No official announcement has been made, but signs suggest that Army will indeed be the opponent for Penn State’s opening game at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday.
Sources indicated Tuesday that the Black Knights would be able to make the trip to State College, Pa., despite a government shutdown that has put a number of personnel on furlough.
Canisius had been involved in preliminary discussions about replacing Army in the game, which is scheduled to be broadcast by the Big Ten Network, going so far as to ask the NCAA for a waiver to play a 35th game this season, according to Buffalo Business First.
Air Force, meanwhile, is still in a holding pattern on its scheduled trip to Anchorage, Alaska, for the Kendall Hockey Classic. The Falcons are scheduled to play Alaska on Friday and host Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday but the Air Force athletic department said Monday that all intercollegiate athletic events have been postponed because of the shutdown.
The Buffalo News has reported that Niagara senior forward Ryan Murphy has been suspended 18 games by the team for driving while intoxicated and causing an accident in Lewiston, N.Y., back on Sept. 29.
Murphy, Niagara’s top returning scorer, will be arraigned in Lewiston Town Court on Wednesday.
Murphy’s suspension ends Jan. 13, 2014, and the first game he is eligible to play in is Jan. 17 against Holy Cross.
“This suspension, which covers over 50 percent of the 2013-14 season, is effective Monday,” Purple Eagles’ coach Dave Burkholder told the paper. “The expectation is that Ryan will continue as a student at Niagara with plans to rejoin the team for the second half of the season.”
According to a post on the Lewiston Police Department’s Facebook page, a 24-year old male was arrested for driving while intoxicated and other vehicle and traffic violations after a two-car accident on Lewiston Hill. Reportedly, the male, later confirmed by Niagara County Sheriffs to be Murphy, refused his breath and blood tests.
Murphy did not play in the Purple Eagles’ series against Clarkson last weekend. He led Niagara with 36 points last season.
Jason Kasdorf and Rensselaer are a popular pick to finish atop the ECAC Hockey standings (photo: Mick Neal/Rensselaer Athletics).
There have been a lot of changes across college hockey ever since Yale beat Quinnipiac 4-0 for the national title on April 13, giving ECAC Hockey its first national championship since Harvard won in 1989.
Thirty-five of the 59 Division I college hockey teams are either playing in a new conference this season or are part of a league that has changed membership.
But if you’re looking for changes in the ECAC, you won’t find many.
As veteran Colgate coach Don Vaughan put it: “The league is in a good place.”
All 12 of the league’s teams were untouched by the conference realignments across college hockey this offseason. And a year after the official retirement of one of the league’s all-time top coaches in St. Lawrence’s Joe Marsh, and the rumored near-departure of Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold, all 12 head coaches are back as well.
There is one change that was casually mentioned during closing of the league’s media day news conference. The championship consolation game — which last year featured a national championship preview between Yale and Quinnipiac – is no more. The conference also said goodbye to Atlantic City as the site for its championship weekend, returning to Lake Placid, which was the site of the championship from 1993 to 2002.
Union’s Frozen Four run two years ago coupled with a dominant showing by the league in last year’s NCAA tournament (Yale, Quinnipiac and Union finished 8-2 in the tournament, with the only two losses coming to ECAC teams), should put to rest any negative perceptions of the league. But listen to the league’s coaches, and they wonder where that came from in the first place.
“The people that we have to change the mentality [about the league] is really the media,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “The level of competition is phenomenal right now. I think what probably happens most around the country that frustrates us most as coaches is that you lose to an opponent in our league and you see that in the national polls that you drop five or six places. Our coaches know how good our teams are.”
Like Schafer, Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet has been around the league for a number of years, both as a player and as a coach.
“We have some of the greatest rivalries in college hockey and it was outstanding to have Yale win the national championship and Quinnipiac there battling them for it,” Gaudet said. “It’s an exciting league and it’s what we, as coaches, expect. The level of competition in ECAC Hockey is outstanding, but that’s something we all have known for a long time.”
The league did see a trio of talented players get an early jump on their pro careers, with Dartmouth forward Matt Lindblad signing with Boston, and Union losing a pair of key players from their back-to-back Whitelaw Cup teams in goalie Troy Grosenick (San Jose) and forward Josh Jooris (Calgary).
Grosenick’s departure means that all four goalies from last year’s championship weekend have moved on. In fact, five of the league’s top six goalies from last season (Grosenick, Quinnipiac’s Eric Hartzell, Yale’s Jeff Malcolm, Brown’s Anthony Borelli and Princeton’s Mike Condon) are gone.
Still, that doesn’t mean these teams have a gaping hole in net this season. Union’s Colin Stevens faces the same uncertainty that Grosenick did when he took over for Keith Kinkaid two seasons ago. Borelli wasn’t even on the radar at this time last year after playing in a mere seven games entering his senior year, but finished third in the nation in save percentage.
Stevens, along with Quinnipiac sophomore Michael Garteig and Yale freshmen Alex Lyon and Patrick Spano, could emerge as the next group of elite goaltenders on some of the league’s contending teams.
Also gone is graduated St. Lawrence forward and Hobey Baker Award nominee Kyle Flanagan. But the Saints return the nation’s leading goal-scorer in Greg Carey, who’s joined this year by younger brother Matt.
The elder Carey is joined by a number of top-flight upperclassman forwards across the league, including Brown’s Matt Lorito, Princeton’s Andrew Calof, Quinnipiac’s Matthew Peca and Yale’s Kenny Agostino.
It was already a positive, albeit brief season debut for the league last weekend. Clarkson, picked last in both the media and coaches poll, swept No. 20 Niagara at Dwyer Arena, where the Purple Eagles were 15-0-2 last season. Golden Knights coach Casey Jones was looking for better defensive play this season, and Clarkson certainly got that over the weekend.
And Colgate, which brings in another large recruiting class after having three freshmen among its top four scorers last season, rebounded from a 7-4 loss to Ferris State on Saturday for a 1-0 win over the 2012 national runner-up Sunday.
Here are the previews, ranked by my predictions. Click on each name for more.
The Engineers are a trendy pick for the top spot after turning a hot stretch run into a second-place finish. Goalie Jason Kasdorf and a solid group of skaters should have them in a good spot. Read more
Another year, and another question about who will be in goal for the Bulldogs. All that the since-departed Jeff Malcolm did was answer that question with a national title last season. Read more
The Big Green looked like a good bet for a top-four spot until a late slump pushed them out of consideration. Lots of talent here. Health and consistency will be important. Read more
The Bears played well in the second half and had a nice playoff run despite numerous injuries throughout the year. If they find a goalie and get some support for Matt Lorito, look out. Read more
Last year’s impressive freshman class is joined by several other newcomers with the potential to make an impact. A home split with Ferris State wasn’t a bad way to start the year. Read more
There’s talent up front, led by senior Andrew Calof, but the Tigers lost goalie Mike Condon and defensemen Michael Sdao and Eric Meland to graduation. Read more
The Crimson were ranked sixth in the coaches’ poll, so it should be interesting to see how the year plays out. One thing is for sure: It can’t get much worse than last season. Read more
Coach Casey Jones thinks more depth and competition for playing time should lead to good things. The Golden Knights started the year off with a pair of wins at No. 20 Niagara, which was 15-0-2 at home last season. Read more
Can Jesse Root save his best for his senior season at Yale? (photo: Melissa Wade)
How do you sum up the first national championship season in program history — and the first for the league since 1989 — in a few brief lines?
It was an unexpected and serendipitous series of results from arguably the least naturally talented of Yale’s four recent NCAA rosters.
Unlike any of the school’s three previous national tournament qualifiers, the 2012-13 Bulldogs did not win a league title before making the NCAAs. The team didn’t win any regular season championships, either.
In fact, the Bulldogs barely snuck into the big dance at all. Despite dropping 5-0 and 3-0 snoozers in Atlantic City during ECAC semifinal and consolation games, the team hung on to the final at-large bid after a wacky and wild series of league tournament results from around the country.
Perhaps, however, that’s just how coach Keith Allain likes it. Like his 2011 U.S. World Junior team — which captured bronze despite a rough start in the tournament — the 2012-13 Bulldogs rallied strong following the Boardwalk Hall humblings.
“For me, being an old goaltender, I had to learn early on how to respond after a bad goal or two; I let in a few of those,” Allain joked at the league’s preseason media event in Lake Placid. “I think I bring that process to coaching as well.”
The Bulldogs bounced back big time by edging Minnesota in overtime, then shutting down North Dakota in the NCAA West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. The national semifinal saw Yale down Massachusetts-Lowell in OT, then blow past local and league rival Quinnipiac 4-0 in the title tilt.
But enough about last year. What will this year bring? For starters, a new starter: Jeff Malcolm, who brought stability to the Yale goaltending position after years of chaos, has graduated. In his place rises senior Connor Wilson, and behind him freshmen Patrick Spano and Alex Lyon.
Dynamic offensive threats Andrew Miller and Antoine Laganiere have also moved on, along with defensive stalwart Colin Dueck. That said, Allain will have six returning defensemen and loses less than 30 percent of his offensive production. Seniors Kenny Agostino and Jesse Root are primed for their best seasons yet, and with established defenders behind it, the rest of the Yale offense should have time to mature as well.
Not surprisingly, Allain doesn’t see his program’s ascent as having occurred in a vacuum. It is, he said, indicative of the underappreciated strength of the league and its member institutions.
“Not only do we have fine hockey programs, but we have outstanding universities in our league,” he said. “In our league, more than any other league, hockey is the signature sport on our campuses, and that’s an environment that our student-athletes want to play in. Many of them will go on to National Hockey League careers, but many of our graduates will make far more money in their chosen fields outside of hockey because of the education they received at our universities.”
Nothing wrong with accessorizing that diploma with a big jewel-studded ring now, either.
About the Bulldogs
2012-13 overall record: 22-12-3
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 12-9-1 (third)
2013-14 predicted finish: First in the coaches’ poll and second in the media poll
Key losses: D Colin Dueck, F Antoine Laganiere, G Jeff Malcolm, F Andrew Miller
Players to watch: F Kenny Agostino, F Jesse Root, D Tommy Fallen, D Ryan Obuchowski, F Stu Wilson
Impact rookies: F Frankie DiChiara, F John Hayden, G Alex Lyon
Why the Bulldogs will finish higher than predicted: The next elite Bulldogs sniper is waiting in the wings, and Connor Wilson is every inch as confident as Jeff Malcolm.
Why the Bulldogs will finish lower than predicted: Yale’s goaltending carousel will wind up once again, and the confidence of the skaters with that regard will be slow to materialize.
Mat Bodie is expected to team with Shayne Gostisbehere on the Union blue line (photo: Nicole Goodhue Boyd).
Coming off a two-title, Frozen Four campaign in 2011-12, Union showed that it had nothing if not great timing last season.
The Dutchmen peaked with two seven-game unbeaten streaks at just the right times: One helped the team open the season 6-1-1; the other carried Union through the league playoffs, into the NCAA tournament and on to the East Regional final.
Union’s second straight Whitelaw Cup — awarded to the ECAC Hockey tournament champion — wasn’t worth much to that regional final opponent, runaway regular season champion Quinnipiac, which dismantled the Dutchmen 5-1 to advance to Pittsburgh.
It was a tough result for Union, especially in light of the fact that the Dutchmen had just dispatched of defending national champion Boston College by the same 5-1 score the night before. If the program hopes to match the accomplishments of its past two teams, it will have to succeed while ascending a steep learning curve.
Union lost seven players from last year’s crew, including two early departures: Juniors Josh Jooris (29-59–88 in 117 career games) and Troy Grosenick (.930 save percentage and 1.89 GAA in 71 appearances) forfeited their senior seasons in exchange for professional contracts. Along with the graduation of other major contributors, Union is looking a bit wet behind the ears in advance of another tooth-and-nail ECAC schedule.
“[Consistency] is the name of the game. If we have to rely on our freshmen this season, it’s going to be a long ride,” said third-year coach Rick Bennett. “Last time I checked, you’re not going to put a ‘C’ or an ‘A’ on freshmen, so our upperclassmen are really going to have to step it up this year. We’ll rely on them a ton. Whatever we lost this year, so be it. Every coach has lost some players, so we’ve got no excuse at all.”
Defensemen Mat Bodie and Shayne Gostisbehere will be expected to play top-tandem minutes with top-tandem results on an otherwise inexperienced blue line. The pair ought to be up for it, having averaged 38 games apiece over their five combined campaigns.
Third-year goaltender Colin Stevens has played well through enough Division I minutes to reassure Schenectady supporters, posting .931/1.62 numbers in a dozen appearances last year, and .921/1.96 in 23 career outings.
It’s always hard to tell what the rookies will bring to the table — they will undoubtedly have to produce in order for Union to win this season — but one newcomer who will be tough to miss is forward Eli Lichtenwald. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Saskatchewan forward could make life difficult for league goalies and defenders.
Bennett knows the challenges that lie ahead, but he has no time for doubt.
“It’s 22 league battles,” he said, “and you have to be ready to go.”
About the Dutchmen
2012-13 overall record: 22-13-5
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 10-8-4 (fourth)
2013-14 predicted finish: Tied for third in the coaches’ poll and fourth in the media poll
Key losses: F Kyle Bodie, D Greg Coburn, F Wayne Simpson, G Troy Grosenick, F Josh Jooris
Players to watch: D Mat Bodie, F Daniel Carr, F Daniel Ciampini, D Shayne Gostisbehere
Impact rookies: D Noah Henry, F Eli Lichtenwald, F Mike Vecchione
Why the Dutchmen will finish higher than predicted: Colin Stevens will quickly prove to be the next great Union goalkeeper, following in the footsteps of Keith Kinkaid and Troy Grosenick.
Why the Dutchmen will finish lower than predicted: Stevens and his fellow returners are slow to pick up where they left off, leaving too much responsibility at the feet of ill-prepared freshmen.
Greg Carey led the nation with 28 goals last season for St. Lawrence (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
Will St. Lawrence develop and sustain enough scoring depth beyond Greg Carey? That is the question.
On a team that featured inconsistent production beyond Carey and graduated seniors Kyle Flanagan and George Hughes, second-year coach Greg Carvel is well aware how tenuous the Saints’ situation is.
“Obviously, our key player is Greg Carey; he led the country in goals last year,” Carvel said. “There was some concern that he wouldn’t return, but he’s a very mature and intelligent young man — he’s actually one of the top scholar-athletes at our school. To give him credit, he knew he wasn’t ready to move on. He came back to campus, lost 10 pounds, he’s in tremendous physical condition, so we’re excited to see what he can do to elevate his game.”
Carey buried 28 goals in 38 games last year, accounting for over a quarter of all Saints goals. When graduated players’ contributions are deleted, Carey’s share increases to a solid third of returning Saints’ goals. Keeping opponents honest and Carey healthy are going to be critical components of any success St. Lawrence is going to have this year.
Carvel and the rest of his program will look toward senior forward Jeremy Wick and junior forward Gunnar Hughes — among others — to pick up the slack released by Flanagan and George Hughes. The coaches are also counting on significant contributions from a huge incoming class.
“Our club is in a transition period,” Carvel said. “We also have a huge incoming class: We have 15 returners and 11 new faces. Other coaches have talked about their returners having to carry them; I think we’re in a different position. We lost two All-American players in George Hughes and Kyle Flanagan. With our recruiting class, we’re hoping to fill those holes with newer players rather than returners. Our team this year is really going to rely on how fast our incoming players can adjust to college-level pace and intensity.”
Fortunately for the Saints, the goaltending scenario seems clear, with senior Matt Weninger returning for a fourth go-round.
Weninger secured a career-best .915 save percentage last season with a 2.79 GAA. He will look for assistance from his defense, which returns five players who played significant minutes last year (seniors Riley Armstrong, Justin Baker and Pat Raley; junior Nelson Armstrong; and sophomore Ross McMullen).
With a little luck, rookies like Matt Carey — Greg’s younger brother — will be able to step into a regular role as a point-producer. Because despite the name, one Carey simply can’t shoulder the whole team.
About the Saints
2012-13 overall record: 18-16-4
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 9-9-4 (sixth)
2013-14 predicted finish: 10th in the coaches’ poll and seventh in the media poll
Key losses: F Kyle Flanagan, D George Hughes
Players to watch: D Justin Baker, F Greg Carey, G Matt Weninger, F Jeremy Wick, F Gunnar Hughes
Impact rookies: F Matt Carey, D Mike Graham, F Brian Ward
Why the Saints will finish higher than predicted: Saints scorers beyond Greg Carey will rise to the occasion, giving the big guy the time and space he needs to keep St. Lawrence dangerous.
Why the Saints will finish lower than predicted: If Carey is the only cannon in Canton, it’s going to be a long year … for him and his teammates.
Rensselaer’s Jacob Laliberte doubled his point total from 14 his freshman year to 28 last season (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
When the list of key losses is not a list, it’s a pretty solid indicator of a better season than the last.
And last season wrought a second-place finish for Rensselaer.
“That’s the strength of our program in numbers right now, is in our sophomore and junior classes. A lot of our go-to guys from an offensive perspective are in those two classes,” said coach Seth Appert, whose Engineers have been tabbed as the team to beat by league media members.
One of the biggest surprises last year is now one of RPI’s expected standard-bearers: Sophomore goalie Jason Kasdorf will be counted on to stabilize the squad from the back, though he will be supported by 21 returning skaters, including seven defensemen.
Among those returning blueliners, four — senior Bo Dolan, junior Guy Leboeuf, and sophomores Chris Bradley and Curtis Leonard — combined to play 141 games last season, averaging a robust 35 games apiece.
With their own zone in seasoned hands, the forwards should have plenty of opportunities to open the throttle. Junior Ryan Haggerty and sophomore Mike Zalewski each potted a dozen goals last year, junior Jacob Laliberte notched 11, and junior Matt Neal is the leading returning scorer following a 30-point campaign.
As prepared as the Engineers may be for a memorable year, Appert knows that you don’t move forward as a team if you don’t move forward as individuals.
“As well as some of those young men performed last year — especially in the second half for us — it’s going to be critical … that those guys … don’t return as the same players they were before, but march forward toward being more complete hockey players,” he said.
Could we see the eighth league champion in the last nine years, and Rensselaer’s first crown since 1985? No one looks to be in a better position entering the season than the Engineers.
About the Engineers
2012-13 overall record: 18-14-5
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 12-7-3 (second)
2013-14 predicted finish: Second in the coaches’ poll and first in the media poll
Key losses: D Nick Bailen
Players to watch: F Ryan Haggerty, F Jacob Laliberte, F Matt Neal, G Jason Kasdorf, F Mike Zalewski
Impact rookies: F Riley Bourbonnais, D Parker Reno
Why the Engineers will finish higher than predicted: All the pieces are in place for a dynamite year in Troy; so long as players continue to mature and improve, the sky’s the limit.
Why the Engineers will finish lower than predicted: Critical word: improvement. If too many players fail to beat last year’s totals, it could be a frustrating season for RPI.
Matthew Peca had 15 goals and 30 points last season for Quinnipiac (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
Perhaps no team in ECAC Hockey faces as many question marks this season as Quinnipiac.
Only seven months removed from a runaway regular season championship, the program’s first NCAA appearance since 2002, its first-ever Frozen Four berth and a shot at the national title, the 2013-14 Bobcats will bear little resemblance to their record-setting forebears.
“We obviously got cleaned out pretty good, losing 11 seniors, some good ones there in Eric Hartzell, four defenseman and some pretty good forwards up front in [Jeremy] Langlois and some others,” coach Rand Pecknold said.
Ever the optimist, Pecknold viewed last season’s accomplishments as a seed planted, not a climax achieved.
“We’ll have to forge a new identity,” he said. “We’ve got to find a new goaltender, and the early part of the season will be fun and exciting for us trying to play some new freshmen, get them in the lineup, because we have to play them.”
The Bobcats’ biggest gap to fill will be the one in net, as program bar-raiser Eric Hartzell has moved on with a diploma and an NHL contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In his stead stands sophomore Michael Garteig, all 118 NCAA minutes of him.
“We have three goalies; we’ll play it out as we go this season,” Pecknold said, but then added: “I think ‘Gartsy’ is going to be our guy this year. We’ll see how the other two come in, if they can battle him. We liked him when we landed him as a recruit; we like him even more now. He just doesn’t have the game experience. We’ll put our faith in him out of the gate.”
The immediate effects of May’s graduation may be tough to take for Bobcats fans, as the team returns only 185 Division I games at the defense position, split between just three players (senior Zach Tolkinen, junior Danny Federico and sophomore Alex Barron). The offense rolled 55 percent of its offensive production into diplomas last spring, and 51 percent of its goals.
But all is not lost in Hamden. Twin terrors Connor and Kellen Jones aim for their best seasons yet, junior Matthew Peca is among the best young forwards in the league and there is reason to believe that Quinnipiac’s steady improvement has generated strong recruiting classes as well.
Connor Clifton and Peter Quenneville were each tagged by the big boys in this summer’s draft, increasing the number of NHL prospects on the roster from three last year to five this time out.
No matter how rough the road, Pecknold is right about one thing: The early season should be nothing if not exciting for Quinnipiac.
About the Bobcats
2012-13 overall record: 30-8-5
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 17-2-3 (first)
2013-14 predicted finish: Tied for third in the coaches’ poll and third in the media poll
Key losses: D Mike Dalhuisen, G Eric Hartzell, F Jeremy Langlois
Players to watch: F Connor Jones, F Kellen Jones, F Matthew Peca, F Jordan Samuels-Thomas, F Travis St. Denis
Impact rookies: D Connor Clifton, F Peter Quenneville, D Devon Toews
Why the Bobcats will finish higher than predicted: The returning Bobcats players now possess the experience and confidence to take the team on their shoulders early on, allowing for minimal growing pains.
Why the Bobcats will finish lower than predicted: Expectations — both internal and external — are bound to be higher than is reasonable for this new squad, and early-season stumbles can snowball when the target is set too high.
A healthy Andrew Ammon is key to Princeton’s hopes this season (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
Princeton opened last season with two exhibition losses and two regular season losses, and that pretty much set the pace for the rest of the year. The Tigers held a .500 record (2-2-1) on Nov. 17, but never again hit that mediocre mark.
The primary reason for this sad Tigers tale is injuries. Princeton was besieged by bad luck last year, as only nine of 24 rostered skaters missed fewer than five of the team’s 31 games. Another nine skaters were scratches for 10 games or more. At the risk of overkill, seven Tigers played more than five league games, but fewer than 10: That is indicative of a banged-up team.
It should therefore come as no surprise that one of Princeton’s biggest keys to success this year might be its least controllable: health.
“We need Andrew Ammon to come back and be healthy; he’s a big piece to support ‘Cales’ [Andrew Calof],” assistant coach Scott Garrow said of two of his senior forwards.
Also dinged up was freshman Mike Ambrosia, who — despite “never [playing] at 100 percent last year,” according to Garrow — nonetheless mustered six goals and 11 points in 21 games. That’s saying something for a kid who endured “a couple” of hip surgeries to score one-twelfth of his team’s total goals in two-thirds of a season.
Elsewhere, Garrow and the rest of second-year coach Bob Prier’s staff will be looking for a bounce-back year from captain Jack Berger, who misplaced seven goals and 10 points between his sophomore and junior years. The other spotlight will be on senior goaltender Sean Bonar, who aims to achieve the consistency necessary to be a true No. 1 goalie.
“We feel that Bonar can fill the role in net,” Garrow said.
Princeton hopes Bonar will be pushed for time by rookie Colton Phinney, who was recruited as a No. 1-in-training; his signing was no practice-team afterthought.
The Tigers will be looking to their newcomers beyond the crease as well, especially on defense with the departures of Eric Meland and Michael Sdao. Fortunately, the coaching staff is high on local product Tom Davis, a former Delbarton Prep star who is described as “big, skilled, and mobile” by Garrow.
In front, fellow frosh Ben Foster played impressively for Tri City of the USHL, and before that at Choate. The Tigers already have him pegged as a top-nine forward.
On the whole, Princeton’s outlook is much like the other middle-third teams: Luck and timing — good or bad — is likely to play a significant role in the Tigers’ fate this year.
About the Tigers
2012-13 overall record: 10-16-5
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 8-10-4 (eighth)
2013-14 predicted finish: 11th in both the coaches’ and media polls
Key losses: G Mike Condon, D Eric Meland, D Michael Sdao
Players to watch: F Andrew Ammon, G Sean Bonar, F Andrew Calof, F Tyler Maugeri
Impact rookies: G Colton Phinney, D Marlon Sabo
Why the Tigers will finish higher than predicted: Bonar will remind us of Zane Kalemba, and scoring depth will bloom into season around Calof.
Why the Tigers will finish lower than predicted: The sticks will go colder than Baker Rink in late January, and the defense and goaltending will freeze up to boot.
Raphael Girard could be the key to Harvard’s success this season (photo: Melissa Wade).
It was an odd season for Harvard last year. After narrowly losing to Union in the ECAC Hockey championship game the year before, the Crimson went nearly two months without a win, then ran off a solid stretch to close the regular season before losing to Dartmouth in three games in the first round of the league playoffs.
That long winless stretch began with the quiet removal of four players from the Crimson roster: goalie Steve Michalek and defensemen Max Everson, Patrick McNally and Mark Luzar.
All four are back for the Crimson, and that should help a team that was often short-handed on defense last season.
McNally should also boost a Harvard power play that was tops in the nation two years ago but slipped to 48th last season.
The four returnees are joined by a large freshman class that includes defensemen Clay Anderson, Victor Newell and Kevin Guiltinan. Incoming forwards Alexander Kerfoot (New Jersey) and Sean Malone (Buffalo) were drafted in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and should contribute up front.
“I do think there is pressure on them to perform mainly because we graduated a good number of guys,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “But year in and year out your team wins games because of your upperclassmen. We’re looking for our returners to make a big jump.”
Those include sophomore forward Jimmy Vesey, who tied for the team lead with 11 goals last season. Classmates Brian Hart and Kyle Criscuolo also were solid.
But the key to the Crimson’s success could be goalie Raphael Girard. The junior was spectacular after taking over for Michalek two seasons ago but faded a bit last year. More depth on the blue line, along with the return of Michalek, should help Girard rebound this season.
Like conference members Cornell and Colgate, Harvard will have to integrate a number of newcomers with a group of returning veterans — something Donato admitted might not click right away.
“There are a lot of new players in the lineup,” Donato said. “It will maybe take a little time to get everybody on the same page, but it’s an exciting group.”
About the Crimson
2012-13 overall record: 10-19-3
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 6-14-2 (12th)
2013-14 predicted finish: Sixth in the coaches’ poll and 10th in the media poll
Key losses: F Alex Fallstrom, F Marshall Everson, D Danny Biega
Players to watch: F Jimmy Vesey, F Brian Hart, D Patrick McNally, G Raphael Girard
Impact rookies: F Alexander Kerfoot, F Sean Malone
Why the Crimson will finish higher than predicted: Improved depth on defense and a bounce-back season from Raphael Girard help Harvard resemble the team from two years ago instead of last year’s disaster.
Why the Crimson will finish lower than predicted: The offensive production isn’t there once again, as Girard and the defense can only bail the Crimson out so many times.
Dartmouth’s Tyler Sikura has scored 11 and 12 goals in his freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
What kind of team will Dartmouth be this year? Is it the team that started out 5-0-1 and rose as high as No. 8 in the national polls, or are the Big Green closer to the group that faded down the stretch and out of a first-round bye?
Chances are it’ll be somewhere in between, which should put Dartmouth right in the mix for a top-four spot in the ECAC Hockey standings. Still, coach Bob Gaudet knows the Big Green will need more consistent play from start to finish.
“We had some injuries in the second half that played a role in that,” Gaudet said. “We play in a tough league with a tough schedule and a lot of what happens to you is luck. We have to work on being consistent because the teams that prove themselves to be the best are the ones that are consistent.”
Since-graduated senior Dustin Walsh and current junior forward Brandon McNally were among some of the big names Dartmouth was without for stretches of last year. McNally played in 16 of the first 17 games before getting hurt at Brown in January and missing the rest of the season. However, he played in all three games during the team’s European trip this summer and is good to go for the regular season.
The Big Green were one of two ECAC teams to travel to Europe this summer — Quinnipiac was the other — and Gaudet is hopeful the extra time together before season pays off.
“What it did for team bonding was something even I couldn’t predict,” Gaudet said. “We took 21 upperclassmen and for the returning guys on our team to be together and get the experience of playing really good hockey and the culture of going to places like Venice and Rome, being at the Vatican and the Colosseum, and Lake Como and Switzerland was truly remarkable.”
NCAA rules allow teams to bring their upperclassman on such trips once every four years, and the timing worked out well for Dartmouth. Last year’s large freshman class was able to get in some extra work before the season.
The Big Green have only five freshman on their roster for this season, but there are several who should contribute.
Eighteen-year old forward Troy Crema had 66 points in 47 games for the Hamilton Red Wings in the Ontario Junior Hockey League last season, while Josh Hartley is the reigning North American Hockey League defenseman of the year.
The Big Green lost second-leading scorer Matt Lindblad after the forward signed with the Boston Bruins following the conclusion of his junior year. Still, Dartmouth returns plenty with a healthy McNally, along with Eric Robinson and Tyler Sikura.
Goaltending should be one position to keep an eye on. Sophomore Charles Grant and senior Cab Morris split time last season, although Grant saw most of the action in the playoffs.
About the Big Green
2012-13 overall record: 15-14-5
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 9-9-4 (fifth)
2013-14 predicted finish: Seventh in the coaches’ poll and tied for fifth in the media poll
Key losses: F Matt Lindblad, F Dustin Walsh, D Mike Keenan
Players to watch: F Tyler Sikura, F Eric Robinson
Impact rookies: F Troy Crema, D Josh Hartley
Why the Big Green will finish higher than predicted: The Big Green are able to stay healthy and string together a consistent full season after starting last year on a promising note.
Why the Big Green will finish lower than predicted: Injuries strike again and Dartmouth’s large sophomore class doesn’t make a jump in production from its freshman season.
Andy Iles has started every game for Cornell in the last two seasons (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
What ended up being a banner year for ECAC Hockey was anything but for the league’s usual powerhouse. A seven-game losing streak that stretched from mid-January into February ensured Cornell its first sub-.500 season since 1997-98 and just the second in Mike Schafer’s 18 seasons as coach of the Big Red.
“It was a bit of a downer,” Schafer said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had that kind of a seven-game losing streak. I think you learn a lot about yourselves. It stung not being at home in the playoffs and it stung not getting to the championship.”
Schafer said at points last year that Cornell’s struggles were often due to little things that kept on adding up, as there was little indication early that it was anything but a typical season for the Big Red.
Cornell’s record stood at 7-3-2 after beating defending national runner-up Ferris State on Dec. 28 in the opening round of the Florida College Hockey Classic.
The Big Red led Maine 3-0 in the tournament’s championship game the next day but let the lead evaporate into a 6-4 loss to the Black Bears, who entered the tournament with two wins on the season.
That started a lengthy second-half slump, although Cornell did end the regular season on a 4-1-1 run and swept Princeton in the opening round of the playoffs before taking Quinnipiac to double-overtime in Game 3 of the second round.
Penalties were a problem for the Big Red, as Cornell was first in the country in penalty minutes per game. Their penalty kill was near the bottom of the national leader boards.
The bitterness of last season is an unknown for much of the Cornell roster, as the Big Red brings in 10 freshmen this year. Forward Matt Buckles finished with 71 points and 107 penalty minutes last season for the St. Michael’s Buzzers in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, and was a fourth-round pick of Florida in June’s draft. He’ll be joined by teammate Patrick McCarron, who was the OJHL defenseman of the year last season.
Still, Schafer knows a return to form for the Big Red won’t necessarily come from this year’s newcomers.
“You’re looking for [the freshmen] to survive and learn but you’re looking for the improvement in your returning players,” he said. “That’s where I think you get the biggest jump in your talent, your sophomores through your seniors.”
One of those upperclassmen, goalie Andy Iles, has started every game for the Big Red the last two seasons. The senior should continue to have a firm grasp on the goaltender job, although Cornell also has freshmen Ryan Coon and Mitch Gillam.
Leading scorer Greg Miller graduated last year, as did defensemen Braden Birch and Nick D’Agostino. But Cornell should have some depth up front, led by junior Brian Ferlin, who came on strong toward the second half of last season and could have a breakout year if he stays healthy.
Defenseman Joakim Ryan is a solid two-way player and was selected to the preseason all-conference team by the league’s coaches.
Forward Cole Bardreau, who was part of the U.S. gold-medal winning team at the World Junior Championship last season, is healthy after fracturing his neck on Jan. 19.
About the Big Red
2012-13 overall record: 15-16-3
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 8-11-3 (10th)
2013-14 predicted finish: Fifth in both the coaches’ and media polls
Key losses: F John Esposito, F Greg Miller, D Braden Birch, D Nick D’Agostino
Players to watch: G Andy Iles, F Brian Ferlin, F Joel Lowry, D Joakim Ryan
Impact rookies: F Matt Buckles, D Patrick McCarron
Why the Big Red will finish higher than predicted: Cornell puts last year behind it and gets a big year in net from Andy Iles and up front from Brian Ferlin.
Why the Big Red will finish lower than predicted: Iles and the rest of the upperclassman don’t raise their game, and Cornell’s large freshman class can’t pick up the slack.
Spiro Goulakos is back at full strength after a battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (photo: Melissa Wade).
Four of Colgate’s top five scorers last season were freshmen, which somewhat masked the fact that the Raiders relied on a large senior class for some important contributions.
The Raiders enter this season down three starting defenseman in Jeremy Price, Thomas Larkin and Nathan Sinz. Also gone are forward Robbie Bourdon and Kurtis Bartliff, meaning that once again Colgate will rely on a number of freshmen to step into the lineup.
“Most programs try to create a culture and identity and I think in many cases we try and recruit players that fit that mold,” coach Don Vaughan said. “That said, 10 new faces are in the program and many of them are going to have to play.”
One player the Raiders are glad to have back at full strength is junior captain and defenseman Spiro Goulakos.
Goulakos was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the middle of last season, but is in remission and ready to go.
He left the team in late January to begin cancer treatments in his native Montreal, but was given the chance to play toward the end of the season after treatments were going well. He returned at Dartmouth on Feb. 16, and the defenseman scored the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over Union at home.
“All of us involved with Colgate hockey are very happy for Spiro and his family,” Vaughan said earlier this summer. “He has handled this illness with incredible courage and grace. We are excited to have him back in good health and leading our team as captain.”
In addition to the emotional boost of having their captain back, Goulakos was a important player on the ice for Colgate, running the first power-play unit that consisted of freshmen Tyson Spink, Tylor Spink, Kyle Baun and Mike Borkowski.
Sophomore Spencer Finney earned most of the playing time in goal for stretches of last season but gave way to senior Eric Mihalik as the year progressed. Freshman Charlie Finn got the start in Saturday’s season opener but gave up six goals to Ferris State before Mihalik shut out the Bulldogs Sunday to give the Raiders a split in their season-opening series.
Colgate wore down a bit last year as the season went on, ending with one win over the final month-and-a-half, including getting swept by St. Lawrence in the first round of the playoffs.
Even though Vaughan and his staff just went through the process of putting together a team full of newcomers, he knows it’s still not an easy task.
“They’ll be a steep learning curve and we’ll try to do a lot of the same things that we’ve done for years and get those guys on board quickly,” Vaughan said. “But that’s a challenge. We’ll have to find our identity early and hope that those young guys are going to contribute early.”
About the Raiders
2012-13 overall record: 14-18-4
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 6-13-3 (11th)
2013-14 predicted finish: Ninth in both the coaches’ and media polls
Key losses: F Robbie Bourdon, D Jeremy Price, D Thomas Larkin, D Nathan Sinz
Players to watch: F Kyle Baun, F Tylor Spink, F Tyson Spink, F Joe Wilson, D Spiro Goulakos
Impact rookies: F Tim Harrison, G Charlie Finn
Why the Raiders will finish higher than predicted: Last year’s productive freshman class is even better this year, while several newcomers make an impact as well.
Why the Raiders will finish lower than predicted: The second-half slump from last season carries over, and Colgate can’t stabilize its goaltending situation.
Allan McPherson led Clarkson in scoring last season but missed the playoffs (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
It’s not uncommon for a coaching change to cause some uneasiness in a college program. Players might wonder where they fit, or what impact any incoming recruits may have on their place on the team.
Now entering his third season and second full recruiting class, Clarkson coach Casey Jones is hopeful that problem is in the past.
“I found that guys were looking over their shoulders a little a bit at that first recruiting class coming through the door,” Jones said. “And know we have a little bit of confidence in our older guys that they understand the leadership that needs to be with your program. Hopefully that will carry us through the close games.”
It could have been a different season a year ago for the Golden Knights had some of those close games Jones referenced swung the other way. Clarkson had seven ties and seven one-goal losses, and finished the year with five goals in its last five games, including a sweep by Brown in the opening round of the playoffs.
“We didn’t end on a great note offensively,” Jones said. “It came down to some injuries, but there’s no excuse. I think we have more depth up front now and competition for positions hopefully gives us depth for some guys who are not consistent.”
Despite that, Jones is more worried about his defense and goaltending.
“We have to keep the puck out of our net more,” he said, pointing to Clarkson’s 3.14 goals per game allowed, which was tied for 47th in the nation.
Sophomore goalie Greg Lewis saw the majority of time last year and finished with a 3.02 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
“He had a good offseason; his body broke down a little bit [toward the end of the year],” Jones said. “First and foremost, our discipline and defensive statistics have to improve.”
He’ll be pushed for time by a pair of freshmen in Ville Runola and Steve Perry. Clarkson’s defensive group should be bolstered by the return of Kevin Tansey, who sat out all of last season after being a victim of an assault in the summer. Freshmen Jordan Boucher and James de Haas should add depth as well.
The Golden Knights’ defense got off to a near-perfect start over the weekend at No. 20 Niagara. Lewis allowed one goal on Saturday, while Perry followed up with a shutout Sunday against the Purple Eagles, who were 15-0-2 at home last season. Perry’s shutout was the first by a Clarkson rookie goalie in his debut in 27 years.
Senior Allan McPherson finished as the Golden Knights’ leading scorer but was out Clarkson’s two playoff games after getting hurt in the regular season finale. Senior captain and Bruins prospect Ben Sexton has shown potential in his first three years but has yet to put together a complete season.
“We’re at an interesting time here,” Jones said. “It’s a tough time to be rebuilding [in the league].”
About the Golden Knights
2012-13 overall record: 9-20-7
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 8-11-3 (10th)
2013-14 predicted finish: Twelfth in both the coaches’ and media polls
Key losses: F Adam Pawlick, D Andrew Himelson
Players to watch: F Allan MacPherson, F Ben Sexton, F Joe Zarbo, F Jarrett Burton
Impact rookies: G Ville Runola, G Steve Perry
Why the Golden Knights will finish higher than predicted: One of the freshmen or sophomore Greg Lewis emerges in net and the Golden Knights find a way to turn seven one-goal losses and seven ties from last year into wins.
Why the Golden Knights will finish lower than predicted: There’s no lower to go after being picked last in both polls, but if Clarkson’s offensive slump from last season carries over and the defense and goaltending doesn’t improve, there’s little reason to think it’ll rise from the bottom.
Matt Lorito quietly scored 22 goals for Brown last season (photo: Shelley M. Szwast).
Brown coach Brendan Whittet was adamant last season that there was more to the Bears than just senior goalie Anthony Borelli.
That may be the case, but there’s no doubt that replacing Borelli will be one of the biggest tasks for Brown entering this season. The senior goaltender took over the starting job in December after not playing for two years and finished third nationally in save percentage in addition to posting four shutouts.
The Bears finished over .500 last year for the first time since 2004-05, and beat top-ranked Quinnipiac in the opening game of the ECAC championship before losing to Union in the final.
They’ll have several candidates to replace Borelli in net, but Whittet isn’t revealing any front runners.
“We have no preconceived notion about who is going to be our starting goaltender,” he said. “We’ll let it sort itself out in practice.”
Candidates include freshmen Tyler Steel and Tim Ernst, along with senior Marco DeFilippo.
It was an injury to DeFilippo that allowed Borelli to get a chance — somewhat fitting, considering the injuries that the Bears dealt with last year, especially on defense.
Defenseman Nate Widman was lost for the year with an ACL injury in the third game of the season, while forward Ryan Jacobson, Brown’s second-leading scorer two years ago, was done in early February with an ACL injury as well.
“I don’t think it was so much offseason condition or training or anything of that nature,” Whittet said. “We need a little bit of luck. The adjustment is such that you are playing guys you weren’t expecting in those specific roles.”
One of those players who moved around was forward Jake Goldberg, who switched to defense at midseason. Goldberg held his own, but Whittet would prefer to not have to manipulate his roster again.
The Bears might have better luck with injuries, but they’ll need some offensive production from someone other than forward Matt Lorito, who quietly ranked among the national leaders with 22 goals last season.
Lorito’s numbers were even more impressive considering Brown had no one else with more than seven goals. Sophomore Mark Naclerio finished with 23 points and was an excellent faceoff man for the Bears last season, while a bump in production from forwards Nick Lappin or Garnet Hathaway would help spread the offense throughout the Brown lineup.
The Bears will get a chance to see where they stand right away, as Brown opens the season Oct. 25 against defending national champion Yale as part of the Liberty Invitational.
About the Bears
2012-13 overall record: 16-14-6
2012-13 ECAC Hockey record: 7-9-6 (seventh)
2013-14 predicted finish: Eighth in both the coaches’ and media polls
Key losses: F Chris Zaires, D Richie Crowley, G Anthony Borelli
Players to watch: F Matt Lorito, F Mark Naclerio, D Dennis Robertson
Impact rookies: G Tyler Steel, G Tim Ernst
Why the Bears will finish higher than predicted: Brown finds a replacement for Borelli, complements its grind-it-out defense with some more offense and stays healthy.
Why the Bears will finish lower than predicted: Lorito is forced to carry the offense again, and Brown can’t stay healthy for a second season in a row.
After sweeping Colgate last weekend, Minnesota maintains the top ranking in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Women’s Poll.
Minnesota received all 15 first-place votes.
Boston College, Clarkson and Cornell remain ranked No. 2, 3 and 4, respectively, while Wisconsin moves up two to sit in a fourth-place tie this week with Cornell.
North Dakota jumps two places to sit sixth, Boston University falls a pair to No. 7 and Harvard is up one to No. 8 this week.
New to the rankings this week are Minnesota-Duluth at No. 9 and tenth-ranked Ohio State.
And we’re back …
What is to be learned from the games and exhibitions over the first couple of weeks?
As is often the case early, results can be unpredictable. Consider the CHA, where the only team with a winning record is Penn State, a second-year program that took its lumps last season. The Nittany Lions had unexpected success at Vermont as they did a year ago.
Granted that there is little data to go on at this point, like those early returns on election night with less than one percent of the precincts reporting, but some trends are emerging.
Conference power
Listen to coaches around the country and one keeps hearing comments like, “I think we play in the strongest conference,” or, “Our league is the most competitive from top to bottom.”
Such conference loyalty is commendable, but which leagues have done the best job of backing up the claims so far?
Given Penn State is its only winning team, it obviously isn’t the CHA. Collectively, the league has gone 5-9-2 in the early going, a .375 clip, and has been outscored by 21 goals.
Hockey East has struggled even more. HEA teams are 4-8-1 versus teams from other conferences, a .346 winning percentage, and are minus 17 in goal differential. It’s worth noting that neither Boston College nor Boston University, the circuit’s two Frozen Four teams from last spring, have started their nonconference schedules.
ECAC Hockey, minus the six Ivies, has recorded a 6-5-1 mark outside the league, a .542 percentage, and is nine goals to the good.
The WCHA leads the way with a 9-2-2 record in such games, a sizzling .769 percentage, outscoring opponents by 29 goals, with only Wisconsin yet to play outside of the league.
These numbers are swayed by which teams have traveled or faced tougher competition, but lower-division teams from some leagues have fared better. We’ll revisit these records around Thanksgiving to see how the balance has shifted.
Fast starter
In the early going, the No. 3 Clarkson Golden Knights have given every indication that they are who we thought they are. While not quite unscathed by roster turnover from last season, it’s safe to say that they have been less beset by such scathing than most of the other top contenders. With its core intact, Clarkson has surged out of the blocks. It had a pair of strong wins over rival St. Lawrence in non-ECAC games, 5-2 and 4-1, after opening with a 12-1 demolition of RIT.
Streak in jeopardy?
No. 7 Mercyhurst has qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the last nine seasons, often by getting off to a quick start and not looking back. The Lakers split at Minnesota State to open the season, losing 4-2 and bouncing back with a 3-2 win. After an overtime defeat on home ice on Saturday inflicted by Ohio State, 4-3, Mercyhurst finds itself on the wrong side of the .500 mark.
However, their streak has grown so long because of what the Lakers do when faced with a challenge. Two years ago, after the same one-of-three start, they rattled off nine consecutive wins. In October 2008, Mercyhurst opened with a particularly tough stretch that saw it post three wins and four losses. The team responded with a run of 28 wins in its next 29 games and reached the NCAA Championship.
Clutch performers
What do Kylie St. Louis of Robert Morris and Taylor Kuehl of Ohio State have in common? Both scored in overtime to upend Rensselaer and Mercyhurst respectively. In each case, the losing team had erased a two-goal deficit, only to ultimately have its rally negated.
Offensive catalysts
Clarkson has the top offense in the country, averaging seven goals per game, and defenseman Erin Ambrose is a major reason why. The sophomore tallied hat tricks in her first two games and is averaging three points per contest.
A number of newcomers have already burst onto the scene, none in more spectacular fashion than Susanna Tapani of North Dakota. The Finnish product contributed six points in her first college series. She’s not the only one doing heavy lifting at UND, as junior Josefine Jakobsen matched her point for point against Lindenwood.
In the absence of Alex Carpenter, No. 2 Boston College needs a big season from Haley Skarupa. She delivered in her sophomore debut with three points, including a couple of slick goals, versus Maine in a 5-1 win.
Rachael Bona was asked to fill Amanda Kessel’s spot on Minnesota’s top line, and the junior responded with seven points at Colgate. Her new center, Hannah Brandt, avoided a sophomore jinx with a six-point weekend.
Still perfect
In goal, Julie Friend of St. Cloud State and Kayla Black of Minnesota-Duluth have yet to be scored on this season. Both turned in shutouts in their only appearances, although Friend had to settle for a tie when her team was blanked at the other end versus Quinnipiac.
How the rest of the top 10 fared
Last season, No. 1 Minnesota didn’t allow a goal until its third game or trail until its ninth game. The Gophers didn’t make it two minutes into the new season before falling behind. In all, they faced three deficits over the weekend against Colgate; they only trailed nine times in 41 games last year. Minnesota did emerge with 3-1 and 8-3 wins over the Raiders.
No. 6 Wisconsin opened WCHA conference action by dropping Minnesota State by 3-0 and 5-1 scores.
No. 8 North Dakota kept Nicole Hensley of Lindenwood busy during 5-1 and 6-1 wins. The sophomore made 46 and 69 saves in playing both ends of the weekend set.
No. 10 Northeastern was the only other ranked team to taste defeat. The Huskies lost a 4-1 contest to Syracuse and came from behind to claim a 5-4 win over RIT on Saturday.
No. 4. Cornell, No. 5 Boston University, and No. 9 Harvard have yet to commence NCAA competition.
Andrew Prochno and St. Cloud State beat Sean Kuraly and Miami for a spot in last season’s Frozen Four. The teams are expected to compete for the inaugural NCHC regular season title (photo: Rachel Lewis).
College hockey teams, regardless of which conference they’re in, beat up on each other through the regular season in order to obtain favorable spots in a postseason in which they’ll beat up on each other all over again.
In a league as powerful and competitive top to bottom as the new NCHC, though, it’s tough to tell in preseason how much the eight teams will have left in their tanks come playoff time.
That’s the view held by Bob Motzko, the St. Cloud State coach that guided the Huskies last season to a share of the regular season championship in the WCHA, traditionally one of Division I’s strongest leagues.
Six former WCHA member schools make up three-fourths of the NCHC: St. Cloud State, Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota.
All six teams have plenty of experience squaring off with each other on the ice. Now, though, they’ll also get to try to beat up on — and also be beaten up by — Miami and Western Michigan, two of the top three teams last season in the now-defunct CCHA.
“It’s almost silly to rank predictions for our eight teams,” Motzko said. “I don’t think you will find a league in the country that can be more balanced with eight programs as you do here, and I think it’s going to play out that way.
“Our schedule on paper, when you look at it, doesn’t look a whole lot different than it did in the past. The big change for us is we are going to Western Michigan and Miami on our schedule, and really you can’t think any more than you have to start the fight week-to-week, and we’re probably going to be a league that is very geared to [the NCHC] playoffs.
“We’re going to beat each other up all year long and you’re going to want to be playing your best hockey at the end of the season.”
Talk to any coach or player in the NCHC and they’ll tell a story similar to Motzko’s. Some, like Western Michigan coach Andy Murray, feel being in such a well-balanced league is what fans desire and what will make his young team this season better.
“We couldn’t take a night off in the CCHA, and we can’t now,” Murray said upon considering both the Broncos’ NCHC schedule as well as Western’s non-conference slate this season.
“We’re going to have tough games all the time, and our players are going to learn to thrive. And with 10 new players, we’re not letting them in the back door and tell them to pace themselves and find their way. If we do that, we’re going to be so far behind at the start of the year. So we’ve got a tough schedule but that’s what our fans want to see, and I believe that’s how we’re going to get better.”
Another view shared throughout the new league is that, while the landscape may be different going forward, how the teams prepare to earn the desired results will be much the same as before.
“We were used to playing in the WCHA, which is considered, year in and year out, to be the most competitive league in the country,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol said. “And now we’re beginning a new chapter and will start new traditions in the NCHC just as other teams will in their own respective leagues.
“I expect the new NCHC to be as competitive top to bottom as any in the nation, so I don’t think our mentality or preparation will change a whole lot. I think the WCHA has prepared us very well to go into another very competitive league.”
Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin said he feels the same way about how the WCHA prepared his band of Bulldogs for life in their new conference.
“I think the competitive standpoint is obviously going to be very similar,” Sandelin said. “I think the difference is that we are going to be playing each other more than we did in the WCHA with some teams.
“The schedule was certainly significant in some years, depending on who you played. I think this is certainly going to make it more difficult week in and week out to win hockey games, but at the same time, that’s the exciting part. I think that is the challenge we are looking forward to. I think when you play a strong schedule, it forces you to get better quickly.”
With as strong as the NCHC is, then, it’s hardly a cliché to say every league game matters.
“I felt [the strength of the WCHA] was a big reason that our league then had some success, and I think this league will have the same thing, too, with everybody pushing each other,” Sandelin said.
“The unfortunate thing is some good teams at the end aren’t going to be in there, but that’s why you play the regular season.”
Listed below are links to USCHO’s NCHC team previews, listed in alphabetical order (see below for predictions). Click on each school’s name for a full preview complete with capsule information.
Then-senior goaltender Joe Howe carried the previously inconsistent Tigers to last season’s WCHA playoff championship game, but coach Scott Owens now has to build upon that success without Howe and four of CC’s top five scorers from the 2012-13 campaign. Read more
Jim Montgomery, the Pioneers’ first new head coach since 1994, has been given the reins to a DU team that features 10 freshmen and is missing some key early departures such as forward Nick Shore and goaltender Juho Olkinuora. Read more
RedHawks coach Enrico Blasi took a team featuring 12 freshmen to last season’s CCHA regular season title and the NCAA Midwest Regional final, and most of that squad returns as Miami enters a new conference that many prognosticators expect the RedHawks to win. Read more
Forwards Tony Cameranesi and Austin Farley and defenseman Andy Welinski had impressive freshman seasons in 2012-13, and they will be relied upon heavily to lead a young UMD team that features only nine upperclassmen. Read more
The Mavericks could have done without having to lose star forward Matt White and a would-have-been freshman defenseman in August. While this year’s UNO roster lacks both depth and numbers, many accomplished upperclassman veterans will look to help keep their team competitive. Read more
UND doesn’t rebuild so much as it reloads. One of last season’s best senior classes in all of college hockey is gone, but North Dakota is ushering in one of the nation’s best groups of incoming freshmen and returns solid veterans at every position. Read more
Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LeBlanc and a few other key pieces have left St. Cloud, Minn., but returning stars like forward Jonny Brodzinski, defenseman Nic Dowd and goaltender Ryan Faragher are determined to prove that the cupboard is far from bare and that the Huskies have the potential to make a second consecutive Frozen Four appearance. Read more
Goaltender Frank Slubowski is back after backstopping the CCHA’s second-best defense from last season, but the Broncos need to pick up the pace at the other end of the ice after having scored the fewest goals of any team in their league in 2012-13. Read more
Candace’s picks
1. St. Cloud State
2. Miami
3. North Dakota
4. Denver
5. Colorado College
6. Minnesota-Duluth
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Western Michigan
Matthew’s picks
1. Miami
2. North Dakota
3. St. Cloud State
4. Denver
5. Minnesota-Duluth
6. Colorado College
7. Nebraska-Omaha
8. Western Michigan
Goaltender Frank Slubowski is a dependable veteran for Western Michigan, which seeks more offense this season (photo: Rachel Lewis).
Western Michigan did some good things in its final season in its old league, but other parts of the Broncos’ game need work as WMU enters college hockey’s post-realignment era.
The Broncos finished third in the now-defunct CCHA’s closing campaign, and that success was largely due to their defense. Western boasted the league’s second-stingiest defense (2.13 goals per game) and a starting goaltender in Frank Slubowski who gave up even less than that (2.11) over 30 appearances.
Slubowski is back for the inaugural season of the NCHC, though, and so is the bulk of last season’s defensive corps. That’s the good news; the bad news is Western has lost a lot of offensive talent from a 2012-13 team that didn’t score much to begin with.
The players that left Kalamazoo, Mich., last summer were responsible for 37.9 percent (33 of 87) of their team’s goal-scoring output over the 2012-13 season. When you consider no CCHA team scored fewer goals in the last campaign than the Broncos did, Western’s list of departures hits that much harder.
Forwards Dane Walters and Mike Leone, two of WMU’s top five point-scorers last season, have graduated. Also gone is defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who opted to forgo his senior season in favor of signing with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
Western Michigan coach Andy Murray said that lack of scoring prowess, combined with seven losses in the Broncos’ final 11 games of last season, kept WMU from making a third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
“[Losing that much] of our scoring from last year would not be very much because we didn’t score very much,” Murray said. “We were one of the lowest-scoring teams in all of college hockey, and we were certainly, for 90 percent of last season, in the top three in terms of goals against, and we let that slip a little at the end. That’s why we didn’t get to play in the national tournament after being ranked in the top 10 all year.
“Our offense-to-defense differential has to be better. We can’t afford to give up anything more defensively, so we’ve got to continue to emphasize solid team defense. But we want our defense to be based on an attacking offense where we have the puck, and we need to have a higher finishing percentage on our shots.
“We generate a lot of shots and don’t give up a lot of them, but we’ve got to continue to emphasize defense. Our defensive numbers last season were quite good as we had the puck so often offensively, but we weren’t efficient enough with our finishing ability.”
Murray’s list of returning players includes plenty of players who know how to get on the score sheet, however. Senior forwards Chase Balisy, Shane Berschbach and Mike Cichy will be relied upon to lead the lines up front.
On the blue line, senior defenseman Dennis Brown is a solid veteran offensive defenseman. Sophomore Kenney Morrison had a good first year in Kalamazoo and should play an expanded role this season with that experience under his belt.
The rest of Western’s playing personnel is relatively unproven. Add to that eight freshmen entering the fold — down from nine after star recruit and first-round NHL draft pick Mike McCarron signed with the Montreal Canadiens in July — and Murray will be relying on the upperclassmen to lead a young team this season.
“This is a young team, and people are telling me it’s the youngest team Western’s ever had,” Murray said.
“We’ve got four seniors here, as well, that have been with me for two years and one with Coach [Jeff Blashill, who coached WMU during the 2010-11 season]. It’s the case with any college program that people can talk about the freshmen, but ultimately it’s the upperclassmen that have to be the difference-makers.”
If the youth can jell quickly with the veterans and the Broncos can find the balance between offense and defense that eluded them last season, a return to NCAA tournament play is possible. If the bonding and balancing don’t happen, though, Western might find itself further down the NCHC standings than it’d like to be come March.
About the Broncos
2012-13 overall record: 19-11-8
2012-13 CCHA record: 15-7-6-3 (Third)
2013-14 predicted finish: Candace eighth, Matthew eighth
Key losses: F Dane Walters, F Mike Leone, D Danny DeKeyser
Players to watch: F Chase Balisy, F Shane Berschbach, D Dennis Brown, D Kenney Morrison, G Frank Slubowski
Impact rookies: F Sheldon Dries, F Kyle Novak, D Mike McKee
Why the Broncos will finish higher than predicted: Their .605 winning percentage in the 2012-13 campaign, compared to .585 the season before, indicates an upward trajectory under Murray. The 2013-14 Broncos are a very young bunch, but with that youth comes a lot of potential to keep Western’s momentum under Murray going.
Why the Broncos will finish lower than predicted: WMU lost to graduation and professional hockey a lot of the offensive weaponry from a 2012-13 Broncos team that didn’t score very often to start with. Replacing what left Kalamazoo after last season is a big burden to place on a team featuring 16 underclassmen.
Nic Dowd and St. Cloud State are fueled by the loss in their last game last season (photo: Rachel Lewis).
In many ways, 2012-13 seemed like a dream season for the St. Cloud State Huskies. They won the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular season champion on the final weekend of the season and spent large stretches of the year ranked in the top 10.
After being upset by Wisconsin in the Final Five, the Huskies rebounded with convincing wins over Notre Dame and Miami in the NCAA Midwest Regional to advance to the program’s first Frozen Four.
However, St. Cloud’s dream season was undone by the first 11 minutes of the Frozen Four semifinal game against Quinnipiac, where sloppy play and strong work by the Bobcats had St. Cloud in a 3-0 hole it never came back from.
“We are pretty proud of our team last year from start to finish,” St. Cloud coach Bob Motzko said. “We grew a tremendous amount and became an outstanding hockey team. We are sure disappointed with the first five minutes of that semifinal game, and we give Quinnipiac a lot of credit. They took advantage of our slow start and got on top of us and then their goalie wouldn’t let us back in.
“There’s definitely some frustration in that, but overall we are proud of our season. This is a new season, and we want to build on what we’ve been doing here for a long time.”
Senior forward and team captain Nic Dowd, who finished second in team scoring last season, echoed his coach’s comments.
“Obviously, we can use that to our advantage. We’ve been to a Frozen Four now and been in those high-pressure situations and we’ve won a couple of championships, and I think that’s just good for a program,” he said. “There’s always those games where you are going to have a hard time getting to the next level, so for us to finally break through and won a league championship, I think that is something we can use to our advantage this season. I think the main thing I always tell people is that we lost our last game of the season, so I think that should be enough fuel.”
Last season, the Huskies were led by Hobey Baker Award winner Drew LeBlanc, who scored 53 points, led the nation in assists with 37, and was 10th nationally in points per game while earning WCHA student-athlete of the year honors. LeBlanc is gone to graduation, as is fifth-leading scorer Ben Hanowski. Another key loss was junior defenseman Nick Jensen, who signed with the Detroit Red Wings. However, most of the Huskies roster returns to build on last season.
A key for the Huskies will be whether Jonny Brodzinski and Kalle Kossila, who finished third and fourth, respectively, on the team in scoring as freshmen, have sophomore slumps.
Brodzinski tied for fifth nationally and led all rookies in goals scored with 22.
“Yeah, we are a young hockey team still,” Motzko said. “We lost four players off last year’s team, which is a low number. The problem on our side is that we lost some great players, or big parts of our team last year. We have some pieces to put back together.
“We have a lot of goalies returning, we are strong in goaltending, we like our offense, but it’s a new season. We want to build off what we’ve been doing and the excitement last year, but that excitement isn’t going to score goals or keep goals out of the net. This team has to find its heartbeat and its pulse and its identity, and that’s the challenge that all of us have to start the season.
“You do want to build on the things you do, but you start new, and that’s the exciting thing about starting a new season, finding the leadership and players that are going to take big steps in their career and put it together.”
One player from whom Motzko is looking for big things is goalie Ryan Faragher, who was 21st in goaltending nationally last year with a 2.27 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
“When Mike Lee went in for surgery and was out for almost three months, Ryan got baptized under fire his freshman year and he came through outstanding, and with Mike signing and leaving early, Ryan fell into the No. 1 spot as a sophomore,” Motzko said. “Ryan was a very, very good college goalie last year and a big part of our success. …
“He has to raise his game on a more consistent basis night to night and be a dominant factor, because he can be a dominant goalie. He’s just an outstanding young man and a fierce competitor, and he wants that challenge and we’re excited for it.”
About the Huskies
2012-13 overall record: 25-16-1
2012-13 WCHA record: 18-9-1 (Tie-first)
2013-14 predicted finish: Candace first, Matt third
Key losses: F Drew LeBlanc, F Ben Hanowski, D Nick Jensen
Players to watch: F Nic Dowd, F Jonny Brodzinski, F Kalle Kossila, G Ryan Faragher
Impact rookies: D Ben Storm, D Niklas Nevalainen
Why the Huskies will finish higher than predicted: With a Frozen Four under their belt and some fierce firepower up front, they should continue to terrorize opposing defenses. The Huskies finished tied for third nationally in team offense.
Why the Huskies will finish lower than predicted: The loss of Nick Jensen could hurt an already middling defense. St. Cloud finished tied for 17th last year in team defense and needs to improve on that number.
