catholic priest who was martyred by Claudius II on February 14, the traditions surrounding Valentine’s Day can actually be traced to a holiday honoring the Roman goddess Februata Juno, the oracular goddess of love’s passion.

On the Ides of February, or Feb. 15, in a holiday called the “Feast of the Wolf” (or Feast of Lupercalius), Februata Juno would call forth the animals from their winter hibernation.

(Throw a goddess of passion into the mix, and suddenly Valentine’s Day has more in common with hockey than one would originally think, eh?)

In an act symbolic of awakening animals from their hibernation, and to honor Februata Juno, on Feb. 15 young woman would place their names in an urn, from which young boys would draw a name. The couples would then be sexual partners for the day, and sometimes for the rest of their lives.

(OK, so this part resembles certain post-game parties about which you may have heard, but at least now you know why some men are called wolves — not to be confused with Wolverines.)

Pope Julius I and other religious types were said to have substituted the names of saints for the names of girls in the urn (talk about a raw deal), named the holiday after St. Valentine (not to be confused with Bowling Green’s Curtis Valentine — seven goals, seven assists), and moved the holy day up by one to obliterate any reference to Februata Juno, and suddenly Hallmark, FTD, and Hershey’s hit the map.

(Februata Juno, of course, has the last laugh. Valentine may have received the day, but she has 28, sometimes 29.)

So what better celebration of hockey can there be than Valentine’s Day? It has passion, it has wolves, it calls the slumbering from their hibernation — and just in time for the playoffs.

And hasn’t hockey always been synonymous with love?

It’s so fine. It’s sunshine. Say the word…

Hockey.

L Is For The Way You Look At Me

Even in hockey, looks do count.

Western Michigan’s Mike Bishai (14-35–49), Michigan’s Andy Hilbert (20-31–51), and Bronco Dave Gove (20-30–50) are among the best lookers in the game. Well, they know where to look, anyway, as the top three assist men in the CCHA.

O Is For The Only One I See

Michigan State’s underrated John Nail (14-5–19) leads the nation with six game-winning goals.

Michigan’s Mike Cammalleri (20-26–46) leads the league in plus/minus (+22).

Western Michigan’s Jeff Campbell (18-16–34) leads the league in power-play goals (11).

Gove has three shorthanders, more than anyone else in the league, while teammate Steve Rymsha (19-23–42) has three hat tricks this season.

V Is Very, Very Extraordinary

Leading the nation in goals against (1.29) and save percentage (.951) is Spartan Ryan Miller, who deserves a category all to himself. Don’t forget about the shutouts.

E Is Even More…

…than anyone else on the planet. More time spent in the box, that is.

Oh yes. Western Michigan’s Brian Pasko really loves the game, and his opponents, to the tune of 169 penalty minutes this season.

Now that’s amore.

Games of the Week

It bears repeating: at this time of year, what’s happening toward the bottom of the conference is even more exciting than what’s going on near the top.

Bowling Green (10-14-4, 5-11-4 CCHA) at Notre Dame (6-21-5, 3-14-4 CCHA)
Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m., Joyce Center, South Bend, Ind.

Falcon head coach Buddy Powers says his team will have its hands full in South Bend, and he’s not taking the last-place Irish lightly. “In watching the game films, and I don’t understand why they’re in the position they’re in.”

Dave Poulin, Notre Dame head coach, has an answer to the question inherent in Powers’ statement.

“For whatever reason — I don’t know why — if things don’t go our way early, we have a difficult time getting on track and believing. As a coach, you’re trying to instill belief in a group of individuals who aren’t getting any tangible results, and it’s been very frustrating.”

The frustration was especially evident in Notre Dame’s 5-3 loss to Ohio State on Saturday, the second drop in the two-game series in Columbus. The Irish outshot, outworked, and nearly outwitted the Buckeyes in the first 15 minutes of the contest, but Ohio State left the first stanza of the second game with a 3-1 lead.

“We haven’t scored goals all season,” says Poulin. “What happens then is the offense really presses. When you press, you make mistakes. You’re pressing so hard to score a goal because they’re so hard to come by that you make mistakes. But I’d rather make a mistake of commission than make a mistake of omission.”

In conference play, the Irish are scoring just 2.19 goals per game, second-to-last in the league, while allowing 3.48 goals — also second-to-last in the league. The combination has added up to just three conference wins for Notre Dame, and a team plus/minus of minus-94 in league contests. The only active Irish player on the plus side of anything is Dan Carlson (13-19–32 overall), who had three goals against Ohio State (including a shorthander) and who owns one of Notre Dame’s five game-winning tallies of the season.

“I’ve said a lot of different things [to the players] this year. I’ve used the vast majority of my extensive English language,” joked Poulin, “a lot of SAT words, even Canadian ones.”

Buddy Powers can sympathize. “It eats at you worse than anything that I’ve ever felt. He must have borrowed my quote book from a couple years ago.”

After literally years of injuries and even tragedies, the Falcons are rebuilding steadily and knocking wood. “Like everyone, we’ve got a few people banged up,” says Powers, “but nothing major.”

In their last ten games, the Falcons are 6-4-0, with losses to two top-tier teams, Nebraska-Omaha and Michigan State. “Since Christmas we’ve played pretty well. We had one clunker game at Miami, but other than that we bring it every night. Tyler Masters is the difference. If he has a bad weekend, we really struggle. If he’s off, we don’t have what it takes to make up for it at this point.”

Last weekend, Masters was on the money, making 66 saves in a two-game sweep of Lake Superior State, earning him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

But like the Irish, the problem for the Falcons isn’t in net. Says Powers, “If we could just consistently score three goals, we’d be 15-7-6 for the year. But we don’t.”

In conference play, the Falcons are scoring 2.80 goals per game, while allowing 3.15. “We’re close,” says Powers. “Goal scoring…energizes teams. We talk about all the time. When you consistently miss good chances, it wears the guys down. They kind of hang their heads.”

Not hanging his head is Greg Day (13-11–24 CCHA) one of Bowling Green’s most reliable offensive threats. Powers is happy with the progress of another player, Ryan Murphy. “Since the two games before Christmas, he has just been on a roll. He’s playing with so much confidence that the difference between him now and the start of the season is like night and day.”

Murphy has scored a point in 13 of his last 14 games, and is 15-5–20 in that span. Murphy followed his season-best three-point effort Friday night with a hat trick on Saturday, and is currently tied with four other players for fourth in CCHA goal scoring.

This weekend’s series between the Falcons and Irish is even more important because it’s one of those “eight-point weekends,” says Powers. ” If we win, we put some distance between us and them. If we lose four points, we’re tied.”

Powers is optimistic about at least the possibilities for the Falcon season. In a perfect world, Bowling Green could still capture home ice. “There isn’t that much difference between the top and bottom of the league, and there’s certainly room to move.”

And Bowling Green should be moving on up.

Pick: BGSU 4-1, 4-1

Grudge of the Week

What better time for a meeting between these two intrastate rivals? After all, they both wear red.

Miami (15-11-2, 12-7-1 CCHA) vs. Ohio State (14-10-2, 11-7-2 CCHA)
Friday, 7:35 p.m., Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Goggin Arena, Oxford, Ohio

The many Buckeye rookies probably know that Miami has dominated Ohio State in Goggin Arena since 1991, but they don’t know it, if you know what I mean.

Even Ohio State head coach John Markell downplays this rivalry, as he wasn’t really around for most of the 18 consecutive losses the Buckeyes suffered in Oxford, from Jan. 18, 1991-Mar. 4, 2000. As for the losses Markell himself experienced in Goggin, he says, “We’ve played well there, even when they’ve beaten us in overtime.”

“I think the positions we’re in right now creates the rivalry,” says Markell. “In the past few years, Miami’s had very good hockey clubs.”

Tied for third with Nebraska-Omaha, Ohio State is just one point behind Miami, setting up what may prove to be two excellent contests.

The RedHawks ride a four-game win streak into the weekend, in large part because of the line of Gregor Krajnc (14-14–28), Jason Deskins (16-19–35) and Ernie Hartleib (9-12–21). Krajnc is this week’s CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, earning six points last weekend in a two-game sweep of Lake Superior State.

Six of Pat Leahy’s goals (7-18–25) have come on the power play. The RedHawks net is minded by David Burleigh (2.86 GAA, .891 SV%).

The Buckeyes are led in scoring by senior Jean-Francois Dufour (12-18–30), followed by a trio of talented freshmen: Dave Steckel (13-15–28), R.J. Umberger (12-16–28), and the little-mentioned Paul Caponigri (10-15–25). Umberger and Caponigri each posted five-point weekends in two wins over Notre Dame, and Umberger was named the CCHA Rookie of the Week.

Mike Betz (2.73 GAA, .905 SV%) is the goalie of record for Ohio State.

“I think we match well against Miami,” says Markell. “They have patience, and we’ll have to have the same. I think we have some guys who can finish, and so do they. And we have to pay attention to detail and stay out of the penalty box.”

In conference play, Miami is second only to Michigan in goal production (3.55 per game), while Ohio State is fourth in the league (3.30). The RedHawks allow 2.65 goals per game to the Buckeyes’ 2.75.

Miami’s power play converts at 21.5% to Ohio State’s 19.3%. Ohio State’s penalty kill (.836) just edges Miami’s (.826). The Buckeyes are a little touchy about their penalty minutes (22.35 per game), which are in reality inflated because of misconducts. The RedHawks average 18.5 minutes in lockdown per game.

While each of these teams is capable of producing tremendous offense, unless one or the other lets down from the get-go, these games will be close, patient, and perhaps low-scoring. I can see Miami sweeping, but Ohio State has the advantage of being home Friday night — and the Buckeyes like to win on Fridays.

Pick: OSU 4-3, Miami 5-3

Ganga Watch

Barney and Teresa’s son, our hero Nick Ganga, is perilously close to 50 penalty minutes. Having taken a two-minute minor last weekend against Notre Dame, Ganga now has 44 minutes eight conference contests to go.

At the start of the season, Ganga — who had 112 penalty minutes last year — pledged on the record that he would have 50 or fewer this season. A ten-minute misconduct in January really hurt his cause, but he still has six minutes to go.

Nick, you know we believe.

I’ve Got Your Homerism, Right Here

Three excellent players were honored by the league this week, and not one of them graces the roster of a team residing in the state of Michigan.

The spotlight, instead, falls on Ohio, as Miami’s Gregor Krajnc, Bowling Green’s Tyler Masters, and Ohio State’s R.J. Umberger nabbed Player of the Week mentions.

And here’s another interesting factoid: Only two of the conference’s current top five teams are in Michigan. Michigan State and Michigan may dominate the league standings this season — as they do every year — but these days they’re keeping company with two Ohioans and a Nebraskan.

Do you feel the love?

SUNYAC Newsletter: Feb. 7, 2001

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Playoff Teams All But Decided; Positions Up For Grabs

This past week answered one question — who is going to be in the playoffs. Barring a miracle, Buffalo State is out, and the current top six will be in.

However, there is still the question of where those teams will wind up in the standings, who will get the byes, and where the games will be played. Even though Plattsburgh gained a point on second place, they don’t have first locked up, and could fall to third. Potsdam and Oswego are separated by one point for second. Since the top three teams all play each other in the last three games, everybody has their fate in their own hands.

Meanwhile, the next three playoff teams — Cortland, Fredonia, and Geneseo — are all tied for the last home spot. The schedule makers couldn’t have planned this any better.

Team-By-Team Report

PLATTSBURGH (Ranked No. 4) — The Cardinals not only maintained their pace, but gained a point, winning both games. The first victory they had to work for as Plattsburgh State defeated

Geneseo State, 4-3. Down 1-0 going into the second, Brent Armstrong and Bryan Murray put the Cards up 2-1. After Geneseo tied the game, third period goals by Eric Weidenbach on the power play and Ryan Wilson gave Plattsburgh a two goal lead. Twenty-seven seconds after the fourth goal, Geneseo cut the lead to one. However, Plattsburgh was able to hang on for the win. Niklas Sundberg made 18 saves. The second win was easy as Plattsburgh cruised to a 12-3 stomping of Brockport State. It was 7-0 before they allowed the opposition to score.

Amazingly, only Brendon Hodge had a multiple goal night with a pair. Ten other players scored goals. Frank Barker got the start and made 23 saves for the win. Plattsburgh finishes up the season by first traveling to Cortland and Oswego, where another sweep will clinch first place. If they don’t get it, they host Potsdam in what could be a game for first.

POTSDAM — The Bears stumbled just enough to prevent them having an opportunity at first place without some help. Even if they sweep the rest of their games, including beating Plattsburgh, Potsdam State cannot take first place unless somebody steals at least a point from Plattsburgh. Everything looked fine against Brockport State as Potsdam won, 6-3. The Bears took 3-0 and 6-1 leads. Mike Snow scored a pair (as well as being stopped on a penalty shot) as did Dave Weagle. Sean Darke (just 36 seconds into the game) and Anthony Greer (shorthanded) got the other goals. Todd Manley won with 19 saves. However, Potsdam lost a point the next night as they tied Geneseo State, 3-3. After falling behind 1-0, Darke scored twice within 31 seconds. Geneseo tied it before the first period ended.

Potsdam retook the lead in the second when Darke completed the hat trick. Geneseo tied it early in the third. Despite seven total shots in overtime, Potsdam getting four of them, neither team could win it. Later in the week, Potsdam played at Hobart and won, 5-2. Goal scorers were Joe Wlodarczyk with a pair, Kevin Shaver, Erick Curtis, and Darke. Venturelli got the win with 23 saves. The Geneseo tie may have hurt Potsdam’s chances for first, but it makes no difference for second, for the winner of the game at Oswego Friday will most likely claim second place in any case. Afterwards, Potsdam plays at Cortland and Plattsburgh.

OSWEGO (Ranked No. 10) — The Lakers did what they had to this past weekend. Barely. Oswego State needed overtime to beat Fredonia State, 3-2. Steve Cavallaro put Oswego up early on the power play, but Fredonia took a 2-1 lead into the second. Matt Vashaw tied it late in the second. Despite getting 16 shots in the third, Oswego was forced to go to overtime. There, Brian St. John was the hero that won the game. Tyson Gajda made 20 saves.

The next night, Oswego played a tough Buffalo State squad, but came out with a 4-2 win. This time it was Oswego who let in the first goal and then got the next two thanks to John Hirliman and Chris DiCarlo. Buffalo State tied it before Vashaw got the game winner late in the second. The only scoring in the third came on an empty netter by Derek Kern. Gajda made 24 saves.

Oswego returns home in what will be their two biggest games of the season — Potsdam and Plattsburgh. They will determine whether Oswego gets a bye or has to play in the first round. Oswego finishes up the season at Cortland.

FREDONIA — The Blue Devils had one last gasp attempt to get third place, but they didn’t get it done, losing to Oswego State, 3-2, in overtime. After falling behind 1-0, Jason Furness and Dave Mugavero scored to give Fredonia State a 2-1 first period lead. However, that would be all the scoring the Blue Devils would muster. Oswego tied it in the second and then won it in overtime. Fredonia got only 11 shots on goal after the first period. Will Hamele made 37 saves.

After that game, Fredonia was fighting for home ice in the first round, but they stumbled there too, tying Cortland State, 2-2. Dave Barnett gave Fredonia a 1-0 first period lead. Cortland scored twice in the second for a 2-1 lead heading to the third. Furness tied it up with 35 seconds left to go in the game. And that’s how it ended.

Fredonia now finds itself in a three way tie for fourth place with Cortland and Geneseo. That makes the last three games all must win no matter who they play, which happens to be Geneseo, Brockport, and Buffalo State, all on the road.

GENESEO — Last week, Geneseo State did Potsdam State a favor by defeating Oswego. This week, Geneseo returned the favor with a tie against Potsdam. However, Geneseo wasn’t out to do anyone a favor. They were looking out for themselves, and this puts Geneseo in a three way tie for fourth place and the last spot for home ice in the first round. First, Geneseo suffered a loss to Plattsburgh State, 4-3, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Geneseo took a 1-0 lead and then tied the game at two apiece on goals by Jack Staley. After falling behind 4-2, Matt Lester scored. Geneseo was unable to muster the tying goal. Kevin Koury made 25 saves. The tie against Potsdam came when Aaron Coleman scored four minutes into the third. Koury made 12 saves in the final and extra period, 32 total. David Bagley and Lester scored in the first period sandwiched around a pair of Potsdam goals.

The Ice Knights’ next game will be key to where they finish as they host Fredonia. That is followed by home games against Buffalo State and Brockport.

CORTLAND — The Red Dragons got the job done, and not just for a playoff spot, but possibly for home ice. But it wasn’t easy. Cortland State needed overtime to dispose of Buffalo State, 5-4, and virtually clinch a playoff spot. Cortland fell behind 2-0 and 3-1 in the first period with the lone goal scored by Shawn Ruddy. Cortland then scored the next three goals thanks to Scott Louis, Jeff Olsen, and Chris Cullen. However, Buffalo State tied the game up, and that required Trevor Bauer to win it in overtime. The goal came with 22 seconds left in the extra period. John Larnerd made 33 saves. After that key game came another key game against Fredonia State. Though a win would have been a lot better, a 2-2 tie placed them in a share of fourth place with Fredonia and Geneseo. Ruddy and Olsen scored in the second period, but first and third period goals by Fredonia ensured the tie.

Unfortunately for them, Cortland losses every tie-breaking scenario, and they have the toughest schedule of the other teams fighting for fourth as they play the top three teams in the league — Plattsburgh, Potsdam, and Oswego. At least all the games will be on their own ice.

BUFFALO STATE — It was a heartbreak weekend for the Bengals as they came into the second half of the conference schedule with such high hopes and excellent non-conference play, only to most likely miss out on their first playoff appearance. The dagger in the heart came with a 5-4 overtime loss to Cortland State. Buffalo State came out flying scoring twice in the first 1:42 by Sean Mask and Jason Comardo. After Cortland scored, Todd Nowicki gave the Bengals another two goal lead heading into the second. However, Buffalo State let in the next three goals, and needed Jeff Lacapruccia to tie the game. Overtime was 22 seconds too long as that was how much time was left when Cortland won it. The Bengals didn’t fold the tents, and came out strong the next night against Oswego, but fell short, 4-2. Nowicki gave the Bengals the early lead and then Joe Urbanik tied it in the second.

After falling behind again, Buffalo State pulled their goalie late despite being shorthanded, and ended up letting in an empty netter. The Bengals need a miracle to get into the playoffs, but that won’t help if they don’t sweep their last three games against Brockport, Geneseo, and Fredonia.

BROCKPORT — The Golden Eagles remained winless in league play, dropping both of their North Country contests. First, Potsdam State defeated Brockport State, 6-3. Brockport found themselves down early, 3-0, before Scott Winkler scored a second period goal. Steve Tippett did his best to keep his team in the game including stopping a penalty shot and a breakaway shortly afterwards. However, Potsdam scored another three straight goals before Brockport got on the scoreboard again with goals by Ryan Shannon and Darren Kennedy. Brockport got beat bad at Plattsburgh, 12-3. Brockport’s three goals all came in the second with two by Kenny Daleo and one by Brandon Marineau.

Brockport looks to salvage something out of the season as they host Buffalo State, Fredonia, and then travel to Geneseo.

Upcoming Game Of The Week

I’m a wimp. I admit it.

Think you’re not? Then you go select the Game of the Week. Go ahead. Would you pick Potsdam at Oswego? Despite Oswego’s domination in their first meeting this season, these two teams are more likely to play a contest that leaves the fans with cardiac conditions. Not to mention that second place is on the line.

Or, depending on the outcome of that game, the Plattsburgh at Oswego contest could have a significant impact on where the top three teams end up in the standings. Or why not Fredonia at Geneseo? They are deadlocked for the last home ice playoff spot, and are bound to play for keeps. Or maybe you’ll save your pick for the last game of the season, and depending on how the dominoes fall, select Potsdam at Plattsburgh, which could be for the league title.

Go ahead. Pick one. I dare you.

MIAC Newsletter: Feb. 7, 2001

By Jim Cella
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Five Survivors on the Island

For the first time all year the MIAC has a new conference leader. St. Thomas, by virtue of its sweep over St. Olaf, leapfrogged Concordia and sits alone on top. After the dust settled last weekend there were five survivors left on the island, with only four allowed to stay for the playoffs. Three teams have legitimate shots at the crown, and with two weekends left in the season, the playoff possibilities are endless.

The Tommies are on a serious roll, having won their last seven games. They have one series left, a weekend showdown with third-place Bethel. Concordia has split its last four series, and for the first time all year has to place its title hopes in the hands of another team. Bethel tuned up for this weekend’s main event by pasting Lawrence. All three of these teams could win the MIAC, or not make the playoffs. Augsburg and St. John’s have positioned themselves to make one last assault at the final four. Although they are not mathematically eliminated from winning the title, their chances are about the same as being able to wear shorts and catch a suntan by one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes next weekend.

Another year, another photo finish in the MIAC.

The Tribal Leaders

St. Thomas (9-3-2, 12-8-3)

St. Thomas has won seven straight, and can win its fourth straight title by sweeping Bethel this weekend. Last weekend they pulled off a two-game sweep over St. Olaf by identical scores of 5-2. The Oles shut down the league’s hottest player in Tony Lawrence, limiting him to two assists in the series, but forgot about the rest of the team as eight different players scored for the Tommies. On Friday night St. Olaf took a 2-1 lead after one period, but St. Thomas’ goalie Brad Moore shut the door the rest of the way and the offense scored four straight over the last two periods to clinch the win. Five different players scored goals for a suddenly balanced attack. On Saturday the power play unit took control and scored three goals on nine attempts. Mike McMahon and Jake Searles scored for the Tommies to make them the only multiple goal scorers for the weekend. St. Thomas out shot St. Olaf 60-18 for the game and 107-40 on the weekend. Moore continues to be the steadying influence in the net, he is now second in the league in goals against. Lawrence, although shut down in this series, is fourth in the nation in goals scored with 22.

Bethel (8-3-1, 10-10-1)

Bethel is sailing through uncharted waters. They are two series away from winning their first MIAC title and participating in their first-ever MIAC playoffs. So close, yet they could still lose all four and finish fifth. The two series in question are white-knucklers against first place St. Thomas and fourth place Augsburg. If they win all four, they win the title outright and will host a first round playoff series. Any other win-loss combination will take a Constitution-like explanation to detail all the playoff possibilities. The Royals played a non-conference tune up with Lawrence and won going away 8-1. Mike Marshall chalked up two goals and an assist as he continues to pace the Bethel offense. He now has 20 goals and 12 assists on the year, and is second in the MIAC in points and goals behind St. Thomas gunslinger Tony Lawrence. Saturday’s game was over after the first period as the Royals scored three first period goals and eight straight to win their tenth game of the year. Bethel used two goalies in the game, Jeff Hall and Bjorn Hawes, they held Lawrence to one goal on 24 shots. The mainstay in the net for Bethel on their rise to the top has been Steve Witkowski who possesses a 6-0-1 record in the MIAC, and will more than likely get the start in the series with St. Thomas.

The Survivors

Concordia (9-4-1, 11-8-2)

Q: What do the players on the Concordia hockey team and members of the Pro Bowlers Tour have in common?

A: They both hate splits.

Concordia has watched a comfortable three-game lead evaporate over the course of January, and are now in second place for the first time all year. This whole turn of events is courtesy of four straight series splits. The split last weekend with Gustavus was the hardest one to swallow. After splitting three series with three top-four teams in the MIAC, the Cobbers figured to be set for a shot at their first title since the 1986-87 season. They had two series left, both at home, with the bottom two teams in the conference. Then Gustavus rolled into town and left Concordia to ponder all the missed opportunities. The stake-through-the heart was jammed in on Friday night. The Cobbers came out and looked as if they were going to make the home-ice advantage hold up. They scored first when Tony Castaneda finished off a tic-tac-toe odd-man rush play and the Gusties were on their heels. Then the roof fell in. Gustavus rallied to score two minutes later and take momentum into the break. Then they came out and scored two seeing-eye goals in the middle period and left Concordia shocked. Concordia could not put the puck in the net in the critical third period and lost 4-2. The third period continues to haunt Concordia. In the crucial four losses in the last four series, Concordia has been behind after two periods three times and lost every single game. In the other loss, the Cobbers were tied after two and lost the game in the third. In Saturday’s game Concordia bolted to a 4-0 lead before Gustavus scored two straight to make the finish a whole lot closer. Concordia has the weekend off and will play two midweek games at home against local rival UM-Crookston.

Augsburg (7-4-1, 10-8-2)

Augsburg might be one of the scariest teams in the MIAC right now. They hold the one trump card in their hand that every playoff team needs; a hot goalie. Ryan McIntosh is returning to his first year form when he won All-American honors and led Augsburg to a conference title. Against St. Mary’s this past weekend he stopped 93 of the 96 shots he faced. That included a stretch on Saturday when he had turned back 51 straight shots. For his efforts he was named the USCHO Division III Defensive Player of the Week. He has helped the Auggies win four straight and five of the last six. He is allowing the offense to take more risks and score more goals, one of the aspects that hurt them earlier this year. On Friday night Augsburg used four goals in the second period to put the game out of reach and win 7-2. Mike Jackson was the thriller for the offense, as he recorded his first career hat trick. On Saturday St. Mary’s held the advantage in every statistical category except for the one that counts, goals. The Cardinals had as many shots in the second period as Augsburg did all game. The Auggies played their McIntosh-ace and held St. Mary’s to 1 goal on 55 shots. Augsburg’s offense made the most of their chances and scored 4 goals on 23 shots. Four different players scored for Augsburg. Augsburg has two series remaining; St. Olaf and Bethel. They could finish as high as first or a low as fifth.

St. John’s (7-4-1, 10-10-1)

Like the rest of the teams fighting for the title belt, St. John’s is on a hot streak. They have won five of their last six games and, besides Concordia, have the easiest schedule remaining. They finish with series against St. Mary’s and St. Olaf, and this weekend’s affair with the Cardinals is a rare two-game home stand. One of the key factors in the last six games for the Johnnies has been the goaltending of Rick Gregory. After splitting the first three series in the MIAC with teammate Adam Laaksonen, Gregory has been given the starting job and has flourished. He is currently tied for second in the conference in goals against and has come up with several timely saves. Last weekend the Johnnies swept Hamline 6-3 and 3-1. Mike Possin and Kevin Willey were the offensive stars for the weekend. The dynamic duo accounted for six of the nine goals, and added four assists. On Friday night the two teams combined for 82 shots as the teams played their best NHL All-Star game defense. The Johnnies never trailed in the game, and the six goals was the second most they have scored all season. On Saturday the teams slowed down to take only 73 shots but this time St. John’s had to overcome a 1-0 deficit. The Possin/Willey show scored the all three goals for the Johnnies.

No Longer On The Island

Gustavus (3-7-2, 6-12-3)

Gustavus played one of their best series of the year. They gained a split over Concordia, and dropped the Cobbers out of first place. The Gusties showed a renewed spirit to push players into attack, and came away with the most goals they’ve scored in a MIAC series all year. On Friday night they added some luck to their new-look offensive push and came away with a 4-2 victory. Gustavus used a two-goal second period to put the pressure on the Cobbers. After going into the first break tied at one, the Gusties scored two even strength goals on shots from the high slot that were redirected by the pile of players in front of the Concordia net. Defenseman Ben Puder continued his offensive hot streak by scoring his third goal in two games. Aaron Allar followed suit seven minutes later by scoring his eighth goal of the year. The game turned interesting in the third period when Concordia cut the lead to one before Tom Awaijane scored a pure hustle goal when the Gusties were shorthanded. He was able to cut off the passing lane that Concordia goalie Bryan Howard was trying to push the puck into, and corralled the puck behind the net before scoring on a wraparound. First year goaltender Dan Melde made key saves down the stretch to preserve the upset win. Saturday started on the same high note when Jared Klava scored 30 seconds into the game. Unfortunately Concordia scored four straight and Gustavus had to settle for coming within one in a 4-3 loss. The loss ruined the Gusties slim playoff hopes and, by the narrowest of margins, were sent packing from the island. Gustavus has two series remaining, they play Hamline this weekend and finish with St. Mary’s.

St. Olaf (3-8-1, 7-13-1)

St. Olaf holds the dubious distinction of wearing the spoiler hat the rest of the way. They will influence the MIAC playoff picture more than any other team that is no longer on the island.
They play the two teams tied for fourth, Augsburg and St. John’s. The MIAC schedule makers loaded the back end of the Oles schedule with top-flight teams. In addition to the final two tough series, St. Olaf had to face red-hot St. Thomas last weekend. They came away with identical 5-2 losses. The series played to the script of the past several games for St. Olaf. Tough play, unable to score at the right time and conceding multiple power-play goals. On Friday night the Oles took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission on goals by Nick Hanson and Nate Olsen, but then came out in the second period and let the Tommies score two goals in a span of 1:03 to take the lead and regain their confidence. St. Olaf was able to shut down the league’s top player in Tony Lawrence
but couldn’t fight back in the critical middle period. On Saturday the Oles gave St. Thomas nine power play chances and paid dearly. After St. Olaf tied the score on a power-play goal of their own from Jason Haider, St. Thomas reeled off three straight power-play goals in the next ten minutes and pushed the Oles right off the island.

St. Mary’s (2-7-3, 7-11-3)

St. Mary’s is in the process of finding out the difference between winning in November and turning the same trick in February. After finding ways to score goals in the first month and bolting from the gate with five league points in the first four games, the Cardinals have only two points since. They are creating scoring opportunities and getting plenty of shots on net, but they can’t get the goal that puts them over the top. Case in point; last weekends series against Augsburg. They out shot the Auggies in both games and five of the six periods. They allowed only one power-play goal on nine attempts over the weekend. But unfortunately moral victories only help in June, and they lost both games. The main villain for St. Mary’s over the series was Augsburg goalie Ryan McIntosh. St. Mary’s pumped 96 shots on the senior but could only come away with three goals. In Friday’s game the teams skated to a 1-1 tie after one with Jason Phillip scoring the lone goal for St. Mary’s. The second period started and Augsburg scored three goals in the first eight minutes to open the game up and McIntosh shut the door the rest of the way. Phillip added his second power-play goal and the losing skid hit eight. On Saturday St. Mary’s had 51 shots on McIntosh before Phillip scored his third goal of the weekend. Unfortunately it was too late as Augsburg was up 4-0 at the time. St. Mary’s totaled a MIAC season-high 56 shots for the game, the losing streak was at nine and Ryan McIntosh had personally escorted St. Mary’s off the island. St. Mary’s will play out the season with series against St. John’s and Gustavus.

Hamline (2-9-0, 9-11-0)

Hamline provides the proof that the MIAC is a league that is on the rise and that there are no more easy four-point weekends. They have nine wins on the season, one of the highest totals in school history, and have a chance to record their first winning season since the 1983-84 season.
In their last four league games they have not lost by more than three goals and have had a lead in two of the games. The two Achilles heals this season have been allowing goals to come in bunches and the lack of a consistent goaltender. Last weekend was a testament to the former, as St. John’s had multiple goal runs in both games to sweep the series 6-3 and 3-1. On Friday Hamline allowed the Johnnies to score back-to-back goals three times in the game. Aaron Welle scored twice in the 6-3 loss, and Hamline had 39 shots on St. John’s goalie Rick Gregory. In the series finale Hamline scored first when Troy Urdahl finished off a feed from Tim Steffen. The teams battled through the next two periods and although St. John’s won 3-1, with an empty net goal, the game hung in the balance all the way to the end. Hamline ends the season with two-game tilts against Gustavus and Concordia. The Pipers have a chance to go out with a winning record and carry momentum into next year’s survivor series.

Series of the Week: St. Thomas vs. Bethel

A no-brainer. Age and experience versus youth and exuberance. The richest, best-looking kid on the block that has the best equipment against the blue collar, rugged kid that has had to scrape for everything he’s got. The Detroit Red Wings against the Minnesota Wild. You get the picture. St. Thomas has eight seniors on their roster while Bethel only has two. This is the last series for the Tommies, and a sweep means they win their 11th MIAC championship in 13 seasons. A split and they have to play the waiting game. If they win and tie, they are assured of at least a tie for the title. If Bethel sweeps this series and their final series against Augsburg, they win their first MIAC title. If they split and lose two to Augsburg, they could miss the playoffs altogether.

ECAC West Newsletter: Feb. 7, 2001

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RIT Clinches Regular-Season Title

With a convincing win over Hobart, and a narrow victory over Manhattanville, RIT clinched the regular-season ECAC West title this week. Hobart fell in non-league games and Manhattanville split, while Elmira was idle.

League Games Overview

RIT 10 at Hobart 0 (2/2): Hobart came out playing a scrappy forecheck in the game, and kept even with the Tigers for most of the first period. But the steamroller that seems to be the RIT offense this year finally pushed through the Statesmen, and tallied three goals late in the first period to take the lead. RIT added another goal early in the second period. The twist this time in the RIT scoring was that the first four goals were all scored by defensemen. The Tiger offense finally decided to join the fray midway through the second period, as they notched two power-play goals to give RIT the 6-0 lead after two periods. Bang, Bang, Bang, three goals in a 1:48 span early in the third period, put the game into the runaway category as an injury riddled Hobart just didn’t seem to have the horses to keep up with RIT. Jerry Galway had a six point night, with one goal and five assists, to push him over the 100 career points plateau. Derek Hahn also chipped in five point on two goals and three assists. Tyler Euverman was challenged to make several saves by Hobart, but stopped all 21 shots that he faced.

RIT 3 at Manhattanville 2 (2/3): After the Hobart game, RIT jumped on the bus and headed downstate to take on Manhattanville. Mike Tarantino scored just 2:09 into the game for RIT, and Peter Bournazakis chipped in another at the 16:01 mark, to give RIT a 2-0 lead after one period of play. The Valiants came out in the second period quite physical, and this seemed to stymie the Tigers, keeping the period scoreless. “From the second half of the game on, we got things going,” said Valiant coach Keith Levinthal. “I thought we played them pretty tough.” Manhattanville used the momentum gained, and a tiring RIT team, to get back in the game in the third period. “The game settled down a little bit in the third, and our boys stuck to the game plan,” said Levinthal. Bill Cummings scored at 7:09 and Scott Jensen tallied another at 8:05 of the third period to knot the game 2-2. “Our emotion got the second one for us,” said Levinthal. “But it probably gave up the game winner to RIT also.” Just when it looked like Valiants were going to finish off the scare they were putting on RIT, Tiger Josh Faulkner tallied at the 8:25 mark to give RIT back the lead. Manhattanville outshot RIT 16-8 in the final period, but couldn’t get the goal needed to retie the game, as RIT held on for the narrow 3-2 win.

Team-By-Team Report

RIT(ranked No. 1): With the league wins against Hobart and Manhattanville this week, RIT has effectively clinched the ECAC West regular season title. “Hold on a minute” you might say, “If Elmira sweeps Hobart and Manhattanville, and defeats RIT on the 17th, then they would be tied with identical 5-1 league records.” All true, but RIT holds enough of an advantage to win the tiebreakers.

The tiebreakers within the ECAC West this season are:
1 – head to head
2 – conference wins
3 – record against common opponents
4 – overall record

Assume that Elmira and RIT split head to head, and Elmira sweeps Hobart and Manhattanville, then the two teams are still tied after the first two tiebreakers.

The third tiebreaker is where RIT holds the deciding edge. Elmira and RIT have faced the following common opponents: Oswego, Brockport, Plattsburgh, Geneseo, Cortland, Fredonia, and Hamilton. RIT is 10-0-1 against those opponents, with a game against Hamilton still on tap. Elmira is 7-2 against those opponents, with the two losses coming against Oswego and Plattsburgh. So, if RIT loses to Hamilton on the 10th, it may provide for some discussion at ECAC headquarters, but the 10-1-1 record should be enough to win the regular season title for RIT. And certainly if it rolls to the fourth tiebreaker, RIT holds a considerable advantage in overall record.

Next up for RIT this week is a home game against Hamilton.

ELMIRA(ranked No. 5): Elmira was idle this week, resting up after a hectic couple of weeks of hockey. The Soaring Eagles get back into the swing of things this week with a road game at Manhattanville on Friday. The Soaring Eagles all-time win countdown still hovers at the 499 mark.

MANHANTTANVILLE: Just when it looked like the Valiants had righted the ship, they dropped a midweek game against a struggling Skidmore team. Skidmore plays on an Olympic size sheet of ice, and it gave the Valiants fits. “We struggled on the big ice,” said Levinthal. “We were emotionally and physically tired. We got behind and it was too little too late from us.” Manhattanville got outshot 31-23 in the contest. Valiant Dave Schmalenberg answered an early Skidmore goal to tie the game 1-1 midway through the first period. But Skidmore retook the lead less than two minutes later. The opening of the third period found the Valiants in an even deeper hole, down 3-1. Leading scorer Tommy Prate put in a goal 5:38 into the period to pull Manhattanville to with a goal. The Valiants poured on the pressure, including pulling netminder Jon Peczka, but Skidmore tallied a late empty-netter to finish off the Valiants 4-2.

The trip was only 190 miles, and should have taken less than four hours. Instead, an old fashioned Nor’Easter on Monday turned the Valiants’ trip to Curry into an eight hour adventure in snow. But Manhattanville got to Curry just minutes before the warmups were scheduled to begin, and the perseverance paid off as they defeated Curry 8-0.

Manhattanville hosts Elmira on Friday to continue league play. “Elmira is a big challenge for us to be consistent enough to play Elmira as tough as we played RIT,” said Levinthal.

HOBART: It looks like Hobart’s rash of season-ending injuries has finally caught up with it. Over the last few weeks, Hobart has lost its three top scorers (at the time of their injury) who were each contributing more than a point per game; Greg Reynholds, Jerry Toomey, and Matt Pane. As if that wasn’t enough, starting goaltender Chris Connolly also went down two weeks ago against Fredonia with a season ending knee injury. That would be enough to cripple any team, and it looks like it has done just that to Hobart. The remaining players are still playing tough hockey with a ton of drive, but heart can only take a team so far. The remaining games will be a struggle for Hobart to stay competitive with a shortened bench.

Hobart opened the week at Hamilton and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Tim McCarthy midway through the first period. Hamilton tied it up soon after, but Hobart owned a distinct territorial advantage for most of the period. The Statesmen retook the lead just :26 seconds into the period on another tally by Tim McCarthy. The floodgates opened for Hamilton soon after, and they ripped off five unanswered goals to take a commanding 6-2 lead. Zach Mundy notched a late second period goal to start to chip away at the deficit. Sean Elliott scored another Statesmen goal in the third, but it was sandwiched by two Hamilton goals, and Hobart lost the contest 8-4.

Hobart hosts a surging Potsdam team midweek for its only contest.

Game of the Week

Elmira against the Valiants of Manhattanville is this week’s pick. Manhattanville played RIT tough, and will be looking to show some consistency when the Soaring Eagles come to town. Elmira, on the other hand, is looking to keep pace with the Tigers to challenge for at least a tie for first place at the end.

Flashback to ’78

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The weather forecasts Monday called for over a foot of snow; a healthy layer was already underfoot an hour before the first semifinal game. Cars heading north on Route 93 stood at a standstill; traffic on Storrow Drive backed up all the way to Boston University.

Would this be a reprise of the legendary 1978 Beanpot? That year, the semifinal games coincided with the arrival of the Blizzard of ’78, a storm that prompted a state of emergency and shut down Massachusetts for four days.

As it turned out, there would be no mid-game announcement this time that the mass transit system — known as the MBTA — was curtailing service for the evening and that fans had 15 minutes to board the last train. Nor would there be hundreds of abandoned cars clogging every lane of Route 128.

Even so, the arrival of a significant storm on the first Monday in February prompted flashbacks to 1978. After 23 years, most of the memories remain vivid.

Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan — a prospective fan that evening — ran up the white flag before even getting to the Boston Garden.

“I turned around at the Burger King on Route 3A in Weymouth and said, ‘This is nonsense!'” he recalls.

"The bus stopped at Marsh Chapel, a chapel on campus. Jack Parker said, ‘We’ll leave it up to you guys if anybody wants to get off here and pray for the snow to end.’ … Well, everybody got off and walked across the street to the Dugout. So much for Marsh Chapel."

— BU SID Ed Carpenter on his first Beanpot experience

Jack Grinold, Associate Athletics Director at Northeastern, remembers with all too much clarity that year’s Beanpot, even though he was comfortably at home by the BU-BC nightcap.

“Ten days before that date, Northeastern went to Watson Rink and pummeled Harvard, 12-5,” he says. “After the score got to about eight, I said to myself, ‘Please, please. No more, no more. We’re really going to make these guys angry.’

“Sure enough, we did. We came in for one of the few times in the history of the Beanpot the favorite in our semifinal game and lost, 4-3 [in overtime]. I was so angry at having my hopes for a final shattered that I frankly went right out of the building and into a cab.

“I did not realize until we were probably a mile away from the Garden that the cab was pitching back and forth and back and forth. The cabbie was cursing and saying, ‘This is my final ride.’ I was home in Brighton in no time and turned the radio on for them dropping the puck for BC-BU.

“So maybe I can say that they did me a favor. But not really.”

Even more unhappy, but much less comfortable was Globe writer Bob Monahan.

“I left the Garden with [fellow writer] Willie McDonough, his son Sean and one of Sean’s friends,” says Monahan. “Willie’s car was out back so we shoveled it out. We got on the Expressway and they were pushing the car. I used to smoke back then so I had no wind.

“A couple times we’d go 20 yards and they’d all hop in, but then we’d get stuck again. They literally pushed the car all the way to the Globe [about five miles away.] It was awful.

The Boston Globe chronicles the news, before it shut down for days.

The Boston Globe chronicles the news, before it shut down for days.

“I left the Globe four days later. We just put some papers on the desks and slept on them. It wasn’t pretty. You didn’t get close to anyone because everyone stunk. When you start smelling yourself and you don’t like yourself, that’s as bad as it gets. You’re brushing your teeth with your finger. Hygiene went out for four days.

“I ate in the Globe cafeteria for three and a half days. I haven’t had a bite to eat there since.”

Although an early edition of Tuesday’s paper appeared, that would be the last one for several days. With travel forbidden to all but emergency vehicles, printing a newspaper that couldn’t be delivered to readers made little sense. Monahan and his colleagues at the paper’s offices, however, called for quotes and wrote columns that were never read in case the Globe did get going.

Unlike Monahan and Grinold, however, most recall the Beanpot ’78 experience with affection.

“I was going to all the games back then with the family,” says BU radio broadcaster Bernie Corbett, then a high school senior. “We had season tickets. There was a big question because of the weather whether we were going to the game that night.

“But there was a question and there wasn’t a question. We were going to go anyway. I went with my father and a couple of friends. We went in and stuck around despite the warnings. We just followed a snowplow up [Route] 93 to get home.

“My two friends from high school spent the week at my house. They never made it home all week. We had a great week. It was great to be a senior in high school because you got two February vacations that year, one scheduled and one unscheduled. It worked out great!”

More than 500 fans and Garden employees remained in the building, not leaving until a day and a half later.

“A lot of them were our employees,” says Steve Nazro, FleetCenter Vice President of Events and Director of the Beanpot. “It took us a while, but eventually we figured they could have gotten home if they wanted to. But it was like boys’ night out.

“‘Honey, I can’t get home. Can’t you see what’s outside?’

“I heard there were great poker games.”

Boston Herald writer Jocko Connolly left the Garden on the MBTA trains that kept running long after their threatened shutdown. Although he didn’t get all the way home, he made it home where the train stopped.

“The train got to Dover Street and the [conductor] said, ‘We can’t go any further, so everybody off,'” says Connolly. “Foley’s Tavern was right at the foot of the stairs [of that stop].

“So I went down into Foley’s and drank ’till about three in the morning. There were some MBTA guys there who ran the station. So then we got a case of beer and climbed back up the stairs. They opened the booth, where it was warm, and we sat there drinking until the sun came up. It was great!”

When asked if he recalls the Garden lights dimming late in the second game, Connolly quips, “Back in those days, I remember the lights dimming a lot!”

First prize in partying, though, may have gone to the BU team, which would have to wait 23 days for its championship game, the only such Beanpot contest to take place in March.

In the days following the opening round of the 1978 Beanpot, New England roads were unpassable.

In the days following the opening round of the 1978 Beanpot, New England roads were unpassable.

“I remember getting on the team bus going back to BU,” says Terrier Sports Information Director Ed Carpenter, then experiencing his first Beanpot. “The bus stopped at Marsh Chapel, a chapel on campus. [BU coach] Jack Parker said, ‘We’ll leave it up to you guys if anybody wants to get off here and pray for the snow to end.’

“Well, everybody got off and walked across the street to the Dugout [a popular bar]. So much for Marsh Chapel.

“We continued on to the corner of [Commonwealth] Ave and Babcock Street. The bus driver said, ‘I can’t make it down Babcock Street.’ That was where our offices were.

“I remember getting off and walking down the street to my office. I was walking and seeing little tips coming up from the snow. It wasn’t until the next day that I found out that they were radio antennas on cars. So I was walking on tops of cars.

“I was marooned in the office. I never made it home for a week.”

Back at the Dugout, the feeling was just about the opposite of being marooned. Several years ago, Terrier forward David Silk described it best.

“By the time we came out,” he said, “the snow was gone and so were the seventies.”

Beanpot Notebook, Game 2

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The second period has not been the friendliest of frames for the BU Terriers all year. Things were getting so bad that BU probably wished they had remote controls to fast-forward the game from the first to the third.

In Monday night’s semifinal against Northeastern, the second period outlook seemed to change every time coach Jack Parker took a breath. The Terriers scored the first two goals thanks to Brian Collins finishing off his first career hat trick.

When NU answered with two power play goals of its own, things began to look like business — or, should we say, bad business — as usual for BU. But a late tally by Nick Gillis gave the Terriers three goals in the period, the first time they’ve accomplished that all year, and most importantly a 5-3 lead through two.

Crowder, Hockey East Don’t Mix in Pot

It’s certainly a good thing that Northeastern and coach Bruce Crowder don’t have similar success in Hockey East as they have in the Beanpot against Hockey East schools. After Monday’s loss to BU, Crowder’s Huskies are now 0-6 against Hockey East schools in the Beanpot. The Huskies are 0-3 against both BC and BU, but 2-1 lifetime against Harvard. That one loss came in last year’s consolation game, and ironically is Harvard second-year coach Mark Mazzoleni’s only win in three Beanpot games.

Plenty of Streaks Continue for Terriers

Any team that rides a six-year Beanpot-championship winning streak could certainly have some other impressive streaks that accompany that. For BU there are plenty. Start with a 14-game winning streak that dates back to the 1994 consolation game. Add that BU has not lost since the tournament moved from historic Boston Garden to the FleetCenter in 1996. That streak stands at 11.

Against Northeastern, the streaks are longer. BU has not lost to the Huskies since 1988, when Northeastern won its fourth championship with a 6-3 victory. The last time that Northeastern defeated BU in the opening round of the tournament was 1983.

All totaled, this will be BU’s 40th trip to the Beanpot final as it searches for its 24th championship next Monday night.

Snow Doesn’t Keep Crowd Numbers Down

Despite the major snowstorm that paralyzed the Boston area for this Beanpot Monday, fans still turned out in record number. Well, at least that’s what the box office says.

The announced crowd on the night was 17,728, 163 more than the old record of 17,565 most recently seen at last year’s semifinals. Though hard to tell, since much of the crowd is split between the faithful for each game, it would seem that the actual attendance was significantly less.

Up to a foot of snow was predicted to fall on the greater Boston area on Monday. Quite a bit less than the nearly three feet that fell on the first Beanpot Monday in 1978, when one of the most paralyzing blizzards in city history barreled through town.

BC-BU Matchup: All You Can Ask For

Certainly the Beanpot organizers know there will be a solid, most-likely record crowd for next week’s championship game. Still, no one cringes when BC and BU are the two combatants, when you can expect a wild and excited group of hockey fans.

In case you’re wondering about history: BU leads the all-time series in the Beanpot, 22-8, over Boston College. This will be the 15th time the two have met in the championship game and BU has won nine to date. That includes a streak of seven in a row. The last time BC beat BU in a championship game: February 9, 1976.

They Said It …

“The public just wants to see a new winner. That’s something that we can feed off of.” — Boston University’s Dan Cavanaugh on what the Terriers will face in next week’s championship game.

“You don’t win ballgames on last year’s sweat.” — BU Head Coach Jack Parker, noting that BU’s six consecutive Beanpot championships won’t mean much in next week’s game against Boston College.

Beanpot Notebook, Game 1

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Boston College’s newly-made all-time leading goal scorer, Brian Gionta, is enjoying fast starts lately. And Monday’s Beanpot semifinal victory over Harvard was no exception. For BC’s third straight game, Gionta opened the scoring.

Anyone that hasn’t been hibernating for the last couple of weeks knows that Gionta opened with five goals on his first five shots against Maine two weeks ago. Friday night in the Eagles’ 4-3 victory over Lowell, Gionta blasted home a goal just 25 seconds into the game. Monday night it took 4:23 before Gionta would light the lamp against Harvard. By adding assists in the second and third period, Gionta is the leading Beanpot scorer among active Eagles with eight points (four goals, four assists) in seven games.

No Rest For the Weary

Being the only team to play two games this past weekend, was a big factor weighing against Harvard. All three Hockey East Beanpot teams, BC, BU and Northeastern, all play only single games on the weekends before each Beanpot Monday. Harvard was left to play two grueling league games against Colgate and Cornell. Besides the obvious advantage of playing one less game, each of the Hockey East schools’ coaches were also able to be in attendance for Harvard’s 2-1 loss to Cornell on Saturday.

Shutout Streak, Of Sorts, Broken

It looked as if Game One of the 2001 Beanpot was going to hold pattern with last year’s semifinals. In those games, the losing clubs (Harvard and Northeastern) were both shut out. It wasn’t until Harvard rookie Kenny Turano scored with 10:22 remaining that the streak was broken. The Crimson, of course, broke a streak of their own: they had not scored in a semifinal game since the final second of regulation in a 4-3 overtime loss to Northeastern in the 1999 Beanpot.

Eagles to Back-to-Back Finals; Crimson Need Consoling Again

With BC’s win, they reach the finals for the second consecutive year and the fourth time since head coach Jerry York’s arrival back in the 1994-95 season. Of course, with BU’s streak of six straight Beanpots, BC has not won any of those championship games. Its last Beanpot came in 1994 under coach Steve Cedorchuk, a 2-1 overtime upset victory over Harvard in the final.

For the Crimson, it’s the third straight trip to the early game next Monday night. Harvard’s last victory in the semifinal was in 1997 against Boston College. Its 5-4 overtime victory over the Eagles that year earned the Crimson a trip to a championship game matchup with BU, and a second-place finish after a 2-1 overtime loss.

Special Teams the Turning Point

Most hockey pundits would tell you that special teams and goaltending win championships. The first half of that equation was certainly true tonight.

The Eagles recorded nine of their 30 shots on the night while on the power play, scoring twice. Conversely, the Eagles stuffed the Crimson on all five of their attempts with the man advantage, limiting Harvard to just two shots on the PP.

“That was a key part of the game,” said Eagles coach Jerry York about the early-game special teams play. “We had a good kill [of the 5-on-3] and then we scored on our first two power plays.”

They Said It …

“I’ve been coming to the Beanpot since I was a little kid. It’s really special for a local guy like myself, [seeing as] we dont have that many on the BC roster anymore.” – Eagles defenseman Bobby Allen, a native of nearby Hull, Mass.

“I think Brian Gionta perhaps played one of his best games tonight. Well, there was that five goals-five shots game [against Maine].” – Eagles coach Jerry York on Gionta’s three-point performance on Monday.

This Week In The CCHA: Feb. 1, 2001

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Have An Extreme Day

First there were Extreme sports. Then ESPN gave us the X-Games, and the XFL wasn’t long to follow. The Food Network shows Extreme Cuisine (chocolate-covered ants? spinach?), and HGTV has been airing Extreme Homes for about a year. Now HGTV, that cable haven of conspicuous consumption, brings us Extreme Gardens.

This is progress?

Never one to let a trend pass me by (there is no photographic evidence of my circa-1980 spiked hair and raccoon eyes), I’m ready to jump on the Extreme Bandwagon, become part of Extreme Nation, and declare myself CCHA Correspondent Extreme.

As CCHA Correspondent Extreme, I feel it’s my duty to extremulate (yes, I made that up — but, dude, isn’t it cool?) the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

The Extreme Team

This first one is a gimme. The Extreme Team itself has to be the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. By virtue of being in the state of Alaska, the Nanooks make the CCHA a Pacific-coast league. Think about it, dude. If the CCHA were to invite Niagara to join the league, the conference would be, like, coast to coast. Bi-coastal, even.

The Extreme Team earns its name for another reason. With three points earned against the UNO Mavericks last weekend, the Nanooks broke their single-season record for CCHA points. The new record of 18 broke the prior mark of 17 set in the 1998-99 campaign. The Nanooks have taken points against every league opponent this season, and are 3-3-3 against teams in their cluster.

And Chad Hamilton, the senior defenseman who knows beauty when he sees it, skated in his 100th collegiate game in UAF’s 3-3 tie with UNO on Jan. 26.

The Extreme Team not only looks to make the playoffs, but is mathematically in the running for home ice. Talk about extreme!

Extreme Inconsistency

Competitive Friday in a 4-2 loss to Miami, then losing 9-3 the next night, the Bowling Green Falcons are an example of Extreme Inconsistency, a condition that’s plagued them for the past few seasons.

One notable exception to this is senior forward Ryan Murphy, (14-8–22) who is quietly having a career campaign. Murphy has scored at least a point in 11 of his last 12 games, and has 10 goals and four assists in that span.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, if the inconsistency continues, they’ll lose more than the Ohio Cup. Bowling Green is in extreme danger of sitting out the CCHA playoffs.

Extreme Forgotten Youth

The number of rookies in the league this year is old news, and three teams in particular — the Extreme Team, Northern Michigan, and Ohio State — have huge freshmen classes.

But forgotten in this equation is Ferris State. The Bulldogs skate 17 freshmen and sophomores, making Ferris State one of the youngest teams in a very young league. Assistant coach Drew Famulak says that it took until midseason for the team to gel, and now they’re playing better team defense.

Phil Osaer, one of the few upperclassmen on the team, has improved steadily this season and is now allowing just 2.38 goals against in conference contests (.900 SV%).

The Extreme Forgotten Youth had last weekend off, and this weekend face their opponent of two weeks ago, the Extreme Team itself.

It looks as though the Bulldogs will be traveling for the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Extreme Misfortune

Having lost 97 man-games because of injury this season, the Lake Superior State Lakers are definitely experiencing Extreme Misfortune. Still out are captain Ryan Knox, and assistant captains Jason Nightingale and Jeremy Bachusz. The Lakers have played 21 consecutive games during which at least one of the team’s leaders has not dressed.

Being so short staffed, the Lakers have scored just one goal in their last five games, and are averaging 2.2 goals per game. Of course three of those five games came against Michigan State.

Extreme Understatement

The RedHawks may not be red-hot, but they are quietly making a statement in the CCHA. Miami swept Bowling Green last weekend, rebounding from back-to-back shutouts at the hands of Michigan State.

Miami suffers the same fate as does Ferris State, in a way. Ferris State is the “little” school in Michigan to whom no one pays much attention, win or lose. Miami is the “little” school in Ohio. Even when Miami was a serious contender for a national title a few years back, no one really paid them much mind.

Perhaps that’s why they seem like such an Extreme Understatement. The RedHawks are now unbeaten in seven games in Goggin Arena, and they play six of their remaining 10 regular-season games in home sweet home.

This “little” school may be looking at home ice.

Extreme Offense

While another team’s offensive prowess is garnering all the press this season, the Wolverines are now scoring more goals per game (4.26) than any other CCHA team.

And it was Michigan that broke Ryan Miller’s shutout streak last weekend, with four goals in an overtime game that shows people what college hockey is all about.

Andy Hilbert (12-23–35) now leads the conference in league scoring, and he’s plus-14. The Wolverines are outscoring conference opponents 81-37, and are an impressive plus-129 in league play.

That’s Extreme Offense, and a ticket to the Big Skate.

Extreme Denial

Five goals in the month of January. Michigan State and Ryan Miller are in Extreme Denial — and that’s a good thing.

The Spartans suffered only their second loss of the season against fellow top-tenner Michigan on Saturday, and yet several poll voters took the opportunity to vote other teams No. 1. Talk about denial.

Miller still reigns, in spite of the loss. His 1.23 goals-against average and .953 save percentage still lead the nation, handily. In conference play, the Spartans as a team are allowing 1.11 goals per game, and their penalty kill is a healthy .931.

With this Extreme Denial, the Spartans are contenders, again.

Extreme Avoidance of the Sophomore Jinx

In fourth place with 22 points, the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks have achieved Extreme Avoidance of the Sophomore Jinx. Last year, the Mavs had to go the long route to The Joe; this season, the road may go through Omaha from the initial drop of the post-season puck.

UNO is one of five league teams averaging three or more goals per game (3.05). Although the Mavs are officially allowing 3.15 goals per league contest, in the month of January, in which the team was 4-1-1, Nebraska-Omaha held opponents to three or fewer goals per match, even in the loss and tie in Fairbanks last weekend.

One key to UNO’s success this year is David Brisson (13-14–27, +10), and the duo of Andrew Wong and Aaron Smith, a pair of freshmen who have combined for six goals and three assists in their last six games.

Extreme Fans

There is much that is extreme about Northern Michigan. The Wildcats are extremely young, with ten rookies on their squad. They boast one of the most Extreme Sophomore Classes with Bryce Cockburn (17-7–24, +18), Chris Gobert (10-16–26, +10), Jimmy Jackson (4-16–20, 0), and Terry Harrison (13-9–22, +9), goaltenders who combined for a team save percentage of .912, and a conference plus/minus of +61.

And let’s not forget that, geographically speaking, Maquette is a bit extreme.

But what’s truly extreme about the Northern Michigan Wildcats is their insane group of fans known as The Puckheads, or for our purposes The Extreme Puckheads. This group of dedicated men and women — you can recognize them by their hard hats adorned with pucks and rotating lights — has been spotted at The Joe and the Frozen Four when the Wildcats themselves were nowhere to be seen, and recently, the trio known as Mojo, Kujo, and The Big Guy drove from Marquette to Omaha for the NMU-UNO series.

They get bonus points for knowing sexy when they see it, even if they can’t embody the notion themselves.

Saturday’s game against Michigan State will be the second annual “Wildcat Night Across The Country.” The match, which will be televised live by Charter Communications, will be broadcast via satellite to a number of alumni gatherings across the country. All it takes to view the action is one of the following: access to a KU-band receiver with satellite GE-5, 79 degrees, Transponder T13; or access to a C-band receiver with satellite GE-1, 103 degrees, Transponder 16.

Extreme Reversal of Fortune

This year, the Irish took a bigger hit than they anticipated with the loss of four senior defensemen, the glue that apparently held the team together.

Outscored by league opponents 63-41 (115-73 overall), the Irish are at minus-83 in conference play.

Notre Dame’s 9-0 loss to Michigan (Jan. 23) was their largest loss since an 11-1 loss the Wolverines on Jan. 20, 1996. Michigan’s 51 shots in the 9-0 were the most given up by Notre Dame this season and the most March 10, 1995 when Bowling Green posted 53 against the Irish.

The Irish play six of their final regular-season games on the road, including two this weekend against Ohio State. The Buckeyes took three points from the Irish two weeks ago in South Bend.

Notre Dame’s Extreme Reversal of Fortune means that a team that traveled to Detroit last year is probably going nowhere when the regular season ends.

Extreme Rookies

In an outstanding league-wide rookie crop, two freshmen centermen at Ohio State stand out even further. Dave Steckel (11-10–21, +7 CCHA) and R.J. Umberger (7-12–19, +8 CCHA) are the two players who make this deep, scrappy, talented Buckeye team click. When Steckel and Umberger were in Moscow with the Team USA, the Buckeyes were 0-4-0. Since they’ve returned, OSU is 2-1-1, the lone loss on a weekend home split with Michigan.

Steckel may have more points, but Umberger has the moves. The league hasn’t seen anything like this kid since the departure of Mike York, and Umberger has the advantage of size; Umberger is surprisingly graceful for his 200 pounds.

Neither Steckel nor Umberger has ever played like a rookie, yet both are true freshmen. Steckel leads the Buckeyes in goal production.

With the influx of talent — including fellow rookies Mike Betz, Doug Andress, and Scott May — the Buckeyes are one point away from their total conference point production of last season. Their nine conference wins equal their total from the 1999-2000 campaign.

Given what’s going on near the top of the standings, the Buckeyes and their Extreme Rookies may find themselves home — and playing — during the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Extreme Physicality

I may earn the Extreme Euphemism award for this one.

There are other ways of putting it, but the Western Michigan Broncos embody Extreme Physicality this season, especially when things aren’t going their way.

Averaging nearly 26 full minutes of penalties per conference contest, the Broncos, once famous for their high-flying offense, are in danger of becoming infamous for being downright offensive.

On a squad that has spent 723 minutes in lockdown, Steve Rymsha’s 81 minutes pale by comparison to the accomplishments of Brian Pasko, who spends probably about a third of his playing time in the box, with 169 minutes in 26 games. That’s over six minutes per game, for those of you keeping count.

With the lack of discipline and the recent lack of points, the Broncos may have played themselves right out of home ice.

So that’s it, sports fans. From your CCHA Correspondent Extreme, have an Extreme Weekend, enjoy some Extreme Hockey, and Happy Extreme Ground Hog Day.

Ganga Watch

The good news is that our hero, Buckeye Nick Ganga, added no penalties to his total last weekend. Of course, the Buckeyes didn’t play.

At the start of this season, Ganga promised to more than halve his penalty minutes from last year, pledging 50 or fewer, in sharp contrast to his 112 from the 1999-2000 season.

While dangerously close to his promised total, Ganga’s 42 minutes in 24 games played represent a solid commitment to improvement for a young man who would rather hit than think last season.

Ten games left, and I for one believe in Nick Ganga.

And as Nicky himself knows, a little faith can go a long way.

Games Of The Week

These two teams may be meeting while passing each other traveling in opposite directions.

No. 9 Western Michigan (16-6-5, 9-5-5 CCHA) at Miami (13-11-2, 10-7-1 CCHA)
Friday and Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Goggin Arena, Oxford, Ohio

The big news in Oxford this week is that junior defenseman Ken Marsch is academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.

“It’s unfortunate because something like this has to happen to young men in order for them to figure out what they need to do in their life,” says head coach Enrico Blasi. “Here in Miami there’s a great support system… [but] if the student doesn’t want it, there’s nothing else we can do. I hope Kenny realizes how important school is. He’s stayed in school. At a certain point, the onus is on the student-athlete.”

In spite of the loss of Marsch, the RedHawks rebounded from consecutive shutout losses against Michigan State to beat intrastate rival Bowling Green 4-2 and 9-3. Even though the losses to MSU were against the No. 1 team in the country and the country’s best goaltender, Blasi says that was no excuse.

“To tell you the truth, I was really hard on the guys [after MSU]. We as a staff demanded a lot more in practice. Practices in late January shouldn’t be as hard as they were last week. Our guys didn’t complain. It’s easy to be down after playing so well without taking a point, without even scoring a goal. But our guys responded.”

With the wins this past weekend, Miami and Blasi have already matched their totals for overall (13) and league wins (10) from a season ago. Miami’s newly formed line of Jason Deskins, Ernie Hartlieb and Gregor Krajnc accounted for five goals and seven assists in the two-game series against Bowling Green.

This weekend, Miami faces Western Michigan, a team that once looked poised to make a run at the league championship. After starting January with a sweep of Ohio State, the Broncos have taken just one point in each of their last three two-game series. Western has established a new pattern: loss, tie, loss, tie, loss, tie.

In spite of Western’s recent slump and Miami’s seven-game unbeaten streak at home, Blasi is not taking the Broncos lightly.

“I expect them to come out hard. They are a transition team with three of the top ten scorers in the league. Obviously we’re going to have to pay attention to those guys.”

Blasi is the kind of coach that focuses first and foremost on his own team, but at this point in the season, says the second-year skipper, “There’s not much you can do system-wise.”

With the logjam of points near the top of the conference standings, Blasi knows that this series has ramifications league-wide, not just for the Broncos and RedHawks. And he sees the irony of these two squads fighting for home ice after their respective finishes last season.

“These are two aggressive teams going at it, and we’ll see what happens. We are very similar. When they want to score goals, they can. When they want to play defense, they can. Both teams finished tied last year for ninth and tenth last season. It was a big step for both teams to make the playoffs last year. It would be a bigger step for these teams to host a playoff series.”

These clustermates last met Dec. 1-2 in Kalamazoo, with Western winning the first game and Miami picking up the nightcap. Western leads this overall series 44-33-6, but Miami has lost just once to Western in their last five meetings.

The RedHawk seniors are 7-3-3 against the Broncos for the past four years.

One more one-point weekend for Western could be the final nail in the coffin. The Broncos will make the playoffs, but may be roaming the range to do so.

Pick: Miami sweeps, 4-2, 4-3

This Week In Hockey East: Feb. 1, 2001

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And Then There Was One

Turn out the lights. The party’s over. …

The race for the Hockey East regular-season crown is all but done. Boston College’s sweep of Providence two weeks ago and Maine last weekend — combined with New Hampshire’s three-game losing streak — has distanced BC from the rest of the pack.

Second-place UNH is now as close — seven points away — to last-place Merrimack as it is to the first-place Eagles. As a result, the Eagles are now poised to win their first Hockey East regular-season crown since 1990-91.

“It’s been a goal of ours because we haven’t won a league title in 10 years,” says BC assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh, speaking for under-the-weather head coach Jerry York. “This group has really made it a priority to win that. They’re sensing that the goal is attainable and they’re working hard to achieve it.”

The biggest reason is painfully obvious to the rest of the league.

“There’s only one team in Hockey East that is dominating, and that’s because of one reason: they can score goals,” says BU coach Jack Parker of the archrival Eagles. “They can score goals against anyone … anyone except Michigan State, I guess. (BC lost to MSU, 4-1.)

“They’ve shown they have the ability to put the puck in the net and that separates them from the rest of us. You can look at [BU’s] roster or UNH’s or Northeastern’s and we’re all in the same boat. We all thought we’d generate more offense than we have.”

BC’s 4.56 goals per game in Hockey East contests dwarfs all comers. Other than Providence at 3.29 per game, no one else is higher than BU’s 2.69. You have to go all the way back to Maine’s 42-1-2 national champion juggernaut in 1992-93 to see that big of a gap. And on a percentage basis, BC’s margin this year tops even that one.

Combined with a second-best 2.19 goals-against per game mark, it would be a surprise if the Eagles weren’t running away with the league.

Even so, two weeks ago the title was still up for grabs. Merrimack had just upset BC, 6-3, and both UNH and Providence were breathing down the Eagles’ necks.

“Before the Providence series we talked as a club,” says Cavanaugh. “We’d gotten off to a great start, but post-Christmas we were 3-3. We had played some tough teams: Michigan State, Michigan, two with BU, our archrival, and then we were at Lowell and at Merrimack.

“Nonetheless, we were 3-3 and we were not happy with that. We said that we had to bear down more as a club, take care of our own end and compete harder as a club.”

The Eagles certainly responded at the expense of Providence and Maine.

“Brian Gionta is the leader of our club and he has nine goals in those four games,” says Cavanaugh. “But the whole club bore down. Scotty Clemmensen has been solid in net and we’ve played pretty well.”

Gionta, of course, stunned the nation, not to mention the Maine Black Bears, when he erupted for five goals in the first period on Saturday night.

“I’ve never seen that even in Squirts or Pee Wees,” says Cavanaugh. “Five goals in one period! He actually did it in about 12 minutes. That was something special. I’ve seen him do a lot of things at BC, but that eclipses anything to this point.”

Gionta

Gionta

In the process, Gionta became the nation’s number-one goalscorer with 22. He also tied David Emma for the top spot all-time among BC players with 112 career tallies. He may have even made himself a co-favorite for the Hobey Baker Award, along with Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller and North Dakota forward Jeff Panzer.

“He’s averaged 30 goals a season [over his BC career], which is remarkable,” says Cavanaugh. “If you count the second team, he has a chance to be a four-time All-American, which is another amazing feat. When you start looking at what this kid has achieved in college hockey, it’s remarkable.

“Then you throw in the intangibles. He’s an affable kid. He’s a very humble kid. While he’s driven to succeed on the ice and while he may be a tyrant on the ice, off the ice he’s a gentleman. Our kids look up to him and they respect him. That’s the reason why we’re in the position to win a league title.

“We’re biased here at BC, but I think he’s the best player in the country. I think if coaches could take any one player in the country, a lot of them would take Brian Gionta.”

Without question, though, Boston College’s strength extends from its Gionta-led senior class down through its freshmen, who are the envy of every recruiter and head coach in the league.

“All of us have lost a number of real good players,” says Maine coach Shawn Walsh. “Other than BC’s freshman class, it doesn’t appear that anybody has got freshmen who are really dominating.”

The Eagles rookies, on the other hand, are very much dominating their freshmen brethren around the league, totaling 34 goals and 54 assists. You could take any two teams’ rookies and still not match those numbers.

“We’re extremely happy with our freshman class,” says Cavanaugh. “J.D. Forrest is a very talented defenseman. We knew Ben Eaves and Chuck Kobasew were going to be top-notch hockey players. You’re just starting to see Ben Eaves take off. Chuck is having a possible Rookie of the Year-type season.

“Tony Voce has come along a lot more quickly than we thought he would. Ty Hennes, who is a walk-on, and Justin Dziama are doing a terrific job for us filling a role on our fourth line. Our fourth line is playing more than it ever has in the past. Brett Peterson is a defenseman who has adapted very quickly and is playing a lot of minutes for us and is playing well.

“As a whole, they’ve fit in very well. But regardless of our freshman class, our team is driven by our upperclassmen. If you talk to any coach in the country, if you don’t have the upperclassmen who can lead you, it’s tough to win.”

Cavanaugh harkens back to BC teams of a few years ago to prove his point.

“It’s just like when Marty Reasoner was a sophomore and Mike Mottau, Jeff Farkas and Blake Bellefeuille were freshmen,” he says. “We went through some tough times because the most talented players on our team were still real young and it takes some time for them to come around.

“I’m not taking anything away from the juniors and seniors in that class because there were some talented kids. But they had never won anything. They had gone four years without winning anything. It’s tough to turn the corner when your upperclassmen haven’t won anything.

“Marty’s junior year was our first taste of success. After that, our kids expected to be successful and they knew what it took to get to the national tournament. That becomes something your younger kids can feed on. Since Brian came here, he’s known nothing but Final Fours and Hockey East championship games.

“We’ve got talented kids like Ben Eaves or Chuck Kobasew, but we have a Krys Kolanos and Brian Gionta and Mike Lephart ahead of them. We have some kids who are seniors who are probably just as talented.”

That results in two big advantages according to Cavanaugh.

“One, it’s an easier transition [for the freshmen,]” he says. “We’re not asking them to carry our club.

“Two, they get to learn a lot from the older kids. Not only on the ice, but they learn how to act off ice. Those are the little intangibles that help you when you get to your Hockey East championships and your national tournaments.”

Auction Time

Kudos to all the fans out there who bid on the special Shawn Walsh North Dakota jerseys, raising $11,055 for The Coaches Foundation. I’m happy to say that although someone else snagged number seven, I didn’t come away empty-handed.

In case you missed it in our news briefs, another very interesting item is similarly going up for bids. The Coaches Foundation will auction a line chart autographed by 20 members of the 1992-93 Maine national championship team. The lineup from the Jan. 29, 1993 game played against New Hampshire at Snively Arena was donated by a UNH alumnus.

Bidding will take place on hockeyeastonline.com from Tuesday, Feb. 6 through 11 a.m. (Eastern) on Friday, Feb. 9. All proceeds will go to The Coaches Foundation, a charitable organization set up to serve as a resource for coaches who might need financial help in the face of devastating illness.

The line chart is not in perfect condition, but does contain the signatures of Paul Kariya, Jim Montgomery, Cal Ingraham, Mike Latendresse, Eric Fenton, Patrice Tardif, Kent Salfi, Peter Ferraro, Chris Ferraro, Justin Tomberlin, Dave Lacouture, Dave MacIsaac, Dan Murphy, Chris Imes, Matt Martin, Andy Silverman, Jason Weinrich, Lee Saunders, Mike Dunham and Garth Snow.

Beanpot

It’s that time again, so here’s a look at the three Hockey East teams involved:

Boston College enters as the only nationally ranked team of the four. Nonetheless, it’s been seven years since the Eagles last won the ‘Pot. Archrival Boston University has won it six straight times.

logos/beanpot_actual.jpg

Last year was an ideal example of how the favorite doesn’t always go home happy on the second Monday in February. BC had entered the championship game having not just beaten its last six opponents, but having annihilated them to the collective tune of 31-4. No matter. BU won anyway, 4-1.

This year BC is once again on a roll, as noted above, and arguably towers head and shoulders over the rest of the field. Deja vu time?

“We might be head and shoulders ahead in the RPI and with our record, but BU is the champ,” says Cavanaugh. “They’re the six-time defending champ and that’s how we look at it. You throw the records out the window; BU is the champ [so] they’re the favorite.”

While the latter point may be debatable, BC’s position in the standings may help the Eagles end BU’s Beanpot stranglehold.

“Usually this is a very distracting week because everyone is talking Beanpot,” says Cavanaugh. “[But] we’ve got Lowell to play on Friday night. Because our team has the goal of winning a league title and our kids are realizing that we control our own destiny now and it’s become such a focus on our club to win that league title, we really haven’t even thought of the Beanpot yet.

“Our Lowell game is taking precedence over everything else because we know how important those two points are for us to win the league title. It’s the first time since I’ve been here that the Beanpot has been secondary this week. It really is.

“In the past, the Beanpot was something we could win. But with the league title being there and with it being 10 years since we’ve won it, that’s been our focus.

“It’s been nice as a coach. We’re focused on Lowell. Hey, Saturday is going to come and then the hoopla is going to start and we’re going to be excited to be in the Beanpot. It’s an exciting time for the whole city of Boston. We’ll be excited and we’ll be ready to play.

“But you throw the records out when you get to the Beanpot. BU is the favorite and someone is going to have to go through BU to win that championship.”

Boston University may be peaking at just the right time. After opening the season 2-8-1 and also going through an early-January 0-3-1 stretch, the Terriers have rebounded, most notably with a sweep last weekend of New Hampshire.

“I’ll be happy to get the kind of effort we got on Saturday night up at UNH,” says coach Jack Parker. “I thought it was one of our best overall efforts of the year. I thought we controlled the play most of the night, controlled the tempo of the game the way we wanted to, and we got solid goaltending from Jason Tapp.

“That’s where we [originally] thought we would be. It’s taken us a long way to get there. [But] it doesn’t mean we’re going to show up that way the next game. We’ve shown instances of [strong play and effort] during the year but never really sustained it. This was the first time we’ve put together back-to-back games where we’ve really had that.

“In general, the thing we’re most pleased with now is what concerned us the most during the losing streak [early in the season] and that’s our goaltending. [Sean] Fields and Tapp are both playing extremely well and with a lot of confidence. They’re giving us a one-two punch that we’re ecstatic about.”

Tapp, a junior who had to sit while first Michel Larocque and then Ricky DiPietro led their teams to Beanpot titles, will start on Monday night against Northeastern. If BU wins, Tapp will again start in the championship game.

“We’ve also gotten great games game-in-and-game-out of late from Carl Corazzini and Freddie Meyer,” says Parker. “Jack Baker had a heckuva weekend against UNH. So some of our more important players are playing consistently well right now.”

All that good karma, however, could change in an instant based on the track record of this year’s Terriers. They opened the season 2-8-1, then won four straight and five of six.

Were they on the rise for good? Not so fast. They then went 0-3-1, including two lifeless performances, one against Lowell and the other an especially surprising one against their archrival, Boston College.

Going down the drain? Once again, not so fast. With the sweep of UNH, BU has now won three straight.

Ask Parker about whether he has a handle yet on his team from a consistency perspective and he responds with characteristic bluntness.

“None whatsoever,” he says. “I was really flabbergasted with how we played at BC after winning the game at home. To play with so little emotion and so little focus … I couldn’t figure out what type of team I had.

“We actually played two solid games at Maine, I thought. … Then we came back and played so poorly against Lowell.”

Parker was so upset at his team’s lack of effort that Friday night that he told the team he didn’t want to see them until Sunday’s game against Niagara.

Parker

Parker

“I told them not to come near,” he says. “I didn’t want to see them until we played the game. We didn’t practice [on Saturday]; we didn’t have a pre-game skate; we didn’t do anything together as a team.”

The move worked with a win over Niagara and then the sweep over New Hampshire.

“I don’t know if [sweeping UNH] is who we are or if we are going to be a team that is easily satisfied and continues to show that up-and-down type of [behavior,]” says Parker. “We’ve even done that within periods. We’ve played really well in the first period and turned around and played poorly in the second because it seems that we’re too easily satisfied.

“This is the first time in a while that we’ve shown consistent effort. So there’s hope that it’s finally seeping in here that we’re running out of opportunities. With all the mess we’ve made of the season thus far, we’re still in pretty good shape as far as getting home ice in the playoffs. … Home ice counts and counts big in this league and that’s still our focus.

“It’s possible or even plausible that we could finish in second or third place in the league. That would be kind of weird considering what we’ve done.”

One player who may be entering the Beanpot and the stretch run with an extra jump in his step is Dan Cavanaugh. As the number two returning scorer, the junior was expected to make a bigger contribution this year than he’s provided. Things reached a low when he was benched for two contests following a stretch of only one assist and no goals in the first five games in January.

No doubt, Cavanaugh in the stands caught the attention of his teammates, if not the player himself, and may have helped spark the recent surge.

“I don’t think it goes unnoticed that there’s a pretty good player sitting out,” says Parker. “I better not cause the coach to think that I should sit out the next game.

“The lines have been changed around and some guys who were getting a lot of ice time are not getting that much ice time and some guys are out of the lineup. All of a sudden, the freshmen are getting a lot more ice time.

“I think it sends the right message that those who play well will be rewarded with further play. We want you to play hard every night.

“Cavanaugh came back and played well at UNH, but it remains to be seen if he can sustain that. If he can’t, he’ll be back watching games again. That’s always the ultimate convincer for players because most of them want to be in the lineup.

“I’m sure Danny will play hard and he sees what we’re talking about. Sometimes it’s good to sit out, too, because it makes you less nervous. Hey, the worst thing has already happened. I got benched.”

Northeastern enters the Beanpot with a title drought dating back to 1988, the longest among the four schools. Even so, the Huskies open the tournament playing some good hockey after taking five of six points in their last three league games. Included in that stretch is an impressive 5-3 win over UNH.

“The area that we’re happy with is that we’re not giving up a lot of goals,” says coach Bruce Crowder. “Our defense is playing well and so is Mike Gilhooly in goal. That’s the real positive side along with our penalty killing.

“The not so positive side is our five-on-five production and on the power play, which go hand in hand a little bit.”

The usual remedy for a stagnant offense is to juggle the lines in a search of better combinations. In Northeastern’s case, however, that falls into the category of been there – done that.

“I didn’t realize it, but somebody made the comment in the Fox [TV] game that we had used 65 line combinations,” says Crowder with an amused laugh. “Who keeps track of that?

“You’re looking for that mix, but I think that we’re going the other way this time. We’re sticking with some of the line combinations and hoping that they’re going to jell a little.

“We’re just working on things in practice, trying to do all the little things. Keep your stick on the ice. Hit the net. Go for rebounds. If you can’t score pretty, take the ugly ones.”

The Huskies recognize that their first-round opponent, Boston University, is coming in with six straight titles. To many, Northeastern will be perceived as a significant underdog.

“It’s a little bit like a heavyweight champion,” says Crowder. “When you go into the ring with the guy and count on the judge’s decision, it goes to the champion. You’ve got to knock the champion out or at least knock him around.

“But at the same time, what happened in the past games is all for naught. Hopefully, our team is prepared and we’re ready to play. We’ve got some positives that we’re bringing into the tournament this year that we might not have had in the past. The biggest thing is that we’re healthy. We’re also playing well defensively and defense wins championships.”

Quip of the Week

Although this happened after the BC-BU game on Jan. 7, it pertains to the upcoming Beanpot matchups. One member of the press asked Eagle coach Jerry York about the game being a potential preview of the Beanpot championship game.

One wit added, “Or a preview of the consolation game.”

Who’s Gonna Rebound?

Although overshadowed by the Beanpot, the classic Maine-UNH rivalry resumes on Sunday in a contest that could prove vital to both team’s playoff positions. Both perennial powerhouses are coming off very un-powerhouse-like weekends in which they were swept.

New Hampshire has now lost three straight. Factoring in games-in-hand, the Wildcats could slide from second place to fifth this weekend.

“I liked the way my team played tonight,” said UNH coach Dick Umile after a Friday night at Walter Brown Arena in which the Wildcats outshot BU, 37-21, but still lost. “They did everything but win the game. They played hard and we had our opportunities to win the game, but we didn’t get it done.”

It was more of the same one night later back at the Whittemore Center, where UNH had to that point suffered only one loss this season. Again, the Wildcats won the battle of the shots, but lost the war on the scoreboard.

“Obviously not the weekend we wanted,” said Umile after the loss. “It was very disappointing. We had a lot of hard work, but nothing to show for it. … It was good hockey all weekend. They got four points and we got zero. That’s the bottom line. I’m not too excited.”

Matt Swain suffered a fractured forearm in the BU series and will likely not play this weekend.

Maine coach Shawn Walsh, like Umile, is disinclined to press the panic button after getting swept by BC. The Eagles, after all, now seem to be dishing out scoreboard abuse to everybody. In three games with BC, Maine has been outscored a humbling margin of 18-5. On the bright side, though, in games against all other opponents, Maine is well on the plus side, 61-43.

Come playoff time, that may be equivalent to “other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” if a matchup with BC looms. Until then, however, the Black Bears can approach the rest of their season with confidence despite last weekend.

“It was the first time this year [that those kind of defensive breakdowns] happened to us,” says Walsh. “It happened a little bit in the second New Hampshire game, but it’s been rare for us. We went into the weekend the fourth-best defensive team in the country.

“I think the pressure on our players to produce offense is such that if you’re not careful, you can take too many chances and run to the puck and you just don’t play sound defensively, which is exactly what happened on Saturday.

“We’ve just got to get back to playing the way we can play, which we’d been doing until Saturday.”

This is what this weekend’s clash comes down to: two of the league’s best defenses trying to stop two offenses that aren’t burying the puck. A scoreless tie wouldn’t be a shocker. The two teams played to that result on Jan. 5.

If the Black Bears win — and the game is at Alfond Arena — they will be well-positioned for playoff home ice, if not a serious run at second place. Their next six games will be against the three teams in seventh, eighth and ninth place in the standings: UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell and Merrimack.

This season has shown that those games will be anything but easy, but Maine could follow last year’s script of a dominant finish and a major dollop of momentum going into the playoffs.

Light My Fire, Inc.

Attention, Hockey East coaches!

Two weeks ago, this column asked, “What’s up with Brian Gionta?” Not that there was anything particularly wrong with 25 points in 22 games, but the three-time All-American was behind his accustomed scoring pace.

After the column appeared, Gionta promptly recorded four goals and two assists in a key weekend series against Providence. He then followed that with five goals in one period — five goals in one period! — as part of another weekend sweep, this time over Maine.

That amounts to .59 goals and 1.14 points per game before the column and 2.25 goals and 2.75 points per game after.

So, coaches, if you have a player you’d like to turn into a scoring machine, a “What’s up with … ?” segment can appear in this column for the right price.

I can’t be bought. But I can be rented.

Trivia Contest

The most recent question asked: what year (in the nineties) did UMass-Amherst resume varsity hockey? Also, what year had it been dropped? And finally, who were the two coaches involved?

Josh Gibney was first to answer correctly that the school dropped the program after the 1978-79 season under Jack Canniff and resumed in 1993 under Joe Mallen. The Minutemen joined Hockey East one year later.

(Josh was good enough to allow USCHO’s use a couple weeks ago of his photo of Maine coach Shawn Walsh wearing a UNH jersey. Thanks to him for that eye-catcher.)

His cheer is:

“Go Cats – Beat Maine!!!”

This week’s question looks beyond the boundaries of Hockey East and asks what was unique about Lake Superior State forward Kyle Anderson from New Year’s Day to Jan. 26?

Send your answers or wild guesses to Dave Hendrickson.

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

Here are a few quick political observations:

  • I don’t know about you, but I found the Clinton administration’s prank of removing all “W” keys from keyboards to be both hilarious and inspired. On the other hand, I also considered it a knee-slapper to see Clinton’s dog buddy bite him in the … um … hindquarters.
  • Is there a more obnoxious human being on the planet than Sam Donaldson? Cokie Roberts must have been very bad in a past life to warrant being paired with him.
  • Even if you agree with campaign finance reform, Sen. John McCain’s contention that he “has a mandate” for it is befuddling. Did I miss something? McCain lost, didn’t he? Dubya had knocked him out of the race before even half the states held their primaries. If that’s a mandate, then Jennifer Lopez thinks I’m a hottie.
  • But Donaldson, McCain and every other self-important political weasel must bow at the shrine of Massachusetts Speaker for Life Tom Finneran. His recent power play should make all Bay Staters want to vomit.
  • On the more positive side, former Senator Bob Dole’s Super Bowl commercial for that “blue magic” that puts spark into his life lets even the most hardened cynic know that not every politician is a self-important blowhard.
  • I strongly agree with the concept of Congress paying down the debt, but I fear it’s about as likely as yours truly paying down his own debt.

    • Click here for information about Dave Hendrickson’s latest short story, “Yeah, But Can She Cook?”

    Thanks to Scott Weighart, Josh Gibney and Jim Connelly.

    This Week In Women’s Hockey: Feb. 1, 2001

    By Zevi Gutfreund
    -

    Dartmouth Back on Top

    Apparently, Dartmouth likes revenge. The No. 1 Big Green (16-1-1) suffered its only tie of the season at home against St. Lawrence back in November. On Saturday Dartmouth traveled to Canton to take on the No. 4 Saints (14-4-3), and the Big Green made a statement with a 5-3 win on the road. That extended the Big Green’s winning streak to five games and snapped the Saints’ unbeaten streak at 10.

    Sure, the difference was only two goals. But Dartmouth became the first team to score more than three goals against Rachel Barrie, the Saints’ standout rookie goaltender.

    As usual, Dartmouth won with its depth. Five different players scored for the Big Green, including representatives from all three forward lines as well as a goal from defenseman Carrie Sekela. Barrie still came up with 33 saves, but the Big Green blasted 38 shots on net and five managed to cross the crease. The key to the game, according to Dartmouth coach Judy Parish Oberting, was that Dartmouth arrived in New York ready to come out flying.

    “What has made this team so much fun to coach is the way they prepare to play,” Oberting said. “They are focused before games, they know that teams are gunning for them and they are ready to play once the puck is dropped. We were excited to play one of the best teams in the country, and we’re happy to have won.”

    Center Amanda Sargeant singlehandedly kept the Saints in the game through two periods, scoring both St. Lawrence goals to keep the score tied heading into the second intermission. Defenseman Caroline Trudeau added another score late in the third period, but that was no match for the firepower from Sekela and Dartmouth forwards Kim McCullough, Kristina Guarino, Carly Haggard and Lauren Trottier.

    St. Lawrence hosts a two-game series against Niagara this weekend while Dartmouth will be at home to take on Princeton and Yale.

    Gophers Enjoy Successful East Coast Swing

    Never give Minnesota a second crack. The last time the No. 3 Gophers (17-4-1) traveled to New Hampshire, they were swept by Dartmouth. Last weekend, Minnesota returned to New Hampshire to take on UNH in Durham. The result was another sweep — only this time, the Gophers came away with a pair of victories over the No. 8 Wildcats (14-11-0).

    Senior netminder Erica Killewald made 48 saves for Minnesota, who have not lost since their trip to Dartmouth. Killewald held UNH to a goal in each game, which is usually good enough for the Gophers to win.

    “Killer had a great weekend,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson. “In addition, our other players, both defense and forwards, made a strong commitment to playing solid defense in front of her. Our defensive play has picked up ever since we had that close game with the U.S. National Team.”

    Like Dartmouth, Minnesota’s goals came from many different faces and all three forward lines. Rookie winger La Toya Clarke scored in each game while Nadine Muzerall, Kris Scholz and Tracy Palinsky also found the back of the net.

    The Wildcats have their work cut out for them with games at No. 5 Harvard and No. 6 Brown this weekend while the Gophers will try not to look ahead to the looming series at No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth next month as they travel to Bemidji State for a pair of games this weekend.

    Predictions

    Wednesday, January 31

    Boston College at #9 Northeastern – The Huskies will have a chance to improve their offense against the Eagles. Northeastern, 4-0

    Friday-Saturday, February 2-3

    Cornell at St. Cloud – The Huskies are young but improving. St. Cloud, 4-3, 3-2

    #3 Minnesota at Bemidji State – The Gophers are gearing up for the home stretch. Minnesota, 5-1, 5-2

    Mankato State at Ohio State – The Buckeyes are still angry after the overtime debacles at Wisconsin. Ohio State, 4-2, 3-1

    Saturday-Sunday, February 3-4

    #2 Minnesota-Duluth at #7 Wisconsin – The Bulldogs did not enjoy losing to the Badgers at home early in the season. UMD, 4-2, 5-2

    Niagara at #4 St. Lawrence – Rachel Barrie should build her usual impenetrable screen around the Saints’ crease. St. Lawrence, 3-1, 4-2

    Saturday, February 3

    Maine at #6 Brown – For these Bears, brown is better than black. Brown, 3-1

    #8 New Hampshire at #5 Harvard – The Crimson is eager to get back from exams. Harvard, 3-2

    Yale at #1 Dartmouth – This will be an excruciating road trip for the Elis. Dartmouth, 8-1

    Princeton at Boston College – Andrea Kilbourne should have a field day in Chestnut Hill. Princeton, 4-1

    Sunday, February 4

    Maine at #5 Harvard – The experience of the Crimson will make life rough on the Bears. Harvard, 5-2

    Princeton at #1 Dartmouth – The Big Green is too deep for the Tigers. Dartmouth, 3-1

    Yale at Boston College – Last place is on the line in this one. Boston College, 3-2

    #5 Harvard at Boston College – The Crimson should advance to the Beanpot final easily, where it will most certainly meet Northeastern. Harvard, 10-1

    This Week In The WCHA: Feb. 1, 2001

    By
    -

    Don’t Forget

    We’ve heard plenty in recent weeks about Brian Gionta and Ryan Miller, and deservedly so. It’s not every day someone scores five goals on five shots or allows no goals on hundreds of shots.

    Panzer

    Panzer

    But when talking Hobey, how can you overlook Jeff Panzer? Maybe it’s because the North Dakota senior isn’t the flashiest, he’s just the most productive.

    There have been only three games this season in which he has not registered a point. Probably not by accident, those games were all North Dakota losses — to Michigan Tech, Colorado College and Minnesota.

    His highest point total this season is four, set in a 4-3 overtime win over CC on Dec. 9. He had a goal and two assists in regulation and scored the OT winner.

    He hasn’t scored five goals in a period. He hasn’t scored five goals in a weekend this year. Yet he leads the nation with 57 points — 21 goals and 36 assists.

    He has the ability to take control of a game (see the Colorado College game) but can be the helper as well.

    It’s what we call balance, ladies and gentlemen. It’s why the Sioux’s top line of Panzer, Ryan Bayda and Bryan Lundbohm is one of the most feared trios in college hockey today.

    Panzer, meanwhile, is quietly — too quietly for some North Dakota fans — making his name as one of the top forwards in the country.

    “Jeff is not very big but has tremendous competitive desire,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky, who coached Panzer on the WCHA All-Star team that traveled to Norway.

    “Having coached him last August in Norway, I got a chance to see how competitive he is, how skilled he is, how quick he is. He’s usually, if not the smallest, one of the smallest guys in a game [he’s listed at 5-foot-10, 160 pounds]. But he plays with a huge heart and that takes him a long way.”

    Where It Started

    Scott Sandelin did an admirable job of deflecting queries about the personal significance of his Minnesota-Duluth team’s series this weekend against North Dakota.

    Sandelin, in his first year with the Bulldogs, was a Sioux associate head coach before going to Duluth. This is the first time he’ll welcome his former boss, Dean Blais, into his new home rink.

    “I’m just happy we played them in their rink earlier in the year because I think we’re a better team right now than we were when we played them there,” said Sandelin, who showed a hint of concern about putting his best foot forward this weekend.

    “I thought we played them pretty strong in their rink and it was the start of when we started to play better.”

    Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that momentum hasn’t amounted to much in the win column. A porous defense for most of the season and the lack of a timely goal has saddled them with a 5-19-2 record.

    They’re 2-15-1 in the WCHA, and Sandelin knows what comes with a record like that.

    Down the stretch, they’re getting ready for a road trip in the first round of the playoffs and an unenviable position: the spoiler.

    But if Sandelin is representative of the team, it’s relishing that role.

    “It’s what we’ve talked about — we want to be the spoilers,” Sandelin said. “[North Dakota is] shooting to win the league and their schedule probably favors them to win the league.

    “But I look at CC being two points behind them, and us taking two points from them, that’s preventing them obviously from being tied with them. We’d like to get some points off those teams to prevent them from doing what they want to do, but more importantly, we may end up playing them in the first round.”

    One of the most noticeable victims for the Bulldogs this season has been goaltender Rob Anderson, who has appeared in 15 of their last 19 games. Despite a 2.84 goals against average and a .909 save percentage in his last nine starts — respectable numbers by any stretch of the imagination — he’s just 2-5-2 over that span.

    “He’s been a guy that has given us a lot of chances to win games,” Sandelin said. “It was finally nice against CC for him to get rewarded with a win, where there’s games he’s played the same way and we haven’t gotten the wins for him.

    “I think he’s been as good as a lot of the goalies in this league the last month and a half, it’s just that we haven’t won for him. We need that — every team needs great goaltending — and when goalies give you that opportunity to win, we have to take advantage of that and win more games for him when he plays that way.”

    Fitting the Bill

    When Connor James was tabbed, along with Minnesota’s Troy Riddle, as the WCHA’s preseason rookie of the year, the expectations were raised.

    While Colorado College’s Peter Sejna appears to be running away with the honor of the best rookie, Denver’s James has started to meet some of those expectations.

    “He’s playing like maybe a lot of people expected him to play early in the year,” Gwozdecky said. “I don’t think [he was] physically anywhere near where he needed to be when he first came here because he’s so young, but he’s worked extremely hard and he’s playing with a great deal of confidence.

    “His natural abilities are starting to shine. He’s a very strong playmaker. Nifty shooter. Not an overpowering shot by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s so quick and he’s so smart with the puck that he can fool you very easily.”

    At 5-foot-9 and 156 pounds, he reminds some of a certain Hobey Baker candidate previously mentioned.

    “He reminds me a little of Jeff Panzer,” Gwozdecky said. “He’s probably a little farther ahead than Jeff was. But at the same point in time, Jeff might have been that good as a freshman, but he had some pretty good players surrounding him.”

    Gopher Gathering

    Talk about your get-togethers. During the first intermission of Saturday afternoon’s game against Michigan Tech at Mariucci Arena, Minnesota will honor the 50 greatest Gopher hockey players of all time.

    logos/umn.gif

    Kudos to whoever had to pare that list down to 50. How many are you familiar with? I’m at about half.

    The top 50, in alphabetical order: Michael Antonovich, Lester Auge, Bill Baker, Scott Bjugstad, Brian Bonin, Herb Brooks, Aaron Broten, Neal Broten, Richard Burg, Steve Christoff, Mike Crowley, Richard Dougherty, Bryan Erickson, Craig Falkman, Gary Gambucci, Timothy Harrer, Paul Holmgren, Steve Janaszak, Reed Larson, John Mariucci, Jim Mattson, John Mayasich, Jack McCartan, Rob McClanahan, Murray McLachlan, Richard Meredith, Patrick Micheletti, Corey Millen, Louis Nanne, Wally Olds, Larry Olimb, Harold Paulsen, Mike Pearson, Mike Polich, Frank Pond, Michael Ramsey, Todd Richards, Larry Ross, William “Buzz” Schneider, David Snuggerud, Glen Sonmor, Robb Stauber, Eric Strobel, Steven Ulseth, Tom Vannelli, Phil Verchota, Gordon Watters, Murray Williamson, Doug Woog and Ken Yackel, Sr.

    The members of the all-time team were invited to attend the game and a dinner on Saturday night, where they will mingle with the current players.

    “That’s one of the reasons these kids wanted to come here — the tradition and some of the great players and names that have been associated with this program,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “What we’re trying to do is create some tradition of our own.”

    More Traditions

    Fan support for college hockey in Colorado keeps growing. That became crystal clear last Friday, when over 12,000 people attended games in Denver and Colorado Springs combined.

    The Tigers drew 6,437 to the World Arena for a game against Alaska-Anchorage and the Pioneers’ game against Alabama-Huntsville sold out with 6,091 fans at Magness Arena.

    CC has a strong following in Colorado Springs, but Denver has a much larger market in which to try to get attention.

    “People want to see not only competitive hockey, but they want to see successful hockey,” Gwozdecky said. “They want to see you win. And when you win, people start talking about it, they start getting excited about it, they start passing the word on. There’s an awful lot of interest in college hockey in the state of Colorado right now, with the success of all three teams [including Air Force].”

    He Said It

    Gwozdecky

    Gwozdecky

    “The thing that is so darn challenging is this league is very competitive. All you have to do to prove your case is go to the power rankings right now. If the national tournament was to start today, the WCHA conceivably could have six teams in the tournament.”

    — Gwozdecky, on the strength of the league.

    News and Views

  • The Pioneers’ series this weekend against Minnesota State-Mankato takes on added significance if you consider tiebreaking scenarios. The teams split the series in Mankato earlier this year, so a sweep by either team in Denver this weekend would also bring the tiebreaker. That’s an issue right now because Mankato is one point behind Denver and has played one fewer game. “For both teams this weekend, it’s going to be extremely challenging and competitive. There’s no question I think this race is going to go right down to the wire,” Gwozdecky said.
  • Part of the press box at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena will be named the Bob Olson Broadcast Center during Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival on Feb. 10. Olson is in his 30th year as the broadcaster for the Huskies.
  • Last week, North Dakota coach Blais said if one team swept the North Dakota-St. Cloud State series last weekend, that would pretty much do it for the race for first place. North Dakota swept. Wonder if we can hold Blais to that statement?
  • Despite the sweep, St. Cloud still needs only five more wins this season for a Division I team record for victories in a season. The Huskies had 23 wins last season and in 1996-97.

    On the Docket

    Next weekend is Winter Carnival in Houghton, Mich., and Mike Sertich and Michigan Tech have an interesting opponent. Minnesota-Duluth, Sertich’s old team comes to town for the always-interesting weekend.

    For the only time in the regular season, North Dakota and Wisconsin, the two teams that faced off in last year’s WCHA Final Five title game, get together next weekend in Grand Forks, N.D.

    Vote Now

    If you know of a player who doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, send an e-mail to [email protected] with the player’s name and why you think he deserves more attention than he gets. The all-underappreciated team will be making a return soon.

    • This Week In Division III: Feb. 1, 2001

    By
    -

    Another Marquee Weekend

    This coming weekend won’t feature as many critical games as we had last week, but there’s still a fair share of exciting games with serious playoff implications on tap.

    In the East, Norwich and Middlebury travel to Bowdoin and Colby in a clash of titans, and out West, it’s round one between Wisconsin-Superior and St. Norbert.

    Around the Leagues

    ECAC West

    The RIT-Elmira game lived up to expectations as RIT pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory in front of a capacity crowd of 3,314 at the Murray Athletic Center.

    The Tigers, getting a boost from the return of goaltender Tyler Euverman, who had missed the previous three games with a shoulder injury, took a 1-0 first-period lead on a Ryan Fairbarn goal. The Soaring Eagles got the crowd going with a pair of quick goals near the end of the second period to go into the locker room with a 2-1 lead. It was the first time the top-ranked Tigers had trailed after two periods all season.

    “The second goal (by Dean Jackson after Eddie Caissie had scored 20 seconds earlier) really frustrated me,” said RIT head coach Wayne Wilson. “In the second period Elmira outmuscled us for those two goals, and that is what we like to do to opponents. But between the second and third period I really challenged the guys and told them that Elmira was trying to take that number-one ranking away from us, and I thought we got a strong, gritty effort by everyone in the third period.”

    RIT responded with a pair of goals to regain the lead, but Elmira struck on a six-on-four with just 30 seconds left. With Mike Bournazakis in the penalty box for RIT and Elmira goaltender Rob Ligas on the bench, Mike Hulbig wristed a rebound past Euverman to tie the game.

    At 2:58 of overtime, Mike Bournazakis redeemed himself by tipping a shot by Jerry Galway past Ligas.

    “When Elmira tied the game, I though oh (darn), here we go,” said Wilson. “But the guys really bounced back well in the overtime.”

    How important was the game? RIT is now squarely in the driver’s seat. The ECAC West tiebreakers are head-to-head results (W-L-T, not goal differential), conference wins, record against common opponents, and overall record. Elmira is idle this weekend, but the Tigers are at Hobart Friday and Manhattanville on Saturday. A sweep should lock up home ice in the ECAC West playoffs, because even if RIT loses its final games to Hamilton and Elmira, the Tigers would still have a better record versus common opponents, and a better winning percentage. But the slightest slip by the Tigers this weekend opens the door again.

    ECAC East

    The Salem State Vikings, ranked eighth in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll, played two tough games at Norwich and Middlebury, but came away oh-for-Vermont, as so many teams have done in recent years.

    First Salem lost 3-2 at Middlebury, but the Panthers need overtime before putting the Vikings away. Shots were 38-13 in favor of Middlebury.

    On Saturday, Norwich defeated Salem 3-1 behind a two-goal performance from freshman Chris Petracco. The win gave the Cadets sole possession of first place with six games to play.

    Petracco had a great weekend, also scoring three goals against Southern Maine on Friday as the Cadets romped, 10-2. In each game, the rookie forward from Weston, Ont., scored more goals than Norwich’s opposition could muster.

    NESCAC

    Third-ranked Middlebury extended its winning streak to five with victories over Salem State and Southern Maine. The first-place Panthers’ lead over Colby is a single point, and the teams will do battle on Saturday. On Friday, Colby hosts Norwich and Middlebury will be at Bowdoin. Sounds like four great hockey games.

    Trinity stumbled again last weekend, losing 2-1 on home ice to Hamilton on Saturday. The Bantams, who led the NESCAC for most of the early season, now are three points out of first with six games to play.

    Watch out for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst pounded Hamilton (9-0) and Skidmore (8-2) last weekend to jump into the USCHO.com poll for the first time this season. USCHO Offensive Player of the Week Bob Miele led the way with six goals, all on the power play. Amherst, currently in fifth place in the standings, travels to Salem State and Southern Maine this weekend.

    SUNYAC

    With just a little over two weeks left in the regular season, fourth-ranked Plattsburgh holds a two-point lead over Potsdam in the standings. Each team has five league games left, including a showdown at Plattsburgh in the regular-season finale for both teams on February 13.

    Oswego began last weekend just two points out as well, but was upset at home by Geneseo, 4-3. The Lakers rebounded to defeat Williams 6-3 in a non-conference game on Tuesday by spotting the Ephmen a 3-0 lead before scoring the final six goals of the contest. Oswego travels to Buffalo State and Fredonia this weekend.

    Cortland took three of a possible four points last weekend to solidify its hold on the final playoff spot. The Red Dragons lead Buffalo State by three points with five to play. The two teams square off on Friday in Buffalo.

    ECAC Northeast

    Johnson & Wales and defending champ Wentworth are tied for first with identical 11-1 conference records. Each team has five games left, including what could be a showdown on February 18.

    Tufts trails by four points, but has two games in hand on the leaders. Lebanon Valley and Mass.-Dartmouth, which scored a big 5-4 over longtime rival Fitchburg State last Saturday, are also in the hunt.

    Only eight of the 14 Division III teams make the ECAC Northeast playoffs, and with just three weeks to go in the regular season, its time to start watching the teams on the bubble. It may turn into a battle of Massachusetts state schools, as Fitchburg, Worcester, Framingham and Plymouth are currently in positions six through 10. Stay tuned.

    NCHA

    The big game out west this weekend will be Friday, when first place St. Norbert hosts second-place Wisconsin-Superior. Both are top-ten teams, with the Yellowjackets holding the number-two spot in the USCHO.com poll, and St. Norbert ranked sixth.

    The teams will clash again on the final day of the NCHA regular season (2/10) at Superior, but if St. Norbert wins round one, and then sweeps last place St. Scholastica (just 1-9 in conference so far) then that last game will be meaningless.

    Third place Wisconsin-River Falls hasn’t fared well since the departure of star forward Shane Fukushima, losing three of its last four games. The Falcons have four games left: two against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and two against Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Pointers and Falcons are currently tied for third, along with Wisconsin-Stout. Home ice in the playoffs is on the line as one of those teams will be on the road in two weeks.

    MIAC

    It looked for a while like Concordia was going to run away with things, but the Cobbers have been pulled back into the pack in recent weeks. Concordia is just 3-3 in its last six conference games, while Bethel has gone 5-0-1 during that span to gain a first-place tie. St. Thomas has also come on, going 5-1 in its last six games to trail the leaders by a single point.

    St. John’s and Augsburg are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot, with St. Mary’s and St.Olaf’s hopes fading. The Cardinals have series remaining against Augsburg and St. John’s, so they might be able to sneak in if they can reverse a 1-7-2 skid. Ditto for the Olies, who have three series left against teams ahead of them in the standings.

    MCHA

    Northland took control of third place with a sweep of MSOE last weekend. Lumberjacks goaltender Brian Wilmot made 64 saves in 5-4 and 5-2 victories.

    That leaves MSOE and Lawrence to battle for the fourth and final playoff spot. The Raiders lead the Viking by two points in the standings, and have two games in hand. It may come down to the final weekend of the regular season, when the two teams square off in a weekend series.

    Correction

    In a recent column, I asked if anyone could recall a team sweeping Norwich and Middlebury, and I thought we had the answer when a reader from Colby remembered a 1996 sweep by the White Mules. But Timothy Michael Boyd recalls a November 1997 sweep by Connecticut College, which defeated Norwich 5-3 and Middlebury 4-3 on the opening week of the season.

    Picks

    Last week: 9-4
    On the season: 42-21-2 (.662)

    This week:

    Norwich at Colby (3/2) and Bowdoin (3/3) — This the second-toughest road trip in the ECAC East/NESCAC, and I think Norwich will struggle a bit. Colby 3, Norwich 2; Norwich 5, Bowdoin 4

    No. 3 Middlebury at Bowdoin (3/2) and Colby (3/3) — Middlebury is starting to peak and can pull away in the NESCAC with a sweep. Middlebury 2, Bowdoin 1; Middlebury 4, Colby 2.

    Geneseo at No. 4 Plattsburgh (3/2) — The Ice Knights are one of the most talented teams in the SUNYAC but have underachieved all season. They’re coming off a big win at Oswego. Can they do it again? Probably not. Plattsburgh 7, Geneseo 3

    Oswego at Fredonia (3/2) — The loser of this game is probably out of the running for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Can the Fredonia defense stifle one of the most potent offenses in D-III? Yes, but not enough to win the game. Oswego 3, Fredonia 1.

    No. 2 Wisconsin-Superior at No. 6 St. Norbert (2/2) — It doesn’t get much better than this. The teams will do it again the following weekend, but I think round one will go to the ‘Jackets. Wisconsin-Superior 5, St. Norbert 3

    This Week In The ECAC: Feb. 1, 2001

    By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
    -

    Five.

    Count them. Just five weeks left in the season. With only Harvard and Vermont a game up on everyone else, there’s a tie atop the ECAC standings and — as usual — a logjam right behind. Five weeks from now, who knows what things will look like. A full weekend of ECAC action coming right at ya!

    The North Country: or, Yale and Princeton Go North

    Don’t look now, but preseason favorite St. Lawrence is tied for first place in the ECAC in points, and leads percentage-wise. A 4-2 victory over Clarkson on Tuesday boosted the Saints into the lead and with the victory, the Saints are now 7-1-1 since the holiday break.

    logos/slu.gif

    “We have played pretty well since Christmas,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “But, we can’t afford to relent. We’ve got a big four-game homestand coming up and we want to just keep moving forward.”

    The Saints have gotten it from a variety of different areas. From scoring to defense to goaltending, there seems to be a different hero each night. Sean Coakley has picked up three straight wins and others such as Blair Clarance, Robin Carruthers and Russ Bartlett have started to put points on the board.

    The Saints could be hitting on all cylinders at just the right time.

    Clarkson was hitting its stride, but last week saw the Knights lose two of three to stem the momentum a bit. The Knights host Yale and Princeton and are hoping to get back into the swing of things with two weeks at home coming up.

    “This is a very important stretch to gain as much ground as we can, as we get closer to the end of the road,” said head coach Mark Morris. “Every game we can distance ourselves from other teams in the league will work to our advantage. We still have our eyes set on giving ourselves the best opportunity to be a championship team. At this stage of the year any slipup could cost you the positioning you need to be there when it really counts.”

    While the two North Country teams are playing their best hockey of the season, so is the little team from New Haven. After losing six out of seven games during the holiday season, the Yale Bulldogs have since put together a positive streak of their own, winning four of the last five games.

    The mini-turnaround came three weeks ago, after Yale returned from an embarrassing two-game series with Michigan State to post a 6-1 win over Brown. The Bulldogs then knocked off league-leading Harvard before collecting two non-league wins against Holy Cross and Notre Dame. Granted, there were no national powerhouses among the fallen group, but Yale did gain something from those three wins which had been sorely lacking since mid November — confidence.

    “It’s a relentless pressure we’ve got going now,” said Yale head coach Tim Taylor, who collected his 278th victory on Saturday night to tie Murray Murdoch for the most wins in school history. “If we can sustain our pressure, then eventually [opponents] crack.”

    Yale isn’t a team of surprises. The offense is anchored by the first line of Jeff Hamilton, Ben Stafford and Nick Deschenes. The defense can be solid, but lacks consistency, and goaltender Dan Lombard is typically at the mercy of the players in front of him. During the Bulldogs’ losing streak, Lombard had little support and was paying the price. Since that time, Taylor has focused his coaching efforts on developing a confidence between the defensive corps and Lombard. The result has been tighter checking and tracking, and fewer loose rebounds in front of the net.

    Regardless of those who will compare the player of two years ago to the one who takes the ice this weekend, Hamilton has been one of the best offensive players in the league this season. No other player means more to his team than Hamilton. If he struggles, there are very few other offensive weapons to shoulder the burden. After a six-point weekend against Holy Cross and Notre Dame, Hamilton is now eight points away from becoming Yale’s all-time career scoring leader.

    “Hamilton had one of his most dynamic games [against Notre Dame], though he wasn’t alone,” Taylor said. “That whole line is such a solid line for us, and I really trust them defensively now.”

    The team currently in the midst of the league’s longest losing streak is hapless Princeton. After gutting out some solid wins early in the season, the team has lost its last eight games — four being critical ECAC contests. Following the Tigers’ most recent loss — a 5-3 loss to Brown on January 13 — head coach Lenny Quesnelle spoke candidly about his team.

    “When you’re in this kind of slide, nothing seems to go right. [Against Brown,] we weren’t burying the goals early. It seemed like they were sprinting and we were skating at times.”

    Offensively, the team is averaging just over 2.5 goals per game, compared to the 4.0 the team averaged over its first nine games. With that said, however, the Princeton offense is not the determining variable. When the team feels confident on the ice, the points follow. The real problem has been the team’s susceptibility to defensive lapses, which have in turn caused a gradual eroding of confidence. During the early days of the eight-game losing streak, the Tigers were suffering heartbreaking losses. RPI, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin: right down the line, the team was constantly fighting back from deficits to lose by the slimmest of margins. Eventually the team began to show signs of defeat. The fight wasn’t there any more.

    After a three-week break for exams, Quesnelle is hoping that his team can return to the ice with a renewed spirit, both physically and emotionally. Thanks to its early-season play, the Tigers are in decent shape with 10 points heading into the final five weekends of league play.

    “We need a ‘W’ in the biggest way,” Quesnelle said. “We [had] three weeks off for exams. It’ll be a good time to get things together and get back on the right track.”

    Getting Together In New England

    It’s been a while since Harvard has been in this position. With five weekends left in the season, the team is tied for first place with 17 points and considered one of the teams to beat.

    Are you sure this is 2001 and not 1993?

    All joking aside, this current Crimson team is nothing like the Harvard teams of the past. Second-year head coach Mark Mazzoleni has successfully guided this team towards a more disciplined, consistent style of play. The offensive corps is relatively balanced, team speed is at an all-time high and the freshmen class is one of the best in the league. The one element that Mazzoleni lacks, however, is depth.

    Heading into the team’s last ECAC contest — a 3-1 loss to Yale in New Haven — the Crimson was without the services of three key players: Graham Morrell, Tim Pettit and Tyler Kolarik. And players on the ice such as the Moore brothers and Peter Capouch were playing with sore bodies.

    Now, with the team’s three-week exam break out of the way, it’s a fight to the finish for the Crimson. The gas tank has been refueled and the players, for the most part, have recovered physically from the first half of the season. A fully-loaded Harvard team is dangerous to any team in the league — that much has been proven. Now it’s just a matter of how long the Crimson can stay healthy. The sand in the hourglass is starting to fall.

    That makes the Cornell-Harvard game on Saturday night one of the most anticipated matchups of the season. Big Red fans will be entering Bright Hockey Center in huge waves — the game has been sold out for weeks. Cornell is surging right now, enjoying its status as the No. 14 team in the nation. And considering that the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie earlier this season at Lynah Rink, and that Cornell is a mere one point behind Harvard in the ECAC standings, this game is surely the ultimate rubber match.

    logos/cor.gif

    Cornell has experienced difficulties scoring this season, but its defense has been outstanding. The Big Red is allowing only 2.29 goals per game — tops in the league — while its penalty kill unit has been dominating with a .873 success rate. In the team’s last 12 ECAC games, the Big Red has allowed just four power-play goals (53-for-57 in kills). Ian Burt has done his job as well with a 1.80 goals-against-average; the senior netminder currently ranks fourth in the country in that category.

    The one area in which Cornell has not proven itself, however, is road toughness. The Big Red enter this weekend with a 5-4 record away from Lynah Rink. Three of the team’s next four weekends will be road series.

    For Bear fans, the good news is that Brown won its last ECAC game and is only one point out of a three-way tie for 10th place in the league. The bad news is that the Bears start off the final stretch against Cornell and Colgate — two teams who seem to have the Bears’ number. Both teams own the all-time series record and currently boast five-game unbeaten streaks against Brown.

    Head coach Roger Grillo can only hope that his team shrugs off its last three nonconference losses, against St. Cloud and Minnesota, and plays more like it did against Princeton and UMass-Lowell two weeks ago.

    “We worked hard all night,” said Grillo following his team’s 5-4 win over the River Hawks. “My hope for the future is we can start putting together efforts like that every night. It’ll take a lot more consistency to improve our results.”

    Seniors Matt Kohansky and Jon Zielinski have led the way for Brown offensively this season, combining for 33 points. Overall, the Bears have relied on two classes to pull the weight, as the seniors and sophomores have posted 85 of the team’s 123 total points. One sophomore — Keith Kurley — will make his return to the lineup this weekend against Cornell and Colgate, which Grillo hopes will provide his team with a much-needed offensive boost. Kurley is third on the Bears’ scoring list, posting four goals and five assists in 14 games.

    Despite the unforgiving series history, the Bears can take solace in the fact that they pulled out a tough 2-2 tie against the Big Red last season in Providence.

    “We need to get our goals against down,” said junior defenseman Josh Barker. “We are starting to score a good amount more, which helps. Once we can get in [the playoffs], anything can happen. It’s a tight league, and we can play with anybody.”

    There is probably only one other team in the league that needs a win worse than Brown — and that would be Colgate. It hasn’t been a stellar first half for the Red Raiders, especially for a team that typically peaks during the early stages of the season. The team is on a four-game winless streak and is tied for 10th place in the league with Union.

    Over the past two weeks, Colgate has been swept in two ECAC series — first in a home-and-away set against travel partner Cornell and then at home against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. In that four-game span, the Red Raiders were outscored by a 14-7 margin.

    “We’re at a point now where we can’t over-think things,” said head coach Don Vaughan. “We just have to start playing loose and try to keep it fun somehow. We need to play desperate. We’re in a situation where we have to string some wins together. We want to claw our way back into it.”

    The Rematches

    Due to an odd quirk in the schedule, these four teams are facing each other for the second week in a row. Last weekend it was in the Green and White Mountains; this time around, it’s in the Capital District.

    And, oh boy, is there something to talk about.

    Last Saturday in the ECAC Game of the Week, the Vermont Catamounts defeated Union, 6-3, but the story that lingers is that of Bryant Westerman going after Chris Hills of Vermont during the game. Westerman was given two game disqualifications for his actions, and the story continues this week.

    Sneddon

    Sneddon

    The ECAC is looking into the events, and they have rendered a decision as to whether head coach Kevin Sneddon’s postgame remarks warrant any additional actions. The ECAC ruled that the matter will be handled internally at Union by athletic director Val Belmonte.

    Belmonte did not say what actions would be taken and also told Ken Schott of the Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette that Sneddon was not in danger of losing his job.

    On the ice, the Cats finally broke through in calendar year 2001 with a victory after going 0-6-1 to start the year. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen continued their ECAC slide after getting swept by Dartmouth and Vermont. The Dutchmen are now 0-8-1 in their last nine ECAC games, including an eight-game losing streak. Also, be reminded that a win by Vermont would give head coach Mike Gilligan 400 in his career.

    Friday should be interesting at Achilles Rink.

    In Troy on Friday night, Dartmouth and Rensselaer butt heads once again. Dartmouth won on Saturday night, 2-1, on an early third-period goal by Trevor Byrne.

    “That was a well played hockey game,” said Engineer coach Dan Fridgen. “It was back and forth. It was real good college hockey game.”

    “Late last year these guys played in the playoffs and they nosed us out,” said Big Green coach Bob Gaudet. “Quite frankly, they were a better team than us last year. But we really gave them everything we could that second game. That’s the only real history for these guys, and the rest of it is the past.

    “I liked the way our team played this weekend. I like the way we found a way to win both games. Different games against different teams, and we found a way to win.”

    One oddity in that game was the fact that Rensselaer didn’t take a single penalty. Odd, because the Engineers are the most-penalized team in the ECAC, and because limited sources of research suggest that this may have been the first time in the modern era (1949-present) that the Engineers have not taken a penalty in a game.

    So, the quirk in the schedule finds these teams playing for a second game in a row.

    “I want the guys to remember this, and we’ll see them again on Friday,” said Fridgen.

    “It’s basically a two-game series with the first one being at home; that’s how we thought about it,” said Gaudet. “We did the same thing against Vermont, and we won the first game and then we went into their building. Well, we’ve got a week to prepare, and they have a week to prepare and then we play. So it will be a good test for us.”

    If It’s So Easy, You Try It

    Amazingly enough, the Iron Columnists are still undefeated. After we suffered our first non-win as Julian Saltman tied us, we came back in overtime to pick up another victory. Chairman Kaga is very pleased with us.

    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)

    If memory serves us right, even though you may reside in one place, your heart may still belong somewhere else. Such is the case with this week’s challenger. He no longer lives in the state of his team, but the torch burns bright. From afar, Steve Lombardo roots hard for his Engineers. But this week, he walks into another challenge. What will he bring into USCHO Stadium to try and defeat the Iron Columnists? Can he go where none has gone before? Whose picks will reign supreme?

    The Picks

    Friday, February 2
    Cornell at Brown
    Steve’s Pick – Brown continues to struggle but gives Cornell a tough game. Cornell 4, Brown 3, ot
    Becky and Jayson – Cornell 3, Brown 1

    Colgate at Harvard
    Steve’s Pick – Harvard is tough, but Colgate is looking to end a three-game slide. Colgate 3, Harvard 1
    Becky and Jayson – Harvard 4, Colgate 3

    Princeton at St. Lawrence
    Steve’s Pick – Long trip to Canton after a long break from league games will hurt Princeton. St. Lawrence 5, Princeton 1
    Becky and Jayson – St. Lawrence 6, Princeton 2

    Yale at Clarkson
    Steve’s Pick – Clarkson, as always, coming on strong at the end of the season, plus Yale is struggling. Clarkson 5, Yale 1
    Becky and Jayson – Clarkson 6, Yale 3

    Vermont at Union
    Steve’s Pick – Look for the Catamounts to repeat last weekend’s result. Vermont 4, Union 1
    Becky and Jayson – Union 3, Vermont 2

    Dartmouth at Rensselaer
    Steve’s Pick – Engineer fan until the end… The Houston Fieldhouse advantage helps. Rensselaer 3, Dartmouth 2
    Becky and Jayson – Rensselaer 4, Dartmouth 1

    Saturday, February 3
    Cornell at Harvard
    Steve’s Pick – Harvard looks to roll into the Beanpot tourney on a high note. Harvard 5, Cornell 3
    Becky and Jayson – Cornell 2, Harvard 1

    Colgate at Brown
    Steve’s Pick – Brown looks to keep its playoff hopes alive. Brown 3, Colgate 1
    Becky and Jayson – Colgate 4, Brown 2

    Princeton at Clarkson
    Steve’s Pick – Short trip from Canton after a tough loss, expect to see Princeton bounce back. Princeton 4, Clarkson 3
    Becky and Jayson – Princeton 5, Clarkson 3

    Yale at St. Lawrence
    Steve’s Pick – Appleton Arena… from experience, just a tough place to play in. St. Lawrence 5, Yale 2
    Becky and Jayson – St. Lawrence 7, Yale 4

    Vermont at Rensselaer
    Steve’s Pick – Vermont seeks revenge after last weekend and completes weekend sweep. Vermont 5, Rensselaer 3
    Becky and Jayson – Rensselaer 5, Vermont 3

    Dartmouth at Union
    Steve’s Pick – Union breaks conference losing skid and upends Dartmouth. Union 3, Dartmouth 1
    Becky and Jayson – Dartmouth 5, Union 4

    Monday, February 5
    Harvard vs. Boston College
    Steve’s Pick – Harvard is strong this year … but the bottom line is number 12, Brian Gionta … Boston College 4, Harvard 2
    Becky and Jayson – Harvard 4, Boston College 2

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

    Thanks to Dan Fleschner and Sean Peden for their contributions this week.

    This Week In The MAAC: Feb. 1, 2001

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    How ‘Bout Them Huskies?

    Dog owners out there will hopefully agree with me that the average Husky is no quiet animal. Maybe it’s not a bull in a china shop, but certainly, a Husky dog could do some damage if surrounded by $1M of crystal.

    That is, unless the Huskies in question are the UConn Huskies.

    Quieter than a church mouse, UConn has slowly glided into the upper tier of the MAAC. And, thanks to a 4-2 win over Quinnipiac last Saturday night, UConn has moved all the way up to third place, poised to make a run at the top.

    If you ask UConn coach Bruce Marshall about his climb to the top, he’s excited, but cautious.

    “It’s like we keep sending flowers, like we’re telling ourselves, ‘Everything is going to be okay,'” said Marshall, referring to what he believes has been an inconsistent effort from his club. “We have a good game and perform well against Quinnipiac, but then be a no-show against Bentley. We need to figure out if we’re going to come to play every night.”

    Now if anyone out there thinks UConn’s rise from the MAAC ashes is strange, let’s not forget history. Last season, the Huskies, who struggled at times, came from the number-four seed in the playoffs to win the second edition of the MAAC championships. And they did this after being on life-support during the quarterfinals, trailing Sacred Heart, 4-1, in that game before finally winning, 5-4.

    Some, too, may remember a season ago that the Huskies peaked come playoff time, as the month of January was actually uglier than Cinderella’s wicked step-sisters. A skid that began just about a year ago, with a 5-3 loss to Holy Cross, sent UConn into a tailspin, pitching six losses in eight games. But in mid-February, the Huskies pulled things together, starting with a sweep of Mercyhurst and ending with the Huskies carrying around the championship trophy late in March.

    Maybe this year, that streak is beginning a little bit earlier.

    “We have two goals. The first is to make the playoffs,” said Marshall. “Once we’ve achieved that, we want to get home ice.”

    Marshall realizes that his team currently sits only a point ahead of Quinnipiac and Canisius. Though Quinnipiac has struggled at home lately, over the years they’ve been thought of as a very tough opponent at home. Canisius, though, is even a more dreaded road opponent for the playoffs.

    “The way you look at it is, either you go to Buffalo or Buffalo comes here,” said Marshall referring to Canisius’ northern New York location.

    One key to UConn’s success thus far has been goaltending. After losing all-star goaltender Marc Senerchia to graduation last season, most thought that between the pips would be an area of concern for the Huskies. Enter rookie goaltenders Artie Imbriano and Jason Carey. Though young and inexperienced, both players have been asked to rise to the occasion at different points this season, and both have done so very well.

    Imbriano strung together some impressive performances earlier in the year, but as Marshall tells, has been hampered by injury of late.

    “Artie has played well for us, but he’s gotten a bit of a groin injury,” Marshall said. “He played with it and hid the injury as the typical rookie goaltender would, afraid of losing his spot [in the lineup]. But now we know about it and we’re treating it.”

    The injury, though, has led to an opportunity for Carey, who was named Rookie of the Week for his performance against Quinnipiac last weekend. Carey was used sporadically in the early parts of the season, but has started three of the last four MAAC games for UConn, posting a 3-0-1 record.

    “I think we’re deeper in [goaltending] than we were last year,” Marshall said. “[Imbriano and Carey] are constantly competitive with each other in a positive way.”

    The road to the end of the season, though, surely is no cakewalk for UConn. The Huskies face first-place Mercyhurst three times in 14 days, starting with this Friday night in Storrs. Road games against red-hot Canisius and AIC along with one more home game with Quinnipiac will make the month of February a challenge for UConn. Marshall is cautiously optimistic, though, about his team’s chances.

    “I look at [each week] as [a chance] to go anywhere from third to seventh if you don’t get any points,” Marshall said. “But [our current position in third place] is a good position to be in because if you split, everyone has to sweep to gain ground.”

    For now, though, Marshall and UConn are content to concentrate on the next challenge, that being Mercyhurst on Friday.

    Weekly Awards

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Co-Players of the Week:

    MARTIN PAQUET, SACRED HEART / K.C. FINNEGAN, ARMY So., F, St. Catherine, PQ / Sr., F, West St. Paul, MN

    Paquet recorded five points on three goals and two assists in victories over Bentley and Army. He scored two goals and added an assist in the 7-3 win over Bentley. In the 5-2 win over Army, he tallied a goal and an assist. Finnegan scored the game-winning goal with 8.6 seconds left in overtime in the 2-1 win over Quinnipiac. He scored two goals, including one shorthanded, in the 4-3 win over Canisius.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Goalie of the Week:

    BEN BRADY, IONA Sr., G, Anchorage, AK

    Brady played his best hockey of the season in a 4-2 win over Mercyhurst and a 3-3 tie with Canisius. Against Mercyhurst, he made 38 saves, including all 17 shots he faced in the third period. He stopped 28 of 31 shots in the tie with Canisius. He is now 6-1-1 in the MAAC with a .911 save percentage and a 2.94 goals against average.

    ITECH MAAC Hockey League Rookie of the Week:

    JASON CAREY, UCONN Fr., G, Oakdale, MN

    Carey had two strong performances in a 3-3 tie against Bentley and a 4-2 win over Quinnipiac. He played all 65 minutes and stopped 33 shots against Canisius. In the victory over Quinnipiac, he warded off 27 of 29 shots.

    Fairfield, Army Put on Thin Ice

    For the third time this season, the MAAC was forced to postpone a league game when Tuesday’s contest at Fairfield between the Stags and Army could not be played. The previous two cancellations this season happened when Mercyhurst’s flights out of Erie, Pa., were cancelled due to inclement weather. But Tuesday night’s problems were a little bit different.

    The ice at the Wonderland of Ice rink, a public skating rink in Bridgeport and the home rink of the Stags, was deemed unplayable. The reason: a faulty Zamboni. According to league officials, postponing the game was the best alternative because of the close geographic proximity.

    The problem, though, begs the question that many around college hockey already ask. Will the facilities in the MAAC ever improve?

    According to the league, the answer is yes. Though no sanctions have been put in place to force schools to play in Division I quality buildings, most schools in the MAAC are trying to either obtain new facilities or make renovations to existing ones.

    The problem, of course, is cost. The MAAC is considered a “cost-containment” league. In other words, all aspects of the league, from travel to scholarships to facilities, are designed for schools that currently do not have the budget to operate similar to an established Division I school like Boston College or Michigan State.

    But as the league attempts to become one of the big dogs, including receiving this season an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, one has to hope that the bid won’t be taken for granted. The MAAC and college hockey, in general, has to hope that teams in the league don’t simply rest on the fact that an automatic bid is awarded — rather, that the MAAC representative can be competitive in the tournament.

    A lot of that competitiveness will rest of the success of recruiting throughout the league. And, as most know, a major factor in recruiting is facilities.

    One league representative, though, says it’s a lot more.

    “It’s more than just the building. [Students] want good campus life, good education, an overall better situation.”

    Maybe so, and maybe facility improvements are expensive, but schools around the country are improving in this department. Hopefully the MAAC won’t get caught watching.

    Breaking the Ties

    With the middle of the pack in the MAAC standings looking tighter than a New York subway at rush hour, it’s time to visit how the MAAC tiebreaker will decide who finishes where.

    Specifically, the MAAC has put into place a new tiebreaker. Unlike past years, when the top criterion in breaking a tie was league wins, this year, the (more sensible) top criterion will be head-to-head record.

    This year’s criteria will be:

    1. Head-to-head record
    2. Most league wins
    3. Record against top seed (if a tie for first, top remaining seed)
    4. Coin toss

    One note: if the playoffs began today, Quinnipiac, which is currently in a tie for fourth place with Canisius, would travel to Buffalo. Canisius holds the head-to-head lead, 1-0, with two games left. The first of those two games is this Friday at Quinnipiac.

    Around the League

    AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL

    The Yellow Jackets defeated Quinnipiac, 4-3, on Friday night… American International hosts Holy Cross at 7:00 Friday night and plays at Bentley at 7:30 Saturday night… The Yellow Jackets netted three goals in the third period to complete the comeback win… Sophomore Andy Luhovy netted the game-winner with only 1:27 remaining in regulation. Luhovy also assisted on the game-tying goal earlier in the period. The forward now has 15 points on the season… Sophomore Alex Walsh netted two goals in the Yellow Jackets victory. Walsh has been an offensive terror with eight goals, including one assist, in only six games played. With his second goal of the night on Friday, he became the team leading goal scorer… Senior goalie Chance Thede played tough all night between the pipes for the Yellow Jackets. The captain stopped 40 shots in the win over the Braves.

    ARMY

    The Black Knights upset Quinnipiac, 2-1 in overtime, on Tuesday night, defeated Canisius, 4-3, on Friday night and lost to Sacred Heart, 5-2, on Saturday night… Army’s Tuesday night against Fairfield was postponed until February 20 because of poor ice conditions. They will travel to Bentley on Friday and entertain Iona at 7:00 Saturday night… Senior forward K.C. Finnegan, the ITECH/MAAC Co-Player of the Week, scored the game-winner with 8.6 seconds left in overtime in the win over Quinnipiac. He scored two goals, including one shorthanded, in the win over Canisius… Junior Tim Fisher scored goals against Quinnipiac and Canisius and had an assist against Sacred Heart, extending his point-scoring streak to six games, the longest of his career and the longest by an Army player this season. He has eight points during the streak… Army’s 2-1 overtime win over Quinnipiac was its first OT victory in more than two years. The last was a 5-4 sudden-death win over SUNY Brockport on Jan. 15, 1999. No current Army player had ever scored in OT until K.C. Finnegan’s goal… A sellout crowd of 2,809 watched the Army-Sacred Heart game Saturday night at Tate Rink. The attendance was a MAAC on-campus record for a regular season game.

    BENTLEY

    The Falcons tied Connecticut, 3-3, on Tuesday night and lost to Sacred Heart, 7-3, on Friday night and 4-2 to Fairfield on Saturday night… Bentley battles Army at 7:30 Friday night and American International at 7:30 Saturday night. Both games are at home for the Falcons… Freshman Joe Lovell chalked up four assists in three games last week. Lovell had two assists against Connecticut and two helpers in the loss to Fairfield. Lovell now has 11 points on the season for the Falcons, ranking him fourth on the team and tops among Bentley rookies… Bentley earned its first point at home this season with last Tuesday’s 3-3 tie against Connecticut. Freshman Mike Mulligan had two goals for the Falcons… Senior Ray DeVincent continues to play well in goal. In his last five games, DeVincent is 2-2-1 and has allowed 15 goals, lowering his goals against average to 4.85 this season. DeVincent made 27 stops on Saturday against Fairfield, four days after making 35 saves in a 3-3 tie with Connecticut.

    CANISIUS

    The Ice Griffs lost a road game at Army, 4-3, on Friday night and tied Iona, 3-3, on Saturday… Canisius has road games at Quinnipiac Friday night at 7:00 and at Connecticut 7:30 Saturday night… Canisius had their five-game winning streak snapped by Army in a 4-3 loss at Tate Rink at West Point… Junior forward Brad Kenny scored the game-tying goal with 1:10 remaining in the third period as the Ice Griffs tied Iona 3-3 in New Rochelle. Senior goalie Stephen Fabiilli stopped 40 shots for the Ice Griffs… The Ice Griffs defeated Quinnipiac, 4-2, on January 16 in Buffalo and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Connecticut on November 4 in Storrs, CT… Senior forward Todd Bisson notched a goal and an assist on the weekend to move to a tie for 4th place in the MAAC with 25 points … Junior forward Chris Duggan is tied for 4th in assists with 16.

    CONNECTICUT

    The Huskies tied Bentley, 3-3, on Tuesday night and defeated Quinnipiac, 4-2, on Saturday night… Connecticut entertains Mercyhurst at 7:30 Friday night and Canisius at 7:30 Saturday night… Senior forward Michael Goldkind tallied three points in UConn’s 1-0-1 week. Goldkind’s game-tying tally came with 9:00 remaining in regulation in UConn’s come-from-behind rally against Bentley on Tuesday. He also was credited with an assist on the game’s second goal, also scored in the third period. With the two-points, Goldkind hit the 100-point mark in his career in points scored. In UConn’s defeat of Quinnpiac, Goldkind assisted on a power play tally late in the second period to give UConn the 2-1 lead… Freshman goalie Jason Carey, the ITECH/MAAC Rookie of the Week, had two strong outings in net for UConn this week. Carey’s performance in UConn’s come-from-behind tie against Bentley was solid. He recorded 65:00 in net, stopping 33 shots on goal. Against Quinnipiac, Carey warded off 27 shots. His record is 4-3-1 overall and has made 10 appearances in goal so far this season.

    FAIRFIELD

    The Stags lost to Holy Cross, 6-5, on Friday night and beat Bentley, 4-2, on Saturday night… Fairfield’s Tuesday night contest vs. Army was postponed due to poor ice conditions at Fairfield’s rink. They play at Sacred Heart at 7:00 Friday night… Freshman Hunter Greeley recorded a goal and an assist in the loss to Holy Cross, and on Saturday netted pair of goals, including the game-tying tally in the win over Bentley. He currently ranks eighth in team scoring with seven points . All but one of Greeley’s seven points have come after the Christmas break… Dan Cotter, Bernie Gately, Tim Desmarais, and Jim Lubinski all recorded goals in the 6-5 loss to Holy Cross. Freshman goalie Bill Whitfield made 32 saves in just his fourth start of the season… Aaron Cardinal and Jim Lubinski each added tallies in the 4-2 win over Bentley. Freshman Craig Schnappinger was back in net for Fairfield and made 15 saves in the effort. His record now stands at 6-7-1 overall and 6-5-1 in the MAAC.

    HOLY CROSS

    The Crusaders beat Fairfield, 6-5, on Friday and lost, 4-3, to Mercyhurst on Saturday… Holy Cross goes on the road to battle American International at 7:00 Friday night and Sacred Heart at 5:00 on Saturday… Junior forward Pat Rissmiller had five points in the two games. He scored the game-winner and added two assists in the win over Fairfield and tallied a goal and an assist against Mercyhurst. The junior leads the team with 10 goals and is third in the MAAC in overall power play points … The Crusaders scored four third period goals, including three in a 42-second span, to defeat Fairfield… The loss to Mercyhurst on Saturday night snapped a five-game home winning streak for the Crusaders… Freshman goaltender Rick Massey made a career-high 42 saves in net for the Crusaders against Mercyhurst, including 18 in the second period… Friday night’s 6-5 win over Fairfield gave Holy Cross their season high in goals, assists, and points, and tied their season high in power-play goals … The Crusaders had a season-high five players tally multiple point nights against Fairfield.

    IONA

    The Gaels won a home game against Mercyhurst, 4-2, on Friday night and tied Canisius, 3-3, on Saturday… Iona plays at Army at 7:00 Saturday night in their only game next week… Senior goalie Ben Brady, the ITECH/MAAC Goalie of the Week, made 38 saves, including all 17 shots in the third period, in the win over Mercyhurst and stopped 27 shots in the 3-3 tie with Canisius… The Gaels 4-2 win over the Lakers was their first in six tries… Iona defeated Army, 6-3, on October 20 and the series is deadlocked at 2-2-1. Iona’s four goals against Mercyhurst were the most the Lakers have allowed against a MAAC opponent this year… Iona is 6-0-1 in their last seven conference games… Sophomore Mark Hallam scored the Gaels eighth shorthanded goal of the season versus Canisius… The 71 penalty minutes versus the Ice Griffs was a season high for the Gaels… Iona is 8-8-2 when the score first and 9-1-1 when leading after two periods.

    MERCYHURST

    The Lakers lost at Iona, 4-2, on Friday night and beat Holy Cross, 4-3, on Saturday night… Mercyhurst has road games at Connecticut at 7:30 Friday night and at Quinnipiac at 7:00 Saturday night… Freshman Adam Tackaberry leads the team in scoring with 26 points . The 11 goals tie him for first on the team… Mercyhurst’s 4-2 loss to Iona was the first ever against the Gaels . Iona was 0-for-2 on the power play against Mercyhurst and now have not scored a power-play goal against the Lakers in 16 opportunities lifetime. It marked the first loss for Mercyhurst in conference when tied after two periods… The Lakers are now 6-1 lifetime against Holy Cross. Senior Jeff Gould’s two assists in the game give him 12 against the Crusaders in six career games. Junior Tom McMonagle’s two goals give him seven in six career games against Holy Cross… Mercyhurst has now allowed more than two goals in just three conference games this season. They are 1-2 in those games.

    QUINNIPIAC

    The Braves lost to Army, 2-1 in overtime, on Tuesday night, 4-3 to American International on Friday night, and 4-2 to Connecticut on Saturday night… Quinnipiac entertains Canisius at 7:00 Friday night and Mercyhurst at 7:00 Saturday night… Freshman goalie Justin Eddy was consistent in goal for the Braves. In two losses, Eddy make 78 saves for a .928 save percentage while allowing just six goals. For the season, Eddy is 6-7-2 but has a 2.96 goals against average and .914 save percentage. He has recorded 30 or more saves eight times this season… The Braves have lost three straight games for the first time since the 1995-96 season. It is the Braves’ longest losing streak since they dropped five straight in the 1995-96 season. Quinnipiac recorded just five regular-season losses in its first two years in the MAAC Hockey League but already has six losses in 2000-2001… Quinnipiac is 8-3 at home so far this season but have lost three straight games at home for the first time… Quinnipiac had a season-low two penalty minutes in Friday’s loss to AIC… The Braves have just seven games with 12 or less minutes in penalties this season. They are 4-3 in those games.

    SACRED HEART

    The Pioneers defeated Bentley, 7-3, Friday night and Army, 5-2, Saturday night… Sacred Heart hosts Fairfield at 7:00 Friday night and Holy Cross at 5:00 on Saturday… Sophomore Martin Paquet, the ITECH/MAAC Co-Player of the Week, recorded five points on three goals and two assists. He scored two goals and tallied an assist in the win over Bentley. In the victory over Army, he scored a goal and added an assist… The Army game was the 200th game in the seven-year history of the program. The Pioneers are 85-109-9 in that time. It was also Head Coach Shaun Hannah’s 60th win with the Pioneers. He has a 60-69-7 record in five seasons at Sacred Heart… The Sacred Heart special teams have been active this season. The Pioneers have scored 18 power-play goals in 93 chances and have killed off 112-of-131 power plays… Senior Eric Drake passed Jim Heffernan for third place on the all-time career list for assists. Drake has 38 assists in his four-year career. He is also six games away from breaking Paul Adimando’s 108 career games played record.

    ECAC Looking Into Union-UVM Incident

    By Adam Wodon
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    The ECAC is investigating Saturday night’s fighting incident between Union’s Bryant Westerman and Vermont’s Chris Hills. League officials have spoken with the athletic directors of the two schools over the past two days.

    Westerman was given two game disqualifications for attacking Hills during Vermont’s win Saturday. Both players were given fighting majors as a result of the melee, during which Westerman pummelled Hills even well after the referees tried to break things up.

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    ECAC hockey commissioner Steve Hagwell said he had a discussion today with Union AD Val Belmonte, and is waiting to hear back from him regarding what actions Belmonte may take internally.

    “We’re not going to step on their toes,” said Hagwell. “Will [what Union does] play a role in what we do? Certainly. In my conversations, we left it that we would get back to each other. [Belmonte] needs to have a chat with his coach and player.”

    Also at issue are post-game comments made by Union coach Kevin Sneddon, who defended Westerman and said that his actions were in retaliation for a number of flagrant hits by Hills on Union players.

    Sneddon

    Sneddon

    “He did the right thing,” Sneddon said after the game, which was televised as part of the ECAC Game of the Week package. “I’m not going to get mad at him for it. He’s a tough kid. When our guys are taken advantage of, guys should stick up for each other. We all felt that [Hills] was taking advantage of our guys. He had three pretty dangerous hits. To Westy’s credit, he’d seen enough.”

    Hagwell said those comments were brought to his attention, and he spoke to Sneddon about them.

    “He did not refute that he made those comments,” Hagwell said. “He explained to me the context that it was in, and the mindset he had at the time.”

    Sneddon, who is known to be quite open with the media, defended his comments in Ken Schott’s article Wednesday in the Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette.

    “I’m not going to fault our kids for sticking up for each other,” he said to the Gazette. “At the same time, I’m not condoning that there’s a place in college hockey for fighting. I’m not extremely happy that on the ECAC game of the week that [the fight] is a reflection of our program. But, at the same time, our guys stuck up for each other. It’s one of the first times we stuck up for each other all season.

    “I called Steve earlier in the week to say I should have said, ‘No comment’. But in the heat of the battle right after the game, when you ask those kind of questions, I’m going to try to be truthful.”

    Having the game televised may not be a good reflection on Union, but it makes the facts easier to evaluate.

    “[Vermont AD] Rick Farnham [called] to touch base,” Hagwell said. “They had a tape, they saw that Union’s player was the aggressor. I think that’s clear to anyone watching the tape.”

    Said Sneddon, “Hills’ hits are also being reviewed by Hagwell to see if any of them are illegal.”

    Hagwell said the ECAC could decide to impose further discipline on Westerman, who already received a three-game suspension as a result of the penalties incurred during the game. Sneddon, too, could be disciplined for his comments. For now, however, the league will await Union’s internal reaction.

    MIAC Newsletter: Jan. 31, 2001

    By Jim Cella
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    With three weeks left in the MIAC schedule the title race has three teams battling for the driver’s seat, and five teams within five points of the final playoff spot. Concordia and Bethel are in the front seat and control their own destiny. St. Thomas is trying to sneak over from the back, and St. John’s and Augsburg are hanging on by the back bumper.

    Last weekend brought the pack closer together as Concordia split with St. John’s, while Bethel, St. Thomas and Augsburg swept their series. The biggest impact was made on the Minnesota-North Dakota border, where St. John’s went into Concordia’s home rink and almost swept itself back into the race for first place.

    The Cobbers, after threatening to run away and hide in the early weeks, have split their last three series and find themselves tied with Bethel as St. Thomas nips their heels. Three of the bottom four teams were swept, yet still cling to the chance of making the playoffs.

    As the race enters another pivotal weekend, several teams have make-or-break series. St. Mary’s hangs on to slim playoff hopes, and has a huge series with Augsburg. St. Olaf, like St. Mary’s, is dangling by a thread and has to play third place St. Thomas in a series that will decide if the Oles will break out the bats or settle in for a run at the playoffs.

    Team-By-Team Report

    Augsburg

    Augsburg stuck to the same script in its weekend sweep of Hamline; score in bunches early and then hang on for dear life. On Friday night the Auggies jumped to a 7-2 lead and then settled for a 7-5 victory. On Saturday the Auggies scored five straight goals to open the game, then battened down the hatches to stave of the Piper storm and win 6-4. Tim Olsen scored two goals and added an assist in the first game, while five different Augsburg players scored to start the second game. Brad Holzinger added a second to provide all the insurance the Auggies would need. The Auggies play an important series this weekend with St. Mary’s before finishing with St. Olaf and Bethel.

    Bethel

    Like a piece of gum you can’t shake off your shoe, Bethel refuses to let go of its hold at the top of the MIAC. After starting the MIAC season 3-3, including being swept at conference co-leader Concordia, the Royals have responded with a six-game unbeaten string. This stretch leaves them in a first-place tie, and puts them in a position to win the MIAC championship, or at least make the playoffs for the first time ever. Last weekend Bethel swept St. Olaf 6-2 and 5-4. In the first game Bethel was down 2-1 late in the second period before rattling off five straight goals. Chad Anderson and Chris Carroll had two goals apiece. In the series finale the two teams were deadlocked at 4-4 after two periods before Mike Marshall scored the game-winner at 15:24 of the decisive third period. The Royals have been sparked by the play of goaltender Steve Witkowski, who has won five out of the last six games since taking over the starting spot on a full-time basis. The Royals take a break from MIAC play and host Lawrence on Saturday. Their final two MIAC series are against St. Thomas and Augsburg.

    Concordia

    A funny thing happened on Concordia’s way to a wire-to-wire championship — the rest of the league found a higher gear. The Cobbers, who have been three games in front of the pack since early December, suddenly find themselves tied in the standings and in the middle of a title race. This storyline is playing out due to three consecutive split series. The latest stumble was against St. John’s, where Concordia lost the first game 3-2 and needed third period heroics in the second game to win 4-2. Concordia has been led all season by All-American goalie Bryan Howard, and the series against the Johnnies played out the same. Concordia struggled on Friday night, but was kept close by Howard’s steady influence and almost scored the tying goal late in the game. On Saturday, Concordia scored two goals in the third period to pull away from St. John’s. The two teams were tied after two periods before the Cobbers were able to pull away, and remain atop the MIAC. Jon Tranby scored the ga me-winner at 2:53 of the third period, and St. John’s would have no answer. Howard had 25 saves on the afternoon and upped his league leading win total to eight. The two teams combined for 29 penalties and 82 penalty minutes. Concordia has the easiest schedule left among the top teams, as they have two series left, both at home and against the bottom two teams in the conference; Gustavus and Hamline.

    Gustavus

    Gustavus was the only team idle in MIAC play last weekend. They used the gap to play a tough home series against MCHA leader UM-Crookston. After opening the 2001 calendar year by taking three out of four points from Augsburg and being swept St. John’s, the Gusties were looking for consistency, but failed to find the answer. On Friday Gustavus scored first, but then collapsed on defense, and gave up four straight goals to lose 4-1. On Saturday Gustavus took control early, and put the game out of reach by scoring five straight goals. Senior defensemen Ben Puder was the unlikely offensive hero as he scored two of the first three goals. The Gusties played all four goaltenders in the series. First-year goalie Dan Melde held the statistical edge among the four, as he earned the win on Saturday and stopped all seven shots he faced. Gustavus travels to Concordia for a spoiler series this weekend before finishing the season with Hamline and St. Mary’s.

    Hamline

    Two five-goal periods spelled doom for Hamline in its series against Augsburg. In two of the six periods over the weekend the Pipers allowed 10 goals, while in the other four periods they allowed just three. On Friday, a 7-5 loss, the second period was the culprit and in Saturday’s 6-4 loss the first period sealed the Pipers fate. The shot count told a similar story as the Pipers were outshot 34-16 in the two decisive periods, and held the advantage in the other four 57-40. Troy Urdahl scored three goals on the weekend. Despite their 2-8 mark in conference, Hamline has the third best overall record at 9-10. Hamline plays a home-and-home series with St. John’s before finishing with Gustavus and Concordia.

    St. John’s

    So close and yet so far. St. John’s was 20 minutes away from sweeping league-leading Concordia and busting the league wide open, but had to settle for a split and remain battling for the fourth playoff spot. In the first game the Johnnies, behind back-up goalie Adam Laaksonen stifled Concordia’s attack, and scored twice in 1:27 in the third period to take a decisive 3-2 victory. John Konrad and Shane Taylor made the most of a defensive lapse, and gave the Johnnies the lead they would not relinquish. On Saturday the teams were tied at two after two periods. St. John’s came out flying in the third period only to be derailed by two penalties right before each of Concordia’s goals. The Cobbers first goal of the period came 13 seconds after St. John’s had killed off a power play. The second goal came six seconds after the St. John’s penalty kill unit had done their job. St. John’s had several chances to score after the final goal at 8:32, but each time they were denied by Concordia goaltender Bryan Howard. St. John’s has a must-win series against Hamline.

    St. Mary’s

    After free-falling down the MIAC standings, St. Mary’s still clings to playoff hopes. The Cardinals have not won a league game since they beat Hamline November 11, but have three series remaining, two against other playoff contenders, and could still steal the fourth playoff spot. St. Mary’s was swept by third-place St. Thomas last weekend. On Friday they allowed the Tommies to score four goals before they found their legs and played even the rest of the game. The four first period goals proved to be the difference in the 8-4 loss. Ryan Stinson had two goals in the losing effort. The two teams combined for 85 shots in an offensive explosion. The second game found St. Mary’s tied after one period, but then the Tommies scored three unanswered goals, two in the second period and the third nine minutes into the third, to take a commanding 4-1 advantage. Matt Hangge got St. Mary’s within two, but St. Thomas shut the door and scored one final goal to push the final margin to 5-2. Dan Byr on took the loss in goal for the Cardinals, despite stopping 29 of the Tommies’ 34 shots on goal. St. Mary’s plays Augsburg this weekend and then St. John’s, before finishing with Gustavus.

    St. Olaf

    Close only counts in horseshoes, etc. Don’t tell that to St. Olaf, which took MIAC co-leaders Bethel to the wire in both their weekend losses. In both games St. Olaf was tied, or in the lead, late in the second period, and both times they came away with a case of the what-ifs. In the Friday game, St. Olaf and Bethel were battling to a 2-2 tie with 20 seconds left in the second period when Bethel scored the decisive goal. The Oles couldn’t recover and fell off 5-2. ‘What if’ — what if Bethel didn’t score just before the end of the period and the game was tied in the third. On Saturday St. Olaf stood on familiar ground, tied late in the second period. This time they stayed even until late in the third period when Bethel broke through on the power play. ‘What if’ number two — what if St. Olaf didn’t take three consecutive penalties in the third period and have their penalty kill unit allow a goal on the final power play. Six different players scored in the series with Justin Simison tallying three points to lead the Oles. St. Olaf takes on the hottest team in the MIAC, St. Thomas for a home-and-home series.

    St. Thomas

    Don’t look now, but they’re back. Like Jason rising from the dead, St. Thomas has dusted itself off and is steamrolling towards the top of the MIAC. The Tommies have won five straight, and are tucked right behind co-leaders Concordia and Bethel. The difference has been a Steve Aronson-like performance from Tommie junior forward Tony Lawrence. Lawrence has a torrid 10 goals in the last five games. In the series against St. Mary’s, Lawrence had four goals and an assist on Friday and two goals on Saturday. He is turning St. Thomas into title contenders for the fourth straight season. In the first game he pulled the trifecta by scoring on the power play, at even strength and shorthanded. This offensive output helped the Tommies to take a 4-0 lead after the first period and coast to a 8-4 victory. On Saturday, with the game in the balance and St. Mary’s starting to press the attack, Lawrence reeled off two straight goals and put the game out of reach at! 5-2. Two games, six goals, one assist and an awfully sore back. Another reason for the success is the improving play of goaltender Brad Moore. In the past five games he has a goals against of 2.40. St. Thomas has two series left, this weekend against St. Olaf and a February 9 and 10 showdown with Bethel.

    Series of the Week: Augsburg vs. St. Mary’s

    Augsburg is tied with St. John’s for the fourth and final playoff spot. St. Mary’s is four points behind, and desperately clinging to playoff aspirations. The Auggies have won three of four league games, while the Cardinals haven’t won in the league since November 11. Last year the teams were in a similar spot and Augsburg swept St. Mary’s, 10-1 and 4-2. The sweep catapulted Augsburg towards a second-place finish, while St. Mary’s slid all the way down to seventh place.

    ECAC West Newsletter: Jan. 31, 2001

    By
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    RIT Squeaks By Elmira To Stay In First Place

    It took overtime to decide a barnburner at the Domes, but RIT scored in the extra stanza to remain in first place in the league with a 4-3 win over Elmira. Manhattanville moved up into a tie for second place by defeating Hobart 5-1.

    A little change in format for this week’s column. Overviews of league games will be covered in a head-to-head format. An overview of non-league action as well as news about the teams can be found in the regular Team-by-Team Report after the league contest review. Let me know what you think about this new format, likes or dislikes, at [email protected].

    League Game Overview

    RIT at ELMIRA (1/27): RIT visited Elmira on Saturday to renew the longstanding rivalry between these two teams. The Tigers got on the board first at 3:29 of the opening period when Ryan Fairbarn scored from the top of the slot. The early goal by RIT seemed to take some of the wind from Elmira’s wings for a few minutes, but by the middle of the first period, Elmira was taking the play to RIT with a vengeance. The Soaring Eagles dominated play at times, particularly in the second half of the second period, with a forecheck that just gave RIT fits. The work finally paid off when Eddie Cassie scored to tie the game at 18:32 as he swatted in a bouncing puck from the slot. Dean Jackson notched a tally just 20 seconds later to give Elmira the 2-1 lead.

    RIT came out with renewed fire early in the third period. Peter Bournazakis scored a power-play goal at 6:20 to tie the game. And then Brian Armes scored at 9:16 to give RIT back the one goal lead. A late Tiger penalty proved the right time for Elmira coach Glenn Thomaris to pull his netminder with 1:02 remaining and Elmira down 3-2. The strategy ploy worked to perfection. A scramble in front of the Tiger net led to Mike Hulbig collecting the puck and scoring to send the Thunderdome crowd in to hysterics and the game into overtime. Elmira started out strong in overtime, but the Soaring Eagle shots went wide of the net. Mike Bournazakis was the hero for RIT, scoring 2:58 into overtime to give RIT the 4-3 victory and keep the Tigers in the top spot in the league. Tiger netminder Tyler Euverman, returning from a shoulder injury, made 33 of 36 saves on the night, while Rob Ligas stopped 47 of 51 shots for Elmira.

    HOBART at MANHATTANVILLE (1/27): Hobart and Manhattanville battled to move up in the standings on Saturday. The Valiants got two quick goals early in the first period on unassisted efforts by Sean Keane and Chris Seifert.

    “We got off to a great start. We played very well for the first two periods and had a pretty good workmanlike effort from everyone,” said head coach Keith Levinthal.

    The second period was the Tommy Prate show, as he notched two goals to give the Valiants a commanding 4-0 lead. Prate currently leads Manhattanville in scoring with 16 goals and 12 assists.

    “Prate has been quietly picking up goals of late,” said Levinthal. Manhattanville got into some penalty trouble in the third period, and Hobart enjoyed the power play for most of the play. The Statesmen took advantage with a power-play goal at the 5:14 mark when Brad Kelly scored. But that was the only shot, of 29 total, that Hobart could get by Valiant netminder Jon Peczka in the game. Manhattanville won 5-1 to move into a tie for second place with Elmira.

    Team-By-Team Report

    RIT (ranked No. 1): With two wins last week, RIT is off to its best start in school history with an 18-0-1 record. The Tigers surpassed the old record of 17-0-1, set back in the ’63-’64 season.

    RIT opened the week at Brockport, and crushed that faltering program 14-2. The Tigers double up on shots against Brockport 74-37, with Tiger backup netminder Rob Boope making 30 saves on the 32 shots that he faced before being relieved in net by Matt Hrivnak who went 5-for-5. The Bournazakis brothers led the way offensively for RIT, each notching a hat trick and an assist for four point nights. Freshman Mike Tarantino also chipped in four points, with two goals and two assists.

    Two more league contests are on tap this week for RIT. The Tigers play at Hobart on Friday, and then continue on to downstate NY to take on Manhattanville on Saturday.

    ELMIRA (ranked No. 5): One win and one loss this week left Elmira on the verge of its 500th all-time win. The Soaring Eagle record currently stands at 499-231-18.

    The Soaring Eagles started the week out against Cortland. The Red Dragons came out well rested and outshot Elmira 14-4 in the first period.

    “We weren’t as sharp as we have been,” said coach Glenn Thomaris. “They were well rested, and we were a little tired.”

    Goaltender Rob Ligas kept the Cortland onslaught off the board, and his offense took over in the second period. Dean Jackson got a pair of goals less than one minute apart early in the second period to get Elmira rolling. Steve Kaye chipped in another goal at 9:03, and Jay Zanleoni notched a tally at 16:37 to stake Elmira to a 4-0 lead.

    But penalty trouble, including a major, by Elmira gave Cortland the opportunity to climb back into it. Cortland ripped off three straight goals to make the score 4-3 by early in the third period. Elmira clung to the slim lead for the remainder of the game for the victory.

    With this win, Elmira extended its winning streak to eleven games, going all the way back to late November. Since the winning streak started, “we have gotten a lot better. Robbie (Ligas) is playing better in net, and the freshman have become more confident,” said Thomaris. Unfortunately, the streak came to an end against RIT on Saturday.

    Elmira takes a break from play this week. The Soaring Eagles will next take the ice on February 9 against Manhattanville.

    MANHANTTANVILLE: After a rocky 0-3-1 start to the new year, the Valiants have now strung together three good wins and look to be back in form. “I think we learned some things up in Oswego a couple of weeks ago,” said coach Keith Levinthal. “They are very team focused, and we needed to see that to remind us where we wanted to be.”

    Manhattanville defeated Williams 4-1 in non-league play this week . Jon Peczka was a standout in net, stopping 26 of the 27 shots that he faced, including helping to keep Williams 0-for-6 on the power play.

    “Jon’s a big kid who fills the net up a lot. But we have been playing well defensively, and Jon made the saves that he needed to,” said Levinthal.

    After a scoreless first period, Kenny Hood got the Valiants on the board early in the second period. Tommy Prate notched a power-play goal midway through the period, before Williams put in a goal, to end the period with Manhattanville enjoying a slim 2-1 lead. Dave Schmalenberg stepped up in the third period to seal the Valiant victory.

    “He’s been playing extremely well of late, and probably is one of the best freshmen not only in the ECAC West, but in the nation as a whole,” said Levinthal. Schmalenberg stuffed in an even-strength goal midway through the period, and then added an empty netter with 29 seconds remaining to cap the win.

    The Valiants have the busiest week of all the ECAC West teams. They start at Skidmore on Tuesday, return home for a quick one-game homestand against RIT on Saturday, and are then off to Curry on Monday.

    HOBART: Hobart began the week in a wild back and forth affair against Buffalo State. This contest was extremely even, both teams had 42 shots, both teams had five power plays, neither team led by more than a goal, and the game ended in a 5-5 tie. Can’t get more even than that.

    Sean Elliott notched the only goal in the first period, to give Hobart the 1-0 lead, as the teams felt each other out. They exchanged a goal each in the second period, with Greg Reynholds scoring for Hobart, and the Statesmen held on to a 2-1 lead after two periods. But the offensive fireworks started early in the third. Buffalo State notched two early goals to take its first lead of the contest 6:02 into the third period. Hobart answered back with goals by Greg Reynholds and Tim McCarthy, and it was Hobart up 4-3 at the 12:46 mark. Buffalo State ripped off two more quick goals to regain its lead. But once again the Statesmen answered right back with another goal by Tim McCarthy just 23 seconds after the last Bengal goal. The game was now knotted 5-5, and that was how it ended after overtime.

    Hobart opens this week’s contests at Hamilton on Tuesday. Then the Statesmen return home to host RIT on Friday.

    Game Of The Week

    There aren’t really any standout games on tap this week. Probably the most interesting will be RIT as it continues its road trip through the ECAC West. Can RIT sweep Hobart and Manhattanville to remain undefeated? Or will either the Statesmen or Valiants (or both) play the spoiler, knocking the Tigers off their pedestal?

    SUNYAC Newsletter: Jan. 31, 2001

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    It Was Good To Be Home: Conference Play Heats Up Action

    Conference play resumed last week in the SUNYAC, and out of all the games only one was won by a visiting team. That one was Geneseo upsetting Oswego, dropping the Lakers into third place.

    Potsdam remained in second thanks to a pair of victories, neither of which came easy. Plattsburgh also swept, and thus also remained in its first place position. Meanwhile, Fredonia dropped both games, losing ground to the leaders, but remained in fourth place — albeit tied with Geneseo, which grabbed three points out of the weekend. Buffalo State was brought back down to Earth with a pair of losses, Cortland gained some distance for the last playoff spot, and Brockport remains in the cellar.

    Team By Team Report

    PLATTSBURGH (Ranked No. 4) — The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead over Fredonia State on goals by Paul Dowe, Mark Coletta on the power play, and Bryan Murray. Then, Plattsburgh State had to hang on for the win as Fredonia came back to score twice. Plattsburgh’s defense is what won the third period as the Cardinats allowed just three shots on goal. Niklas Sundberg made 14 saves. The next night, it took Plattsburgh till the third period to shake a pesky Buffalo State squad for an eventual 7-1 victory. After Rob Retter gave the Cardinals a first period lead, Buffalo State tied it in the second on a shorthanded goal. Plattsburgh retook the lead 31 seconds later on a power-play goal by Eric Weidenbach. Weidenbach scored again before the second period was out. The third period was all Plattsburgh’s, with four more goals thanks to Derrick Shaw, Brendon Hodge, Jeff Hopkins, and Coletta. Plattsburgh hosts Geneseo and Brockport looking to hold first place.

    POTSDAM — The Bears did what they needed to do by sweeping the weekend, and got a little help to claim sole possession of second place. However, it wasn’t easy. Against the upstart Buffalo State Bengals, Potsdam State found themselves in a 4-1 hole entering the third period. Then, Potsdam exploded for five goals for the 6-4 comeback victory. Mike McCabe got a hat trick which included the last two goals. David Weagle got a pair of goals and Kevin Shaver got one. Ryan Venturelli was replaced by Todd Manley after letting in the first three goals. The next night, Venturelli was back on top of his game earning a shutout over Fredonia State, 2-0. Despite 60 minutes of hockey and Potsdam getting off 42 shots on goal, all the scoring occurred in an 8 second span in the second period. Brian Rice scored with the Bears up by two men, and before anyone could settle back into their seats Brett Joly scored with Potsdam skating with one extra man. The Bears remain home taking on Brockport and Geneseo in a weekend they cannot afford to become lackadaisical, before heading to Hobart for a non-conference game.

    OSWEGO — The Lakers breezed through their first game only to stumble in their second. Oswego State shutout Brockport State, 7-0, outshooting the opposition, 60-20. Only Mike Lukajic had a multi-goal game as he scored twice.  Joe Pecoraro, Nate Elliott, Chris DiCarlo, Rob Smith, and Kevin Klesspies also scored. Joe Lofberg and Nate Spadafore shared the duties in net for the goose egg. The next night, Oswego came out flat and didn’t wake up till the final nine minutes, but it was too little too late as they were upset by Geneseo State, 4-3. DiCarlo did give Oswego a 1-0 lead, and Joe Carrabs tied it up while shorthanded late in the second. However, Geneseo scored two quick goals early in the third, and despite outshooting Geneseo in that period, 16-8, Oswego could only muster one more goal by Pecoraro. Oswego then had a non-conference game against Williams College, and after falling behind 3-0, scored six goals in the final 23:12. Cavallaro got a pair. Carrabs, Matt Vashaw, DiCarlo, and Kris Harris scored. Lofberg got the win with 28 saves. Oswego travels to Fredonia and Buffalo State as they attempt to at least stay in third place.

    FREDONIA — It was a devastating weekend for the Blue Devils. Fredonia State came into this weekend playing their best hockey of the year. They were also just one point out of second and three behind first. When it was all over, they fell five points out of second and seven out of first. And both games were tight contests. Against Plattsburgh, they fell behind 3-0, but fought back only to fall short, 3-2. Dan Showalter scored late in the second and Dave Mugavero scored 24 seconds into the third. However, Fredonia only got three shots off in that final period, and thus could not tie the game. Will Hamele made 28 saves. Against Potsdam, they played another low scoring defensive battle. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils got themselves into penalty problems late in the second, and let up two power-play goals within 8 seconds of each other, losing the game, 2-0. Hamele made 40 saves. Fredonia returns home to face Oswego and Cortland in must win games if they want to hang on to home ice advantage for the first round.

    GENESEO — The Ice Knights were the only team to put a little bit of a monkey wrench in the standings this week by upsetting Oswego, 4-3. First they tied Cortland State, 2-2. Geneseo State took a 2-0 lead on goals by Scott Lephart and Tony Scorsone. They couldn’t hang onto the lead in the final 10 minutes of the game, and had to settle for the tie. Kevin Koury made 33 saves. In the Oswego game, they were able to hang onto a two goal lead for a win. Bryan Bowser and Jack Staley scored in the first to give Geneseo a 2-1 lead. After Oswego tied it in the second, Aaron Coleman and Peter Boudette opened the third with goals for a 4-2 lead that held up. Koury made 25 saves including 15 in the third period. The Ice Knights visit Plattsburgh and Potsdam. They need to steal some points if they wish to alleviate any pressure on them for the final three games of the season.

    CORTLAND — The Red Dragons came away with three very important points after tying Geneseo State, 2-2, and defeating Brockport State, 5-2. Against Geneseo, Cortland State needed to score twice in the final 10 minutes to erase a 2-0 deficit and earn the tie. Scott Louis and Mike Pelletier did the honors. John Larnerd made 27 saves. Cortland then defeated Brockport, 5-2, with all the scoring completed in the first two periods. Cortland held 1-0, 3-1, and finally 5-2 leads. Greg Menchen scored a pair. Single tallies went to Dave Ambuhl, Ryan Schmidt, and Louis. Larnerd made 26 saves. Cortland travels to Buffalo State and Fredonia, with the first game going a long ways to deciding who gets the final playoff spot.

    BUFFALO STATE — For the first two periods of each game this past weekend, it was starting to appear that Buffalo State was indeed going to make their mark in the second half of the season. However, the final period proved to be their downfall. The Bengals took a 3-0 then 4-1 lead against Potsdam State heading into the third. Goals were scored by Jad Ramsay, Joe Urbanik, Todd Nowicki, and Mark Yoder. Then the roof caved in, and Buffalo State surrendered five goals in the third to loss 6-4. Against Plattsburgh State, the Bengals once again hung in tough for the first two periods. After Plattsburgh scored in the first, Todd Nowicki tied it on a shorthanded goal. However, Plattsburgh retook the lead on the same power play and then scored again late in the second to take a 3-1 lead into the third. Once again, Buffalo State was overwhelmed in the final period, letting up four goals to eventually lose, 7-1. The Bengals return home to take on Cortland in a must win game for the last playoff spot and then face off against Oswego.

    BROCKPORT — The Golden Eagles dropped both their contests, remaining winless in league play. Although down only 1-0 after the first period, their game against Oswego State was never really in doubt. Brockport State was pelted with 60 shots on net eventually dropping a 7-0 decision. The next night was a bit more competitive as Brockport lost to Cortland State, 5-2. Darren Kennedy tied the game up in the first period. After falling behind 3-1,  Casey Firko cut the lead to one. However, Cortland scored twice in a row again to put the game out of reach. Brockport faces the rough task of traveling to Potsdam and Plattsburgh this weekend.

    Upcoming Game Of The Week

    This week’s pick goes to the Oswego at Fredonia game. With three points separating these two teams for third place, it becomes a must-win game for Fredonia, and a chance for Oswego to virtually lock up at least third. Both teams were playing very well heading into the second half of conference play, but both stumbled badly this past weekend. Runner-up pick goes to Cortland at Buffalo State. Those teams are in the same situation as Oswego and Fredonia — three points separates them — but this fight is for the last playoff spot.

    Walsh Tumors Remain

    By
    -

    Tests on Maine coach Shawn Walsh indicate that the tumors under his breastplate remain despite two rounds of immunotherapy treatments. The tests include a Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT) scan and a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.

    “We want to be as aggressive as possible in treating these tumors,” said Walsh. “We are exploring different treatment options to eliminate these tumors. No definitive path has been set yet. As soon as we have chosen a treatment option, I will make that information public.

    “I feel strong and have been able to maintain my normal work schedule. My doctors and I are optimistic about the treatment options now available.”

    In a Maine athletic department press release Walsh added a request that members of the media refrain from questions regarding his health to himself, his family or Maine players.

    “[I] would like to keep the focus at this time on our team and our program,” he said.

    2001 Kazmaier Candidates Named

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    The 10 candidates for the 2001 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given annually to the top player in women’s hockey, were named today by USA Hockey.

    This year’s award will be presented during the first ever NCAA Women’s tournament, Saturday, March 24 at the Minneapolis Radisson Hotel Metrodome.

    Harvard and Minnesota each have two candidates. Six of the candidates are seniors, two are juniors, one is a sophomore and one is a freshman. Two of the them, Jennifer Botterill and Maria Rooth, were also finalists last year.

    Botterill

    Botterill

    Earlier this year, The USA Hockey Foundation asked women’s Division I coaches to nominate up to two players from their team for the award. Those players were placed on an official ballot and sent to the coaches, who then voted for the top 10 finalists.

    The finalists, as well as the recipient of The 2001 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, will be chosen by an 11-member selection committee comprised of women’s coaches, representatives of the print and broadcast media, and a representative of USA Hockey, the National Governing Body for the sport of hockey in the United States.

    The three finalists for the award will be announced March 12.

    The 2001 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10 Candidates

     Name                Yr. Pos. School         Hometown
     Jennifer Botterill  Jr.  F   Harvard        Winnipeg, Man.
     Meghan Hunter       Fr.  F   Wisconsin      Oil Springs, Ont.
     Courtney Kennedy    Sr.  D   Minnesota      Woburn, Mass.
     Andrea Kilbourne    Jr.  F   Princeton      Saranac Lake, N.Y.
     Nadine Muzerall     Sr.  F   Minnesota      Mississauga, Ont.
     Maria Rooth         So.  F   Minn.-Duluth   Angelholm, Swe.
     Tammy Shewchuk      Sr.  F   Harvard        St. Laurent, Que.
     Erika Silva         Sr.  G   Northeastern   Middletown, R.I.
     Jessica Tabb        Sr.  F   Providence     Holland, Mass.
     Michelle Thornton   Sr.  F   New Hampshire  Gloucester, Ont.

    Now in its fourth year of existence, the award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman at Princeton from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-82 through 1983-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990 at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.

    Individual dinner tickets are priced at $100.00 for adults and $50.00 for children 12 and under. Tickets, in addition to incremental levels of dinner sponsorship, may be purchased by calling The USA Hockey Foundation at (800) 566-3288, ext. 165; or The Missabe Group at (651) 455-9446. Individual tickets and sponsorship packages are tax-deductible.

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