Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by New Hampshire head coach Mike Souza. The conversation includes this year’s Wildcats, the Hockey East race, coping with COVID, recruiting, and this weekend’s series with UConn.
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There’s been a lot of talk about the “curse” of the top-ranked team this college hockey season, but after this past weekend, I’m thinking we should amend this “curse” to something else: If you’re the No. 1 team in the country, you might not want to play Northern Michigan.
The Wildcats, who beat Minnesota State 4-2 on Friday in Marquette, had already swept Minnesota Duluth at home before Christmas. In both instances, their opponents were ranked No. 1 but were voted off the top spot in the next week’s poll.
“As an athlete, those games are easy to get excited for,” NMU head coach Grant Potulny said Tuesday as to why his team plays so well against top-ranked opponents. “We had them at home, too, so that obviously helps.”
NMU, at 13-9-1 overall and 10-5-0 at home in the Berry Events Center, is also much healthier now than they were at the start of the year. Having a (mostly) full lineup has helped the Wildcats prove they are a much better team than perhaps they showed at the start of the season. The one glaring injury that remains is senior captain Joe Nardi, who was injured during a collision in practice and will miss the rest of the season.
“We’ve kind of gotten healthy at the back end,” Potulny said. “We have had six defensemen and, aside from Joe, a full complement of forwards. Health has been a big thing for us, and getting healthy was something we’ve been trying to do all year, and with the exception of Joe, we’re as healthy as we’ve ever been.”
Nardi, the team’s points leader in 2021, will be a big loss for NMU. The senior forward came back for an extra year to help try and get the Wildcats back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010.
“I’m heartbroken for Joe,” Potulny said. “He’s always been a strong finisher and he was starting to flip the switch again. But he’ll be ready for pro hockey. It’s just unfortunate, because (last weekend) it was the first game I ever coached at Northern Michigan without Joe Nardi on the bench. We’re going to miss him, but we have some offensive scoring depth, and that’s been carrying the day so far.”
The Wildcats do have that, as they possess the top goal scorer in the CCHA (AJ Vanderbeck, 17) and the top assist getter in the league (Hank Crone, 24). They have the second-most goals in the league (90, after MSU’s 103).
Potulny said his main concern for his team now is keeping the puck out of the net. Their goal differential in the conference is -6. But Potulny saw some encouraging signs this weekend against the Mavericks.
“This (past) weekend, on Friday we did a great job of (defending), and on Saturday we did an OK job, too,” he said. “We gave up a couple power-play goals, but for the most part, we did a nice job so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.”
The Wildcats held the Mavericks to just two goals in Friday’s win – quite the feat, considering MSU has been averaging nearly four goals per game this year. On Saturday MSU ended up winning 4-1 to earn the split.
Still, beating Minnesota State at all was a nice feat for the Wildcats, who were swept by the Mavericks 4-2 and 7-0 back in October. They have won three of their last four since coming back from Christmas break and are 11-4-1 since November.
Really, the one blip since the previous MSU series in October was the series that directly followed their sweep of UMD. On Dec. 10-11 they traveled to Lake Superior and were swept 7-2 and 4-1. That wasn’t a good way to end the first half of the season, so the fact that they were able to come back from the holidays refreshed to sweep Colgate and split with Minnesota State was a good sign for Potulny.
“To get three of four out of the gate coming back, that, down the stretch for us is going to be important because we did lose opportunities to have our full complement of players to acquire points,” Potulny said. “Now we’re getting healthier and we’re in a dogfight for home ice so we need to make sure we’re continuing to get points each weekend. But most important is that we’re not just winning points, we need to make sure we win series because we have some ground to make up.”
NMU is in fifth in the CCHA table with 21 points, five behind Bowling Green. They can make up that ground and then some, because they still get a chance to play all three teams in the No. 2 through No. 4 slots (Bemidji State, Michigan Tech and BGSU, respectively) in the season’s second half.
The first of those potential ground-gaining matchups is against rivals Michigan Tech for a home-and-home this weekend. The teams already split a series in November, with the away team winning each matchup. Both teams come into the series nationally-ranked (Tech is 17th and Northern is 19th).
“It’s kind of going to be the tale of two teams that go at it a little differently,” he said. “They’re a great defensive team and we’ve been able to generate offense, so we’re going to have to make sure we defend on the level they do, we have to make sure we can get into the net-front area, and we have to get to their goalie (Blake Pietila). He’s one of the elite goalies in college hockey.”
This column would be remiss if I did not mention the milestone victory from this weekend.
Not only did St. Thomas’ thrilling last-second win over Ferris State on Saturday night give the Tommies their second victory of the season, but it also gave head coach Rico Blasi his 400th career head coaching win.
And it was a game worthy of a milestone.
The Tommies (2-22-0) stormed out to a 3-0 lead only to see the Bulldogs chip away. They eventually tied the game on an extra-attacker goal with 55 seconds left, but it didn’t end there. UST’s John Schuldt muscled the game-winner into the net with five seconds remaining to make it official.
It broke a 15-game losing streak for the Tommies. Both of their wins came against Ferris State.
Blasi and UST will look to add to those win totals this weekend when they take on Minnesota State Mankato in a home-and-home series. Saturday’s contest in Mankato will be an outdoor game at MSU’s 7,000-seat Blakeslee Stadium as part of Hockey Day Minnesota festivities.
The UMass Lowell men’s hockey team could soon be the delight of frugal hockey fans everywhere.
Thanks to a promotion called “pay the rank,” for a cool $12 a fan could enjoy Lowell’s thrilling 4-3 win over Maine last Saturday night, since the River Hawks were ranked No. 12 in that week’s DCU/USCHO.com poll.
The latest poll has Lowell (13-3-3, 10-2-1 Hockey East) ranked 10th. Should the River Hawks continue to play as well as they have all season (and if the school holds the promotion again), UMass Lowell fans could be able to see their favorite team at bargain-basement prices.
A balanced scoring attack has been key for the River Hawks so far, with eight players having recorded at least 10 points, led by Carl Berglund (four goals, 12 assists, 16 points) and Andre Lee (11-4-15). Ten different skaters contributed at least a point in Saturday’s win against Maine.
“That’s part of our formula every year,” Lowell coach Norm Bazin said. “We need scoring by committee, and we need multiple threats throughout the lineup. I’m really proud of them for that.”
Not enough can be said about Lowell goalie Owen Savory. With a 1.52 GAA and a .940 save percentage, Savory is the River Hawks’ Hobey Baker Award nominee. Savory hasn’t suffered a loss since a 2-1 setback at UConn on Nov. 21.
“If he’s not one of the best goalies in the country, I don’t know who is,” Bazin said. “He’s had a tremendous season.”
Looming for the River Hawks is a home-and-home series against Merrimack (10-10-1, 5-7-0) which is unbeaten in six of its last seven contests, including three straight wins.
Merrimack coach Scott Borek said getting the puck past Savory will be challenging enough for the Warriors, but first they must get through some tough layers of defense in front of him.
“They’re rarely, if ever, outnumbered at the net front in between the hash marks,” Borek said. “It’s hard to get to that area of the ice. It takes a real persistent effort to get there. You have to go through people, through traffic. (The) most important thing won’t be Owen Savory, it’ll be us getting inside ice.”
Max Newton leads the Warriors in scoring (9-14-23) followed by Filip Forsmark (9-8-17).
This will be the first meeting between the two teams since Feb. 8, 2020, a 4-3 win for the River Hawks in North Andover, Mass. A COVID-truncated schedule last season kept the two clubs apart. Despite not having any film from recent matchups to work with, Borek said Lowell’s formula for success speaks for itself.
“One of the strengths of Lowell is that they do the same thing over and over,” Borek said. “And they do it really, really well. (They’re) just a really methodical, consistent physical group that makes it real hard to find ice and hard to get to their net. They protect the puck really well. You could watch them from five years ago, and you’d know what they were trying to do.”
The teams will meet in North Andover at 7 p.m. on Friday and 6:05 p.m. in Lowell on Saturday.
Sean Farrell and Nick Abruzzese have been at the center of Harvard’s potent offense all season.
Now the Crimson teammates will get a chance to shine on a bigger stage.
The duo was named the U.S. Olympic team last week and will represent the United States at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China next month. Farrell and Abruzzese will be two of 15 current NCAA players on the roster, as the NHL announced in December that is players would not compete in the games due to the scheduling issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was really special and just a great moment for my family.” Farrell told gocrimson.com of being named to the team. “It will be cool to mix in with kids from Minnesota and stuff like that, kids that we don’t usually see play or play against too often.”
The remaining 10 roster spots will be filled by eight European professional players and two AHL players. All 25 players on Team USA played collegiate hockey, including former Yale forwards Brian O’Neill and Kenny Agostino. O’Neill is the only returning Olympian on the roster.
Farrell and Abruzzese have been a fixture on Harvard’s top line this season. While there’s no guarantee they’ll play together for Team USA, it would make sense to keep the duo together given their success this season. But regardless of where either one of them is in the lineup, getting to compete in the Olympics together is an added bonus.
“To have a guy on your team that you get to share this amazing experience with makes it that much sweeter,” Abruzzese said.
Harvard’s program has plenty of experience sending players to the Olympics. Head coach Ted Donato represented the United States in the 1992 Olympics, while his son Ryan played in the 2018 games as a member of the Crimson.
“That’s an honor; they deserve it,” Harvard assistant coach Jim Tortorella said of Farrell and Abruzzese competing in the Olympics. “I think it’s a good representation of the types of players that we have in our program on a regular basis. We’re excited for them. Nobody is looking at it like, ‘Hey you’re kind of abandoning us.’ That’s not the case at all. They deserve that opportunity to represent the country and represent our school and themselves.”
The Olympics run from Feb. 3 to Feb. 20. Team USA ice hockey opens play on Feb. 10 when it faces China in a preliminary round game at 8:10 a.m. ET. Harvard has six games scheduled during the Olympics, although that number is tenuous at best given the fluidity of the college hockey schedule over the last few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s tough to leave the team in the middle of the year but opportunities like this don’t come around very often,” Abruzzese said. “I think it was a pretty easy decision. It’s pretty special to go to the best level of international competition and play.”
Their absence will be felt in Harvard’s lineup; Abruzzese is the team captain and leads all Division I men’s players in points-per-game, while Farrell is tied for the team lead with eight goals. With those two gone, the Crimson will need other players to step up.
“We’re looking for some other guys to make some moves,” Tortorella said. “Every day in practice, our forwards play against some really good defenseman. To lose Nick and Sean, we hope that some of the forwards that have played hard against our defenseman in practice can make that next step.”
The College Hockey America series between Penn State and Lindenwood scheduled for Jan. 21-22 at Lindenwood has been canceled and will not be rescheduled.
COVID protocols will prevent Lindenwood from dressing the minimum personnel required to compete under CHA rules this weekend.
Because the cancellation of this series will result in an imbalance in the number of conference games played by each school, the CHA will determine its final standings and playoff seeds using percentage of points won in each series.
The CHA standings will reflect this change for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. The move to points percentage in the event of a game imbalance was approved by the CHA membership earlier this season.
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Dan: For all of the TMQs (TMQses?) that I’ve been tasked with doing over the past year, I’ve really looked forward to the time that I could banter with Mr. Ed Trefzger. Not because of any other reason than because we’re cut from the same cloth of logging nights in some of those interesting buildings that dotted the northeastern United States.
Ed also holds a longtime notable moment for me when I went positively bananas during a hockey broadcast after about 17 Red Bulls during an Atlantic Hockey playoff series. To be fair, it was 10 years ago, and I’m way more mellow than I was back then, but I’ll always be grateful that both Ed and Chris Lerch helped bring me into USCHO a few years later.
Anyways, now that we’ve gotten this week’s session off to a roiling start, let’s see where we can take this thing…
…which is right back to Rochester, where Arizona State won two must-win games in its quest to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Now at No. 22 in the PairWise Rankings, the 15-12 Sun Devils are pretty much playing must-win hockey the rest of the way, and with games against Alaska and LIU following Minnesota State (which is next weekend in Mankato), we have to assume that any loss to RIT would have ended the bid as it stands, correct?
Ed: I remember that night when I first encountered you, Dan, and I am delighted that you turned out not to be the … um … jerk I initially thought you were then, and that we’ve gotten to be good friends and USCHO colleagues!
Arizona State definitely needed to win those two games at RIT. After getting swept by Boston University the previous weekend, the Sun Devils stood at just 12-12. Adding the game against Northeastern on Tuesday – which was a complete win by an ASU team firing on all cylinders – and then getting the sweep against the Tigers has brought Greg Powers’ squad back from the brink.
However, there’s little room for error left the rest of the way. With eight games currently left on the schedule, the biggest challenge is going to be that pair of games at Minnesota State. I haven’t done the math or plugged the various scenarios into a simulator, but my hunch is that ASU needs to at least get a split against the Mavericks and then sweep both the home and road series with Alaska and the two against LIU to be in the running.
That would put Arizona State at 22-13. But because of the exemption for the two games in Fairbanks, the Sun Devils can add one more game to their schedule. If ASU can schedule a road game against a top team – perhaps to make up for a contest that another team has had canceled – it can conceivably improve that record to 23-13 and make it into the NCAA tournament.
The PairWise is a volatile measure with a lot of moving parts. We’ve written and spoken often at USCHO about how a league’s non-conference composite schedule is the major factor in how many at-large teams make it to the tournament. Quinnipiac, for example, is feeling the effects of ECAC Hockey’s .432 out-of-conference record, as the Bobcats are fifth in the PairWise as of this writing, mainly because of having the 35th ranked strength of schedule.
And that raises a question (or two): Is Quinnipiac overrated at No. 1 in this week’s DCU/USCHO Division I men’s ice hockey poll in light of the PairWise? Or is the PairWise a somewhat arbitrary measure that is more about meeting criteria than determining the better team at a given point in time?
Dan: There are a couple of different points in here worth breaking down, so I’ll take them both individually.
First, let’s start with Quinnipiac, which “won” the No. 1 spot when Minnesota State lost to Northern Michigan. It was an expected move, even if the Bobcats didn’t play, because it seems that a No. 1 team is always moved out of the spot if it loses. Whether or not that’s supposed to happen isn’t the debate, though, and I’ve admittedly been voting Quinnipiac as the No. 1 team for the better part of the last few weeks.
Here’s my reasoning. Quinnipiac is by far the best defensive team in the nation right now, and even a measured step backwards wouldn’t move the next team – also, ironically, Minnesota State – past it. The fact that the offense is a top-15 offense is, to me, a good enough way to extrapolate that the Bobcats would be a very good team even if you moved them out of ECAC, which is admittedly having a bad season for a number of reasons.
If you moved them around and compared them to the best teams in the country, how much would those numbers change? They shut out Northeastern and beat North Dakota, and they swept Arizona State with relative ease at home. In my mind, Quinnipiac has done everything possible to earn a No. 1 seed, and while I could spend 1,200 words explaining a more in-depth outline, I’ll leave it at that and further it by simply saying this team still has a long way to go to clinch a No. 1 seed.
That leads me to the second point, about the PairWise itself. I’m probably in the minority that doesn’t totally love the rankings as the sole method for determining the tournament field. I know using a selection committee last season wasn’t exactly a success, but I also believe that only using math is a bad way to determine which teams are better than others. If you look at the rankings right now, AIC is tied with Clarkson for 20th, Merrimack is 23rd, UConn is 24th, Harvard is 25th and Northern Michigan is 26th. Boston College is 30th.
Yet Harvard has a better winning percentage at 8-5-1 than all of those teams, and BC, at 10-8-3, is worse in the rankings than four teams with a worse overall record. What it tells me is that BC lost to the wrong teams while a team like AIC played well against the right teams. Harvard, by only having 14 games played, probably hasn’t played enough to really drill that point home.
Furthering that argument, if you look solely at the Hockey East clubs, Boston University and BC are both higher in the standings than Providence, Merrimack and UConn – all of which are better than both teams in the PairWise, with Providence sitting at 17th. So either everyone’s losing to the wrong teams or something’s a little broken by the numbers, and truthfully, that’s how I feel.
We know as much as anyone that AIC is pound-for-pound one of the toughest teams to beat in the nation, but if our Atlantic Hockey-leading Yellow Jackets slip against Holy Cross or Niagara or Mercyhurst or even RIT, then they’re going to tumble. And because Atlantic Hockey’s remaining games aren’t against many of those teams that are inside the right spots, there’s no opportunity for them to even move up.
That’s the point of the PairWise, I know, but it frustrates me because I think it prohibits teams from getting hot in the second half and proving they deserve a spot in the tournament. I respect the PairWise, but I think it should be used a guideline, not a be-all, end-all.
Moving beyond that, I actually wanted to bring up one other thing from this weekend that slipped through the cracks. Friday night marked the 365-day countdown for Sacred Heart to open the Martire Family Arena, its $70 million, on-campus arena. I’ve written at length about how this is going to change the game in college hockey, but even as the Pioneers battered Bentley on Friday, it wasn’t lost on me that we’re heading down to a new era.
We’ve spent a good amount of wording on facilities, enhancements, renovations and hockey-related development, but in your estimation, can you actually quantify how much that has changed since the old days of day-old pizza on a bus?
Ed: My goodness, things indeed have changed. When the MAAC was created, and then going into the early days of its successor Atlantic Hockey, the purpose of the conference was cost containment.
I remember riding the bus to do radio during RIT’s transition season to D-I and arriving at the Milford Ice Pavilion to play Sacred Heart and being stunned that the Pioneers were playing in a rather small youth hockey barn. Even so, community arenas like that, or AIC’s Olympia Ice Center, or the place you remember for so many great memories, the John A. Ryan Skating Arena that Bentley called home, helped get the league off the ground.
The expansion to 18 scholarships in Atlantic Hockey, and the move to better arenas and, better yet, beautiful on-campus facilities really means that the conference has left its budget-conscious past behind. But Atlantic Hockey has paved the way for the growth of D-I hockey and in its wake, maybe it’s time for another cost-containment league to be formed to help get more teams into the sport.
I agree with much of what you said about the PairWise. But I’m not ready to return to smoke-free smoke-filled rooms, either, even though the D-I committee did a really good job picking last year’s at-large teams.
I’m wondering how much the Olympics are going to affect this year’s NCAA tournament field. Many top programs will be without some of their best players in a key part of the season. I know you and Paula speculated about this in this column last week, but now that we know the Olympic roster, might we see a team bumped from the tournament due to a loss of talent or a shortened bench? And which teams are most vulnerable?
Dan: I had some genuine concerns for Minnesota and Michigan the more and more I read about the rumors surrounding both Team USA and Team Canada. It became obvious that both schools were going to lose highly-valued talents/prospects but bracing for that impact was a lot different than actually seeing it on paper.
I know the conversations internally had to be incredibly personal between players and coaches, and for some, it was probably an easy choice while others probably had to really think over if they wanted to leave college in the middle of a semester and a second half stretch run to go chase down a medal in Beijing. I don’t want to diminish that, and I respect the players, coaches and officials who I’m rooting incredibly hard for as an American…especially the fact that there are so many ties to Boston and Massachusetts.
But that, I can’t deny the impact this is going to have. Minnesota is kind of boom-or-bust right now and is already dealing with Jack LaFontaine’s rather rapid departure for the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL (which, again, I think is a deeply personal decision). It’s sitting in 11th in the PairWise and slunk into third in the conference after stepping into nonconference play for two games against Alaska last weekend, and every week in the Big Ten is that kind of drama.
So when those players step away from their teams, there are going to be giant holes to fill, and at some point, not every team can fill each and every hole. Losing one or two players? I can live with that…you can treat that internally almost as if it’s an injury or something, but losing three? That’s going to be really hard to come back from, especially for a team teetering on the bubble.
I think Michigan will ultimately be fine because it has enough padding to absorb some of these blows, but we’re going to learn a lot about Minnesota over the next month. To his credit, Bob Motzko encouraged his players to go, and he wanted them to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He understands it, he gets it, and he’s going to be prepared to do whatever it takes to get the Gophers over the hump and keep that machine running. But as someone on the outside, I’m interested to see how it plays out.
I look forward, in all honesty, to Minnesota winning the Big Ten and ramming this entire piece right back in my face when we all meet in Boston for the Frozen Four…because that’s the karma I’m probably throwing into the world right now.
I’m interested to see the impact on teams like Boston College and Harvard as well since each are losing a couple of players, including some big names like Marc McLaughlin and Drew Helleson from BC, at a time when they need to start winning games with some urgency in the PairWise.
What’s your outlook on that, Ed? And does having the NCAA component make you more inclined to be up in the wee hours to watch the Americans win gold in Beijing (calling my shot now)?
Ed: I miss the days of amateurs in the Olympics. In 1980, the TV in the lounge on my floor in the dormitory was stolen just before Lake Placid, and more than a dozen guys crammed into my tiny room to watch USA win gold on my roommate’s tiny black-and-white set. The win led to a spontaneous and huge pep rally on campus in one of the quads and chants of “U.S.A. U.S.A.”
The series of malaise-era video clips at the start of the movie Miracle? That’s accurate. Having endured Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, the energy crisis, and everything else dreary about the seventies, that gold medal was cathartic for a nation. Even for 18-year-old college students like me.
That’s my long-winded way of saying, “Yes!”
I can’t wait to watch. Even in the wee hours.
A chance to compete for your country doesn’t come along very often, and I’m excited for the 15 current college players and the 10 NCAA alums who will compete for the red, white, and blue.
Atlantic Hockey announced Tuesday a one-game suspension for Mercyhurst forward Dante Sheriff, effective for the Lakers’ next game.
The suspension is a result of Sheriff’s major penalty for slashing and game misconduct, which occurred at the 12:13 mark of the third period in Mercyhurst’s road game on Saturday, Jan. 15 against AIC.
Upon review, the infraction was deemed to warrant a suspension.
Mercyhurst’s next game is Friday, Jan. 21 at home against Air Force. Sheriff would be eligible to return for the Lakers’ Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 game against Air Force.
Non-conference action along with big matchups in conference play dominated the weekend. The ranked teams continued to cruise with Geneseo, Endicott, Elmira, Norwich and Endicott all enjoying winning weekend play. Elsewhere Colby pulled off a pair of wins in NESCAC and Curry pulled off a sweep of games with Wentworth. Here’s the weekend wrap-up:
CCC
After a non-conference win over Tufts on Tuesday, Endicott returned to CCC play with a two-game series against Nichols and came away with two wins. On Friday, Connor Beatty and Campbell Balk gave the Gulls a 2-0 lead but Austan Bellefeuille trimmed the lead for the Bison who stayed close until a pair of late empty-net goals provided the final margin in a 4-1 Gull win. Conor O’Brien stopped 33 of 34 shots in the win. On Saturday, the game was again close. After a scoreless first period, Endicott scored three times in the second period off the sticks of Ethan Bastien, Noah Strawn and Derek Contessa in a two and a half minute span and O’Brien made the offense stand up making 35 saves in a 3-2 win.
Curry returned to conference play with a weekend series against Wentworth and kept pace with Endicott with a pair of wins. On Friday, the host Leopards took an early lead, but the Colonels responded to take a 2-1 lead with less than four minutes left in regulation time. With just under a minute remaining, Kevin Obssuth tied the game for Wentworth sending it to overtime. Just over a minute into extra time, Mark Zhukov scored on the power play for a 3-2 Curry win. On Saturday, the teams exchanged first period goals before Mike Pellegrini and Eelis Laaksonen scored in the middle stanza to give Curry a 3-1 lead that goaltender Reid Cooper would make stand up for the final score. Cooper stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win that takes the Colonels to 8-2-1 in conference play.
Independents
While Anna Maria is still waiting to paly a scheduled game in 2022, Canton found a re-scheduled pair of games with Potsdam on the mid-week schedule and won both to bring their record to 6-6-1 on the season.
On Tuesday, the Kangaroos and Bears were tied at 1-1 after the first period. Canton’s Jake Mayette, Sam Martin and Brendan Morrow scored three unanswered goals over the final two periods of play for a 4-1 win. On Wednesday, the Kangaroos were the road team and used the same formula to drive a 7-2 win over Potsdam. Even at 1-1 after the first 20 minutes, Canton scored six unanswered goals from six different players to take a commanding lead. Lucas Roy led the offensive barrage picking up three assists in the win.
MASCAC
Due to a widespread issue with COVID protocols, the MASCAC teams scheduled for play last week all had their games postponed with several teams seeing postponements extending into the week of January 17.
NE-10
After dropping their seventh game in a row to Assumption on Tuesday, St. Anselm played Post in a two-game set on the weekend looking to find their winning ways in the conference. On Friday, Andrew Andary produced a hat trick in the first two periods and the Hawks cruised to a 5-1 win over the Eagles. On Saturday, St. Anselm kept the positive momentum going as Andary scored twice more for the Hawks in a 4-0 shutout win. Nick Howard earned the shutout making 32 saves. The Hawks improved to 3-4-1 in conference play.
NEHC
After a difficult weekend against Hobart and Elmira, Norwich rebounded with a pair of wins over Johnson & Wales and Massachusetts-Boston. On Friday, the Cadets dispatched the Wildcats by a 6-2 score. After trading two goals each in the first period, the Cadets scored the final four goals of the contest to earn the win. Brady Gaudette scored a hat trick and Clark Kerner picked up four assists to help Norwich back to the win column. On Saturday against the Beacons, Brett Ouderkirk gave the Cadets a first period lead before UMB’s Michael Krupinski tied the contest in the second period. In the third period, Patrick Delvecchio scored midway through the final stanza and Drennen Atherton made 38 of 39 saves for the win and weekend sweep in NEHC play.
With Southern Maine out of action this weekend, Babson found themselves with a revised calendar against league leaders, Hobart and Elmira. On Saturday, the Soaring Eagles got going early in the second period on goals by Bailey Krawczyk, Chance Gorman and Nick Grinvolds in the first ten minutes of action after a scoreless first period. The third period saw the teams trade goals with Elmira’s Nicholas Domitrovic scoring twice in the 5-3 win. On Sunday, Babson earned a split of the weekend with a 5-3 win over Hobart. In a seesaw game that saw all the scoring in the first two periods, the Beavers’ George Wyatt and Paul Boutoussov scored to break a 3-3 tie in the second period and Brad Arvanitis stopped 36 of 39 shots in Babson’s big road win.
After a 5-0 win over travel partner Castleton on Friday that featured five different goal scorers and a 25-save shutout from netminder Tate Brandon, the Thoroughbreds returned home to play a tough Cortland team fresh off an upset win over No. 7 ranked Wilkes on Tuesday. In a tight checking game that saw a combined 40 shots by both teams, Reid Russell’s late power-play goal in the second period proved to be the game winner for Skidmore and goaltender Blaine Moore who outdueled Cortland’s Luca Durante and Owen Zdunski, who replaced Durante in the second period. The win was the Thoroughbred’s tenth on the season and third in a row in 2022.
NESCAC
Colby picked up a pair of big wins over Trinity and Wesleyan over the weekend moving the Mules to 7-3-0 overall and 5-2-0 in conference play. On Saturday, Henry Molson and John McElaney gave the Mules a 2-0 lead in the first period and Andy Beran was outstanding in net making 31 saves in a 4-1 win over the Bantams. On Sunday against the defending NESCAC champion Cardinals, Brian Sanzone and McElaney again gave the Mules the 2-0 first period lead and Jack Sullivan scored two goals in the final two periods to break open a 2-1 contest in another 4-1 final. Beran was again solid stopping 23 of 24 shots for the Mules.
For a goal-starved Amherst squad, the offense got going last week starting with a Tuesday game at Middlebury. A five-goal second period and a hat trick from newcomer Michael Pitts helped the Mammoths break a four-game winless streak with a 6-3 win. On Friday, the offensive fireworks continued against Connecticut College as Pitts scored to answer an early Camel goal and five other teammates scored goals in a 6-2 win. On Saturday, the Mammoths leveled their conference record at 4-4-1 with a 5-3 win over Tufts. Three power play goals by Amherst’s Matt Toporowski, Joey Verkerke and Ben Kuzma helped forge a 3-3 tie after two periods. Matteo Mangiardi and Sean Wrenn both scored in the final two minutes of regulation to give the home team the hard-fought 5-3 win and three-game win streak for the week.
SUNYAC
Having not played since January 2 against Canton, Oswego returned to SUNYAC play with a game against Buffalo State on Friday night. The Lakers used balance scoring from five different players, three assists from Travis Broughman and 35 saves from goaltender Steven Kozikoski in a 5-0 win over the Bengals. The win moved the Lakers to 5-1-1 in conference play.
After a nail-biting win over Nazareth on Tuesday, Geneseo took a pair of wins on the weekend over Lebanon Valley and Williams. Peter Morgan’s five-point night, including three goals and two assists helped lead the Knights to a comfortable 8-1 win over the Flying Dutchmen. On Saturday against Williams, Chris Perna, Stefan Miklakos and Dan Bosio would provide all the scoring that Matt Petizian would need in a 3-0 win. Petizian stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn the shutout over the Ephs.
Prior to the aforementioned loss to Skidmore, Cortland continued their pattern of one-goal games on the road with a thrilling 4-3 win over Wilkes on Tuesday. The Red Dragons surrendered the game’s first goal before reeling off four goals in a row to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. Wilkes tried to rally back on goals from Phil Erickson and Tyler Dill late in regulation, but Owen Zdunski made 27 of his 31 saves in the game to preserve the one-goal advantage and upset win for Cortland.
UCHC
In a game that featured seven special teams goals, Utica cruised to an 11-3 win over Neumann on Friday night. Brett Everson led the offensive barrage with a hat trick and an assist while six other Pioneers finished the game with three-point nights. On Saturday, things were much closer for the Pioneers in a 3-2 road win over Manhattanville. After Utica’s Cameron Patton and Manhattanville’s Artem Mateichenko exchanged goals in the first period, Regen Cavanaugh and Remy Parker scored in the first five minutes of the second period providing just enough for the Utica win.
After the tough loss to Cortland and a game postponement against Stevenson on Friday, Wilkes was anxious to get back to the ice in a road game at Chatham. Both teams found the back of the net in each of the first two periods setting up a dramatic final 20 minutes. Jay Gallagher gave the Colonels their second and final lead with a goal at 17:46 of the period and Phil Erickson gave Wilkes some breathing room with an unassisted goal at 19:44 for a 4-2 win.
Three Biscuits
Michael Pitts – Amherst – broke into the collegiate scoring ledger in a big way with a hat trick in the Mammoths’ 6-3 win over Middlebury on Tuesday.
Ryan Creenan – Morrisville – made 52 saves in Morrisville’s 1-0 win over Post on Tuesday. Creenan stopped 19 shots in the second period and 21 in the third period to preserve the one-goal win.
Chris Lee – New England College – scored a hat trick in the Pilgrims’ 11-0 rout of Johnson & Wales on Saturday.
Bonus Biscuits
Andrew Andary – St. Anselm – scored five goals for the Hawks in a pair of wins over Post including a hat trick in Friday’s 5-1 win.
Peter Morgan – Geneseo – had a five-point game in the Knights’ 8-1 win over Lebanon Valley on Friday. Morgan scored a hat trick and added two assists in the win.
On a more somber note, the hockey world lost a great champion of the sport last week with the passing of Bill Belisle, the long time hockey coach at Mount St. Charles high school in Rhode Island. Coach Belisle left a legacy of building character and skills in players that produced 32 state championships and over 20 players drafted by the NHL including the likes of Brian Lawton, Bryan Berard, Matthieu Schneider, Paul Guay, Garth Snow and Brian Boucher. Bill’s son Peter is currently the head coach at Massachusetts-Boston, and we extend our sincere condolences to Pete and his family on the passing of his illustrious father.
Picking up two wins on the weekend to run its unbeaten streak to 15 games, Quinnipiac is the new top-ranked team in this week’s DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
The Bobcats earned 30 first-place votes this week.
Minnesota State falls to No. 2, getting 15 first-place votes.
Michigan gets four first-place votes and is up one to No. 3, flipping with Western Michigan, while Denver moves up one to No. 5 and picks up a first-place vote.
DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll – Jan. 19, 2022
St. Cloud State drops one to No. 6, Minnesota Duluth stays seventh, Cornell rises one to No. 8, North Dakota jumps one to No. 9, and UMass Lowell sits 10th this week, up two from one week ago.
Minnesota falls out of the top 10, going from No. 8 to No. 11 in this week’s poll.
Northern Michigan is the lone new team in this week’s rankings, coming in at No. 18.
In addition to the top 20, 12 other teams received votes this week.
The DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
DCU (DCU.org), a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by and operated for its members, is the sponsor of this poll. DCU serves more than 900,000 members and their families in all 50 states.
Hockey East announced Monday that UConn freshman forward Chase Bradley has been suspended for one game stemming from an incident at 5:38 of the first period on Friday, January 14 against Boston University.
No penalty was called on the play.
Bradley will miss the game on Friday, January 21 against New Hampshire and will be eligible to return to the Huskies’ lineup on Saturday, January 22 against the Wildcats.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger look at this past weekend’s games and news.
This podcast is sponsored by DCU – Digital Federal Credit Union – at dcu.org
Topics include:
• There’s a new No. 1 as Minnesota State falls while both Quinnipiac and Michigan each pick up two wins
• COVID has forced the NCHC into a scramble mode
• Denver sweeps Omaha in the rescheduled series, which boosts the Pioneers to third in the PairWise
• Arizona State – the team that won’t die
• Buy or sell: will the teams we discuss make the NCAA tournament?
• Will teams add games to help their PairWise after being bumped from their conference tournaments and before Selection Sunday?
Subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.
(3) Northeastern at Boston University
The Huskies outshot the Terries 47-18 on Saturday en route to a 3-1 win. Chloe Aurard scored first, but BU responded with a goal from Lacey Martin to make it a tie game at the first intermission. Mia Brown scored a power play goal in the second to extend the lead. Alina Mueller added a goal late to close out the win.
(4) Minnesota at Minnesota State
The Mavericks scored the first and last goals on Friday, but unfortunately for them, Minnesota scored seven goals in between, including an Amy Potomak hat trick. Brittyn Fleming scored 25 seconds into the game to put the Mavericks on the board. Potomak scored all of her goals and Emily Zumwinkle also lit the lamp to put the Gophers up 4-1 at the end of the first. Taylor Heise scored in the second. Madeline Wethington and Emma Conner added goals in the third. Kelsey King scored late in the final frame for MSU’s second goal, but Minnesota took the 7-2 win.
In the second game, Minnesota State broke the Gophers 53-game win streak with a 5-4 overtime win. It was the Mavericks first victory over the Golden Gophers since Jan. 20, 2007, and the first at Ridder Arena since Jan. 25, 2004. Charlotte Akervik scored twice in the first 11 minutes to put MSU up 2-0 to start the game. Abigail Boreen cut the deficit with a power play goal, but Kennedy Bobyck put the Mavericks back up by two before the end of the first. Savannah Norcross and Catie Skaja scored in the second to tie the game at three headed into the third. Jessica Kondas put MSU ahead midway through the third, but Boreen scored again on the PP to tie the game and force OT. Kelsey King finished off a three-point game with her goal 1:11 into OT to secure the upset and weekend split.
St. Lawrence at (6) Colgate
All the scoring in this game happened in the final 15 minutes. Colgate outshot St. Lawrence 47-20, but Jessica Poirier’s goal midway through the third had the Saints up 1-0 into the final minute of regulation. Neena Brick lit the lamp with 36.4 seconds left in the game to force overtime. Kaitlyn O’Donohoe won the game in overtime to eke out the win for Colgate.
(8) Yale at Dartmouth
After a 36 day hiatus, the Bulldogs were a little rusty but still gutted out a 4-2 win over Dartmouth on Friday. After a scoreless first, Elle Hartje gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead five minutes into the second. Lauren Messier scored on the power play to even it up for Dartmouth. Tess Dettling’s goal late in the second sent the Bulldogs to the intermission with a 2-1 lead. Laura Fuoco tied it up for Dartmouth early in the third, but Anna Bargman and Greta Skarzynski each scored to give the Bulldogs the win.
(8) Yale at (10) Harvard
Harvard took a 2-0 lead in this game before five minutes had elapsed. Kate Glover scored 96 seconds in and Emma Buckles added a power play goal a few minutes later. Charlotte Welch’s power play goal for Yale cut the lead to 2-1 just eight minutes into the game. That scoreline held until seven seconds left in the game when Anne Bloomer added an empty-netter to secure the 3-1 win.
Bemidji State at (9) Minnesota Duluth
On Friday, Anna Klein and Naomi Rogge each had two goals and an assist while Elizabeth Giguere had a goal and two assists and Katie Davis added two goals to lead UMD in an 8-2 win. Claire Vekich and Taylor Larson scored for Bemidji State in the loss. On Saturday, Kerrigan Dowhy made 29 saves for the Beavers and Emma Soderberg made 28 saves for UMD. Rogge scored late in the third and Klein and Taylor Stewart scored in the final four minutes to give UMD the 3-0 win and weekend sweep.
Brown at (10) Harvard
With a goal and an assist, Becca Gilmore became the 25th player in Harvard history to reach 100 career points in Harvard’s 5-1 win over the Bears. Brown had just nine shots, but scored first in the game as Tina Paolillo lit the lamp. Maryyna Macdonald had an extra attacker goal to tie it up. Taze Thompson scored the game-winner before the end of the first to make it 2-1. Shannon Hollands and Gilmore scored in the second and Kristi Della Rovere added a goal in the third to complete the win.
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Bobcats keep rolling
Quinnipiac improves its record to 16-1-3 after shutting out Harvard Friday night 3-0 and beating Dartmouth 3-1 Sunday evening. The six-point weekend moves the Bobcats into sole possession of first place in the ECAC with 23 points, three points ahead of Harvard – who entered the weekend tied for first place and end the weekend in third – and a point ahead of second-place Clarkson.
The Bobcats haven’t lost a game since October 23, when they fell to North Dakota, 3-1.
In the win over Harvard, sophomore Ty Smilanic netted two goals – one pretty enough for ESPN SportsCenter to take notice.
Doesn't matter if it's SportsCenter in LA or SportsCenter from Bristol, everyone's loving themselves some Ty Smilanic! One or two more of these and they'll get the pronunciation right, Ty.#QuinnipiacCulture #BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/EX4GUZNoUr
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) January 15, 2022
Smilanic now has 10 goals on the season. The two-goal night against the Crimson was his third of the season.
Sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets made 13 saves in the Harvard blanking, his seventh shutout win of the season.
2. Rolling, AIC style
American International is on a streak of its own, with eight wins dating back to Nov. 27.
The latest victim was Mercyhurst as the Yellow Jackets swept the Lakers at home, 5-4 and 6-3.
Offense has been a key component for the Yellow Jackets, who have outscored opponents 33-17 during their current win streak. AIC has scored five or more goals in seven games total this season, including a seven-goal effort against RIT Nov. 6.
Graduate student Brian Rigali – who spent four years with Connecticut – led all Yellow Jackets players with three goals on the weekend. Rigali has nine goals in 20 games this season after scoring 16 in 121 games with the Huskies.
The two wins over Mercyhurst extend AIC’s lead to four points over second-place Canisius in the AHA standings.
3. Hail to the Victors, again
With a sweep of visiting Penn State, Michigan moves into first place in the Big Ten with 29 points, two ahead of Ohio State and four better than third-place Minnesota, the team that had entered the weekend in the league’s top spot.
Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead in Friday’s contest and held on for the 3-2 win. Saturday night, the Wolverines trailed 3-2 at the end of two but scored twice in the third to win the game 4-2. The wins against Penn State come one week after a home sweep of the Massachusetts Minutemen, the defending national champions.
Five of Michigan’s six overall losses came at home in the first half of the season. With the four home wins in January, the Wolverines are now 11-5-1 in Yost Ice Arena, and their home unbeaten streak (5-0-1) now dates back to a 6- ag2 win over Minnesota Dec. 4.
4. UMass Lowell lengthens Hockey East lead
Heading into their home series against Maine last Friday night, the River Hawks were one point ahead of second-place Massachusetts in the Hockey East standings. After sweeping the Black Bears – and with the Minutemen idle – UMass Lowell has now lengthened its lead to seven points.
To secure the sweep, the River Hawks had to shake off a little rust, having played only one game in the previous 34 days leading up to Friday’s contest. Dec. 10-11 marked the last Hockey East series that Lowell had played, and in the span between that weekend and the games against Maine, the River Hawks had played one game, a 3-2 road win over St. Lawrence Dec. 29.
UMass Lowell had been scheduled to play Bentley Jan. 4 and Jan. 8, but those games were postponed because of COVID protocols in the Bentley program.
“Today was a good effort by all involved,” said coach Norm Bazin after Saturday’s win. “I was extremely proud of the energy and effort the guys showed after a long layoff. Hopefully, we can have a more normal week of training leading into the next Hockey East opponent.”
With the sweep of Maine, the River Hawks extend their winning streak to five games.
5. Wildcats take down No. 1
With three goals scored within a 10-minute span in the second period of Friday’s game against visiting Minnesota State, Northern Michigan did what no one else has been able to do since Nov. 26 – beat the Mavericks.
Trailing 1-0 at the end of one, the Wildcats got goals from Andre Ghantous, Ben Newhouse and AJ Vanderbeck to lead 3-1 after two, then held on for the 4-2 win with Ghantous picking up the empty-netter.
The Mavericks rebounded with a 4-1 win Saturday and are still very comfortably in first place in the CCHA with 44 points – 10 ahead of second-place Bemidji State and 23 points ahead of fifth-place Northern Michigan.
6. Back-to-back blankings for Blake Pietila
Michigan Tech junior stopped a collective 33 shots in consecutive shutouts as the Huskies swept Lake Superior State on the road in two 3-0 games. Saturday’s win was the fifth shutout of the season for Pietila – and his third consecutive shutout of the Lakers. Pietila stopped all 20 shots he faced in Tech’s 2-0 home win over the Lakers Nov. 6.
Pietila now has nine career shutouts and a career GAA of 1.81.
7. Golden Knights’ golden first period
A six-goal first period propelled Clarkson to an 8-2 win over visiting Union Saturday night. The scoring in the opening stanza began with Anthony Callin’s first goal of the season at 3:25 and concluded with Luke Santerno’s power-play goal at 18:32. Four of the six first-period goals were scored at full strength, and two – including Santero’s first of the night, assisted by Callin – were power-play tallies.
In that first period, the longest scoreless stretch for the Golden Knights was five minutes and fifteen seconds. The shortest span between Clarkson goals in the first was 1:13. Sophomore Jacob Mucitelli made 19 saves in his first career start in the Clarkson net.
The Golden Knights capped the weekend with a 5-0 win over visiting Rensselaer. Santerno netted his third goal of the weekend in the win, and sophomore Ethan Haider recorded his third shutout of the season.
8. Golden Gophers enter the post-LaFontaine era
Minnesota answered the question of who’d man the nets in the wake of Jack LaFontaine’s departure when junior Justin Close got the nod in a nonconference series against visiting Alaska.
The Gophers split with the Nanooks, a 4-1 win Friday and 3-2 loss Saturday. Close had 14 saves in Friday’s win, his first career start for Minnesota. In Saturday’s game, the Gophers outshot the Nanooks 38-15, but couldn’t get more than two past Alaska senior goaltender Gustavs Grigals, whom Minnesota coach Bob Motzko called “outstanding.”
“We were conveniently good when it was convenient for us tonight,” said Motzko. “When it wasn’t convenient, we lost a little interest.”
The Gophers welcome the Wolverines this coming weekend. Both teams will be looking to take advantage of full rosters while why they can; Minnesota will lose three players to the Olympics and Michigan will lose as many as four.
9. It’s been a while for these guys, too
By the time Western Michigan plays again, it will have been just over three weeks since the Broncos last played a contest. Their last game was a 3-1 road win over Michigan State Dec. 29 in the opening round of the completely underwhelming Great Lakes Invitational Tournament.
Western Michigan was scheduled to play Michigan in the second round of the GLI in Yost Ice Arena Dec. 30, but the Wolverines canceled that contest because of non-COVID “health and welfare protocols” – whatever that means.
The Broncos were scheduled to play Colorado College Jan. 14-15, but that series was postponed because of COVID issues within the Tigers’ program. Those games will be played in Colorado Springs Feb. 4-5.
That means that next up for the Broncos – should the planets align – is a home series against North Dakota this weekend, Jan. 21-22.
10. He’s 18 years old
And finally, because you may not get another season to watch him, here’s Luke Hughes.
Luke Hughes just doing his things… starts the rush and finishes it pic.twitter.com/oc05j56hyc
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) January 16, 2022
Hughes was the fourth overall pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2021 NHL Draft. In case you hadn’t heard.
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the DCU/USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll of Jan. 10 fared in games over the weekend of Jan. 14-16.
No. 1 Minnesota State (21-5-0)
01/14/2022 – No. 1 Minnesota State 2 at RV Northern Michigan 4
01/15/2022 – No. 1 Minnesota State 4 at RV Northern Michigan 1
No. 2 Quinnipiac (16-1-3)
01/14/2022 – No. 18 Harvard 0 at No. 2 Quinnipiac 3
01/16/2022 – Dartmouth 1 at No. 2 Quinnipiac 3
No. 3 Western Michigan (14-5-0)
Did not play.
No. 4 Michigan (18-6-1)
01/14/2022 – RV Penn State 2 at No. 4 Michigan 3
01/15/2022 – RV Penn State 3 at No. 4 Michigan 4
No. 5 St. Cloud (12-6-0)
Did not play.
No. 6 Denver (14-5-1)
01/15/2022 – No. 15 Omaha 2 at No. 6 Denver 5
01/16/2022 – No. 15 Omaha 0 at No. 6 Denver 4
No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (12-8-2)
01/14/2022 – Miami 1 at No. 7 Minnesota Duluth 4
01/15/2022 – Miami 2 at No. 7 Minnesota Duluth 2 (OT)
No. 8 Minnesota (13-9-0)
01/14/2022 – Alaska 1 at No. 8 Minnesota 4
01/15/2022 – Alaska 3 at No. 8 Minnesota 2
No. 9 Cornell (12-3-1)
01/14/2022 – No. 9 Cornell at Yale (postponed)
01/15/2022 – No. 9 Cornell 3 at Yale 0
No. 10 North Dakota (13-8-0)
Did not play.
No. 11 Northeastern (15-5-1)
01/11/2022 – RV Arizona State 6 at No. 11 Northeastern 2
01/15/2022 – No. 11 Northeastern at Vermont (postponed)
No. 12 UMass Lowell (13-3-3)
01/14/2022 – Maine 3 at No. 12 UMass Lowell 5
01/15/2022 – Maine 3 at No. 12 UMass Lowell 4
No. 13 Notre Dame (16-7-0)
01/14/2022 – No. 13 Notre Dame 3 at No. 16 Ohio State 2 (OT)
01/15/2022 – No. 13 Notre Dame 1 at No. 16 Ohio State 4
No. 14 Massachusetts (10-6-2)
Did not play.
No. 15 Omaha (14-8-0)
01/15/2022 – No. 15 Omaha 2 at No. 6 Denver 5
01/16/2022 – No. 15 Omaha 0 at No. 6 Denver 4
No. 16 Ohio State (16-7-1)
01/14/2022 – No. 13 Notre Dame 3 at No. 16 Ohio State 2 (OT)
01/15/2022 – No. 13 Notre Dame 1 at No. 16 Ohio State 4
No. 17 Providence (15-9-1)
01/14/2022 – No. 17 Providence 2 at Merrimack 3
01/15/2022 – Merrimack 2 at No. 17 Providence 1
No. 18 Harvard (8-5-1)
01/14/2022 – No. 18 Harvard 0 at No. 2 Quinnipiac 3
No. 19 Michigan Tech (12-8-1)
01/14/2022 – No. 19 Michigan Tech 3 at Lake Superior 0
01/15/2022 – No. 19 Michigan Tech 3 at Lake Superior 0
No. 20 Boston College (10-8-3)
01/14/2022 – No. 20 Boston College 2 at New Hampshire 3
01/15/2022 – New Hampshire 5 at No. 20 Boston College 2
RV = Received Votes
The NCHC has issued a one-game suspension to Denver sophomore forward Connor Caponi, stemming from an illegal hit during the Pioneers’ game against Omaha Jan. 15 at DU’s Magness Arena.
During Saturday night’s game, Caponi committed an illegal hit to the head at the 5:47 mark of the third period that was unobserved by the on-ice officials.
Caponi will be required to serve the one-game suspension during Denver’s series finale Jan. 16 against Omaha. He is eligible to return for DU’s series opener against Colorado College on Friday, Jan. 21.
St. Norbert’s winning streak is still intact after a tightly-contested game against Lake Forest on Saturday.
The Green Knights edged the Forresters 7-6 in overtime on Saturday.
St. Nobert, winners of 12 consecutive games, entered the weekend ranked eighth in the DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll.
But it was on the brink of an upset after trailing the Forresters by three goals on the road with just over 13 minutes left in regulation.
Peter Bates scored three consecutive goals, pushing his season total to 18, as he helped the Green Knights rally and push the game into OT. He finished with four goals in all and has 133 points in his career, putting him in seventh all-time. He has 55 career goals.
Michael McChesney scored less than two minutes into OT to lift St. Norbert to the win.
The Green Knights took 50 shots in the game while Lake Forest took 23.
The Forresters, though, converted three of their power-play opportunities. Noah Furman, Matteas Derraugh and Hardy Wagner all cashed in on those chances. David Cohen led the Forresters with a goal and two assists. Furman dished out an assist as well.
Blugolds back on track
UW-Eau Claire entered the weekend on a three-game losing streak. The Blugolds come out of the weekend with momentum on their side.
They swept a pair of games against Concordia (Minnesota), beating the Cobbers 3-2 on Friday and 4-0 on Saturday.
Ryan Green played a pivotal role in the win, scoring the first goal of his career and also dishing out two assists. Ryan Ouellette came up big in goal for his fifth win of the year, stopping 22 shots in the shutout.
Sammy Martell, Connor Koviak and Jordan Randall also scored for the Blugolds, who improved to 6-9 and won their first game of 2022.
UW-Eau Claire won Friday’s game behind a strong start. The Blugolds jumped in front 2-0 in the opening period and never looked back. Randall, Quinn Green and Connor Szmul all scored and Oulette stopped 22 shots.
The Cobbers nearly rallied, punching in two goals in the third. Tyler Bossert and Cole O’Connell scored for Concordia.
Thrilling finish in Battle of Highway 41 series
Marian seemed to be on its way to convincing win over Lawrence in the Battle of Highway 41 Saturday night before the Vikings used a furious rally to force overtime.
And while Lawrence lost 2-1 in a shootout after the two teams were tied at 5-5 after regulation and OT, the Vikings do hang on to the coveted rivalry trophy because of the tie.
Zach Olen scored the lone goal for Lawrence in the shootout but the Sabres got goals from Jaymes Knee and Austin Nault to win the shootout.
Marian held a 42-38 advantage in shots.
Down 2-1, the Sabres scored the next four goals to push in front 5-2. Parker Colley, Nathan Walker, Nolan Kadachuk and Nick Cherkowski all scored during that stretch.
But the Vikings fought back as Akhmed Malsagov, Olen and Ivan Galaguzov scored to tie the game at 5-5.
Mosquera made 37 saves in the thrilling game while Colby Muise stopped 33 shots.
In Friday’s game, the Vikings scored three times in the third period to notch a win. Zach Lodes finished his night with two goals and an assist while Mosquera made 24 saves.
Lawrence is now 5-7-2 overall and 3-4–1 in the NCHA. Marian is 6-7-3 overall and 1-6-2 in the league.
Raiders earn split
MSOE won its first overtime game at home since 2018 when it defeated Trine 4-3 on Saturday. Kyle Herbster came through with the game-winning goal at the 4:05 mark of OT. It was the third game winner of his career and his second goal of the night.
The Raiders trailed 2-1 before going in front 3-2. Trine tied the game at 3-3 in the third on a goal by Brendan Prappas.
Darius Bell stopped 22 shots for the Raiders and Shane Brancato made 33 saves for the Thunder.
Trine opened the weekend with a 6-4 victory to set a program record for wins in a season. The victory was their 14th of the year.
The Thunder dominated out of the gate and led 4-1 after one period of play.
Thad Marcola and Prappas both scored a pair of goals for the Thunder, who survived a late rally by the Raiders, who scored twice in the third.
The Thunder is 14-5 overall and 8-4 in the league. MSOE is 5-8-2 overall and 3-5-1.
Auggies hold off Royals
Fourth-ranked Augsburg got everything it could handle from Bethel in the finale of its weekend MIAC series, holding on for a 3-2 win over the Royals.
The Auggies and Royals were tied at 1-1 and 2-2 before Erik Palmquvist punched in the game winner late in the second period to lead Augsburg to its sixth consecutive win.
Bethel has been one of the surprise teams of the year in the MIAC, and after losing 8-2 on Friday, the Royals bounced back and played much better as they nearly pulled off an upset.
Nick Ketola and Jarrett Cammarata both scored a goal and dished out an assist while Ridge Gerads made 34 saves for the Royals, who are 9-6-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the MIAC.
Augsburg improved to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference. Gavin Holland and Jarod Blackowiak scored for the Auggies and Samuel Vyltelka made 26 saves for his sixth win.
Oles enjoy weekend sweep
St. Olaf made a statement Friday night in their first win over UW-River Falls in more than a decade.
The Oles earned a 4-2 win over the Falcons, who received votes in last week’s DCU/USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, and the win is their first over UW-River Falls since Nov. 2008.
Sean Walsh scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and he also came through with an assist for the first three-point night of his career. It’s also the first time he’s scored two goals in a game at the college level.
St. Olaf trailed 2-1 after the first period but Walsh tied the score less than two minutes into the second and scored the go-ahead goal in the third.
Tyler Cooper also scored in the win, tallying his team-leading 10th of the season. He has scored eight goals in the last five games. Ashton Altmann scored a goal as well.
Lukas Haugen picked up his second career win, making 30 saves.
The Oles (6-7-3) wrapped up their weekend with a 4-3 win over UW-Stout and are unbeaten in their last four outings.
A three-goal first period got things rolling for the Oles against the Blue Devils while Haugen made 27 saves in the win.
Altmann, Eric Brown Evan Shoemaker and Jonathan Young all scored for the Oles. Young extended his point streak to four games.
Yellowjackets extend streak
UW-Superior has found the consistency it has been looking for after stretching their unbeaten streak to seven games Saturday with a 3-1 win over Gustavus.
The Yellowjackets won their fourth consecutive game, improving to 10-4-2 overall. They have won five games in all during their current unbeaten stretch.
Zach Bannister helped pave the way, scoring a goal and dishing out an assist.
Gavin Rasmussen and Chad Lopez also punched in goals for UW-Superior, which is 22-4-4 over their last 30 games at home. That success dates back to January of 2019. The goal for Bannister was his fifth of the season.
Lopez scored his sixth goal of the season, ending a stretch where he went eight games without scoring a goal.
Miles Hektor took care of business in goal, stopping 30 shots as he made his third consecutive start. He has won seven games.
Superior opened the weekend Friday with a 3-2 OT win over Saint John’s.
Reed Stark scored the game-winning goal in OT. It is his sixth goal in the last five outings, including his second game-winning goal.
Nick Michel and Max Borst both scored for the Johnnies, who saw their six-game winning streak end.
Hockey Canada has announced the 23-player roster that will represent Canada in women’s hockey at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Feb. 4-20 in Beijing, China.
Among the 23 are three current NCAA players, including Princeton forward Sarah Fillier, Ohio State forward Emma Maltais, and Minnesota Duluth forward Ashton Bell.
The rest of the roster is part of the 2021-22 PWHPA roster, with all players but one boasting NCAA backgrounds.
Forwards: Rebecca Johnston (Cornell), Laura Stacey (Dartmouth), Jill Saulnier (Cornell), Melodie Daoust (McGill/Canada), Brianne Jenner (Cornell), Sarah Nurse (Wisconsin), Natalie Spooner (Ohio State), Emily Clark (Wisconsin), Marie-Philip Poulin (Boston University), Blayre Turnbull (Wisconsin), Jamie Lee Rattray (Clarkson)
Defense: Jocelyne Larocque (Minnesota Duluth), Renata Fast (Clarkson), Ella Shelton (Clarkson), Erin Ambrose (Clarkson), Micah Zandee-Hart (Cornell), Claire Thompson (Princeton)
Goaltenders: Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin), Emerance Maschmeyer (Harvard), Kristen Campbell (North Dakota, Wisconsin)
“It is always extremely difficult paring down the roster to the final group of players selected to wear the Maple Leaf at the Olympic Winter Games,” said Canada head coach Troy Ryan in a statement. “We started with 29 athletes, which shows the depth of the talent pool that has been a part of our entire journey, and we are excited for the 23 players chosen to represent Canada. We have faced a number of challenges during this four-year Olympic cycle, and our staff and leadership group have done an incredible job preparing our athletes for Beijing. I am extremely proud of the team we have assembled and look forward to the opportunity to compete for a gold medal.”
In Beijing, the women’s hockey tournament will take place Feb. 2-16 at the National Indoor Stadium and Wukesong Sports Centre. Canada will aim for its fifth gold medal overall and first since 2014 when it opens preliminary-round action against Switzerland on Feb. 3.
Erica Kromm, who played nine seasons of pro hockey in Canada after her ECAC Hockey career, has joined the Yale women’s hockey staff as an assistant coach.
Kromm, who was in her first season as an assistant coach at LIU this winter, spent the last two seasons coaching at Mount Royal University in the Canadian U Sports Division.
“We are thrilled to add Erica to our staff and cannot wait for her to mentor, teach and help lead our players,” said Yale head coach Mark Bolding in a statement. “Erica has deep and impactful family roots at the highest levels of hockey. She possesses great passion for the game and brings with her an impressive blend of leadership, coaching and pro-level playing experience to Yale. Erica’s familiarity of the Ivy League and the ECAC will be a big advantage for us as she works with our current and future student-athletes.”
Kromm played defense and forward with the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL and the PWHPA. A two-time Clarkson Cup champion (2016, 2018), Kromm served as team captain in 2017-18 and assistant captain from 2013 to 2015. She finished her nine-year pro career playing in 179 games while collecting 13 goals and 37 points.
“I am elated to join the Yale women’s ice hockey staff and team,” Kromm said. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to contribute to such a prestigious university as Yale. I look forward to being a part of the program’s continued success on and off of the ice.”
Kromm was team captain at Brown under legendary head coach Digit Murphy. She was All-Ivy honorable mention while earning the team’s Pride and Perseverance Award and the Panda Cup (awarded by the coaches to a player who demonstrates leadership and determination). Kromm finished her collegiate career with 16 goals and 42 points in 115 games. She graduated in 2011 with a degree in the Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship, specializing in Sociology and European Medieval History.
In her first regular season as assistant coach at Mount Royal, the team broke a program-high eight records, including goals scored. Kromm helped lead MRU to a second-round playoff win, and a Canada West silver medal that helped the team claim a berth in the U Sports national championships.
Kromm, who worked at the highly regarded North American Hockey Academy helping elite U-18 prospective student-athletes prepare for college careers, is a third-generation hockey coach. Her grandfather, Bobby Kromm, had a 17-year professional coaching career. He was a player-coach for the Trail Smoke Eaters when they won the 1961 World Hockey Championship and spent three seasons in the NHL as the head coach for the Detroit Red Wings. Her father, Richard, was a professional hockey player for 10 seasons, including stints with the NHL’s Calgary Flames and New York Islanders. Richard, who has also coached and served in various leadership positions at the major junior and professional level, is currently a scout for the Chicago Blackhawks.
After getting doubled up Friday night 4-2 by Northern Michigan, No. 1 Minnesota State rebounded with a 4-1 win Saturday night in Marquette.
Four different players scored for the Mavericks and Julian Napravnik had three assists to back Dryden McKay’s 34 saves in goal. McKay is now 21-4-0 on the year.
Ondrej Pavel, Ryan Sandelin, Cade Borchardt, and Brendan Furry scored for Minnesota State, which runs its record to 21-5-0 this season.
Fourth-ranked Michigan scored the final three goals of the game on Saturday to knock off Penn State 4-3 in Ann Arbor.
Erik Portillo, making his 25th start of the season, set a new personal best with 44 saves to move his record to 18-6-1 this year.
Warning: This is dirty pic.twitter.com/2bYxOtghmt
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) January 16, 2022
Nolan Moyle, Matty Beniers, Brendan Brisson, and Luke Hughes found the net for the Wolverines.
With the win, Michigan secures both the weekend and season series sweep against Penn State. The Wolverines went 4-0 against the Nittany Lions this season, winning four games by a combined score of 18-8.
Ohio State goaltender Jakub Dobeš made 38 saves as the Buckeyes posted a 4-1 win over Notre Dame on Saturday night in Columbus despite the Irish outshooting Ohio State 39-22.
Quinn Preston was feelin' it tonight.
His first career hat trick and four-point game. #GoBucks @Quinn_Preston20 pic.twitter.com/fAk1Fg5TYX
— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) January 16, 2022
Quinn Preston’s hat trick lifted Ohio State to the victory.
Michigan Tech earned a CCHA sweep of Lake Superior State after a 3-0 shutout Saturday for the second straight game.
Tech scored three power-play goals in the second half of the game, and Blake Pietila earned his fifth shutout of the season needing to make just 11 saves.
Alec Broetzman scored his 3rd of the season for a 3-0 lead. #mtuhky #FollowTheHuskies pic.twitter.com/1HUdHm5hEC
— Michigan Tech Hockey (@mtuhky) January 16, 2022
“We made a little change on the power play in the second, and then we scored on our last three power plays,” MTU coach Joe Shawhan said. “That was the difference in the game. It was a big win and a big weekend.”
Logan Pietila, Eric Gotz, and Alec Broetzman scored on the man-advantage for the Huskies.
Declan Carlile and Logan Drevitch scored for the Warriors at Providence.
Zachary Borgiel made 33 saves for the win in goal.
The Warriors hold on for the ranked road win over the Friars!!!!#GoMack pic.twitter.com/6mWJaMT4ov
— Merrimack Men’s Hockey (@MerrimackMIH) January 16, 2022
Jaxson Stauber stopped 16 shots for the Friars, whose lone goal came from Brett Berard.
Denver returned to action after a two-week pause with a 5-2 victory against Omaha Saturday night in Denver.
PIONEER GOAL!
Beautiful interception by Mike Benning leads to Cameron Wright's 2nd goal of the game.
And more importantly, increases Denver's lead to 4-1. pic.twitter.com/aEMkT0aMMI
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) January 16, 2022
The Pioneers’ second line of Cameron Wright (two goals, one assist), Carter Mazur (three assists) and Massimo Rizzo (one goal, two assists) each contributed three points, and Bobby Brink also had a multi-point effort with a goal and an assist.
Senior captain Cole Guttman sealed the game with an empty-net marker with 54 seconds remaining. Magnus Chrona turned aside 20 shots to pick up his 12th victory of the season.
Northern Michigan continues to be a giant killer, knocking off No. 1 Minnesota State, 4-2, to begin a two-game CCHA series.
It’s the third time the Wildcats have defeated a team ranked atop the DCU/USCHO.com Poll, having twice beat Minnesota Duluth when it held the top spot.
The key on Friday was the second period. Bo Hanson, Ben Newhouse and AJ Vanderbeck all scored in a span of less than 10 minutes in the middle frame to grab control of the game.
#CCHAtv Highlights: #1 @MinnStMHockey (2) at @NMUHockey (4).#CCHA | #CCHAHockey pic.twitter.com/qG8NrFmOpQ
— CCHA (@CCHAHockey) January 15, 2022
Though Minnesota State struck back in the third on a Connor Gregga goal, Andre Ghantous scored in the closing seconds into an empty net to set off the celebration.
Northern Michigan improves to 13-8-1 overall and 10-4-1 at home, but still remain 20 points behind Minnesota State for first place in the CCHA.
SCOREBOARD | DCU/USCHO POLL | PAIRWISE RANKINGS
No. 2 Quinnipiac 3, No. 18 Harvard 0
The Cinderella story that is Yaniv Perets continues to evolve on Friday as the nation’s leader in goals against average lowered that mark with a 13-save shutout of No. 18 Harvard.
It is Perets’ seventh shutout of the season, placing him one behind Northeastern’s Devon Levi and Minnesota State’s Dryden McKay, each of whom have eight. His goals against average dropped from 0.87 to 0.80.
Perets, who started the season for Quinnipiac because transfer Dylan St. Cyr from Notre Dame was injured, improves to 10-0-2, the only Division I goaltender who has played more than 33 percent of his team’s minutes without a loss.
The rookie Perets got all the support he needed in the first period when Ty Smilanic scored the first of two goals on the evening. He also assisted as Wyatt Bongiovanni tacked on a late insurance goal.
Six seconds into the PP… is that good? pic.twitter.com/C8Sv4vJKeC
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) January 15, 2022
The victory for Quinnipiac comes after the team had an extended break – 34 days – when their typical holiday break was followed with games postponed on back-to-back weekends due to COVID.
No. 8 Minnesota 4, Alaska 1
Junior netminder Justen Close got his first collegiate victory, needing just 14 saves, as No. 8 Minnesota defeated Alaska, 4-1.
Close, who had appeared only in relief duties prior to Friday, was thrust into the starter role after Jack LaFontaine signed an NHL contract with the Carolina Panthers earlier this week.
Win one for No. 1️⃣ 〽️ pic.twitter.com/IJxUvarcDB
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) January 15, 2022
For the Gophers, though, they didn’t miss a beat. Minnesota jumped to a 2-0 lead early on goals by Tristan Broz and soon-to-be-Olympian Matthew Knies and never looked back.
Merrimack 3, No. 17 Providence 2
Host Merrimack turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead on goals by Filip Karlsson-Tagstrom, Liam Walsh and Declan Carlile and withstood a late surge by No. 17 Providence to earn a 3-2 victory.
GOALLLLL! Declan Carlile jams it home and Merrimack takes the 3-1 lead!#GoMack pic.twitter.com/C2FP9FRlKl
— Merrimack Men’s Hockey (@MerrimackMIH) January 15, 2022
Hugo Olias was strong in net for the Warriors, making 34 total saves, including 17 in the final period as the Friars pushed for the equalizer.
Walsh finished the game with a goal and an assist for Merrimack.
