Home Blog Page 1500

This Week in the ECAC: November 3, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
-

A Big Tap On The Door

The sixth-ranked Rensselaer Engineers are on a roll. They have been ascending in the polls and after a dominating performance against NCAA runner-up New Hampshire last Friday evening, their record sits at 5-0-0.

“There are some guys up front that have been on a mission,” said head coach Dan Fridgen.

I guess you could say that one man is on a huge mission right now. Junior right wing Brad Tapper is off to the hottest start that anyone can remember in college hockey.

Tapper had the hat trick against New Hampshire (listen to it here), raising his goal total on the season to 10 — the best in the country. In just five games, he is averaging two goals a game. He was named the ECAC Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after his performance. He has scored in all sorts of different ways this season — penalty shot, power play, shorthanded and even strength.

(Editor’s note: for the curious — yes, that’s the voice of Jayson Moy making the call on Troy, N.Y.’s, WRPI for Tapper’s hat trick.)

“Things have been going well right now,” Tapper understated. “I’m on a creative line (with freshman Marc Cavosie and senior Doug Shepherd). They’re playing outstanding.

“I’ve always loved putting the puck in the net.”

Tapper came to the Engineers from the Wexford Raiders of the MJHL. Prior to his arriving at Rensselaer, he was named the team’s Most Skilled Player, a First-Team All-Star and capped his season with 112 points.

But one of the most important decisions in choosing Rensselaer was that his brother, Bryan, was already a defenseman at the school. Bryan was a senior at the time when Brad was a freshman.

“Bryan is one of my influences,” said Brad. “But he, my brother Bill and my dad, they’re all great hockey players. We’d always get together on Sunday and skate and play.”

Arriving at Rensselaer, Brad took the number 52 — the reverse of his brother’s 25. Brad made an immediate impact with 14 goals and 11 assists.

The next season Brad was the lone Tapper on the team and centered by either Alain St. Hilaire or Danny Riva, Tapper registered 20 goals and 20 assists, good for fifth on the team in scoring.

This season, Tapper was expected to carry some of the offensive load, but who would have thought that he would have 10 of his team’s 24 goals at the present moment?

“You always have that good start in mind, but this is the first year that I’ve gotten off to a good start for myself,” he said. “I came into the season with high expectations.”

During the offseason, Brad worked with Bryan, now a defenseman for the PeeDee Pride in the ECHL. He went down and visited his brother and the two spent a lot of time working on their games.

“We worked on little things around the net,” explained Brad. “He’s always helped me with my game and I’m helping him with his. He’s a big D, but I’m feisty and I always try to move him out of there. Bryan’s helped me out a lot.”

So Brad came into the season with determination, and it has paid off. He leads the country in goals, and his team is now ranked sixth.

“Rensselaer needs a little more respect this year,” he says. “Respect is one thing we should have a little bit more of this year, and it’s nice to see that ranking.”

“He certainly has matured as a player in his play thus far in the year,” said Fridgen. “He’s doing what he loves to do and what he’s capable of doing. He’s a tough guy to stop no matter how much attention you pay to him.”

And teams have been trying to pay a lot of attention to him. This week Cornell and Colgate will pay heed to the young man from Scarborough, Ont. But through it all, he remains modest and calm.

“I just try to go out there with a good head and do the best I can. I don’t know why I’m so hot,” he says. “I’m more concerned about the team right now. We’re 5-0 and we have to keep that up.”

The Big Red Enter The Fray

Cornell will have the next opportunity to face Brad Tapper as the Big Red travel to Troy to take on the Engineers.

“We’re looking forward to the year because we’ve only graduated two players, we’ve brought in a lot of players and one of the keys is getting the defense into the scoring,” said head coach Mike Schafer. “Four years ago it was right back to the start in trying to get respect in the league. The goal is to get back to Lake Placid, and we hope to get back there this year.

“We’ve graduated three players in the last two years and most of our leadership and upperclassman will help. We need the same kind of contribution that we got from our freshman blueliners that we got from our freshman forwards last year.”

If Saturday’s decimation of Western Ontario, 8-1 in an exhibition game, is any indication, the Big Red may have found a freshman blueliner that can step right up.

Mark McRae scored once and had two assists in the win. McRae is an offensive blueliner who had 64 points last season (23-41–64) for Brampton in the OPJHL.

Fifteen different players had a point in the win last weekend, which will be as important as anything for the Big Red.

“The strength of our team has to be everybody contributing,” Schafer said. “We have a lot of balance and we have a lot of depth.”

Quietly Starting Out

St. Lawrence is 4-0, in case anyone hadn’t noticed. The Saints took two one-goal games this past week in Western New York with a 2-1 win over Niagara and a 3-2 win over Wayne State.

“It was a pretty good weekend,” said Saint coach Joe Marsh. “I thought we played very well on Friday night and we did everything but score for two periods against Wayne State on Saturday. We were able to get some things going offensively in the third period and put a couple away. We’ve got some things to work on, but generally it was a good effort both nights.”

Let’s Play Special Teams

Courtesy of Ken Schott of the Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette, here’s an interesting statistic for the Dutchmen of Union.

Of the last nine goals scored by Union, dating back to last season, none have come even-strength. The Dutchmen have scored seven power-play goals and two shorthanded. Their last even-strength goal was scored by Mason Anderson at the 17:29 mark of the first period against Colgate on Feb. 26.

The streak is at 522 minutes, 31 seconds — that encompasses 26 full periods.

Another interesting stat of note: the Dutchmen have scored seven goals this season in five games. Two people have more goals in five games than the Dutchmen do. Jeff Farkas of Boston College has eight goals in five games, and the aforementioned Brad Tapper has 10 in five games.

Welcome Back, Beth!

The ECAC announced this week that Beth Burr will be the league’s new director of public relations. Beth comes over from North Dakota, where she was associate director of media relations for the past three-plus years.

She will be responsible for managing the conference’s public relations, media relations, statistics, awards, publications and graphics programs. In addition, she will handle the day-to-day public relations for the conference’s Division III women’s ice hockey programs.

“I am extremely pleased that Beth will join our staff. She brings a tremendous amount of sports information knowledge, relationships with ECAC sports information directors and media. In addition, her involvement with ice hockey will enable our staff to provide even better services to our hockey-playing leagues,” said ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco.

But those of us in the ECAC know Beth from her days at St. Lawrence, where she was an assistant sports information director under Wally Johnson in 1996.

It’s great to have her back, and it’s with open arms that we welcome Beth back to the ECAC!

This Week in the WCHA: November 3, 1999

By
-

We don’t want to gloat, but…

With all due respect to my colleagues from the East, for those of us who, in the past, have been accused of the so-called Western bias in college hockey, this weekend is going to remain in memory for quite a while.

Minnesota knocks off No. 1 Boston College, despite their best efforts to give away a 4-0 lead and the win. Nate Miller’s end-of-shift hit and goal surely made more than one person do a double-take when they saw the highlights on SportsCenter (and not just because there were college hockey highlights on SportsCenter).

North Dakota goes into Clarkson and takes two wins. St. Cloud State does the same in Vermont. Wisconsin takes a pair at home against Northeastern.

That’s seven wins against teams from the East in one weekend. It’s not tough to remember times when the Western Collegiate Hockey Association would be lucky to get seven wins against the East in a month.

It’s weekends like these that renew enthusiasm for the league’s chances in the NCAA tournament. With the exception of North Dakota’s national championship run three years ago, the league hasn’t had much success in the postseason, including a 1-3 record last year.

But this season’s early nonconference schedule offers some hope. Aided by this weekend’s showing, the league is 15-11-1 in games against non-league opponents. At the end of October last year, the league was 5-8 against non-conference teams.

Before we study why the league is doing so well this season outside the conference schedule, a word of caution from North Dakota coach Dean Blais:

"I think it’s too early to tell anything yet," he said. "Certainly, our two wins at Clarkson, the games could have gone either way. I think it’s too early to say the WCHA is the strongest conference."

That being said, let’s get back to celebrating … er, breaking things down.

Bruce McLeod, the WCHA commissioner, said last weekend’s action might just have been a consequence of some good matchups, but there’s always that part of you that hopes it’s a sign of things to come.

"The honest truth is, the last few years, our perennial upper-level teams haven’t been the upper-level teams," McLeod said. "I think those teams are getting back to the top, and normally those upper-level teams are the ones that are taking on the tough, more attractive opponents from the other conferences.

"I think what you’re seeing from Wisconsin, and from Minnesota splitting at home with a tough opponent in BC, I think it’s an indication of those programs getting back to where they normally would be, in the upper echelon of the WCHA."

If that happens, weekends like this might not be so uncommon in the future.

"I’ve heard a lot from (Hockey East commissioner) Joe Bertagna the last couple years, so I called Joe and he didn’t call me back right away," McLeod said. "When he did call me back, I said, ‘Joe, what’s the deal? We finally win a couple of games and you don’t call me back or what?’ They made a lot of hay about that the last couple of years."

Let’s not be vengeful, now.

Return of the Don

Sure, you look at the schedule, see Minnesota at Colorado College and think about Don Lucia’s return to Colorado Springs.

That’s the natural thing to immediately come to mind. Lucia had a tremendous amount of success in Colorado Springs, bringing the team back into the national spotlight. His first trip back, much like Mike Holmgren’s return to Lambeau Field this week in the NFL, has to be a little special.

That’s great, but let’s not let it cloud what should be a great hockey series. Consider:

With Colorado College and Minnesota, you have two teams that play a similar style of hockey. And why not? Lucia took his style to Minnesota and Scott Owens hasn’t done a whole lot of tinkering with what Lucia had at CC.

Although it’s early, both teams sure could use the points. Minnesota has one point to show for a series with North Dakota two weekends ago and Colorado College split a pair at Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. Both will be looking to get some of those points back.

These teams can skate. On the big ice of the Colorado Springs World Arena, that should be very apparent.

The importance of the series is not lost on Owens.

"Hockey-wise it is (important) because it’s a team that we feel is an upper-echelon team and somebody, here at home, we need to play well against," he said. "From that standpoint, it’s a big weekend because of the matchup, even though it’s still early in the season."

From looking at the records, it becomes apparent that both of these teams could use the wins. Colorado College is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the WCHA. Minnesota is 1-4-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the WCHA. These were two teams virtually everyone had in their top five of the conference, and they need to start playing like it.

Of course, as Owens said, it’s early. Nothing is decided in November, but what happens now may impact the final standings.

Still, despite all the talk of a great series, you can’t overlook Lucia’s return. Owens, though, is trying to stay as far from it as possible.

"I’m sure there’s a lot of emotion. Personally, I’m not that involved with it," Owens said. "I think it’s more Don coming back home after being here six years, and a lot of our players have played for him before. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of emotions."

You may not have noticed…

Another key series that may get lost this weekend is the Wisconsin-Denver matchup. Surprisingly to some, these teams are tied for first in the WCHA, and this series may mean quite a bit as one of them tries to hold onto that top spot.

With some of the other favorites (North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado College) not having played as many league games, the Badgers and the Pioneers were each able to jump out to 3-1 records in the conference. North Dakota is the true leader in the loss column (with zero, tied with St. Cloud State, who hasn’t played a league game yet, if you want to get technical).

So if one of these teams can sweep this series, it stands to be in a pretty good spot.

And if it was Denver, some eyebrows might be raised. Remember, this is a team the league’s coaches picked to finish sixth — just a year after taking third. If the Pioneers are in first place after the first weekend of November, it may not change the coaches’ minds, but maybe make them give Denver a little more credit.

After last weekend, some of that credit may have to be directed at two Pioneers players — Jon Newman and Joe Ritson.

Newman was named the WCHA’s offensive player of the week for his efforts against Michigan Tech, including a goal and two assists on Friday and another assist on Saturday. He’s second on the team and fourth in the WCHA with nine points.

Ritson leads the team and is second in the conference with 10 points. He came up with his second overtime game-winning goal on Saturday.

This is the first time on the road this season for Wisconsin, which, like Denver, has jumped out of the gate. And there’s no hiding what the difference is between this Badger team and last year’s:

Goals.

UW is averaging 4.5 goals per game this year, compared to 2.58 last season. The power play has continued to contribute, with the Badgers averaging two PPGs per game. At that rate, they would have 72 at the end of the season, the second-most in Wisconsin history.

The wait pays off

As it turns out, the wait to get into the league was a lot longer than the wait for the first win.

Minnesota State-Mankato picked up its first WCHA victory last weekend, a 3-0 decision at Alaska-Anchorage on Friday. Sophomore goaltender Eric Pateman got his third career shutout.

Needless to say, that’s a good start for the Mavericks and coach Don Brose. With their 2-1 loss to the Seawolves on Saturday, MSU has a 1-2-1 overall record and a 1-1 mark and a week off in the WCHA.

So in the week off, the Mavericks have been told to pick it up.

"We’re asking the kids to pick up the intensity with each other," Brose said. "Even though they tend to back off when they’re playing against their own teammates, we’re asking them to increase that to make each other better players."

The week off comes before what will promise to be quite a special weekend for Brose and the entire university. The Mavericks host Denver next weekend in the first WCHA battles in the Midwest Wireless Center in Mankato.

Brose must really like this league thing. It seems that’s all he can talk about. When asked about how special the first home WCHA games are going to be, he came back with this:

"Denver is picked to finish ahead of us in the coaches’ ratings. We would definitely like to be successful."

That’s a seasoned WCHA coach for you.

Around the league

St. Cloud State: The Huskies go into North Dakota this weekend and, as everyone knows, the smaller rink can be a challenge to some teams who play on the Olympic-sized sheet. SCSU coach Craig Dahl said that makes one part of his team’s game all the more important.

"We have a certain style that we want to play and I think our biggest key is to make sure we win the special teams battle," Dahl said, "because I think that’s going to be the difference in the game."

One of the big improvements over last season, when the Huskies couldn’t buy a power-play goal is the skill the freshman class provides. Joe Motzko, Duvie Westscott, Ryan Malone and Mark Hartigan are all on a power-play unit in their first season, and for a simple reason:

"Skill is skill," Dahl said. "That makes a big difference."

The Huskies are 11-for-38 on the power play this year, good for second in the league at 28.9 percent. St. Cloud has also killed 34 of 35 penalties.

Minnesota-Duluth: Along with Mankato, the Bulldogs have the week off. We hope coach Mike Sertich is using the time to get well from that bout with pneumonia.

UMD is at St. Cloud State next weekend.

This Week in the Hockey East: November 3, 1999

By
-

A New Number One

Hockey East lost one number-one ranking over the weekend, but picked up another.

Boston College’s split with Minnesota — more on that later — not only knocked the Eagles from the ranks of the undefeated, it also toppled them from the top spot in the rankings for the first time this season. BC fell to number three.

Nonetheless, Hockey East still retained top billing with defending national champion and former #2 Maine moving up to #1. Maine swept its games with Ohio State, 3-2 and 3-1.

"I chuckle because last year we were never ranked number one in any poll," says Black Bear coach Shawn Walsh. "It shows you that it doesn’t really matter. That’s an extrinsic thing. I’m much more interested in the fact that internally our team knows what we have to do to play well."

Walsh hadn’t been so sure about that prior to the trip to Ohio State.

"I thought we found ourselves as a team in the course of the weekend," he says. "We’d been searching for what we had to do to play well. We’d been winning, but it had been sloppy and not the way we want it to be.

"We tightened defensively very nicely. And on Sunday especially, our forwards worked very hard off the puck and it created great speed. We really had our short passing game going."

Goaltenders Matt Yeats and Mike Morrison, who had each given up three goals one week earlier against New Brunswick and Canisius, took major strides forward in the quest to fill Alfie Michaud’s skates.

"The previous week was more our sloppiness," says Walsh. "[Against Ohio State] our goaltending was terrific. It was clearly very, very good both games. They’re very consistent and I couldn’t ask anything more out of both of them….We’re getting goaltending every bit as good as we did last year at the start."

This week, the Black Bears will be the last Hockey East team to commence its league schedule, hosting Northeastern and Providence.

"They’re both physical, intense teams that are extremely well-coached," says Walsh. "They’re clearly two teams that are dangerous. It will be Hockey East at its best.

"Both teams are veteran teams. Providence has all their defense back and Northeastern has almost its whole team back. But right now I want us to worry about Maine and continue to play the way we did on Sunday."

Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder is far from dreading the tough trek to Orono to face the #1 Black Bears. In fact, he feels just the opposite.

"That’s part of playing the league," he says. "I’m excited about it. It’s like going to Wisconsin. You learn things. They don’t give out championships in November and we’ve got to get better and better.

"It’s a great situation going up there. We’re going against the national champions and they’re undefeated. I don’t think our kids are going to have any problem getting up to play. Those are the type of games that as an athlete you live to play."

Maine’s foe on Sunday will be Providence College. Friar coach Paul Pooley echoes Crowder’s sentiments.

"Obviously, it going to be a difficult game, but I’m excited about it," says Pooley. "We haven’t beaten them there in a lot of years. We’ve got six days to prepare for them. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m going to be challenging our players to go up there and respond."

How the West Wasn’t Won

It wasn’t exactly the stuff of John Wayne.

"Okay, men, let’s head West and…go .500!"

With then-#1 Boston College and #2 Maine taking on admittedly dangerous but unranked Minnesota and Ohio State, respectively, two sweeps appeared to be a distinct possibility. And while Northeastern entered Wisconsin’s 14,385-seat Kohl Center as the underdog, a split wouldn’t have been a shock at all.

Instead, Hockey East had to be satisfied with a mere .500 record in its latest foray into CCHA and WCHA country. As noted above, Maine swept Ohio State 3-2 and 3-1.

Boston College, however, had to settle for a kiss-your-sister split. On Friday, the Eagles fell behind, 4-0 but roared back to tie the game, 5-5, only to cough it up in overtime.

"It’s a game where we were down 4-0 early," said coach Jerry York after the game. "It’s a tough way to play."

While BC did rebound the following night with a 4-1 win, the trip still had to be disappointing for a team that by the end of the season could conceivably count its losses on one hand.

And that is not to disparage the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who may not look out of place by season’s end as a top-10 team. They may only be 1-4-1, but their six games have been against #1 Maine, #2 North Dakota, and #3 Boston College. (Note to Minnesota coach Don Lucia: quit padding your schedule.)

But BC could be like Michigan three years ago, when the Wolverines lost only three games heading into the NCAA tournament and were expected to defeat, if not destroy, even those teams with top-10 aspirations.

The not-to-be-forgotten Northeastern Huskies dropped both games at Wisconsin, but did anything but embarrass themselves. Their Friday-night loss, 4-2, included an empty-net goal and their loss on Saturday by an identical score included three Badger power-power goals.

"It was encouraging to the point that we played better than we did at Lowell [the previous Sunday]," says coach Bruce Crowder. "These were the fourth and fifth games of the season and at that point you want to be getting better and I thought we got better.

"I thought we competed extremely well. You get out there and there’s always the adversity of the crowd and other things you have to battle when you go out there. I thought we played pretty consistent and pretty hard, but we just didn’t get anything for our efforts."

Surprisingly, freshman goaltender Mike Gilhooly, who had looked strong in previous games, played only 3:33 on the weekend. He was expected to split the weekend with Jason Braun, but had problems with his skates on Saturday, prompting Crowder to leave Braun in the nets after the equipment difficulties surfaced.

"We got good goaltending out of Jason Braun both nights," says Crowder. "He played a great game on Friday night and made some key saves. I just decided to leave him in there the next night so he basically played almost all of that game."

Sadly, when the team returned to Boston, Braun stayed behind to be with his father, who has been battling cancer and took a turn for the worse.

"Jason’s got other things to worry about than playing hockey," says Crowder, "but his dad got to see him play twice."

Here’s hoping for an improvement in the elder Braun’s condition. Our thoughts are with you.

Crowder doesn’t expect to have his sophomore goaltender back this weekend for the trip to Maine, so Gilhooly should start and be backed up by fellow freshman, Todd Marr, who has been hampered by back problems. The Huskies will also be without forward Chris Lynch, who was hit with a game disqualification for butt-ending and, as a result, must serve a one-game suspension.

BU Will Not Finish Eighth

One weekend into the season, the first "What are you, nuts?" email arrived. "How could you pick BU to finish eighth?" it said on the heels of BU’s wins over Air Force and Alaska-Anchorage.

As detailed in the

Hockey East Season Preview, concerns about BU’s goaltending and defense prompted the controversial projection.

"It’s hard to pick a Jack Parker-coached team this low," the preview read, "but the Terriers finished only five points out of the cellar even with Michel Larocque in the nets. A strong recruiting class will have to deliver from the first drop of the puck."

Well, the freshmen have done exactly that. Having seen just one BU game — this past Saturday against Providence — it’s clear that this is the best group of recruits to arrive on Babcock Street in several years.

The most important member of this class is goaltender Ricky DiPietro, in part because he looks terrific and also in part because Michel Larocque left behind a gaping hole in the BU nets. It’s ridiculous, of course, to pronounce any goaltender The Answer after just one game. But DiPietro will bring back memories of Garth Snow with his stickhandling and sure looked like the real deal when it came to stopping the puck.

"There’s no question that he adds another dimension to the game and makes it easier on the defensemen," said Parker after the 3-2 win over Providence. "One of the hardest things in hockey is going back to get the puck when someone’s bearing down on you, pick it off the wall and try to get it out of the zone. [With DiPietro] they can hold people up for a second and let him get it out of the zone for them.

"He made some great decisions and he can really execute. We recruited him knowing he was really good at that. But we also recruited him knowing that he can stop pucks and that’s the most important thing.

"He took the pressure off his teammates by getting it out, but the most important thing he did was he made 25 saves. I was real happy with his overall performance. Mostly, he looked real poised."

Defensemen John Cronin and Mike Bussoli are the next important links to a strong season, considering the total lack of depth at that position, followed by forwards Brian Collins, John Sabo and Ryan Priem.

Currently Collins and Cronin lead the team in goals scored with four and three, respectively, while Bussoli and Sabo have also broken the goal-scoring ice. "I knew that Johnny Sabo would be a real crowd-pleaser and he is," said Parker. "John Cronin is as good a freshman defenseman as we’ve had here in a long, long time. He’s a real smart player. He knows how to get the puck out and play offensively as well. All the freshmen played well."

As a result, it sure doesn’t look like an eighth-place finish anymore for BU, unless DiPietro’s performance against Providence was a fluke or there are significant injuries on the blue line. The odds are still against BU earning home ice, but the Terriers have leapfrogged several teams in the Hockey East Five-To-Nine Lottery.

So, how about no more hate mail from Commonwealth Avenue?

The Case of RPI Fans vs. Dave Hendrickson or Sense of Humor 101

Judging from the venom in a couple emails received, some Rensselaer fans took the 15-0 UNH-RPI "prediction" in last week’s column as a serious one. They further lambasted me for being incapable of picking against Hockey East in nonconference games and were offended at my Hockey East homerism.

First off, 15-0 was a joke. That seemed as obvious as the nose on my face, which unfortunately is saying something. I certainly hope that a few people got a chuckle out of that prediction to balance the offense that others took.

Which is not to say that I was expecting a Rensselaer win. I wasn’t. After all, last week’s ECAC column had some fun detailing that team’s brutal performances in their games which I’ve attended over the last few years. Namely:

New Hampshire 2, Rensselaer 0 on 3/25/94 Mass-Lowell 5, Rensselaer 2 on 11/19/94 Mass-Lowell 3, Rensselaer 0 on 11/13/96 Boston University 6, Rensselaer 0 on 10/18/97 Mass-Lowell 8, Rensselaer 4 on 10/24/98 New Hampshire 9, Rensselaer 3 on 12/21/98

Frankly, I was beginning to wonder if the RPI team song was the old Platters hit, "The Great Pretender." Clearly, the Engineers played some great games during those five years. But I sure hadn’t seen any. A mere mediocre performance would be a big step forward.

And so I made my H-rated prediction. (H is for humor.) And was wrong, but only by three (touchdowns).

Rensselaer was anything but mediocre. UNH fans who might be tempted to dismiss the loss as merely the result of some great goaltending by Joel Laing will be wrong. Laing was terrific, but the RPI defense completely outplayed UNH’s. And Brad Tapper is an offensive force to be reckoned with.

Onward to the second charge. Namely that I’m constitutionally incapable of picking against Hockey East teams in nonconference games, especially when paired against an ECAC team. The facts, however, don’t support that case. Prior to last weekend, I picked the ECAC team in five of the seven games between that conference and Hockey East.

Finally, am I a Hockey East homer? No. My first season preview for USCHO three years ago bore the title, "Hockey (L)East?" because that’s how I saw it. Last year, on the other hand, the league looked exceptionally strong by midseason and earned top billing by placing three teams in the Frozen Four.

Sometimes, you’re the windshield. Sometimes, you’re the bug. Year in and year out, Hockey East tends to be the windshield. But if it’s a "bug" year or a "bug" team in the league, that’s what I’ll say.

I am not, to paraphrase one incensed Engineer fan, Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna’s stooge. Joe Bertagna doesn’t need me for that. He does a great job of being a stooge all by himself.

Trivia Contest

Last week’s trivia question was: What Hockey East player missed so many games last year that the team apparently forgot his name? (It’s misspelled on his jersey.)

And the answer: Northeastern defenseman Arik Engbrecht, whose jersey added an extra "r" to make it Engrbrecht.

The previous week, no one got the correct answer, while this time it was a race to see who could get their email across the finish line first. Imagine the fan who after several late nights watching the World Series fell asleep early Thursday evening, woke up, read this column in the wee hours and submitted Engbrecht’s name at 1:50 in the morning only to miss out by an even quicker response.

Craig Powers earned the tip of the fedora for not only getting the answer right, but by also being the quickest draw of them all.

As for this week’s question, here it is: at UNH there has been a long-standing tradition of tossing a fish onto the ice when the Wildcats score their first goal of a game. In Whittemore Center history, how many total pounds of fish have been tossed?

Unless someone actually gets the exact poundage, the tip of the fedora will go to the closest guess. (No, there won’t be any responses to your guesses to allow you to narrow it down.)

Once again, mail your responses to Dave Hendrickson. Media representatives are excluded.

League Honors (Oct. 29-31)

KOHO Player of the Week Cory Larose, Maine ­ (SR F) netted two game-winning goals on the road against Ohio State this weekend for the Black Bear sweep.

Rookie of the Week Rick DiPietro, Boston University ­ (G) made his home ice debut against Providence and registered the 3-2 win with 25 saves.

Defensive Player of the Week Mike Mottau, Boston College ­ (SR D) registered 1-3-4 against Minnesota on the weekend to achieve the 100 career assist mark at the Eagles’ blue line.

And Finally, Not That It Has Anything To Do With Anything, But… Was last weekend’s Indian Summer weather (in New England, at least) an irresistible temptation to pull out the golf clubs or what?

Yours truly loses his short game completely once the college hockey season starts. There’s no time to practice if you’re busy calling coaches, checking for split infinitives and incorrectly predicting 15-0 scores.

But three birdies on the back nine were tantalizing enough to wish for just one more weekend of weather like the last. Just one more, pretty please…

If you’re still awake, we’ll get together at some Frozen Four and I’ll tell you about that time at the eighth hole at Pebble Beach. I’d driven to the edge of that famous cliff. My heart was pounding as I surveyed the postage-stamp green below…

Hey! Who’s that snoring in the back?

The Final Number 24

By
-

In an ideal world, the ceremony would have been to commemorate Travis Roy’s All-America plaque joining the pantheon of BU greats at the entrance to Walter Brown Arena.

In an ideal world, the extended ovation and chants of “Travis! Travis! Travis!” would have brought only smiles and not a pungent mixture of smiles and salty tears. And in an ideal world, Travis Roy would have acknowledged the cheers with a wave of his hand, hugged his father, mother and sister and then taken his seat, knowing that later he could walk out of the arena and down to T. Anthony’s or T’s Pub.

But it isn’t always an ideal world. And life sometimes is very bleeping unfair. Sometimes the true heroes have to shoot for sights a good deal lower than what they originally expected.

On this evening, Boston University celebrated just such a hero, retiring Travis Roy’s jersey and, with it, the number 24. A banner now hangs from Walter Brown Arena signifying the first number the hockey program has ever retired.

“It was awesome,” said Travis. “I’ve really wanted to turn the page. There have been a lot of sad times, but this is a happy moment. Now it’s time to turn the page and be proud of everything that has gone on here.

“I love this place. I love BU hockey. I love Coach [Jack] Parker. I couldn’t be surrounded by a better group of people. … They’re amazing … and wonderful people.

“They have no idea how it’s been for them to continue to support me and to acknowledge me and just be so kind in everything they do. It’s a cliche, but you just can’t say enough. It’s a wonderful area we live in and people should be proud of what they’ve done and how they’ve handled me.”

After losing his original freshman year to the rehabilitation that followed his spinal cord injury, Travis has maintained a pace of studies that will see him graduate this year with a degree in Communications and Public Relations.

“My first freshman year was a wipeout, but since then I’ve done it in four years,” he said. “I’m awfully proud of that.

“I’m one to set goals and I’m one to accomplish goals. That goal was set early on [so] I guess it doesn’t surprise me that I pulled that one off.”

It’s an accomplishment that understandably fills his parents with great pride.

“It would have been real easy to pack it in in his situation or anybody who is faced with this kind of physical setback,” said Lee Roy, Travis’ father. “Just pack your bag and head on home.

“He hasn’t been home in a long time,” said Lee Roy with a laugh, “and that’s great. He’s doing very well down here.

“There’s a great deal of pride, obviously, but there’s the disappointment that Travis didn’t have the chance to do what he wanted to do on the ice. Obviously, for Jack Parker and the rest of the Boston University community to honor Travis in this way…it couldn’t be any better. But at the same time it’s very bittersweet.

“For me, the heartbreak is that the record book will show that Travis played one game with a 0-0-0 [scoring line]. Over the past four years, there were the hopes that somehow, someway he wouldn’t be remembered as a player who played one game.

“But there’s a lot of pride in what he’s been able to accomplish, to have over a 3.0 average, make the Dean’s List last semester and to graduate in four years when you discount the one year of rehab. I’m so very proud of what he’s done and the way that he’s done it.”

Since his injury, Travis has become a tremendous source of inspiration to others who have suffered a similar fate.

“In some ways I’ve been put in that role,” he said. “I’ve always enjoying being in a leadership role. I always cherished being captain of the teams that I was on.

“It’s certainly a different team that I’m leading now. But if I can be inspirational and put a positive spin on people in wheelchairs and paralysis, I [might even] help out my own cause and hopefully get out of this chair someday.”

Travis is still taking a wait-and-see approach as to what the future holds for him after graduation. But it doesn’t necessarily include hockey.

“I still love the sport,” he said. “It was a fluke accident. But there’s definitely some sadness. I’m just trying to figure out a way to enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy it as much as I did when I was playing the sport, but I guess I’m looking for the next best thing.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. Getting away [from hockey] for a little bit, basically I’m trying to open as many doors as I can and see what’s out there and see what I’d like to do.

“I’d like to be one of those few people who wake up nowadays and feels passionate about their job and can’t wait to get to it. I’ve just got to figure out what it’s going to be.”

In the meantime, he’s taking one day at a time.

“I live on a lot of cliches that you hear every day, but they work,” he said. “So it’s one day at a time and you just try to keep a smile on your face.

“I’m doing my best. There are the ups and downs still, but there are a lot more ups [now]. I still have my struggles, but school is going well and I’ll be graduating in May.

“I’ve got a long life ahead of me and I’m really looking forward to it.”

This Week in the WCHA: October 27, 1999

By
-

Sertich day-to-day

And we all thought the health concerns at Minnesota-Duluth were for goaltender Brant Nicklin and forward Jeff Scissons. Those pale in comparison to what coach Mike Sertich has been going through.

Sertich missed both games at Wisconsin last weekend with pneumonia. Sertich made the trip to Madison for the series but got very ill before the start of Friday’s game. Sertich was reported to have been coughing up blood. He was examined by the Wisconsin team doctor and was advised to remain in the team’s locker room during the game.

On Saturday, Sertich was driven back to Duluth and was checked into a hospital. In the meantime, assistant coach Jim Knapp took over the Bulldogs.

As of Thursday afternoon, Sertich had left the hospital and was resting at home, the UMD hockey office reported. It doesn’t happen very often, but the coach is listed as out for this weekend’s series.

"They admitted him back to the hospital but they gave him a higher dose of antibiotics and are treating it more aggressively," said Knapp, a longtime Bulldogs assistant, on Monday. "He was actually getting worse with the treatment he had before. I talked to him Sunday and he was feeling a little bit better, but they won’t let him do anything until it starts to clear up. It’ll probably be a couple days."

In his absence, Sertich missed quite a performance by his team, especially Nicklin, on Friday. Playing with an injured knee and thumb, Nicklin toughed it out, stoning Wisconsin’s forwards time after time and came away with a 3-1 win.

Scissons had a goal and Colin Anderson added the other two.

"It’s too bad that Mike wasn’t behind the bench because he would’ve enjoyed how hard we played," Scissons told Kevin Pates of the Duluth News-Tribune.

Said Knapp: "It was a good, gutsy effort on Friday and Sert would have enjoyed it. But he did enjoy it from his point of view, being that we did win. He was excited for the players."

Though a late one, the decision that Sertich wasn’t going to be on the bench wasn’t much of a surprise.

"Everybody knew that there would be that possibility, that he wouldn’t be able to make it on the bench," Knapp said. "He hadn’t been at practice for over a week, maybe closer to a week and a half. It wasn’t a big shock to anybody that he wasn’t going to be able to be on the bench."

While the Bulldogs may not have their leader right now, things must press on. There are drills to be done, practices to be run and games to be played — UMD hosts Colorado College this weekend.

The Bulldogs say they’re carrying on and that Sertich actually prepared them quite well for just such an occasion.

"He’s always been the person that’s tried to give responsibilities to the people around him," Knapp said. "It would be a shock to people’s systems if everybody else just pushed pucks around and had no responsibilities and then all of a sudden they were put into that duty. Nobody during practice or during the games was thinking it was too much different than what was before that."

While you were sleeping…

You may have missed it, but Alaska-Anchorage isn’t off to the terrible start it appears the WCHA coaches assumed they would have.

On the annual coaches’ teleconference earlier this month, UAA coach Dean Talafous lamented about the fact that his team was picked to finish last. Again. His team is better than it was last year, he said, yet the coaches picked the Seawolves for 10th.

So when Talafous was asked to reflect on his team’s first six games, he seemed genuinely pleased.

And why not? The Seawolves are 3-3 with road wins over Alaska-Fairbanks and, just last week, Denver, and a home win over Niagara.

"Now that I look back on the first six games, we’re 3-3, we played a strong Niagara, we played BU, we went on the road and played Fairbanks and then we go into Denver, who hadn’t lost in 12 games at home, in their new building," Talafous said. "Now that I look back and say we’re 3-3, four of them on the road, all of them tough games, that’s OK. Sure, I’d like to have one more, but it’s OK."

Even better for the Seawolves is that they now get a chance to improve on their record with six of their next eight games at home.

One thing, however, that may have to improve for the Seawolves is the offensive output. Not that the offensive output has always been a strength for UAA, but they show those flashes that always keep opponents on their toes.

For example, the Seawolves got all of 11 shots on goal against Denver on Friday but came back for four goals and returned from a one-goal, third-period deficit in a 4-3 win on Saturday.

Talafous doesn’t want to make too much of one game, but that was a lift for his team.

"I don’t like to overanalyze things. We’re just trying to gain some confidence," Talafous said. "We have a lot of freshmen in the lineup, and winning one in Denver on Saturday … that’s positive for our program. It adds to the confidence. You start to play a little more relaxed, believe in yourself more."

A couple more wins, and the sky will be the limit for the Seawolves.

Role players play roles

In the WCHA, and college hockey in general, there’s a saying that a team beats another with its third and fourth lines. The top two lines will more or less cancel each other out. But if your third and fourth lines put some numbers on the board, you stand a good chance of winning.

Maybe that’s why North Dakota has won three straight WCHA regular-season championships.

The lower lines were the difference in the Sioux’s 3-2 win over Minnesota last Saturday. Forwards Ryan Bayda and Kevin Spiewak scored their first collegiate goals within 22 seconds of each other, with Spiewak’s ending up the game-winner. Ryan Hale, Travis Roche and Jason Notermann also collected their first points.

The all-freshman line of Spiewak, Notermann and Tim Skarperud, according to UND coach Dean Blais, didn’t play too well on Friday and got benched. But they came through on Saturday.

"We had a little meeting and they played well Saturday night," Blais said. "They had been playing well all through training camp so they weren’t really playing like freshmen. But that’s intimidating to get down there in Mariucci Arena, you’ve got 10,000 fans yelling, screaming. They were playing a little bit afraid or intimidated."

The freshmen’s success didn’t overshadow the productivity of the Jeff Panzer-Bryan Lundbohm-Lee Goren line. They were the stars, Blais said, in the 2-2 tie on Friday.

"Jeff Panzer’s line was the best line on the ice I thought on Friday night," Blais said. "We basically have speed with Panzer and Lundbohm and Lee is your goal-scorer, the finisher. Brian had a bunch of chances. I think that line generated 16 shots on net out of the 48 we had (on Friday)."

Apparently, everything was working at one point or another for the Sioux.

Dahl OK with non-conference opening

St. Cloud State is two-thirds of the way through a six-game non-conference swing to open the season, having lost twice to Miami before sweeping Bemidji State last weekend. The Huskies travel to Vermont this weekend to round out the non-league stretch.

Some teams may prefer to get some league games in early to get right into the swing of things. Of course, others may envy coach Craig Dahl’s situation because he, in effect, has something of a preseason before the WCHA season begins.

Would Dahl rather have some league games early?

"Not with this team," he said. "We’ve got 12 freshmen and sophomores in our lineup. It’s still a pretty young team, so it’s good for us to get our feet wet and iron out some kinks."

One of the things that has emerged for this team is a good bit of speed, something that may surprise some league coaches … once the Huskies play some league teams.

"We recruited speed so I knew it would be better, but it makes a big difference," Dahl said "You can really tell the difference."

On another hand, one area in which the Huskies still have some questions is goaltending. Sophomore Dean Weasler and freshman Jake Moreland split time last weekend, and Dahl said he’ll probably play Scott Meyer as well this weekend.

Dahl said he didn’t get what he expected out of Weasler the first weekend, but that he came back well against Bemidji.

"Both of them were a little shaky the first weekend, and I didn’t like to see that out of Dean because he’s been through it before," Dahl said. "But then he came back and had some decent tests on Friday. You have to be consistent there."

The Huskies hope the whole package can come together in time for the league schedule. But then again, St. Cloud’s first conference opponent is North Dakota in Grand Forks. Welcome back to the schedule, guys!

Around the WCHA

Wisconsin: Badgers senior forward Dustin Kuk had a five-point weekend against Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. Just think what might have happened had he played on Friday.

Kuk sat out Friday’s game on suspension after a game disqualification in the second game against Michigan Tech two weeks ago. He wasn’t too happy about it, either.

"(Friday) night was torture," Kuk told Andy Baggot of the Wisconsin State Journal. "Had to watch with the parents and the girlfriend."

That must make the parents and the girlfriend real happy. Kuk’s five assists was one off the UW record, set in 1968 by Mark Fitzgerald against Lake Forest.

Minnesota: Don Lucia knew what he was getting into. He took the job at Minnesota knowing well that his teams first three opponents would be Maine, North Dakota and Boston College.

Boston College is up this week and the Gophers have an 0-3-1 record going into the series with the nation’s No. 1 team. Lucia’s teams have never started this poorly, record-wise, in 13 years of coaching. Of course, they probably never had a schedule this tough.

But there is good news for the Gophers. The last time Minnesota did not win in its first four games was the 1993-94 season. The Gophers ended up in the Frozen Four.

Gophers fans can keep hope alive after all.

This Week in the ECAC: October 27, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
-

The New Crimson Era

When he got the call from Harvard in late July, Mark Mazzoleni knew that the immediate road ahead would be difficult. Not only did the five-year Miami coach pack a bag and move hundreds of miles away from his family, but he also adopted a young Crimson team that was struggling to find its identity. With a mere three months to prepare before the season opener against Brown, Mazzoleni went straight to work by bringing in ECAC veteran Ron Rolston (from Clarkson) and former Maine assistant Nate Leaman.

“As you can imagine, taking a job in late July and early August and having to totally change your life — it was a whirlwind,” said Mazzoleni. “We have two really quality people as assistants; they are not only unbelievably driven and hard-working, but they are excellent communicators and coaches. I have been able to delegate a great deal to them and make it workable. We have been putting in the hours just like anyone would expect, but we are finally starting to get our heads above water.”

With a staff in place and a temporary roof over his head, Mazzoleni still faces a mountainous challenge heading into this weekend’s opener in Providence. The Crimson dynasty of the late 1980s is no longer — replaced by a team that has struggled in recent years to keep its record over .500.

Despite an air of uncertainty, there is a buzz beginning to be felt around Cambridge. The team was dealt a blow on both sides of the ice by the graduation of two of its top three scorers from last year, Rob Millar and Craig Adams, and its focal point on the blue line, Ben Storey. But the beginning of the Mazzoleni era means a fresh start and a clean slate for many players.

“We have some kids that haven’t played a lot in the past, and I think that they see this as a new breath,” said Mazzoleni. “Guys like Matt McLeod and Jamin Kerner haven’t really had much of a chance in the past and they have had great camps so far. All they want is a fair shake and to go from this point forward. There are definitely some talented people on this hockey team.”

There is a slight pause before Mazzoleni finishes his thought.

“We have a couple areas of concern. One is on the blue line.”

After junior Graham Morrell announced that he would undergo needed reconstructive shoulder surgery just weeks before the season, the Crimson was left with a depleted corps of returning defensemen. The loss of Morrell, who played in 29 of the team’s 32 games last season, not only forced Mazzoleni to shuffle a forward temporarily back to the blue line, it also struck a serious blow to the experience index.

Harvard will begin the season with only three players who have logged considerable minutes on defense. Aside from seniors Matt Scorsune and Mark Moore and sophomore Peter Capouch, the remaining defensemen have yet to get a real taste of ECAC play. Junior Tim Stay has battled injuries for the majority of his first two years, while big-bodied players like junior Liam McCarthy and sophomore Leif Ericson have yet to establish themselves as consistent contributors.

The factor that Mazzoleni is banking on come Saturday night, however, is his goaltending. Although J.R. Prestifilippo will no doubt get the starting nod against the Bears, Oliver Jonas will be poised to step in as opportunity arises.

“We have two very good goalies in J.R. and Oliver, and both know that someone else is there who is capable of doing the job,” said Mazzoleni. “Good internal competition is what you want, and both have worked very hard so far.”

Mazzoleni mentions that he is also quite comfortable with his group of forwards and doesn’t see that to be an area of concern.

“We return (Steve) Moore and (Chris) Bala and that is probably our strength,” he said. “We’ve got to get the forwards the puck, which is a major concern.

“Our two strengths are in goaltending and depth at forward.”

Heading into Brown this Saturday the team will be without junior Harry Schwefel and sophomore, Derek Nowak. Schwefel is recovering from a broken jaw, while Nowak will watch from the stands with a dislocated shoulder. That will negate some of the depth that the Crimson has at forward.

Emotion will no doubt run high in Providence in Saturday night as both teams have a lot to prove this season. Much like the Crimson, Roger Grillo’s team had an emotionally trying 1998-99 campaign, and is now looking to right the ship.

“We only graduated three kids, and it was a year that we can forget some of the things that our team had to go through,” said Grillo. “They went through a lot of adversity to come through strong in the end … We were picked tenth [in the preseason ECAC coaches’ poll] and in some aspects that’s a blessing in disguise. There’s a lot of optimism in the locker room.”

As for the Crimson and Mazzoleni, well … the result of the facelift that was so desired by the players and fans will unveil itself for the first time on Saturday night.

“The kids have been great,” said the first-year coach. “Then again, we haven’t played a game and lost a game yet either.”

Seeing More Green

“We’ll probably get our teeth kicked in, but there’s no better reality check than to make guys realize where they are.” — Mark Morris last week, on the impending matchups between his Clarkson Golden Knights and Northern Michigan and North Dakota.

Realizing where the Knights are could be a good thing for the Clarkson and ECAC fans around the country. The Knights went into Marquette and took two from the ninth-ranked team in the country this past weekend with 3-2 and 2-1 victories.

“We played very well for our opening game,” said Knight head coach Mark Morris. “I was extremely pleased with the effort of Shawn Grant and our three freshman defensemen (Joe Carosa, Dave Reid and Chris Bahen).”

Grant made 14 and 30 saves in the two games, while Carosa’s first collegiate goal was the game-winner on Friday evening.

“There is still no real threat for [Grant’s] position, so the big challenge for him is to stay healthy and to push himself to improve,” said Morris. “To date it’s still up in the air as to who is number two.

“[Carosa’s] a guy that has stepped right out of high school hockey and he walked on, so when things like that happen it’s a big boost for your confidence.”

With one green team swept, the Knights come home to take on another green team: North Dakota. The seventh ranked Knights will take on the third ranked Sioux in Potsdam this weekend. Last season the Knights were swept by the Sioux, 6-2 and 5-1.

“We’ve got North Dakota coming in so we’re not getting too full of ourselves,” Morris said about the two wins. “We’re very respectful of the team speed they have and how explosive they are. We’re hopeful that we stay on track and play good hockey. When you play teams with their reputation there is no room for error so you want to play solid defense and make the most of your chances — if you get any.

“We still have a lot of areas of our game that will be exposed against a quicker team like North Dakota. Northern had a few guys that could scoot but North Dakota is one of the quicker teams around. They are speed oriented and they have high skill. We have to keep them in check and keep them on the perimeter.”

Red-Hot Engineers

A matchup of two of the top ten teams in the nation. What else could you want on a Friday evening?

“I think we’re ready for New Hampshire,” said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen about Friday’s game against the Wildcats. “It’s something we’re looking forward to, and it’s another chance to redeem ourselves.”

Fridgen is talking about the fact that the Engineers have not beaten the Wildcats since 1992. Last year, the Engineers were blown out by the Wildcats at the Hartford Civic Center, 9-3. The previous year they lost to the Wildcats with under a minute to play, 5-4. The previous meeting before that, in 1994, the Engineers dropped a 2-0 decision in their first NCAA tournament game since winning the NCAA title in 1985.

Overall, the Engineers have lost five straight decisions to the Wildcats, and have only won once in the last eight meetings between the two clubs. It only gets tougher this time around as the Wildcats are ranked fifth in the nation. But then again, the Engineers are ninth.

The Engineers come off wins against Mass-Lowell and Union to improve their record to 4-0-0 on the season, their best start since the 1985-86 season.

“We realized last year that we had a goal to set and that was to make the NCAA tournament,” said Brad Tapper, who now has seven goals in four games. “It’s good for us to get on the right track.”

“I think we can play better because we’ve got a real big test in UNH,” said captain Brian Pothier, the co-ECAC Player of the Week. “We’ve just beaten four really good teams and it’s time to face one of the best teams in the nation.”

For those of you who are superstitious, there is one note to add — Hockey East correspondent Dave Hendrickson will be in attendance for this game. So, what does that mean?

Consider this, superstitious ones:

New Hampshire 2, Rensselaer 0 on 3/25/94 Mass-Lowell 5, Rensselaer 2 on 11/19/94 Mass-Lowell 3, Rensselaer 0 on 11/13/96 Boston University 6, Rensselaer 0 on 10/18/97 Mass-Lowell 8, Rensselaer 4 on 10/24/98 New Hampshire 9, Rensselaer 3 on 12/21/98

Those are — you guessed it — the last six Engineer games that Pops has seen.

Blue To Face Big Blue

The Bulldogs of Yale take on #5 Michigan this coming weekend in Ann Arbor. It’s normally a tough task to go into Yost Arena, but this week it will be even tougher.

“There’s a part of me that said it was suicide,” said head coach Tim Taylor about scheduling the game against Michigan.

The Bulldogs will go into the game without five of their 11 seniors. Those five just happen to be All-ECAC First Team and All-America forward Jeff Hamilton, his linemate Jeff Brow, forward Paul Lawson, defenseman Keith Fitzpatrick and goaltender Trevor Hanger.

All five were suspended by the NCAA for playing in a spring pick-up league after last season was over.

The NCAA prohibits student-athletes from playing in other leagues during the in-session academic calendar. They are only allowed to play during designated school breaks or during NCAA-exempt tournaments, such as the World Juniors or the Olympics.

Hamilton received the stiffest suspension — a five-game sentence which will render him ineligible until the Bulldogs play Dartmouth on Nov. 13, three games into the ECAC season.

Hanger and Lawson received two-game suspensions, Brow and Fitzpatrick one each. In each case, the number of games suspended equals the number of games played in the pick-up league.

None of the five will be in the lineup when the Bulldogs take on the Wolverines Saturday.

“The suspensions are in the past, and it’s time to concentrate on Yale hockey,” said Taylor. “Hopefully we’ll be strengthened by it. We’re excited about the season starting and we’ve got some tough teams on the schedule to begin the season with Michigan, New Hampshire, then Clarkson and St. Lawrence to open up our season.”

The Orange and Black Are Back

This is perhaps the most anticipated opener for an ECAC team to date. It’s not because Princeton is expected to be dynamic, or tragic, because they could be either. No one — not even head coach Don “Toot” Cahoon” — really knows what to expect when his team takes on the Purple Eagles on Saturday night in Buffalo, N.Y., at the Punch Imlach Tournament.

“We have no idea as to how things are going to work out this year,” said Cahoon. “We are in the midst of establishing who we are and how we might compete in the league.

“Gone are the Syl Appses, Jeff Halperns and Steve Shirreffses.”

On the other side of the coin stands Niagara. After a shaky start against Alaska-Anchorage in which the Purple Eagles dropped a lackluster 4-0 decision, Blaise MacDonald’s team has posted three straight victories, the most recent against Boston University.

Led once again by a standout performance by Mike Isherwood, who finished with two goals and three assists at last weekend’s ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff Classic, Niagara will pose a considerable challenge to the untested Princeton defense.

Offensively, the Tigers will have a chance to finally see what its corps of players — many of whom saw limited action last season while playing in the shadows of the highly touted senior class — can do when given considerable ice time. Names to watch will include Brad Parsons, David Del Monte, Josh Roberts and Kirk Lamb, but then again, there will be no shortage of fresh faces on the ice this season for Cahoon’s squad.

“There’s a lot of optimism about everyone contributing,” Cahoon said. “There will not be kids hanging their heads about not playing. If we have a problem it doesn’t give us a lot of flexibility and we can’t have many injuries because we may not have a lot of kids who are ready for the level of play.”

This Week in the CCHA: October 27, 1999

By
-

Reversal of Fortune

Western Michigan’s in second place, and Alaska-Fairbanks is tied for fifth with #10 Northern Michigan. Ohio State has one win to its credit, and shares ninth place with Lake Superior. Notre Dame–with no league wins in four games–anchors the basement along with Nebraska-Omaha.

A hole in the space-time continuum? A witch’s curse?

Residuals from the non-goal that won a certain team from Texas the Stanley Cup in a certain city in New York State that’s taken more than its share of public beatings?

(Bitter? I’m not bitter… .)

No, CCHA fans, and the explanation of the reversal of league fortunes isn’t dependent on quantum physics or Euclidean geometry, either.

It’s simple mathematics. Add a little here, take a little–or more than a little–there.

That Western Michigan is currently in second place may be a bit of a surprise; that the Broncos have improved is no surprise. Ditto the RedHawks, and the Nanooks.

But the Buckeyes and the Irish–well, "slow" doesn’t begin to describe how these two teams have begun the season.

Simple mathematics, fans. Each team lost its big guns.

And neither team has been developing long enough to pick up the slack.

Notre Dame

"We went through a slump last season," said Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin, "but it was midseason. At that point, you say, ‘Hey, every team goes through this every year. We go through this every year.’

"But, at the beginning of the season, when you don’t have many wins behind you, you can lose perspective."

After being picked fourth in the preseason coaches poll and fifth in the media poll, the Irish are off to a sluggish start, with no points in CCHA play. Notre Dame has one win in six NCAA games so far this season–compared with a 6-0-0 to start last season, their first loss coming to Western Michigan in their seventh contest in Oct. 1998.

In four league contests this year, opponents have outscored the Irish 19-7.

"You can recruit good freshmen, but you expect someone from your junior or senior classes to step up," says Poulin.

And therein lies the problem. Sophomore David Inman is the only Irish player with multiple goals, responsible for four of Notre Dame’s 12 tallies overall.

Last season, seniors Brian Urick and Aniket Dhadphale were responsible for 44 of Notre Dame’s 114 overall goals, and 36 of 92 league goals. While Dhadphale was more valuable on the impressive Notre Dame power play–scoring eight of the Irish 31 league power-play goals–Urick was the playmaker, weighing in with a +23 rating in overall play on a team that was just +40 collectively overall. Urick also led the Irish in game-winners, with four overall and three in league play.

Through six games, the Irish as a team are in the minus, and Inman has the only game-winner, the first goal Notre Dame scored in their 4-0 win over Union.

Another crucial component of Notre Dame’s early-season woes is goaltending. After Forrest Karr (2.27 GAA, .907 SV%) left, everyone expected Jeremiah Kimento to step right in. In the three league games in which he saw action last season, Kimento posted a .970 save percentage. This year, in four conference games, Kimento’s save percentage is .837, and he and Tony Zasowski have combined for a .838 league save percentage.

As usual, the optimistic Poulin looks for the positive in the situation. "When we started as fast as we did last year, we didn’t really get the chance to address what we needed to address."

The Irish are getting that chance now.

Ohio State

The similarities between the hockey programs at Notre Dame and Ohio State cannot be lost on CCHA fans. Both are big "football" schools, and each is trying to rebuild a program in the shadow of the gridiron.

While one school has been lucky enough to receive a new facility, the other waits patiently for the day when its athletic department realizes the hockey team is playing in an inadequate half-igloo designed for anything but hockey.

And neither program has been rebuilding for long, a point that Ohio State’s John Markell likes to emphasize.

"We’re in a tough position here. It’s a program that wasn’t really given the chance to mature before the loss of those two guys. It’s unfortunate that it had to happen like that. Now we’re leaning on guys who were just role players, and that makes it tough."

"Those two guys" are, of course, Hugo Boisvert and Jeff Maund, the price the Buckeyes are paying for success. After languishing in the CCHA cellar for years and years–and years–Ohio State broke out in spectacular fashion, going to the Frozen Four in Maund’s rookie year between the pipes.

Both Boisvert–who would’ve been a senior–and Maund–who would’ve been a junior–opted for the pros this season.

(Incidentally, Boisvert is with the Canadian national team after a stint with the Orlando Solar Bears of the IHL, while Maund is down the road in Naples.)

For the Buckeyes last season, no one came close to Boisvert’s point totals. In league play, he had 15 of OSU’s 87 goals, and 23 assists, and was +11. He was the only Buckeye to tally double-digit goals in league play. Departed senior Brandon Lafrance and now-senior and former Boisvert linemate Eric Meloche were the only other players to hit ten or more goals–10 and 11, respectively–in overall play.

Unlike the Irish, however, the main problem for Ohio State is not compounded by goaltending. Senior Ray Aho has earned the starting job, and has a respectable .903 overall save percentage, and is .896 in league play.

Aho’s averaged 29.2 saves per game in conference play, which tells you that he’s getting very little help in front of the net. Shades of Tommy Askey.

No, at Ohio State, it’s just a lack of goal scoring that’s hurting the Buckeyes, who have been outscored by a whopping 23-8 margin in five conference games, and who have been outscored 21-5 in their last five games, all, not surprisingly, losses.

Another missing link for the Buckeyes is a player like Chris Richards, who was a key on the penalty kill, who won countless face-offs, and who led the team in game-winners (3). Richards–always underrated as a college player–was second in scoring to Boisvert last season (8-17–25 CCHA), and was nearly as important on the power play.

Still, says Markell, "I think we’re good enough to score some goals."

And they are, but they haven’t. In conference play, three Buckeyes–J.F. Dufour, Meloche, and Vinnie Grant–have two goals. Dufour leads the team in scoring when you throw in his three assists. He, defenseman Ryan Jestadt, and forward Yan Des Gagne lead the Bucks in plus-minus, with even-0 ratings each.

Aside from goaltending, another key difference between the Irish and the Buckeyes is in the wins and losses department. While Notre Dame came out of the gate gunning last year, Ohio State started cold. After seven Division-I games last season, the Bucks were 1-5-1. This year, they’re 2-5-0.

After starting as though they were going to conquer the world last season, the Irish didn’t make the NCAA tournament.

After starting as though they’d never even host a home playoff game, Ohio State was invited for the second year in a row.

Talk about a reversal of fortune.

Next Week: The Bottom Look Like Up

Games of the Week

Miami (4-1-1, 1-0-1 CCHA) at Notre Dame (1-5-0, 0-4-0 CCHA) Thursday and Friday, 7:05 p.m., Joyce Center, South Bend, IN

Note: Because of the Saturday football game against Navy, the hockey games have been rescheduled.

Miami head coach Enrico Blasi is understandably upbeat.

"We’ve been playing well. Our goaltending’s been solid. Everyone’s working hard."

Miami split at home last weekend with Providence, losing 5-3 before rebounding 5-2. The RedHawks have won four of their last five games. The secret, says Blasi, is experience.

"I don’t care who you are–if you don’t have good seniors, you’re not going to be successful."

Miami’s senior leadership includes the so-far-so-good play by goaltender Andy Marsch (.893 overall save percentage) and Ian Olsen (.913 overall save percentage), each having played two games.

Gregor Krajnc is another senior playing well for the ‘Hawks. Krajnc, this week’s CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, notched his first hat trick Friday at St. Cloud State, and added a goal Saturday.

As well as Miami’s been playing, and although they haven’t lost on the road yet, Blasi is not taking Notre Dame for granted. "They should be better than their record."

And he sympathizes with Poulin and the Irish. "Having been on the other side of that in Denver, nothing you can do as a coach can turn it around."

Miami leads the series 17-7-3, including a 7-4-3 edge in South Bend. Last year, the Irish took the season series 2-1-0, including a 2-0 shutout home win on Jan. 9.

Given the way Miami is playing and how they’ve performed traditionally in the past, they could register their second consecutive road win. But never count the Irish out. As Blasi knows, a winless team is a dangerous team.

Picks: Miami Thursday, 4-1; Notre Dame Friday, 3-1.

Grudge of the Week

#3 Michigan State (4-1-0, 4-0-0 CCHA) vs. Ferris State (3-3-0, 3-3-0 CCHA) Friday, 7:05 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI Saturday, 7:05 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI

"Ferris State played us as tough as anyone last season, and they are certainly playing well now," says Spartan head coach Ron Mason.

"Bob Daniels always has his team ready to play, and we know they’ve got a good goaltender back. This weekend will be a tough test for us."

Actually, the Bulldogs have two good goaltenders back, Vince Owen and Phil Osaer. While Owen–undoubtedly the goaltender to whom Mason was referring–has had a slow start with just a .867 SV% in three league games, he is improving. And Osaer has an impressive .940 SV% in three league games, with a 1.67 GAA.

Michigan State goaltenders Joe Blackburn and Ryan Miller each have 1.00 conference GAAs, each having played two games.

The Spartans lead this series 47-21-11 all time, 28-12-4 in East Lansing and 18-8-6 in Big Rapids. Mason’s not kidding when he says the Bulldogs play the Spartans tough; the 11 ties are the most anyone has put up against Michigan State in an all-time series, and the teams split last season 1-1-1.

Michigan State is 9-1-2 in the last 12 meetings, with the lone loss coming in the last meeting, 2-1 on March 6, 1999–a game that snapped the Spartans’ school-record 23-game unbeaten streak.

Four two of the past four years, the Spartans have been the one team keeping Ferris State from The Joe. In 1997-98, the Bulldogs played Michigan State very tough in the first round, losing 3-1 and 2-1, but back in 1995-96, Ferris State won the second first-round game at Munn Arena, forcing a third game, which the Spartans won.

This is one grudge that will hold. Of course, I said that last week, too.

Picks: Michigan State sweeps, 4-1, 3-1.

Along the Boards

Alaska-Fairbanks (3-3-0, 2-2-0 CCHA)

Streak: one loss

Congratulations to the Nanooks for being last week’s Grudge Match Winner, having defeated the #6 Michigan Wolverines for the first time, ever.

UAF beat the Wolverines 4-2 before dropping Saturday’s game 4-1. In the all-time series, the Wolverines now lead 19-1-0.

Rookie goaltender Lance Mayes is a big reason for UAF’s success. Mayes (2.19 GAA, .934 SV%) turned away 85 shots in the two-game series, earning him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The Nanook PK was also clicking on the weekend–a good thing, given the number of penalties UAF tends to take–killing 15 of 18 Michigan opportunities, including two 5-on-3 opportunities.

The 2-2-0 start to this season is the Nanooks’ best since their first year in the CCHA, in 1995- 96.

Bowling Green (1-3-0, 1-1-0 CCHA)

Streak: one win.

The Falcons split a pair last weekend, losing 2-1 to Western Michigan but rebounding for the 5-4 win, their first of the season. Rookie goaltender Tyler Masters got the win.

Craig Desjarlais won the game in the last second of a Bowling Green power play, and the goal ended BG’s man-advantage slump of 0-for-18.

Adam Edinger earned his 100th career point with an assist Saturday on Doug Schueller’s second-period goal Saturday.

One win this weekend would give the Falcons their 400th home win.

Ferris State (3-3-0, 3-3-0 CCHA)

Streak: two wins.

The Bulldogs swept Notre Dame last weekend, winning 4-1 at Ewigleben Arena Saturday, and 4-2 at Van Andel Arena Sunday.

Rob Lightfoot notched his first goal as a Bulldog this weekend, scoring in Sunday’s game. Lightfoot, who transferred from Alaska-Anchorage, has six points (1-5–6) in as many games this season.

Ferris State’s power play was hot against the Irish, going 6-for-18 (.333). Prior to last weekend, the Bulldog power play was converting at about 10 percent (.097, to be precise).

Vince Owen is three victories away from tying Pat Mazzoli (1990-93) for sixth place on Ferris State’s all-time win chart. The goalie is 25-34-8 as a Bulldog.

Lake Superior State (1-3-0, 1-1-0 CCHA)

Streak: three losses.

The Lakers were without three of their top defenders last weekend when they dropped two home games to #5 New Hampshire, 4-3 and 5-3. Blaine McCauley and Ryan Knox were serving suspensions, and Matt Frick was out with an eye infection.

All five players who were penalized for playing in a Canadian tournament after the NCAA season ended have served their suspensions.

The Lakers have three shorthanded goals in four games so far this year, scored by Trent Walford, Fred Slukynsky, and Jeremy Bachusz.

The Lakers seem to know how to play the Broncos. Last season, LSSU took the season series from Western 2-0-1, their best record vs. CCHA teams in 1998-99, and Laker coach Scott Borek is 6-1-2 against the Broncos, his best record against any current Laker opponent.

Miami (4-1-1, 1-0-1 CCHA)

Streak: one win.

Don’t let that streak fool you; the RedHawks may have split with Providence last weekend, but Miami is undefeated in the CCHA. Helping the RedHawks stay red-hot is Gregor Krajnc, who has six goals in the last four games.

Sophomore Evan Cheverie (4-6–10) is the fastest RedHawk to tally 10 points since Adam Boyle did so in the first three games of the 1997-98 season. Cheverie has a point in every game this season.

The Miami offense is averaging more than three goals per game this season, and is outscoring opponents overall 22-18. The Miami power play–both overall and conference–is clicking along at 20 percent.

Junior Grudge Match: Notre Dame’s 4-2 win over Miami in the last regular-season game of the 1998-99 campaign kept Miami out of the CCHA tournament since the 1990-91 season.

#6 Michigan (5-1-0, 3-1-0 CCHA)

Streak: one win.

Michigan split in Fairbanks last weekend, losing 4-2 before winning 4-1. It was the first-ever Wolverine loss to the Nanooks, and Michigan head coach Red Berenson gives part of the credit to Nanook goaltender Lance Mayes. "It was a good game. We gave away a goal, but the other three, we didn’t."

In relief for starter Josh Blackburn, whose torn foot ligaments will keep him out until January, Kevin O’Malley has been solid in the Michigan net, with a .927 league save percentage and a 1.86 conference GAA.

Mike Comrie enters the weekend with a six-game, season-long point streak on the line, and defender Jeff Jillson is averaging 1.15 assists per game.

The Wolverines have scored first in each game they’ve played this season, and are averaging five goals per game.

#4 Michigan State (4-1-0, 4-0-0 CCHA)

Streak: four wins.

The Spartans blanked the Buckeyes twice last weekend, 1-0 and 6-0. Two different goalies proved impenetrable to Ohio State. Joe Blackburn won Friday, and Ryan Miller got the big win Saturday, his first home start. Blackburn and Miller have identical GAAs of 1.00; Blackburn’s league save percentage is .957, while Miller’s is .951. Each has played two games.

The back-to-back shutouts were the first for the Spartans since Nov. 11 and 17, 1995, against Illinois-Chicago and Miami, and the first time Michigan State has shutout the same opponent since Nov. 24-25, 1990. Miami did the honors then as well.

A win Friday would give Michigan State its best conference start since 1986-87, when it opened 8-0.

Rustyn Dolyny (2-4–6) notched his first two goals of the season against Ohio State. Shawn Horcoff has yet to light the lamp for the Spartans, but the senior leads the team in scoring with nine assists.

Nebraska-Omaha (0-2-0, 0-2-0 CCHA)

Streak: two losses.

The Mavericks had last weekend off, after losing their first two games as full members of the CCHA to Michigan State. The baptism by fire continues, as UNO heads to Marquette to face #10 Northern Michigan this weekend.

Says Mavs head coach Mike Kemp, "It’s a great learning experience for our program."

Not only is Kemp grateful for the lessons, but he’s happy about the timing of the trips to Northern. "When I was at Wisconsin–no lie–I’d say no less than 50 percent of the time we played Northern Michigan, we were stuck there at least an extra day because of snow."

Timing is everything.

This is the first-ever meeting between the Mavs and ‘Cats.

Rookie Greg Zanon leads the Mavericks in points, with two assists. Jeff Hoggan, David Brisson, Ed Cassin, and Jason White each had a goal against the Spartans.

Kendall Sidoruk is the starter for UNO in net. In two games against Michigan State, Sidoruk posted a 5.50 GAA and .851 SV%.

Sophomore Kyle O’Keefe is out, still recovering from shoulder surgery.

#10 Northern Michigan

Streak: two losses.

The Wildcats lost in a tough way last weekend, 3-2 and 2-1 games at home to then-#9 Clarkson.

"We have to rebound," says head coach Rick Comley. "Now we return to league play, and it doesn’t really matter who it is, because every league game is very important. We want to get back to winning, and regain a home-ice advantage that we probably lost a little bit against Clarkson."

Good luck, Nebraska-Omaha.

Rookie defender Jimmy Jackson rides a three-game point streak into the weekend against UNO. Jackson is 1-2–3 in his last three games, with a pair of assists against Clarkson.

J.P. Vigier (6-0–6 overall) has yet to score a conference point.

The Wildcats have registered a power-play goal in each game this season, yet are sixth in both league and overall power-play rankings (.167).

The ‘Cats are allowing just 1.33 goals per game overall (first) and 1.50 in conference play (second).

Last Friday’s game against Clarkson was delayed for more than an hour because of a storm-related power outage.

Notre Dame (1-5-0, 0-4-0 CCHA)

Streak: two losses.

The Irish lost two Ferris State twice last week, 4-1 and 4-2. "We didn’t play well on the weekend and Ferris played very well," says head coach Dave Poulin. "We’re taking very inopportune penalties."

Taking penalties is something Notre Dame can’t afford to do, especially when they’re killing them off at a rate of 74%, second-worst in league play.

And, says Poulin, when it rains, it pours. Ferris State scored eight seconds into Sunday’s game when Jeremiah Kimento was caught out of the Irish net.

"So they’ve done nothing, and we’ve done nothing, and they’re up 1-0," says Poulin.

Outscored 21-12 this season, the Irish have managed just seven even-strength goals in six games. Going back to the consecutive shutout losses against MSU and FSU last year, Notre Dame has totaled just 19 goals in its last 12 regular-season CCHA games.

Ohio State (2-5-0, 1-5-0 CCHA)

Streak: five losses.

The Buckeyes lost 1-0 and 6-0 to #4 Michigan State last weekend. The back-to-back shutouts mark the fourth time in OSU history that the Bucks were blanked in consecutive games, and the second time it’s happened at the hands of the same opponent.

The Bucks were shutout by Notre Dame on Nov. 11, 1995, and then failed to find the net the following game a week later against Western Michigan on Nov. 17. On March 11 and 12, 1994, Lake Superior State University gave the Bucks two goose eggs to end the season.

The five consecutive losses mark Ohio State’s longest losing streak since the 1996-97 season, when the Bucks dropped six in a row from Dec. 28 through Jan. 17.

During the five-game losing streak, the Buckeyes have been outscored by opponents 21-4. Comparably, during the mid-season slump of 96-97, OSU was outscored by opponents 36-17.

J.F. Dufour had his five-game point streak snapped in the losses last weekend. Dufour (3-3–6 overall) leads the Buckeyes in scoring.

OSU head coach John Markell (1979) and Maine head coach Shawn Walsh (1978) are both BGSU graduates. Walsh was an assistant at BG during Markell’s junior and senior years, when Markell led the Falcons to two CCHA Championships.

Western Michigan (3-2-1, 3-2-1 CCHA)

Streak: one loss.

The Broncos split a pair with Bowling Green last weekend, a 2-1 win and 5-4 loss. This week, Western plays its first "cluster" opponent in a two-game series at Lake Superior. Last year, the Lakers beat Western 11-1 at Abel Arena.

David Gove (4-4–8) has recorded points in all six Bronco games this season. He shares the lead in WMU scoring with Daryl Andrews (1-7–8).

Jeff Reynaert is solid in net for Western, with a 2.48 GAA and .909 save percentage.

Steve Rymsha and Mike Bishai are tied for the lead in conference power-play goals with three each. Western Michigan’s power play is fifth in the league, converting at 17.3%.

Bryan Farquhar (1-0–1) is a good boy; he has yet to be whistled for a penalty in six games this season.

It’s taken Western Michigan just three weeks to earn seven conference points this year, something the Broncos didn’t accomplish until Nov. 28 last season.

This Week in the Hockey East: October 27, 1999

By
-

Travis Roy Jersey Retirement

The latest chapter in the Travis Roy story will be played out at Walter Brown Arena this Saturday when Boston University retires his number. The unprecedented tribute will take place during pregame ceremonies that will also include the hoisting of another Beanpot championship banner.

"We’ve never retired a number here," says BU coach Jack Parker, "and we’ve had a lot of great players, including a lot of great players who have worn number 24, like Keith Tkachuk and Mike Sullivan.

"But we decided that this was just such an unbelievably special situation. From a character and desire point of view, no one has ever epitomized what BU hockey is about more than Travis Roy."

If not for the fateful and tragic injury suffered in the first shift of his first collegiate game, Travis would have been a senior on the Terriers last season. Instead, he missed an entire year of classes in the ensuing nightmare and remains a quadriplegic, albeit one who is an inspiration to those with disabilities and without.

"There’s no question that it’ll be an emotional night at the rink," says Parker. "His parents and sister and everybody will be there en masse and the crowd will get into it, obviously.

"It’ll be tough for [Travis] and his dad, but there’ll be a nice banner hanging there and when we get into the new rink it’ll be there as well. He’ll be the first one ever, but I think that’s apropos."

There may be no new words to say about Travis, but he remains one of the great testaments to the indomitable human spirit.

BU’s New Rink

Boston University continues to move toward a new facility that will put it on par with the new and refurbished arenas across Hockey East.

"We hope to be in it by the 2002-2003 season," says Parker. "They’re moving along pretty well. The first phase is almost done with the new dorm going up.

"It’ll be 6300 seats and I’m excited about it."

The Mentor and the Understudy

In the three-plus years since Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder left UMass-Lowell, former assistant and current River Hawk head coach Tim Whitehead has shown no deference to his old mentor. Lowell has rolled up a 10-3-1 record against the Huskies, the latest a 4-1 victory on Sunday at the Tsongas Arena.

"Hey, they come to play when they play Northeastern," said Crowder after the loss. "That’s their MO. They play with fire and they play with heart. Congratulations to Tim Whitehead."

Whitehead initially offered a more whimsical explanation.

"We’ve been skating an extra player actually," he deadpanned. "We’ve had six guys on the ice and he’s had five. He’s so stubborn he doesn’t see it.

"[Seriously, though], that’s just the way it’s fallen. Obviously, any games that we can win, it feels great when you’ve got guy who’s won three Coach of the Year Awards. Any time we can steal one from his team, it’s a good win."

Good enough that Whitehead’s wit shown through on almost every topic.

The shaky ending of the second period?

"The best thing that happened was that the Zamboni came out," he said.

Mark Fontas’ pass to John Campbell for a breakaway?

"John gave a yell and he communicates very well, especially when he wants the puck," said Whitehead.

A Silver Lining in the Got-Swept Cloud

Despite dropping both games to St. Lawrence last weekend, Merrimack could find some significant consolation in two positive developments.

For starters, Stephen Moon (6-5, 250) saw his first action of the year. Moon appeared in 15 games last year, but patella tendon problems in his knee wreaked havoc throughout and forced offseason surgery.

This year, the Merrimack staff brought Moon along slowly, not letting him practice until physically he was 100 percent. Until that point, the defenseman was restricted to ice time before and after the rest of the team practiced. He also worked daily with athletic trainer Scott Abbey.

This past week, that patience was rewarded when Moon rejoined his teammates in practices and on Saturday played his first game. He suffered no after-effects and, knock on wood, should be a major contributor as the rust wears off.

"If he stays healthy, he’s going to be a big help to us," says coach Chris Serino, who is basing his belief that Moon will stay in the lineup on more than just crossed fingers and whistling past the injury graveyard. "He took a vicious hit — a kid dove at his legs and chopped him — and he got right up. So that was an encouraging sign.

"He’s a big, strong defenseman who can move the puck out of our end. That, in itself, is huge. You can draw up all the breakouts you want, [but you need] someone who can get it out and get it out quickly.

"He also adds to our power play. You have to respect him up top the way he shoots. That opens up down by the net a little."

And being 6-5, 250 doesn’t hurt either.

"He’s obviously a physical presence," says Serino. "It does slow down other teams from coming in wild on us. Against a team like ours where our defensemen are a touch slow, teams try to put the puck low on us all of the time. If you punish them a little for doing that, maybe they’re not so quick to do it anymore."

Perhaps not as eye-catching as Moon’s presence, but also of significant importance was the penalty-killing duo of Nick Parillo (5-9, 180) and Nick Torretti (5-8, 185).

"They’re small, but they’re tough," says Serino. "They compete every minute they’re out there and they did a fabulous job. They almost scored a couple shorthanded goals for us.

"St. Lawrence is usually very good on the power play and they were [2-for-12] on the weekend. We had a number of guys killing penalties, but Parillo and Torretti really put pressure on [St. Lawrence.]"

Off the ice, the Warriors also got a dollop of good musical news. Jill Martin, their national-anthem-singing wunderkind, won a state amateur singing competition and went on to the finals in Las Vegas where she competed in the gospel, traditional country and new country categories. She took first place in all three and, oh yeah, got requests for a demo tape.

Hey, she won’t make a difference in Merrimack’s implementation of a strong-side man-to-man defense and weak-side zone, but there’s no one in the league who can match what she does.

Trivia Contest

Last week’s trivia question was: What did [the Oct. 15] Boston College-Bowling Green contest have to do with Valentine’s Day night?

As it turned out, no one got the correct answer, which was that Bowling Green had a line that consisted of left wing Curtis Valentine, center Greg Day and right wing Tyler Knight. Just getting the trio would have been sufficient, but extra points would have been available for anyone noting that the sequence from wing-to-wing gives the perfect order, namely Valentine-Day-Knight.

Infinitely more creative, however, were some of the wrong answers. The stoppage in play early in the second period because the lights went out proved to be an unintended red herring that many of you simply could not resist coupling with Valentine’s Day night.

The best of these came from Ed Mills, a senior at BC, who earns a tip of the fedora for the following gem: The lights went out but the game was still on.

One can only hope that this week’s answers will prove so entertaining. With fingers crossed that the quipsters will deliver again, here it is: What Hockey East player missed so many games last year that the team apparently forgot his name? (It’s misspelled on his jersey.)

Once again, mail your responses to Dave Hendrickson and the first correct answer will win next week’s tip of the fedora.

League Honors (Oct. 19-24)

KOHO Player of the Week JEFF FARKAS, Boston College ­ (SR F, Williamsville, NY) was explosive for the Eagles, scoring 5-3-8 in two league games to give BC first place in Hockey East.

Rookie of the Week CAM McCORMICK, UMass-Lowell (FR G, Kamloops, BC) posted 20 saves on 21 shots from Northeastern to earn the 4-1 win against the Huskies on Sunday night.

Defensive Player of the Week PETER METCALF, University of Maine (SO D, Pembroke, MA) was named to the J.C. Penney Classic All-Tournament Team with 2-2-4, including a goal in each game.

And for good measure, let’s also acknowledge the winners from the previous week (Oct. 15-17).

KOHO Player of the Week GREG CLASSEN, Merrimack College (SO, F, Aylsham, SK) posted 4-1-5 in Merrimack’s season opener against Holy Cross to assume an early overall scoring lead in Hockey East.

Rookie of the Week MARTIN KARIYA, Maine (FR, F, North Vancouver, BC) debuted for the Black Bears with 2-1-3 over Maine’s two-game sweep of Minnesota.

Defensive Player of the Week BOYD BALLARD, Providence College (JR, G, Weyburn, SK) made 63 saves over two games for the Friars for a 1.66 GAA and a .940 saves percentage.

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

While one might have expected a commentary on Jim Gray and his Pete Rose interview — yes, it was inappropriate badgering even though Rose (and Shoeless Joe Jackson) still deserve their Hall of Fame ban — this week’s irrelevant observations are going in another direction.

And that is…

If there’s any justice, Bruce Willis will soon have his second big hit of 1999. Coming on the heels of the deservedly mega-successful The Sixth Sense, The Story of Us pairs Willis with Michelle Pfeiffer in a film directed by Rob Reiner. (Hey, has The Meathead directed a single bad movie? Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally…, Misery and A Few Good Men. The guy knows what he’s doing.).

The Story of Us is funny, touching, thought-provoking and just flat-out what movies ought to be more like.

And while on the topic of films, any theatre that arms an usher with a flashlight and requires him in the middle of the movie to tell people to get their feet off the backs of the seats is beneath contempt and deserves neither your business nor mine.

It’s tough enough to avoid that lowest life form, the Neanderthal who talks during movies (for whom the electric chair is far too kind a punishment). But if you have accomplished that feat and the movie has successfully drawn you into its world and caused you to suspend your disbelief, then it’s downright criminal to yank a film fanatic out of that world and remind him that there really is just a screen there and those characters aren’t really real but instead just photographic projections. All to get someone’s feet off the seat backs. (Not mine, in case you’re wondering.)

Charge me seven or eight bucks for films that increasingly are more about special effects than real characters. Gouge me to the tune of nine bucks or so for popcorn and a soft drink.

But when there’s a good one up there on the big screen, don’t mess with it.

This Week in the MAAC: October 27, 1999

By
-

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Welcome, Metro Atlantic hockey fans, to this installment of This Week In The MAAC. As you might have noticed from the byline up above, I’m not Jim Connelly, but rather an astonishing likeness.

I’ll be your host for this weekend’s tour of the MAAC, before Jim returns Monday with an update of his usual insights and opinions.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Quinnipiac’s Poliquin Out For Year

Preseason favorite Quinnipiac suffered a blow this week when it was announced that leading scorer Chad Poliquin would miss the rest of the season with a broken wrist.

Poliquin originally suffered the injury during practice before the beginning of the season, but had played in the Braves’ first four games, totaling nine points on four goals and five assists, good for first in the Metro Atlantic scoring ranks. That record included a 2-2–4 night against ninth-ranked Rensselaer of the ECAC.

The native of Plainville, Conn., was a first-team all-MAAC selection last season, finishing fourth in the conference in scoring with 17-30–47. His loss will render that much more difficult Quinnipiac’s task in trying to repeat as regular-season champions.

"Losing Chad is a devastating blow to our team," Brave head coach Rand Pecknold said. "He has played very well so far, but we need to regroup and find someone to fill his shoes."

Tournament Redux

MAAC programs made their presence felt in tournament play around the nation last weekend, first as Iona topped Army 3-0 in the finals of the Quinnipiac Cup. For Iona, Ryan Carter scored the first goal and assisted on the second, while netminder Mike Fraser shut down the Cadets despite facing 34 shots.

The Gaels reached the championship by defeating host Quinnipiac in a shootout after skating to a 7-7 tie in overtime. Curiously, Army was forced to do the same, beating Fairfield on penalty shots after those teams ended in a 2-2 deadlock.

(By the way: both games officially go into the record books as ties, since NCAA rules do not recognize shootouts as official finishes.)

Iona’s first-round win meant that the hosts — also the defending champions — did not reach the title game for the first time in the Q Cup’s four-year history.

Also, the MAAC sent two representatives to the J.C. Penney Classic in Orono, Maine, as Connecticut and Canisius faced off in the first round. Canisius emerged victorious by the margin of 1-0, as Corey Lucas scored the lone goal early in the third, while Sean Weaver shut out the Huskies on 21 saves. The Ice Griffs then fell to host Maine in the title game, 6-3, as the second-ranked Black Bears opened up a 4-1 lead and never let up.

In Other Action

Mercyhurst and 1998-99 playoff champion Holy Cross both played a pair of nonconference games on the weekend, with Mercyhurst skating to identical 3-3 ties Friday and Saturday against College Hockey America member (and former Division II powerhouse) Alabama-Huntsville, and Holy Cross dropping 3-2 and 6-2 decisions to another CHA program, Air Force.

Spotlight On…

The most intriguing MAAC game of this weekend could be Quinnipiac at Iona Saturday. This game, of course, is a rematch of the first-round Q Cup game "won" by the Gaels (see above). Although the teams’ first meeting was officially a tie, don’t underestimate the revenge factor for the Braves, who are doubtless unhappy about being left out of their own tournament’s title tilt.

Incidentally, it says here that the Gael victory will end up a Good Thing for the Q Cup, which can attract a broader fan base when the competition is strong. Quinnipiac has done a good job of bringing in interesting teams — the MAAC/CHA subtext in this year’s pairings was especially welcome — and now the feeling should be even stronger that the Q Cup is a trophy worth fighting over.

A Brand-New Rivalry (Sort Of)

Friday night, Mercyhurst and Bentley face off in both school’s first-ever MAAC league contests. Ironically, the two programs know each other well, having played four times last season alone. Bentley, for the record, edged Mercyhurst 2-1-1 in the season series.

Players Of The Week

MAAC Player Of The Week: Mark Hallam, Iona

Hallam was named the Most Valuable Player of the Q Cup, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the opening-round game against Quinnipiac, and tallying the final Gael marker in the title game versus Army.

MAAC Goalie Of The Week: Sean Weaver, Canisius

As noted above, Weaver shut out the UConn Huskies Friday in the Griffs’ 1-0 win at the J.C. Penney Classic.

MAAC Rookie Of The Week: Mike Fraser, Iona

The familiar names continue. As it happens, Fraser made his first collegiate start against Army, notching the aforementioned shutout.

League Notes

Quinnipiac’s Neil Breen tied league single-period records for points and assists with three assists in the first frame of the Iona-Quinnipiac contest Friday. That game also saw the teams combine for 14 goals, tying another MAAC record … The teams’ Saturday rematch can be heard on broadcast.com … Canisius forward Steve Birch tallied his second goal — and second shorthanded goal — of the season Saturday against Maine in the J.C. Penney final … Fairfield’s 2-2 tie with Army at the Q Cup was the Stags’ first since 1996, and also ended a 13-game losing streak … Both Mercyhurst goaltenders, senior Ashley Stevens and sophomore Peter Aubry, recorded at least 40 saves against Alabama-Huntsville, Friday and Saturday respectively.

An Unrelated Issue

Not long ago, major league baseball had a statistic called the "game-winning run batted in," or GWRBI, which purported to measure clutch hitting. The GWRBI was defined as "the run batted in which gave a team the lead it would never relinquish."

Since that’s easier said than digested, an example may be in order. Suppose the Yankees and the Braves are playing with the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Derek Jeter drives in Chuck Knoblauch to give the Yankees a 3-2 victory. Jeter gets the GWRBI. Fine.

Now suppose that the Yankees and Royals are playing, and after mowing down the Royals in the top of the first, the Yankees explode for 12 runs in the bottom of the inning. The Royals mount a feeble comeback attempt, scoring a run here and there, but the Yankees win going away, 23-8. Who gets the GWRBI now?

The answer is: whoever drove in the first run of the game, since that is the one which produced a lead — a lead of 1-0 — that the Yankees never relinquished. Got that? Well, baseball fans never really did, which is partly why the GWRBI was eliminated as an official statistic years ago.

The reason I bring it up is that it’s not at all the same method that hockey uses to determine a game-winning goal. Hockey’s method is much simpler: the game-winning goal is the one that gives a team one more goal than the opponents scored in the entire game. So let’s take the baseball scenarios above, and make them hockey games. In our 3-2 example, the winning team’s third and last goal is the game-winner, just like the last RBI was the GWRBI. Fine again.

But in the 23-8 example, the winning team’s ninth goal is the game-winner, because that’s one more goal than the losers scored, even though the goal was almost certainly an afterthought at the time. 8-0, 9-0 … what’s the difference? Either way, the other guys aren’t too likely to come back. And if the losers manage one more goal before the game is over, the game-winning goal suddenly changes.

Thus lies the question — which method makes more sense? Mail responses to [email protected], and we’ll see how your sentiments lie.

This Week in the ECAC: October 20, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
-

The ECAC And In-Season Tournaments

To say that last weekend’s ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff Classic in Albany was a success would be true. There were four spectacular games and the hockey was riveting. To say that it was a failure would also be true, since the Classic wasn’t the best-attended showcase in college hockey history.

A crowd of 500 took in the first game between Niagara and Quinnipiac. Friday’s nightcap between Rensselaer and Boston University brought in 2,267. The next day was also a disappointment, as 527 showed up for Niagara and Boston University and 1,975 witnessed Rensselaer and Quinnipiac.

“Anytime you hold an event for the first time there are always bugs to be worked out,” said Rensselaer head coach Dan Fridgen. “It’s a great concept and I’m sure they want it to be successful. This certainly has a lot of potential to grow and get better.”

“I would say that it’s a work in progress,” said Niagara head coach Blaise MacDonald. “It has the opportunity to be very successful, but like anything the first year you run it, you have to iron some things out and it’s a work in progress. The potential here is terrific, and five to ten years from now it will be an outstanding tournament.”

But the big question is whether or not it will last five to ten years, or even into next year.

“That depends,” said ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco. “There are issues that we are working on right now. We’ve got to find ways for it to be financially viable first so that it will be successful. We’re in meetings to see if we can continue this event to springboard into something even better.”

That “better” would lift college hockey by bringing something new to the East.

“[The Classic] was formed to create a tournament here on the East Coast that is very attractive and rivals the Ice Breaker and the other tournaments out west,” said Buttafuoco. “I’ve told our coaches that we need to get the teams out West to come East for something like this.

“It certainly is good hockey, and it’s great to allow these teams to play at an NCAA Regionals site this year and a Frozen Four site next year [in Pepsi Arena]. Our hope is that a team like Rensselaer will be playing here in March.

“One thing is that we want to market the ECAC, and if there was a tie to this event with the NCAA, that would bring us into the limelight.”

This second attempt at an ECAC in-season tournament followed a disappointing attendance figure for last year’s ECAC/Hockey East Holiday Hockey Doubleheader, which drew only 3,205 in Hartford.

Despite those numbers, the ECAC is continuing in its efforts to promote the in-season tournament. One plan is to go back to Hartford for next season.

“The [Hartford Civic Center] management has to make a decision as to how much they want to be in involved in college hockey,” said Buttafuoco. “That event has room to grow as [the Faceoff Classic] does.”

There are also plans to try to work out a tournament or showcase in Lake Placid next season that would involve St. Lawrence and Clarkson, as well as something in Syracuse, but those plans are not finalized.

“One of the challenges is to continually find ways to expose the ECAC and ECAC Hockey,” said Buttafuoco. “We thought that this was a great way.”

Hagwell Named New Ice Hockey Guru

As we speculated this past weekend, Steve Hagwell has been named assistant commissioner of the ECAC, with his focus being on ice hockey operations. Hagwell came to the ECAC in July from the NCAA, where he was the assistant manager of publishing, to become the league’s assistant commissioner for public relations.

Hagwell will sit down with ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco in the near future and the two will iron out how to run the ice hockey portion of the ECAC. Plans include the hiring of a full-time director of public relations. Whether or not the new hire will be part of the ice hockey operation remains to be seen, but public relations will still be a big part of the hockey concern.

“Given that we don’t know who person X is, [public relations] will be my primary focus, as it was [Fanter’s],” said Hagwell. “Phil wants to get involved and he should get involved. Whether the Director of Public Relations is involved is something that Phil and I have to discuss.

“I am certain that it will be two people running things. But to say who will work with who and in what sport in regards to the director of public relations, that’s still not known right now.”

Let us be among the first to congratulate Steve on his new position, and to welcome him to the exciting world of ECAC Hockey.

Let us also say “thank you” to Jeff Fanter and his wonderful work over the last two seasons in the ECAC. He brought the ECAC to new heights over the last two years; it has been a pleasure to work with him and we wish him the best of luck at Indiana.

Preseason Favorite Clarkson Opens

The Golden Knights of Clarkson open their season on the road with a pair of games at #8 Northern Michigan this weekend. They follow that up with a pair of games at home against #4 North Dakota.

“We’ll probably get our teeth kicked in,” joked head coach Mark Morris. “But there’s no better reality check than to make guys realize where they are. We’ll be playing at a brand new rink at Northern and then home to Dean Blais and those guys will have games under their belt.”

The Knights played the same two teams four times last season to begin their 1998-99 campaign. Four losses later, they were in the midst of one of their worst starts ever. The Knights would lose two of the next three games after that to start off 1-6.

But as it turned out, the Knights only lost four times in their next 29 games, winning the ECAC regular-season title and the playoff championship.

Speaking of the Lion’s Den…

OK, so it’s actually the Tigers’ den, but the Colgate Red Raiders will take aim at the World Arena against #7 Colorado College this weekend.

“That’s the philosophy I want to take,” said head coach Don Vaughan. “We want to take on that challenge. And to be honest, we’ve done quite well in those games. Two years ago we beat eventual national champion Michigan at Yost and last year we tied eventual champion Maine. I would rather face those teams in April when it really matters. You have to play them early and get those guys on your schedule so that your guys can realize that they can compete with those perennial powers.”

Let’s see, the Red Raiders played Michigan and the Wolverines won the NCAA championship. The Red Raiders played Maine and the Black Bears won the NCAA Championship. Perhaps a sign for the Colorado College Tigers? It’s probably just coincidence — after all, Boston College, New Hampshire and Ohio State also played these teams.

Cats Come Home

The Vermont Catamounts will play their home opener this weekend when they host the Terriers of Boston University. The Cats lost their season opener 7-4 against New Hampshire and certainly have some injuries to deal with.

The Cats lost defenseman Thomas Hajek after he sprained the MCL in his left knee last Saturday. Add defenseman Martin Wilde’s foot problems and the Cats are a little shorthanded on defense. They are also shorthanded on offense as sophomore Don Richardson will continue to miss the next three weeks with a separated shoulder.

The good news for the Cats is that Kevin Karlander, this year’s captain, picked up two goals against New Hampshire. Perhaps he is the go-to guy that head coach Mike Gilligan is looking for this season.

Saints Come Marching In

St. Lawrence will open up their season this weekend by hosting Merrimack. The Saints started the regular season last year with a second-place finish in the Ice Breaker Cup, then swept the Warriors in North Andover. That began a season that brought the Saints back to prominence, in the form of the ECAC championship game and an NCAA tournament bid.

“With the success we had last year the expectations are a lot higher,” said head coach Joe Marsh. “There’s certainly a lot more to prove, to try to get back there and it may be a little tougher coming in the front door than coming in the back door, like we did last year.”

ECAC Player of the Year Eric Heffler has graduated, and the Saints will probably try start different goaltenders on each night, as Marsh wants to go with the platoon system to start out.

“We’re certainly going to miss Heffler and to fill his shoes the three guys will be battling it out,” said Marsh, referring to Jeremy Symington, Sean Coakley and Derek Gustafson. “I don’t think we’ll see a situation where we have the same guy in there every night.”

So it will be a different look in front of the cages when the Saints take on the Warriors.

This Week in the WCHA: October 20, 1999

By
-

Coaches trying to fit in

Little things always make the biggest difference.

For some, it’s a different practice time. For others, it’s a difference in scheduling. And then there’s getting used to the team on the ice.

A coach coming into a new situation has a lot to learn. Quickly. And in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association this season, there are three head coaches trying to catch up as fast as they can.

Don Lucia is facing a much larger spotlight as the coach at Minnesota, Scott Owens is trying to fill his extra-large shoes at Colorado College and Don Brose is looking to fit into WCHA protocol as the newest member of the WCHA at Minnesota State, Mankato. Each has his own concerns, but there’s an overriding theme: Each wants to fit in as quickly as possible.

Brose has the most interesting story. He’s been at Mankato since the team’s inception 29 years ago. He’s seen a lot of transitions, but the one that puts his team in WCHA competition, has created another feeling of newness in Mankato.

Just being part of the conference, and the little things that brings, is enough to motivate his team.

"We just built a new locker room and we have a standings board down there where we can slide the names of the teams around and points they’ve earned," Brose said. "We haven’t been able to do that since 1992. Since 1992, we’ve been an independent. We haven’t been able to qualify for all-conference or player of the week or anything like that. We’ve had no conference standings to go by.

"So this is a big stimulus for us. Even though our first conference games aren’t until the week after this, it’s something our kids are already looking forward to. They’re asking, ‘Do we have a press release on our next opponent?’ You can go to the WCHA release we get every week and find out who’s doing what — power-play success, things that were never available to you before."

Entry into the conference has also freed up some of Brose’s time. As an independent, he would have to schedule 34-37 games each season. Now, with 28 of his team’s games taken care of by the league, his job is a little easier.

"That’s the big thing. Everything’s so well organized in the WCHA that while we have not played our first game, we know exactly what’s expected of us," he said.

The expectations for Owens at CC and Lucia at Minnesota are high. For Owens, it’s because of Lucia’s success as his predecessor. For Lucia, it’s because of the school’s proud tradition in hockey.

The interesting thing for Owens is that, because of Lucia’s success and with the strong team still remaining, there is no grace period to get used to college coaching.

"Don’s last six years have been outstanding. From the WCHA championships to the NCAA appearances, with the fans and the facility, the expectations are extremely high," Owens said. "But it kind of goes with the job. I’ve been left with a pretty good team. It’s not like starting over again. And I was here five years ago so I have a little bit of familiarity with how things have been done here and with some of the personnel."

Owens was an assistant to Lucia at CC before becoming a head coach in the United States Hockey League. And because Owens learned much of his coaching style from Lucia and holds that today, the transition from coach to coach isn’t so pronounced. Plus, Owens knows many of the players from the USHL.

"I think we have 16 or 17 USHL players and many of those I’ve either coached against or coached with in various tournaments," Owens said. "That part of the transition has been pretty smooth. The fact that I went to the school, and maybe can relate with them on some non-hockey issues, has made it easier. From our standpoint, it’s been about as smooth as you could possibly hope for."

Lucia, however, hasn’t yet settled into his position at Minnesota and doesn’t see himself doing so this year.

"I’ve always said that I think it takes a year to really feel settled in, so I’ll feel settled in next spring," he said.

That’s not to say he’s not the same coach when he gets behind the bench, just that he has to juggle so many other things — requests from media, requests for speaking engagements and others — that his schedule is full.

"Once you step on the rink, I’m comfortable there. It’s the rest of it that takes the time to get used to," Lucia said. "The weekly demands are so much different. I walk in my office early and it’s go, go, go. I have to get used to practice time being at 1:30 and not 3:45, that comes so quickly in the day. That’s been the hard part."

The tie that binds all three of these coaches is that each shows plenty of potential to make an impact — for Owens and Lucia, on the school, and for Brose, on the WCHA.

If they can get past the administrative duties, they should make the league feel that impact immediately.

Wisconsin off to a much-needed quick start

It’s hard to underestimate the need for Wisconsin to get off to a good start this season. To eliminate past demons, to prove the Badgers own their home ice, to jump out ahead in the WCHA standings.

UW took a good first step last weekend, sweeping Michigan Tech with a little help from an old friend.

The Badgers scored six power-play goals against the Huskies — three in each game. That’s quite a departure from the 1998-99 season, when the team scored 17 for the entire campaign. They never had a multi-PPG game.

It was a pleasant surprise when they would score on the power play, but the man advantage more often than not created more frustration than capitalization.

It was an area the Badgers knew they needed to improve in, and UW coach Jeff Sauer said production like his team had last weekend could carry the team.

"If we can score on a couple power plays each weekend the rest of the season, we’re going to have a pretty successful year," Sauer said. "We want to get our power play up in the neighborhood of at least 20 percent or better. In the National Hockey League, that’s a pretty good figure; hopefully it’ll be a good figure for us."

The Badgers currently reside at 31.6 percent after two games. Pretty impressive, but that’s only after one weekend. And it’s only after a series with Michigan Tech. It will be interesting to see how they fare against the North Dakotas, Colorado Colleges and Minnesotas of the league.

One thing that needs to remain consistently good for the Badgers to continue having success on the power play is the strength of the individuals that make up the man-advantage unit.

"Your power plays are only as good as the people who are there," Sauer said. "You can do all the moving the puck, but if you don’t have people that can score, you’re not going to have much success."

Defenseman Jeff Dessner has two of the power-play goals, and Steve Reinprecht, Dany Heatley, David Hukalo and Dan Bjornlie have one each. Heatley was impressive in his collegiate debut, scoring a pair of goals and a pair of assists in his first two games with Wisconsin.

"I think he’s a pretty good player," Sauer said.

Enough said.

A classic rivalry revisited

Some call Minnesota the chief rival of North Dakota. Dean Blais is one of them.

The North Dakota coach doesn’t mince words when talking about his team’s series with Minnesota. There have been some very good games recently, and there’s an easy explanation for that.

"It has a lot to do with emotion. It’s our biggest series of the year," Blais said. "I don’t know if anyone else can claim that. Minnesota seems to draw the best of a lot of schools, but for us, we could probably send 20,000 tickets to that series."

North Dakota doesn’t get to sell the tickets yet. It’s Minnesota’s turn this weekend, as the teams square off in one of the closest, yet most one-sided rivalries in recent times.

North Dakota is 6-1-1 in the last eight regular-season meetings, but it’s tough to find a tighter series that has mostly been in favor of one team.

Take last year: UND won three of the four games with a tie, but only won the total-goals series 20-16. Going back another year, each of the last eight games has been within two goals.

And there have been some great games, including two classics last year. At Mariucci last November, North Dakota jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, only to have the Gophers regroup and earn a 4-4 tie. And in Grand Forks in January, Minnesota was up 3-0 and 4-1, only to see the Sioux claw back to make it 4-3. The Gophers went up 5-3 before the second intermission, but UND scored three goals in 2:30 in the third period to win.

"It’s been that way forever," Blais said. "Even when (the Gophers) had the so-called high-power teams when I first took over, they came into Grand Forks and we tied them twice. We were No. 1 in the country and went down there and they beat us. It doesn’t seem to matter what your record is going into it. They’ve all been close games."

Don’t expect anything less this weekend.

DU, CC at odds over Denver Cup?

Is there a little tension brewing in the Rockies?

A report surfaced in the Colorado Springs Gazette recently that Colorado College is looking to get out of its contract to play in the Denver Cup, hosted by the University of Denver. The two sides appear to be responding amicably toward each other, but there seems to be just a little bit of negative energy between the schools.

Owens points to the fact that CC wants to break out on its own with a Christmastime tournament, much like the one the school, in conjunction with the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, started in the 1970s.

"At this point, we’re thinking we’d like to get back to that Christmas tournament or Thanksgiving tournament in Colorado Springs," Owens said. "The Denver Cup has been a great experience for our program and our team, but we might be heading into a time where we may want to look at doing something ourselves with the facility we have, and possibly a tie-in with the Broadmoor."

The Tigers have Harvard tentatively scheduled for a home series on Dec. 29 and 30 of next year, and Owens said he wants to use that as a springboard into a tournament.

Plus, there might be a bit of contention about the site of the tournament, which has recently been held at McNichols Arena because, well, frankly, because there really wasn’t any other place in Denver to host a tournament unless three teams would agree to share one locker room.

"Originally, it was set up to be at a neutral site, at something like McNichols or the Pepsi Center," Owens said. "That’s a big part of it, but it’s also the direction we want to go in the future."

Denver coach George Gwozdecky understands CC’s concerns, but has his own explanation for why the Tigers want out.

"If I’m in their position, there’s no question that with their new building, they can probably create a lot more revenue if they have two home gates, as opposed to coming to play in the Denver Cup, where the guarantees probably aren’t quite as large," he said. "It was a business deal they made with the University of Denver two or three years ago.

"There’s no question that the reason they want to get out is because they can make more money in their own building."

Gwozdecky said he doesn’t anticipate any difficulty with CC getting out of its contract. Don’t worry about the future of the Denver Cup, though. Since the story appeared in the Gazette, DU has received five inquiries from teams wishing to compete, according to Gwozdecky.

"Anytime you can play your rival, it sparks interest in the local community," he said. "In a sense, that’s going to be missed, but at the same point in time the tournament stands on its own right now. People recognize it as a very competitive tournament. I think that’ll continue."

A quick recovery?

Confused about the status of Minnesota-Duluth goaltender Brant Nicklin? You’re not alone.

UMD coach Mike Sertich reported on the WCHA’s preseason teleconference that Nicklin had torn a ligament in his blocker thumb and would be "on the shelf for about a month."

But Nicklin played in the first period of the Bulldogs’ exhibition game against Team Canada earlier this week and, according to Kevin Pates of the Duluth News-Tribune, appears ready to go for this weekend’s series at Wisconsin. Nicklin also has a sprained knee and will be wearing a knee brace in addition to a cast on his thumb.

The big injury question this week in Duluth surrounds center Jeff Scissons, who is listed as questionable with a hip flexor injury. He didn’t play in the Canada exhibition.

There are questions about the health of the Bulldogs, but one thing that can’t be questioned is that UMD needs these two players to be in top form this season.

This Week in the CCHA: October 20, 1999

By
-

The NCAA and major juniors

Hey kid–you wanna play hockey? You already play major junior? Not a problem. Just come south of the border and sign this letter of intent…

The NCAA is considering passing legislation that will allow professional athletes to pursue careers at U.S. colleges. The sport this would affect most in Canada is, naturally, hockey, and the Canadian press has been hyperbolic while projecting the consequences of this eligibility rule change.

Jim Cressman writes in the Oct. 21 London (Ont.) Free Press, "If the NCAA institutes its new policy, U.S. colleges could begin raiding junior teams next season."

So, the feeling north of the border is that talented Canadian players will flee south for that fast track to the NHL, the U.S. college hockey experience?

Forgive me for asking, but what are Cressman and his colleague’s smoking?

If, in fact, the NCAA–in a fit of madness and stupidity not witnessed since the building of "The Dream Team"–relaxed eligibility rules and allowed athletes with professional experience to play college sports, there will be very little keeping many of the best young players of the game from opting for the major juniors rather than U.S. college hockey. After all, why wouldn’t a player want to test the major junior waters before hitting U.S. colleges, if he weren’t going to be penalized for doing so?

Michigan? Michigan State? Who needs them–except as a fallback plan–when the OHL beckons?

Game(s) of the Week

Bowling Green (0-2-0, 0-0-0 CCHA) at Western Michigan (2-1-1, 2-1-1 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

Ben Franklin said, "Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day."

Seems that’s a lesson the Broncos have learned early in this season.

Western Michigan sits atop the CCHA standings this week, largely because they’ve been making those everyday, little advantages happen.

After shocking Ohio State 4-2 and 5-1, the Broncos gained four conference points–and plenty of self-confidence.

"I’m extremely pleased, extremely happy about our performance–special teams, goaltending," said Western coach Jim Culhane after Saturday’s win. "Our main focus is learning to do that…shift after shift, game in game out."

A fairly stunned John Markell said of the Broncos, "[They] played as good as I’ve seen them play in the last four years. They were a very confident team."

That kind of confidence can win some games.

Junior David Gove (2-3–5) is second in CCHA scoring after four having played four games. Steve Rymsha has three goals and an assist. Brett Mills–who missed over a year with a shoulder injury–came back with a vengeance against the Buckeyes, notching a pair of goals and two assists on the weekend.

But the real difference for Western right now is the man between the pipes. Jeff Reynaert is now 2-1-1 as the starting Bronco netminder, with a 2.22 goals-against average and an impressive .917 save percentage.

While it’s still early in the season, the enthusiasm this Bronco team displayed in Columbus–a place where they’d lost 8-0 in March–could very well carry them through two home games against Bowling Green.

The Falcons lost 5-2 to Boston College before dropping a 4-1 decision to Northeastern last weekend. "I thought we were in the game pretty well," said head coach Buddy Powers of the BC contest.

In fact, the Falcons were trailing by just a goal in going into the third before Boston College turned up the heat and took the game.

"Coming back home with two points would have been nice," said Powers, but he’s not disappointed in his team’s early-season efforts.

"Masters played real well in goal, and there were some good things that came out of it." Rookie Tyler Masters made 41 saves against the Eagles as BC outshot BG 46-19.

Fellow rookie Tom Lawson had 35 saves in the Northeaster game, as once again Bowling Green was doubled in shots, 39-19.

The one area where Powers wants to see some serious improvement–and soon–is in offensive production. "Up front, I’m not happy with any of the forwards. We scored three goals [total on the weekend]."

Zach Ham, Chris Bonvie, and Greg Day, each tallied for BG, but it’s clear that for now, what’s missing up front is a player like Dan Price, someone who can just make it happen.

But, as Powers said, "It starts this week. We’ve had our dry run and if we’ve learned our lessons, we’ll get some points."

Western’s confidence–and their lofty position as winners of last week’s Grudge of the Week–may earn them four points when matched against a Falcon club that can’t find the net, a Bowling Green squad still finding its feet. The Broncos owned the neutral zone against Ohio State, had great physical presence and poise, and genuine enthusiasm; those players were having a good time.

And Western Michigan doubled up on shots against Ohio State–not a good sign for Bowling Green, unless the Falcons have, as Powers hopes, learned some lessons.

Picks: Western Michigan 4-1, 3-1

Grudge of the Week

#3 Michigan (4-0-0, 2-0-0 CCHA) at Alaska-Fairbanks (2-2-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. AT, Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

You want a grudge? How about this: Alaska-Fairbanks hasn’t beaten Michigan since…well…ever.

Michigan is 18-0-0 against the Nanooks, and a perfect 8-0-0 in Fairbanks. These two teams last met at Yost Nov. 13, 1998, when the Wolverines delivered a 6-3 defeat to UAF.

The Wolverines are averaging six goals per game, having beaten UMass-Lowell 8-1 and 5-1 last weekend. After just two league games, Mike Comrie leads conference scoring with four goals and two assists.

So, the Nanooks are feeling kind of frisky, having split at home with two 3-1 games against Alaska-Anchorage, and having beaten Ohio State the weekend before. UAF is off to its best start since joining the CCHA.

But are they good enough to lay to rest this particular grudge?

Don’t count on it. They’re competitive–and rumor has it that they still play a very rough brand of hockey–but even without Josh Blackburn in net, Michigan’s on a tear.

And why buck the law of averages?

Picks: Michigan 6-1, 6-2

Along the Boards

Alaska-Fairbanks

Streak: One loss.

Nathan Rocheleau had a goal and an assist in UAF’s 3-1 win over UAA last weekend. Casey Bartzen and Dwayne Zinger also found the net in the victory, while Aaron Grosul scored the lone Nanook goal in the 3-1 loss Saturday.

Rookie goaltender Lance Mayes made 34 stops as Anchorage outshot Fairbanks 35- 23 in the win. Mayes stopped 22 of 24 shots he faced Saturday.

The bad news is that UAF continues in its penalty-garnering ways, giving UAA 16 power plays in the series. The good news is that Anchorage couldn’t capitalize on a single one.

Bowling Green

Streak: Two losses.

For the second weekend in a row, Adam Edinger needs one point to become the 64th Falcon to register 100 career points. Edinger has 99 points 43 goals and 56 assists.

The stats are against the Falcons this weekend. Bowling Green is 12 in the league in offense (1.50 goals per game), whereas Western Michigan is tied for fourth, averaging 3.5 goals per game. Defensively, the Falcons are 11th, allowing on average 4.5 goals per game, while the Broncos are tied for third (2.25). BG’s power play is 11th (1-for-12, .083), while WMU’s is third (6-for-34, .176). The Bowling Green PK is seventh (.833) while Western’s is eighth (.828).

Statistics, however, can be deceiving. Bowling Green has played just two games, and Western only four.

Ferris State

Streak: Two losses.

The Bulldogs dropped a pair of games at home to the invincible-looking Northern Michigan Wildcats last weekend, 5-3 and 2-0. Jon Rogger, Kevin Swider, and Chris Kunitz tallied for the Broncos. With three goals and two assists, Kunitz is tied for second in league scoring.

Vince Owen saved 16 of 20 shots in the first game, while Phil Osaer stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced.

Lake Superior State

Streak: One loss

The Lakers, off last weekend, are ready to host #6 New Hampshire.

Two weeks ago, Lake State split a pair with Ferris State, and Laker head coach Scott Borek liked what he saw. "Jayme [Platt] played well Friday [in the Lakers’ win]. I think the goaltenders were the difference both nights, and that was a positive for us Friday."

In addition to Platt’s performance, Borek is happy with what he’s seen from Trent Walford who had three goals on the weekend. In general, though, Borek said, "I thought offensively, we didn’t generate a lot of quality shots."

Matt Frick may be out with an injury for the series against New Hampshire, "which takes our defense from very experienced to questionable," said Borek.

Miami

Streak: Three wins.

The RedHawks beat St. Cloud State twice on the road last weekend, a 5-4 overtime win Friday and a 3-2 win Saturday.

"We played well at times and at times we played as though we were a team playing the second week of the season," said Miami head coach Enrico Blasi.

Gregor Krajnc had the game-winner two minutes into OT for Miami, but Evan Cheverie was the big stud for the RedHawks on the weekend, feeding Krajnc the puck while the ‘Hawks were playing 6-on-5, and scoring the unassisted, short-handed game winner at 6:32 in the third period of the second game.

Miami has two secrets to success: three good goaltenders, and a great team attitude.

Ian Olsen made 32 saves in the overtime victory, while David Burleigh stopped 27 shots Saturday.

Blasi said, "One thing our team has been to this point is real positive on the bench."

That certainly can’t hurt.

Injuries: Jake Ortmeyer, Jason Deskins.

#3 Michigan

Streak: Five wins.

How special are Michigan’s special teams?

So far this season, the Wolverines have scored 11 power-play goals and two short-handed goals. That’s a power-play conversion rate of 30.6%.

In case you’re wondering, Michigan’s killing penalties at the rate of 93.5%.

With Josh Blackburn out for the time being, Kevin O’Malley has had a chance to prove a little something between the pipes. O’Malley made his second and third career starts against UMass-Lowell last weekend. In two games, he has a 1.09 GAA and a .949 save percentage.

Jeff Jillson led all scorers in the CCHA last weekend with one goal and five assists for six points and just two penalty minutes in the two-game series against Lowell.

The Wolverines have 24 goals in four non-exhibition games this season.

#5 Michigan State

Streak: Two wins.

The Spartans delivered two losses to Nebraska-Omaha last weekend, beating the Mavericks 5-2 and 6-2–and quelling many doubters who said Michigan State may have trouble scoring.

"It’s certainly a tough place to play. Friday night we got some great performances from some new players, and Saturday our special teams just won out," said Ron Mason.

MSU killed 19-of-20 UNO power plays and scored short-handed, while converting on 5-of 15 power plays for the weekend. On Saturday, the Spartan power play was 4-for-9.

Michigan State’s 11 goals last weekend marked the most Spartan goals in back-to-back games since the third and fourth games of last season, when MSU combined against Bowling Green (seven) and this week’s opponent, Ohio State (four), Oct. 23-24, 1998.

Injuries: Freshman forward Pat Brush, sophomore forward Joe Goodenow, and senior goaltender Mike Gresl.

Nebraska-Omaha

Streak: Two losses.

The Mavericks dropped their first two league games of the season to Michigan State last week, 5-2 and 6-2.

Jason White will go down in UNO history as the first Maverick to score a league goal in the first game in official conference action for Nebraska-Omaha. Jeff Hoggan, Ed Cassin, and David Brisson also scored for the Mavs.

Nebraska-Omaha takes this weekend off.

#8 Northern Michigan

Streak: Five wins.

The Wildcats spoiled the Bulldogs’ home opener last weekend with 5-3 and 2-0 wins.

"It was a great weekend, going into that building and winning," said Northern head coach Rick Comley. "You know when these two teams meet, it’s not going to be the prettiest games."

He’s right; there were 40 minutes of penalties in Friday’s game, and 36 in Saturday’s.

Roger Trudeau had three goals and an assist in the Ferris series, and is tied for third in league scoring. Duane Hoey is now perfect in league play, having earned the shutout in his first and only league start this season.

In overall play this season, the Wildcats are outscoring opponents 19-3. "It’s early," cautions Comley.

The Wildcats have recorded three shutouts in four games, one short of the school season record, set in 1990-91.

"It’s early," says Comley.

The NMU penalty kill has registered five shorthanded goals this season.

"It’s early," says Comley.

The Wildcats host #9 Clarkson for two this weekend in the series that is undoubtedly the one not to miss.

Notre Dame

Streak: One win.

Notre Dame got its first win of the season last weekend, beating Union 4-0. Head coach Dave Poulin called it "a good win," especially after hanging tough with Providence and losing 2-1.

Poulin is positive about his squad’s relatively slow start this season. "We were off to such a terrific start last year that I think that masks some of the things you need to work on. When you receive this early-season awakening, you can see what you need to do."

One thing the Irish need to do is score some goals. In two conference games, Ben Simon leads Notre Dame with one goal and one assist.

Ohio State

Streak: Three losses.

The Buckeyes face the meat of their schedule, traveling to Michigan State after three consecutive losses, two at home.

Then they welcome Maine for two. Then it’s a home-home series with Michigan. Then it’s two in Marquette.

John Markell said that he was very disappointed in his squad’s performance last weekend, when Ohio State lost 4-2 and 5-1 to Western Michigan.

J.F. Dufour rides a five-game scoring streak into East Lansing, and his odds for scoring have improved, since he’s been moved on line with Eric Meloche and Mike McCormick. Meloche and Dufour have provided the only spark in the OSU power play, which looks like it needs a whole lot of improvement, converting twice on 14 chances last weekend.

No matter what their record, the Buckeyes tend to play well against the Spartans. Ohio State is 5-4-1 against MSU in the last 10 meetings.

Western Michigan

Streak: Two wins.

The Broncos played with real confidence last weekend at the Schottenstein Center, where they beat the Buckeyes 4-2 and 5-1. As good as wins must have felt to Western, Friday night’s game was a sleeper, with neither team recording a single shot on goal in the second period until OSU scored at 6:59.

The wins were the first back-to-back wins against a single opponent for Western Michigan since the 1996-97 season–and it was the Buckeyes doing the honors then as well.

Mike Bishai (2-1–3) had the game-winner Friday, while Steve Rymsha (3- 1–4) did it for Western Saturday night. Brett Mills (2-2–4) tallied all of his points this season so far in the series against OSU.

This Week in the Hockey East: October 20, 1999

By
-

Hockey East’s Pedro vs. Clemens Matchups

Last Saturday, major league baseball featured one of the most exciting pitching clashes in a long, long time when Pedro Martinez faced Roger Clemens in Fenway Park.

(A partisan note: Pedro is our hero while Clemens is a Benedict Arnold who nearly flattened the tires on the New York Yankee bandwagon that he jumped on.)

That said, there were six Cy Young Awards (given to the top pitcher in each league) between them and another one on the way to Pedro this year.

The pairing prompted creative minds at The Boston Herald to produce a boxing-style "Fight of the Century" poster complete with Pedro and Clemens as the main event along with other Red Sox players and Yankees forming the undercard.

With that as our inspiration and ignoring partisanship (everyone is a good guy in Hockey East), let’s look at the great matchups in Hockey East.

The Best Forward vs. The Best Defenseman

Main event: Darren Haydar vs. Mike Mottau The undercard: Jerry Keefe vs. Bobby Allen; Brian Gionta vs. Doug Janik; Fernando Pisani vs. Mike Jozefowicz; Cory Larose vs. Josh MacNevin

While there’s room for argument about the league’s top forward, BC’s Mike Mottau and Bobby Allen are clearly the top two defensemen in the league. As a result, Brian Gionta goes to the undercard since it would be unseemly to have teammates facing each other. And we’ll go with a huge undercard because… well, there’s so much talent to pick from and eliminating any of these guys is just too tough.

The Best Sniper vs. The Best Goaltender

Main event: Jeff Farkas vs. Ty Conklin The undercard: Mike Souza vs. Markus Helanen

Conklin and Helanen are the cream of the goaltending crop. Farkas is the nation’s top returning goal-scorer while Souza is a natural sniper. They both would have qualified in the "Best Forward" category, but were needed more here.

The Waterbug vs. The Redwood

Main event: Billy Newson vs. Jay Leach The undercard: Roger Holeczy vs. Brooks Orpik

The 5-7 tandem of Newson and Holeczy prove that size isn’t everything; 6-4, 220-pound Leach and hits-like-a-freight-train Orpik (6-3, 203 and growing) prove that it sure can come in handy. When healthy, Merrimack’s Stephen Moon (6-5, 240) will force his way onto this card. So will 5-7 freshman-from-a-great-gene-pool Martin Kariya, once he gets a few more games under his belt.

College Hockey Leagues

Main event: Hockey East vs. all comers The undercard: none

TKO, baby!

Trivia Contest

What did last weekend’s Boston College-Bowling Green contest have to do with Valentine’s Day night?

Mail your responses to Dave Hendrickson and the first precisely correct answer will win a tip of the fedora in next week’s column. USCHO contributors and the media are not eligible for this illustrious prize.

Errata

Last week this column noted that Boston College’s Mark McLennan would have to sit out the Eagles’ game against Bowling Green because of a game disqualification in an exhibition game. So what was McLennan doing on right wing? Was a BC forfeit due to use of an ineligible player going to be fodder for this week’s column?

It turns out that a transcription error had turned a game misconduct, which was what McLennan had actually been assessed, into a game disqualification. A player is thrown out of the game in both cases, but there is no carryover effect into the next contest with a misconduct.

So McLennan was eligible to play after all, even though league officials and, by extension, this writer thought differently in the middle of the week.

Or as Emily Litella was wont to say back in the days when Saturday Night Live was still funny, "Nevermind!"

League Notes And Quotes

#1 Boston College Coach Jerry York on the opening night win on Friday: "Bowling Green gave us all we could handle. Everybody expects that [since] you’re ranked number one [you’re going to win easily], but, hey, you’ve got to earn it."

On the BC 46-19 shot advantage:

"They hung tough with us. I didn’t think the shot discrepancy was indicative of the game. We had to really work hard and earn that win and I feel very, very good about it because I think Bowling Green is going to go on to have an excellent season."

On the use of freshman Tim Kelleher in net to open Hockey East play against Merrimack: "I think depth in goaltending is certainly an objective we’d like to have. Scott [Clemmensen] is definitely the number-one goaltender based on his two years of play. But I think Tim [Kelleher] is going to develop into a 1-A goaltender."

#2 Maine Coach Shawn Walsh on sweeping Minnesota to open the season:

"We’re obviously happy to have beaten a good team twice, which is difficult to do. At the same time, we’re all well aware that it was way too wide-open. We made a lot of mistakes, but I guess that’s expected when you’ve got six new guys playing."

On goaltenders Mike Morrison and Matt Yeats, who both earned wins:

"That was the strength of the weekend. They both played exceptionally well. We left each guy out to dry a number of times and they both played very, very solid in net."

On freshman Martin Kariya, brother of graduated Black Bear Steve, who scored twice and assisted on another:

"He was terrific. His goal the second night was breathtaking. He went end-to-end, put the puck between the defenseman’s legs and walked in and scored. It reminded everyone in the rink of Stephen."

On freshman Chris Heisten (Barrett’s brother), who also scored twice and assisted:

"His line with Tommy Reimann and Barrett was very, very effective both nights. So those were two of the highlights as well."

On the defense: "Doug Janik certainly stepped up, but it was a collective effort led by him. [Anders] Lundback, [Peter] Metcalf and [Robert] Ek all played well and A.J. Begg gave us a real good weekend."

On opening the J.C. Penney Tournament against New Brunswick, followed by a MAAC school:

"You never know what to expect from a Canadian opponent. Two of them have come down and beaten U.S. colleges this year, including a good Denver team. So the biggest thing we have to worry about is improving our game from last week.

"I’m glad the MAAC schools are playing because it’ll give us an idea of that level of play. I’m a big believer in playing emerging conferences because that’s the only way they’re going to make their move."

#6 New Hampshire Coach Dick Umile on defeating Vermont:

"We had some good moments in the game, but we got a little sloppy at times. Specialty situations worked out fairly well considering it’s early in the season. The power play scored three goals and Vermont was 1-for-8 on theirs so that became a factor.

"Mentally, we broke down and got some bad penalties at a bad time in the game and made it close. But we generated enough good scoring opportunities to win the game.

We played with some composure down the end, which was a positive sign. Some experienced guys who’ve been there before knew how to play with us leading, 3-2, in the third period in a game that was up for grabs at that point."

On getting goals from six different scorers:

"The scoring was spread out. A couple defensemen scored and [Mike] Souza and [Darren] Haydar had strong games along with [Corey-Joe] Ficek. That line had a strong game."

On the defense, which was considered UNH’s biggest question mark going into the season:

"They did a good job. Our defense is going to get better and better each game because they’re going to have more experience each game. It isn’t any fault of theirs that they haven’t played as many games as the guys who graduated.

"But each game they get stronger and more confident, and play in different types of situations. You just want to get better each weekend and be comfortable near the end of the season when the playoffs come."

On the trip to Lake Superior:

"This is a good trip. They’ve got a great history out there and a fine young coach, Scott Borek. It’s a tough place to play and it’ll be a good trip for our team."

Providence College Coach Paul Pooley on the win over Notre Dame in the first round of the Ice Breaker Tournament, followed by a double overtime loss to Denver in the championship game:

"It was a good weekend for us. We didn’t play great on Friday, but we did what we had to do. We had a 2-0 lead and then we had penalty problems and [Notre Dame] got a five-on-three to change the momentum of the game. " We’d been concerned about that first game because they had played Michigan the previous week [while we played Queen’s] so they’d played a very fast team and we didn’t. Notre Dame played very well defensively for the most part.

"We need to capitalize on our chances more. We had two-on-ones and three-on-twos and some chances that we should score on and we didn’t even get a shot off. In the Denver game we had two breakaways, one one-on-oh on the goalie, a four-on-two, two or three two-on-ones and we didn’t really get good chances off them. That hurt us.

"I don’t mind maybe getting outshot, because when we get chances they’re usually quality chances, but we have to work on putting the puck in the net when we get a quality opportunity.

"But I think we found some hockey players in the Denver game. Our freshman line — we had [Doug] Wright, [Jon] DiSalvatore and [Michael] Lucci together — scored the second go-ahead goal. And Devin Rask played very well. Doug Sheppard, our captain, was a warrior out there. And [goaltender] Boyd [Ballard] played well.

"We did enough to win both games. I was disappointed that we got tied up with 10 seconds left to play in the third period on a play that we just didn’t execute. We made a poor decision and it cost us. The thing is, I had just talked to the guy about the faceoff play that they were running. We talked about it when he came over to the bench and he went out and did the wrong thing.

"But we played well in third period — we had 10 shots and they had three — and in the overtimes. Our power play was 2-for-6 on the weekend and our PK killed a five-on-three in the third period for 1:10, so it would have been nice to win."

On traveling to Miami for two games this weekend:

"Miami is obviously playing very well. They’re 3-0-1. They’re really rallying around Enrico [Blasi], their young coach who is doing a great job there. And Miami is a very tough place to play.

"These [next five] road games are really going to help us down the road. I really feel good about what we did this weekend and how we competed. Going to Miami is going to be a very tough test for us, but that’s great. It’s only going to make us better for the league [games]."

Northeastern

Coach Bruce Crowder on defeating Bowling Green with 20-5 and 13-3 shot advantages in the first and third periods, respectively:

"We had a bit of a lull in the second period and they took it to us, but we held the fort there pretty good over those 20 minutes. Then we had a chance to regroup.

"Bowling Green is a good team, but they’d played the night before and we hadn’t so that could have been some of the difference in the third period."

On highly-touted freshman Mike Ryan scoring twice in the third period:

"He fit in right from the get go. He didn’t miss a beat. As the game went on, he got a lot more comfortable out there and it showed up in the scoring results."

On freshman goaltender Mike Gilhooly and whether he is "the answer":

"We’ve got three quality kids — [Gilhooly, Todd Marr and Jason Braun] — here right now. Mike had a little bit of an edge going into this past weekend, but we’ll continue to evaluate kids in practice and make some sort of decision on Friday night."

On facing UMass-Amherst and UMass-Lowell this weekend:

"Those are two teams we didn’t have a whole lot of success against last year. If we’re going to make some moves, we’ve got to have some success against some [of those] teams. If you look at our record last year against Lowell, Amherst and Merrimack, we were 1-7-1. That’s what really hurt us, not even going .500 against those teams."

UMass-Amherst

Coach Joe Mallen on the loss at Colgate:

"We really tried to prepare the team all week long to play a small-rink game, but once you drop the puck [it doesn’t always work out]. We actually played pretty well in spurts, but we didn’t play very well in other spurts.

"We got good goaltending from Markus [Helanen], but a couple broke off his equipment and in. We turned the puck over way too much for our liking and we didn’t get enough good quality chances. Late in the game, [however,] we had a couple excellent chances and could have tied it up, but didn’t convert on them."

On the 37-21 shot disparity that went against the Minutemen:

"We actually missed the net a lot, which is something we emphasized [not doing] in practice. And [Colgate] really blocked a lot of shots. That’s something that we had more trouble with than we should have, just in terms of defensemen getting the shot off quicker or faking and going around. But we’ve got to give Colgate’s wingers credit, too.

"We want to give up under 30 shots, so it wasn’t a quality effort that way in terms of good solid body-to-body defense."

On games this week against Northeastern and Boston College:

"Even though it was pretty intense the other night, we know the intensity is going to pick up with four Hockey East points on the line. the intensity for both teams is going to peak.

"[The Northeastern game] will be a really good let’s-see-where-we-stand game for both teams. Then the next night, we’ve got the number-one team in the country coming into our building after having played on Tuesday night, but resting on Friday. They seem to be playing terrific hockey and they’re the talk of the division."

UMass-Lowell

Coach Tim Whitehead on the 8-1 loss the first night at Michigan:

"A lot of games you can’t look at the scoresheet and figure out what happened, but in this case you could. They were 7-for-12 on the power play and we were 1-for-6. That was a big difference in the game.

"We took too many penalties and it killed us because they were very sharp that night. It was their home opener and they were confident and moving the puck. And we were not sharp on the penalty kill. The combination was not good."

On the 5-1 loss the following night:

"[This time] they took the bulk of the penalties and we had the opportunities on the power play, but we couldn’t convert and they got two shorthanded ones. That was the difference in the game. I thought we played quite well, particularly five-on-five.

"On the weekend, it was 1-1 [while playing] five-on-five."

On reasons behind the special teams problems:

"We moved our season up a week this year because of the opportunity to go out to Michigan. So we knew we were not as prepared as we’d like to be. We were working [more on] five-on-five systems. We were working on special teams, too, but not as much as we’d [have liked to].

"Had both games been more five-on-five, the results might have been better, but that’s part of the game. We’re going to be prepared for it this weekend.

"The one good thing from the first night to the second night is that [Michigan] was only 1-for-8 on the power play [on Saturday], so we did make a big step from Friday to Saturday. But our power play did not. Michigan shut us down really well."

Boston University

Coach Jack Parker on the losses to RPI and Niagara:

"We played like Jekyll and Hyde. We played very well against RPI and easily could have won the game. Their goaltender played real well but from a technical point of view and an emotional point of view I thought we played very well.

"So that was three straight games that we played well in and I was pretty happy with the team. Then we turned around and went through the motions against Niagara and reverted back to playing without any zip and [as if there] wasn’t any coach."

On outshooting RPI, 33-21, and still losing:

"We gave up a penalty-shot goal and a goal where their guy spun around 30 feet in front and cold-cocked a full swing into the net for the tying and winning goals, so it wasn’t as if we gave up a lot of shots and were getting buzzed in our own zone. It was just too bad we didn’t put the puck past their goalie. But they played real well clearing the rebounds.

"I think we outshot them something like 68-30 in terms of attempts, so I was pretty pleased. There wasn’t any time that we were just back on our heels. At the same time, we didn’t put it by the kid."

On traveling to Vermont this weekend:

"It’s another road game and a tough place to play, one of the toughest buildings to play in college hockey. But I think we learned something in the Niagara game about looking by people and not getting ready to play. We’re not nearly good enough to do that to any team. So maybe we’ll get their attention this week to get ready to play up there."

Merrimack

Coach Chris Serino on the win over Holy Cross:

"We started out like a house on fire [two goals in the first minute and a half], but then we got fancy with the puck and made it a game before we settled back down a little. We played okay in spurts, but just weren’t consistent."

On super sophomore Greg Classen, who scored four of the five goals and assisted on the other: "He was dominant. He scored goals in all different ways, and then set up a goal. He just played fabulous."

On losing to BC, 7-2:

"With seven minutes left in the second period it was 2-2, but then they got a [four-on-four] goal and then they got another one right at the end of the period.

"We couldn’t really stay with our game plan down a couple goals. We weren’t there to make the game close; we were trying to win so we had to open the game up a little bit. When we did, what I [was afraid] would happen, happened."

On the 56-18 shot disparity:

"The shot advantage was way in their favor, but territorially it wasn’t. It wasn’t a game that we were struggling to keep the puck out of our end. It was an up-and-down game and we had the puck in their end as much as they had it in ours, but we just didn’t get the shots away.

"We broke down at times, but the positive part is that we skated with them. That’s going to help us.

"For the most part, we played much better than we did against Holy Cross."

On the tough trip to St. Lawrence:

"Anything is better than going to BC.

"If we continue to improve and pay attention to defense a little bit more, I think we can play with anybody. We’re looking for improvement defensively, mistake-wise. Against BC, three times we had guys standing right next to a guy who scored. It’s one thing to get in position, but it’s another thing to do something once you’re there."

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

I don’t usually watch a lot of TV, but have been making an exception with the baseball playoffs. And, so help me, if I see that pathetic nitwit with the Taco Bell chalupa one more time I’m gonna scream. And the talking Chihuahua makes two.

Louie the Lizard and The Ferret, on the other hand, are welcome on my TV screen any time.

When I grow up, I want to be The Ferret.

Thanks to Jim Connelly for his assistance.

This Week in the MAAC: October 20, 1999

By
-

So we’re only one week into the 1999-2000 season, and already it’s time to play "who beat who."

Our first contestant is defending MAAC champion Holy Cross. Last week, the Crusaders battled hard against the preseason favorite for cellar-dweller in the nation’s strongest conference, Hockey East: Merrimack College. The Crusaders eventually dropped the game, 5-2, but what does this mean for Holy Cross? Well, we’ll see in just a minute.

Next is defending MAAC regular-season champion and all-around preseason favorite Quinnipiac. Their saga from last week is a classic "who beat who" scenario. On Friday night, Quinnipiac lost a heartbreaker to relatively new, but powerful, Niagara University, 5-4 in overtime. That was just one night before Niagara went on to defeat Boston University, a school with a hockey tradition as rich as Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, by the score of 3-0. So what does this mean? Well, again, let’s come back to it.

Because on Saturday night, Quinnipiac again lost a tough game, falling 6-4 to RPI, a longtime ECAC favorite, in a game played within a few miles of the RPI campus. And just to make this all interesting, RPI beat that same rich-traditioned Boston University the night before.

So now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.

Kenny from Minnesota says, "It means that the MAAC is the greatest-super-duper conference in the whole wide world."

Ah, sorry, Kenny. Good try, but you’re a little off-base. We have some nice parting gifts.

Ron from Kalamazoo, Mich., says, "It means the Mets will wins the World Series?"

Sorry Ron, we all know now that won’t happen. But thanks for playing.

No, folks, the answer to the question "What does all of this mean?" is…

Nothing.

Though we’d all like to say that Quinnipiac and Holy Cross hanging tough against some well-established Division I schools shows the toughness and strength of the MAAC, only a fool panning for gold in the Midwest can truly justify that.

Does this mean the MAAC didn’t earn any respect last weekend? Not at all. Their two ambassadors into the world of established Division I college hockey represented the league very well, and in doing so, definitely earned the attention of coaches, players and fans around the country.

Does it mean that the MAAC is ready to send two teams in and win the NCAA tournament? Definitely not. The MAAC, though possessed of teams that can and will compete at the Division I level, is still a ways away from producing its first national champion. Now don’t get your feather in a rustle and think that I’m saying the MAAC doesn’t deserve to be in the tournament. I’m simply saying that there is still a long way to go and plenty of developing that this league and its members will have to do.

So now that I’ve given you my best attempt at comical commentary, let’s look back and see how the MAAC fared in its first week of competition.

The Week That Was

Besides those games already mentioned, two other MAAC clubs, last year’s playoff runner-up Canisius and newcomer Mercyhurst, also played non-conference games.

Canisius hosted Wayne State, one of the nation’s newest Division I clubs and member of the College Hockey America conference. Wayne State played spoiler to Canisius’ opening-night celebrations by stunning the Ice Griffs with two late goals in a 2-2 tie. Jason Clark scored for Wayne State with just 11 second remaining to force the deadlock.

In Saturday night’s rematch, the Ice Griffs again took a 2-0 led into the third period, but this time held on, adding a late tally for the 3-0 final. Stephan Fabiilli made 30 saves for the Griffs in the shutout.

Mercyhurst hosted the Hamot Hockey Classic last weekend, with Canadian schools Windsor and Waterloo joining CHA member Findlay and the hosts. In Friday’s nightcap, Mercyhurst outshot visiting Windsor, 41-20, scoring once in each frame en route to the 3-1 victory.

Saturday night, the Lakers simply could not hold off the charge of Findlay and dropped the championship game, 4-3. The Lakers jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, only to watch it disappear in the second period. With the game tied at three in the third, Findlay scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal to win the game with just under seven minutes remaining.

In exhibition action, UConn rolled past Royal Military Academy of Canada, 6-1, Sacred heart fell to McGill, 4-1, and Holy Cross defeated Royal Military, 4-2.

Looking Ahead

This week, the MAAC opens its second season of play in the same place as its inaugural season. Iona and Quinnipiac will face off at the Q-Cup tournament in New Haven, Conn., on Friday night at 5:00. Later that evening, the Q-Cup will debut Fairfield first-year coach Mark Dennehy as the Stags face Army in a non-league matchup at 8:00.

Meanwhile, Canisius and UConn travel to Orono to participate in the J.C. Penney Classic, hosted by defending national champion Maine. The two MAAC clubs tangle in the opener at 4:00, while Maine will face Canadian club New Brunswick in the nightcap. The pairing all but guarantees a contest between Maine and a MAAC school, which will provide another interesting test for the young league.

In other non-league action, Mercyhurst travels to Alabama-Huntsville for a pair, while Holy Cross will host Air Force for two games.

Poliquin Picks Up Where He Left Off

Chad Poliquin, the leading scorer for Quinnipiac last season, started the 1999-2000 season right where he left off. The junior forward, who finished the 1998-99 campaign with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists), registered three goals and three assists at the ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff Classic. Four of Poliquin’s six points came on the power play, which scored four goals in 12 attempts in the two-game series for the Braves.

Equally as impressive for the Braves was the fact that 13 different players registered points in the two-game series. This suggests that Quinnipiac will again win many games not simply because of their firepower, but also because of the club’s balance.

Elsewhere in the league, Paul Cavanaugh and Chris Fattey showed why they may be one of the toughest one-two combos up front for Holy Cross. In one minute and 14 seconds last Friday night, the two connected for two goals against Merrimack, cutting a 3-0 deficit to 3-2. Cavanaugh was fortunate to be on the receiving end of both plays, beating Warrior goaltender Tom Welby with a rebound goal in front and an artistic finishing move to a 2-on-1 for his second goal.

MAAC Continues Radio Deal With Broadcast.com

Webcaster broadcast.com will once again provide the MAAC Hockey League Game of the Week over the Internet this season, in a package of 17 league games including the 2000 Easton/MAAC Hockey League Championship. The duo of Jason Patton and Tony Piscotta return for their second season of broadcasting MAAC Hockey.

Fans around the world can access the games by turning on their computer and going to http://www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/maac/hockey/. A complete listing of games is available at that site. Listeners will need the RealPlayer software to hear the games; it is available on the broadcast.com site free of charge.

ECAC Names Hagwell To Head Ice Hockey Operations

By
-

Wednesday the ECAC named assistant commissioner of public relations Steve Hagwell as the new head of ECAC ice hockey.

Hagwell, hired this past summer from the NCAA to oversee the public-relations arm of the ECAC, takes over for Jeff Fanter, who resigned Oct. 4.

In his new position, Hagwell becomes assistant ECAC commissioner, and will oversee all of the league’s ice hockey operations in addition to maintaining some of his duties in the public-relations wing. The ECAC, like the MAAC but unlike the CCHA, WCHA, College Hockey America and Hockey East, is a multisport conference with all sports reporting to league commissioner Phil Buttafuoco.

“I’m excited,” said Hagwell. “I love the game, I was never a great player, [but] I watched it growing up and I worked with it at the NCAA. I know a lot of the officials, the coaches and it’s a great community. Everyone I have dealt with in hockey has been a pleasure.”

The plan for the ECAC now includes hiring a director of publicity to take over some of Hagwell’s public-relations duties while he concentrates on the operations side of ice hockey. In addition, Buttafuoco will also play a role in the governing of ice hockey.

“There will be a shift,” Hagwell said. “Phil has interest in the sport and I do too. It will be a team effort which will benefit the sport in the long run. To have all the knowledge with just one person is not beneficial. Not that I don’t want to be involved in every aspect, but if you have a number of individuals involved to tackle all of the issues, of which the ECAC has many, it would be more beneficial.”

The role that the new director of public relations will take in ice hockey will depend on a few things, among them the interest in ice hockey. In the meantime, Hagwell will continue in the public-relations role as well.

“Given that we don’t know who person X is, that will be my primary task, as it was Jeff’s,” said Hagwell.

The short time frame between Fanter’s resignation and the season beginning is definitely on Hagwell’s mind.

“I certainly won’t let things slide,” said Hagwell on the timeline. “If nothing else, with this transition that is happening now, it’s to keep the high level that Jeff had in place.”

As for the future of ECAC ice hockey, Hagwell has a plan.

“I’ve got to sit down and take a hard look at what the job entails,” he said. “Jeff’s announcement came two weeks ago and I’m still doing the job that I currently, do and that’s taking up a lot of my time.

“As to what changes are going to be made, it’s a little premature to be saying that. … Everyone is different and everyone’s personality is different and I am sure that I will have different ideas than Jeff because we are different people. But I could never work harder than Jeff.”

ECAC Commissioner To Be Named This Week

By
-

The ECAC will name a new person to head up the league’s ice hockey operations sometime within the next few days, conference officials say.

“With respect to the position, we’ll probably have an announcement on Monday or Tuesday of this week,” confirmed ECAC Commissioner Phil Buttafuoco. “We needed to make a decision quickly and we had a lot of great people show interest in the position which I was very pleased with. I think that the ECAC fans and the hockey community will be very happy as we move forward in the future.”

It is unclear what the position will entail, as many of the duties of outgoing ECAC Director of Ice Hockey Operations Jeff Fanter may not be carried over to the new hire’s responsibilities.

“We’re working on how to structure things internally,” said Buttafuoco. “To have a person on the ice hockey side of things and myself for the administrative side and Doug Loughrey from the marketing side, you’ll see us get more of the ECAC staff involved in the operation of hockey.”

Buttafuoco declined to identify candidates for the position, but there is speculation that Steve Hagwell, the ECAC’s Assistant Commissioner of Public Relations, will step into the role.

This Week in the MAAC: October 13, 1999

By
-

Showtime!

Since the first announcement of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s existence, people around the college hockey circles have questioned, "Can this league compete?" By the end of last year’s inaugural season, folks bellowed that question even louder as four teams, Quinnipiac, Holy Cross, UConn and Canisius, were all under consideration for the NCAA tournament.

But for the first season of the MAAC, the only Division I non-league opponents that appeared on member teams’ schedules were Air Force, Army, and Niagara. There were no games schedule against next-door neighbor conferences Hockey East and ECAC, so most people, including some members of the NCAA selection committee, felt that the league was untested.

And rightfully so. But beginning this weekend, all of that changes, as two of the league’s top clubs — defending tournament champion Holy Cross and defending regular season champion Quinnipiac — play non-league games against established Division I programs. On Friday night, Holy Cross will take on an always-improving Merrimack College from Hockey East, and Saturday night, Quinnipiac faces off against longtime ECAC powerhouse Rensselaer.

When asked about the matchup with Merrimack, Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl downplayed the game.

"I don’t think this game really means too much," said Pearl. "Win or lose, it’s just another game — it’s not a playoff game."

Pearl, as most of the coaches in the league do, realizes that some will use these games as a measuring stick. But this early-season matchup, Pearl feels, isn’t a good way to judge the team or the conference.

"We’re just trying to get familiar with each other," Pearl said. "We’ve got so many new players we’re simply trying to teach them the system. At the same time we’re trying to get in shape and at the same time trying to win a game.

"Maybe that’s a lot to do in just 14 days, but we’re ready to go out and do our best."

Hopefully the "best" for the league’s first two ambassadors will start earning the MAAC whatever respect it is due.

MAAC Notes

Quinnipiac and Mercyhurst begin a two-week span in which six of the MAAC team will participate in invitational tournaments. The Braves travel to Albany, N.Y., to join Niagara, Boston University, and host RPI in the ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff…Mercyhurst, meanwhile, will host the Hamot Hockey Classic, bringing in Canadian schools Windsor and Waterloo, and Findlay from the newborn College Hockey America…Next weekend, MAAC members Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Iona join Army in the Quinnipiac Cup in New Haven, Conn., while UConn and Canisius will face off in Orono, Maine, with the winner playing either Maine or New Brunswick for the J.C. Penney tourney championship…Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin begins his first season in the MAAC just 13 wins shy of 200. He can only add to that total this weekend if his team faces Findlay in the finals of the Hamot Classic, as games against Canadian universities do not count toward career coaching totals…Canisius College is the only MAAC club with any type of game under its belt — a 6-3 exhibition victory over Brock University last Saturday…The Ice Griffs host first-year program Wayne State this weekend, marking the first game between MAAC and CHA clubs.

This Week in the WCHA: October 13, 1999

By
-

Denver’s Dream Home Opens

You can tell the athletics department at the University of Denver has been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.

On the cover of last season’s hockey media guide, where the school most often showcases its premier player or group of players, Denver had a picture of construction workers with an inset of star player Paul Comrie. Not that the Pioneers’ hockey program was under construction, but that the school was building its dream home.

Its doors open for real this weekend. The Pioneers host the Ice Breaker Cup at the new Magness Arena, part of the Daniel L. Ritchie Sports and Wellness Center. And while the Pioneers have already played an exhibition game at the new arena — an unadvertised event that drew 4,000 people to the 6,500-seat facility — this is the true grand opening.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time, for a couple of reasons. First, the Pioneers are coming off a great season, one which saw them beat North Dakota for the WCHA Final Five championship and make a trip to the NCAA tournament.

But more importantly, it means DU has a place to call home again. Since the DU Arena was leveled after the 1996-97 season, the Pioneers have played "home" games at four venues — McNichols Arena, the Denver Coliseum, Cadet Arena at the Air Force Academy and the Colorado Springs World Arena, home of Colorado College.

"Not only is it exciting, but it’s probably a relief as well to be back on campus, not only for our players, but for our staff as well," DU coach George Gwozdecky said, singling out the team’s equipment managers, who had to keep all the equipment in order while figuring out where it had to go each week.

"They’ve come through it tremendously. Our people work extremely hard and this is a nice little reward to be back on campus here."

Being back on campus shouldn’t be underestimated. The typical college student probably isn’t able to follow the team to the Air Force Academy or Colorado Springs. For that matter, if they don’t have a car, it’s tough to get to any games if they’re not on campus.

And having games on campus isn’t a new subject in the WCHA. Last season, Wisconsin opened the Kohl Center for hockey, a move from the Dane County Coliseum — two miles from campus — to a building on the east edge of the campus. Student season-ticket sales soared.

The same kind of thing is happening in Denver, where Gwozdecky reports that roughly 30 percent of the student body has bought season tickets for this year.

"We’ve always had a great student following," Gwozdecky said. "In the old building we had that south section that was called the bleacher creatures. They created a lot of the energy and a lot of the enthusiasm for the atmosphere in the building.

"You miss that when you move off-campus because students, it’s much more difficult for them to get to games, whether they’re in the city or outside the city. For us, it was extremely difficult. We did have a certain section of the student body that did follow us, but nothing like what we had experienced on campus."

Magness Arena should also give Denver a step up on some other schools in the recruiting game. It’s like giving a child a choice between a shiny new fire engine and an old, beat-up one.

"The new building is going to affect recruiting in a very positive way," Gwozdecky said. "I think it’s affected it in a certain way over the last year or so, but now that it’s actually open, it’ll have a very pronounced effect, a very positive pronounced effect during the recruiting year we’re going through now."

One question raised by the opening of the building is, in a city as big as Denver, will anyone notice it? Especially with the coincidental opening of the Pepsi Center, the new arena for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the opening of the Ritchie Center may not make the front page of the papers.

But that doesn’t seem to concern Gwozdecky all too much. He makes the claim that being in a metropolitan area like Denver or Minneapolis isn’t exactly like trying to make a name for yourself in Houghton, Duluth, St. Cloud or other smaller league cities.

"The city of Denver has a million people plus, so there’s a lot of demand for the entertainment dollar," he said. "You’ve got four major sports, you’ve got (University of Colorado) football. That’s life in the big city. Is it taking any luster away from us? I don’t think so.

"I think every entertainment venture, every sport, deals with this in this city. I think the same with Minneapolis, you have that same challenge. I don’t perceive it as taking any luster away from our building. Everybody has their own niche in this city. We’ve had a great following, our season tickets are nearing an all-time high and people are very excited about Pioneer hockey.

"We’re proud to be part of a city that has so many great opportunities for the entertainment of the public. And obviously, I think it’s a great recruiting advantage for a lot of people. Kids will have an opportunity to go watch the Avalanche, and go watch the Nuggets and the Broncos (NFL) and the Rockies (baseball). Other than Minneapolis, we’re the only city in the league that has that. There’s very few schools in this country that have that opportunity to watch major professional sports right off your campus."

The school doesn’t just have the opening of Magness Arena to celebrate this weekend. This season marks the 50th anniversary of DU hockey, and between games on Saturday, there will be a ceremony honoring some of the former players and the championship teams.

Plus, the team will play under its new logo, colors and uniforms for the first time. They’re still the Pioneers, but colors have changed slightly and the red-tailed hawk is the new mascot.

One would think after a year like the Pioneers just had, changing things would be the last thing to do. Gwozdecky doesn’t see it that way at all.

"I don’t think colors or uniforms or mascots or logos has any effect on when that puck drops," he said. "There’s no question that our team, especially the players returning, are very aware of what they accomplished last season, especially the second half. They realize the standard has been set high again and they’re shooting for the moon again."

They may be shooting for the moon, but the sun is just now dawning on a new era for the University of Denver.

A Good First Impression

A coach’s first win is always important. But Colorado College’s Scott Owens’ first win was important for more reasons than you’d think.

Following one of the most successful coaches in the history of the program is not an easy thing to do. Just ask Jim Nahrgang.

Nahrgang had to follow in the shadow of John MacInnes, the greatest coach in Michigan Tech history and one of the all-time best. MacInnes won 555 games in 26 years as coach of the Huskies. His teams won three NCAA titles, and he was named the national coach of the year twice.

Nahrgang lasted three years in Houghton, starting in 1982 with a respectable 20-12 record, but ending with eight straight losses and a 13-20-1 record in the 1984-85 season that prompted his resignation.

Getting back to Owens, though. Don Lucia left him a lot to work with at Colorado College. He has a talented group of players to work with, players with enough experience to take them far.

Owens, though, has to come in and make it look like nothing changed. That’s a task in itself. CC had one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent memory when he came to Colorado Springs in 1993, from a doormat to a perennial top-10 team.

The Tigers looked impressive in a 4-1 win over Michigan State in the Hall of Fame game last weekend. That might be exactly what everyone connected with the CC program was hoping for. This is Owens’ first collegiate head coaching job, and for him to be as successful as Lucia, he needs to keep winning those games against non-conference opponents.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that the Tigers got a little bit of payback against the Spartans, who came back with two goals in the last two minutes to knock the Tigers out of the NCAA tournament last year, in what proved to be Lucia’s last game with the Tigers.

One win made a lot of people believe Owens’ team will pick up right where Lucia’s team left off. And that’s not a bad place to be.

Huskies History

Things haven’t looked great for Michigan Tech in the past few years, but it’s been a heck of a long time since things have been this bad at the start for the Huskies.

MTU dropped a pair to Northern Michigan last weekend, 9-0 and 3-0. That marks the first time the Huskies have been shut out in their first two games since 1931. And those games were a little closer — a 2-0 loss to Marquette on Jan. 1, 1931, and a 2-0 loss to American Soo 11 days later.

Needless to say, there probably aren’t too many people in Houghton talking about how they remember the last time that happened.

The 9-0 decision last weekend was Tech’s second consecutive shutout in Marquette, Mich., having lost there in 1998 as well.

Michigan Tech has only been shut out on three straight occasions twice since the debut of the program in 1920. The first was during the 1928-29 season, when a 2-8-3 team dropped four straight in the middle of the year — a loss to the Marquette Owls, two to Minnesota and another to Eveleth.

The second was, again, the 1930 season, when the Huskies followed those opening two losses with three straight shutouts later in the season — one to the Houghton Wolves and two to Minnesota.

How’s that for dusting off the history books?

The Huskies open WCHA play this weekend at Wisconsin, trying to get some goals on the board to avoid another trip deep into the Michigan Tech annals. This is one category this year’s players don’t want to be associated with.

This Week in the ECAC: October 13, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
-

Fanter Leaves The ECAC

The ECAC has been a whirlwind of activity over the last week and a half, preparing for the first-ever ECAC Faceoff Classic to be held this weekend at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., and also looking to fill the shoes of an ice hockey Director of Operations.

ECAC ice hockey’s head man, Jeff Fanter, resigned his position on Oct. 4, leaving a vacancy at the top as the league enters the 1999-2000 season.

Fanter stepped down last week to take a position in the athletic communications department at Indiana University, his alma mater. Before Fanter came to the ECAC, he was assistant director of media relations/publications at the Bloomington campus.

Over the course of two years at the helm, one of Fanter’s main accomplishments was guiding the league towards a more technology-friendly attitude, developing a comprehensive website and methods to log statistics and assignments via the Internet.

As for the new big cheese, there haven’t been many names bantered about. According to one source, the hockey operation will be handled by the entire ECAC staff until a suitable replacement will be found.

The ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff Classic

This season a new tournament is on the calendar as the ECAC, the Crowne Plaza and the city of Albany host the inaugural Faceoff Classic at the Pepsi Arena, also the site of the 2000 East Regionals and the 2001 Frozen Four.

Rensselaer will serve as the host team for the tournament, and will therefore become the first ECAC team to see action this season. The others in the tournament are Boston University, Quinnipiac and Niagara.

"The ECAC is pleased to provide an opportunity for these four teams to participate in this exempted contest," said ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco. "The teams and the fans will be able to enjoy the site of upcoming exciting NCAA action at the Pepsi Arena."

The tournament will not be a standard elimination tournament but rather a points contest. A team is awarded two points for a win and one point for a tie, and the team with the most points takes the title. If there are two teams with the same number of points, the tie is broken by the number of periods won over the two games. It should be interesting to see how this pans out.

Assuming a successful debut, whether this tourney will remain in Albany or rotate to other cities remains to be seen. If the tournament were to be held in Albany next year, it could lead to a long line of applicants who would want to play on the ice that will host the Frozen Four later in the season.

Hopefully this year’s edition of an ECAC-sponsored tournament will fare better than last year’s ill-fated ECAC/Hockey East Holiday Hockey Doubleheader.

Union And The Ice Breaker

Out in Denver this weekend, Jeff Sproat and his Union Dutchmen are the ECAC representative in the third annual Ice Breaker Cup, a tournament that in the two years of its existence has not been kind to the league.

Clarkson lost twice in the inaugural tournament and last year St. Lawrence won in the first round but dropped the decision in the championship game to Boston College. This year should prove to be even tougher for Union.

The Dutchmen take on host Denver in the first round, then follow up with either Providence or Notre Dame. All three teams received votes in U.S. College Hockey Online’s preseason poll, with Denver pulling in the tenth position.

"You can’t turn down an opportunity like this," said head coach Kevin Sneddon on facing off against three of the top teams in the nation. "We haven’t been involved in any kind of tournament of this caliber at Union College.

"It certainly will be a great test from a couple of perspectives. It’s a great team-building thing, to see how we fare, and a trip this early will certainly help gel the team.

"We feel we can compete with any team."

Next season’s Ice Breaker is scheduled to be held at Michigan’s Yost Ice Arena, with the ECAC invitee to be determined.

Two More Take To The Ice

Both Colgate and Vermont hit the rinks this weekend to open up their seasons. The Red Raiders host UMass-Amherst on Saturday evening, coming off a year in which the Red Raiders only lost one home game — an overtime decision back in December.

The Cats, meanwhile, will travel to take on New Hampshire with head coach Mike Gilligan sitting 16 wins away from the 400 mark as a head coach, and 15 away from the 300-win plateau as Vermont’s skipper.

Two More Shots from Jayson

Let’s look at it this way: Atlanta has just started their season as an expansion franchise in the NHL, and the Flames are long gone. With apologies to Alabama-Huntsville and our good friend Jon Barkan, the south just isn’t a hockey hotbed yet, so there’s no reason for any hockey fan to root for the Braves in this year’s National League Championship Series.

So, if y’all will stand behind me and root for my beloved Metropolitans, I would appreciate it. So we’re down 2-0 and Rocker looks unstoppable, but weirder things have happened.

Oh yes, let’s not forget that as a Metropolitan fan and devout Yankee hater, I stand by the adage, "An enemy of yours is a friend of mine." That being said…

Go Sox!

This Week in the CCHA: October 13, 1999

By
-

Calling Dr. Kildare…

Stop the presses! Hold all tickets!

With one week of official play on the books, the CCHA looks a bit different than it did just ten days ago.

When Josh Blackburn slipped on a Buckeye–at least according to the Michigan daily student paper–and tore ligaments in his left foot, Michigan’s defense took yet another beating and chances for early-season Wolverine success decreased materially.

When Jason Deskins tore an ACL last weekend, my personal favorite for the league scoring title took an early and permanent exit from this season’s action.

Wolverines undone by Buckeyes. RedHawks down two key players, with the loss of defender Jake Ortmeyer as well.

If you’re a Falcon or Buckeye fan, you just got a whole lot happier for your team’s chances in your cluster, didn’t you? Didn’t you?

With things shaken up so early in the season, it seems like the perfect time to speculate a little about who’s going to do what in the year ahead.

Top Netminders

With the Michigan Blackburn out indefinitely and the Michigan State Blackburn the top returning goaltender, it would be safe to say that Joe Blackburn is poised to claim the best stats again this season.

But early-season speculation has it that he may have to work a little harder this season in net, so he’s by no means a lock for first-team all-CCHA.

Who, other than his Michigan namesake, can challenge the Spartan netminder for league glory? Well, Ferris State’s Vince Owen for one. In 28 league games last season, Owen posted a 2.37 goals-against average with a .914 save percentage, making him the second most valuable free-agent goalie in the league, according to many scouts.

Another goalie to watch–in spite of the naysaying around the league–is Ohio State’s Ray Aho. Don’t let Aho’s small stature fool you; he has catlike reflexes and a lightning-quick glove hand. And he’s been waiting for three years for this chance.

Another to watch is Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Kimento. I just like this kid’s presence in net, and if his confidence increases, he’ll be a contender.

Top Scorers

Only a fool would think that Northern Michigan’s J.P. Vigier is an early-season flash. Vigier has five goals in overall play already, in front of a high-powered offense that may tear up the league. With linemate Roger Trudeau feeding him pucks, Vigier may be the top goal-scorer when all is said and done, and these two may be competing for the conference scoring title a la Dan Price and Adam Edinger last year.

Other obvious guesses for to scorer include Bowling Green’s Edinger, Wolverines Mike Comrie and Josh Langfeld, Spartans Shawn Horcoff, Rusty Dolyny, and Adam Hall, Buckeye Eric Meloche, and Notre Dame’s Ben Simon.

A few other, less-obvious candidates include Ferris State’s Kevin Swider, Miami’s fast-flying, net-crashing Mark Shalawylo, Bowling Green’s Chris Bonvie, Notre Dame’s David Inman, and–going way out on a limb here–Buckeye defender Andre Signoretti.

Any way you look at it, scoring in the league is bound to be down compared with other conferences with the losses of Mike York, Dan Price, Hugo Boisvert, and Aniket Dhadphale–and now Deskins.

CCHA Game(s) of the Week

Michigan State (0-1-0, 0-0-0 CCHA) at Nebraska-Omaha (0-0-0, 0-0-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7:05 p.m. CT, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE

Says Mike Kemp, head coach of the UNO Mavericks, "Stepping into the CCHA is going to be a whole different bag for this program. You have perennial ‘haves’ and then you have everybody else, because that’s where we’re starting."

And the Mavs are starting against the defending regular-season champions, a perennial ‘have’ that beat them twice last season in Munn Ice Arena.

Welcome to the league, Nebraska-Omaha.

Last weekend the Mavericks beat Manitoba 5-3 in exhibition play. The good news for UNO is that five different players tallied: Nick Fohr, Jason White, Shane Glover, James Chalmers, and Dave Noel-Bernier.

The Spartans began the season with a 4-1 loss to Colorado College, in which Sean Patchell scored the lone goal. The Spartans allowed three goals on nine power plays while going 0-for-8 themselves–not exactly up to last season’s form.

Joe Blackburn and rookie Ryan Miller split time in net. Blackburn saved 15 of 18 shots he faced, while Miller turned away 13 of 14.

"We started the game flat-footed, which was something I had worried about with the big ice and the altitude," said Michigan State head coach Ron Mason. "To their credit they came out flying and took advantage. The first period really was the difference, although we played better from the second period on."

The Spartans are not taking the Mavericks for granted in this league-opening series. Last year, Michigan State beat Nebraska-Omaha in two tough games at Munn Ice Arena, 2-0 and 3-1, the first games UNO played against CCHA opponents.

"This is a dangerous series," says Mason, "because we know how much energy there will be in Omaha this weekend. They have a great fan base and I’m sure they will be ready for their first CCHA series.

"They gave us two hard-fought games last year in Munn. I expect an even tougher challenge this weekend."

Yes, the Mavericks will be pumped and these Spartans may not look like the Green and White of a year ago. But Michigan State has not suffered back-to-back losses since the end of the 1996-97 season, and are 10-0-1 following a loss in the last two years.

The sheer adrenaline of the opening weekend could very well give the Mavericks some points, probably in the second game. Look for Miller to see time in goal again.

Picks: Michigan State 4-2, Nebraska-Omaha 4-2

CCHA Grudge of the Week

Western Michigan (0-1-1, 0-1-1 CCHA) at Ohio State (2-1-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., The Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH

You want bad blood? The last time Western Michigan visited the Schott, Ohio State walked away with four points, a 3-1 win and an 8-0 pounding that led to the firing of Bill Wilkinson.

And Eric Meloche literally lost a bit of blood Friday night, at the hands of Mark Wilkinson.

The Broncos dominated this series in the mid-90s, when the fortunes of the two teams seemed reversed. But the Buckeyes haven’t lost to Western since November 1997, and are 4-1-1 against the Broncos in the past two years.

Western Michigan tied Miami, 3-3, then lost to the RedHawks, 3-2, both games at home. The good news for Western is that the Broncos are generating more shots on goal than in recent memory, putting 45 of them on net in the series opener.

That could, therefore, be bad news for the Buckeyes, who allowed a bucketful of shots against Alaska-Fairbanks last weekend when they split 4-2 and 5-1 on the road.

The team that keeps its head will prevail in this series, and that could also be bad news for the Buckeyes, who couldn’t stay out of the box in Alaska.

This is a test for Ohio State, but being home is a real advantage in this series.

Picks: Ohio State 4-2, 5-2

Along the Boards

Alaska-Fairbanks

Streak: One win.

Congratulations to Guy Gadowsky on his first win as Nanook head coach. UAF split last week with Ohio State, losing 4-2 and winning 5-1. Sjon Wynia had the game winner for the Nanooks, his first goal of the season and his eighth career game-winning goal. Wynia leads all active Nanooks in scoring with 78 points.

Rookie goaltender Lance Mayes stopped 43 of 47 Buckeye shots on goal for the weekend, and ended the series with a 2.01 GAA and .915 save percentage.

Bowling Green

Streak: One win.

The Falcons beat the University of Toronto 7-2 in an exhibition game last weekend, outshooting Toronto 45-11. Adam Edinger had a hat trick, and the Falcons converted on three their 12 power plays. Edinger needs one point to become the 64th player in BGSU history to reach 100 points.

Rookie netminder Tyler Masters earned the win, making nine saves.

Ferris State

Streak: One win.

The Bulldogs split a pair of games at Lake Superior, losing 4-3 before winning 4-3. Jim Dube had the game-winner, and rookie Chris Kunitz notched a goal and two assists in the win.

Vince Owen made 18 saves in the loss, while Phil Osaer had 26 saves in the win.

Lake Superior State

Streak: One loss.

In spite of being down six players because of suspensions, the Lakers split with Ferris State at home, losing 4-3 and winning 4-3. Trent Walford had a hat trick in the win, including the shorthanded game-winner late in the third period. Ben Keup tallied two in the series, and netminder Jayme Platt had 39 saves on the weekend.

Miami

Streak: One win.

The RedHawks suffered a major blow with the loss of Jason Deskins to a torn ACL. Sophomore defender Jake Ortmeyer will also be out for a few weeks with a sprained knee.

The good news for Miami, though, is the three points the ‘Hawks came away with after tying Western 3-3 and beating the Broncos 3-2. Senior goaltenders Ian Olsen and Andy Marsch combined to stop 69-of-74 (.932) Western shots on goal.

Michigan

Streak: Three wins.

The Wolverines are hurting defensively after losing starter Josh Blackburn to a foot injury. The injury came after Michigan beat Notre Dame 5-3 and 6-1. In Thursday’s game, Blackburn was assessed his first collegiate penalty, a two-minute roughing call for wrestling with a Notre Dame player in the crease.

Mike Comrie was named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week, not surprising after recording his first collegiate hat trick and going 4-2–6 in the series. In the hat trick, both the second and third goals were unassisted, and scored just 23 seconds apart.

Michigan State

Streak: One loss.

The Spartans lost 4-1 to Colorado College, and this could be a very good omen for Michigan State. The only other time in the team’s history that the Spartans opened a season against CC was in 1965-66, when MSU lost to the Tigers 4-0. The Spartans went on to take their first national championship that year.

Spartan Injuries: Freshman forward Pat Brush (left knee injury, out indefinitely); sophomore forward Joe Goodenow (left hip injury, out indefinitely); senior goaltender Mike Gresl (left hand fracture, out 5-7 weeks); sophomore defenseman Andrew Hutchinson (sprained right shoulder, out 7-10 days); junior left wing Damon Whitten (fractured toe, probable for this weekend).

Nebraska-Omaha

Streak: One win.

The Mavericks beat Manitoba 5-3 in exhibition play.

Nebraska-Omaha forward Kyle O’Keefe’s older brother, Kevin, was a forward for Michigan State from 1996-98. Kevin was the Spartans’ fourth-leading scorer (13-18–31) his senior year.

UNO’s roster features former Spartan Dan Zaluski, who transferred to Nebraska after the 1997-98 season. He played three career games for the Spartans (two in 1996-97 and one in 1997-98) and did not record a point.

Northern Michigan

Streak: Three wins.

The Wildcats have begun the season by beating up on two teams. Northern beat Laurentian 20-2 in an exhibition game two weeks ago, then blanked Michigan Tech twice last weekend, 9-0 and 3-0.

"I think last Saturday’s game was a good prep for us," says head coach Rick Comley. "Tech came after us physically and we kept our composure, and I was encouraged because we were willing to play in a tight game."

J.P. Vigier had five goals on the weekend, while linemate Roger Trudeau went 1-4–5.

Dan Ragusett and Duane Hoey combined for 41 saves on the weekend, giving the Wildcats their first-ever back-to-back shutouts.

Notre Dame

Streak: Two losses.

The Irish dropped a pair of games to Michigan, 5-3 and 6-1. Michigan held Notre Dame scoreless for just over 53 consecutive minutes of play between the two games, and the Irish went just 1-for-13 on the power play in the series.

Notre Dame seniors Nathan Borega and Tyson Fraser opened the 6-1 loss as the starting defensemen, marking the 67th career game that they have skated together.

Ohio State

Streak: One loss.

The Buckeyes split with UAF in Alaska, winning 4-2 before losing 5-1. The brightest spot by far for OSU last weekend was the play of senior netminder Ray Aho, who stopped 68-of-75 (.907) UAF shots on goal.

Eric Meloche notched his 100th career point Saturday night, scoring Ohio State’s only goal in the contest. Meloche is the 45th Buckeye to meet the century mark.

Saturday night is co-captain senior Ryan Jestadt’s 23rd birthday.

Western Michigan

Streak: One loss.

The Broncos generated 45 shots on Miami netminder Ian Olsen in their 3-3 tie last Friday night. Western lost to Miami 3-2 Saturday.

"I was really pleased with our effort on Friday, but on Saturday we competed for only one period, in the third," says head coach Jim Culhane. "Our team has to understand that we can’t afford any lulls during the game." The 45 shots on net were the most by a Bronco team in 36 regular-season games dating back to February, 1998.

Rookie Dave Cousineau has a last name familiar to Buckeye fans. His older brother, Dan, played for Ohio State for four years, and was captain last season.

1...1,4991,5001,501...1,536Page 1,500 of 1,536

Latest Stories from around USCHO

After four seasons in USHL, former Alaska Anchorage coach Curley tapped as new associate head coach for Alaska

USCHO Staff -

Denver to host Minnesota for 2025 U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 29 at Ball Arena

USCHO Staff -

Miami promotes Mauron from assistant to the head coach to assistant coach for RedHawks

USCHO Staff -

Alaska’s Mignone, Army West Point’s Ward leave respective benches for jobs with USHL champion Lumberjacks

USCHO Staff -

After stint in USHL, ‘huge asset’ Treviño named new assistant coach for Robert Morris men’s hockey team

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

USCHO Staff -

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

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