It’s the second straight weekend of all-conference matchups, with the exception of Tuesday’s Rensselaer and Connecticut game. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted.
Friday, Nov. 14
St. Lawrence at Colgate
Both these teams like to play fast, but both have also gotten excellent goaltending thus far, with the Raiders’ Charlie Finn and Saints’ Kyle Hayton tied for the national lead with three shutouts.
Colgate is without top-six forward Mike Borkowski who was lost for the year with a knee injury last weekend. The Raiders should out-possess the Saints, meaning it will come down to whether Hayton can continue his hot play. I think he’ll play well, but Colgate simply has too many weapons and Finn is no slouch on the other end. Colgate wins
Clarkson at Cornell
The Big Red will be without coach Mike Schafer after the ECAC issued a one-game suspension following his post-game comments Saturday at Quinnipiac. That’s not the biggest problem for Cornell, as it has three goals in four games this season – a problem not helped by the absence of puck-moving defenseman Joakim Ryan, who hasn’t played since leaving the season opener on Oct. 31 with an injury. Clarkson hasn’t been scoring prolifically either, but have been solid in their own end, much like the Big Red. Could we see another 0-0 tie? I doubt it, but Clarkson hasn’t won at Cornell since 2007, and I don’t see that streak ending. Cornell wins
Yale at Dartmouth
Dartmouth has been lead in the early going by its top line and a solid performance by goalie James Kruger. Yale has yet to show the prolific scoring its traditionally been known for, while goalie Alex Lyon was pulled after giving up three goals in the first period to St. Lawrence last Saturday. Lyon should rebound, but the real question is how will Yale produce some offense? The Bulldogs haven’t scored a second-period goal this season, and have only scored twice in the third. Dartmouth wins
Brown at Harvard
The Crimson opened some eyes with a 6-3 throttling of Boston College on Tuesday. To be fair, the Eagles started third-string goalie Brad Barone, but it was an impressive showing from a Harvard team that has been high on talent, but low on results. Harvard’s Alexander Kerfoot and Kyle Criscuolo, along with Brown’s Mark Naclerio, Nick Lappin and Matt Lorito may be some of the more underrated forwards in the league, although Lappin is out for the weekend following a two-game suspension issued by the league. It’s a pretty even matchup, but I’m leaning towards the home team. Harvard wins
Princeton at Rensselaer
RPI has been hit-or-miss so far, but the Engineers are currently in first place with a 3-1-1 conference record. Not much has gone right for Princeton so far, although first-year head coach Ron Fogarty did get his first win as a Tiger last weekend against Cornell. RPI wins
Quinnipiac at Union
Two of the better teams in the ECAC over the past few seasons haven’t been up to their usual standard this year, although the Bobcats have won five in a row. The Dutchmen are in the midst of a five-game winless streak; a stretch I don’t see continuing. Union wins
Saturday, Nov. 15
Clarkson at Colgate
The Golden Knights might have the goaltending and defense to keep pace with the Raiders, but I’m not sure they have enough depth up front to match Colgate. Colgate wins
St. Lawrence at Cornell
Two contrasting styles: I like the Saints speed and steady goaltending from Hayton. St. Lawrence wins
Brown at Dartmouth
It’s the 150th all-time meeting between these teams, with the Big Green holding a 74-68-8 advantage, including a 12-2-1 mark over the last 15 games. Losing Lappin for the weekend hurts the Bears, but they should be able to pull one win out of their road trip. Brown wins
Yale at Harvard
This is one of the nation’s oldest rivalries will feature the awarding of the Tim Taylor Cup, named in honor of the former Yale coach. It will be given to the most outstanding player of the game. I won’t venture a guess as to whom the award will go to, but I like the Bulldogs to get the win. Yale wins
Quinnipiac at Rensselaer
Take your pick: an inconsistent offense (RPI) or an inconsistent defense (Quinnipiac). The Bobcats look to have turned it around, posting two shutouts last weekend to push its winning streak to five games. The Engineers scored six goals two weeks ago against Union, but only two last weekend. Quinnipiac wins
Princeton at Union
Even in its current funk, I don’t think Union should have a problem with the Tigers, especially at home. This is the last game at Messa Rink for the Dutchmen until Jan. 16. Union wins
Tuesday, Nov. 18
Harvard at Dartmouth
Both teams are off to a solid start following disappointing seasons last year. I think this is a pretty even matchup – evidenced by a 3-3 tie two weeks ago between the teams – but give Dartmouth the slight edge. Dartmouth wins
Rensselaer at Connecticut, 7:05 p.m.
Like RPI, the Huskies have played some top teams tough – a win against Boston College and a tie versus Boston University. But like the Engineers, they haven’t been able to put together any sort of lengthy winning streak. Both teams are strong in net – the difference could come down to who can scrape together some goals. Rensselaer
Hobart and netminder Lino Chimienti face Nazareth Friday night (photo: Dan Hickling).
Our East columnist, Dan Hickling, and our West columnist, Brian Lester, are back at it this week with their picks for the weekend’s top games.
BRIAN LESTER
Another weekend of college hockey is about to begin.
For some teams, conference play continues this week while other teams are set to battle in pivotal nonconference games that will prove beneficial in the long run.
One of the big matchups of the weekend is St. Thomas’ showdown with Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The two teams met in the NCAA tournament a year ago, with the Pointers winning and going on to finish as the national runner-up.
The Tommies come in at 1-1-2 on the season and will face a huge challenge on the road against the Pointers.
St. Thomas is led by Willie Faust, who has tallied three of the team’s seven goals. He no doubt needs to have a big game for St. Thomas to thrive.
Drew Fielding is allowing 1.69 goals per game and has tallied 82 saves. His play between the pipes will go a long way in determining how the Tommies fare against the sixth-ranked Pointers.
Stevens Point comes in stinging from a 3-2 loss to St. Olaf and is eager to get back on track.
Lawrence Cornellier leads a balanced attack, having tallied three goals. Four others have scored at least two goals. The Pointers have been particularly tough on defense, allowing only four goals. Brandon Jaeger has shined in goal, making 73 saves.
This one will be close, but with the Pointers being at home, they get get the edge. Stevens Point, 3-2.
Other predictions for the weekend: Gustavus Adolphus (2-2) vs. Concordia (Minn.) (2-2): The Gusties enter their first league series of the season averaging nearly four goals per game. They have scored 13 on the season. Jake Bushey has fueled the attack with our goals. Gavin Tufte has scored twice. Gustavus has yet to give up a power play goal and Erik Johnson has stepped up between the pipes. He has racked up 107 saves in four games.
The Cobbers have shown a lot of potential on offense as well, scoring 12 goals so far. Jon Grebosky has been the top scoring threat, having tallied four goals and an assist. Andrew Deters has also played well. He has scored once and dished out three assists.
Concordia has the luxury of playing both of these games at home and should at least be able to to steal one of them in a battle of two teams that made the MIAC playoffs a year ago. Concordia 4-3, Gustavus 5-3. St. John’s (2-0-2) vs. St. Olaf (1-3): Another matchup of two MIAC playoff teams from a year ago. The Johnnies have yet to lose and have shown they have the potential to be a very good team after playing Wisconsin-Eau Claire to a 3-3 tie last week.
The Johnnies have scored 11 goals, with Neal Smith paving the way with four. Saxton Soley is one of the top goalies in D-III hockey and his play will be key in the series. He owns a goals-against average of 1.88 and has made 88 saves in three starts.
St. Olaf dropped three of its first four, but did knock off Stevens Point last week for its first win. The Oles are led by Brian Hickey, who has scored two of the team’s eight goals. Steve Papciak has made 96 saves. If St. Olaf can duplicate its effort against the Pointers, they will at least get a split in this home-and-home series. St. Olaf 3-2, St. John’s 5-3. Augsburg (3-1) vs. Wisconsin-River Falls (2-0): The Auggies are riding high after winning their last two, scoring 10 goals in two games against Bethel. Mark Ohnstead has paced the offense with four goals. Dylan Meier and Rory Vesel have tallied two goals apiece. The Auggies play well as a team. They have dished out 24 assists, including five from Ben McClellan and four from Zach Dick. A total of 14 players have registered at least one assist.
The Falcons have already beaten two MIAC teams and have scored nine goals in their first two games. Alex Murphy is off to a great start, scoring four goals, while goalie Tanner Milliron has come up with 52 saves.
River Falls has been particularly efficient on the power play, having tallied five goals already, but I think Augsburg goes on the road and gets the win. Augsburg, 4-3. St. Norbert (4-0, 4-0 NCHA) vs. Lake Forest (2-1, 1-1): The defending national champions have been an offensive machine through four games, racking up 28 goals. Ten players have scored at least two goals apiece. The Green Knights have also been sensational on the defensive end of the ice, allowing just four goals on 59 shots. David Jacobson has been solid between the pipes, making 47 saves in three starts. Tony Kulava has started once and has made eight saves.
For Lake Forest, this series is a chance to make a statement against the No. 1 team in the country. The Foresters have shown off their potential to be solid on offense and have tallied 15 goals. But if Lake Forest is going to have a chance at success in this series, it needs to play well on defense. Goalie Leo Podolsky has started twice and has made 58 saves. St. Norbert is just too good offensively to lose in this home-and-home series. St. Norbert 6-2, 5-1. Marian (2-2, 2-2 NCHA) vs. Milwaukee School of Engineering (0-4, 0-4): Marian has won its last two games and will look to keep the momentum rolling this weekend. The Sabres have been led by Derek Thorogood and Brodie Jamieson. Both players have tallied two goals apiece. Marian will look to improve a bit on defense this weekend. The Sabres have given up 12 goals, including four on the power play. The good thing is Marian can turn to either Mike Baldwin or Mike Gudmandson in goal. The two have combined to make 115 saves.
The Engineers have struggled, allowing four or more goals in each of their games, and that trend needs to change if they want to get back on track. Of course, all four losses have come against nationally ranked opponents, and that experience could pay off this weekend. Generating offense hasn’t been a huge issue. MSOE has tallied 11 goals, with Omar Mullen scoring three times. The Engineers have been competitive and my guess is they find a way to get at least one in the series. MSOE 4-2, Marian 5-3.
DAN HICKLING
Friday ECAC East – New England College (0-2-1, 0-2-0) at Skidmore (2-1-0, 1-1-0) – NEC 3 Skidmore 2.
Nothing so dangerous as a team hungry for its first win. That description fits the Pilgrims to a tee. ECAC West– Nazareth (2-0-1, 1-0-1) at Hobart (2-2-0, 1-1-0) – Hobart 4, Nazareth 3.
The upstart Golden Flyers opened some eyes last weekend by taking three out of four points from Utica. Grabbing two more, with Hobart goalie Lino Chimienti standing in the way, might be asking too much. SUNYAC – Cortland (0-2-1, 0-2-1) at Morrisville (0-2-2, 0-2-2) – Morrisville 5 Cortland 2.
Someone’s gotta win their first game, unless of course they tie, which the Mustangs have done twice already. Then they would get to do it all over again on Saturday, when they meet again. Saturday ECAC Northeast– Nichols (4-0-0, 2-0-0) at Wentworth (3-0-0, 1-0-0) – Nichols 4, Wentworth 1.
Wentworth is off to a soaring start under new coach Jay Pecora. However, the defending conference champion Bison will beckon their hosts back to Earth. MASCAC – Fitchburg State (0-2-3, 0-1-1) at Worcester State (1-1-2, 0-0-1) – Fitchburg 1 Worcester 0.
Tired of tying – they have three deadlocks already this season – the Falcons are due to break into the win column. A battle of under rated goaltenders – Fitchburg’s Ryan Wysocki and Salvatore Tecci of Worcester – could be in the offing. NESCAC – Middlebury (0-0-0, 0-0-0) at No. 13 Bowdoin (0-0-0, 0-0-0) – Bowdoin 3 Middlebury 2.
It was a win over Middlebury to open the NESCAC tourney that sent then fifth-seeded Bowdoin on its improbable run to the NCAAs. Now nationally ranked, the Polar Bears will be looking to start another run, this one on opening night.
It’s painfully obvious that Drew Claussen is the oddsmaker here.
Last week
Drew: 4-4-0 (.500)
Paula: 1-7-0 (.125)
Season
Drew: 26-16-3 (.611)
Paula: 18-24-3 (.433)
In my defense, I did pick Michigan State to split with New Hampshire, with each team winning opposite nights of the ones I predicted.
This week
There are five Big Ten teams playing this weekend, with Wisconsin out of the mix. The series between Penn State and Massachusetts-Lowell series is part of the Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge.
American International at Michigan
Drew: I’m not a fan of declaring games as “must win” unless it’s a verifiable fact that the team actually must win the game, but Michigan really needs to pick up two wins at home this weekend. American International has a 2-3-1 record and has already given up seven goals, in a losing effort, twice this season. Michigan got a weekend off to think about its 2-5-0 record, so I think it’d be fair for its fans to expect a solid effort this weekend.
Paula: These teams are meeting for the first time, although the Wolverines are familiar with other Atlantic Hockey foes; Michigan is 16-3-1 all-time against the AHA. The Yellow Jackets played a single game last weekend, a 7-1 road loss to Massachusetts Nov. 7. The Wolverines last played Michigan Tech Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, having been outscored 10-3 in those two losses. Both games in this series begin at 7:30 p.m. Neither is televised.
Drew: I don’t know if there’s ever a good time to play Boston College, but if there is, it’s right now. The Eagles have dropped four games in a row for the first time in a decade and were defeated by Harvard 6-3 on Tuesday. Boston College is down right now, but I’m still going to pick them to win this game. For Michigan State’s sake I hope I’m wrong, but I just can’t see Boston College dropping five in a row. A serviceable performance by Brad Barone, who won’t have the distractions and nerves that surrounded his first career start, should be enough to push BC past a Michigan State team that has struggled to put the puck in the net again this season. The Eagles’ offense isn’t leaps and bounds better than the Spartans, averaging three goals per game, but I think it’ll do just enough to pick up a road win. Something tells me Paula may disagree with me.
Paula: The only point of disagreement I have is that now is definitely not the time to play the Eagles for precisely the reason that Drew gives, that BC has dropped four in a row. That’s incentive enough to come into East Lansing with more than enough fire to mean bad news for the Spartans, a point on which we do agree. Michigan State had a goodish weekend with a split against New Hampshire Nov. 7-8, and the Spartans play strong, calm, unified hockey. It’s the first visit to Munn for the Eagles since 1990, but the teams have played often enough for nonconference opponents. Michigan State is 16-7-1 all-time versus the Eagles, with the most recent game a 5-2 Boston College win Oct. 7, 2011, Tom Anastos’ first game as coach of the Spartans. In 2007, the Spartans beat the Eagles 3-1 for the national championship, and Michigan State is 8-2 all-time against BC in NCAA tournament play. This should be a good contest, and I’m glad I live close enough to East Lansing to cover it, especially since it’s not televised. This single game is tonight, Friday, and begins at 7:00 p.m.
Drew’s pick: Boston College 3-2. Paula: Boston College 4-2.
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Minnesota
Drew: These two teams have already faced off this season, but the home-and-home nature of this series means that the Gophers and Bulldogs will actually get to play in front of something that can be accurately defined as a “crowd.” According to the box score from the Gophers’ 4-3 victory over Duluth at Compton Family Arena for the Ice Breaker Tournament in October, attendance was 2,586. From what I remember seeing, that number must have included fans, players, coaches, referees, arena workers and media. The winner and loser of that season-opening game has each gone on to successful early season starts. Minnesota owns a 7-1-0 record and is coming off of a weekend sweep of Notre Dame. Adam Wilcox said he was becoming more comfortable in net after last Friday’s game, which is something because I bet a lot of teams would love to have a goaltender that allows them to start the season 5-1 when he’s not 100 percent on his game. The Gophers may need Wilcox to step up his game this weekend with Brady Skjei and Travis Boyd out. Vinni Lettieri may also miss this weekend after taking a wicked slap shot off the helmet last Sunday. Duluth is coming off of an impressive road sweep of St. Cloud State; the Bulldogs are now 6-4-0. I expect these games to be more crisp than the one earlier this season, where the Gophers jumped out to a lead an held on. Being a home-and-home series a split seems like the logical pick.
Paula: What Drew said, plus a little history. The Friday game will be the 225th between these long-time rivals, with Minnesota holding a 134-73-17 lead in the series that began Dec. 1, 1952. The teams met three times last season, exchanging lopsided wins in Mariucci Arena, with the Gophers taking a 6-1 game Nov. 21 and the Bulldogs winning 6-2 two days later. The teams last met Jan. 25 in the North Star College Cup, a 4-4 tie; the Gophers won that cup in a shootout. The Gophers host Friday night and the Bulldogs host Saturday, with each game beginning at 7:00 p.m. Each game is televised, with Fox Sports North Plus carrying Friday’s contest and Fox Sports North and Fox College Sports televising Saturday’s game.
Drew: It was fairly obvious that Ohio State wasn’t going to be a team that lit that lamp at a high frequency this year, so good goaltending was going to be key. So far, the Buckeyes’ netminders have been average at best. Matt Tomkins has a 2.35 GAA but has still struggled out of the gate to the tune of a 1-3-1 record. Christian Frey has a 1-2-0 record and a 4.01 GAA. The Buckeyes will need to win the special teams battle to be successful this weekend and the rest of the season. So far Ohio State has converted on 6-of-33 power-play opportunities and has given up five goals on 28 penalty-kill attempts. The Buckeyes have had a challenging nonconference schedule so far and have dropped a lot of close games, but things aren’t going to get any easier down the road.
Paula: This is an awesome in-state and former CCHA rivalry, one that was especially fierce when I began covering college hockey 20 years ago — when the Buckeyes were down and the Falcons were up, as seems to be the case now. The teams disagree on when they first met; the Buckeyes claim 1966 and the Falcons claim 1969. The Buckeyes say that the Falcons have a 94-73-9 all-time record in this series; the Falcons say it’s 90-60-8. That, my friends, is a rivalry, when even the record keepers disagree on what constitutes an official game. The Falcons beat the Buckeyes 4-3 in Bowling Green Oct. 15, 2013, and the Buckeyes beat the Falcons 5-3 in Columbus Oct. 29, 2013. The Falcons ride a three-game win streak into Friday’s contest, having taken a pair of 3-2 games from Alaska in Fairbanks Nov. 7-8. Ohio State dropped a pair of home games against Nebraska-Omaha, 4-1 and 4-3, last weekend. The Falcons host Friday’s game, which begins at 8:00 p.m. The Buckeyes host Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Neither game is televised.
Drew’s picks: Ohio State 4-2, Bowling Green 4-1. Paula: Bowling Green 3-2, Ohio State 3-2.
Penn State at Massachusetts-Lowell
Drew: Well, it’s time to find out if Penn State is for real or not. The Nittany Lions will take their 5-1-1 record on the road and play a highly nationally-ranked team. The talent level of the teams that Penn State has been played can be called into question, but I believe that winning can also be contagious. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Penn State steal a win or a tie this weekend. That being said, Lowell has proved that it is in the conversation about the nation’s top teams. The River Hawks are 4-1-1. Their only loss was a 8-4 drubbing by Michigan.
Paula: The River Hawks are 4-0-1 in their last five contests, most recently having tied Northeastern at home Nov. 7, 3-3, before beating the Huskies the following night on the road, 5-0. The Nittany Lions take a four-game win streak into this series, having last played Oct. 30-31, a pair of 3-2 wins over Bentley. These teams first met last season in Pennsylvania, with Lowell sweeping, 4-0 and 3-2, Nov. 14-15. The River Hawks have the top offense in the nation, averaging 4.22 goals per game; the Nittany Lions are tied for second in the country with Minnesota and Robert Morris, averaging 3.88 goals per game. Friday’s contest begins at 7:15 p.m., Saturday’s at 7:00 p.m. Neither is televised.
Drew’s picks: Massachusetts-Lower 4-2, 3-3 tie. Paula: I don’t see Penn State picking up a proverbial point this weekend, but that’s not how I’m calling it. Nittany Lions 3-2, River Hawks 3-2. If they split and do so on nights opposite what I call, I will weep.
Condolences to the Michigan hockey family
Recently, the Michigan hockey family lost two men important to the building of that program.
On Nov. 5, former player Wally Grant (Class of 1950) died at the age of 86. Grant, a winger and three-time All-American, played four years for the Wolverines, missing the 1946-1947 season for serving in the U.S. Army. Grant helped lead the Wolverines to their first national championship in 1948, and he was the first former player to endow a scholarship for Michigan hockey.
On Nov. 10, former player, coach and athletic administrator Al Renfrew (Class of 1949) died at the age of 90. Renfrew was also a member of the championship team of 1948 and he coached Michigan to its national championship in 1964, serving as a coach from 1957 to 1973. As a player, he amassed 172 points (91 goals, 81 assists). He’s the only man in Michigan hockey history to win a national championship as both a player and a coach.
Last week, I gained another two games on Arlan in our season-long race. Hopefully I can keep it up. Neither Arlan nor I did particularly well, as I went 12-7-2 (.619) to move to 95-28-17 (.739) on the year, while Arlan went 10-9-2 (.523) to move to 89-34-17 (.696).
Friday, Nov. 14
Harvard at Clarkson Candace: The first real test for the Crimson. The Golden Knights have won five in a row, but their last outing against a ranked team didn’t go so well. Harvard 3-1 Arlan: These teams combined for five goals in splitting two games last season. Harvard 2-1
Brown at Cornell Candace: Even if the Bears seem to have discovered their offense, I don’t see them beating Cornell, which should be eager to record its first win. Cornell 3-2 Arlan: If told one of these teams was one game under .500 and the other was four games under, I’d have matched the wrong team with each record. Who foresaw the Big Red having the worst winning percentage in the country at this point? Cornell 4-3
Rensselaer at Quinnipiac Candace: The Bobcats have beaten the teams they should, and that continues. Quinnipiac 4-1 Arlan: RPI has only one win on the year; the Bobcats have yet to lose. Obviously, this one is headed to OT. Quinnipiac 4-0
Dartmouth at St. Lawrence Candace: This should be closer than last week’s blowout, but I still like the Big Green. Dartmouth 3-2 Arlan: I can’t decide if the Saints are more like Robert Morris, or a Hockey East team not named Boston College or Providence. Dartmouth 3-2
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 14-15
Penn State at RIT Candace: I really have no idea how this will play out. RIT hasn’t won since October. RIT 1-0, 2-1 Arlan: In Texas Hold’em, it is said there are four ways to play pocket jacks —- all wrong. This series looks a lot like pocket jacks. RIT 2-1, Penn State 2-1
North Dakota at Bemidji State Candace: Ties in both wouldn’t surprise me. Since I have no idea of the win order, I’m picking a sweep. North Dakota 3-2, 2-1 Arlan: BSU had its worst performance of the season coming out of its previous bye week. North Dakota 4-1, Bemidji State 2-1
Minnesota at Ohio State Candace: The Gophers get back on track after the disappointment against Bemidji. Minnesota 4-2, 4-1 Arlan: One team is coming off a bye week, and the other played three games in five days. Minnesota 3-2, 4-1
Minnesota-Duluth at St. Cloud Candace: Like Arlan, I have no idea of the likely split order, so I’m going with the visitors. Minnesota-Duluth 3-2, 4-2 Arlan: The Huskies have the goaltending to steal one, but it is almost impossible to predict when a crime will occur. Minnesota-Duluth 1-0, 6-3
Vermont at Syracuse Candace: Do the Orange build on finally beating Mercyhurst, or suffer a letdown? My guess says the latter. Vermont 3-2, 4-2 Arlan: Vermont has come up with a couple of real clunkers this season, but it hasn’t previously lost back-to-back games. Expect a rebound. Vermont 3-1, 4-3
Saturday, Nov. 15
Dartmouth at Clarkson Candace: I’m tempted to pick the Big Green, but I think Clarkson should win a squeaker. Clarkson 3-2 Arlan: Two teams showing signs of being better than expected. Clarkson 4-3
Yale at Cornell Candace: A tie wouldn’t surprise me at all. I won’t torture myself over this. Cornell 4-3 Arlan: I’m not going to overthink this one —- or think about it at all. Cornell 5-4
Brown at Colgate Candace: I knew I should have picked Brown in one game against Maine. Brown 4-2 Arlan: Colgate projected to be the team showing improvement, but the Raiders seem addicted to slow starts. Brown 4-2
Rensselaer at Princeton Candace: I think Princeton should rebound from the tie against RIT. Princeton 4-2 Arlan: It could be a few weeks before the Engineers win again. Princeton 4-2
Harvard at St. Lawrence Candace: I think St. Lawrence will make this interesting, but Harvard prevails. Harvard 3-2 Arlan: SLU has played six games versus conference opponents but only three conference games. Harvard 4-0
Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 15-16
New Hampshire vs. Boston College (home-and-home) Candace: The Eagles keep rolling. Boston College 5-1, 6-2 Arlan: The Wildcats just ended a losing streak; now, here come the Eagles to start another one. Boston College 7-1, 4-2
Northeastern vs. Providence (home-and-home) Candace: The way their season is going, the Friars may not get their first win until January. Northeastern 4-2, 3-1 Arlan: Is the Coyne hat trick on Tuesday a sign that she’s going to heat up? Northeastern 3-2, 4-1
Boston University vs. Connecticut (home-and-home) Candace: Even sans Poulin, I think the Terriers should have enough to win. Boston University 4-1, 3-2 Arlan: The Terriers are just 2-2-1 with Marie-Philip Poulin out of the line-up. Will she be? Boston University 4-3, 4-2
Okay, it’s time to stop the bleeding. Over the last three week’s Dave has begun a run of domination that needs to be stopped right now. I’m only three games back, but if the bleeding doesn’t get stopped soon it could be a disaster.
Jim last week: 7-5-2
Jim to-date: 47-24-7
Dave last week: 9-3-2
Dave to-date: 50-21-7
Friday, November 14
Notre Dame at Merrimack
Jim’s pick: The Warriors are proving that Lawler continues to be a difficult place to play. But that’s still not enough for me to pick against Notre Dame, particularly with the Irish hungry after being swept at Minnesota. UND 4, MC 2
Dave’s pick: I, too, am going with the Irish. They win their first road game. UND 3, MC 2
Vermont at Providence
Jim’s pick: This might be the toughest series of the weekend to pick. My gut says it is going to be a split, but knowing which team will win each night is difficult. No particularly reason, but I’ll go with the home team on night one. PC 3, UVM 2
Dave’s pick: I’ve belatedly become a believer in the Catamounts, but I started the season believing in the Friars. It’s time for their record to better reflect their play. PC 3, UVM 2
Boston University at Maine
Jim’s pick: Similar to Merrimack, Maine has defended home ice well. But I still think BU is a step above the Black Bears. BU 5, Maine 3
Dave’s pick: Home ice isn’t enough to slow down the 5-1-1 Terriers. BU 4, Maine 2
Northeastern at New Hampshire
Jim’s pick: Neither team has played to well at this point, but at least New Hampshire has found the win column a few times. UNH 3, NU 1
Dave’s pick: In the preseason, I thought both of these teams would finish at least in the middle of the pack. Instead, they have a single league point between them. When teams struggle, go with home ice. UNH 2, NU 1
Boston College at Michigan State
Jim’s pick: At lot of this matchup depends on the health of goaltender Thatcher Demko. With him, BC wins. Without him, I’m not so sure. I’m going to bet on him getting back to health after battling a viral infection. BC 2, MSU 1
Dave’s pick: Could the Eagles actually lose a fifth straight game? I just can’t believe it. BC 2, MSU 1
Sacred Heart at Connecticut (at Watertown, Conn.)
Jim’s pick: I get nervous picking against Sacred Heart sometimes when they play Hockey East teams. But I think UConn will beat this in-state rival. UC 4, SHU 2
Dave’s pick: UConn’s win over BC and tie with BU opened my eyes. Wide. Very wide. UC 4, SHU 1
Penn State at Massachusetts-Lowell
Jim’s pick: Penn State is hot out of the gate, but Lowell is hotter. And at home. UML 4, PSU 1
Dave’s pick: Even if Penn State is 5-1-2, Lowell will be 7-1-2. UML 3, PSU 1
Saturday, November 15
Notre Dame at Merrimack
Jim’s pick: May pay for picking against Merrimack at home, but I have to take that chance. UND 3, MC 2
Dave’s pick: This is a very tough call, but I’m going with Notre Dame and a road sweep. UND 2, MC 1
New Hampshire at Northeastern
Jim’s pick: Northeastern will get in the win column eventually. But I can’t pick that happening this weekend. UNH 4, NU 3
Dave’s pick: I’m not sure what to make of the Huskies, but they’re going to have to win at least one game before I pick them. UNH 3, NU 2
Vermont at Providence
Jim’s pick: Here is the split pick that I know I will regret. UVM 3, PC 2
Dave’s pick: This isn’t an intentional Four Corners Offense to protect my lead. I’m sooo tempted to go with a Providence sweep, but I’ve doubted Vermont too much this year. UVM 2, PC 1
Penn State at Massachusetts-Lowell
Jim’s pick: It will be closer in the second game of this series, but I think Lowell can sweep. UML 3, PSU 2
Dave’s pick: I don’t even think it will be close. UML 4, PSU 1
Tuesday, November 18
Rensselaer at Connecticut
Jim’s pick: I can’t figure out RPI this season. And thus, I’m going with the Huskies at home. UC 3, RPI 2
Dave’s pick: UConn can’t really be this good, can it? UC 2, RPI 1
Thursday, November 20
Massachusetts-Lowell at Notre Dame
Jim’s pick: Another really tough series that I feel may be a split. I have an entire week to think about how I’m going to pick the second game of the series. But for game one, I’m going with the River Hawks. UML 3, UND 2
Dave’s pick: I suppose the percentages say to go with Notre Dame at home, but the River Hawks have looked too good and the Irish have been too inconsistent. UML 4, UND 3 (OT)
Well, Matthew gained a game back on me. I went 7-3 (.700) to move to 39-14-2 (.727) on the year, while Matthew went 8-2 (.800) to move to 33-20-2 (.618) on the year.
Some big clashes between ranked teams highlight the action. Let’s see how we can do.
Friday, Nov. 14
Colorado College at No. 11 Denver Candace: Denver probably remembers losing the Gold Pan last year, and while the Tigers have owned this rivalry more often than not in recent years, I like the Pioneers. Denver 4-1 Matthew: There’s some truth to the saying about throwing records out the window for rivalry games, but even still, Denver should win this one somewhat comfortably. Denver 4-2
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 14-15
No. 7 Miami at No. 2 North Dakota Candace: Like my counterpart says, it’s hard to know which night each team will win. OT is likely in at least one of these. North Dakota 3-2, Miami 4-2 Matthew: Between UND’s injury woes and the RedHawks coming to Grand Forks, I’d be very surprised if UND is able to boost its unbeaten streak to 10 games this weekend. I think they’ll pick up one win over Miami, but it’s tough to tell when it’ll happen. Miami 3-1, North Dakota 4-1
No. 15 St. Cloud State at Western Michigan Candace: Western Michigan coach Andy Murray knows he has an angry St. Cloud team coming to town. I’ll pick the Huskies the first game. St. Cloud 3-1, Western Michigan 3-2 Matthew: Neither of these teams have really set the world on fire early this season. This series has ‘split’ written all over it. Western Michigan 3-1, St. Cloud State 2-1
No.13 Minnesota-Duluth vs. No. 1 Minnesota (home-and-home) Candace: I don’t see the Bulldogs pulling back-to-back sweeps, so I’ll go with home ice in each. Minnesota 4-2, Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 Matthew: Arguably the biggest non-conference series going on this week, and I’m finding it difficult to take anything other than a split here. Home teams win. Minnesota 3-2, Minnesota-Duluth 3-2
Rob Nichols and Connecticut had some breakthrough performances last week (photo: Stephen Slade/UConn Athletics).
Connecticut coach Mike Cavanaugh had every right to be happy with his team’s 1-0 victory last Wednesday night over then-No. 3 Boston College. Playing the team’s first Hockey East home contest, the Huskies shocked many around the college hockey world with the upset.
But if you ask Cavanaugh, he’s a lot more pleased with his team’s 4-4 tie against then-No. 5 Boston University a few nights later.
“I don’t think we snuck up on BU because of what happened on Wednesday night,” Cavanaugh said. “And the way our guys competed at BU, I thought it was a really strong performance.”
After getting three of four points against two teams ranked in the top five, Cavanaugh can settle some of his concerns entering this season of whether his team would be able to compete night in and night out in Hockey East.
“I know that we could get ourselves up for one game, but can you get yourself up to play back-to-back against quality opponents?” Cavanaugh said. “So I was really happy with the way we responded with the BC win.”
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the win and tie bring UConn’s Hockey East record to 1-2-1 after losing one-goal games at Merrimack and Vermont earlier in the season.
The overall mark for the Huskies at this point is 2-4-3, noteworthy for a team making a jump from Atlantic Hockey to arguably one of the toughest and deepest conferences in the nation, Hockey East. But there’s no need to hand out a trophy just yet.
But anyone who locked UConn into a spot in last place on their preseason ballot (this writer, and my counterpart Dave Hendrickson both did exactly that) may need to rethink things.
This UConn team has significant talent. It begins in goal, where netminder Rob Nichols has begun his sophomore campaign with a 2.26 GAA alongside an impressive .932 save percentage in nine games.
“He was holding us in games early on,” said Cavanaugh. “We were giving up too many grade A opportunities and he was making grade A saves to keep us in games.
“I think we’ve limited those grade A opportunities as the season has gone on here. He’s certainly making the saves he has to make for us to be competitive. But I think our overall team defense has gotten a lot better as well.”
Offensively, Cavanaugh compared his team a bit to the two-time defending Hockey East champions at Massachusetts-Lowell. He feels there is plenty of balance to his offense and believes his team can have success without a 60-point scorer.
That said, he also feels there is plenty to work on when it comes to scoring goals.
“Our offensive output has gotten better with each game we have played,” said Cavanaugh. “It’s very analogous to basketball where you create your shot but if you don’t get the offensive rebound you’re not going to be a good offensive team. It’s very similar in hockey. We can get a shot on net but if we don’t hunt down that rebound and create second-chance opportunities, we’re not going to be very good.”
While all of us learned last week that UConn will be quite competitive, we also learned this Huskies team will be supported in the Connecticut market.
The XL Center, configured to hold a little more than 8,000 last Wednesday, had that and many more, a positive sign that Connecticut and, in particular, downtown Hartford is prepared to support college hockey.
“It was electric,” Cavanaugh said of the atmosphere. “The place was just full of energy. It was the first time since I’ve been at Connecticut that I thought we’ve benefited from a home crowd. This was almost 9,000 people and it was loud. It really was a fun atmosphere to play in front of.”
An unlikely rivalry beginning for UMass?
While there are some significant rivalries that develop every year across college hockey, you might have been hard pressed to believe that one might develop between Massachusetts and American International.
Maybe it makes sense as the teams are separated by about 28 miles of highway along I-91. And for each, the other is the closest college hockey program, geographically speaking.
It also doesn’t hurt that last year, AIC walked into the Mullins Center and pulled off a 3-2 upset victory. UMass answered last weekend with a decisive 7-1 win over the visiting Yellow Jackets.
And now you have what is needed in a rivalry: both teams proving the ability to win.
“You try not to look back on something like that, but at the same time, it left a bitter taste in our mouth from last year,” said senior Zack LaRue of the Minutemen’s ability to rebound from last year’s loss. “Coach [John Micheletto] said that we want to make this [game against AIC] more of a rivalry and get a fire going underneath us. I think we prepared well.”
That preparation was on display last Friday from the get-go as UMass struck just 57 seconds into the game and had grabbed a 4-0 lead before the end of the first.
That’s the energy in the offense that Micheletto is looking for from his team, which aside from Friday has scored more than three goals just twice, one being a 6-5 overtime loss at Maine.
“We want to play a very up-tempo style,” said Micheletto. “It’s a necessity for us to be successful.”
Also necessary for UMass is getting scoring from beyond the team’s top two lines. On Friday, all four lines contributed offensively, something the team hopes to continue as it returns to league play on Friday at No. 8 Boston College.
“We’re a deep team,” said LaRue. “We’ll take what we can. But it’s nice to see all four lines going. You have your top two lines and those are sometimes the guys you rely heavily on. But when you’re getting it across the board from all four lines, that’s something special.”
As for that rivalry, the jury is still out for me. Although AIC has had some bright lights in recent seasons, perennially it hasn’t been a team that should be able to compete with the product UMass wants to put on the ice.
Last Friday, however, if UMass used the rivalry to give itself a shot in the arm, it certainly worked.
“Confidence, particularly with young men, is really powerful,” said Micheletto. “There’s a lot of belief in what we do, but scoring goals and winning games takes you further down that path.”
Jake Suter became the 18th Massachusetts-Lowell player to score a goal this season (photo: Melissa Wade).
Scoring by (a very large) committee for Lowell
Every coach wants a balanced offense. But Massachusetts-Lowell’s Norm Bazin has something of an embarrassment of riches in that area.
After nine games, all but one forward that has seen playing time has scored a goal. Four defensemen also have found the back of the net.
When a pair of Jakes (freshman Jake Kamrass and senior Jake Suter) found the net last Saturday against Northeastern, Lowell’s tally of goal scorers grew to 18.
Let’s give that some perspective. Excluding the six Ivies that just began play last weekend, there are 10 teams in NCAA Division I that have yet to score 18 goals total and another two that have exactly 18.
Lowell’s total likely will grow when Ryan McGrath, the team’s second-leading returning scorer, returns from an upper-body injury he suffered in the season opener against Boston College.
No wonder the River Hawks are the nation’s leading offensive team with 4.22 goals per game.
“In practice, we’re always shooting to score and make plays,” Kamrass said on Saturday. “You always have to shoot with your head up.”
“It bodes well for the team,” Bazin said of the depth. “It’s a real team effort and we want to continue that.”
Scrambling for a backup
Years ago in a prior life working in minor league hockey, I’d come upon a conversation that occurred a few times in the course of each season.
The NHL affiliate would call up one of its AHL team’s two goalies on the morning of a game. There wasn’t enough time to fly in a backup from the East Coast league affiliate, so the general manager would have to go scurrying about town to find an “emergency backup” to suit up that night.
Often times it was someone who still played men’s league hockey but usually was up there in years. The player would come into the GM’s office and sign a single-day contract, usually making a few hundred bucks to sit on the bench.
Every time, after the player signed the contract and was walking out, the GM would say the same thing: “Thanks very much. I hope I don’t see you in net tonight.”
Boston College coach Jerry York had to live that scenario in a college setting, something that rarely happens with the depth most college teams have at goaltender. But his starter, Thatcher Demko, was battling a viral infection that included a 103.3-degree temperature, and backup Brian Billett had taken a personal leave of absence from the team.
That left Brad Barone, a third-stringer whose only experience at BC was mop-up work over his first three seasons, as the only goaltender. Thus York had to scramble and find someone to backup Barone for BC’s Tuesday night game against Harvard.
Fortunately, the Eagles had a goaltender who practiced with the team early last year as a freshman before playing for BC’s club team. Alex Joyce was added to the roster on Tuesday afternoon and dressed for the Harvard game.
“Alex was with us last year a little bit at the beginning of the season,” said York. “He’s played a little bit on the club team. Not much this year, though.
“So with Brian [Billett] taking some personal time, it was kind of a ‘where do we go now?’ We made one phone call and [Joyce] said he’d love to play. A pretty good thrill for him tonight. Got to dress and sit on the bench.”
The college hockey experience could continue for Joyce as BC heads to Michigan State for a game on Friday. Because the team flies out on Thursday morning, Demko will need to be cleared by the team doctor prior to the Thursday flight. Otherwise, Barone will remain the team’s starter for the weekend with Joyce as the backup.
Knowing York as most of us do, I think the conversation with Joyce will be a different one than an AHL GM. It’s hard to imagine him looking an excited college kid in the face and saying, “Thanks very much. I hope I don’t see you in net tonight.”
Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15 Holy Cross at Army Dan: David Berard enlightened me to the Holy Cross team concept of strong defense last week. To be honest, I’m pretty high on the Crusaders right now. I said at the beginning of the year that this team will go as far as its defense. With Matt Ginn playing at a high level, that’s pretty darn high. Holy Cross sweeps. Chris: I haven’t been doing very well picking against Holy Cross, and after seeing them in person last weekend, I’m sold. The Crusaders are getting scoring from their rookies and play great team defense. Of course, the exact same thing can be said of Army. Still, I’m not going to get burned again so I’m going with a Holy Cross sweep.
Mercyhurst at Bentley Dan: For the first time in seven years, there’s going to be a brand spanking new face calling a Bentley home game thanks to upcoming nuptials. At the same time, though, this has the makings of everything I want in a jinxable scenario. A) It’s my wedding weekend, which is awesome except for the decision to get married during hockey season (clearly her fault!). B) I already said Mercyhurst is my foil for the season, meaning I could jinx them with my good vibrations. C) At the same time, I could jinx Bentley by overconfidently picking them. So I’m taking a split with absolutely no hockey analysis whatsoever. Best of luck to Jefferson Mills on the call this weekend; you should have a good one. Bentley wins on Friday, Mercyhurst wins on Saturday. Chris: This is going to be a great series between two teams that like to score in bunches. Too bad Dan won’t be broadcasting these – I hear he has other plans. Priorities, Dan! Anyway, I think this will be a split and am going with Bentley on Friday and Mercyhurst on Saturday.
Rochester Institute of Technology at Canisius Dan: I think RIT is the only place west of Albany not owned or built by Terry Pegula in some capacity. RIT sweeps. Chris: These will be the 78th and 79th all-time meetings between the WNY rivals. They’re the first league home games for the Golden Griffins at their new diggs, downtown Buffalo’s HarborCenter. It’s the only two games between the schools this season, so both look to make the most of it, but I like Canisius to sweep on home ice.
Air Force at Robert Morris Dan: This is one of those series where anything can happen. RMU is coming in piping hot, even though they were off last week, and Air Force is going to have a compete level through the roof given their loss last week to Alabama-Huntsville. I love the coaching matchup between two guys synonymous with “compete level.” Slight edge to Robert Morris right now, but I still think Air Force gets a win. Air Force wins on Friday. Robert Morris wins on Saturday. Chris: Games between the two former CHA rivals are usually close and entertaining. Will a week off cool RMU’s hot streak? Air Force is coming off a forgettable weekend at home against Alabama-Huntsville (loss and a tie), and I think the break in RMU’s momentum will be brief as they sweep at home.
American International at Michigan Dan: AIC is coming off a forgettable game against UMass. I think they’ll struggle to win this weekend with a very talented Michigan team, but don’t be shocked if they don’t put a scare into the Wolverines. There should be some great atmosphere as well since Michigan football is on a bye and Michigan basketball doesn’t open up until Monday. Michigan sweeps. Chris: This series features the two longest-tenured coaches in Division I. Both Michigan’s Red Berenson and AIC’s Gary Wright are in the 31st seasons at their respective schools. The teams also sport similar records coming into the weekend: AIC is 2-5-1 while Michigan is 2-5. But the Wolverines are much deeper and are looking to open a long homestand in style. Michigan sweeps. Friday, November 14 Sacred Heart vs. Connecticut Dan: I’m not even gone yet and already everything goes to hell. Chris and I forgot this through our first run through the picks. I blame Chris. Anyways, gotta love old friends dueling on neutral ice in the Nutmeg State. I’m excited to see what happens here and excited to see a good goaltending matchup. Slight edge defensively to UConn, slight edge everywhere else to Sacred Heart in net and up front. SHU wins. Chris: Yep. My bad. I left this out despite Tweeting about it this week. The game is being played at the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut with proceeds going to the family of Jason Pagni, who was killed in an automobile accident the past January, leaving a wife and two kids. He was known for his many contributions to hockey in the Nutmeg State. The game is already sold out. I have to disagree with Dan based on the way UConn has already made an impact in Hockey East. UConn wins.
Carmine Guerriero and Alabama-Huntsville earned their first win of the season last Friday at Air Force (photo: Alabama-Huntsville Athletics).
Mike Corbett doesn’t want anyone to throw his team any parties.
Still, Alabama-Huntsville’s accomplishment last weekend at Air Force shouldn’t be ignored. For the first time in five years, the Chargers went into a weekend series against a Division I opponent and didn’t lose.
“We’re not going to have a parade around here, but we’re trying to get that mentality back that we’re good enough,” said Corbett, UAH’s second-year coach. “We’ve earned these things. The guys have put in the time and it’s nice, from my standpoint, to see them reaping some rewards.”
UAH beat Air Force 4-2 Friday in Colorado Springs, then held on for a 3-3 tie Saturday, taking the proverbial three points from Corbett’s old employer.
“Just knowing Air Force like I do, it was kind of a pick ’em game,” Corbett said. “We felt good about getting a little confidence and getting a win on the road.”
In Saturday’s game, the Chargers had a chance for the sweep after going up 3-0 in the second period but allowed the Falcons to score three third-period power-play goals.
“As bad as it looks to say, we gave up a 3-0 lead in the third period, and three power-play goals, we didn’t lose it,” Corbett said. “Maybe the team last year, we would have lost that game. But we were able to sustain. We didn’t let their comeback turn into a loss.
“We’re just a better team this year.”
The Chargers are 1-7-2 overall and 1-1-2 in their last four games. Last year, they finished 2-35-1 overall. Maybe that’s not quite the turnaround that inspirational sports movies are made of, but there’s a noted difference in how the Chargers have played this season.
Last year, UAH gave up five or more goals in a game 14 times. This season, it’s happened just once — a 5-0 loss to WCHA foe Bowling Green. Otherwise, the Chargers have been competitive in every game they’ve played.
That’s partly due to their outstanding goaltending tandem of sophomores Carmine Guerriero and Matt Larose. The two have split their time in Huntsville’s 10 games and have each seen almost 200 shots in five games (Guerriero has faced only 198 compared to Larose’s 214).
“As much as we’d love them to win games, they aren’t losing games,” Corbett said. “And they can’t win games because they can’t score goals.
“If they could score goals we’d be at the top of the league,” he joked.
Scoring has been an issue for the Chargers, but UAH’s 17 goals are still more than defending WCHA champion Ferris State’s 11.
Corbett said he doesn’t have a go-to scorer just yet, but a bulk of his players are still trying to figure out Division I college hockey. Remember, it was just three years ago that the UAH program was nearly eliminated.
“We just want to get 20 Division I players on the ice,” Corbett said. “I know that sounds silly, but it takes time. We don’t have the depth we want, but we’re a lot closer and we’re better.
“We’re still probably overall a half-a-step slower for our league, but last year we were a full step slow.”
Most of the players in UAH’s normal rotation — including seven of the 10 leading scorers — are either sophomores or freshmen.
Defenseman Brandon Carlson, who leads the team with five points (two goals, three assists) is a sophomore, as are Brent Fletcher and Matt Salhany (one goal and three assists each). Brennan Saulnier, who had two assists last weekend against Air Force and also has four points, is a freshman.
The Chargers get a chance to get up to speed with at least one conference foe this weekend, as they host struggling Lake Superior State in just their second home series of the year. The Lakers are 1-9 overall but are two points ahead of UAH in the standings (Huntsville’s 1-1 tie at Northern Michigan two weekends ago was a nonconference game so did not count in the standings).
Corbett hopes to score some conference points this weekend, but also hopes to use it as an opportunity to gain some more confidence.
Mostly, however, he wants to send the message to the rest of the league: Don’t count the Chargers out. Not this season, and not for the long haul.
“The biggest thing people in the WCHA need to know is we’re stable,” Corbett said. “We’re stable with our personnel, we’re stable with our president and we’re stable with the support we’re getting here. Just give us a little time and we’ll keep getting better.
“My biggest fear is people regret us coming in. I don’t want people to think that. The only way we can stop that is continuing to get better week by week.”
Coach Chris Bergeron saw Bowling Green earn its first sweep of Alaska in Fairbanks since the 1995-96 season (photo: Todd Pavlack/Bowling Green Athletics).
Bowling Green getting noticed
Bowling Green has won three games in a row and is unbeaten in seven of its last eight games.
At 7-2-1, the Falcons are getting some attention — they moved into the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll at No. 19 this week. It’s the first time Bowling Green has been ranked since the 2007-08 season.
Coach Chris Bergeron said on bgsufalcons.com that he tries not to pay too much attention to the polls, whether his team is in them or not, but he hopes his players can feel good about them, provided they handle it properly.
“I don’t want to downplay the fact that our guys have worked really hard to get recognized from a national perspective,” he said. “And they deserve that.”
The Falcons are coming off their first series sweep of Alaska at Fairbanks since the 1995-96 season.
“You can never downplay going to Alaska and winning two games,” Bergeron said. “That’s not easy to do. It’s a long trip; they always play well at home. We were definitely excited about the result.”
This weekend, Bowling Green steps out of WCHA play for an in-state showdown against Ohio State. The home-and-home series begins Friday at Bowling Green before moving to Columbus.
The Falcons hope to improve the WCHA’s nonconference record, specifically its 9-3-1 record against Big Ten teams.
Looking for goals
Alaska-Anchorage goes to Ferris State for a rare Thursday-Friday series. The two teams will play a similar schedule when they meet again in early January in Anchorage.
Their last meeting took place in the WCHA Final Five semifinals last March in Grand Rapids, Mich., where the Bulldogs escaped with a 5-4 overtime victory.
As for this year, neither team is scoring a whole lot.
The Seawolves have just 10 goals in their last six games and have lost three straight.
The Bulldogs are 2-5 in their last seven games and have just four goals in that span (getting shut out three times), while allowing just 11.
Both of Ferris State’s wins in that stretch, including last Friday at Northern Michigan, have been 1-0 shutouts for senior goalie CJ Motte.
Commissioner Bill Robertson is scheduled to be in attendance on Friday night.
Ice chips
• Alaska has until Nov. 26 to appeal the postseason ban and other penalties handed down by the NCAA last week.
• After starting the season with five consecutive wins, Alaska is on a five-game losing skid. The Nanooks are idle this weekend and will travel to Lake Superior State next week.
• No. 9 Minnesota State is idle this weekend after winning five of its last six. Junior forward Bryce Gervais leads the country with 14 points and tied for first with nine goals, while senior Zach Palmquist is tied for the national scoring league for defensemen with 11 points.
• Mathias Dahlström is still the national leader in GAA. The Northern Michigan sophomore has allowed just six goals in the eight games he’s played this season (0.74 average). He’s also second in save percentage at .970 (191 saves against 197 shots). The No. 18 Wildcats are idle this weekend before heading to Alaska for two full weeks. They’ll take on Alaska-Anchorage for a series Nov. 21-22 then head to Fairbanks to take on the Nanooks Nov. 28-29.
• Michigan Tech is the only Division I team to have won every game it has played. At 8-0, the Huskies are off to their best start since the 1972-73 season. Robert Morris and Harvard are the only other teams without a loss.
• The Minnesota Wild fired AHL affiliate Iowa Wild coach Kurt Kleinendorst this week. Kleinendorst coached Alabama-Huntsville for one season, 2012-13, before stepping down.
Players of the week
This week’s WCHA players of the week are Minnesota State forward Teddy Blueger (offensive), Bowling Green goalie Tommy Burke (defensive) and Alabama-Huntsville forward Brennan Saulnier (rookie).
Getting things started a day earlier since there’s a game tonight …
It’s been a tough year making picks so far, but I finally had a good week and am closing in on you, Jack!
Looking back at last week, I saw we got ripped by Alaska assistant coach Lance West for expecting the Nanooks “to get just waxed” by Bowling Green. I know it was a tough week in Fairbanks with the NCAA sanctions coming down and the two losses to the Falcons, but for the record, I picked his team to win one of those games. Turns out that was my lone loss in the picks. Where’s the love, Lance?
As I always say, I’m just glad people are reading.
Well, let’s see who we can irritate (or motivate) this week:
Alaska Anchorage at Ferris State
Shane: It’s a rare Thursday-Friday series, but perhaps the shakeup can get these two teams to start scoring some goals. It sure hasn’t been easy, especially for the Bulldogs. First team to 1 has a big advantage. So with it coming down to goalies, I’m going to take senior C.J. Motte at home over freshman Olivier Mantha in a hostile environment (no knock on Mantha, who’s off to a fantastic start). Motte … er … Bulldogs 1-0, 2-1
Jack: It’s still awfully strange to see that both Alabama-Huntsville and Lake State have more goals in about as many games as the Bulldogs (10 to FSU’s 9). This should be a pretty fun series if you like closely contested goalie battles. Motte takes one and Mantha takes the other. Bulldogs 2-1, Seawolves 2-1
Lake Superior State at Alabama Huntsville
Shane: Who would have guessed these two teams would be squaring off with the chance to extend unbeaten streaks? The Lakers won their last game, Nov. 1 at Alaska Anchorage (curious to see how they come off their much-needed bye), while the Chargers won and tied at Air Force last week and are unbeaten in three of four. I’m thinking a split is in the works, and I’m thinking both teams would be happy with that. Chargers 3-1, Lakers 2-1
Jack: This should be a fun series, I think. Huntsville’s goaltending tandem of Carmine Guerriero and Matt Larose is awfully good and has been able to keep them in games all year. I’d wager that life is a whole lot easier for them when they aren’t facing 40-plus shots every game, too. The Lakers have struggled a bit offensively so I can actually see the Chargers sweeping this one. Chargers 3-1, 2-1
Michigan Tech at Bemidji State
Shane: Should be a good series in Jack’s neck of the woods with the undefeated Huskies coming to town. I liked the Beavers’ resiliency last weekend despite dropping two games in Mankato, and they’ll give Tech all they can handle, especially being at home. Will it be enough to hand the Huskies their first loss? I’m sayin’ there’s a chance. Huskies 5-2. Beavers 3-2
Jack: I missed all the games last week due to a little vacation so I didn’t get a chance to see either team in action, but from what I hear the Beavers had the same look they’ve had all year against the top-ranked teams they’ve played — they’re just as skilled but playing catch-up doesn’t suit them well. On the other hand, the Huskies are the real deal. But I don’t think the Beavers are going to be intimidated (see: Bemidji State at North Dakota, Oct. 10, 2014). I can see then scoring a split. Beavers 4-2, Huskies 5-3
Bowling Green vs. Ohio State (home and home)
Shane: The stat of the week is the WCHA’s record against the Big Ten this season, which is 9-3-1. Does that mean the WCHA’s good and the Big Ten’s bad? I think we can agree on the former, for certain. The latter? Well, there’s Minnesota and … everyone else. Conference aside, I’m all in on the Falcons. They’re good, and I think they keep things rolling — for them and for the WCHA. Falcons 3-2, 4-1
Jack: Shane, the correct answer is the Big Ten is good and just gave away all those games. I mean, how can the WCHA be good? There aren’t any big-name programs in that league! How can they possibly recruit against those brand names? That 9-3-1 record doesn’t mean anything other than the Big Ten schools weren’t trying hard enough! (NOTE: FULL SARCASM DRIPPING FROM THOSE SENTENCES) But for real, Bowling Green is going to sweep this series. That’s what usually happens when a good team plays a team that isn’t as good. Falcons 5-3, 3-1
Last week: Shane 8-1-1, Jack 6-3-1. Overall: Shane 39-23-5, Jack 40-22-5
Former Minnesota goalie Noora Räty has continued her career by playing on a Finnish men’s team. (Ryan Coleman/Ryan Coleman, USCHO.com)
Last week, Megan Rapinoe and Sydney Leroux, a couple of members of the United States women’s soccer national team, appeared on Fox Sports mixed martial arts series, “The Ultimate Fighter.” Rapinoe told a brief anecdote about meeting fans after a game who would say something along the lines of, “Oh yeah, I brought my daughter, but you guys are actually really good.”
Rapinoe’s reaction? “That’s actually offensive.”
Perhaps the actual fan statement was slightly different and more along the lines of something like, “You guys are actually really good —- for women.”
If that’s the case, I’d be more inclined to agree with Rapinoe, because the constant desire of some to denigrate a women’s sport and its players through comparison to males irritates me to no end. Everyone out on the field, court, or ice is female; that’s part of the rules of the competition. The relative performance of males in a similar game is irrelevant.
When discussing youth hockey, I’d hope that constant comparisons wouldn’t need to be drawn to bigger players, and we could enjoy the mites, squirts, peewees, bantams, or whatever divisions exist in your area, on their own merits. The youth teams aren’t at the level of prep teams, which can’t compete with college teams, which aren’t NHL caliber. That’s OK; they are all different leagues.
Similarly, women can achieve excellence in their sport without having to constantly be compared to males. Many played boys hockey when they were girls, and then their growth slowed, the boys’ growth accelerated, and they could no longer compete as effectively with their male counterparts.
The point of athletics is to improve. While ability is measured via performance against competition, at a more basic level, a participant is striving versus herself, with the point where she started on one end of the spectrum and her ultimate potential at the other.
While the individual is trying to improve, her emerging sport is as well, whether it be soccer, or MMA, or hockey. The sports are attempting to make gains not only in the quality of the competition, but the opportunities that exist for its athletes, including earning income as professionals or through corporate advertising contracts.
One advantage soccer and MMA have over hockey is that the athletes are more recognizable. It is a short list of sports where the participants are more anonymous than hockey players while competing; fencing and swimming come to mind.
Some of the most popular sports for women in terms of fan appeal are those where viewers can share the thrill and the agony which accompanies the victory and the defeat. Prime examples are gymnastics and figure skating. Every emotion of the performer can be witnessed, as though she were a character on a movie screen.
Television can capture much of the emotion for soccer, but the size of the pitch undermines that to an extent when viewed live. Nonetheless, an Abby Wambach or Alex Morgan can be made into a celebrity, with the endorsement opportunities and income potential that goes with it.
Throughout their history, sports like boxing and wrestling have thrived on the villain as much as the hero, even if it means conjuring one up artificially. It’s no coincidence that women’s MMA enjoyed a surge in popularity with the rise of Ronda Rousey. Admired by some, despised by others, she almost single-handedly caused interest in her sport to explode by making followers care what happened. Obviously, it is easier to make someone the face of a sport if you can actually see her face, be it Rousey’s scowl before a fight or her smile when she is promoting one.
For hockey, it is harder to become recognizable as an individual beyond a number, a name, and perhaps some manner of hairdo extending beyond a helmet. For the early part of the Olympic era, Cammi Granato was the face of women’s hockey in the United States. From the media’s perspective, that likely had as much to do with her being from a recognizable hockey family as her own considerable exploits. Since Granato’s retirement, there really hasn’t been that one personality that everyone thinks of first when the subject of the American team is raised.
A requisite for becoming a recognizable name and face is that you have to get exposure. Winning an Olympic gold medal provides the supreme opportunity, one no American has been afforded in 16 years. Unlike softball at present, hockey players do at least have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics every four years, and that in itself does provide a boost in recognition, if only for a few weeks.
Hilary Knight has made progress in building her personal brand. First, she appeared in the 2014 edition of ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue, which certainly increases exposure, in more ways than one.
Then on Oct. 3, Knight practiced with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Naturally, this triggered posts across the Internet by males saying basically, “She’s not good enough to play in the NHL.” Those who were actually on the ice with Knight, coach Bruce Boudreau and the Ducks players, were complimentary of her game and understood the spirit of the event that was part of World Girls’ Ice Hockey Week.
Just as growth is important for the individual, as hockey is a sport where size and strength is an advantage, it matters for the sport as well. Hockey is still very much a niche sport, both in the United States and in the world as a whole. That is obviously true for women, but it remains true for their male counterparts as well.
If Rapinoe, Leroux, and their teammates struggle to get recognition as women playing for the top-ranked women’s team in what is the world’s most popular sport, the hill to climb in that regard for female hockey players worldwide is even steeper.
Hockey for women may be making gains in other countries, but when it comes to competition on the world stage, it is still Canada, followed by the United States, and then a gap back to the rest. The encouraging sign is that where once it was always Finland and Sweden as the third and fourth-strongest teams in either order, now countries like Switzerland and Russia are overtaking the Swedes and Finns. There have been some high-profile upsets over the years, where U.S. or Canadian teams have fallen to Sweden or Finland, but on a typical day, the North American squads retain a multi-goal advantage over the rest of the world.
When huge upsets have occurred, they’ve been backed by a stellar display of goaltending, and it is the goaltenders that have made the greatest inroads in being able to compete on the ice with the men. During the Olympics in February, Finnish goalie Noora Räty announced that she would have to retire from the sport, despite being only 24 at the time, if she could not find a job with a men’s team, because it was too difficult to train at the level that being an elite athlete requires and still support herself. Räty is now playing for Kiekko-Vantaa in the Finnish Mestis league. Canadian goaltender Shannon Szabados has hooked up with a men’s minor league team, the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
Playing with the men wouldn’t be necessary if professional leagues for women, such as the CWHL, became better established and were able to pay players a decent salary. How close is that day? Unless some entity with deep pockets is willing to sponsor the league, like the NBA did with the WNBA, there will need to be a big jump in attendance at women’s professional games, and those have typically lagged behind most NCAA games.
In February, Wisconsin drew a women’s NCAA record crowd of 13,573 for a game versus Minnesota. Those two finished as the top two for attendance in 2013-14, both drawing over 45,000 for the season while averaging more than 2,300 per game. Growth in interest has been strongest in the West, as WCHA teams North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth finished third and fourth last year, with UND drawing a program-record 5,835 fans to a January game.
However, there were some promising signs concerning attendance in the East. Cornell also averaged over 1,000 fans per game. Penn State opened the Pegula Ice Arena and its attendance more than tripled from its inaugural season. Vermont drew 2,028 fans to its “Pack the Gut” promotion, breaking the regular-season record for Hockey East in the process. Yale had 1,125 fans attend its “White Out for Mandi” to benefit the Mandi Schwartz Foundation.
In the Olympic season a dozen years before, the highest attendance any program averaged was 750. Progress is being made in terms of recognition and interest, perhaps not at the pace that most of us would like, but progress all the same. College hockey went through lean years on the men’s side as well before reaching the popularity that it enjoys today.
One of the three most common reasons I hear from players as to why they started playing hockey is that they watched a game, loved it, and asked to start playing it. Perhaps the most common reason is that a sibling played, so attracting one girl to the game may bring more.
So when somebody confesses that they only attended a women’s sporting event to bring a daughter but learned in the process that women can play, give the newbie some slack. By bringing a child to the game in the first place, they’ve already made a bigger impact than any praise, genuine or not, could make. If the daughter doesn’t become a hockey player, perhaps she’ll become a fan, and we can always use more of those.
Cal Decowski and Kyle Osterberg celebrate Decowski’s overtime goal against St. Cloud State last Friday (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Going into last weekend, there was no reason to think that No. 13 Minnesota-Duluth would break its string of Friday losses and Saturday wins. The Bulldogs, who have played one of the nation’s toughest schedules to date, facing all ranked teams, were headed to St. Cloud, where they hadn’t swept a series since 1999.
The tough schedule had been made tougher by its losses, three of which were by one goal, including an overtime defeat by Minnesota State. After opening an early lead Friday, the Bulldogs saw St. Cloud State score two power-play goals in the third period, and it seemed the one-goal-loss trend would continue.
However, Andy Welinski scored late to force OT, and Cal Decowski scored in the extra session to give the Bulldogs the win. UMD followed that 3-2 win with a 3-1 victory Saturday, securing its first sweep of the season.
“I think the key was we had a good start in both games, getting a lead in the first period and making that hold up for most of the game,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin. “I thought our guys did a good job until [Jonny] Brodzinski scored. A couple quick ones, we were down. We had a five-on-three and didn’t execute, and we were fortunate to get a four-on-three and Andy [Welinski] scored to tie it, and come back in OT with a nice play from [Kyle] Osterberg to Decowski off a turnover. I thought our guys showed a lot, like they have on most Fridays, battling back, and this time we were fortunate to get the win.”
The Bulldogs don’t get a rest from ranked opponents. This weekend, they face off against top-ranked Minnesota in a home-and-home series. The two teams already faced each other once, in their season opener in the Ice Breaker Tournament, a game won by Minnesota 4-3. The Bulldogs fell behind early and were down 4-1 before a third-period rally fell short.
“We had some chances to tie the game, but again, some good lessons were learned,” said Sandelin. “We battled back and made it a game. Both teams are different now. They have some players in and out of their lineup. They’re a team that’s playing very well. There’s not a lot of holes in their game.
“We have a big challenge this weekend, but I like coming out of what we did at St. Cloud. I think our guys have some confidence. We have to play a solid game. There can’t be any lapses.”
Last season, Minnesota-Duluth depended on scoring by committee, but so far in 2014-15, the Bulldogs have been getting good scoring from several players. Both Dominic Toninato and Alex Iafallo average at least a point a game, while four other players chip in at least three-quarters of a point a game.
Toninato in particular has been strong, and his seven goals through last weekend matches the entire total of his freshman campaign.
“He’s gotten stronger, he plays very competitively,” Sandelin said of Toninato. “He’s not afraid to get into the tough areas. Having that kind of start where he scored some goals early lifts a player’s confidence. He plays a lot for us. He plays on the power play, he plays four-on-four, five-on-five, and I think going through last year and learning what works and what doesn’t helps. That’s the progress you want to see, that they take that next step, and hopefully that continues.”
One other strength of the Bulldogs has been the play of freshman goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo, who has won the starting job thanks to jaw-dropping saves like this. Kaskisuo was in net against Minnesota in the opener, and Sandelin expects that he will get more support this outing.
“I think we all know that a good goaltender can make everybody look better,” said Sandelin. “I think there’s no question that he’s gotten more confident every game. The first game of the year, we didn’t give him a lot of help. Each game, he seems to be more and more confident, and he’s played tremendous for us.
“I think the key is that he’s made timely saves at key moments of the game. There haven’t been a lot of soft goals, knock on wood. He’s been really consistent, and any time your goaltender makes those kinds of saves, it gives your whole team a boost.”
Western Michigan coach Andy Murray (right) expects the Broncos to be facing an angry St. Cloud State team this weekend (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Western Michigan finds its offense
When Western Michigan opened its season with a 4-2 loss to Canisius, it seemed ominous. Despite winning the second game of the series 4-2, the Broncos’ struggles continued. They lost their next three games, twice failing to score a goal games while getting swept by NCHC opponent Omaha and losing to Alaska.
Considering that the Broncos had lost their two top scorers from last season in graduated seniors Shane Berschbach and Chase Balisy, perhaps the slow start was to be expected as the Broncos looked to restart their offense.
However, since falling 1-0 to Alaska on Oct. 24, the Broncos have found their offense, scoring four goals in two games and five in another while going 2-1 over that span.
“I think our guys have started to put the puck behind the goalie, rather than in front of him,” laughed Broncos coach Andy Murray. “Against Omaha the first night, we had 43 shots. We had a lot of shots against Canisius as well, and we weren’t able to score. The big thing I think is we have been a little more diligent around the net, and our chances have gone in. I don’t think our style has changed. We’ve always been a team that tries to work hard and play hard in the offensive zone.”
One of the players to emerge is Broncos captain Nolan LaPorte, who leads the team in scoring with eight points, averaging a point a game. Last season as a sophomore, LaPorte averaged 0.6 points a game.
“He’s playing with a lot of discipline,” said Murray. “He’s an emotional player, and he’s done a good job of staying on the positive side of his emotions and channeling them into a positive direction. He’s the captain of our team for a reason: He’s an everyday practice player and every-shift-a-game player. He plays really hard.”
One reason for the recent offensive success has been the play of the power-play unit, which is currently ranked 14th in the country at 22.86 percent.
“It’s interesting: Last year, we were one of the better teams scoring five-on-five and couldn’t do anything on the power play,” said Murray. “This year, up until last weekend, we struggled to score five-on-five, but we got it going again. I think we’re a little deeper on the power play than we’ve been in the past, and though we lost some elite players, possibly our top two defensemen and certainly our top two forwards from last year, we seem to be a little deeper in terms of being able to use different people.”
While the power play has been a boon, the Broncos have struggled somewhat with penalty killing, with only a 79.4 percent success rate. Murray said his team will be more aggressive on the penalty kill while working to improve.
“I think first-time clears on your penalty kill are very important; we’ve failed to do that at times,” said Murray. “We’ve allowed teams to get extra opportunities because we’ve failed to clear the puck. I think coach [Dave] Shyiak, who is in charge of our penalty kill, does a great job. We’re emphasizing getting in the shot lanes and being more assertive on our penalty kill.”
This weekend, the Broncos will host No. 15 St. Cloud State, which was swept last weekend by Minnesota-Duluth. Murray knows his team needs to be ready for an NCHC battle.
“It’s a great league, and there’s great parity, and every night you have to be at your best, and we’ve got an angry St. Cloud team coming in here this weekend,” said Murray.
The NCHC is 7-2 against the Big Ten this year, with the only defeats coming against top-ranked Minnesota. NCHC teams are also 12-9-2 against ranked nonconference teams this year.
Players of the week
Offensive player of the week — Riley Barber, Miami: Barber notched four points in Miami’s weekend sweep of Colorado College, scoring two goals and two assists. In Friday’s 3-0 shutout, he had an assist and registered a plus-3. On Saturday, he had a power-play goal and an even-strength goal and assisted on the final goal in Miami’s 5-1 win. Barber finished plus-5 on the weekend while firing 12 shots on net.
Defensive player of the week — Andy Welinski, Minnesota-Duluth: Welinski was a key player in a Bulldogs’ defensive unit that allowed only three goals, all scored on a power play, as Minnesota-Duluth swept St. Cloud State on the road for the first time since 1999. On Friday, he scored the game-tying goal in the third period to force OT, and on Saturday, he assisted on the game-winning goal. On the weekend, Welinski was plus-5 and blocked three shots.
Rookie of the week — Avery Peterson, Omaha: Peterson scored three goals and two assists in UNO’s sweep of Ohio State. On Friday, he scored a power-play goal and assisted on the game-winning goal. On Saturday, he notched his first career multi-goal game, scoring the first goal to tie the game at 1-1 while assisting on the goal that tied it at 3-3. Peterson finished plus-3 on the weekend.
Goaltender of the week — Jay Williams, Miami: Williams posted a 0.50 GAA and a .973 save percentage in Miami’s sweep of conference opponent Colorado College. On Friday, he stopped 21 shots for his first shutout of the season and his third in his collegiate career. On Saturday, he made 15 saves while only giving up a power-play goal. He helped kill nine of 10 CC power plays on the weekend while stopping 36 of 37 shots.
Colgate junior forward Mike Borkowski will miss the rest of the season after successful knee surgery (photo: Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com).
Colgate junior forward Mike Borkowski is done for the season after suffering a knee injury against Quinnipiac last Friday.
He recently underwent successful surgery.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed to learn that Mike will miss the remainder of the season due to his injury,” said Colgate coach Don Vaughan in a statement. “It will not be easy to replace a player of Mike’s caliber in our lineup, but this is an opportunity for someone to step up and rise to the occasion. The same skills that make Mike such a great player will serve him well during the rehabilitation process. I expect him to make a full recovery and return to the ice as the same dynamic athlete he was before his injury.”
Borkowski suffered the injury during the second period of the Raiders’ contest against the Bobcats. He immediately left the game and was not in the lineup the following night for Colgate’s 5-1 victory at Princeton, snapping a streak of 84 consecutive games played.
In nine games this season, Borkowski posted seven points on three goals and four assists and won 59.7 percent of his faceoffs.
“The support has been great from everyone around the Colgate community,” added Borkowski. “It’s obviously tough knowing I won’t be able to compete on the ice for the remainder of the season. However, I am looking forward to bringing that same competitiveness to my rehab process.
“I am in great hands with the medical staff here and I look forward to getting on the ice again. I’ll be with my teammates every step of the way as the season goes on.”
Babson junior goalie Jamie Murray has posted two shutouts in his past two games for the Beavers (photo: Babson Athletics).
Eye popping.
Such are the saves that Babson goalie Jamie Murray makes, as well as the resulting stat package.
Through the early stages of the new season – three games worth – Murray has allowed just one goal, and has racked up shutouts – his seventh and eighth career blankings – in his last two starts.
That’s a current scoreless string of 155:53, a save percentage of .986, and a teensy-weensy 0.36 for a goals-against average.
Little wonder that the Beavers, defending champions in the ECAC East, are off to a healthy 3-0 (2-0 in conference) launch.
“It sounds kind of cliché,” said Murray, a junior from Scituate, Mass., “and I’m sure that it’s said a lot, but (at) Babson, we pride ourselves in team defense. The defense does a great job of keeping the shots from the outside, and let me handle what shots they do get off. They make my job pretty easy.”
Perhaps so.
But does the defense make the goalie, or does a stingy, confident netminder make the defense play with maximum swagger?
Chicken or egg?
“I have a lot of faith and confidence in my defense,” said Murray, “and I like to think they have a lot of faith and confidence in me.”
And why not?
As a sophomore, Murray backstopped the Beavers to their second consecutive NCAA tourney berth, while putting up spectacular (1.50, .948) numbers.
Clearly, his cage mastery this season is no fluke.
“I go into every game thinking I’m not going to let up one goal,” said Murray. “That’s the mindset that I have. My final goal is to give my team a chance to win.”
It makes one wonder how anything ever gets past him.
The one shot that did, by Curry’s Adam Valadao, came on a back-door tuck-in following a rebound, early in the second period of the season opener.
“It’s part of the game,” he said. “I looked at it after the fact to see what I could do better.”
It’s that studiousness, that drive to improve, that has helped Murray become one of Division III’s premiere netminders.
To that end, Murray, has put in many long hours under the eyes of Babson goalie coach Ed Kesell, and in particular, Brian Eklund, the former Brown and NHL goaltender.
Murray, who first began working with Eklund while still in high school, credits him with tweaking both his technique and his psyche.
“He let’s me play my style,” said Murray, “and helps me out with the little things I need to work on.
“When I first started working with him, I was really, really raw. I didn’t have a lot of technical skills. I think he tried to build me from the ground up. He sees what works for me, and what doesn’t.”
What works for Murray, who bears a facial resemblance to the fabled Tim Thomas, is his athletic style, which often finds him charging out of his crease to challenge an astonished shooter.
Shades of the former Vezina and Conn Smythe winner, perhaps?
“Yeah,” Murray, said. “I’m not as crazy as Tim Thomas. He’s definitely the far end of the spectrum. But at times I feel that I just pitch everything I’ve learned and just try to stop the puck. For better or for worse, sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
So far, it’s been all for the better.
Utica freshman Carter producing on offense
He’s young and playing out of position, but neither of those drawbacks has stopped Utica’s Dalton Carter from becoming the nation’s leader in points per game.
Carter, a freshman out of Toledo, Ohio, has popped in eight points – a goal and seven assists – in Utica’s three games, a 2.67 ppg clip.
He also leads all ECAC West point-getters with five, all assists.
Carter was moved back from the wing by Pioneers’ coach Gary Heenan to take advantage of his shot and puck moving abilities.
“Dalton grew up playing forward,” said Heenan, “so he has offensive instincts. We are only using him as a dman but he does love to jump in the rush and is quarterbacking our power play.”
Geneseo off to slow start
Geneseo has gotten off to a sluggish defense of last year’s SUNYAC championship, putting up a 2-2 (all in conference) mark, and already equaling its number of conference losses from a year ago.
One Ice Knight who has been thus far immune to any struggling is senior forward Tyler Brickler.
To date, Brickler has popped racked up six points (3 g, 3 a), one point off the conference scoring lead.
“[He] is our biggest asset,” said Geneseo coach Chris Schultz. “He will be leading the charge offensively and has a great opportunity to be an All American with a continued career in pro hockey after this.”
As for the bigger picture, Schultz feels that the Knights have plenty to sort through, beginning with himself, after last weekend’s home losses when they were surprised by Potsdam, 2-1, and hammered by Plattsburgh, 7-4, after coughing up a three-goal lead.
“We have alot of work to do defensively,” Schultz said. “We are a team that loves to score goals and play offense dynamically. We had a false sense of our abilities, defensively, going into this past weekend and that starts with me. We turned the puck over 56 times in the neutral zone on Friday which led to our demise. We were better in the neutral zone Saturday, but once we got our 3-0 lead on Plattsburgh, we were not disciplined to play great defense. We had too many fly-byes and no desire to play tough in our own end.
“We will get better.”
Noteworthy
Tyler Beasley has wasted no time at all establishing himself as a power play force for Nichols. Beasley, a junior forward, popped in three extra-man goals last week for the Bison, giving him a share of the national lead in that department. Beasley, who also chipped in an assist, was named ECAC Northeast Player of the Week for his effort. … Copping the same honor in the MASCAC was Framingham State forward Ryan McDonald, who fired in three goals and five points. … The NESCAC will be the last of the D-III loops to get going, with five games on the slate for Saturday and four more on Sunday.
Kevin Novakovich has been an early-season catalyst for the Hamline offense.
Cory Laylin has seen Hamline at its best.
His first job as a coach was in an assistant role with the Pipers during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
Hamline won 32 games in that two-year stretch, advancing to the MIAC playoffs twice, including a title game appearance in 2009.
So he knows success isn’t out of reach for Hamline and he is determined to get the program back to where it used to be.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach here [and] I believe we have a lot of potential,” Laylin said. “We’ve brought in some good players and we’re working to get things back on track.”
It appears Hamline is on the right track. The Pipers are 2-2 through four games. A season ago, it took them until Dec. 7 to win a game. They won only two all of last year.
“I bring a lot of energy to the rink and the guys have shown that same energy and enthusiasm,” Laylin said. “They have stepped up and done what I’ve asked with a smile. They are willing to learn and want to be successful.”
Laylin, a former standout at Minnesota who played 16 seasons of professional hockey, said the chemistry within the locker room has been vital to that change.
“We have a very cohesive unit in the locker room, and in my opinion, that is where improvement starts,” Laylin said. “The players push each other each day to get better.”
It’s paid off. In the second game of the season, the Pipers earned a stunning 2-1 win over three-time defending conference tournament champion St. Thomas in the MIAC showcase.
Sure, it’s a big victory very early in the season, but the importance of it goes beyond a mark in the win column.
“It’s a confidence booster for us,” Laylin said. “We lost to St. John’s (6-2) the night before, but we made adjustments and played a good game against St. Thomas. I was proud of the effort.”
Kevin Novakovich has led the Pipers offensively, scoring three goals. Jonny Gehrt has tallied a goal and three assists to lead the team in points (4). Brandon Reinholz has scored twice and has dished out an assist as well.
The Pipers have scored 10 goals in all while goalie John Sellie-Hanson has come up with 104 saves in three starts. He has allowed nine goals and is 2-1.
One of the improvements Laylin wants to see his team making going forward is finding a way to create more scoring opportunities.
“We have to get more traffic in front of the net and get nastier in front of the net to have more rebound goal opportunities,” Laylin said. “Our guys are hungry to make plays and I’m confident we will continue to get better offensively.”
The Pipers face two non-conference opponents this weekend, squaring off with 2013 national champion Eau Claire on Friday and battling Superior the following night.
“We are going to have to play at a high level and do the little things right,” Laylin said. “Both of those teams are very solid. They will be good tests for us.”
Hamline would love a chance to contend for a MIAC tournament spot this season, but doing that is easier said than done as the league is competitive from top to bottom.
“We have to focus on each period. We can’t take any periods off if we want to win games,” Laylin said. “This is a very good league and hopefully we can be in the mix at the end.”
Early Start
Augsburg got a jump start on competing for the MIAC championship this season after coming up with a sweep of Bethel this past week. The Auggies defeated the Royals 5-1 and 5-2 in the series, improving to 3-1 overall and to 2-0 in the conference.
The Auggies held an impressive 81-36 advantage in shots in the two-game series and have taken 145 shots on the year. That aggressive effort has translated into 13 goals.
Mark Ohnstead has paved the way. In four games, he has come through with four goals and an assist. Rory Vesel and Dylan Meier have tallied two goals apiece.
On the defensive side of the ice, the Auggies have allowed only eight goals on 80 shots. Fedrik Melander has started three of the four games between the pipes, making 55 saves.
Falcons Flying High
Wisconsin-River Falls showed off its offensive talent in the first two games of the season, scoring nine goals in a pair of wins. The Falcons opened the year with a 4-3 win over Concordia (Wis.) and also knocked off Hamline 5-2.
Alex Murphy has been instrumental to the early success, scoring four goals. Christian George has tallied two goals. They are the only two players with multiple goals for the Falcons so far.
Much of River Falls’ offensive success has come on the power play. The Falcons have five power play goals this season, with Murphy tallying three of them.
On the flip side, the Falcons have given up only two goals on the power play. If they can continue to have success scoring and defending in those situations, they are going to be in a position to contend for the WIAC championship again.
Sensational Sabres
Marian continued its dominance against Lawrence for the Battle of 41 trophy, winning it for the third consecutive season after a series sweep of the Vikings.
The Sabres, stinging from a pair of losses to defending national champion St. Norbert, took down the Vikings 2-1 and 5-2 to claim the trophy.
Goalie Mike Gudmandson rose to the occasion in the opening game of the series, racking up 25 saves on 26 shots to help Marian win its first game of the season.
Gudmandson, who is only a freshman, has started twice this year and has tallied a total of 62 saves. He was named the NCHA Defensive Player of the Week for his effort against Lawrence.
Although it’s still early in the year, his goals against average of 1.51 ranks third in the league.
Gudmandson arrived on campus as a recruit with a lot of potential. Last year, his goals-against average of 1.74 for the Battlefords Northstars of the SJHL set a single-season league record. He was the league MVP as well.
Goaltender Andrew Bodnarchuk led Sacred Heart to a win and tie last weekend (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
There’s never been such a thing as too much goaltending. Although it’s a position where only one player can play at a time, having multiple goalies capable of playing is something every coach dreams about.
The competition forces each guy to bring his best game whenever he gets the chance to play, and it often creates camaraderie through competition. The team is able to ride a hot hand with another ace in the hole, something that makes a team even tougher for opponents to plan against.
At Sacred Heart, having multiple goalies playing solid minutes is translating to success. Through their first 10 games, seniors Alex Vazzano and Andrew Bodnarchuk are in a virtual timeshare, with the former playing six games to the latter’s four.
They have similar GAAs, with Bodnarchuk’s 2.64 slightly better than Vazzano’s 2.84, and they’re neck-and-neck in save percentage with Bodnarchuk at .919 and Vazzano at .912.
Last weekend, it was Bodnarchuk’s turn, and he didn’t disappoint in helping lead the team to a win and tie over Canisius. On Friday, he made 26 saves, including nine in the third period, to help buoy strong offensive Pioneers comebacks from two one-goal deficits.
Trailing by one in the first period, they tied the game at 1-1 after a goal by Jacob Brightbill. In the second, Canisius scored early but David Iacono and Drew George each scored to put the Pioneers up 3-2.
In the third period, Bodnarchuk displayed some toughness: Mitch McCrank received a minor for goaltender interference, and Bodnarchuk responded by picking up a two-minute penalty of his own for roughing.
On Saturday, he continued the streak, saving 37 shots as the Griffs outshot Sacred Heart 41-29. In overtime, after Sacred Heart rallied from down 4-3 in the third period, Bodnarchuk stopped all four shots taken in the extra frame to preserve the tie.
“Our goaltending had a great weekend,” Sacred Heart coach CJ Marottolo said. “[Bodnarchuk] gave us a chance to win both games. That’s something that we’ve seen out of both him and Alex Vazzano. They both compete really hard, which is something that’s great to have if you’re a coach.”
The goaltending helped the team rally from slow starts during both games; Canisius scored the first goal of both games yet came away with just a single point.
“We have not been off to the starts that we want [in games],” said Marottolo, “and we definitely want to start faster. But I think the games showed we have a lot of fight, that we can scratch and claw in our effort, and that’s something that’s really a positive.”
With the three points, the Pioneers improved to 3-3-2 in league play, good enough for third place behind only undefeated Holy Cross and nationally ranked Robert Morris.
Those eight games are the core of what they’ve played so far, with only two nonconference games played on their schedule so far (against then-No. 4 Colgate). Even so, the team is choosing to focus on the micro instead of the macro.
“The standings are skewed right now,” said Marottolo, “so the message for everyone is that every game is always so important. We have a nonconference game coming up this weekend with UConn, and then we get back into it with games against RIT at RIT.
“Every team in Atlantic Hockey is so good, and there’s amazing parity in the league. So you have to be ready to play every game and be ready to be hunting points on any given night.”
The Pioneers will play their first game against the Huskies as nonconference foes on Friday at the Taft School in Watertown, Conn.
Unbalanced schedule, unbalanced results
Chris Lerch and I talked at length before the season about the new, unbalanced schedule. With six teams in the West and five teams in the East, the league scrapped its pod-based schedule for a new format.
The new format created more chances for the Eastern teams to beat Western powers, and the discussion of which teams are better than others has long been a topic of water cooler talk among those in the media and fan followings.
The five teams formerly in the Eastern pod are a perfect .500 through the first month of the season against the six Western-based schools. Holy Cross and Sacred Heart are both 1-0-1, and American International is 2-1. Army is 1-4-1 against the West, but it has been swept only once — last weekend against Mercyhurst.
There’s a lot that exists within the numbers. Niagara is 1-3 against the Eastern teams, while Canisius is 2-2-1. Mercyhurst is 2-0 but has played only one series against Army. Robert Morris is 1-0-1, but like the Lakers, it has played only one series, also against Army.
Air Force hasn’t played any series against Eastern teams, and the Falcons won’t until early December when they play Bentley.
Because of the scheduling, there is more opportunity for Eastern teams to collectively play Western teams. The unbalanced nature means some teams will play more than others, but as of right now, the Eastern squads are holding up quite nicely.
Happy trails, Bill Bellerose
Holy Cross’ associate director of athletics and business manager Bill Bellerose will retire at the end of the 2014 calendar year. A former Crusaders puck star, Bellerose is still in the top 10 in career points and goals. He was part of the NCAA men’s ice hockey committee from 2005 to 2010.
Bellerose was an instrumental figure in the founding of the old MAAC hockey league, which eventually became Atlantic Hockey. As the chairman of the ice hockey committee in 2010, he was one of a kind, a high-ranking figure who read what the Internet community had to say about the Frozen Four, directly responding to it in an open letter that perfectly explained and opened the door to some of the background of an unprecedented event.
Join all of us associated with the modern day of Atlantic Hockey in thanking a man who helped make so much possible for the present day.
Cody Wydo and Robert Morris are near the top of national scoring statistics (photo: Robert Morris Athletics).
Numbers game
One month into the college hockey season, let’s check in on some Atlantic Hockey stats ranking among the NCAA’s elite.
Robert Morris unshockingly leads the way. The Colonials’ offense is tied for second-best in the nation with Penn State and Minnesota at 3.88 goals per game. Their defense is tied for third-best in the nation with Cornell at 1.50 goals per game. That translates to a +2.38 goals-per-game margin, tops in Division I.
Their special teams rank in the top 10, including a ninth-best penalty kill at 91.2 percent. Senior Cody Wydo, at 1.62 points per game, is second best in Division I behind only Jack Eichel from Boston University.
No team matches Robert Morris on an overall scale, but others hold national recognition in select categories.
Bentley’s offense ranks 11th overall thanks to the nation’s best power play. The man-up for the Falcons is 14-for-37 (37.8 percent), a full five percentage points better than second place. Their special teams lit the lamp four more times last weekend.
Following a hat trick against Niagara on Friday, sophomore Max French pulled into 18th overall in points per game at 1.22, fourth-best in the nation in goals per game.
Home cooking?
The scheduling gods had a devilish sense of humor with respect to the Army Black Knights this year. They started the season with seven games at Tate Rink, four of which were against teams playing in last year’s Atlantic Hockey championship game (Canisius and Robert Morris).
One game was against Brown, and ECAC Hockey just produced two consecutive national champions.
Their only road trip? A short seven-hour, 450-mile jaunt to Mercyhurst.
They’ll play their final two home games until after Thanksgiving this weekend — against second-place Holy Cross.
Tweet of the week
It always thrills me as a journalist when I take some good natured fun. Last week, I omitted a hot sports take about the Mercyhurst Lakers’ win over No. 4 Colgate. It led to the Lakers official Twitter account giving me the following rib:
First off, a quick explanation. I didn’t omit Mercyhurst on purpose. Chris made a comment about their “biggest win” in our weekly Monday recap column, and I let that kind of be our marinade to the meat.
But at the same time, I did omit it so I do apologize to the Lakers faithful for disappointing them. I end with this, however: There will come a day when those wins will be just another win, and I’m personally looking forward to it since the AHA is good enough to grab those wins every year.
Last year, my running joke was the length of which I had to go to pick against Robert Morris. Every time I picked them, they seemingly lost, but once I started picking against them, I became acutely aware of their success. I picked against them through the playoffs, and they won the league.
Looks like my foil this year is going to be Mercyhurst. That’s fine. I look forward to keeping track of how I can jinx and reverse jinx you!
Players of the week
The weekly winners from the league offices, with some additions from me:
Players of the week — Air Force’s Cole Gunner and Bentley’s Max French: Gunner had a four-point weekend against Alabama-Huntsville, including a three-point third period when the Falcons trailed the Chargers by a 3-0 count. His third point was a game-tying goal with 5:48 left. French scored a hat trick for Bentley in its win on Friday over Niagara, earning him additional honors.
Goalies of the week — Bentley’s Blake Dougherty and Sacred Heart’s Andrew Bodnarchuk: Dougherty earned league honors for posting his second shutout of the season with a 33-save performance on Friday. On Saturday, he followed up with 28 more saves in the Falcons’ 3-2 overtime loss to Niagara. His .940 conference save percentage places him third among Atlantic Hockey goalies. Bodnarchuk’s aforementioned performance earns him additional honors, taking home three points for the Pioneers in their weekend series with Canisius.
Rookie of the week — Army’s Tyler Pham: Pham notched four points on Saturday in Army’s wild game with Mercyhurst. Two of those were goals, one of which was on a penalty shot. Both times, his goal gave the Black Knights the lead.
A final note
Veterans’ Day was Tuesday, and I don’t think I would be doing the right thing if I didn’t send a hearty, huge thank you to those men and women around the globe and here at home serving the United States of America.
It’s unique to be in a conference where both the United States Air Force Academy and United States Military Academy compete, and it’s an honor and privilege to be associated with those institutions. The athletes who play for those schools are among the best young men I’ve ever come into contact with, and it’s humbling to be able to both call your games on the air and write about them in print.
So thank you for your service and for all that you do. You never sleep so I can do so comfortably.
The Tim Taylor Cup will be given to the most outstanding player in the Yale-Harvard game each year in Boston,
Friends and peers of the late Tim Taylor have created an award that honors the former Harvard, Yale and USA Hockey coach with the Tim Taylor Cup.
The award will be presented to the most outstanding player of the annual Harvard-Yale men’s game played in Boston. The first presentation takes place Nov. 15 at the conclusion of the game at Harvard’s Bright-Landry Center.
“Timmy was a very special person to so many of us in the hockey community,” said Joe Bertagna, a former Harvard goaltender who played for and coached with Taylor, in a news release. “He was a teacher who always had time for fellow coaches and so many players along the way. Given his association with both institutions, we felt that this was a proper way to honor his contributions to our game.”
Taylor was a member of the Harvard class of 1963, serving as captain of the 1962-63 team that captured the ECAC Hockey championship. He later returned to his alma mater as freshman coach and assistant varsity coach to Bill Cleary. He was named Yale’s head coach in 1978 and enjoyed a remarkable 28-year run, winning 337 games for the Bulldogs.
Taylor was active with USA Hockey in a number of roles, and as recently as 2013, was a key advisor to the U.S. Junior National Team that won gold at the World Junior Championships in Ufa, Russia.
“Timmy was passionate about the game his entire life,” added Ben Smith, who played at Harvard, coached with Taylor at Yale and also works for USA Hockey, in a news release. “He never tired of watching and studying the game and sharing his observations with others. He was very generous with his time and only had the best interests in growing the game both at home and on the international stage.”
Unfortunately, a four-year battle with cancer took Taylor’s life on April 27, 2013.
In addition to the Tim Taylor Cup, the ECAC has named its Coach of the Year award after Taylor and the Hockey Commissioners Association named its national Rookie of the Year award in his honor as well.
The first Tim Taylor Cup will be presented by a member of Taylor’s family at the conclusion of Saturday night’s game, the recipient to be chosen by representatives from the schools and the media attending the game.
Former Michigan, Michigan Tech and North Dakota coach Al Renfrew passed away on Nov. 10 at the age of 90 (photo: Michigan Athletics).
Former Michigan, Michigan Tech and North Dakota coach Al Renfrew passed away on Monday at the age of 90.
Renfrew played on Michigan’s first national championship team in 1948 and coached the Wolverines to a national championship in 1964 during a 16-year career behind the bench from 1957-1973. He is the only man to win a national championship as both a player and coach in Michigan hockey history.
During his time as Michigan’s coach, Renfrew and his wife, Marjorie, created the first M-Club banner in 1962, giving then-football coach Bump Elliot the idea to let football players touch the banner on their way out of the tunnel at Michigan Stadium. Following his coaching career, Renfrew served as an assistant athletic director, managing the Michigan ticket office until his retirement in 1990.
“Al was one of the main reasons I came back as a coach,” current Michigan head coach Red Berenson said in a statement. “He and Don Canham talked to me about coming back to Michigan in 1984 and part of the reason I came back was the experience he had given me as a player. He was a mentor when I first started here. Al was always a friend and I always felt that any time we needed to talk about hockey or anything else, he was there for you. He meant a lot to Michigan hockey as a player and a coach, and he was a big part of the athletic department, along with his wife Marjorie, for years until he retired. He was a great friend of Michigan and a great friend of the Michigan hockey program.”
“Al is one of the greatest men I ever met,” Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson said in a news release. “You don’t find people better than Al Renfrew and he will be sorely missed by a lot of people. Al was always a real proponent of Michigan Tech. I spent a lot of time with him during my time at Michigan. He always had good things to say about Tech and really enjoyed his time as a coach here. He was so excited for me when I got the job and excited for the program.”
After working two years as a salesman for Cushing-Malloy, a printing company, Renfrew returned to college hockey, landing the head coaching job at Michigan Tech in 1951 on the recommendation of Vic Heyliger. In his fifth season, Renfrew coached the Huskies to the national championship game against Michigan in 1956, where Heyliger led the Wolverines to a 7-5 victory. Renfrew led MTU to an overall mark of 48-68-2 in his time there.
Renfrew took the head coaching position at North Dakota following year, leading them to an 18-11 record before Heyliger stepped down as the head coach at Michigan in 1957. A few months later, Michigan athletic director Fritz Crisler called and Renfrew, at 32 years old, became the head coach of the Wolverines.
“I coached at two other fine hockey schools,” Renfrew told the Michigan Daily in 1973. “But I always knew there was only one place: Michigan.”
During his time an athletic administrator at Michigan, Renfrew was inducted in the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1986 and was presented the George Eldridge Distinguished Service Award from the College Athletics Business Management Association at the 1990 NCAA Convention in Dallas, Tex. Renfrew is also a member of the Michigan Dekers Cub Hall of Fame and the Michigan Dekers Legends of Hockey.
Dartmouth’s Tyler Sikura and Harvard’s Seb Lloyd compete for a puck (photo: Melissa Wade).
Dartmouth didn’t burst out of the gate, but the Big Green are definitely clear of the starting gate and picking up speed.
The Big Green opened the season with a 3-3 draw at Harvard two weekends ago, then hit the Capital District for a stunning come-from-behind win at Union and a tight loss to Rensselaer.
Last Friday in Schenectady, Dartmouth took down the defending national champions with three straight goals over the last 21 minutes of game time, including junior Brad Schierhorn’s extra-attacker equalizer with 50 seconds remaining. Classmate Tim O’Brien sent the locals home unsatisfied 3:22 into overtime for Dartmouth’s biggest upset win since late 2012, when No. 10 Dartmouth beat No. 2 New Hampshire in Hanover.
“It’s a tough place to play, and that team is a really good hockey team; they really play the game well,” coach Bob Gaudet said of the Dutchmen. “They’re tough, they’re a really tough team to play against. It was a good win for us. It gives confidence to our guys, who were able to battle hard and find a way.”
The Green have been able to eke out a .500 record so far despite the absence of junior netminder Charles Grant, who is day-to-day with a lingering injury.
“I’d love to have him available for one of those games, but I just don’t know for sure,” Gaudet said. “After exams, though, he’ll be back by then, I’m sure of that.”
Grant started 25 games for last year’s team, going 9-13-3 with a .909 save percentage. In his stead, junior James Kruger has maintained a .918 save percentage through nearly 190 minutes of action. He has played almost half as many minutes this month alone as he did in his first two years at the Granite State Ivy.
“Jim Kruger’s done a good job for us. He had an opportunity, and has done well by it,” said Gaudet, a former Dartmouth goalie himself.
Seven skaters have scored a total of eight goals in support of Kruger thus far, including four strikes from the top line of seniors Eric Robinson and Tyler Sikura and the junior Schierhorn.
“I think that that line, with Schierhorn on the left side, has pretty good size, they see the ice well, they can all shoot it,” Gaudet said. “I think they’re clicking along pretty good. They look like they’ve been playing together for a while, and we just want to keep on capitalizing on that.”
The coach did not have “top” special-teams lines in mind just yet, having played only three games.
“Going into Friday night’s game [at Union], we were [preparing for] our second power play, and I think when Union had their first of that game, it was their 41st power play of the season, so it’s hard to tell at this point,” Gaudet said.
The regular ECAC Hockey grind can be challenging enough, but Dartmouth has ladled the competition on extra thick this year, with current ranked opponents No. 3 Boston University, eighth-ranked Boston College, No. 10 Denver and No. 11 Vermont all hitting Hanover before Martin Luther King Day. (For the record, league foes Colgate, Union and Quinnipiac are each top-20 teams at the moment as well.)
These big-time visitors are scheduled in addition to New Hampshire (on the road) and two home games against Atlantic Hockey members.
“Our schedule is by design: We’re trying to build a championship-caliber team by playing the best,” Gaudet said. “We play in a really tough league and a really good league, but there are a lot of good teams in college hockey and we’re trying to play as many of them as we can within our limited out-of-league scheduling.”
The greatest challenge in setting the schedule, according to Gaudet, isn’t the location but the scarce available dates. Dartmouth plays New Hampshire annually, and nearby Vermont more years than not. BU and BC are regular opponents as well, leaving only three or four other nonconference slots available, and two of those are spoken for by Dartmouth’s annual Ledyard Bank holiday tournament.
“This is an attractive place for people to come,” Gaudet said. “For whatever reason, people like to come here: They like the rink, they like the accommodations, and honestly I think we’ve done a really good job with our tournament because we’ve had these teams coming in and staying on campus — we have a beautiful hotel right in the middle of campus, the Hanover Inn — and they see the campus, they see the rink, and think this is a really good place to play. People really like it, so the reciprocal part for us is not all that difficult: It’s just about finding the appropriate dates. The dates are the sticking point a lot of times.
“Jerry York and BC love to come up here and play; Jack Parker [at BU] loved to come up here and play, so that helps us a lot. When I organized Denver coming out, [former coach] George [Gwozdecky] was coaching, so, you know, there are relationships you have with guys over the course of time, being in the business, that helps with [scheduling].”
Counting the BU’s, BC’s, UNH’s and Vermonts of the nation as frequent guests doesn’t hurt Dartmouth’s reputation as a legitimate host, either.
“[Having big programs visit] doesn’t hurt. Having the North Dakotas, the BC’s and BU’s and Denver and teams like this coming out to play here” builds credibility, Gaudet said.
Setting up a schedule takes years, as many know. What some fans don’t realize is how informal some of the negotiations can be.
“Sometimes [scheduling] is done over a pizza in Naples, Fla.; y’know, sometimes you just happen into guys [at the annual coaches’ meetings]. Sometimes it’s done over a phone call, a conversation. After being in the business a while, you get to know people. I laugh because sometimes I’m doing it by the seat of my pants. I’m just trying to get good guys and good teams to come here, and have our guys be able to measure themselves against them.”
Get out an extra yardstick or two, because there is going to be a lot of measuring going on at Thompson Arena this winter.
Patrick McNally (8) congratulates Alexander Kerfoot on his first of three goals in Harvard’s win over Boston College on Tuesday (photo: Melissa Wade).
Crimson come out ahead in early road test
It’s been seven years, but Harvard finally found a W in Troy.
The Crimson shut out the Engineers 4-0 last Friday night for the program’s first win at the Houston Field House since the early days of 2007. The squad followed up the victory with an oh-so-close 2-2 tie at Union on Saturday, a game in which the Crimson led for 56 minutes but couldn’t close the deal.
“It was a good weekend overall. We would’ve loved to get the two points on Saturday night, but I thought the compete level was there, so all in all, there is a lot to build on,” said coach Ted Donato of the program’s first three-point Capital District weekend in four years.
The Crimson followed that up with a 6-3 win over Boston College on Tuesday, sparked by Alexander Kerfoot’s hat trick and five points.
One of the brightest stars in Harvard’s early successes has been senior goaltender Steve Michalek, who has saved 93.1 percent of incoming salvos. As far as Donato is concerned, the No. 1 spot is Michalek’s to lose.
“I think that’s safe to say. Steve came in with the most experience, he got the first crack at it and has played very well so far,” Donato said. “He’s worked very hard at his craft. I think he’s maturing both physically and mentally, and I also think we’ve played better defense in front of him in the first few games. We’ve gotten him some goals to work with.
“Last year, his numbers … were competitive, and we want to score some more goals for him. I know he’s worked real hard over the summer and in the fall here to make sure he’s at his best.”
Overall, Donato likes what he sees in front of his goalie, as well.
“We’ve really tried to push the pace and be more dangerous offensively, possess the puck, and put more pucks to the net,” he said. “I think our team speed and team strength has improved since last year. That’s certainly been a key point out of the gate, and something we hope to improve upon.”
The line of juniors Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo with sophomore Kerfoot has been particularly strong, combining for nine of Harvard’s 15 goals and 20 of the team’s 37 points.
“They’ve played well each and every night,” Donato said. “They all bring their own certain skills that help the line. They’ve been very good for us, and we’re excited to see them play together.”
On opening night, senior defenseman and Vancouver Canucks prospect Pat McNally returned to the Harvard lineup after sitting out a year following the controversial 2012 Harvard cheating scandal. He promptly scored two goals to guide his team to a 3-3 tie against Dartmouth. He has four points and a plus-4 rating.
“As a coaching staff, we had confidence that Pat would come in and be a go-to guy, have a real solid year, be a leader for us, and be a big part of what we are trying to do,” Donato said. “I think … he’s looked great so far this year both offensively and defensively and we expect him to be one of the best players on the ice every night.”
Donato and Harvard are hoping that McNally is indeed only one of the best sporting the Veritas crest each night as the Crimson look to build on an optimistic opening.
League issues two suspensions
ECAC Hockey dropped the hammer on a couple of egregious offenses this weekend, one on the ice, one off.
Brown sniper Nick Lappin earned a two-game suspension for a hit from behind against Clarkson’s Kevin Tansey on Saturday, although it is worth noting that the five-and-game assessed by the officials for that hit on Saturday came just 24 hours after another five-and-game pair of penalties levied on Lappin for a contact-to-the-head incident in Friday’s game against St. Lawrence. So that may have been a contributing factor, eh?
Brown certainly will miss last season’s second-leading scorer in this weekend’s games at Harvard and Dartmouth. Ironically, Lappin took just a single minor penalty through 30 games last season; he has four penalties for 30 minutes in three games in 2014-15.
The other suspension made significantly larger waves in the greater college hockey community as longtime Cornell coach Mike Schafer was banished for the Big Red’s next game, which happens to be at home Friday against Clarkson.
As has been widely reported, Schafer issued a profanity-laced attack against Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold following Saturday’s game, which itself ended with fisticuffs in the handshake line.
Not that anyone asked, but here’s my take: It is naïve to think that everyone in the game — coach, player, trainer, athletic director or otherwise — should get along all the time. Coaching is a high-stress, high-stakes career for many people, and there is exponentially more friction between individuals at every level of the game than ever reaches the light of day.
That said, the league’s reputation takes a hit when one of its higher-profile members pops off on the record, and thus this discipline is in no way surprising.
So come on, fellas. On the ice, keep it clean … and in the halls, well, try to keep it clean there, too.
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