USA Hockey on Wednesday unveiled its 26-player preliminary roster for the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team that will participate in the IIHF World Junior Championship from Dec. 26, 2013-Jan. 5, 2014, in Malmo, Sweden, defending its gold medal from 2013.
The preliminary roster includes 19 NCAA players and three players that helped the U.S. capture the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship a year ago in forwards Riley Barber (Miami) and Ryan Hartman and goaltender Jon Gillies (Providence).
“We’re excited about the group of players we’ve invited to camp,” said general manager of the 2014 U.S. National Junior Team and assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey Jim Johannson in a statement. “There will be some tough decisions in getting to the final roster, but that’s certainly a good problem to have.”
The 26 players will participate in a training camp Dec. 15-18 at the University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena with preparations continuing in Angelholm, Sweden, before the final 23-man roster is announced on Dec. 23.
The U.S. will play three exhibition games before the start of the tournament, including Dec. 17 against Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn., and games in Angelholm versus Finland on Dec. 20 and against Sweden on Dec. 22.
Alex Altenbernd has contributed his share of offense this season for St. Thomas (photo: Mike Ekern/University of St. Thomas).
Although St. Thomas has certainly played good hockey through the first month of the season, winnning six of its first eight games and losing just once, coach Jeff Boeser will tell you the Tommies are not a finished product.
“We have a long way to go to be a good team,” Boeser said. “We have done a pretty good job with our penalty kill and we have great goaltending, but we can be better on offense. And we have to continue to eliminate some of our mistakes, but overall, it hasn’t been a bad start.”
The Tommies have been off since Nov. 23 when they knocked off St. Olaf 3-0 in MIAC action. Their only loss during a 6-1-1 start to the season was 3-0 defeat at the hands of nationally-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Nov. 15.
St. Thomas is 3-0-1 in the MIAC.
Boeser said generating offense has been a work in progress. The Tommies have 20 goals on the season, including five by Alex Altenbernd, and Connor McBride has tallied three goals.
“We’ve been working very hard at being better on offense,” Boeser said. “We’ve been doing different drills in practice and just focused on capitalizing on the opportunities we get. But I do like our depth. We don’t have one star, but we have a lot of guys who are capable of stepping up.”
From a defensive standpoint, the Tommies have not been easy to crack. Not with Drew Fielding stepping up time and again between the pipes. Fielding has started all eight games and has made 210 saves. He owns a goals-against average of 1.36 and has allowed just 11 goals. Fielding has nine shutouts in his career.
“Drew has been very good for us,” Boeser said. “He has made a lot of big saves and prepares very well for each game. He’s been strong all year. Our goaltending coach [Jacque Vezina] does a phenomenal job of getting all of our goalies ready to play. A lot of credit goes to him.”
St. Thomas has been tough in penalty kill situations as well. Opponents are just 2-for 33 on the power play against the Tommies.
“We’ve worked hard all year at being good in those situations,” Boeser said. “Our team defense is definitely a strength. It’s played a big part in our success.”
St. Thomas shared the regular-season championship last season in the MIAC and has its eyes set on a title again this year.
But if the Tommies are to be champions, they will have to be ready to go every night. Wins are not handed out in the tightly-contested MIAC.
“You can’t look at a weekend and say it’s going to be an easy one – every game is going to be tough,” Boeser said. “The parity in this league is as good as I’ve seen it in my time as a coach. We need to play at our best every night.”
STREAK CONTINUES: St. Mary’s stretched its win streak to three games on Saturday as it earned its second straight 2-1 win over Lake Forest.
The Cardinals, who improved to 5-5 overall, forced the Foresters to go 0-for-7 on the power play Saturday. Lake Forest finished 0-for-12 overall on the weekend in power-play situations.
Phil Heinle made his first career start in goal and racked up 30 saves. Dylan Dock and Andrew Ketterer both scored goals for the Cardinals, with Ketterer becoming the fourth St. Mary’s player to score his first goal of the year over the weekend.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: St. Olaf rolled to a 5-1 win over Lawrence on Saturday to complete a weekend sweep and eight players from the Oles factored into the scoring in what was highest-scoring game of the season for St. Olaf.
Dan Cecka, Nick Marsh, David Rath, Geoff Gieni and Peter Lindblad all scored goals for the Oles. Rath also tallied two assists. Henrik Wood made his first start since Nov. 9 and came through with a solid performance as he stopped 23 shots and helped St. Olaf improve to 3-6-1 on the year. The Oles have won their last two games.
FINISHING STRONG: Gustavus Adolphus closed out its weekend with a 3-2 win over Marian on Saturday. The Gusties trailed 2-1 going into the final period, but rallied behind a two-goal outburst in the first five minutes of the period.
Corey Lieverman scored his second goal of the weekend to tie the score at 2-2 and Drew Aspinwall came through the game-winner to lift Gustavus to its fourth win in the last five games. Gustavus opened the weekend with a 6-6 tie against Lawrence and hasn’t lost since a 3-1 loss to MIAC foe Concordia on Nov. 15.
The goal by Aspinwall was the first of his career. Tony Paulson also scored his first collegiate goal in the victory.
Goaltender Erik Johnson earned his first win, stopping 23 shots. The Gusties were outshot 25-24.
Arlan: A variety of events happened over the course of what was a spread out schedule of games, including a couple of injuries to starting goaltenders on highly ranked teams, the first loss for the final undefeated team, the end to Ohio State’s winless slump, and Mercyhurst’s push back into national contention only to still be looking up at Robert Morris.
I’d like to start by looking at Vermont, a team we haven’t discussed that much this year. The Catamounts were taken to overtime in all three games they played this week. They were able to win at Brown, but paid with ties for blowing third-period leads in both games at Colgate. My first reaction is to conclude that those are wasted games, but I need to remind myself that Vermont’s record is still level at 7-7-4. That’s only one less win than it had last year in Jim Plumer’s first season, and already an improvement over the four wins of two seasons ago. The team is 4-1-3 over its last eight games, so while it may struggle at times to win, it is getting better at avoiding losses. Amanda Pelkey and Brittany Zuback are averaging over a point a game up front, and Dayna Colang is nearly matching that production from the blue line.
Vermont hit its peak around this time last season. Should we expect the Catamounts to start to fade, or will they ascend another step or two in the progression?
Candace: I don’t know if ascend is the right word. I guess it’s possible. When I look at Vermont’s overall performance to date, they have done OK against other teams that have struggled. Two ties against Colgate aren’t exactly a ringing endorsement, especially since the Catamounts couldn’t hold a lead in either game, and Vermont got crushed by both Boston College and Boston University. Robert Morris also put up a lot of goals in sweeping Vermont. Then again, in looking at their schedule the rest of the way, aside from BC and BU, and perhaps Syracuse, I don’t see any reason why they can’t go on a push and perhaps make a top four finish in Hockey East. It’s not like the rest of the league has done much in terms of consistency, and even the Eagles and Terriers have displayed vulnerability.
Before moving on to Ohio State and New Hampshire, I want to discuss the Eagles. They earned a split with Cornell, ending the Big Red’s unbeaten season, but I wonder if Cornell having to replace Lauren Slebodnick with Paula Voorheis in the first period of Saturday’s BC win played into it. Voorheis is a freshman, and had only played in one game beforehand, against Union. Suddenly playing against one of the highest-powered offenses in the game in your second collegiate game is definitely a pressure situation. To its credit, BC took advantage, but do we take this game as BC being in the hunt for another Frozen Four slot, or look at the shutout loss to the better goalie as an indication that BC is too much affected by the loss of Alex Carpenter to the Olympics to be in the hunt this year?
Arlan: I haven’t had a chance to go back and watch the second BC at Cornell game online yet, but I did see game one, and based on that, I’d say that BC is in the hunt. The Eagles generated more chances in that first game, despite being shut out. Sometimes Slebodnick made big saves, on other chances her defense came up big, and at times BC just missed the net. It definitely didn’t get any bounces, and could have conceivably had a few more power-play chances as well. The Big Red defensive scheme on Haley Skarupa was along the lines of knock her down whenever possible and figure that the referees won’t call everything a penalty.
Cornell is the steadier team on the back end, and I think that the Eagles still have work to do and improvements to be made on their blue line. But they had some advantages over the Big Red, which looked to be the best team in the East heading into that series. BC has better team speed, and can generate offense from any of its lines. I didn’t see much from Cornell in that game at even strength offensively apart from Jillian Saulnier’s line. Emily Fulton really looks to be the glue that ties everything together for that combo. The defensemen also generate offense by passing the puck where it needs to go, but that mainly comes to the forefront on the power play.
If I had a question on the Eagles’ offense against a top opponent, it is whether Skarupa and Emily Field should be on the same line, as opposed to being on separate units as they were. That may help reduce the attention that defenses can afford to focus on Skarupa. Friday’s game was also my first look at Andie Anastos, and she looks like a strong player that can create her own offense. Such a high percentage of the games this year are competitive, so if a team has a few people that can break open a game, it makes life for that squad much easier.
I remember that Cornell had a brief defensive meltdown versus Quinnipiac last season in a game that the Big Red eventually won while Slebodnick was out with an injury. On many top teams, a big question mark pops out if it is forced to call on its backup goalie. Does that give a team like Wisconsin an edge, as the Badgers proved they could win a tight game without Alex Rigsby in uniform by Saturday’s end?
Candace: Yes and no. It’s impressive that Rigsby’s backup, Ann-Renée Desbiens, was able to hold Minnesota-Duluth scoreless for half the game, even if scoring isn’t always the Bulldogs strong suit. Wisconsin does probably have the best overall team defense, one that can clamp down and limit a team’s scoring chances, which in turn makes the goalie look better, as she doesn’t have to face as many quality chances. Still, I think having Rigsby is an X-factor that gives the Badgers more confidence in the offensive end to take chances, as there is less of a fear of paying the consequences if they mess up and the other team moves in transition. While scoring has improved for Wisconsin, it’s not at the level of the team that had Meghan Duggan and Brianna Decker to call upon for points in tight situations, so Wisconsin’s best chance is to get a couple of opportunistic goals. With Rigsby, I feel like the Badgers might be able to open up a tad more than with Desbiens.
Speaking of WCHA teams, Ohio State broke its nine-game winless streak by sweeping New Hampshire. Lisa Steffes was solid in net for the Buckeyes, who needed the turnaround. Of course, so do the Wildcats. After a good start, New Hampshire has just one win in nine games in November. A lot of the losses have been of the tight defensive variety; it seems New Hampshire can’t score. Do you think either team can take positives from this weekend?
Arlan: Ohio State certainly can. When a team hasn’t won in more than a month, any win has to look mighty fine. A road sweep — even better. Saturday’s game was the first time since Oct. 12 and only the third time all season that the Buckeyes have scored more than two goals in a game, so that had to lift some weight off their minds as well. The defense hasn’t been the biggest problem, but when a team isn’t scoring, any reduction in goals allowed is huge, so limiting the Wildcats’ shots and holding them to two goals was vital. It remains to be seen from subsequent games whether Ohio State has turned a corner or just mixed a good weekend into a frustrating season.
The biggest positive for UNH may be that Alexis Crossley and Jonna Curtis returned to the lineup, so the Wildcats went from 13 skaters to 15. Those were the first games of the year for Curtis, and Crossley missed nine contests, so both will likely need time to get into game shape. At least it sets them up better for January when UNH returns to Hockey East play. Because these were nonconference games and national rankings aren’t really an issue, it may not matter as much. New Hampshire is a proud program though, so I don’t know that it will be taking moral victories from staying close with a short bench.
Another team that faced Ohio State last week and came away with something better than a moral victory was Robert Morris. I know that we keep looking at the Colonials and questioning the quality of their wins, but a lesson that I’m learning this season is any win sure beats a loss. RMU does have three losses, but in each case it came out and avenged that defeat the next day. The knock on CHA teams is usually that they play in a soft conference, but is the CHA really any weaker than Hockey East this year? If so, it can’t be by much. Perhaps at the bottom of the conference, but the trio of RMU, Mercyhurst, and Syracuse compares well with the top half of Hockey East, and maybe we should include RIT as well. Does Brittany Howard’s offense and the goaltending of Jessica Dodds make the Colonials the best bet for a first-time entrant into the NCAA tournament?
Candace: I think so yes. Robert Morris has really passed almost every test it has faced this year. Beat Boston University? Check. Beat Mercyhurst? Check. In fact, I think the Colonials, currently sitting at seven in the PairWise and ahead of Boston College, have a lot of opportunity in the second half, since BC lost to Quinnipiac and Syracuse. Robert Morris has a pair with St. Lawrence, a pair with Quinnipiac, and another pair with both Syracuse and Mercyhurst. It gives the Colonials ways to stay in the top eight and get that coveted playoff spot, whereas BC’s best chances to move into the top eight are against BU and Harvard. Of course, there are places Robert Morris could really lose ground too, such as losses in those games, as well as to RIT, so it’s still early to be betting on PairWise finishes. Howard has really impressed so far, currently sitting at five in the country in scoring as a freshman, and Dodds, currently seventh in goaltending, has been a revelation in net. Certainly with those two, there is a lot of growth potential, and coach Paul Colontino must be excited about how his program is shaping up for the next few years.
One team I expected more of this weekend was St. Cloud, which got swept at home by Rensselaer. How do we view that one? Is it a huge setback for the Huskies, or we do look at it as further evidence that RPI is over its early-season malaise?
Arlan: It’s the same story, different day for the Huskies. They can’t score. Over the previous three seasons, they’ve ranked last, second to last, and bottom five in scoring offense. This year, only Colgate and Dartmouth score less. I was at Friday’s game versus RPI, and if there was a way that St. Cloud could manage to not score, the Huskies found it. They didn’t have a lot of puck luck, and there is no doubt that Kelly O’Brien played well for the Engineers. As Jeff Giesen said after the game, the Huskies also made O’Brien look pretty good, putting a lot of shots into her pads and missing the net on several grade-A chances. The positive from their perspective would have to be that at least they were getting chances. Some of their prior teams would have been stuck in their own zone playing defense. I don’t know if it gets much better in the short term. The only Huskies with more than three goals are Julia Gilbert and Molli Mott with five apiece, and they’re both seniors. Only Gilbert (17) and Mott (29) have double-digit goals in their careers, so Giesen will need to dig up some new offense. Junior defenseman Audrey Hanmer is probably the team’s best all-around player, and she might find the net a time or two before the season is over, but it is hard to expect a defenseman to carry the offense for a team that has little unless she’s another Angela Ruggiero.
As for the Engineers, I may be more puzzled than ever. When they slumped, I had basically written them off, but after seeing them play, I was impressed by a number of their players. I’ll have more on both RPI and Princeton in this week’s column.
The one thing that we can be sure of where Rensselaer is concerned is that it beat Harvard, when ranked teams Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Cornell, and Boston University couldn’t. The Crimson host BC on Saturday. If they defeat the Eagles, will they finally start to get more love from the voters in the poll? Harvard is currently fifth in the poll despite being second in both winning percentage and the PairWise.
Candace: It depends. How’s that for analysis? Really though, it does. BC is currently ranked 6, Harvard 5, and Harvard has home ice. Who is Harvard going to displace? North Dakota, who stopped Minnesota’s win streak and has tied Wisconsin? Cornell, which tied the Crimson in a game on Harvard’s ice? Maybe, but I think people still feel that Cornell is slightly stronger than the Crimson. Wisconsin, which has a 12-2-2 record and has played a tougher schedule? It’s not just that Harvard has to win; the teams above the Crimson would have to falter for me to vote them higher. I can’t put Harvard over any of the WCHA teams, and they didn’t beat Cornell yet, so I can’t put them over the Big Red yet either. Harvard’s strength of schedule is only 16; I think that plays into a lot of what you see with the poll rankings. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Crimson. I think Emerance Maschmeyer is one of the top goalies in the game, one of the handful that can actually steal a game for her team. I think the Crimson’s offense is better than some think it is, and has a lot of balance. I pretty much at this point expect Harvard to make the NCAA tournament, but I also think their current poll rank is pretty accurate.
We talked earlier about Wisconsin and the series against Minnesota-Duluth. The latter has another big series this weekend, traveling to Boston to take on the Terriers. Do we take that series as signs of life for an inconsistent Bulldogs team? I’ll admit I looked askance at Minnesota-Duluth after the losses to St. Cloud and Bemidji. However, the Bulldogs have taken both North Dakota and Wisconsin to shootouts after OT ties this year, so perhaps they just had a little bit of relaxation heading into games against teams they should beat.
Arlan: UMD has always gotten up to play top opponents, so the Bulldogs competing with Wisconsin isn’t a surprise. The fact that they didn’t win any of their six games against the teams above them in the WCHA standings, with four of those being played in Duluth, says a little about where their talent is relative to the other contenders. UMD sandwiched exhibitions with Team Russia around the Wisconsin series, and apparently a couple of players were injured in the most recent one, so it could be a tired and short-handed team that heads to Boston. It still has another December series remaining at St. Cloud before it wraps for 2013. Brigette Lacquette will presumably be back for the second semester, but by then her team will be down to a dozen regular-season games left. Those will in part be compromised by player absences for the Olympics. The Bulldogs will spring an upset on somebody, but I don’t know that they have the numbers to make a concerted push up the standings or national rankings.
The other remaining series between a WCHA team and an out-of-conference contender also takes place this weekend when North Dakota journeys to Clarkson. The two teams split in Grand Forks a year ago, and that would figure to be the likely outcome again. Should either get swept, its future NCAA at-large hopes take a hit. Both have enough difficulty remaining in conference schedules to mount a rally, but suffering two losses would leave that team with a poor record against Teams Under Consideration, at a disadvantage in many Common Opponents comparisons, and unlikely to win a PairWise comparison with its upcoming opponent due to those head-to-head losses. Clarkson and North Dakota are No. 5 and No. 6 respectively in the PairWise as I type this, but each already has three losses and two ties. Making that five losses at this point of the year figures to cause it to drop a few places. Both teams will be aware of this, so the squad that loses on Friday will be playing with urgency on Saturday. I’ve gone back and forth during the season on which team would have the upper hand in that series. First it looked like Clarkson, then the Golden Knights slumped, and now they’ve won four straight and regained their offense. Am I wrong to expect a split after UND’s problems scoring in its most recent series versus Wisconsin?
Candace: Probably not. Between the travel, the Golden Knights improved play of late, and North Dakota’s slump, that’s the most likely scenario. Of course, the last time I thought I had a handle on Clarkson, the Golden Knights lost a few games I thought they’d win and put up a poor showing against Cornell. Still, Erica Howe has been virtually impenetrable in net, Jamie Lee Rattray is having a Kazmaier-like senior year, Erin Ambrose is one of the best young offensive defensemen in the game, and a couple of other seniors, Carly Mercer and Brittany Styner, have stepped up. Maybe that last swoon came from starting to believe the hype, and now the Golden Knights will be on guard against a letdown
Still, I don’t know how much you can read into North Dakota’s power outage against Wisconsin. I mean, it is the Badgers we are talking about, the one team that hasn’t let anyone score more than two goals in a game all year. EVERYONE has difficulty scoring against Wisconsin. And North Dakota was primed for a letdown in the scoreless tie since it came right on the heels of the win against Minnesota that broke the Gophers win streak. I’d expect two close games, but honestly, a split or a sweep by North Dakota wouldn’t surprise me. Even a Clarkson sweep isn’t out of the realm of possibility, though extremely unlikely for a North Dakota squad that hasn’t been swept this year.
Josh Manson (right) and Northeastern are ranked 19th after winning Notre Dame’s tournament (photo: Melissa Wade).
If you’re like me, you saw Northeastern sweep Alabama-Huntsville on the opening weekend and you just yawned. Big deal. It would have been news only had the Huskies lost.
Then they swept Holy Cross and that was becoming a bit more noteworthy, but skepticism would continue to reign until Northeastern came out on top over more prominent foes.
A split at St. Lawrence amounted to step in the right direction, but two losses to Boston College were steps backward, albeit small ones, especially in light of taking one of the two to overtime.
Then the Huskies defeated Massachusetts-Lowell.
Now, I thought, we’re talking. Even if the River Hawks seemed to be hitting the post or crossbar with regularity, there was no discounting this win. The Huskies had defeated a team I expected to be in contention for the national title by the end of the year.
This was not “your father’s Huskies.” Forget about the team that had missed the playoffs three of the last four years. This was a playoff team, not just because this season all the teams make the playoffs, but because it was too good to miss the playoffs in any year.
Yeah, New Hampshire then swept them, but since then, it’s been all good: a sweep of Merrimack, then a shootout win over Western Michigan to advance in the Shillelagh Tournament, followed by a win over 11th-ranked Notre Dame on its home ice to take the tourney.
Northeastern is 9-5-1, ranked 19th and can count road wins at Lowell and Notre Dame. What’s not to like?
“We’re a team that is continuing to develop,” Northeastern coach Jim Madigan says. “We’ve talked about this being a process. We’ve got a lot of young players, and our goal was to just to get better each week.
“We’re more worried about the process than the wins and losses. Certainly, we know we’re measured by wins and losses, and there’s a focus on that, but if we continue to do the right things, create good habits, work hard and continue with the process, then we think we’re going to have some success and get better each week. I think, for the most part, we’ve gotten better each weekend series.
“It’s early, but I like where we’re at. But there’s a long, long way to go. We’ve come off a good weekend but we’re faced with the No. 1 team in Hockey East: [Providence].
“That’s what drives us. Our kids are driven, knowing that the league is so competitive and you have to bring it every weekend.”
As it turns out, those early wins that generated mostly yawns from people like me were by design. Although Madigan hadn’t projected a year or more earlier that the Huskies would be coming off a non-playoff year and might need a healthy dose of confidence-building — is there a coach alive that expects to miss an eight-team playoff in a 10-team league? — he could project some of the other characteristics of this year’s team and knew he didn’t want a schedule that would prove too daunting.
All opponents can be difficult and no matchup can be taken lightly, but not all opponents are created equal. Opening with a few matchups that looked easier on paper made a lot of sense.
“There was a little strategy behind it,” Madigan says. “We were looking for some balanced scheduling, knowing that we were going to have a young team, knowing that we were going to have potentially young goaltenders.
“You do your scheduling a year or so in advance, so I didn’t know [at that time] that Clay Witt wasn’t going to play last year, but I knew that we were going to have some inexperienced goaltenders who hadn’t played an awful lot, because Chris Rawlings had played so much.
“Then we were thinking that we were going to have maybe eight freshman. Instead, we’ve probably played nine at this point or 10.
“Our Hockey East schedule is competitive as it is, and then we knew we were going to be in the Notre Dame tournament. We knew we were playing a good opponent at the Dartmouth tournament.
“So we were looking for some competitive balance along with trying to get some home games.”
Witt has been a major stabilizing force. After playing only 16 games over three years, including just one early one last season, he’s seized the top job with a vengeance, recording a 2.08 GAA and a .939 save percentage.
“He’s a very athletic goaltender, but he hasn’t played a lot,” Madigan says. “Last year, he was ready to challenge for the No. 1 position when he came down with a minor knee issue that took a little bit longer to recover from, and that took him basically through Dec. 1. We made a decision to redshirt him. It was too bad because he had played so well through training camp.
“We had always had confidence in him but he just hadn’t played because Chris Rawlings was the guy for all his four years here. But because of his competitiveness and inner drive, Clay worked hard again this summer and it [paid off].
“His athleticism allows him to make some saves that some other goalies wouldn’t because he is so athletic. He covers the net really well, and he’s got good size.”
While everyone expected Kevin Roy to star again and Braden Pimm to again be a top scorer, few expected the freshmen to contribute so significantly right away. Mike Szmatula ranks second only to Roy in scoring, just three points behind. Dalen Hedges ranks fourth; he and Szmatula have already scored five goals each. Zach Aston-Reese has also cracked double-digits in points.
“The freshmen have brought a high degree of hockey sense and intelligence, which is what we recruited,” Madigan says. “There’s good energy and there’s good skill.
“We’re playing four freshmen centericemen. I don’t know if there’s another team in the country that’s playing four freshmen centers.
“They’re all different: Szmatula, who brings high energy and is very gifted offensively; John Stevens, who has hockey intelligence — his dad is an NHL coach and it shows — and makes plays; Hedges has a father who’s in the NHL business — he’s smaller in stature but has real good stick; to Tanner Pond who hasn’t scored, but has been really effective with energy and bringing great forechecking ability.
“Aston-Reese has had some points and has made some key contributions for us. Defenseman Matt Benning’s dad played in the NHL, and his uncle is an assistant GM.
“So all real high-end intelligence. That’s what we wanted. We got it, I think, in those players.”
When asked if his team’s success has prompted him to set some specific goals, Madigan shoots the idea down fast.
“No, we’re staying away from that, quite frankly,” he says. “We’re just looking to get better each week. When you have a young team, that plays really well.
“Hey, they want to get better, they’re hungry for coaching, they’re hungry to get better. That’s how they’ve performed this year. That’s how they’ve approached each and every week. We’re going to get better today, we’re going to get better each week and then the games come on the weekend and we get to show what we learned during the course of the week.”
Ben Gallacher (right) and Massachusetts are mired in an 0-6-1 stretch (photo: Melissa Wade).
Better than their record
If you look at Massachusetts’ season so far, there are clear high points. The Minutemen swept Michigan State early, took three of four league points from Maine, tied Boston College in one game and probably should have tied them in another only to lose due to a controversial video replay of an offsides.
Even so, their record still stands at 3-10-2 overall and 1-6-2 in Hockey East, ahead of only winless Merrimack.
“We’ve been happy with our play an awful lot, but not happy with our record,” UMass coach John Micheletto says.
The play, however, has suffered of late with the Minutemen mired in an 0-6-1 stretch.
“[In] the last couple of outings, we’ve not been the team we were earlier in the year, just in terms of our play,” Micheletto says. “[We haven’t shown] the energy that we brought earlier this season even [while losing to] BU and Lowell on the opening weekend and then during the three-point weekend against Maine and here at home against Michigan State.
“We’ve put some good efforts together, but we’ve also had some nights that didn’t go our way and we didn’t respond well.
“We’re hoping that November was a good teaching month for us. I’d rather have that happen in November than in February or March.”
UMass’ struggles have been particularly pronounced on the road, where at 0-7-1 it’s still looking for its first win. The Minutemen, however, are hardly alone in this respect (see the segment that follows), and Micheletto doesn’t see issues specific to leaving the Mullins Center.
“It’s been no different than at home,” he says. “I haven’t really seen that our preparations have been different. The same problems that have plagued us in road games have also [done so] overall. It’s just worked out that the results haven’t come.”
On a positive note, a couple of the freshmen have made an immediate impact. Steven Iacobellis ranks tied for second in scoring and Ray Pigozzi trails by only a point. Otherwise, the top nine scorers are all seniors.
Goaltender Mac Haight also played well in the home-and-home series against BC, filling in for an injured Steve Mastalerz and allowing only two goals each night to the explosive Eagles.
“Ray Pigozzi and Steven Iacobellis have played pretty prominent roles for us in the early going,” Micheletto says. “They’ve seen power-play time and have been productive both five-on-five and on the power play. Steven kills penalties and is good over the dots for us. So those two guys have had an immediate impact.
“But we’ve had some other guys as well. Brandon Wahlin has played very well. [Defensemen] Marc Hetnik and Brennan Baxandall as well as [sophomore transfer] Ben Gallacher, who’s been as good as anybody for us.
“We’ve been really encouraged with their play so far. I think that as we get into the second half of the season and they’re even more comfortable with their transition into college and have pushed through the early struggles that all freshmen seem to have, they’re going to have even bigger impact for us.”
Unfortunately, the road doesn’t get any easier for the Minutemen. Their next four games are away from the Mullins Center, with the next two at Notre Dame.
“It will be our first flight of the year,” Micheletto says. “So we’re talking about the difference of the routine. As the academic semester starts to wind down, our student-athletes also have a lot of things on their plates. [So we need to] make sure they take care of their school work and their health and make sure that we’re going in there as clear-headed and healthy as we can.
“From a play standpoint, Notre Dame is going to be a great foe, as most of the games are in league play. We’re trying to focus on what their strengths are and make sure that we can negate them while taking advantage of ours.”
Home-ice advantage
At least at first glance, home ice has been a bigger advantage this year than in the past.
Last season, the bottom four teams in the league (Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Northeastern) all had decidedly losing records at home (a cumulative 20-39-12).
This year, every single Hockey East team has played at least .500 hockey in their own barn.
Four teams, however, are still looking for their first road win: Boston University (0-4), Maine (0-5-1), Merrimack (0-6-1) and UMass (0-7-1).
The two teams with the greatest disparity? Maine with its 6-1 mark at Alfond and 0-5-1 elsewhere, and BU’s 6-2-1 mark at Agganis and 0-4 on the road.
The reasons?
First off, the season is still young and the dust may still settle in familiar patterns.
More likely, however, the wider differential between home and away performances points to the new league schedule. With seven new nonconference slots to fill, many of those open games are going to weaker teams from weaker conferences with the proviso that the “weakling” has to play in the Hockey East team’s rink.
Take a look at American International’s schedule as an example. AIC plays seven nonconference games, all on the road, all losses (so far). Or look at Sacred Heart, which also plays seven nonconference games, all on the road except for the front half of a home-and-home with Rensselaer. The Pioneers pulled off the stunning upset of Massachusetts-Lowell on opening night, but otherwise have lost each contest.
This is not to pick on Atlantic Hockey at all. It’s best teams have proven themselves beyond doubt and even its lesser teams like Sacred Heart have pulled off their upsets.
Overall, though, Hockey East has posted a 10-3 record over Atlantic Hockey with only one of those matchups coming on Atlantic ice.
It certainly looks like Hockey East schools are fattening up their home records at the expense of weaker teams they wouldn’t have scheduled in past years with fewer nonconference games.
With 41 first-place votes, Minnesota retains the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
The Gophers swept Wisconsin last weekend to maintain the country’s top ranking.
Idle St. Cloud State garnered eight first-place votes and stay at No. 2, while Michigan is again sitting third after a win over Ohio State, Providence tied Quinnipiac and beat Brown and is again No. 4 and Quinnipiac holds firm at No. 5 after the Providence tie and a victory over Massachusetts.
No. 6 Ferris State had the other first-place vote after tying and beating Northern Michigan and stays in the same spot as last week, Massachusetts-Lowell was off, yet moved up one to No. 7, Yale topped Merrimack and jumps one to No. 8, Boston College was upset by Holy Cross and falls two to No. 9 and Clarkson keeps its grip on No. 10 after sitting idle, though the Golden Knights did post a win over Canadian university Queens.
Union rises four to No. 11 after sweeping Penn State, Miami moves up one to No. 12 with a tie and a win over Bemidji State, Notre Dame drops two spots to 13th after beating Alabama-Huntsville and then losing to Northeastern, Lake Superior State moves two to No. 14 with a sweep of Bowling Green and Cornell falls one to No. 15 after beating Niagara and losing to Boston University.
Nebraska-Omaha was idle and moves up one to No. 16, Wisconsin tumbles five places to No. 17, New Hampshire swept Colorado College and jumps two to No. 18, Northeastern tied Western Michigan and beat Notre Dame to re-enter the rankings at No. 19 and idle Minnesota-Duluth falls two spots to No. 20 this week.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll consists of 50 voters, including 28 coaches from the Division I conferences and 22 beat writers and sports professionals from across the country.
Nebraska-Omaha transfer Dayn Belfour is part of a solid 1-2 combo in net at Wisconsin-Superior with Drew Strandberg (photo: Yellowjacket Athletics).
Dan Stauber knew it would be a challenge for his Wisconsin-Superior team to travel to New York and play a pair of games against nationally-ranked opponents.
Not to mention the toll a long trip can take on a team.
But while the Yellow Jackets had been up and down in the weeks prior to the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut, they seemed to step up their game against Plattsburgh and Norwich.
Sure, Superior was beaten 4-1 by a Plattsburgh team that is now No. 1 in the country, but it capped its weekend with a impressive 3-0 win against previously-unbeaten Norwich, which entered the weekend ranked second in the country.
Superior left the tournament as the first western team to win a game in the event. Western teams were 0-11 before the Yellow Jackets’ victory.
“We had not played up to our standard early on and we knew it was going to be a very difficult weekend for us,” Stauber said. “We knew we had to step up if we were going to have a chance to be successful. I thought we held our own against Plattsburgh, but we didn’t capitalize on some chances. Against Norwich, we we were very sound on defense. Overall, it was a good weekend for us.”
One of the things that stood out to Stauber was the toughness his team displayed in the two games, both physically and mentally.
“I felt like our guys had great mental toughness and we were physical when we had to be,” Stauber said. “We want to be a hard-working team every night and I thought we worked very hard over the weekend. We stayed true to who we are as a team.”
The Yellow Jackets, who are now 4-5-0, now turn their attention to WIAC play and go into conference action knowing they have two goaltenders capable of stepping up on any given night.
Drew Strandberg has played in five games and has racked up 125 saves with a 2.22 GAA.
Division I transfer Dayn Belfour has seen action in four games and has tallied 75 saves. He has a 2.88 GAA and played his best game at Superior in the win over Norwich. Belfour, the son of former NHL goalie Ed Belfour, earned his first shutout as he came through with 27 saves.
“The thing about Dayn is he plays the puck very well,” Stauber said. “But Drew is a very good goalie, too. They have different styles of play, but both of them are capable of playing well. We are excited about having two goalies who can step up and we plan to continue to rotate them as much as possible.”
Superior will need to be at its best to contend for a title in the WIAC, which features two teams ranked in the top 10. Wisconsin-Eau Claire is the defending national champion and ranked seventh in the nation this week, while Wisconsin-Stevens Point is unbeaten and ranked fourth.
“I would say right now [that] Stevens Point is the team to beat,” Stauber said. “They have come blazing out of the gate. Eau Claire is very good, though, even with the players they lost from last year. It’s a tough league and you have to come to play at a high level every night.”
But the good news for Superior, despite having a roster that features 10 freshmen, is that it gained a great deal of confidence from its effort in New York. It doesn’t hurt that it also has a win over St. Scholastica, which is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation.
“We talked after the weekend about how we have an expectation to play at a certain level and we have proven we can do it,” Stauber said. “Our expectations are high and we have to be ready to go because every night will be a challenge. It’s going to be interesting to see how things play out.”
CONTENDER ALERT: Fourth-ranked Stevens Point and seventh-ranked Eau Claire were both off this past weekend, but they are clearly the frontrunners for the WIAC championship.
One team will have a slight edge in the title race after Friday as the two contenders collide on Friday night in Eau Claire.
Stevens Point, which has won its first eight games, has scored six or more goals eight times. Garrett Ladd has fueled the offense with eight goals and eight assists.
Kyle Brodie has tallied four goals and six assists, while Scott Henegar has come through with three goals and seven assists. The Pointers have racked up 50 goals and have allowed just 17.
Brandon Jaeger has started seven games in goal and owns a GAA of 1.57. He has tallied 125 saves.
Eau Claire has lost two of its last three, both to St. Norbert, and has tallied 27 goals on the season. It has allowed 18.
Jon Waggoner leads the team in scoring with five goals and four assists. Tyler Green has a GAA of 3.00 and has tallied 127 saves.
The game on Friday between the Pointers and Blugolds will be the first of three meetings between the two teams this season.
Matt Vidal (left) and Castan Sommer celebrate Sommer’s first period goal in Holy Cross’ victory over Boston College last Friday (photo: Melissa Wade).
Here’s our weekly look at big events and big issues around Division I men’s college hockey.
Jim: This may have been a relatively quiet weekend due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but there wasn’t a shortage of interesting story lines. The biggest in my eyes was the upset of Boston College by Holy Cross.
These two schools were once the ultimate rivals in football but hockey has always been a lopsided matchup in favor of the Eagles. On Friday, Holy Cross jumped out to a 5-1 lead and hung on for a 5-4 victory, becoming the first Atlantic Hockey team to ever hand Boston College a loss. That’s a pretty good upset for such a quiet weekend on the schedule.
Todd: It sure seemed like the Eagles were going to claw all the way back in that one, but kudos to the Crusaders for being able to hold on when all the momentum was seemingly against them. And how improbable a result in a year where Atlantic Hockey teams have been taking a pounding in nonconference games.
Then again, when the season starts with Sacred Heart beating Massachusetts-Lowell, maybe the precedent has been set: Even if it is a punching bag for a lot of the season, Atlantic Hockey teams will throw in a few big upsets.
Jim: The other so-called-upset of the weekend was Northeastern beating Notre Dame in the finals of the Shillelagh Tournament on Saturday. The Huskies needed a shootout win over Western Michigan to even reach the finals and then had to overcome a 2-0 deficit for the 3-2 win.
As Dave Hendrickson wrote in his Hockey East blog, though, there comes a time when a Northeastern win isn’t considered an upset. This is a team playing well since the beginning of the season. Is it time that we need to expect Northeastern to win rather than consistently being shocked?
Todd: I think you described Northeastern a few weeks ago as a solid mid-range team in Hockey East, and it seems like that’s what we’re seeing. The Huskies have lost twice to Boston College and twice to New Hampshire, but they have put a few quality wins in the positive category. All in all, I think that evens out as a team that shouldn’t shock anybody either way.
Ferris State shouldn’t be shocking anyone by this point, either. The Bulldogs have gone 11 games without a loss and sit sixth in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. I can’t say there’s any one part of their game that jumps off the stats sheet to me, but I think that might be why they’re on such a successful run. With enough balance, a team can get by when one part of its game has an off night.
Jim: I think that a team like Ferris State, when it can be described by clowns like you and me as balanced, has somewhat achieved what it wants. Balance in college hockey is often the lacking ingredient.
But I will also say that rarely do you see a team win the national championship without balance. You have to have the offense, defense, goaltending and special teams that is competitive to win a title. I don’t think this is a secret formula, but I do think that as fans you can ignore one or two of these aspects and still believe your team is complete.
Todd: The Bulldogs just started a stretch that will see them play 12 of 14 games away from home, and a run of games like that will be a great test. Ferris State is one of six teams nationally that has already reached the 10-win plateau, joining Quinnipiac, Minnesota, Providence, Massachusetts-Lowell and Clarkson.
We get our last look at the Golden Knights before the holiday break this weekend when they play a home-and-home series with St. Lawrence. Do you see Clarkson taking a high national ranking deep into the second half?
Jim: I don’t want to seem negative on Clarkson, particularly as I’ve been very impressed with its play thus far, but I’m not sold that the Knights will be in the mix come season’s end. Clarkson still needs to play twice against the tops of the ECAC (Quinnipiac, Rensselaer, Union, Cornell) and will also play three nonleague games against Massachusetts-Lowell. Maybe they come through those games relatively unscathed, but right now I’m not sure that will happen.
Looking ahead to this week, New Hampshire and Boston College will play a big two-game series, while Lowell will travel to Maine for a single game on Sunday. Harvard and Yale, the famous football rivalry, will also be on display on Saturday. Northeastern will also get to prove its worth on Friday night when it faces Providence. What about out west?
Todd: No. 2 St. Cloud State and No. 20 Minnesota-Duluth both had last weekend off, so both will be equally rested or rusty, depending on your point of view, when they meet in Duluth for an NCHC series.
And the WCHA’s two ranked teams — No. 6 Ferris State and No. 14 Lake Superior State — get together in Sault Ste. Marie. We’ll see whether the Lakers can put an end to the Bulldogs’ streak and pull a little closer in the WCHA standings.
Not much changed in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll as only one spots is different than the poll from Nov. 25.
Minnesota had all 15 first-place votes this week and is again the No. 1 team in the country.
Wisconsin stays No. 2, Cornell No. 3, North Dakota No. 4 and Harvard coming in fifth is the same as last week.
Boston College and Clarkson tied for sixth this week, with BC moving up from No. 7 last week and Clarkson retaining the spot.
Quinnipiac is No. 8, followed by Boston University at No. 9 and Robert Morris tenth.
The USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 15 voters, including 14 coaches of Division I programs and one women’s hockey writer.
Former Denver student and assistant coach David Carle has been hired as the Pioneers’ new assistant coach, replacing associate head coach Steve Miller.
Carle will officially join the DU staff on Jan. 1, 2014, as Miller is leaving to accept a position with the expansion Madison (Wis.) franchise in the United States Hockey League.
“We are so excited to announce David Carle as a new assistant coach on our staff,” Denver head coach Jim Montgomery said in a statement. “David is an innovative and elite teacher and communicator that understands the DU culture of excellence and integrity in the classroom and on the ice. He is a proud alum and bright hockey mind who will work tirelessly to ensure Pioneer hockey continues as one of the elite college hockey programs in the country.”
Carle, 24, joins the Denver staff following a season as an assistant coach with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers.
“I am very honored and excited to join my alma mater,” Carle added. “I am grateful and hungry for the opportunity to add to the rich and proud tradition that is Denver hockey.”
While with the Gamblers, Carle was on the staff of former DU assistant/goaltending coach Derek Lalonde (2006-11).
As a player, Carle was originally recruited to Denver as a player, but was forced to retire from hockey in July of 2008 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Even with the diagnosis, Carle was a seventh-round selection (203rd overall) of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008 NHL draft and graduated from DU in 2012 with a degree in finance while being on the DU staff as an assistant coach.
Carle’s older brother, Matt, was Denver’s first Hobey Baker Award winner in 2006 and is currently with the Lightning. His younger brother, Alex, plays for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.
The ECAC announced Monday that Quinnipiac senior forward Brooks Robinson has been given a one-game suspension as the result of his actions in the Massachusetts at Quinnipiac game last Saturday (Nov. 30).
At the 19:16 mark of the third period, Robinson was assessed a major and game misconduct penalty for hitting from behind.
Robinson is not eligible to compete in the Bobcats’ game this Friday (Dec. 6) against Rensselaer.
Dylan Nowakowski and St. Scholastica took down No. 1 St. Norbert last Saturday (photo: CSS Athletics).
Just call it upset weekend.
Two top five teams and another in the top 10 went down as the month of November came to a close in the Division III hockey world. All three teams were unbeaten going into the weekend.
Top-ranked St. Norbert, which just rose to No. 1 last week, was topped by St. Scholastica, while No. 2 Norwich also found itself on the losing end of the scoreboard in a loss to Wisconsin-Superior.
Seventh-ranked Babson, also suffered a loss as it fell to Williams.
Those games and more highlight the look back at the weekend in this week’s blog.
ECAC EAST
Babson fell behind 3-0 to Williams and was unable to rally as it suffered a 3-2 road loss on Sunday.
The No. 7 Beavers suffered their first loss of the year after opening the season with eight consecutive wins.
Down three goals to No. 12 Williams, the Beavers attempted to rally. Connor Berto scored late in the second period and Nik Taslopoulos added a goal to slice the Williams lead to one.
Babson held a 42-28 edge in shots and Jamie Murray made 25 saves.
Babson allowed more than two goals for only the second time this season. It also had its streak of 11 consecutive wins in November that dated back to last season come to an end.
Castleton brought its three-game winless streak to an end Sunday with a 4-3 win over Brockport in the consolation game of the Rutland Herald Invitational.
Charles Bando scored the game-winning goal with 1:02 left in regulation to lift the Spartans to their fourth win of the season. Castleton is 4-3-1 on the year.
The Spartans got a solid game in goal from Erick Cinotti, who racked up 25 saves.
Ross Herzog scored his third goal of the tourney in the victory, while Reid Lesswing and Will Laking also scored goals.
Castleton held a 42-26 advantage in shots.
ECAC NORTHEAST
After racing out to a program-best start of 6-1, Salve Regina has lost its last two, including a 6-2 road loss to Wesleyan on Sunday.
The Seahawks lost 6-3 to Trinity on the road Saturday and after the two weekend losses, the Seahawks are 1-3 on the road.
William Gomolinski and Jonathan Felteau scored the only goals for the Seahawks against Wesleyan, which owned a 46-36 advantage in shots.
Johnson and Wales won the consolation game of the Manchester PAL/Stovepipe tournament on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Southern New Hampshire.
Josh Obregon scored the lone goal for the Wildcats. Cody Sarmiento got credit for the assist.
Joey Ballmer earned his first shutout at the college level as he racked up 30 saves.
The Wildcats were outshot 30-25 in the win, but managed to kill off six power-play opportunities by Southern New Hampshire.
ECAC WEST
Aftter a 3-2 loss to Morrisville State on Friday, eighth-ranked Utica bounced back in a big way as it rolled to a 5-1 win over Connecticut College.
The Pioneers are now 7-2-1 overall on the season and are 5-0-1 on the road.
Louie Educate scored twice for the Pioneers, putting the first two goals on the board, and Steve Zappia finished off the scoring with two goals of his own. Educate pushed his season goal total to four.
Jide Idowu also scored in the win, striking for his first collegiate goal in the second period.
Marcus Zelzer racked up 24 saves and is now 3-0 on the season.
Utica held a 37-25 edge in shots over the Camels.
MASCAC
Eric Defelice scored the lone goal for Salem State in its 1-0 overtime win against Connecticut College on Sunday. It was the third goal of the year for Defelice. Andrew Bucci and Ian Canty were credited with assists on the play as the Vikings improved to 4-3 on the year.
Salem State, which is the only team in the league with an overall winning record, took 27 shots and limited the Camels to 21 shots.
Goalie Ryan Sutliffe improved to 4-1 as he racked up 21 saves.
The last three games for Salem State have all gone into overtime. The Vikings are 2-1 in those games and 4-1 overall in overtime games this season.
Worcester State finished third in the Worcester City Shootout on Sunday as it knocked off Becker 3-2. The Lancers scored a goal in each period en route to the win and won despite being outshot 39-30.
Curtis Martin scored twice, including once in the third on the power play to extend the Lancers’ lead to 3-1. Martin’s goal in the opening period was scored off the power play as well.
Goaltender Drew Case improved to 2-1 as he racked up 37 saves.
Worcester State ended a five-game winless streak with the victory and is now 4-4-1 on the year.
MIAC
St. Mary’s capped a perfect weekend with a second straight 2-1 win over Lake Forest on Saturday. The Cardinals pushed their win streak to three and their overall record to 5-5 behind goals by Dylan Dock and Andrew Ketter.
Ketter became the fourth player over the weekend to score his first goal of the season.
Phil Heinle racked up 30 saves and the Cardinals were tough against the power play, forcing the Foresters to go 0-for-5 on Saturday. Lake Forest was 0-for-7 on the power play Friday.
Gustavus Adolphus didn’t lose on the weekend either, tying Lawrence 6-6 and earning a 2-1 win over Marian on the final day of the NCHA/MIAC Showcase in Appleton, Wis.
The Gusties trailed 2-1 heading into the third period, but scored twice in five minutes as they pushed their overall record to 6-3-1 on the year.
Corey Leivermann scored first and extended his point streak to six games, while Drew Aspinwall came through with the game-winning goal. It was the first game-winner of his college career.
Erik Johnson earned his first college win as he stopped 23 shots in goal.
Gustavus was out-shot 25-24.
NCHA
St. Scholastica pulled off its biggest win of the season as it took down No. 1 St. Norbert 4-2 on Saturday.
It was the 13th-ranked Saints’ first win over a top-ranked team under head coach Mark Wick. Prior to the victory, the Saints were 0-3 against the No. 1 team in the land.
Chad Golanowski scored twice in the victory, while Brandon Millin and Keegan Bruce also scored goals. The Saints were outshot 41-27, but it mattered little as they found a way to get the job done.
Colin Rundell earned the win in goal as he racked up 39 saves.
The game, played in Wausau, Wis., was sponsored by the Marathon County Youth Hockey Association and the proceeds from the game went to benefit rink improvements at Marathon Park.
No. 5 Adrian continued its winning ways as it took down Fredonia 7-2 on Saturday. With the win, the Bulldogs have positioned themselves for a rise in the poll this week because of the upsets above them.
Seven players scored goals for Adrian, which scored three times in a span of 2:42 to snap a 1-1 tie and take the momentum for good.
The Bulldogs held a 40-22 edge in shots and were 3-of-5 on the power play. Shelby Gray, Josh Ranalli and Brett Pinkerton all scored power-play goals for the Bulldogs, who improved to 8-0 on the season.
James Hamby won his seventh game of the year as he made 22 saves.
SUNYAC
Plattsburgh put the finishing touches on its fourth PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut championship with a 3-1 win over Middlebury on Saturday.
The second-ranked Cardinals held a 26-21 edge in shots over the 15th-ranked Panthers and scored all of their goals in the opening period.
Connor Gorman, Dakota Mason and Michael Radisa all scored goals for the Cardinals and goalie Mathieu Cadiux racked up 20 saves as he earned MVP honors in the tournament.
The victory by the Cardinals delivered their first championship since 2010. The Cardinals have won all four of their titles on their home ice.
WIAC
Wisconsin-Superior was the lone conference team in action and it capped its weekend at the PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut with a stunning 3-0 win over second-ranked Norwich on Saturday in the consolation game.
The win comes on the heels of a 4-1 loss to third-ranked Plattsburgh on Friday.
Superior is the first team from the western part of the country to a win game in the shootout. Prior to its victory, western teams were 0-11 in the event.
The Yellow Jackets got two goals from Pat Dalbec and one from Cody Hotchkin, while Dayn Belfour earned his first shutout win in goal for Superior, which handed Norwich its first loss of the season. He stopped 27 shots and improved his record to 2-2.
This past week I learned that I could always eat one more drumstick. But that’s not material for this blog (nor, sadly, is it very surprising).
Onward, then, to the three Hockey East things I think I learned.
1. If I were a betting man, I’d have lost the ranch.
I’d have wagered every shekel I had on Boston College beating Holy Cross last Friday. Especially at home. Admittedly, the Eagles had lost to Maine at Alfond but that seems to be happening to everyone this year and was clearly the outlier in a 6-1-1 recent record. BC couldn’t possibly lose at home to a 3-9-0 Atlantic Hockey team.
Wrong!
And I’d have put almost every shekel on New Hampshire beating a struggling Harvard squad last Tuesday as well. Again, at home. The Crimson had lost five of their last six while the Wildcats had turned around a rough start with six wins in their last seven. A cakewalk to be sure.
Wrong, again!
2. New Hampshire is back!
Clearly, the aforementioned loss to Harvard is the outlier. While it dropped UNH’s nonconference record to an ugly 2-4-1 at the time — a mark that will do the Wildcats no favors come NCAA tournament selection time — it sure looks like a fluke now.
The Wildcats traveled to Colorado College this past weekend and not only swept their struggling hosts, but did so in impressive fashion, 6-2 and 3-0. UNH is now 8-2 over its last ten and appears to have recovered from a brutal 1-5-1 start.
A challenging home-and-home series with BC remains before the holiday break and poor performances there could wipe out a lot of the momentum generated in this recent stretch, but for now at least, the Wildcats have reassumed their accustomed place near the top of the Hockey East pecking order.
3. Vermont and Northeastern are a lot better than I’ve been giving them credit for.
Yes, I know I’ve said this before, but based on their recent performances, I still have to ratchet up my impressions of these two teams.
In the preseason, I picked the Huskies to finish dead last in the league and Vermont barely above them in ninth place. (The two sandwiched Massachusetts.)
Well, Northeastern ain’t finishing in last place. No way, no how.
The Huskies’ win over Notre Dame to take the Shillelagh Tournament won’t count in the standings, but it shows how far they’ve come. They rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the 11th-ranked team on its own ice.
As for the Catamounts, their sweep of Maine gives them four straight wins. While both of this weekend’s victories go in the nonconference ledger (their earlier split at Maine counted for the Hockey East standings), they toppled a team coming off a 7-0 demolition of Boston University and a 5-1 spanking of BC.
If you’re going to discount Vermont’s wins over Maine by saying that the Black Bears are almighty at home (where they’re 6-1-0) while less than tame on the road (where they’re 0-5-1), I will concede you that point. But then I’d ask, who gave Maine that one loss at Alfond?
Limited conference action characterized the post-Thanksgiving D-III national landscape. Fortunately, the Cardinal-Panther Classic hosted by Middlebury provided three top-ranked squads the opportunity to be the focal point of action last weekend. Certainly, the much sought after go-round between Plattsburgh and Middlebury came to fruition, with the Cardinals squeezing out a well-played 2-0 triumph on Sunday. Fourth-ranked Elmira, unbeaten in ECAC-West play (4-0-0) nabbed a win in the Classic as well, but also took its second loss of the year, both coming against nonconference opponents and both in tournament settings. There were a handful of nonconference battles along the way, but only the three aforementioned teams of the top 10 took to the ice in all.
Cardinal-Panther Classic
Amherst sophomore Eileen Harris had one goal this season prior to taking the ice for the Lady Jeffs in the Cardinal-Panther Classic this past weekend. The fact that the Winnetka, Ill., native added her second of the year at the Classic in a taunt 1-1 tie with Plattsburgh was extremely significant for the Lady Jeffs, who are knocking on the door of the top ten rankings.
The ancillary portion of Harris’s game tying goal is now the focus of a trivia answer, as in who was the first player to score a goal against Plattsburgh? Indeed, Harris’ marker at 18:36 of the second period disrupted a 518 minute string of perfection by Cardinals goaltenders Sydney Aveson, Ally Ross, and freshman Cami Leonard. In 10 games, Plattsburgh goalies have amassed nine shutouts and turned aside 153 of 154 bids for an out-of-the-realm save percentage of .994. Not unexpectedly given her lofty numbers (7-0-1, 0.12 GAA), Aveson has led the nation in nearly every category. Following the Cardinal-Panther Classic of 2013, the Harris/Aveson duo will be forever linked.
Middlebury (No. 2) added three late, final period goals in a 5-3 in a comeback victory over No. 4 Elmira at the Kenyon Arena in Saturday’s Cardinal-Panther opener. Senior forward Sara Ugalde provided the decisive goal with help from sophomore Julia Wardwell, who garnered her first point of the season.
Amherst outshot Elmira in Sunday’s action 29-15, but fell to the Soaring Eagles on an early third-period score by Erin Weston. Weston is two short of her career season best of seven goals that she put together last season. Lady Jeffs goalie Kerri Stuart, who took her first loss of the campaign, was seeking her 25th career win.
Visiting Plattsburgh (No. 1) ventured onto the ice at Kenyon Arena with the highest-ranked defense in the country and a top five spot in offensive efficiency against host Middlebury (No. 2), slotted in few ticks below in both categories, in an anticipated matchup that capped off the Cardinal-Panther Classic Sunday afternoon. In a game that was relatively evenly played, it was Plattsburgh’s Giovanna Senese who registered the game-winner in the second period. Senese added her second of the afternoon midway through the final period to wrap it up for the Cardinals. Senese has accumulated five points in her last four games. Each team finished with 21 shots on goal and the penalty killing units were solid as the Cardinals held the Panthers to a 0-for-3 day, while Plattsburgh failed to connect in both skater-advantage opportunities they possessed.
Pipers halt fall
Hamline’s sweep of Marian in nonconference action provided the Sabres with their third successive defeat. The Pipers (2-5-1 overall), who have yet to pencil in a ‘W’ in the MIAC standings (0-3-1), ended a six game winless skid. Senior defenseman Jessica Hunt notched her first goal of the season, a dramatic one at that, when she beat Marian goalie Ali Glazer with 26 seconds remaining in regulation for a 3-2 win in the opener.
Lane led Polar Bears back even
Formerly top 10 ranked Bowdoin edged its overall record back to .500 with a 2-1 road win over host Holy Cross Saturday afternoon in nonconference action. Both of the goals came off the stick of senior co-captain Madeline Lane, who netted the winner with 2:10 to go in the third. Lane’s two scores were off the power play. The Polar Bears, tied for 27th in team offense with Salve Regina, managed a scant 13 shots on Crusaders goalie Krista Manzanares, while Holy Cross concluded play with 29 on Bowdoin’s Beth Findley. The Polar Bears and Hamilton are the two remaining clubs without a NESCAC win thus far.
Thanksgiving schedules
With the holiday this week, many teams got started early, while others had the week off or played only exhibitions.
St. Lawrence and Mercyhurst, in particular, paid with their legs for the privilege of having their games for the week completed by the time turkey dinner was served. Both played road series the weekend before their Tuesday and Wednesday set in Erie. The host Lakers came out on top in both games by 3-2 scores. The first win required a rally from two goals down that wasn’t completed until Christie Cicero’s goal with 73 seconds remaining, her second tally of the game. Mercyhurst led almost all the way on Wednesday, taking a lead it would not relinquish on J’nai Mahadeo’s goal with 5:04 elapsed. Cicero doubled the lead four minutes later, the teams traded goals in the second period, and a Brooke Webster goal with 12 seconds left was not enough as the Saints fell.
Overtime all of the time
Vermont played three road games versus ECAC foes, and 60 minutes was insufficient to decide any of them. Dayna Colang’s second goal of the game at 3:45 of OT ended a 4-3 win at Brown on Tuesday. Bonus hockey didn’t solve anything at Colgate, as games on both Saturday and Sunday produced 2-2 ties. The Catamounts entered the third period with a lead that didn’t survive on either occasion. Nicole Gass scored for the Raiders to erase a one-goal deficit on Saturday. Colgate needed markers by Taylor Volpe and Taylor Craig on Sunday to come from two down to tie.
Bobcats claim the Nutmeg Classic
After a 1-1 tie at Princeton on Tuesday extended its winless streak to three games, No. 8 Quinnipiac bounced back with wins over RIT and Yale to earn the championship of the Nutmeg Classic. Shiann Darkangelo’s hat trick highlighted the 8-0 trouncing of RIT. She and Kelly Babstock had five-point games, Morgan Fritz-Ward scored twice, and Sydney Rossman notched her first collegiate win.
In the title game, Phoebe Staenz and Stephanie Mock gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Emma Woods answered on a power play with another 49 seconds gone for the Bobcats, Olivia Brackett tied the game 20 minutes later, and Lindsey West potted the game-winner early in the third period. Babstock contributed a pair of assists in the 3-2 triumph.
On the other side of the bracket, Connecticut went winless in the event. The Huskies lost a see-saw affair to Yale, 5-4, despite three-point games by Michela Cava and Kayla Campero. Staenz had three points for the Bulldogs, and Taylor Marchin won it in the last minute. Crunch time proved unkind to UConn in the third-place game as well. Erin Zach assisted on Celeste Brown’s tying goal for the Tigers with under two minutes in regulation, and then Zach won it a couple of minutes into overtime, her third point of the contest.
Last unbeaten falls
No. 3 Cornell entered the week as the only remaining D-I team without a loss. Thanks to a 2-0 win over No. 7 Boston College on Friday at Lynah Rink, the Big Red improved their record to 9-0-2. Hayleigh Cudmore scored on a power play early in the second period and assisted on Taylor Woods’ insurance goal on a third-period power play. Lauren Slebodnick denied all 27 shots in posting the shutout.
Saturday did not go as well for Cornell. Meagan Mangene gave the Eagles a lead 12 minutes into the game, and Slebodnick left with an injury before another minute passed. Paula Voorheis came on in relief and was charged with the loss as the Big Red fell, 4-1. Taylor Wasylk, Danielle Doherty, and Emily Field added goals for BC, and only Jessica Campbell was able to dent the armor of Corinne Boyles, who saved the other 39 attempts.
Streakiest teams
Now that Minnesota’s record streak has receded in the rearview mirror, which team owns the longest active winning streak? Clarkson. And Minnesota. Both have won the last four. In terms of unbeaten streaks, Harvard and Robert Morris are both longer at seven games, and Wisconsin leads the way with 12 straight.
Signs of life
After losing to Robert Morris on home ice on Tuesday, Ohio State was winless in its previous nine games, eight of them defeats. The Buckeyes rebounded on Saturday and Sunday on the road at New Hampshire, sweeping the Wildcats, 3-2 and 2-0. Lisa Steffes got the start in the OSU net both days, including the 21-save shutout. Julia McKinnon keyed the offense with three points on the weekend.
Shots are overrated
Rensselaer was outshot in both games of a road series at St. Cloud State, but thanks to 44- and 31-save efforts by Kelly O’Brien, came home with 4-1 and 2-1 victories. Jordan Smelker and Heidi Huhtamaki had three-point weekends.
How the rest of the top 10 fared
No. 2 Wisconsin navigated a second consecutive tough WCHA road series without a loss. Minnesota-Duluth twice took one-goal leads on markers by Demi Crossman and Jamie Kenyon, but Courtney Burke and Madison Packer responded. Overtime ended tied at 2-2, and only the Bulldogs’ Meghan Huertas converted once the shootout commenced, so UMD earned the extra league point. On Saturday, Wisconsin goalie Alex Rigsby was knocked from a scoreless game with an apparent leg injury. Ann-Renée Desbiens came on in relief and completed the team shutout, earning the 1-0 win when Karley Sylvester scored the game’s only goal a couple minutes into the final period.
No. 1 Minnesota overwhelmed Princeton by scores of 6-0 and 9-1. Ten different Gophers contributed goals, none scoring more than twice.
Five players scored for No. 5 Harvard in a 5-0 whipping of Dartmouth, and Marissa Gedman added a couple of assists with hers. Emerance Maschmeyer gained her fourth shutout via 25 saves.
No. 10 Robert Morris posted a come-from-behind, 2-1 win on Tuesday at Ohio State. Brittany Howard and Rebecca Vint scored to keep Jessica Dodds undefeated in net. Howard bagged all four goals for the Colonials, one shy of the program record, in a 4-2 victory over Maine on Friday; Vint and Thea Imbrogno assisted three times.
The Big Ten officially opened up conference play this weekend, and the three conference contests provided a ton of entertainment.
Here are three things I saw.
Seth Ambroz is apparently a goal scorer now
The fact that Minnesota swept Wisconsin this weekend isn’t that shocking. The fact that Seth Ambroz netted four goals is.
Ambroz lit the lamp twice in the Gophers’ 4-1 victory on Friday night , the second was an empty netter. On Saturday he had two more, including the game-winning goal with 26 seconds left in the third period.
“I was a little surprised. They were just skating out when the turnover happened, and I just went right to the net,” Ambroz said of the game-winning goal. “I was a little surprised, but our line has been creating turnovers all weekend. So it was nice to have another one, right there at the end.”
Ambroz has seven goals and five assists this season. He had nine goals and seven assists last year and five goals and three assists during his freshman campaign.
Michigan downs Ohio State in OT
The Wolverines and Buckeyes provided an interesting nightcap to the Big Ten doubleheader on Friday.
Andrew Copp scored on a breakaway in overtime to give Michigan the 4-3 victory. Nine different Michigan players tallied a point in Friday’s game.
“I thought we were playing well at times, and I thought we were sloppy at times,” Michigan head coach Red Berenson said. “Let’s face it, you have a-one goal lead in the third period at home, that’s pretty disappointing when you give it up, and especially in the way we gave it up.”
Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik saw the close loss as a good learning experience for his team. The two teams will face off again in Columbus on Monday.
“Our kids emptied the tank, we played hard and there were some chances on both sides,” Rohlik said. “We just came out on the short end. You always have to learn from things and we’re going to learn from this and get better.”
Michigan State gets much needed sweep
With its inaugural Big Ten series with Minnesota looming, Michigan State desperately needed a sweep of Princeton this weekend.
The Spartans won 4-1 on Friday and opened up the offense in Saturday’s 8-2 victory.
Seven Michigan State skaters had multiple points on Saturday.
“It was nice to see the puck go in the net,” head coach Tom Anastos said. “”It was also nice to see the puck movement as well as having four lines and all six defensemen involved. The game gave us an opportunity to give some guys some experience as well.”
Michigan State scored four power play goals this weekend, and it didn’t allow a power play goal.
“We seemed to find some chemistry and some pretty good puck-movement on the power play today,” Anastos said after Saturday’s game.
What I think I learned about the WCHA this weekend …
Zach Lehrke, the missing cog?
Minnesota State senior forward Zach Lehrke has six points in four games since coming out of retirement to rejoin Minnesota State. His five assists all have come on power-play goals. Consider this: In 10 games without Lehrke around, the Mavericks’ power play had scored just four goals and was clicking at a feeble 9 percent. In the last four games, Minnesota State has nine power-play goals, including a 5-for-6 performance on Saturday against Alaska-Anchorage. The power play is now over 19 percent. And, oh by the way, the preseason favorite is heating up a bit, winning three WCHA games in a row and four of its last five conference games.
Road warriors
Michigan Tech came out of its 11-day Alaska trip in good shape, sweeping Alaska on Friday and Saturday. The wins were the first two road victories for the Huskies this season. They were 0-7-2 away from Houghton before that, including a loss and tie at Alaska-Anchorage the previous weekend. Taking five of eight points on that grind of a trip? Probably couldn’t ask for much more than that, considering the road record. And that’s been a tough road, with games at Minnesota-Duluth, Notre Dame and Michigan. Now Michigan Tech goes home for back-to-back conference series, hosting Bemidji State and Bowling Green. The Huskies are 4-1-0 at home. Look out for Tech.
Tough-luck Falcons
After getting swept at Lake Superior State, Bowling Green has just one win in its last seven games. Four of the Falcons’ five losses in that stretch have been one-goal games – all five if you consider the empty-net goal in Ferris State’s 4-2 victory over them. Bowling Green has played four overtime games in that stretch (six already for the season), going 1-2-1 in those games. Meanwhile, Lake Superior won two games in a row for the first time since Oct. 18-19 when it swept Union.
Now riding a five-game win streak after sweeping Penn State in Happy Valley, the Dutchmen are keeping things tight at the top of the ECAC Hockey standings. Despite playing two fewer games than Quinnipiac, Union is three points behind the Bobcats with two games in hand. Oh hey, look at that: The Bobcats and Dutchmen play next week in Schenectady. That’s fortuitous, no?
The Daniels (Carr and Ciampini) have 13 goals between them, leading a squad scoring over four goals a game in league play. What’s scary is that the defense and goaltending – already holding conference opponents to 2.17 goals per game – can do much better. No. 1 goaltender Colin Stevens has a terrific 2.01 league GAA, but his save percentage is only .898. That’s not a competitive figure for a very competitive team.
Ryan Haggerty: Still quite good
We haven’t noted it in a while, but yes, Rensselaer junior forward Ryan Haggerty is still pretty ok at hockey. He has only been held scoreless in three games (out of 13), and has yet to be blanked in consecutive outings. On the other hand, Haggerty has seven multi-point games – including three three-point games – and five multi-goal games for a 15-5–20 line. Haggerty also leads Division 1 with seven power-play goals, he is the only player in the country with more than a goal per game, and he is also three goals ahead of the nearest competitor for raw total goals (a three-way tie).
Oh yeah, St. Lawrence’s Greg Carey (11-18–29) is alright, too. This concludes your early-season Hobey watch.
Leftovers
•Dartmouth is finally off the schneid (whatever that means) with its first win of the year, a hard-earned 2-1 victory over Ivy rival Harvard on Saturday. The Big Green out-shot the Crimson 35-23, but had to kill six penalties in order to wrap up Win No. 1 (1-8-0).
•In Hockey East-ECAC rivalry games, Boston University downed Cornell in Manhattan again in the fourth installment of Red Hot Hockey. BU is now 3-0-1 against the Big Red at MSG. Elsewhere, Providence edged Brown 3-2 in the Mayor’s Cup. In non-rivalry HEA-ECAC contests, Yale eked by Merrimack in New Haven; up the road, Quinnipiac slammed Massachusetts, 6-1.
•Harvard freshman defenseman Kevin Guiltinan leads the country with 3.27 blocked shots per game. Keep an eye on him – he’s hard to miss.
•Quinnipiac senior Connor Jones leads D-I in shots (76) and leads the ECAC in overall plus-minus (+15). He is one reason the Bobcats lead the nation in raw shots-on-goal, too (598).
•SLU is the national leader in power-play goals (22).
•RPI’s 14.3 percent shooting percentage is the best in the country.
•Clarkson’s 55.3 percent faceoff win rate is, also, the best in the country.
Trial for Tigers
After another weekend in which it couldn’t score and couldn’t win, Colorado College is off to one of its worst starts in recent years. Nothing seems to be going right for CC. In two games against New Hampshire, CC lost 6-2 and 3-0. The offense is still at 58 of 59 teams, averaging only 1.31 goals per game. The power play continues to struggle, ranked only 57.
There are few bright spots in Colorado Springs. The penalty kill is one, ranked 18, with a kill rate of 84.3, successfully killing 43-of-51 penalties. Josh Thorimbert, despite giving up six goals in Friday’s contest, has played well more often than not. In Saturday’s game, after giving a power-play goal near the midway point of the second period, Thorimbert gave the Tigers a chance to rally, holding the Wildcats to that single goal until New Hampshire struck for two in the last 2:36, one of which was an empty-netter.
Clearly, the Tigers need a shot of confidence. Perhaps they can garner some from looking at last year. After a decent start to its season, the Tigers went through a mid-season slump where they went 2-12-2 before they rallied and lost in the final of the WCHA Final Five.
The Tigers do have some offensive potential, players who are mired in slumps such as Alexander Krushelnyski, Archie Skalbeck, and Hunter Fejes, the latter of whom is in a serious sophomore slump, held without a point in the first 13 games. In fact, two freshmen, Sam Rothstein and Alex Roos, lead CC in points. It also doesn’t help that sophomore Cody Bradley got hurt last week and missed both games against New Hampshire.
It doesn’t get any easier for CC though, as this weekend, the Tigers host league-leading Nebraska-Omaha.
Saturday breakthrough
Heading into Saturday’s game against St. Lawrence, North Dakota might have had reason to be concerned. The team hadn’t won on Saturday yet this season, and after losing convincingly to the Saints on Friday (which was their fourth game in a row without a win), they faced the prospect of their season spiraling out of control.
However, after St. Lawrence rallied to tie it early in the second period, North Dakota responded with two goals, then held off the Saints in the third to earn a 3-2 win.
North Dakota still faces issues. They are below .500 on the year at 5-7-2, and also below .500 in conference at 3-5. They travel to Western Michigan this coming weekend, then close the first half at home with two against Northern Michigan.
North Dakota has been know for second half surges in the Dave Hakstol era though, so all is not lost. However, Hakstol is not counting on anything at this point. After Saturday’s win, he said, “I don’t feel relief. We were real disappointed last night as a group. It’s been a challenging 24 hours, so it’s nice to have a positive outcome at the end of those 24 hours, but we’re looking forward. We’ve got a lot of work to do; we know that.”
Searching for defense
Miami has struggled defensively at times this season, and is only 22 nationally in team defense. A tendency to let up goals in bunches has hurt the RedHawks, such as against Nebraska-Omaha and Providence, and it hurt them again on Friday in the first of a pair against Bemidji. The RedHawks entered the third period leading 4-1, only to give up three goals, including an extra-attacker goal with less than a minute left, to allow the Beavers to earn a tie.
Miami turned the tables on Saturday, scoring three third-period goals of its own to break open a tie game and win, 6-3. Riley Barber and Austin Czarnik, who are currently ranked third in scoring, broke the game open, teaming up on one goal and assisting on another. The duo are a big reason the RedHawks are ranked 13 in team offense, but Miami needs to shore up its defense in the second half to build on its strengths.
