In a season in which games are happening any night, it’s hard to settle on a single game of the week. In this episode, hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by hockey analyst Dave Starman, who is broadcasting more than half of the NCHC Pod games in Omaha for Midco Sports Network and NCHC.tv alongside play-by-play man Ben Holden. Dave takes us through what’s happening in the bubble and what teams are impressing him so far.
Jim and Ed also look at games coming up in the Big Ten and Atlantic Hockey, and some non-conference matchups within Hockey East.
They also add some more context to their thoughts about getting as many games in during this semester break and give a shout out to the streaming services allowing fans to see the games when they can’t be there in person.
The WCHA announced Friday that the Dec. 11-12 nonconference series between Northern Michigan and Minnesota State has been cancelled due to recent COVID-19 testing results within the Northern Michigan hockey program.
Last weekend was another thin week of games, but one of us (Jim) now has a lead in the standings.
Jim last week: 2-0-0
Jim to date: 3-0-1
Marisa last week: 1-1-0
Marisa to date: 2-1-1
Boston College vs. Providence (at BC on Fri.; at PC on Sat.)
While the Eagles already have a successful weekend under their belts, Providence will finally kick off action this weekend after multiple delays. It will be a tough test for the Friars and could tell us a little about what to expect out of this teams that pundits seem to think could finish anywhere from the top-to-middle of Hockey East.
Jim’s picks: BC 4, PC 2; BC 5, PC 2 Marisa’s picks: PC 3, BC 2; BC 4, PC 2
Massachusetts vs. Merrimack (Sat. at UMass; Sun. at MC)
The Minutemen are likely licking their chops to get back on the ice after losing twice to open the season against Boston College. Merrimack, on the other hand, is finally able to play games and will look to prove this team is ready to take a step forward after finishing 10th a season ago.
Jim’s picks: UMass 5, MC 2; UMass 4, MC 1 Marisa’s picks: UMass 5, MC 1; UMass 6, MC 2
From left, Linus Weissbach, Gaby Roy, Tyrone Bronte, Kalty Kaltounkova, Jack LaFontaine, Lauren Bench.
Six players have taken home Hockey Commissioners Association monthly awards for their November performances.
Men’s Player of the Month: Linus Weissbach, Sr., F, Wisconsin
Weissbach went for five goals and 10 points in eight games for the Badgers in November. He had four multi-point games in that stretch and had 19 shots on goal as Wisconsin went 4-4 in Big Ten play.
Women’s Player of the Month: Gaby Roy, Fr., F, Boston College
Roy led all national women’s players with seven points (tied) and four goals in the month of November and was the only women’s player to record a hat trick in the season’s opening month. Roy started her career with a four-goal game in Boston College’s 6-2 season-opening win at New Hampshire and finished her first month of play with four goals and seven points in four games.
Men’s Rookie of the Month: Tyrone Bronte, Fr., F, Alabama Huntsville
Bronte averaged 1.5 points per game for the Chargers, going for three assists in two non-league games at Robert Morris. For his efforts, he earned WCHA Rookie of the Week honors.
Women’s Rookie of the Month: Kalty Kaltounkova, Fr., F, Colgate
Kaltounkova has started off strong with a point per game through her first four games, including two goals in a 3-1 win over then-No. 5 Clarkson.
Men’s Goaltender of the Month: Jack LaFontaine, Sr., G, Minnesota
LaFontaine backstopped Minnesota to two Big Ten sweeps (Penn State and Ohio State) in November. He enjoyed a GAA of 1.00 and a save percentage of .961 in stopping 98 of 102 shots. His 4-0 record included a 2-0 shutout over Ohio State to finish the month.
Women’s Goaltender of the Month: Lauren Bench, Sr., G, Minnesota
Bench led the Gophers to a 3-1-0 record during the month of November. She earned back-to-back WCHA Goaltender of the Week awards after backstopping the Gophers to a season-opening series split against Ohio State, including a 36-save shutout in her Gopher debut, and combining for 57 saves on 60 shots in a road sweep over Minnesota Duluth. Bench led WCHA goaltenders with a .962 save percentage, 1.26 GAA, 126 saves, 131 shots faced, three wins, and a .750 winning percentage.
Due to COVID-19 protocol, the Rochester Institute of Technology women’s hockey games with Mercyhurst scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 5-6) have been postponed.
Makeup dates and times are to be announced.
RIT remains slated to face Mercyhurst in a home-and-home doubleheader next week. The Tigers are scheduled to host the Lakers next Thursday (Dec. 10) for a 3 p.m. faceoff before traveling to Erie on Friday (Dec. 11) for a 3 p.m. start.
This Week’s Picks*: *All games are subject to change.
Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5: Long Island University vs. American International Stat of the week: LIU goaltender Garrett Metcalf is a transfer from Mercyhurst with a previous stop at UMass-Lowell prior to his time with the Lakers. He skated against AIC three times last year with one win, a 35-save, overtime win the day after the Yellow Jackets’ infamous 12-0 win. The Sharks will need more defense in front of Metcalf if they want to steal one from the two-time champs; they were outshot 87-34 against Holy Cross. AIC sweeps.
Army West Point vs. Bentley Bentley lost a tough one to Holy Cross on Tuesday night in overtime but saw the emergence of goaltender Nicholas Grabko. The freshman made 26 saves, including 10 in the third period, before a breakaway goal in overtime sent the Crusaders home with three points. Expect two rough and tumble games as usual between these two teams, especially for a Black Knight team that’s been waiting to take the ice for its 2020-2021 season. Split.
Robert Morris at Air Force RMU jumped on Bowling Green on Tuesday with a 2-0 lead before the No. 18 Falcons scored four unanswered goals across approximately 10 minutes of game time. The Colonials, to their credit, battled back with Roman Kraemer’s first career goal before the end of the second, but a goal halfway through the third gave the visitors an edge before an ENG. That’s why the game read 6-3 on the final tally but was, in all fairness, a good hockey game. Now comes the first trip of the year for any team out to Colorado. Air Force’s home dominance in the altitude has been tested in recent years, and last year was the second time in three years it finished one game over .500 in Cadet Ice Arena. Maybe that means teams figured out the altitude, or maybe it means the Falcons will shove that stat right back at the league this year. Split.
Friday, December 4 and Sunday, December 6: Sacred Heart at Holy Cross Early season battle-testing is going to be a good thing for Holy Cross if it keeps playing like it did on Tuesday when it dropped the first goal, battled back by imposing its game plan, then won in overtime on a slick individual effort. It also means all five teams in the east are going to be highly-competitive, and the Crusaders have a golden opportunity to gain some front runner status against Sacred Heart, which is playing its first two games of the year. It’s hard to really pick against the Pioneers, but don’t be surprised if these turn into one-goal games. SHU sweeps.
Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6: Mercyhurst vs. Bowling Green Bowling Green continues its Atlantic Hockey Pennsylvania circuit with a home-and-home against the Lakers. Mercyhurst goaltender Hank Johnson transferred from Bemidji State after posting six wins over the past two years with a GAA around the 2.00 mark and a save percentage well over .900. Freshmen Matt Lenz and Kyle McClellan each won 40 games in junior hockey and will also bolster the back end. As the season progresses, it makes the Lakers a team to watch. Bowling Green sweeps.
RIT vs. Niagara Niagara’s season debut comes at the Polisseni Center against the Tigers one weekend after RIT victimized Clarkson on that same ice. Maybe that’s a sign, maybe it’s not, but it’s enough to consider the home team to win each game this weekend. Split.
Wednesday, December 9: Clarkson at Niagara Clarkson’s loss to RIT did nothing to impact the Golden Knights in the national polls, and the one-off game is the first of two non-conference games for the Purple Eagles against the North Country’s college hockey representation. The two teams will meet again after Christmas at Cheel Arena. Clarkson wins.
Bentley at Holy Cross This is the return match from Tuesday’s game and the second leg of last weekend’s postponement. The Falcons are 3-0-1 over the past two years at the Hart Center, and there’s reason to believe they’ll have their sea legs back after this weekend’s games against Army West Point. Bentley wins.
UConn players celebrate the Huskies’ shootout win over UMass back on Nov. 21 (photo: Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics).
To say that the start of the Hockey East men’s season has had some bumps in the road may be an understatement.
But you might not know that by talking to first-year Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, who is still upbeat and very positive that the season is close to getting back on track.
“It’s a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but maybe you just get used to it,” said Metcalf.
That turbulent ride began before the first scheduled games when both Vermont and Maine announced that their men’s teams would be either playing or hosting games for the first 3-4 weeks. Northeastern followed with a similar announcement, theirs shutting down all sports on campus.
That could be dealt with somewhat easily by moving some games and opponents around. Massachusetts and Connecticut were the first two opponents for Maine and Vermont, so the simple solution was to have UMass and UConn play a weekend series to begin the season.
Then, just hours before the first game of the league season between New Hampshire and Boston College would faceoff, an inconclusive test result forced the postponement of that game. When the test was conclusively positive the following morning, the second game of the season was postponed. The Eagles will now play Providence.
Since then, of the 12 league games that were on the original schedule, none have been played. Boston College and UMass faced each other last weekend to give the league a grand total of four games played to this point.
Not the start that Metcalf and the league was looking for.
“There’s obviously some unpredictability in this and maybe we didn’t realize how much of it we would have,” said Metcalf. “But also as programs get started, it’s something where we can pick up some momentum.
“We’re on the other side of Thanksgiving now, so whether it be the undergraduates leaving the campuses or people going wherever they went for Thanksgiving and coming back, if we get on the back side of those, it gives us a chance to play more consistently.”
This weekend, five of the 11 teams won’t be able to play games. In addition to Maine and Vermont, Northeastern, UNH is still finishing quarantine from its case and contact tracing while UMass Lowell, which experienced its first COVID case last Friday, will need to wait out this weekend as well.
That does leave six teams that are able to play, and Metcalf says the plan is to have all six of them play. This consistent need to reschedule is something that Metcalf and league knew would be likely throughout this challenging season.
“We knew going into the year we were going to have to have some flexibility,” Metcalf said. “You can see it in [college] basketball. The amount of opponent changes for these basketball teams, it’s hard to keep track of it, though some might say the same about us.
“What we’ve learned is because of a variety of situations – some directly related to COVID and some indirectly – setting a schedule too far in advance is a challenge.
“We have to find ways to schedule games for as many teams that want to play in a given weekend, and I think we can do that.”
Underclassmen playing significant role for Boston College
It’s typical in college hockey that in the early season, you need to rely heavily on your upperclassmen. They have the experience, are well-schooled on the pace of play and generally have the leadership skills any coach looks for out of the gate.
For this year’s Boston College team, currently ranked second nationally, the story doesn’t necessarily follow that script. Last year’s Eagles team graduated double-digits including eight players who coach Jerry York relied on night-in-and-night-out.
There was also a lot of young talent that showed some promise. The team, in fact, was led in scoring by freshman Alex Newhook. But he won’t be available to the team until after January; he is currently in isolation with Team Canada as they prepare for the World Junior Championships.
“He’s chasing a dream,” said York. “He wants to win a world championship for his native country. I’ve been chasing my dreams for 50 years in college hockey, so we welcome the opportunity that he can do the same thing for himself.”
But in last weekend’s two-game sweep of a very talented Massachusetts team, several members of the sophomore class showed they are ready to take the next step. And this year’s freshmen proved they’re no slouches either.
Leading the way is Matt Boldy. A highly-touted rookie last year, Boldy scored a goal in the season opener and then registered just two assists before the New Year. But his second half gave York a lot of hope. Boldy netted eight goals and added 15 assists once the calendar hit 2020.
Last Friday, Boldy scored the game-winning goal early in the third, firing a frozen rope into the top corner of the net. He added three assists on the weekend to lead the Eagles offensively.
On the back end, Drew Helleson was arguably the best blueliner on the weekend, significantly expanding his playing time from last season and netting a goal in Saturday 6-3 series finale victory.
“He’s playing close to 30 minutes and that’s an awful lot to ask for a young kid,” York said regarding Helleson. “He’s our best defender back there and we need him in a lot of situations – penalty kill, power play, just regular shifts.
“Last year, he played about 15 minutes a game, so we’ve nearly doubled his minutes. He’s shown a lot of improvement for us.”
Of course, the cornerstone of the sophomore class is between the pipes as Spencer Knight continues to look solid through two games.
What is a pleasant surprise – at least through two games – for York is the play of the freshmen.
In weekend one, Colby Ambrosio and Nikita Nesterenko each picked up their first collegiate goals, while defenseman Eamon Powell was solid in recording top-four D minutes.
York credits an extended preseason due to the delay of the season opener due to COVID as being extremely helpful in getting the rookie class acclimated.
“We have 11 freshman on our roster right now replacing 12 seniors from last year,” York said. “So, the extended preseason helped.
“But for all of us, we were itching to play a game. You can only practice so much. You need to see a different shirt.”
That luxury might be once again delayed this weekend as the Eagles were slated to face UMass Lowell, a series that has already been canceled as the River Hawks have shut down operations temporarily due to COVID and related contract-tracing within the team.
That, York says, is something his team and others will have to come to accept.
“It will probably be Wednesday or Thursday before we know who we’re going to play,” said York. “It’s a perplexing thing for all of us.”
Hockey East honoring Travis Roy across league
Many in the college hockey world were shocked at the end of August when Travis Roy’s passing from complications related to a surgery took his life.
Despite playing just 11 seconds in his collegiate career at Boston University, an abbreviated career that has been well-documented in the 25 years since his injury, his impact on college hockey and the world will never be forgotten.
The league will be recognizing Roy at the opening home game in each of the league’s 11 buildings. It was kicked off on Friday night at Boston College’s Kelley Rink with a 24-second moment of silence, a tip of the cap to Travis’ number 24.
Boston College’s York reflected on the moment after that game.
“Travis’ life is not going to go away,” said York. “What he left here for all of us to understand was just the battle in him. To watch him to develop as a spokesperson for all of college hockey. He’s left a lasting impact and not just for college hockey. The money he’s raised for spinal cord research, it means a lot.”
Hockey East well-represented at U.S. World Junior camp
As USA Hockey released its preliminary roster for the World Junior Championship, it had a heavy college influence with 26 of the 29 players having college ties. These 29 will compete for the final 25 roster spots during a training camp that begins on Saturday.
Hockey East had significant representation on the list, sending 10 current and one former players to Plymouth, Mich., to battle for roster spots.
Boston University led the way with goaltender Drew Commesso, defenseman Alex Vlasic and forwards Robert Mastrosimone and Trevor Zegras, who signed an NHL contract with Anaheim in March.
Boston College sends three to the US camp including the aforementioned Knight, Helleson and Boldy.
Three Providence players will hope to wear the red, white and blue including defenseman Cam McDonald, and forwards Brett Berard and Patrick Moynihan.
The final Hockey East player rounding out the roster is Northeastern’s Sam Colangelo.
Todd Woodcroft is in his first season as head coach at Vermont (photo: Nich Hall).
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association announced on Thursday that Vermont coach Todd Woodcroft has been named an assistant coach with the 2021 Sweden National Junior Team.
The Sweden National Junior Team will take part in the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship Dec. 26, 2020 to Jan. 5, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. All games will be held at Rogers Place, the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
In his role as assistant coach, Woodcroft will help the team remotely, working specifically on pre-scouting the opponents and post-scouting all of Sweden’s games.
“The invitation from Tomas Montén and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to serve as an assistant coach for the Juniorkronorna at the ’21 World Junior Championships is truly an honor,” said Woodcroft in a statement. “I have had the opportunity to work with Team Sweden on two separate occasions (2016 World Cup, 2017 World Championship), coaching alongside Tomas and winning a gold medal together in the process.
“I am humbled by his opinion of me as a coach and I am excited to continue to learn from him as we prepare for the best junior tournament in the world.”
Sweden will compete in Group B of the tournament facing Austria, Czech Republic, Russia, and the United States in round robin action. Sweden will begin the tournament on December 26 facing the Czech Republic at 2 p.m. EST.
Due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Boston University men’s hockey program, the team has paused all athletic activities and cancelled its game at UConn that was scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5.
The positive test came from a member of the team’s Tier 1 personnel, which includes student-athletes, coaches, managers and support staff. Tier 1 personnel are tested three times a week in accordance with NCAA, Hockey East and university protocols.
To ensure the health and safety of the BU campus and greater Boston community, the BU department of athletics and all of its varsity programs have been following state, city and university guidelines since returning to campus in August.
The Minnesota State-Michigan Tech nonconference series originally scheduled for Dec. 4-5 in Houghton, Mich., will now be played Dec. 6-7.
Puck drop will be 6:07 p.m. EST for the first game and 5:07 p.m. EST for the second game.
No reason for the change was given in a WCHA press release sent Thursday.
The series change is the third for the WCHA men’s conference’s upcoming weekend schedule.
The new slate of games for this weekend is as follows. All games are non-conference games.
Saturday, Dec. 5
Mercyhurst at Bowling Green, 1:37 p.m. EST
Alabama Huntsville at Lake Superior State, 5:07 p.m. EST
Sunday, Dec. 6
Bowling Green at Mercyhurst, 3 p.m. EST
Alabama Huntsville at Lake Superior State, 3:07 p.m. EST
Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 6:07 p.m. EST
Monday, Dec. 7
Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 5:07 p.m. EST
Tuesday, Dec. 8
Alabama Huntsville at Ferris State, 5:07 p.m. EST
Carolina prospect Kevin Wall leads Penn State with three goals and four points during the early going of the 2020-21 season (photo: Craig Houtz).
When Penn State hosts Michigan this week, the Nittany Lions will be looking for their first win of the season.
With sweeps at the hands of Minnesota and Wisconsin to start this current campaign, Penn State appears to be very different from the team it was last March, when the Nittany Lions ended 2019-20 as regular-season Big Ten champions.
Of course, everything is very different now.
There are challenges that teams never had to think about before, said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky.
“How you dress, how you meet as a team, how you talk to the team, how long you can meet for – all of those things are very different,” Gadowsky said.
Like everyone else, the Nittany Lions are adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike most of the other teams in the Big Ten, though, Penn State is adjusting to life after turnover in nearly every key. Gone are five of last year’s top scorers who accounted for 52 of the Nittany Lions’ 121 goals, 42 percent of last year’s scoring.
Among those players was Cole Hults, a two-way defenseman who departed for the professional ranks at the end of his junior season. His absence is felt keenly on the blue line.
Gone, too, is goaltender Peyton Jones, the four-year starter whose steady play fueled confidence in the Nittany Lions’ aggressive, rushing and often risky offense.
With six rookies on the roster and two veteran transfers – and COVID-19 safety protocols that don’t lend themselves well to early team-building – it would be easy to admit that the Nittany Lions need to make some player adjustments and learn to function as a cohesive unit. That may also be the fair thing to say.
That is not, however, the way Gadowsky sees Penn State’s 0-4 start, with its lagging offense and nationally last-place defense.
“We have to coach better,” said Gadowsky. “We have to do a better job. That’s not just goaltending or ‘D.’ That’s as a team, certainly to give them the structure and reps and understanding to know what’s going on, and I haven’t done a very good job of that.”
Gadowsky said that the kinds of things that coaches need to do now because of the pandemic – meet with players virtually, address small groups more frequently – are things to which he is still adjusting.
“There are other coaches who are dealing with the same thing and have figured out how to be more effective on Zoom or however they’re doing things,” said Gadowsky. “I have done a very poor job of coaching the way I coach with the limitations that we have. That’s what I’ve got to figure out.
“We have to be more innovative. We have to figure out a way to adapt so that we can coach effectively. Up to this point, I certainly haven’t coached effectively.”
While it is impossible to separate the game from the pandemic, Gadowsky said that COVID-19 is “all very much in the forefront, until you play. And then it matters if you win or lose. It’s really interesting.
“The health and safety of our student-athletes is always our No. 1 priority – always – and that doesn’t change, but it’s interesting that it starts as all you talk about until you lose a game. And then, all of a sudden, you talk about a lot of other things.”
While the coaches are dealing with those other things – whether Oskar Autio or Liam Souliere will start in net and how to improve Penn State’s last-place combined special teams, for example – Gadowsky said that the Nittany Lions are fortunate to have the vigilance of athletic trainer Justin Rogers, who is tasked with making sure that the players remain safe during the pandemic.
“He has been a rock star through all of this,” said Gadowsky. “Really, it’s him who is responsible for instituting and keeping accountable all the protocols, additional protocols, that are coming at us. The challenges you don’t normally think of – even eating as a team, it looks very different now than it did in the past. He’s prepared us for what we have to do to try to be as efficient and effective as possible. We as a coaching staff, we don’t have to deal with that because he’s so good.”
This week, the Nittany Lions host Michigan, and Gadowsky said that he and his staff can only focus on what Penn State can do, not what a young and talented Wolverine team may potentially do in Pegula Arena. With some rebuilding to do and an 0-4 start, though, Gadowsky said that the goals of the team haven’t changed.
“Whether you’re the No. 1-ranked team going into the season or the 60th-ranked team, the value of development is what’s really going to allow you to be successful in the end, no matter where you start,” said Gadowsky. “If you win the Big Ten regular season, there’s no luck involved in that. To do it over the course of a season, I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
“Every year, the goal to get better every week is extremely important wherever you start. Right now, look, it’s been two weekends. Starting on the road … was the first time I’d ever talked to the whole team together in one room. There’s a lot of growth that’s going to happen.
“Four games. We have the same purpose in mind to get better every week, regardless of whether we were 4-0 or 0-4.”
Speaking of COVID-19 protocols
Last week, four Wisconsin forwards were scratched from the lineup in the Badgers’ series against Arizona State, reportedly due to COVID-19 exposure.
According to Todd Milewski’s reporting for the Wisconsin State-Journal, one of the four players – Tarek Baker, Ty Pelton-Byce, Roman Ahcan and Dominick Mersch – has tested positive for COVID-19, but since all four live together, as close contacts they must all quarantine.
Big Ten protocol dictates that players participating in any sport who test positive for COVID-19 must quarantine for 21 days. The Big Ten also directs close contacts of infected players to self-quarantine for 14 days following their interaction with COVID-positive player. The 14-day rule comes directly from the CDC.
According the league, specific names are not released so as to avoid violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly known as HIPAA. Also, schools are wary of creating conditions of potential future bias that may harm a player’s professional chances, so most schools opt to release the number of players affected and not specific names.
The four Wisconsin players currently quarantined will miss the rest of Wisconsin’s games through December. That puts the Badgers in a bind, as two other forwards – Dylan Holloway and Cole Caufield – will miss the rest of this condensed first half of the season because they’ll be playing in the World Junior championship. Holloway’s already gone, having left Nov. 15 for Team Canada, and Caufield leaves for the Team USA camp, which begins Dec. 6.
Schedule not all that’s condensed
If the pace of the Big Ten first-half schedule seems a little dizzying, consider the impact on the players who are accustomed to more time between the series they usually play.
The league itself thought of that and made some changes to help speed up the games themselves, including shortening intermissions between periods to 12 minutes and eliminating two of the three television timeouts per period in games that are not televised.
Gadowsky is a big fan of what the league is doing.
“I think it’s great hockey to watch,” said Gawdowsky. “What I mean by that is I love the initiatives that the Big Ten put in place regarding speeding up the games. Intermissions are a little quicker, the faceoffs are faster, there’s less stoppages, there’s less timeouts.”
Gadowsky, who came to Penn State from Princeton, said that the changes remind him of how the ECAC was focused on finishing games in under two hours whenever possible.
“That was our goal and we had several that did that,” he said. “I think that it improves the quality of the entertainment value.”
Minnesota takes its show on the road this week for a series against Michigan State.
Midweek madness, again, in the Big Ten this week with contests running Wednesday through Friday. With the way our picks panned out last week, I think I speak for Paula in saying that we’re ready to take another shot at this.
Last week
Drew: 2-4-0 (.333)
Paula: 0-6-0 (.000)
This season
Drew: 12-7-1 (.625)
Paula: 8-11-1 (.425)
This week
All seven conference teams and the Sun Devils are in action this week. Game times are local.
No. 7 Michigan at Penn State
Wednesday and Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
Penn State will attempt to become the second consecutive team to get its first win of the season against Michigan. Problem for the Nittany Lions is that Notre Dame may have poked the bear last weekend. With the World Juniors on the horizon, this’ll be the last full-squad series Michigan plays for a bit. The Irish laid out the blueprint for beating Michigan, stifle them defensively. Considering the Nittany Lions have historically been an offensive-minded team, I’m not a fan of their chances to replicate that.
Drew: Michigan 5-2, 4-1 Paula: Michigan 4-2, 4-2
No. 5 Minnesota at Michigan State
Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m.
Minnesota hasn’t exactly dominated in either of its series this season, but it’s hard to argue against 4-0. The Gophers will get their first road test of the season in East Lansing. The Spartans will be a tough test for Minnesota, coming off of a series split with Ohio State. Michigan State has shown some defensive prowess over its four games allowing an average of 1.75 goals.
Drew: Minnesota 3-2, 3-1 Paula: Michigan State 3-2, Minnesota 4-2
No. 14 Wisconsin at No. 13 Ohio State
Thursday and Friday at 5:30 p.m.
We knew there was going to be some weird things that happened this season, but it was still something to see Wisconsin not be able to fill four forward lines last weekend. It looks like the Badgers won’t have a full lineup again this weekend, and more than likely for the rest of the first half of the season. The Buckeyes got their first win of the season on Sunday after dropping the first three contests. The offense woke up, scoring four goals, which was a welcome sight for a team that scored three combined goals in the first three games.
Drew: Ohio State 4-2, Wisconsin 3-1 Paula: Wisconsin 4-3, Ohio State 4-2
No. 20 Arizona State at No. 16 Notre Dame
Thursday and Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Both of these teams got much-needed sweeps last weekend and it’ll be interesting to see who can keep the momentum rolling. Notre Dame’s Ryan Bischel played well in net against Michigan, so you’d assume he gets a chance at an encore against the Sun Devils. It’ll be interesting to see if any fatigue starts setting in for Arizona State as its road trip drags on.
American International goaltender Stefano Durante picked up both wins in the Yellow Jackets’ sweep of Air Force to open the 2020-21 season (photo: Kelly Shea/AIC).
Eric Lang woke up last Friday morning with butterflies singing a familiar tune on his nerves.
It felt distant from the last time he heard them, but the traditional rite played music he instantly recognized.
The anxiety cranked up the volume as he got closer to the MassMutual Center, and they peaked right before the mid-afternoon sun started to turn down over downtown Springfield, Mass.
It was game day. The long-awaited game day. The song, which he longed to hear last March, couldn’t have been more beautiful.
For Lang, the opening puck drop breathed a collective relief for his American International hockey team. The Yellow Jackets finally skated against a team other than their teammates and began their second consecutive Atlantic Hockey championship defense. They arrived to play Air Force, but it didn’t matter which team was on the other bench.
The chance to play games finally and, in some ways, improbably was at hand, and two days later, Atlantic Hockey’s two-time first place finisher was right back where it ended, atop the league table with six points after a weekend sweep of the visiting Falcons.
“It was nice to wake up and have a little anxiety and nerves knowing we had a hockey game,” Lang said. “But then the puck drops and you get back into wanting to play well to win that game. The results were outstanding for us, but we don’t get to that point without 200-something consecutive negative COVID-19 tests in a row. I’m equally as proud of our guys for what they are giving up and the discipline and sacrifice to get to that point. It’s not easy.
“These kids are not having a traditional college experience, so we deserved to play hockey.”
AIC stayed true to form in those first two games by winning both with a dramatic flair. The team rallied from down one in the first game after surrendering a goal in the first 90 seconds to win 3-1 before it held a one-goal lead on Saturday despite Air Force’s third-period domination.
The Yellow Jackets scored five times with five different goal scorers and spread effectiveness through each of their four lines.
Freshman Aaron Grounds scored his first goal six minutes into the first period on Saturday and led a weekend rally by sophomore Hunter Johannes and freshman Nico Somerville with the former adding an assist to his one goal in seven previous games and the latter earning his first career point on AIC’s first goal of the season.
It blended success into the older, more established players. Both Tobias Fladeby and Chris Dodero registered two-point weekends with one goal apiece, and goaltender Stefano Durante stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced, including all but one of Air Force’s 12 shots in the third period of Saturday’s 2-1 win.
“We handled (adversity) unbelievably well,” Lang said. “Our bench demeanor was perfect. I really liked us in five out of the six periods, and (Air Force goaltender Alex) Schilling was really good on Friday. On Saturday, it was 2-0, and we felt it could’ve been three or four. Credit to Air Force for pushing us in the third period, but five out of those six periods, we were really good.”
The wins continued an established trend from AIC’s breakout span of the past three years by including at least one one-goal victory. The Yellow Jackets own a .633 winning percentage in those situations since the start of the 2017-18 season, a number jumping to an absurd 17-6, .739 percentage in Atlantic Hockey games. They faced 11 one-goal games last year, including eight in conference play, with six wins all against conference competition.
“We have been unbelievably comfortable in (one-goal) hockey games over the past two or three years,” Lang said. “Internally, we know that’s our kind of game. We like when it’s tight, and it’s low-scoring and every puck and play matters. Our guys have been conditioned, and we don’t get too high or too low during a game. That’s an AIC hockey game, and our guys believe that.
“I believe we returned a top forward, a top goalie and maybe the best player in the league with (defenseman) Brennan Kapcheck. We returned a lot of pieces that have won a lot of hockey games, and we have an influx of freshmen that’s as strong as we’ve ever had. Usually you have to lose to learn a lesson, but we had teaching moments on Saturday. That was more of a credit to Air Force than what we were trying to do.”
Aaaaaaand they’re off
College hockey’s early season schedule endured a bumpy ride in its initial ascent after postponements torched matchups throughout the initial weekends. The cancellations stole the center spotlight, but they didn’t overshadow the electricity generated by some early-season headlines.
Take RIT.
The Tigers built a snowman on the Polisseni Center ice with their 8-5 win over a nationally-ranked Clarkson team in their opener, two weeks after the university reinstated the program after initially canceling the entire 2020-2021 season. Junior Will Calverley scored a hat trick, and seniors Alden Dupuis and Jake Hamacher, players who thought their college careers were over, added equal flair against the Golden Knights.
Or how about LIU? The Sharks’ emotional ringer to even step on the ice as college hockey’s 61st team ran the gamut before their first game against Holy Cross. The program raised more than a few eyebrows when it announced its intention to play this fall, but the Atlantic Hockey scheduling lifeline enabled the overtime winner in its inaugural game. They were outshot, 41-15, by Holy Cross in that game and only put one shot on goal in the third period and overtime, but Christian Rajic earned the first-ever win for head coach Brett Riley.
For what it’s worth, Holy Cross answered handily the next night by building a 4-0 lead in the third period before winning, 5-2, in another wild matchup with 46 shots on goal.
Then there’s Canisius, the team picked 10th by both Chris and me in our preseason preview. It beat Robert Morris (my preseason favorite to win the league), 5-2, last Friday before dropping a 5-4 decision on Saturday. The Golden Griffins trailed in that game, 2-0, before the teams traded goals in the second period to cut the lead to 3-2. The heavy blows continued into the third with four combined goals, though the Colonials’ Randy Hernandez picked up the game winner with under a minute and a half left in the game.
Games of the Week
It goes without saying that the upcoming schedule is subject to change, but the week ahead, if it holds, will have some compelling storylines and some really exciting matchups:
— AIC hosts LIU in the Sharks’ first games against Atlantic Hockey’s defending champion. It’s not exactly a secret that LIU is looking for a conference landing spot, and wins over the AHA’s biggest dog would go a long way to proving it as a competitive team. I’m also pretty sure that this is the first “Sharks” game at the MassMutual Center since the Worcester Sharks became the San Jose Barracuda.
— Bentley and Army West Point had two hitting after the whistle penalties, two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and two five-minute major penalties that drew game misconducts last year. They meet for the first time this weekend with the series starting at Tate Rink before shifting to Massachusetts.
— Sacred Heart will jump on the ice for the first time this season. My preseason pick to essentially win the eastern pod, the Pioneers will make the short trip to Holy Cross before a Sunday matinee return match.
— Robert Morris makes the first trip of the year to Air Force after the Falcons played AIC this weekend. As a reminder, the Falcons are the lone Atlantic Hockey team not bound by geography and will play two games against every team in league competition.
Rochester Institute of Technology was the first Division I team to cancel its 2020-21 season but also the first to restore it.
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger talk with RIT head coach Wayne Wilson about the process that led to the restoration of this year’s campaign, what he expected this season from his team and what he learned about the Tigers from a weekend split against Clarkson. We also discuss the Atlantic Hockey pod schedule and look ahead at games this weekend against Niagara.
Boston College celebrates a goal during its weekend sweep over UMass (photo: Chris Tucci).
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: Jimmy, it seems ironic that there is so much hockey to talk about this week given how many teams haven’t begun playing yet, how many games have been postponed and the number of programs that aren’t playing at all.
We have Boston College’s strong showing against Massachusetts to start the Hockey East season. As we have often said in the past, it’s impossible to extrapolate based on such little early-season data, but seven different Eagles scored 10 goals in that series, and that may speak to BC’s depth. The voters are pretty high on Boston College early in the season. I know I voted them No. 1 this week.
Then there’s Arizona State’s sweep of Wisconsin. The Badgers looked like a team on a mission in their first four games of the season, all conference games. After losing 3-1 Saturday – ASU’s first win of the season – the Badgers allowed eight goals in Sunday’s loss. Of course, the Badgers were without four players, reportedly because of something COVID-related, but that takes nothing away from the improvement the Sun Devils showed.
Sticking to the Big Ten, it looks like Notre Dame used some time away from the ice wisely. In their series against Wisconsin (Nov. 13-14), the Irish dropped two and scored three total goals. Against Michigan and on the road this past weekend, they swept a very good Michigan team. I watched those games. It was more than the sophomore Ryan Bischell’s .951 save percentage in his first two games of the year.
And now we’re all eagerly anticipating the start of the NCHC bubble.
So much to process, and all through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic. What are your early thoughts?
Jim: Well, you’ve certainly highlighted some of the key takeaways from the weekend. But I think I want to look ahead to something you mentioned: the NCHC bubble.
First off, this is a fantastic experiment carried out by this league and something, in a way, I wish more leagues considered. I really detest using the term “win-win,” but this is one case where the term is appropriate.
The league and its eight members have the ability to play a professional-like schedule over a three-week period and, in that time, allow most of the teams to play 10 conference games. The city of Omaha benefits at a time when cities are hurting. Hospitality businesses like hotels and restaurants will receive a quick influx of volume. And by placing the student-athletes and their staffs in this pod, with extensive testing on a medical campus with trained professionals, it feels like this will be one of the safest environments at a time when COVID cases seem to be surging.
I wish other leagues took this approach, maybe not just to play league games, but non-league as well.
We saw this past week where college basketball used bubble-like experiences (one that comes to mind is Mohegan Sun in Connecticut which hosted 12 teams and played a plethora of non-conference games) to help give teams an opportunity to face non-conference opponents.
To me, that’s a brilliant solution to a problem, don’t you think?
Paula: I do agree that it’s the best possible scenario for teams and leagues for whom this is a possibility. Without creating the kind of hermetically sealed bubbles that the NHL, the NBA and the WBNA created – and to great success – the NCHC’s pod will provide as much protection for all involved, especially those who are considered Tier 1 participants, which includes everyone essential to games, like the student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials and many medical personnel.
It’s also important to note that people who are Tier 3 – like media – won’t have any in-person interactions whatsoever with the Tier 1 folks, so that those involved in the games themselves are as protected as they can be.
I know that everyone will respect the NCHC’s protocols to mitigate risk – and I don’t want to debate whether or not we should be doing sports at all right now, because I’ve made my very mixed feelings about that known to the world – and I am all for any economic boost that the Omaha area may see from this.
The pluses you list are all positives, Jimmy. I don’t know, though, that this doesn’t further expose the gap between the haves and have-nots of college hockey. This certainly feels like something the Big Ten could have done, but I suspect that we’ll see similar results between the NCHC and B1G Hockey regarding COVID exposure and infections because of the Big Ten’s own rigorous protocols, even without the kind of pod that the NCHC set up.
How feasible would this have been, though, for the WCHA or Atlantic Hockey? I keep going back to what Bob Motzko said about how the teams – and by extension, the leagues – who can handle the pandemic best will prevail this season, and I wonder if some leagues lack the resources to do what the NCHC has done.
Jim: I’ve made a point of big-budget programs having the best chance to succeed in the past. And I stand by the way the Power 5 teams have much deeper resources to test, one of the most critical parts to keep players and staffs safe.
But then I look at the NCHC. Yes, these are eight schools that have made it clear that hockey is a major athletic priority at their institution. But none of these are Power 5 schools and a number of them aren’t even Division I in any sports besides hockey.
In my opinion, what it comes down to is a decision of how to spend your athletics budget. And I don’t think we, let alone anyone, are in a position to criticize or question how athletic departments are spending right now. Some sports take larger priority like basketball and football.
It will be interesting to see if any conferences change courses. Will anyone halt play between now and the end of the year? Will any conferences look to play at least a small portion of their season inside a bubble (though it seems a little late to begin that process, even for say the final month of the regular season)? And I guess, should we get there, will conferences and maybe even the NCAA consider using a bubble structure for postseason tournaments?
Paula: I am certainly not criticizing how athletic departments are spending their money and I commend the NCHC and its member teams for going to these lengths to protect everyone involved.
Your questions about how things will progress are intriguing. I have mused with a few people about how this season will progress. It seems likely that any number of programs will experience delays and perhaps whole leagues will as well, and it is probable that such delays will not necessarily be concurrent, that these things will be impossible to predict and scattered. It is also likely that online classes will be widespread during the second half of the season, giving schools and leagues flexibility to juggle schedules and prolong the overall D-I hockey schedule if necessary. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the season extended beyond April to fit in enough play among all the remaining participants to create a meaningful national championship.
And, yes, I do think the NCAA should consider a type of bubble or pod structure for postseason play, including conference playoffs.
Do you think an extended season is possible? Even before that, do you think that conferences may bubble up for stretches to make this season work?
Jim: I do think that bubbles will be created for the conference tournaments and possibly even the entire NCAA tournament. If that is the case, I think there is an ability to extend the season knowing that there isn’t a Frozen Four deadline looming. Will all of this take maneuvering? Yes, but that seems to be the theme of this season.
One last topic before we sign off – USA Hockey announced its preliminary World Junior Camp roster with 21 collegiate players heading to the final evaluation camp. More notably, though, is that five players on the roster emanating from California, the most of any state other than the six players from Massachusetts. A notable fact showing how hockey continues to expand throughout this country. Now – just as we continue to cross our fingers on in college hockey – let’s hope the tournament is played.
The Bemidji State-Minnesota State men’s nonconference series originally scheduled for Nov. 27-28 in Mankato, Minn., has been rescheduled for Dec. 18-19 in Mankato.
The Beavers and Mavericks will meet in the first game of the series at 7:37 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 18. The second game will take place on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 5:07 p.m. CST.
The series is being played in conjunction with a previously scheduled WCHA women’s series between the two schools. The women’s games will take place on Thursday, Dec. 17 and Friday, Dec. 18. Both games of that series will begin at 2:07 p.m. CST.
Hockey East announced Tuesday the following schedule updates:
Friday, December 4
Boston College at UConn (women) – 6 p.m.
Boston University at New Hampshire (women) – 6 p.m.
Holy Cross at Providence (women) – 6 p.m.
Providence at Boston College (men) – 6 p.m. (NESN)
Boston College at UMass Lowell (men) – postponed
Saturday, December 5
UConn at Boston College (women) – 2 p.m. (NESN+)
Boston University at UConn (men) – 2:30 p.m.
Providence at Holy Cross (women) – 3 p.m.
Merrimack at Massachusetts (men) – 4:30 p.m. (NESN+)
Boston University at New Hampshire (women) – 5 p.m.
Boston College at Providence (men) – 7 p.m. (NESN)
UMass Lowell at Boston College (men) – postponed
Sunday, December 6
Massachusetts at Merrimack (men) – 4:30 p.m.
Northeastern will return to competition for men’s hockey and women’s hockey later this month.
These teams showed minimal COVID-19 related issues during the recent pause in activity.
“Adjustments were made after an environmental scan of all teams with respect to COVID-19,” said Northeastern director of athletics and recreation Jeff Konya in a statement. “This is the best decision to have student-athletes compete in a safe climate and at the earliest opportunity. We will continue to make adjustments if needed.”
The second-ranked women’s hockey team will open up the season with a home-and-home series with No. 10 Boston College on Dec. 11 and 13, hosting the Eagles on Sunday at 5 p.m. on NESN inside Matthews Arena.
The 15th-ranked men’s hockey team will play a home-and-home with Merrimack to open the season on Dec. 12 and 13, hosting the Warriors on Saturday night at 6 p.m. on NESN.
Fans will not be permitted at any home events through the end of 2020. Northeastern will re-evaluate this position in early 2021.
