Officials from Canisius, RIT and Atlantic Hockey announced Wednesday that tonight’s hockey game between the Golden Griffins and the Tigers has been postponed due to COVID-19 related protocols and contact tracing among Tier 1 members of the Canisius hockey program.
The status of the other scheduled games between the two teams this week (Friday in Rochester, Sunday in Buffalo) will be determined later today as Canisius continues to work through COVID-19 protocol and further contact tracing within its program.
More information will be announced by both schools as it becomes available.
This Week’s Picks*: *All games are subject to change.
Wednesday, January 6 Sacred Heart vs. Air Force
The Pioneers’ weekend series against Bentley was postponed, and Air Force stayed out east after its series against Niagara last weekend before playing Mercyhurst this week. That enabled the two teams to schedule a one-off league game after their series was postponed earlier this year. The game, which is at Niagara’s Dwyer Arena, is the first neutral site league game in, well, possibly ever, but it’s a good matchup for a dormant SHU roster against a struggling Air Force team. Maybe this is the juice needed to kickstart the Falcons, maybe this is the game that fires the Pioneers into the second half of the season. Either way, it’s three points on the line. Sacred Heart wins.
RIT at Canisius
Another three game series, RIT is looking to rebound from its sweep loss at Robert Morris this past weekend. I like the Tigers to get back on track, but Canisius just looked so strong in its series against Mercyhurst. Given the weekend home-and-home, I think it’s logical to take the team with the hotter goaltender right now before the weekend splits the series (teaser alert). Canisius wins.
Thursday, January 7 Robert Morris at Niagara
For all the complaints about the weirdness in the Atlantic Hockey schedule, Robert Morris is humming along with barely a scratch against its record. I foresaw this happening because Derek Schooley is the perfect steward for a mature roster in a division against teams fighting for improvement and upper-echelon spots. I have no reason to believe things will slow down for the Colonials, who should make their push for a national tournament bid evident by the middle of the month. RMU wins.
Thursday, January 7 and Friday, January 8 American International vs. Army West Point
A three-game series against AIC and Army West Point is a treat for this time of year since it will feel like a playoff atmosphere between the two rosters and very well could be something we see later in March. The Yellow Jackets are undefeated and hold a perfect record in Atlantic Hockey so far, which is a little surprising given the schedule madness. Their ability to manage the obstacles is, like RMU, a showing from a mature team, and I think they take this weekend. AIC sweeps here.
Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9 Air Force at Mercyhurst
I think a good chunk of my prediction weighs on what happens with Air Force in the game against Sacred Heart on Wednesday night. I can’t fathom the Falcons entering a January series with a winless record, and I think there’s way too much talent to keep this team down for very long. I also think Mercyhurst is vastly improved. If Air Force gets its wheels moving against the Pioneers, the traction should roll into Erie. Otherwise, I think the Lakers are in rebound mode from their series against Canisius. They’re another team too talented, this year, to lose four straight. Split this series.
Canisius vs. RIT
The day break between Wednesday and this series will be a big deal, and as I mentioned earlier, call this weekend a split.
Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10 Niagara at Robert Morris
See above about Robert Morris. It’s really difficult to beat a team three times, but the day off makes this feel like a separate series altogether. I think Niagara forces at least an overtime game out of this, and I’ll go so far as to call it a split because of the difficulty in sweeping three in a row. Split.
Sunday, January 10 Army West Point at AIC
If AIC takes nine points, it’s a stranglehold on the top of the league. The day off is a major boost here. AIC wins.
Wednesday, January 13 St. Lawrence at Niagara
St. Lawrence will be coming out of a three-game series against Colgate over the weekend with two home games, but the three days off will help recharge its batteries in time for the Niagara series. I also think SLU needs this game more to tinker with its team because it’s the only non-conference series the team will play this year. A rematch is scheduled for late January. SLU wins.
Canisius sophomore Keaton Mastrodonato leads the Golden Griffins in scoring with three goals and five points through four games (photo: www.tomwolf.smugmug.com).
The frenetic pace in college hockey is, in some ways, building one of the strangest and most enthralling years for fans, analysts and observers.
The chaotic nature and arbitrary scheduling drop pucks virtually every night, and those willing to embrace the unknown are losing themselves in moments that likely won’t happen ever again. The lack of structure is creating new narratives, and the discussion is as interesting as anything in any sport.
Canisius was one of those teams taking part in the chaos.
Relegated to a program pause due to COVID-19, coach Trevor Large had the rare month away from the arena in December before his team retook the ice. He watched the games, as did his players, but they had to wait out the storm from their campus in Buffalo, N.Y.
Their participation didn’t occur until this past weekend when the Golden Griffins retook the ice and swept Mercyhurst for six hard-earned points that went beyond the action on the ice and dove into the spirit of the team’s soul.
“I said it to coaches are Canisius and other sports,” Large said. “I would say it to every coach that’s out there, youth to high school and beyond. All of us love to coach. We love being around our team, practicing and playing games and going out to compete – we live for those things. When you’re out there and you’re on the bench with the team, it’s a great feeling to be out there and compete at this level.”
Savoring the moment could only last so long, though, and for Large, it probably only lasted 31 seconds. That’s how long it took for Mercyhurst to turn a defensive zone stop into a neutral zone rush that culminated with Carson Briere’s faceoff circle feed to Steven Ipri, who moved around goalie Matt Ladd and wrapped a chance past the netminder for a 1-0 lead after a grand total of less than a minute.
That lead remained intact until the third period when the Griffins tied the game behind Lee Lapid’s first goal of the season. Keaton Mastrodonato and Mitchell Martan scored consecutive goals within four minutes later in the third to stake the team to a 3-1 lead, and it was fitting that Ipri’s last goal in a one-goal game came as a harmless, extra-attacker goal with four seconds on the clock.
“You start the game, and I think that’s how all of us felt, and then Mercyhurst comes down and makes a really nice play and ends up scoring,” Large said slyly. “It was like, ‘Okay, we don’t play to play. We play to win.’ I think, at the same time, that gave us a really good focus on the rest of the game. We were down, 1-0, going into the third period, but the messaging stayed the same. We didn’t play to play, we played to win.”
It set a fuse for the next night’s game at Mercyhurst that exploded when Ladd made 15 saves in a first period shutout. Mastrodonato scored in return to give Canisius a 1-0 lead, but the team slammed the door on the Lakers with a power play goal in the second period. An empty netter sealed a 3-0 win and a six-point weekend, and it vaulted the Griffins, who hadn’t played in 36 days, into third place with a .750 points percentage.
“I don’t know if all hockey clichés are necessarily true, but the fact is that (the second game is) another game,” Large said. “It’s another game where you want to have to win. That’s what we were playing for, that clear focus of what’s in front of us. Mercyhurst came out really aggressive. I heard (Mercyhurst coach) Rick (Gotkin) say they wanted to play mad, and they came out and listened.
“They were coachable. They played hard and mad and had that element of desperation. It took us 10 minutes to rebuttal that, to have our own energy and desperation. Maybe we weren’t playing our best, but we were up. The second period was similar. There were lots of penalties, but we ended up with a power play goal. The same message came on the road – we don’t play to play, we play to win. I loved how we played in the third period, which is a great sign for our culture and our team.”
It was a watershed moment for a program overlooked during a big week in Atlantic Hockey. Robert Morris returned to the national rankings and joined American International in this week’s poll as the No. 20 and No. 19 team, respectively, and the Golden Griffins, at 3-1 overall, didn’t even garner a vote.
Yet it’s Canisius with momentum after sitting in neutral for a month, and a team predicted in the preseason to finish near the bottom of the league is starting the second half stretch run with its voice loudly heard.
“It’s new for college coaches across the country,” Large said. “We’re now in what I would call a ‘pro hockey schedule.’ We’re not used to playing this many games in these many days. You just stay strategic. I’m not going to get too far in with what our strategy is, but it’s very detailed in how we’re going to prepare our guys for whatever day of the week is whatever opponent, that we stay fresh and ready.
“That’s our biggest focus. We’re going to play an opponent three times in a row, but I’m definitely not looking at game three against RIT. We are all focused on game one. That’s where our mindset is and we’ll be prepared for it.”
I took a wrong turn at Albu-qoi-kee
The COVID-19 impact on the 2020-21 season took a turn into the surreal this week when a number of postponements forced teams into unprecedented and unexpected action to schedule games for conference points.
It started last weekend when Bentley postponed its non-conference series against LIU because of a positive coronavirus test result. Losing the games cost the Falcons their only non-conference games for the time being, but the shutdown meant the Sharks wouldn’t play their first home game at the Northwell Health Ice Center at Eisenhower Park.
But wait, there’s more.
A positive test result forced the postponement of the Holy Cross-AIC series, but the Yellow Jackets essentially called LIU for a “we got next” situation over the weekend. It generated a highly-anticipated matchup out of thin air and paid dividends to the tune of a one-goal, 2-1 AIC win. That laid the foundation for Sunday’s return matchup on Long Island.
But wait, there’s more.
AIC revamped its schedule over the weekend to reschedule games against Army West Point this week with the first game dropping the puck on the base on Wednesday night. The teams moved a second game to Thursday night before scheduling a third game on Sunday at MassMutual Center. The AIC-LIU game in New York, at that point, was canceled.
But wait, there’s more.
Bentley paused its program on Tuesday and postponed its upcoming weekend series against Sacred Heart. The Pioneers were scheduled to play Army West Point this past weekend before it, too, was postponed. That meant Sacred Heart, which had not played a competitive game since December 15 and only completed two conference games against Holy Cross in early December, could play a quick one-off against LIU over the weekend. That break included the postponement of two games against Air Force originally scheduled in December for Colorado Springs.
But wait, there’s more.
Air Force remained out east after its series against Niagara in anticipation of its series next weekend against Mercyhurst. The break and geographic positioning of the Falcons enabled the Pioneers to reschedule one of those lost games – at Niagara’s Dwyer Arena, one day before the Purple Eagles play the first of three games against Robert Morris.
But wait, there’s more.
Those postponed Sacred Heart games against Army West Point? The schools agreed to play each other on three consecutive days in early February with two games in Connecticut, three days after the Black Knights’ fourth game against AIC.
That’s all. I think. Maybe. My head hurts.
Double, double your refreshment
In this week’s edition of TMQ, I spoke about the NCAA Tournament with my colleague and friend Paula Weston. I offered my thoughts about the possible criteria for the tournament and tried to balance understandable metrics and analytics against the emotional and subjective eye test.
My perspective is unique compared to the Big Ten or Hockey East or NCHC because Atlantic Hockey scraps against those leagues on an annual basis. I constantly reference the league’s fight for respect and occasionally – gasp! – lose my objectivity in order to stump for this league. I know it’s an uphill grind, but hey, I love this league and the hockey I get to watch on a weekly basis.
I figure this space is a good opportunity to reflect on what’s ahead for this league at a granular level. I specifically look at what happened in football when the lack of Big Ten and Pac-12 schools in the national polls opened the door for schools like Army and others to earn national rankings. More specifically, I point at Louisiana because the Ragin’ Cajuns (still one of the best names in sports) earned a national ranking for the first time in decades and finished the season in the College Football Playoff poll.
Atlantic Hockey is similar to that dynamic because losing certain teams that assuredly would be ranked opened daylight for league teams to jump into the fray. This week, AIC and Robert Morris produced the first poll with two AHA teams since I could remember. The teams were approximately 20 points clear of Michigan Tech, and a third team, RIT, received five votes against the rest of the nation.
AIC and Canisius are part of a five-way tie for the fifth-best winning percentage in the nation, and RMU is 10th, essentially one spot behind the two teams. Holy Cross and RIT are likewise in the top half with .500 or better records, and there are no winless programs. While it’s true that there haven’t been many non-conference games, save for the ones against LIU or the ECAC schools, there are two winless teams in both the WCHA and Hockey East with an additional one-win team in Hockey East.
Those leagues unquestionably skew a little bit towards their top-flight teams, most of which are national championship contenders. My bigger point is that the parity within Atlantic Hockey ensures some teams are rising, but nobody is really falling. That should draw more national attention.
It has to this point, but it’s a running storyline, one I’m happy to debate from my soapbox as March’s national tournament waters draw murkier into the conversation.
Minnesota celebrates one of its 10 wins to start the 2020-21 season (photo: Brad Rempel).
It’s the new year and the second half of the schedule is underway, but No. 1 Minnesota is continuing the same streak it started in November.
The Gophers started off the second half of their campaign with a gritty sweep of Arizona State at home and now look forward to the first marquee Big Ten series of 2021 when they travel to Wisconsin this weekend.
Minnesota did most its scoring in a short span during the first game back from break, scoring three goals in five minutes early in the second period of an eventual 4-1 victory.
Gophers coach Bob Motzko said he saw some rust that had developed during the holiday break.
“For half the game, we were good tonight, and that half was enough for us,” he said. “For half the game, we were all over the map, but that’s what happens when you’re off 24 days. You can’t duplicate conditioning and you can’t duplicate game time.”
Amazingly, the game time between the 4:53 mark of the first period when Arizona State took a 1-0 lead and the 2:58 mark of the second when Mike Koster tied it up was the only point this season that the Gophers have trailed.
“Being down 1-0 is not adversity, that’s hockey,” Motzko said. “We took a penalty and they found a little seeing-eye shot through and were very efficient on their power play.”
Koster, a freshmen defenseman from Chaska, Minn., has been key for the Gophers as of late. With fellow defensemen Jackson LaCombe, Ryan Johnson and Brock Faber at the World Junior Championship, Koster was thrust into a larger role and has responded with two goals and two assists so far this year.
“In the four games, (Koster) took a monster role for us where we put him right into the first choir chair,” Motzko said. “He’s just been lights out for us. You can see how good of a player he is.”
During the first half of the season, and the first game against ASU, Minnesota rolled with senior Jack LaFontaine and his 1.00 GAA and .965 save percentage in net. Motzko gave sophomore Jared Moe the start on Monday in his first action since early February.
“(Moe) made a couple monster saves for us,” Motzko said, adding that he’s liked the spirit of his goaltender even with the limited playing time. “He’s been awesome. We’ve won some big games and he’s been the first guy out to congratulate (LaFontaine). He really had a good week of practice, came back after Christmas and he was digging in there and telling everybody, ‘I’m ready to play a game,’ and we had to get him in there.”
Moe’s win extended Minnesota’s start to a perfect 10-0 record, the program’s best start since the 1939-40 season. That team went on to go 18-0 and won an AAU national championship.
“The feeling around the locker room is very light,” Minnesota junior forward Blake McLaughlin said after Monday’s game. “We’re very passionate about playing each game and focusing on the game at hand, not looking too much forward. We’re keeping it very simple.”
This weekend the Gophers will play a Wisconsin team that won’t have been on the ice in competitive action in 36 days. Like Minnesota, the Badgers will also welcome back some key players from the World Juniors.
Michigan hopes full squad leads to another second-half run
Michigan currently sits 16 points behind Minnesota, so with a full squad are the Wolverines ready to start reeling in the Gophers?
Well, Michigan coach Mel Pearson is more interested in seeing if they can walk before they try to run.
“They’re running away with it,” Pearson said of Minnesota. “We just have to worry about ourselves and getting points every weekend. That’ll be the goal, just small goals, trying to get through every weekend and come out of it with points.”
Pearson said he was excited to put all the noise that came along with 2020, whether it be the late start or World Junior rosters, in the past and get everyone refocused for the second half.
His teams are no strangers to playing strong after New Year’s Day and with the talent that this year’s squad possesses, it could be more of the same.
“Normally in the first half, and I’ve always been this way with our staff, is to play everybody and try and get an idea of what you have,” Pearson said. “Our freshmen have taken a huge step forward, and usually that’s where you expect your biggest jump is with your first-year guys. They know what to expect now.”
Pearson added that he thought his veterans have been playing better than their numbers indicate.
“We had some great meetings in between the first and second halves and I like our team,” said Pearson. “I think we’re positioned to have a really good second half. Now, you’ve got to go out and do it.”
Michigan plays a home-and-home series with rival Michigan State this weekend.
Danton Cole’s Spartans come into the series after splitting with Penn State to start out their 2021.
“There’s a decent hockey team in there,” Cole said of Michigan after Monday’s win over the Nittany Lions. “We’re getting there, we’re going to keep improving, and there were a lot of good things over this weekend.”
Pearson said that any positive results against the Spartans this weekend would have to be earned, noting that they probably wouldn’t get many odd-man opportunities against a defensive-minded team.
“You have to grind it, and we have to embrace and love the grind,” Pearson said. “We’re not going to get much off the rush. We’re going to have to get pucks behind them and go get it.”
Nabbing a lead against the Spartans would be helpful, too.
“They’re another team that you’ve got to try and get out in front of and play with the lead and force them to come out of that style they play,” Pearson said.
The United States celebrates World Junior gold at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday night after a 2-0 win over Canada (photo: USAHockey.com).
The U.S. National Junior Team, behind 34 saves from Spencer Knight (Boston College) and goals from Trevor Zegras (Boston University) and Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin), beat Canada 2-0 Tuesday night in Edmonton in the gold medal game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
It was the fifth gold medal for the United States in the tournament and the fifth time in the last six years that Team USA has medaled in the event, the best medal stretch in the nation’s history.
“I’m very proud of this group of guys,” said U.S. coach Nate Leaman (Providence) in a statement. “We really came together as a team over the course of this tournament. We played a great Canadian team today and we’re very fortunate to have beat them. I’m proud of how this team played together. This will be a memory they have forever.”
Canada outshot the United States 34-21.
Team USA scored the only goal of the opening period at 12:25 when Turcotte deflected one home off Drew Helleson’s (Boston College) shot from the far right point.
Zegras, named the MVP of the tournament after leading all players with 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists), staked the U.S. to a 2-0 lead just 32 seconds into the second period when he took the carom off the end boards of an Arthur Kaliyev (OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs) shot that went wide and backhanded it in at the right side of the goal.
Knight stood tall in the third period, stopping all 15 shots Canada put on goal, including several point-blank chances. It was the third shutout for Knight in the tournament and the fourth for Team USA.
Tonight’s shutout is the first shutout in a medal-round game in U.S. history, while Knight set the U.S. record for most shutouts in a World Junior tournament and career (3) and Team USA is the first team since 2012 to record a shutout in a gold medal game, when Sweden defeated Russia 1-0.
This is also the first shutout in a “playoff round” game at World Juniors since 2016 when the U.S. defeated Czech Republic 7-0. The shutout sets a U.S. record for most team shutouts in a tournament (4).
Canada goaltender Devon Levi (Northeastern) was the first collegiate goalie to ever win three or more games or even play in three or more games for Team Canada while starting all seven games. In addition, Levi, named the top goalie at the tournament, left as the second Canadian goalie in history to record three shutouts in a single tournament which also ties the tournament record.
Levi, who made 19 saves Tuesday, also becomes the third goalie in 40 years of Canadian junior teams to not come from one of the country’s three major junior leagues.
Penn State junior Oskar Autio pitched his first career Big Ten shutout, stopping all 23 shots he faced during a 1-0 victory against Michigan State Sunday afternoon at Munn Ice Arena (photo: Penn State Athletics).
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.
Paula: This week I’m joined by Dan Rubin, Atlantic Hockey columnist, while Jimmy Connelly is otherwise occupied. Dan, it’s a pleasure to talk hockey with you. Happy New Year!
It’s unusual to have so much to discuss at the start of January, but as you noted in this week’s Monday 10, the first post-break play saw league play in all six conferences for the first time this season, and college hockey fans were treated to some great matches.
There were the split Denver-Colorado College and Minnesota Duluth-St. Cloud State series. There were the two series in the ECAC that each produced a tie game. There was Penn State’s uncharacteristic 1-0 win over Michigan State Sunday – and it should be noted that we’re writing this column before Monday’s rematch between the Nittany Lions and Spartans has been played (editor’s note: Michigan State won 5-1) – and impressive sweeps by Bowling Green in the WCHA and Robert Morris in the AHA.
Given the overall pandemic-related lunacy of 2020 and how it affected every aspect of life as we know it, this start of post-holiday hockey feels almost like normalcy to me.
Collectively, Dan, what did this weekend of college hockey say to you? Given the shortness of the first “half” of the season, what are we seeing here as 2021 begins?
Dan: First, thanks for having me back as I attempt to fill Jimmy’s shoes as admirably as humanly possible.
This weekend in college hockey felt like the true start of the season, and I can’t agree with you more about the post-holiday rush of conference college hockey. January always feels like the real start of the season, and it always represents the moment where league races heat up for teams looking to jockey for home series. Every matchup has some form of postseason implication, and the non-league games start to filter away with the end of holiday tournaments. We obviously didn’t get the holiday tournaments as usual, but the start of 2021 at least made us feel like college hockey was, indeed, back.
The competitiveness on the ice really drove that point home, and I think this past weekend emphasized how competitive these next two months are going to be. These teams know each other so well but use the first half to form identities. Those identities are now rounding into form in time to formulate the right brand of rivalry on the ice.
In the NCHC, for example, the Duluth-St. Cloud series produced the front runner for game of the year with the overtime winner by the Bulldogs on Saturday, but the Huskies rallied to win three points on Sunday. If that’s an indication of how things are going to turn out, I couldn’t be more excited, especially because these teams are going to beat on one another for the next eight to ten weeks or so.
That last point is my real detail on everything. These teams are going to see each other A LOT before the playoffs begin, and I think there’s an interesting opportunity for teams to really earn new looks from the national perspective. We all know Minnesota, Boston College, North Dakota, UMD, and Minnesota State are going to own top headlines, but are there other teams that you’re really looking forward to maybe catch some teams off guard?
Paula: Given that the majority of play will be conference hockey, I’m not sure that many teams will have the opportunity to catch anyone they play off guard between now and the end of the regular season, but fans may become more aware of teams that don’t usually get a lot of national discussion. As you say, there are opportunities to expand our conversation to include teams from leagues that don’t get a lot of attention nationally, like the WCHA and AHA.
Bowling Green is a team that will be impossible to ignore as the season progresses. The Falcons are averaging more than four goals per game and have the best scoring margin in D-1 hockey, fueled in part by the goaltending tandem of sophomore Zack Rose and senior Eric Dop.
I look at how well rounded Robert Morris is this year and can envision another close, exciting end to the Atlantic Hockey regular season, with AIC and an improved RIT in the mix. Then there’s Omaha’s start. In arguably the toughest conference in D-I men’s play, the Mavericks add an interesting wrinkle to the top of that conference, too.
Because of the nature of the season – as you mention – we’ll all be looking at the national picture differently, and that necessarily lends itself to conversations about the merits of teams and leagues that usually don’t dominate discussions. Jimmy and I have had some fun this season speculating about how the NCAA selection committee will determine the national field come March. Dan, what possibilities do you see for this year’s national tournament? What would you like to see the committee do?
Dan: This year’s tournament? I would recommend buckling up for this portion of the segment because I’m about to press the red button…
Let’s start with tournament criteria. Ed Trefzger and I talked about NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton’s idea to weigh previous years’ performance into the allotment for this year’s bracket. He admitted it’s not a perfect system, but I like his take on it. A similar system exists in European association football (okay, fine, soccer) for “club coefficients” related to their elite championship competitions. All slots are balanced against a calculation involving the national team’s performance and the collective performance of both the clubs and the leagues. Leagues are automatically granted status based upon their performances at an elite level, but they might receive more exalted status with byes through to certain rounds based on the number of times clubs advance beyond a certain round. The mathematical coefficient determines the number of slots and where those leagues enter international competition.
I’m not saying that the system is perfect, but weighted averages and coefficients tend to skew correctly based on previous years’ performances.
In my mind, leagues like NCHC and Hockey East should want to weigh previous years because of their successful stretches. I actually appreciate that more than most and touched on the NCHC’s national profile in an interview with Mr. Fenton at Minnesota-Duluth’s national championship win in Buffalo in 2019. I actually agree more than I’m about to sound like I do because there’s a reason those teams are annually in the Frozen Four conversation.
I just think an unorthodox year befits an unorthodox practice. I really liked your idea with Jimmy to hand two slots to every league because Atlantic Hockey clearly benefits from that methodology (and I’m an unabashed AHA person), but I know it would raise more than a few eyebrows. That said, I love that this year is opening opportunities for schools like AIC and Robert Morris, both of which ranked in the national polls this week. I think more people are finding out about those teams before the inevitable first round national upset, and I think they’re seeing that the caliber and parity in college hockey is getting stronger.
That’s why Bowling Green is rocketing up the national polls without a win over Minnesota-Duluth or Michigan or Minnesota or even Minnesota State; people are learning how good the teams really are because the spots originally occupied by teams like Union, Harvard or Cornell are open season. Call it a silver lining of a really complex, nuanced situation for ECAC.
I just think about football’s issue this year when the Big Ten and Pac-12 opted out of the early season. Those teams weren’t considered for national polls for a couple of weeks, and a couple of teams that hadn’t been ranked in decades slid into the larger conversation. It opened the door for teams like Coastal Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette to enter the conversation early, at which point more voters were able to watch them because of their new, national profile. It nearly vaulted Cincinnati and Brigham Young into the national championship conversation.
So that leads me back to the coefficient. I’m not saying leagues like Atlantic Hockey or the WCHA should receive four berths in the national tournament, but I think there’s a really creative way to hand out slots. I think this year, more than ever, is a great chance to strike the strange iron while it’s hot.
This is so unorthodox and so unconventional, and I think that means we have to remain as open minded as I think our commissioners, coaches, players, writers, staff members, dreamers and fans are trying to remain. I wouldn’t hate expanding the postseason for one time to enable play-in games if that’s a safe option. It’s a great discussion, and I think we’ll ultimately find a balance between the weighted average and the eye test. I’m open to an exhaustively researched PowerPoint presentation on this if the committee so desires.
I’ll turn this back to you to digest all of this.
Paula: I’m glad you mention play-in games because that is something I’ve been thinking quite a bit about since last week.
If expanding the tournament is an option and can be done safely, I think having play-in games based on the model you mention would be an interesting – and perhaps equitable – way to approach the selection. I doubt, though, that the NCAA would consider this.
You talk about the unorthodox nature of this season, and I think it’s because of all the strangeness that I remain adamant about the two autobids for each league. That is another thing that I doubt that the NCAA will consider.
Between now and March, there is a lot of hockey to be played – a lot more than usual, in some cases. Two weeks ago, Jimmy asked me about the matches I was looking forward to during the rest of the season, and now I’m putting that question to you: Dan, as you anticipate the remainder of the season – especially the AHA schedule – which games and series are you most looking forward to?
Dan: I’m going to miss not seeing certain teams this year, namely RIT in the annual USCHO Derby, but I’m very excited out here to witness what happens when these teams play each other frequently over two months’ time.
Atlantic Hockey feels like the old Original Six NHL, and the games are going to gain some quick intensity over the next couple of weeks. Army West Point is playing American International on three consecutive nights this week, and AIC is scheduled to go from that series right into a series against Bentley and Sacred Heart over the two weeks after it. Those games are going to be real battles, and the pressure to win is even stronger given the league’s postseason emphasis on percentage of possible points played.
This whole setup should be great if the teams continue to rise up against one another. RMU is a warhorse team, but Canisius is a pleasant surprise. Mercyhurst is definitively improved and just picked up three transfers from Alaska Anchorage, and RIT is a solid team flying under the radar. Throw in the Air Force component, and things will get chaotic pretty quick.
Beyond that, I’m always excited to see what Hockey East and ECAC can throw at us out here. ECAC’s four teams are going to play a ton of games against one another, and Quinnipiac’s travel schedule is going to draw multiple games on multiple nights against good teams. I mentioned on this week’s podcast with Ed that the travel could be tough to navigate, but even a tiring Bobcat team will draw some pointed shots from the other three teams. I like St. Lawrence a lot this year, specifically.
It’s going to be a fun ride built with chaos and unpredictability. That’s how college hockey is trending, and I’m going to enjoy every second. Paramount to all of that is, of course, the safety of everyone involved, especially in the midst of an unrelenting, surging pandemic, but I’m still excited for these players and the coaches – all of whom are laying it on the line every day for their teams and universities. 2021 is going to be something we never forget.
From left, Odeen Tufto, Blake Pietila and Carter Savoie – the HCA national award winners for December.
The Hockey Commissioners Association announced Tuesday the national players of the month for December.
Quinnipiac senior captain Odeen Tufto is the player of the month, while Michigan Tech’s Blake Pietila is the goalie of the month and Denver forward Carter Savoie the top rookie.
In nine games in the month of December, Tufto recorded three goals and 14 assists for 17 points. He led the nation in assists and points, and also averaged an 1.89 points per game.
Pietila led the WCHA in save percentage during December at .955, tied for the league wins lead with four and was second in the WCHA in GAA over the month at 1.52.
For Savoie, he had a fast start to his collegiate career, tallying 11 points in his first 10 games, all taking place in the pod in Omaha, to lead all NCHC and NCAA freshmen in December scoring. He scored seven goals during the month, which tied for the NCAA lead among all skaters in December, while chipping in four assists.
Savoie recorded a point in eight of his 10 December games, including each of his first six outings as a Pioneer, with three multi-point games in that span.
Ryan Steele has posted two goals and four points to share the Sacred Heart team lead in scoring with Braeden Tuck (photo: Sacred Heart Athletics).
Following the postponement of last weekend’s men’s series against Army West Point, Sacred Heart has announced several changes to its upcoming schedule.
The Pioneers will face Atlantic Hockey Association foe Air Force in Niagara Falls, N.Y. on Wednesday, January 6 at 3:05 p.m.
In addition, SHU will take on Army West Point in Bridgeport, Conn., on February 7-8, before traveling to face off with the Black Knights at West Point on February 9.
Due to recent positive tests for COVID-19 within the hockey program, Bentley will pause all team activities until further notice.
Games against Sacred Heart University, scheduled for Jan. 8-9, have been postponed.
During this pause, the program will continue to follow all COVID-19 isolation and quarantine protocols to ensure the health and safety of all players and coaches.
Any potential makeup games and a timetable for the resumption of team activities will be shared at a later date.
Hockey East announced Tuesday schedule updates for men’s and women’s teams.
Massachusetts is now scheduled to host New Hampshire for a single men’s game on Wednesday, January 6 at 3:30 p.m. New Hampshire will then travel to Boston College on Friday, January 8 at 7 p.m. and host the Eagles on Sunday, January 10 at 4 p.m. Friday’s game from Conte Forum will air live on NESN.
The series between Boston College and Northeastern will be rescheduled to a later date.
The men’s teams at UConn and Northeastern will now play a home-and-home series on Thursday, January 7 and Saturday, January 9 at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Saturday’s game from Matthews Arena will air live on NESN.
UConn’s women’s team is now scheduled to host Vermont for two games on Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9.
Holy Cross is now scheduled to host Maine’s women’s team for two games on Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9.
Both games of the Boston University men’s program’s season-opening series against Providence will air live on NESN+. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Friday, January 8 will feature a triple-header of Hockey East games on NESN, beginning with the 2 p.m. women’s game between Merrimack and Boston College, followed by New Hampshire at Northeastern women at 4 p.m. and concluding with the men’s game between New Hampshire and Boston College.
The series between Massachusetts and UConn scheduled for January 8-9 will not be played.
Hockey East Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, January 6
New Hampshire at Massachusetts (men) – 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 7
Northeastern at UConn (men) – 3:30 p.m.
Friday, January 8
Maine at Vermont (men) – 1 p.m.
Merrimack at Boston College (women) – 2 p.m. (NESN)
UMass Lowell at Merrimack (men) – 4 p.m.
New Hampshire at Northeastern (women) – 4:30 p.m. (NESN)
Providence at Boston University (men) – 6 p.m. (NESN+)
Boston University at Providence (women) – 6 p.m.
Vermont at UConn (women) – 6 p.m.
Maine at Holy Cross (women) – 6 p.m.
New Hampshire at Boston College (men) – 7 p.m. (NESN)
Saturday, January 9
Maine at Vermont (men) – 1 p.m.
Boston College at Merrimack (women) – 2 p.m.
Providence at Boston University (women) – 2 p.m.
Vermont at UConn (women) – 3 p.m.
Merrimack at UMass Lowell (men) – 6 p.m.
Northeastern at New Hampshire (women) – 6 p.m.
Maine at Holy Cross (women) – 6:30 p.m.
Boston University at Providence (men) – 7 p.m. (NESN+)
UConn at Northeastern (men) – 7 p.m. (NESN)
Sunday, January 10
Boston College at New Hampshire (men) – 4 p.m.
Robert Morris is off to a strong 8-3 start overall and 6-1 in Atlantic Hockey play. Head coach Derek Schooley joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to talk about this year’s team, playing a compressed and changing schedule, recruiting the best talent from around Pittsburgh, and about the planning that’s going on for the 2021 Frozen Four in the Steel City.
Boston College’s Matt Boldy scored the goal that, at the time, gave Team USA a 3-1 lead on Finland in Monday’s World Junior semifinal game (file photo: John Quackenbos).
Arthur Kaliyev (OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs) scored the game-winner with 1:16 left in regulation to lift the U.S. National Junior Team to a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Finland Monday night in Edmonton in the semifinals of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
With the win, Team USA will play in tonight’s gold medal game against host Canada. Opening faceoff is set for 9:30 p.m. EST and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.
“It was a great hockey game, and hats off to Finland for being a great team,” said Team USA coach Nate Leaman (Providence) in a statement. “We showed a lot of mental toughness. When they tied it up, our playmakers went out and made a great play to win the game. We’re very happy to be playing for gold (tonight).”
Alex Turcotte (Wisconsin), John Farinacci (Harvard) and Matt Boldy (Boston College) also scored for the Americans.
In goal, Spencer Knight (Boston College) finished with 33 saves.
For Canada, Devon Levi (Northeastern) made 27 saves in a 5-0 shutout over Russia.
“I feel like I’ve been repeating myself, but (Levi is) really assertive,” Canada coach Andre Tourigny told TSN. “He’s really confident for us, (and) we’re glad to have him on our side.”
Alex Newhook (Boston College) opened the scoring for Canada, which picked up its second straight shutout after blanking the Czech Republic 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
Newhook missed the quarterfinal game with an injury.
Canada has yet to trail at any point in the tournament.
College Hockey America, in a joint effort between the league office, directors, and coaches, announced Monday that the conference has finalized a second-half schedule that brings the league’s six members right up to the start of the 2021 CHA tournament.
According to a news release, “The goal with the second half schedule remains the same as it did upon our return at the end of November, to maximize the number of playing opportunities available to our teams and complete a 20-game league schedule safely.”
After a few postponements before the holiday break, the number of games remaining span from 18 for Mercyhurst to 14 for Penn State, but all missing games are accounted for through February, adds the announcement.
The CHA’s second half officially kicks off on Wednesday with Mercyhurst hosting RIT and continues over the weekend with all but Syracuse taking the ice.
Host Ed Trefzger and guest host Dan Rubin look at the past week of college hockey:
No. 1 Minnesota at 9-0 continues to roll. Denver’s split with Colorado College should have the Pioneers concerned in the NCHC, while the Minnesota Duluth-St. Cloud State split shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The ECAC is finally underway, and St. Lawrence is off to a great start. In the WCHA, Bowling Green and Minnesota State remain hot.
While Boston College was a preseason favorite in Hockey East, UMass is right there. And Canisius and Robert Morris have good Atlantic Hockey weekends.
We also look at COVID-19 postponements, how the NCAA tournament selection process might shake out, and reflect on the joy that is the USA WJC team.
Minnesota goalie Jack LaFontaine has gone 9-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .965 save percentage with two shutouts this season for the Gophers (photo: Jim Rosvold).
Minnesota begins 2021 just like it ended 2020 – at the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
The undefeated Gophers (9-0-0) earned 39 of 40 first-place votes in this week’s rankings.
Boston College is again No. 2 and picked up the other first-place vote this week.
North Dakota remains No. 3, while Minnesota State flip-flops with Minnesota Duluth this week, the Mavericks going to No. 4 and Bulldogs to No. 5.
Due to a continuing combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Omaha hockey program, the Omaha at North Dakota series scheduled for this weekend, Friday, Jan. 8 and Saturday, Jan. 9, at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. has been postponed.
This series has been rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Last week, it was announced Omaha and UND’s first scheduled series this season on Dec. 31-Jan. 1 was rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30 at Baxter Arena in Omaha.
The decision to postpone the series is consistent with the NCHC’s COVID-19 protocols, developed by the conference’s health and safety competitions committee.
Colin Schmidt compiled five points last season as a freshman at Union (photo: Amanda Lopez).
Minnesota has announced that forward Colin Schmidt has been added to the 2020-21 roster.
A native of Wayzata, Minn., Schmidt spent the 2019-20 season at Union, skating in 32 games as a freshman and recording five points (one goal, four assists), earning AHCA All-America Scholar and ECAC Hockey All-Academic honors with the Dutchmen.
As a prep, Schmidt played at Wayzata High School for former Gopher Pat O’Leary, helping the Trojans claim the 2016 MSHSL Class AA state championship. Along the way, Schmidt earned All-Lake Conference accolades in each of his three seasons as a prep and was a finalist for the Mr. Hockey Award as a senior captain in 2018.
Brette Pettet scored the Badgers’ only goal on Sunday to lead the team to a 1-0 win and weekend sweep. Photo: AJ Harrison/UW Athletics
(1) Wisconsin at Minnesota State
On Saturday, Makenna Webster and Casey O’Brien each scored their first career goals and Sydney Langseth scored for the Mavericks to make it 2-1 Wisconsin after two periods. Brittyn Fleming tied it up for Minnesota State midway through the third, but Daryl Watts scored with less than four minutes in the game to give the Badgers a 3-2 win. In game two, Brette Pettet’s goal with six minutes left in the game was the only tally, but it was enough to give Wisconsin a weekend sweep.
Maine at (3) Northeastern
The first game in this series was postponed and then rescheduled for Monday at 4 pm Eastern. On Sunday, Aerin Frankel tied a program record by earning her 20th career shutout in Northeastern’s 3-0 win. Skylar Fontaine, Brooke Hobson and Ani Fitzgerald all scored for the Huskies in the win.
Bemidji State at (4) Ohio State
On Friday, Jenna Buglioni and Gabby Rosenthal scored in the first to put Ohio State up 2-0. Mak Langei cut the lead in half with a goal in the second to make it 2-1, but late in the third, the Buckeyes pulled away with another goal from Buglioni and an empty net tally from Jennifer Gardiner. Saturday’s game was similarly close as goals from Paetyn Levis and Tatum Skaggs in the first put OSU up 2-1. Lindsey Featherstone lit the lamp for the Beavers. From there, the Buckeyes took control. Gardiner scored twice, Skaggs added a second goal and Buglioni and Riley Bregman each lit the lamp to give Ohio State the decisive 7-1 win and weekend sweep.
Adrian at (10) Mercyhurst
Summer-Rae Dobson, Liliane Perreault and Sara Boucher scored to put Mercyhurst up 3-0 heading into the final frame. Adrian responded with goals by Kaleigh Codorette and Callie Wollschlager in the third, but they could not complete a comeback as the Lakers took this exhibition game 3-2.
LIU at Quinnipiac
Grace Markey scored twice and Laura Lungblad, Maddy Samoskevich and Kate Reilly each added a goal and an assist to lead the Bobcats to a 6-0 win on Sunday. Alexa Hoskin also scored for Quinnipiac in the win.
Holy Cross at Vermont
Olivia Kilberg, Ellice Murphy, Kristina Shanahan and Corinne McCool each scored on Friday as the Catamounts won 4-0 in the first game of the weekend series. On Saturday, six different players scored for Vermont as they won 6-1 and earned a sweep. Sofia Smithson scored her first career goal to spoil the shutout.
Minnesota Duluth and captain Noah Cates (left) and St. Cloud State and Seamus Donohue split a pair of games over the weekend in Duluth (photo: Tom Nelson/St. Cloud State Athletics).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1. Happy New Year, college hockey
College hockey season started in November, but this weekend marked the official, grand reopening of the 2020-21 season when all six conferences featured league games for the first time. Sunday marked the first time they were all in action on the same day, and 14 ranked teams, including seven top-10 teams, all defended their records against would-be challengers.
The No. 1 team, Minnesota, led the charge into its two-game series against Arizona State with a 4-1 victory, but the Gophers trailed that game by a 1-0 count after the first period. It was the first time Minnesota trailed at all this year, but the national championship contenders rallied to win 4-1 with two goals by Sampo Ranta.
Minnesota was always going to trail someone at some point this year, but that didn’t make it any less surprising when it happened. Nevertheless, Jack LaFontaine still posted more than 25 saves and only allowed the one goal, and Sunday’s result went into the record books as the seventh game with one or less goals allowed by the top-ranked team in the land.
2. Happy New Year, ECAC Hockey
The COVID-19 pandemic rained more havoc on ECAC than it did on any other league. The opt-out of eight teams threatened the league’s overall schedule, and a non-conference slate against mostly Atlantic Hockey teams resulted in some up-and-down results. It felt a little bit like the four teams were floating adrift as other leagues cranked the temperature on their matchups, at least until they were able to step on the ice against one another.
That finally happened on New Year’s Eve when Quinnipiac played its first game at St. Lawrence, and the Bobcats rallied from separate one-goal deficits to force overtime in Saints’ home opener at the renovated Appleton Arena. Odeen Tufto tied it first 1-1, but it took a Ty Smilanic extra-attacker goal with extended time left in the third period to force overtime. Tufto took things over from there and won the second point in the shootout
It was one of two shootout games over the weekend. The other, between Clarkson and Colgate, saw the Raiders score twice on Sunday to take a second point after the Golden Knights won Saturday’s league opener. That game on Sunday was separately operating at the same time as the return match between Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence, a notable accomplishment for the four-team league.
3. Happy New Year, Bowling Green
Bowling Green’s steady rise through the weekly rankings was an early-season storyline, but the ball drop for 2021 failed to stop the Falcons’ meteoric ascent before their weekend series against Ferris State. They won both games and earned the six points to continue a drive to pressure Minnesota State in the WCHA’s ruling elite.
Four different scorers lit the red lamp against the Bulldogs in a ten-minute stretch on Saturday in the third period, and both Sam Craggs and Connor Ford scored on the power play. Cameron Wright remained one of the nation’s top scorers with two goals and an assist in that game, and Brandon Kruse added an assist to his fifth goal of the season, which came in the first period.
Ferris State changed the narrative the next night with a 1-0, first period lead, but Bowling Green rallied quickly with two goals before the end of the period. A more hard-fought second period tied the game before the third, but Wright scored another game winning goal before a late, empty netter gave the Falcons a 4-2 win.
The wins launched Bowling Green to 11-1-0 on the season and ensured the Falcons’ spot as one of the most intriguing pieces of the today’s national poll. Their eight goals against Ferris State made them the first team to score 50 goals as a team this season, and their dueling four-goal outputs kept them as one of two teams averaging more than four goals per game. Their defense, meanwhile, kept them third nationally behind only Minnesota and Minnesota State.
4. Happy New Year, Canisius
Canisius College paused its men’s hockey program on December 8 when a member of the Golden Griffins’ Tier I personnel tested positive. The unexpected break created postponements on the Atlantic Hockey schedule after an opening weekend split and created a 36-day gap between games when the calendar shifted into 2021. This past weekend, Canisius finally played its third and fourth games of the year and earned a six-point sweep of its longest-running rival, Mercyhurst.
The Griffs scored three times in the third period in the first game with a four-minute, two-goal span in the game’s late periods. It gave the team a 3-1 lead that finished as a one-goal game when the Lakers scored with less than five seconds, but goalie Matt Ladd recorded a shutout on Sunday with a 3-0 win.
Everyone expected postponements and pauses throughout this hockey season, but it was encouraging to watch the Atlantic Hockey team sweep the only team to beat Bowling Green this year. It moved the Golden Griffins into third place with nine points out of a possible 12, right behind Robert Morris and squarely ahead of RIT and Sacred Heart.
5. Happy New Year to an instant classic
I’m still a sucker for an old-fashioned one-goal game that ends with an overtime winner before the shootout awards an extra league point, so you can imagine my excitement over Minnesota Duluth’s comeback win over St. Cloud State on Saturday.
This game had a little bit of everything. There were four power play goals, including three in the second period, and the team’s traded three different leads. Neither team led by more than a goal at any given time, and the Huskies rallied twice to knot the Bulldogs in the first and second period.
It took a Kobe Roth power-play goal in the third period to formally tie the game for overtime purposes, but Noah Cates stole the show with an end-to-end rush in overtime. He used virtually the entire right wing for the length before cutting across the train tracks at the St. Cloud blue line, and his goal touched off a maroon-clad celebration halfway through the extra session.
I lost all objectivity as he skated up ice. It was awesome.
6. Happy New Year with a Penn State pitcher’s duel
It’s incredibly rare to witness a pitcher’s duel like the one between Michigan State and Penn State on Sunday. The game featured virtually no penalties and no stoppages compared to some of the high-scoring slugfests over the years, and the Nittany Lions won 1-0 on an unassisted goal by Sam Sternschein in the first period.
There were 55 faceoffs in this game, but Mason Snell took the game’s only penalty in the second period before matching minors sent him and Jagger Joshua to the box with 36 seconds left in the third. Drew DeRidder and Oskar Autio combined for 51 saves.
It was as clean as that. The equipment guys might not have even needed to do laundry after that game.
7. Happy New Year to the Upper Peninsula
Michigan Tech swept Alabama-Huntsville this weekend and kept pace with both Minnesota State and Bowling Green in the WCHA’s early rounds, and it won the first game with three goals in a second period featuring a 17-5 margin. That’s all well and good, but I would much rather mention the Huskies’ centennial jerseys in that game.
The Huskies wore off-white with black stripes and an old-school logo on the center crest, and these beauties popped. I felt transported back to the time of Cub Haug and the Michigan College of Mining and Technology.
The hockey itself went great for Michigan Tech with a 4-0 win on Saturday and a 2-1 win on Sunday. I appreciated UAH’s spunk to get one before the end of the first period in the second game, but Michigan Tech just had too much defense through the second and third period. Mark Sinclair only needed to make 19 saves, nine of which came in a clean third devoid of penalties.
8. Happy New Year, Robert Morris
Robert Morris made a spot appearance in the national polls this year when it cameoed at No. 20, but the short-lived Colonial stay deserves a second look after the team motored through three league games in four days. Playing on New Year’s Eve, RMU rolled through Niagara, 6-1, before earning a weekend sweep of RIT with a pair of wins at home.
Each game featured a different facet of the program’s prototype and template. On December 31, Niagara outshot RMU 17-6 in the first period, but the Colonials led by a goal and extended the game to a 4-0 advantage in the second and 6-0 in the third. They likewise took a 1-0 lead in the first game against RIT but entered the third period in a tie game before scoring the game-winning goal at halfway point. Then they held onto a 3-0 and a 4-1 lead after RIT led a mad dash comeback in the latter stages of the second and third periods.
RMU is one of those machine-like teams that can win any type of game. The Colonials are 6-0 when leading after the first period and have scored the first goal in nine of its 11 games. They hold three wins when tied or trailing after two periods but haven’t lost a league game when leading after two. They can score on the power play and run deep in scoring, defense and goaltending.
No Atlantic Hockey team outside of American International has a better track record, but the Yellow Jackets won’t see the Colonials – and vice-versa – this year unless the teams meet in the postseason.
9. Happy New Year, Hockey East goalies
Team USA’s three shutouts in the IIHF World Junior Championship were the most ever by the Americans in a single tournament, and the team set a new record for consecutive shutout minutes before Slovakia slipped a goal past Spencer Knight in the Quarterfinals of the 2021 championship tournament.
Knight had an initial hiccup in the opening game against Russia but is earning serious accolades behind a stingy American defense. He is one of two goalies with a goals against average under 2.00 and less than eight goals allowed for the entire tournament, and there’s an impending showdown at some point, hopefully, with Canada’s Devon Levi.
Levi is a name college hockey fans might not recognize because he hasn’t played for Northeastern this year, but the Montreal native, like Knight, has two shutouts through his first five appearances. He is averaging less than a goal per game and holds a tournament-best .967 save percentage, and his recent, 3-0 shutout in the win over the Czech Republic moved top-seeded Canada into a semifinal matchup with Russia.
10. Almost-Happy New Year, Long Island
A weird week in Atlantic Hockey almost brought college hockey to Long Island on two separate occasions for LIU. The Sharks’ original series against Bentley was supposed to play its second game on Saturday at the Northwell Health Ice Center, but a weekend postponement put it temporarily on ice before LIU replaced the series with a home-and-home against American International College.
The Yellow Jackets won that first game at home by a 2-1 score, but the second game – against scheduled for the Eisenhower Park facility – came up empty after a late cancellation.
Pending LIU’s series against Bentley, the next regularly scheduled series at home is entirely against Niagara January 15-16. Both games are slotted for the Northwell Health Ice Center, which is the practice facility for the New York Islanders, and it will put LIU right into a thick hockey slate. The Islanders are set to play the Rangers twice at Madison Square Garden with the home opener to follow against the Boston Bruins.
— Paula Weston contributed to this week’s Monday 10.
No. 1 Minnesota (9-0-0)
01/03/2021 – RV Arizona State 1 at No. 1 Minnesota 4
No. 2 Boston College (5-1-0)
Did not play.
No. 3 North Dakota (7-2-1)
Did not play.
No. 4 Minnesota Duluth (6-3-2)
01/02/2021 – No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 4 at No. 6 St. Cloud State 3 (OT)
01/03/2021 – No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 1 at No. 6 St. Cloud State 3
No. 5 Minnesota State (5-1-1)
01/02/2021 – No. 5 Minnesota State 5 at Northern Michigan 0
01/03/2021 – No. 5 Minnesota State 4 at Northern Michigan 0
No. 6 St. Cloud State (7-4-0)
01/02/2021 – No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 4 at No. 6 St. Cloud State 3 (OT)
01/03/2021 – No. 4 Minnesota Duluth 1 at No. 6 St. Cloud State 3
No. 7 Bowling Green (11-1-0)
12/29/2020 – RV Robert Morris 1 at No. 7 Bowling Green 2
01/02/2021 – No. 7 Bowling Green 6 at Ferris State 1
01/03/2021 – No. 7 Bowling Green 4 at Ferris State 2
No. 8 Michigan (5-5-0)
Did not play.
No. 9 Massachusetts (8-3-1)
12/30/2020 – No. 9 Massachusetts 4 at RV New Hampshire 0
01/01/2021 – No. 9 Massachusetts 4 at No. 13 Northeastern 3
01/02/2021 – No. 13 Northeastern 3 at No. 9 Massachusetts 5
No. 16 Denver (4-7-1)
01/01/2021 – No. 16 Denver 3 at Colorado College 4
01/02/2021 – Colorado College 1 at No. 16 Denver 6
No. 17 UMass Lowell (2-1-0)
01/03/2021 – Maine 3 at No. 17 UMass Lowell 5
No. 18 Notre Dame (4-5-1)
Did not play.
No. 19 Lake Superior State (4-1-3)
01/02/2021 – RV Bemidji State 4 at No. 19 Lake Superior State 1
01/03/2021 – RV Bemidji State 2 at No. 19 Lake Superior State 2 (OT)
No. 20 AIC (6-2-0)
01/02/2021 – LIU 1 at No. 20 AIC 2
