Home Blog Page 1473

Canada Defeats U.S. in World Junior Quarters

January 2, 2001

Canada defeated the United States, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championships on Tuesday. After a promising 3-1-0 record in Group play, the best the U.S. can finish now is fifth.

Team USA outshot Canada, 23-15, but were stymied by Philadelphia Flyers product Maxime Ouellet. Former Boston University goalie Rick DiPietro made 13 saves in the loss for the U.S.

The U.S. took the lead just 3:18 into the game on a goal by Damian Surma, on a setup from Minnesota’s Jeff Taffe. But Canada tied it just over two minutes later, and it remained that way until the third period.

With just 5:06 remaining, Jamie Lundmark netted the game winner for the Canadians, with assists from Wisconsin’s Dany Heatley and Michigan’s Mike Cammalleri.

Canada advances to the semifinals against Finland, which defeated Slovakia, 3-1. In the other semifinal, the defending-champion Czech Republic, a 4-3 winner over Switzerland, will face Sweden, which upset Russia, 3-1.

U.S. Defeats Sweden, Will Meet Canada in World Junior Quarterfinals

USCHO Staff Report

December 31, 2000

The United States defeated Sweden, 3-1, on Saturday, at the World Junior Championships, thus finishing Group A play with a 3-1-0 record, good for second place. That mark earns the U.S. a date in the quarterfinals on Tuesday with Canada, which finished third in Group B with a 2-1-1 record.

Rensselaer’s Marc Cavosie scored on a rebound just 2 minutes, 51 seconds into the game to put Team USA on top, before Sweden tied it at 8:07.

The game remained tied until Michigan’s Andy Hilbert scored Team USA’s second power-play goal of the game, on a wrist shot from above the faceoff circle. Providence’s Jon DiSalvatore, who has scored a goal in every game of the tournament, added an empty-netter with 53 seconds remaining to secure the win.

The U.S. outshot Sweden 36-17 in the victory. Goalie Rick DiPietro, who was chosen No. 1 overall in the June NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders after leaving Boston University, improved to 3-0 on the tournament.

Canada ended Group play with an 8-4 win over Switzerland, after previously defeating Belarus in the opener, 9-0. Canada also tied Finland, 2-2, and lost to Russia, 3-1. Michigan’s Mike Cammalleri had a hat trick in the win over Belarus. Cammalleri and Wisconsin’s Dany Heatley, the only other U.S. collegian on the Canadian roster, each scored against Switzerland.

Team USA also has a 9-1 win over Kazakhstan, a 7-2 win over Slovakia, and a 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic, the defending gold medallist and top seed in Group A. Highlights so far for the U.S. include a hat trick by Minnesota’s Jeff Taffe in the opener over Kazakhstan. Taffe added another goal against Slovakia. Also in that game, Hilbert and Ohio State’s R.J. Umberger scored twice each, and Cavosie also had a goal.

Last season, Team USA and Team Canada met twice at the World Junior Championship. The first game ended in a 1-1 tie in the preliminary round. Canada edged the U.S., 4-3, in a shootout in the bronze-medal game.

In 1997, the teams met for the gold medal in Switzerland, with Canada coming out on top. The silver medal was still the best-ever finish for the United States at the World Junior Championship.

The 1997 team was the first one coached by Jeff Jackson, the two-time NCAA champion coach with Lake Superior State. Jackson also ran the U.S. National Development Program, which began that year, but he was fired from both positions in May.

USA Hockey then decided to split the positions. Mike Eaves now currently runs the USNDP, while former Yale goalie Keith Allain was picked to coach the World Junior team. Current Yale coach Tim Taylor, and Minnesota-Duluth product Jim Johnson are assisting.

Other quarterfinal pairings will match the Czech Republic vs. Switzerland, Finland vs. Slovakia, and Russia vs. Sweden.

This Week In The CCHA: Dec. 28, 2000

By Paula C. Weston
-
December 28, 2000

They Say You Want A Resolution

As we prepare to leave this calendar year behind, our thoughts naturally return to the events of the previous 12 months. After we reflect on the good, bad, ugly, and otherwise, who among us hasn’t made a resolution or two?

We resolve to work better, play better, pray better, cope. We want to get fit, call Mom more often, volunteer, save money, learn something new, kick the habit, find the meaning of life, play more hockey.

Behind every pledge is the desire to improve, and behind every successful change is the determination to see something through. And we all know, it’s never easy.

If you think changing your own mind about something is difficult, imagine the job facing Tom Anastos. The league’s newish commissioner has vowed to be tough on penalties, stick to the cluster system, and generally help the CCHA establish itself as a league whose credibility is never questioned.

Good thing Anastos knows a thing or two about resolve.

Now in his second year as the league’s chief, Anastos acknowledges that change hasn’t come without challenge. “Last year we went through growing pains. We had a lot of coaches complaining that the games weren’t five-on-five and that there were too many power plays, too many penalty kills, too many five-on-threes, and we said, ‘Listen guys, if we’re going to make a commitment to this, we’re going to go with it.'”

Beginning with the 1999-2000 season, the league emphasized specific penalties to attempt to make CCHA contests cleaner. Last year saw a marked increase in the number of obstruction penalties called. This season, it’s unsportsmanlike conduct for any unnecessary “business” away from a play, including smack talk. The strategy has received mixed reviews from coaches, players, fans, and the media.

“A penalty is a penalty,” says Anastos. “Are the guys [officials] going to make mistakes? Absolutely, like the players make mistakes. The bottom line is we’re going to stay with it, so we’re going to have to work on changing behavior, make sure the players know they’re not going to get away with this all the time, so coaches need to make sure they’re coaching it out of their players.”

At just 37 years old, Anastos remembers well his days in a Spartan uniform, and he knows what happens on the ice. “Hey, I played the game, I’m going to get away with as much as I can. I’m pretty pleased with the way [the policy] showing. It looks like the power plays are down from last year at this time, and I don’t think our guys are backing down from that directive.”

That’s CCHA Resolution No. 1.

Another change that caused quite a buzz is the cluster scheduling. With the addition of Nebraska-Omaha at the start of the 1999-2000 season, the league increased to 12 members, and a schedule that had each team playing every league opponent three times was no longer an option. The clusters were adopted as a way to allow each team to play every league squad at least twice; clustermates play each other four times.

In the past, the grousing about clusters focused on how the system hurt the league’s chances for postseason tournament invitations, but Anastos says that the coaches are now behind the scheduling.

“When we met in September, they unanimously endorsed extending the cluster schedule for two more years. We’re going to carry it through.

“When you really analyze scheduling, there is no perfect system, particularly with 12 teams. In our league, there are some teams who want to play fewer league games because they can have more nonconference games that would bring more people into their buildings. There are other teams who have difficulties bringing in nonconference teams into their buildings, so they have to go on the road. That does have significant bearing on your strength of schedule and your ability to win enough games. There’s not necessarily one way to do it.

“Then you go a step further, and the other alternative you have is eventually to play the conference in divisions, and I don’t think there’s much support for that. As far as a balanced schedule, which I think is the best way to go, we have to play either way more games — to play every game twice, a 22-game schedule, or three times, a 33-game schedule — it’s just not feasible.

“I think the year the cluster schedule came out, there were a lot of complaints about it, but when people started to understand that we can’t have everything that we want in relation to the schedule, people started to grow accustomed to it. I don’t think there’s any perfect system, but I don’t find any fault with what we’re doing now.”

Which brings us to CCHA Resolution No. 2. Says Anastos, “The CCHA has never through the years said, ‘We’re going to try a scheduling format,’ and seen it through. We’re going to do that, and we’re going to evaluate it again.’ Obviously, if the coaches are unanimously endorsing it, I’m not saying they all love it, but they see it as the best alternative right now.”

Next week, more from Tom Anastos on the ECAC’s push for more uniform scheduling all through D-I men’s ice hockey, the strength of the league, and the nature of polls.

Happy Hockey To All, And To All A Good Night

‘Twas the week before New Year and all through the league
Every creature was stirring, in spite of fatigue.
With Mom in the kitchen and Dad in his chair,
I faced the TV with a holiday stare.
While visions of power plays danced in my head,
I felt out of sorts and was heading for bed,
When deep in my brain there arose such a clatter;
I flew to the keyboard — I knew what was the matter!
There on the screen was a vision ethereal:
The holiday ice hockey tournament schedule!
Fairbanks is off; so is Northern, it’s true,
But ten other teams have plenty to do.
Bowling Green heads East to my old stomping grounds,
While the Lakers and Spartans and Mavs make the rounds.
On Broncos! On RedHawks! On Bulldogs and Buckeyes,
Who travel to Florida 936 miles as the crow flies!
On Michigan, traveling just down the road!
On Notre Dame! Steal RPI’s mother lode!
Now dash away, dash away, dash away all,
Bring us titles and cups — beat them all, beat them all!
And wherever you travel, by bus or by flight,
Happy hockey to all, and to all a good night.

There are 10 league teams facing nonconference action this week in eight tournaments around the country. Some teams just skip down the road for their annual holiday festivities, while two teams travel far afield to bring the message of peace, love, and hockey to the good little boys and girls of the sunny South.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s action, as well as notes for each team. For specific matches and my picks, check out the sidebar to the right of the column.

Everblades College Classic

A holiday tourney in Florida? Why not, when Cornell hockey alumnus Craig Brush is the president and owner of the East Coast Hockey League’s Florida Everblades?

This new tournament features No. 12 Ohio State, Clarkson, Cornell, and Maine. The games will be played in the TECO Arena in Estero, Fla., Dec. 27-28.

All time, Ohio State is 3-2-0 against Cornell, 4-5-1 against Clarkson, and 1-9-0 against Maine. Last season, Cornell beat the Buckeyes 5-2 in Value City Arena. Clarkson has won three of the last five games against Ohio State. Maine owns the Buckeyes, but Ohio State spoiled Shawn Walsh’s return to the bench in Orono earlier this season.

Ohio State assistant coach Casey Jones was a four-year letterwinner for Cornell, and has served as an assistant for both Cornell and Clarkson. Buckeye head coach John Markell and Maine head coach Shawn Walsh were teammates for a season at Bowling Green.

The Buckeyes are 12-8-2 in holiday tournament games since 1980, including a 1-0-1 showing in the Sheraton/Howard Bank Hockey Classic in Vermont last season.

Silverado Shoutout

No. 7 Western Michigan heads to the Duluth Convention and Entertainment Center for the Silverado Shootout Dec. 28-29, along with hosts Minnesota-Duluth, Merrimack, and Colgate.

With half the season remaining, Western Michigan has already equaled its win total from last year, but the Broncos are on the road for 10 of their next 12 games.

The Broncos are in the running for status as this year’s Defenders of the Realm, with a 5-1-0 record against nonconference opponents.

All time, the Broncos are 5-2-0 against Colgate, and 3-2-0 against Merrimack.

Dave Gove (16-21–37) and Mike Bishai (10-27–37) lead the league in points.

Alabama Faceoff Classic

Nebraska-Omaha is the league’s representative at the Alabama Faceoff Classic, hosted by none other than the CCHA-slaying Alabama-Huntsville Chargers.

UNO plays UMass-Lowell early the first day, while host UAH plays Canisius late. The consolation and championship games follow the next day.

The Mavericks are 2-0-2 against Alabama-Huntsville, and this is UNO’s first trip to Huntsville since Jan. 24-25, 1998.

UNO has never played UMass-Lowell or Canisius.

Ledyard Bank/Auld Lang Syne Classic

The red-hot RedHawks face Vermont while New Hampshire and Dartmouth tangle in the first round of the Auld Lang Syne in Thompson Arena in Hanover, NH, Dec. 29. A consolation and championship game follow on Dec. 30.

Miami is winless against Vermont in their last four meetings. Miami and Vermont last met during the 1996-97 season, a game that Vermont won 5-3.

Earlier this season, New Hampshire thumped the RedHawks 7-2, and Miami has never played Dartmouth.

The RedHawks haven’t won a holiday tournament since 1997-98, when Miami won the Denver Cup. That title game pitted the RedHawks against New Hampshire.

Wells Fargo Denver Cup

The once-and-future Defenders of the Realm, the Ferris State Bulldogs, head west to face Providence before Denver and Air Force tangle in the first round of the Norwest Denver Cup in Magness Arena on Dec. 29.

A championship and consolation game will be played on Dec. 30.

Ferris State and Providence are meeting for the first time ever in the opening game of the tourney.

The Bulldogs have also never played Denver, but are 3-3-0 against Air Force, whom they last met in 1991.

Ferris State is 9-10-2 all-time in regular-season tournament contests. The Bulldogs were the 1999 Silverado Shoutout Champions with their 4-0 win over Northeastern.

The Bulldogs have scored five shorthanded goals in 18 games this season after recording seven shorthanders in 39 contests last season. Ferris State’s penalty-killing unit has been successful 93.3% of the time during the Bulldogs’ last five outings.

Great Lakes Invitational

In the tournament that CCHA fans believe to be all their own, but which in reality Michigan Tech began, No. 1 Michigan State faces off against No. 2 Boston College, while No. 4 Michigan plays Michigan Tech on Dec. 29 in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The consolation and championship games are played the following day.

The Wolverines won a tournament-record nine straight GLI titles from 1988-96, and Michigan has more GLI titles (11) than any other team in the tourney’s history, two more than Michigan Tech.

Michigan is 22-3-0 in its last 25 GLI games, and have outscored GLI opponents 126-57 all time.

The Spartans have beaten the Wolverines just five times at the GLI, including each of the last three years.

Michigan State’s first-round game against Boston College is a rematch of last year’s NCAA tournament contest, which BC won in overtime 6-5.

The Spartan senior class is hoping to secure their fourth consecutive GLI title. MSU won the GLI four times in a row once before, from 1982-85.

This will be Adam Hall’s first ever GLI with the Spartans. The junior missed his first two as a member of the U.S. National Junior Team.

Mariucci Classic

Lake Superior State travels to Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis for the Mariucci Classic. Rounding out the field are Bemidji State, Union, and host Minnesota.

In the first round on Dec. 29, the Lakers take on Bemidji, while Minnesota and Union play the late game. A consolation and championship game follow Dec. 30.

Lake State last faced Bemidji State Mar. 3, 1974, a game the Lakers won 4-1. To put that in perspective, that’s the year Richard Nixon resigned, The Godfather (Part II) was a box-office smash, Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You” won the Grammy for Record of the Year, and I was a fourth-grader at St. Margaret’s school in Mattydale, N.Y.

The Lakers won the Mariucci Classic in the 1993-94 season, beating Maine 2-1 in the first game, then dropping host Minnesota 4-3 in the overtime title match. The Lakers went on to win the NCAA Men’s D-I National Championship that season.

Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament

Notre Dame heads to Troy, N.Y., to face St. Lawrence on Dec. 29 in the early game, while Rensselaer plays Northeastern in the nightcap. The consolation and championship games will take place on Dec. 30.

This is Notre Dame’s second appearance in the Rensselaer/HSBC, the longest-running in-season college hockey tournament. The Irish finished fourth in 1988-89, losing 6-0 to Rensselaer in the first round and 7-5 to Air Force in the consolation game. That loss to Rensselaer is the only game the Irish have ever played against the Engineers.

Notre Dame is 2-2-0 against the Saints all-time, but haven’t faced them since the Irish beat the Saints 8-5 on Dec. 19, 1972 in the ECAC Holiday Tournament in Madison Square Garden. To put that in perspective, I was six months shy of my ninth birthday.

The Irish and Northeastern met earlier this season, splitting a series in South Bend with Notre Dame winning 6-4 Oct. 20 and the Huskies taking the closer 5-3 the next night. Notre Dame is 3-2-0 against Northeastern all-time.

If They Don’t Call It A Tourney, Can We Still Play?

Bowling Green heads East to play Mercyhurst Dec. 28 and Niagara Dec. 30, two opponents the Falcons have never faced.

As head coach of RIT, current Falcon skipper Buddy Powers beat Mercyhurst twice during the 1988-89 season, but has never coached against Niagara.

The Falcons will play eight of their next 10 games on the road, including six straight after the Christmas break. This is BG’s second six-game road trip this season. The Falcons complete the regular season with six of 10 at home.

Junior forward Greg Day has a team-leading 11 goals in 16 games this season, a number one shy of half of his goal production for his entire rookie and sophomore seasons. Day has three multi-goal games this year after recording four in his first 75 collegiate contests.

Sophomore goaltender Tyler Masters is on pace to record the second-highest single- season save percentage in Falcon history. The record of .914 was set by Wally Charko in the 1978-79 campaign. Masters’ current save percentage is .910.

Do They Think This Is A Holiday Or Something?

Two CCHA teams are idle this week, the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (4-8-4, 4-6-4 CCHA) and the Northern Michigan Wildcats (9-5-5, 5-5-4 CCHA).

Alaska-Fairbanks

The Nanooks finished the first half of the season with 12 league points, equaling their total from 1995, their first season in the CCHA, and the improved Nanooks have registered a point in every series they’ve played so far this season.

UAF has four conference ties, two short of the Nanooks’ total (6) from their first five seasons in the league.

If the Nanooks continue on paced and earn 24 conference points, they will surpass their previous league high of 17 set in 1997-98.

Junior defender Daniel Carriere leads all conference blueliners in league scoring with four goals and seven assists.

The Nanooks are off until they host Iona (N.Y.) in a two-game nonconference series Jan. 5-6 at the Carlson Center. Coach: Rick Comley (25th season)

Northern Michigan

The Wildcats will meet Yooper rival Michigan Tech for the 96th time on Jan. 5. NMU holds a 49-39-7 advantage in that all-time series. Northern is unbeaten (9-0-1) in its last 10 meetings with the Huskies, and is 12-1-2 in the last 15 matches.

After the single game against Michigan Tech, Northern hosts York University in an exhibition game on Jan. 7.

The Wildcats have allowed their opponent to score first in seven of the last nine games, including four straight. In addition, Northern has trailed or been tied after 20 minutes in six of the last seven games, including the last four outings. The ‘Cats are 5-3-1 when their opponent scores first and 5-4-3 when trailing or tied after the first period.

Signoretti Declared Academically Ineligible

USCHO Staff Report
-
December 28, 2000

Andre Signoretti, senior captain of the Ohio State Buckeyes, is academically ineligible and will likely miss the rest of the 2000-01 season.

SIGNORETTI

“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” said John Markell, Buckeye head coach. “It’s his responsibility now.”

Markell said the Buckeyes found out the week before Christmas, when Ohio State released its grades.

“It’s unfortunate. You think a 24-year-old senior, in his final year, would take care of business. Hopefully, he can learn from this.”

Signoretti has three goals and 10 assists for 13 points this season, and leads all CCHA defensemen with a plus/minus ratio of +13.

Markell said that Signoretti is pursuing options for reinstatement.

“There’s always a chance, but I don’t know what his situation is. It’s going to be a tough road for him.”

This Week In The ECAC: Dec. 27, 2000

By Jayson Moy and Becky Blaeser
-
December 27, 2000

Welcome back to the ECAC.

It’s been a quiet three weeks, and everyone (with the exception of idle Yale) gets to tune up this week with some nonconference action before a few teams step right back into league play.

Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Hockey Tournament

The Rensselaer Engineers are one team that did not want to see the break for exams and holidays come when it did. The Engineers had just swept a weekend series at Yale and Princeton, moving their unbeaten streak to six and picking up four valuable points in the ECAC; at the same time, the Engineers are now the highest-ranked ECAC team in the polls, coming in at the No. 11 position for the second straight week.

There are doubters of the Engineers and their streak — after all, the wins came against UMass-Amherst, Mercyhurst, Quinnipiac, Yale and Princeton, plus a tie against Union. The Engineers will look to put the criticism to rest this weekend as they host Northeastern to open up the 50th edition of the Rensselaer Holiday Hockey Tournament, and then play either St. Lawrence or Notre Dame. The Engineers will be without Marc Cavosie, serving a tour of duty with the U.S. National Junior Program in Moscow.

The Engineers will have to continue to get contributions from the number-one line of Matt Murley-Nolan Graham-Carson Butterwick, who have been on fire over the streak, racking up 40 points (18-22–40) in the six games. With those three gaining cohesion, the Engineers may have a line that could take over the ECAC.

The St. Lawrence Saints had a successful opening weekend in December, picking up three points in ECAC play with a win over Harvard and a tie against Brown, and then went out to Michigan and were unceremoniously dumped by the Wolverines in two straight. The Saints continue the killer nonconference schedule with a matchup against Notre Dame in the Rensselaer Tournament and then either a rematch with Northeastern or a matchup with the host Engineers.

Overall, the Saints only have three wins on the season, and only a win against Holy Cross out of conference. Everyone knew the schedule — and adjusting without two key players — would be tough, but fans are left wondering if the real Saint team has shown up yet.

The seniors certainly have, as Erik Anderson, Mike Gellard, Al Fyfe and Matt Desrosiers are four of the top five Saints in points, accounting for 73 percent of the Saint scoring this season. That’s where the start will come as the Saints look to heat up the second half of the season.

Ledyard National Bank Auld Land Syne Hockey Classic

Dartmouth and Vermont don’t have to travel very far for holiday action. The Catamounts will kick off the Auld Lang Syne tournament on Friday night against Miami, while the host Big Green play the second game against New Hampshire.

Vermont enters this year’s tournament with a national ranking in tow. After losing just twice in its last 10 games, including a come-from-behind victory against Harvard on December 9, Vermont is now ranked 15th in the nation and is the only undefeated team in the ECAC with a 5-0 record. Senior netminder Andrew Allen has been solid in net this season, posting a .903 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average. Offensively, the Catamounts are led by J.F. Caudron (7-9-16), but have eight players in double digits in points.

Vermont has the seemingly easier first-round game, facing Miami. But after starting the season with a 1-5-2 record, the RedHawks have turned things around, winning nine of their last 10 games.

The Big Green may have a tougher time making the final of its own tournament. New Hampshire has become quite accustomed to ECAC hockey, as the Wildcats’ last two victories have come against Princeton and Harvard. Fifth-ranked New Hampshire is also in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten streak and playing its best hockey of the season.

Dartmouth has slowly been turning its season around. After dropping five of its first six games, the Big Green has showed signs of improvement with overtime victories over Maine and Merrimack.

The Crimson In The Mountains

As Harvard prepares for a two-game series against No. 6 Colorado College, the Crimson players are focusing their efforts on two main things: getting healthy and getting past their two recent losses against Vermont and New Hampshire. After fumbling an early 3-0 lead against the Catamounts, the Crimson played two of its worst periods of the year en route to a 4- 1 loss to New Hampshire.

Although Harvard sits atop the ECAC leaderboard and has shown flashes of disciplined hockey, the team is still very vulnerable. The players know it, the coaches know it and now the opponents are starting to take advantage of it. Midway through the Vermont contest, Harvard lost junior defenseman Graham Morrell when his shoulder popped out yet again. Vermont coach Mike Gilligan spread out his offense in the third period and successfully executed a chip-and-charge attack which resulted in four goals. The tactic worked well for Gilligan primarily because without Morrell the Crimson is left with only five primary defensemen, two of whom are freshmen.

With Morrell most likely out for this week’s two-game series, the Crimson will need to finish off any and all offensive chances it gets against Colorado College. In particular, the play of Dom Moore and Chris Bala will be critical. Both players have shown an ability to sneak past defenses, but finishing will be a key.

Mariucci Classic

One month seems like an eternity to the Union Skating Dutchmen. After all, one month ago, the Dutchmen were the No. 11 team in the country and everything seemed to be going right. The Dutchmen were winning, they were scoring, they were having fun. But right now, the Dutchmen can’t be saying that. Since being ranked No. 11, the Dutchmen have won a total of one game, tying two and dropping their last three, dropping them off the national radar.

The defense of the Dutchmen has allowed almost one goal per game more than during the first six games of the season, while the scoring has dropped by a goal a game — not a good combination.

The Dutchmen will head into the Mariucci Classic to face a ranked opponent, where they will start to find out if they can get back to the form that saw them start out the season 5-1-0. As head coach Kevin Sneddon put it, this is a not a team that can afford to take any part of a game off.

Badger Showdown

After a first half in which the team posted a respectable 5-5-3 record, Princeton will receive a real gut check this weekend when it faces off against No. 13 Wisconsin during the first round of the Badger Showdown. It goes without saying that playing the host team of a tournament is never easy — just ask Union.

With a new coach in place and no real superstars to report, the Tigers didn’t have much of a chance this season, at least in the eyes of the prognosticators. Thanks to steady goaltending by junior Dave Stathos (3.13 GAA, .900 save percentage) and increasing offensive production from the likes of Chris Corrinet (9-7-16), Kirk Lamb (4-12-16) and Brad Parsons (7-7-14), the Tigers have pulled out some surprises this year.

Don’t get us wrong: it’s not that they’ve knocked off ranked teams, or anything flashy. It’s more that they haven’t rolled over and died against teams which on paper should beat them, like Yale, Dartmouth, Colgate and most recently Union.

Princeton has found a way to play within itself and make its system work. The challenge this week will be to hold its own against potent offenses: although Wisconsin hasn’t obliterated opponents game-in and game-out, the Badgers still possess strong forwards who can transition quickly and take advantage of a weakened Princeton defense. After Princeton’s most recent loss to New Hampshire, head coach Lenny Quesnelle highlighted his team’s most vulnerable point.

“UNH is a very quick team up front, and we knew going into the game that they were quick in transition… . We went with five defensemen we thought could log the ice time [because] we’re short on defense. That was exposed at times.”

Princeton will have similar problems against Wisconsin.

Everblades College Classic

Quietly Cornell has come to the forefront, beginning the second half as the team that is 5-1-2 in its last eight, rather than the first-ever “Big Four” team to lose to the MAAC. A loss to Niagara in the Syracuse Invitational is the only blemish on the Big Red record since starting the season 0-2.

Suffice to say, the Big Red look ready to start the second half.

The depth of the Big Red has come in handy, as different members have gone on and off the injury list as the season has unrolled. With the break, those that needed the rest are welcomed back to the fold and the depth once again shows itself.

Clarkson, on the other hand, is experiencing mixed results. Many hoped that a big win over St. Lawrence in Canton would be the building block, but after that huge win, the Golden Knights faltered in the first round of the Syracuse Invitational, defeated Colgate in the consolation, and then picked up one point in an ECAC weekend with a loss to Harvard and a tie to Brown.

The Knights sit at .500 right now, and their traditional second-half upswing could get underway in Florida. Youth should mix with experience, and the Knights look set to work on the positives of the first half to gain an edge come February.

Silverado Shootout

It is safe to say that the 2000-2001 season hasn’t started out exactly as the Colgate Red Raiders wanted. The Red Raiders are 3-10-2, losers of five of their last six, and just have not seemed to put things together this season after starting out in strong fashion, tying Michigan at Yost and then playing New Hampshire tough until falling apart in the third period. From there, it’s been downhill.

If there is one saving grace, it’s that the Red Raiders are over .500 at home, at 3-2-0. The flip side of that, however, is that the Raiders are winless on the road. That’s where they will be this weekend as they take part in the Silverado Shootout, going up against No. 7 Western Michigan in the first game.

It isn’t easy to isolate the cause of the horrendous start for the Red Raiders. Scoring, defense and goaltending are all off. On top of that, the injury bug has been prevalent. With the break, the Red Raiders are hoping that healthy bodies mean a turnaround to the season.

Brown and Blue

With all the holiday tournaments in full gear, many may forget that two teams very much in need of a victory will be facing off in Amherst, Mass.

That’s right — the 1-6-2 Brown Bears will face off against the 4-11-2 UMass-Amherst Minutemen to cap off the 2000 portion of their schedules. It has been a frustrating first half of the year for both squads, which will make this game even more interesting. Aside from their sub-.500 records, another similarity between the two teams is that their last wins both came against Providence. The Minutemen broke an eight-game winless streak on December 8 when they upset the Friars by a 3-1 margin, while Brown defeated their crosstown rival 5-1 nearly two months ago.

The Bears have been an unpredictable team all year long. After battling for two ties in their recent road trip to St. Lawrence and Clarkson, the Bears turned around and played a lackluster game against Harvard five days later. Head coach Roger Grillo is convinced that he has the raw materials for a competitive team, but has yet to see his vision come to fruition.

This nonconference contest against UMass-Amherst may be just what Grillo needed before the New Year. Watch for him to mix things up both offensively and defensively in search of a more successful 2001.

19:59 On The Clock, But No Time Remaining

By David H. Hendrickson
-
December 27, 2000

Quinn Connally was 12 years old. In another week, he’d turn 13. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Big. Very big. Not yet 13, he already stood at 5-11 and weighed 140 pounds. He had enormous hands. He wore a size 12 shoe.

“Your basic All-American kid,” says his father, Stephen Connally. “He was a sports fanatic. He’d get up in the morning and watch SportsCenter. If I didn’t wake him up, he’d be mad. He’d recite you anybody’s statistics.”

But one sport stood head and shoulders above the rest.

“Hockey was the passion,” says Connally. “I had all sorts of puck marks and tennis ball marks all over the front of my house from him shooting and throwing. We’re on a small side street and before school, he’d go out and stickhandle every morning.”

All that ended on Dec. 4 when a puck struck Quinn in the back of the neck and ended a life that had seemingly just started.

There’s no making sense of this tragedy any more than sense can be made of those youngsters who die riding in automobiles or on bicycles. Sometimes horrible things happen to good people. And those horrible things become even more unbearable when their victims are young. We can wonder why, like the Biblical Job, and come up empty.

However, this much we know: Quinn Connally died doing what he loved the most.

“I brought him up to a rink when he was five,” says Stephen Connally, who played Division III hockey at the now-defunct Nathaniel Hawthorne College. “My thoughts then were that if he didn’t want to come back, that’s fine. That was a Saturday morning practice.

“Sunday morning at about 5:30, he was jumping on the bed, ‘When do we go [next]? When do we go?’ Unfortunately, they only met once a week then.

“I always told him, ‘The day you tell me that you don’t want to go to a practice is the day that we don’t have to go anymore.’ It was never an issue. Any time there was ice, we were there.”

Quinn soon learned to use his size to good advantage and in the early years acted as an offensive defenseman.

“He was a lot bigger and a lot stronger than a lot of the kids, so at that point he rushed the puck quite a bit,” says Connally. “But as he moved up the different levels, the speed of the game was something he had to start coping with.

“He was just starting to really grow into his body, so he was probably one of the slower kids on the ice. He had to think a lot to try to compensate for the speed. He [became] a stay-at-home defenseman.”

Two Detroit Red Wings were favorites. In a sad irony, one of them was Vladimir Konstantinov, who was nearly killed in a limousine accident after a Stanley Cup party three years ago. He remains in a wheelchair, still undergoing physical, mental and speech therapy.

The other favorite was Darren McCarty, because, according to Quinn, “he never stops working.”

Which was an approach Quinn had to adopt to his schoolwork. Stephen and Ann Connally had one significant rule for their son. Even though Quinn was dyslexic, he had to achieve at least a B average in school to play hockey.

“He struggled immensely with reading, but somehow he carried the B average,” says Stephen Connally. “We still don’t know how he did it because [in the seventh grade] he probably read at only about a fourth-grade level. He somehow had to figure out how to get the work done and he did.”

A year ago, Quinn’s hockey development took a broadside. His elite team, the Mass-Conn Braves — so named because its base in Springfield, Mass. draws players from both states — was coming off a trip to the Massachusetts state finals. After the tryouts, Quinn learned that he’d been cut.

The twice-a-week Braves practices at the Springfield Olympia had been long commutes — a two-and-a-half hour round trip from the Connally’s Cheshire home — as had been the two games on the weekend. But spending over 10 hours a week in travel time alone had been a price willingly paid for Quinn’s love of hockey.

“We were pretty much always the first ones to the rink,” says Connally. “As soon as I walked in the door [at home], the first question was, ‘When do we go? We’re late. We’re late.'”

Disappointed at not making the high-octane Braves, Quinn returned to town hockey in neighboring Pittsfield. What the move added in convenience, however, it subtracted in the level of play.

“This is nothing to knock the program in Pittsfield because they do have a pretty good program,” says Connally. “But Quinn decided about five weeks into the season that where he was wasn’t going to get him where he wanted to be. So he asked me to make some phone calls.”

Connally hooked up with Graham Gal, who ran the Team UMass program at Quinn’s age level. Team UMass played at a level comparable to the Mass-Conn Braves or the Springfield Jr. Pics. Gal added Quinn as an alternate, returning the boy to elite-level hockey even if just for practices and two or three games.

“He was a good kid,” says Gal. “I liked him. When he got a chance to play, he played all out.”

After a season of dues-paying practices with Team UMass, Quinn got his wish and made this year’s Mass-Conn Braves team.

“He was bouncing off the walls,” says Connally. “Bouncing off the walls. We went down to the meeting and he got a [Braves] coat. You just couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.”

Having experienced little game action over the past year, Quinn got off to a slow start.

“He wasn’t in as good shape as some of the guys and he wasn’t as fast as some of the guys, so he got a little discouraged at the beginning,” says Connally. “But the team, the Pee Wee Major team, just brought him in and made him part of the gang. He was really starting to pick up.”

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Braves played six games in three days and won the Springfield Pics Fall Classic Tournament. The outlook appeared promising.

Although Ann Connally performed some of the two-and-a-half hour round-trip commutes to practice, it was Stephen Connally who drove Quinn to practice on the night of Dec. 4.

“I saw the whole thing,” says Connally and the sense of pain in his voice becomes even more pronounced. “They were doing two-on-twos. The puck came over to the guy he was covering and Quinn went down to block the shot. He was laying on the ice and something happened — he rolled or something — and caught it in the back of the head [just below the helmet.]”

The puck instantly crushed the two carotid arteries that supply blood to the brain. Had Quinn not rolled and instead caught it in front in the throat, the injury might well have been severe, but not fatal. There are emergency procedures for a crushed trachea that do not exist for similarly damaged carotid arteries.

The injury would not have been prevented by any of the throat guards that are currently available and once sustained was irreversible.

“We were told by the neurosurgeons that if it had happened in the hospital lobby, they couldn’t have done anything,” says Connally. “They called it a devastating injury. There was really nothing [they could do.]

“[When the puck hit Quinn,] he was knocked out completely. He never moved. He never screamed out. He never grabbed for anything. He was just out immediately.”

It was every parent’s nightmare.

So hauntingly, cruelly improbable.

“Who would think that a shot at a Pee Wee level could kill a kid?” says Gal.

But also so heartbreakingly real. So devastating.

“The outpouring from the hockey community has been just unbelievable, completely unbelievable,” says Connally. “We still get letters and cards every day from different organizations. Their support has been tremendous. That has helped me a lot.”

The family donated Quinn’s organs so that his death would at least be the source of someone else’s life.

“It was definitely the right decision,” says Connally. “There’s no question about it. He was a very strong young man with very vital organs. He never had any disease or anything like that.

“There’s always going to be a recipient. Something like only 60 percent of people donate organs in this country. I just read an article that was out of the Boston Globe [that said that] Scandinavia is almost at 100 percent as far as donations go with people in that situation.

“Sixty percent is not good enough. Another five or 10 percent and there are going to be that many more people [that might live.]”

The Connallys have one other child, an 11-year-old daughter, Tessa, who was a regular at Quinn’s games. This year, she’ll pay tribute to him during a couple Mass-Conn Braves contests.

“She’s going to sit on the bench with a helmet on and wear his jersey,” says Connally. He then adds, “She’ll yell at the guys.”

One can only hope that the Connallys will find a source of strength in their need to be there for Tessa. If there is any justice, the pain they feel at the loss of Quinn will be recompensed in some measure by great joy from Tessa.

“Oh we will,” says Stephen Connally. “She’s going to keep us honest.”

Even so, it’s an ongoing struggle.

“We’re trying to cope with about 15 minutes a day,” says Connally. “It just comes in big waves of emotion. Any little thing that you see, all of a sudden reminds you of something. The last this or the last that.

“Just 15 minutes at a time. That’s about all you can do.”

Stephen and Ann Connally have established a fund for kids who need financial help to play hockey. Donations may be sent to the Quinn Connally Memorial Fund, Fleet Bank, 1 Monarch Place, Springfield, MA, and should include Reference Number: MAEHB05068.

This Week In Hockey East: Dec. 27, 2000

By David H. Hendrickson
-
December 27, 2000

Who’s Going To Finish Last?

While the first half results would point to Boston College as the favorite to finish first in Hockey East, the identity of the team destined for the cellar is a lot less clear. Given that everyone else will at least have their shot in the playoffs, a lot rides on the Anti-Race For Last Place.

Here’s a look at today’s standings.

Team (HEA record) Pts
Boston College (6-1-1) 13*
Providence (5-3-1) 11
New Hampshire (4-2-2) 10*
Maine (4-3-2) 10
Boston University (4-4-1) 9
UMass-Amherst (4-4-0) 8*
Northeastern (2-4-3) 7
Merrimack (3-6-0) 6
UMass-Lowell (1-6-2) 4
* holds one game in hand

Don’t bet on last place going to UMass-Lowell even though the River Hawks currently sit in the cellar with a 1-6-2 league record. They got off to a rough start, but finished the first half with 2-2 and 0-0 ties with New Hampshire as well as a 7-2 romp over Colgate.

When Lowell gets caught in a wide-open transition game of odd-man rushes, it has problems. But when it forces play down low and along the boards, it matches up well with almost any team in the league.

“That’s the toughest team we’ve faced down low,” said Merrimack coach Chris Serino in November. “They’re big and strong and they wall the puck off — protect the puck [with their bodies] — real well. We’ve played Michigan and Michigan State and Lowell is as tough of a team as I’ve seen down low.”

Arguably, poor goaltending hurt the River Hawks while they lost their first four league contests. BU coach Jack Parker noted, “Their goalie couldn’t stop a balloon the first few games.”

However, that may be ancient history. Earlier this month, Cam McCormick earned co-Defensive Player of the Week honors by matching Ty Conklin blow for blow in the two ties with UNH. In his last five games, McCormick has allowed a total of only eight goals. If he maintains anything close to that pace, Lowell will make up a lot of ground in a hurry. (More on McCormick next week.)

Merrimack may be in eighth place, two points ahead of UMass-Lowell, but has played .500 hockey overall and also looks like anything but a cellar-dweller.

The Warriors have gotten encouraging — and critical — performances from their horde of freshmen defensemen and goaltender Joe Exter. Both positions were question marks going into the season, but Serino has every reason to believe that those newcomers will be even better over the second half with a semester under their belts.

Not to mention that, like Lowell, Merrimack entered the holiday break playing well. The Warriors have won five of their last seven, invariably with strong defensive efforts.

“In the games that we’ve won [in that stretch], we’ve played well and gotten good goaltending,” says Serino. “We’ve given up either one goal or no goals.

“We can play. I know we can play.”

Northeastern is only a point ahead of Merrimack, but to this observer looks more like an NCAA bubble team than one for which last place is a possibility. The Huskies may be a .500 team right now, but have faced a Murderer’s Row of opponents. Of their 15 games, 11 have been against teams which have spent time in the Top 15.

On paper, at least, their schedule is much easier over the second half. They would seem to be a better bet to win home ice in the playoffs than freefall into last place.

UMass-Amherst has without question recorded the worst overall record in Hockey East (4-11-2). That said, the league standings don’t care about overall marks. The Minutemen may be 0-7-2 in nonconference games, but are 4-4-0 in Hockey East and hold a game in hand as well.

Coach Don Cahoon may well be approaching the nonconference games with a more experimental, feel-his-team-out attitude than in league contests. In the four key team statistical criteria (see the sidebar), UMass ranks higher in all four in league games than overall. So perhaps its horrible nonconference record is irrelevant rather than an omen of things to come.

The Minutemen also finished strong going into the break, defeating Providence, 3-1, and giving Maine a scare, 3-2.

If you consider teams any higher in the standings, you then encounter Boston University and Maine. While both teams have had disappointing first halves, it would be inconceivable for either to finish in the cellar.

Inconceivable. It’s a term that seems apropos of the last-place possibilities of most of these candidates. (Fans of the movie The Princess Bride may find it particularly apt.)

So what will decide which school is the odd man out come playoff time?

“I honestly believe that the team that finishes ninth will be the team [whose] goaltending goes suspect down the stretch,” says Serino. “On a night when Lowell’s goalie stinks, they’re going to be in trouble. BU is going to be in trouble when their goalie is bad. We’re going to be in trouble when our goalie is bad.

“No one has enough firepower — with the exception of BC — to beat you on a night when their goalie isn’t good. BC has the firepower to win a 6-5 or a 7-6 game on a night [like that.] I don’t know if anybody else [does.] We can’t open the game to do that; [BC] can.

“I don’t know who it’s going to be [in last place]. But whoever it is, it’s going to be because of goaltending.”

Solomon In The Press Box

The Dec. 15 game between Merrimack and Dartmouth included a unique scoring problem that required some sharp thinking by Sports Information Directors Tom O’Brien and Bill Garfield.

With 12:02 showing on the clock, Dartmouth’s Peter Mahler went to the box. Almost two minutes later, Jamie Herrington scored a shorthanded goal to give the Big Green a 3-0 lead.

Almost two minutes. The clock showed one second left on the infraction. However, it also showed 10:02 left in the period.

The problem?

If the penalty were listed as coming at 7:58 of the period and the goal at 9:58, then it wouldn’t be a shorthanded goal. Yet clearly it was.

Had 1:59 elapsed or 2:00?

Yes.

Until the final minute of the period, no digits to the right of the decimal point are shown on the scoreboard. As a result, a goal that comes with 10:02 left on the clock may actually occur with 10:02.9 remaining. If the penalty began with 12:02.0 left, then in fact there is still one second — or more precisely, 0.9 seconds — still to be served.

(Math enthusiasts will recognize this as a problem of truncation rather than rounding. Mathphobes can help themselves to some aspirin.)

Clearly some adjustment had to be made since it was indisputably a shorthanded goal. O’Brien and Garfield huddled and eventually agreed that the penalty which was originally recorded at 7:58 would be tweaked by one second to 7:59. That way, the goal would be correctly listed as occurring while four-on-five.

It was a Solomon-like resolution to a bizarre circumstance. The NCAA later confirmed that the adjustment had been appropriate.

A tip of the fedora to Garfield and O’Brien, both good guys and quick thinkers.

Offense From The Blue Line

What Hockey East defenseman leads his team in scoring?

It’s UMass-Lowell’s Ron Hainsey, one of the best-kept secrets in the league. The sophomore has totaled 19 points on five goals and 14 assists to pace the River Hawk scoring and rank seventh in Hockey East (first among defensemen). Already he’s almost doubled last year’s output (11 points).

“Ron is really shooting the puck a lot better this year,” says UML coach Tim Whitehead. “He’s developed a one-time shot and he’s using it.”

“He sees the ice so well,” adds Lowell goaltender Cam McCormick. “That’s why he gets so many points.

“Like all of our D-men, Hainsey works his butt off in the defensive zone.”

Indeed, the first-round draft choice of the Montreal Canadiens hasn’t been satisfied with being a one-dimensional threat. Without question, he’s upgraded his defensive play since entering the league.

“Those are parts of his game that he’s working on and they really have improved,” says Whitehead. “That’s why you’re seeing the confidence in his game. He’s stronger and he’s smarter and more aware defensively.

“He’s getting an opportunity to play against the other team’s best players. That really challenges you and he’s been up to the challenge.”

Hainsey credits this past offseason with his first-half success.

“Not to say that last year we weren’t in great shape, but I think that this year there was definitely an upgrade in the way we prepared for the start of the season,” he says. “Personally, I’m two times in better shape at least than I was at this time last year.

“I’m just continuing to work on the same things: D-zone coverage and really snapping the puck off on the power play. It’s paid off so far.”

The River Hawks will be without Hainsey for either three or four games while he represents Team USA in the World Junior Tournament for the second time.

“It’s a higher level of hockey and it’s real exciting, obviously, to play for your country.” he says. “Last year, I don’t think much was expected of me going in, but by the end of the tournament I was one of the four D out there come overtime in the bronze medal game against Canada.

“This year, I’m going to look to be much more dominant in my role with that team. But it’s exciting just to have the opportunity to play for the world championship.”

Quip Of The Week

This writer was talking to Whitehead about Hainsey’s progress when the defenseman walked into the Tsongas Arena interview room.

“What’s been the key to his big increase in point production?” I asked Whitehead.

In a loud mock whisper, Hainsey inserted, “He’s become a superior shooter!”

Everyone laughed.

Eventually a question was posed to Whitehead about Hainsey’s skills in his own end.

Again, in a mock whisper, Hainsey inserted, “He’s superior defensively!”

The laughter was even harder this time.

Conclusion: Hainsey is a superior defensemen and a superior wit.

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question concerned the recent double double goose egg in Hockey East. UNH and UMass-Lowell skated to a scoreless tie on Dec. 2; four days later, BC and Northeastern duplicated the feat.

The question asked: for all four teams when was the last time that they were involved in a scoreless tie, if ever? Also, when, if ever, was the last time that Hockey East had two scoreless ties in the span of eight days or less?

Wayne T. Smith responded, “For BC and NU, it was 2000-12-06; it goes back a bit farther for UML and UNH, four days to be precise, to 2000-12-02. This has to be one of your easier questions to answer. The fifth question seems to have just as obvious an answer.

“The second-to-last time is a bit more of a challenge.”

Well, Wayne got me on that one. Luckily, he didn’t just stop with his technically correct wisecrack. He also was the first to provide the “second-to-last-time” answers: Northeastern and UMass-Lowell had never before played in a scoreless tie. Boston College tied Maine on Jan. 10, 1998. New Hampshire tied Amherst on Feb. 1, 1929. (No, folks, I wasn’t there to see that one.)

Additionally, the league has never seen two scoreless ties within eight days. As Wayne notes, “In the 15 seasons from the 1986-87 season, Hockey East has never had more than one 0-0 tie. Most years college hockey had none or one 0-0 ties!”

I think we all can agree that Wayne has earned the right to this week’s cheer. It is:

“M-A-I-N-E Gooooooo Blue!”

This week’s question offers a change of pace in that it has nothing to do with hockey. Sir Isaac Newton lived to be 85 years old. A year or two before his death, he announced what he considered to be his most impressive achievement. What was it?

Send your guesses to Dave Hendrickson and take your shot at the first cheer of the New Year.

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

Last column, I bemoaned leaving the Thanksgiving pumpkin bread in the oven for 40 minutes too long and then went on to say, “The best Christmas carol has got to be ‘Joy To The World.’ And the best rendition is Mariah Carey, hands down.”
Reader Lou Fuoco responded, “You know, Hendrickson, I used to think you were ok until this week when you touted that total waste, Mariah Carey. Are you sure it wasn’t your head that was in the oven an extra 40 minutes?”

At the risk of offending those who are Mariah fans, let me clarify. Other than her Christmas CD, I don’t own any of her other albums. She’s just not my cup of tea. However, the black gospel choir style of Mariah’s “Joy To The World” is very much my cup of tea.

Which is also why U2’s live version of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is among my favorites. I just love that sound. It’s almost instinctive to select track five on Rattle And Hum and crank up the volume.

Sorry ’bout that, Mariah fans. But my affection goes only about as far as the Christmas CD. Although I don’t mind her cover photos.

If you ask me, Vertical Limit is everything that is both right and wrong with movies today.
What’s right is that it is visually spectacular thanks to current special effects wizardry. Ever since reading Into Thin Air, I’ve been obsessed with mountains like Everest and K2. I’ve got plenty of high altitude books and videos, but none of them capture the visuals as well as Vertical Limit.

What’s wrong about Vertical Limit, however, is that it includes some of the most moronic writing I’ve ever witnessed. It’s even worse than some of those early novels I attempted 20-25 years ago. (Folks, insults about writing do not get any lower than that.)

If your sister were trapped high on K2, would it occur to you to carry nitroglycerin to the scene? Not unless, I would think, you really hated her. With all the explosions, it’s a wonder K2 was left standing at all.

And there were so many obvious Mountainclimbing 101 errors as to be absurd. In the most egregious one, an expert climber creeps to within two paces of a sheer precipice, where her companion is hanging by his icepick. Not only is she not tethered to anything — not tethered to anything! — but she then stomps hard on the snow to see if it will break off. It does, but not enough to send either of them over the edge nor enough to put the idea of a tether into her empty head.

I can accept impossible premises in supernatural movies. In fact, those are some of my favorites. But if a movie is based on reality, it shouldn’t insult my intelligence with metronomic regularity.

Vertical Limit might be better named The Three Stooges Find Nitro On K2.

The sad thing is that the visuals were so good, I’d go see it again. Which, I guess, is one more reason we have so many stupid movies.

Here’s hoping for a safe and very Happy New Year to all.

“I LOVED it!” said one reader. Click here for information about Dave Hendrickson’s latest short story, “Yeah, But Can She Cook?”

Conn. College to Forfeit Three Upcoming Games

USCHO Staff Report
-
December 22, 2000

Connecticut College has suspended its entire men’s hockey team and will forfeit its next three games because of violations of the college’s honor code.

ROBERTS

According to a college news release, the violations were reported by Camels coach Doug Roberts, and sanctions were handed down following internal judicial review. The release did not specify the nature of the violations.

Connecticut College is next scheduled to play Jan. 5 at Hamilton. That game, plus the game on Jan. 6 at Skidmore and Jan. 9 at Salve Regina will be forfeited. Members of the ice hockey team will be permitted to resume practice beginning Jan. 8 and will resume competition Jan. 12 at home against Salem State.

In addition, some members of the team were suspended for the remainder of the season. Those players were not revealed.

“Connecticut College takes its honor code very seriously,” said Frances Hoffman, Dean of the College. “It is a part of character-building education in which we hope to inspire students to feel a moral imperative to act responsibly and ethically. Students at Connecticut College understand that if they violate the code, there will be consequences.”

Though remaining unspecific, according to Roberts, the violations of the school’s code followed a recent game and “included inappropriate behavior.”

“The college received reports of possible violations of college policies and improprieties by some members of the men’s hockey team early last week,” said athletic director Ken McBryde. “We began immediately a full, internal review of these alleged improprieties and suspended practice until the review had concluded and recommendations were made. We are confident that we have made the appropriate decision.”

McBryde said members of the team were assembled December 15 and asked to submit individual, written statements describing their views of the situation. The statements were reviewed, further discussions were held and the sanctions were rendered.

Rochester to Host Women’s D-III Tournament

By Chris Lerch
-
December 22, 2000

USA Hockey announced today that Rochester, N.Y. has been selected as the host city for the 2001 American Women’s College Hockey Alliance (AWCHA) Division III national championships on March 9-10.

The games will be held at the ESL Sports Center on the campus of Monroe Community College. The $14 million facility has four ice sheets, including a main rink that seats approximately 2,500.

The format will be a traditional “final four” arrangement with a third-place game.

“When we heard about the tournament, we contacted USA hockey and asked them to come and take a look at our centre,” said ESL manager Ray Maluta. “We had a site visit from USA hockey, and we were selected to host the event.

“It’s great for the community of Rochester, the ESL Centre, and women’s hockey in this area. We’re very, very excited to bring this event here.”

Middlebury is the defending champion, having won last year’s tournament in Boston. At that time, the Division III championships were held in conjunction with the Division I AWCHA tournament. The NCAA is sponsoring a Division I women’s championships for the first time this season, eliminating the need for a D-I AWCHA tournament.

Next year, the NCAA will also sponsor a Division III women’s championship tournament.

Tickets packages for all four games are $12 for adults and $8 for students. Single day passes are also available for $8 and $5. For tickets, call (716) 242-4625.

Catching Up With … Tom Kurvers

By Adam Wodon
-
December 20, 2000

You’re from Minneapolis, you play hockey, you expect to play for the Gophers.

That’s just the way it is for most kids. And that’s the way it was for Tom Kurvers. His family held Gophers season tickets, after all.

To top it off, Kurvers was being recruited in 1980, in the aftermath of the Miracle on Ice. An Olympic team full of Gophers, led by Minnesota’s legendary coach, Herb Brooks, were American heroes.

None of it worked out like planned. On the other hand, it couldn’t have worked out any better, either.

“I didn’t have a choice as much as some guys. I had one offer from Wisconsin, which was a half-scholarship, and one full offer from Minnesota-Duluth, which made it an easy decision for me,” Kurvers says. “Like most kids from the Twin Cities, I was pretty disappointed when the hometown team didn’t recruit me as hard as some other players, but that’s the way it is.

“I knew who everyone was and I was aware of all that. But, at the same time, I recognized before my senior year of high school I wanted to play in the league if not for that team.”

So Kurvers signed on with Duluth, and the rest, as they say, is history.

All Kurvers did was improve each year, along with a steadily improving team. Sprinkle in the mentorship of then-new head coach Mike Sertich, and by the time Kurvers and his classmates were seniors, Duluth reached the national title game and Kurvers had himself college hockey’s most prestigious prize — the Hobey Baker Award.

Today, after an 11-year NHL career that included a Stanley Cup championship in 1986, Kurvers is working as a pro scout for the Phoenix Coyotes, under Bobby Smith, a teammate in Montreal early in Kurvers’ NHL career.

“[Smith] gave me an opportunity to get involved,” Kurvers says. “Travel is a little challenging, and my family is young, so you try to balance that the best you can. But I’m learning a lot on this side of the game, and I have ambitions to do more in the future.”

Ambitions that began to blossom in Duluth.

“It was a great thing for my family,” he says in retrospect about leaving the Twin Cities for the small northern Minnesota city of Duluth. “I was the second of five children, and everyone came up for a lot of our games. I think, in four years, my father missed 10 weekends. We talk about it now at family gatherings. It was a nice way for our family to become closer.”

Kurvers was an offensive defenseman and power-play quarterback. He helped the Bulldogs right away, putting up 24 assists and 30 points his freshman year. He impressed scouts enough to be selected in the seventh round of the 1981 NHL Draft by Montreal. But the NHL was a long way off.

The next season, Kurvers broke out with 11 goals and 42 points. But the team was still mired near the bottom of the WCHA standings. That’s when the change was made to Sertich, and the Bulldogs went 14-12 in 1982-83, with Kurvers reaching 44 points.

“I give [Sertich] a lot of credit. He is the person responsible for the program turning around,” Kurvers says of the coach who resigned from UMD just last year.

"It’s a great award and a great honor, it’s a nice thing to be a part of, but it might be more of a burden than an honor for the player that wins it and then plays in the championship game the next day."

— Tom Kurvers on winning the Hobey Baker Award

“Our program made great strides our junior year. [Sertich] changed the direction of the program and we had success. You talk about buying into a program at every level, and we did. He just made us work harder and become a more committed team.

“We had enough talent that was underused to that point, and we began to get more out of our players. And we tasted some success when we were juniors. And we gained some notoriety when our goalie, Bob Mason, went on to play for the ’84 Olympic Team. He was the MVP of the league. So we had some success in our program that hadn’t been there much before. It was a good year, and the next year we built on that.”

Indeed they did. But that, too, was still a long way off when the 1983-84 season began.

It started with Kurvers trying out for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, a tryout that ended in bitter disappointment when he was cut.

“For me, it worked out for the best,” Kurvers says. “You get cut a lot as a pro hockey player — if you can call a trade a cut. They had a lot of pressure on them in ’84. For me, it was the best thing that could’ve happened. But it was a big disappointment to be left out of the mix.

“But I was part of the process, and I may not have developed enough to play pro hockey if I was the sixth defenseman on the Olympic team.”

Any idea of what lied ahead could not have been predicted when the season began.

“We played the Olympic team in an exhibition game and lost 12-0, so we had no clue at that point,” Kurvers says.

When the season began, Duluth was playing decently enough, but nothing spectacular. The team still didn’t believe in itself.

One night, during a home game, athletics director Ralph Romano was sitting in the first row of seats behind the team’s bench when he suffered a heart attack. That incident turned out to be fatal, and it opened the team’s eyes.

“For some reason, we seemed to rally around that sad incident,” Kurvers says. “He developed the program in Duluth and was a very, very good man. For some reason, after the Christmas break, our team found the glue that you need to become winners, and went on a roll in the second half of the year.”

From adversity came inspiration, and by the time the season ended, the 1983-84 Bulldogs were champions of the WCHA, winning the regular-season title and the postseason championship over North Dakota.

Within a few weeks, those teams would meet again, this time in the national semifinal on March 22 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

“I remember our goaltender played awfully well,” Kurvers says. “I remember we beat North Dakota two weeks prior in the WCHA playoff final, and blew them out the first game in one of those two-game total goal series. So they had a chip on their shoulder to get back at us, and it was a great game.”

Much unlike the series that won the WCHA tournament, this was a nail-biter, won 2-1 in overtime when Bob Lasko set up future Hobey Baker winner Bill Watson for the winning goal.

Being in the national championship final, and having it happen in Lake Placid, which had become a mecca for American hockey, was a moment not lost on Kurvers.

“It was a chance to go to where it all happened in ’80. And it was pretty fresh in everyone’s minds in ’84,” Kurvers says. “So it was exciting to be up there and be around it. And later in my career, I got to know [1980 Olympians] Mike Ramsey and Jack O’Callahan pretty well, and hearing their stories of how they celebrated the gold medal, and now I know where they were. It was the first experience for most of our guys on an Olympic-size sheet.”

But, as if there wasn’t enough swirling around that senior season already, Kurvers was faced with Friday’s traditional Hobey Baker Award ceremony between the semifinals and final. With 18 goals and 76 points on the season, Kurvers was a favorite.

“[Winning the Hobey] wasn’t even in the realm of thinking at the start of the year,” Kurvers says. “Norm Maciver, my roommate, started mentioning it in January. Then my name was thrown in there, and our team was winning. He kept saying, ‘You’re gonna win that thing.’ Finally, after he said it a few times, it kinda hit me. I thought, ‘Maybe that’s a possibility.’ ”

It turned into a certainty, as Kurvers took home the award, as well as instant recognition. But there was still a game to pay attention to, a game that would become a classic.

In a game that went to a fourth overtime — overtimes were played in 10-minute intervals then — Bowling Green defeated the Bulldogs, 5-4, despite 55 saves from freshman UMD goalie Rick Kosti. But beyond the excitement of that game, Kurvers, other than the disappointment of the loss, remembers some strange details above all.

“I don’t remember the goals as well as I remember being along the boards with one of the Bowling Green players, puck at our feet and hoping the whistle would blow so we could get a breather,” he says.

“We went to four [defensemen] halfway through [regulation] and they played four all night. The benches shortened early. You played a lot of hockey, you played 100 minutes of hockey, and every other shift. So we were pretty tired …

“And I remember the PA announcer requesting that some of the fans that were on charter aircraft to leave the game after two overtimes so they could make the plane to get back to wherever they were coming from.”

Perhaps the most lasting memory, Kurvers said, is how intertwined the players in that game are, no matter which team you were on. When you see someone, either an ex-teammate or former Bowling Green player, the game becomes an instant topic of conversation.

“It’s almost mandatory when you get toghther with one of the guys,” Kurvers says. “In fact, I saw Dave Ellett, who played for Bowling Green that year, recently, and it’s almost mandatory to discuss the game again because it was such a memorable game.

“The comforting thing is, Dave Ellett, and I’m sure the rest of their team, they don’t hold it over our heads. They consider it, like all hockey players when you’re done playing, it’s like you all played on the same team. We know we played in a pretty big-time game.”

If there is one thing Kurvers wishes was different, however — besides the result — is how the Hobey Baker Award ceremony is handled. He says the pressure of that moment might be too much coming one day before the final.

“It was a little bit overwheleming,” Kurvers says. “I was 21 years old, and all of a sudden you’re tagged as the best player in college hockey. It’s a great award and a great honor, it’s a nice thing to be a part of, but it might be more of a burden than an honor for the player that wins it and then plays in the championship game the next day.”

Kurvers may have a point, when you consider that five other Hobey winners have lost the following night’s championship game — Neal Broten (Minnesota, 1981), Mark Fusco (Harvard, 1983), Scott Fusco (Harvard, 1986), Jason Krog (New Hampshire, 1999), and Mike Mottau (Boston College, 2000).

“I don’t know if they’d all share that feeling, but it seems like it puts a little extra burden on the player,” Kurvers says. “And maybe the player is supposed to step up to that. But I’d like to see it happen in any other format then to do it right before the game.”

(Three players have won the Hobey and the championship — Tony Hrkac (North Dakota, 1987), Lane McDonald (Harvard, 1989) and Paul Kariya (Maine, 1993).)

Looking back, just getting to that title game, after all Kurvers and the team had been through, was satisfaction enough. Especially because of what that team was able to give back to the local community of that small city in northern Minnesota.

“People from outside of Duluth — which is most of the rest of the world — don’t realize, Duluth’s economy is tied to the steel industry, to Pittsburgh to Youngstown,” Kurvers says. “Duluth had the third highest unemployment rate in the country at the time.

“Our success became a rallying point, not just for the school, but for a city of 100,000 people in Duluth. And it brought some excitement and hope for people who were going through tough economic times.”

Of course, as eventful as Kurvers’ college career was, he still had 11 years and 659 games of NHL life ahead of him. And in just his second year, he had 30 points on a Canadiens team that won the Stanley Cup.

But, despite a relatively long and successful NHL career, Kurvers never tasted that kind of team success again. The next year, he was off to Buffalo, then to an up-and-coming New Jersey Devils team that made the playoffs for the first time in 1988 and rode the magic all the way to the semifinals.

The following year, Kurvers had a career-high 16 goals and 66 points, then it was off to Toronto and another 15 goals. He followed up with stints with Vancouver, the New York Islanders, and Anaheim, and even a season with Seibu of the Japanese league, before retiring in 1996.

“It was a lot more than I expected on the way in, and not nearly enough on the way out,” Kurvers says.

“You get in, and it’s very difficult to be a great player at the pro level. The [Hobey] award I won got me the recognition and opportunity to play in the NHL. I broke in with a good team in a good environment. I look around at my teammates that first year, and there’s an awful lot of coaches and general managers. So I know I was around solid people, and I got my career off on the right foot.

“I did enough right to keep getting chances.”

Now, Kurvers is evaluating talent. He likes what he sees in the college game today, but he says, with all the competition, scouts these days will go after talent anywhere they can get it. That’s, perhaps, different than 20 years ago when it was more difficult for college players to get noticed.

“I’m not sure there was a lack of respect for the college player,” Kurvers says. “I think everyone was just set in their ways 25 years ago. There wasn’t a thought to go see a college player. But I can tell you from in-house experience, if we can find a player in college, Europe, any level of the minor leagues that can help our team, we’re going to seek him out. There is no bias for or against any player from anywhere in the world.

“The college kids are in the second best league in the world. They play to big-time crowds, there’s many big-time college atmospheres. For many players it’s a better developmental place. You have world-class training equipment, every school, they all have it now. They practice more. The effort is incredible for those kids to practice and get the schooling done. The commitment is there.

“For the best players, junior hockey is going to groom them for the NHL — when they’re can’t miss. For any player below ‘can’t miss,’ college is a great way to go.”

As it was for Tom Kurvers.

BC’s Kolanos Cut from Team Canada

USCHO Staff Report
-
December 18, 2000

Two U.S. college players will be part of the Canadian entry at the World Junior Championships this year, but Boston College’s Krys Kolanos won’t be one of them.

Kolanos was one of four players who missed the final cut, as the team pared down what was originally 34 players to 22. This year’s World Junior Championships will take place in Moscow, Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

Two other college players, Michigan’s Mike Cammalleri and Wisconsin’s Dany Heatley, made the final cut. Heatley, the No. 2 pick by Atlanta in the 2000 NHL Draft, has 26 points in 20 games. Cammalleri has 28 points in 19 games.

Kolanos, 19, the first-round pick by Phoenix (19th overall) in the 2000 NHL Draft, has 12 goals and 28 points in 15 games, and leads Hockey East in scoring.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes,” said a disappointed Kolanos. “You take your medicine and move on.”

Eau Claire Coach Suspended One Month

USCHO Staff Report
-
December 17, 2000

Wisconsin-Eau Claire head coach Marlin Muylaert has been suspended by the school’s administration for a month, as a result of his actions during a game with Augsburg last Saturday, Dec. 9.

MUYLAERT

Down 9-1, Muyleart pulled the goalie from the game, allowing Augsburg to score two uncontested goals. At that point, with the score 11-1 and with just over seven minutes remaining, a MIAC rule kicked in that allows a team ahead by 10 goals the option of going to running time, which is what Augsburg head coach Mike Schwarz decided to do.

Muylaert then removed his team from the ice, resulting in penalties and, eventually, a forfeit.

“[Muylaert’s actions] demonstrated a lack of respect for the Augsburg team, the Augsburg fans, the game officials, UW-Eau Claire and the essence of athletic competition,” said Steven Tallant, UW-Eau Claire associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.

“In the heat of battle we make decisions, and we can make bad decisions. Unfortunately, an incident like this can really paint you, and people can get an image of you that isn’t really true.”

To that point in the game, Eau Claire had been assessed 23 penalties for 92 minutes, including two game disqualifications, while Augsburg had just 10 penalties for 31 minutes, including one disqualification.

“I pulled my team off the ice because in my estimation it was a dangerous situation for my players,” said Muylaert to the Eau Claire Leader Telegram. “I knew there would be serious repercussions when I did it. I’ll pay the price.”

Muyleart’s suspension ends on January 13. Assistant coach Brandon Klement has taken over in the interim. The Blugolds will play face St. Mary’s, St. Thomas and Minnesota-Crookston, twice, in that span.

The Blugolds defeated NCHA-leading Wisconsin-River Falls 3-2 on Saturday, Dec. 16 under Klement.

Hockey East Recruiting Capsules

By Chris Heisenberg
-
December 15, 2000

(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.)

Boston College

Graduates: Forwards: Brian Gionta, Marty Hughes, Mike Lephart, (possibly Krys Kolanos); Defense: Bobby Allen, Bob Scuderi, (possibly Brooks Orpik); Goal: Scott Clemmensen

After targeting and securing the top talent the last four seasons, Boston College had to go to plan B this season when several high-profile targets committed elsewhere. The Eagles did hit on one of their targets, slick playmaker Ryan Shannon (Taft Prep), who moved up the radar screen with his performance on the USA Under-17 team. Three other skilled, but raw, talents have committed: Ryan Murphy (USNDP), a physical forward; John Adams, a tall defender from Minnesota’s high school system; and Ned Havern, a Massachusetts public school product. Although these players have great talent, their ability to contribute right away is less certain than that of the elite BC classes that preceded them. BC is still in the market for a replacement for four-year starter Scott Clemmensen, and one more defender.

Boston University

Graduates: Forwards: Carl Corazzini, Nick Gillis, Scott Perry; Defense: Keith Emery, Colin Sheen

The Terriers secured three prime recruits who had yearned to play for the Terriers since their childhood. Leading the charge of early commitments was Ryan Whitney. Whitney is equally comfortable making tape-to-tape passes and using his 6-foot-4 frame and skating skills to neutralize forwards. He committed to BU in February, and was followed a month later by friend and prep teammate Brian McConnell, another top NHL prospect. McConnell has a pro game, using his 6-2 size to battle for goals. With the May commitment from National Team forward Justin Maiser, BU filled most of its recruiting needs with elite talent before the official recruiting season was even under way. In September, a fourth member of the U.S. National Team, Bryan Miller, also joined the class. Miller is a top line offensive product, the leading scorer on the USNDP team with 4-6=10 in 11 games. All are big-time prospects, and will make immediate impacts, pushing BU’s class into the nation’s top-five.

Maine

Graduates: Forwards: Dan Kerluke, Mattias Trattnig; Defense: A.J. Begg

Faced with filling only a small class, the Bears gained a key early commitment in March from Ben Murphy (Cushing Prep), who then proceeded to showcase his offensive skills by leading the Hockey Night in Boston summer tournament in scoring. Up front, Jon Jankus is another gritty forward in the mold of Cameron Lyall. Maine also added Paul Lynch (Jr. Warriors, EJHL), a raw, physical defenseman who Shawn Walsh has compared to Matt Martin. Two other players already in school, Prestin Ryan and Colin Shields, are not eligible this season, but are showing during practices that they could step in and do damage next year.

Merrimack

Graduates: Forwards: John Pyliotis, Vince Clevenger, Ron Mongeau, Joe Gray; Defense: Steve Moon; Goal: Tom Welby

Last season, Merrimack lined up early commitments from Alberta’s Taras Foremsky and Saskatchewan goalie K.C. Guenther. Foremsky, a center, has since followed up 52- and 66-point seasons with 18-31-49 totals in 32 games split between the Calgary Canucks and Ft. Saskatchewan. Goalie K.C. Guenther faces lots of shots in his second year of Jr. A in LaRonge (SJHL) franchise, and has the promise of developing into a solid backstop. The Warriors then continued to work Coach Serino’s Ontario connection, which had produced top Toronto forwards Anthony Aquino and Marco Rosa. This time it produced 17-year old Matt Foy, from Wexford (OPJHL), who was a second-round OHL draft selection, and has posted 22-18-40 in 24 games in his first season of Junior A. Mark Noble, a center with good bloodlines, will add character and a winning tradition to the Warriors’ lineup.

New Hampshire

Graduates: Forwards: Matt Swain, Johnny Rogers, C.J. Ficek; Defense: Mark White, Eric Lind, Sean Austin; Goal: Ty Conklin

If not in the top five recruiting classes, then UNH’s class is not far from it. Within a week period in June, UNH received verbal commitments from top-rated New England forwards Sean Collins (Reading HS) and Eddie Caron (Phillips Exeter). Those choices supplemented the March commitment from Justin Aikins, who has showcased his playmaking skills by cracking the BCHL top 10 scorers (13-39-52 in 35 games). Another experienced winger, Preston Callendar, has jumped to the top of the USHL scoring leaders with 15-15-30 totals in 22 games. In November, UNH filled its big need for an offensive defenseman with Tyson Teplitsky, who has a cannon shot from the point and already has 9-19-28 in 34 games, including five power play goals. Robbie Barker is a solid, physical defender adept at clearing out the front of the net.

Northeastern

Graduates: Forwards: Graig Mischler, Matt Keating, Brian Cummings, Sean MacDonald; Defense: John Peterman, Mike Jozefowicz

The Huskies got a leg up on replacing defense with commitments from Donnie Grover (Catholic Memorial) and offensive defender Tim Judy of the USHL’s Sioux City (3-8-11 in 20 games). Grover, a local player from Catholic Memorial, was voted a top defenseman at the Hockey Night in Boston summer tournament. Young center Jaron Herriman leads the lesser-scoured Mid-Western Hockey League in scoring with 25-37-62 in 25 games, after 54 points as a rookie.

Providence

Graduates: Forwards: Cole Gendreau, J.J. Picinic, Adam Lee; Defense: Jay Leach, Matt Libby; Goal: Boyd Ballard

With the summer commitments of Eric Lundberg and Chris Chaput, Providence gained two highly-touted products from the local N.E. Coyotes of the EJHL, each of whom has been selected to the US Select 17 team. It then returned to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, securing sniping winger Derek Allan (Nipawin), who is following-up last-year’s SJHL All-Rookie team selection by placing in the SJHL top scorers with 23-27-50 in 30 games. Jim Merola, a local goalie from LaSalle Prep, is brought aboard to back up Nolan Schaefer.

UMass-Amherst

Graduates: Forwards: Jeff Turner, Kris Wallis, Ray Geever, R.J. Gates, Nick Stephens, Jay Shaw; Defense: Joey Culgin; Goal: Markus Helanen

New coach Toot Cahoon scored a big recruiting coup in July by nabbing goalie Tim Warner, one of the east’s best, to replace graduating goalie Markus Helanen. Up front the Minutemen face the challenge of upgrading scoring, including the loss of leading point-getter Jeff Turner. A trio of Massachusetts natives was brought in, starting with speedy winger Greg Mauldin, playing now with the Junior Bruins. Three prep wingers, Matt Walsh (Northfield), Peter Trovato (Deerfield Prep), and Craig MacDonald (Nobles) fit into the UMass hard-working style, and should step in. Also rounding out the defense is Jeff Lank, from Tabor Academy, and Sean Regan, a defenseman with the Mass. midget championship team.

UMass-Lowell

Graduates: Forwards: Brad Rooney, Jeff Boulanger, Nick Carso, Kyle Kidney; Goal: Cam McCormick

With only three forwards departing, Lowell has signed Gerry Hickey, a hard-working winger. Last season, Lowell brought in late recruit Laurent Meunier from Europe, so additonal surprises may be in the offing.

(Chris Heisenberg operates the ultimate independent web site on recruiting, chronicling the progress of each school’s incoming class).

CCHA Recruiting Capsules

By Chris Heisenberg
-
December 15, 2000

(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.)

Alaska-Fairbanks

Graduates: Forwards: Jim Lawrence, Ryan Reinheller, Pat Hallett, Scott McIlroy; Defense: Darren Tiemstra, Chad Hamilton

Second-year coach Guy Gadowsky continues to bring in new players to mold the program. This class includes two offensive threats from the AJHL, Jason Grinevich, 25-33-58 in 36 games with Drayton Valley, and diminuative 17-year old center Doug Auchenberg (16-29-45 in 27 games), an offensive wiz who recently was traded to the Camrose Kodiaks. Billy Crumm, a Junior A veteran with Waterloo of the USHL (3-5-8 in 19 games), is a solid winger, and Tomi Karlsson, from Finland, is an unknown.

Bowling Green

Graduates: Forwards: Ryan Murphy, Curtis Valentine, Dennis Williams; Defense: Doug Schueller, Louis Mass; Goal: Shawn Timm

Bowling Green got the goalie they needed in Jordan Sigalet (Victoria, BCHL), who was highly-recruited after his BCHL All-Rookie team selection last season. Two defensemen, Taylor Christie (Thornhill, OPJHL), a stay-at-home player (1-5-6 in 23 games) and Matt Lynn (Wellington, OPJHL), an offensive defender (5-10-15 in 26 games), will contribute to replacing the graduating Schueller and Mass.

Ferris State

Graduates: Forwards: Kevin Swider, Rob Lighfoot, Jon Rogger; Defense: Scott Lewis, Jim Dube; Goal: Vince Owen

Skip Renauld, a former member of the Saskatchewan Under-17 team, and last year’s Royal Cup champions Ft. McMurray, is a young, top-flight defenseman (5-13-18 and 116 PIM in 32 games). His goalie on last year’s championship Ft. McMurray squad, Mike Brown, has since moved on to the Crowsnest Pass franchise, but continues to impress. Left wing Derek Nesbitt from Sarnia (WOJHL) is a high-energy winger (6-12-18 in 22 games).

Lake Superior

Graduates: Forwards: Ryan Vince, Mike Vigilante, Bart Redden; Defense: Ryan Knox, Klemen Kelgar, Matt Frick; Goal: Jayme Platt

Jeff Mushaluk, who passed up partial scholarship offers last year in hopes of increasing his stock, has seen the gamble pay off with his commitment to the Lakers. At Trail (BCHL), he has quarterbacked the team and led it in scoring with 14-22-36 in 32 games, although he is equally adept at throwing around his 6-foot-3 size. Another experienced defender is James Laux, who has 9-13-22 totals in 32 games for the Weyburn Red Wings of the SJHL. His goalie at Weyburn, Terry Denike, and his 2.31 GAA and .908 save percentage, is ready to replace Platt. Up front, LSSU got commitments from gritty winger Ryan Bennett from Des Moines (13-10-23 in 24 games) and Andy Contois from Green Bay (5-11-16 in 21 games), a past member of the US Select 17 team.

Miami-Ohio

Graduates: Forwards: Gregor Krajnc, Ernie Hartleib, Anthony Donskov, Jason Deskins, Pat Leahy; Defense: Clarke Walford

Second-year coach Enrico Blasi focused recruiting efforts up front, garnering four forwards. Last season he received a commitment from Chad Larose, a 5-9 center who brings offensive skills that should translate into the college game. Todd Grant, from Danville (NAHL), has blossomed as a scorer in his second season of Jr. A play (14-16-30 in 22 games). Winger A.J. Greco, from the Buffalo area, is sought for his 6-2 size, and has a developing scoring touch (3-11-14 in 23 games). Vinnie Pulera, a small prep center from Shattuck St. Mary’s will be looked upon to increase his strength to complement his offensive skills. Behind the blueline, Joe Pomaranski comes in from the U.S. National Program.

Michigan

Graduates: Forwards: Mark Kosick, Josh Langfield, Scott Matzka, Geoff Koch, Bill Trainor, (possibly Andy Hilbert); Defense: David Huntzicker, Bob Gassoff, (possibly Jeff Jillson); Goal: L.J. Scarpace

By signing a mammoth nine-player class, the Maize and Blue took early steps to fill the hole that will be created by the departure of its large senior class, potentially a pair of underclassmen, and the unexpected departure of Mike Comrie. Up front, Michigan renewed its Eastern prep pipeline — one which brought them Greg Crozier, Matt Herr, Geoff Koch and Bubba Berenzweig in the past — with the February commitment by Michael Woolford (Cushing), voted the Prep player of the Year by United States Hockey Report. Milan Gajic chose Michigan over Michigan State, Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud, and follows up last year’s 81 points by leading the BCHL with 29-35-64 totals in 31 games. Dwight Helminen, a small, fast center from the U.S. National Program, whose February verbal made him one of the earliest commits, also should contribute right away. Jason Ryznar and Eric Nystrom, two more U.S. National players, are hard-working wingers who bring size and decent scoring touches to the front lines. Michigan also upgraded the defense with the trio of Reilly Olsen, Brandon Rodgers and Eric Werner. Werner struggled with the U.S. National Team last season, but has blossomed as a playmaker with the powerful Sioux Falls USHL team (2-19-21 in 20 games). Olsen was set to attend Michigan last season, but elected to spend one more year at Vernon (BCHL), for which he has 14 points. In March, Michigan filled its goaltending need by gaining a commitment from Team USA’s top goalie prospect, Jason Bacashihua (Chicago, NAHL), early preparation for graduating Kevin O’Malley and Josh Blackburn in 2001. Bacashishua represents an elite American backstop, having starred for the U.S. in the Under-17 tournament last season.

Michigan State

Graduates: Forwards: Damon Whitten, Sean Patchell, Rustyn Dolyny, John Nail, Andrew Bogle; Goal: Joe Blackburn

The defensive-minded Spartans brought in one of the nation’s premier recruits in defenseman Duncan Keith (Penticton, BCHL), a diminutive playmaking quarterback (6-37-43 in 34 games), and center Jimmy Slater (Cleveland, NAHL), a top scorer at a young age (15-23-38 in 24 games). Lee Falardeau and Brock Radunske, another OHL first round pick chosing the U.S. college route (14-17-31 in 25 games for Newmarket), are also in the mix. After the signing period, Michigan State added BCHL speedster Kevin Estrada (Chilliwack, BCHL), who has increased his offensive output to place third in the BCHL scoring charts (17-34-51 in 30 games).

Nebraska-Omaha

Graduates: Forwards: Jason Cupp, Alan Carr, Billy Pugliese, James Chalmers, Josh Lampman, Jason White, Joe Yurecko, David Noel-Bernier; Defense: Mike Skogland, Ed Cassin, Dan Zaluski

Winger Anthony Adams from Surrey (BCHL) is a scorer, compiling 24-13-37 in 29 games. Gus Groslie has added scoring to his game, and now has 9-8-17 in 18 games for Chicago (USHL). Dan Calzada was a prime recruit last season, but required an additional year at Green Bay (1-11-12 in 21 games). He should step in to lead the defense once he steps on campus next year. Defender Bryce Lampmann elected to follow his brother to Omaha, and has size to add to the blueline.

Northern Michigan

Graduates: Forwards: Mike Sandbeck, Fred Mattersdorfer, Ryan Riipi; Defense: Colin Young; Goal: Dan Ragusett

Graduating only a small class, Northern Michigan brought local talent Alan Swanson of Marquette, now with Green Bay (5-8=13 in 19 games). Also returning is Ray Ladochi, a stay-at-home defenseman who started this season at Northern Michigan, but returned for another season of junior hockey. Finish goalie Tuomi Kakki is brought in for graduating Dan Ragusett.

Notre Dame

Graduates: Forwards: Dan Carlson, Kyle Dolder, Jay Kopischke, Matt Van Arkel, Chad Chipchase; Defense: Ryan Clark; Goal: Kyle Kolquist

Brad Wanchaluk (Ft. Saskatchewan, AJHL), who uses his playmaking skills (19-29-48 in 32 games) while bouncing between center and defense, probably will be a center for the Irish. Coach Dave Poulin also got an August commitment from Matt Amado, a promising youngster who struggled somewhat (8-11-19 in 34 games) after bring traded to Penticton (BCHL) in the offseason. Defenseman Derek Smith (USNDP) is a defensive presence who takes care of his own end, and chips in with the occasional goal.

Ohio State

Graduates: Forwards: J.F. Dufour; Defense: Andre Signoretti, Jaisen Freeman

The Buckeyes had few spots to fill, and, early on, lined up J.B. Bittner, a winger on the high-powered Sioux Falls (USHL) offense (11-12-23 in 20 games). They also landed Nicolas Kuiper, a second year COJHL defenseman from Hawkesbury who had 29 points as a freshman.

Western Michigan

Graduates: Forwards: Dave Gove, Brett Mills, Steve Rymsha, Mark Wilkinson

Western Michigan’s recruiting class has bit of everything. Older Paul Glynn, a left wing from Chicago, sits fifth in NAHL scoring, with 9-25-34 in 24 games. He will be ineligible until mid-year 2001. A second forward, winger Jeremy Cheyne, finally found a home with Bow Valley and is making a mockery of the AJHL scoring race as a 20-year old (41-48-89 in 38 games). Young winger Pat Dwyer, comes from the less-heralded American West Hockey League, but has potential. On defense, Matt Ponto, scored 30 points as a 17-year old rookie defenseman with Camrose, AJHL. This season he has 25 points in 32 games, and leads his team in plus-minus. Mike Mantua, a lightning quick goalie, is standing out as a 20-year old with Des Moines, USHL.

(Chris Heisenberg operates the ultimate independent web site on recruiting, chronicling the progress of each school’s incoming class).

WCHA Recruiting Capsules

By Chris Heisenberg
-
December 15, 2000

(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.)

Alaska-Anchorage

Graduates: Forwards: Chris Sikich, Reggie Simon; Defense: Steve Ludwig, Mark Leitner

The early signing period saw UAA grab Lee Green and Ryan Young, both Anchorage natives. Young (3-5-8 in 16 games) is a hard-working winger in the USHL. Green is a very solid 6-foot-3 with good puck instincts (1-6-7 in 21 games), and currently plays with the winning Omaha Lancers (USHL) organization.

Colorado College

Graduates: Forwards: Justin Morrison; Defense: Mike Colgan, Paul Manning, Brent Voorhees; Goal: Colin Zulianello

The Tigers need to replace three defenders, and started by adding Omaha (USHL) defenseman Jason Krischuk (4-14-18 in 20 games). At age 20, he should be ready for immediate duty. Up front, Colorado picked up Sioux City forward Scott Polaski last season, and his game looks to have stepped up following the extra season in the USHL (8-10-18 in 20 games).

Denver

Graduates: Forwards: Kelly Popadynetz, Bjorn Engstrom, Neil Phippen; Defense: Judd Stauss, Bryan Vines, James Armstrong

Tops among the Pioneer recruits was Jeff Drummond, a slick playmaker who led the Alberta Midget league in scoring in 1998-99 as a 17-year old, and cut his teeth as a rookie last year with 52 points. Using another year to build up his strength, he has shown the ability to control games (18-23-41 in 35 games). Luke Flughum, a speedy winger from Waterloo of the USHL (5-7-12 in 15 games), already has 17-and 28-goal seasons under his belt. The Pioneers remain in the running for David Spina, a forward with the USNDP.

Michigan Tech

Graduates: Forwards: Matt Ulwelling, Tab Lardner; Defense: Mat Snesrud, Clint Way, Adrian Fure; Goal: Jason Moilanen

The impact on recruiting of the mid-season coaching change from Tim Watters to Mike Sertich remains to be seen. Colin Murphy, a pugnatious winger, was originally slated to join Tech this season, but had to return to the AJHL for an extra year (31-24-55 and 143 PIM in 36 games). He should contribute immediately. John Snowden from Lincoln (USHL) will join the squad in time for second semester, and will bring a deft scoring touch (12-14-26 in 20 games) missing from the Huskies.

Minnesota

Graduates: Forwards: Erik Westrum, Aaron Miskovich, Stu Senden, Matt Leimbek; Defense: Dylan Mills

As always, Minnesota tabbed the premier Minnesota high school talent during the early signing period, nabbing a total of six players. This year, the Gophers got commitments from top forward Mike Erickson, a power left wing from Eden Prairie, and defenseman Keith Ballard. They are two of the top players at their positions. Ballard, in particular, is touted by some as the top U.S. defenseman, who has used his howitzer to post 12-12-24 in 24 games. Another recruit, Garrett Smaagaard, injured himself during the football season, and may miss this entire hockey season. Barry Tallackson is another tall forward with the USNDP, whose offense is just beginning to emerge. Jake Fleming, formerly of Osseo High, is a quick, pesky forward. Also returning is Dan Welch, who ranks among the USHL leading scorers with 15-12=27 in 22 games with Omaha during his year away from the Gophers. In goal, Travis Weber comes in as the understudy for Adam Hauser. All-in-all, this is a top 5 national class.

Minnesota-Duluth

Graduates: Forwards: Ryan Homstol, Mark Gunderson, Derek Derow; Defense: Ryan Coole, Jesse Fibiger, Craig Pierce

This class represents Scott Sandelin’s first recruiting class, and is pretty diversified. Shifty leftwinger Evan Schwabe (Kindersley, SJHL) is a small (5-9, 150) offensive threat 17-21-38 in 30 games, after 51 points in his rookie season. Schwabe’s teammate, Neil Petruic, is one of the SJHL top defenders, posting 7-19-26 in 32 games, after a berth on last year’s SJHL all-rookie team. Tyler Brosz is an older, hard-working winger for the Olds Grizzlys, AJHL. Brosz’s offensive skills have emerged this season, where he is currently third in the AJHL scoring race with 29-37-66 in 37 games, after modest 47 and 62 point seasons. Ryan Langenbrunner, brother of Dallas Stars’ Jamie, is another hardworking forward (0-2-2 in 17 games). Luke Stauffacher is a small, finesse center who (6-10-16 in 21 games) has developed his offensive game as a 20-year old. Also added was defenseman Todd Smith from Vernon (BCHL), a stay-at-home physical defender with 4-6-10 in 30 games.

Minnesota State-Mankato

Graduates: Forwards: T.J. Guidarelli, Peter Holoien, Tyler Baines, Ryan Severson; Defense: Ben Christopherson, Jon Bushy

Brad Thompson, a second year center with Twin Cities of the USHL (5-7-12 in 17 games) and Jon Dubel, an offensive defender with Sioux Falls (USHL). Center Jake Brenk is a tall center with good offensive skills for powerful Breck (Minn.) HS.

North Dakota

Graduates: Forwards: Jeff Panzer, Wes Dorey; Defense: Trevor Hammer; Goal: Karl Goehring

As always, the Sioux have a large collection of commitments. Tops up front is forward Rory McMahon, a big-time BCHL prospect, who has moved into the league’s top 25 scoring in his first year with Penticton (BCHL) where he has 14-22-36 in 31 games. The Sioux later added 5-foot-6 speedster Chris Fournier from Lincoln (USHL), who has 8-19-26 in 21 games. North Dakota brings in another Notre Dame, SJHL product in Derek Faul, a workmanlike winger with a decent scoring touch (11-15-26 in 33 games). Brian Canady, a winger with Waterloo (USHL), is now in his third year, and ready for college duty. Another early signer was Ryan Connelly, a center now at Waterloo (USHL), where he showed his ability to contribute by putting up 10-9-19 in 21 games. Behind the blueline, big Matt Jones (0-3-3 in 19 games) is young, but highly sought after. He joins the Lincoln (USHL) duo of Andy Schneider (1-13-14 in 18 games) and Nick Fuher (2-11-13 in 19 games), both of whom committed in 1999, and since have developed into an all-star tandem. Goalie Jake Brandt, the top Minnesota HS goalie last season, now backstops powerhouse Lincoln (USHL). Recently, North Dakota received a verbal commitment from James Massen (6-2, 220), who second in the USHL in scoring with 16 goals and 33 points.

St. Cloud State

Graduates: Forwards: Brandon Sampair, Peter Torsson, Keith Anderson; Defense: Brian Gaffaney, Ritchie Larson; Goal: Scott Meyer

Veteran BCHL sniper Brian McCormack, has received knocks on his skating ability, but finds the spots and can score with the best of them. He has 27 goals and 49 points in 34 games, following seasons of 23, 34 and 42 goals. Speedy David Iannazzo (12-15-27 in 21 games) with Sioux Falls, and his scoring teammate Mike Doyle (12-16-28 in 23 games), also will join the front lines for the Huskies. Billy Hengen, a high scorer in Minnesota high school, has taken some time to adjust to the USHL speed (1-2-3 in 15 games). Behemoth Des Moines defenseman James Jernberg (6-4, 240) will fill the ample skates of Brian Gaffaney.

Wisconsin

Graduates: Forwards: Kevin Granato, Mike Cerniglia (probably Dany Heatley); Defense: Alex Brooks, Jeff Dessner, Rick Spooner; Goal: Graham Melanson

Up front, Wisconsin turned to two younger forwards who may taken time to contribute, but who have top talent. Alex Leavitt (Notre Dame, SJHL) has a pedigree similar to Michigan’s Mike Cammalleri, in that he is 16 years old, slight at 5-10, 160 pounds, but who has darted through SJHL defenses to post 14-16-30 in 31 games. Ryan MacMurchy is another youthful forward with a top midget reputation, leading all Saskatchewan AAA midget league 83 born players in scoring. He has shown flashes of that talent his first year at Vernon (BCHL), but it has not yet translated into consistent Jr. A results (3-10-13 in 31 games). The Badgers also face the task of replacing bookend defenders Dessner and Brooks, and All-American Graham Melanson. Defenseman Joe Campbell is another raw talent, lanky (6-4, 180) and just starting to adjust to the higher Jr. A level (4-3-7 in 22 games), who may return to the USHL and bulk-up next year. Wisconsin is taking its time sorting though the available goalies to find its replacment for Melanson.

(Chris Heisenberg operates the ultimate independent web site on recruiting, chronicling the progress of each school’s incoming class).

ECAC Recruiting Capsules

By Chris Heisenberg
-
December 15, 2000

(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.)

Brown

Graduates: Forwards: Matt Kohansky, John Petricig, Jon Zielinski, Doug Janjevich; Defense: Mike Pratt, Chris Warrington

Brown received a commitment from Chris Swon, a forward who moved to the USHL for his senior year after playing at Hotchkiss Prep. Swon has shown glimpses of good puck skills as a youngster in the veteran USHL (5-4-9 in 18 games). Les Haggett, a smooth right winger, formerly with Northwood Prep, is now scoring for Ottawa of the COJHL (10-27-36 in 26 games), after 18 points in 19 games last season.

Clarkson

Graduates: Forwards: Murray Kuntz, Don Smith; Defense: Kent Huskins, Gasper Sekelj

Up front, Clarkson added Guelph’s Chris Blight (20-22-42 in 25 games), Northwood Prep’s Jay Latulippe, and Wexford’s Mac Faulkner. Faulkner (10-23-33 in 22 games) has adjusted to his first year in Jr. A, teaming with Merrimack recruit Matt Foy to form a formidable top line. Defenseman Randy Jones (6-10-16 in 14 games) was voted the OPJHL’s top defenseman last season when he scored 20 goals and 56 points, and comes in to compensate for the loss of Huskins’ offensive skills.

Colgate

Graduates: Forwards: Sean Nolan, Kevin Johns, Mike O’Malley, Chad MacDonald, Sam Sturgis, Jay Varecka, Dan Stay; Defense: Bryan Long, Cory Murphy

Losing six forwards, Colgate went to work in Ontario’s Mid-West Junior hockey league, coming away with linemates Adam Mitchell (12-24-36 in 26 games) and Darryl McKinnon (6-15-21 in 19 games), both promising youngsters. Mitchell is one of the fastest skaters in junior hockey. Colgate also recruited lanky defenseman Richard Hodgkinson (3-6-9 in 25 games), who will add a stay-at-home approach to the blueline.

Cornell

Graduates: Forwards: David Hovey, Andrew MacNiven, Daniel Svoboda; Defense: Larry Pierce, Danny Powell; Goal: Ian Burt

Highly regarded 18-year old Mike Knoepfli, a high-scoring left wing (20-26-46 in 22 games) with Georgetown (OPJHL), committed to Cornell after an impressive 84-point 1999-00 season. Defensive power forward Paul Vanteressian‘s production has jumped from 17 to 46 to his current 60-point pace (8-16-24 in 18 games). The Big Red also added Burlington (OPJHL) product Jan Pujerski, a solid defender, and later, Charlie Cook from the NAHL (2-14-16 in 19 games), who moved to Cornell after Michigan Tech’s mid-season coaching change.

Dartmouth

Graduates: Forwards: Mike Byrne, Peter Mahler; Defense: Dory Tisdale

The Big Green will not be losing a lot of players to graduation, but nonetheless is bringing in four talented forwards in Nathan Szymanski (7-11-18 in 23 games), Lee Stempniak (15-19-34 in 19 games), Chris Snizek (Choate Prep) and Joe Gaul (Chicago, NAHL). Offensive defenseman John Ostapyk has displayed offensive skills both this year (1-12-13 in 22 games), and in his 32 points last year with Ottawa of the COJHL.

Harvard

Graduates: Forwards: Steve Moore, Chris Bala, Harry Schwefel; Defense: Tim Stay; Goal: Oliver Jonas

A very good recruiting year for second-year coach Mark Mazzoleni. Harvard has long tradition of garnering New England Prep School products, and this year was no exception. Losing Stay on defense, its recruiting focused on upgrading the blueline, with commitments from slick Jesse Lane; Noah Welch, a top 6-foot-3 two-way defender from St. Sebastian’s prep; and Ryan Lannon, a stay-at-home defender from Cushing Prep. Up front, the Crimson landed Tom Cavanagh from Phillips Exeter, and Andrew Lederman, a playmaking center from Ontario, who has 26 points in 21 games after scoring 40 points in 39 Ontario Provincial Junior League (OPJHL) games as a 17-year old last season.

Princeton

Graduates: Kirk Lamb, Chris Corrinet, Ethan Doyle, Shane Campbell; Defense: Jason Dillow, Peter Zavodny

The Tigers have landed Mike Patton of Cedar Rapids (USHL), a speedy 5-9 winger who leads the team in scoring with nine goals and 16 points in 20 games. They recently added veteran BCHL winger Neil Stevenson-Moore (Burnaby), who has some speed and a pretty good scoring touch.

RPI

Graduates: Forwards: (possibly Matt Murley); Defense: Glen Coupal

With only two spots to fill, RPI secured Kanata (Ont.) defenseman Matt McNeely and C.J. Hanafin. McNeely is a great skater, who led the Kanata blueliners with 45 points last season as a 17 year old. Hanafin is a Massachusetts public school forward who has shown his bona fides at the Hockey Night in Boston tournament.

St. Lawrence

Graduates: Forwards: Erik Anderson, Mike Gellard, Andy Marchetti, Alan Fyfe; Defense: Kevin Veneruzzo, Matt Desrosiers, Josh Leroy; Goal: Jeremy Symington, Sean Coakley

St. Lawrence parlayed its NCAA run into a March commitment from Jimmy Ball, a highly-recruited, burly two-way defenseman who had been a 1999 first-round pick of North Bay in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft. Ball, already in his third Jr. A season at the age of 17, has slowly added offense to his considerable defensive skill. By August, Matt MacDonald, a defensive stalwart, and another 1999 OHL first round pick, chose to go the college route and St. Lawrence. A third defender, James Hakewill, from Westminster Prep, brings size to the lineup. Up front, John Zeiler has adjusted slowly to his first USHL season, but has shown promise, posting 2-6-8 totals in 22 games. Stace Page has displayed his offensive prowess by putting up 123- and 80-point seasons in the OPJHL, showing that this year’s 37-36-73 totals in 32 games is no fluke. Finally, Dan Dupuis, will be eligible next year, after a 100-point, first-team all-star performance with the Brockville Braves of the COJHL. He brings is an imposing finesse package in his 6-4 frame, which includes reach and vision.

Union

Graduates: Jason Ralph, Alex Todd, Clark Jones, Mason Anderson, Bryan Yackel, Bryant Westerman, Paul Kilfoy

Looking to replace seven senior fowards, Union has landed Jordan Webb, a young center from Kanata (COJHL), who has 10 goals and 28 points in 27 games. Brian Kerr is a gritty winger who moved to the USHL and has 6-7-13 totals in 18 games, after a 56-point season in the SJHL. Another winger with a strong winning tradition, Max Seel, from Green Bay (USHL), brings an awareness of defensive play (1-3-4 in 23 games). Chris DiStefano is a defensive defenseman with Choate Prep.

Vermont

Graduates: Forwards: J.F. Caudron, Jerry Gernander; Defense: Andreas Moborg, Jim Gernander, Mike Torney, Martin Wilde; Goal: Andrew Allen

The Catamounts got off to a good start by adding U.S. National Team member and Vermont native Braden Leisenring early in the season. August brought speedy Taft Prep winger Tim Plant. Diminutive speedster, Scott Mifsud, stands atop his division’s scoring with 22-25-47 in 23 games. Back on defense, Derek Wagar, from Cornwall (COJHL), has filled in his slight frame, and accelerated his offensive production (6-23-29 in 26 games), figures which already surpassed his past scoring totals. Another puck-moving defender, Gerard Miller of N.Y. Apple Core is set to fill the Moborg-Torney slots on Vermont’s blueline.

Yale

Graduates: Forwards: Jeff Hamilton, Ben Stafford, Adam Sauve, Peter Toomey, Lee Jelenic; Defense: Joe Dart, John Gauger

The Bulldogs created a stir by luring high profile prep talent early in the summer. Chris Higgins established himself in a Select 17 tournament and for the New England Prep champions Avon Old Farms, while Christian Jensen, a talented left winger for Taft Prep, also drew numerous other offers. Jensen’s linemate, Ryan Trowbridge, also should fit in with Yale’s resurgence. Defender Joe Callaghan comes from BC High. Defenseman Mike Grobe is the sole Jr. A addition to the squad. Goalie Peter Cohen has solid credentials, and should have time to adjust to the big jump from the prep league to college.

(Chris Heisenberg operates the ultimate independent web site on recruiting, chronicling the progress of each school’s incoming class).

1...1,4721,4731,474...1,536 Page 1,473 of 1,536

Latest Stories from around USCHO

Maine adds former Union head coach Bennett to Black Bears men’s hockey staff as new assistant coach

USCHO Staff - July 11, 2025

Former Wilkes hockey star, USHL coach Gurska tabbed new assistant coach for Babson men’s hockey team

USCHO Staff - July 10, 2025

Former Providence, St. Lawrence women’s hockey standout Tyo hired as new assistant coach with Canton

USCHO Staff - July 10, 2025

Lindenwood names former Bemidji State assistant coach Magera to same job with Lions men’s hockey team

USCHO Staff - July 10, 2025

Reigning Hobey Baker winner, Michigan State star Howard gives up senior season, signs NHL deal with Oilers

USCHO Staff - July 8, 2025

McKenna, odds-on favorite as No. 1 pick in 2026 NHL Draft, announces commitment to Penn State for ’25-26 season

USCHO Staff - July 8, 2025

Report: Tennessee State not fielding men’s hockey team for 2025-26, aiming to move start to 2026-27

USCHO Staff - July 8, 2025

Former Western Michigan, Michigan goalie, NHL video coach Scarpace named new assistant at Michigan Tech

USCHO Staff - July 7, 2025

Michigan State standout, 2025 Hobey Baker winner Howard earns USA Hockey’s Jim Johannson College Player of the Year award

USCHO Staff - July 4, 2025

Seasoned junior, college hockey coach Bruneteau returning to Stevenson as head coach of Mustangs men’s hockey team

USCHO Staff - July 4, 2025

Hobart men’s hockey assistant coach Kovachis heading back to Niagara as Purple Eagles’ new assistant

USCHO Staff - July 3, 2025

UMass Boston women’s head coach Bradley hired as new assistant coach for Penn State women’s team

USCHO Staff - July 3, 2025

Advertise with USCHO

About USCHO

Contact USCHO

Jobs @ USCHO.com

Frequently Asked Questions

USCHO Privacy Policy

USCHO Fan Forum Policies

Facebook

Twitter/X

Instagram

Fan Forum

TV

Podcasts

About USCHO

Advertise with us

Report a site problem

©1996-2025 USCHO.com – U.S. College Hockey Online

Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! Thank you!

NCHA Back in Action, Finishing Up Interleague Schedule with MIAC

Around the league

Game(s) of the week:

The Update

Showdown Showcase

Changes Ahead in Duluth?

The Bench is Empty

CC ya’ later

Rumble In Hockeytown

He Said It

News And Views

On The Docket

MAAC Midseason Report Card

AIC

ARMY

BENTLEY

CANISIUS

FAIRFIELD

HOLY CROSS

IONA

MERCYHURST

QUINNIPIAC

SACRED HEART

UCONN

They Say You Want A Resolution

Happy Hockey To All, And To All A Good Night

Everblades College Classic

Silverado Shoutout

Alabama Faceoff Classic

Ledyard Bank/Auld Lang Syne Classic

Wells Fargo Denver Cup

Great Lakes Invitational

Mariucci Classic

Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Tournament

If They Don’t Call It A Tourney, Can We Still Play?

Do They Think This Is A Holiday Or Something?

Rensselaer/HSBC Holiday Hockey Tournament

Ledyard National Bank Auld Land Syne Hockey Classic

The Crimson In The Mountains

Mariucci Classic

Badger Showdown

Everblades College Classic

Silverado Shootout

Brown and Blue

Who’s Going To Finish Last?

Solomon In The Press Box

Offense From The Blue Line

Quip Of The Week

Trivia Contest

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

Boston College

Boston University

Maine

Merrimack

New Hampshire

Northeastern

Providence

UMass-Amherst

UMass-Lowell

Alaska-Fairbanks

Bowling Green

Ferris State

Lake Superior

Miami-Ohio

Michigan

Michigan State

Nebraska-Omaha

Northern Michigan

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Western Michigan

Alaska-Anchorage

Colorado College

Denver

Michigan Tech

Minnesota

Minnesota-Duluth

Minnesota State-Mankato

North Dakota

St. Cloud State