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Walsh Returns to Black Bear Bench

USCHO Staff Report
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Just five days removed from his last immunotherapy treatment for kidney cancer, Maine coach Shawn Walsh will return to the Black Bear bench for tonight’s contest against Ohio State. It marks Walsh’s first game this season.

Walsh missed the team’s season-opening series against North Dakota, and then last weekend’s Black Bear Classic tournament, while at UCLA receiving treatment. Assistant coach Gene Reilly served as interim head coach in Walsh’s absence.

Walsh flew back to Orono on Monday, following the second and last 20-day immunotherapy session. He participated briefly in practice one day later and then skated and directed Wednesday’s practice.

“It’s so great to be back in Maine,” he said. “Practice on Wednesday was invigorating.”

At the practice, he yelled at one player’s mistake, prompting one Black Bear veteran to say with a big smile, “He’s back!”

Walsh was diagnosed this summer with renal cell carcinoma. Following the removal of a kidney, Walsh has received immunotherapy treatments designed to prod the immune system into aggressively attacking malignant cells.

Walsh’s prognosis will not be known for another three or four weeks.

NCHA Newsletter: Oct. 26, 2000

By Tim Somers
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The NCHA season gets underway this weekend with the first conference game of the 2000-01 season.

St. Norbert takes to the road to face Wisconsin-Eau Claire Friday night, while other NCHA teams take to the ice for the first time Friday in nonconference games, including Wisconsin-Stout heading down to Milwaukee to take on MCHA foe Milwaukee School of Engineering and Wisconsin-Superior debuting by hosting Marian College.

Also on Friday night, Wisconsin-River Falls plays its third game of the season, hosting last season’s MCHA champion, Minnesota-Crookston.

Last Week’s Action

10/20/00 Wisconsin-River Falls 1, Marian College 1 OT
10/21/00 Wisconsin-River Falls 3, Marian College 2 OT

This Week’s Games

10/27/00 St. Norbert College @ Wisconsin-Eau Claire 7:05 CT, NCHA
10/27/00 Minn-Crookston @ Wisconsin-River Falls 7:05 CT
10/27/00 Wisconsin-Stout @ Milw School of Eng 7:30 CT
10/27/00 Marian @ Wisconsin-Superior 7:05 CT

10/28/2000 Minn-Crookston @ Wis.-Stout 7:30 CT
10/28/2000 Marian @ Wisconsin-Superior 7:05 CT
10/28/2000 Wisconsin-Eau Claire @ Milw School of Eng 7:30 CT

Team-By-Team Report

Wisconsin-Stevens Point – The Pointers open their season against Wisconsin-Eau Claire November 3.

St. Norbert College – The Green Knights open their NCHA campaign by traveling to Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Friday night.

Wisconsin-River Falls – The Falcons opened their 2000-01 season on the road last weekend, taking three points from Marian College. Friday night’s game finished in a 1-1 tie with the only Falcon goal coming from sophomore Adam Kragthorpe late in the third period. Saturday’s game would also be a close one, finishing regulation tied at 2-2 on goals from Jeff Bernard and Jamie Steinert. The Falcons host MCHA champion Minnesota-Crookston for a pair of games this weekend.

Wisconsin-Superior – The Yellow Jackets take to the ice for the first time this weekend as they host Marian College in a pair of non-conference games this Friday and Saturday.

Lake Forest College – The Foresters have yet to kick off their 2000-01 campaign but will do so on Friday, November 3, and Saturday, November 4, in a home-and-home series with St. Norbert College.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire – The Blugolds start out the season by hosting one of the top teams in the NCHA, St. Norbert, this Friday and then head to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday.

College of St. Scholastica – The Saints open the 2000-01 season on the road to take on the MCHA’s Northland College on Friday, November 3.

Wisconsin-Stout – The Blue Devils, like much of the NCHA, have yet to take the ice. Terry Watkins’ team starts off November 3, with a home-and-home series with Wisconsin-River Falls.

Game of the Week

With only half the conference in action this week, this is an easy one — it’s the matchup of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Norbert College on Friday night. Both teams would love to pick up two league points before the rest of the conference schedule gets underway.

Gopher Women Suspend Two

USCHO Staff Report
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Minnesota women’s hockey coach Laura Halldorson has suspended seniors Nadine Muzerall and Betsey Kukowski for this weekend’s series at MSU-Mankato due to an unspecified violation of team rules.

Muzerall is the team’s all-time leading scorer and led the nation with 49 goals last season. She missed last weekend’s series with Ohio State due to a concussion suffered Oct. 15.

Kukowski, who spent most of the second half of last season on a line with Muzerall, had not missed a game since the end of the 1998-99 season.

MAAC Column: Oct. 26, 2000

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Connecticut, Mercyhurst Nearly Pull Off Upsets

What a difference a week makes. One week after the MAAC nearly got run off the ice in non-league games, two teams came within a lucky bounce of the puck of pulling off the ultimate upsets.

Connecticut, which one week earlier looked at best like a high-school varsity team while dropping a 6-1 decision to UMass-Lowell, proved not only did they belong on the ice with “Big Four” clubs, but could also give them a run for their money.

After dropping a 6-2 decision to Merrimack on Friday night, the Huskies came out of the chute with guns blazing on Saturday, and found themselves within one goal late in the third period, down 3-2. When Merrimack was caught on a careless line change, having eight skaters on the ice instead of five with just over two minutes to play, UConn had further signs of life.

In the end, though, conditioning won out, as Merrimack’s fresh legs helped kill the penalty and eventually battle the UConn defense to a loose puck and score an empty-net goal. But praise was high around the Volpe Complex.

“[UConn] played harder than us tonight and they hit harder than us,” said Merrimack coach Chris Serino. “They wanted the game more than we did and they had better chances. We had guys that could score the goals. That was the difference.”

Husky coach Bruce Marshall is hoping that not only his players, but his coaching staff can take something out of the first three games, all losses to Hockey East teams, and apply them as they begin league play.

“It’s a big thing in sports — to learn something every day,” Marshall said. “It’s our job as coaches to carry Saturday night’s [performance] into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and into next weekend’s games.”

UConn wasn’t the only team to put a scare into a “Big Four” opponent. Mercyhurst, now in its second year of MAAC play, found itself deadlocked on the road against ECAC-powerhouse Clarkson late in Saturday’s contest.

But a goal with 2:49 to play by Clarkson’s Don Smith sealed the Lakers fate for the evening, as they returned to Erie, Penn., with a 2-1 loss.

“I thought that we needed to finish our checks if we wanted to be successful, we needed to skate, and I think we did that,” Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin said. “Clarkson gave us everything we could handle. I know our guys respected Clarkson’s players, I was a little concerned we respected them too much.

“From the feedback, though, that I got after the game, people say it was an exciting college hockey game to watch.”

Gotkin’s challenge, similar to UConn’s, is to hold on to the intensity.

“I told [the players] if we can play with that kind of focus or determination that we showed against Clarkson, we’ll be a good team,” said Gotkin. “The trick is to get up for every team that you have to play everyday. That’s what will make us a good team.”

Weekly Awards

ITECH MAAC Player of the Week
Ryan Manitowich, F, Iona

Manitowich scored two goals in the first period, helping the Gaels to their first victory of the season, a 6-3 decision over visiting Army on Oct. 20. His first goal, a shorthanded breakaway, came at the 9:50 mark, while he added his second score with :08 left in the period on an assist from teammate Nathan Lutz. One the season, he leads the team in goals with three.

ITECH MAAC Goalie of the Week
Justin Eddy, G, Quinnipiac

Eddy stopped 30 shots in the 3-2 win over Air Force as Quinnipiac won the fifth annual Q-Cup, earning him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. After two starts in his collegiate career, Eddy is 2-0 with a .941 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.

ITECH MAAC Rookie of the Week
Greg Norcross, G, Fairfield

Norcross began his collegiate career in fine fashion as he kicked out 25 saves while recording a 4-0 shutout over the Bentley Falcons. He was steady through two five-on-three penalty kills at critical points of the second and third periods. The freshman’s shutout marked his first career win and the first win for new Fairfield head coach Jim Hunt.

Young Goalies Make Their Mark

Only two weeks into the season, it is very apparent that one of the MAAC’s traditions from last year will continue – youth will rule this league in its own infancy. There is no question, too, that this will carry all the way to the last line of defense: goaltending.

Last week, three goaltenders opened a lot of eyes throughout the league — Artie Imbriano of UConn, Derek Cunha of Holy Cross, and Greg Norcross at Fairfield.

Imbriano got the truest baptism by fire when he was sent into Friday night’s contest against Hockey East member Merrimack with his Huskies trailing 6-1 late in the game. The freshman, though, showed no sign of fear, stopping a hard slapshot on a two-on-one rush with a brilliant glove save in his first minute of collegiate play. Imbriano finished the shortened night with 11 saves and didn’t allow a goal, leading head coach Bruce Marshall to start him the next night.

What the rookie did the second night was simply amazing. Not only did he make brilliant save after save, but also gave his Huskies the chance to pull of one of the biggest upsets, as they trailed the Warriors, 3-2, late in the game. A failed attempt on a power play in the final minute and an empty-net goal by Merrimack accounted for a 4-2 final, but could not overshadow the effort of Imbriano.

“I think Friday night [Imbriano] got tested,” Marshall said of the relief effort his rookie netminder made in his collegiate debut on Friday. “[Saturday], I thought he played real well, and now he has to build on it.”

Imbriano’s first two appearances came at the Volpe Complex on Merrimack’s campus, just minutes away from where the goaltender grew up.

“It was a welcome challenge,” Imbriano said of his opportunity to play. “I’m thankful for the chance to play, even though I’m a little disappointed we didn’t pull it out. I had a ton of people in the stands rooting for me tonight, so that we really great.”

Holy Cross’ Derek Cunha certainly may not appeared to have as successful a start to his collegiate career on paper, losing 5-1. But for a team that struggled to find any type of stable goaltender last season, his 38 stop performance against pre-season ECAC favorite St. Lawrence, which garnered him third-star honors, has to be a positive.

Head coach Paul Pearl didn’t undermine the efforts of Cunha, but thought praise went beyond his goaltender.

“[Cunha] played well but what we did better [as a team] was keep the puck to the outside and not allow quality shots,” said Pearl. “[Cunha] made the stops he had to – he was solid.”

In southern Connecticut, Fairfield University, which has its third head coach in as many years in Jim Hunt, experienced a little bit of history on Saturday night at the Q-Cup. For the first time since joining the MAAC three years ago the Stags, behind goaltender Greg Norcross, pitched a shutout, knocking off Bentley College 4-0 in the consolation game. The win put Fairfield’s record at 1-1, the first time in the school’s history in the MAAC that the Stags have held a .500 record.

Huskies Get Set to Raise Banner

UConn, which last year climbed from the fourth seed in the MAAC playoffs to win the postseason championship, will cap off its months of celebration this weekend when it raises the championship banner to the rafters of the UConn Ice Arena, the same place the Huskies won the championship six months ago.

The Huskies will take on Sacred Heart on Friday evening at 7:30ET. It will be a rematch of last year’s MAAC quarterfinals that saw UConn come back from a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4. The comeback was the beginning of the road to the title.

The two clubs will complete the early-season home-and-home on Saturday night when they face off at the Milford Ice Pavilion at 5:00 ET. UConn enters the game having lost three-straight non-league games to Hockey East opponents. Sacred Heart lost its season opener to Colgate before knocking off AIC in a non-league game last weekend. The contest against AIC was scheduled late in the summer when Sacred Heart was no longer allowed to keep Findlay on its schedule.

Hunt Nets First Win with Stags

Fairfield first-year head coach Hunt, who began coaching the Stags after the departure of Mark Dennehy for UMass-Amherst this summer, didn’t take long in picking up his first collegiate coaching win. One night after dropping a 5-2 decision to Air Force in the first-round of the Quinnipiac Cup tournament, Hunt’s Stags blanked Bentley College, 4-0, to take third place.

Even though the win came against a MAAC opponent, because the game was a tournament, it does not count towards the MAAC standings. Thus, Hunt can look for his first MAAC win this Friday night when his club travels to Springfield, Mass., to face AIC.

Hunt is now only 863 wins short of Michigan State’s Ron Mason, college hockey’s winningest head coach.

Next Stop: Vegas

If any of my faithful readers out there follow my weekly picks, they will know that success has not been my middle name. And anyone who knows me personally, know that I’m not the right person to typically send to Foxwoods or Atlantic City.

So whenever I have ANY success at all in predicting sporting events, I think that I not only have the right, but more so the responsibility, to gloat! Here it comes!

My record for last week was, well, perfect. 8-0… read it and weep. To all the other conference correspondents, I know you wish you could be me, even if just for a day.

Now before my head gets too big, I will say that I didn’t have the hardest schedule to pick last week. Moreover, I didn’t exactly go out on a limb with any predictions except for picking a split in the Canisius-Wayne State series. The fact that three games of the eight I picked were against Big Four teams means I guess I shouldn’t feel too proud.

The one thing that kicks me in the butt is that I did not make picks in tournament games — though if I had, my record would’ve been 12-0. My rationale is that you don’t know the opponent in the second game or the circumstance (I’m a firm believer that some teams play harder in a championship game than a consolation game). So I’ve always decided to pass on my opinion for the tournaments.

All of this said, I am now 16-2-1 on the young season. I’m expecting the wheels to fall off the apple cart at any point now, but until then, will continue to gloat about the fact that I have an .868 pick percentage.

Around the MAAC…

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL

American International lost their 2000-01 season home opener 7-1 on Friday night to the Sacred Heart Pioneers in a nonconference matchup. … The Yellow Jackets host Fairfield on Friday at 7:00 and travel to first-place Quinnipiac for a battle with the Braves at 5:00 on Saturday. … Last year, AIC went 3-0 against Fairfield, outscoring the Stags 16-9. Against Quinnipiac, the Yellow Jackets were 0-3 while being outscored 15-4. … The Yellow Jackets’ lone goal against the Pioneers came off the stick of senior forward Tom Cogan, which was his first goal of the season.

ARMY

Army is coming off two road losses to Iona, 6-3 on Friday night, and Union, 4-1 on Saturday night. … The Black Knights have a another major road test on Friday night as they faceoff against Quinnipiac at 7:00. They play at RPI at 7:00 Saturday night. … Mike Fairman followed up his opening night hat trick against Seneca with a goal in Army’s MAAC debut at Iona on Friday night. Fairman also assisted on the Black Knights’ lone tally in a 4-1 loss at Union on Saturday. … Junior goaltender Scott Hamilton stopped 58 shots in two road games over the weekend, including 32 in a 4-1 loss to Union on Saturday. … Chris MacLeod, a freshman forward, had a goal and an assist in Friday’s game at Iona. The goal was the first of his collegiate career. He also had three assists in Army’s 6-3 win over Seneca on Oct. 13.

BENTLEY

Bentley lost to Quinnipiac, 6-1, and Fairfield, 4-0 at the fifth annual Quinnipiac Cup in Northford, Conn. … The Falcons are on the road this weekend. They meet Canisius at 7:30 Friday night at the Amherst Pepsi Center and matchup with Mercyhurst at 7:30 Saturday night. … Bentley allowed five power play goals in its pair of losses at the Q-Cup while committing 17 penalties overall. … Goalie Ray DeVincent made 50 stops against Quinnipiac and 34 saves against Fairfield. The senior is no stranger to stopping a lot of pucks, he made 72 saves in a game last season. … Junior John Yianoukas scored the only Falcon goal of the weekend, a power play goal. It was his seventh career goal.

CANISIUS

Canisius opened the 2000-01 regular season on the road against Wayne State and finished the weekend 1-1-0. The Ice Griffs fell 7-4 to the Warriors on Friday and defeated Wayne State 2-1 in overtime on Saturday. … Canisius hosts league opponents Bentley and Holy Cross in a pair of contests at the Amherst Pepsi Center on Friday and Saturday night at 7:30. … Last season, the Ice Griffs were 3-0 against the Falcons and 2-1 against the Crusaders. … Senior Todd Bisson scored three goals and registered two assists for the Ice Griffs over the weekend. … Marc Bouffard had a goal and two assists. … Goalie Sean Weaver recorded 24 saves in Saturday’s 2-1 victory.

CONNECTICUT

Matt Herhal, a junior defenseman, scored three goals in the two games including both Husky goals on Saturday night… Goaltender John Chain started in net for the Huskies on Friday making 23 saves, with freshman Artie Imbriano replacing Chain in the third period making 11 saves. Imbriano played the entire game on Saturday and stopped 35 shots in the 4-2 loss.

FAIRFIELD

Fairfield participated in the fifth annual Quinnipiac Cup losing to Air Force 5-2 and beating Bentley 4-0. … The Stags only game this week is a Friday night tilt at American International which begins at 7:00. … Sophomore Rae Metz scored four points over the weekend. He scored a goal and added two assists in the Stags 4-0 victory over the Bentley Falcons in the consolation game of the fifth annual Quinnipiac Cup. He recorded a power play assist in a 5-2 loss to Air Force on Friday night. … The Stags are now undefeated (3-0-1) vs. Bentley since the Falcons joined the MAAC before the 1999-00 season.

HOLY CROSS

Holy Cross lost 5-1 to No. 14 St. Lawrence in the first round of the Black Bear Classic and 9-2 to the US-Under 18 team. … The Crusaders have two road games this weekend. They play Mercyhurst at 7:30 Friday night and Canisius at 7:30 Saturday night at the Amherst Pepsi Center in Amherst, N.Y. … Freshman Glen Crane scored his first collegiate point vs. St. Lawrence in the opening round of the Black Bear Classic. Crane assisted on the Crusaders only goal scored by his high school teammate Pat Rissmiller, the team’s second leading scorer last season. … Both the Crusaders opponents at the Black Bear Classic were first-time opponents. … The game played on Saturday vs. the US under-18 team was a non-NCAA game.

IONA

Iona defeated Army 6-3 and are now 2-21-1 all time against the Black Knights. … The Gaels host College Hockey America member Wayne State at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday night. … Nathan Lutz, the top rookie defenseman in the MAAC last year, leads the team in scoring this year with four points. … Junior tri-captain Rob Kellogg missed the first three games of the season due to injury, but should dress this weekend at home versus Wayne State. … Stephen Frappier is having a strong season so far. After tallying just five points during the 1999-00 season, he has scored a goal and recorded two assists so far this season. His goal — the first for Iona in the 2000-01 season — was his first since March 5, 1999 when he scored in a 5-2 loss at Holy Cross. … Iona is averaging 5.5 goals per game at home (5 vs. Quinnipiac, 6 vs. Army).

MERCYHURST

Mercyhurst will play its first MAAC games of the season at home this weekend against Holy Cross Friday night at 7:30 and Bentley on Saturday night at 7:30. … The Lakers got their only goal from freshman Mike Carter, with assists from sophomore P.J. Hiscock and freshman Shane Relihan. … Junior goaltender Peter Aubry stopped 28 of 30 in the loss, allowing the game-winner with just over two minutes left in regulation. … Mercyhurst leads the overall series 4-1 over Holy Cross. The Lakers and the Crusaders played three games in a row (including a first round playoff game) last season. The Lakers knocked off the then-defending MAAC champs 10-3 in the opening round of the playoffs last year at Mercyhurst. … Mercyhurst leads the overall series 4-2-1 over Bentley. Mercyhurst went 3-0 against the Falcons last season, including a 6-4 win on October 29 in the first ever MAAC contest for the Lakers.

QUINNIPIAC

Quinnipiac hosts Army at 7:00 Friday night and AIC at 5:00 on Saturday. … Senior forward Chris Cerrella totaled four points (2 goals, 2 assists) over the weekend to earn MVP honors at the Q-Cup. On Friday, he tallied two goals and added one assist in a 6-1 win over Bentley. …Cerrella has three multiple point efforts in four games this season and 50 in 94 career games. … Cerrella leads the team in scoring with eight points (5 goals, 3 assists) while Olson is second with five points (2 goals, 3 assists). Both have each scored at least one point in all four Brave games this season. … Freshman goaltender Justin Eddy and sophomore defenseman Matt Erhart were both named to the Q-Cup all-Tournament Team. Eddy, the MAAC Goalie of the Week, stopped 30 shots in the win over Air Force and this season is 2-0 with a .941 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA.

SACRED HEART

Sacred Heart won 7-1 over MAAC rival American International in a non-conference game. … Freshman forward Mike Reagan notched his first two collegiate goals, in a 7-1 win over AIC, Friday night. The freshman put the Pioneers on the board first at the 2:38 mark of the first period with assists from Richard Naumann and Kyle Messier. His other tally came on the power play in the second period, as part of a four goal second period. … Senior Alexis Jutras-Binet turned away 17 shots to record his first win of the season. The win is his 32nd of his illustrious career as the Pioneers improve to 1-1-0 on the young season.

Special thanks to Dan Fisher for contributions to this column.

Hockey East Column: Oct. 26, 2000

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What A Weekend!

Hockey East posted a 12-1-1 record last weekend (13-1-1 if you want to add Maine’s exhibition victory over the U.S. Development Team). All but two of the wins came against teams from the traditional four conferences.

Hockey East’s weekend record broke down as follows: 5-1-0 against the CCHA (7-2-1 for the season); 2-0-0 against the WCHA (2-3-2 for the season); 3-0-1 vs. the ECAC (6-1-1 season); and 2-0-0 over the MAAC (3-0-0 season).

Arguably, the only fact to diminish the accomplishment was the predominance of home contests. Only Boston College’s two games (at Denver) and Northeastern’s two (at Notre Dame) were on the road.

That said, Hockey East is indisputably off to a great start with an 18-6-4 nonconference record. Although league games begin this weekend, there will still be plenty of the non-league variety, led by No. 1 Wisconsin visiting No. 2 Boston College on Friday night. That one should be a barnburner.

There is a D in Providence

Perhaps the biggest surprise last weekend was that the Friars not only swept their visitors from the CCHA — Miami and Lake Superior State — but they also held them to a total of one goal.

After all, the loss of four defensemen from last year’s squad had left PC with only three players with experience at the position. Seniors Jay Leach and Matt Libby formed a solid core along with sophomore Shawn Weiman, but that meant that at least three freshmen would be dressing every night. Freshmen blueliners are supposed to equate with adjustment periods, mistakes and red lights flashing behind your net.

Instead, the Friar defensemen have been rock solid as a whole with freshmen Stephen Wood and Regan Kelly looking particularly impressive as parts of the top two pairings. Dominic Torretti hasn’t looked out of place either in more limited ice time.

Of course, a lot of the blueliners’ success has come with a little help from their friends up front.

“Our speed is evident in the first two games; we can get on people defensively” says PC coach Paul Pooley. “Our forwards are doing a good job collapsing in the D zone. [Our opponents] are getting some shots, but they’re not getting third and fourth opportunities.

“Leach and Libby played really good [both nights]. But so did all the guys.

“And our goaltender has been strong both nights.”

Boyd Ballard shut out Miami on Friday night and Nolan Schaefer held a stronger Laker team to one goal the next evening.

“I made the decision to go with both before going into the weekend,” says Pooley. “Boyd hasn’t played back-to-back games in a while and Nolan has looked sharp in practice. We have a nice tandem.”

The Friars dominated Miami and LSSU on special teams. For the weekend, they were 6-for-16 on the power play and allowed only one goal during 17 penalty kills.

“Our PK has been outstanding the first two games,” says Pooley. “That’s been what’s given us momentum and confidence.”

As a freshman, Kelly has been an integral part of the power-play’s effectiveness, quarterbacking it efficiently from one point.

“Regan is pretty smart,” says Pooley. “He moves the puck. We’ve got Drew back there and three forwards up front who can find the open man. Keep the puck moving … and somebody is going to be open.”

For Kelly’s part, he didn’t necessarily envision breaking into Division I hockey on the top power-play unit.

“I didn’t really expect that,” he says with a laugh. “I knew I’d get an opportunity to play, but this has just been overwhelming. This has been terrific so far.”

He isn’t resting on his laurels.

“I definitely need to work on my footspeed and getting my shot away quicker,” he says. “Those are my main [personal] goals.”

Pooley is also impressed with some of the more subtle aspects to his team’s play. Everyone can see pucks going into the net, saves being made and specialty team percentages. But what can often get missed are the little things that lead to those big things.

“Faceoffs, hits and giveaways control hockey games,” he says. “Win all three categories — that’s what we want to focus on.

“At the end [of the game against LSSU], Cody Loughlean puts his shoulder into a guy and knocks him down. That’s the toughness you need. You don’t need penalty toughness. You need the toughness of [making hits] and taking a hit to make a play.

“[Last] weekend — especially [against Lake State] — our team did the things that I ultimately want us to do. Play good defensively. Cycle the puck. Be tough. Be physical. I was very, very impressed.”

Unfortunately, Providence will have to face Boston University on Saturday without Kelly because of a fighting disqualification near the end of the Lake State game. Nonetheless, the Friars will go into their first Hockey East game with the confidence of two wins under their belt.

“With a young club, that’s very important,” says Pooley. “You always tell them how good they can be and what vision you have for them as a hockey club. But by getting a little success in the first two games against good clubs, it gives them a little motivation to work harder in practice and come back and do the things they need to work on.

“Confidence is everything. That’s what we needed early on.

“We’re young and it’s a very positive beginning for us. I don’t think people expected us to do what we did this weekend. That’s okay.”

Around the Arenas

Boston College returned with two 3-2 wins over Denver last weekend. Six different Eagles scored goals with Ales Dolinar and Bobby Allen getting the game-winners. Tim Kelleher saw his first action in the nets, splitting the series with Scott Clemmensen.

The Eagles play their first Hockey East game on Sunday against UMass-Amherst, but most eyes will be glued to their Friday contest against Wisconsin. As the number-one and -two ranked teams, Wisconsin and BC enter the game with 10 wins between them and not even a tie to blemish their records.

Wisconsin has six of the wins, but just how good the Baajuhs are is still an open question. (“Baajuhs” is Boston-speak for Badgers.) They’ve played two-game series against UMass-Amherst (projected seventh in Hockey East), Michigan Tech (projected last in the WCHA) and MSU-Mankato (projected seventh in the WCHA). Four of the six have been at home.

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with a 6-0-0 record. But Wisconsin has yet to face anything approximating the iron of any league. Considering that the Badgers had to go into overtime to beat MSU-Mankato on Saturday, it remains for this weekend’s games to show how strong the Baajuhs really are.

BC, on the other hand, has yet to play at home. The Eagles defeated Notre Dame (projected fifth in the CCHA) on neutral ice, but the wins over Nebraska-Omaha (projected third in the CCHA) and Denver (projected sixth in the WCHA) all came on hostile ice.

Does the BC road show against somewhat tougher opponents than Wisconsin’s mean BC is the better team?

Who knows? Ask again at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday.

Boston University turned in a much better performance last weekend than its season-opening loss to Rensselaer. The Terriers righted the ship against Vermont, 3-1.

“[It was] a lot better result because there’s a lot better effort by a lot of people – most importantly our defense,” said coach Jack Parker. “[Chris] Dyment, [Pat] Aufiero, [and John] Cronin all had sharp games. Mike Bussoli played really well.”

Perhaps most importantly, goaltender Jason Tapp played a strong game. All eyes have been on him since Rick DiPietro turned pro.

“[Tapp] played very, very well,” said Parker. “He played just the way we’d like him to play: real excited to play and real enthusiastic and real positive out there. I thought he was forcing the issue: instead of sitting back and playing the puck, he was playing them.

“He played [against Vermont] like he played the second half of the season for us last year. He was real confident; he was on the puck, and he was very aggressive.

“I was talking to him about worrying about what everybody else was thinking: ‘Geez, BU’s going to be pretty good if you can just be a decent goaltender and blah blah blah.’ I told him, ‘Just go out and have some fun and stuff, [instead of] thinking about talk radio. This isn’t what you should be doing here.’ I think he got that monkey off his back, too.”

For the third straight time, the Terriers have just one game on the weekend. This time, they’ll travel to Providence to face the undefeated Friars.

“We’ve got a long way to go to become a real good team,” said Parker, “but we made some strides [against Vermont.]”

Maine won its Black Bear Classic last weekend, beginning with the expected victory over the U.S. Development Team. An exhibition game for NCAA purposes, the contest was tougher than many expected even though the U.S. team had given evidence of its strength over two weeks earlier with a win over Michigan State.

“They’re a good team,” said Maine captain Doug Janik. “It’s the best young players in the country and they come at you.”

In the title game, the Black Bears mauled St. Lawrence, 8-2, prompting SLU coach Joe Marsh to say, “Once they get rolling, they’re so tough to stop.”

Tommy Reimann, named tournament MVP, scored two goals against the Saints. Matthias Trattnig added a goal and two assists.

The Black Bears scored three times on the power play, all in the first period.

“We’re starting to jell,” said defenseman Peter Metcalf after the game. “The special teams were the key tonight, but this team is really starting to come together.”

UMass-Amherst dodged a bullet — twice — against Colgate. Extra-skater goals by Tim Turner and Martin Miljko in the last 1:35 rescued a tie against Colgate, 4-4. The latter was Miljko’s second of the night, his first game action since Jan. 2.

Based on the early returns, it looks like coach Don Cahoon may have a freshman find on his hands. Thomas Poeck, who scored in the season-opener against Wisconsin, added another against Colgate.

Not surprisingly, the Turners — Jeff and Tim — continue to lead the Minutemen scoring, Tim with six points and Jeff with four.

UMass-Lowell probably took second place to Providence in terms of having the most surprising success on the weekend. After a 6-1 win over Connecticut to open the season, Lowell took a major step forward with a 4-3 win over No. 12 Rensselaer.

The River Hawks rallied from three straight one-goal deficits.

“It was important for us to come from behind several times in the game and it was a good sign for this team,” said coach Tim Whitehead. “Every time they struck, we struck back and we wore them out in the end.

“We were one goal better in this particular game. It was a good team effort. Every single guy stepped forward.”

One week after holding UConn to just 10 shots, Lowell limited the Engineers to an even more impressive (considering the opponent) 16 shots.

“We played good team defense and our forwards helped out by backchecking hard,” said Whitehead. “That’s important for us this year.”

As a result, the River Hawks now head into league play with a 2-0 record.

“We were playing a good hockey game and we came back and gutted it out,” said Whitehead. “That’s not false confidence; they earned it. So they should be excited going into next week.

“But we’re just taking it week by week. It’s important to help build confidence, but the guys know that the next game is just as important as this one.”

Merrimack picked up two wins against UConn over the weekend, 6-2 and 4-2, but according to coach Chris Serino fell short of its play against Michigan and Michigan State one week earlier.

“We’re a defensive team that creates offense from defense,” he said after the first win. “But tonight we didn’t play any defense. We usually have backcheckers swing back, but tonight they’d just stop and wait for someone to pass them the puck.

“We’re a team that plays defense by preventing the other teams coming through the neutral zone. Tonight we did whatever we wanted and wasted a lot of energy.

“Overall, I was happy with the effort, happy with the fact that we won, just not happy with the way we played.”

The Warriors’ play became even sloppier then next night.

“I’m happy that we got two wins, but we didn’t compete tonight,” said Serino after the 4-2 win. “We had a ton of scoring chances but we didn’t deserve them.

“UConn outplayed us and battled harder than us. They had better chances, but we had guys that could score the goals. That was the difference.

“What it boils down to is players thinking they could do more than they could do. We’re a great team, but not great individuals.

“The positive point, though, is that a couple of years ago, we might have lost this game.”

Merrimack did pick up a vote in the USCHO.com Top 15 poll. That, however, was most likely a reflection of its strong play two weekends ago rather than last week’s expected wins over UConn.

The Warriors have a great shot at getting their record to 4-1-1 this weekend. They open as a slight underdog at UMass-Amherst and then travel to Union where they’ll be a modest favorite. Two wins are possible, but the sub-par play that they survived against UConn won’t cut it against UMass and perhaps not against Union either.

New Hampshire had a few anxious moments against Lake State, blowing a 3-1 third-period lead only to pull out a 4-3 win with a late Matt Swain goal.

“We had some chances to put the game away and we didn’t do it,” said coach Dick Umile. “We took some stupid penalties. If we’d stayed out of the penalty box, it would have been different.

“But the guys battled back and we found a way to win.”

The top line of Darren Haydar, Lanny Gare and Matt Swain figured in all four goals with Gare and Swain getting two each until a late scoring change shifted one from Gare to Jim Abbott.

With Gare and Swain at the post-game press conference, this writer attempted a little levity.

“You each had two goals tonight,” went the question. “What’s wrong with that other stiff on your line?”

There was plenty of laughter and one of the two joked, “Yeah, who’s he?”

Then a look of concern crossed a face. “That wasn’t a serious question, was it?”

Assured that it wasn’t, Swain offered his idea as to why the line has totaled 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in just five games.

“I think we have a little bit of everything,” said the senior. “We work hard in the corners, have finesse, speed and puckhandling.

“Darren has been the sniper. Gare-y is the guy who’s rough and tough in the corners. And I guess I’m the passer. We just complement each other really well.”

One night later, UNH clobbered Miami, 7-2, prompting RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi to say, “They’re a far superior team to us at this point in the season. They have a great transition team. You have to limit their outnumbered rushes, and we didn’t do that.”

Unlike the win over Lake State, UNH got well-distributed scoring — 15 Wildcats got points. Core-Joe Ficek led with two goals and freshmen Steve Saviano and Nathan Martz got their first collegiate tallies.

“I was real pleased with the way we played tonight,” said Umile after the game. “Last night we had one line that was scoring, tonight it didn’t matter what line we put out there.”

The lopsided result was also a welcome change from the recent stomach-churners.

“It’s fun to play a game like this because it doesn’t happen too often in our league,” said Umile.

Northeastern suffered Hockey East’s lone loss last weekend, splitting at Notre Dame. The Huskies’ downfall in the opener came in a second period in which they gave up 14 shots, but five went in. Mike Gilhooly played in the nets, giving up six goals on 38 shots.

Jason Braun tended the NU nets in the win the following night, stopping 34 of 37 shots.

On the plus side, freshman Scott Selig and Mike Ryan continued the scoring touches they showed in the season opener against St. Lawrence. Ryan opened with a hat trick and an assist; against Notre Dame he had an assist on Friday and two goals on Saturday. Selig now has a goal in all three games as well as two assists. Graig Mischler centers the two and now has six assists.

Willie Levesque, Chris Lynch and freshman Trevor Reschny all got their first goals of the year, with the later two scoring twice.

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question was: one NHL team started this season with a line made up of a three-time Hobey Baker Award finalist, a two-time Hobey finalist and a one-time finalist. Who are the three players? Warning: these aren’t necessarily Hockey East alumni.

The question came courtesy of WCHA Correspondent Todd D. Milewski, who also supplied the answer. The Los Angeles Kings started the season with a line of Steve Reinprecht (Wisconsin, Hobey finalist in 2000), Jason Blake (North Dakota, Hobey finalist in ’97 and ’99) and Nelson Emerson (Bowling Green, Hobey finalist in ’88, ’89 and ’90).

First to get the answer was Craig Powers, who earned the right to select the following cheer:

All hail Northeastern!

This week’s esoteric question involves a player who competed against Hockey East last weekend and has a last name beginning with “B”. That last name is close to a word found in a Tom Wolfe title. What is the name of the player and the book by Wolfe?

Take your shot at choosing a positive cheer for your favorite team by mailing your answer to Dave Hendrickson.

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

Last Thursday, I stopped by the post office, got a note that I had a package waiting for me and then had a very special moment.

Out of the package slid two copies of a book.

My book. Well, not all mine. I’m one of 20-something contributors. But I held in my hands a book with one of my short stories in it.

The book’s title is Food and Other Enemies: Stories of Consuming Desire and my own story is called “Yeah, But Can She Cook?” It begins on page 86.

I want to tell you, it was a very, very special moment.

It’s hard to describe what it meant to flip through the pages of that oddball story. And smile at the parts that gave me such joy to write. Especially the part that made the book’s editor say, “When I read that, I fell off my chair laughing.”

It didn’t matter that I had a sore throat. That I’d gotten four hours of sleep the night before. Or that I had deadlines up the wazoo.

My book was out!

It was a wonderful, wonderful day.

(For information about ordering Food and Other Enemies, drop me a line.)

Thanks to Scott Weighart, Jim Leonard, Josh Gibney, Jim Connelly and Jayson Moy for their assistance.

ECAC Column: Oct. 26, 2000

By Jayson Moy and Becky Blaeser
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Are There Games This Weekend?

Let’s take a quick look at the schedule for this weekend, shall we?

Friday, October 27
Waterloo at Clarkson
St. Francis Xavier at Vermont

Saturday, October 28
Army at Rensselaer
Merrimack at Union
Waterloo at Cornell
St. Francis Xavier at Dartmouth
Moncton at Yale
Wilfrid Laurier at Princeton

Sunday, October 29
Union at Providence
Moncton at Brown

Notice something here?

There are seven ECAC teams (Brown, Clarkson, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Vermont, Yale) involved in exhibitions this weekend.

There are three ECAC teams (Colgate, Harvard, St. Lawrence) idle.

That leaves two ECAC teams (Rensselaer, Union) playing games that count in the standings.

We can’t wait until the season really gets into full swing. We miss games that count.

Speaking Of Missing Things…

Missing games that count got us thinking. There are a lot of things about ECAC hockey that we miss. Granted, we’re not that old, but we’ve been around. We miss:

  • A prime-time scorer who dominates the league.
  • A team that demands respect from the rest of college hockey, year in and year out, without question.
  • 7:30 p.m. starts on Saturday nights.
  • 7:30 p.m. starts on Friday nights.
  • Army/Princeton road trips … we just don’t have all-out brawls like that anymore.
  • Walker Arena.
  • The Hockey Line around the Rensselaer Union and the crazies that slept out for more than 30 days to get season tickets.
  • Students who went to games and cheered for 60 full minutes.
  • The days when the biggest story coming out of Burlington had to do with Eric Perrin and Martin St. Louis giving out bagels and juice to the fans waiting in line for season tickets.
  • Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin.
  • The days when chants and cheers were clean and creative.
  • The days when a four-year career was a given, not a hope.
  • The respect that this conference deserves.
  • Terry Slater and Charlie Morrison.

    Boy, there are so many more things we miss, but we only have so much space…

    This Week’s Festivities

    ECAC Player of the Week Don Smith, Sr., F, Clarkson

    ECAC Rookie of the Week Matt Nicholson, D, Colgate

    ECAC Goalie of the Week Brandon Snee, Jr., Union

    Last Week’s Results

    Friday, October 20
    St. Lawrence 5, Holy Cross 1
    UMass-Lowell 4, Rensselaer 3

    Saturday, October 21
    Union 4, Army 1
    Maine 8, St. Lawrence 2
    Boston University 3, Vermont 1
    Clarkson 2, Mercyhurst 1

    Our Record
    Last Week: 5-2
    Season: 7-6, .508

    This Week’s Picks

    Saturday, October 28
    Army at Rensselaer
    The Engineers were without Marc Cavosie last weekend. With both Matt Murley and he in the lineup and a home opener, we like the Engineers.
    Rensselaer 6, Army 2

    Merrimack at Union
    The Dutchmen will try to keep playing the tight-checking game at home. This one will be a low-scoring affair, but the Dutchmen fall.
    Merrimack 3, Union 1

    Sunday, October 29
    Union at Providence
    A tough weekend for the Dutchmen. They play at home on Saturday night, then hop on the bus and head to Providence. The Friars prevail at home.
    Providence 5, Union 1

    Exhibition Time!

    Friday, October 27
    Waterloo at Clarkson St. Francis Xavier at Vermont

    Saturday, October 28
    Waterloo at Cornell
    St. Francis Xavier at Dartmouth
    Moncton at Yale
    Wilfrid Laurier at Princeton

    Sunday, October 29
    Moncton at Brown

    There’s only one thing we hate more than exhibitions, and that’s picking them. But we can tell you one thing — at least two ECAC teams will lose exhibition game this weekends. The ECAC goes 5-2 in those seven games.

    Next Week

    Friday, November 3
    ECAC
    Harvard at Brown
    Nonconference
    Quinnipiac at St. Lawrence
    Dartmouth at Western Michigan
    Yale at New Hampshire
    Niagara at Princeton
    Colgate at Ferris State

    Saturday, November 4
    ECAC
    Rensselaer at Union
    Nonconference
    Quinnipiac at Clarkson
    Dartmouth at Western Michigan
    Niagara at Princeton
    Colgate at Ferris State
    Sacred Heart at Cornell
    Exhibition
    Queen’s at Vermont

    Tuesday, November 7
    Nonconference
    Yale at Boston College

    • WCHA Column: Oct. 26, 2000

    By
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    The Penalty Push

    You know something’s wacky when Dean Talafous starts noticing more penalties in his Alaska-Anchorage team’s games.

    In the biggest surprise of last weekend (beating by far the Michigan Tech upset of North Dakota … note the sarcasm), Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks combined for 38 penalty minutes in a two-game series — 24 in Sunday’s finale.

    An aberration? Maybe. Or is it a sign of things to come this season?

    Look at the numbers. In 12 games involving league teams last weekend, there was an average of 36.1 penalty minutes per game. Doesn’t sound like all that much, but take into consideration that Anchorage is always going to bring that number down — not at all a bad thing, either.

    But there’s the other end of things. Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth combined for 78 penalty minutes last Saturday — a 9-2 Gophers victory. (Plenty of those whistles came in the last minute, though.) Wisconsin and Minnesota State-Mankato put up a full hour in the box on Friday and 52 minutes on Saturday — both one-goal wins for the Badgers.

    “Boy, that’s a lot of penalties,” Talafous noted.

    You said it.

    One particular instance stands out. In Saturday’s Wisconsin-Mankato game, the Badgers went 0-for-9 through three periods with the man advantage. In overtime, already playing four-on-four, referee Mike Riley whistled Mankato’s Andy Hedlund for holding Wisconsin’s Dany Heatley as he went for the net.

    (While it’s debatable if Heatley got the call because he was Heatley, that’s a topic for another time. It was probably a penalty, but in OT?)

    On power play No. 10, Heatley finds Jeff Dessner in front of the net. Game over.

    Obviously, penalties played a role in Wisconsin’s win. But are penalties playing too much of a role in some games?

    “I try not to pay a lot of attention to officiating,” Talafous said. “You know, they do their job, we do ours. It can be a distraction if you get caught up in it. But we’ve taken more penalties than in the past, and so have the teams we’ve played against.”

    The early statistics this season seem to back that up league-wide.

    Last season, league teams totaled 6,396 penalty minutes in 396 games, an average of 16.2 per game. Already this season, there have been 780 penalty minutes in 39 games. That’s an average of 20 minutes per game.

    It may turn out this is just a temporary trend, one that may even out later in the season.

    “Every year you look at that, and the penalties are always a little bit higher in the early part of the season,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky, whose team combined with Boston College for 40 penalty minutes last Saturday.

    “Obstruction is a big factor that everybody is trying to crack down on. For a nonconference series, there were quite a few penalties.”

    Obstruction, a penalty committed against a player without the puck, is a part of the game some have linked to a decrease in scoring. In that respect, a crackdown may be welcome.

    “Those are things I’m glad to see being called,” Gwozdecky said.

    Upset No. 1

    Colorado College coach Scott Owens reportedly had to look at the Headline News ticker twice to make sure it wasn’t a misprint.

    Phones started ringing off the hook at newspaper sports desks.

    And the e-mails to incorrect prognosticators started flowing in.

    All because of a simple 5-4 game made not so simple by the fact Michigan Tech had the 5 and North Dakota the 4.

    Yes, the Huskies pulled off college hockey’s first huge upset of the season last Friday, downing the defending national champion Fighting Sioux in UND’s home opener.

    Plenty were asking, “How the h-e-double hockey sticks did this happen?”

    Well, when one team scores more goals than its opponent, it wins. Plain and simple. That’s hockey.

    Coaches are fond of saying that in the WCHA, any team can beat any other on any given night. The unspoken part of that used to be that an exemption was made for the team predicted to finish 10th beating the team predicted to finish first.

    Not anymore.

    Michigan Tech turned the WCHA on its ear last weekend. Maybe we can consider it a change for the better.

    “Hopefully we’ll see more of that this year, from everybody,” Talafous said. “I think everybody’s program is growing and improving, and I think that’s good for Tech. It may send a signal that maybe that’s the kind of year it’s going to be … hopefully.”

    A Touch of Class

    Troy Jutting has already proven himself to be a classy individual.

    At times, emotions can cloud better judgment. That’s when a coach is around to put things in perspective, and Jutting passed his first such test with Mankato last weekend.

    After Wisconsin’s overtime goal last Saturday, members of the Mavericks team made a beeline for the exit — some quicker than others.

    Now, not only is it tradition for teams to shake hands at the end of series, it’s just plain sportsmanlike.

    But after such a heartbreaking loss, in front of a raucous student section that had been on goaltender Todd Kelzenberg all night, the players just wanted out.

    Jutting jumped off the bench and starting running — on the ice, mind you –after his players. He got into the locker room and pulled them back onto the ice to shake hands.

    Jutting could have joined his team in the locker room. But he did the right thing.

    It’s good to see that kind of attitude present in the WCHA.

    A One and a Two and a…

    Somehow, it had to work out this way.

    With North Dakota’s shocking loss to Michigan Tech, the Sioux fell out of the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com poll. Wisconsin moved up from No. 2 and Boston College took the second spot.

    And to think of it, just before the Badgers and the Eagles tangle on Friday. How fitting.

    Add to that drama Wisconsin’s loss to BC in last year’s national quarterfinal in Minneapolis, and, ladies and gentlemen, you have a storyline.

    “I think it’s kind of neat, early in the season like this,” Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer said at his Monday news conference. “Hopefully, we’re at 1-2 at the end of the year as well.”

    But the Badgers are going to have their hands full to hold onto the nation’s top spot this weekend. Ask Denver’s Gwozdecky.

    He saw his Pioneers play pretty good hockey last weekend, but still fall a goal short in two games.

    “I can’t believe there’s a better blueline corps in the country than what Boston College has,” Gwozdecky said.

    Sauer doesn’t expect to see much of the clutch-and-grab style of hockey his team has grown accustomed to through its first six games.

    “It’ll be a fast-skating series,” Sauer said. “What we’ve been through here the last six games, I don’t expect that to happen. I expect Boston College to come out, drop the puck and tell us, ‘Come out and get us.’ I hope they do that, and we can kind of freewheel a bit. I think that will be to our advantage.”

    King of the Road

    Anchorage’s Talafous doesn’t want to throw freshman goaltender Chris King into the fire.

    Throwing him into the scalding heat of a rivalry, however — that’s another story.

    King started both games last weekend against Fairbanks and, lo and behold, came out with two victories.

    “He seems to handle it well,” Talafous said. “He just loves to play the game of hockey. He’s a competitor and he just seems to have a real good approach to the game. He goes out and has fun, he’s aggressive throughout the game and the score doesn’t really bother him. It could be a one-goal game and he just does his thing, and I like that about him.”

    That’s good because, from now on, the heat is on. The Seawolves travel to Minnesota this weekend to face what Talafous called “the hottest team in the country.”

    There’s a good chance King will play again. Corey Strachan is still in the mix, though, and Talafous doesn’t want to commit to anything this early in the season.

    “It’s early in the year and we’ve got one freshman with no WCHA experience and we’ve got a kid with only one year of experience that had a good year last year — not a great year,” Talafous said. “They have to get it done on the ice day in and day out, but I think our goaltending situation is better this year than it was last year.”

    A Moral Victory is Still a Loss

    Gwozdecky doesn’t buy into moral victories. He’s not going to run around saying how his team was close to beating one of the top teams in the nation or how his Denver squad had some chances to win.

    But they were that close against BC. And that gives the coach something from which to work.

    “We got a great amount of feedback from this weekend’s series,” Gwozdecky said. “As the first games of our season, we knew there were going to be things we’d find out that we have to work on, and we did so.”

    The power play might be on top of that list. The Pioneers were just 1-for-15 with the man advantage. Something the Pioneers will learn quickly is that when you have that many chances, you have to take advantage of more than one.

    “Our special teams, especially our power play needs to have work, but we knew that going in,” Gwozdecky said. “That’s an area we’re really trying to hammer on this weekend in preparation for our first league series of the season.

    “You do a lot of things. You try personnel, you look at different formations, you look at drills that you need to work on to simulate certain situations that cause you to have problems or cause you to have success. Boston College was a very tough team to play against.”

    Oh, About Those Gophers

    There’s always a market for coaches trying to pump up the team they’ll be playing in the upcoming weekend.

    But Talafous has a different spin on Minnesota — more long-term.

    “I think the only reason [the coaches] picked them third is because you have to pick North Dakota No. 1 until somebody beats them. And Wisconsin was No. 1 all last year. So I think we just put them there,” Talafous said. “But I think if people were honest, looking at the recruits they have and all of their big players coming back — their goaltender, Westrum, Leopold — I really think the coaches felt that Minnesota was as good as the other two teams. When the other two teams had such great years, you just kind of put them there to start the year off.”

    He Said It

    “I think they have an excellent hockey team. We think we’re very good. And we had back-to-back nights where we’re defending our lead with their goaltender pulled. That kind of says it all.”

    Boston College coach Jerry York, on Denver. The Eagles escaped with a pair of one-goal wins over the Pioneers last weekend in Denver.

    News and Views

  • Minnesota-Duluth’s Adam Coole stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced in a 3-1 loss to Minnesota last Saturday. If only the Bulldogs could have mounted some offense, they probably would have won.
  • Speaking of goaltenders that didn’t deserve to lose, there’s Mankato’s Kelzenberg. He stepped in as the starter last weekend when Eric Pateman’s back injury took him out of the lineup. Against Wisconsin, he played as well as the Mavericks could have expected in two one-goal losses. It’s been a rough start for Mankato: first the suspension of three players and then Pateman’s injury.
  • St. Cloud State is off to its best start as a Division I team with a 3-0-1 mark. That’s not really a surprise, considering the opponents — Ferris State and Bemidji State. When the Huskies start playing the elite of the WCHA, then we’ll talk.
  • North Dakota’s penalty shot last Saturday was its first since the league playoffs in 1979. And Quinn Fylling will go down in the books with Kevin Maxwell — who took that shot in ’79. Both missed.

    On The Docket

    The Wisconsin-Boston College matchup on Friday is this weekend’s featured game, but there are a few other matchups worth noting this weekend:

  • Can Michigan Tech pull another upset this weekend when it hosts Colorado College? The Tigers went into their off week on a roll, but who knows if they’ll keep it up after a layoff.
  • Scott Sandelin has his home debut at Minnesota-Duluth when the Bulldogs host Northern Michigan in a non-conference series.
  • And Mankato’s Jutting will be in charge behind the Mavericks’ bench at home for the first time when they host North Dakota.

    • CCHA Column: Oct. 26, 2000

    By
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    On Longevity

    “If you stick around long enough, you have to come to a milestone sooner or later.”

    That’s Michigan head coach Red Berenson giving his perspective on his latest milestone — “I guess it’s a milestone,” said Berenson — his 300th CCHA win, earned Sunday with a 4-3 victory over Bowling Green. Berenson is just the second coach in league history to reach 300 conference wins.

    Northern Michigan’s 4-3 decision over Ferris State last Friday became head coach Rick Comley’s 555th career win, moving him into a tie with former Michigan Tech coach John MacInnes for seventh place on college hockey’s all-time win list. The’ Cats and ‘Dogs tied Saturday, which means that Comley’s imminent sole possession of seventh place has been delayed, briefly.

    When Rick Comley Speaks…

    Apparently, when Comley articulated the unspeakable — that the CCHA is in a “down cycle” — he hit a nerve around the league. The Omaha World-Herald followed up on Comley’s comment with reaction from Berenson and Tom Anastos, the CCHA Commissioner.

    Comley’s assertion itself is hardly news. Anyone who’s paid any attention to the CCHA in the past two years has seen the strength of the league diminish to some extent. What is newsworthy is that his comment warranted any follow-up at all. Although Comley himself said that he was contradicting the accepted “battle cry,” who can argue that the league is dominant, especially given its 12-11-7 nonconference record so far this season?

    For his part, Anastos did the smart thing when he told the World-Herald that the CCHA’s record against non-league opponents is “not as well as we’d like to do, obviously.”

    Obviously.

    Both Hockey East (18-6-4) and the WCHA (10-4-5) have fared better than the CCHA in nonconference play.

    But of course, as Berenson was quick to point out to the Omaha paper, the season is young. And we should remember that the league is young as well, with one-third of its players rookies. Talented rookies, but newcomers nonetheless.

    Hats off to Comley, Berenson, and Anastos. Comley spoke his mind — and the arguable truth — and no one overreacted.

    A Note to CCHA Teams

    Pssst!! Don’t schedule games against Alabama-Huntsville.

    Just in case you’re keeping score, it’s UAH 3, CCHA 1.

    Games of the Week

    After tuning up on the Bowling Green Falcons with 6-1 and 4-3 wins, the Michigan Wolverines host the Miami RedHawks, a team eager to prove it’s got the goods.

    Miami (1-2-1, 0-0-0 CCHA) at No. 3 Michigan (4-0-2, 2-0-0 CCHA)
    Friday 7:35 p.m. and Saturday 7:05 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, Mich.

    Although most CCHA fans concede that the Wolverines are shoo-ins for this season’s Most Likely To Succeed, Berenson himself is a bit more cautious.

    “Like all teams, we have issues. Our power play and penalty kill are not spectacular and we need to improve. It’s the same old thing. I like our defense overall, and I think we can score some goals.”

    Michigan is sixth in the conference in both overall power-play percentage (.200) and penalty killing (.810). The Wolverines are averaging 4.17 goals per game over the course of the six games they’ve played, good enough for second in the league behind Western Michigan (5.25).

    The Wolverines, the most experienced team in the league this season, are led by a senior class that includes a foursome of league household names: Josh Langfeld (6-5–11), Mark Kosick (2-4–6), Scott Matzka (2-3–5), and Geoff Koch (1-0-1). Berenson is happy to see Langfeld, this week’s CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, return to the form of his freshman and sophomore years.

    “I like the fact that Langfeld has stepped up and gotten off to a good start. He’s a great kid, great to be around.”

    Berenson says that he’s waiting for another senior, Matzka — the King of the Shorthanded Goals — to step up as well. “He needs to have a big year for us if we’re going to be successful. He’ll be a key component for us to meet our expectations.”

    Berenson is not falsely modest; he knows the potential of his Wolverine squad. But he knows that the season is young and there are still a few things not quite in place, yet.

    “I like what’s on paper, but a lot of things have to come together for us to meet those expectations. Four key senior forwards have to perform. Our sophomore class, they are performing right out of the chute. They’re in line with expectations. Our senior class hasn’t gotten there yet.”

    Those sophomores include Andy Hilbert (2-8–10), Mike Cammalleri (2-8–10), John Shouneyia (3-3–6) and Mark Mink (2-4–6), who are right behind Langfeld in scoring.

    This week the Michigan scoring machine hosts the RedHawks, a team eager to prove that it can play good, solid hockey.

    Miami returns from a trip East without a win, having lost to Providence 5-0 and New Hampshire 7-2.

    Miami head coach Enrico Blasi calls the Providence game “weird.” “We had a lot of power-play chances and they were very opportunistic in their scoring. [Goalie Boyd] Ballard played pretty well.”

    As for the loss to New Hampshire, Blasi says simply, “They handed us our lunch.”

    The RedHawks are led in scoring so far this season by Ken Marsch (0-6–6), followed by Gregor Krajnc (2-2–4), and Pat Leahy (1-3–4). Several other ‘Hawks have a goal each, including Jason Deskins, who along with Krajnc returns this season after sitting out last year with a knee injury.

    In net, rookie David Bowen has posted a .928 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average in 148 minutes played. In 96 minutes, David Burleigh’s numbers are less impressive (.796 SV%, 6.84 GAA).

    For Blasi, this season is about much more than wins and losses. “We have to maintain, focus, and play. As we found out last year, it’s a journey, not a race.

    “We never talk about winning or losing. At least the coaches don’t. For us right now it’s the process. Obviously, winning and losing are what you’re judged by. But the process gets us to the outcome.

    “It’s like a math problem. You have to get through those steps, you get to the answer. It’s about how we’re doing things, how we’re doing things, believing in each other.

    “It’s not just about winning and losing — don’t get me wrong, I want to win — but it’s about the experience, for the development of the players.”

    Blasi says he and his team are looking forward to opening their CCHA season against the Wolverines in Yost. “It’s a great place to play, and it can’t be any more hostile than where we were last weekend.”

    He says that what he expects this weekend is for the RedHawks to play their game. “If we play our game, we’ll be in the game. I don’t know if we’ll win or not.”

    For his part, Berenson expects two hard games. “I think they’ll be tough, I really do. With their top scorers healthy this year, and their whole defense returns, and if they get the goaltending they need…I expect they’ll be a top-half team.”

    The Wolverines own this series 52-14-2, and have won 17 of the last 20 meetings.

    Picks: Not everyone is healthy on either side. Both Koch and Jeff Jillson are playing, but have recently recovered from injuries. Miami will play without its only senior defender, Clarke Walford. Miami may be competitive, but I doubt that the Wolverines will suffer their first losses of the season this weekend. Michigan 4-2, 5-2

    Grudge of the Week

    While it’s not my usual policy to name a nonconference matchup the Grudge of the Week, given Hockey East’s dominance in nonconference play and the recent history between these two teams, it’s not surprising that these CCHA boys have a score to settle.

    Ohio State (2-1-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) at No. 7 Maine
    Friday 8:05 p.m. and Saturday 7:05 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, Maine

    The Black Bears will welcome back head coach Shawn Walsh to the bench for these games against Ohio State. Walsh, who has been battling cancer, is a longtime friend of Ohio State head coach John Markell; the two played together at Bowling Green for Ron Mason.

    Hockey really is a small world, and the entire college hockey community is very happy to see Coach Walsh return home and return to something he does so well.

    Maine owns this series against Ohio State, as the Buckeyes have never beaten the Black Bears in the eight-game history of the series. The two teams first met in Orono in 1988-89. Since then, every Black Bear win over the Buckeyes has been in Columbus or on neutral ice.

    Last season, Maine won a pair of close games at the Schottenstein Center, 3-2 and 3-1. In 1998-99, the Black Bears ended the Buckeyes’ season in Worcester at the NCAA Eastern Regionals by a score of 4-2.

    The Buckeyes beat Niagara 4-1 last weekend in an impressive come-from-behind win. After being outshot by the Purple Eagles 6-3 in the first period, Ohio State went on to 34 shots on net while holding Niagara to just 13, the first time Ohio State has held an opponent to 20 or fewer shots in more than a season.

    Ohio State’s special teams look good so far in this short season. The power play is second in the conference in overall play (.250) and the PK looks really good, effective just over 93% of the time.

    Andre Signoretti (1-4–5) leads the team in scoring, followed by Nick Ganga (3-0–3), Jean-Francois Dufour (3-0–0), R.J. Umberger (1-2–3) and Doug Andress (1-2–3). Maine fans should also watch for Dave Steckel and the Steckel-Ryan Smith combo on the penalty kill.

    "I guess it’s a milestone."

    — An understated Red Berenson, on his 300th CCHA win

    In net for Ohio State is rookie Mike Betz (.900 SV%, 2.68 GAA).

    Five different Black Bears are tied for the team lead in scoring with three points each. Lucas Lawson, Martin Kariya, (how many more of them are there?) and Tom Reimann each have two goals for Maine.

    Matt Yeats (.903 SV%, 2.41 GAA) paces the Black Bears between the pipes.

    Maine’s power play zips along at 17.4%, while their penalty kill is effective 80% of the time.

    So far this season, the Black Bears have 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points. So do the Buckeyes.

    Last week the Black Bears pounded St. Lawrence 8-2 and beat the US Developmental squad 3-1.

    These teams are much more evenly matched than most people think. The Buckeyes are big, fast, with excellent puck movement and an even temperament. That said, the Black Bears are ranked for a reason, and welcoming Walsh back will give Maine an added boost — as will Alfond, which is one of the hardest places to play in all of college hockey.

    Two Buckeye injuries of note: Umberger fractured his jaw in practice on Thursday, Oct. 19. He had surgery (which included the insertion of two plates and the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth) on Friday, Oct. 21. He missed the game against Niagara, but may play against Maine. Sophomore goaltender Pete Wishloff is out for several weeks with broken bones in his hand, an injury sustained in that same Oct. 19 practice.

    Picks: Don’t be surprised if Ohio State takes points this weekend. Then again, don’t be surprised if they are, to paraphrase Enrico Blasi, handed their lunch. Maine 4-2, 4-2

    Ganga Watch

    Ohio State’s Nick Ganga, in his quest to prove that he’s a changed man, compiled some impressive evidence in the Buckeyes’ 4-1 win over Niagara on Oct. 21. Not only did the junior record his first collegiate multi-goal game, but Ganga had a natural hat trick, scoring on the power play, even-strength, and shorthanded.

    And perhaps for the first time in his collegiate career, Ganga’s goal production exceeded the number of penalties he earned. Three goals, zero minutes in lockdown.

    For those of you keeping track, Ganga has three goals total in three Division I games, and two penalties for four minutes. The forward has vowed to keep his penalty minutes to 50 this season, less than half of what he earned in 1999-2000. That leaves 31 games, and 46 minutes.

    Who Are These Guys?

    It isn’t just Ganga who seems to have mastered his temper; the entire Buckeye squad is a more disciplined bunch. Ohio State is averaging the fewest average penalty minutes in the league in both conference (14.00) and nonconference (13.33) play.

    This is a team that averaged nearly 30 minutes per game last year.

    Travels With Paula

    In my world, there’s only one thing better than covering D-I men’s ice hockey on any given Friday night: sitting in the stands, watching the D-III action of my beloved Fredonia Blue Devils.

    The very first college hockey game I attended was a Blue Devils club game in the mid-’80s, in the frigid Steele Hall on the SUNY College at Fredonia campus. I was a graduate student in English at Fredonia State, and my experience there was so idyllic that I’m pulled home whenever I can spare a minute.

    On Oct. 20, I was lucky enough to catch most of the first half of the Blue Devil Invitational, where RIT played Oswego State, and Fredonia took on Neumann College.

    There are several striking differences between D-III and D-I hockey, starting with the facilities. Folks around D-III tell me that Steele Hall isn’t a bad facility, and it is a serviceable place that includes a PA announcer (not every D-III game has them), and the added luxury of four walls and a roof — another option, apparently, at some D-III rinks.

    There was no press box, which didn’t matter to me one bit. The bleachers were hard, and for the first time in a long time I was cold at a hockey game.

    Another difference between D-III and D-I is the number of fans. Of course, you’ll find rinks in the D-I ranks peopled solely by parents, friends, and puck bunnies, and you’ll find D-III rinks full of maniacs, but mostly attendance is low. The puck bunnies were just as glossy in Steele Hall as they are in the Schott. They’ll live to regret some of those trips to the tanning booths, I’ll wager.

    The striking difference between D-I and D-III hockey is the level of play, of course, or perhaps the consistency of play. Not only can one team be outrageously more skilled than its opponent, but within the same team the level of skill varies far more than it does at the D-I level.

    Then there’s the size. You think some CCHA players appear a bit shorter than their 5-foot-8-inch listings? There were a couple of guys on the Neumann squad who couldn’t possibly be as tall as I am (5-6), and there wasn’t anyone as short as I listed on their roster.

    In addition to bringing me home to the autumnal beauty of Western New York — with its showy colors and intoxicating perfume of falling leaves, pine, fresh water, and grapes — this trip provided me with a chance to catch up with God of All Things D-III, Chris Lerch, fellow D-III USCHO.com staffer Ed Trefzger, and a trio of refugees from Lake Superior State that included Jason Furness, David Mugavero, and Jamie Kosecki, all Blue Devils.

    For the record, RIT beat Oswego State and Fredonia State beat Neumann. And I drove back in time to watch Nick Ganga — Nick Ganga, for heaven’s sake! — score three goals in one game.

    Life is good, eh?

    2000-01 WCHA Women’s Season Preview

    By Zevi Gutfreund
    -

    Everything seems to be going in Minnesota’s direction heading into the 2000-01 season. For starters, the Gophers are the defending national champions. And now that women’s hockey is an official NCAA sport, the NCAA has decided to hold its first women’s Frozen Four at Minnesota’s own Mariucci Arena.

    “It would be awesome to play in Mariucci for the NCAA championship, and hosting it will motivate us — especially our senior class,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson. “Just because the event is in our rink doesn’t meant that we get a free pass to participate. Everyone will be ready for us this year. I guess we are no longer the underdog.”

    Indeed, the Gophers should not expect a cakewalk during the regular season. Almost nobody in the WCHA graduated, and most teams have brought in another full class of talented recruits. With so many of the ECAC’s top players stolen by the U.S. National Team, the WCHA could be the conference to beat in just its second season. And here’s how the league shapes up as the regular season kicks off:

    1. Minnesota Golden Gophers

    Last season: 32-6-1, 21-2-1 WCHA; national champions Head Coach: Laura Halldorson Key Losses: Defenseman Winny Brodt; Forward Shannon Kennedy Players to Watch: Goalie Erica Killewald; Forwards Nadine Muzerall, Ambria Thomas, Laura Slominski, Ronda Curtin and Tracy Engstrom

    The defending champs are clearly the team to beat. Minnesota is the deepest team in the country, and the Gophers could overpower some of the younger programs in the WCHA.

    For starters, Minnesota has five returning 50-point scorers at forward. Senior Nadine Muzerall (49g, 28a) was the nation’s leading goal-scorer last season, and she has two talented linemates in and Tracy Engstrom (23g, 30a) and Laura Slominski (25g, 34a). The second line isn’t too shabby either with the likes of Ambria Thomas (25g, 37a) and Ronda Curtin (26g, 27a). Add highly-touted rookie La Toya Clarke to that mix and coach Laura Halldorson has enough scoring punch to spread over three or four lines.

    “Muzzy led the nation in goals, but those other players contributed a great deal to our offensive attack,” Halldorson said in reference to the 50-point scorers. “They are all unselfish players, which is important for us to be successful. I feel that we will have more depth than ever before, as well as balanced scoring.”

    The only setback Minnesota suffered over the summer was at the blue line, when standout defenseman Winny Brodt decided to join the U.S. National Team. But senior Courtney Kennedy (16g, 17a), who has played for Halldorson since they were both at Colby in 1996, will be the veteran leader of a still-talented defensive corps.

    “Winny has done a great job for us and we will definitely miss her this season–both on and off the ice,” Halldorson said. “She was very effective because she could play defense, handle the puck, skate, and create offense very well. Courtney Kennedy will have an even bigger role with us than she has in the past and I look for her to have her best season yet.”

    Playing alongside Kennedy will be seniors Kelly Olson (10g, 13a), Emily Buchholz (12g, 12a) and Angela Borek (10g, 11a), as well as Bethany Petersen and three other rookie defensemen.

    Senior goaltender Erica Killewald is one of the most reliable netminders in the country. Killewald, the Most Valuable Player of last season’s AWCHA national championship, will be backed up by freshman Stephanie Johnson.

    2. Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs

    Last season: 25-5-3, 21-1-2 WCHA; reached AWCHA semifinals Head Coach: Shannon Miller Key Losses: none Players to Watch: Goalie Tuula Puptti; Forwards Jenny Schmidgall, Maria Roth, Hanne Sikio and Erika Holst

    The snowy city of Duluth may be quite a distance from the beaten path, but it is also where Bulldogs coach Shannon Miller is assembling the most international team in women’s hockey. With three recruits from Europe and two more from Canada, Minnesota-Duluth has plenty of international experience to rely on as it attempts to improve on last year’s very productive inaugural season, which includes the first-ever WCHA conference championship.

    But the Bulldogs will start the season without their top player, junior center Jenny Schmidgall (41g, 52a), who is pregnant. Schmidgall hopes to bring her incredible stickwork and scoring ability back to the ice sometime after New Year’s.

    In the meantime, Miller can rely on former Olympians like forwards sophomores Maria Rooth (37g, 31a) and Erika Holst (25g, 25a). They are both used to burying the puck, whether it be in Duluth or abroad, as are international players like sophomores Hanne Sikio (25g, 39a) and Michelle McAteer (17g, 10a). Rookies Sanna Peura of Team Finland and Sheena Podovinnikoff from Saskatchewan should also contribute offensively.

    The talented cast of Bulldog defensemen is led by Brittny Ralph (9g, 22a), the squad’s lone senior. Sophomore Navada Russell (5g, 25a) will see plenty of shifts at the blue line, as will rookies Tricia Guest of Saskatchewan and Satu Kiipeli from the Finnish Junior National Team.

    The defense will have plenty of help between the pipes, which will be manned by sophomore Tuula Puputti (an Olympian for Finland in 1998) and freshman Patricia Sautter, who played for Team Switzerland last year.

    3. Wisconsin Badgers

    Last season: 19-14-2, 15-18-1 WCHA; reached WCHA semifinals Head Coach: Trina Bourget Key Losses: none Players to Watch: Goalie Jackie MacMillan, Defenseman Sis Paulsen, Forwards Kendra Antony and Kelly Kegley

    With former coach Julie Sasner leaving Madison to join Ben Smith’s staff on the U.S. National team, former assistant Trina Bourget will be the interim head coach in 2000-01 for the Badgers. Bourget inherits a talented young team that has a good chance to break into USCHO’s weekly poll this season.

    Perhaps the top reason for that potential is sophomore netminder Jackie MacMillan. MacMillan, the first-team All-WCHA goaltender, participated on the U.S. National Under-22 Team over the summer. Sophomore Jen Neary is a reliable backup between the pipes.

    MacMillan gets plenty of help from her defensive unit, which is led by sophomore Sis Paulsen (17g, 27a), who finished fourth in the nation in scoring for defensemen. Sophomore Kerry Weiland (10g, 25a) also contributes at the blueline with impressive stickwork. Sophomore Gretchen Anderson (0g, 6a) and rookie Nicole Uliasz should also play regularly.

    For scoring, Wisconsin will look to sophomores Kendra Antony (22g, 23a) and Kelly Kegley (26g, 19a), both of whom had impressive rookie campaigns a year ago. Junior Michelle Sikich (18g, 20a) is the most experienced player on the squad and rookies Meghan Hunter and Karen Rickard, both of whom are from Canada, should provide scoring depth right away.

    4. Ohio State Buckeyes

    Last season: 8-26-3, 6-25-3 WCHA; reached WCHA semifinals Head Coach: Jackie Barto Key Losses: none Players to Watch: Forward Corinne Rosen

    The Buckeyes struggled for much of their inaugural season, but they came on at the end to tie for fourth place in the regular season and to win the consolation game in the conference tournament. With a year of experience and a new class of recruits, Ohio State will try to enter the upper division of the WCHA.

    The biggest additions to the 2000-01 Buckeyes are at the blue line, where coach Jackie Barto has brought in a pair of talented freshmen in Kelli Halcisak, a member of last year’s U.S. Select National Team, and Emma Laaksonen, who played for Team Finland at the 1998 Olympics. Halcisak and Laaksonen will join a defensive corps led by sophomore Emily Hudak (6g, 6a).

    On offense, junior forward Corinne Rosen (16g, 17a) is the team’s leading scorer and most experienced player. Rosen, who transferred to Columbus from Providence along with Barto two years ago, does much of her scoring with speed. Sophomores Lindsey Ogren (10g, 5a) and Shana Frost (11g, 15a) must add scoring depth if the Buckeyes are to be competitive this year.

    Goaltenders Melissa Glaser and April Stojak should platoon between the pipes for the Buckeyes again this season.

    5. St. Cloud State Huskies

    Last season: 13-19-3, 6-15-3 WCHA; eliminated in WCHA first round Head Coach: Kerry Brodt Key Losses: none Players to Watch: Defenseman Fiona McLeod and Forward Jennifer Swanson

    The Huskies will look to improve under coach Kerry Brodt and challenge Ohio State for entry into the WCHA upper division.

    The Huskies should be strong defensively now that junior Fiona McLeod (18g, 12a), the team’s leading scorer last season, has moved to the blue line. McLeod will be joined by a pair of talented rookie defensemen in Kobi Kawamoto and Leanne Perrin. Kawamoto has experience on the Canadian Under-22 National Team, while Perrin spent the last two seasons training with the Olympic Oval High Performance program in Calgary.

    Brodt was able to move McLeod to defense because she has more depth at forward this season. Sophomore Jennifer Swanson (11g, 18a) and junior Amanda Presenger (8g, 10a), Mcleod’s teammate at the University of Wisconsin-Superior prior to St. Cloud, are the most experienced scorers. Freshman Ricki-Lee Doyle, who joined Perrin at the Olympic Oval High Performance program after playing for Team Alberta in 1999, should be a scoring threat immediately.

    Sophomore goaltender Laura Gieselman will guard the crease, as will rookie Ellen Brinkman.

    6. Bemidji State Beavers

    Last season: 15-18-2, 5-17-2 WCHA; eliminated in WCHA first round Head Coach: Ruthann Cantile Key Losses: none Players to Watch: Forwards Kerri McEwen, Lill Raynard and Alicia Kinsman

    The Beavers have plenty of room for improvement, but at least they know how to score. Sophomore forwards Kerri McEwen (19g, 15a), Lill Raynard (17g, 19a), and Alicia Kinsman (15g, 19a) all had more than 30 points in their rookie campaigns last season. Sophomores Amy Shepler (13g, 13a) and Kristie Hofer (10g, 10a) are balanced scorers who should contribute offensively.

    Sophomore defenseman Lisa Peters (13g, 14a) is the leader at the blue line, while sophomore netminder Bre Dedrickson will be the last line of defense. Bemidji State has a year of experience under its belt, but it will be hard for the Beavers to break .500 unless they get significant performances from their small freshman class.

    7. Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks

    Last season: 8-25-2, 3-19-2 WCHA; eliminated in WCHA first round Head Coach: Todd Carroll Key Losses: Forward Kim Corona Players to Watch: Forward Tristin Stephenson

    The Mavericks have everybody back but a long way to go to become competitive in the WCHA. Sophomore forward Tristin Stephenson (15g, 17a) is the most experienced scorer, and she will need help from juniors Ryann Geldner (10g, 22a) and Ashleigh Miller (14g, 6a).

    Junior Mandy Krause (3g, 6a) is the top defenseman, while junior Jennie Padgett should see the bulk of minutes between the pipes.

    2000-01 NCHA Season Preview

    By Tim Somers
    -

    If it weren’t for six months of golf since they last dropped the puck, many of the fans of the NCHA wouldn’t even know it was a new hockey season, to judge from the rosters.

    Perennial powers Wisconsin-Stevens Point and St. Norbert both return 20-plus letterwinners from last season’s squads, Wisconsin-River Falls and Wisconsin-Superior both return 16.

    The preseason Coaches’ Poll reflects this pretty directly:

    Team (first-place votes) (1999-00 Record)
    1. UW-Stevens Point (4) (23-7-1) 58
    2. St. Norbert (3) (22-5-2) 56
    3. UW-River Falls (16-9-4) 47
    4. UW Superior (1) (24-10-1) 45
    5. Lake Forest (15-11-0) 29
    6. UW-Eau Claire (9 17-1) 25
    7. St. Scholastica (6-21-0) 15
    8. UW-Stout (5-21-1) 13

    Team capsules follow, in the order of prediction by the coaches.

    UW-Stevens Point

    "Goaltending is another strong suit for the Pointers, who return junior goalies Bob Gould and Dave Cinelli. … Add to the mix redshirt freshman Ryan Scott and you’re looking at one of the strongest corps in the country."

    Coach Joe Baldarotta enters his 10th season (171-85-22) at the helm of the Pointers as the defending regular-season champion, with nearly the same lineup that won it last season. The Pointers return 23 of 27 letterwinners from last season, including seven of their top 10 scorers (Ryan Maxson 23-17-40, David Boehm 16-23-39, Mikhail Salienko 14-23-37, Josh Strassman 4-28-32, Matt Interbartolo 11-12-23, Marco Capizzano 7-11-18 and Zenon Kochan 6-10-16). The Pointers have plenty of leadership this season; the roster is chock-full of seniors with 12.

    Goaltending is another strong suit for the Pointers, who return junior goalies Bob Gould and Dave Cinelli, both of which have shown that they can control a game from start to finish. Add to the mix redshirt freshman Ryan Scott and you’re looking at one of the strongest corps in the country.

    Newcomers to the team include the transfer from Minot State-Bottineau, Kelly Kisell, former Stevens Point high-school standouts Nick Molski and David Lee, and defensemen Ernie Thorpe, a transfer from River Falls. All the newcomers look to see significant ice time for the Pointers this season.

    St. Norbert

    Head coach Tim Couglin enters his eighth season (126-61-14) behind the bench for the Green Knights with his team in much the same position as the Pointers. The Knights return 24 of 29 letterwinners from the 1999-00 season, but one of the glaring omissions from the roster this year will be goaltender Mike Szkodzinski (32-9-4, 2.21 GAA, .971 SV%). Stepping into the crease this season will most likely be junior Derrick Myers (7-0, 1.94 GAA), though included in the goaltending mix are freshmen Chancy Colquhoun and Ryan Gill, who could see time in net if Myers doesn’t hold up.

    The Knights’ offense should be there again this season, as they return 83% of their scoring from last year after losing just two players from the offense (Tommy Cianflone 9-30-39, and Jayce Politoski 14-12-26). Players to watch for the Knights this season are senior’s Adam Sedgwick (15-16-31), Patrick Gruber (7-17-24) and Shane Dickson (11-20-31). Not to be left out, the junior class will also be relied upon to put the puck in the net. Returning juniors Chris Bodnar (15-16-31), Wayne Brown (12-12-24) and Ryan Wempe (7-8-15) will be asked help out up front. Newcomers to the Knights this season are few, including Michael Buchan, Ryan Cooper and Faron Duthie up front and the lone defensive recruit Brian Youngson, who will most likely see some quality ice time this season.

    UW-River Falls

    After losing just two players to graduation, one would think that the Falcons would feel pretty good about their situation. Well, not exactly. Coach Steve Freeman (sixth season, 80-37-5) wasn’t entirely happy with the direction his team was going last season, so he brought in numerous recruits to try and shake things up at Hunt Arena.

    Added to the Falcons this year are forwards Dan Miller, Matt Elsen, Brad Bolger, Jamie Steinert, Jess Johnson, and Rob Novak. On the blue line, Freeman adds Tyler Sawchyn, Joe Dustin and Erik Ste. Marie to an already strong defensive corps including Eliot Komar, Adam Kragthorpe, Ryan Saverine and Pat Gundersen.

    Jacque Vezina returns to the Falcons as the starting goaltender after racking up a 12-8-2 record with a 2.92 GAA and .917 SV%. Freeman also added freshman goaltenders Landon Luther and Kris Unise to challenge Vezina for the starting spot.

    Offense shouldn’t be a problem for Freeman this season as the Falcons return the scoring co-leader Shane Fukishima (16-25-41) and Jeff Bernard (17-20-37). Those two combined to score over half of the Falcons’ points last season.

    UW-Superior

    First-year coach Dan Stauber takes over the reins of the Yellow Jackets this season following Steve Nelson’s resignation to take a position in the American West Hockey League. The good news is that Stauber is now the head coach for a perennial tournament power; the bad news is that the ‘Jackets have some big holes to fill this season.

    Gone from last year’s squad are Tom Pink, Cint Johnson, Randy Barker, Kevin Paschal, Scott Wagner and Tim Walsh. Pink was the main man in goal and finished with a 20-9-1 record, a 2.39 GAA and a .916 save percentage. Paschal (8-25-33) led the team in scoring while Johnson (6-11-17), Barker (5-10-15), Wagner (14-14-28) and Walsh (5-9-14) added plenty of help.

    The cupboard is far from bare, however. The ‘Jackets return seven seniors to this year’s team, led by Ivan Prokic (6-23-29). Others relied on to lead the team back to the tournament will be Chris Bell (1-8-9), Jeff Glowa (12-15-27), Bryan Grycan (5-5-10), Allen Hasbargen (13-15-28) — the squad’s third-leading scorer a year ago — Chad Matushak (2-4-6) and Eric Pitoscia (9-8-17).

    With Pink gone, Stauber has four goaltenders on the roster to try and fill the void. Sophomore Nathan Ziemski leads the way, but will be challenged by freshmen Justin Wagner, Christian Oppel and Kip Martin.

    Lake Forest

    Tony Fritz enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Foresters with a record of 250-277-22, by far the senior of the head coaches in the NCHA. The Foresters return all but three of their players from last season in hopes of improving upon their fifth-place finish.

    Returning are the Foresters’ top four scorers in All-NCHA honorable mention Matt Bruni (15-15-30), David Evans (11-17-28), Frankie DeMasi (14-11-25) and James Austin (13-9-22). Senior defensemen back include honorable-mention Scott McClure (5-8-13) and Bruce Mutch (2-11-13). Goalies Mason Black (6-0, 2.68 GAA, .907 SV%) and Justin Howard (9-11, 3.88 GAA, .895 SV%) also return.

    Newcomers to the Foresters this season include forwards Rob Bilcox, Andrew Fenton, Mike McKenna and Adrian Wong. On defense, the Foresters add Mark Grumetza and Beau Liewellyn.

    UW-Eau Claire

    Marlin Muylaert enters his sophomore season (9-17-1) as the head coach of the Blugolds looking to continue last season’s late success, at the end of which Eau Claire narrowly missed taking UW-Superior into overtime during the first round of the NCHA playoffs.

    Muylaert will mix in a talented recruiting class with a solid core of veterans in an attempt to climb into the top four teams of the NCHA. Veteran returnees include forwards Adam Sklader (10-11-21), Troy Goodweiler (6-12-18), Chad James (8-17-25), Erik Strand (7-10-17), Jamie Minor 9-9-18), Joe Byrd (8-10-18) and Ian Sgambelluri (3-3-6). Defensemen Jeff Pradahl (0-4-4), Ben Hammargren (0-3-3), Tim Murphy (1-10-11) and Matt Plummer (0-0-0) will anchor the blue line, which is backstopped by goaltender Jon Walker (7-10-0, 3.84 GAA, .892 SV%).

    UW-Stout

    Blue Devils head coach Terry Watkins opens his fifth year (30-74-4) with a basic premise.

    “They have worked very hard so far,” said Watkins. “I think we will be a lot more blue-collar this season. There may be more talented teams out there, but no one will outwork us.”

    The Blue Devil bench will be a bit more crowded this season as Watkins has added depth to his squad. Returning vets include Brad Weappa (10-4-14), Andy Anderson (3-5-8), Cullen Flaherty (3-10-13) and Matt Olson (0-2-2). Watkins hopes that newcomers Mitch Kellin, Dan Riffe, Nathan Legler, Cale Finseth and Dan Winkler will be able to step in and help out as the season winds along.

    Goaltending is the one place that Watkins doesn’t have much controversy to handle. Justin Wiskie, an all-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) pick last season, returns, as does Ben Plester, who two seasons ago set the school record for goals-against average, then broke it last season.

    SUNYAC Newsletter: Oct. 25, 2000

    By
    -

    Season Opens With Exhibitions and Fredonia Tournament

    A few teams have already hit the ice as the 2000-01 SUNYAC season slowly ramps up.

    Oswego State and Brockport State both beat Humber College, 8-0 and 9-7, respectively. In the Brockport contest, Nick Smyth scored five times, three of them shorthanded. Oswego then traveled to Fredonia for the Blue Devil Tournament and split, losing to RIT, 6-3, then blowing out Neumann, 11-0. The host team also split, first beating Neumann, 4-2, then losing to RIT, 7-2. Earlier, Fredonia State lost to Seneca College, 4-3.

    Previous Week’s Results

    10/15/00 Seneca College 4, Fredonia 2 Exhibition
    10/15/00 Oswego 8, Humber College 0 Exhibition
    10/17/00 Brockport 9, Humber College 7 Exhibition
    10/20/00 RIT 6, Oswego 3 Blue Devil Invitational
    10/20/00 Fredonia 4, Neumann 2 Blue Devil Invitational
    10/21/00 Oswego 11, Neumann 0 Blue Devil Invitational Consolation
    10/21/00 RIT 7, Fredonia 2 Blue Devil Invitational Championship

    Games This Week

    10/24/2000 Fredonia at Findlay NC 7:05 ET
    10/27/2000 RIT vs Geneseo NC 4:00 ET Chase Tournament
    10/27/2000 Hobart at Brockport NC 7:00 ET Chase Tournament
    10/27/2000 Lawrence at Buffalo State NC 7:00 ET All Sports Invitational
    10/27/2000 Johnson and Wales vs Fredonia NC 4:00 ET All Sports Invitational
    10/27/2000 Cortland at Potsdam NC 7:00 ET Pepsi Invitational

    10/28/2000 Brockport vs Geneseo/RIT NC 4:00/7:30 ET Chase Tournament
    10/28/2000 Brockport/Hobart at Geneseo NC 4:00/7:30 ET Chase Tournament
    10/28/2000 Lawrence vs Fredonia NC 4:00 ET All Sports Invitational
    10/28/2000 Johnson and Wales at Buffalo State NC 7:00 ET All Sports Invitational
    10/28/2000 Cortland vs Neumann NC 3:00 ET Pepsi Invitational
    10/28/2000 Elmira at Oswego NC 7:00 ET
    10/28/2000 Humber College at Plattsburgh EX 7:00 ET

    10/29/2000 Neumann at Potsdam NC 3:00 ET Pepsi Invitational

    Team-By-Team Report

    PLATTSBURGH — The Cardinals have yet to start their season. They open up by hosting Humber College.

    POTSDAM — The Bears start the year hosting the Pepsi Invitational, where they play Cortland State on Friday, then wait till Sunday before taking on Neumann.

    OSWEGO — The Great Lakers started early this year with a big 8-0 victory over Humber College. The offense got out quickly as Oswego State scored three times in a 2:18 span in the first period. John Sullivan scored twice while six other Oswego players netted a tally. Freshman Tyson Gajda got the shutout. Oswego had it a bit tougher a week later, facing powerhouse RIT in the first round of the Blue Devil Invitational. In a penalty-filled contest, Oswego scored two power-play goals, but let in four and ultimately lost the game 6-3. Just a minute in, Kevin Klesspies scored with Oswego already enjoying a five-on-three power play. However, RIT scored the next four goals before Joe Pecoraro and John Sullivan scored in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. Two more power-play goals within 30 seconds by RIT put the game away. In the consolation game, Oswego beat up on Neumann, 11-0. Once again, the scoring was shared by all as seven different Lakers tallied, with Joe Carrabs and Steve Cavallaro each getting a pair. Joe Lofberg got the win with 17 saves. Oswego hosts Elmira this weekend.

    CORTLAND — The Red Dragons travel to Potsdam for the Pepsi Invitational to start their season off, facing the host team in a nonconference matchup. The next night, Cortland State plays Neumann.

    GENESEO — The Ice Knights host one night of the Chase Tournament, which consists of the four Rochester, N.Y., area teams. Geneseo has to play at Brockport against RIT before coming home to play either Brockport State or Hobart.

    FREDONIA — The season is not starting out very well for Fredonia: first, a loss to Seneca College, an exhibition game the Blue Devils tend to win, 4-3. Tim Polley, Marcel Hurtubise, and Jason Furness scored. In their own tournament, they beat Neumann “only” 4-2 despite outshooting their opponent, 42-13. Neumann jumped out to a 1-0 lead before Fredonia scored four unanswered goals (Lionel Crump, Hurtubise, Furness, and Christian Fletcher). Jamie Kosecki made 11 saves for a light night to put Fredonia into the final against RIT. Though the shots were close to being even, the score was anything but. RIT jumped out in front 5-0 after two periods before Dan Showalter scored, only to see RIT get two more tallies en route to a 7-2 victory. The Blue Devils next play at Findlay before going against Johnson and Wales, then Lawrence in the All Sports Invitational at Buffalo State.

    BROCKPORT — Whatever your definition is of a natural hat trick, it would have to include what Nick Smyth did against Humber College as Brockport State won 9-7. After Humber took the lead, Smyth not only scored three consecutive goals, two in the first and one in the second, but they were all shorthanded. Smyth wasn’t done as he would add a power-play goal in the second and an even-strength goal in the third period for a total of five on the night. Brendon Marineau scored twice and Dave Braunstein and Adam Prescott got a single tally apiece as all three Golden Eagles’ goaltenders say action. Brockport hosts the first night of the Chase Tournament and faces Hobart, then travels the next night to Geneseo to meet either RIT or Geneseo State.

    BUFFALO STATE — The Bengals open the season by hosting the All Sports Invitational. They will play Lawrence, then Johnson and Wales.

    Game of the Week

    Oswego is putting itself to the test early in the season. First it was RIT last week, and now Elmira. This time it is at the Romney Field House, and it promises to be the best matchup of the week.

    Clash of the Titans

    By
    -

    You can’t have a bigger matchup. Not in October, anyway.

    Friday night at Chestnut Hill, it’s not the NCAA title on the line. That tussle, as you can see from the persistent reminder near the top of the USCHO.com frontpage, is still many moons away.

    In fact, the teams on the ice won’t be playing for titles of any kind — no tournament championship, no conference hardware goes to the winning side.

    No, the only thing either Wisconsin or Boston College comes out of Friday’s game with is this: the right, for one night at least, to call itself the best college hockey team in the nation.

    The Badgers and Eagles currently occupy the top spots in the USCHO.com poll, with No. 1 Wisconsin sporting a perfect 6-0 record and No. 2 BC not far behind at 4-0.

    Ten games. Ten wins. You can’t do any better — although in the case of the Badgers, some might whisper about the strength of the competition: UMass-Amherst, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State-Mankato. None of those teams was projected in the preseason to finish in the top half of its conference.

    But as Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder likes to point out, you can only beat the teams you play. (In Kansas State’s case, of course, that means scoring 184 points against Southwest Micronesia College and Grill while complaining about not getting any respect from the pollsters.) And the Badgers have looked pretty good, compiling a total scoring margin of 28-13, though both wins against Mankato were of the one-goal variety.

    The Eagles, meanwhile, have played a better caliber of opponent with similar success. BC claimed the Omaha Cup with victories over Notre Dame and current No. 13 Nebraska-Omaha, then took consecutive 3-2 wins on the road over Denver, where they left an impression on Pioneer head coach George Gwozdecky.

    “I can’t believe there’s a better blueline corps in the country than what Boston College has,” the DU bench leader said.

    And remember, that statement refers to a team which no longer enjoys the services of Hobey Baker winner Mike Mottau. No easy act to follow, that, but the presence of blueline general Bobby Allen helps make the Eagle defense a formidable barrier.

    Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer, however, isn’t looking at the defenses. The Badger head man expects a wide-open game, saying, “It’ll be a fast-skating series…I don’t expect [clutch-and-grab hockey] to happen.”

    That’s a reasonable possibility, given the firepower that will be on the ice. For starters, the state of Wisconsin breathed a collective sigh of relief when Dany Heatley — last season’s gimme pick as WCHA Rookie of the Year — spurned the National Hockey League to return to the Badgers.

    “It’s good for all of college hockey, not only for Wisconsin,” Sauer said of Heatley’s return. “To have a player of [Heatley’s] caliber come back to our game and not sign a pro contract is a real plus.”

    With Hobey Baker finalist Steve Reinprecht gone, Heatley is complemented by David Hukalo and Brad Winchester on offense. The trio has been good for 22 points in UW’s six games, led by Heatley’s line of 4-7–11.

    Lest we forget, Wisconsin can also play a little defense, the blueliners anchored by fifth-year seniors Alex Brooks and Jeff Dessner. Both are former prize recruits capable of being two-way threats on the ice.

    Lephart

    Lephart

    BC, meanwhile, lost Jeff Farkas and Blake Bellefeuille from last year’s group of forwards, leading to at least some concern about this season’s offense. Hobey Baker candidate Brian Gionta is tied for the team lead in scoring with 1-4–5, matching fellow senior Mike Lephart and sophomore Krys Kolanos’ point totals. Freshman Ben Eaves, one of head coach Jerry York’s touted class of rookies, has also made his mark with four points.

    Of course, if you’re only going to give up 1.5 goals per game, as the Eagles have done so far, you don’t really need much offense. The aforementioned Allen is making an impact at both ends of the ice, and is complemented by Rob Scuderi on the BC ‘D.’ The Eagles return four of their five regulars to the blue line this year; although Mottau was a huge loss, he was more or less the only one.

    The battle in nets also promises to be worth watching. At one end of the ice will be Badger Graham Melanson. The noted ironman is at it again this year, as the senior has played all but five minutes in Wisconsin’s six games, compiling a .930 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average.

    Hard as those numbers are to top, BC’s Scott Clemmensen is doing just that in the early going. After battling perhaps-unrealistic expectations most of his collegiate career, Clemmensen has matured into a steady presence between the pipes. He’s been the goalie of record in three of Boston College’s four wins, posting a sparkling .955 save percentage and a 1.33 goals against average in those games.

    And if, somehow, some way, all of that’s not enough to pique your interest — well, you might remember last season’s West Regional. On a certain Saturday at Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena, two teams battled to a surprisingly-lopsided 4-1 finish that sent the winners into their third straight Frozen Four, and the losers home to circle Friday, October 27, 2000, on their calendars.

    Those teams, of course, were Boston College and Wisconsin.

    ‘Nuff said.

    Thanks to Todd D. Milewski and Dave Hendrickson for their contributions.

    Seven Plattsburgh Players Suspended Following Hazing Investigation

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Seven Plattsburgh State men’s players have been suspended from play and face school judicial action following an investigation by Plattsburgh University Police into a hazing incident at an off-campus party.

    Four members of a sorority also face disciplinary action. The incident, which occured on Sept. 30, apparently involves eight incoming freshman hockey players.

    The incident came to light when a member of the Campus Life professional staff was informed on Oct. 3 of a possible hazing event. University Police was notified and launched an investigation.

    After speaking with 28 individuals, University Police concluded that the initiation of the eight freshmen at the off-campus party, was classified, officially, as hazing, as identified by the Student Code of Conduct Manual. University Police issued judicial referrals against the 11 students and the Phi Kappa Chi sorority for participation in the hazing of the new hockey players.

    “We do not condone the inappropriate actions of our students and student athletes,” said school president Horace Judson. “In fact, we hold our student athletes to a higher standard since they represent the college community and are role models on and off campus.

    “We are fortunate that no one was injured in this incident,” said Judson. “It is unfortunate though that the students involved showed poor judgement and immaturity. Their actions may result in college disciplinary action against themselves and could have a lasting effect on the team’s season. Time will tell in both instances.”

    University Police discussed the incident with Plattsburgh City Police and the Clinton County District Attorney’s Office. Both concluded that no criminal charges were warranted.

    University Police also stated that the student athletes were forthright in providing information about the incident in their statements.

    The students face a variety of college judicial referrals, including aiding and abetting, disorderly conduct, providing alcohol to a person under the age of 21, endangerment and hazing. If found responsible, all students face judicial sanctions ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the college.

    As a result of the judicial referrals, the veteran hockey team members involved also face game suspensions that will begin with this Saturday’s exhibition game against Humberg College of Toronto.

    “Right from the beginning of the season, the players know that hazing will not be condoned by myself, my staff or the college,” said Plattsburgh head coach Bob Emery. “I regret that the mistakes of some of the players will reflect negatively on the other members of the team, the institution and our reputation.

    “These student athletes have done many positive things for the community both on and off the ice. We have always prided ourselves on our tradition of student athletes being involved in community service projects. I hope, as does every member of the team, that our Cardinal hockey fans will continue to support us through this difficult time.”

    The Phi Kappa Chi Sorority, which is already on suspension through the rest of this calendar year for violating college conduct regulations last spring, faces all of the judicial referrals previously mentioned along with an added referral of falsification of information.

    The sorority, which is commonly known as the “Clios,” was found responsible of hazing and verbally harassing prospective members during the spring 2000 semester new member education period by the College Committee for Group Review. The stiff penalty was the result of previous action imposed on the sorority in a hazing incident in 1998.

    The names of the students facing judicial referrals cannot be release, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA), said Dr. Donald Peters, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.

    Peters also said that the university wanted to insure the public that college officials are vigilant in their efforts to maintain a hazard-free environment for students on campus and in the larger community and that they would not excuse such actions by its students.

    Peters said, “Hazing is a serious problem facing many colleges. At Plattsburgh State, we will increase our efforts to make our students aware of what constitutes hazing and the consequences of their actions. I hope our students will learn and grow from this incident.”

    It could take two to three weeks before the judicial disciplinary process is completed.

    WCHA Column

    By Zevi Gutfreund
    -

    Badgers, Buckeyes Break Into Big Time

    There might only be two baseball teams left in this week’s World Series, but the WCHA is no longer a two-team conference.

    That much was learned last week as both No. 2 Minnesota (3-1-0) and No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (3-1-0) fell to conference opponents at their home rinks. Last season, the Gophers and Bulldogs were 4-0 against each of the other five teams in the WCHA.

    That changed over the weekend when No. 6 Wisconsin (3-1-0) and No. 10 Ohio State (2-1-0) traveled to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Badgers, ranked No. 10 a week ago, handled UMD on Saturday, 4-2, while the Buckeyes, making their first-ever appearance in the Top 10 this week, left Minneapolis with a split after a 4-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday.

    Defense appears to be the difference this season for both Wisconsin and Ohio State. Badger goalie Jackie MacMillan stopped 47 Bulldog shots on Saturday and her teammates produced three power-play goals for the win. The Buckeyes got the job done on Sunday by holding the Gophers to just 16 shots on goal.

    Ohio State’s blue line has been bolstered by the addition of two internationally-talented rookies, Kelli Halcisak and Emma Laaksonen. In addition to improving the defensive coverage, Halcisak (1g, 5a) is the team’s leading scorer and contributed a goal and two assists in Sunday’s win. Forwards Shana Frost and Corinne Rosen scored Ohio State’s three other goals.

    Wisconsin has a blue-line scorer of its own in sophomore Sis Paulsen, who recorded a goal and an assist in Saturday’s victory in Duluth. But Wisconsin benefited from a blend of youth and experience on offense, getting goals from junior Michelle Sikich as well as freshmen Meghan Hunter and Steph Millar. Hunter has five goals in just four games.

    It is wise not to overlook the fact that Minnesota and UMD each came away from the weekend with a win, and that they are still the teams to beat in the WCHA. However, it looks like there could be a lot more close games than expected this season out West.

    That means one thing for sure: don’t expect this writer’s prediction percentage to be quite as accurate as it was last year (over .700, if I do say so myself).

    Predictions

    Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28 St. Cloud State at #6 Wisconsin — The Badgers are on a roll, but the Huskies are also much improved. St. Cloud, 3-2; Wisconsin, 4-2 #2 Minnesota at Mankato State — The Gophers won’t settle for a sweep this weekend. Minnesota, 5-1, 6-2 #7 New Hampshire at #10 Ohio State — The jelling Buckeyes have a big advantage at home against a young Wildcat squad playing its first Division I opponent. Ohio State, 3-1, 4-2

    Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 28-29 #3 Minnesota-Duluth at Bemidji State — The Bulldogs are starting to explode on offense. UMD, 6-1, 7-2

    Looking Out For Number One

    By
    -

    Boston University goaltender Jason Tapp had to wonder whether his moment in the spotlight would ever arrive.

    During his freshman year, the newcomer from Kelowna, British Columbia, was all but relegated to the role of innocent bystander as the Terriers struggled through their first losing season in 10 years.  Unfortunately for Tapp, the Terriers’ lone bright spot that year was their netminding: Hobey Baker finalist Michel Larocque started 35 of 37 games that season, and there weren’t even many chances for late-game relief.

    Now Larocque is playing in the minors, and could see time with the Chicago Blackhawks this season.

    Before his sophomore year even began, the Terriers successfully recruited the hottest goaltending prospect in the country, Rick DiPietro.  Tapp played more frequently but took a back seat to the youngster whose stickhandling captivated fans and scouts alike.  Although DiPietro’s flair as a “third defenseman” with the puck received the attention, he won the respect of the hockey cognoscenti with his mental toughness and ability to stop the puck.

    All of which left Jason Tapp, well, looking out for number two.  And with DiPietro being a young freshman — one who would need to roll the dice and risk his development if he chose to opt in to the 2000 Draft, it looked probable that Tapp would be destined for a third year as understudy to a star.

    But a few funny things happened on the way to the 2000-2001 season.

    First off, Tapp started to show what he could do in the net.  After several mediocre outings early 1999-2000, he put together a number of solid if unspectacular outings.  He shut out Denver 4-0, posted a victory against Merrimack in November and earned an overtime win against UMass-Amherst in early December.

    He narrowly missed another shutout against Yale in January when a late goal cost BU a 1-0 win, as Tapp made 22 saves.  He had 33 saves in a 5-3 decision over UMass-Lowell between DiPietro’s Beanpot wins in February.  Most importantly, he finished the regular season strong when his counterpart looked a little distracted in the net shortly after the Beanpot.  After DiPietro was pulled following three goals on just six shots, Tapp picked up a win against Providence College — making a huge, momentum-turning save against Josh MacNevin in the process.

    The following weekend, Tapp had his best numbers ever, stopping 41 of 42 shots to beat Northeastern 3-1.   It was enough to make snakebitten NU coach Bruce Crowder draw comparisons to Groundhog Day afterwards, as he once again saw his team robbed of a win despite a barrage of shots.

    “When you see a lot of rubber, you get into the game and you feel real good when the puck’s hitting you,” Tapp said at the time.

    However, Tapp’s future prospects changed most dramatically after the season ended, when DiPietro surprised many by opting in for the 2000 draft.  It was a gamble that paid off, as the super-confident teenager became the first goalie in the current draft format to be picked first overall. 

    So with DiPietro gone to the New York Islanders’ organization, Tapp’s big chance had come at last.  But first he would have to deal with the naysayers.  BU was seventh in the USCHO preseason poll, but many thought they would have been ranked first or second had DiPietro stayed.

    Tapp shrugs off the inevitable speculation.

    “It’s just the situation I’m in; I was in the same situation the year before with Michel [Larocque] leaving,” Tapp says. “Michel was a great goalie.  I was in a rough spot for two years — there’s not much I could do with two All-Americans in front of me.”

    After Tapp played tentatively, albeit with the right to sue his defensemen for lack of support, in this year’s opening loss against Rensselaer, BU coach Jack Parker decided to put the issue on the table with his netminder.

    “I was talking to him about worrying about what everybody else was thinking,” Parker says. “‘Geez, BU’s going to be pretty good if I can just be a decent goaltender, and blah blah blah.’  

    "I was in a rough spot for two years — there’s not much I could do with two All-Americans in front of me."

    — Jason Tapp, on playing behind star netminders Michel Larocque and Rick DiPietro at BU

    “I told him, ‘Just go out and have some fun and stuff, [instead of] thinking about talk radio,'” Parker adds. “‘This isn’t what you should be doing here.’ I think he got that monkey off his back, too.”

    And how.  Tapp got the win in his next start, stopping 27 of 28 shots from a Vermont team hungry for action following the cancellation of much their season last year due to hazing allegations.

    “Last week I was putting pressure on myself that I didn’t need to put on myself,” Tapp says. “I didn’t come up with the big save last week, and this week I made sure I was going to come up with the big save.”

    The result was especially satisfying given that the Catamounts had lit up the goalie for seven goals on only 20 shots last season, almost one year ago to the day.

    “Must be the same guy, but he played differently for sure,” Vermont coach Mike Gilligan said.

    Another thing that is a little different is his uniform number: you probably can’t think of another goalie who has ever worn 83, but Tapp wears the unorthodox number in honor of his sister, born in 1983.  Jessica Tapp suffers from curvature of the spine.

    “I talk to my sister a lot during the week with the Instant Message on the computer,” Tapp says. “My sister is a big supporter….She’s always cheering me on and hoping I’m doing well.  She’s an inspiration to me, and that’s why I wear it.  And I can’t wait for her to come down and watch me play.”

    What?  He’s a junior, and she’s never seen him don number 83 for BU?  Tapp has to chuckle over that one.

    “I’ve spent a lot of time on the pine in the last two years, so she really hasn’t had the chance to see me play,” he says. “But hopefully this year she gets out to cheer me on in the stands.”

    Initially, Parker was not amused to hear that a recruit wanted such an off-the-wall number to wear.

    “He asked Brian Durocher, who was recruiting him, and Brian came back and said, ‘Oh, by the way, Jason Tapp would like to wear number 83,'” Parker recalls. “And I said, ‘No way anybody’s wearing 83.’ 

    “He said, ‘Before you make a decision, you might want to get Sally [Ward], our academic advisor, to show you his application essay.’  Where he talked about the role of his sister in his life and why he wanted to wear 83. 

    “And I said, ‘Yeah, you can wear 83.’  We’d be stupid not to let him wear 83!  So he wears 83.”

    Now Tapp is pushing to make sure that his number is not the only exceptional thing about him on the ice.  And if the game against Vermont is any indication, he’s on the right track.

    “He played tonight like he played the second half of the season for us last year,” Parker said. “He was real confident; he was on the puck, and he was very aggressive.”

    Meanwhile, thus far, another BU goalie recruit — promising freshman Sean Fields, a netminder with a butterfly style — is forced to wait in the wings and see how much of an opportunity he will get to play this year.   An incoming recruit from the BCHL, Fields was widely sought, but must wait for his turn in the limelight.  He’ll probably figure in some early-season blowouts and gradually get his shot to show that he belongs, to prove that he can be a number-one goalie.

    He has an excellent mentor for that role.

    UAA’s Galbraith Leaves School

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Jade Galbraith, a freshman wing for Alaska-Anchorage, has left school for the Western Hockey League after just four games, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Galbraith has joined the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL, part of Canada’s Major Junior system.

    Galbraith, 18, scored 35 goals and 101 points in 62 games for Drayton Valley in the Alberta Junior Hockey League last season. He had played three of the Seawolves’ four games this season, scoring zero points.

    “We thought if he liked school, liked Alaska and liked the college game, he might stay,” said UAA coach Dean Talafous to the ADN. “I guess he decided differently.”

    According to the ADN article, Galbraith is the 27th player in Talafous’ four-plus seasons at the school to leave the UAA program before finishing their eligibility.

    “I think every year, you realize one or two kids — through lack of playing time, missing home, not liking Alaska, for whatever reason — might leave,” Talafous said in the article. “These things happen. You get an empty feeling because you want things to work out.

    “But it’s not new. It happens.”

    The departure leaves the team with just 13 forwards.

    2000-01 ECAC Women’s Season Preview

    By Zevi Gutfreund
    -

    Unlike the hotly-contested battle between Al Gore and George W. Bush in the 2000 Presidential campaign, there is nothing but consensus as the ECAC women’s hockey coaches get ready for the 2000-01 conference season.

    The conclusion? Dartmouth will be tough to beat.

    The Big Green returns its entire roster from a team that surprised nearly everyone last year in reaching both the conference finals and the AWCHA Final Four. And this year, Dartmouth is expected to be one of the four teams invited to the first-ever NCAA women’s tournament.

    Beyond that, the ECAC appears to be a crapshoot. The traditional powers have all lost at least one key contributor — either to graduation or to the U.S. National Team — while upstart programs such as Niagara and St. Lawrence could still be too young to challenge for the conference title.

    In short, it looks like the parity we saw last year will carry over into the first season of the new millennium. Here is the conference forecast, with teams ranked according to the preseason coaches’ poll:

    1. Dartmouth Big Green

    Last year: 21-12-0, 17-7-0; 3rd place regular season; reached ECAC finals; reached AWCHA semifinals
    Head Coach: Judy Parish Oberting
    Key Losses: none
    Players to Watch: Defenseman Correne Bredin, Forwards Carly Haggard and Jen Wiehn, Goalie Amy Ferguson

    "I told our players that, just because you’re picked No. 1, don’t play like you’re a superstar."

    — Dartmouth head coach Judy Parish Oberting, on topping the ECAC preseason poll

    Dartmouth clearly had potential last year. The Big Green defeated Harvard, then the defending national champion, three times, including an overtime victory in the ECAC semifinals to reach the conference title game and earn an invitation to the Final Four. With everyone back this season, Dartmouth’s potential knows no bounds.

    “This year won’t be any different from last year,” said coach Judy Parish Oberting. “We’ll be successful if we continue to play as a well-balanced team and use our depth as an advantage. I told our players that, just because you’re picked No. 1, don’t play like you’re a superstar.”

    While the Big Green lacks a flashy scorer, it prides itself on an aggressive defense and an offense that capitalizes on its opportunities. Physical blueliners like junior Correne Bredin (11g, 35a) and senior Liz Macri (9g, 22a) anchor the rugged defense while sophomore forward Carly Haggard (24g, 17a) is the speedster who likes to score on the breakaway.

    If anyone on the Big Green is a superstar, it’s Bredin, the highest scorer in the conference among returning defensemen, or Haggard, who led ECAC rookies in scoring last season. But Oberting has plenty of scoring options in Hanover, including the senior forward trio of Jen Wiehn (18g, 18a), Lauren Trottier (15g, 18a) and Kristina Guarino (12g, 16a). Juniors Kim McCullough (13g, 19a) and Kristin King (12g, 16a) provide even more depth at forward.

    2. Brown Bears

    Last year: 25-4-3, 19-2-3; 1st place regular season; won ECAC championship; reached AWCHA finals
    Head Coach: Digit Murphy
    Key Losses: Goalie Ali Brewer, Defensemen Tara Mounsey and Jordan Jiskra, Forwards Tamra Jones, Jill Graat and Ali Kenney
    Players to Watch: Forwards Kim Insalaco and Christina Sorbara

    The defending conference champs were hit very hard by graduation and by Ben Smith, coach of the U.S. National Team.

    The Bears lost netminder Ali Brewer, last year’s Kazmaier Award winner, and their three leading scorers to graduation. Then Smith called all-everything defenseman Tara Mounsey — a gold medalist in 1998 — and asked her to forego her senior season in Providence to train with the national team for the 2002 Olympics. Mounsey accepted, and all of this means that Brown, by far the most veteran team in the conference a year ago, is now one of the ECAC’s least experienced squads.

    “I don’t know a lot about my team,” admitted coach Digit Murphy. “We lost a ton last year but we had so much depth. The next class will just have to step it up this year.”

    The big question marks for Brown will be on defense, where the Bears are used to relying on Brewer and Mounsey to frustrate opposing offenses. Murphy should give the early nod to sophomore goaltender Pam Dreyer in preseason, but rookie Katie Germain may also see some time between the pipes.

    Senior Cara Gardner (0g, 11a) will attempt to fill Mounsey’s Olympic-sized shoes when she joins the team after Brown’s field hockey season ends. Sophomore Cassie Turner (0g, 9a) and junior Emily Sigman (2g, 8a) are Brown’s other experienced defensemen.

    This year’s veteran leadership will come from senior forward Kathleen Kauth (9g, 10a), but the bulk of the offense should come from the sticks of sophomore Kim Insalaco (10g, 17a) and senior Christina Sorbara (10g, 15a). But Murphy will also expect junior Krissy Zamora (12g, 9a) and heralded freshman Krissy McManus to contribute on offense.

    2. Harvard Crimson

    Last year: 21-5-3, 17-4-3; 2nd place regular season; reached ECAC semifinals
    Head Coach: Katey Stone
    Key Losses: Defenseman Angela Ruggiero, Goaltender Crystal Springer
    Players to Watch: Forwards Jen Botterill, Tammy Shewchuk and Angie Francisco

    Harvard’s championship aspirations suffered a severe blow in September when defenseman Angela Ruggiero announced that she would be leaving Cambridge and joining Brown’s Mounsey on the blue line of the U.S. National Team this season. Ruggiero was one of the keys to Harvard’s national championship season in 1998-99.

    But Harvard’s top forward line is still a legitimate scoring machine. If veteran role players can contribute to the top line’s offensive production, the Crimson could also be a legitimate contender for the conference title.

    Junior forward Jen Botterill (31g, 31a), last season’s ECAC Player of the Year, is the most versatile player in the country. Botterill will likely center Harvard’s vaunted top line, and she could also move to the blue line on special teams and late in a close game.

    Botterill’s teammate on the Canadian National Team is senior forward Tammy Shewchuk (34g, 40a), the conference’s leading scorer last season. While Shewchuk can always find the back of the net, classmate Angie Francisco (14g, 36a) is usually doing the dirty work somewhere around the goal line. And coach Katey Stone will probably give sophomore Kalen Ingram (11g, 19a) some time on the top line as well.

    “We’ll be a thrill a minute, that’s for sure,” said Stone. “But the most interesting part of our team is the leadership of some of the older kids.”

    Indeed, Stone needs senior forwards Kiirsten Suurkask (6g, 11a) and Tara Dunn (7g, 9a) to provide more offense on the second line. Perhaps more importantly, however, is the performance of the Crimson defense without last year’s goaltender, Crystal Springer, and her anchor, Ruggiero.

    Harvard has just four returning defensemen, led by sophomore Jamie Hagerman (4g, 11a). Those defenders will play in front of an even less experienced netminder, rookie Jessica Ruddock.

    4. Northeastern Huskies

    Last year: 22-9-3, 15-6-3; 5th place regular season; reached ECAC semifinals
    Head Coach: Joy Woog
    Key Losses: Forwards Hilary Witt and Brooke White, Defensemen Jennie Setaro and Erine Metcalf
    Players to Watch: Goalie Erika Silva, Forward Brooke Whitney

    Perhaps the biggest surprise of the offseason was in Boston, where longtime Northeastern coach Heather Linstad left the Huskies to start a Division I program at Connecticut. Joy Woog, who has a year of head coaching experience at Sacred Heart under her belt, has replaced Linstad on an interim basis this season.

    The bad news for Woog is that the Huskies lost Hilary Witt, a perennial Kazmaier nominee and the fourth-leading scorer in the conference last year, and Brooke White, who joined the U.S. National Team. The good news is that the emphasis has never been on offense at Matthews Arena.

    The heart and soul of Northeastern this season will be senior goaltender Erika Silva, who finished third in the ECAC with a 1.63 GAA and fourth in save percentage at .931. Silva’s skills forced four overtime games last season, but she will need to be even more reliable between the pipes in 2000-01.

    That’s because she can no longer count on veteran defensemen like Jennie Setaro and Erine Metcalf. The most experienced blueliners this season are sophomore Kim Greene (7g, 17a) and junior Erica Archambeau (4g, 8a). They will have to bear down in the defensive zone if the Huskies expect to go deep in the playoffs this season.

    Junior forward Brooke Whitney (12g, 22a) will take over for Witt as the designated goal-scorer this season. Both Whitney and White were invited to the USA Hockey Festival in Lake Placid this summer, but only Whitney remained at Northeastern afterward as White opted for the national squad. Seniors Lisa Giovanelli (17g, 10a) and Collen Coen (10g, 9a) should also see plenty of shifts at forward.

    5. New Hampshire Wildcats

    Last year: 24-10-0, 17-7-0; 3rd place regular season; reached ECAC quarterfinals
    Head Coach: Karen Kay
    Key Losses: Forwards Carisa Zaban, Samantha Holmes, Tina Carrabba and Melissa McKenzie, Defenseman Brandi Kerns
    Players to Watch: Goalie Jen Huggon, Forward Michelle Thornton

    Nobody ever thought this could happen in Durham, but it looks like 2000-01 will be a rebuilding year for perennial power UNH. This should not be a surprise, however, given that the Wildcats have lost four of the conference’s top 13 scorers to graduation.

    With the likes of Carisa Zaban, Samantha Holmes, Tina Carrabba and Melissa McKenzie no longer terrorizing opposing defenses, New Hampshire coach Karen Kay will have to rely on sophomore goaltender Jen Huggon to keep the Wildcats competitive. As a rookie last season, Huggon finished fifth in the ECAC in both GAA (1.99) and save percentage (.922).

    “Huggon had a great rookie season and we have some talent on defense,” said Kay. “But we have some unanswered questions up front. Who is going to pick up the goal-scoring this year? It will be a good challenge for us.”

    The challenge will likely fall on the shoulder pads of senior forward Michelle Thornton (12g, 17a), who is coming off of an ACL injury but should be ready to play when the season starts. With the departure of Kelly McManus, who transferred to Boston College, Thornton is the only proven scorer on the team.

    To make matters worse, UNH has also lost its top two defensemen from last season — Kerry Maher to graduation and Brandi Kerns to an ACL injury that forced her to sit out the year as a medical redshirt. Kay will have to hope that her freshman blueliners can make the transition to college hockey quickly.

    6. St. Lawrence Saints

    Last year: 18-15-1, 11-12-1; 7th place regular season; reached ECAC quarterfinals
    Head Coach: Paul Flanagan
    Key Losses: none
    Players to Watch: Forwards Caroline Trudeau, Nicole Kirnan, Stacy Boudrias and Amanda Sargeant

    After setting a school record for wins last season, the Saints return their entire roster this year and have a shot at hosting a quarterfinal game.

    “We had a great finish last year and we just want to pick up from there,” said coach Paul Flanagan.

    The bulk of St. Lawrence’s offense should come from a top forward line consisting of three talented seniors — Caroline Trudeau (17g, 16a), Nicole Kirnan (12g, 19a) and Stacy Bourdrias (14g, 14a). But the Saints don’t lose much on the second line, which features a trio of sophomores in Amanda Sargeant (15g, 14a), Chera Marshall (13g, 11a) and Shannon Smith (8g, 15a).

    Flanagan has a plethora of bodies to choose from for goaltender. Seniors Emily Stein and Caryn Ungewitter platooned between the pipes last season, but Flanagan expects rookie Rachel Barrie and sophomore Shari Bryska to compete for time as goaltender as well.

    St. Lawrence is not quite as deep at the blue line, where juniors Meghan Maguire (3g, 14a) and Colleen Coakley (2g, 6a) will see plenty of minutes.

    7. Providence Friars

    Last year: 20-10-3, 14-7-3; 6th place regular season; reached ECAC quarterfinals
    Head Coach: Bob Deraney
    Key Losses: Goalie Sara DeCosta
    Players to Watch: Forwards Jess Tabb, Kim Mathias and Jenn Butsch

    The Friars will have a very different look in 2000-01, especially from the perspective of the Providence crease, where the absence of netminder Sara DeCosta will be a welcome relief to the rest of the ECAC.

    DeCosta bypassed her senior season to train with Mounsey and Ruggiero on the U.S. National Team. With her reliable pads between the pipes last season, Providence was able to shut out high-scoring Harvard in Cambridge, and in the playoffs the Friars played Dartmouth to a scoreless tie at Hanover until the Big Green finally managed a goal in double overtime.

    Without DeCosta, Providence will have to increase its scoring production to return to the playoffs this season.

    “It was a joy to spend a year coaching the best woman goalie in the world,” said coach Bob Deraney. “But the rest of the team got overlooked last season, and now they will have a chance to show what they’re capable of.”

    Deraney can look to an experienced core of forwards to provide more offensive production this season. The Friars return their top six scorers from last season, including senior Jess Tabb (26g, 15a), junior Kim Mathias (13g, 17a) and sophomore Jenn Butsch (13g, 9a).

    Senior blueliner Holley Tyng (1g, 5a) will be the Providence anchor in the defensive zone. But the real question for the Friars is who will replace all-everything DeCosta. Crystal Nicholas, a transfer from national champion Minnesota, highly-touted rookie Amy Quinlan and junior Brigid Keady will all compete to be the Providence netminder.

    8. Niagara Purple Eagles

    Last year: 17-13-3, 10-12-2; 8th place regular season; reached ECAC quarterfinals
    Head Coach: Margot Page
    Key Losses: none
    Players to Watch: Goalie Tania Pinelli, Forwards Valerie Hall, Candice Ceelen and Brooke Bradburn

    If Niagara does not make the conference tournament this March, the 2000-01 season will have been a disappointment for the Purple Eagles. Not bad for a program in just its third year of Division I hockey.

    “It’s nerve-wracking to be ranked eighth coming into the season,” said coach Margot Page. “It was exciting to make the playoffs last year but it will be a bigger challenge to do that again. But we have experience and defense and that’s what you need to win in the ECAC.”

    With everyone back from last year’s squad, Niagara’s bench is so deep that Page said she might have to cut a few veterans to make room for nine recruits. The Purple Eagles should have more experience and talent this season, and they could become a legitimate contender by March.

    Page should expect plenty of scoring from a pair of sophomore standout forwards, Valerie Hall (19g, 17a) and Candice Ceelen (16g, 18a), as well as junior forwards Brooke Bradburn (18g, 14a) and Stephanie Romain (11g, 18a). Jennifer Goulet and Lindsay Vine are two of the rookies who could make an impact offensively this year.

    The key to Niagara’s defense will be junior netminder Tania Pinelli, who was fifth in the conference with a 2.12 GAA last season. Pinelli may leave the squad for a few stretches to play for the Canadian National Team.

    Pinelli will rely on juniors Barbara Prall (2g, 11a) and Julie Forsyth (5g, a), the most experienced blueliners, for help in the defensive zone. Talented sophomore defenseman Linda Groff (5g, 10a) should also see plenty of minutes.

    9. Princeton Tigers

    Last year: 11-13-5, 9-12-3; 9th place finish
    Head Coach: Jeff Kampersal
    Key Losses: Defenseman Annamarie Holmes
    Players to Watch: Forwards Andrea Kilbourne and Nikola Holmes

    Once Ben Smith decided to raid the ECAC of its top defensemen, he managed to do a thorough job. In addition to Brown’s Tara Mounsey and Harvard’s Angela uggiero, Smith asked Princeton blueliner Annamarie Holmes to train with the U.S. National Team this season.

    That leaves Princeton with only two players who scored more than 10 goals for a team that failed to make the playoffs last year.

    “We’ll just have to make amends for last season, which was enjoyable to coach but very unsatisfying competitively,” said coach Jeff Kampersal.

    It’s always enjoyable to watch junior forward Andrea Kilbourne (18g, 20a) on the breakaway. Kilbourne’s talent was held somewhat in check last year only because opposing were able to key in on her defensively, which means she will need sophomore forward Nikola Holmes (13g, 13a), Annamarie’s sister, to prove herself a legitimate goal-scorer.

    Kampersal expects the Tiger offense to be deeper this season with the addition of rookies Lisa Rasmussen, Gretchen Anderson and Susan Hobson.

    But the blue line will look severely depleted; Kampersal will miss the services of three-year captain Dani Holtschlag in addition to Annamarie Holmes. Junior Aviva Grumet-Morris (1g, 13a) is the only experienced veteran, and freshman Angela Gooldy will be expected to play a major role in the defensive zone early in her collegiate career.

    Sophomore Sarah Alquist and rookie Megan Van Beusekom will battle for the starting job at goaltender.

    10. Cornell Big Red

    Last year: 13-14-1, 9-14-1; 10th place finish
    Head Coach: Carol Mullins
    Key Losses: Forwards Alison Stewart and Colette Bredin
    Players to Watch: Forwards Erica Olson and Jenel Bode

    Cornell returns nearly its entire roster from a squad that finished three points shy of the eighth and final playoff berth last season. But the Big Red needs to prove that it has improved before it can start thinking about the postseason in 2000-01.

    The most talented core for the Big Red is at forward, where senior Erica Olson (15g, 7a) and junior Jenel Bode (11g, 11a) are the most reliable goal scorers. Mullins will also expect production from senior Danielle Bilodeau (8g, 11a) and sophomore Murao Lindsay (5g, 13a).

    Senior Patricia Kemp (1g, 4a) is the leader of a veteran defensive unit that includes sophomore Brooke Bestwick (2g, 9a) and junior Eva Nahorniak (2g, 5a). Behind the blueliners, sophomores Liz Connelly, Sanya Sandahl and transfer Kristin Perry will platoon at goaltender.

    11. Boston College Eagles

    Last year: 6-22-2, 1-21-2; 13th place finish
    Head Coach: Tom Babson
    Key Losses: none
    Players to Watch: Forwards Jen Buckley and Kelly McManus

    Boston College will try to jump out of last place with nearly its entire roster back for another season.

    The leaders of the Eagles are senior forwards Jen Buckley (14g, 10a) and Lisa Molvar (12g, 7a). They can expect some help on offense from Kelly McManus, a transfer from New Hampshire.

    Sophomore Genevieve Richardson (3g, 8a) will anchor the Boston College defense, while junior Sharon VanTuyl will take over between the pipes now that Christy Nentwig has graduated.

    11. Maine Black Bears

    Last year: 6-19-2, 3-19-2; 11th place finish
    Head Coach: Rick Filighera
    Key Losses: Kira Misikowetz
    Players to Watch: Forwards Andrea Keller and Raffi Wolf

    Maine’s chances to rise out of the cellar were hurt by the transfer of Kira Misikowetz, last season’s leading scorer. The Black Bears will look to junior forwards Andrea Keller (11g, 11a) and Raffi Wolf (15g, 6a) for goal-scoring. Senior blueliner Kelly Nelson (4g, 4a) will lead the defense while junior Amanda Cronin will start between the pipes.

    13. Yale Bulldogs

    Last year: 6-22-1, 2-22-1; 12th place finish
    Head Coach: John Marchetti
    Key Losses: none
    Players to Watch: Forward Lisa Meyers

    The Elis will be hard-pressed to overcome their 13th-place prediction this season. Senior forward Lisa Meyers (11g, 6a) is the only Bulldog who scored more than 10 goals last season, and junior netminder Katie Hirte, who was forced to make 851 saves last year, will be tested early and often between the pipes.

    “I am cautiously optimistic about our chances to be a lot more competitive and entertaining this year,” said coach John Marchetti. “The success of our program depends on leadership in the locker room with eight new players this year.”

    Season Preview: ECAC West

    By
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    Change is inevitable in college hockey during the long offseason, and the ECAC West saw its share of change this past summer.

    Ex-Hobart coach, Bill Greer.

    Ex-Hobart coach, Bill Greer.

    After 16 seasons with Bill Greer at the helm, Hobart enters this season under the leadership of new head coach Mark Taylor. Elmira lost its top scorer, Jeff Angelidis, who chose not to return to school after his sophomore year. And finally, after many rumors and much speculation, expansion hits the league as Neumann and Utica announce plans to join the ranks for the ’01-’02 season.

    Coaches’ Poll

    The ECAC announced this year’s coaches’ poll, and no surprise that Elmira and RIT are tied for the top spot. In an interesting twist to poll voting, each coach wasn’t allowed to vote for their own team, which meant that they ranked the other teams in the league first through third. Seems like political correctness has finally hit college hockey, when coaches aren’t allowed to vote anyone into last place.

    Team by Team preview in order of predicted finish

    1. Elmira

    At the end of last season, Elmira coach Glenn Thomaris knew that we was going to lose his No. 2 scorer, Adrian Saul (12 goals, 22 assists, 34 points), and No. 7 scorer, Andrei Krivokrasov (9-15-24), to graduation. However, he didn’t count on losing his No. 1 scorer, sophomore Jeff Angelidis (9-28-37). Angelidis decided to give pro hockey a try, heading to the Western Pro League, and did not return to school this fall.

    With only two seniors on this year’s squad, Thomaris significantly understated the age of his team when he said, “We’re young again.”

    To help pick up the loss in offensive power, Thomaris brought up names like Adam Godfrey (10-14-24), Dean Jackson (12-19-31), Kris Carlson (13-14-27), Jason Silverthorn (8-13-21), and Mike Hulbig (9-12-21).

    “We are hoping that they can all chip in and give us some points from the upperclassmen,” said Thomaris.

    The top forward recruit for the Soaring Eagles is Pierre Rivard, who played for Newmarket in the OPJHL last season. Rivard led the OPJHL in scoring with 35 goals and 77 assists for 112 points. Another forward recruit is Ryan Baker.

    There aren’t as many question marks about Elmira’s defense. The only loss from last year’s solid squad was Dave O’Hearn, who graduated. Freshman recruit Lawne Snyder will slide in to join the veteran defensive corps.

    Junior netminder Rob Ligas saw action in about three quarters of Elmira’s games last season, posting a steady .921 save percentage and 2.36 goals against average. Thomaris thinks he will rely on the league’s top netminder again this coming season, but junior Nick Edling will also see time.

    “Robbie had a great finish last year, ” said Thomaris, “but he and Nick have contrasting styles and I think that we will want to have both of them out there.”

    Junior Steve Kaye will serve as team captain, with Eddie Cassie and Hulbig as assistant captains.

    Elmira begins its season at Oswego, “which is always a tough place to open up at,” said Thomaris. Then on Nov. 3-4, Elmira will host Wisconsin-Superior. Fans will remember Elmira’s trip to Superior last season, where the teams split the weekend, and an off-ice brawl marred the games.

    Could there be a carry over?

    “Well, I hope not,” said Thomaris. “We’ve all had a lot of time to think about it and talk about it and find out all that was a part of that.”

    But the real highlight of the season will come during the Soaring Eagle’s ‘All Purple’ Thanksgiving weekend tournament. Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Williams, and St. Thomas will join for battle in the Thunderdomes in arguably one of the best D-III tournaments in the nation this season.

    All of the speculation about Elmira moving to a new rink appears to be settled. The Soaring Eagles will remain in the Thunderdomes for the forseeable future. And with a women’s team in the works for the start of next season, construction plans to add additional locker room facilities only seem to reinforce the appearance that Elmira is in the domes to stay.

    2. RIT

    RIT head coach Wayne Wilson voiced the feelings of Tiger fans everywhere with the simple phrase, “We’re going to miss Pat Staerker.”

    Three time all-American Staerker led RIT in scoring with 17 goals and 34 assists last year, and finished his four-year career ranked No. 5 on the RIT all-time scorer list with 206 points.

    “I don’t know if you ever can fill a person of that ability and impact on the game that he’s had for us,” said Wilson. “I think that we certainly have a really good nucleus of guys coming back that I think can make up that ground. I think there are going to be a combination of guys that will have to fill that hole.”

    Freshmen Mike Tarantino, Adam George (Syracuse Jr B) and Brandon Luckino (Palmford Prep) will add to the Tiger offense. Tarantino was a standout for the Oakville Blades last season in the OPJHL and was highly recruited by other top D-III teams.

    While RIT got as far as the NCAA quarterfinals last season, losing to Norwich, the team lacked depth and struggled with injuries all season.

    Wilson said, “I think if we stay healthy, that we will be a much better team than we were last year. I think that is as important as anything else.”

    Injuries particularly plagued the Tiger defense. After being injured in the first game last season, Jerry Galway returns even stronger this year, and is expected to lead RIT’s defense.

    “These guys are going to be way better than they were last year, because we are going to be playing with defensemen instead of shuttling forwards back to defense,” said Wilson.

    Wilson spent most of his recruiting efforts on defense, trying to rebuild both depth and skill into that aspect of the team. Matt Moore (Brampton Capitals), Ryan Franke (St. Thomas Stars), Mike Walling (Chatham Maroons) and Ryan Fairbarn (Georgetown Raiders) joined the Tigers at the blueline this season.

    “[The freshman are] guys that you are going to see a lot of, and I think they are going to be all-League type of players,” said Wilson.

    Jerry Galway and Derek Hahn will be co-captains this season.

    “It’s [sophomore goalie Tyler Euverman’s] job, he’s earned it. What impressed me the most last year was that he even played better in big games,” said Wilson. Euverman garnered a .920 save percentage and 2.71 GAA in 27 games last season.

    Backup netminder Chris Sherman is still recovering from an injury and won’t be ready to go until a few weeks in to the season. So the Tigers will be relying on walk-on Rob Boope for Euverman’s backup.

    “Rob played for all of the top Chicago teams. I think he is really going to challenge for a position with the team, ” said Wilson.

    With only nine home games this season, RIT continues to struggle with its schedule.

    “Teams have to want to come here to play,” said Wilson. “Teams don’t really need us, the way our league is. I would like to get reciprocating agreements. My record is irrelevant to me, and winning some games by big scores isn’t helping me or the team prepare for down the road.”

    There may be light at the end of the tunnel for RIT and its fans, as several nationally ranked teams have already signed up to travel to Rochester during the 2001-02 season.

    3. Manhattanville

    In its second season, the Valiants are still a young team. But Head Coach Keith Levinthal expects his second recruiting class to raise the skill level of his program.

    “I think one of the biggest things that would be different from last year is that we should be a little more talented up front. But we still have an awful lot of question marks as we are still really young,” said Levinthal.

    Manhattanville’s leading scorer, Tommy Prate (25-14-39) returns in perhaps the best shape of his life. Levinthal also expects Ray Williams (4-1-5), who only played the second half of last season, to have a much larger impact.

    “[Williams is], without a doubt, our best all-around player,” said Levinthal. “We expect a pretty competitive environment amongst ourselves for each of the positions.

    Mike Nason (Oshawa Legionnaires) and David Schmalenberg (Notre Dame Hounds) are two offensive recruits that Levinthal expects to make an immediate impact.

    In net, Rob McShane (.887 save pct, 4.33 GAA) and Jeremy Hill (.870, 4.51) shared duties and posted almost identical statistics.

    “I think that we would like to settle on a No. 1, have someone step forward and take the position,” said Levinthal. “But we will have to see what happens. It is still a position of question.”

    Manhattanville scheduled an early challenge this season, playing at RIT on Nov. 3, just the Valiants’ second game of the season.

    “We hope that that game will help prepare us for games later in the season. Those are the games where you learn a lot,” said Levinthal. “We are still very, very young. We have a policy here: ‘Anyplace, anywhere, anytime, we’ll play you,'”.

    The Valiants will look to improve on their 8-17-1 record last season as they continue to build their young team. Damon Iannillo will be team captain this season, with John Auxier as an assistant captain.

    4. Hobart

    Fresh start is the key word around the Hobart hockey team this season. New Head Coach Mark Taylor, formerly an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell, arrived at the school at the end of August and is quickly getting up to speed with his new team.

    “I would have loved to have taken over the job in early spring from a recruiting standpoint, but it doesn’t really affect my plans for the season,” said Taylor.

    "I told the kids, I’m not going to make any promises other than we’re going to get better and we’re going to love coming to the rink."

    — new Hobart coach Mark Taylor

    A 1985 graduate of Elmira, Taylor was the Soaring Eagles’ MVP and an all-ECAC selection his senior year.

    “I’m excited to get back to the league, it holds a lot of good memories for me,” said Taylor.

    One quick challenge for Taylor will be to figure out where the Statesmen offense will come from. For the past four seasons, Travis Finkle (13-27-40) has led Hobart in all offensive categories. Finkle also replaced Keith Levinthal (now Manhattanville’s head coach) as the all-time scoring leader at Hobart with 155 points. Now, without Finkle, other players on Hobart will have to fill the void.

    “Someone is going to rise to the occasion, or some group of guys is going to rise to the occasion,” said Taylor.

    Hobart has ten freshmen recruits in school this fall, all recruited by former coach Bill Greer before he resigned. When asked to talk about the recruits, Taylor responded, “With the freshman kids coming in, I think it would be unfair to name names. It’s kind of an open door this year.”

    We will all need to keep an eye on the Statesmen to see who emerges in the scoring role.

    Tim McCarthy has been tapped to be the team captain this season.

    “For me, my whole philosophy is that you have to have a commitment to defense and a passion for offense,” said Taylor as he talked about the style of team that he wants to develop. “My style of play is going to be a read-and-react, up-tempo, in-your-face game.”

    In addition to change on the team and behind the bench, improvements to the community rink where Hobart plays are under way as well. Hobart has plans to add a varsity room onto the Northern end of the rink. These facilities will include a team locker room, coach’s office, and trainer’s room. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring.

    “I told the kids, I’m not going to make any promises other than we’re going to get better and we’re going to love coming to the rink,” concluded Taylor. “I want the university, town, alumni and friends to be proud and excited about Hobart hockey and the student-athletes here.”

    Expansion

    It appears that the long-awaited expansion of the ECAC West is finally going to occur for the 2001-02 season. Neumann, currently an ECAC independent, will join the league as a provisional member. Neumann will enjoy full participation and voting rights in the league, but their membership will be reviewed after three years to ensure certain budgetary promises are kept and levels of competitiveness are maintained.

    Utica will also be joining the league next season. Utica, a satellite school of Syracuse University, is starting a new D-III men’s and women’s ice hockey program. Utica recently named Gary Heenan, formerly an assistant coach at Hamilton, as its men’s coach.

    This expansion will hopefully help to return the ECAC West to the premiere levels of D-III hockey once again.

    Former St. Lawrence Coach McKinnon Dead from Cancer

    USCHO Staff Report
    -

    Former St. Lawrence men’s and women’s ice hockey coach Bernie McKinnon died Sunday after a battle with bone cancer. A memorial service for the recent St. Lawrence Athletic Hall of Fame inductee will be held in the next week.

    McKinnon

    McKinnon

    McKinnon, who was the men’s varsity coach from 1971-76, was considered a pioneer in women’s coaching. He was the first St. Lawrence varsity team coach for the women’s program, from 1978 all the way until the 1995-96 season. He retired following that season, and had since written a weekly sports column for the local newspaper.

    “While collegiate coaching for most involves refining techniques and building on pre-established fundamentals, Bernie took his profession as a teacher-coach seriously, and in that order,” said Wally Johnson, long-time St. Lawrence sports information director.

    “He taught me the game [of hockey] — which actually involved getting out there on skates and trying some things, fortunately not with the varsity guys — and he taught a lot of St. Lawrence students not only their game, but a lot of other things as well.”

    McKinnon, a native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was a 1957 graduate of St. Lawrence, a three-year hockey letterwinner and the team captain during his senior season. He also played in three NCAA tournaments.

    McKinnon was the Saints’ freshman men’s coach beginning in 1965, and was the head varsity coach on an interim basis in 1967-68, going 14-8-1 before taking over full time in 1971. His career record as men’s head coach was 72-84-6, and 170-164-13 as women’s head coach.

    “Bernie wasn’t too wrapped up in wins and losses, although he did want his teams to be the best they could be,” said Johnson. “The first time he asked me to look at his career records was after he had retired as a coach. It wasn’t, he told me, a big deal.”

    Golf, on the other hand, was often a bigger deal with McKinnon.

    “Playing golf with Bernie was like auditing a course in philosophy of sport,” said Johnson. “The game was serious with a little advice on club selection, shot selection and putting style being traded back and forth, but the conversations covered a vast spectrum of subjects and were worth a lot more than the low-stakes Nassau that we were playing for.

    “Bernie’s legacy isn’t in wins and losses — it’s in the number of lives he touched and enriched, and that number is a huge one.”

    McKinnon coached Mike Keenan and Jacques Martin while they were players at St. Lawrence. Keenan has won a Stanley Cup as coach of the New York Rangers, and Martin currently coaches the Ottawa Senators.

    A one-time Joe Burke Award for outstanding contributions to women’s ice hockey, McKinnon also coached the women’s soccer program at St. Lawrence to 126 wins, two NCAA tournament appearances and a New York State championship. As women’s tennis coach, McKinnon led the team to an undefeated season in 1976.

    At various times in his career, he also coached men’s lacrosse, freshmen men’s soccer, freshmen lacrosse, men’s tennis and assisted with women’s lacrosse. He was director of Appleton Arena, the Saints’ home rink, and ran the summer hockey school.

    He is survived by his wife, Lennie, son, Michael, daughters, Kristy and Kitty, and several grandchildren.

    Season Preview: SUNYAC

    By
    -

    Optimism is the word of the day before a new sports season starts, and on the eve of the 2000-2001 SUNYAC campaign, that’s exactly what every team has.

    This year, all eight teams have reason to be optimistic. Plattsburgh State returns once again with a very strong squad; Potsdam State brings back nearly the entire team that made it to the conference finals; Oswego State continues to have strong goaltending and added some prized recruits; Cortland State is looking to repeat the first half of last year for the entire season this time;Geneseo State gets Aaron Coleman and Jack Staley back for one more year;Fredonia State looks to depend on a strong defense and excellent goaltending; while Brockport State looks forward to a plethora of new players; Buffalo State is finally taking their hockey program seriously, and look for this year to be their breakout season.

    Indeed, optimism is definitely in the air as all eight teams start out tied for first.

    Plattsburgh

    It’s pretty much a no brainer picking Plattsburgh State to finish first. After all, as most coaches around the league say, Plattsburgh doesn’t rebuild, they reload. The real question is, how far can they go past the SUNYAC championship? Plattsburgh makes no bones about it, and why shouldn’t they? They already know that everybody will be gunning for them this season, so there is no reason to put up a false sense of modesty.

    EMERY

    EMERY

    “Our goal is solely to win the national championship,” says coach Bob Emery. “We can have a successful year without that, but that is our goal.”

    Having Niklas Sundberg back between the pipes automatically gives them an edge over most teams in the country. They did lose some top talent, including Jeff Paluseo (SUNYAC Player of the Year), Eric Seidel and Brad Erbsland. However, they have some top talent coming back also, such as Joe Dolci and Brendon Hodge (SUNYAC Rookie of the Year), who apparently worked out a lot in the offseason. Also, Eric Weidenbach and Bryan Murray.

    Plattsburgh is looking to play four balanced lines. That should be possible, to the detriment of the rest of the league. Six defensemen return, and the hope is they stay healthy this year. In certain games last year, the Cardinals were forced to skate just 2-1/2 healthy defensemen.

    Plattsburgh’s schedule is a tough one, loaded up with NESCAC teams, as well as RIT and Elmira. However, when your goal is to win in the last game of the season, you have to prepare yourself against the best. With their team balance and speed, the Cardinals should be playing on that last weekend.

    Potsdam

    It’s easy to pick Potsdam State to finish second based on last year’s performance. It’s even easier to pick them based on the fact that nearly the entire team is returning from that runner-up squad. Though only three seniors graduated, Nick Mendiola and Eric Gordon will be missed. However, returning are 10 seniors and 17 players total. This experience will give them a head start over many of the other teams.

    Offensively, they have the spark with Joe Wlodarczyk (All-SUNYAC second team), Sean Darke and Erick Curtis expected to lead the way on the scoreboard, with workhorse Joe Munn looking to continue his “cardiac kid” label with his penchant for game-winning goals.

    Defensively, Potsdam is led by All-SUNYAC second team member Dave Weagle, along with Brett Joly and Nick Eagan. This team has the potential to upend Plattsburgh for first place with one caveat — they must get solid, consistent goaltending. Todd Manley returns, but he will be looking over his shoulder at two freshmen, Ryan Venturelli from the Huntsville Wildcats and Matt O’Connor. If any of them can step up to steal any game, the Bears could be enjoying their second trip to the NCAAs.

    Potsdam will have a very tough out of conference schedule, playing the likes of Middlebury, Norwich and Elmira, as well as competing in the Prime Link Great Northern Shootout.

    For this reason, the Bears will need to follow the advice of Coach Ed Seney: “Our experience should be an asset for us this year. I know our team is capable of having an outstanding year, but we have to remember to work hard in practice and every game.”

    Oswego

    How does Oswego State recover from one of the most gut-wrenching losses ever seen in hockey in last year’s playoff series with Potsdam? By forgetting about it and just looking ahead. With the number of players returning this season and some solid recruiting, the Great Lakers will have to do just that in order to take advantage of the veteran leadership.

    Oswego has had a string of excellent goaltenders recently, and though they lose Gabe Accardi, sophomore Joe Lofberg has shown he is quite capable of taking over the job. Two recruits, Tyson Gajda and Nate Spadafore, will back him up.

    Helping to protect the net will be six returning defensemen, led by Nate Elliot and Kris Harris, along with a trio of newcomers, including hot recruit Joe Carrabs. Carrabs is someone capable of carrying the puck end to end and quarterbacking the power play.

    Up front, Oswego looks strong, as Derek Kern, Steve Cavallaro, and Joe Pecoraro look to repeat their scoring leadership. And you can’t count out Chris DiCarlo, John Sullivan, and John Hirliman. Giving them a run for their money will be regular and redshirted freshmen, including Mike Lucasic from the Oakville Blades, who has a great release and is capable of finding the holes. Another forward to keep an eye on is Brian St. John, who, last season with the Connecticut Clippers in junior hockey, scored 68 times.

    Coach George Roll says of this year’s squad, “We feel pretty confident with this team.”

    Oswego needs to jump out to a quick start to begin anew. If they do, they are capable of giving the North Country teams a run for their money.

    Cortland

    Last year was a bit of a heartbreaker for Cortland State. The Red Dragons entered the last three games of league play needing only two points to make the playoffs. They ended up getting only one and missed out on the action.

    However, in the beginning of the season, they were everyone’s pick as the surprise team of the year, playing unlike the Red Dragons teams of the past. So, with some good recruiting, a second team All-SUNYAC goalie coming back, and the attitude instilled by coach Tim Vanini (“We lost some steam; we hope to learn from that.”), why not a fourth place finish?

    The cornerstone of the team will be that aforementioned goaltender, John Larnerd. Two new netminders were brought in to keep John honest after the two previous backups were lost (Scott Wagner transferred to Fairfield, and Dan DiPrima left school).

    Up front they lost Jeff Morrissey, Jay Bartle, and Andy McGowan. Mike Cornyea, their senior captain will need to step up along with a corps of kids, including five freshmen.

    “The team needs to understand the season is two semesters,” says Vanini. “I expect our guys to work 60 minutes and play like a team.”

    If they can do those two requests, then Cortland will not be the surprise team of the year. They will be right where they belong — in the playoffs and making some noise.

    Geneseo

    First the bad news — Dave D’Amico and Jason Doell have graduated. Now the good news — Aaron Coleman and Jack Staley are back for their senior years.

    “They are two of the premier forwards in the country,” says coach Paul Duffy.

    It’s difficult to argue with that. However, they are going to have to step up not only their game, but also their leadership, as last year’s team never seemed to jell until it was too late.

    Duffy says, “The players realize what it takes to get them back to where they were in their freshman year.”

    They will have some help, and it includes size. Geneseo State brought in some big forwards, including Johnny Campbell, who they have high hopes for, and a good-sized defenseman, Andy Ford, who stands at 6-foot-3, 200 lbs.

    Jeremy Nau, another blueliner, comes from Northfield Prep. Also from the Jr. Amerks is Canadian goalie, Jeffrey Phelps, who will get some playing time to keep the two seniors, Kevin Koury and Greg Lenti, honest.

    The Ice Knights need to hit the ground running and forget about last year’s poor start.

    As Duffy says, “They have to prove themselves.” But, even more importantly, “The kids just want to win.”

    Fredonia

    The old adage says defense and goaltending wins games. Well, for Fredonia State, that will have to be true if they expect to make the playoffs this year.

    The Blue Devils faltered near the end of last season, and despite finishing third, fell to Geneseo in the first round. Fredonia brings in eleven freshmen for this year, but their strength is in the upperclassmen.

    That strength includes a very solid duo in net with Jamie Kosecki and Will Hamele. In front of them will be a greatly improved defense, highlighted by seniors Matt Aboudara and B.J. Bouschor (first team All-SUNYAC). The big question mark is going to be the offense and how many goals they can score. Fredonia cannot afford to get into a shootout with an opponent. Speaking of opponents, Fredonia plays them early as they believe a lot of games prior to conference play gets you ready for league play.

    MEREDITH

    MEREDITH

    Fredonia needs to be ready, since other teams have made great improvements with their roster. If the Blue Devils falter again in this ultra-competitive league, they could find themselves out of the playoffs.

    Coach Jeff Meredith displays a very practical philosophy heading into this season. He says, “Until we can play to our potential on a regular basis, it’s just that, potential.”

    Fredonia has the potential to finish anywhere from third to seventh.

    Brockport

    Brockport State may not be located in Missouri, but the rest of the college hockey world will take a “Show Me” attitude when it comes to the Golden Eagles’ season. The reason is quite simple — there are no seniors, only one 3-year junior (goaltender Joe Messina), no returning centermen, and 16 — count them, sixteen — new players.

    DICKINSON

    DICKINSON

    Gone from last year are Doug Garrison and David Insalaco, who coach Brian Dickinson admits, “you don’t replace those guys,” as well as Joe Morgan, Matt Bernier, and Sal Balbi, who decided to leave school.

    Their top recruit is goalie Tom Payment, who transferred after just one year at Canton Tech, where he led his team to an NJCAA championship. He’s already being designated the No. 1 goalie with Messina and Steve Tippett ready to back him up. The defense has been the biggest beneficiary of the large incoming class.

    Dickinson said, “We’re optimistic, but we’ll be really young.”

    Despite that, Brockport wants to get by the first round, something they have failed to do the past two years despite playing extremely tough in the playoffs. The schedule is in their favor, as the first six out of seven games are home.

    However, Dickinson realizes they must have a sane approach to this seaso.

    “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” he says.

    They want to be ready when playoff time comes. They are picked this low simply because … well … they need to show us.

    Buffalo state

    It’s been heard before, but this time it may actually be for real: Buffalo State is going to get serious about their hockey program.

    At least this time they are doing something about it. The school’s new athletic director understands the resources needed to get the program going, and has already made coach Jim Fowler’s job a full-time position.

    On the ice, Fowler says, “Our recruiting is finally paying off.”

    Last year, their underclassmen got most of the points, and they have four defensemen returning, three of whom played in every game. Both goaltenders, Harley Pottratz and Nick Berti also return.

    This makes the loss of leading scorer Pat Holden, Joe DiFrancisco, and three defensemen easier to handle. The Bengals’ short-term goal is to “just compete in every game,” according to Fowler. They did that at times last year, including a memorable near-upset of Plattsburgh and Potsdam in one weekend. Instead, both games went into overtime, and they only got one point. A growing program needs to get over those hurdles, and until they do, the Bengals are picked to finish last.

    However, Fowler says, “The whole attitude of the players is different.”

    If this is true and Buffalo State does win those close games, then Fowler’s long-term goal for this season may come true.

    “We want to make the top six for the playoffs.”

    2000-01 SUNYAC Ice Hockey Coaches’ Poll

    1. Plattsburgh St. (7)       49
    2. Potsdam St. (1)           42
    3. Oswego St.                38
    4. Fredonia St.              30
    5. Geneseo St.               25
    6. Brockport St.             18
    7. Cortland St.              15
    8. Buffalo St.                7
    1...1,4781,4791,480...1,536Page 1,479 of 1,536

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