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Holding Their Heads High

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If points were awarded for locker-room speeches, Alaska-Anchorage coach Dean Talafous would be near the top of the country.

And it’s not because of screaming or throwing things. It’s due to his message.

Recently, Talafous revealed a bit of what he would say to his Seawolves as they prepared to face Colorado College in their last regular-season series. Keep in mind that going into the weekend, his team had a shaky hold on third place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, and probably needed at least a couple of points in the series to earn home ice in the playoffs.

Imagine you’re in the Seawolves’ locker room, and read on:

“I think the media and the fans, the standings are very important to them, and maybe even to some coaches,” Talafous said. “I’ve had teams that have won championships and I’ve had teams that have come in last. Wherever you are, I think you’re best just concentrating on the next game and getting better.

“We need to get better. We not only want to win this weekend, and we not only want to get home ice, and we not only want to get to the Final Five and everything else, but on top of all that, we’re a young program that’s trying to earn some respect and trying to move up in the college ranks.

“We don’t ever want to lose sight of that. We don’t ever want to play conservative, we don’t want to play scared, we don’t want to play unsure of ourselves or hoping to win. We want to play a fearless, aggressive, attacking, confident game. If we can’t win with it this year because we don’t have the talent, it will carry into next year with more experience and more talent. Attitude is what wins championships, and that’s why North Dakota’s doing so well. Sure, they have the talent now, but it’s the way they play the game, along with their talent, that makes them a champion.

“If I told our guys, ‘We’ve got to win, we’ve got to win,’ they’re going to play differently. It’s more important that we go out and play the same way we did Saturday against North Dakota, the same way we did against Minnesota (last) Sunday. We need to go after people and play as hard as we can and not worry, not want to win so bad that we play not to lose. We need to play with confidence and without fear.”

If you’re a 21-year old college student, words like these mean something to you. Cliches like “we need a win” are fine, but what if you don’t get the win? Is it the end of the world?

This is where Talafous knows his role. Alaska-Anchorage hockey is probably not going to consume the remainder of his players’ lives. But if he can instill a good attitude into them, he has succeeded in his job.

Sure, it doesn’t hurt that Anchorage is the feel-good story of the WCHA this season after finishing 1997-98 in the depths of last place.

But UAA is a different kind of team. The Seawolves are not going to win many shootouts. They’re not going to fare well when they take a lot of penalties.

But attitude has carried them this season.

And maybe it will carry them into the future. The Seawolves have a highly successful freshman class now, and Talafous said he is very happy with the five youngsters he has coming in next season.

“We think there’s no question that the kids that are here are going back and telling their buddies,” Talafous said. “They’re saying ‘You should come up and join us.’ We have some fun and we work hard. We get along and we play the game with class — people respect the way we play.

“It’s very unusual to see a team play with so much sportsmanship. I think it’s been lost for so long that some of us coaches have to take a stand and bring it back into the game.”

Would you expect anything less from Dean Talafous?

This Week in the CCHA: February 26, 1999

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It’s coming down to the wire, CCHA fan, just as it does every year in this tight, competitive league.

Congratulations to the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans, who clinched the regular-season CCHA title and the NCAA bid that goes with it.

Congratulations to the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes, who secured home ice for the playoffs. This marks only the second time in OSU hockey history that the Bucks have stayed home–and played–for the first round of CCHA playoff action in two consecutive years.

Congratulations to No. 8 Michigan, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ferris State. The Wolverines, Wildcats, Irish, and Bulldogs are each assured of playing in the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

And congratulations to the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. While the Nanooks will not see post-season play, they went out fighting, upsetting the top-ten Buckeyes and winning in Columbus for the first time since 1996.

Four games left. So much at stake.

With a 3-1 win over Notre Dame and a 3-1 win over No. 8 Michigan–coupled with OSU’s 3-2 loss to UAF–the Spartans clinched the league title for the second consecutive season. Michigan State now travels to Ferris State and hosts Western Michigan, each of which teams has something to play for.

While Ohio State clinched home ice, where the Buckeyes will finish is still by no means set. After splitting last weekend–defeating Ferris State 4-1 but losing 3-2 to Alaska-Fairbanks–OSU needed help from Michigan, and got it. When Michigan lost, Ohio State was guaranteed a league finish no lower than fourth.

There are, however, four other teams within striking distance of a top-four finish.

Ohio State has 37 points, four more than the Michigan Wolverines. But Ohio State is idle this weekend, and the Wolverines, Wildcats, and Irish each have two more games to play–with four more possible points–than do the Buckeyes.

OSU has the tiebreaker over Michigan, Northern Michigan, and Notre Dame. Ferris State is in sixth place and capable of a top-four finish, but cannot catch Ohio State.

With 33 points, the No. 8 Wolverines are in second place. Michigan’s slump continues: the Wolverines tied Western Michigan 5-5 last weekend before Michigan lost to Michigan State 3-1. Michigan hosts the red-hot RedHawks twice this weekend.

The Wolverines and the Wildcats have yet to play their last game of the season, and their season series is tied. Michigan and Notre Dame tied this season (1-1-1), and the Wolverines have the tiebreaker over Ferris State (2-1-0).

Northern Michigan climbed to fourth place with three points last weekend, tying Lake Superior State 2-2 before blanking the Lakers 4-0. Northern has 30 points, and a very slim hold on fourth place. It is possible for Notre Dame, Ferris State, and Bowling Green to overtake the Wildcats.

Northern and Notre Dame tied the first time they met this season, and the two teams will square off for two games in South Bend this weekend. Both Ferris State and Bowling Green hold tiebreakers over the Wildcats, with each team posting a 2-1-0 record against Northern this season.

The Irish dropped a pair of games last weekend, 3-1 to Michigan State and 5-1 to Bowling Green. Notre Dame is one point ahead of Ferris State, but the Bulldogs own that season series, 2-1-0. The Irish are six points ahead of Bowling Green and own that tiebreaker, 2-1-0.

The sixth-place Bulldogs lost 4-1 to Ohio State and 2-1 to Miami (OT) last weekend. With 28 points, Ferris State is still fighting for a top-four finish. The Bulldogs will have a tough time making progress toward that goal this weekend as they host Michigan State and Bowling Green.

The Falcons helped their own cause last weekend by beating Notre Dame 5-1. It is mathematically possible for eighth-place Miami, ninth-place Lake Superior, and tenth-place Western Michigan to overtake Bowling Green–but it’s extremely unlikely. With 23 points, BG can catch Ferris State, Northern Michigan, and Notre Dame.

BG has the 1-0-1 edge against Ferris State so far this season, and is tied (1-1-0) so far with Western Michigan. The Falcons are 2-0-1 against Miami on the season. This weekend, Bowling Green travels to Western and Ferris State before heading to Columbus on Tuesday.

With 20 points, the RedHawks hold on to that coveted eighth place. Miami took a pair of games last weekend, beating Alaska-Fairbanks 4-3 and Ferris State 2-1 (OT). The ‘Hawks can catch Bowling Green, but they’ll be hard-pressed to do so with two games in Ann Arbor this weekend.

Both Lake Superior State (17 points) and Western Michigan (16 points) will try to push ahead of Miami in their four remaining regular-season games. The Lakers took a point from the Wildcats last weekend, tying 2-2 before losing 4-0, and the Broncos tied Michigan 5-5.

Miami has the tiebreaker over Lake (2-1-0) but not over Western, which have the season series two games to one.

The Lakers have defeated and tied the Broncos, and one game remains in their season series.

This weekend, Lake Superior travels to Alaska-Fairbanks for two games. The Nanooks will try to play spoiler after losing 4-3 to Miami last weekend and upsetting Ohio State 3-2.

The Broncos host Bowling Green and travel to Michigan State.

Last week’s record in picks: 5-5 Overall record in picks: 98-76

Northern Michigan (18-10-4, 13-9-4 CCHA) at Notre Dame (16-11-4, 13-10-3 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce Center, South Bend, IN

Last weekend, Notre Dame lost 3-1 to No. 2 Michigan State and 5-1 to Bowling Green. "We didn’t play well defensively Saturday," says Irish head coach Dave Poulin. "We looked okay even strength."

The Irish have lost four in a row and, in the past 13 periods of play, have scored twice on 134 shots. During that span, Notre Dame went scoreless for over 200 minutes (92 shots) of hockey.

The Irish power play is 0-for-25 in the past four games. For a team that was once leading the conference in scoring, this is a bit surprising.

"It’s something everyone goes through," says Poulin. "Let’s just hope that it’s coming at the right time for us."

Andy Jurkowski (1-1–2) and David Inman (6-6–12) are the two Notre Dame players to most recently light the lamp. Ben Simon (14-18–32), Brian Urick (11-18–29), and Aniket Dhadphale (12-9–21) lead the Irish in scoring, and despite the scoring slump comprise one of the most dangerous lines in college hockey. Simon is fourth among league scorers.

Irish netminder Forrest Karr (2.12 GAA, .911 SV%) has the third-best goals-against average in the conference, and the fifth-best save percentage.

Poulin says that he expects his team to be up for the two games against Northern Michigan this weekend. "If you’re a hockey player, you want to play for it this time of year. And it’s seniors’ weekend and parents’ weekend, so it will be emotional."

Notre Dame can say goodbye to home ice if it can’t find some offense against Northern Michigan, a team that rarely has a problem finding the net. Last weekend, six different Wildcats scored in Northern Michigan’s 2-2 tie with Lake and the 4-0 win over the Lakers.

Buddy Smith (4-25–29), Tyson Holly (7-5–12), Mike Sandbeck (2-1–3), Ryan Riipi (2-2–4), Roger Trudeau (12-8–20), and Brad Frattaroli (5-5–10) accounted for those six goals. Smith, J.P. Vigier (17-3–20), and Trudeau are the top three scorers for the Wildcats; Vigier is tied for fifth among conference scorers.

Dan Ragusett (2.30 GAA, .912 SV%) saved 49 shots in the two games. His save percentage puts him just in front of Forrest Karr.

Picks

On Jan. 22, Notre Dame tied Northern Michigan 3-3 in Marquette, in a game in which the Irish held a 3-1 lead going into the final five minutes of regulation. Lee Ruff (1-3–4) and Fred Mattersdorfer (6-8–14) scored late in the third to send it into overtime.

The Wildcats lead this all-time series 6-3-1, but are 0-3-1 against the Irish since rejoining the CCHA.

Wildcat head coach Rick Comley says, "It certainly is a critical series for both teams, and I’m sure there will be an almost playoff-like atmosphere to the two games. Notre Dame has been struggling to score goals as of late, but they do have a lot of offensive firepower and we will have to play very well defensively if we’re going to be successful."

Staying out of the penalty box will be important for the Wildcats as well. Even though the Irish have been slumping, if that power play gets going, watch out. Notre Dame has slipped from the top spot in league power-play performance, but even with the recent slump, the numbers say Notre Dame converts nearly 20 percent of the time.

There’s a lot riding on this one, but this weekend may not actually decide who’s at home at the end of the season and who travels. This may, however, be a trailer for upcoming attractions.

Northern Michigan 4-2; Notre Dame 4-3

Miami (10-17-5, 8-14-4 CCHA) at No. 8 Michigan (17-9-6, 14-7-5 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

Congratulations to Jason Deskins, who became the league’s only four-time Offensive Player of the Week this season with his performance in the red-hot RedHawks’ 4-3 win over UAF and 2-1 overtime win over Ferris State. The sophomore had the game-winners in each contest, and was 3-1–4 on the weekend.

Deskins (16-10–26) is part of one of the most productive lines in the CCHA. Since Dec. 27, the line of Deskins, Mark Shalawylo (11-14–25), and Pat Leahy (7-13–20) has combined for 28 of Miami’s 39 goals, and 59 of the RedHawks’ 100 points. Miami was 2-10-3 in the CCHA before this trio was formed, but 6-4-1 since.

This line knows how to step it up late in the game, as well. Shalawylo has six third-period goals, Deskins has nine and Leahy has one. Deskins and Shalawylo each have three game-winning goals.

Also helping the Miami cause is junior goaltender Andy Marsch (3.13 GAA, .895 SV%), who has six wins in 11 starts.

"We’re in this thing," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni, "but we’re still a little up and down. We’ve had real good goaltending in the last few months. And that one line has been playing so, so well."

The RedHawks travel to face the ailing Wolverines, who haven’t had a win in nine games.

"We’re playing better," says Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "We don’t have much to show for it of late."

Michigan tied with Western 5-5 last weekend before losing 3-1 to Michigan State. The Wolverines were up 5-2 going into the third period against the Broncos, but allowed three unanswered goals to tie the game.

Josh Langfeld (14-8–22) had two goals in the Western game; Bubba Berenzweig (4-14–18), Justin Clark (2-1–3), Sean Peach (1-6–7) had the other goals against the Broncos, and Scott Matzka (3-9–12) dented twine in the game against the Spartans.

Langfeld’s two goals gave him the lead in that category for the Wolverines, marking the first time this season that someone other than Mike Comrie (10-16–26) has led the team in goals scored.

Like the Irish, the Wolverines are in a scoring slump. "We’ve given up too many goals and we’re not scoring. Josh Langfeld has been scoring, but he really hasn’t come into his own yet."

Berenson says that the Wolverines played a good game against the Spartans, and that his team really has nothing to be down about. "It’s not a matter of being discouraged. It’s a matter of motivation. It’s not like we’re in last place.

"We haven’t won for a while. Are we playing well? Yes. Are we playing hard? Yes. Are we scoring? No."

Picks

Mazzoleni says that Michigan has an advantage playing at home. "This is going to be a tremendous challenge for our team. Everyone knows how good they are at home. The crowd will sense that they need a pick-up, and we’ll see how we respond."

The crowd will have plenty to cheer for, as the Wolverines say goodbye to their seven-man senior class of Berenzweig, Clark, Greg Crozier, Greg Daddario, Bobby Hayes, Sean Ritchlin, and Dale Rominski.

Miami comes in with a three-game win streak, and a 4-1-0 record in February. The Wolverines are 0-3-2 in February, and are 4-6-4 in 1999, winless in their last eight games.

The last time the Wolverines went winless in a month was February, 1986. And, incidentally, the loss to Michigan State last weekend means that Michigan will have fewer than 30 wins in a season for the first time since the 1989-90 season.

Miami is the league’s least-penalized team, and Michigan is the league’s most-penalized team. Miami’s power play isn’t anything to write home about, converting at just 11.9 percent, but with an 86 percent success rate, the Wolverine penalty kill isn’t all that great, either. Penalties have cost the Wolverines dearly; Michigan allowed three power-play goals in the game against Western Michigan.

On Dec. 4, Michigan won 1-0 in Oxford when Sean Ritchlin scored with 24 seconds remaining in regulation play. Miami has not won at Yost since Nov. 18, 1994, when head coach Mark Mazzoleni won his Michigan debut, 4-3.

Michigan wants to catch Ohio State, but the RedHawks are fighting to play, period. On paper, the Wolverines have many advantages, including goaltender Josh Blackburn (2.30 GAA, .905 SV%) who is fifth among league goaltenders in conference play.

Miami 3-2; Michigan 3-1

No. 2 Michigan State (24-3-6, 18-2-6 CCHA) at Ferris State (13-12-5, 12-10-4 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI Bowling Green (14-5-3, 10-13-3 CCHA) at Ferris State (13-12-5, 12-10-4 CCHA) Saturday 7 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI

Last weekend, the Bulldogs lost 4-1 to Ohio State and 2-1 in overtime to Miami.

Assistant head coach Drew Famulak calls Saturday’s game "a defensive battle. Neither team really created a whole lot of offense."

As with the Irish and the Wolverines, the Bulldogs are not finding the net. "We have to find a way to score some goals. It’s not like we’re giving up a lot," says Famulak.

Brent Wishart (7-8–15) had the goal against Ohio State; Casey Harris (4-5–9) scored against Miami.

Brian McCullough (9-12–21), Kevin Swider (8-7–15), Joel Irwin (8-8–16), and Jim Dube (4-12–16) are among the leading Bulldog scorers in a season in which Ferris State is being outscored by opponents 57-68.

One bright and steady spot for the Bulldogs has been the goaltending of Vince Owen (2.22 GAA, .920 SV%), who is third among CCHA goaltenders in goals against. Owen was relieved Friday night by Phil Osaer, who’s posted a save percentage of .955 in 120 minutes of play.

No. 2 Michigan State vs. Ferris State

With a pair of 3-1 wins last weekend and a little help from the Buckeyes, the Spartans clinched their second consecutive CCHA title.

"The win was what was so important, and the championship was a nice bonus," said Spartan head coach Ron Mason after the Michigan game. "It took a really unselfish approach to win, and this team has that. It starts with an unselfish person like Mike York at captain, and everyone else has followed his lead."

Just how big a factor is York (10-20–30) in this Spartan team’s success?

York has had a hand in almost as many goals (38) as Spartan opponents have scored (43).

He leads the CCHA in overall plus/minus with a +28 and has been on the ice just once when an opponent has scored a five-on-five goal. That’s once–in over 700 shifts.

York is often the player who makes a difference in a Spartan game. Nearly half of his goals (eight of 17) have come in the third period, and he has four game-winning goals. Fifteen of his 17 goals have come when the game is tied or when MSU trails or leads by a goal.

Another big factor in the success of the Spartans is team defense. The Spartans have allowed more than one goal just nine times this season. The last line of the D, netminder Joe Blackburn, has the best numbers in the league, and he has finally, finally, finally been named CCHA Defensive Player of the Week.

Blackburn allowed two goals in the two games against Notre Dame and Michigan, saving 51 shots on the weekend. In CCHA play, Blackburn has a .933 save percentage and a league GAA of just 1.38.

Another Spartan earned weekly honors, as CCHA Rookie of the Week. Adam Hall (9-3–12) had the game-winner and an empty-netter against Michigan Saturday.

Pick

This is the first meeting between the Spartans and Bulldogs. Pity the Bulldogs, who play three of their last four against the current CCHA champs.

"What they do defensively is almost unheard of," says Famulak of the Spartans, "and here we are trying to turn it around offensively."

That may well be the story of the game. The Spartans are outscoring opponents 81-34, and are an incredible +164 as a team. The Bulldogs are a team that scores by committee, and if the Spartans play their game, that committee will have a tough time getting to Blackburn.

Michigan State 3-1

Bowling Green vs. Ferris State

The Falcons are flying.

After a four-game slump, Bowling Green has returned to its scoring ways. BG beat Notre Dame 5-1 Saturday; the Falcons have scored 15 goals in their last two games, 19 in their last three.

Junior Adam Edinger (16-22–38) extended his point streak to 12 games with a goal and an assist Saturday. Edinger is currently tied with OSU’s Hugo Boisvert for the lead in CCHA scoring, and the Falcon forward has a good chance to surpass Boisvert this weekend as BG plays and OSU sits.

Another Falcon in the hunt for the scoring title is senior Dan Price (13-24–37). Price had a goal and two assists Saturday, including an assist on Mike Jones’ (8-16–24) game-winner. In fact, Price has had a hand in six of BG’s 14 game-winners this season.

Jones had two goals on the night, and Chris Bonvie (11-9–20) accounted for the other Falcon goal. Edinger’s goal and Jones’ second of the night were power-play goals, as the Bowling Green power play now leads the league, converting at over 20 percent.

Mike Savard (3.35 GAA, .885 SV%) made 39 saves in the effort against Notre Dame. Savard is capable of playing stunning hockey, but has been inconsistent this season as the Falcons have been outscored by league opponents 108-114.

Pick

This game pits the best power play against the second-best PK in the league. Even more interesting is the matchup between the league’s best line and one of the league’s most consistent and best goaltenders.

Bowling Green leads this all-time series 44-27-8, and leads the season series 1-0-1 with a 2-1 win and a 4-4 tie earlier this season, both games at home. BG is 6-3-3 in the last 12 meetings with Ferris State.

Drew Famulak says that Ewigleben will be rockin’, as the weekend is sold out. After Bowling Green Ice Arena, there may be no more difficult little rink to play in than Ewigleben when it’s sold out, but the Bulldogs will need more than the home-ice advantage to beat this fast-flying Falcon team.

This one could be a shootout, if the Bulldogs can penetrate the BG defense and if Owen gets a little help from his own.

Bowling Green 3-2

Bowling Green (14-5-3, 10-13-3 CCHA) at Western Michigan (5-17-8, 4-14-8 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lawson Ice Arena, Kalamazoo, MI Western Michigan (5-17-8, 4-14-8 CCHA) at No. 2 Michigan State (24-3-6, 18-2-6 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI

"We’re fighting for our playoff lives," says Western interim head coach Jim Culhane, and he isn’t kidding.

Just four points behind Miami, the Broncos can conceivably catch eighth place, and they put themselves in this position by playing incredibly well in February. After an 8-0 embarrassment in Columbus the last weekend of January, the Broncos are 2-1-2 in February, including two consecutive ties against Michigan.

"Our whole focus was on that one game," says Culhane. "We knew from the week before we could at least tie them."

Michigan was leading 5-2 going into the third period of last week’s contest when Ryan Crane (1-4–5), Corey Waring (8-7–15), and Mark Wilkinson (1-6–7) scored in the third period for Western to take the game into overtime and take a point from the Wolverines.

Senior netminder Matt Barnes (3.26 GAA, .885 SV%) had 25 saves in the game as the Broncos outshot the Wolverines 34-30.

"Our fans here on Friday night wouldn’t sit down in that third period," says Culhane. "They were bananas. If we had gotten that sixth goal, they would’ve lifted the roof off the building."

Culhane knows that it will be difficult for the Broncos to muscle their way into the playoffs, but he says, "At this time of year, the kids are really eager to play."

Culhane says that the line of Steve Rymsha (5-6–11), Chad Kline (4-6–10), and Anthony Battaglia (0-3–3) is playing especially well.

Bowling Green vs. Western Michigan

Culhane says that the Broncos know they won’t be able to outgun the Falcons, but he hopes they can at least contain them. "They’re going to get their goals," he says, referring to the first Falcon line of Price, Edinger, and Murphy.

"We’re going to have to stay out of the penalty box and try to limit their chances. They’re going to get their chances because they’re good players. All we can hope to do is limit them and score off of their defensive mistakes."

Bowling Green is scoring an average of 3.42 goals per game to Western Michigan’s 2.31. The teams are first and last, respectively, in conference scoring this season.

But the Falcons allow a lot of goals as well, giving up on average 3.69 to Western’s 4.00 per game. If this game comes down to goaltending, Western has a clear advantage in Matt Barnes, who is far more consistent than is BG’s Mike Savard.

Culhane isn’t kidding when he says the Broncos have to stay out of the box. Western Michigan kills penalties at a rate about 83 percent, while the Falcons are scoring more than 20 percent of the time with the extra man. And the fast-moving Falcon power play is tough to defend for its speed alone.

Bowling Green leads this all-time series 64-36-3, and the two teams split earlier in the season in Bowling Green, with the Falcons taking the first game 5-3 and the Broncos winning the second 4-1. BG is 6-5-1 in its last 12 contests against the Broncos.

Pick

This is a crazy call, but if the Broncos can come back against Michigan at home, they can beat Bowling Green as well–if they stay out of the penalty box.

Western Michigan 4-2

No. 2 Michigan State vs. Western Michigan

The Spartans are riding a 27-game unbeaten streak (22-0-5), which includes a 17-game unbeaten streak against CCHA opponents.

Michigan State leads this all-time series 48-19-4, and the season series 1-0-1. The Broncos tied the Spartans 1-1 in Munn on Oct. 16, and Michigan State won 4-1 in November in Lawson. The Spartans are 5-0-2 against the Broncos in their last seven meetings.

Pick

Unless the Spartans experience a meltdown, this one is in the bag. Why? Defense, defense, defense…and Mike York.

Michigan State 4-1

Lake Superior State (8-20-4, 7-16-3 CCHA) at Alaska-Fairbanks (10-21-1, 7-20-1) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. AT, Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

The Lakers are 5-8-1 in 1999. The Nanooks are 5-12-1 in 1999. This could be a battle royale.

Last weekend, Lake Superior State tied Northern Michigan 1-1 before losing 4-0. Matt Frick (1-1–2) and Chris Thompson (2-4–6) had the goals in the tie. Jayme Platt (2.91 GAA, .901 SV%) had 40 saves in the tie and 27 in the loss.

The Nanooks split in Ohio last weekend, losing 4-3 to Miami before beating Ohio State 3-2 in overtime. Jamie Coady (8-3–11) and Chris Marvel (4.26 GAA, .872 SV%) had solid weekends for the Nanooks.

Bobby Andrews (4-8–12), Sjon Wynia (7-7–14), and Coady had the goals in the Miami game. Marvel, in relief of the injured Ian Perkins, stopped 11 of 13 shots on goal.

Coady, Darren Tiemstra (3-5–8), and Daniel Carriere (3-4–7) had the goals in the OSU game, while Marvel made 49 saves on 51 shots on goal.

These two teams are evenly matched. The Lakers are being outscored by conference opponents 77-112 this season, while the Nanooks are doing much the same, by the margin of 69-118.

The Lakers’ power play is ninth in the league, the Nanooks’ 11th. Lake State’s penalty kill is eighth, while UAF’s is 10th.

The Lakers are playing to make the playoffs, while the Nanooks know these last four games are their last four of the year, period. Alaska-Fairbanks is a bigger, tougher team that stick-checks like nobody’s business.

Picks

UAF has the advantage at home, but the Lakers won’t go away without a fight–or two.

UAF 4-3; Lake State 4-3

Bowling Green (14-5-3, 10-13-3 CCHA) at No. 10 Ohio State (19-12-4, 17-8-3 CCHA) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH

Once the second week of March rolls around, these two teams will be glad to be rid of one another. In all likelihood, the Buckeyes will finish second in the league and the Falcons seventh, which means that this is game two of a potential six the teams will play within a month.

The Buckeyes handled Ferris State 4-1 last Friday before forgetting how to play against the Nanooks Saturday. Ohio State lost for only the second time at home this season, this time to UAF by a 3-2 score.

On Tuesday, the Bucks will host Bowling Green in a rematch of the 3-2 contest Ohio State stole away with just 15 seconds remaining on Feb. 5, when Brian Morrison (2-3–5) notched his first of the season on the then-clicking Buckeye power play.

The Falcons lead this all-time series 84-46-5, but the Buckeyes have won the last four meetings.

Ohio State had difficulty adjusting to BG’s style of play for the first two periods of a 3-2 win in the BGSU Ice Arena. The Falcons play a more aggressive brand of hockey than anyone else in the league; the Buckeyes prefer to play a more patient game that takes advantage of opponents’ defensive breakdowns.

If Ohio State can dictate the pace of the game and avoid the penalty box, this one belongs to Ohio State. The Buckeyes, 2-2-0 in their last four games, are often victims to their own state of mind. When the Bucks play their game, they’re hard to beat; when they think it’s going to be easy, they beat themselves.

Pick

The Falcon first line is the best in the league, but the Buckeyes have more depth at every position, and the clear advantage in net. The last home game of the season and knowing they’ll probably have to get through the Falcons to go to the Joe are two big motivators.

Ohio State 4-2

This Week in the WCHA: February 26, 1999

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This is just about the time of year when people in college hockey start wondering "What if?" What if we win our last four games and team X loses its last four games? What if we split our games and team Y wins three?

It’s commonly called scoreboard-watching. Coaches hate talking about it because they want to concentrate on their game. But who could resist? If you’re two points behind a team, you want to know if you’re going to pick up any ground on them if you win.

So, in that spirit, this week’s preview will focus on the ever-present question: "What if?"

What if Alaska-Anchorage can grab two wins on home ice against Colorado College this weekend? With time running short for the Seawolves to hold on to home ice, what if they only get one win? Are they bound for the road yet again? Does coach Dean Talafous even care? Stay tuned…

What if Denver has a tough weekend at St. Cloud State? What if Minnesota sweeps Minnesota-Duluth? What if Wisconsin gets stomped by North Dakota? In that case, the Gophers would jump from sixth to fourth place.

What if North Dakota keeps playing like they have been? Does anyone stand a chance? Should the WCHA just cancel the Final Five and hand the Sioux that trophy, too? Of course not, but a good bettor (not that I condone gambling or anything) knows not to bet against UND.

These questions and more stand a good chance to be answered in the near future.

No. 5 COLORADO COLLEGE (21-10-1, 16-8 WCHA: 2nd) at ALASKA-ANCHORAGE (13-14-5, 10-11-5 WCHA: 3rd) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 AT, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

ON THE TIGERS: Colorado College has the second spot in the WCHA standings wrapped up, so what’s next for the Tigers? Well, there’s still the matter of the NCAA tournament CC is fighting for. Coach Don Lucia said his team is still shooting for a No. 3 seed in the 12-team tournament.

"Right now we want to try to maintain a third seed if we possibly can," he said. "We’re only playing one senior forward and we’re playing six junior forwards. We need some of our junior forwards to step up, besides Toby (Petersen), and score some goals for us."

With Darren Clark out for the season, the Tigers indeed need some other faces to step up. Some names that come to mind include Justin Morrison (23 points in conference play), Jesse Heerema (21 points) and Mark Cullen (19 points).

Last weekend’s action saw the Tigers split a "home-and-home" series with Denver, and as a result, Denver retaining the Gold Pan. CC lost a 3-1 lead in the third period Saturday, eventually losing, 4-3 in overtime. But Lucia said the Pioneers’ tying goal was kicked in, and should have been disallowed.

"That was disappointing, but we didn’t play a great game on Saturday, we were a little short handed, (Chris) Hartsburg didn’t play," Lucia said. "We’re just getting down in numbers again. Denver’s a good team and they had a lot to play for that day."

The injuries continue to pile up for the Tigers. CC won’t get Jon Austin back until at least next week, and Aaron Karpan may not play this weekend after an injury in practice.

"It has an effect, I don’t think there’s any question," Lucia said. "Actually, I feel pretty decent about where we’re at considering what we’ve had to go through this year. I’m frustrated because it seems like it’s a different guy every night. We can’t get continuity to our lineup. I’m hoping Austin can come back and play next week so he gets a couple games in before the playoffs."

ON THE SEAWOLVES: Alaska-Anchorage didn’t have anything to show in the standings for its pair of losses in Grand Forks last weekend, but coach Dean Talafous doesn’t really care about that.

"It’s a learning process," Talafous said. "One day, if we want to be a champion, we have to learn to play like that. We went out and tried to skate with them and play aggressive, not back down. We’re not there yet but what we found out is we’ve made up some ground. We still have a long ways to go to ever be with the top boys, but at least we had the experience of what it’s like to play against a team that good that’s playing that motivated. Now we go back to the drawing board, back to practice and take it one day at a time. We walked out of there disappointed we didn’t pick up a point the last night, but also feeling that we made a lot of progress. I think it helps us for this weekend and for the playoffs. I think it was a very beneficial weekend for us."

If nothing else, UAA may have won some respect from the North Dakota faithful. After losing, 8-0 on Friday, the Seawolves regrouped to hold a 3-2 lead with 5 minutes left on Saturday.

"I don’t want to forget about Saturday because that was the best college game I’ve seen in years," Talafous said. "It took an hour and 59 minutes. I think there were two penalties. I don’t remember an offsides. It was just up and down, we were playing in North Dakota, a very hot No. 1 team. It’s the best we can play and they forced us to raise our game up another level. For our young hockey team it was a tremendous experience to, first of all, get shellshocked and then recover 24 hours later, raise our game up and actually be able to skate with them for a game."

This weekend’s series with Colorado College marks UAA’s last of the season. Therefore, to stay in the top five, they are probably going to need at least one win. But again, that stuff isn’t all that important to Talafous.

"I think the media and the fans, the standings are very important to them, and maybe even some coaches," Talafous said. "I’ve had teams that have won championships and I’ve had teams that have come in last. Wherever you are, I think you’re best just concentrating on the next game and getting better. We need to get better. We not only want to win this weekend, and we not only want to get home ice and we not only want to get to the Final Five and everything else, but on top of all that, we’re a young program that’s trying to earn some respect and trying to move up in the college ranks. We don’t ever want to lose sight of that, we don’t ever want to play conservative, we don’t want to play scared, we don’t want to play unsure of ourself or hoping to win. We want to play a fearless, aggressive, attacking, confident game."

"If we can’t win with it this year because we don’t have the talent, it will carry into next year with more experience and more talent. Attitude is what wins championships and that’s why North Dakota’s doing so well. Sure, they have the talent now, but it’s the way they play the game, along with their talent, that makes them a champion. If I told our guys, ‘we’ve got to win, we’ve got to win,’ they’re going to play differently. It’s more important that we go out and play the same way we did Saturday against North Dakota, the same way we did against Minnesota (last) Sunday. We need to go after people and play as hard as we can and not worry, not want to win so bad that we play not to lose. We need to play with confidence and without fear. That’s going to be my message to my team."

On another note, the Seawolves are happy to be home. Sure that’s not really news for most teams, but the team was on the road for around 10 days, staying in Minnesota between the series with the Gophers and that with the Sioux.

"It gets to be long, to be honest with you, by the end of it," Talafous said. "You’re pretty weary and kind of anxious to get home and sleep in your own bed. It’s just something we do every year. You look at all the positives, but when you finally get home you kind of crash."

THE MATCHUP: CC swept Anchorage, 8-2 and 4-1, earlier this season in Colorado Springs. Lucia knows what to expect from UAA, but knows his team hasn’t had the greatest success in Alaska.

"I think you know what to expect, they play very close to the best, a very defensive-oriented system," Lucia said. "They try to win games 3-2, 2-1. You know going in it’s going to be low-scoring games. We’ve had good success lately because we’ve been patient. It’s never easy going up to Alaska. I don’t think they’ve lost a home game since November. This will be our sixth year going up and I know last year we swept, and we won in overtime the second night, that’s the only time we’ve ever won two up there."

Talafous kept it simple: "We’re just going to get out there and play hard. If it’s good enough to beat Colorado, we’re excited. If we have to go on the road (in the playoffs), we’ll go on the road. We just want to get better."

PICKS: Alaska-Anchorage, 3-2; Colorado College, 5-2.

No. 1 NORTH DAKOTA (26-2-2, 21-1-2 WCHA: 1st) at WISCONSIN (13-16-3, 11-11-2 WCHA: T-4th) Saturday-Sunday, 7:35 CT, The Kohl Center, Madison, Wis.

ON THE SIOUX: Is Dean Blais and North Dakota getting a little bit greedy? They won the MacNaughton Cup for the third straight year last weekend, and this weekend in Wisconsin, they want more.

"No one’s ever been undefeated on the road in the WCHA, and this would do it for us," Blais said. "If we get two ties, that would still keep the record going. Also, Wisconsin is the only team that has a (winning) record against these seniors."

This group of Sioux seniors has a 7-8 record against Wisconsin, including playoff games.

"You have to use little things like that at this time of the year," Blais said. "Obviously, after the league’s wrapped up, you have to take some other angle and motivation for the guys."

One of the more astounding statistics to come out of the WCHA this season emerged after UND’s 8-0 win last Friday. At that point, the Sioux had scored 17 consecutive goals — the last nine against Denver last Saturday and the first eight against the Seawolves. Yikes.

"When we’re moving the puck and intense, we’re a pretty good hockey team," Blais said. "There’s real good balance up front and the real key is for our defensemen to play sound defensively. They join the offense but their big thing is to make an outlet pass, get the puck to the forwards. You can sit and have fun watching the forwards go down the ice, but get them the puck."

The Sioux are currently on a 14-game unbeaten streak, and have outscored teams 42-14 in their last six games. Elsewhere on the streak watch, David Hoogsteen leads UND with a nine-game point streak after a four-point weekend against UAA. Goaltender Karl Goehring has a 12-game unbeaten streak and Andy Kollar has a six-game winning streak.

"This is the first time I’ve seen it where both goaltenders have been about even," Blais said. "Karl is our No. 1 goaltender, he’s fresh, but Andy’s only lost one game this year. That’s helped Karl because the way we run practice, you need three goalies because we do so many shooting drills that if you don’t have three, it’s just too tough."

After all, would you want to face the Sioux shooters every day in practice?

ON THE BADGERS: Wisconsin allowed a three-goal comeback at Michigan Tech last Saturday to go to waste, as the Huskies all-but-killed the Badgers third-place hopes with a 4-3 victory to force a split.

It’s strongly improbable that UW will be able to get third place because of their upcoming competition: they face North Dakota this weekend and then go to Minnesota. The last time Wisconsin won in Minnesota? To put it in context, it was in the Met Center. You know, that place you probably parked on top of if you’ve been to the Mall of America.

Since the Madison media didn’t really want to talk about last weekend’s action, the topic of conversation at the weekly news conference was — guess who — North Dakota.

"They’re trying to build some momentum going into the playoffs. I think the last thing they would want to do is take a weekend off," UW assistant coach Pat Ford said. "They’re playing for pride as much as anything, they’re trying to get that momentum going into the playoffs. There’s a heated rivalry with us. Coming into this building this year, I don’t see them backing off at all. If you know Dean Blais, one of his traits as a coach is intensity. I would anticipate that he would carry that over with the team."

But enough about them, let’s talk about the Badgers. Like about what they’re going to have to do to get a point out of this series.

"You look at three, four weeks ago, a lot of people were wondering if we had a pulse," Ford said. "We got out, we won four of six games. We should have probably won the Saturday night game at Tech and we would be sitting in third place right now. For us, we’re going to have to play a great weekend to get a win out of it. We’re battling for home ice, so there’s a lot on the line. One of the things our guys have shown throughout the year is that, we’ve had a lot of injuries, it’s been a sub-par year for us, but the guys have kept battling. As a coaching staff and as a team, this is a measuring stick for us — how well can we play against the No. 1 team in the country."

One of the keys for Wisconsin is the play of goaltender Graham Melanson. If he can play anything like he did in the championship game of the WCHA Final Five last season, UW has a shot. No pressure or anything.

"For us this year, Graham Melanson has done a fantastic job," Ford said. "There’s been a very very fine line between winning and losing and a lot has been placed on his shoulders. I think, for the most part, he’s reacted very well. I would have to give us the edge in the goaltending department."

THE MATCHUP: It also looked impossible for Wisconsin to get a victory in the late season matchup with North Dakota last season, but the Badgers did it.

"Jeff Sauer has a way of bringing his team along at the end of the year," Blais said. "Every year you can count on it. Wisconsin beat us in the Final Five last year and beat us right in Grand Forks, and deserved it. It wouldn’t surprise me again if they made a charge. They have two difficult situations, playing us and having to go to Mariucci, where they haven’t played well. But don’t be surprised if they pull out some kind of upset or some kind of magic. Jeff has got a way of doing that with his teams."

Ford said this is a true test for the Badgers.

"It’s a challenge. If it was easy, everyone would do it," he said. "We understand that we need to have home ice. With the No. 1 team coming in and the rivalry that we’ve had over the years, I would expect nothing less than a great effort out of our team. We have more on the line than they do, and we’re playing at home. Hopefully we’ll get a huge crowd, we can execute and stay out of the penalty box, play well defensively and get some confidence."

If UND gets a lot of power-play chances, look for the scoreboard to get a lot of action.

PICKS: North Dakota 6-3, 5-1.

DENVER (18-12-2, 11-11-2 WCHA: T-4th) at ST. CLOUD STATE (14-13-5, 8-12-4 WCHA: 7th) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.

ON THE PIONEERS: When Denver needs a goal, Mark Rycroft seems to be there.

Just like the championship game of the Denver Cup — when Rycroft netted the overtime winner against Boston College — he scored in overtime on Saturday to give the Pioneers a crucial win over Colorado College.

"He seems to be in the right spot at the right time, and I don’t think it’s luck at all," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "He enjoys those situations. There are some athletes who respond better than others in pressure situations, he’s one of those guys."

It’s hard to overestimate the value of the win. It broke a three-game losing streak and kept Denver right in the hunt for third place.

"It was very important in many ways," Gwozdecky said. "The way we won it, being able to come back and win in overtime and having to kill off the seven-minute power play they had (early in the second period), and then come back in the third period when we were down by two and put it into overtime and win in overtime, just being able to win a game like that boosts your confidence even more."

"We have played some pretty good teams over the last three games and perhaps hadn’t played very well. Some of the things we did on Saturday once again reinforced how important the basic fundamentals of the game are. We needed to work harder, for one thing. I think we took a step forward in that regard."

Denver controls its own destiny in terms of third place, with two games in hand on Anchorage and the tie-breaker over Wisconsin. While that may also mean more pressure for the Pioneers — knowing one slip may cost them dearly — it also is the case for many teams around the league.

"It’s a real short season left," Gwozdecky said. "You have two weekends, four games and I think everybody around the league knows what it’s going to take to finish in a certain position. We’re very aware that we control our own destiny. More importantly, we want to be able to continue to improve on where we left off on Saturday and instill in us that the college hockey season has about five weeks left and this is the time where you have to make that final push."

ON THE HUSKIES: Two points in a home-and-home series might sound like a reasonable result, but when it’s a pair of ties and you led in both games, there’s a tendency to take it another way.

St. Cloud State scored first and held a 4-3 lead down the stretch until Minnesota’s Jordan Leopold evened the game at 17:55 of the third in St. Cloud on Friday. In Minneapolis the next night, SCSU scored the game’s first two goals, only to have the Gophers claw back for a 2-2 draw.

"When you have 10 players out of your lineup, I’m just pleased we got two points," Huskies coach Craig Dahl said. "There’s not much else I can ask from my players right now."

But goaltender Dean Weasler deserves a lot of the praise for keeping the Huskies in the games. He made 41 saves Friday — including 20 in the second period — and 40 on Saturday to backstop St. Cloud.

"He’s playing really good," Dahl said. "He’s doing the job, and he’s playing just outstanding for a freshman, particularly in trying times."

The injuries are still present for Dahl’s team, which only skated nine forwards and five defenseman against Minnesota. Despite the plague, SCSU is 4-2-4 in its last 10 games.

"It says a lot about the character of our team," Dahl said. "It’s all building a base for next year, whatever happens. Our freshmen and sophomores are really playing great."

The Huskies lost another forward last weekend when Keith Anderson went down with a sprained knee.

St. Cloud — who has the fourth-best overall record in the league but is still in seventh place in the standings — needs to make up ground this weekend, as they travel to North Dakota to close out the season next weekend.

THE MATCHUP: The key matchup here may be the power play. While Denver is at the top of the WCHA, converting on 30.9 percent of its conference chances, St. Cloud is near the bottom at 9.3 percent. The Huskies are also the worst in the WCHA in penalty killing (76.8 percent).

"It’s been one of our strengths this year," Gwozdecky said. "I would fully expect that it would continue to be a strength of ours. It’s something that has worked well, we have relied on it, it has won us games, and our penalty killing has also been strong. Hell, it won us the game on Saturday."

Of course, the DU power play may not make much of an effect, considering SCSU has the second-lowest penalty minutes-per-game average in the league (16.03 minutes).

Gwozdecky is almost expecting Dahl to have something up his sleeve this weekend.

"Craig always seems to have some special things that their team does differently than any other team in the league," Gwozdecky said. "Whether it be face-off plays or whether it be certain break outs, they always seem to have a little bit of a uniqueness. I know at times it gives teams a real test because of it."

PICKS: Denver, 5-3; St. Cloud State, 3-2.

MINNESOTA (10-16-8, 8-11-5 WCHA: 6th) at MINNESOTA-DULUTH (7-21-4, 4-16-4 WCHA: 9th) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Duluth, Minn.

ON THE GOPHERS: Despite all the troubles Minnesota has experienced this season, in essence, they still have a good opportunity to make the top five in the standings.

Follow me here: If Wisconsin loses two to North Dakota and Minnesota sweeps Duluth, the Gophers have 25 points and the Badgers have 24. Minnesota and Wisconsin face-off in the last weekend of the series, with the Gophers only needing a split on home ice. They could even finish in fourth if Anchorage slips up this weekend.

Ah, the "What if" game in its best form.

What the Gophers have to do this weekend is just take care of business, something they’ve had quite a bit of trouble doing.

"We’ve kind of had that same scenario in front of us for quite a while here," Gophers coach Doug Woog said. "We’ve had Anchorage here, we had St. Cloud here. All year you have your fate in your hands, but realistically, we’ve had a chance to take care of business the last couple weeks and we haven’t. But we still have life, we still can do it. That’s kind of the way this schedule has worked out."

Minnesota might look at the pair of ties with St. Cloud last weekend as more missed opportunities. Woog said the Gophers had more than their share of opportunities to score in regulation, but missed.

One of the more interesting stats on the Minnesota team is that 10 different players have scored its last 10 goals. Sure, names like Reggie Berg, Wyatt Smith and Dave Spehar are included, but more out of them would certainly help.

"It’s kind of just worked out that way," Woog said. "It really means that Reggie and Wyatt and Spehar and those guys haven’t knocked the cover off the ball. The effort’s been pretty good. The results haven’t reflected the effort."

Here’s one for the record books: The Gophers eighth tie of the season Saturday tied the WCHA mark for most ties in a season.

ON THE BULLDOGS: Here’s where we can get some differing viewpoints. North Dakota coach Dean Blais has said that breaks in the middle of a season can sometimes be more harmful than beneficial.

Minnesota-Duluth coach Mike Sertich would beg to differ. His team played Michigan Tech two weekends ago with six walk-ons because of a slew of injuries and illnesses. This time off has allowed his players to recuperate to the level where all will be back in the lineup this weekend.

"In our case, it was very good," he said.

One of the most important comebacks may be that of goaltender Brant Nicklin, whom Sertich said appeared to be 100 percent recovered from a left knee injury. One more win would put the junior into third place on the UMD all-time win list.

Overall, the drive for the Bulldogs, who have won only one out of their last nine games, is to get ready for the postseason.

"Our motivating factor is to get us ready to play in the playoffs," Sertich said. "We’ve had a tough run. Now, we’re approaching a whole new season. We try to keep it as positive as we can and try to grow up."

THE MATCHUP: Duluth’s feelings toward native son Dave Spehar are well known and probably don’t need to be repeated here. But the Gophers junior has had his way with the Bulldogs. He has more goals against Duluth — 9 in 11 games — than any other opponent.

Sertich wants to have something to say about Minnesota’s plans for a home-ice playoff series.

"They’re fighting for a home playoff spot. We’ll have something to say about it," he said. "We’re not going anywhere. We’re probably going to Colorado, it’s pretty obvious to us. We’re six (points) down with eight (points) to play. We have something to say about what happens next week."

PICKS: Minnesota, 6-3; tie, 3-3.

NEBRASKA-OMAHA (8-23, D-I Independent) at MICHIGAN TECH (9-22-1, 9-17 WCHA: 8th) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 ET, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, Mich.

ON THE MAVERICKS: Nebraska-Omaha, who will join the CCHA next season, claimed its second NCAA sweep this season with 8-2 and 7-3 wins over Bemidji State last weekend.

The 15 goals the Mavericks scored is a record for the young team in a two-game series. They also set records for: most goals in a period at home (5); most shots in a period (29); most shots in a game (57); most goals in a game (8); and most power-play goals in a game (4).

Showing that hockey is popular in Omaha, despite the Mavericks rough season, they sold out the Omaha Civic Center (capacity 8,314) for the 40th and 41st consecutive times last weekend.

ON THE HUSKIES: Tim Watters made himself look like a genius last Saturday.

Wisconsin had just completed a three-goal comeback early in the third period to even the game, 3-3. Then, Watters called a timeout. The Badgers momentum disappeared, and Riley Nelson scored the game-winner midway through the period.

So what did Watters have to say to his troops? Turns out it was relatively simple.

"Calm down," Watters admonished his players. "You have to relax and be composed and think about what we were trying to accomplish out there, not what Wisconsin was trying to accomplish. I thought the guys responded quite well."

Nelson scored two goals and added an assist on Saturday. It was his second three-point night of the season for the junior.

"We need Riley to step up his game offensively and defensively and he did that on Saturday," Watters said.

But the Huskies are still searching for that elusive consistency Watters has always preached. The 4-2 loss Friday was a different story than the win Saturday.

"I think we played well at times and at other times, we let up," Watters said. "You have to play a full 60 minutes in this league to win consistently."

THE MATCHUP: This weekend’s series with UNO may give Watters and Tech the boost they need into the playoffs.

"The main thing is we’re looking to have the team play as well as it possibly can at this time of the year," Watters said. "It’s important that we do that and try to maintain some momentum going into the final WCHA series and into the playoffs."

PICKS: Michigan Tech 3-1, 2-0.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE You know next week’s going to be interesting. No further hype needed.

Friday, March 5 Minnesota-Duluth at Colorado College St. Cloud State at North Dakota Wisconsin at Minnesota

Saturday, March 6 Minnesota-Duluth at Colorado College Michigan Tech at Denver (at Colorado Springs World Arena) St. Cloud State at North Dakota Wisconsin at Minnesota

Sunday, March 7 Michigan Tech at Denver (at Colorado Springs World Arena)

This Week in Hockey East: February 26, 1999

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The playoff picture has become a lot clearer now with two weeks left in the regular season. New Hampshire, Maine, Boston College and Providence have all wrapped up tournament home-ice berths. While it’ll go down to the final weekend between UNH and Maine for the top spot, BC and PC are all but mathematically locked into third and fourth place, respectively.

Unless Northeastern pulls a Lazarus starting this weekend against BU, the Huskies will be the odd man out in the playoffs, a stunning outcome for anyone who saw them play so well in the Beanpot.

Which means that we’ll probably be seeing a first round with Maine and UNH hosting UMass-Amherst and Merrimack along with BC-Lowell and Providence-BU. There are some interesting matchups there, but that’s for another week.

As for the awards…

KOHO Player of the Week: Carl Corazzini (F, Boston University) notched a hat trick to lead BU to a 4-1 win over Maine and a split at Alfond Arena.

KOHO Rookie of the Week: Darren Haydar (F, New Hampshire) continued his torrid scoring pace with another two goals and four assists on the weekend.

Heaton Defensive Player of the Week: Markus Helanen (G, UMass-Amherst) stole another game for the Minutemen, stopping 35 UMass-Lowell shots including 21 in the second period.

Hockey East Standings

Record in picks last week: 4-5

Season’s record in picks: 114-64, .640

No. 3 Maine (23-3-4, 15-3-2 HEA) vs.

UMass-Lowell (16-15-0, 8-13-0 HEA) and

Merrimack (10-19-1, 6-13-1 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

Sunday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Maine appeared poised to complete a four-game sweep of No. 4 New Hampshire, No. 6 Boston College and Boston University when it dominated the opener of its series with BU, 7-2, outshooting the Terriers 40-14. The resilient Terriers, however, came back to gain a split, 4-1, on the strength of Carl Corazzini’s hat trick and Michel Larocque’s goaltending.

"We’re disappointed because they were four major games, we put ourselves in position to sweep them all and we didn’t get it done on Saturday night," says coach Shawn Walsh. "But I want to give BU a lot of credit. They played exceptionally well and they got great goaltending and obviously Carl Corazzini was in the right place at the right time and finished.

"Usually, you’ll take a game where you have 77 attempts to 42, but the style of the game wasn’t what we prefer. We were very, very loose defensively and we got away from what’s carried us this year."

While compiling a nine-game winning streak, the Black Bears had been held to under five goals only twice and had still scored four times in both of those games. As a result, BU’s ability to hold them to only one was a surprise to both fans and themselves.

"We’ve been scoring at will," says Walsh. "I think that [our unsound play in the second half when BU broke open a 1-1 game] was a psychological reaction to not scoring much. We didn’t get a goal until halfway through and it was the only one we got. So again, you go back to giving BU credit."

Maine still holds its destiny in its own hands, but must take games this weekend against UMass-Lowell and Merrimack before traveling to UNH for the two games on March 5-6 that should decide the regular-season champion.

"Lowell is playing really well right now," says Walsh. "We saw them play BC and they played a great game. They deserved to win it. And from the reports we got on Saturday night, they played well [against UMass-Amherst] as well."

Fox Sports New England noted in its telecast last Friday that going into the BC game the River Hawks’ 10 wins in 1999 trailed only Maine and North Dakota nationally.

"They’re playing especially well at home even though their record doesn’t indicate it," says Walsh. (Lowell is 8-6 on the road and 7-9 at the Tsongas Arena.)

"Tim [Whitehead] has done a great job of recharging that team. They’re an impressive group right now and it’ll be a typical Hockey East battle."

In hosting Merrimack, Maine will then face a team whose record in 1999 is almost the flip side of Lowell’s. Merrimack has won only twice since New Year’s Day and has lost 10 of its last 11.

"They’ve struggled, but they’re dangerous," says Walsh. "Their personnel makes them a team you’ve got to be wary of because they can score. In college hockey, any team that has people that can score is going to have an opportunity. They took a good Providence team into overtime."

UMass-Lowell, as Walsh notes, has been a much-improved club in the second half, but lost two 3-2 games last weekend. First, the River Hawks gave No. 6 BC all it could handle and then they outshot UMass-Amherst, 37-17, only to be stymied by goaltender Markus Helanen.

"Going into the weekend, we knew we had our hands full in both games," says coach Tim Whitehead. "We do feel that we played extremely well [against BC], but we did not have a sharp first period [against UMass-Amherst]. We bounced back very strong in the second and third periods, but it wasn’t enough.

"There were a lot of positives we can take out of the weekend, but at the same time we’d love to come out on top of some of those games. I won’t kid anyone on that. But we did play some pretty good hockey for most of the weekend."

Unfortunately for the River Hawks, they’re catching both barrels of the Hockey East shotgun this weekend as they take on No. 3 Maine and No. 4 UNH.

"We have to be very defensively aware against both of those teams," says Whitehead. "We have to be very disciplined. And we have to have confidence in ourselves that we can beat those teams because anything can happen. But those are two of the strongest teams in the country. We know we have our hands full.

"One thing is for sure. Win, lose or draw, we’ll be coming out of the weekend a lot more battle-ready than [going in]. Hopefully, we can be up for that challenge."

Two weeks ago, Merrimack broke its losing streak by defeating Northeastern, 5-2, and appeared to have caught a major break in its only game last weekend against Providence. Trailing 4-2 with only a minute left, the Warriors pulled their goaltender and scored an extra-skater goal with just 44 seconds left, and then duplicated the feat with 21 seconds remaining to potentially steal a point in a lost game.

Unfortunately, however, they surrendered the game-winner just 30 seconds into overtime.

"We played pretty well in the Northeastern game, but were only so-so against Providence," says coach Chris Serino. "It was a great comeback for us, but the overtime was just disappointing. It was a three-on-three situation and all three of our guys lost guys.

"Coming back was good. It showed character. But losing 30 seconds into overtime, we didn’t carry it out. We had full momentum going, we had them on their heels, but we didn’t carry it out. That’s disappointing."

With three of their paper-thin defensive corps — Tim Foster, Brad Mills and Stephen Moon — only marginally healthy for the game, the Warriors dressed defenseman Tony White as a forward. The move proved to be the right one when Moon had to leave the game, and then Andrew Fox sustained a groin injury, but also forced them to skate only three full forward lines after White moved back.

"We can’t play with four or five defensemen," says Serino. "We just don’t skate well then. We get too tired."

Moon, who has struggled with a knee injury all season, is the least likely of the four banged-up blueliners to play this week and could sit at least until the playoffs.

This week, the Warriors face two of the teams least likely to let them get back on their feet again: Boston College and Maine. At least the BC game, however, is at home where they last played on Jan. 31.

"We haven’t played at home for so long that maybe against BC that will be a wakeup call and the kids will be excited to play at home," says Serino. "But it doesn’t get any tougher. We’ve just got to respond to it. With us, it’s not one game at a time, but one period at a time. It’s tough, but that’s our league."

Cris Classen supplanted a struggling Tom Welby in the nets last week and is likely to play again in one of the games this weekend.

"We’re probably going to split them till the playoffs and see who’s hot at the time," says Serino. "Classen played okay and we’ve had the opportunity to rest Tommy a couple games to get him mentally sharp again.

"He’s probably going to play Friday night against BC. If things go according to plan, Classen will play up at Maine."

PICKS: Maine takes care of business, edging Lowell, 4-3, on the road before putting away Merrimack at home, 5-2.

No. 4 New Hampshire (23-5-3, 15-3-3 HEA) hosts

UMass-Lowell (16-15-0, 8-13-0 HEA)

Sunday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

Last week, New Hampshire swamped Northeastern, 7-2, before tying fellow league heavyweight Boston College, 2-2.

"Northeastern always plays us tough, but we got a quick jump on them," says coach Dick Umile, whose Wildcats owned a 4-0 lead by the 10:25 mark. "Then down at Conte Forum, it was a great college hockey game between two teams fighting for position in Hockey East."

As a result, UNH moved past Maine into first place after the Black Bears split with BU. Maine does, however, hold a game in hand advantage.

"Overall, I like the way this team is playing," he says. "The first 8-10 minutes of the second period against BC weren’t that good and we want to play 60 strong minutes. But in general we’re playing well and we’re playing playoff hockey."

Prior to next week’s epic two-game showdown with Maine, UNH must first take care of business with the ever-dangerous UMass-Lowell River Hawks.

"Timmy [Whitehead] does a terrific job," says Umile. "The kids play hard. If you don’t respect UMass-Lowell, you’ll come out on the losing end. Our games with them [in late January, 3-1 and 4-1 wins] were up for grabs until late in the third period. We’ll have to play 60 minutes against them."

UMass-Lowell is previewed above.

PICKS: UNH sets up next week’s dramatic series with Maine by winning, 4-2.

No. 6 Boston College (19-10-4, 13-6-2 HEA) at

Merrimack (10-19-1, 6-13-1 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Volpe Center, North Andover, MA

Boston College opened a three-game week with a comeback 3-2 win over UMass-Lowell. Trailing 2-1 going into the third period, the Eagles used late goals by Mike Lephart and Nick Pierandri to pull out the victory.

They then had to settle for a 2-2 tie at home against UNH in their last real shot at finishing first or second. The comeback roles were reversed this time as Wildcat rookie Darren Haydar tied the game with just 2:36 remaining.

On the plus side, Eagle penalty killers held the two teams a collective 0-for-11 on the man advantage. That changed in a hurry in a Tuesday night clash with Providence, however. The Friar power play scored three times in the first period and went 4-for-8 on the evening.

As a result, BC had to once again rally, this time for a tie, with a Bobby Allen tally with 11 seconds remaining.

This week, the Eagles face only Merrimack, a team they defeated 2-1 back in early December.

Merrimack is previewed above.

PICKS: BC’s forwards take advantage of Merrimack’s defensive struggles, 5-3.

Providence College (17-13-1, 11-9-1 HEA) vs.

UMass-Amherst (10-18-2, 6-13-2 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Saturday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Although Providence did pull out its one game of the weekend in overtime with Merrimack, 4-3, and looked strong in tying No. 6 Boston College on Tuesday, 5-5, the way the Friars have played in the final minute of the game must be driving their fans to distraction.

They held a 4-2 lead over the Warriors until the 19:16 mark of the third when Merrimack scored the first of two extra-skater goals to force the overtime. And against BC, they held a 5-4 lead until Bobby Allen got the game-tying goal with just 11 seconds left.

Nonetheless, they went 2-for-2 on the power play against Merrimack and 4-for-8 against BC to take over the league lead in the category (23.87 percent).

UMass-Amherst continued its stretch-run surge with a crucial 6-3 win over Northeastern two weeks ago and victories over Army and Lowell, 2-0 and 3-2, respectively, last week. The Minutemen have now taken four of their last five games.

"If you look at our last six games," says coach Joe Mallen, "we have an overtime loss to BC and a one-goal loss to UMass-Lowell with the wins sandwiched around that. We’re finally getting some scoring from different people like Martin Miljko, Kris Wallis and Randy Drohan."

Miljko, a freshman forward, got his first collegiate goal two weeks ago against Northeastern and added a second against Army last week. Wallis (5-9–14), a sophomore who Mallen has been high on since he first arrived in Amherst, ended a goal-scoring drought against Northeastern that dated back to Nov. 29. And Drohan, a rookie defenseman, got his first in the 3-2 squeaker over Lowell.

"And Jeff Blanchard hadn’t been scoring consistently, but he scored a huge goal at the end of the UMass-Lowell game to win it," adds Mallen. "Those are the type of contributions that we’ve been getting.

"We’re starting to get some goals in clutch times, too. Northeastern got within one, 4-3, and Dean Stork answered the call right away to go 5-3. We needed a big goal at the end of the Army game — Army played extremely well; Corey Winer played as well as any goalie has against us this year — but with less than two minutes to go Martin Miljko scored a goal to make it 2-0 and didn’t give them the chance to pull their goalie."

The emergence of rookie goaltender Mike Johnson has also allowed Mallen to rest Markus Helanen, this week’s Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week, to keep him at the top of his game.

"We’re getting great goaltending," says Mallen. "Mike Johnson has played great for us, so we’ve been able to platoon our goalies. In three weekends in a row, we’ve been able to rest Markus on the first night and play him on the second. That’s paid off for us."

That said, with just three games left in the regular season Mallen could go with Helanen in both contests this weekend against Providence. The Friars are a vastly underrated offensive club that now ranks second in the league in overall offense (4.26 goals per game) as well as the aforementioned top power play (23.87 percent).

"Anyone will tell you that you need to try to shut down [Jerry] Keefe, [Mike] Omicioli and [Fernando] Pisani," says Mallen. "Last time, for the most part, they split those guys up into two lines, but it doesn’t make a difference whether they’re split into two lines or three lines. They’re still three very dangerous players.

"[The Friars] are a very good team. I have a lot of respect for them and the job that Paul Pooley is doing. We’re going to have to play real good hockey to beat them."

PICKS: Providence wins at home, 4-2, but Helanen steals another one back at the Mullins Center, 2-1.

FOX Sports New England

Boston University (12-16-3, 7-11-3 HEA) vs.

Northeastern (9-18-3, 4-14-2 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA FSNE

Boston University made it 4-2-1 for February with a weekend split at Maine. The month has seen a disappointing loss to Providence, but has also featured another Beanpot championship (including a win over No. 6 BC), a tie with No. 4 UNH and a split with the No. 3 Black Bears. The split began ominously with a 7-2 thrashing, but the Terriers rebounded with a 4-1 victory.

"We still have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde look to us," says coach Jack Parker. "But there’s more Dr. Jekyll involved, more positive things, of late. We played real well in the Beanpot week, including a win over Merrimack. We played real well in the UNH game, but then we turned around the next night and didn’t play so well against Providence.

"And our first night up at Maine, it looked like we didn’t know where we were. The next night we played like the Montreal Canadiens.

"So we’re looking to get more of the good stuff out of the team before the playoffs start. Then we’ll be more confident in the playoffs."

Parker sees one major difference between the team’s play when it is "on" and when it is "off."

"[It comes down to] focus of attention and getting ready to play," he says. "We were focused the second night against Maine because we didn’t play well on Friday night. We were definitely focused on the Beanpot because we always have been. We played a good game against UNH and didn’t play as focused and alert as we should have been against Providence.

"It’s a matter of mental preparation. We still have a real young team and they’re not used to playing big games back-to-back.

"We also just keep getting hit by the injury bug. An inconsistent lineup can lead to inconsistent play."

This week, the Terriers will face Northeastern in a two-game rematch of the Beanpot title game. (The Saturday home tilt will be in front of the Fox Sports New England cameras.) While the Huskies are in the Hockey East cellar and will have their work cut out for them if they are going to qualify for the playoffs, Parker sees that as a potential danger.

"The big key is that they are in trouble," he says. "They have to make some hay in this second-to-last weekend of the year or else they’ll be out of the playoffs. That certainly wasn’t their goal before the season started.

"Our goal is to make sure that we stay in fifth place because we have Lowell nipping at our heels. Positions for the playoffs are real important to both clubs.

"They have played us real hard and already beat us in our building once this year. We played well against them in the Beanpot, but they stormed us in the first half of the third period while [Michel] Larocque stood them off for a while. They certainly have a lot of confidence against us."

What has happened to Northeastern? The Huskies, who looked impressive while losing to BU in the Beanpot championship game, have followed that performance with a 5-2 loss to Merrimack, a 6-3 loss to UMass-Amherst and a 7-2 one to New Hampshire.

"Obviously, we’re in a bit of a funk," says coach Bruce Crowder. "We’re working hard, but I don’t think we’re working smart. That’s one of the things that has hurt us.

"Some of the games that we’ve been in have been pretty similar to the BU game in the Beanpot when we played well at times and outplayed teams at times, but really haven’t gotten anything for our efforts. We’re just battling through some things."

Not only are the Huskies in the cellar, but they’re three points out of the final Hockey East playoff berth with only four games remaining. And none of those are head-to-head matches with the teams they have the best shot of catching.

"We’ve dug ourselves a hole here," says Crowder. "We’ve only got four games left to get it done or those four games are all we’re going to have left. The only thing we have control over is the teams we’re going to play.

"We’ve got to win some hockey games. We’ve got a tough go this weekend with two with BU. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some momentum out of it and play like we did a couple weeks ago."

The one glimmer of hope is that Northeastern has played BU well this season, defeating the Terriers in mid-January, 3-1, before losing the Beanpot heartbreaker.

"[The keys will be] our ability to come out and play with confidence and at the same time hopefully get to [Michel] Larocque," says Crowder. "He obviously did a tremendous job against us the last time we played. We’ve just got to get the red light on behind him."

PICKS: The Huskies really need more than a split, but that’s probably the best-case scenario. More likely, BU will sweep, 5-3 at home and 4-3 at Matthews Arena.

This Week in the MAAC: February 26, 1999

By
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Whoever said the MAAC isn’t exciting Division I hockey, they’re crazy.

As we end February, no other league in the country still has three teams battling for the top spot. To add to that, the MAAC has three other teams tied for the final home-ice bid in the playoffs.

If that’s not exciting, I don’t know what is.

After league leader Quinnipiac pulled out a dramatic victory over second-place Holy Cross on Friday, the Braves were within a win on Saturday of clinching the regular-season crown.

But Holy Cross had other plans, responding with a 6-0 win at home and keeping the Crusaders just four points out first place with four games remaining.

Similarly, AIC needed a weekend sweep of Iona to get some breathing room for the final home-ice spot. But the Gaels turned the table, sweeping the Yellow Jackets and forcing a three-way tie for fourth place, thanks also to Canisius’ weekend sweep of Sacred Heart.

Just in case you are wondering, the MAAC is using the following formula to break ties for playoff seeds:

1. Most MAAC points 2. Total MAAC wins 3. Comparison of games between the tied teams (head to head) 4. Record vs. top four in league 5. Goal differential in head-to-head games 6. Goals scored in MAAC games 7. Coin toss

Currently, that would give Iona the nod for fourth place with 12 MAAC wins, compared to 11 for AIC and 10 for Canisius.

The only two positions in the standings that are already clinched are seventh (Sacred Heart) and eighth (Fairfield). Those two teams face off this week for the chance to gain a bit of momentum heading into the playoffs.

As far as my predictions go, I had a kind of "ho-hum" week. I did pick a split between Quinnipiac and Holy Cross, but unfortunately picked each victory on the wrong night.

Iona was the other surprise. The Gaels found a way to beat AIC goalie Chance Thede on back-to-back nights.

MAAC Player of the Week: Erik Nates (F, Iona) recorded four goals and two assists in three games this week, including five points in the weekend sweep of AIC. Nates received league honors as rookie of the week just one week ago.

MAAC Goalie of the Week: Scott Simpson (G, Holy Cross) continued his spectacular play, allowing three goals in a 4-2 loss on Friday night versus Quinnipiac before picking up his second shutout in as many weeks, a 6-0 decision over Quinnipiac the following night. This is the second consecutive week Simpson has received this award.

MAAC Rookie of the Week: Ryan Carter (F, Iona) posted seven points this week (1g, 6a) and extended his scoring streak to 21 games. His 2.04 points-per-game average leads all Division I players in the nation.

Record in picks last week: 5-4 Season’s record in picks: 15-14 (.517)

Quinnipiac (21-5-2, 18-4-2 MAAC, 1st) at Iona (13-13-2, 12-11-1 MAAC, T-4th) Friday, 7:00 pm ET, The Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, N.Y. Iona at Quinnipiac Saturday, 7:00 pm ET, East Haven Rink, East Haven, Conn.

After carrying one of the MAAC’s most potent offenses for the first four months of the season, Quinnipiac, though still atop the MAAC standings, has been shut out three times in as many weeks.

The most recent came at the hands of Holy Cross in a game that could have clinched first place for the Braves.

Something that may be a bit deceiving, though, is the fact that though the offense hasn’t clicked in those three games, by no means has it gone to sleep.

Over the past three weeks, the Braves offense has scored 21 goals in seven games (3.0 goals per game). And that includes the three shutouts. So second-year coach Rand Pecknold agrees that there is nothing to worry about — not just yet.

"We have a very sound team on both the offensive and defensive ends of the ice," said Pecknold. "The three shutouts were a combination of running into great goaltending, of failure to finish our chances, and, most importantly, teams are gunning for us."

This past weekend the Braves played their second series against the second-place team in the MAAC in three weeks. The first was a two-game split with UConn two weeks ago, when UConn was in second.

This time, against new runner-up Holy Cross, the results were the same. Friday night, the Braves used a Mike Ruggiero goal with four minutes and 32 seconds remaining to break a 2-2 deadlock. Neil Breen added an empty-netter with 18 seconds left for the 4-2 final.

The win extended the Braves’ lead to six points over the Crusaders before Saturday’s rematch.

A win on Saturday would have given Quinnipiac an eight-point lead over both Holy Cross and UConn, which with just four games remaining in the season would have guaranteed the Braves no worse than a tie for the crown.

It wasn’t to be, though.

"It would be greedy to hope to clinch so early," said Pecknold. "Hats off to Holy Cross; they played very well."

On Saturday, the Crusaders built a 3-0 lead after one, winning 6-0, and outshooting the Braves 32-19 on the night. Quinnipiac used all three of its goaltenders in the game.

"Saturday we were flat and (Holy Cross) was sky-high," noted Pecknold. "Remember, it’s difficult to sweep a good team and even tougher to pull off the double sweep.

"Holy Cross is an excellent team and we feel fortunate to have won three of four from them."

This week, Quinnipiac takes on a tough Iona squad that is riding the conference’s longest current unbeaten streak (five games) into battle.

Iona’s latest conquest was a weekend sweep at home over AIC which catapulted the Gaels from fifth place into a tie for fourth, and more importantly the final home-ice playoff spot.

The Gaels’ offense has come to life in the late season. Between the first week in December and the second week in February, a span of 12 games, Iona’s offense only registered four or more goals twice. During that span, the Gaels won just two games.

But in their last five games (4-0-1), the Gaels have outscored their opponents 37-13, scoring nine goals twice (AIC, Fairfield) and 10 once (Fairfield).

This gives Iona coach Frank Bretti some hope.

"We weren’t fielding the same team (a few weeks ago) as we are now," said Bretti. "We had injuries to a couple of players hurt us, but we’re back to normal.

"We trimmed our bench and focused on defense, on not giving up more than three goals a game. That has allowed the offense to start taking care of itself and take advantage of opportunities."

Leading the charge has been rookie sensation Ryan Carter. Carter earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors this week to follow up his Player of the Week award last week. It is the fifth time this season Carter has won a weekly league award.

Carter currently has a 21-game scoring streak, the longest of any player in Division I. Only two teams (Canisius, UConn) have held Carter off the scoreboard this season.

"Carter is a true finisher," Bretti said. "There aren’t many players in the league you can attach that title to.

"There are game where he’ll seem to be having a bad game, turn it around in three shifts and have a goal and an assist."

Joining Carter with league honors is fellow freshman Erik Nates. Nates followed up his Rookie of the Week award last week with the MAAC Player of the Week this week.

Nates currently has a career-high eight-game scoring streak. He has recorded 11 multiple-point games this season.

"Nates is the hottest player in the MAAC in the second half," noted Bretti. "He creates things himself. He’s developed significantly all season."

With Iona’s sweep of fourth-place AIC last week, the Gaels are in a three-way tie with AIC and Canisius for the final home playoff spot. Fortunately for Bretti and the Gaels, they currently win the tiebreaker with the most league wins among the three teams (12).

"I haven’t even booked the home ice on the calendar," Bretti said. "Canisius has a very favorable schedule.

"We’re using the remainder of our schedule to prepare for the playoffs."

Picks: Two great offenses — Iona 6-4 on Friday, and Quinnipiac 5-2 on Saturday.

AIC (12-12-3, MAAC 11-10-3, T-4th) at Holy Cross (16-9-3, 16-6-2 MAAC, 2nd) Friday, 7:00 pm ET, Hart Recreation Center, Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross at AIC Saturday, 7:00 pm ET, Olympia Ice Arena, W. Springfield, Mass.

American International may have picked the wrong point of the season to slump.

The Yellow Jackets have lost their last three games, and six of their last nine contests. Over that span they have been outscored 37-21.

One concern for AIC has to be the power play, as a unit that stood in the top three for most of the season has failed to strike in its last 14 attempts.

Last Saturday against Iona, the power play went 0-for-6 in a 4-1 loss, something that heading into the postseason may concern Yellow Jackets coach Gary Wright.

"I wouldn’t say the power play has hit the wall," said Wright. "In the past few weeks it hasn’t been as strong. We have had success on the power play for most of the season, so we account for the power play as part of our offense."

One bright light for AIC is its position in the race for home ice. Although the Yellow Jackets missed the opportunity last week to distance themselves from Canisius and Iona, they still stand tied for fourth place with both clubs.

"From our perspective, we have quite a challenge ahead of us," said Wright. "We haven’t been in the playoffs for a few years, so from that perspective we’re happy to be there. But we’d really like home ice."

Among the three teams locked in fourth, the Yellow Jackets and Iona both have home-and-home series with Quinnipiac and Holy Cross.

"It will be a real dogfight to pull a couple of wins out of that (series against Holy Cross)," added Wright. "We have a tall order in front of us."

So AIC’s quest for fourth begins right here, right now.

Across the ice, the Crusaders staved off elimination from the race for the conference regular-season crown last weekend with a split against first-place Quinnipiac.

For the second consecutive week, goaltender Scott Simpson picked up MAAC Goalie of the Week honors. On the weekend Simpson made 49 saves, including 30 in defeat on Friday. On Saturday, Simpson stopped 19 en route to his second career shutout and second in as many weeks.

"Scotty played well for us on Saturday night," said head coach Paul Pearl. "He seemed to struggle a bit on Friday but was able to bounce back on Saturday."

Pearl noted that his team, as well, didn’t post its best effort in the first game of the series.

"We had lost three games to Quinnipiac already, and had never played our best game," said Pearl. "I think that kind of caught Quinnipiac off guard on Saturday."

Pearl believes that the race to the end will be a tough one but believes that it is far from over.

"(Quinnipiac) has a four-point lead, but I believe that we’re really still in it.

"People said that our tough stretch (series against UConn and Quinnipiac) was over now, but I say that this is part of a continued stretch of hard games."

"AIC is a great team. Any team coached by Gary Wright is creative, very disciplined and difficult to play against."

After this weekend, the Crusaders will close the regular season with a series against Iona.

Picks: Simpson is as hot as can be for the Cross. A 3-1, 4-0 sweep for the Crusaders.

Connecticut (15-9-4, 14-6-4 MAAC, 3rd) at Canisius (12-11-5, 10-9-5 MAAC, T-4th) Friday, 8:00 pm ET, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, N.Y. Saturday, 8:00 pm ET, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, N.Y.

The University of Connecticut may not be in position to control their destiny in the race for the regular-season title, but they’re sure not going down without a fight.

Last weekend, that fight took them through a tough home-and-home series with Fairfield University. Both nights saw UConn trail the last-place Stags at one point, and Saturday night’s contest required a late comeback by the Huskies to grab a hard-fought victory.

"It’s good to get the win," said UConn head coach Bruce Marshall. "The discouraging point was the number of goals we gave up."

UConn’s defense surrendered four goals in each game last weekend. In UConn’s two previous series, against MAAC top dogs Quinnipiac and Holy Cross, the Huskies allowed only four goals total in each of the weekends, never giving up more than three in a game.

A positive for Marshall was that the team showed character on Saturday, continuing to battle back against the Stags.

"I didn’t want to put too much pressure on the guys," said Marshall. "When the game was tied at 3-3 after two, I told the guys that sometimes you have character nights and this was one of them.

"Fairfield came out and scored in the first minute of the third, but the guys didn’t panic. We just kept working and working, and finally scored the goals."

And that is the type of character that Marshall’s club will need when it travels to Canisius to play the league’s hottest team.

"Canisius is hungry because they can smell home ice," said Marshall. "They’ll play as hard as they can so they don’t have to take an eight-hour trip in the playoffs."

The Canisius Ice Griffs are, in fact, one of the hottest teams in the league, if not the country. After a 4-8-2 start, the Griffs are 8-3-3 since the break and have moved from sixth place into a three-way tie for fourth.

Last weekend, the Griffs used a balanced offense while allowing just three goals on the weekend to sweep Scared Heart, 7-1 and 4-2.

Canisius played a non-league game against independent Niagara on Tuesday night in Amherst, N.Y. Though the Griffs played Niagara tough for three period, their offense couldn’t muster a five-on-five goal and lost 3-1.

This week, the task ahead of them may be even tougher. Last time the Griffs met UConn, they played two hard games but came away without a win, though their efforts were good enough to salvage a 1-1 tie in the second game.

Seemingly, Canisius has the easiest remaining schedule of the three teams battling for home ice. While Iona and AIC both have weekend series against Holy Cross and Quinnipiac, Canisius follows this weekend with a final series at Fairfield.

Team defense has been a big difference for the Griffs between the first half of the year and the second half. In its first 14 games, Canisius averaged 4.3 goals against per game, whereas in the last 14 games, that number has dropped to 2.4.

Picks: Canisius takes Friday night, 3-2, but UConn does the job on Saturday, 2-1.

Fairfield (1-26-0, 1-23-0 MAAC, 8th) at Sacred Heart (5-20-1, 5-18-1 MAAC, 7th) Friday, 7:30 pm ET, Milford Ice Pavilion, Milford, Conn. Saturday, 7:30 pm ET, Wonderland of Ice, Bridgeport, Conn.

It’s the series that no one cares about. Two teams that have secured their spots in seventh and eighth place, a series with no playoff implications.

So it doesn’t matter, right? Wrong.

Don’t tell that to Sacred Heart coach Shaun Hannah and Fairfield coach Mike Doneghey.

"This is a chance for our club to get a couple of wins heading into the playoffs," said Hannah. "That’s how we’ve looked at the second half of the season, as a chance to prepare for the playoffs."

Doneghey agrees.

"We’re taking this as a playoff series," said Doneghey. "Especially the game on Friday night, we need to have playoff mentality."

Once they get to the playoffs, Hannah thinks his team has at least part of the formula needed to win.

"You need a hot goaltender to carry you thought the post season," said Hannah. "We have Alexis (Jutras-Binet), and he could be that goaltender."

Hannah also sees the power play as an area of concern in the playoffs.

"In league play, teams that capitalize on the power play and kill some penalties have some success," noted Hannah. "With our power play not as successful, staying out of the box and capitalizing on our chances will be the key."

Doneghey believes that the MAAC’s unique formula — a one-game quarterfinal, rather than the best-of-three favored by most leagues — makes just about anything possible.

"I just look at what Merrimack did to BU last season in a best two-of-three series. This is one game; anything can happen."

Doneghey will have to play the rest of the season with only one goaltender, as sophomore netminder Derek Saunders suffered a season-ending injury on Saturday against UConn.

So senior John True will get the call the rest of the way. True is about to make a permanent mark in the Fairfield record books as he stands just 95 saves away from becoming the all-time leader in that category at Fairfield.

"John has played well for us all season," said Doneghey. "The problem is that the defense seems to know he’ll makes the big save so they don’t play as tight in front of him. It seems True has faced a lot more quality scoring chances."

So while some may write this weekend series off, there are two coaches in southern Connecticut that can’t wait to get on the ice weekend with the playoffs in mind.

Picks: Sacred Heart gets two much-needed wins, 4-1 and 3-2.

Charges Issued Against Two MSU Players

USCHO Staff Report
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Michigan State players Jeff Kozakowski and Bryan Adams are currently under investigation by East Lansing (Mich.) police for their roles in a Sept. 18, 1998, incident, and criminal arrest warrants for both players have been issued.

Adams, a senior forward and assistant captain, is charged with illegal entry and malicious destruction of property. The charges against Kozakowski, a senior defenseman, are illegal entry, malicious destruction of property and assault and battery. The charges are misdemeanors, and carry a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail under Michigan law.

“First of all, this incident occurred in September before our season started, and I dealt with it at that time,” said Spartan head coach Ron Mason Thursday. “There will be nothing further done internally to the players in question.

“What really happened was that our players responded to one of their teammates who had been badly beaten up and sent to the hospital. To this date, the police have not been able to identify any of the individuals who attacked our player.”

The charges are apparently the result of Adams and Kozakowski seeking out their teammate’s attackers at an off-campus site.

“I understand that Jeff and Bryan intend to enter not guilty pleas,” Mason, who did not identify the third player involved, added.

Adams and Kozakowski have 10 days to respond to the charges.

Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III told the Detroit Free Press, “I don’t understand why this is such a big media event. They were just a couple of college kids who got in a fight. We have a lot more serious crime that nobody pays attention to.”

What Happens When The Season Ends?

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Ready for the post-season? It’s here! The NCHA and SUNYAC playoffs begin this weekend, and the other conferences will follow shortly thereafter. To help fans follow the action, here’s a bit of background on the various Division II/Division III conferences, and the NCAA selection process.

The Conferences

Let’s begin out west, where things are a bit simpler. There are three main conferences, the MIAC (Minnesota Collegiate Athletic Conference) and the NCHA (Northern Collegiate Hockey Association). A list of teams in the MIAC and NCHA as well as all the other D-II/D-III conferences can be found at the USCHO Div. II-III page.

In the MIAC, the top four teams make the playoffs, which begin this year on Feb. 26-27. The semifinals consist of a “first to three points” system that is common at this level. This format calls for two games with no overtimes. The team that wins both or wins one game and ties another advances. If the teams split the games, or tie both, then a 15-minute “minigame” is played to determine the winner. If the mingame is tied at the end of regulation, then a sudden-victory overtime is played.

The winner of the MIAC playoffs is granted an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.

The NCHA is slightly different. All teams make the playoffs with the exception of Division II Bemidji State, who is prohibited in order to assure a Division III champion, this ensuring the NCHA an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Bemidji is moving up to Division I next season. The playoffs continue over three consecutive weekends starting Feb. 19, and follow the same “first to three points” format.

The MCHA (Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association) is a new conference, full of emerging D-III programs, in addition to D-II Findlay. There are six teams in the league, and the top four will make the playoffs, which will be hosted by Findlay University on Feb. 26-27. The format there is single elimination semifinals and finals. No team from the MCHA is expected to make the NCAA tournament. Findlay is moving up to Division I next season, and the remaining Division III programs are still developing, so there is no automatic bid.

Now let’s turn to the east, where things are considerably more complicated.

The SUNYAC is an all-Division-III conference, and therefore also has an automatic bid for their champion. Six teams make the playoffs, which are also “first to three points”. The #1 and #2 seeds are granted first round byes.

The ECAC West is a mixed conference which currently includes three Division III teams (Elmira, Hobart, RIT) and a Division II program (Mercyhurst). Mercyhurst is moving to Division I next season. All four teams are eligible for the playoffs. Their format is a single-elimination “Final Four” affair. The ECAC West does not receive an automatic bid.

The ECAC East will keep fans in suspense until their last conference games are played on 2/21. Like the ECAC West, the East is a mixed conference with 17 Division III members, plus Division II St. Anselm. The ECAC East has an additional complication to be factored in, however. Nine of the 18 teams belong to the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference). NESCAC rules prohibit participation in more than one post-season tournament. The NESCAC schools in the ECAC East (Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Conn College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan, Williams) who clinch one of the ten playoff spots may elect to vacate it in favor of waiting for an NCAA bid. Therefore, one cannot determine the playoff teams or seedings based on simply looking at the final standings. On 2/21, each of the NESCAC schools must declare for either the ECAC playoffs or the NCAAs. The top ten remaining teams are then selected and seeded. Since the eventual ECAC East champion has a good chance of either being a NESCAC or non-Division III team, the ECAC East does not receive an automatic NCAA bid.

There is one additional conference in the east, the ECAC Northeast. The Northeast also has mixed divisions, and is considered to generally play a lower level of Division III hockey than the other leagues. While technically eligible for the D-III nationals, teams from these leagues are almost never considered. Instead, the Northeast runs a playoff involving its top eight teams.

The Nationals

Eight teams make the Division III nationals. Typically four teams are selected from the western region and four from the east. However, since there are far more teams in the east, the selection committee has the option of a five-three east-west split.

Since the west has two slots guaranteed to the MIAC and NCHA champions, that leaves them at best two and possibly just one additional at-large team. Typically this has been the NCHA runner up, or the NCHA regular season champion if they don’t win the playoff title. Since the NCHA is thought to be the stronger conference, it is a rare occurrence that more than one MIAC team is offered a bid, although no NCAA rule prohibits this.

One of the east’s four or five slots is allocated to the SUNYAC champion; the rest are at-large. Typically, the ECAC East and West champions will also get bids, provided they are eligible (i.e. a Division III non-NESCAC school). The committee also looks at any NESCAC schools that have elected to sit out the ECAC East tournament, as well as any other ECAC East, SUNYAC or ECAC West team that has had an excellent regular season.

The current format for the D-III nationals is a “first two three points” quarterfinal series hosted by the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds from each region. After that, a single elimination “Final Four” format is used, hosted by one of the four surviving teams. Recently, there has been some discussion of holding the finals at a pre-determined site, perhaps during the Division I championships.

Since there are only six schools currently playing hockey at the Division II level who are eligible for the NCAAs, the D-II “tournament” field is comprised of just two teams, each getting an at large bid. The championships are a “first to three points” series hosted by the higher seed. This will be the last year for the tournament, since Division II has dwindled from 14 to 6 teams in two years.

Small school hockey, while complicated, is certainly never dull, and the intensity of the players competing for their conference title and a national championship is as high as that of their Division I counterparts. Check out the action if you can, otherwise check U.S. College Hockey Online for the latest playoff results.

This Week in the MAAC: February 19, 1999

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Simply put, the MAAC season has come down to three weeks. Six games for each team to position themselves for the playoffs.

And last weekend’s action is what set up the whole ball of wax.

With first-place Quinnipiac taking the weekend off from conference play, the two teams sitting on the doorstep had the privilege of battling amongst themselves.

Holy Cross came out the victor of both matches and pulled within two points of the first-place Braves at the end of the weekend.

If this was scripted, it would figure that Holy Cross and Quinnipiac would face off this week. And look what we have here, a home-and-home series between those two clubs. Now even the best sportswriters in the country couldn’t pen a script as exciting as this.

But that’s not the only excitement. Both Iona and Canisius could be tied with AIC by the end of this weekend (sorry, I haven’t figured out the system for breaking three-way ties yet).

Enough with that, on to the awards:

MAAC Player of the Week: Ryan Carter (F, Iona) notched hat tricks in back-to-back games against Fairfield. He leads the MAAC in scoring (50 points) and goals (30). Carter currently has an 18-game scoring streak, dating back to Nov. 14, 1998.

MAAC Goalie of the Week: Scott Simpson (G, Holy Cross) recorded his first career shutout, a 1-0 victory over UConn on Friday. He stopped 50 of 52 shots in a weekend sweep of the Huskies.

MAAC Rookie of the Week: Erik Nates (F, Iona) posted a career-high five points (1g, 4a) in Friday night’s 10-3 win against Fairfield.

MAAC Standings

Record in picks last week: 7-3 Season’s record in picks: 10-8 (.555)

Holy Cross (15-8-3, 15-5-2 MAAC, 2nd) at Quinnipiac (20-4-2, 17-3-2 MAAC, 1st) Friday, 7:00 pm ET, East Haven Rink, East Haven, Conn. Quinnipiac at Holy Cross Saturday, 7:00 pm ET, Hart Recreation Center, Worcester, Mass.

Holy Cross has put itself in position. Now the key is to execute.

The Crusaders have hung around the top of the MAAC all year, and this weekend, they have the chance to launch themselves into the top spot. But for Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl, this is just business as usual.

"We play a 28-game league schedule," said Pearl. "We go into every weekend looking to get the four possible points.

"This weekend is no different. To put too much emphasis on it would be foolish."

Regardless, getting four points this weekend against first-place Quinnipiac will enable Holy Cross to grab a share of first place.

One key to this weekend will be the play of senior goaltender Scott Simpson. After spending three years as a backup, Simpson was called to duty 11 games ago when the Crusaders’ top goaltender, Tom Ormondroyd, ended his career due to post-concussion syndrome.

Since arriving in the lead role between the pipes, Simpson has posted a 7-3-1 record with a .904 save percentage and a 2.36 goals against average.

Simpson ranks third in the league in both save percentage and goals against.

Pearl credits Simpson for the Crusaders win last Saturday night against third-place UConn.

"In the last five minutes of the game (Saturday night), Simpson was unbelievable, " said Pearl. "UConn was fabulous on Saturday and Simpson stole the game from them."

The win came one night after Simpson posted his first career shutout, a 1-0 win at UConn.

Pearl hopes that Simpson and his Crusaders will continue its "business as usual" practice this weekend against the Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac accomplished something only four other schools — UMass-Amherst, Denver, MSU-Mankato, and Bentley — have done this season. They beat Air Force on the Cadets’ home ice.

Now, if you look at the other teams that have played Air Force at home this season (Niagara and Holy Cross are probably the toughest), that doesn’t seem like as much of an accomplishment.

But to second-year coach Rand Pecknold, any win against an established Division I school is something to talk about.

"We are very excited to beat Air Force," said Pecknold. "They are a very solid team. I see why they swept Niagara a couple of weeks ago."

Although the Braves pulled off the win against Air Force on Saturday night, it was only 24 hours after Quinnipiac had blemished its perfect non-league record against the same Cadets.

"The difference (in the two games) was that we finished our chances on Saturday," Pecknold said. "On Friday we had more scoring chances, but couldn’t finish."

But more important than the series at Air Force was that the Braves were idle for the weekend from MAAC play. That allowed Holy Cross to sneak within two points of the Braves before Quinnipiac extended the lead to four with a win Tuesday night over Sacred Heart, 8-5.

That sets up this weekend’s series.

The Braves were in a similar position two weeks ago, playing now third-place UConn and holding a four-point lead. Two wins would have distanced them and two losses would have meant a tie. The split kept a bit of distance but allowed Holy Cross to sneak in the back door.

Picks: Another big series, another split. This time I’ll call the reverse — Holy Cross wins Friday, 4-2, and Quinnipiac on Saturday, 5-4.

Sacred Heart (5-18-1, 5-16-1 MAAC, 7th) at Canisius (10-11-5, 8-9-5 MAAC, T-5th) Friday, 7:45 pm ET, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, N.Y. Saturday, 2:00 pm ET, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, N.Y. Canisius vs. Niagara (12-10-3) Tuesday, 7:30 pm ET, Amherst Pepsi Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.

Sacred Heart was idle over the weekend but met first-place Quinnipiac on Tuesday night in a battle of southern Connecticut rivals.

The game was the second of two Tuesday night games in a home-and-home series with the Braves. Quinnipiac won the first game, 6-1.

Unfortunately for the Pioneers, the result was the same this time, an 8-5 loss. But for Shaun Hannah, head coach at Sacred Heart, there are a lot of positive signs.

"We came out with a bang," said Hannah. "We grabbed a 2-0 lead but then the bounces didn’t exactly go our way.

Quinnipiac scored a fluke goal in the first period that turned the game a bit. As the Braves attempted to dump the puck into the zone, it hit a stanchion in the glass. With Pioneers’ goalie Alexis Jutras-Binet behind the net to play the puck, the puck bounced off the stanchion and right into the net.

"We also had a couple of defensive breakdowns, and (Quinnipiac) being such a creative team, they took advantage.

"But more important is that the team played hard and didn’t quit. Right now that’s all I can ask."

As far as this weekend’s opponent, Canisius, is concerned, Hannah and his team are excited.

"It’s the only overnight trip of the season for the club, so the guys are fired up for it," said Hannah. "I know they have a small rink up there, so I expect a real physical match.

"Canisius is a good team and it was just a matter of time before they found their rhythm."

That rhythm is what has made the second half of the season very exciting for the fifth-place Ice Griffs.

Canisius completed the weekend with a split against a tough AIC squad on enemy ice, leaving the Griffs four points behind AIC in the battle for the final home-ice playoff position. The Griffs are also tied with Iona, which swept Fairfield last weekend.

"It was a great two-game series," noted head coach Brian Cavanaugh of the AIC pair. "AIC is very well-coached and they got strong goaltending from Chance Thede last weekend."

Cavanaugh said that it was missed opportunities that led to a 3-2 loss in Friday night’s contest.

"If we capitalized on our opportunities, we could have won the first game," said Cavanaugh. "We capitalized on Saturday night and that was the difference."

Looking ahead, the Ice Griffs play three games in four days in the upcoming week, beginning by hosting a pesky Sacred Heart squad this weekend.

"Sacred Heart is a very dangerous team," said Cavanaugh. "Like AIC, they are very well coached by Shaun Hannah, who played Division I college hockey himself for Brian McCutcheon at Cornell.

"They are a vastly improved team from the beginning of the year to this point. We have to play well and not take anyone for granted."

On Tuesday night, Canisius will face upstate rival Niagara, only the second game that Niagara plays this season against an MAAC opponent. Niagara defeated Holy Cross, 3-0, earlier this season.

"Niagara is a big story here in the Buffalo area this season," said Cavanaugh. "They have been a traditional rival of Canisius in all sports for 145 years.

"They are also a well-coached team with the best power play in the country. They will be very tough to play."

Niagara, under Coach Blaise MacDonald, have impressed many across college hockey in only their second year of existence. The Purple Eagles have played a competitive Division I schedule and fared pretty well.

The Purple Eagles gained early season respect by knocking off defending national champion Michigan, then following that up with wins over Ohio State, RPI, St. Lawrence, Colgate, and Brown.

Cavanaugh added that the game is expected to be sold out at the Amherst Pepsi Arena, which is located almost halfway between the two campuses.

For a more detailed look at Niagara, see Jayson Moy’s

Season Preview.

Picks: Canisius proves why they’re the best second-half team in the league. A 5-3, 4-1 sweep of the Pioneers, and a 3-2 upset win over Niagara.

American Int’l (12-10-3, 11-8-3 MAAC, 4th) at Iona (11-13-2, 10-11-1 MAAC, T-5th) Friday, 7:00 pm ET, The Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, N.Y. Saturday, 7:00 pm ET, The Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, N.Y.

AIC is coming off of a weekend split with Canisius — a series that carried with it some serious playoff overtones.

To set the stage, AIC holds fourth place in the MAAC with both Canisius and Iona breathing down its neck. With 25 points, AIC leads both teams by four points for the final home ice spot.

Friday’s 3-2 victory over Canisius was keyed by good goaltending.

"Goaltender Chance Thede has been, to date, this team’s MVP," said Yellow Jackets coach Gary Wright. "Chance has excelled all expectations this season….Friday night it was our better effort and goaltending that saved the game."

Saturday, though, was a much different story for AIC as the Griffs outshoot the Yellow Jackets, 42-18.

"Saturday night, (Canisius) was clearly the hungrier team," said Wright.

Canisius was able to score four goals in a span of eight minutes and 23 seconds to account for all of the offense in the 4-0 shutout.

Wright understands the importance of this weekend’s games against Iona as it pertains to home ice. Even so, he doesn’t want to make to big of a deal.

"No one weekend is a ‘must’ weekend," said Wright, "but this one is definitely significant. We really need to contain (Iona’s) offense."

And that offense was firing on all pistons last weekend. Iona must wish all of its games were played against Fairfield. The Gaels completed their season series against the Stags with a perfect 5-0 record, and that’s only half the story.

In the five contests against Fairfield, Iona scored 48 goals while yielding only 12. The 48 goals represent 41 percent of Iona’s offense this season.

The 19-goal output last weekend (10-3, 9-1 victories) produced two individual league awards for the Gaels.

Freshman sensation Ryan Carter notched not one, but two hat tricks on the weekend to finish with seven points (6g, 1a) and the MAAC Player of the Week award. Like his team, Carter has enjoyed big offensive games against Fairfield this season, registering 12 goals and five assists for 17 points in the five games.

Another rookie, Erik Nates, tallied a career-high five points (1g, 4a) in Friday’s contest to earn him the MAAC Rookie of the Week award.

The sweep leaves Iona with 21 points and tied for fifth place with Canisius. Hence, this could be a make-or-break weekend for the Gaels in the race for home ice. Two wins over AIC would guarantee a tie for fourth place after the weekend. But two losses could put them eight points out with only four games to play.

Iona also played a non-league game with Army on Tuesday night, skating to a 5-5 tie — the Gaels’ first-ever — with the Cadets on enemy ice.

Picks: AIC takes Friday’s game, 4-3, but can’t contain the Iona offense twice. The Gaels prevail on Saturday, 6-4.

Connecticut (13-9-4, 12-6-4 MAAC, 3rd) at Fairfield (1-24-0, 1-21-0 MAAC, 8th) Friday, 7:30 pm ET, Wonderland of Ice, Bridgeport, Conn. Fairfield at Connecticut Saturday, 7:30 pm ET, UConn Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn.

For the UConn Huskies, the worst may be over.

Two weeks ago, UConn was in somewhat of an enviable position. They were four points out of first place with two home-and-home series against first place Quinnipiac and third place Holy Cross straight ahead.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, over the four games they registered only one win. But to look on the bright side, they are still only six points out of first place with six games left in the season.

More good news for UConn is that the six remaining games are against the bottom three teams in the league.

"Playing six games against the bottom of the league looks appealing," said UConn coach Bruce Marshall, "but when you have teams like Sacred Heart who took three of four [points] against us last time we played, you can’t worry about who you’re playing."

Last weekend was one of the hardest-fought of the season for UConn. Friday night’s game saw the Huskies outshot 31-20 by Holy Cross, but the goaltending of Marc Senerchia (30 saves) kept UConn in the game.

The only blemish for either team’s defense was a power-play tally by Holy Cross freshman Pat Rismiller at 11:04 of the first period.

"Friday night was a great hockey game. It was a one-goal game the whole way," said Marshall. "We played hard and competed. Our discipline was good. We just didn’t generate any goals."

Saturday was a much different game, as UConn outshot Holy Cross, 34-25, but still found themselves on the losing end of a 3-2 score.

Holy Cross senior netminder Scott Simpson proved to be the difference in the game. His countless key stops, many coming late in the game, propelled the Crusaders to the win.

About Simpson, Marshall said, "He played great. When you’re struggling offensively sometimes you aren’t thinking about burying the puck. You shot hoping to score. But we didn’t bury the puck and that gave Simpson time to see the shots or get into position."

So their fate may no longer be in the Huskies hands, but that won’t stop Bruce Marshall’s club.

"I don’t care if we’re playing the Olympic team, we just need to work hard and find a way to win."

Fairfield must be glad to have finished the season series with Iona. Counting a non-league contest between the two club in the Quinnipiac Cup consolation game, Fairfield faced Iona a total of five times this season, all resulting in defeat.

The Stags defense surrendered a generous 9.6 goals per game to the Gaels while the offense scored an average of only 2.4 goals per game. Not something that makes second-year coach Mike Doneghey too happy.

The Stags are one loss away from clinching last place in the league, which could serve as a positive for the team.

Instead of spending the last two weeks of the season fighting for a seed, the Stags can concentrate more on getting ready for the playoffs and a first-round single game against one of the three teams competing for the top spot.

On a positive note, Fairfield senior goaltender John True, who has probably seen more than his share of rubber this season, is closing in on the school record for career saves. With 2,225, True is 159 saves away from surpassing Tim McDevitt (’92) on the all-time Fairfield list.

True is averaging 38 saves per game this season for the Stags, meaning it should take him a little more than four games to break the record.

Picks: UConn dusts itself off and gets back to winning ways. 5-2, 6-2 sweep.

This Week in the WCHA: February 19, 1999

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Attention, those who doubt the power of North Dakota: The Denver Pioneers have a message for you.

It would probably involve their game with the Sioux on Saturday. Things looked good for George Gwozdecky’s team early. They managed to stay with Dean Blais’ UND squad through 20 minutes, and even pulled two goals ahead early in the second period, 4-2.

Maybe you’ve heard of the cliche, "waking a sleeping giant." North Dakota may not have been asleep, but the Sioux certainly awoke, scoring the next nine goals of the game for an 11-4 victory.

It’s tough living with the No. 1 ranking. Blais would be the first one to mention that everyone is gunning for you because he has the experience. Almost since Day One, the UND coach has seen teams put forth their best effort to unseat the top-ranked team in the nation. But still, only two teams — Colorado College and Notre Dame — have been successful, while two others — Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth — managed ties.

North Dakota just seems to have that knack for coming out of adversity on top. Call it luck if you will, but everyone knows the race for the Broadmoor Trophy goes through the Sioux. There’s just no need to mention the MacNaughton Cup anymore. With either a win this weekend against Alaska-Anchorage or a Colorado College loss to Denver, the Sioux will claim their third consecutive Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship, a feat previously accomplished by CC (1994-96).

So then, the race is for second. And third. And fourth. And … well, you get the idea. Here’s your weekly look at just how close the race for a top-five finish is. North Dakota has No. 1 wrapped up, barring, of course, the unforeseen situation that every member of the team gets a lucrative offer from the NHL they just couldn’t pass up. Heck, they might even win it then.

But, with three weeks in the season, no other team is firmly planted into a spot. CC has second place in its grasp, with 30 points and two games in hand on the third-place team. Alaska-Anchorage, said third-place team, has 25 points, good for third place, but has the toughest remaining schedule. The Seawolves are at North Dakota this weekend and host Colorado College next week before taking the last weekend of the season off.

Denver and Wisconsin each have 22 points and are tied for fourth. Denver holds the tie-breaker in this series, having gone 2-1-1 against the Badgers this season. Minnesota (19 points, sixth place) and St. Cloud State (18 points, seventh place) have a pivotal home-and-home series this weekend. This may be a make-or-break series for the clubs, both of which really need a boost into the last two weekends.

Michigan Tech (16 points, eighth place) and Minnesota-Duluth (12 points, ninth place) each have a week off before the end of the season — Duluth’s just happens to be this weekend.

Don’t think the WCHA coaches won’t be doing a little bit of scoreboard watching this weekend. And not just of their own game.

ALASKA-ANCHORAGE (13-12-5, 10-9-5 WCHA: 3rd) at No. 1 NORTH DAKOTA (24-2-2, 19-1-2 WCHA: 1st) Friday-Saturday, 8:35-7:35 CT, Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, N.D.

ON THE SEAWOLVES: This is an interesting week, to say the least, for Alaska-Anchorage. Instead of going back to the Land of the Midnight Sun after Sunday’s game with Minnesota, they stayed in Bloomington to train before heading to Grand Forks for this weekend’s matchup with North Dakota.

"We make about one of these a year when we play somewhere around the Twin Cities," Seawolves coach Dean Talafous said. "One, it’s a tremendous savings dollar-wise because you only make one flight. It saves you a little bit on travel. It’s more of a cost factor than anything, but along with that it saves on travel. We get some quality training time down here."

UAA was defeated, 5-1 on Saturday before getting a 4-2 win on Sunday. That four-goal deficit on Saturday, however, was a little misleading. The Gophers were ahead, 3-1, when Anchorage pulled goaltender Gregg Naumenko for an extra attacker. Minnesota scored an empty-netter and a five-on-five goal at 19:41 to extend the score.

"Until we pulled our goalie, it was a 3-1 game and we were starting to generate some offense," Talafous said. "They had played better than us, but it wasn’t 5-1. We thought we could play better and we knew we had to. We wanted to come back Sunday and put our best game on the ice and hope it was enough."

With the help of two goals the Gophers put in their own net, the Seawolves’ effort was enough on Sunday. John Pohl and Chris Pont, a pair of third-line forwards, each scored goals in the game. That’s the kind of effort the Seawolves are going to need down the stretch, as they face North Dakota and Colorado College.

"We don’t have a lot of gifted scorers so we have to work real hard as a team to score goals," Talafous said. "All you can do is go out there and play as aggressive as you possibly can and hope to score some goals. At the same time, play some pretty good defense and hope it’s enough to win over the 60 minutes. That’s all you can do, give it your best both defensively and offensively and hope you can score enough as a team.

"We don’t have a line that has Hobey Baker candidates or All-Americans that, even though we’re having a so-so night, they can carry us. It’s got to be a total team effort. Sunday afternoon, Pont, Simon and (Klage) Kaebel is our third or fourth line and they score two goals. We need everybody contributing."

Naumenko continues to lead the WCHA in goaltending with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. In conference games, he has a 2.02 GAA and a .931 SV%.

ON THE SIOUX: You want to talk streaks? I got some streaks for you. Or, more appropriately, North Dakota has a couple streaks it is proud to display.

First, the Sioux are in the midst of a 12-game unbeaten streak. The last game they lost was a 4-3 setback to Notre Dame on Jan. 3. At that time, coach Dean Blais said even his team couldn’t win them all. Maybe not, but they’re dang close.

UND also has a 17-game conference unbeaten streak going. They are 16-0-1 in that time — the only tie coming Jan. 30 at Minnesota-Duluth — and have been tearing through the league, leaving a trail of frustrated opposing coaches in their wake. A win Friday will set a WCHA record for consecutive games without a loss, passing the mark set by the 1960-61 Denver Pioneers. That team went on to claim an NCAA title.

Goaltender Karl Goehring has an 11-game unbeaten string intact. Goehring is 15-1-2 this season with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Andy Kollar is 9-1 with a 2.85 GAA and a .883 SV%.

Senior David Hoogsteen leads the Sioux with a seven-game point streak. Since missing nine games due to injury, he has 15 points in 13 games, including a goal last Friday and a goal and three assists on Saturday.

But the streak that may mean the most could come to fruition this weekend. It is strongly probable (see the requirements above if you doubt me) that the Sioux will win their third straight MacNaughton Cup this weekend.

Senior center Jason Blake furthered his campaign for the Hobey Baker Award with a six-point weekend against Denver. He had a goal and four assists last Saturday. Jay Panzer added his first career hat trick on Saturday to become the second Panzer brother to score three in a game this season. Jeff collected a hat trick earlier this season.

It may seem like it, but the fifth goal scored on Saturday was not UND’s 8,000th goal of the season. It was however, the 8,000th goal scored in Sioux hockey history.

THE MATCHUP: Talafous knows what lies ahead of his team. Let’s just let him explain:

"North Dakota’s probably the most difficult place in the country right now to play," he said. "A very good Denver team that had been playing very well went in there and you saw what happened to them. We realize that we’re playing the No. 1 team in very difficult circumstances. If you want to, one day, be a championship program, which is our goal down the road, there’s no better opportunity to play the best at their best and see how you stack up and where you need to improve.

"We want to go up there and put our best game on the ice both nights and then stand back when it’s over with and say OK, they’re this much better than us or these are the areas they exposed or these are our real weaknesses. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we can’t go up there scared. We have to play our game with confidence. That’s all you can do."

Well put.

PICKS: North Dakota 6-3, 4-2.

DENVER (17-11-2, 10-10-2 WCHA: T-4th) vs. No. 5 COLORADO COLLEGE (20-9-1, 15-7 WCHA: 2nd) Friday, 7:35 MT, Colorado Springs World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo. Saturday, 4:05 MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Air Force Academy

ON THE PIONEERS: At this point in the season, Denver coach George Gwozdecky said he hopes his team has a short memory. It’s probably better, he said, that the Pioneers just forget about last weekend’s series with North Dakota and move on. But that’s not to say DU can’t learn something.

"The way I look at it, we learned something from our opponents," Gwozdecky said. "I was very impressed with some of the things they did. Hopefully we can add that to our game to make us a little more effective.

"The way North Dakota played this weekend, I don’t know how many teams, if anybody, could have stayed with them. They were really, really good. As good a team as there is in the country. Probably the best team in my mind. They were excellent. We just try to move on from here."

The last time North Dakota swept the Pioneers, Dec. 5-6 in Denver, it sent the Pioneers into a mini-tailspin. They then were swept by Anchorage a week later.

"I look at this little pothole in the road compared to the valley that we were in back in December," Gwozdecky said. "This is nothing compared to what we faced at the break. We were, at that point, buried in the bottom half of the league, playing very poorly. Yet we were able to come back and win the Denver Cup, play some very competitive teams nationally and beat them and put a pretty good record together. I don’t think this is going to have any type of effect, considering how resilient we were when we faced a heck of a challenge back in mid-December."

The Pioneers know there’s a lot at stake in their last six games. Their hold on fourth place could be easily compromised with a slip this weekend. Gwozdecky doesn’t know exactly how many games his team is going to have to win in order to move up, just that his team will have to finish strong.

"The way Anchorage is playing right now, it’s hard to say," what his team will need, Gwozdecky said. "We want to be able to chase Anchorage and be able to catch third spot, but at the same time, Wisconsin is starting to get hot, Minnesota is right on our heels. I don’t know if there is a magical number. Six may be the magical number, I don’t know."

One of the things that will have to come together for DU down the stretch is goaltending. Stephen Wagner has to be able to shake off last weekend and play well in the next three for the Pioneers to move up and make their case for the NCAA tournament.

ON THE TIGERS: Colorado College had every right to be a little down last Saturday. The team’s No. 2 scorer, Darren Clark, had gone back to Colorado Springs to have season-ending surgery on his broken left arm.

But the Tigers, who somewhat collapsed after Toby Petersen went down earlier this season, regrouped in time to put together a solid performance in a 3-0 shutout of Wisconsin. The fact that CC was able to pull it together was a good sign for coach Don Lucia.

"I just think it was important psychologically," Lucia said. "I think having the day off in between (games) really helped. It gave our guys a chance to recover a little bit mentally, gave us a chance to practice with a different lineup and different power plays and et cetera. When you lose a player like Darren, it affects not only your five-on-five play, but it probably even affects your special teams even more."

Clark, a senior who had missed just one prior game in his career, was fourth in the conference with 40 points this season on 17 goals and 23 assists. Petersen took his spot on the right side of the top line Saturday and is expected to stay there for a while. Jon Austin, who is still about two weeks away from returning from an ankle injury, may take over upon his return.

"We’re not going to rush that because with Darren out of the playoffs, we want to make sure that Jon’s back," Lucia said. "You not only miss their play, but they’re both seniors. Life goes on, and we have to adapt. The one thing without Darren and Jon in our lineup, all of a sudden we’re a bigger team with the guys that are going in. The bigger guys have to play physical. We have to go from a team that could score a lot of goals to a team that’s probably not going to score a lot right now. We have to win low-scoring games and play well defensively from here on out."

That also means goaltender Jeff Sanger is going to have to come up big.

"He’s going to have to play well night in and night out," Lucia said. "You look to four of the past five games we’ve won, we’ve only scored three goals. We’re second in the league in goals-against average. How well we play on defense will ultimately determine what we do the rest of the year."

The Tigers defense is second in the conference defensively, behind Alaska-Anchorage. They allow an average of 2.54 goals per league game and 2.70 overall. They have been scoring 3.86 per conference game and 4.20 overall, but those figures are in serious jeopardy with Brian Swanson’s right-hand man out of the lineup.

THE MATCHUPS: The Gold Pan is on the line this weekend. Because the teams split their previous home-and-home series this season, whoever wins the series this weekend takes the Pan home. But what if they split again? The parties involved would rather you didn’t ask right now. They didn’t have an answer as of Wednesday.

"We’re trying to come to a final decision," Gwozdecky said. "There was a feeling a couple years ago when the Gold Pan was first established that, in the event of a tie after four games, then a shootout would take place. To our understanding, a shootout is not allowed, but it was never confirmed or decided as to what was the official way to break a tie."

They have summoned the NCAA ice hockey rules committee for an answer.

Another interesting twist to this series is, although it’s a home-and-home pair, both games are in Colorado Springs. Denver’s "home game" on Saturday will take place at the Air Force Academy, where there may be more Tigers fans in attendance.

"That’s going to help," Lucia said. "I don’t think there’s any question that I like the fact of playing at Air Force on Saturday."

Remember Nov. 14? CC probably does. On that day, the Pioneers made a lot of jaws drop with a 6-0 shutout of the Tigers. That wasn’t a surprise to Lucia at the time, so nothing should catch him off guard this weekend.

"I always felt they had that capability," Lucia said. "Heck, they beat us 6-0 (in Denver) the year before. They’re getting good play out of their seniors, and that’s what they need this year. (James) Patterson has more goals this year than he’s ever scored before, their power-play leads the nation, their penalty killing is strong."

PICKS: Colorado College 4-2; Denver 6-4. And I’ll take the Gold Pan if they can’t decide to whom to give it.

WISCONSIN (12-15-3, 10-10-2 WCHA: T-4th) at MICHIGAN TECH (8-21-1, 8-16 WCHA: 8th) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 ET, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, Mich.

ON THE BADGERS: Here’s something you may remember from earlier in the season: No one is quite sure which Wisconsin team is going to show up on a nightly basis. And this time, it has nothing to do with injuries, rather it’s a question of effort level.

Take last weekend’s series with Colorado College. On Thursday night, the Badgers played very well en route to a 5-4 victory. Put one in the positive column. Saturday afternoon, they get 12 shots and are blanked, 3-0. Negative. What may be worse is the way Wisconsin got those 12 shots. They only had five in the final two periods — all of them on two power-play chances. Maybe the Thursday-Saturday scenario didn’t work as well as coach Jeff Sauer had thought it would.

"Let’s say we’re going to work like heck not to have it happen again, in terms of the scheduling and all that," Sauer said. "From a playing standpoint, I was really pleased Thursday. Of course, when you win it’s a positive, but I thought that’s the best game we’ve had in the Kohl Center. I was real pleased with the outcome. I think a lot of people thought we were just going to dump two games this weekend because of the competition. I think the guys really showed something."

Putting aside Saturday — a day Sauer said he made too easy for CC coach Don Lucia — the Badgers still have won three of their last four and are now tied for fourth.

"We’re battling for a first-division finish, which is what our goal was for the season," Sauer said. "The (WCHA) coaches, right or wrong, picked us to finish third, and it’s still a reasonable scenario that we could finish third in the league. I think we’re going to finish third, fourth or fifth; I don’t know exactly where it’ll be, but I think we’ve got a chance to do that with the way the schedule falls, not only for us, but for the rest of the teams."

After this weekend’s tilt with Michigan Tech, the Badgers host North Dakota — a team that blasted them in a pair earlier this season — and travel to Minnesota — a place in which they have not won since 1993. Not exactly an easy finish.

Maybe that’s why this series is so important for UW. It’s not a must-sweep situation, but two wins would put the Badgers in a better position.

"This weekend becomes most important for us again," Sauer said. "If we can win two games, we put some space. If we lose two games, we’re really in a struggle. If we split, we haven’t lost a lot of ground. There’s three scenarios there: we could help ourselves, we could hurt ourselves or we could stay the same."

ON THE HUSKIES: Michigan Tech scored a season-high five goals in an overtime win at Minnesota-Duluth last Friday, but don’t expect coach Tim Watters to be pushing for more high-scoring games.

"I don’t think that’s the make-up of our hockey club, to get into a run-and-gun game," Watters said. "I’d certainly like to see it a low-scoring contest vs. a high-scoring contest. Anyway you can get a win, it doesn’t matter if it’s high-scoring or low-scoring, as long as you get the ‘W.’"

Duluth came back for a 6-4 victory the next night, showing the problem that has plagued the Huskies all season long: inconsistency.

"I thought we played a little bit inconsistent last weekend and made some very costly mistakes," Watters said. Those mistakes both indirectly and directly led to goals, he continued.

Buried in the statistics of last Saturday’s game was the fact that captain A.J. Aitken ended a 30-game pointless streak with a goal. That streak dated back to last season.

This series marks the last time Tech will play in the MacInnes Student Ice Arena this season, which may or may not be a bad thing for the Huskies. MTU has a .324 conference winning percentage (5-11-1) this season on the road while have won just 23 percent (3-10) of their league home games. The five WCHA road wins this season mark the most since 1994-95, when they won eight conference road games.

Matt Ulwelling leads the Huskies with 22 points (7 goals, 15 assists), while freshman Paul Cabana leads the team and all WCHA rookies with 12 goals.

THE MATCHUP: The question was posed to Sauer this week: Why has his team struggled in Houghton. The Badgers are 0-3-1 in the last four in the U.P.

"People asked me that question before St. Cloud, what’s the difficulty up there?" Sauer said. "In reality, we haven’t played up there very often. Tech, we went last year, two years ago we weren’t there. I think we’ve played four games in St. Cloud the last four years. The last time we were at Tech, we lost two games, that was last year. The difficulties, I don’t even remember the games, honestly."

Watters expects to see a very competitive series, much like the one earlier this season — a split in Madison.

"The matchup of the two teams, especially this year, I think you’re looking at two very similar hockey teams," Watters said. "They’re a young team, we’re a young team. Both teams have trouble scoring goals. I think it’s going to be a very competitive weekend, and that’s been a result of the close games earlier this year."

PICKS: Wisconsin, 5-3; Michigan Tech, 3-1.

MINNESOTA (10-16-6, 8-11-3 WCHA: 6th) vs. ST. CLOUD STATE (14-13-3, 8-12-2 WCHA: 7th) Friday, 7:35 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn. Saturday, 7:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis

ON THE GOPHERS: Coming off a 5-1 victory an afternoon earlier, Minnesota fans might have been expecting a similar result on Sunday against Alaska-Anchorage. But when the bounces don’t go your way, you can play as hard as you want and probably still not get rewarded.

The Gophers knocked two pucks into their own net in a 4-2 loss at Mariucci Arena on Sunday. It was a game Minnesota certainly could have stood to win.

"I knew they would come back and play very, very hard, and they did," Gophers coach Doug Woog said. "We were pretty good on Saturday — good, solid all throughout the lineup. We kind of knew we wouldn’t be quite there (Sunday). We didn’t get many breaks either. We knocked two of them in our own net, we hit three pipes. We just kind of had one of those days."

Maybe you could make the point that it’s been one of those seasons for the Gophers. The encouraging thing, however, was that the team’s seniors really stepped up. Reggie Berg, Wyatt Smith and Mike Anderson accounted for 8 of the team’s 16 points last weekend, including three goals on Saturday and another Sunday.

"Our more veteran guys gave us some offense, they gave us determination," Woog said. "I wish they would have gotten rewarded the second night, but we might have had to put a little bit better energy in it too. Our guys, considering the frustration sometimes, have done a pretty good job of hanging in there."

It wasn’t just the bad breaks that cost Minnesota the game. Woog said they needed to do something to get the crowd in the game, but couldn’t find the offense.

"Our biggest thing was we didn’t muster enough goals to get the crowd (going)," he said. "(The Seawolves) don’t give up many, either, and we don’t score a lot, so when you start putting them in your own net, then you’ve got to overcome that. Now you have to overcome a bigger obstacle and we never did that."

Woog assessed that his team probably has to win five of its last six games to make the top five of the conference. It just so happens that five of his team’s remaining games are at Mariucci Arena. Even still, there are some things that can’t be controlled.

"Then you have tiebreakers come into play also," Woog said. "You could end up right where you’re at now or you could end up tied for fifth. It’s two points at a time and that’s it. It sounds cliche-ish, but you don’t know. You certainly can’t project us to win four in a row — we haven’t won more than two or three in a row all year."

ON THE HUSKIES: How often do you hear of this? St. Cloud State goaltender Dean Weasler shut out Nebraska-Omaha for the series last weekend in 2-0 and 5-0 wins. He made 55 saves for the second and third shutouts of his career.

Weasler became the first Husky to collect consecutive shutouts since Grant Sjerven did it in 1993. Coach Craig Dahl was quick to note that his goaltender also looks good on the stats sheet.

"His save percentage is at 90 percent — that’s not bad for a freshman in our league," Dahl said. "I’m pleased with him. I think he’s doing a good job."

The blue line figured into the Huskies’ offense last weekend, with the first four goals of the series coming from defensemen. Mike Pudlick netted both scores on Friday. Brian Gaffaney scored the first goal Saturday before Pudlick hit the back of the net again.

That kind of scoring is a direct result of the redistribution of offense after a wave of injuries hit the St. Cloud team. Another sign was that the five goals on Saturday were scored by four freshmen and a sophomore.

One of those freshman was walk-on Archie Bifulk, who scored the first goal of his career in the third period Saturday.

"We invited him out of the student body after we started getting all those injuries early in the year, and I kept him around," Dahl said. "Now when we got this second round of injuries, it kind of forced him into the lineup. I gave him a couple shifts when we got up 3-0 and he scored on the first shot of his career. It was a highlight for him, I’m sure."

Out of all the things Dahl can’t control — injuries, a poor power-play, etc. — one of the things he knows his team can control is its attitude.

"No matter how many guys are out or who’s injured, you can still play as hard as you can and you can be disciplined," Dahl said. "That’s what we’re going to try to do. That doesn’t take any talent, it just takes an attitude. Our attitude is really good."

THE MATCHUP: The interesting thing about these home-and-home series is the variance in crowds from one night to another. Woog knows exactly what to expect in St. Cloud on Friday.

"It’s going to be wild on Friday," he said. "Saturday, you have to take them back in your barn and address it. They don’t like us there and they’re pretty expressive about it. In a way, it’s a different kind of environment, it’s real challenging. It’s kind of like North Dakota’s in one sense. When either one of those teams get a goal or two in a row, boy those places go nuts against us."

Dahl has a different reason for liking home-and-home series: They help avoid road trips where a team has to stay overnight.

"I kind of like them because your fans get to see the visiting team at two different times of the year and you don’t have to stay in hotels on a road trip," he said. "It’s kind of like what Hockey East does a lot of, but we don’t do much of out here in the west."

The question of injury remains for Dahl’s team. The coach, however, knows he can’t do anything about that now, and just has to play with what he has.

"We use the statement, ‘The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,’ right now," Dahl said. "I think our guys will do the best they can. If we get a break here and there, if our goaltending is good, we’ll be good. I can’t ask for anything more; I can ask them to play as hard as they can, and they will do that, I know that."

PICKS: St. Cloud State, 5-3; Minnesota, 2-1

UPCOMING SCHEDULE Next weekend marks the end of the regular season for Alaska-Anchorage, so they’ll have to make a move now if they want to keep their third-place position. And look out for that North Dakota-Wisconsin series.

Friday, Feb. 26 Colorado College at Alaska-Anchorage Denver at St. Cloud State Minnesota at Minnesota-Duluth Nebraska-Omaha at Michigan Tech

Saturday, Feb. 27 Colorado College at Alaska-Anchorage Denver at St. Cloud State Minnesota at Minnesota-Duluth North Dakota at Wisconsin Nebraska-Omaha at Michigan Tech

Sunday, Feb. 28 North Dakota at Wisconsin

This Week in the ECAC: February 19, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
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Hmmm. Seems like the North Country duo is pulling away in the race for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Let’s see, four more points for Clarkson and St. Lawrence after sweeping Rensselaer and Union.

Hmmm. Looks like Princeton is trying to catch up to the frontrunners. Of course, a loss to Harvard and a win over Brown don’t help the cause.

Hmmm. Here’s a nice battle for the last two home-ice playoff spots between four teams — four teams separated by three points. Rensselaer leads this grouping, but got swept by the North Country this past weekend.

Right behind the Engineers is Yale, which split a pair of games. Then there is Cornell. The Big Red also split a pair, with a win over Vermont but a loss to Dartmouth. And let’s not forget Colgate. The Red Raiders were swept last weekend, by Vermont and Dartmouth.

Right behind that group is a pack of four teams looking for three playoff spots and separated by just two points. Harvard and Vermont are tied for eighth place. The Crimson swept Yale and Princeton and Vermont defeated Colgate, but lost to Cornell. A point behind is Dartmouth. The Big Green swept Cornell and Colgate to nab the last playoff spot, at least for now. Brown dropped a pair to Yale and Princeton and is looking in from the outside right now.

And unfortunately, Union is out of the playoff picture by eight points with only 12 points remaining.

ECAC Standings

Will the packs separate out this week? Will it just get more confusing? What happens if Clarkson and St. Lawrence tie? Who will get home ice for the quarterfinals? All these questions may be answered this weekend.

Last Week: 8-4 Season To Date: 100-71, .585

Clarkson (16-9-1, 13-3-0 ECAC, T-1st) and St. Lawrence (17-9- 2, 12-2-2 ECAC, T-1st) at Yale (10-11-2, 8-6-2 ECAC, 5th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Ingalls Rink, New Haven, CT St. Lawrence (17-9-2, 12-2-2 ECAC, T-1st) and Clarkson (16-9-1, 13-3-0 ECAC, T-1st) at Princeton (15-7-1, 10-5-1 ECAC, 3rd) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Baker Rink, Princeton, NJ First Meetings: November 13 — Princeton 4, Clarkson 3; St. Lawrence 3, Yale 1 November 14 — Princeton 2, St. Lawrence 0; Clarkson 3, Yale 1

If it looks familiar, it is. Clarkson is at the top of the ECAC standings, something not new to the Knights or their fans.

This past weekend the Knights defeated Rensselaer 6-4 after falling behind 2-0 early in the first period. But Erik Cole did the job, swinging the momentum back in the Knights’ favor with a shorthanded goal.

"We were down 2-0 and we had dominated the period," said head coach Mark Morris. "It was tough to swallow but we came back with a flurry. That goal was a huge lift for us."

Cole has come on as of late for the Knights and a nine game winning streak is what they are riding at the moment. Those nine games have all come in the ECAC, where it counts the most.

St. Lawrence also clinched a playoff berth last weekend in sweeping Union and Rensselaer. The Saints continue tied for first place, but it doesn’t seem to phase the Saints.

"We’re in the playoffs but we can’t get ahead of ourselves," said head coach Joe Marsh. "We can’t lose sight of what type of team we are and what got us here. The importance of us staying on the agenda and not getting caught up in the rah-rah stuff. We’ve been a resilient team and our focus has been there all year.

"We have to concentrate on where we are going, not where we are. These points are in the bank and there is still a long way to go. We’re trying to solidify things and let’s not do anything to leave things to chance."

The battle now for the Saints is to win the regular-season title and to get the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Saints have never won a regular-season ECAC title — save a West Region title in 1982-83 — and this would be something that Saints fans have been waiting for.

But there are still six games left, starting with a trip to Yale and Princeton.

"We’ve broker out season down into phases and now we’re in the last phase going into the playoffs," said Marsh. "It was a good homestand in that we got seven out of eight points. We’ve got people coming after us and we’re trying to raise the bar. So far we’ve put in a solid effort and the guys realize that. Nobody has gotten caught up in things yet and we can’t because we haven’t won anything yet.

"There’s no reason that we can’t keep doing what we are doing and be a dangerous team."

Two weeks ago, Yale collected three points and found itself in a tie for fifth place in the league. Last weekend, the Bulldogs managed only two points on the weekend after a tough loss to Harvard on Friday night, but find themselves all alone in fifth place and only one point out of fourth, behind RPI.

Oh, what a strange place the ECAC is, week in and week out.

"I think that the past two weeks show you how tough it is," said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. "I’m not surprised because back at the media day in August, we were asked to rank the teams and to me it was difficult even back then. It’s difficult to rank these teams, and I don’t even think that it is just happening in the middle of the back. It might be that all 11 teams will be contending right down to the last weekend. It just shows how important getting home ice in the first round will be."

The tale of the tape for Yale last weekend was told by the two boxscores. All season long, the success of the Bulldogs has revolved around the production of its first line. Against Harvard, Jeff Hamilton, Jay Quenville, and Jeff Brow were made invisible all night long as the third line duo of Spencer Rogers and Mark Turco, both of whom have brothers at Harvard, provided Yale’s only offense.

"They did a great job of shutting them out," Taylor said. "I reviewed the tape and they only attempted six shots on net and three were on net. We aren’t unlike other teams in that we have a couple of key players that we rely on offensively. The next night we got a game-winning goal from the Keith McCullough line so that is always cause for optimism."

This weekend, Yale returns to Ingalls Rink for a homestand against Clarkson and St. Lawrence, the two teams that appear to making a clean break from the rest of the pack. Unlike last season, however, Yale’s sights are not set on the league’s top spot, but rather on just getting the all-important home-ice advantage.

"For us it’s an ongoing process," Taylor said. "We have a lot of players were are getting better offensively, but in the ECAC there are a lot of strong defensive teams and good goaltending. You are never going to play anybody where you go in there thinking that goaltending or defense will be a liability. It’s tough for us to generate offense, but it was tough for us last year too.

"We are definitely aware of the points taken, the ones to be had, and the ones remaining," continued Taylor. "We are obviously scoreboard-watching, as I think everyone is at this point."

Lest you think that Princeton is taking a tailspin in the ECAC race as it now sits in third place, four points behind league leaders, Clarkson and St. Lawrence, think for a second about the current state of the team.

Ever since the team returned from a 17-day exam break, the Tigers have endured a recent bout of injuries and roster shakeups that have disrupted the team’s chemistry. The loss of All-American defenseman Steve Shirreffs has created a huge hole in the Tigers defense, as evidenced last weekend by the series of defensive miscues and botched coverages.

In addition, J.P. Acosta, who was starting to blossom into one of the team’s offensive weapons especially alongside older brother Michael, succumbed to academic problems and even Benoit Morin has been plagued as of late with injuries.

On Friday night against Brown, a cast of unlikely characters, which included Brian Horst, David Schneider, Ethan Doyle, and Brad Meredith, helped the Tigers scratch back from an early 3-1 deficit an escape Meehan Auditorium with a 5-4 victory and two very important points.

The following night, however, Harvard did not allow Princeton such luxuries, handing the Tigers their seventh defeat of the season to the tune of 5-3. Frustrating Princeton more than anything, however, is the fact that it has been able to control its opponents down the stretch. After allowing Brown only three shots in the third period, the Tigers limited Harvard to only one shot in the final 20 minutes of play.

Princeton did find the back of the net twice in the third period at Bright Hockey Center, but a four-goal barrage by the Crimson in second stanza proved too much to overcome.

Considering the recent play of the two North Country teams, the fact that Shirreffs spent last weekend at home with his orthopedist father nursing his injured knee and has no plans to return to the lineup in the next few weeks, Princeton must now concentrate on a more realistic goal — securing home ice for the playoffs.

Picks: Clarkson at Yale — Can these Knights be stopped? Not on this night. Can the Knights stop Jeff Hamilton? You bet’cha bottom dollar. Clarkson 5, Yale 2. St. Lawrence at Princeton — This weekend series is about the last thing Princeton needs right now, but at least they tend to match up pretty decently with the Saints. So long as Heffler doesn’t defy the odds and play miracle man again, the Tigers should get at least two points from this weekend. Princeton 4, St. Lawrence 3. St. Lawrence at Yale — The last time these two teams played in Ingalls Rink, the Saints almost sent the Bulldogs out of the ECAC tournament. It ain’t the playoffs and the result won’t be the same. St. Lawrence 4, Yale 2. Clarkson at Princeton — The absence of Steve Shirreffs will be felt the most against the Golden Knights who have the offensive potential and the size up front to punish a discombobulated Princeton defense. Clarkson 5, Princeton 2.

Harvard (10-11-2, 5-9-2 ECAC, T-8th) and Brown (7-11-5, 3-9-4 ECAC, 11th) at Colgate (12-10-4, 7-7-2 ECAC, 7th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Starr Rink, Hamilton, NY Brown (7-11-5, 3-9-4 ECAC, 11th) and Harvard (10-11-2, 5-9-2 ECAC, T-8th) at Cornell (10-10-3, 7-6-3 ECAC, 6th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY First Meetings: November 13 — Colgate 3, Brown 2; Cornell 7, Harvard 2 November 14 — Colgate 6, Harvard 3; Cornell 3, Brown 1

Even when the team was 0-8-1, no one really counted Harvard out. The Crimson has too much talent down the line and they always seem to jump into the heart of the playoff race at the last moment. Last season proved that fact all too well as the team notched its only weekend sweep of the season on the final weekend of play to capture home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

Last weekend, Harvard came out of nowhere and defeated both Yale and Princeton to inch upwards and away from the precarious bottom of the ECAC barrel which currently holds the likes of Brown and Dartmouth.

With the four points, the Crimson is now in a two-way tie with Vermont for possession of eighth place in the league standings, just four points behind Colgate in sixth place. The two crucial victories also make the team’s next two road trips (a double-dip, first to Colgate/Cornell and then followed by a trek to Clarkson/St. Lawrence) a lot less stressful.

"These were two huge wins [and] it makes going to Cornell, Colgate, Clarkson, and St. Lawrence a hell of a lot easier," said sophomore defenseman Graham Morrell. "We finally met the challenge. We actually took the play to them [and] played with more intensity than we’ve had all season long."

The victory against the Bulldogs was extra-special for the Crimson, since that Friday night marked the 10th anniversary of Ed Krayer’s 1989 overtime goal which lifted the Crimson past Minnesota, 4-3, for the national title. With the memories of Harvard’s glory days infiltrating Bright, the current Crimson players used a potent defensive stance to upend Yale and silence the Bulldogs’ always-dangerous first line of Jeff Hamilton, Jay Quenville, and Jeff Brown.

The following night, Harvard managed to survive an early offensive onslaught by Princeton then capitalized in the second period with four unanswered goals, including a power-play tally by Morrell which broke the Crimson’s 0-27 streak with the man advantage, to cruise to an uncharacteristic 5-3 victory. Bringing a welcome sigh of relief for Crimson fans on Saturday night was the return of sophomore Steve Moore, who had been sidelined with a hip pointer. Moore expedited his return to the lineup after classmate Harry Schwefel was injured the night before against Yale.

"It was a gutsy and courageous effort," said Harvard head coach Ronn Tomassoni of Moore, who tallied his 12th goal of the season in the third period against the Tigers. "It was nice that he could add a goal on the breakaway."

As its biggest road trip gets underway this weekend and as it looks to continue its four-game unbeaten streak in ECAC action, Harvard can be happy that its first stop is in Hamilton, N.Y. where the Crimson has not lost in its last four trips to Starr Rink.

If the playoffs started today, the Brown players would be back at home in Providence, watching the ECAC postseason unfold from their dorm rooms.

For the past few weeks, Brown has been entrenched in battle for the final two playoff positions with Dartmouth, Vermont, and Harvard. Those three teams combined for five wins last weekend, while the Bears suffered perhaps their most damaging two losses of 1999.

Roger Grillo’s troops played both Yale and Princeton tough till the end last weekend, but in each case the visiting team got the best of Brown in the final period. Against the Tigers, the Bears controlled play from the start after first-period goals by Paul Giblin and Shawn Brackenridge.

Freshman Gianni Cantini, who has recently emerged as one of Brown’s up-and-coming offensive threats by scoring in seven of the last 12 games, gave Brown a 3-1 lead at the 1:34 mark of the second period. Princeton roared back the rest of the way, however, outscoring the Bears 4-1 to escape Meehan Auditorium with the 5-4 victory.

The following night against Yale, the Bulldogs’ top line was too much for Brown as Jay Quenville and Jeff Hamilton combined for five points and then Luke Earl netted the game-winner at the 9:06 mark of the third period to spearhead a 4-3 Yale victory. Those two points loom large, especially after Dartmouth posted a weekend sweep and now leads the Bears in the ECAC standings by one point. Vermont, which salvaged the weekend with a 5-1 lambasting of Colgate on Saturday night, also stands just ahead of the Bears with 12 points.

Colgate was coming into last weekend on a high. After slumping through the beginning of 1999, the Red Raiders had taken a three-point weekend from Yale and Princeton and were set to take on Vermont and Dartmouth.

Unfortunately things did not go as planned, nor did they go at all like the previous weekend.

The Red Raiders dropped a pair of games, losing to Dartmouth, 5-2, and then to Vermont, 5-1, to complete the zero-point weekend.

The things that were working for the Red Raiders did not work for them this past weekend. The Red Raiders were not scoring goals, but they were giving them up.

The Big Red of Cornell split their games the previous weekends and had some momentum going into last weekend’s road trip into Vermont and Dartmouth. After putting on an offensive show, the Big Red were ready for the Cats and didn’t disappoint, winning 3-2 and never trailing in the game. The next evening against Dartmouth, the Big Red did hold the early 1-0 lead, but it didn’t last as the Big Green defeated Cornell, 3-2.

"It’s frustrating, coming off a good win against Vermont," Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. "A few of our guys didn’t come ready to play on the power play, but give Dartmouth the credit. They deserved to win.

"Dartmouth did a good job, we were up 1-0, and had an opportunity on the power play and we don’t even get a chance to capitalize and we lose momentum.

"Some guys didn’t show up — they know who they are. They need to look at themselves in the mirror and realize that they let an excellent chance slip away today."

A temporary holding of the last quarterfinal home-ice spot was in the Big Red’s hands, but after the loss, the Big Red dropped to sixth in the standings. They still remain one point of the last spot, though.

A big question that Big Red fans continue to ask is, "Where is the offense?" After an eight-goal outburst against Princeton, the Big Red could only muster five goals on the weekend. Besides the Princeton game, the Big Red have only scored four or more goals twice in the ECAC season.

Picks: Harvard at Colgate — Harvard is on a roll, and considering that Steve Moore is a week healthier and Ben Storey plans to be back on the blue line (he was knocked out of the Princeton game after a hard hit by Benoit Morin in the first period), the Crimson should have no problem keeping their Starr Rink streak alive. Harvard 6, Colgate 2. Brown at Cornell — The Big Red are in need of a win to keep pace with the teams around them. The Bear need a win to keep in the playoff hunt. On the road and in the face of Lynah, the Bears stay in eleventh. Cornell 3, Brown 1. Brown at Colgate — The Bears could be the cure for the Red Raiders. Both teams need to turn it up a notch and Colgate salvages two points out of the weekend. Colgate 5, Brown 3. Harvard at Cornell — The rowdy Lynah crowd will make sure that the fish will fly (as they always do) towards the Harvard players during warmups. In recent years, whenever these two teams meet up, Cornell seems to play abnormally well and Harvard crumbles in the face of the intimidating environment. Cornell 4, Harvard 2.

Dartmouth (9-13-1, 5-10-1 ECAC, 10th) and Vermont (11-12-2, 5-9-2 ECAC, T-8th) at Union (3-20-3, 1-13-2 ECAC, 12th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Achilles Rink, Schenectady, NY Vermont (11-12-2, 5-9-2 ECAC, T-8th) and Dartmouth (9-13-1, 5-10-1 ECAC, 10th) at Rensselaer (16-9-1, 9-6-1 ECAC, 4th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Houston Fieldhouse, Troy, NY First Meetings: November 13 — Rensselaer 8, Dartmouth 5; Vermont 4, Union 1 November 14 — Vermont 2, Rensselaer 0; Dartmouth 5, Union 1

Has this young team finally turned the corner? All season long, teams have kept an eye out for Dartmouth simply because the Big Green have the potential to be dangerous — it was just a matter of when it would all come together. This weekend the Big Green proved why they could take over the role of the ECAC’s official 1998-99 black horse with a weekend sweep.

Dartmouth scored an unexpected weekend sweep with an unquestionable 5-2 win over Colgate on Friday night and then a 3-2 squeaker the next night against Cornell in Lynah Rink.

"The kids played real well," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. "We had a couple of stinkers and then the weekend before when we went to the North Country I thought that we played outstanding hockey but unfortunately we had nothing to show for it. This past weekend we did."

Once again, it was the youth movement that kept the Big Green alive offensively, with freshman Mike Maturo netting two goals on the weekend with classmate Jamie Herrington adding a goal and an assist of his own.

"They are a resilient group of kids and they bounced back from the North Country nicely," Gaudet said. "The wins are a nice step and it’s also a positive one. I feel that we’re getting better and better as the season goes along and hopefully we can get some good bounces down the stretch."

Considering the strength of the team’s last four opponents, Dartmouth will get what should be a breather on Friday night against Union before taking on the wobbly Engineers at Houston Fieldhouse on Saturday.

Inconsistent play and lack of a go-to line continues to plague Vermont, but with each passing week it continues to stay in the playoff hunt with big, timely wins. This week it was a dominating, 5-1 dismantling of Colgate on Saturday night which allowed the Catamounts to stay even with Harvard in eighth place in the ECAC standings.

The night before, Vermont suffered a tough 3-2 loss to Cornell — a game which saw the Catamounts outshoot the home team by a margin of 9-6 and pull within a goal of the Big Red midway through the third period, but to no avail.

Thankfully for the Burlington faithful, the Catamounts took out all frustrations on the Red Raiders by pounding them with three unanswered goals in the first period by Stephane Piche, Don Richardson, and Matt Sanders, including two with the man advantage. Kevin Karlander and Jason Reid added tallies for good measure in the final stanza to seal their team’s fifth league win of the season. Andrew Allen was also a key to the contest with one of his best games of the season. He finished with 38 saves, 17 in the first period.

Defensively, Vermont has been buoyed by the continued strong play of Jason Reid, who appears to have fully recovered from his midseason hand injury, and was able to contain both Cornell and Colgate by allowing only four goals on the weekend. The Catamounts will need a similarly stingy performance this Friday night when it must attempt to contain an Engineer team that has the potential to put multiple goals on the board at a very fast rate.

Things are looking bleak for Union. The Dutchmen are seven points out of a playoff spot with only 12 points left in the season to earn.

"We’ve said all along that we want to play it one game at a time," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "But I’d be lying if I said that our guys and the coaching staff don’t realize that we have to win all of our games to have a chance at going into the postseason.

"It’s definitely do or die for us right now. We have to live up to that challenge."

Union has not scored an even-strength goal in the last 286:40, since Jeff Wilson scored against Clarkson on Jan. 29. The Dutchmen have four power-play goals and a shorthanded goal since, but it is a huge concern for Sneddon, especially in this situation.

"It’s been strange," he said. "Earlier on in the season we couldn’t score a power play goal and all of our goals were coming at five-on-five. Now we’re on the flipside of it — we can’t buy a goal at even strength. We haven’t quite figured out what we are doing wrong."

With the entire situation looking grimmer and grimmer for the Dutchmen, it is easy to get down.

"Fortunately is hasn’t affected us in the locker room," said Sneddon. "The guys still work hard and they work smart. No one has given up or are feeling sorry for themselves.

"They realize that we just have to put a string of wins together."

Rensselaer, which once went through a nine-game winning streak, has now lost four of its last five to two teams. Last weekend the Engineers lost a pair in the North Country to Clarkson and St. Lawrence, and now sit in fourth place in the ECAC.

"I’m not upset with the way the team played whatsoever," said head coach Dan Fridgen despite the two losses. "Against a good hockey team you have to limit your breakdowns and we didn’t limit our breakdowns and they capitalized."

Against St. Lawrence in a 4-3 loss Fridgen decided to break up his line combinations. Alain St. Hilaire had been centering Mark Murphy and Pete Gardiner, but found Doug Shepherd on his wing against the Saints. Murphy went to a line with Steve Caley and Brad Tapper. Tapper had been on a line with Danny Riva and Matt Murley, but those two found themselves on a line with Chris Migliore or Keith Dupee.

"It’s something I had been thinking about and something I didn’t feel I needed to do until this point," said Fridgen. "When you look at the [Clarkson game, a 6-4 loss] all the goals we scored were power play goals so it wasn’t like it was putting a kink in the armor in terms of offense five-on-five."

The Engineers are looking to rebound against Vermont and Dartmouth this weekend and Fridgen is not looking at the little slump as something to be concerned about.

"We were getting those bounces earlier, now we’re not getting them," he said. "As far as the work ethic and the lines they played as hard as they could. A few breaks here or there and it could have been different.

"We just have to keep working hard and keep our heads up high."

Picks: Dartmouth at Union — Union is the only team that has all but sealed its fate in the ECAC playoff race, while Dartmouth — fresh off a weekend sweep of Cornell and Colgate — is finally feeling as if it has a newfound life. The youngsters are on a roll. Dartmouth 5, Union 1. Vermont at Rensselaer — Which Engineer team shows up? Which Catamount team shows up? Will anybody show up? Rensselaer 3, Vermont 2. Vermont at Union — How about the upset special here? Union 3, Vermont 1. Dartmouth at Rensselaer — RPI is falling, and falling fast, these days. Would it defy logic for Dartmouth to pull off another sweep? Probably. Rensselaer 4, Dartmouth 2.

Next Week In The ECAC Friday, February 26 Brown at Clarkson Harvard at St. Lawrence Cornell at Rensselaer Colgate at Union Yale at Dartmouth Princeton at Vermont

Saturday, February 27 Harvard at Clarkson Brown at St. Lawrence Colgate at Rensselaer Cornell at Union Princeton at Dartmouth Yale at Vermont

Thanks to the Jason Frank and Juan Martinez for their contributions to this preview.

All photographs used by permission of the appropriate Sports Information Departments. Any reproduction without authorization is prohibited.

Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy are ECAC Correspondents for U.S. College Hockey Online.

Copyright 1999 Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy. All rights reserved.

This Week in Hockey East: February 19, 1999

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My apologies for a skeleton preview this week. I’m on the road with minimal Internet access and no hope of contacting coaches.

The usual verbosity will return next week.

Hockey East Standings

Record in picks last week: 6-3

Season’s record in picks: 105-56, .652

Game of the Week No. 4 New Hampshire (22-5-2, 14-3-2 HEA, 2nd) at No. 6 Boston College (18-10-2, 12-6-0 HEA, 3rd)

Saturday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

New Hampshire got three of four points on the weekend, tying BU before dominating Merrimack.

The Boston College Eagles, on the other hand, probably saw their regular season title hopes go down the drain when Maine rallied to defeat them. They now trail UNH and Maine by six points. Although they hold a game in hand against New Hampshire and still have this week’s head-to-head battle remaining in the quest to catch the Wildcats, they have no such opportunities left against the Black Bears.

As such, could UNH hold the motivational edge? With BC probably locked into third place and the Wildcats still in the thick of the playoff hunt, they could be just a little more focused.

Perhaps, but the biggest effect of the loss to Maine could be on the 7,000-plus fans in the Kelley Rink at Conte Forum. Had the Eagles launched themselves back into a legitimate stretch run for the title with a win at Orono, their supporters would have been primed for this contest. Instead, they could be flat, needing their team to get them going instead of the other way around.

Which could still happen. The Eagles still have as much talent as any team in the East and just haven’t put it all together yet.

In all likelihood, this game could come down to the proverbial bounces of the puck, the home ice advantage and specialty teams. As for the latter, UNH would seem to have two aces up its sleeve. While BC ranks in the middle of the pack on both the power play and penalty kill, the Wildcats ranked first in both categories going into last weekend’s play. Their power play (23.88 percent conversion rate vs. BC’s 21.62) and penalty kill (89.38 vs. 82.05) could prove decisive.

PICK: Even though many factors point to a UNH win, this is in BC’s barn and something tells me that Brian Gionta is going to be the difference. BC, 5-4.

No. 2 Maine (22-2-4, 14-2-2 HEA, 1st) hosts

Boston University (11-15-3, 6-10-3 HEA, 6th)

Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Maine put a nail in the coffin of Boston College’s regular-season title hopes with a win last weekend. The Black Bears also received some help from this week’s opponent, the BU Terriers, who took a point from New Hampshire before losing to Providence.

This rivalry always brings out the best in both clubs. Two years ago, the Black Bears swept BU in Orono, a late-season humbling that the Terriers later credited as instrumental in their run to the national championship game because it showed them just how well they would have to play in the postseason.

This year, a sweep wouldn’t surprise anyone given Maine’s ascendance in the standings and national rankings and BU’s fall from the Hockey East pinnacle. However, the Terriers have shown in their games against Boston College that they can rise to the occasion against the best of their rivals.

That said, this does appear to be a mismatch. Maine leads the league in both team offense (4.24 points per game) and defense (2.16). BU is sixth (3.33) and next-to-last (3.61), respectively.

Specialty teams show a significant disparity as well. The Black Bear power play converts on 20.60 percent of its chances and should be on the rise now that point-man Peter Metcalf is back from injury; BU ranks next-to-last with a 15.80 conversion rate. On the penalty kill, Maine (87.30) is second only to UNH, while BU (74.50) is last.

The two contests are also in the Black Bears’ barn, where games have been tougher for road teams than in many a year. The Maine-iacs have been generating a lot of noise of late. You don’t suppose that they’ll be revved up for sweeping Jack Parker’s team, do you?

On paper at least, BU’s hopes ride on the shoulders of goaltender Michel Larocque. He’s stolen many games for the Terriers before. He’ll need to do it again.

PICKS: Maine sweeps, 5-2 and 4-2.

No. 4 New Hampshire (22-5-2, 14-3-2 HEA, 2nd) hosts

Northeastern (9-17-3, 4-13-2 HEA, 9th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

After looking so impressive in its loss in the Beanpot championship game, Northeastern dropped both games last weekend. Even more importantly, those losses came in the proverbial "four-point games" since the Huskies were facing Merrimack and UMass-Amherst, their two closest neighbors in the lower end of the Hockey East standings.

If the season ended today, Northeastern would be out of the playoffs. Somebody has to be left out in the cold, but it’s hard to envision that happening to the Huskies. Sure, they are ridiculously young and are missing a few pieces to the puzzle. But despite that, they also have the look of a team that isn’t that far away.

However, New Hampshire, previewed above, isn’t the opponent for teams on the rebound. The Wildcats rank second in the league in both team offense and defense while Northeastern is seventh and last, respectively.

Despite all of that, if UNH wasn’t at home, this might be an attractive upset pick. Coach Dick Umile preaches to his troops that they must respect all opponents, but it still will be mighty easy for them to look at Northeastern’s results last weekend and think ahead to the next evening’s big clash against Boston College.

PICKS: UNH, 4-2.

FOX Sports New England Game No. 6 Boston College (18-10-2, 12-6-0 HEA, 3rd) at

UMass-Lowell (16-13-0, 8-11-0 HEA, 5th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

UMass-Lowell continued its winning ways last weekend with a decision over sister school UMass-Amherst.

Just a few weeks ago, the River Hawks were in the Hockey East cellar. Now they’re in fifth place. While they probably aren’t going to catch Providence for the last home-ice berth — PC is already four points ahead and has a much easier remaining schedule — the River Hawks are in position to make this clash against BC a very tough one.

The key factor will be Lowell’s vastly improved second-half defensive play against BC’s surprising offensive inconsistency. UML goaltender Scott Fankhouser has turned around the goaltending position and Anthony Cappelletti has led an unsung group of blueliners.

Additionally, Boston College could be looking ahead to New Hampshire one night later. If so, it’ll spell upset for the Eagles.

PICK: Lowell surprises the TV audience with a 2-1 win.

Providence College (16-13-0, 10-9-0 HEA, 4th) hosts

Merrimack (10-18-1, 6-12-1 HEA, 7th) and No. 6 Boston College (18-10-2, 12-6-0 HEA, 3rd)

Friday, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Providence continues to play solid hockey, knocking off BU last weekend. And even though they’ve appeared to be locked into fourth place for some time now, a misstep by BC could allow the Friars to leapfrog them given the remaining schedule. Including this week’s contests, PC finishes the season with four of its last five contests against teams either seventh eighth or ninth in the league standings.

Although the image most people have of the Friars is one of a solid defensive team, they actually rank third in overall offense (4.14 goals per game), trailing only Maine and UNH. The top line of Mike Omicioli, Jerry Keefe and Fernando Pisani match up well with anyone.

And their specialty teams are also strong, ranking third in the league on both counts. They convert 22.22 percent of their power plays and kill off 84.91 percent of their penalties.

Their opponent, Merrimack, appeared to be in major trouble before defeating Northeastern last weekend. The Warriors did subsequently take it on the chin from UNH, but they still won the game they had to win.

Health will be a major factor. If, as expected, defensemen Stephen Moon, Tim Foster and Brad Mills remain out of the lineup, Merrimack could take another UNH-style beating.

Boston College is previewed above.

PICKS: The Friars top Merrimack, 5-3. On Tuesday, they’ve got a great shot at Boston College, particularly if the Eagles are coming off two weekend wins. Even so, the pick is BC, 4-3.

UMass-Amherst (8-18-2, 5-13-2 HEA, 8th) vs. Army and

UMass-Lowell (16-13-0, 8-11-0 HEA, 5th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

UMass-Amherst took a pivotal game against Northeastern on Saturday, one night after almost knocking off its sister school in Lowell, losing 2-1.

The return match between the two UMass schools should feature more of the same: tight checking and looking to counterpunch rather than take big chances that might lead to an odd-man rush in the other direction.

The Minutemen should be in a great frame of mind after splitting the last two weekends and coming close in the two losses. In the earlier stages of the rebuilding program at Amherst, the stretch run was a dispiriting time.

Not so now. With an overtime defeat to BC and the 2-1 loss to Lowell, coupled with "four-point" wins over Merrimack and Northeastern, the Minutemen could take a major step to solidifying a playoff berth win a win at the Tsongas Arena.

Defense will be the key. When they’ve been at their most effective this year, they’ve stuck to coach Joe Mallen’s system and kept some strong offensive teams in check. They’ve then rolled the dice with their occasional scoring chance. If they stick to that approach, they’ll have a good shot at the River Hawks.

(For a detailed look at Army, see Jayson Moy’s Season Preview.)

Lowell is previewed above.

PICKS: UMass-Amherst defeats Army, 4-2, but loses to Lowell, 3-2.

This Week in the CCHA: February 19, 1999

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For the second week in a row, four CCHA teams are ranked among the top ten teams in the country.

Last weekend, one of those teams, Notre Dame, lost to a team that was sixth in the conference standings before the start of last weekend’s action.

Another of those teams, Ohio State, lost to a team that was fifth in the conference standings before the start of last weekend’s action.

Yet another, Michigan, tied the team that is next-to-last in conference standings–and had to come from behind to do it.

Six CCHA starting goaltenders are among the nation’s top 20 in goals-against averages. Michigan State’s Joe Blackburn leads the country in GAA, with an astounding 1.39. Ferris State’s Vince Owen is fifth with his 2.20 GAA; Michigan’s Josh Blackburn is sixth (2.36); Ohio State’s Jeff Maund is 11th (2.36); Notre Dame’s Forrest Karr is 12th (2.38); and Northern Michigan’s Dan Ragusett is 16th (2.48).

The top six teams in the CCHA have goalies allowing fewer than 2.5 goals per game this season. Maund, Karr, Owen, and Josh Blackburn have even lower averages in league play.

Three CCHA goaltenders are among the top ten nationally in save percentage statistics as well. Joe Blackburn is tied with St. Lawrence’s Eric Heffler at .931. Jeff Maund and Vince Owen are knotted with Rensselaer’s Joel Laing for the fifth-best overall save percentage (.921), while Dan Ragusett is tied for the tenth-best save percentage with Maine’s Alfie Michaud (.910). Notre Dame’s Forrest Karr is tied with Wisconsin’s Graham Melanson for 13th (.907).

It’s no coincidence then, that only one player from the CCHA, Ohio State’s Hugo Boisvert, is among the nation’s top ten in scorers with 47 points–and Boisvert is 17th! This is from a league that claims Mike York, Dan Price, Adam Edinger, Buddy Smith, J.P. Vigier, Ben Simon, Brian Urick.

This is in a conference which has produced 24 tie games this season (18 league, six nonconference). Compare that with the ECAC’s 18 ties (11 league, seven nonconference), the WCHA’s 13 ties (nine league, four nonconference), and Hockey East’s mere 10 (six league, four nonconference).

Now you tell me why the second-place CCHA team–with a winning season record over No. 7 Michigan and No. 8 Notre Dame, and a tied season record with No. 3 Michigan State–is 13th in the PWR. As one coach of another CCHA team said this week, "We were trying to figure it out, but we got frustrated and it gave us a headache." Another CCHA coach whose team is not among the top ten put it even more succinctly: "The league gets screwed in the Pairwise."

It’s important to note that the third- and fourth-place teams in the league are not among the top ten in Pairwise, either.

What does all this mean? Either the CCHA is the easiest league in which to play (all that parity) or the toughest (all that parity).

And, with that, we go to the races–the playoff races!

With 38 points and a couple of games in hand over their nearest competitor, the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans look good in first place. The Spartans, the only CCHA team not to have experienced any kind of slump this season, delivered No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish the first of Notre Dame’s 1-0 losses last weekend.

This week, the Spartans face off for the last time against the Irish (in the regular season, at least), and for the third Friday night in as many weeks. On Saturday, the No. 3 Spartans and the No. 7 Wolverines finish their season series in Joe Louis Arena.

After dishing out a 6-2 beating to Northern Michigan Friday, the No. 9 Buckeyes found themselves on the other end of a 7-2 beating in Marquette Saturday. This weekend, Ohio State hosts Ferris State and Alaska-Fairbanks in Columbus. The Bucks remain in second place with 35 points–and two fewer games left than any of the top six CCHA teams.

The No. 7 Michigan Wolverines increased their winless streak to six with a tie in Kalamazoo last weekend. Michigan heads to Western Michigan for the grudge match Friday night, before playing Michigan State Saturday in Detroit. With 32 points, Michigan holds onto third place in league action.

No. 8 Notre Dame suffered back-to-back 1-0 shutouts last weekend, first to No. 3 Michigan State, then to Ferris State; the second loss was the first for the Irish in South Bend this season. Notre Dame, one point ahead of Ferris State with 29 points, will try to hold onto fourth place this weekend in a pair of road games, first in East Lansing, then in Bowling Green.

With a 5-2 win over Western Michigan and a 1-0 win over No. 8 Notre Dame, the Ferris State Bulldogs have dealt themselves back into the game. The fifth-place Bulldogs have 28 points in league action, and head to Ohio State Friday and Miami Saturday.

Northern Michigan got the lopsided split with the No. 9 Buckeyes last weekend, losing 6-2 and winning 7-2. This weekend, the Wildcats play home-and-home with Lake Superior State, in Marquette Friday night and Sault Ste. Marie Saturday. The Wildcats, just a point behind the Bulldogs, are also playing for that last home playoff spot.

Bowling Green lost 4-3 in overtime to Alaska-Fairbanks before walloping the Nanooks 10-3 in Alaska. The Falcons now have 21 points and sole possession of seventh place. This weekend, Bowling Green hosts Notre Dame for one game on Saturday night.

With 16 points each, the RedHawks and the Lakers are exactly where they were before last weekend’s play–tied for eighth–after they split a pair of games in Sault Ste. Marie last weekend. The Lakers took Friday’s contest 5-3, while Miami won 4-2 Saturday night.

This weekend, the RedHawks host UAF Friday and Ferris State Saturday. The Lakers head to Marquette Friday and host the Wildcats Saturday.

With five points in their last four games–and 15 total points–the Western Michigan Broncos have become competitive enough to challenge for that last playoff spot. Last weekend the Broncos lost 5-2 to Ferris State, then tied No. 7 Michigan 2-2. This weekend, Western’s only game is a Friday night rematch with Michigan, in Kalamazoo.

Alaska-Fairbanks split with Bowling Green at home last weekend, winning 4-3 in overtime before letting the Falcons score 10 goals Saturday. This week, the Nanooks travel to Miami and Ohio State.

Last week’s record in picks: 6-4 Overall record in picks: 93-71

This isn’t funny any more. Can I call Hockey East for the rest of the season?

No. 8 Notre Dame (16-9-4, 13-8-3 CCHA) at No. 3 Michigan State (22-3-6, 16-2-6 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI No. 7 Michigan (17-8-5, 14-6-4 CCHA) vs. No. 3 Michigan State Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI

No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Michigan State–The Re-rematch

What the heck are fans of these two teams going to do for fun after this Friday night? Perhaps support groups are in order.

For the third time in as many Fridays, the Irish and Spartans will face off to give fans another exciting, close game. When these two teams met last weekend in East Lansing, the Spartans came away with a 1-0 victory.

Bryan Adams (14-6–20) had the game-winner, his 17th goal overall. Mike York (10-19–29) and excellent defenseman Jeff Kozakowski (1-7–8) had the assists on the even-strength goal.

Notre Dame’s Forrest Karr (2.12 GAA, .911 SV%) had 24 saves for the Irish; Joe Blackburn (1.42 GAA, .930 SV%) had 21 saves for Michigan State.

Speaking of Kozakowski, the senior defenseman currently owns the longest active point streak among Spartans, and the longest of his career. During this five-game point streak, Kozakowski is 1-4-5. The defenseman is also +17 in league play, +22 overall. So is Spartan defender Mike Weaver.

The Irish played a second game last weekend, which also resulted in a 1-0 loss. On Saturday, Ferris State’s own top-notch blueliner, Jim Dube (4-11–15), had the game-winner on the Bulldog power play.

Notre Dame outshot Ferris State 38-23, but Vince Owen (2.13 GAA, .924 SV%) came up strong between the pipes for the Bulldogs. Karr had 22 saves.

Imagine that: your goalie stops 43 of 45 shots on goal for a given weekend, and your team loses two games anyway.

"We played very well on Friday night," says Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin. Poulin says that the danger after two consecutive shutouts is in "fundamentally wanting to change the way you play," saying that there’s really nothing to tinker with.

"We’ve lost two games in a row, each by a goal, and we’ve not scored in either." So, the Irish head coach says, before the game with Michigan State, Notre Dame will be working on "scoring goals–what else?"

"Every team goes through this, and hopefully it’s coming at the right time for us," says Poulin.

Michigan State head coach Ron Mason says, "We have been in a lot of tough games like that one. It’s our style of game, we feel comfortable in them and we have had a good deal of success in them."

In fact, the Spartans have had many close games this season, skating to six ties, four one-goal victories, three one-goal losses, and nine two-goal wins, eight of which were decided by the score of 3-1.

The Spartans have allowed more than one goal in a game just nine times this season, and in those nine, Michigan State’s record is 2-3-4. Clearly, the Spartans are a better team when their defense is clicking. Luckily for them, the Spartan defense usually clicks, and how.

Michigan State is the only team in the nation allowing less than 2.0 goals per game (1.32), and this current Spartan defense–no pun intended–is the best in the history of the CCHA. Last year’s Michigan State team set the CCHA record by allowing on average just 1.80 goals per league game, as opposed to this season’s 1.33.

Ironically, no single Spartan has earned CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors. Only two other teams–Lake Superior State, ranked eighth in goals against per game, and Western Michigan, ranked 10th–had not had a defenseman named Player of the Week.

This week’s CCHA Defensive Player of the Week went to the other goaltender who blanked Notre Dame 1-0, Ferris State’s Vince Owen.

Pick

What can be said about this meeting that wasn’t said last Friday, or the Friday before?

Notre Dame’s got a really good power play. Michigan State has a really good penalty kill.

Both have good first lines. Michigan State has the clear advantage defensively and in goal.

The Spartans haven’t lost a game since Nov. 29, 1998. So much has changed in the world since the last Spartan loss. Nate Ewell, Michigan State hockey’s Sports Information Director, reminds us that the world itself heads into a tailspin after the Spartans lose.

Since the last Spartan loss, the U.S. has bombed Iraq; the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Clinton and the Senate acquitted him; Mike Tyson boxed again and was sent back to prison; the U.S. Postal Service raised the cost of sending a letter first class to 33 cents; King Hussein of Jordan died; the NBA has resumed playing.

The Spartans are riding an 18-game unbeaten streak, a 15-game league unbeaten streak, and a 26-game home unbeaten streak.

What was that frequent score?

Michigan State 3-1

No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 3 Michigan State

The Wolverines are 0-3-3 in their last six games, having tied Western Michigan 2-2 last weekend. Trailing 2-0 late into the second period, Josh Langfeld (12-8–20) brought the Wolverines to within one. Langfeld tallied his second point of the night when Mark Kosick (7-8–15) scored with just seven seconds left in regulation to tie it up. Mike Comrie (10-15–25) and Langfeld had the assists.

Josh Blackburn (2.22 GAA, .905 SV%) had 23 saves for the Wolverines, while Western Michigan’s Matt Barnes saved 29 of 31 Michigan shots on goal.

The last six-game winless streak Michigan endured came in 1988-89, when the Wolverines went 0-7-2 from November 18 to December 16.

The Wolverines are one of only two CCHA teams to hand the Spartans a loss this season (Ohio State being the other). In the teams’ first meeting of the year, on Nov. 20, Dale Rominski (11-5–15) tied the games for the Wolverines shorthanded, while Josh Langfeld had the game-winner.

Michigan State beat Michigan 3-1 in the championship game at the GLI on Dec. 27. Comrie had the only Wolverine goal in that meeting.

On January 29, the two teams skated to the seventh tie in series history, a 3-3 deadlock in Munn Arena. The point was the first the Wolverine seniors had earned at Munn in their collegiate careers.

Pick

For much of the season, these two teams possessed the best and second-best defenses in the nation, but it’s been at least six games since Michigan was able to claim the number-two defense in the country.

The team is struggling from top to bottom, and some Wolverines have shown a lack of on-ice discipline during this stretch. This team is crying out for leadership. When your top scorer is a freshman, and there’s a first-year player between the pipes, leadership has to come from somewhere other than these key roles; the Wolverines have yet to find that place.

In their last seven games away from Yost, Michigan is 0-4-3. In those games, Michigan has been outscored 17-9 and outshot in four of the seven.

Ron Mason says, "It’s a big weekend, but we are going to play it like we have all year. We are going to prepare for the first game and then change gears and get ready for the second. They are both very, very good teams."

The Spartans are a team that haven’t slumped at all this season, and they shouldn’t start with this game.

Michigan State 3-1

No. 7 Michigan (17-8-5, 14-6-4 CCHA) at Western Michigan (5-17-7, 4-14-7 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

Interim Western Michigan coach Jim Culhane says that Bill Wilkinson’s reassignment was a shock. "We were all surprised. We had no idea."

Under Culhane’s leadership, the Broncos are 2-1-1, but the man who was Bill Wilkinson’s assistant for 15 years says that while you might attribute the turnaround to the coaching change, he wouldn’t.

"The kids are working harder," says Culhane. "The one thing I want them to do is to compete every shift, every game."

Wilkinson’s firing came after an 8-0 loss to Ohio State. "It was an embarrassment to the team, the program, the institution," says Culhane, "and I don’t ever want that to happen again."

Culhane says the top line for the Broncos is David Gove (6-11–17), Corey Waring (6-6–12), and Frank Novock (4-12–16), and that senior Matt Barnes (3.18 GAA, .888 SV%) is the go-to guy in net.

The game against Michigan is the only game the Broncos play this weekend. "The whole focus of our practice this week is on one game," says Culhane. "We played the last 65 minutes to a draw, so we know that we can play with them."

Chuck Mindel (11-5–16), the Broncs’ leading goal-scorer, had the first goal against Michigan, assisted by Matt Addesa (5-6–11) and Daryl Andrews (3-8–11). Andrews had the second goal, assisted by Novock.

Barnes made 29 saves to Josh Blackburn’s 23.

In the 5-2 loss the night before to Ferris State, Caley Jones (1-0–1) notched his first point of the season, while Steve Rymsha (5-5–10) had the second Bronco goal of the night. Barnes stopped 14 of the 19 shots he faced.

Pick

The Wolverines lead this all-time series 40-22-8, and enjoy an eight-game undefeated streak (6-0-2) against the Broncos. Michigan pasted Western 6-3 on Jan. 16 in Yost, a game in which Dale Rominski registered his first collegiate hat trick.

Each of these teams is playing with a purpose. The Wolverines need points to secure home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, to give themselves a better chance at NCAA playoff action, and to attempt to move up in the standings. The slumping Wolverines don’t want to limp into the playoffs, no matter where they play them.

The Broncos are one point out of eighth place. With the Lakers facing Northern Michigan twice and the tough Bulldogs traveling to Oxford, Western Michigan can indeed advance if the planets are correctly aligned in its favor this weekend.

Michigan 3-2

No. 8 Notre Dame (16-9-4, 13-8-3 CCHA) at Bowling Green (13-15-3, 9-13-3 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH

The Falcons split a pair of wild ones last weekend in Fairbanks, losing 4-3 in overtime Friday before crushing the Nanooks 10-3 Saturday.

"Friday we actually had better chances than Saturday," says Falcon head coach Buddy Powers. "Obviously the games didn’t break the way we wanted them to to move up the ladder. Our objective is still points every weekend. At this point in the season, we have to try to play as hard as we can to prepare for the playoffs."

Dan Price (12-22–34) had a hat trick in game that saw Nanook goaltender Ian Perkins turn aside Curtis Valentine’s (3-3–6) penalty shot. Valentine was in the neutral zone breaking toward the Nanook end when a Fairbanks defender threw his stick in Valentine’s path. Powers says he took the shot instead of the power play because he thought "Valentine was due." The shot went wide of the net.

Mike Savard (3.46 GAA, .879 SV%) had 36 saves to Perkins’ 27. Pat Hallett had the winner for the Nanooks 43 seconds into OT.

At the end of the game, Perkins suffered a groin pull, and Chris Marvel played in net for the Nanooks Saturday. It was a substitution that favored Bowling Green, ten times.

The Bowling Green goals were, in order, scored by Craig Desjarlais (8-11–19), Valentine, Chris Bonvie (11-11–22), Bonvie again, Doug Schueller (6-3–9), Grady Moore (4-10–14), Adam Edinger (15-21–36), Edinger again, Mike Jones (6-15–21), and Greg Day (5-10–15).

Both of Edinger’s goals were on the power play. Day earned CCHA Rookie of the Week honors for his goal and two assists in the game and his +5 on the weekend.

Savard and Marvel each made 18 saves.

Powers knows that his team can’t be complacent or overconfident when the Irish come to town. "After those back-to-back losses, they’re going to be steaming."

Pick

Bowling Green leads in the all-time series against Notre Dame with 27-20-3, but lost both earlier meetings, 6-2 in South Bend in November, and 4-1 in South Bend in January. The Falcons are 17-8-0 in games against the Irish played at the BGSU Ice Arena. The Falcons are 0-4-0 against Notre Dame in the last four contest, having been outscored 21-13 in those games, but two of those losses were by just one goal.

Dave Poulin says, "At this point, it [the season] is in your own control." He adds that the Irish are "in the best shape physically" of the season.

Bowling Green should have some momentum going into this game, but if the Irish are serious about making a college hockey statement–as well as trying to secure home ice for the playoffs–this game should snap their winless streak.

Notre Dame 4-2

Lake Superior State (8-19-3, 7-15-2 CCHA) at Northern Michigan (17-10-3, 12-9-3 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI Northern Michigan at Lake Superior State Saturday, 7 p.m., Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, MI

The Wildcats participated in a wild split of their own last weekend with Ohio State, losing a 6-2 game in which neither Northern goalie seemed to show, before winning 7-2 in a game that the Buckeyes decided not to play.

Sean Owens (4-3–7) and Brad Frattaroli (3-5–8) had the goals in the loss. Dan Ragusett (2.47 GAA, .906 SV%) and Duane Hoey (3.47 GAA, .847 SV%) combined for 20 saves.

The second game was tied at two each going into the third. Rich Metro (3-7–10), Fred Mattersdorfer (4-7–11), Tyson Holly (7-4–11), Buddy Smith (3-24–27), Roger Trudeau (11-7–18), Chad Theuer (5-13–18), and Bryan Phillips (6-5–11) had the goals in the second game. Ragusett had 29 saves to Jeff Maund’s 38.

Lake Superior State split a pair with the Miami RedHawks last weekend, winning 5-3 Friday, and losing 4-2 Saturday.

Blaine McCauley (1-9–10), Mike Henderson (2-3–5), Bart Redden (2-3–5), Jeff Cheeseman (8-3–11), and Ben Keup (5-6–11) had the goals in the win. Jayme Platt (2.98 GAA, .895 SV%) had the win with 17 saves.

Trent Walford (8-8–16) had the two goals in the loss. Platt was the goalie of record in that game as well, making 24 saves.

Picks

The Lakers are 4-4-0 in their last eight games, with wins over Miami, Michigan, Bowling Green, and Notre Dame. That’s two top-ten teams, in case you’re keeping track. As resurgent as the Lakers have been, however, their defense shouldn’t be a problem for Northern Michigan, a team led by J.P. Vigier (17-11–28) and Buddy Smith (3-24–27); Vigier is seventh in league scoring, and Smith is tied with BGSU’s Ryan Murphy for eighth.

Northern Michigan is scoring, on average, 3.25 goals per game, compared with Lake Superior’s 2.63. Neither team’s special teams are especially notable.

The Lakers have, lately, improved their ratio of goals scored to goals allowed, and are now being outscored by opponents 76-63. While the Wildcats do tend to score a lot of goals, they tend to give up a few as well, outscoring opponents 78-69.

Neither team’s defense is very strong, although Ragusett is probably the steadiest goaltender between the teams.

The Wildcats lead this all-time series 28-16-5, and are undefeated against the Lakers (2-0-2) since rejoining the CCHA. The ‘Cats trail in Abel Arena 10-11-3. The Jan. 2 meeting between these two teams in Marquette resulted in a 4-3 Northern win.

"It was a nice win for us Saturday night after a disappointing loss Friday night against Ohio State," says Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley.

"We’re still alive for a home-ice playoff berth and each game gets to be more and more critical as the season winds down. I’m sure this weekend’s series will be very physical as both teams have a lot at stake."

After that 7-2 win, the momentum should belong to the Wildcats.

Northern Michigan 5-3, 3-2

Ferris State (13-10-5, 12-8-4 CCHA) at No. 9 Ohio State (18-11-4, 16-7-3 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH Alaska-Fairbanks (9-20-1, 6-19-1 CCHA) at No. 9 Ohio State Saturday, 8 p.m., Schottenstein Center, Columbus, OH

The Buckeyes thought things were rolling along really well until they ran into Northern Michigan Saturday night. OSU had easily won the previous night’s contest, and head coach John Markell says that had something to do with the letdown the second night.

"We got the easy win Friday, and we forgot what it took to play Saturday. It didn’t help that we were down a defenseman, but that’s not the reason why we lost. We lost because we didn’t show up to play."

Junior Ryan Skaleski received a game disqualification for his participation in a skirmish with Northern’s Doug Schmidt in the 6-2 Buckeye win. Markell was so angry about the call that he’s protested it to the league.

"Our guy was walking away. He was doing what he was told to do. He wasn’t fighting."

Regardless of the merit of the call, the outcome left the Buckeyes short a defender. Team captain Dan Cousineau (2-1–3) was moved from left wing on OSU’s first line to defense, replaced by Rob Gubala (2-0–2).

The defense was shortened further by Ryan Jestadt’s second-period ten-minute misconduct, immediately after which the Wildcats scored five third-period goals.

In spite of the loss that snapped the Buckeyes’ nine-game unbeaten streak and dropped them out of the top 12 in the Pairwise Rankings, Markell remains optimistic.

"We got a split up there, and under normal circumstances it’s tough to do. As a coach, I’m not happy with that seven-minute stretch in the third period, but I can’t be negative after just one loss."

Eric Meloche (6-10–16), Jason Selleke (2-2–4), Neal Rech (5-2–7), Hugo Boisvert (15-22–37), Chris Richards (6-16–22), and Brandon Lafrance (6-2–8) had the goals Friday. Defenseman Jaisen Freeman (3-2–5) and Boisvert had the goals in Saturday’s spanking.

Jeff Maund (2.09 GAA, .927 SV%) had 31 saves in the win and 38 in the loss. According to Markell, Maund wasn’t the problem Saturday night.

Ferris State vs. Ohio State

The Bulldogs took four points last weekend, beating Western Michigan 5-2 and delivering Notre Dame’s second 1-0 shutout of the weekend.

"We played well last weekend," says Ferris State assistant coach Drew Famulak. "Our power play finally came around. And Vince Owen broke the school record for shutouts in a season with five."

Joel Irwin (8-8–16) and Brent Wishart (6-8–14) each had a pair of goals and Kevin Swider (8-7–15) had one in the win over Western. Irwin’s first goal and both of Wishart’s were on the power play. Jim Dube’s (4-11–15) power play goal from Rob Collins (2-5–7) and Brian McCullough (9-10–19) was the only score in the Notre Dame game.

Vince Owen (2.13 GAA, .924 SV%) stopped 28 shots Friday and 38 in Saturday’s shutout, earning him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

"It’s basically playoff hockey right now," says Famulak. "It’s a dogfight out there among the top six teams in the league. We keep the players focused by telling them how competitive it is in this league."

Pick

When the Bulldogs come to Columbus, they’ll be trying to make up for the 3-0 Jan. 21 loss to the Buckeyes. The season series is split, as Ferris State won the first meeting 4-2 in Big Rapids.

The Buckeyes have won five of their last six straight against the Bulldogs, and their last four consecutive games in Columbus. OSU is 41-27-9 against FSU all-time, 24-10-7 over the Bulldogs at home.

The two teams are very evenly matched in net, as the last contest proved. Everyone knows that Jeff Maund is good, but his fellow sophomore Vince Owen also happens to be all that.

Ohio State is better offensively, and not only because of Hugo Boisvert. The Bucks possess several players, including Eric Meloche and Chris Richards, who can help to open up a game.

The Buckeyes are outscoring conference opponents by a healthy 80-57 margin; the Bulldogs are doing so 66-51. The special teams are a wash, with the Bucks and Bulldogs posting similar numbers.

Two Bulldog injuries of note: Kenzie Homer will miss the weekend with a knee injury, and rookie defender Christian Schroder, who had surgery to repair his ACL last weekend, is gone for the rest of the season.

They won’t shut them out again, but Ohio State has a definite advantage at home, and they want to prove that last Saturday was a fluke.

Ohio State 4-3

Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Ohio State

The Nanooks split at home last weekend with Bowling Green, winning 4-3 in overtime Friday before losing 10-3 Saturday.

Kerry Hafele (4-7–11), Chris Kirwan (11-6–17), Dwayne Zinger (3-7–10), and Pat Hallett (7-0–7) had the goals for the Nanooks in the win. Ian Perkins (4.11 GAA, .879 SV%) stopped 27 shots on goal, including Curtis Valentine’s penalty shot at 3:39 in the second period. It was the third game this season in which Perkins stopped a penalty shot and the Nanooks went on to win the game; it was the fourth shot he’s faced this year.

Unfortunately, Perkins was injured late in the game and Chris Marvel (4.76 GAA, .872 SV%) was responsible for all ten Bowling Green goals Saturday night. Kevin McNeill (5-4–9), Sjon Wynia (6-6–12), and Kirwan had the goals Saturday. Marvel stopped 18 shots.

Pick

The Buckeyes have the edge in every aspect of this pairing.

The Nanooks are converting just under 10% of their conference power-play chances, and are killing off just about 77% of their penalties. Ohio State’s PK is second in the conference, successful 89% of the time. Their power play is fifth, converting close to 15% of the time.

Of course, the Nanook special teams may be improving. Hafele’s goal Friday was shorthanded, and three of the other five goals on the weekend were power-play goals.

The Nanooks allow 4.31 goals on average per conference game to Ohio State’s 2.19. Fairbanks is scoring 2.42 goals per game, compared with OSU’s 3.08.

Alaska-Fairbanks has been outscored 63-112 in conference play, and the team sits collectively at -126.

The Buckeyes lead this all-time series 9-8-1, and are unbeaten in their last five against UAF, including two close games in Fairbanks Thanksgiving weekend. During the first game, OSU scored two goals within the last three minutes to overcome a 2-0 deficit, sending the game into overtime where the final score was 3-2 Ohio State.

OSU is 5-1-1 in Columbus against the Nanooks.

Interestingly, the Nanook goaltender who earned that tie against the Buckeyes was Chris Marvel (a 4-4 tie last season). Marvel has traditionally played well against Ohio State.

Perkins is questionable for these games. The Buckeyes are not hurting, physically, but the jury’s out on whether or not they’ll bring their game. If OSU brings its game, this is in the bag.

Ohio State 5-2

Alaska-Fairbanks (9-20-1, 6-19-1 CCHA) at Miami (8-17-5, 6-14-4 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH Ferris State (13-10-5, 12-8-4 CCHA) at Miami Saturday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH

RedHawk sophomore Jason Deskins (13-9–22) earned his third CCHA Offensive Player of the Week award for the season for his performance in Sault Ste. Marie last weekend, where he had three goals and an assist. He is the first three-time CCHA Offensive Player of the Week since Michigan’s Brendan Morrison earned the honor five times during the 1995-96 season.

"Jason Deskins is playing at a level beyond the level of a sophomore," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni. "He has a quick stick and a way around the net. He’s always been a goal-scorer, and he has a real good knack for the net."

Deskins is part of Miami’s first line along with Mark Shalawylo (10-12–22), and Pat Leahy (6-10–16). Since this line was put together December 27, the trio has combined for 23 of the RedHawks’ 33 goals, 25 of their 51 assists, and 48 of their 84 points.

Miami was 2-10-3 in league play (4-13-4 overall) before the line began playing together, and are 4-4-1 since. On a team that is collectively -61, Deskins is +4, Shalawylo is +10, and Leahy is at 0.

Mazzoleni attributes Miami’s recent success to the formation of this line and the general maturation of the RedHawk squad.

"We’re maturing. We’re a little grittier, and some younger guys have been stepping up. Andy Marsch has been playing well, and Ian Olsen played well Saturday."

Marsch (3.40 GAA, .889 SV%) has emerged as the more reliable Miami goaltender, in spite of the 5-3 loss Friday. The win was Olsen’s (3.11 GAA, .897 SV%) second conference win of the season.

Mazzoleni says he knew his young players would take some time finding their feet. "I guess it’s what you hope for after Christmas, that improvement in your younger players. Our young defenseman are stepping up, too."

The coach adds that the prominent first line is a necessity in the CCHA. "It’s tough to do by committee in this league."

Ryan Brindley (3-6–9), Deskins, and Josh Mizerek (2-9–11) scored in the loss, and Marsch had 35 saves. Miami came back from a two-goal deficit to score four unanswered Saturday. Deskins had two goals, Leahy had one, and Alex Kim (8-7–15) started it all off. Olsen had 27 saves in the win.

"We didn’t play well Friday. We had no legs," says Mazzoleni. The coach points to the RedHawks’ bizarre schedule during the last month of play, with alternating weekends off in the last four weeks. "We had no emotion, and we couldn’t get it going. I give credit to Lake Superior for a well-played game, but we just couldn’t get anything going."

Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Miami

The RedHawks dropped a pair to the Nanooks in Fairbanks last November, losing 2-3 and 2-5.

Each team is scoring about 2.5 goals per game, while the RedHawks are allowing just over three to UAF’s just over four.

The teams anchor the bottom of the league on the power play, but Miami’s second-to-last power play converts at 12.9%, which is a few percentage points better than UAF’s 9.6%. Alex Kim is especially effective with the man advantage, registering six power-play goals this season.

The real difference between these teams is momentum. Earlier in the season, the Nanooks had a much better shot at making the playoffs than they do now, with Miami, Lake Superior, and Western improving dramatically recently. The RedHawks may actually have more faith in themselves, and playing at home doesn’t hurt.

Miami 4-2

Ferris State vs. Miami

Ferris State holds the edge in this all-time season series, 31-27-10. Miami leads the series this season, having won 5-1 and tied 2-2 in Big Rapids the last weekend in January.

Miami is 4-5-3 at home this season; the Bulldogs are 16-15-2 on the road.

The Bulldogs certainly have the edge in every significant category but one this season, that being the season series. Vince Owen is an awesome goaltender, but the Miami RedHawks know they can play with the Bulldogs.

And Miami wants to make the playoffs. Real bad.

Pick: Miami 3-2

This Week in the WCHA: February 12, 1999

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Among all the competition, the struggles in positioning for the upcoming Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, we finally get to take a little bit of an aside.

The University of North Dakota’s Student Senate has proposed legislation that would change the school’s nickname from the "Fighting Sioux." Although the students do not have the power to take such action unilaterally — the school’s president makes the final decision — their decision to bring this subject again to the forefront has, if only slightly, taken some attention away from the No. 1 hockey team in the nation.

The Senate has allotted funds for a student survey on the school’s nickname, and further votes on the matter have been postponed. UND coach Dean Blais emphasized that it is a small group that wants the name changed.

"You check around the state and the name Fighting Sioux is a very honorable name," he said. "It’s a small portion of the population that thinks it’s derogatory. When we put that jersey on, it’s with all the respect you can imagine."

Will the Star-Spangled Banner at Engelstad Arena soon conclude with "…and the home of the Nothings?" Stay tuned.

North Dakota should be more concerned right now with Denver, which comes to Grand Forks this weekend looking to take a step up in the conference. UND, fresh off a sweep of Michigan Tech at the Winter Carnival, has already become the first team to claim home ice for the playoffs. Denver is one point out of third and six out of second, but holds two games in hand over both those teams (Alaska-Anchorage and Colorado College, respectively).

Elsewhere in the WCHA this week, a pair of series go along non-traditional lines. Due to scheduling conflicts at the Kohl Center, Wisconsin is forced to host Colorado College on Thursday and Saturday morning. Minnesota welcomes Anchorage to town on Saturday and Sunday, with both games at 2 p.m.

The series between Michigan Tech and Minnesota-Duluth may not appear to hold much significance, but it certainly does for the parties involved. Tech is four points ahead of Duluth in eighth place and remember, the No. 8 team travels to the third-place team while No. 9 goes to No. 2.

St. Cloud State will look to regroup from a home sweep with a nonconference series with Nebraska-Omaha. Let’s take a closer look at these matchups.

No. 10 DENVER (17-9-2, 10-8-2 WCHA: 4th) at No. 1 NORTH DAKOTA (22-2-2, 17-1-2 WCHA: 1st) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, N.D.

ON THE PIONEERS: Nonconference games this time of the year don’t really mean too much. Unless of course you lose when you’re the No. 10 team in the country.

All the more reason Denver’s wins over Air Force and Minnesota State-Mankato last weekend were more important. But Denver didn’t look its best the whole weekend, according to DU coach George Gwozdecky.

"I think at times our opponents made it difficult for us and at times I thought we were rather sloppy," he said. "We didn’t play at the top of our game, but I don’t think we played badly. It’s always a little more difficult to get any team excited to play at the top level of your game when you’re playing a non-conference opponent that is not going to have a major bearing on the national picture."

Things looked downright bad for the Pioneers on Saturday, as they trailed Mankato, 3-1 after one period. But DU exploded for five goals in the second and rallied to a 6-4 win. Those goals came from five different sources, as Todd Kidd, Gavin Morgan, James Patterson, Joe Murphy and Chris Paradise each tallied in the period. Patterson now has 19 goals to lead the team.

That kind of production, something Gwozdecky said showed what his team is capable of doing, has been emblematic of Denver’s squad all season long.

"Obviously Paul Comrie has been the one that everybody talks about, and rightly so," Gwozdecky said. "But in a very big game in Madison two weeks ago, Paul Comrie was eliminated from the game early on Saturday and we still win 5-0 on contributions from a lot of players. We have the capability of a lot of people playing well for us at both ends of the ice."

Denver has scored five or more goals in each of its last four games, and has netted a total of 23 goals in that span. The Pioneers are also unbeaten in their last seven games and are 10-2-2 since Christmas.

Despite some rough edges, Gwozdecky maintained that the important thing for the Pioneers last weekend was to gain confidence.

"Even though we were sloppy, we found a way to win both games and, more importantly, continue to develop a little bit more confidence and get ready for the rest of our conference games," he said.

ON THE SIOUX: In the grand scheme of things, there are really only two things North Dakota is still playing for this season. They still have to lock up their third consecutive MacNaughton Cup and they still have to win in order to earn one of the two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

But after the way last season went — when the Sioux won the regular-season title early and seemed to coast into the playoffs — Dean Blais isn’t going to tolerate any slacking off.

"We just want to play good hockey," he said. "Last year we felt when we won the league in Duluth, we didn’t play as well for the remainder of the year. It was almost too easy; there were too many games left in the regular season."

UND doesn’t have the appearance of a team that is shutting down, or even slowing down, for that matter. The Sioux are in the midst of a 10-game unbeaten streak, going 9-0-1 in that span, including 9-3 and 3-1 wins over Michigan Tech last weekend. Those two were wins Blais appreciated.

"We scored 12 goals on the weekend and Michigan Tech played great defensively and had good goaltending," Blais said. "We were happy with four points, especially at Winter Carnival. They had a packed house and a great atmosphere."

It didn’t hurt in Friday night’s game that the Sioux went 5-for-8 on the power play. Hey, you give UND eight power-play chances and that’s going to happen. Still…

"It’s never as good as you want it to be," Blais said of the power play. "Any time you get a power play, you want to score. That’s just the nature of the game. As long as you’re generating good opportunities and getting good shots off … that’s what we care about."

The road — in the literal sense — gets a little shorter from now on. North Dakota plays three of its final four series at home. Blais said the bus trips get to be a grind after a while. UND drove to Duluth two weeks ago and again to Houghton — leaving on Wednesday with a stopover in Superior, Wis. — last weekend.

"Anytime you’re on the bus for 9, 10 hours, it takes its toll on you," Blais said.

THE MATCHUP: In the teams earlier meeting this season, North Dakota swept Denver, 6-4 and 5-3. Gwozdecky freely admits UND was the better team then.

"They beat us, they were the better team," he said. "They’ve been the best team in the WCHA pretty much since Day One. We really respect what they’ve been able to do this year and at the same time I think the feeling in our locker room is perhaps we weren’t able to put our best foot forward in that series. I think they perhaps caught us by surprise in certain things that they did."

That sweep was followed by two losses to Alaska-Anchorage, which put Denver in a hole going into the Christmas break. But the Pioneers have since rolled through the second half.

"I think we’re a lot better team than we were back then," Gwozdecky said. "I expect that we’ll be able to play better this weekend than we did back then. Whether that’s good enough to win, we’ll see."

Blais said the difference in Denver’s play is in its confidence.

"I think the big thing with them is they’ve played with a lot of confidence and emotion," Blais said. "Without it, they’re a middle-of-the-pack team. With it, they’re one of the better teams in the league."

PICKS: North Dakota 3-2, 5-4.

No. 5 COLORADO COLLEGE (19-8-1, 14-6 WCHA: 2nd) at WISCONSIN (11-14-3, 9-9-2 WCHA: 5th) Thursday-Saturday, 7:35 p.m.-11:05 a.m. CT, Kohl Center, Madison, Wis.

ON THE TIGERS: And I thought I had a tough week just because I had an exam. How about this:

Colorado College is at the end of a block and in the middle of exams. That’s bad enough, but when you have to leave on Wednesday to fly to Madison for a Thursday-Saturday series immediately following exams, it’s a whole lot worse.

"It’s a real disjointed week for us," said CC coach Don Lucia, whose team didn’t practice on Tuesday and was hoping to get in 45 minutes on the ice before departing on Wednesday.

"This is not really a normal week of practice with our final exam schedule and traveling on the road. Normally we’ve played very well during our block breaks because there’s no school that you have to worry about, but that’s Friday and not Thursday. I’m hoping that we can have a good night’s sleep on Wednesday and be refreshed enough to play well on Thursday."

Perhaps the way CC played last weekend will be motivation enough to tide them over. The Tigers controlled Minnesota in a 5-1 win on Friday and scored the game-winner in the third period of Saturday’s 3-1 victory.

"The Saturday game was a real good game," Lucia said. "They worked really hard. What I was happy to see was that we won the game in the third period. We took the game over and outplayed them, and that’s where a lot of games from here on out are going to be decided. You have to learn to be comfortable in a 1-1 game with 10 minutes to go."

This weekend’s series probably means a little bit more for Tigers’ goaltender Jeff Sanger, a native of Madison. And it may mean more for CC because of a couple of people in the stands.

"The one thing I will say is that he’s played very well in front of his mom and dad," Lucia said. "His mom and dad have seen him play three games this year and he’s given up one goal at Minnesota and one goal all weekend at St. Cloud. I’m hoping that will continue."

Another trend Lucia hopes will continue is the good play of native Madison goaltenders against the Badgers. Northern Michigan Dieter Kochan always played well against UW and Notre Dame’s Forrest Karr has won his last two games in Madison, including the season opener this year.

"I think there’s always an extra bit of incentive that maybe your senses are a little more heightened when you go back home and play," Lucia said. "I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve had so much success against Minnesota — over half our lineup are Minnesota natives."

ON THE BADGERS: Has Wisconsin finally found a combination that will produce some goals? The line of Steve Reinprecht, Dustin Kuk and Tim Rothering produced early and often in a road sweep of St. Cloud State last weekend.

Reinprecht scored the first of two goals on Friday nine seconds into the game and, with five points on the weekend, earned the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honor.

The line scored a total of nine points in Friday’s game, but the Badgers still needed Jeff Dessner to score with 22 seconds left in overtime to get the 5-4 win. UW coach Jeff Sauer said getting that win was imperative.

"If we’d have lost that game or tied, going two weeks in a row losing two-goal leads like we did and coming out with less than a win, it would have been very disappointing," he said. "We wouldn’t have won Saturday if we had lost Friday."

Rothering is a converted defenseman who has made his presence at forward known immediately.

"Tim Rothering gives us something at forward that we didn’t have before," Sauer said. "He’s a good skater, he works hard in the corners. He’s getting beat up pretty well. People seem to know what was wrong to him (he missed six games with a broken jaw) and every time he gets hit it seems to be high. Offensively, I know he’s having fun right now because he’s getting some points."

The Badgers now control their destiny to secure a home playoff series. But there are a number of obstacles they’ll have to overcome. First, there is Colorado College this weekend. After a trip to Michigan Tech, they welcome North Dakota to the Kohl Center. Then, they close with a trip to Minnesota, and a building they have never won in.

Sauer said it’s been a long time since the race for seedings was this close.

"You look at the loss column, I think that’s the key," Sauer said. "In the loss column, with the exception of North Dakota and CC, we’re all about equal. A lot of things can change here still in the last four weeks. I kind of expect, the way things are going, the last weekend series at Minnesota, we’re going to go in there for home ice. We’re going to battle for home ice and end up probably playing the Gophers in the playoffs. That’s kind of in the back of my mind, what I’m looking at."

THE MATCHUP: The thing that concerns Sauer the most about CC is their 26.8 percent success rate on the power play. If the Badgers allow the Tigers to roam free with the advantage, it may spell doom for UW.

"If you look at our league statistics, the major telling factor is power plays, and Colorado College has gotten many more opportunities than a lot of other teams in the league on the power play," Sauer said. "We can’t give them the power-play opportunities — that’s the key to the weekend. We can’t play penalty situation all weekend. If we do that we’re going to struggle."

Lucia said a number of factors should lead to Wisconsin playing tough this weekend.

"I think the biggest thing with Wisconsin is they’re starting to get healthier," he said. "I think that, more than anything, has been a detriment and an effect on their season. Now, they’re in position with the big weekend they had. I know they’re going to be playing with a lot more confidence after winning two games in St. Cloud."

PICKS: Colorado College 4-2, 3-2.

ALASKA-ANCHORAGE (12-11-5, 9-8-5 WCHA: 3rd) at MINNESOTA (9-15-6, 7-10-3 WCHA: 7th) Saturday-Sunday, 2:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis

ON THE SEAWOLVES: A team wins on Friday night, 5-3, and can’t manage a goal on Saturday night? It happened to Alaska-Anchorage last weekend. Luckily for them, Minnesota-Duluth couldn’t score on Saturday either as the teams staggered to a 0-0 draw.

So what changed between Friday and Saturday? UAA coach Dean Talafous struggled to come up with a response, but found an explanation.

"I think we may have played better and I certainly think Duluth played a lot harder, but I think that’s typical of the WCHA," Talafous said. "Sometimes the second night is much more difficult to get some points. I don’t know what it is, it just seems like teams really dig in and take a stand. It was much more physical and the teams were doing a better job in their own end. The scoring opportunities were few and far between."

In Saturday’s game, the Seawolves took a season-high 22 penalty minutes. But Talafous was quick to point out 10 of those were on a misconduct penalty where the referee thought he heard a UAA player say something and most of the others were matched up.

So before you start thinking the Seawolves are becoming the Broad Street Bullies, remember that they are the Seawolves, after all.

Anchorage probably has the toughest remaining schedule of all the WCHA teams. They are at Minnesota this weekend, at North Dakota next weekend and host Colorado College in two weeks before taking the last weekend off. Talafous said these experiences are going to help his team down the road, no matter what.

"I guess I always look long-term," Talafous said. "We’re trying to raise our game up and our program to a level where we’re looked upon as a team that can make a difference at playoff time. To get there, we have to play the best at their best so we can learn. I don’t know what’s going to happen the next six games. I know that we have to prepare to be at our best and see how we stack up.

"Our goal one day is to be with these teams. I don’t know if we’re a long ways (away), how much ground we’ve made up. I certainly would prefer to play these three teams right now, under these conditions, than to play somebody that we’re expected to beat. It’s the only way we can continue to make progress in our program."

Talafous also said playing at Mariucci and at Engelstad will continue to build his team’s character.

"It’s great experience for our players," he said. "We went into Colorado the first weekend on the road in the WCHA and we didn’t handle it very well. That was months ago. It was a big, brand new building, I think they were ranked No. 2, they had lots of talent, and we just didn’t handle it, we were young. I don’t know if we’ve made progress. We’d like to think we learned from all these experiences. Now we’ll see how we match up again as we go through a similar swing."

ON THE GOPHERS: Coming off a 5-1 loss to Colorado College, one might think the effort Minnesota put forth last Saturday in the second game of the series would have been enough to get a win.

But alas, effort is not everything, and the Gophers fell, 3-1.

"Effort is one thing, execution is another," Gophers coach Doug Woog said. "I thought we had a pretty good team effort on Saturday but our power play vs. their power play was like boys and men. If we would have scored on the power play in the second period, we might have had a chance to win that game."

If you’re looking for positives from the series, it didn’t look as bad as the 7-1 and 6-1 losses suffered at the hands of the Tigers earlier this season.

"The first series we played they just toyed with us, up and down the rink," Woog said. "On Friday night, they just overwhelmed us too, but after that, for the next four periods, it was pretty even. They won the bookends — the first of Friday and the third of Saturday. In between was pretty even. I think we closed the gap."

The Gophers’ schedule is a little kinder in the last eight games as it had been for the first 30. They play all eight in the state of Minnesota, including five at Mariucci, two at Duluth and one in St. Cloud.

Minnesota has played exactly half of its games this season against teams that are currently in the top 10 in the country. Of its remaining four foes, none is ranked.

"There’s a real urgency in the games we’ve got ahead because everything we play is like a playoff game for us to get in a good position for the playoffs," Woog said. "We’re at home, it’s familiar circumstances, but we’re going to be playing teams that are our rivals. We couldn’t ask for any better schedule — I don’t know if we could ask for any worse one either. We’re positioned to make a move if we’re going to make a move."

THE MATCHUP: This isn’t the time of the season Talafous is going to start straying from his game plan.

"We have to play our game," he said. "At this point, I think if anybody’s changing, they’re in trouble. Whatever you’ve worked on for four or five months, if it isn’t right, it’s too late."

Woog said his team may have to force the issue — be a little more aggressive — against Anchorage to be successful.

"You have to get in and work on (the puck)," he said. "I don’t think you’re going to make pretty plays. They’re going to force you to dump it but you’re going to have to get the puck back. That’s probably the way the game’s going to be played."

The teams split the previous series this season in Anchorage.

PICKS: Minnesota, 4-2; Alaska-Anchorage, 4-1.

MICHIGAN TECH (7-20-1, 7-15 WCHA: 8th) at MINNESOTA-DULUTH (6-20-4, 3-15-4 WCHA: 9th) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Duluth, Minn.

ON THE HUSKIES: It’s not really fair to judge a team based on its play against the No. 1 team in the nation. But Michigan Tech’s pair of losses to North Dakota last weekend were its fifth and sixth in a row.

What Huskies coach Tim Watters would really love to see is his team play at the same level every night.

"I think the bottom line is that we want to get the team playing consistently well here at this point of the season," he said. "Whether we can move up in the standings or stay where we’re at in the standings, the bottom line is we want to be playing as well as we possibly can."

That wasn’t the case last weekend, as they got shelled, 9-3 on Friday before playing better on Saturday in a 3-1 loss — a game in which the Huskies held a 1-0 lead after one period.

"We didn’t play so well Friday night and I thought we played much better on Saturday night," Watters said. "We need efforts like we had on Saturday night consistently in order for things to fall into place for our hockey club come the stretch run."

Watters said he thought the Huskies played more disciplined hockey on Saturday. Of course, I revert to my previous statement about giving North Dakota eight power-play chances (see "On the Sioux").

Michigan Tech continues to ride David Weninger in goal. He played in his 100th and 101st conference games against the Sioux and moved into fifth in the Tech history books with 2,529 career saves.

"I think David Weninger has been a big part in each and every win we’ve had," Watters said. "How he goes is how our team goes, generally."

ON THE BULLDOGS: The scoreless tie Minnesota-Duluth played against Alaska-Anchorage last Saturday was only the second in Bulldog history, the other also coming against Anchorage last year.

Think UMD will have to break out of it this weekend? Don’t be so sure. The last time the Bulldogs hosted Michigan Tech, UMD took a 1-0 win. Brant Nicklin earned Duluth’s first shutout of a Tech team.

But Nicklin is a question mark for the Bulldogs. He missed last weekend’s series after suffering minor cartilage damage against North Dakota the week prior. Tony Gasparini filled in last weekend, and Nicklin is listed as probable for this weekend’s series.

Jeff Scissons is still the man to turn to on offense for Duluth. Not only does he lead the team with 13 goals, he has 7 goals and 5 assists in 10 career meetings with Michigan Tech.

Minnesota-Duluth is 2-10-2 at the DECC this season while 4-10-2 away from it.

THE MATCHUP: A six-game losing streak against a seven-game winless streak. That’s going to make for some interesting games.

"You’re going to watch two desperate hockey clubs this weekend," Watters said. "Both teams are desperate for wins and that’s going to make for some exciting hockey this weekend."

PICKS: Minnesota-Duluth, 4-2; Michigan Tech, 5-3.

NEBRASKA-OMAHA (6-21) at ST. CLOUD STATE (12-13-3, 8-12-2 WCHA: 6th) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.

ON THE MAVERICKS: Nebraska-Omaha comes to St. Cloud on a bit of an upswing, having swept Manitoba, 5-2 and 2-0 last weekend. Unfortunately, that doesn’t count toward their record, which includes only American opponents.

The concern for the Mavericks right now is the status of leading scorer Jason White. The sophomore center has seven goals and 12 assists, but has missed most of the last five games with a neck injury.

Concern No. 2 is the road record. UNO is winless away from the Omaha Civic Auditorium this season, at 0-9.

Including the wins last weekend, the Mavericks are 6-4 in their last 10 games.

ON THE HUSKIES: More than not getting any points out of a two-goal comeback last Friday night, a two-goal swing last Saturday might have hurt St. Cloud State the most.

Trailing Wisconsin, 1-0, a Husky shot clanged off the post, but the foghorn at the National Hockey Center went off. As SCSU players celebrated, Wisconsin went the other way and scored on a breakaway. Instead of 1-1, it was 2-0 Wisconsin.

"That was a big momentum swing, although we did come back and score three minutes later," St. Cloud coach Craig Dahl said. "But we just had chances and we couldn’t put the puck in the net."

What’s worse, the Huskies lost yet another player to injury. Senior left wing Ryan Frisch suffered a knee injury in Friday’s game, again giving Dahl only nine healthy forwards.

So in this non-conference series, there should be a big sign in the Huskies’ locker room, reading:

"DON’T GET HURT!"

"I’ve never seen anything like it in 18 years of coaching," Dahl said.

It’s just been a lot of bad luck for the Huskies, but they still have a shot to earn a top-five spot in the final standings. They play a home-and-home series with Minnesota, a home series with Denver and close at North Dakota.

The Huskies may control their fate, but, "without a healthy lineup, there’s nothing you can control," Dahl said. "The only thing we can control is making sure our guys work hard and try to play as smart as they can."

THE MATCHUPS: St. Cloud State swept Omaha last season, 2-1 and 6-2 last January. But that was with a full roster.

"What we’re going to try to do is play as hard as we can and as smart as we can and see if we have enough firepower to get it done," Dahl said. "Obviously our goaltending becomes even more critical right now."

PICKS: St. Cloud State 4-2, 3-2.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE Three more weekends lie in front of WCHA teams. The next one features a couple of key matchups in the jockeying for position:

Friday, Feb. 19 Alaska-Anchorage at North Dakota Denver at Colorado College Wisconsin at Michigan Tech Minnesota at St. Cloud State

Saturday, Feb. 20 Alaska-Anchorage at North Dakota Colorado College at Denver Wisconsin at Michigan Tech St. Cloud State at Minnesota

This Week in Hockey East: February 12, 1999

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Ah, the rites of spring, or at least late winter. They warm the cockles of the heart.

If by that you thought of the Beanpot just past, or of this week’s Maine-BC or UNH-BU matchups — as opposed to Valentine’s Day, you dummy — you’ve earned a few evenings of sleeping on the couch, but also a nomination to the Get-A-Lifer Hall of Fame.

Having said that, however, this is certainly a great time to be a fan. The Maine-UNH telecast on Sunday lived up to all its hype and then some. As did BU’s exciting win over Northeastern for the Terriers’ fifth straight Beanpot.

It looks like this season will go right down to the wire. Not only are Maine and UNH still separated by just one point, but Boston College, despite its inconsistency, is still lurking in the weeds four points back. And only four points separate fifth place from the cellar.

On to the awards…

KOHO Player of the Week: David Cullen (D, Maine) assisted on three goals in Maine’s wins over Northeastern and New Hampshire. He leads Hockey East defensemen in scoring with 31 points.

KOHO Rookie of the Week: Mike Pandolfo (F, Boston University) notched his second hat trick of the season in BU’s 6-3 win over Merrimack. He now has 11 goals.

Heaton Defensive Player of the Week: Markus Helanen (G, UMass-Amherst) stopped 27 of 28 shots to lead the Minutemen over Merrimack.

Hockey East Standings

Record in picks last week: 6-3

Season’s record in picks: 105-56, .652

Game of the Week No. 2 Maine (21-2-4, 13-2-2 HEA, 1st) hosts No. 6 Boston College (18-9-2, 12-5-0 HEA, 3rd)

Saturday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Maine took over first place in Hockey East and inched closer to the nation’s number-one ranking by first topping Northeastern, 5-1, and then winning its marquee matchup against New Hampshire, 4-3.

Even more encouraging for the Alfond Arena crowd was how well the Black Bears played against UNH, outshooting the Wildcats, 29-19, and holding a significant territorial advantage.

"The home crowd was a key," says coach Shawn Walsh. "And

David Cullen really sent a message about being an All-American."

Cullen’s defensive partner and comrade on the power play, Peter Metcalf, returned from an injury and also contributed in a big way.

"His return really helped us," says Walsh. "He’s just so good offensively, breaking out the puck and on the power play. He eliminates forecheckers and he makes the right choices on the power play….His poise is exceptional."

Steve Kariya continues to insert himself into the Hobey Baker Award picture. Hockey East’s awarding of its Player of the Month award to Jason Krog in January raised a few down east eyebrows since Kariya held a slight statistical advantage (7-14–21 to 6-14–20) and accomplished that against a tougher schedule. Maine faced four top 10 teams and played eight of its ten games on the road; UNH played two nationally-ranked teams and had an even home-away split of its ten games.

Only four assists now separate the two stars, which makes for a statistical dead heat, especially considering that Krog is a center and Kariya a right wing.

"Stevie has clearly become a Hobey Baker candidate and maybe a frontrunner," says Walsh. "It’s nice to see that he’s finally getting mentioned because he’s having a Hobey Baker season. It’s time that people notice.

"He impacts the game more than anybody that we’ve seen. He does it in both ends. He’s having a [former BC Eagle Marty] Reasoner-like stretch run. He’s playing like a Hobey Baker winner."

This week, the Black Bears will be hoping to contain Brian Gionta and Jeff Farkas as well as they did Krog last week, save for a one-timer in the second period. Other than Gionta, who burned them for two goals and three assists on Jan. 9, the Black Bears have stymied virtually every top player they have faced.

Brian Swanson, Rejean Stringer, Jeff Farkas, Paul Comrie, Jerry Keefe, Darren Clark and Mike Omicioli are all in the nation’s top 20 in scoring, but have yet to score a single even-strength goal against the Black Bears. Only Gionta (two goals), Krog (one goal) and Mike Souza (one goal) have broken the ice in a total of 19 player-games.

"We don’t necessarily match lines," explains Walsh. "We have enough natural checkers. Everyone has bought into the checking mode, led by Kariya. He’s diving to block shots."

Although BC has had a disappointing season to date, Walsh still considers the Eagles an exceptionally dangerous opponent.

"They’re a great team," he says. "I think they’re the most talented team in the nation. When they put it on all cylinders, we saw how good they could be on Jan. 9 [when BC won, 7-4.] Hopefully, we’ll learn from that game."

Maine could be without first-liner Barrett Heisten, who has a hip pointer.

Boston College rebounded from its frustrating Beanpot loss to BU with a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win over UMass-Amherst and a 6-4 victory over Harvard in the tournament’s consolation game.

"We were in a funk as a team because of the loss and then we faced UMass, which we had just beaten twice in a short period of time," says coach Jerry York. "So it was a very difficult game for us to prepare for. All of a sudden, we were down in the second period.

"There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the Beanpot at BC. We haven’t had a lot of success [in it] and it bothers us. I thought we played perhaps our best game of the year against BU, but could only score two goals against [Michel] Larocque. We were flat-out disappointed.

"We’ve had a difficult time scoring goals for the last month of our season….That’s something we’re going to have to correct."

Last year, however, the Eagles rallied after a similar first-round Beanpot loss in overtime and ran the table up to the national championship game.

"We’re involved in a pretty good pennant race with Maine and New Hampshire, so we’ve got a lot of motivation to finish strong," says York. "We’ve played well all year. We’ve been inconsistent in the offensive categories, but I feel good about our club. I think we’re going to have a good February."

A must-win game beckons this weekend. A win will vault the Eagles back into the thick of the hunt for the regular season title. A loss, however, will pretty much doom BC to third place.

"Not many people may feel the way that we do, but we feel [first place] is an attainable goal for us," says York. "New Hampshire and Maine have had great runs, but we’re just four points back and we play each of those teams, and they play each other twice more.

"We think we’re right in the hunt. But we need to win on Saturday, there’s no question there. It’s a good championship race. We’re very, very focused on it.

"It’s going to take a big-time effort because Maine is a good club and it’s a difficult place to play. But we’re going in with a pretty good mind-set."

The key to the game, according to York, is clear.

"You don’t get many shots on them, as was evidenced by New Hampshire [on Sunday]," he says. "And we’ve had trouble scoring goals, so we’re going to have to put some pucks on Michaud and score some goals. You’re not going to score two or three goals and win that one."

PICK: Based on the UNH game, Alfond Arena has become the most hostile place in the league for visiting teams. The 5,587 Maine-iacs help keep the Black Bears in first place, 4-3.

No. 4 New Hampshire (21-5-1, 13-3-1 HEA, 2nd) vs.

Boston University (11-14-2, 6-9-2 HEA, T-5th) and

Merrimack (9-17-1, 5-11-1 HEA, 7th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA FSNE

Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

In New Hampshire’s only game of the week, the Wildcats lost to Maine, 4-3, and as a result dropped into second place in Hockey East.

"I was a little disappointed with the way we started out in the first period, but the guys battled back and gave themselves the opportunity to win," says coach Dick Umile. "Obviously, we didn’t get it done and you have to give credit to Maine.

"But it’s not the end of the world."

UNH partisans are no doubt already looking ahead to Mar. 5 and 6 when the two teams meet again, this time in the Wildcats’ barn.

"There’s a lot that has to be done before that," says Umile. "To get to that point, you have to win a lot of other ones first, otherwise those two become irrelevant."

And, for starters, UNH takes on BU, a matchup that over the last few years has been among the league’s best, but doesn’t have quite the same luster since the Terriers are having a down season. But Umile doesn’t buy that.

"They’re not down right now," says Umile. "[BU coach Jack Parker] has done a terrific job. He doesn’t get the credit that he deserves with a team that lost a lot [of talent.] As difficult as it has been for him, he’s got them winning right now.

"[They just won] the Beanpot and then we have to play them on Friday night at BU. [Like Alfond Arena last week,] it’s another one of the premier places to play."

Boston University defeated Merrimack, 6-3, and then won an unprecedented fifth straight Beanpot with a 4-2 win over Northeastern.

"I’ve been involved in a lot of Beanpot championships," says coach Jack Parker, who won three as a player and now totals 14 as a coach. "But I can’t remember being more proud and grateful after the way our season had been going.

"I’m real happy for my seniors. I told them in the dressing room that this was the question of the night: What do Jeff Kealty, Chris Drury, Chris Kelleher, Tommy Noble, Peter Donatelli and Mike Sylvia [last year’s seniors] have on our three seniors?

"And the answer is nothing. All of them won four Beanpots."

Carl Corazzini scored the game-winner, a positive omen for a player that had been mired in a sophomore slump but has now scored in three straight games and five of the last seven.

"A lot of what’s happened to Carl is what’s happened to the club," says Parker. "Carl has been struggling to score goals. He had a great freshman year for us, but [this year] the puck wasn’t going in the net for him. I think he and a lot of other guys were trying to score goals instead of just going out and playing hockey.

"They weren’t using their legs enough. They were thinking, where can I go where I can pick off a pass? We talked and talked and talked about trying to get him and a lot of other guys to move their feet a little more.

"Carl is one of the fastest skaters in college hockey, definitely the quickest guy on our club, and of late he’s been using his legs. Carl’s season has kind of reflected ours. He’s going good right now and so is the team."

The question now is, will BU leverage the tournament win into a strong stretch drive into the playoffs or will it revert to the play that had resulted in an 0-6-1 record heading into February?

"Sometimes teams come off a Beanpot championship and get full of themselves and get hammered the next weekend," says Parker. "We did that last year. But I think that this team has struggled so much that I hope it will be a catalyst for us.

"There have been many other teams that have won the Beanpot and it’s been quite a catalyst for the rest of the year. We’ll find out against UNH on Friday."

Merrimack lost its seventh and eighth straight games this week, falling 6-3 to BU and 3-1 to UMass-Amherst.

"We’re in a funk right now and we’re not playing very well from the goal on out," says coach Chris Serino. "We’ve all got to play better.

"Early in the year, we probably played a little over our heads, but we were getting exceptional goaltending. Right now, we’re playing a little better in some areas, but not in other areas. We’ve got to get more consistent. When we do that, we’ll get out of this. There’s no easy way to break a losing streak."

The silver lining in the cloud has been the play of the top line, which consists of Rejean Stringer, Kris Porter and Greg Classen.

"Stringer, Porter and Classen were fabulous on Friday night [against BU,] especially Stringer," says Serino. "I feel bad for that kid. He’s one of the elite players in this league.

"Everyone talks about Krog and Gionta and Kariya, but they all have defensemen who can rush the puck and move the puck and take some of the heat off them. [Stringer] has to do it all. He’s still right there, fifth in the country in scoring."

Another positive is that backup netminder Cris Classen saw third-period action in both games and may have earned a start with his play.

"He did okay and maybe he’s coming around so he can give Tommy [Welby] some rest," says Serino.

The biggest negative beyond the two losses, however, is a huge one. The Warriors have now lost three defensemen — Stephen Moon, Tim Foster and Brad Mills — for at least this weekend and, most likely, some time beyond that. They now have only five available blueliners and John Kovalsky, a forward who hadn’t dressed prior to the UMass game but now must be part of the third pair of defensemen.

"That’s devastating to us in an area where we were not that strong to begin with," says Serino. "But that’s basically what we have."

Serino is now faced with the decision of whether to change the team’s direction for short-term gain or stay the course.

"It’s a fine line because I don’t want to change everything because I’ve got some young kids that are just learning and they’re going to be good at it," he says. "If I change just to compensate for what we have right now, it’s going to hurt us in the long run. That’s the fine line we have."

PICKS: UNH rebounds with a 4-3 win at BU and a then a 6-4 decision over Merrimack.

Providence College (14-13-0, 9-9-0 HEA, 4th) hosts Army (14-13-1) and

Boston University (11-14-2, 6-9-2 HEA, T-5th)

Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Providence split its home-and-home series with Lowell, ironically winning on the road on Friday, 5-2, before losing back at home one night later, 4-2.

"We played well on Friday, but on Saturday they just deserved to win and we didn’t," says coach Paul Pooley. "Our team Friday night was different than ours on Saturday and their team on Saturday was certainly different."

It was a big specialty-team weekend for both clubs. On Friday, the Friars scored a shorthanded goal and two on the power play. In the rematch, however, they went 0-for-9 on the man advantage while Lowell scored one while a man up and another while a man down.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the weekend is that it continued a trend that has seen Providence post a 1-5 record on Saturdays following Friday night wins. The last four of those losses have come at home.

"It’s our mental preparation, not physical," says Pooley. "That’s something we have to work on.

"We play differently at home at times. We get a little too fancy, where on the road we keep it a little more simple. I think we have more success when we keep it simple.

"The frustrating thing from a coach’s point of view is that we talk about trying to keep the game simple, and then we have 21 turnovers on Saturday night at home. You’re not going to turn the puck over to an aggressive team and win. That’s something that we have to continue to work on, realize that if the opportunity isn’t there, dump it in."

The Friars will likely have the opportunity to put that plan in action again this week, since they’ll be strong favorites over Army on Friday before hosting BU on Saturday.

"[BU] has a big game against UNH on Friday night," says Pooley. "That’s a real big game for them just because of the emotion that goes along with that. Then we play them here on Saturday. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out strong.

"Obviously, it’s a real big game for us. They’re right behind us in the standings, so it’s a four-point game."

Boston University is profiled above against New Hampshire.

(For a detailed look at Army, see Jayson Moy’s Season Preview.)

PICKS: Providence wins on both Friday and Saturday this time, dominating Army, 5-2, and then edging BU, 3-2.

UMass-Lowell (15-13-0, 7-11-0 HEA, T-5th) hosts

UMass-Amherst (7-17-2, 4-12-2 HEA, T-8th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

UMass-Lowell split with Providence as both teams won on the road. While a sweep would have propelled the River Hawks into a tie for the final home-ice spot, a split with the solid Friars is nothing to sneeze at.

"We played poorly the first night at home, but we had an inspired effort the second night," says coach Tim Whitehead. "We played a lot more physically and a lot more impressively.

"They’re a good hockey team so the win down at their rink was very important for us. It was another good step, to beat a good team on the road."

In their only action of the week, the River Hawks take on their sister school from Amherst. Lowell took the first of the three clashes, 4-3 in overtime, to kick off the season.

"It’s a rivalry that’s been building for the last several years between the state schools," says Whitehead. "We have the Alumni Cup that goes to the winner of the series each year, so we’re real excited about the game.

"UMass is playing real good hockey right now so we expect it to be a real tough game."

UMass-Amherst almost knocked off Boston College, taking a 3-0 first-period lead on Friday night only to fall in overtime. One night later, however, the Minutemen took an important two points from Merrimack, 3-1.

"I feel good that in the three-game series against BC, the number seven or eight team in the country, we went from 7-1 to 3-1 to 5-4 in overtime," says coach Joe Mallen. "We did our job in terms of being prepared, making some corrections and improvements, and we certainly had it going our way. We had the crowd out of the game scoring some goals early and played real well.

"The bottom line is that they’ve got more top weapons in their arsenal than we do, guys like [Brian] Gionta, [Jeff] Farkas and [Blake] Bellefeuille. Those guys really rose to the occasion late in the game. We’re still playing four freshmen defensemen and those [BC players] did a great job down low.

"Obviously, it was a very disappointing loss. But for us, the important thing was to win the Merrimack game. I told the team on Saturday morning that the team that was mentally prepared would win the game.

"I’m sure that Merrimack was very well-prepared, but they’d lost a few games and we had really had a tough one the night before, so it was a collision course for the two teams. Fortunately for us, we came out with a win that we needed."

The Minutemen are now only four points out of fifth place, by far the latest in the season they have been in that position, and this week face two of the teams that are in that fifth-to-ninth place cluster.

"We’re in pretty good shape in that we’re all done with the top three teams in the league," says Mallen. "Thank God for that, I guess. But UMass-Lowell is playing really good hockey right now. For them to beat Providence in Providence and beat Merrimack at Merrimack, they’ve got to be starting to pull away a little bit.

"A lot of what Northeastern brings into the game [on Saturday] will depend on how they handle the emotion of their Beanpot game."

PICK: Lowell continues its strong play since New Year’s, winning 4-2.

Northeastern (9-15-3, 4-11-2 HEA, T-8th) vs.

Merrimack (9-17-1, 5-11-1 HEA, 7th) and

UMass-Amherst (7-17-2, 4-12-2 HEA, T-8th)

Friday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Northeastern lost to Maine, 5-1, before putting on a heroic performance against BU in the Beanpot championship game. The Huskies outshot the Terriers, 38-23 overall and 14-2 in the third period, but could not beat goaltender Michel Larocque.

"It was pretty obvious that the difference tonight in the game was [Larocque]," said coach Bruce Crowder after the Beanpot loss. "He was tremendous. He stopped us every opportunity that he could.

"I thought our team played a great game, as good as we could play, limiting [BU] to two shots in the third period, but, for whatever reason, it wasn’t in the cards.

"I’m very proud of my players. We’re a very young team and they handled adversity pretty good. They played hard for 60 minutes. We’re going to be a pretty good hockey team.

"There are little things that are the difference between being a pretty good hockey team and a championship hockey team, things like defensively where we missed a couple assignments.

"But I like the mobility of our defensemen. And I like what our forwards are doing, except that maybe I’d like them to score a few more goals. But I like the mixture of the Huskies right now and I think the future looks pretty good.

"I think we’re going to be fine. Now we’ve got to refocus. We’ve got ourselves in the middle of a heckuva playoff race right now. We’ve got two huge games coming up on Friday and Saturday."

As for the clanged posts and crossbars that might have spelled a different outcome for the Huskies, Crowder said, "Shoulda-Woulda-Coulda. It’s over now. There’s nothing we can do about it."

He even offered some gallows humor for journalists mindful of BU’s Beanpot dominance this decade.

"On behalf of writers who asked me to win today so the [headlines] would be different, I’m sorry," he said.

The Beanpot may have also served as a coming-out party of sorts for freshman Ryan Zoller, who assisted on the game-winner that put the Huskies into the championship game and then had both of Northeastern’s two goals in the title tilt.

"He’s really starting to come on," says Crowder. "He’s a kid that we think can be the difference in a lot of games. He was the MVP of his league last year. He got off to a slow start — he didn’t really know what college hockey was all about — but he’s gotten himself into shape and he’s going to be fine."

Merrimack is profiled above against New Hampshire.

UMass-Amherst is profiled above against UMass-Lowell.

PICKS: Northeastern sweeps the weekend, 4-2 over Merrimack and 3-2 over UMass-Amherst.

College Hockey Showcase To Continue On-Campus

USCHO Staff Report
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The four schools which have participated in the first six years of the College Hockey Showcase have agreed to continue the event next year, and to keep the games at campus sites. Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin have participated in the Showcase, begun in an effort to highlight Big Ten rivalries in college hockey, since 1993.

After four years at neutral sites, the Showcase moved to on-campus venues in 1997, when the contests were held at MSU’s Munn Ice Arena and Michigan’s Yost Ice Arena. The games were at Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena and Wisconsin’s Kohl Center this season.

“Retaining a Big Ten presence on our schedule is really important,” said Ron Mason, head coach of the third-ranked Spartans and the winningest coach in college hockey history. “The Showcase allows us to play every Big Ten school each year. Plus, in the years when the games are on [our] campus, it’s great for our fans.”

The 1999 Showcase is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 26-27, when Wisconsin and Minnesota will visit Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing and Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor. Game times will be announced at a later date.

The four teams involved in the Showcase have made a total of 79 NCAA tournament appearances, and three of the four were in the tournament last season. Both Michigan State (No. 3) and Michigan (No. 8) are currently ranked in the top 10 in the nation.

1999 College Hockey Showcase schedule

Friday, 11/26/99        Minnesota at Michigan
Friday, 11/26/99        Wisconsin at Michigan State
Saturday, 11/27/99      Minnesota at Michigan State
Saturday, 11/27/99      Wisconsin at Michigan

This Week in the MAAC: February 12, 1999

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Okay, so my first shot at picking games didn’t turn out too good.

I did pick the split between UConn and Quinnipiac (though not the fact that the visiting team would win both games).

And how about those Ice Griffs? They walked right into Iona and took two games from the Gaels.

Okay, enough about my Las Vegas fate.

Let’s talk about playoffs.

We have possibilities in the MAAC for a three- (maybe four-) team race for first and second place, and two more interested parties looking to move into third and fourth.

Hence, this weekend’s games are exactly what the doctor ordered.

First-place Quinnipiac only plays one league game — a chance for teams like Holy Cross and UConn to gain some ground, though those teams play each other.

As we move on down, the battle for home ice will pass through Springfield as AIC hosts Canisius. The Griffs are hot and could move into the top four with a sweep this weekend.

So fasten those seat belts, because this ride into the MAAC playoffs is going to be a bumpy one.

Last week’s picks: 3-5-0 Overall record: 3-5-0

Canisius (9-10-5, 7-8-5 MAAC) at American Int’l (11-9-3, 10-7-3 MAAC) Friday, 7:00 pm, Olympia Ice Center, W. Springfield, Mass. Saturday, 4:30 pm, Olympia Ice Center, W. Springfield, Mass.

Canisius College could be the hottest team in the MAAC. In their last 12 games, the Ice Griffs are 7-2-3 and have climbed from the bottom of the standings into sole possession of fifth place.

Last weekend, the Griffs were the second-period team of choice in their two-game set with Iona. Canisius outscored the Gaels 5-1 in that period en route to a 5-2, 4-3 sweep.

Freshman David Deeves scored a goal and an assist in each of the contests to earn MAAC Rookie of the Week honors.

In Friday night’s contest, after Deeves opened the scoring at the 8:41 mark of the first, Iona tied the game on a goal by Andrew Segal before the close of the period.

But Canisius scored two unanswered goals in the second to take a 3-1 lead, and After Iona got back to 3-2 on an Erik Nates goal just 26 seconds into the third, Darren Todd scored his first collegiate marker on the power play to extend the lead to two goals again.

Rookie Brad Kenny added an empty-netter, his second goal of the evening, to close the game. The Ice Griffs outshot the Gaels 35-33 on the night and Stephen Fabilli made 31 saves to gain the win.

On Saturday night, Deeves once again got things going for Canisius. His goal 4:26 into the second period on the power play broke a scoreless tie.

Iona tied the game when leading-scorer Ryan Carter scored on the power play at 12:22. Just 42 seconds later, though, freshman winger Corey Lucas skated down the left side and fired a slapshot over the Gael goaltender to regain the lead.

And before the period was over, junior captain Rob Othmann cashed in on a Gael turnover to make the score 3-1.

After Iona made it a game just over five minutes into the third, Othmann extended the Griffs’ lead to 4-2 with his second goal of the night. Iona did close to 4-3 just a minute and 17 seconds later, but senior goaltender Bob Janosz closed the door the rest of the way.

The sweep put the Griffs just four points behind this week’s opponent, AIC, which kept its place in fourth with a two-game sweep over formerly-streaking Sacred Heart. The Yellow Jackets regained their winning ways after dropping two games to UConn just one week ago.

On Friday night, AIC scored two power-play goals while Chance Thede made 27 saves en route to a 4-1 win.

The next night, the Yellow Jackets proved this writer wrong by going into Sacred Heart’s home arena and scoring a 3-2 win.

That puts AIC into a unique position in the standings. With 23 points, the Yellow Jackets are only five points out of second place, currently held by Holy Cross and UConn.

At the same time, they only lead Canisius by four points, making this series all the more important.

Two wins and the Yellow Jackets might be able to start looking towards second or third, while two losses jeopardizes their home-ice chances in the playoffs.

Picks: Two hot teams make for two hot games. AIC wins on Friday, 5-4, before Canisius recovers Saturday, 3-2 in overtime.

Holy Cross (13-8-3, 13-5-2 MAAC) at Connecticut (13-7-4, 12-4-4 MAAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, UConn Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn. Connecticut at Holy Cross Saturday, 7:00 pm, Hart Recreation Center, Worcester, Mass.

Last week, the University of Connecticut proved one thing: Quinnipiac is not going to run away with the inaugural MAAC title.

It took only one goal, but the second-place Huskies were able to make a statement last Friday night down in East Haven, Conn., as Trent Landry did something that the 35 other skaters could not: score a goal.

Landry’s goal, exactly halfway through the game (10:00, second), was the only one as John Chain of UConn and J.C. Wells of Quinnipiac each made 30 saves in net for a 1-0 Husky win.

For Landry, it was only his second goal of the season, and the first game-winner of his career.

The win pulled the Huskies within four points of the first-place Braves, but more importantly it game them the chance to sweep the Braves on home ice on Saturday night.

But maybe someone should have asked Quinnipiac its thoughts on the matter, because just a bit over 13 minutes into Saturday night’s game, Quinnipiac had already scored the game-winning goal.

After Chad Poliquin put the Braves up, 1-0, Chris Cerrella scored the eventual winner 13:12 in as the Braves skated by the Huskies, 4-1.

Mike Narotski scored UConn’s only goal in the game, early in the second period. But the Braves were too tough, scoring late goals in the second and third to guarantee Quinnipiac the victory.

So how do the standings look now?

Quinnipiac regains its six-point stranglehold on first place, with both UConn and Holy Cross chasing. That makes the timing of this weekend’s series between Holy Cross and UConn great — and the Crusaders couldn’t agree more.

Holy Cross just completed a weekend sweep of cellar-dwelling Fairfield, and has lost only two games since returning from winter exam break.

With 13 wins, the Crusaders are second in the league in wins (Quinnipiac, 16), and stand six points out of first place with a game in hand.

Last weekend, the Crusaders used firepower to beat the Stags of Fairfield. In Friday night’s contest, Holy Cross outshot the Stags, 58-20, in a 5-1 victory in front of a vocal crowd in Worcester.

Chris Fattey posted a goal and an assist in the win.

The highlight of the game may have been the goaltending by Fairfield’s John True (53 saves), but that had nothing to do with creating a hockey rarity, which occurred as referee Bill Stewart did not whistle a penalty the entire game. It was the first game in the young history of the MAAC to not have a penalty called.

Saturday night in Bridgeport, Conn., there were a few more penalties and a lot fewer shots, but the result was nearly identical.

Holy Cross opened a 3-0 lead five minutes into the second period on goals by Paul Cavanaugh, Mike Maguire, and Fattey. After Fairfield closed to 3-1 before the end of the period, the Crusaders put the game away when Brett Cagliuso scored at 7:49 of the third period.

Oddly, after the Crusaders dominated the shots on Friday, Fairfield was able to outshoot Holy Cross, 23-20, in the rematch.

Picks: Gotta pick the reverse split here. Holy Cross wins on the road, 3-1, on Friday, but UConn doesn’t fear the Hart, winning 2-1 on Saturday.

Iona (9-13-1, 8-11-1 MAAC) at Fairfield (1-22-0, 1-19-0 MAAC) Friday, 8:30 pm, Wonderland of Ice, Bridgeport, Conn. Fairfield at Iona Saturday, 7:00 pm, The Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, N.Y. Iona at Army (14-13-1) Tuesday, 7:00 pm, Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.

Fairfield and Iona are very much the same — or maybe very different.

Both teams were victims or weekend sweeps: Fairfield by Holy Cross and Iona by Canisius.

Both teams are struggling in the bottom of the MAAC and neither has much chance to host the first round of the MAAC playoffs (in Fairfield’s case, there is no chance).

And neither has won many games since returning from exam break.

But that’s where the similarities end.

For Fairfield, the only win of the season has come since the exam break, so for them, that is a major accomplishment.

Fairfield has to feel like it is taking steps forward: playing tougher, finding themselves in the middle of closer games, especially late in the games.

Last weekend’s series against second-place Holy Cross showed a Fairfield team allowed 58 shots on Friday night, but then held the Crusader offense to 20 shots on Saturday night.

So it is pretty easy to see that Fairfield, though most of the results are the same, is growing as a team.

But, unfortunately for Iona, that same growth is not so obvious.

The Gaels were not exactly picked to win every game at the beginning of the season, but early indications were that this team could compete.

Since the winter break, the Gaels only positive was a respectable 3-3 tie at UConn. And falling twice at home last weekend to Canisius stretched the Gaels’ losing streak to four games.

The Gaels are now two points behind Canisius and six behind AIC for the final home-ice spot, with just eight games remaining in the season.

However, the season series with Fairfield has been anything but close for Iona. The Gaels have won all three previous meetings (including one non-league game in the Quinnipiac Cup), and the scores have been lopsided: 12-3, 11-3, and 6-2.

The 29 goals against Fairfield represent 37.2 percent of the Gaels’ scoring on the season, so if you think Iona isn’t happy to see Fairfield coming on the schedule, you’re crazy.

But it will be important for the Gaels to realize that this may be the last chance they get to salvage the regular season.

Army has played five games against the MAAC this season. They currently lead the series, 3-2, against MAAC foes.

Tuesday night’s game is the final game for Army against MAAC opponents this season.

Picks: This sure isn’t a case of putting my money where my mouth is. Regardless of everything, the Gaels sweep the weekend, 3-1 and 7-4. Army is too much for the Gaels, winning 5-2.

Quinnipiac (18-3-2, 16-3-2 MAAC) at Air Force Friday, 7:00 pm MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo. Saturday, 7:00 pm MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo. Quinnipiac at Sacred Heart (5-17-1, 5-15-1 MAAC) Tuesday, 7:30 pm ET, Milford Ice Pavilion, Fairfield, Conn.

The Quinnipiac Braves continue to hold a six-point lead on first place in the MAAC, thanks to their ability to bounce back last Saturday night and defeat second-place UConn on the road.

Splitting a weekend might usually be disappointing for Quinnipiac.

But, after a disappointing 1-0 loss to UConn on Friday at home, the Braves knew that they had one mission left to focus on last weekend: earning a split.

And earn the win is exactly what the Braves did.

Even though UConn held a 9-7 shot advantage after one period, Quinnipiac made good on two of those shots and held a 2-0 lead at the end of one.

And with a 3-1 lead in the third period, goaltender Dan DiLeo knew it was his responsibility to hold the fort.

Which is exactly what he did.

DiLeo made 17 third-period saves and had 33 saves for the game while earning the win.

That ends the season series between the two clubs, as each team won two games.

This week, Quinnipiac plays three games for the second time in three weeks. The first two contests are against D-I independent Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo; the only other MAAC team to face Air Force this season was Holy Cross, which traveled to Colorado early in the season and skated to a 5-5 tie in the first game before dropping the second, 5-2.

Quinnipiac has only played two other non-league games this season. They defeated Bentley, 7-4, in the Quinnipiac Cup, and also beat Army on the road, 3-2, on Jan. 12.

Tuesday night, the Braves return to MAAC action to complete a midweek series with Sacred Heart. The first game of the home-and-home was over a week ago, also on a Tuesday. The Braves won, 6-1.

The Pioneers fell victim to a weekend sweep by AIC last weekend, falling 4-1 on the road on Friday, and 3-2 at home on Saturday.

After winning five of their first eight MAAC games after the exam break, Sacred Heart has since lost three in a row.

A bright spot for the Pioneers continues to be the play of goaltender Alexis Jutras-Binet.

Since a Dec. 4 loss to Canisius, when Jutras-Binet’s goals against-average ballooned to 6.11, his GAA has continuously fallen, reaching a season-low of 4.42.

Though still high, this is the improvement that Pioneer coach Shaun Hannah will have to look for as his team enters into the playoffs.

Picks: Air Force’s offense is too much for Quinnipiac. The Braves fall 5-2, 4-3 in Colorado. Quinnipiac shakes off the jet lag on Tuesday and pulls out a close game, 3-2.

This Week in the CCHA: February 12, 1999

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Last year at this time, we learned that hockey means never having to say you’re sorry. In fact, we learned that the word hockey can be substituted for the word love universally–when used as a noun and not a verb, of course, but let’s save that for another column.

Hockey makes the world go ’round.

Hockey will keep us together.

All you need is hockey.

In the spirit of both love and hockey, I asked CCHA fans to share with me their impressions of the nicest fans in the league. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the response was small.

In general, people are impressed with the niceness of Michigan State and Ferris State fans, and many people commented on how nice Wisconsin fans are. Not a few folks complained about the student fans at Yost and Bowling Green. In all, there were no surprises.

"My overall impression is that Michigan State has the most congenial fans of anyone in the CCHA," writes Chuck Cliff, a longtime Lake Superior State fan. "Over the years just have met a number of nice Spartan fans. I also can’t remember any jerks along the way.

"I have met many fans from around the country. Wisconsin has to have the best fans in the nation."

Ben J. Buss, an Ohio State student and fan, has a similar view of Spartans–but you have to put his experience in context.

"I’d like to commend the Michigan State fans who came over and sat on the OSU side last year during the CCHA playoff game against M*ch*gan [sic]. They were great! (They told us some good stories too!)

"And contrary to popular belief, nice Cornell fans DO exist–I met one in 1997 on a road trip."

Michigan State fan Mark Kollar says that he prefers the fans of Northern Michigan and Ferris State to any other school he’s visited. "The fans I’ve sat around at both venues were very nice to an out of place Spartan fan and his wife."

Fellow Spartan Adam Loch says that the Nanook fans are the nicest he’s encountered. "They usually seemed gracious, a lot more than I would be after flying in from Alaska." Wolverine fan Joe Zurawski says the nicest fans he’s ever met are from Bowling Green. "I’ll never forget meeting several of them at Riverfront in Cincinnati [at the 1996 NCAA championships]. They were very friendly and were handing out stickers to be proudly worn proclaiming for all to see, ‘It is a great day for hockey.’

"A close second are the fans from North Dakota. I met several at Van Andel Arena during the 1997 West Regional, at the Bradley center a week later and at Yost Arena at the 1998 West Regional."

Another Wolverine fan tells a story about the Lynah-Yost link. "The nicest fans I’ve run into are Cornell’s and Yale’s," writes Donald Steven Adamek.

"Michigan fans have not forgotten that Cornell fans taught us their cheers in ’91. We didn’t just steal them, some of them took the time to teach the cheers to us. Since then, they’ve been our favorite team outside of the CCHA."

Kent Kanipe, a fan of both the Wolverines and Spartans–now, there is love–writes about Minnesota fans who left a lasting impression on him and his wife after a tough Golden Gopher loss.

"My wife and I traveled up to East Lansing for the NCAA regional match-up between Michigan and Minnesota on a Saturday afternoon. We picked up tickets at the door and they just happened to be right in the middle of the Minnesota section (actually sitting just a couple of rows in front of their pep band). If you remember the game you will recall that it was a tight battle, and Michigan pulled it out on the now-famous Mike Legg goal.

"Well, the Minnesota fans were incredibly gracious after the game ended, even staying and chatting with us for a while. They seemed very impressed with the Michigan team and its coaches, and wished us success during the rest of the tournament.

"What impressed me the most was the sportsmanship demonstrated in defeat. They said nothing disparaging and even though their team lost, they truly seemed to enjoy the game and the tournament atmosphere. Since that day I have tried to model myself after those Minnesota fans and parents, because that is what the game is supposed to embody."

Indeed.

Former CCHA commissioner Bill Beagan often described his relationship with college hockey as a great romance. Having met so many wonderful people along the way, I know exactly what Bill meant.

Happy Valentine’s Day, hockey fans.

With a 2-2 tie in South Bend and a 3-2 win over the Lakers at the Joe, No. 3 Michigan State remains in first place with 36 points. This weekend, the Spartans host No. 7 Notre Dame on Friday night.

The Buckeyes took four points on the road two surge into second place with 33 points. No. 9 Ohio State beat Bowling Green 3-2 Friday before beating No. 8 Michigan 3-2 Saturday. Ohio State travels to Northern Michigan for two this weekend.

No. 8 Michigan lost twice at home, 6-3 to Lake Superior State and 3-2 to No. 9 Ohio State. The Wolverines, two points behind the Buckeyes in the standings, travel to Western Michigan for one game Saturday night.

No. 7 Notre Dame tied No. 3 Michigan State 2-2 before defeating Alaska-Fairbanks 5-2. Notre Dame holds onto fourth place in the CCHA with 29 points. This weekend, the Irish travel to Munn before hosting Ferris State.

With 25 points, the Northern Michigan Wildcats are in fifth place. The ‘Cats were idle last week, and host No. 9 Ohio State for two this weekend.

Knocking on Northern’s door is Ferris State, sixth in the standings with 24 points. The Bulldogs were also idle last weekend, and this week they travel to face Western Michigan and No. 7 Notre Dame.

The Bowling Green Falcons remain in seventh place with 19 points after dropping a pair of games last weekend, 3-2 to Ohio State and 4-1 to Western Michigan. This weekend, the Falcons travel to Alaska-Fairbanks for two.

In a three-way tie for eighth place, Western Michigan, Miami, and Lake Superior State have 14 points each.

After firing head coach Bill Wilkinson, the Broncos took four points last weekend, beating Alaska-Fairbanks 6-3 and Bowling Green 4-1. This weekend, Western hosts Ferris State and No. 8 Michigan.

Miami was idle last week, and travels to Lake Superior for two. The Lakers beat No. 8 Michigan 6-3 in Yost before losing 3-2 to No. 3 Michigan State.

In last place with 11 points, the Nanooks head home after a disappointing trip south, having lost 6-3 to Western Michigan and 5-2 to Notre Dame. Alaska-Fairbanks hosts Bowling Green for two this weekend.

Last week’s record in picks: 2-6 Overall record in picks: 87-67

I’ll never ask you to do the math again.

No. 7 Notre Dame (16-7-4, 13-6-3 CCHA) at No. 3 Michigan State (21-3-6, 15-2-6 CCHA) Friday, 8 p.m., Munn Arena, East Lansing, MI Ferris State (11-10-5, 10-8-4 CCHA) at No. 7 Notre Dame (16-7-4, 13-6-3 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce Arena, South Bend, IN

Notre Dame’s big names and top line earned the Irish three points last weekend.

After trailing for the first sixteen minutes of the home game against the Spartans, Benoit Cotnoir (6-10–16) scored his fifth goal of the year, unassisted, on the Irish power play to bring Notre Dame to within one. Ben Simon (14-18–32) tallied his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Aniket Dhadphale (12-9–21), in the second period to create the deadlock.

In Saturday’s win over Alaska-Fairbanks, Brian Urick (11-18–29) and Dhadphale scored on the power play in the first, Cotnoir and Joe Dusbabek (4-8–12) scored even-strength in the first, and Simon added a second-period goal.

The Irish outshot their opponents both nights. On Friday, Notre Dame had 28 shots on goal to Michigan State’s 25; Saturday, they nearly doubled the shots on the Nanooks, 41-21. Forrest Karr (2.48 GAA, .903 SV%) logged the 125 minutes in the Irish net.

"We’re rolling along," says head coach Dave Poulin. The Irish are 7-2-2 in 1999, and are 10- 0-2 at home this season.

Poulin says he’s happy to have Urick back in the lineup after the high-scoring forward missed a few weeks because of a broken bone in his right hand. "He’s as complete a player as I’ve coached."

Urick is tied for fourth in conference points with Bowling Green’s Dan Price. Linemate Ben Simon is tied for second with BG’s Adam Edinger.

The Irish are leading the league in goals per conference game with 3.59. They are also among the stingiest teams in the CCHA, allowing just 2.23 goals per league game.

Speaking of rolling, the Irish power play continues to roll along at a stunning 24 percent in league play. Notre Dame’s penalty killing is just average, succeeding 85 percent of the time, but the Irish are the second least-penalized team in the league, averaging 18.36 minutes per game.

Others to watch are Dan Carlson (5-16–21), rookie David Inman (5-6–11), Chad Chipchase (8-3–11), and defenseman Tyson Fraser (1-9–10). Fraser has seen his share of injury this season, and the Irish are a decidedly-better team when he’s in the game.

No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 3 Michigan State–Part 2

Dave Poulin jokes about the schedule with the Spartans. "Well, you know, we don’t see them again until, well, this Friday, and then we don’t see them after that until next Friday."

One week after testing Notre Dame’s undefeated home record, these two teams get to do the same thing in Munn, where the Spartans are unbeaten in 25 games.

The Spartans tallied their two goals against the Irish last week in the first period, on the power play. Rustyn Dolyny (11-9–20) scored his 12th of the year and Bryan Adams (7-2–9) his 16th.

The Spartan power play has moseyed up from 10th place to eighth in league play, as Michigan State has scored eight times on its last 28 man-advantage opportunities (28.6 percent). The Spartans have at least one power-play goal in each of their last six games.

"I thought we played really well down there," says Michigan State head coach Ron Mason. "Those two power-play goals may surprise some people, but we won the special-teams battle, and that kept the game tied."

In Saturday’s 3-2 win over Lake Superior State in Joe Louis Arena, Shawn Horcoff (10-15–25) scored his 12th goal, Mike York (10-18–28) scored his 17th–unassisted, shorthanded–and Mark Loeding (3-2–5) had the game-winner on the Spartan power play at 19:58 in the second.

The Spartans allowed the two Laker goals in the third period. Spartan Joe Blackburn made 15 saves as the Spartans outshot the Lakers 38-17. The sophomore had 41 saves on the weekend.

"We played really well," says Mason, "and I thought they played kind of slow at first. The night before might have taken a lot out of them.

"The nice thing about [last weekend] is that we are still in first place. That’s all we think about–we don’t think about streaks or ties or anything. We just want to be in first place at the end."

Michigan State leads this all-time series 41-28-5, and 24-12-1 in East Lansing. The Spartans are 14-1-4 against the Irish since Notre Dame rejoined the CCHA in 1992. Of course, the series is even this season with the one tie.

Pick

Poulin says that Michigan State "sure looked good against us." He adds that while Mike York didn’t have a point in that first meeting, "he was a factor on the ice, no question."

Surprise us once, Dave, just once.

Ron Mason says, "When you are coming off a game like the one we had last Friday, it’s fresh in everyone’s mind the style that they play and the kind of effort we are going to need."

Again with the surprises.

Here’s what you really need to know. Not only is Michigan State unbeaten in its last 25 home contests, but the Spartans are unbeaten in their last 17 games overall (13-0-4), the third-longest streak in MSU history and the best since 1988.

The Spartans also enjoy a 14-game unbeaten streak against conference opponents, the last loss a 2-1 decision to Michigan in Yost on Nov. 20.

Sophomore goaltender Joe Blackburn is first among NCAA goaltenders in overall goals-against average (1.45), and he’s first in the CCHA (1.49). He’s second in the country in overall save percentage (.928), and second in the league (.926).

Yeah, I got the memo early in the season about Notre Dame, but this is Michigan State, this is Munn, and my pick percentage stinks worse than any locker room I’ve ever encountered.

Michigan State 3-2

Ferris State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame

The slumping Bulldogs bring a five-game winless streak to South Bend, where Notre Dame hasn’t lost a game this season.

Ouch.

Two weeks ago, Ferris State took just one point at home from Miami, losing 5-1 and tying 2-2. Prior to that, on a swing through Ohio, Ferris lost to Ohio State 3-0 and tied Bowling Green 4-4. The week before, the Bulldogs blanked Michigan 4-0 at home before losing 2-1 to Northern to start the streak.

Junior center Brian McCullough (9-8–17) leads the Bulldogs in scoring, and is the top Bulldog on the road with seven points in 10 away games. He’s also big in conference games, with 17 of his 20 overall points earned in league action.

Along with McCullough, Kevin Swider (7-5–12), Joel Irwin (6-7–13), Jim Dube (3-9–12), Brent Wishart (4-8–12), Geoff Bennetts (8-2–10), and Kenzie Homer (6-4–10) are the top contributors to the Bulldog scoring committee. Swider, a sophomore, is just one point away from 50 for his career.

Underrated sophomore defenseman Jim Dube is just one point away from equaling his total of last season, with 16 overall in 25 games this year. Dube is also +5 in league play–and not every high-scoring Bulldog can boast of a positive plus/minus this year.

It’s a shame, really, that the Bulldogs have slumped while sophomore goaltender Vince Owen remains solid. With a 2.24 league GAA and a .918 conference save percentage, Owen has the third-highest save percentage in the conference, and one of the best in the country.

While Ferris State is four league wins away from tying the school record of 15 set by the 1990-91 team (which finished third), the Bulldogs are not traditionally a strong-finishing team, so those wins may be hard to get. Ferris State is 28-40-4 in the last eight regular-season games of each year from 1990 on.

Pick

If the Bulldogs were playing some consistent hockey, Notre Dame might be a little more alarmed at facing Owen, who is absolutely the real deal. Ferris State is 22-9-3 against Notre Dame in the all-time series, and 6-2-1 against the Irish in the last eight matches.

Earlier this season, Ferris State lost 5-3 at home to Notre Dame, but beat the Irish 4-2 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.

Here is where I regain my faith. It’s all about the picks, baby.

Notre Dame 4-2

No. 9 Ohio State (17-10-4, 15-6-3 CCHA) at Northern Michigan (16-9-3, 11-8-3 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI

This series brings together two teams with nearly identical conference records, two teams riding nearly identical unbeaten streaks. The Buckeyes are 6-0-2 in their last eight contests, while the Wildcats are 5-0-3 in theirs.

One key difference is that Ohio State played hard last weekend and travels far this week to play, while Northern Michigan had the weekend off to rest up for "Oh-How-I-Hate" Ohio State.

(Only in Marquette do fans stoke any kind of rivalry at all with Ohio State. Talk about your long memories.)

The Buckeyes played in two electrifying games last weekend in arguably the two toughest road venues in the CCHA, and came away with four points and second place as a pair of Buckeyes tallied their first game-winning goals of the season.

Ohio State trailed for just six minutes on the weekend, after Ryan Murphy scored for Bowling Green at the 5:57 mark of the first period. All three goals in the 3-2 win over the Falcons came on the Buckeye power play.

Hugo Boisvert (13-21–34) scored his 19th of the season at 11:49 in the first to tie it up. Jeff Maund (0-1–1) got his first point of the season on Brendan Lafrance’s (5-2–7) eighth goal of the year just under three minutes later. Brian Morrison (1-2–3) scored his first of the season–the game-winner–with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.

Neal Rech (4-2–6) set the pace of the OSU-Michigan game with his fifth goal of the season at 1:05 in the first. Eric Meloche (5-9–14) followed up on the Buckeye power play exactly three minutes later, his eighth of the season. Boisvert had the game-winner, a steal from Bobby Hayes at the Michigan blue line when Hayes fell down and lost the puck, at 11:20 in the second. The junior’s 20th goal of the season was his first game-winner.

Jeff Maund (1.88 GAA, .932 SV%)–the goalie of assist fame–also looked pretty good in net for the Buckeyes, too, allowing just one even-strength goal on the weekend in 49 shots. Maund leads the league in save percentage and is second in goals against. He has given up just eight goals in his last seven games.

That first Buckeye line is playing incredibly well. Boisvert is +12 in league games, and his right winger, Eric Meloche, leads the Buckeyes at +14. Boisvert also leads the CCHA in league and overall points. The left winger on that line, captain Dan Cousineau (2-1–3) is just +1, but Cousineau has played only 16 games this season because of injury, and has been with the top line for just the second half of the season.

Other Buckeyes to watch include the always-underrated Chris Richards (5-15–20), who is not only among the league’s best defensive forwards, but combines lethally with Boisvert on the power play; J.F. Dufour (7-8–15), who seems to have found life on the second Buckeye line; and three defensemen: Andre Signoretti (3-12–15), Jason Crain (2-8–10), Ryan Jestadt (6- 2–8).

Jestadt and Signoretti lead a defense that is now second in the league, allowing just 2.00 goals per conference game. Jestadt, Signoretti, and Crain are also important components of the power play, which has performed at 25 percent during this unbeaten streak.

(This is especially important when you consider that OSU’s power-play percentage against Northern Michigan during the teams’ previous four meetings is 30 percent.)

Signoretti ranks third among defensemen in the league in scoring, and he picked up three assists last weekend. This sophomore is hot; Signoretti has not been on the ice for an opponent goal of any kind in the last six games. In those six, he has been on the ice for just 10 Ohio State goals.

Before getting last weekend off, the Northern Michigan Wildcats took three of four points against the Nanooks in Fairbanks, winning 3-2 and tying 2-2 Jan. 29 and 30.

Jeff White (3-5–8), Chad Theuer (4-11–15), and Sean Owens (3-2–5) had the goals in the first game, while Roger Trudeau (10-7–17) and Bryan Phillips (5-4–9) scored in the tie. Buddy Smith (2-23–25), and J.P. Vigier (17-9–26) assisted on Trudeau’s goal.

Dan Ragusett (2.40 GAA, .907 SV%) was the goalie of record both nights.

Vigier and Smith are seventh and eighth, respectively, in league scoring with Vigier leading the CCHA in goals (17) and power-play goals (10), and is tied for first in game-winning goals (5). Smith leads the league in assists (23).

The current Wildcat unbeaten streak is their best since winning eight in a row in February and March, 1992. The ‘Cats began the season with a six-game win streak.

During the current streak, Northern is outscoring opponents 29-15, including 16-5 during the third periods of those games. Rookie Chad Theuer leads the team in scoring during those eight games with three goals and seven assists, while Tyson Holly and Jeff White have scored the most goals, with four each.

Nevertheless, the games in the streak have been close, with three one-goal wins and three ties. And Ragusett has been hot, posting a 1.82 GAA and .929 save percentage in that span.

Picks

If all this information about Ohio State seems like overkill to you, consider that this team began the season 1-6-2, and since then has tied the season series with No. 3 Michigan State, and taken it from No. 7 Notre Dame (2-1-0) and No. 8 Michigan (2-0-1). The Buckeyes are currently one game off last season’s Final Four pace, and are outscoring opponents 72-48.

Northern Michigan is outscoring league opponents 69-61.

"Ohio State is coming into this series with a lot of momentum, and we’ll have to be ready to go as soon as the puck drops Friday night," says Northern head coach Rick Comley.

OSU head coach John Markell says he sees "the keenness" in his players’ eyes, something that he says has been missing since late last season. But he takes absolutely nothing for granted.

"We could go up there and play our best game and still not take a point. Northern’s an excellent team, and we have tremendous respect for them."

The all-time series is tied 17-17-3. Northern has a 12-4-2 edge in games against OSU in Lakeview, but Ohio State took two games there last season, and the Buckeyes are 4-0-0 in their last four games against Northern.

"It should be an exciting, fast-paced series, and we’ll need to win a couple games if we’re going to have a chance at getting home ice for the first round of the playoffs," says Comley. "Hopefully, our week off last week will allow us to rest up from our trip to Alaska and get ready for the stretch run."

Markell says, "I think it’s going to be an evenly-matched series. Whoever works the hardest is going to get the points. It could come down to a bounce here and a bounce there."

Markell’s right. The hardest-working team will win these games, and there are few teams that work as hard as Northern Michigan–and the Wildcats are playing for home ice.

That having been said, the Buckeyes are playing great hockey right now, and they want to finish ahead of those Wolverines in the standings.

Maund and Boisvert over the excellent Northern first line and the solid Ragusett, 3-2, 4-2

Miami (7-16-5, 5-13-4 CCHA) at Lake Superior State (7-18-3, 6-14-2 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Eight teams make the CCHA playoffs. Both the RedHawks and the Lakers are tied with the Broncos for eight place.

To quote Ella Fitzgerald, something’s got to give.

The RedHawks last played two weeks ago, when they took three points from Ferris State in Big Rapids, winning 5-1 and tying the Bulldogs 2-2.

Mark Shalawylo (10-9–19), Alex Kim (7-7–14), Patrick Leahy (5-7–12), Jason Deskins (10- 8–18) and Gregor Krajnc (3-4–7) had the goals in the first game, all scored even strength. Deskins had both goals in the 2-2 tie, the first shorthanded and unassisted.

Andy Marsch (3.31 GAA, .887 SV%) had 26 saves the first night and 32 the second as the ‘Hawks were outshot 36-24.

Last weekend, the Lakers defeated No. 8 Michigan at home 6-3, their first win over the Wolverines in 10 games. Even Jeff Jackson never won in Yost.

Tobin Praznik (11-6–17) scored goals 11 and 12 of the season in that game, the second goal holding up to be the game-winner. Also scoring for the Lakers were Jeff Cheeseman (7-3–10), Mike Henderson (1-3–4), Fred Slukynsky (7-4–11), Trent Walford (6-7–13).

In their 3-2 loss to Michigan State Saturday, Walford scored his sixth of the season. Ben Keup (4-5–9) had the second goal.

Jayme Platt (2.89 GAA, .901 SV%) was in net both nights, with 24 saves in Yost, and 35 in Joe Louis Arena as the Spartans outshot the Lakers 38-17.

Both teams are heating up at the right time of the season to take points, but neither is playing with any consistency. Both have recently beaten ranked teams or teams well ahead of them in league standings.

Miami has a tendency to blow games late, and the RedHawks give up lots of goals at the end of any given period. The RedHawks are 2-6 in one-goal games this season, and have allowed 22 goals in the last two minutes of any period. In the final two minutes of regulation, Miami has allowed 10 goals, including four game-tying goals and four game-winners.

The Lakers are scoring 2.55 goals per game to Miami’s 2.50. Lake Superior State is allowing 3.14 goals per game to Miami’s 3.27.

The Laker power play converts at just over 15 percent, while Miami’s is struggling at about 11 percent. The Miami penalty kill is successful 85.8 percent of the time, to Lake Superior’s 83.8 percent.

The RedHawks have more spark than do the Lakers, but this series is in the Soo. It may not at all decide eighth place, at least not in the standings.

Picks: Lake Superior 4-3 Friday, Miami 4-2 Saturday

Bowling Green (12-14-3, 8-12-3 CCHA) at Alaska-Fairbanks (6-19-1, 5-18-1 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. AT, Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

Lack of consistency is something that plagues each of these teams, especially the Falcons, who have loads of talent but seem to lack that certain something to put them firmly in the running.

Last weekend, Bowling Green lost 3-2 to Ohio State and 4-1 to Western Michigan. The Western Michigan game turned into "a circus," according to head coach Buddy Powers.

"Savard [BG goaltender Mike Savard] was in the box for ten minutes in the third. [Jason] Piwko played well going in for him, but it’s hard to score goals killing penalties, and we had to kill a lot of penalties last weekend."

In fact, the Falcons lost the game Friday on Brian Morrison’s power-play goal with 15 seconds left in regulation. As for Saturday, Powers says, Western goaltender Matt Barnes played exceptionally well.

"He was the story of the game. What else can I say? We should’ve been up 5-1 over Western."

Ryan Murphy (7-17–24) scored from Dan Price (9-20–29) and Adam Edinger (13-19–32) on the Bowling Green power play to open the scoring against Ohio State Friday night. Craig Desjarlais (7-7–14) had the second goal in that 3-2 loss.

Edinger’s assist and goal on the weekend extended his career-best point streak to nine games.

Mike Savard (3.46 GAA, .878 SV%) was stunning in the Falcon net, saving 30 shots on goal Friday as the Buckeyes outshot the Falcons 33-22.

Edinger scored the sole goal in the 4-1 loss. Savard allowed 4 goals on 14 shots; in relief Jason Piwko stopped all 10 shots.

Piwko, a senior who doesn’t see much time in net, has improved his career save percentage from .830 at the start of the season to .852 by stopping 19 of 20 shots he’s faced in relief this season.

Bowling Green currently has a three-game losing streak, during which time the Falcon power play is two-for-15 (13.3 percent) while opponents have scored on nine of 19 chances (47.7 percent).

The Nanooks are 1-1-10 in their last 12 league games dating back to January 1, most recently having lost 6-3 to Western and 5-2 to Notre Dame.

In the 6-3 loss to Western, Chris Kirwan (9-4–13), Sjon Wynia (5-6–11) and Aaron Grosul (1-4–5)–the only Nanook on the plus side of things in conference play at +1–had the goals. Wynia and Kirwan had the goals in the loss to Notre Dame.

Ian Perkins (4.17 GAA, .878 SV%) made 36 saves, as the Nanooks were outshot 21-41 by Notre Dame. Perkins made 15 saves on 21 shots against Western.

Bowling Green leads this all-time series 9-6-1, and the Falcons are 4-2-1 in the Carlson Center. The Nanooks won the previous game this season, 6-5 in Bowling Green on Nov. 14.

Games against the Nanooks are not gimmes, but Bowling Green has been playing well above the level of this competition. Few defenses are a good match for the Price-Edinger-Jones line, and the Nanook defense gives up a lot of goals per game.

Pick: Bowling Green 4-2, 5-2

Ferris State (11-10-5, 10-8-4 CCHA) at Western Michigan (5-16-6, 4-13-6 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI No. 8 Michigan (17-8-4, 14-6-3 CCHA) at Western Michigan (5-16-6, 4-13-6 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

The Broncos moved from 11th place to a three-way tie for eighth with their first back-to-back wins of the season last weekend, 6-3 over UAF and 4-1 over Bowling Green.

With his two goals against Fairbanks, Chad Kline (4-4–8) earned CCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors, and freshman Anthony Battaglia was the CCHA Rookie of the Week after helping kill 12 of 13 opponent power-play attempts.

Also scoring in the game against the Nanooks were Corey Waring (6-6–12), Steve Rymsha (4- 5–9), David Gove (6-11–17), and Geoff Collard (1-4–5). Daryl Andrews (2-6–8), Chuck Mindel (10-5–15), Jason Redenius (7-2–9), and Matt Addesa (5-5–10) scored in the win over Bowling Green. That’s nine Broncos combining for a 10-goal weekend.

Matt Barnes had an excellent weekend, with 27 saves against the Nanooks and 39 in the Bowling Green game.

Before last weekend, the Bronco power play had scored no goals on its last 15 chances, but converted 5-of-13 times last weekend, for a two-game conversion rate of 38.5 percent. The 10 goals the Broncos scored were in stark contrast to the single goal Western had scored in its three previous contests.

Geoff Collard’s goal was his first in 101 games. Talk about a dry spell. Jason Redenius snapped a 12-game scoreless streak, and Chuck Mindel’s 10th goal of the season Saturday gives him the lead among Bronco goal-scorers. One more for Mindel and he’ll match his career high, achieved as a rookie with Illinois-Chicago.

Ferris State vs. Western Michigan

Western lost 3-1 to Ferris State in the Broncos’ season opener, and the teams skated to a 2-2 tie in Big Rapids on Dec. 5, when Ferris was the ninth-ranked team in the country. Western leads this all-time series 50-26-6.

After taking just one point from Miami at home two weeks ago, the Bulldogs have had a lot of time to adjust their game in order to beat teams they should be beating with Vince Owen in net. Western Michigan is one of those teams.

Interim Bronco head coach Jim Culhane says, "All I’ve asked from our team is to compete. We’re fighting for a playoff spot and each game is like a playoff game for us. We’re really not doing anything different than before.

"Ferris is shooting for a home ice spot, and after having last week off, and will be rested for us."

Pick: Ferris State 4-1

No. 8 Michigan vs. Western Michigan

Culhane says, "Michigan should be very disappointed after losing twice last week at home. When’s the last time that happened?"

Well, Jim, since you asked, the last time Michigan dropped back-to-back games at home was Feb. 12 and 13, 1998, against Lake Superior State.

Michigan’s last five-game winless streak came in the 1988-98 season, when the Wolverines went 0-7-2 from Nov. 18 through Dec. 16.

After losing 6-3 to Lake Superior State and 3-2 to those pesky Buckeyes last weekend, look for the Wolverines to attempt to return to winning form in Kalamazoo, in spite of the fact that Michigan is 0-4-2 in its last six games away from Yost. In those six games, the Wolverines have been outscored 15-7.

What’s happening with Michigan, a team that went 6-0-2 in its first eight games on the road this season?

"I think it’s a combination of everything," says Wolverine head coach Red Berenson. "Look at the scheduling of those last five games. Three were against top-ten teams. I don’t think there was much to choose from between those teams, and the Lake game was just one of those things."

One of those things when freshman goaltender Josh Blackburn (2.22 GAA, .907 SV%) allowed six goals on 23 shots. Blackburn did rebound with an excellent game against Ohio State the following night, stopping 21 of 24 shots on goal. Toward the end of the third, Blackburn made an incredible save on a J.F. Dufour-Neal Rech breakaway to keep the Wolverines to within one.

Mike Van Ryn (7-7–14), Jeff Jillson (3-10–13), and Josh Langfeld (11-7–18) had the goals against Lake Superior State. The Michigan power play was effective against Ohio State in the 3-2 loss, accounting for both goals. Sean Ritchlin (7-2–9) scored his eighth goal of the season and Josh Langfeld his 13th.

Berenson says, "I think we’re struggling to be the same kind of team we were in the past, but we’re competitive. We’re not dominating anyone.

"We’re about where I thought we’d be going into this season. We’re not a great team; we’re a competitive team.

"We lost seven games after Christmas, and it’s a struggle lately. We’ve blown too many chances, given up too many goals. We’re getting trapped, making poor choices. It’s disappointing."

Team-leading freshman Mike Comrie (10-14–24) is the only Wolverine to reach double digits in both goals and assists. The last rookie to lead Michigan in goals was Denny Felsner, who netted 30 goals during the 1988-89 season, on his way to leading Michigan in goals all four of his seasons with the Wolverines.

Bubba Berenzweig (3-12–15) played an impressive game Saturday, assisting on Langfeld’s goal. With that assist, the senior defenseman topped his previous career-high 19 points in one season, established in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

The Wolverines lead this all-time series 40-22-7, and are undefeated against Western Michigan in the last seven meetings (6-0-1). In the last 36 matches between the Wolverines and the Broncos, Michigan is 28-3-5.

Michigan beat Western 6-3 at Yost on Jan. 16, a game in which senior Dale Rominski (11-5–16) notched his first career hat trick.

Jim Culhane says that since this game is televised, the Wolverines "are definitely going to be motivated to play."

And how.

Pick: Michigan 6-3

This Week in the ECAC: February 12, 1999

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
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In a situation no different from any other year, ties for position in the ECAC standings abound.

There’s a tie at the top, between Clarkson and St. Lawrence. The Knights swept a pair last weekend from Dartmouth and Vermont while the Saints picked up three points against the same two teams.

There’s a tie for third place, between Princeton and Rensselaer. The Tigers were swept last weekend by Colgate and Cornell and the Engineers won their lone game over Brown.

There’s a tie for fifth place, between Yale and Colgate. Yale picked up three points with a win over Cornell and a tie against the Red Raiders. Colgate also got two more with a victory over Princeton.

Hey, there isn’t a tie for seventh place! Cornell sits there all alone after picking up two points with a win over Princeton after a loss to Yale.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

There’s a tie for eighth place between Brown and Vermont. Brown earned two points with a win over Union after a loss to Rensselaer the night before, and Vermont nailed one point with a tie against St. Lawrence before falling to Clarkson.

Ah, another team alone in the standings. Harvard currently holds the last playoff spot after tying Union on Friday evening.

There is essentially a tie between Dartmouth and Union because neither wants to be where they are right now — out of the playoffs. Dartmouth is one point out after dropping a pair in the North Country, and Union picked up one point on the weekend.

Have a look yourself.

ECAC Standings

The Nitty-Gritty.

That’s what it’s come down to. Four weeks left — eight games — home ice or just a trip to Placid. Everything is on the line in the next four weeks.

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the wildest ride in college hockey — the stretch run in the ECAC.

Last Week: 6-6 Season To Date: 92-67, .579

Rensselaer (16-7-1, 9-4-1 ECAC, T-3rd) and Union (3-18-3, 1- 11-2 ECAC, 12th) at Clarkson (14-9-1, 11-3-0 ECAC, T-1st) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Potsdam, NY Union (3-18-3, 1-11-2 ECAC, 12th) and Rensselaer (16-7-1, 9-4-1 ECAC, T-3rd) at St. Lawrence (15-9-2, 10-2-2 ECAC, T-1st) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Canton, NY

The Engineers of Rensselaer came off of a sweep at the hands of Clarkson and St. Lawrence going into last weekend’s lone game with Brown. After ending two periods of play tied at two, the Engineers scored five times in the third period to record a 7-3 victory over the Bears.

"We picked it up a couple of notches in the third period," said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. "We got back to basics in the third period in doing what we do best — scoring goals and playing well defensively in our own end."

Having a single game last weekend at a time when all the other ECAC teams were playing a pair didn’t seem to faze Fridgen.

"It gives us some time to prepare and enjoy the win," he said of the rare day off. "This will give us some time to pick up some confidence that we might have lost last weekend."

The Engineers will get to face the North Country rivals once again this weekend, except it will be in the lovely confines of Northern New York.

"We’ve got a huge weekend coming up in the North Country," said Fridgen. "They don’t take kindly to visitors, but hopefully we’ll be ready for that trip. We’re not out for revenge, redemption is really what we are looking for."

Not only is the North Country a place many teams leave shaking their heads — which the Engineers did last year with a 1-0 loss to St. Lawrence and a 11-0 loss to Clarkson — but this is also a set against the co-leaders of the ECAC.

"All the better," said Fridgen. "It’s real tight up there. We got the ship back on course, and we just have to keep on plowing through the waters."

Union picked up one point last weekend in a tie against Harvard, but couldn’t gather any others in dropping a 5-2 game to Brown on Saturday. Despite picking up one point, the Dutchmen are no closer to making the last playoff position than they were a week ago, remaining four points behind the Crimson for the last spot.

"We certainly have a tough road trip ahead going against the teams that are at the top," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "That’s always a tough trip and now you throw in that they are both playing as well as they are. We have to step up to the challenge. If these guys want to play in the postseason then they have to show up on Friday night.

"These are our playoffs now. We have to win some of these games if we want to be in the playoffs."

After a fine performance against the Crimson on Friday in a 1-1 tie, the Dutchmen had the game tied against Brown at two, but the Bears scored three times in the last 22 minutes of the game to take the win.

"We had some chances again [Saturday]," said Sneddon. "We didn’t play as well defensively as on Friday, again we had a lot of offensive opportunities, but we just didn’t bury them. It seems like that’s been the story all year long. It’s frustrating, believe me. But we have to keep going and play 120 minutes a weekend."

Clarkson came into the weekend trailing St. Lawrence and Princeton by one point for the lead in the ECAC. The Golden Knights came out of last weekend with a share of the lead in the league with St. Lawrence.

The Knights defeated Dartmouth 2-1 and then Vermont 3-2 to take four points and a share of the lead.

On Friday, the Knights scored twice in the first six minutes of the second period to gain the win over the Big Green.

"We stole one," said Clarkson coach Mark Morris. "We didn’t deserve it, but we’re happy about the two points. We were out-hustled, out-hit and out-shot.

"We know we have to play much better to go anywhere this year. I can’t think of any facet of the game we’re happy with right now…except the win."

The next night the Knights broke a 2-2 tie in the third period on an Erik Cole goal that was mildly controversial. Some say it never crossed the goal line, some say it did. Either way, the Knights got the two points and a share of the lead in the ECAC.

Now the Knights get to take on Rensselaer and Union again, twice in the span of three weeks. One of the things that the Knights did do in that previous series was score goals — 10 of them in the two games. That total went to five goals last weekend.

"Nobody on our team is running away with any tremendous scoring output," said Morris. "But it’s nice to see that we’re getting good production from a lot of different sources."

St. Lawrence went to overtime in both of its games last weekend, tying Vermont 1-1 before defeating Dartmouth 4-3 with three seconds left in the extra stanza. The overtime win kept the Saints in first place, albeit in a tie with Clarkson for the position.

"Obviously it is a big win for us," said head coach Joe Marsh. "We came out flat and it took us about a period and a half to get it going. Vic Natali made a big play to get things started and from then on it was a pretty good game. Eric Heffler had another big night and we came out of the weekend with three points. If we can do that every weekend, we’ll take it."

The overtime goal was scored by Erik Anderson, second on the team in scoring with 23 points (7g-16a).

"Erik’s usual first thought is to pass the puck," said Marsh. "He is an outstanding passer and a great playmaker, but this time he had no one to pass to and got off a great shot. Dartmouth played an outstanding game and took it to us for at least half of it, but the guys reached down in the overtime and really worked hard to come up with the winner."

The 1-1 tie on Friday was a great battle between goaltenders, and the Saints’ Eric Heffler is one of the best.

"It was a pretty good hockey game, and certainly an outstanding showing by both goalies," said Marsh about the Vermont game. "Both teams probably feel they had chances to win it. I thought we did a fairly good job defensively in addition to Heff’s play, but we over-handled the puck on offense."

Picks: Rensselaer at Clarkson — This is Clarkson’s time to shine. The Knights continue to do so, putting some distance between themselves and Rensselaer. Clarkson 4, Rensselaer 2 Union at St. Lawrence — In the land of Heffler, the lack of an offense for Union will send the Dutchmen out of Appleton shaking their heads with their second shutout of the season at the hands of the Saints. St. Lawrence 3, Union 0 Union at Clarkson — Union came back to tie Clarkson in the last minute last season at Cheel. No such luck this year. Clarkson 5, Union 2 Rensselaer at St. Lawrence — The trend has always been toward high-scoring games in Troy (5-4 this year) and low-scoring games in Canton. Once again, don’t buck the trend. St. Lawrence 3, Rensselaer 2

Princeton (14-6-1, 9-4-1 ECAC, T-3rd) and Yale (9-10-2, 7-5-2 ECAC, T-5th) at Harvard (8-11-2, 3-9-2 ECAC, 10th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Boston, MA Yale (9-10-2, 7-5-2 ECAC, T-5th) and Princeton (14-6-1, 9-4-1 ECAC, T- 3rd) at Brown (7-9-5, 3-7-4 ECAC, T-8th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Providence, RI

It’s sad to see a team that looked so good fall so hard.

As if wasn’t bad enough that Princeton dropped two bad games last weekend against Cornell and Colgate, the Tigers now will be without the services of All-American defenseman Steve Shirreffs, who sprained his knee against Colgate. He is expected to miss four weeks; in addition, Benoit Morin and possibly J.P. Acosta could be out this weekend too.

"The preliminary MRI results [on Shirreffs] show a knee injury to the MCL so he is going to be out three to four weeks," said Princeton head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon. "Every team goes through this, and hopefully we will see him before the season is out and when it most counts: during the playoffs."

The once-feared lines of the Tigers have been all but dismantled as the team appears to be losing steam and confidence. Hobey Baker hopeful Jeff Halpern chipped in his obligatory three points on the weekend, but he got little help from his teammates, who amassed an outrageous 107 penalty minutes on the weekend.

"First of all, we were outplayed on Friday night. Colgate played with a purpose and most assuredly we did not, and consequently the game went the way it should have," Cahoon said. "Saturday night was another story. We played with poise, we got off to a good start and then it developed into something other than we thought it would."

Another big factor for the Tigers has been the disappearing act of senior co-captain Syl Apps on the offensive end. In the first two months of play, Apps recorded at least a point in nine of 12 games as the team cruised to a 9-2-1 record.

Since 1999 has arrived, Apps has gone pointless in six of nine games, during which time the Tigers are 5-4. This past weekend, Apps was kept off the scoreboard once again, and most notably finished with a five-minute major against Colgate and then a 10-minute misconduct infraction against Cornell the following night.

"First of all, Syl is a defensive player, so his offense comes from his defense," Cahoon said. "This is a difficult time for Princeton kids — going into exams, coming out of exams — and there is a lot of continuity that is lost. I think that Syl, as will a lot of our other guys, will gain back that offensive prowess that they had earlier in the year in the next few weeks."

The challenge has been set in front of the Tigers, who face the possibility of falling farther out of the top playoff positions this weekend, as they are faced with two winnable games against two teams struggling to find a winning formula — namely Harvard and Brown.

Two wins would most likely resurrect and spearhead Princeton into the final three weekends of ECAC action, while a pair of losses would spell certain doom for the small band of Tigers struggling for home ice.

For anyone who doubted Yale’s potential to be a contender come March, it is time to own up to the mistake. After a dismal start to the season in which the Bulldog offense struggled while the defense was attempting to find an identity without Ray Giroux, the Bulldogs have recently proven that they are a contender.

What else can you say about a team that everyone forgot about until the past two weekends in which they claimed seven points from a home-and-away series with Cornell and Colgate to move into a tie for fifth and only three points out of third place in the ECAC race?

This past weekend, Yale held off a hungry Cornell team, 2-1, on Friday night and then managed to pull out a respectable 4-4 tie the following night against Colgate. Jeff Hamilton continued to pile on the points (3 goals, two assists), while Alex Westlund played the role of savior by collecting 83 saves on the weekend, including 47 against the Red Raiders.

"I think few teams have that kind of finisher [like Hamilton]," said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. "It’s part of our team makeup and team chemistry, and it’s one of the weapons that we have. Against a team like Cornell, we give away a lot in size and maybe in experience and age, but both our special weapons — Westlund in the goal and Hamilton up front — paid some dividends and were key elements in the fact that we could go in there into that environment and come away with a 2-1 win."

The downside to the weekend for Yale, however, was the loss of defenseman John Gauger, who injured his hand in the second period and is expected to miss at least three weeks of action.

"It’s a loss, because John was just rounding into shape in terms of his physical condition and his mental condition," Taylor said. "His confidence was rising and the team’s confidence in him to handle any situation was improving. He’s a strong kid, both mentally and physically, so he’ll get through this."

This weekend, Yale will hit the road once again and face-off against a potentially dangerous Harvard team on Friday night. Earlier in the season, Taylor and Co. rattled the Crimson at Ingalls Rink with a 7-1 thrashing, but traditionally, Bright Hockey Center has not been a kind place for the Bulldogs. They entered last season’s meeting in Cambridge having gone 0-for-Bright, without a win in 19 tries since it opened in 1979.

If Yale can play the same style of hockey it has in the past couple of weeks, however, then there is no doubt that the Bulldogs should waltz back to New Haven with four more points.

"Lynah Rink is a tough place to play, and it came down to our character in terms of our getting out of there with a win in that situation, so it was a good testament to the character of our team," Taylor said. "For that, I’m proud and thankful that we’re coming together as a team, but I’m a little disappointed that we got out-skated so badly. I wouldn’t say we got out-worked, but we got out-skated."

The Beanpot has come and gone and Harvard is once again finding itself having to look forward as the past left nothing good in its wake.

The Crimson headed into the historic Boston Tournament as the one of the favorites and finished dead last after consecutive losses to Northeastern and then most recently to Boston College in the consolation game on Monday night. In addition, while the team was in the midst of the Beanpot mayhem, it also allowed Union to steal a point from it last Friday night at Achilles Rink.

That tie may prove to be highly significant considering that Harvard is currently sitting in 10th place in the ECAC standings, just one point ahead of Dartmouth.

"The Union game felt like a loss," said Harvard head coach Ronn Tomassoni. "That was a point that we should have gotten. Then Boston College came out with two in the first two minutes, and it just deflated us."

Despite the wretched start, the Crimson responded by taking a 3-1 lead midway through the second period off a four-on-four Scott Turco tally. B.C. quickly found Harvard netminder Oliver Jonas’ weak spot (his five-hole), however, as they posted two goals to equalize the contest heading into the final period.

That’s where it all fell apart for the Crimson. Even a goaltending change which sent Harvard’s ace, J.R. Prestifilippo into the game to relieve Jonas, had no effect as the Harvard defense fell apart piece by piece. There was little backchecking, no marking in front of the net, and absolutely zero energy on the side of the Crimson players which led to the eventual 6-4 defeat.

"It was a Beanpot game, but it was the consolation game," said Harvard captain Craig Adams. I don’t think that anyone is going to lose sleep that we lost this game. We have to focus on our league games."

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the team may be without the services for sophomore scoring ace Steve Moore, who was injured during the Union games, this weekend as it hosts Yale and Princeton at Bright Hockey Center.

The split seems to be the tale of the season for Brown. Once again, the Bears had its ups and downs this past weekend when it got shelled, 7-3, by RPI on Friday night before rebounding with a solid 5-2 win over Union on Saturday.

Against the Engineers, the Bears kept the contest close after two periods following goals by Matt Kohansky and Jade Kersey, but the third period turned into a nightmare very quickly. RPI exploded for five goals, including the first two of the period which were scored within a 25 second span, to seal the contest and send Brown reeling farther towards the ECAC cellar.

Instead of folding, however, the Bears ventured to the next town over and took its frustration out at Achilles Rink on the Skating Dutchmen, who were coming off a tie the night before against Harvard. Brown netminder Scott Stirling, who allowed all seven goals against the Engineers, responded as well, finishing with a game-high 38 saves against the Skating Dutchmen.

"We were up 2-0 but I didn’t think we were playing very well," said Brown head coach Roger Grillo, who got a three-point performance from Mike Bent against Union. "We were lucky on a couple of goals, but if Scotty had not played well for us in the first, I was not happy with the way we played in the first period.

"It was a real good effort for us. We started out doing stupid things and for some reason we were playing young. Even though we are young, we can’t be playing that way at this time of the season. But [Saturday night] was good for us. We settled down, played well in the second half of the game and we got the job done."

In addition to Bent, who is third on the team in scoring with 17 points, the line of Jeff Lawler, James Duval, and Shawn Brackenridge is beginning to become an offensive factor in recent games, but is still lacking the consistency Grillo desires from one of his top lines at this point of the season. This past weekend, the trio accounted for three points, including Brown’s first goal against Union just 1:12 into the period.

This weekend will present a new challenge for the Bears who must find a way contain the physical style of play of Princeton on Friday night and then the team speed of Yale the following night.

"There are standings and there are teams below you and in our league it’s going to be a dogfight until the last weekend," Grillo said. "The objective for us is to put as many points up as we can. We were playing good hockey [Friday] except for about 12 minutes and [Saturday] we played well except for a few minutes. We’re playing pretty great hockey right now, we just have to keep up with the good things and work with the bad things."

Picks: Princeton at Harvard — In the only other meeting between these two teams this season, Princeton eked out a 3-2 victory at a time when everyone else was beating up on the hapless Crimson. This time around, the roles have switched a bit. Harvard is playing a much better brand of hockey, in addition to being highly-motivated by the fact that the Crimson are fighting for their precious playoff lives. Harvard 3, Princeton 2 Yale at Brown — With team speed and potent weapons up front, Yale is a tough matchup for Brown. Despite the loss of Gauger, the Bulldogs should have no problem controlling Bent, Smith, and Lawler. The Bears, on the other hand, will have difficulty stopping Yale’s transition game as well as Hamilton up front. Yale 6, Brown 3 Yale at Harvard — The records don’t bode well for Yale heading into Cambridge, but for anyone who has watched the Harvard-Yale hockey rivalry the past four years or so, it is clear that the fear of Bright Hockey Center is no longer an issue. Yale is playing well and Harvard’s confidence is suspect. Yale 4, Harvard 1 Princeton at Brown — Princeton is having its own problems at the moment, but after being swept last weekend, the same thing shouldn’t happen again…even without Shirreffs on the blue line. It won’t be the prettiest game, but in the end it’s Princeton 2, Brown 1

Cornell (9-9-3, 6-5-3 ECAC, 7th) and Colgate (12-8-4, 7-5-2 ECAC, T-5th) at Vermont (10-11-2, 4-8-2 ECAC, T-8th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Burlington, VT Colgate (12-8-4, 7-5-2 ECAC, T-5th) and Cornell (9-9-3, 6-5-3 ECAC, 7th) at Dartmouth (7-13-1, 3-10-1 ECAC, 11th) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 5:00 pm, Hanover, NH

Cornell started last weekend with a 2-1 loss to Yale at Lynah Rink. A 1-1 tie was broken with just over six minutes to play in the third. Head coach Mike Schafer was disappointed at the loss.

"What can I tell them," he said. "We outshoot them 37-15, and we lose a hockey game off a puck that bounces three times and finds the net. We have to change our own destiny; we get beat by a goal down at Princeton the other night in a game that we had under control. We get beat in a game tonight that I felt we deserved to win."

Good news came to the Big Red last Friday when defenseman and assistant captain Jeff Burgoyne came back after a battle with the flu that forced him to miss the previous weekend’s games.

"Getting Jeff back is huge for our team," Schafer said. "The kid lost 8- 10 pounds last week with the flu, and even though he wasn’t 100 percent tonight, he had a huge impact on the game."

Burgoyne assisted on the lone goal of the night — a 5 x 3 tally by Kyle Knopp.

The lack of scoring had been one of the woes for the Big Red, but they broke out on Saturday evening with an 8-4 victory over Princeton. The Big Red scored eight unanswered goals after the Tigers broke out to an early 3-0 lead.

Among the goals were two 5×3, two 4×5 and two 5×4.

The downward spiral looked as if it were never-ending for the Red Raiders of Colgate. Not only in terms of losses, but also in terms of lack of offense. The offense was not quite there on Friday night, but a 3-1 win over Princeton was the right medicine.

"This was a big win for us, especially against such a good team and after the difficult January we had," head coach Don Vaughan said. "We really refocused in the past week and got back to believing in ourselves."

Two goals in the first period were enough to put the Tigers away and the two points kept the Red Raiders in a tie for fifth place in the ECAC heading into a showdown the next evening with the team they were tied with — Yale.

After falling behind 3-1 after one period of play, the Red Raiders scored twice in the second period to tie the game and then the teams traded goals in the third period and each got a point and a share of fifth place in the standings.

"Quite frankly, we’re disappointed," said Vaughan about the tie on Saturday. "We proved we can skate with the elite last night, then came out flat. We have to learn to play all three periods."

Picking up three points on the weekend is a much needed boost for the Red Raiders and they hope to continue the push.

"Mostly we just have to learn to be a tougher team mentally. I wish I could say it’s rookie mistakes, we’re young, but that’s not the truth," Vaughan said. "It’s all about putting together three periods every night. Still, if we can play the way we did for five periods this weekend, we can contend."

After a great goaltending performance by Andrew Allen against St. Lawrence on Friday evening that resulted in a 1-1 tie, Vermont went into Cheel Arena and found itself in another low scoring affair with Clarkson. This time the Cats gave up a goal in the third period and lost the game 3-2.

As mentioned in the Clarkson preview, the goal was a bit controversial in that some thought the puck had not crossed over the goal line. Despite the controversy, it was not what was on head coach Mike Gilligan’s mind following the game.

"I didn’t see the goal, but that’s not the thing that’s bothersome," he said. "What was is that we didn’t skate as well in the third period as we had in the first and second.

"[Clarkson] believed they could put it away, I don’t know if we believed we could beat them."

The Cats are barely hanging on after a strong start to the ECAC season. With only three points in the ECAC since the beginning of 1999, the Cats are tied for eighth in the standings and face a tough weekend against Cornell and Colgate.

Dartmouth played two hard-fought contests against the two of the top teams in the league last weekend, and unfortunately it has nothing to show for its efforts.

Oh, the pains of rebuilding rear its ugly head! Instead of stealing a few crucial points from the weekend and holding sole possession of eighth place, the Big Green is now sitting in 11th place with seven points, only three points ahead of Union.

On Friday night, Dartmouth kept the offensive pressure on throughout the contest as they outshot the Golden Knights, 39-27. Two power-play tallies by Clarkson in the first six minutes of the second period, however, proved to be the difference en route to the 2-1 Dartmouth loss.

"It was not from a lack of effort," said Dartmouth head coach Bob Gaudet. "It’s all I can ask from them. We played a very good team in their own building, but it’s tough when you play a solid game and get an ‘L’. We just need to find a way to put the puck away."

The following night was much of the same as Dartmouth gave St. Lawrence all it could handle. Within the first two minutes of play, Dory Tisdale and Scott Peach found the back of the net for the Big Green for the early 2-0 lead. The Saints stormed back in the second period to tie the game at two, and after both teams notched a goal in the third, the two teams headed into the overtime period.

To add insult to injury, with only three seconds remaining in the extra period, Erik Anderson netted the game winner to send Dartmouth home with zero points for the second straight weekend.

"With a couple of bounces here and there, it could have been a three or four point weekend for us," said senior captain David Risk. "They’re the two top teams in the league right now, but we played them tight both nights. It’s disappointing. It was devastating, but you have to wake up the next day and continue to fight."

Once again, Dartmouth must go back to the drawing board this weekend as it hosts Colgate and Cornell — two teams that are playing exceptionally good hockey at this stage. Despite the recent losses, there is a positive side for the Big Green in that their p layoff hopes are still alive as the bottom teams continue to stay within striking distance.

"Right now we need to find a way to get into the playoffs and get some experience," added Gaudet.

Picks: Cornell at Vermont — The Big Red found some offense on Saturday against Princeton. With the taste of scoring once again, the Big Red motor into Burlington and get the win. Cornell 4, Vermont 2 Colgate at Dartmouth — The Red Raiders, too, have found the touch once again — both in terms of winning and scoring goals. They make the Big Green suffer through some more growing. Colgate 5, Dartmouth 2 Colgate at Vermont — That all-important fifth spot continues to be held, in part at least, by Colgate. Colgate 4, Vermont 1 Cornell at Dartmouth — More success for the Big Red. Cornell 5, Dartmouth 3

Next Week in the ECAC: Friday, February 19 St. Lawrence at Princeton Clarkson at Yale Harvard at Colgate Brown at Cornell Dartmouth at Union Vermont at Rensselaer

Saturday, February 20 Clarkson at Princeton St. Lawrence at Yale Brown at Colgate Harvard at Cornell Vermont at Union Dartmouth at Rensselaer

Thanks to Jason Frank, Juan Martinez and Steve Marsi for their contributions to this preview.

All photographs used by permission of the appropriate Sports Information Departments. Any reproduction without authorization is prohibited.

Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy are ECAC Correspondents for U.S. College Hockey Online.

Copyright 1999 Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy. All rights reserved.

Miracle On Ice

By
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When Ernie Hartlieb arrived at Miami University as a freshman in the fall of 1997, the campus he’d visited just once seemed eerily too familiar. When nearly every classroom, dining hall, or dorm the RedHawk forward entered gave him a peculiar sense of deja vu, he realized he had seen all of these places before.

Ernie had seen these places he was encountering for the first time months before, while lying in an induced coma.

“When I was under, I was having dreams about Miami, and I’d only been there once on the recruiting trip,” says Ernie. “I dreamed of things I never visited. Then I got there, and it was like, whoa! I was walking into places, and I’d get this weird feeling. I’d seen it before.”

On June 24, 1997, Hartlieb suffered an extensive head injury and lay comatose for eleven days.

“It happened right before my freshman year, in the summertime,” says the Sterling Heights, Mich., native. “I was playing pickup hockey at Fraser Ice Arena in Fraser, Mich. I didn’t have my chinstrap on.”

The Miami sophomore says that he collided with a friend, his helmet came off, and his skull hit the ice, fracturing on impact.

“Five titanium plates and 30 pins,” says Ernie. “They didn’t expect me to live.”

The 19-year-old sounds casual when he talks about his brush with death, but his father, Henry Hartlieb, repeats the story with the intensity of a man who nearly lost his son.

“It was a frightening experience,” says Henry, his voice low and sober.

“He was playing hockey the summer before last up in Fraser, just trying to stay in shape for his first college season. I was at work at the time. They were playing in the afternoon. I got home, and I checked the answering machine, and I had a message saying, ‘Mr. Hartlieb, you should get over to the hospital because Ernie fell and hit his head.’ And that was really all it said. I didn’t know how serious it was or anything.”

It wasn’t until Henry arrived at Mount Clemens General Hospital in Mount Clemens, Mich., that he learned that his son was fighting for his life. “When I got there the hospital staff was waiting for me at the door. They said he had fractured his skull and had to go up to surgery immediately because he had pressure on the brain that they had to relieve.

“I got to see him go up in the elevator into surgery, and that was the last time I saw him until he was coming out of surgery. It was horrible. For about four or five hours we just sat and waited, not knowing what was going to happen.”

No one, including the medical staff, knew whether or not Ernie was going to survive his accident and subsequent operation.

“After he came out, we talked to the doctor, who said it was too early to tell just what kind of condition he was going to be in, and even if he was going to make it. We were pretty shocked, to say the least.

“This went on for probably three or four days, not knowing which direction he was going to take before we had some positive signs from the doctor that the pressure was starting to come down and it looked as though he was going to recover.”

The doctors at Mount Clemens induced coma “to keep Ernie quiet,” says Ernie’s father, and for the first few days after the operation, Ernie’s parents and his best friend, fellow RedHawk Jason Deskins, were forbidden to visit him.

“They measured pressure on the brain, and every time someone came in to see him, the pressure would go up so they made us stay out for a couple of days,” says Henry. Ernie’s mother, Randa Hartlieb, says that while she was kept from visiting her son while he recovered from surgery, “I was not normal.”

Ernie says he knows how difficult it was for his parents, although he doesn’t remember sensing their presence when they were near. “My mom was a wreck. They told her on that first night that I was supposed to die.”

After it was clear that Ernie would live, his parents began to wonder what life would be like for their son after this traumatic injury. “We’re just thankful he came out of it alive,” says Henry. “Hockey was the last thing on our minds when all of this happened. When he started to recover, all we asked for is that he be normal and healthy.”

Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni went to visit Ernie after the young man had been awakened from the induced coma. “It was awful. He was just off the coma. He was aware and talking. When you know Ernie, you know what he’s like, and there he was lying there cracking jokes.

“I didn’t know if he’d play. I didn’t even know if he’d walk.”

Ernie was released after spending nearly a month at Mount Clemens.

“When he got out of the hospital, we had to carry him to the car and carry him to his bed. He couldn’t walk,” says Henry. “He’d lost about 30 or 40 pounds, but he started to gain it back pretty quickly once he got home. He started eating again and getting his strength back, and his main goal was to make it to the first day of school.”

Not only did Ernie make it to the first day of school, but he was practicing with the team, and played his first game just six months after his ordeal. Eight months after shattering his skull, Ernie scored his first collegiate goal in Miami’s 6-5 loss in Bowling Green on March 7, 1998.

“He gave me the puck and I cried,” says his mother.

Ernie says his doctors credit his quick recovery to his youth and excellent physical condition, but as speedy as his return bto hockey was, Ernie says it felt like forever before he could play again.

“I was really antsy,” says Ernie. “It took until Christmas for the doctors in Cincinnati to give me the OK to play. I was mad that Coach Mazzoleni wouldn’t let me play.”

“When he came back to school, he did not participate in dry-land conditioning,” says Mazzoleni. “All of a sudden, though, he was skating, and that’s when we had a problem because he really wanted to go.”

Mazzoleni chuckles when he tells the story because it illustrates so much of Ernie’s character. “Ernie is a young man full of positive energy. He’s looked on positively by his peers and coaches because of that energy.

“He wanted to go.”

A year and a half after his injury and one year after his return to hockey, Ernie Hartlieb is a an integral part of a young Miami team, with six goals and six assists in 26 games this season.

“His skills are a lot better than most people realize,” says Mazzoleni, “and he’s certainly earned the right to play.”

Henry Hartlieb says that his son “hasn’t changed a bit,” but his mother sees a difference. “He’s gutsier now than ever. Nothing fazes him any more. And that scares me.”

The Miami sophomore thinks his mother worries too much, but he concedes that the incident remains as real now as it was in the summer of 1997. “It’s been a year and a half, and I talk about it every day as though it were yesterday.”

Ernie says he remembers that sense of deja vu that accompanied him when he began school in Oxford, Oh., in the early autumn of 1997, and he clings to the belief that he “visited” the Miami campus months before he arrived. People may scoff at his claims, says Randa Hartlieb, but she, for one, believes what Ernie tells her of what he remembers from the coma.

After all, she understands belief.

“While he was under, he had a dream that somebody pulled him from the other side, so God was with him,” says Randa.

“I prayed a lot, and everybody else prayed with him. God wanted him on this earth.”

Kazmaier Award Candidates Named

USCHO Staff Report
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USA Hockey Foundation president Walter L. Bush, Jr., announced Tuesday the names of the 10 candidates for the 1999 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented to the most outstanding player in NCAA women’s ice hockey.

Harvard features three candidates, while Brown and New Hampshire boast two each.

The candidates are Ali Coughlin, Princeton; Hillary Witt, Northeastern; Sara DeCosta, Providence; A.J. Mleczko, Harvard; Tara Mounsey, Brown; Angela Ruggiero, Harvard; Nicki Luongo, New Hampshire; Tammy Shewchuk, Harvard; Carisa Zaban, New Hampshire; and Ali Brewer, Brown. Coughlin and Witt are repeat selections.

“The USA Hockey Foundation is proud to recognize these outstanding student-athletes,” said Bush. “These talented players personify on- and off-ice excellence, making them worthy candidates for this prestigious award.”

Nominations came from the head coaches of women’s varsity ice hockey programs throughout the United States. Three finalists for the award will be announced March 15, and the Kazmeier Award itself will be presented to the winner in St. Paul, Minn., on March 25.

The recipient will be chosen by an 11-member selection committee comprised of women’s coaches, representatives of the print and broadcast media, and a representative of USA Hockey.

Individual tickets, priced at $100.00 for adults and $50.00 for children under 12, and table sponsorships may be purchased by calling John Donovan at the USA Hockey Foundation, (800) 566-3288, ext. 178; or Mike Snee at the Minnesota Wild, (651) 602-6017. Individual tickets and table sponsorship packages are tax deductible.

The inaugural Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award was presented last March in Boston, Mass., to New Hampshire forward Brandy Fisher. The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letterwinner and All-Ivy League honoree for Princeton from 1981-82 through 1985-86. An accomplished athlete who excelled in ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse, Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.

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