Adrian hits the road to take on Wilkes in a battle of nationally ranked teams. Photo provided by Adrian Athletics
Welcome to the last weekend of college hockey before Christmas. Time sure does fly when you are having fun and we have a handful of games on tap for the weekend, some of which I have made picks on. That includes a big non-conference game among nationally ranked teams as Adrian takes on Wilkes.
Dec. 10
Saint John’s (6-4-1) at Concordia (Wisc.) (1-8-2)
The Johnnies hit the road for a pair of non-conference games, starting with a battle against the Falcons. Nick Michel has een clutch for Saint John’s, scoring three game-wining goals, and he could be a difference maker in this one.
While the Johnnies have won their last four, the Falcons are stuck in a nine-game winless streak. They have shown that they can be competitive though, forging a tie with Stevens Point earlier this season. Saint John’s, 4-2
Dec. 11
Saint John’s (6-4-1) at Lawrence (4-5-1)
Defense is often leaned upon a little more on the road, and the Johnnies should have that working for them as they wrap up the weekend. Goaltender Mac Berglove has saved nearly 94 percent of his shots and owns a 1.52 goals against average.
The Vikings will test the Johnnies. They have confidence after a big win over Aurora last weekend. Zack Olen has been on top of his game so far, tallying six goals and eight assists. Saint John’s, 3-2
Adrian (9-1) at Wilkes (9-1)
Nine straight wins is the current streak for Adrian, which has scored six or more goals three times during that run.
Second-ranked Adrian has outscored its opponents 46-21, with Ty Enns and Rex Moe scoring six goals apiece.
The Bulldogs face a Wilkes team currently ranked ninth in the nation. The Colonels just lost their first game of the season. They have scored four or more goals in all but one of their wins and this will be another good test for the Bulldogs. Adrian, 4-3
Dec. 10-11
Augsburg (7-1, 3-1) vs. Hamline (2-6, 0-2)
The fifth-ranked Auggies are one of the more well-balanced teams in the country, with Gavin Holland among the top goal scorers in the nation (7) and Jack Robbel boasting one of the best goals against averages (1.51). Augsburg will be tough to stop if it’s clicking on all cylinders.
The Pipers are hoping to snap a two-game losing streak and pick up their first MIAC win. They’ll need their best effort of the season to get that done. Augsburg, 4-1 and 5-1
Trine (9-3, 4-2) at Aurora (9-1, 5-1)
Trine received a couple of votes in the last D-III poll and has won its last four games. The Thunder could make an even bigger impression this week when it battles No. 8 Aurora. Trine has scored 44 goals on the year. Bobby Price leads the way with seven goals.
The Spartans won their first nine games before a loss last week to Lawrence and want to remain a top 10 team. They have put up 50 goals on the year while allowing only 17 behind the goaltending of Josh Boyko, who has made 192 saves. Aurora, 4-3; Trine, 3-2
Wisconsin-River Falls (6-3-1, 2-2) vs. Wisconsin Stout (3-7, 3-1)
UW-River Falls has a chance to take another step towards winning a conference crown. The Falcons have the current conference player of the week in Valentino Passarelli. The Falcons also boast the top defense in the WIAC, allowing just two goals per game, and that average is good enough for the 11th best in the nation.
UW-Stout has won three of four heading into this home-and-home series. A strong start will be key, especially offensively, to knock off the Falcons. UW-River Falls, 5-3 and 4-2
Wisconsin-Eau Claire (4-7, 2-2) vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point (8-3-1, 3-1)
Always one of the best rivalries in the WIAC and this is one of those series where the records often don’t matter.
The Blugolds have dropped four of five but success this weekend would provide the team with a much-needed boost. Their certainly capable of getting the job done.
The Pointers come in ranked 14th in the country and have won two in a row. Eleven different players have scored at least two goals and that kind of balance could be the difference in this series. UW-Stevens Point, 4-1; UW-Eau Claire, 4-3
Northland (2-7-1, 0-5) vs. Wisconsin-Superior (5-4, 3-2)
It’s been a tough road early on this season for the Lumberjacks, who have dropped their last five games. Things don’t get any easier against UW-Superior. Northland has to be able to get its offense going. It has managed more than a goal just once in its last five games.
The Yellowjackets are looking to use this weekend as a chance to stay in the mix for a WIAC title. They’ve shown how good they can be offensively and their ability to score should work in their favor this weekend. UW-Superior, 5-2 and 4-1
Bemidji State’s Ross Armour and Minnesota State’s Brendan Furry set for a faceoff during a game in 2020-21 (photo: BSU Photo Services).
For the past few weeks, the top-ranked team in the country has lost at least once.
There’s no telling if this is because there’s extra pressure on the team at the top, or if teams playing No. 1 are especially excited at the chance to earn a marquee win, but one thing is certain: Those things aren’t going to be what motivates either team this weekend when No. 1 Minnesota State takes on Bemidji State.
For both MSU’s Mike Hastings and BSU’s Tom Serratore, it’s the top of the CCHA standings – not the top of the national polls – that matter this weekend.
“It’s about first place in my eyes,” Serratore said. “We’re looking at the points that are on the line, and where we’re at in the standings right now. That’s the important intangibles right now. Six points is a lot of points, especially against the No. 1 team in the conference.”
Hastings concurred.
“It seems like any time we’re playing Bemidji, we’re playing for playoff positioning. With both teams being where they’re at right now, we’re chasing Bemidji,” he said.
In what will be the final series before the holiday break for both teams, the first-place Mavericks head to Bemidji to take on the Beavers. MSU currently has 29 points, but has played 12 games, compared to BSU’s 24 from 10 games. So a Beavers sweep would give them a one-point lead over the Mavericks at top of the table going into the break, with room to expand said lead due to the games-in-hand.
“Right now, we’re five points up on them but they have two games in hand, so if they were able to win, we’d be behind them,” Hastings said. “It’s very important for us because we see them as a team that’s ahead of us.”
It’s yet another big series in what has been one of the most-played rivalries for both programs.
The Beavers and the Mavericks first met in 1974, when MSU was then known as Mankato State. They continued to meet numerous times at the NAIA, Division II and Division III levels – they were both members of the small-college National Collegiate Hockey Association – and when both the Beavers and the Mavericks elevated to Division I in the late 90s, they continued to play one another yearly despite being in different conferences.
But now that both teams have been in the same Division I conference for a decade, meetings have become even more frequent. It’s no longer the closest in-conference road trip for either team – St. Thomas joining the CCHA changed that – but it remains the most important.
“Because of where we are in proximity, they’re our closest and biggest rivals,” Hastings said. “Historically you’ve seen, whether we’re talking the last 10 games or the last 10 years, it seems like every time we get together it’s a battle and I don’t see any difference this time.”
Those matchups have frequently been what decides the league title. One memorable 2016 series saw the Beavers defeat the Mavericks 1-0 on the final day of the regular season to deny them sole possession of the MacNaughton Cup.
In 2020, the title race again went down to the final weekend of the season, with MSU needing to beat BSU 4-1 in the finale to clinch the title and prevent the second-place Beavers from winning the cup.
And last season, MSU clinched its record-setting fourth-consecutive MacNaughton with a 4-3 overtime win against the Beavers.
“Over the past few years, since I’ve been here, we’ve always had really intense weekends against them,” said Alex Adams, a senior forward for Bemidji State who is a Minnesota native. “Every year they have one of the best teams in the country and they always bring it every weekend.”
“They’re well-coached, they’re deep, and they’re No. 1 in the country for a reason,” Serratore said. “You look at their success over the years, they’ve earned everything that they have.”
And what about MSU’s No. 1 ranking?
The teams actually have played once before when the Mavericks were the nation’s top-ranked team: On Jan. 24, 2015, the Beavers topped MSU 3-1 to win the late North Star College Cup at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It was a big win for the Beavers, but does anyone really remember who was ranked No. 1 the next week?
When asked about the rankings this week, the coaches and players also agreed: They don’t really matter much right now.
“Especially this early in the year, the rankings don’t really mean a whole lot, but it definitely goes to show how good of a team they have, and we respect how good they are,” Adams said of the Mavs. “But we play them hard every year no matter where they are in the rankings.”
“At the end of the day we’re all judged when the season’s over,” Hastings added. “We appreciate the recognition for what an opinion poll is, but if you look throughout college hockey there’s only one poll that everyone is concerned with, and that’s the last one.”
It’s been a busy and eventful first half of the season in women’s college hockey. With all the other happenings, there’s barely been time to take in the big picture. But as we head into the final weekend before the winter break, it might be time to ask: What’s going on in Hockey East?
The Northeastern Huskies are atop the conference, as predicted, but that’s about the only thing happening out East that is as expected. The conference often features some of the lower-ranked teams upsetting higher ranked ones, so that’s not super unusual. But especially in their out-of-conference matchups, Hockey East teams as a whole are struggling.
With the exception of NEWHA, every other conference is doing better against its counterparts than Hockey East is. They’ve lost the four games they’ve played against the WCHA and are 14-14-3 against the ECAC. The CHA continues to improve by leaps and bounds, but any Hockey East fan would tell you they expect better than a .611 win percentage against College Hockey America. And I’d bet Hockey East players and coaches themselves would tell you they’re not happy with a 7-2-1 record against NEWHA teams.
We see top-tier teams in the same conference beat each other up throughout regular season play, dishing out losses and blemishing records, but that’s not really what we’re seeing in Hockey East. These aren’t high percentage losses that voters won’t hold against them. These are games where Hockey East teams are losing the shot differential by more than 20 to teams that would be well below them in hypothetical rankings below 10.
It’s a troubling prospect for these teams.
Even as the NCAA tournament looks to expand, Northeastern would be the hockey Hockey East team with a sure bid to the postseason. Providence and Connecticut currently sit on the Pairwise bubble, just on the outside looking in.
Let me repeat that.
If the season ended today and the tournament was played with the proposed 11 team field, Hockey East would have one team in the NCAA tournament.
I feel as though the folks in Hockey East’s front office as well as at each member university would tell you that they expect more from themselves.
There’s not one quick fix or one single thing anyone is doing wrong here, but it’s an overall decline. There are a wide variety of talented players among Hockey East teams, but consistency has become an increasingly big problem across the board in this conference. Sure, Northeastern is firmly ensconced at the top, but that’s about the only thing one can count on from year to year right now.
The level of competition (or lack thereof) does the top team – in this case, Northeastern – no favors. The Huskies’ strength of schedule right now is 23rd in the country. Clarkson is the only top-11 team with a weaker slate of opponents so far. Dave Flint headed into last season’s national semifinal confident his team was prepared based on the season they played, but they struggled in the opening frame to keep up and adjust – something Flint admitted during his first intermission tv interview.
If the trend of this season continues in Hockey East, the team or teams that make the postseason will once again be behind the others in the bracket in terms of tournament readiness and having faced top-tier competition. That’s not a good motivator for the rest of the Hockey East teams – no one is playing to help prepare a team that’s not themselves to do well in the postseason, but it is one of the interesting side effects of the inconsistency and poor out-of-conference performances of all the teams in the league.
With the women’s game as a whole – and the college game in specific – ever evolving, the target for how to be a great team is constantly moving and coaches, players, programs and commissioners are all just doing their best to end up somewhat close to it. But the performance against out-of-conference opponents didn’t happen in a vacuum – they’re the result of a lot of inconsistent play and a failure to address, correct and understand how those erratic results can affect the conference long term.
One positive from the erratic play of top-half teams is that it has allowed lower-ranked squads to get big wins and finish higher in conference standings – both things you can bet those coaches are touting then they’re out recruiting. It’s good for the conference to be more wide open and for more schools to have the pull to be able to recruit bigger and better players. These wins build confidence and only compound upon each other, bringing more confidence and more clout when recruiting.
When strength of schedule, quality win bonuses and records against common opponents are all things the NCAA tournament committee all take into account when deciding on at-large bids, teams, coaches, players and the conference cannot look at the conference’s performance against non-conference teams and do nothing.
I don’t think there’s any one person or team responsible here. This is a storied conference with a ton of history that has to be honest about how the season has gone and start looking for ways to ensure the teams can close out sweeps, turn ties into wins and beat the opponents they are better than.
The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium was the host rink for the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic (file photo).
Atlantic Hockey and the city of Utica, N.Y., announced Thursday that it will hold its 2022 Atlantic Hockey championship tournament March 18-19, 2022 at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The facility is a 3,915 -seat multi-purpose arena and is the home arena of the AHL’s Utica Comets, Utica College men’s and women’s hockey teams, and Utica City FC of the MASL.
“We are excited to bring the 2022 Atlantic Hockey championship to Utica and Oneida County,” Atlantic Hockey commissioner Robert DeGregorio said in a statement. “Utica is an ideal site for our championship due to its location at the center of our conference footprint and the Adirondack Bank Center will present a great hockey atmosphere for our players, coaches and fans. We’re looking forward to an outstanding weekend of college hockey.”
The event will be the culmination of the conference’s three-week postseason tournament that begins March 4-6. The quarterfinals are slated for March 11-13 with the four winners advancing to Utica. The first two weekends will be played at campus sites with all series hosted by the higher seed in each matchup.
Championship weekend will open with the semifinal round on Friday, March 18 with the winners advancing to the championship game on March 19. Friday’s semifinals are slated for 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. EST. Saturday’s championship game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. EST puck drop.
The winner of the tournament will skate off with the Jack Riley Trophy, presented annually to the conference’s postseason champion, and will earn the AHA’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
“I am honored that the Adirondack Bank Center was selected to host the 2022 Atlantic Hockey championship,” said Utica Comets president Rob Esche. “This is the first time since 1962 that the AUD has been able to host a Division I championship series, and we are grateful that Bob DeGregorio trusted us with this outstanding event that our hockey community is extremely excited to embrace.”
Advance purchase two-day ticket packages are available for $25 while single-day tickets can be purchased in advance at $20 for adults and $10 students. Day of game tickets can be purchased for $25 for adults and $10 for students.
Fans can purchase tickets online by visiting www.empirestatetix.com, by calling 315-790-9070 or visiting the box office at the Adirondack Bank Center.
Hobart’s Liam Lascelle and his teammates will look for another big win over Trinity to close out the first half this weekend (Photo by Hobart Athletics)
Even though it is the last weekend of play for the semester, there is no drop-off on the important matchups this week in conference play with several marquee games this weekend amongst nationally ranked teams. I really struggled with last weekend’s picks that finished below 50% at 5-7-0 (.607) which lowers the overall record to 39-25-6 (.600). Like all the teams closing out the semester it is time to finish on a better trend heading into the New Year. Here are the picks for this weekend:
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Assumption v. Westfield State
The Greyhounds travel west to face the Owls and the offense will be on display for both teams in this non-conference affair. The visitors get the win with better special teams – Assumption, 5-4
Friday, December 10, 2021
Western New England v. Suffolk
Coach Mike Young has the Golden Bears playing some good hockey and they will need it against goaltender Cal Wilcox and the Rams. Third period goal and empty-netter are the difference for the visitors – WNE, 4-2
Amherst v. Middlebury
The Panthers are not celebrating the school’s 100th anniversary of collegiate hockey in the manner which they would like. Not enough games played to take down a Mammoth team needing wins and points – Amherst, 4-1
Neumann v. Albertus Magnus
This game is a real toss-up, so I am going with the home team to find some scoring from other than the first line or the power play to earn the Falcons a win – Albertus Magnus, 4-3
Potsdam v. Canton
The Kangaroos always get up for games with their SUNYAC brethren but this one is a lot closer than they would like with the Bears. Home team hangs on for the win – Canton, 5-2
Brockport v. Geneseo (1)
The Golden Eagles started out fast but struggled in recent outings for wins. Not much motivation needed to play the nation’s No. 1 ranked team but that doesn’t necessarily translate to enough goals to win – Geneseo, 4-2
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Curry (13) v. Salve Regina
The Colonels are fresh off a weekend series with Endicott and travel to face yet another top-half contender. A great opening twenty minutes gets the visitors off and running to the win – Curry, 5-3
Wilkes (11) v. Adrian (2)
The Bulldogs have spent a little time out east playing some very challenging teams like Utica and Trinity and best not look past a talented Wilkes squad even on home ice. The Colonels challenge early but fall just short – Adrian, 5-3
Plymouth State v. New England College
This battle between New Hampshire institutions should be a very entertaining game. I really could see a tie between the two teams but feel like the Panthers would find some overtime magic to win – PSU, 4-3
Colby v. Connecticut College
The Mules would love to close out a strong first semester with a win to make the long bus ride home that much more enjoyable. Power play is the difference for Blaise MacDonald’s squad – Colby, 3-1
Hobart (5) v. Trinity (10)
What a great non-conference battle to close out the first-half of the season. Both teams are talented and well coached, but the Statesmen might have the edge in the crease that helps them earn a big “W” – Hobart, 3-2
Oswego v. Nazareth
The Lakers have taken some steps forward after a slow start to their season. Coach Gosek really wants to see another 60 minute effort and a win to set-up a strong second-half for the Lakers. Check the box – Oswego, 5-2
It’s the final weekend of the first semester and still some very meaningful games on the schedule to be played. No just showing up if you want to enjoy the break on a winning note – “Drop the Puck!”
Boston University players celebrate their win last Saturday night over New Hampshire (photo: Kyle Prudhomme).
Yes, it’s a battle of longtime cross-town rivals.
But a lot more than just a share of intra-city bragging rights will be on the line Friday when Boston College (7-5-2, 5-3-1 Hockey East) takes the short trip down Comm. Ave to Boston University (6-9-2, 5-5-2) for the first of three meetings between the two schools this season (7:30 p.m., NESN) and 285th overall.
With the season at its symbolic halfway point, it’s not at all too early for teams to concern themselves with playoff seeding. As both teams are firmly in the middle of the pack of the Hockey East standings (BC is fifth with 17 points with BU at sixth with 16), both would like to position themselves as contenders and to gain home-ice advantage for the conference tournament, now just three months away.
“I think we’re both going to be pretty good this year,” said 28-year Eagles coach Jerry York. “We’re not sitting at the top of the league, either one of us. The games with BU are pivotal, in my mind, for national ranking and RPI.”
With both teams known for speed, Terriers coach Albie O’Connell said predicted a close game Friday, one that will be determined by which team is more focused.
“I think it’s going to be a one-goal contest,” O’Connell said on the USCHO “Game of the Week” podcast earlier this week. “It’s going to be important for the team that’s more disciplined (and) that can stay out of the penalty box. I like that team’s chances more than the others.”
Following Friday’s matchup, the schools won’t see each other for a while. Unless both make the final of the Beanpot tournament at TD Garden on Feb. 14, the two clubs won’t meet again until a home-and-home series the weekend of Feb. 25. That, plus the fact neither team will see meaningful action until New Year’s weekend, makes Friday night’s game special.
Oh, and there’s the rivalry aspect.
O’Connell said playing BC brings back fond memories of his predecessor, legendary BU coach Jack Parker, who got a little more passionate as games against Boston opponents grew near.
“The week of a Beanpot or a BC game, you’d know that the intensity was ramped up,” O’Connell said. “His intensity, his screaming, his attention to detail — everything. (Everyone) gets a little more excited for a cross-town rival.”
York said the rivalry is as special now as it has ever been.
Boston College players embrace after scoring against Brown two nights ago at home (photo: John Quackenbos).
“It’s the team we measure ourselves against every year,” York said. “The rivalry has always survived — the Green Line, Comm. Ave, it’s a rivalry. It brings out the best in both of us, and I think it will be a terrific game.”
Jack McBain leads the Eagles in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists (19 points) and is ranked 13th in the country in points-per-game with 1.36. York said he appreciates McBain’s experience as a fourth-year senior, which has made him more confident and assertive this season.
“He’s been a real leader for us,” York said. “He brings some good size and hockey savvy to our team.”
The Terriers are 3-4-1 so far this season at Agganis Arena, while BC is 3-3-0 on the road.
“When you face BC, you have to be on your toes,” O’Connell added “You have to be good defensively. They pose some challenge with some of the size they have, on top of some of the skill and speed. It’s going to be a really tough matchup and (a) tight contest.”
Cole Donhauser has recorded two goals and three assists in nine games so far this season for Yale (photo: Yale Athletics).
While every Ivy League team entered this season with a lot of uncertainty, Yale likely had the most questions of any of the six teams who were resuming play after a year-long layoff.
The Bulldogs entered the season with 24 players on their roster, yet only nine of those players had played in a college hockey game.
Yale coach Keith Allain said it was the first time in his career that he had that many players without any collegiate hockey experience.
In addition to all of those new players, Yale added two new assistant coaches in Joe Howe and Rob O’Gara, the latter a defenseman on the 2013 Bulldogs national title team.
With all the new faces, it’s safe to say that there was a lot of getting to know each other in during Yale’s preseason practices in the fall.
Then again, with all the turnover, it’s not surprising that the Bulldogs struggled out of the gate. Yale began the season 0-6-0 and was shut out four times during that stretch.
But the Bulldogs enter their final game of the first half against Brown Friday winners of two of their last three games. There’s still bound to be plenty of bumps though the season, but Yale can at least head into the break with a little bit of momentum as it tries to right itself for the second half.
“If we keep building off each other and play with heart, we can keep winning,” said freshman Ian Carpentier, who’s first collegiate goal was the overtime winner against Dartmouth last Friday.
That game was especially encouraging for Allain, as the Bulldogs never led until the final goal, but still held in there and were able to pull out the win.
“Hopefully it builds confidence,” Allain said. “That’s what’s most pleasing. Usually with young kids, they get away from the plan when they aren’t having success early on. But the guys were determined to come out on top [Friday].”
Unlike in this past, this year’s Yale’s team doesn’t have a dominant scorer in the form of a Joe Snively or Curtis Hall. The Bulldogs have scored seven goals in their two wins this season, and all seven of those have been scored by different players. Allain said the Bulldogs are going to have to rely on its depth for scoring this season.
“It’s nice to see the scoring spread out,” Allain said. “I think that’s how we’re going to have to be as a hockey team.”
That depth has been tested with several injuries early. That’s made it a challenge for the coaching staff to field a full lineup and find the best role for each player. It doesn’t help that Yale has its smallest roster in at least 20 years.
“I think we’re getting to that spot,” Allain said of finding the best fit for each player. “We’ve also had a number of guys hurt which, has kind of made it hard to determine who can play where…I think that’s coming; I wouldn’t say we are completely there yet, but we are moving in the right direction.”
After hosting Brown this weekend, Yale will resume the second half of the season Dec. 28 when it plays Wisconsin as part of the Holiday Faceoff in Milwaukee.
“I think we’re looking forward to it,” Carpentier said of the second half. “Right now, we’re taking it one day at a time.”
Jordan Kawaguchi returned for his senior season with North Dakota and led the Fighting Hawks in scoring with 36 points in 2020-21 and also was named the 2021 Senior CLASS Award winner (photo: Russell Hons).
Twenty of the top NCAA men’s hockey student-athletes, who excel both on and off the ice, have been selected as candidates today for the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior or graduate student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition.
The winner will be announced during the 2022 Frozen Four in April.
2021-22 Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Oskar Autio, Penn State
Tarek Baker, Wisconsin
Nick Blankenburg, Michigan
Wyatt Bongiovanni, Quinnipiac
Zach Driscoll, North Dakota
Adam Goodsir, Michigan State
Luke Kania, Brown
Josh Kosack, Union
Harrison Markell, Dartmouth
Miroslav Mucha, Lake Superior State
Quinn Preston, Ohio State
Will Riedell, Ohio State
Ethan Roswell, Bentley
Graham Slaggert, Notre Dame
Spencer Stastney, Notre Dame
Colin Theisen, Arizona State
Sammy Walker, Minnesota
Taylor Ward, Omaha
Gustaf Westlund, Ohio State
Jacob Wilson, Arizona State
The 2021 winner was North Dakota’s Jordan Kawaguchi.
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Northern Michigan head coach Grant Potulny. The conversation includes this year’s Wildcats, high points of the season, the new CCHA, the transfer portal, and this weekend’s series at Lake Superior State.
NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton speaks at the 2021 media day event Sept. 16 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. (photo: NCHC).
NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton is always busy at this time of year, with the college hockey season nearing its halfway point.
Now, though, he has even more on his plate as he transitions from leading a conference with one sport to another with 19.
Fenton was announced Friday as the next commissioner of the Summit League and will officially assume that role April 11. From Jan. 1, he will serve as a special consultant to that conference while maintaining his stewardship with the NCHC, an entity he has led throughout its eight-year on-ice history.
NCHC member schools Denver, North Dakota, Omaha field other sports teams in the Summit League, which does not sponsor football or wrestling. North Dakota belongs to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Denver discontinued its football program after the 1960 season, and Omaha cut its football and wrestling programs in 2011 when the university’s athletic department transitioned to Division I.
During a media availability Tuesday over Zoom, Fenton fielded questions from reporters covering both the NCHC and the Summit League. He invoked the credentials of the quickly-successful NCHC, which boasted four consecutive national champions from 2016 to 2019.
Fenton also spoke of his role in the NCHC’s establishment in 2011 and how, a decade later, he looks to see out his time with the conference in the best way possible while also keeping tabs on what is soon to come in his career.
“I had pretty intimate involvement with many other people that built what the NCHC is today, so I think ultimately I probably hang my hat on is the fact that we created a conference and built it into what we think is one of the best conferences across all of college hockey,” Fenton said.
“I will be very, very active, along with (the Summit League’s) interim commissioner, Myndee Kay (Larsen), to ensure that the Summit League is well positioned nationally as we get into this new year and, obviously, a changing landscape across the NCAA.
“As it relates to the NCHC, my focus is going to be to properly transition and complete the year, ensuring that our student-athletes across the conference have great experiences throughout the rest of the regular season, and particularly the postseason experience with our tournament. I think a lot of my time will be spent on ensuring that the postseason tournament goes off, and (that) our students have the best possible experiences. I’ll be serving dual purposes, but I believe that we can manage it appropriately on both sides.”
Fenton is expected to be on-site March 19 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to crown the winners of this season’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Hosting that at the Xcel Energy Center will mark a change from last season, when the entire NCHC playoffs were held at North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena. The entire 2020-21 season was extraordinary, and it started with all eight NCHC teams playing in a three-week pod at Omaha’s Baxter Arena.
The world still isn’t out of the COVID-19 pandemic woods, as Fenton will have to remain aware going forward. However, the situation has taught him about flexibility in management, and taking lessons from that will see his career continue to develop.
“I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me that comes out of the challenges that were faced last year,” Fenton said.
“I think I can carry that (flexibility) forward into the opportunity with the Summit League, but I hope that we’re beyond the significant challenges that we had to get through last year, and eventually get to the point where we can return to some sense of normalcy with collegiate athletics across the country.”
Graduate student and former Salve Regina star Paul Boutoussov has been a nice fit for the 8-1-2 Babson Beavers (Photo by Babson Athletics)
The 2021-22 season has brought a variety of COVID-influenced changes to virtually every program playing hockey at the D-III level.
Depending on the events or program activities from the largely canceled season, there are new elements that include “super-seniors,” an abundance of new and young players, transfers and more.
For Babson’s Paul Boutoussov, the new season comes with commuting to a new school, using of an extra year of eligibility and attending graduate school at one of the premier business schools in the nation. There is a lot to balance, but Boutoussov is finding success on and off the ice.
“It’s not easy getting into the program here at Babson with the business course pre-requisites,” said Babson coach Jamie Rice. “We haven’t had a lot of transfers in my time here, but COVID created lots of different scenarios for D3 hockey and this year we have two graduate school players on the roster in Paul and Brad [Arvanitis}. Paul has fit in great with the team and is hungry to learn. He’s super attentive in practice and is a very humble kid. He has been a great add to our program.”
For Boutoussov, each day begins with a rush hour commute from his dad’s home in Southborough, Mass., to the Babson campus. He is the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Babson and manages a rigorous course schedule with playing hockey for Babson in the highly competitive NEHC. Thursday presents a conflict where class takes precedence over hockey and Boutoussov has found a way, along with the coaches and his teammates to make it work even missing a day a week in practice.
“It’s been pretty challenging,” noted Boutoussov. “Managing the classes, homework and hockey makes everyday a 9 a.m.-6 p.m. day on campus. Oh, and then there is the commute that always seems to lineup with rush hour. I absolutely love it and try to make sure to prioritize sleep when I get back home every night, so I am fresh for the next day. I wanted to come here originally as an undergraduate and to play hockey but unfortunately, I didn’t get admitted. This time around it all worked out and I am loving the practical “doing” aspect of learning here – both in the classroom and on the ice.”
Boutoussov came to Babson knowing a bit about the hockey program having grown up with now linemate Matt Wiesner whom he also played some junior hockey with. The prior relationship was helpful, but Boutoussov has always felt like he has fit in and been accepted from his first days on campus.
“I am the old man of the group,” noted Boutoussov. “It really doesn’t matter how you get here because once you are part of this team everyone just tries to help each other be better and everyone is treated the same. Doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman, a 22-year=old senior like Ryan Black or me a graduate student at 25, we all work hard and pull for each other. Coach Rice has created a great environment and fosters that “we are in this together” attitude by example. I come in and seeing him do our laundry every day and he is always carrying something to the ice or the bus to pitch-in.
“It starts at the top and everyone has the same approach on this team.”
On the ice Boutoussov has fit in as well. He scored 56 points in 74 games at Salve Regina and already has chipped in with four goals and three assists in the first 11 games to start this season at Babson.
In Saturday’s comeback win over Norwich it was Wiesner and Boutoussov who helped erase a 3-1 deficit and setup Thomas Kramer’s third period heroics in a 6-4 win to close out the first half of the season.
Playing together with Wiesner and freshman Wyatt George, Boutoussov posted and assist on Weisner’s goal to cut the two-goal deficit in half before scoring himself just a couple of minutes later with helpers to both his linemates.
“It was a great game to play in,” noted Boutoussov. “It’s a lot of fun playing with ‘Weezy’ and Wyatt. They both are so fast, and I can confuse them on the ice occasionally looking for a pass, but we play well together, and it was fun to contribute to the win on Saturday.”
For now, the focus is back on the books to close out the academic semester and finding time to work out and stay in skating shape before the Beavers resume action on Dec. 31 against Trinity in a non-conference game.
“This has been everything I had hoped it would be coming here,” said Boutoussov. “I know the studies will give me something for my lifetime and I know these teammates will be part of my life always going forward.”
Air Force celebrates its shootout win over Canisius last Saturday night (photo: Air Force Athletics).
Air Force coach Frank Serratore knows his team is a work in progress.
He pointed out at the beginning of his season that the Falcons were one of, if not the youngest team in Division I, with 17 underclassmen on the roster and just one senior.
And that’s in a year where most teams are top-heavy with experienced players. The granting of an extra year of eligibility due to COVID, as well as the ability of players to move between schools without sitting out has made for rosters with a healthy share of fifth year seniors and graduate transfers.
Not so at Air Force (and Army West Point), which cannot offer another year or bring in a transfer.
So it wasn’t a surprise that on November 19-23, Air Force struggled in a home series with Sacred Heart that required the Falcons to play four games in five days.
Air Force (5-9-2) jumped off to a good start in that series, winning Friday’s game 3-2, but then Sacred Heart took over, winning the next three by scores of 3-1, 4-2 and 3-1.
“We’re not built for that,” said Serratore, whose team graduated eight players at the end of last season. “We have one senior and zero fifth-year seniors. (Sacred Heart was) coming in a deep, older team. If you look at our record so far, on Fridays we’re a top-10 team (5-2 so far). On Saturday, it’s been a different story. It’s hard for us to go back to back, let alone four games in five days.”
But after a 5-2 comeback win over Canisius last Friday, the Falcons and Golden Griffins went to overtime and eventually a shootout, where senior goaltender Alex Schilling stopped all three Canisius shooters and Will Gavin’s tally gave Air Force the extra point, to take five of six in the series.
“It was our best Saturday so far,” said Serratore. “They were better on Saturday, too.”
Getting some points on Saturday was a key stepping stone for Serratore’s team, which regularly has 14-15 underclassmen in the lineup each night.
“We’re very young, but growing,’ he said. “We try hard. We need to have a physical edge in order to be successful and I think we’re one of the more physical teams in the league. This may be the most physical team I’ve had here.
“Our goal is to be a team that nobody wants to draw in the playoffs.”
The Falcons are 2-0 in shootouts so far this season, and while several coaches have expressed reservations on the current overtime/shootout system, Serratore isn’t one of them.
“I like it,” he said. “I like having a resolution. The players love it and the fans love it. At this level, we’re in the entertainment business. When Schilling made that final save (in the shootout on Saturday), the place erupted. It was great.”
The Falcons are now off until January 1, when they travel to American International for a two-game set. It might break up their recent momentum, but Serratore says the Falcons could use the break.
“We’re a little nicked up so I’m fine with it,” he said. “We go into the break feeling good about ourselves.”
Drew DeRidder has posted six wins in his 11 starts this season for Michigan State (photo: Rich Gagnon).
Michigan State had improved slightly each season since Danton Cole was hired as head coach in 2017.
Until last year, that is.
Like many other teams, the 2020-21 season was not kind to the Spartans. There just aren’t many ways to polish a 7-18-2 overall record into anything positive, but with one series remaining in the first half this year the Spartans have an opportunity to carry a winning conference record into 2022 when they travel to Notre Dame this weekend.
“Last year was an incredibly weird year for a lot of reasons,” Cole said on Monday. “COVID, it certainly affected us when our team got it. It all sounds like excuses, but when you step back, I think if we hadn’t had all that hit us early in the year that we might have a little better season last year. We’ve kind of built through in my first three seasons here and got a little better every year and that blip can motivate the players and can motivate the coaches, and I think it certainly did that.”
Cole has referenced the 2019-20 season, where MSU finished sixth in the standings but was only six points behind the champion, before and he brought up that group again in comparison to this year’s squad.
“Coming into this (year) we thought our depth of talent was better and we thought the guys that were coming would be able to contribute right away, and they have,” he said. “We’re better than we were last year, I don’t know considerably, but probably the better comparison is two years ago where we were darn close to winning the Big Ten and I think we’re better this year than we were with that team.”
So far, Michigan State has made last year look like it was just a blip.
The Spartans are coming off a split at Penn State last weekend, one where Cole felt each team lost the game it played better in, and before that they had won four games in a row against Ferris State and Wisconsin.
“We found a way to get through a game where maybe we weren’t at our best or our smartest and found a way to win a hockey game,” Cole said of the victory over Penn State on Saturday. “In the past, maybe we haven’t been able to do that, so that was a good sign. A split on the road, hey, we were looking for a sweep, but a split’s pretty good in the Big Ten.”
A positive series at Notre Dame would make for an extra-special holiday break.
“We’ve done some good work this first half,” Cole said. “The guys, they have an understanding of how we want to play and how we have success. If you’ve got a couple weeks to sit around and think about the results, you want to have something good coming out of it. I’m sure Notre Dame feels the same way.”
Wisconsin looks for another opportunity to get on track
The Badgers had the weekend off from Division I competition last weekend but dropped an exhibition game to the U.S. National Under-18 Team.
The loss itself wasn’t that horrible, the Under-18 Team is 4-3 against Division I teams this season and Wisconsin gave sophomore Ben Garrity his first start in net but getting shutout 4-0 was the continuation of a troublesome trend this season for the Badgers.
Simply put, they’re having a tough time scoring goals.
In the two main offensive categories, team offense and power play, Wisconsin is ranked No. 55 and No. 54 in the nation, respectively.
Back-to-back wins over Michigan and Minnesota when the calendar flipped from October to November have been the bright spot in the first half for Wisconsin, but the Badgers are 0-7-1 since.
It’s been well-documented who was on last year’s team and isn’t present this year, so a balanced and deep scoring attack was going to be the Badgers’ path to success this year. So far, that has yet to happen.
Brock Caufield leads the team with seven points and Tarek Baker leads with four goals. Five players on the team have five or more points. A group of four players, including junior Owen Lindmark who had 17 points both his freshman and sophomore seasons, have played 15 or more games and registered just one point.
Wisconsin hosts Penn State to close out the first half of the season this weekend. After Christmas, they will host the Holiday Face-Off in Milwaukee, facing Yale in the first game and either Bowling Green or Providence in the second.
Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs will be one of the host venues for the 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament (photo: Air Force Athletics).
Air Force and Denver will co-host the Ice Breaker Tournament, slated for Oct. 7-8, 2022, at the Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs and Magness Arena in Denver.
The Ice Breaker Tournament, the traditional start to the college hockey season, will also include Maine and Notre Dame.
The Ice Breaker Tournament, which began in 1997 in Madison, Wis., annually brings together four teams, typically from different conferences, to celebrate the start of the college hockey season. College Hockey Inc. administers the Ice Breaker on behalf of the Hockey Commissioners Association.
“Air Force is excited to be part of the first ever co-hosted Ice Breaker Tournament,” said Air Force director of athletics Nathan Pine in a statement. “We have a rich history of involvement in the event, and our 2016 championship is still a fond milestone in our program’s history. The 2022 Ice Breaker will be an outstanding tournament and we are excited to expose our visiting guests to the specialness of the academy.”
“We’re excited to join the Air Force Academy in welcoming the Ice Breaker Tournament back to the state of Colorado in 2022,” added Denver vice chancellor of athletics Karlton Creech. “Thank you to College Hockey Inc. and the Hockey Commissioners Association for the opportunity to showcase four great teams to kick off the 2022-23 season. This is the third time that Denver has hosted the Ice Breaker and we’re looking forward to another successful event at Magness Arena.”
The 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament will be the fourth time the tournament has been played in Colorado (1999 in Denver, 2005 in Colorado Springs, 2016 in Denver).
“Air Force is very excited about co-hosting the Ice Breaker with Denver,” said Air Force coach Frank Serratore. “We have participated in several Ice Breakers over the years and it’s a great event. With that, I believe the co-hosting format we are introducing will establish a new standard taking the event to another level. First off, the co-hosting format will enable more programs the ability to bid on the event. Additionally, the format ensures all four games are played at prime times in front of healthy crowds. This is not only good for the institutions involved, but college hockey, the fans and, most importantly, the student-athletes.”
“It’s an honor for the Pioneers to once again play in the Ice Breaker Tournament, and we’re looking forward to joining Air Force and Coach Frank Serratore in hosting two historic programs in Notre Dame and Maine to begin next season,” noted Denver coach David Carle. “I was able to be a part of the Ice Breaker the last time DU hosted in 2016, and it was a fantastic event to be a part of. The tournament is truly one of the top showcases for college hockey in the country, and we’re thrilled that our great fans will get the chance to witness it once again.”
Quinnipiac goaltender Yaniv Perets has been a major bright spot for the Bobcats this season (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
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: Well, Paula, we’re reaching the end of the first half of the season, and once again, the No. 1 team in the nation in this week’s national poll is a new team. This week was Minnesota Duluth’s turn to give up the position after dropping a pair of games to Northern Michigan.
First, a shout out to the Upper Peninsula! It’s a fascinating part of the state to someone who forgets that life exists anywhere west of, you know, the Metrowest portion of Boston, but it’s always great whenever the perceived little guy gets an upset over the big bad team from Minnesota.
It’s why college hockey is so great.
Second, before I say, “here we go again,” it’s worth reminding people that the new No. 1 is an old, familiar team in Minnesota State, which was No. 1 two weeks ago and held the top spot for a two-week period back in October. Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger touched on it a few weeks ago when they talked about the “not-so-new” No. 1, and now we’re in the same boat with Mankato ascending to the spot it held back before Thanksgiving.
We talk about biases a lot in this space, and you and I certainly beat the rankings discussion into the ground, so I’m not going to go back around and around on which team is No. 1 or which team should be ranked differently. I admittedly voted for Quinnipiac to the top spot and have done so over the past three weeks, if my memory is correct.
Where I will start is on this note: look at the teams behind Minnesota State, and you’ll see a whole bunch of four-loss, five-loss and six-loss teams (at least until you hit Cornell). Even though UMass Lowell, there are three-loss teams. If we sat down and watched every game, I know the margin for error is a bounce or shot here and there along the way.
So what is that real difference, and how do we sort through these teams to predict who is the team to watch as the first half winds down?
Paula: Great question, Dan.
I’ve always thought of the first half of the college hockey season as a prelude – inaccurate in every way, but that first half does help some teams figure out a way to come together if they’re lacking definition or have areas of fairly significant weakness, and in the case of teams that are consistently performing in the first half, the time prior to that push for the national tournament can help fine-tune what’s already working and build confidence.
One huge factor that can contribute to team confidence is goaltending. When it’s a matter of bounces and shots and a team is confident that the guy in net can make the difference in close games, both the offense and the defense may be comfortable taking chances that can change the direction of a game.
Nowhere are we seeing that more clearly (imo) than at Bentley. While not a top-tier team nor sitting at the apex of their division, the Falcons are riding a five-game conference winning streak in front of senior Evan Debrouwer, the Arizona State transfer who’s been in net for all five of those wins. While Bentley has had the ability to score all season, the Falcons have tightened defensively as a team with Debrouwer in net and they’ve played more consistent hockey.
Having said that, among the top 10 teams nationally, there are few with goaltenders who are among the top 10 netminders nationally both for goals-against and save percentage, teams that have a goalie among the top 10 in one of those two categories, teams that have a goaltender close to one of both of those categories, and teams whose goalies are nowhere near the top 10 yet.
In those instances where goaltending isn’t the statistically strongest aspect of a program’s game, those teams are scoring on average three or more goals per game, relying very heavily on the front end. As we know, that may carry a program to a good spot in conference play and even capture a league championship, but in national tournament play, that has been the downfall of many programs.
I’d say watch teams like Omaha and Northeastern in the second half, teams that have been able to rely on good goaltending in the first half to work out some kinks in other areas of their game. That applies to Quinnipiac, too, but only because Yaniv Perets appears to be playing next-level hockey right now. Wow.
Dan: Well, I’m glad you brought up Bentley before I did because the last two weeks are showing me the high ceiling of my beloved Falcons.
They saw two really rugged, hard-nosed teams in Army West Point and Mercyhurst, and in both weekends, Bentley managed to come ahead with six points and now enter semester break in first place in Atlantic Hockey. Additionally, the voters respected the team this week and offered up 17 votes, which is a modest amount for an Atlantic Hockey team with almost no name recognition in comparison to other regional eastern teams.
Bentley looked solid, and I think this is one of the most complete teams I’ve seen in a long time because of how it’s built through four lines and into the reserves. You mentioned Evan DeBrouwer, and he specifically made a couple of ten-bell saves against both opponents over the four-game regulation winning streak.
There was one major example against Army West Point where he dove across the crease like Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final. It would’ve been the best save of the night by a Boston-based netminder if Jeremy Swayman hadn’t done the same thing in the NHL, though Swayman made his save with his stick and DeBrouwer went full body.
But outside of my shameless bragging about Bentley – which is well-earned – I’m going to leave it in Atlantic Hockey with the breadcrumbs that you asked about. I watched Mercyhurst up close and personal this weekend, and I don’t think any of the numbers (two losses and seven goals allowed) tell the whole story of how well the Lakers played. They went with a customary timeshare in the back, and Hank Johnson played well until Bentley broke through in the first part of the third period. Mercyhurst eventually rallied, though when it was 4-1, I thought the game felt like a one-goal game that was juiced up by the number of penalties dished out.
The next night, Kyle McClellan matched DeBrouwer save-for-save until Mercyhurst made a mistake that led to a shorthanded goal. Again, it was a one-goal game that sprung a leak.
That reminds me an awful lot of Robert Morris from the 2013-2014 season. Those Colonials were snakebitten by a lot of bad luck in the first half of the season and got swept at Bentley in early December by a combined 11-3 total. The next weekend, RMU tied Mercyhurst and went into its Christmas break at 2-10-2 with a 2-5-2 league record, good enough for last place. They finished the year with 19 wins and won the Atlantic Hockey championship after going on a nine-game undefeated streak to start the second half of the year.
It’s those teams that find their magic and pull it all together that should scare the daylights out of the bubble contenders. In Atlantic Hockey, Mercyhurst is in fifth, but Army could easily spring from a tie from eighth in the second half. In the Big Ten, I fear Michigan State, a team that swept consecutive weekends and swept Wisconsin. In the ECAC, Brown is sitting in seventh and could jump into the bye conversation. Truthfully, though, we never know who’s going to make that leap until it happens.
The one thing that helped that Robert Morris team was the Three Rivers Classic. The Colonials didn’t win, but they battled both Penn State and Bowling Green to the wire that year. In that vein, holiday tournaments are back this year. Dartmouth’s Ledyard Classic, the Great Lakes Invitational, the inaugural Holiday Face-Off out in Milwaukee…there are some options here.
First, how excited are you for Christmas hockey, and second, what field could give us something to really enjoy as we’re pouring that extra cup of eggnog we absolutely don’t need?
Paula: I am not going to lie: my enthusiasm for Christmas hockey is dampened by the format of this year’s Great Lakes Invitational.
The GLI originated when the Detroit Red Wings were playing at Olympia Stadium. When the Wings moved to Joe Louis Arena, so did the GLI, and the tournament followed Detroit into Little Caesars Arena. Only once has it been played at a venue other than the home of the Red Wings, and that was in 2013 when the GLI was outdoors at Detroit’s Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.
In all years, it’s been a tournament, with Michigan Tech hosting from the beginning and adding Michigan as a cohost in the 1970s. Michigan State has been a permanent invitee since 1979.
This year, the GLI is a showcase, with Michigan and Michigan State each hosting Michigan Tech and Western Michigan. I can’t help but feel as though the GLI is now diminished – no longer playing in an NHL venue, no longer a tournament with the potential to pit the Wolverines and Spartans against each other for a title.
I do think the field allows for great matches, and I’m especially looking forward to seeing the Broncos and Wolverines face off.
I’m hoping that the inaugural Holiday Face-Off is a hit, as we now have so few holiday tournaments – once a staple of regular-season nonconference play – to enjoy. In that field, only Bowling Green and Providence have winning records. Both Yale and host Wisconsin are at the bottom of their respective leagues. I have no idea how this will draw at the Fiserv Forum, but Milwaukee has been a pretty good place for college hockey in the past.
And we both know that Boston College is looking at the Ledyard Classic as a way to create some momentum going into the second half.
Dan: I wasn’t aware that the GLI changed formats, but reading that actually really bummed me out. As a college hockey world, we need more ways to get some of these teams together, and even though Michigan and Michigan State play each other a bunch in the Big Ten, adding a tournament format is always a great idea.
Let me put it another way. BC and BU play each other as part of the Hockey East rotation, but any time they meet for the Beanpot championship, it’s an electric atmosphere, no matter how good Northeastern or Harvard are. I denied this fact for about five years, but without the Beanpot last year, I realized how much I missed waiting for BC and BU to play each other for the city title while skating over the Bruins’ spoked-B.
I’ll segue out of the tournaments to that point about rivalries, and I’ll use the NHL as an example. I was skeptical of the division-based format to both scheduling and the postseason when the NHL reintroduced it during realignment, and I hated the idea of a “weaker division” getting a team through to the conference final. Then I watched the Bruins form amazing rivalries with both the Maple Leafs, who weren’t a factor to me growing up despite being an Original Six team, and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It taught me about adding frequency to matchups, and while neither match the passion of the Canadiens-Bruins matchup, I love those games.
Let me bring that back to the college game and repeat that we need to find more ways to get certain teams together. Michigan-Michigan State, BC-BU, North Dakota-Minnesota. However, we need to enhance those rivalries, let’s do it. And yes, I know most of these are conference matchups (NoDak-Minnesota notwithstanding), but that’s what college hockey is about: good, clean, fun hate for no reason other than that they chose to wear a different sweater.
Paula: Highlighting those rivalries helps to draw a little extra attention to the sport in general, I think. Michigan and Michigan State play in each other’s buildings during the regular season and always draws fans, but there were years during which the Wolverines and Spartans would meet annually for a regular-season game in Joe Louis Arena and routinely draw upwards of 15,000 fans – sometimes packing the house.
As much as college hockey benefits from the promotion of its traditional rivalries – that “fun hate” of which you speak – the sport also benefits from regular-season games played in NHL venues. That’s what dismays me primarily about this year’s GLI, that those four teams won’t experience the tournament in an NHL arena.
Look at the Red Hot Hockey game in Madison Square Garden Nov. 27. Boston University and Cornell gave over 13,000 fans a goal fest of a game – a big contest on a big stage for two big college hockey programs.
We need more of this. NCAA hockey is subset of a sport that is already a niche. Given how many NHL players have followed a college hockey path, it makes sense to highlight the connection between college and pro hockey. And it’s not like D-I programs and the NCAA aren’t trying.
Nathan Smith had a hand in all three goals with a goal and two assists as Minnesota State picked up a 3-1 win over Michigan Tech Saturday night (photo: Minnesota State Athletics).
Minnesota State garnered 32 first-place votes this week and moves up one spot to sit No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
Quinnipiac picked up 15 first-place votes and jumps two spots to sit second in this week’s rankings.
Michigan remains No. 3, while Western Michigan is fourth, up two spots, and Minnesota Duluth falls from the top spot last week to No. 5 this week. Both WMU and UMD earned one first-place vote.
St. Cloud State is down one to No. 6, North Dakota remains seventh, as does Notre Dame at eighth and Cornell at No. 9, and Minnesota moves up one notch to No. 10, getting the last first-place vote.
Northern Michigan is the lone team to enter the top 20 this week, coming in at No. 19.
In addition to the ranked teams, 11 other teams received votes in this week’s poll.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including coaches and beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.
Hockey East announced Monday that Vermont freshman defenseman Luca Münzenberger has been suspended for one game stemming from an incident at 15:33 of the third period on Saturday, December 4 at Maine.
On the play, Münzenberger was assessed a five-minute major penalty for contact to the head and a game misconduct.
Münzenberger will miss the game on Friday, December 10 against UMass Lowell and will be eligible to return to the Catamounts’ lineup on Saturday, December 11, against the River Hawks.
JR Barone had a six-point game including four goals to help Plymouth State to a 12-1 win over Salem State (Photo by Sportspix)
There were some key games played amongst league leaders with Babson beating previously unbeaten Norwich, Utica downing Wilkes and Endicott doing the same to Curry in a weekend series split. The battles on the ice have been great but there have still been COVID protocol impacts felt across the region and especially in NESCAC where a few teams have played only a couple of games. Just a few games left before the break, but this past week’s action certainly has everyone looking for more and soon. Here’s the recap:
CCC
The big series was between Curry and Endicott and both teams took care of business on their respective home ice. On Friday, Alex Ochterbeck’s goal just over a minute and a half into the first period got the Colonels off to a fast start but Derek Contessa answered for the Gulls just a couple of minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Both Conor O’Brien and Roland Polasek were terrific in goal for their teams with Polasek making some critical saves over the final period to help Curry take the 2-1 win on Nolan Dawson’s goal in the second period. Polasek finished with 34 saves.
On Saturday, the venue switched, and the Gulls found their offense to hand Curry their first loss of the season by a 5-2 score. After Curry took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, Endicott answered in the first ten seconds of the second period on a quick goal from Andrew Kurapov. Contessa gave the Gulls a 2-1 lead that Curry’s Timmy Kent answered to start the third period. In the final eleven minutes Endicott sored three times including two shorthanded goals from Mitch Shaheen and Kurapov’s second goal of the game for the 5-2 final. The loss was Curry’s first of the season.
Independents
Rivier downed Anna Maria on Friday night by a 3-1 score. After a scoreless first period, Rivier’s Tyler Duderstadt and AMC’s Patrick Manning exchanged goals for a 1-1 tie after two periods. Milan Breczko scored on the power play to give the Raiders the lead and Jon Tavella iced the win for Rivier with an empty-net goal. Luke Newell stopped 34 of 35 shots for the win that moved Rivier to 4-5-1 on the season.
MASCAC
After a 4-0 shutout over Framingham State that featured a pair of goals from Myles Abbate and a shutout by goaltender Ben Parker, Plymouth State kicked the offense into high gear against Salem State with a 12-1 win on Saturday. JR Barone was the offensive star with four goals and two assists while Abbate picked up five assists for the Panthers who remained unbeaten in MASCAC play at 5-0-1. Jeremy Rancourt also picked up a hat trick while Simon Besner finished with a goal and four assists. The 12-goal outburst was the most for PSU since 2015.
NE-10
Following back-to-back losses in the PAL Stovepipe tournament, Southern New Hampshire captured two key NE-10 wins over the weekend to remain unbeaten in conference play at 7-0-0. On Friday night the Penmen downed St. Michael’s 3-2 rallying from a first period, two-goal deficit to win the game on a Jake Cox goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.
On Saturday, the Penmen trailed after both the first and second periods before scoring twice in the final 20 minutes to pickup a 4-3 win over Assumption. Jake Cox was again the hero scoring the game-winner for SNHU in the final two minutes of regulation time.
NEHC
The big game was on Saturday as Babson visited the unbeaten Cadets and came away with a 6-4 win to knock Norwich from the ranks of the unbeaten. Trailing 3-1 to the Cadets, Babson tied the game in the second period on goals by Matt Wiesner and Paul Boutoussov. Noah Williams gave the lead back to the Cadets and that is when Thomas Kramer found the scoresheet. Over the final eleven minutes of regulation time, Kramer scored a natural hat trick including the game winner with just 49 seconds remaining on the clock. His empty-net goal finished the hat trick and the 6-4 win for the Beavers who close the first half with an 8-1-2 record.
Hobart stayed unbeaten in conference play with a sweep of Skidmore and Castleton over the weekend. It took Blake Coffey’s overtime goal for the Statesmen to down the Thoroughbreds 4-3 on Friday night. A three-goal first period helped Hobart to a 6-0 win on Saturday with Liam Lascelle earning the 19-save shutout.
NESCAC
The conference has its struggles with COVID protocols early in the season postponing or re-scheduling some games to keep teams on the ice. After suffering three straight non-conference losses, Wesleyan returned to NESCAC play and posted a pair of 4-3 wins over Hamilton and Amherst. On Friday, the Cardinals and Continentals played a seesaw game that took an extra minute or so of overtime to decide. Go Uemura gave the home team the win with an assist from Emmet Powell. Powell also scored two goals and had a three-point night for Wesleyan. On Saturday, A power play goal from Matt Zandi with an assist from Powell late in the third period provided the difference in a 4-3 win over Amherst.
The losses to Wesleyan offset big wins by Amherst and Hamilton over Trinity this past weekend. Both games finished with 3-2 wins by the visitors who held the Trinity offense in check. The Bantams have now lost three in a row and are 3-3-0 overall and just 1-3-0 on home ice so far this season.
SUNYAC
Geneseo remained unbeaten at 10-0-1 on the season with wins over Fredonia and Buffalo State this weekend. The Knights were led by Dan Bosio’s two goals in a 5-2 win over Fredonia on Friday. On Saturday, Bosio opened the scoring for Geneseo who needed a third period goal from Tyson Gilmour to break the 1-1 tie and earn the 2-1 win over the Bengals. Matt Petizian moved to 7-0-0 in net for the Knights making 15 saves in the win.
Brockport also picked up a pair of wins against Buffalo State and Fredonia to get back on track. Six different players scored in a 6-1 win over Buffalo State on Friday and a three-goal third period provided the difference in a 4-2 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday.
UCHC
The battle between conference unbeatens took place in Utica on Friday night with the Pioneers hosting Wilkes. After exchanging goals over the first 45 minutes of play, Utica’s Jamie Bucell scored the game-winning goal for Utica who earned a hard fought 3-2 win. Sean Dickson earned the win making 23 saves for Utica in goal.
On Saturday, the Pioneers made things a little easier on themselves with an 8-0 win over King’s. Two goals from Eric Holland along with a goal and two assists each from John Moncovich and Mic Curran led the offense in the win that moved Utica to 7-0-0 in the UCHC and 9-2-0 overall.
Three Biscuits
Thomas Kramer – Babson – scored a natural hat trick in a 6-4 win over Norwich with all three goals coming in the final period of play for the Beavers.
Jake Cox – Southern New Hampshire – scored two game winning goals for the Penmen in wins over St. Michael’s and Assumption over the weekend.
JR Barone – Plymouth State – scored four goals and added a pair of assists for six points in a 12-1 win over Salem State on Saturday.
Just one more weekend of games remains in a very eventful first-half of the season. There is a little time to enjoy the holidays before the action resumes on December 29!
