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This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Minnesota ‘just in a great spot,’ focusing on creating, maintaining momentum moving forward

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Brody Lamb buried the overtime game winner as Minnesota won the Big Ten series opener at Wisconsin, 2-1 last Friday night (photo: Brad Rempel).

A marathon with potential for a photo finish, run on a treadmill.

That’s what this Big Ten season feels like.

With a month to go before conference playoffs begin, the standings seem to be nearly standing still. Michigan State remains at the top, Ohio State at the bottom, and any movement in between seems nearly negligible – until you take a slightly closer look.

In the second half of the season, B1G teams have played as many as eight conference games and as few as six. Going 5-3 since B1G play resumed in January, the Spartans have earned 15 points. That’s only two more than Minnesota has earned in two fewer games. Everyone else has earned 12 or fewer.

The landscape seems still, but the Gophers are on the move.

“Our team right now is just in a great spot.” That’s what Minnesota coach Bob Motzko told Minnesota play-by-play announcer Wally Shaver this week on the Gophers’ podcast after Minnesota took three of six points from Wisconsin on the road with a win and a tie.

“A lot of times you hear, ‘We’re peaking at the right time,’” said Motzko, “but how we came out of the Michigan State series and as we great during this weekend … we kept growing through the weekend, and Saturday from start to finish, we were dialed in to a player, to a man out there.”

Motzko referred to the “compete level” and “grit,” adding that “it doesn’t happen all the time.”

Minnesota beat Wisconsin 2-1 in overtime Friday on Brody Lamb’s 11th goal of the season – his fourth game winner – at 1:02 of OT.

Saturday’s game ended in a 1-1 tie with Wisconsin picking up the extra shootout point. In regulation in that contest, the Gophers had two goals disallowed – “two horrendous calls,” said Motzko.

At 13:50 in the second period, Ryan Chesley appeared to have scored for Minnesota, but the Badgers challenged the goal, and it was overturned for goaltender interference.

Then at 17:20 in the third, Mason Nevers found the back of the Wisconsin net, but the goal was waved off again for contact with Badgers goaltender Kyle McClellan.

“I thought we deserved a better fate obviously,” said Motzko. “That was the best Gopher game in my six years, from start to finish.”

The Minnesota-Wisconsin series was a second-half offensive outlier for both teams. Both the Gophers and the Badgers have been averaging well above three goals per game this season. The teams combined for five goals total. Neither team scored on one of the five total power-play opportunities in the series.

“Our power play wasn’t what it needed to be this weekend,” said Badgers coach Mike Hastings. The Badgers were 0-for-3 with the advantage against the Gophers. “We had a late power play on Saturday, and I don’t think we got a shot on net, so our execution was off there.”

In the second half of the season, Wisconsin had been held to fewer than three goals once, in the Badgers’ 5-1 loss to Michigan on Jan. 26. Prior to this series, Minnesota had scored fewer than four goals in a second-half game just once, in a 3-2 loss to Michigan State, also on Jan. 26.

The Badgers took the shots to the Gophers Friday, 41-29, with a 21-5 shot advantage in that game’s second period. The Gophers turned those tables Saturday, outshooting the Badgers 43-23.

Motzko said that Minnesota’s greatest challenge now is sustaining this momentum going forward.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys, of how this thing is starting to come together with this team, this year,” Motzko said.

Four of Minnesota’s six remaining games are at home, and all are against opponents behind them in the standings and against which the Gophers are 3-2-1 so far for the season.

With 40 points, first-place Michigan State remains five points ahead of Wisconsin and 11 ahead of Minnesota. The Badgers have two games in hand, though, on both the Spartans and the Golden Gophers.

Michigan State and Wisconsin are the only two teams in control of their own fate in terms of a first-place regular-season finish and that first-round Big Ten conference playoff bye. If the Spartans win their six remaining games, the conference is theirs; if the Badgers win seven of their eight, they win the title. The two teams meet to end the season in Wisconsin the first weekend in March.

The middle of the conference standings is so tight that none of the three teams vying for point there – Minnesota (29 points), Notre Dame (27), Michigan (25) – controls its own fate as high as a second-place win, although each is mathematically able to capture the regular-season title.

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Improving Robert Morris squad learning, finding ways ‘to understand what to do to be successful’

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Robert Morris players celebrate a recent goal in Atlantic Hockey play (photo: Robert Morris Athletics).

With three weeks to go in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, things are looking up for Robert Morris.

Derek Schooley had to build his team back from practically scratch after the school unceremoniously canceled its successful men’s and women’s programs at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Schooley brought in 16 freshmen plus a few players who had continued at RMU and not transferred to other teams and used the transfer portal to attract veteran players, including nine graduate students.

As expected, there were growing pains out of the gate. The Colonials were winless (0-9-1) through a stretch from Oct. 28 to Dec. 6.

“We had to learn to play together,” said Schooley. “There’s something to be said for the normal process, where you’re adding seven or so players to 20 guys with experience in your systems. That’s far easier to bring those new guys along. Here, everybody had to learn to play the same system.”

There’s been steady improvement since then.

In early December, Robert Morris got its first sweep of the season in a home-and-home series with Niagara. That kicked off its current stretch of 7-7 hockey where six of those seven losses were to ranked teams (Minnesota, Arizona State, and Rochester Institute of Technology).

The Colonials are coming off a sweep of Mercyhurst that moved them out of the basement to ninth in the standings.

“We’ve played much better since Thanksgiving,” said Schooley. “Some of the results don’t show that, but considering the schedule we’ve played, it hasn’t been easy, facing some tough opponents. But playing those games, and challenging those ranked teams, is helping us to understand what to do to be successful.

“We’ve had some ups and downs, but we’re learning to play together, and we’re playing our best hockey now.”

Schooley has two experienced goaltenders to lean on in graduate students Chad Veltri, a transfer from Niagara (he was the winning goalie for the Purple Eagles against RMU in what was the Colonials’ final game before the program was shut down), and Francis Boisvert, a St. Lawrence transfer.

Veltri, who recorded his 3,000th career save back in December, is averaging over 40 saves a game this season, and has four 50-save performances this year.

Bosivert has come up big for RMU recently, including a 50-save performance in a 2-0 shutout of American International on Jan. 26.

“They’re a great one-two punch for us,” said Schooley. “Right now, we’re riding the hot goalie (Boisvert) but it’s no different with Chad. They have a good relationship and push each other to be better goalies.

“They’ve both been outstanding. Our goalies have been our MVPs.”

The Colonials have a balanced scoring attack, led by rookies Tanner Klimpke (10-10-20) and Walter Zacher (5-12-17) as well as veteran transfers Dallas Tulik (Ferris State; 5-13-18 this season) and Rylee St. Onge (Mercyhurst; 8-7-15 this season).

Five of Robert Morris’ top ten scorers are freshmen, which bodes well for the future.

The Colonials are still mathematically in the hunt for a first-round bye, but that’s a long shot. Schooley has a more attainable goal in mind.

“Home ice in the first round,” he said. “We’re playing well enough to accomplish that. But we have our work cut out for us, facing a good Army team this weekend. And Canisius gave us trouble earlier in the season, we play them again. And finally at Air Force, which is always difficult.

“We’ve got to continue to play the way we’re playing and follow our process.”

Eleven college hockey netminders, including 2023 winner Phillips, named semifinalists for 2024 Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award

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Michelle Pasiechnyk is a Women’s Goalie of the Year Award semifinalist for the third straight season (photo: Gary Mikel).

The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has announced this year’s semifinalists for the Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award.

Eleven goalies from four Division I conferences have advanced from a watch list of 28 netminders.

It is an experienced dozen, with nine of the 11 either juniors, seniors or graduate students.

Three are repeat semifinalists and one, Clarkson’s Michelle Pasiechnyk, is a semifinalist for the third straight season. Last year’s winner, Gwyneth Phillips of Northeastern, is one of the repeat semifinalists.

Voting was carried out by a panel of coaches, administrators and media members from across the country.

Three finalists will be announced during conference championships and the winner will be announced during the NCAA Frozen Four in Durham, N.H.

2024 Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award Semifinalists

Gwyneth Philips, Northeastern, GR #

Megan Warrener, UConn, JR

Sanni Ahola, St. Cloud State, SR

Logan Angers, Quinnipiac, GR

Eve Gascon, Minnesota Duluth, FR

Tindra Holm, Long Island, JR #

Raygan Kirk, Ohio State, SR

Hailey MacLeod, Minnesota Duluth, SO

Hannah Murphy, Colgate, JR

Kayle Osborne, Colgate, SR

Michelle Pasiechnyk, Clarkson, SR *#

#2023 semifinalist; *2022 semifinalist

This Week in Hockey East: Northeastern looking to prove Huskies belong with the big boys in upcoming Beanpot championship

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Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored the OT winner for Northeastern against Harvard in Monday’s Beanpot semifinal (photo: Jim Pierce).

You can’t blame Northeastern for entering Monday’s 71st Beanpot championship game feeling a little bit like a neglected sibling compared to their crosstown rivals.

Boston University and Boston College have gotten plenty of attention this season — all well deserved — perched high atop both the Hockey East standings and the USCHO.com poll.

But Northeastern’s 2023-24 resume ain’t too shabby — after a slow start, the Huskies (12-12-2, 6-11-0 Hockey East) are 9-4-1 since Dec. 1, a stretch that kicked off with a 5-3 win at then-No. 1 BC.

And as far as the Beanpot is concerned, Northeastern has been the envy of the city, winning last year’s tournament and four of the last five.

The overlooked middle child of college hockey in Boston is back in the Beanpot championship game for the sixth straight year, having dispatched Harvard (ECAC Hockey) 3-2 in overtime in the semifinals before a packed house at TD Garden. Boston University (18-7-1, 12-4-1) will be the Huskies’ opponent in Monday night’s title game. The No. 3 Terriers held off a late rally by top-ranked Boston College (19-5-1, 12-3-1) for a 4-3 in the other semifinal.

“We expect to win,” Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe said after his team’s victory over the Crimson. “It’s a confident group, and we feel like if we play a certain way we’re going to give ourselves the best chance to win.”

Anyone looking back at the previous two meetings between the schools for some prognostication on what will happen Monday will find no answers — at least if the final scores are any indication. Each team won 4-3 in overtime on their own home ice, BU on Jan. 9 and Northeastern on Jan. 30.

“We’ve had a hard time with Northeastern since I’ve been here,” said second-year BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “They play us very tough. It seems like they’re always at their best playing against us. We certainly have to be ready. (Northeastern), especially recently, has been very good in the Beanpot. We’ll be ready for them. We’ll be prepared.”

Unfazed by the Beanpot spotlight, BU standout freshman forward Macklin Celebrini scored the Terriers’ first two goals vs. BC in the semifinals. Celebrini is now tied for the national lead with 21 goals and is tied for third in the country with 39 points.

“It was pretty special stepping out there for the first time,” Celebrini said. “You see the student section and all the people there, you definitely know what it means for our school and our program. It was exactly what I thought it would be like.”

BU will be looking for its 32nd Beanpot title and first since 2022, when it beat Northeastern in a 1-0 thriller — Dylan Peterson scored with 2:48 remaining for the game’s only score. Monday will mark the 16th time BU and Northeastern have met in the final, with the Terriers holding a 10-5 edge. Four times the finals matchup has gone to overtime, with BU winning three of those four.

*****

The Beanpot consolation/third-place game will pit BC against Harvard. The Eagles were a 4-1 winner when the teams met on Nov. 26 at Harvard. The Crimson entered the season with high hopes, ranked No. 15 in the preseason USCHO.com poll, but have since struggled mightily with injuries, and enter Monday’s contest with a 4-14-3 overall record.

“They were really hit by the injury bug, so we know they’re a better team than their record,” BC coach Greg Brown said. “We know we’re going to have to be sharp. Every game is huge from here on out.”

As of this writing, BC held the No. 1 spot in the PairWise rankings, and Harvard will be the Eagles’ final non-conference opponent of the regular season.

Monday’s games are scheduled for 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on NESN and ESPN-Plus.

BRACKETOLOGY: Three Hockey East No. 1 seeds, UMass falling to a No. 4 seed complicate this week’s pairings beyond belief

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Zeev Buium has been an impact freshman this season for Denver (photo: Martin Gonzalez).

A conundrum is defined as a confusing and difficult problem or question.

This week, as we approach how to seed the NCAA men’s Division I hockey tournament brackets based on the current PairWise Rankings, we have a conundrum.

Right now, three of the four number one seeds in the regionals are Hockey East teams. The fourth team is North Dakota.

Here is the issue. The 13th team (a No. 4 seed, which needs to play a No. 1 seed) in the PairWise is Massachusetts. The Minutemen are the host in the Springfield Regional, which requires them to play in that region.

The natural fit for the top seed in both Springfield, Mass. and Providence, R.I. regionals would be a Hockey East team, one of the top two local teams (Boston College and Boston University) to reward those teams letting them play close to home.

But the NCAA has been adamant that conference opponents should not play in the opening round of the tournament. Forcing UMass to be in Springfield and trying to keep BC and BU close to home would create an all-Hockey East matchup in the opening round, typically a no-no.

So let’s look at how this all shakes out. First, let’s do the simplest thing and seed the field in a perfect bracket – 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc.

Here are the results:

1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Minnesota
16. Minnesota State

2. Boston University
7. Michigan State
10. Providence
15. RIT

3. North Dakota
6. Quinnipiac
11. Western Michigan
14. Cornell

4. Maine
5. Wisconsin
12. Michigan
13, Massachusetts

Before we even deal with the Maine-UMass conundrum, let’s first address a simpler switch we can make to avoid a Wisconsin-Michigan matchup. If you switch Michigan and Western Michigan, you avoid a conference matchup in those pairings.

Thus, the bracket becomes:

1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Minnesota
16. Minnesota State

2. Boston University
7. Michigan State
10. Providence
15. RIT

3. North Dakota
6. Quinnipiac
12. Michigan
14. Cornell

4. Maine
5. Wisconsin
11. Western Michigan
13, Massachusetts

Let’s run with this bracket for now and assign regions to each group of four. Remember, this isn’t final, but it should reflect the ability to keep the highest seeds as close to home as possible.

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Minnesota
16. Minnesota State

Maryland Heights, Mo.
2. Boston University
7. Michigan State
10. Providence
15. RIT

Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. North Dakota
6. Quinnipiac
12. Michigan
14. Cornell

Springfield, Mass.
4. Maine
5. Wisconsin
11. Western Michigan
13, Massachusetts

Right now, we still have two Hockey East teams playing one another (Maine vs. UMass). And we also have the No. 2 overall seed, Boston University, further away from home than preferred by the criteria. Let’s start by switching Maine and Boston University.

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Minnesota
16. Minnesota State

Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Maine
7. Michigan State
10. Providence
15. RIT

Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. North Dakota
6. Quinnipiac
12. Michigan
14. Cornell

Springfield, Mass.
2. Boston University
5. Wisconsin
11. Western Michigan
13. Massachusetts

Our only issue left is the fact that BU and UMass are Hockey East opponents. How could we correct this? We’d have to send BU to Sioux Falls and North Dakota to Springfield. But does this make sense? Heck no.

Sioux Falls is a guaranteed sellout if North Dakota is in that region. In fact, most of the fans who’ve bought tickets at this point are likely North Dakota fans.

Similarly Boston University would draw decently in Springfield, about 100 miles away from campus. But what about the BU-UMass first-round game.

Well, let’s revisit the NCAA selection criteria. There is a possible solution for this that is rarely ever used:

Per the criteria:

  • “If five or more teams from one conference are selected to the championship, the committee may protect integrity of the bracket (i.e., maintaining the pairing process according to seed may take priority over avoidance of first-round conference matchups).

If you read that, you understand that conference matchups could be allowed if five teams from one conference qualify for the tournament. Hockey East currently has five qualifiers.

While controversial, I am going to say that were this the exact NCAA field, the committee would chose this alignments.

Thus, my final bracket for this week is:

Providence, R.I.
1. Boston College
8. Denver
9. Minnesota
16. Minnesota State

Maryland Heights, Mo.
4. Maine
7. Michigan State
10. Providence
15. RIT

Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. North Dakota
6. Quinnipiac
12. Michigan
14. Cornell

Springfield, Mass.
2. Boston University
5. Wisconsin
11. Western Michigan
13, Massachusetts

Could there be more tweaks? Yes. Would they further mess with bracket integrity? Yes. Do I feel like all four regions will have solid attendance? Yes.

That’s where I end up this week.

 

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota netminder Persson says return to Miami last weekend ‘was really fun to be out there, for sure’

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Ludvig Persson is playing his senior season at North Dakota after spending his first three NCAA seasons at Miami (photo: Russell Hons).

Throughout his time in junior and high school-age hockey, North Dakota senior goaltender Ludvig Persson had never suited up against one of his former teams.

So when he faced Miami last weekend on the road, the Swedish former RedHawk got maybe his biggest taste of culture shock since he began playing in the United States in 2019.

Persson only needed 82 appearances over three seasons with Miami to give him the fourth-highest total number of saves in RedHawks history. He was a seven-time NCHC goaltender of the week over that span, unquestionably standing out for a program that hasn’t had a winning season since the RedHawks last reached the NCAA tournament, in 2015.

Two losses to UND put Miami 14 points clear at the bottom of the NCHC standings. Persson wasn’t warmly received by the Goggin Ice Center crowd, either on Friday when UND won 5-4 in overtime, or when 33 saves Saturday in a 4-1 Fighting Hawks victory.

UND swept its four-game season series with the RedHawks, with Persson in net each time.

“I didn’t really know what to expect coming here,” Persson told reporters gathered Saturday night outside UND’s locker room. “Obviously, this place means a lot to me, so it was really fun to be out there, for sure.

“(The Miami fans’ reaction) was harder than I expected, actually. It’s been home for three years, and it’s weird to come back and hear that, but you’re just got to focus on the game and play your game, and I think we did a great job both games here.

UND coach Brad Berry, who picked up his 200th career win Saturday, wasn’t the least bit surprised with how Persson carried himself on the Hawks’ latest business trip.

“On a day-to-day basis, he’s a true professional, the way he prepares himself on the practice days and the game days,” Berry said. “He came into (Friday) night, and I’m glad we came back to give him some goal support there, but tonight, man, he single-handedly won this game. I know everybody in this locker room has a piece of it, but he stood tall in all three periods.”

And it wasn’t as easy as Persson, or his UND teammates, might’ve made it look.

“I was proud of our guys coming in here and getting five of six (points),” Berry said. “I think, when you come into Miami, I think a lot of people think, ‘Well, it’s guaranteed two wins,’ like, uh-uh, this is the NCHC.

“I told you guys on Wednesday in the press conference, these are hard games and I’m just proud of the way our guys battled to try to get these two.”

UND, which bumped its lead atop the NCHC standings to seven points over St. Cloud State, is idle this week ahead of the Hawks’ eight remaining regular-season games.

Women’s Division I College Hockey: The PodKaz Episode 12 – Overtime everywhere, plus St. Lawrence’s Julia Gosling

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Nicole Haase (@NicoleHaase) and Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) recap a weekend heavy in overtime games around NCAA women’s hockey. St. Lawrence forward Julia Gosling joins Nicole to talk about a big weekend for the Saints. And we look at the semifinalists for the Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award and take a glance at a big series ahead in Minnesota.

Find The PodKaz on:

iHeart
Amazon
Apple

D-II/III East Men’s Hockey Game Picks – February 7, 2024

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Christian Hayes and the Bantams have been rolling in NESCAC play and moving up in the Pairwise as they prepare for Colby and Bowdoin at home this weekend (Photo by Trinity Athletics)

Some top seeds are already determined as the final weeks of the regular season play out, but in many other conferences, the battles from top to bottom are still on the line to determine the top seed, home-ice berths and even qualification for the post-season. There is plenty to be motivated about with the remaining games on the schedule. Speaking of motivation, I was marginally better with last week’s picks going 9-3-3 (.669). That pushed the overall numbers up a couple of percentage points to 111-52-12 (.669) which is still directionally correct for a strong playoff run. First things first with the remaining couple of weeks and starting with this week’s dynamic conference matchups. Here are the picks this week in the East:

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Arcadia v. Neumann

This mid-week special should be very entertaining with one Knights monikered team sure to come away with a win. In this case it is the host Black Knights who find a way to rally for the one-goal victory –  Neumann, 4-3

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Fitchburg State v. Plymouth State

The Panthers and Falcons always play a spirited and physical game. The home team is clearly focused on finishing the season strong in preparation for the playoffs that will run through their building and do so with a number of power play goals to take the win –   PSU, 6-3

Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Worcester State

The Corsairs are in a tight battle with Fitchburg State for second place and a win over the Lancers on the road would be a welcome added point total in the standings. It’s a close contest that gets decided late with a power play goal – UMD, 4-3

Friday, February 9, 2024

Endicott v. University of New England

The Gulls have picked up their game in the second half with Andrew Kurapov and Jackson Sterrett being prominent on scoresheets recently. They factor in here as well in a big one-goal road win over the recently struggling Nor’easters – Endicott, 3-2

(13) Skidmore v. (5) Elmira

The Soaring Eagles are looking to finish strong on home ice as they entertain a top tier team in the final week of the regular season. Nothing sends a message that your playoff ready like a win over a key contender. Empty-net goal provides the final margin in a close game – Elmira, 4-2

Colby v. (7) Trinity

The Bantams have been consistent and very solid in their play backed by the great goaltending of Devon Bobak and timely scoring from a host of players like Kyle Tomaso. Same formula picks up another win at home against the Mules – Trinity, 5-3

Post v. Franklin Pierce

The Ravens should not take the Eagles lightly as they have battled every NE-10 team this year for the full 60 minutes or more as needed. Drew Blodgett has given Post a chance to win in goal but the Ravens get it done late for the much needed win – FPU, 4-3

Morrisville v. Canton

This Kangaroos love the SUNYAC matchups and especially on home ice. Lots of entertainment value here in a seesaw affair that comes down to a third period goal by the home team that delivers the “W” – Canton, 4-3

(4) Plattsburgh v. Cortland

The Cardinals very much want the top spot in the SUNYAC standings but can’t look past a Red Dragon team that clearly has aspirations to move up the standings. Expect this one to be low-scoring and maybe require some overtime and a Bennett Stockdale game-winner – Plattsburgh, 3-2

Saturday, February 3, 2024

(4) Plattsburgh v. Oswego

The Lakers will want to send a message about their contending for the SUNYAC title and nothing better than beating the defending champs to send the message. Shane Bull and Tyler Flack have been big-game players and show up for this one – Oswego, 3-2

Anna Maria v. Rivier

The teams will be part of MASCAC next year but the last battles as Independents this year mean some bragging rights. This one should see some physical play and a lot of Grade A scoring opportunities that the visitors take advantage of  for the win – Anna Maria, 5-4

(13) Skidmore v. (1) Hobart

The Statesmen have been dominant on home ice as a portent of what teams can expect in the upcoming playoffs. Don’t be surprised if the scoreboard has a crooked number early, it’s how the home team has been rolling in the second half against everyone – Hobart, 4-1

Western New England v. (11) Curry

The Colonels are in a logjam in the CCC standings so every win keeps them up with Endicott in the battle for the top seed. Gage Dill and his line have been super-productive and carry the offense in a tidy win at home with Shane Soderwall keeping the Golden Bears at bay – Curry, 4-1

Wilkes v. (13) Stevenson

Both teams are battling for second place in the UCHC standings and home ice here makes all the difference in a game that features great special teams and goals to delight the fans. Liam McCanney is the difference for the Mustangs – Stevenson, 5-3

Alvernia v. (2) Utica

The Pioneers have been cruising in the conference but best not take the Golden Wolves lightly. A fast start on home ice is exactly the recipe for a comfortable win playing with the lead. Even-strength goals create quick momentum for the Pioneers – Utica, 5-2

It is the final week of play in the NEHC and all others have a couple more games to impact their post-season dreams – “Drop the Puck!”

Talking rules and officiating with Big Ten’s Piotrowski: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 6 Episode 14

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Big Ten coordinator of ice hockey officials Steve Piotrowski joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to discuss rules and officiating, including video replay, points of emphasis, and possible rule changes for next season.

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Check out all of USCHO’s college hockey podcasts, including USCHO Weekend Review and USCHO Edge, plus our entire podcast archive.

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This Week in CCHA Hockey: Northern Michigan picking up points, ‘building, trying to get us back where we were before the break’

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Northern Michigan’s Kevin Marx Noren had four assists last weekend and was named the CCHA rookie of the week (photo: Northern Michigan Athletics).

Northern Michigan’s series against Lake Superior State early in January was a wake-up call for the Wildcats.

Playing their first series back from the holiday break, the Wildcats had maybe expected to come back to play one of their Upper Peninsula rivals tough after a refreshing vacation. Instead, the Lakers swept the Wildcats 5-1 and 5-2, taking the Cappo Cup trophy away from NMU while simultaneously giving their rivals a bit of a gut punch.

“We were 29 days between games, and I felt like we were in a really good place when we left for the break,” NMU coach Grant Potulny said in a phone interview on Tuesday, reflecting on the past month since the break. “And we came back and we were just disjointed.”

If this past weekend’s results are any indication, all of NMU’s joints seem to be well-oiled and back to their full range of motion. The Wildcats took five of six points from their other (main) UP rivals, winning 4-1 Friday before battling back to tie and earn a shootout win on Saturday. It’s the third-straight weekend in which the Wildcats (9-13-4) have managed to earn at least two points.

“That weekend (against Lake State) was humbling, there’s no doubt about that. And now we’ve kind of been building, trying to get us back where we were before the break. Hopefully this (past) weekend is a side of things to come,” Potulny said. “And we’ve been pushing them pretty hard, so to get some evidence that what we’re doing works was important.”

The Wildcats have slowly clawed their way back into the conversion for home-ice advantage in the standings, too. After the debacle in Sault Ste. Marie, NMU was in sixth place–eight points behind fourth-place Michigan Tech. Now the Wildcats have closed the gap. They are still in sixth place but are just two points (25) behind both Bemidji State and Michigan Tech, who are tied for fourth. Lake Superior State is in third, just a point ahead of BSU and Tech.

So it wasn’t lost on Potulny how big it was to earn those points against the Huskies.

“One for the points but two, just because it was our biggest rival, I think that that hopefully gives us a shot in the arm here for the stretch run,” he said. “And just look at our league. I mean, it’s just so tight that all of a sudden, somebody puts four games together, and you get more than three points a couple of weekends in a row, you could really move up the standings.”

It doesn’t take an engineer to figure out that home ice advantage is important in the playoffs–especially in the CCHA, where the entire Mason Cup tournament is played at home sites. But it’s especially vital for the Wildcats this year, who have found themselves playing significantly better at home (8-3-1) than on the road (1-10-3). NMU’s lone road win came way back in October against Bowling Green. So for them to earn two points in Houghton in Saturday’s game was huge–a tie and a shootout win isn’t quite the same as a regulation win, but two points are two points.

“Honestly, I think in the games that we’ve lost, we will lose the game in probably like a three to five-minute segment where we ended up giving up two to three goals, bang, bang, bang. It’s happened to us in the past on the road a lot this year, Potulny said. “On Saturday, we probably couldn’t have played a better second period, we got the game tied, and then they get a power play goal. And I think that sequence in the past would have derailed us and probably compounded it, but it’s an area that we’ve been really focusing on: making the next right play.

“Mistakes are gonna happen, just make the next right play.”

The “next right play” came 15 minutes into the third period. Kevin Marx Noren took a shot from the deep slot that dinged off the post and Michael Colella scooped up the rebound and beat Tech goalie Blake Pietila to tie the game at 3-3. Colella ended up scoring the deciding goal in the shootout to give NMU the extra point.

Marx Noren, for his part, was named the CCHA’s rookie of the week after recording two assists in each game this weekend. The Swedish forward has upped his game in the second half of the season, with six points in eight games in 2024. He had gone through a dry spell in the months of November and December, so Potulny is glad to see him back producing again. He currently leads NMU freshmen with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists).

“He’s kind of doing what you hope all your freshmen can do when they come back after that break,” Potulny said. “I tell the freshmen that they’re really not freshmen anymore, because you know what college is like, you’re comfortable in the locker room, you know what the league’s like. So when you come back the hope is that you can kind of take that next step. And Kevin is most certainly doing that.

“And I think to be honest, all the freshmen have kind of seen a bump in the second half and it just changes your depth when those guys can do that and you’re not worried about who they’re playing against.”

The Wildcats have three more series to play before the playoffs begin. Up first is a head-to-head matchup against Bemidji State. It’s the first time the teams have met this season; the Beavers are just two points ahead of NMU in the standings.

“You can have a hiccup early in the year and kind of survive it because there’s enough time left,” Potulny said. “But I think any miscues at this point, I think it’s gonna affect whether you’re at home or you’re on the road and, most certainly everybody would like to be at home for the first round.”

D-III Women’s West Week 15 Recap: Big weekend of conference play and a massive WIAC showdown today!

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Adrian win the 2024 NCHA regular-season title. (Photo by Mike Dickie)

This past weekend out west was a fun one as we wrap things up in the regular season. We had a huge series out on Adrian to essentially determine the NCHA regular-season champion, determining home-ice for the playoffs. We also saw Gustavus and Hamline go at it in the MIAC, another pair of teams looking to make the NCAA push. We also look ahead to the biggest WIAC matchup of the year thus far.

Here’s your week 15 recap, showcasing some notable events!

#5 Adrian vs St. Norbert (Adrian 2-1 & 7-1) 

These two have battled back-and-forth the past few years, Adrian winning the last 24 games between the two, which doesn’t always show the whole story in terms of St. Norbert’s recent breakthrough as a true NCHA contender, but for now, the NCHA remains through Adrian.

Game two was a blowout, featuring six 2nd period goals (one from Norbert and five from Adrian). Adrian went up 2-0 after the 1st, 7-1 after the 2nd, and scored a trio of powerplay goals.

Game one was a close matchup, 2-1 was the final in favor of the Bulldogs, but this is more what we came to expect in the series. Funny enough, all goals in this game were scored on the powerplay, considering the game had nine penalties on SNC and six on Adrian, not a shocker we saw a special teams showing.

Adrian outshot Norbert 43-23, SNC goaltender Brynn Waisman despite the loss, made 41 saves, while Adrian goalie Michaela O’Brien made 22. The winning goal in this one came from Maya Roy in the last minute of regulation (19:13.5), giving her Bulldogs the win and nearing them closer to the eventual regular-season title.

Adrian with the sweep, had won the NCHA regular-season title once again. The playoffs will run through Adrian assuming Adrian gets out of round one which is a near-lock based on how things have gone so far.  Hopefully this year the weather doesn’t take out the power at Arrington ice Arena and the games can be played on the originally intended date.

#2 Gustavus vs Hamline (Gustavus 3-1 & 2-1)

Gustavus, the defending MIAC & NCAA champions, have been in a battle as of late, not showing the dominance of last season, but still of course are a tournament contender. Hamline on the other hand, is looking to get back to their glory seasons featuring numerous NCAA tournaments and a finals appearance in 2018 where they fell to Norwich in the semifinals.

Women’s Ice Hockey: Hamline University Pipers vs. Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties. (Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)

Both games were close, like our last one in Adrian, a game-winner was scored in the final minute of the game (19:47.2).

Game one: This one featured a pair of goals by each team in the 1st & 3rd period of the game, both teams taking the 2nd period off from scoring. Gustavus’ Sophia Coltvet scored midway through at 11:11 and her teammate Hannah Gray netted a powerplay goal at 17:42, making it 2-0 Gusties after a full 20.

Hamline would then come back as mentioned, Elizabeth Valley at 12:19 and Sydney Lemke at 17:31, both scoring at near the same times as Gustavus in the opening frame. It was then the hero for Gustavus, Emily Olson, scoring in the final 13 seconds of the game to get the Gusties closer to another MIAC regular-season title with home-ice for the playoffs.

Game two: Like the first game, it was close, but the Gusties got the better of it in the end, scoring three unanswered and essentially locking up the MIAC regular-season title unless some shocking events occur in back-to-back weekends for them.

Hannah Gray opened it up 9:29 into the opening period which ended 1-0. Gustavus added a pair in the 2nd, Hailey Holland (7:44) & Macy Janssen (8:42), making it 3-0. Morgan Wohlers would tally one late in the 3rd at 15:29, but it wasn’t enough at that point. Gusties take it 3-1 and complete the MIAC sweep.

Game Preview: #1 UW-River Falls vs #6 UW-Eau Claire

Tonight February 7, 2023, at 7:05pm CST in River Falls, the year-in and year-out top duo in the WIAC will face for the second time this season, River Falls winning the first game early in the season 5-2 in Eau Claire. These teams will also face off for the final game of the regular season on Saturday February 17 in Eau Claire.

UW-River Falls Women’s Hockey 2022. (Photo by S. Silver Photography)

Eau Claire (17-4-0) and River Falls (23-0-0) have had their battles of course, RF sitting with a two-game win streak, while the Blugolds have been known to take a few games from the Falcons each year.

The WIAC is the least of the issues in this game for both teams, more importantly the Blugolds, who sit in 7th currently in Pairwise (as of 2/7/24) and cannot receive an auto bid due to the six-team league minimum for an auto bid. The Falcons look to be a lock unless the world ends and they lose their remaining games.

UW-Eau Claire Women’s Hockey. (Photo by Zach Jacobson, UWEC Photography)

Story of this game would seem to be special teams and goaltending, River Falls entering at the top, or near the top of most statistical categories, with Laura Hurd frontrunner Maddie McCollins leading the country in points (all stats via USCHO) at 54 (28G, 26A) and her teammates Megan Goodreau in 3rd with 42 (14G, 28A) and Alex Hantge T-5 with 35 (12G, 23A). Sophie Rausch for Eau Claire sits in 4th, she’s got 36 points through 21 games (20G, 16A).

Goaltending has been a strength of River Falls, however, with a team like that in front of you, it’ll certainly help their stats, but nevertheless, starter Jordan O’Connor is 15-0-0 with a .948 save%.

Meanwhile for the Blugolds, we’ve got Josie Mathison & Alexa Backmann splitting time. Beckman with a 9-2-0 record, Mathison with 8-2-0. We’ve seen some shaky play at times, against River Falls, that cannot happen or they’ll end it quite briskly.

Eau Claire needs to play their most complete game of the season tonight and then in the regular season finale and take at least one of them if they want to keep their NCAA at-large hopes alive with all the upsets happening out east. Anything can happen, it should be fun.

Hockey Commissioners Association tabs Michigan’s McGroarty, Boston College’s Smith, RIT’s Scarfone men’s monthly award winners

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From left. Rutger McGroarty, Will Smith and Tommy Scarfone (photos: Michigan Photography, Boston College Athletics, RIT Athletics).

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its monthly men’s awards for January.

Michigan sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty is the player of the month, Boston College freshman forward Will Smith is rookie of the month, and RIT junior Tommy Scarfone is goaltender of the month.

McGroarty, who served as the United States World Junior team captain that won gold in Sweden, scored in all six games as Michigan went 4-2-0 on the month and he had multiple points in five of the games. His complete line for January: 3-13-16. He had eight assists in four games against nationally ranked Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Fresh off his stint with Team USA’s gold medal-winning World Junior team, Smith returned to go 6-6-12 in six games for the Eagles, including a pair of big wins against previous No. 1 Boston University.

Scarfone went 4-2-1 in January with a 1.55 GAA and a save percentage of .950. His 209 saves were near the top of the nominated netminders.

Colgate’s Pais, Murphy, St. Lawrence’s Hustler, Ohio State’s Kirk earn monthly women’s hockey awards from Hockey Commissioners Association

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From left, Abby Hustler, Emma Pais, Raygan Kirk and Hannah Murphy (photos: St. Lawrence Athletics, Colgate Athletics, Ohio State Athletics).

The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its monthly women’s awards for January.

St. Lawrence junior forward Abby Hustler is the player of the month, Colgate freshman forward Emma Pais is rookie of the month, and netminders Raygan Kirk, a senior from Ohio State, and Hannah Murphy, a junior from Colgate, are co-goaltenders of the month.

Hustler led a resurgence for SLU Hockey as the Saints won six in a row in a 6-3 month. Hustler led the nation with 6-13-19. SLU has kept it going with wins over highly ranked Cornell and Colgate to start February.

Pais put together 6-5-11 in a great 8-1-0 month for nationally ranked Colgate. Her goals: three when even, two on the power play, one short-handed.

Kirk played just four games but all against WCHA iron: 4-0-0, 0.75 and .957 – vs. Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. She only allowed one goal in a sweep at Minnesota.

Murphy enjoyed a 5-0-0 month in which she had a 0.64 GAA and a save percentage of .970. She had three shutouts, two against nationally ranked opponents.

D-III Women’s East Week 15 Recap: Upsets, Conference play, & a Birthday!

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Caroline Mezias scores the game-winning goal against No. 6 Middlebury in weekend sweep of the Panthers. (Photo & Caption via Daniel Gessel/Wesleyan)

This past week we saw more upsets (shocker), some close games, and we look ahead to a notable birthday this weekend at the Playland Ice Casino. Here’s your week 15 east recap highlighting a few notable events!

Wesleyan’s sweeps #6  

Wesleyan (11-6-3) have clearly found their stride as of late. In their last six games, they’ve faced #3 Amherst (lost/won), #7 Hamilton (tie/win), and #6 Middlebury (win/win). Seeing this shows us the excitement of the NESCAC conference as well as the rest of women’s D3.

How it Happened 

Both games were very close, both games were tied with less than two minutes remaining in each. Game one featured a Wesleyan game-winner in overtime at 2:44 by Brigitte Goeler-Slough. The two previous goals in this one came in the middle frame, Christina Tournas for Wesleyan (7:28) & Cat Appleyard for Middlebury (17:19).

In game two, the Cardinals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st which held until a quarter of the way through the 2nd. Brigitte Goeler-Slough scored again in this one (11:50) and her teammate Dylan Green scored a brisk 2:50 later. Middlebury tied it up, scoring a pair in three minutes, it was Kate Flynn and Raia Schluter.

Caroline Mezias would then score the winner late in the 3rd at 18:42 to give the Cardinals the massive series sweep to go along with the tough stretch of games they’ve faced as of late. 

#3 Plattsburgh vs Canton

Plattsburgh, who’s run the NEWHL/SUNYAC conference for the past five years, entered to face Canton, a team who’s been on the come up.

To recap the two very close games of 2-1 apiece, we turn to the Plattsburgh junior from Minnesota, Bridget Orr, she had a trio of goals on the weekend, a pair coming in game two, which included the game-winner.

Plattsburgh defeats Canton 2-1, #21 Birdget Orr scores two in the game, three on the weekend. (Photo by Nathaneal LaPage / @lepagesports)

Briefly reviewing these games, in game one, there was a goal scored in each period, Orr at 16:59 of the 1st, Victoria McGarrity at 9:34 of the 2nd, tying it up for the Roos of Canton, then the Cardinals’ Ciara Wall found the winning goal on the powerplay at 7:36.

Game two was similar, but this time the 1st period was scoreless. Then, Bridget Orr took over for about three minutes. She scored late in the 2nd at 18:47, then quickly out of the locker room she found a goal a mere 28 seconds into the final frame. Anna Pavalasova found the back of the net for the Roos a brief four minutes later at 4:06, but it wasn’t enough, like game one. Goaltender Lila Nease made 13-saves in the 2-1 victory for Plattsburgh.

Williams upsets #9 Trinity

Another NESCAC “upset”, this time it’s the Eps of Williams picking up the huge win over #9 Trinity. Williams will have faced once the regular season is over, a ranked opponent in their final 13 games. Versus Trinity, they split, but that broke a streak of losses in their last eight games, winning only two.

In this one the scoring came later in the game, no goals in the opening period, but Williams scored near the midway mark of the 2nd. Cloe Noxon gave the Eps the lead 7:21 into the 2nd period. We entered the final period with a 1-0 Eps lead.

In the 3rd, Trinity got one back with some time left on the clock at the (14:00) mark, Paige Kehoe.

The NESCAC is falling as it usually does, no pun intended, but every team can win that conference and it’s a good brand of hockey.

A birthday party at Playland

This Friday, February 9, Stevenson visits Manhattanville for a pair of featured games, but some could argue there’s a bigger storyline at hand here.

We take this time to wish Head Coach Jennifer MacAskill an early Happy Birthday who will be celebrating her youthful career as she matures another year at the Playland Ice Casino.

Playland Ice Casino in Rye, NY. Photo via (@ValiantsWHockey on X)

I asked Coach MacAskill a few questions regarding the celebration of her birth, beginning with what she wishes for her team this late in the season: “My wish is to stay injury free as we enter the final weeks of the regular season and to stay out of the penalty box… and a championship would be the icing on the cake.”

I asked: What’s a gift that your team would give you for your birthday based on things they see from you daily?

“A new pair of game day shoes, a pack of sweet mint gum, some practice pucks and a new laptop charger….”

And finally, I had to include a question about Playland, in which Coach MacAskill revealed something potentially in the works, this is what she said when I asked if she’d rather be anywhere else than Playland on her birthday, she said: “No better place exists! The disco ball would be a nice touch.”

Will we see a disco ball goal celebration? While introducing the lineups? Stay tuned as the Valiants look to hold on to 3rd place in the UCHC league standings heading into the playoffs!

This Week in ECAC Hockey: By reflecting on youth hockey days, Colgate turning corner, starting to win ‘the game within the game’

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Colgate’s Robby Newton gets amped after scoring a goal Feb. 2 against Clarkson (photo: Olivia Hokanson).

First-year Colgate coach Mike Harder knew something was amiss with his team when he sent the players home for the Christmas holiday.

The Raiders that started the year by raising a 2023 postseason championship banner hadn’t won a game at home in the Class of 1965 Arena before Thanksgiving, and while they’d beaten Cornell to go into break with a win at Lynah Rink, they’d also lost the last home game of the semester by never leading their travel partner from nearby Ithaca, N.Y.

Harder felt like he needed to remind his team of something bigger than wins or losses, so he instructed the players to ask their families for pictures of when they played 8U youth hockey. Each player combed through old photo albums with their parents and dutifully sent pictures back to Liam Conway, an assistant coach and the team’s director of hockey operations.

When the players returned home from break, they walked into the locker room and found those pictures posted on their lockers as a reminder that things shouldn’t always be taken so seriously.

“Some of the pictures were locker room shots with sweaty faces, and other guys had street hockey shots,” Harder explained. “So when the boys got back to campus, we framed them all and blew them up to put them all on top of their stalls. It was pretty cool because on one side, they had their Division I Colgate [placard], but the other had a picture of them at seven years old with smiles and crooked teeth or teeth missing. And that made a difference because it reminded the guys that hockey is fun. We wanted to remember how it was when we were seven or eight years old.

“It doesn’t always have to be pressure packed, and from that, we started making plays that started making the little bit of difference [in our performance].”

The changeover in mentality helped Colgate find its groove, and after slowly improving through overtime games against both Maine and LIU, the Raiders exploded back into the ECAC’s fight by sweeping Quinnipiac and Princeton. An overtime win over Dartmouth gave them an additional two points on the road, and after this past weekend’s sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence, the defending champions are finally finding the secret stuff that once lifted them to a dogpile celebration at Lake Placid’s Herb Brooks Arena.

“Historically we’ve been a team that can be a little up and down sometimes in trying to find that consistency,” Harder admitted. “But this is a good group. Don Vaughan had a great group last year that won it all, and they figured out how to [achieve consistent greatness]. They knew how to do it in the room for whatever reason, but we didn’t quite have that confidence [this year] to finish games. If we’re being honest, the goaltending that we’ve had has been great, but we’re starting to win the special teams battles and the game within the game. And if you get one power play goal and kill every penalty, you’re probably going to win that game.”

Never was that clearer than this past weekend when the Raiders swept the North Country teams because of the power play’s ability to keep the team one step ahead of an opponent. On Friday night, a Golden Knights goal early in the third period halved Colgate’s 2-0 lead that had been built through even strength goals in the second, but an Alex DiPaolo power-play goal less than two minutes after Ryan Richardson broke through for Clarkson reestablished a two-goal lead into the latter stages of the game.

The Golden Knights would eventually add a second goal with under 10 minutes remaining, but a fourth goal ensured three points stayed home in Hamilton, N.Y., before Saturday night, where another power play goal served the difference between a three-point win and a possible overtime outcome. In both games, Colgate dutifully stayed out of the box and killed whatever penalties were assessed, meaning the three power-play goals scored essentially created the difference in six points and any number less than that.

“It’s been a confidence thing,” Harder said. “[Assistant coach] Zack Badalamenti runs our power play, and he’s been doubling down on how much we’re manufacturing goals. We’re running our routes and giving guys different options. We’re crushing it on video to where the guys are bought in and want more or are hungry for more. So when we start putting pressure on them when we give up a goal, they know who and what the difference makers are in that room. We really lean on our best players, and it sounds cliche, but our best players have been our best players lately.”

The run has sent players like Ryan McGuire and Alex DiPaolo shooting back to the top of the team’s goal sheet, while Ross Mitton, a 27-point scorer from a year ago, crashed through the 20-point plateau with a goal and three assists over last weekend. Brett Chorske likewise posted a goal and an assist against Clarkson and St. Lawrence to push his point streak to four games, and both Tommy Bergsland and Daniel Panetta scored goals at various times over both wins.

Their performances – along with the rest of the team’s defense in front of goalie Carter Gylander’s 48 saves last weekend – sent the Raiders shooting to the top tier of ECAC in a year defined by weekly rises and falls. The win over Clarkson in particular moved them into third place with a one-point differential to Cornell, and both teams remain within striking distance of first place Quinnipiac thanks to the Raiders’ earlier win that sent the Bobcats tumbling into the Pairwise Rankings’ second-seeded tier.

“It’s even more complicated within a three-point system,” Harder laughed, “because you want to win cleanly. It’s exciting if you’re a fan, but last weekend, I think two wins separated second place from 12th place. It was insane, and I think there’s a little bit more separation now, but it’s not much. So we tried to break things down, shift-by-shift, to find just the habits and details to do those things while knowing results will come. It’s such a quick turnaround in our league, and it’s so unique because you have to play a different opponent every night. The other leagues don’t do that, so it can be difficult because you have to be super prepared for both nights.

“Sweeps have been nice, but they’re not the norm in this league, and it’s going to be really tough to gain that advantage.”

TMQ: How high will the PairWise bubble go as college hockey teams keep battling for NCAA tournament positioning?

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Ludvig Persson makes one of his 33 saves Saturday night, rejecting a PJ Fletcher shot as North Dakota finished off a sweep at Miami (photo: Bella Sagarese/Miami Athletics).

Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Ed: Jim, since our deadline for this column is before Monday night’s Beanpot semifinals, we’ll encourage college hockey fans to look elsewhere here on USCHO.com for coverage of the games.

Let’s turn to the race for the NCAA tournament. As is typical for early February, the top eight teams in the PairWise are nearly locks, with all having a 99% or better chance of making it in, either by winning their conference or as an at-large. Among those teams, there will be some jockeying for position – especially for the coveted regional No. 1 seed – but near the cutoff line of no lower than No. 14, there’s some volatility.

It’s all but certain that the automatic qualifiers from Atlantic Hockey and the CCHA will take two spots and there will not be an at-large from either conference. And we had been pretty certain in this space and on our USCHO Weekend Review podcast about ECAC Hockey having only one bid unless Quinnipiac is beaten in the league championship in Lake Placid.

Cornell, however, has something to say about that. The Big Red sit at No. 14 in the PairWise Rankings (prior to Monday’s games) and would be an at-large qualifier as the last team in.

Cornell has quietly put together a 10-game unbeaten streak, the eighth in coach Mike Schafer’s tenure. No games are a gimme, but the rest of the ECAC schedule for the Big Red is against teams they should be favored to beat.

Before we look at other teams on the edge of qualifying, how about Cornell’s rise in the rankings?

Jim: I feel like this year’s Cornell team is so much better than even its current PairWise position indicates. The Big Red began the year hot, had a minor slip up, but now are playing incredibly solid hockey.

I feel like Mike Schafer’s teams of late have peaked around the right time. Last year’s team got to a regional final and if the Big Red can get into the field of 16, they could make a run from a low seed.

Another team, despite some recent bumps in the road that I like, is Western Michigan. The Broncos stopped a three-game skid on Saturday by dominating Denver on the road on Saturday. I watched a good portion of that game and was impressed with this team’s speed.

The bubble right now for the NCAA tournament seems precarious. My concern is how high the bubble goes. Right now at 14, could we have a couple of postseason tournament upsets to move the cut line to 12? That would be the highest in recent memory?

Ed: That’s a great question. You’d need two of the four conferences with multiple bids (as of today) to have at least mild upsets. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility, or even probability.

I guess I’d look for teams with some current momentum who might cause an upset and teams that are unlikely to get bumped. I’ll start with the Big Ten and NCHC and leave Hockey East and ECAC Hockey to you. Then we can compare notes.

The Big Ten has four teams inside the bubble. Michigan is sitting the lowest at No. 12. The first round of the Big Ten playoffs is a best-of-three at the higher seed with the first-place team getting a bye to the semifinals.

The 5 vs. 4 and 6 vs. 3 matchups could see an upset. As things stand today based on percentages in the standings, you could see Notre Dame at Michigan for a series. I can conceive of Notre Dame pulling off an upset. They split in South Bend earlier in the season and have two coming up at Yost later this month.

In the NCHC, the teams just outside the bubble have had some impressive wins this season. I’m speaking of St. Cloud, Omaha, and Colorado College. Any of those three could put together some playoff victories to get in.

What about in the ECAC and Hockey East? The latter conference right now has five teams above the line. Could we see six? Will the ECAC manage two or more?

Jim: Maybe everything you just said combined with my rationale for both the ECAC and Hockey East make my rationale almost obsolete.

In Hockey East, I do believe that almost any team can beat any other on a given night. But the thought of doing it three or four times against the likes of BC, BU, Maine and likely Providence doesn’t seem likely. So scratch that off.

As for the ECAC, this could very well be the best chance to get a rogue team in if Cornell plays well down the stretch, moved into the top 12 in the PairWise and then neither the Big Red or Quinnipiac win the ECAC. This league always seems to deliver an unexpected champion, so why stop now?

I think it is now safe to say that we won’t see an independent team reach the tournament. And I can’t tell if that is good or bad. Arizona State could have a record number of wins for a school to not make the field. But looking back, the amount of home games the Sun Devils played this year makes me start to believe more and more in the PairWise.

I have consistently railed against the PairWise and its proportional divisions for a number of years (not to mention the criteria that were eliminated). But right now, I feel the PairWise is getting it right. Thoughts?

Ed: I will grudgingly admit that I think the PairWise is getting it right, though I’m disappointed in the hurdle Arizona State faces.

Over the past few months I’ve made arguments both in favor and against the current criteria. The thing that I’ve criticized most is that the formula gets massaged every so often, but that’s also probably why the PairWise is getting it right.

I guess my biggest gripe is about the RPI, the ratings percentage index. It’s good that it has been modified to give weight to road games and to apply bonuses to games against the top 20 in the RPI. It’s designed to provide context to your record by including the record of your opponents and your opponents’ opponents.

But that also means that 75% of it is outside of your control.

If you’re a good team with some conference opponents lowering your league’s overall non-conference winning percentage, then you’re pretty much stuck. I think that’s particularly the case when teams use travel money for trips against tough opponents to bolster their budgets while standing a poor chance of victory – and thus dragging their league down with them.

Still, the men’s NCAA D-I ice hockey championships committee is looking to improve. From their May 2023 minutes, it’s noted that they are looking at the NPI (NCAA percentage index) which is used by women’s hockey as a replacement for the RPI, as well as considering the impact of overtime and shootouts on head-to-head and common opponents comparisons.

So yes, the PairWise is working though it’s not yet optimal. But at least the PairWise is transparent, unlike the smoke-filled room of college hoops.

Jim: I won’t complain about the transparency of the process. And maybe this next argument sounds like a broken record for me as I have used it before.

Personally, besides being flawed as you mentioned, I also feel the RPI is too heavily weighted in the current criteria. There are only three criterion: RPI, head-to-head and common opponents. Because of the lack of criteria, the odds are you’ll have more ties (particularly when teams don’t play head to head). And the tie breaker is, well, the RPI. Thus, one criterion is often scored twice in the same comparisons.

Translation: a weaker or lowered RPI creates a difficult hurdle for teams that aren’t in the most powerful conferences.

Enough complaining, as I think we could be in for an exciting race towards Selection Sunday.

BEANPOT: No matter recent results, late-game stress, No. 3 Boston University still finds a way in the Beanpot

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Boston University’s Luke Tuch celebrates his goal that put the Terriers ahead 3-1 in the 71st Beanpot. BU went on to defeat No. 1 Boston College 4-3 and will face Northeastern in the finals next Monday (photo: BU Athletics).

BOSTON – For decades the first two Mondays in February have had a familiar feel.

Sure, the tournament is called The Beanpot, and Monday began the 71st edition of the famous event, but in the last four or so decades, those familiar with the event began to rename it the BU Invitational.

BU, of course, stands for Boston University, a team that has won the tournament 31 times. The dominance of the Terriers, particularly between the years 1973 and 2013 when one Jack Parker served as head coach, was marked.

But since Parker retired, Beanpot dominance hasn’t been as easy for BU. The Terries have won just twice in nine attempts. And despite entering Monday’s semifinal as the third-ranked team in the USCHO.com poll, they were facing the best – No. 1 Boston College – an Eagles team that swept the Terries just 10 days earlier.

At puck drop, you felt like some sort of tide at TD Garden had changed. The massive Boston University crowds of the past existed but felt diminutive to the Boston College contingent of which the student all seemed to travel down the street to the Harvard ticket office and purchase each and every available seat in the Crimson sections.

What always seemed to be a building dominated by the Scarlet and White of Boston University was suddenly overrun by the Maroon and Gold of Boston College.

Cliches in sports exist, though, for writers like myself. So I’ll say it.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Monday, Boston University found a way to beat BU after losing twice less than two weeks ago. The final score was 4-3.

But for Terriers Nation, the score might as well have been 20-3. Sure, the Eagles made a furious comeback that fell short despite what felt like a peppering of the net late. But other than the finish that forced BU fans to up the dose on blood pressure medicines, many moments felt like days of old for BU.

Boston University will play in the finals next Monday for the 56th time in 71 tournaments.

After an initial onslaught by the Eagles that BU survived, thanks in no small part to goaltender Mathieu Caron, it was youth that gave the Terriers an advantage they’d never relinquish.

That seems appropriate if you want to harken back to that Golden Era of the Beanpot under Parker. It was the legendary bench boss who always said that the rookies in a Beanpot often had success on the big stage because they were almost too naïve to feel the pressure.

Okay, so Monday maybe it wasn’t the same situation. Yes, it was the youngest player on the ice who staked BU a 2-0 lead – Macklin Celebrini scoring 2:10 apart in the opening period. But Celebrini is also one of the most recognizable names in the game, the consensus favorite to be the number one overall selection in this summer’s NHL Draft.

“A lot of [young players] thrive in these situation,” said BC coach Jay Pandolfo, who played his college hockey for Parker back in the mid 90s. “Some of them perform better under pressure. They look for those opportunities to strive in those situations and you saw that tonight with Macklin [Celebrini] scoring twice.”

“Those were two good shots by Celebrini right there,” admitted BC coach Greg Brown.

The Terriers found ways to take advantage of Boston College mistakes with Luke Tuch in the second and Ryan Greene in the third turning BC turnovers into BU goals. Those upped the BU advantage to 4-1 as the precious seconds of regulation ticked away.

Yes, BC had a great late push. Gentry Shamburger cut the lead to 4-2 at 8:07 of the third and Gabe Perreault scored his second of the night at 11:24.

But BU found a way to close it out, as they have done so many times in the past on the Garden ice on the first Monday of February.

“Getting swept by BC two weeks ago was tough,” said Pandolfo. “Tonight was a good response by our team.”

Northeastern 3, Harvard 2 (F/OT)

Defending champion Northeastern needed everything it had in hopes of defending its title, scoring midway through the third to force overtime where Gunnarwolfe Fontaine notched the game-winning goal 33 seconds into the 3-on-3 frame to send the Huskies to next Monday’s title game.

Northeastern took an early lead on Alex Campbell’s goal at 7:08 of the first.

But Harvard responded in the second with two goals of its own. Ben MacDonald, whose father Lane was MVP of the 1989 tournament for the Crimson, evened the score at 2:53 of the middle frame. Then Matthew Morden gave the Crimson the lead less than two minutes later.

The game stayed that way until Northeastern captain Justin Hryckowian picked up a loose rebound with 9:17 left in regulation to tie things and force overtime.

Pool of 26 men’s NCAA D-I college hockey players announced as semifinalists for 2024 Walter Brown Award

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Lane Hutson is serving as an alternate captain this season for BU (photo: Harris Freeman).

The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston has announced the 26 NCAA Division I players that are semifinalists for the 72nd Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born Division I college hockey player in New England.

The nation’s oldest nationally-recognized college hockey honor, the Walter Brown Award was established in 1953 by the members of the 1933 Massachusetts Rangers, the first American team ever to win the World Championship Tournament. Brown coached the Rangers to the title in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where the team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.

“This is a superb field of semifinalists, with a bit more emphasis on forwards – 19 this year versus 16 a year ago. As always, we’re looking forward to following them closely down the stretch run toward the playoffs,” noted committee chairman Tim Costello in a statement. “We will announce the winner in the final week of March.”

Fourteen teams are represented in the slate of candidates that includes 19 forwards, four defensemen, and three goaltenders. Sixteen semifinalist nominees are from teams in Hockey East. five nominees are from ECAC Hockey, and five are from Atlantic Hockey. Boston College leads the way with five semifinalists, American International, Boston University, Holy Cross, Massachusetts, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Northeastern, and Quinnipiac each have two. Brown, Connecticut, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Sacred Heart have one each.

American International: Sophomore forward John Lundy, graduate forward Dustin Manz

Boston College: Sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier, freshman forward Gabe Perreault, freshman forward Will Smith, freshman forward Ryan Leonard, freshman goalie Jacob Fowler

Boston University: Sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson (2023 winner), senior forward Luke Tuch

Brown: Sophomore forward Ryan St. Louis

Connecticut: Junior forward Chase Bradley

Dartmouth: Sophomore goalie Cooper Black

Harvard: Sophomore forward Joe Miller

Holy Cross: Senior goalie Jason Grande, junior forward Liam McLinskey

Massachusetts: Junior defenseman Scott Morrow, junior defenseman Ryan Ufko

Merrimack: Sophomore defenseman Zach Bookman, junior forward Matt Copponi

New Hampshire: Freshman forward Ryan Conmy, sophomore forward Cy LeClerc

Northeastern: Sophomore forward Jack Williams, senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine

Quinnipiac: Junior forward Collin Graf, sophomore forward Sam Lipkin

Sacred Heart: Graduate forward T.J. Walsh

Boston College garners 48 first-place votes, stays top-ranked team in Feb. 5 USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll

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Boston College’s Gabe Perreault looks for the shot while being defended by UMass Lowell’s Matt Crasa in a 6-1 win BC win on Feb. 2 (photo: Brody Hannon).

With 48 first-place votes this week, Boston College is again the No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll.

North Dakota is again No. 2, getting two first-place votes.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll – Feb. 5, 2024

Boston University holds steady at No. 3, Wisconsin stays No. 4, and Quinnipiac is up two to No. 5 this week.

Denver falls one to No. 6, Maine drops one spot to No. 7, Minnesota moves up one to No. 8, Michigan State is down one to No. 9, and Providence remains No. 10 in this week’s poll.

No new teams enter the poll this week and nine other teams received votes.

The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.

Five top 20 teams with big weekends, some dustups, our ‘big’ predictions: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 6 Episode 17

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Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review the games of the weekend and news of the week in this February 5, 2024 edition.

In this episode:

  • Derek discusses some dust-ups
  • Top 20 teams had a difficult time sweeping, but BC, North Dakota, Michigan, Cornell and Omaha got the job done
  • What teams in the top 20 should concern us right now?
  • Our biggest/boldest predictions for the rest of the regular season
  • Quick look at Monday’s Beanpot

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Division I Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit: ncaa.com/mfrozenfour

Subscribe to this college hockey podcast on Apple podcasts, in your favorite podcast app, or on Spreaker.

Find our podcast archive at USCHO.com/podcasts

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