USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger take a week off from looking at individual games to look at team futures: what the oddsmakers think are teams’ chances to win the national championship.
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Gramm McCormack was the rookie of the year in the NCHA last season. And while that is officially an individual award, the MSOE forward doesn’t see it that way.
“It was definitely a cool accomplishment, but I look at it more as a team award, because without those guys on my team, I don’t really get that award,” McCormack said. “It puts Milwaukee School of Engineering on the map, and that was cool. But it goes back to the guys I played with and the coaches for putting me in a good position.”
An All-USCHO.com Rookie team selection as well, McCormack is coming off a year where he tallied 12 goals and dished out 18 assists, leading the team in both categories to help the Raiders go 15-12 overall and 9-9 in the conference.
McCormack and the Raiders are off to a 2-0 start this season, their record including a 4-1 win over then No. 15 Babson in the season opener last week. Several players have stepped up, with Carson Jones leading the team in points (3 goals, 2 assists) and Jacob Bossee tallying three goals. A total of 12 players have at least one point.
“I feel good and the team is looking really good. Everyone is buying in. We have a good group of guys,” McCormack said.
McCormack added that getting two wins, especially with one coming against one of the nation’s best, bolsters the team’s confidence moving forward.
“It’s a huge confidence boost,” McCormack said. We came into the weekend focusing on ourselves, knowing we are as good as any other team in country and that we can beat anyone. We want to continue riding that confidence.”
The native of Grand Rapids Michigan has always been a hockey player. He started playing when he was just 4 years old. The competition aspect of the game fit with his mentality.
“I come from a competitive family. I’m very competitive in hockey. You have to be,” McCormack said. “I love the compete that comes with game and the heart you need to play the game. I love the fast pace of making plays and scoring goals.”
He brings a lot to the table as a hockey player, noting the fast pace of it all is something that plays to his strength.
“I like to say I’m a fast player, a tenacious player,” McCormack said. “I like to get on the puck quick, forecheck hard, make turnovers. I’d say I’m a playmaker. As soon as I get the puck, I’m going to make a play with it, whether that’s scoring or giving it to another guy on my line to score.”
He’s also learned to embrace being a leader. That comes with being a year older and a little more experienced at the college level.
“I’m in more of a leadership role this year,” McCormack said. “Last year, it was more listening than saying. I look forward to being a leader and continuing to be a big part of the team.”
He said he didn’t know much about MSOE before he got there but it didn’t take long on a visit for him to realize this was the place for him to continue his hockey career.
“I did’t know much about it until I visited the school,” McCormack said. I fell in love with location and the coaches. Coach Graham (Johnson) and coach (Brandon) Richards are wonderful coaches. And then meeting the guys in the locker room really sold me as well.”
It’s still early in the year, as strong of a start as gotten off to, the work isn’t done yet.
“Keeping it going comes down to everyone buying in,” McCormack said. “You could feel the energy when we started practicing. We are a team this year and that’s going to carry us forward to competing for conference championships and ultimately a national championship. I really think we can make some noise with that.”
On a personal level, McCormack just wants to keep doing what he has been so far.
“I think one of the biggest things for me is being a leader in the locker room and on the ice with my actions,” McCormack said. “Whether that’s holding guys accountable or being a guy that others can look up. I just want to be a good teammate.”
The Odyssey Trust has announced the continuation of the Friendship Four men’s college hockey tournament into 2024, in conjunction with the official launch of ‘Ring the Bell!’ – a new book centered around the history and legacy of the event.
Held annually in Belfast since 2015, the Friendship Four is designed to promote education, social welfare, and community interaction, building on the sister cities agreement between Belfast and Boston, which was signed a decade ago. Having seen a total of 24 games played across six tournaments, Northern Ireland remains the only destination outside of the United States to host consequential NCAA Division I hockey games.
Set to take place in Nov. 2024, Harvard, Boston University, Merrimack and Notre Dame will compete for the coveted Belpot Trophy, which was won by Quinnipiac in 2022.
Robert Fitzpatrick, chief executive officer of The Odyssey Trust, said, “I am proud to announce that the Friendship Four will be taking place in 2024. Creating opportunities for student-athletes to have a global experience is incredibly important and something that underpins the tournament. The significance of the games reaches far beyond the ice, providing a unique opportunity to use sport as a tool to educate young people and create a spirit of mutual understanding, friendship, solidarity, and fair play.”
The news follows the announcement that the women’s Friendship Series will be returning to The SSE Arena, Belfast, for the first time since the 2019-20 season, with a two-game series set to take place between Princeton and Providence across Jan. 5-6, 2024.
Also announced is the release of ‘Ring the Bell!’, a brand-new book – co-authored by Fitzpatrick and Joe Bertagna – that explores the history and growth of the Friendship Four. Chronicling the origins and impact of the Friendship Four, which has produced no less than 13 Belfast Giants, the book not only explores the 20 different NCAA universities that have taken part, but also describes how the friendships formed have endured and developed.
Commenting on the book launch, Bertagna, commissioner of the Eastern Hockey League and former ECAC and Hockey East commissioner, said, “It was a treat to revisit the competition and explore the themes that permeate everything about the Friendship events. This isn’t just recounting memorable moments in exciting games. Robert and I spoke with scores of people to understand why this has been such a special phenomenon. The themes of friendship, education, opportunity, and inclusion come alive in recounting the eight years since the Friendship Four began.”
Fitzpatrick added, “The people, stories, and memories in this book are testament to what happens when good people come together in friendship to do good things. It’s our duty to pay it forward and, in reading this book, I trust you will see true friendship at work.”
For more information or to purchase ‘Ring the Bell!’ visit bit.ly/FriendshipFourBook.
UMass Boston has announced the hiring of Ty Amonte as an assistant coach for the men’s hockey team.
“I am thrilled to welcome Ty to the Beacon hockey family,” said Beacons head coach Peter Belisle in a statement. “He brings a wealth of hockey playing and coaching experience at many levels and will be a great addition to our staff.”
Amonte spent his NCAA career at Boston University, where he served as an alternate captain during his junior and senior seasons, helping lead the Terriers to two Hockey East playoff and one NCAA tournament appearance.
Upon graduating from BU, Amonte used his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer at Connecticut, where he was named an alternate captain and helped lead the Huskies to a Hockey East playoff appearance.
“I am excited to join Coach Belisle’s staff,” Amonte said. “He has done an amazing job building a strong program, and I cannot wait to get to work with him and the team.”
Amonte is the son of former five-time NHL All-Star Tony Amonte, who played in 1,174 games over 16 NHL seasons and two at BU from 1989 to 1991.
Former Minnesota Duluth forward Adam Johnson played two seasons with the Bulldogs, and earlier this week, UMD coach Scott Sandelin explained why Johnson would’ve gone on to captain the team if he hadn’t left early for pro hockey.
Johnson’s intangibles on and off the ice helped make him a coveted prospect out of Minnesota high school hockey with Hibbing/Chisholm, and the Pittsburgh Penguins saw that, too. Johnson signed with them before what would’ve been his junior season in Duluth, and went on to play 13 games with the Penguins in a pro career that ran for six years.
During a press conference Monday, Sandelin heralded his former assistant captain, who died Saturday after an on-ice accident while playing for the Nottingham Panthers, a professional team in England. Johnson was 29.
“It’s just the kind of person he was,” Sandelin said of why he held Johnson in such high regard. “The guys loved him and respected him, and obviously he was a talented player, but it was his personality.
“He got along with everybody, he was fun to be around, sometimes the life of the party. When you have that and your teammates see that, I think that would’ve been a big reason why we saw him as being a leader.”
The son of Davey Johnson, a former UMD captain and four-year letterman with the Bulldogs, Adam was UMD’s top-scoring rookie in the 2015-16 season and then posted a career-best 18 goals, 31 points, 133 shots and seven power-play goals as a sophomore, when the Bulldogs won their first NCHC playoff title. He was also twice named as a NCHC All-Academic Team selection.
HIs pro career would include stints with Pittsburgh as well as Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League feeder team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He later appeared for the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL team. Johnson also played for clubs in Sweden and Germany before joining Nottingham this season.
He played seven games with the Panthers, and suffered a medical emergency Saturday when an errant skate blade slashed his neck during a road game against the Sheffield Steelers. The Elite Ice Hockey League’s three games scheduled elsewhere for Sunday were postponed following Johnson’s death.
UMD coaches learned of the incident before the Bulldogs’ own game Saturday, a 3-0 defeat at Cornell.
“Right before the game, we were notified that he had passed away,” Sandelin said. “The players didn’t really know. After the game, they were obviously aware. There are a few guys on our team that had a little closer relationship with Adam, but we didn’t really say much.
“Any time you lose a family member, it hurts, and there’s guys on our team, including staff, who probably know Adam a little bit better and have a little deeper relationship, but that doesn’t matter. It does matter that we all look after each other, and make sure everyone’s handling it the right way.
“The incident itself is scary, right?” Sandelin continued. “We’re all hockey players, and I know I saw a couple of (AHL) guys wear neck guards the next day in their game. Those are all things we’ll probably talk about over time, but I want to get our guys together and make sure we’re all there for each other, and some guys probably need it a little bit more. We’ve got to get through it together, and that’s why you’re a team and that’s why you’re a family.”
Johnson’s passing was bound to prompt Sandelin to look at the bigger picture.
“(Saturday’s game against Cornell), at the end, to me, was very inconsequential,” said Sandelin, himself a Hibbing native. “It does put it in perspective, but we still have a job to do, and it’s no different this week. We’ve got to talk about it, move on, hopefully get strength from it and stay together.
“The beauty of this is hockey’s a unique world. You see the outpouring from everybody. Hockey’s unique, and it’s pretty touching to see everybody has reached out. It’s on everybody’s radar, and that helps you get through it, too.”
Lleyton Roed was the top-scoring freshman in the CCHA last season, notching 31 points (13 goals and 18 assists).
It was about as good a debut for any Bemidji State player ever. The last freshman to lead the Beavers in scoring was Matt Read, who scored 27 points in 2007-08 and remains the team’s Division I career scoring leader.
So expectations were high for Roed coming into his sophomore season–himself more than anyone. The White Bear Lake, Minn., native said he’d never been more excited to come into a season in his hockey-playing career.
“After having success last year, I came in very confident. It’s probably the most excited I’ve been for a season,” he said. “I knew what to expect with our guys, we had a great group back here and just coming back with that comfortability, with a lot of playing opportunity. I was excited to get a fresh season going. Last season didn’t end how we wanted to, so we’re trying to build off that and have some more success this year.”
The 5-foot-11 winger has, accordingly, picked up right where he left off last year. Six games into the season, Roed has scored six goals. That averages out to a goal per game, although the average doesn’t quite line up with actual reality. He was held off the scoresheet in BSU’s 4-0 shutout loss at the hands of Minnesota Duluth Oct. 20, but made up for it by scoring both goals in the Beavers’ 2-0 victory over St. Thomas on Saturday night in Bemidji.
“I think the best way to go about it is not to think about it at all,” Roed said of his impressive start to the season. “Whether you’re scoring or not scoring, either way, let your game do the talking. If you deserve it, they’re going to go in. You’re going to go through some rough patches but you’re also going to have some great weekends, like last weekend, so I think it’s just about keeping an even-keeled mindset.”
Whatever way Roed likes to think about it, the goals are coming. Last weekend, BSU swept St. Thomas, 3-2 and 2-0. Roed scored three of those five goals, and all of those scores involved the two things Roed said he improved most over the offseason: puck possession and decision-making.
“Guys at this level are a lot faster and stronger, so that’s something I worked on a lot over the summer, is possessing the puck and using my feet,” he said. “I’ve been putting myself in good situations, so that’s been good.”
On Friday’s game–a 3-2 BSU win–Roed scored on the power play, receiving a pass from freshman Liam Engstrom at the goal line then skating all the way around the right circle before entering the high slot and beating the Tommies goalie with a pinpoint wrist shot.
Then, on Saturday, he managed to score again from the high slot, this time taking a pass from Eric Pohlkamp at the red line in a 2-on-1 situation. As he was coming in to score in the right circle, he deked out the UST defender before cutting to his left, skating towards the slot and scoring from the other circle. The third goal he scored on the weekend was an empty-netter to finish off the Tommies late in the third – not as impressive technically, but the end result was the same – two victories and six conference points for the Beavers, who are now 3-3-0 and 2-0-0 in the conference.
“Last weekend was huge,” Roed said. “It’s really important to get a head start in the conference, it’s a lot easier to be ahead early than to be chasing in the conference late in the season. So we’re going to look back on that later this season and see that as a big result, especially with how well the [the Tommies] are playing this year.”
Although they are leading the conference with an extremely small sample size, Roed said the Beavers know the month of November is especially important. This week, they travel to the Soo to take on a Lake Superior State team coming off two hard-fought wins against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Then they host Michigan Tech before back-to-back road series against Minnesota State and North Dakota.
“It’s a really important month,” he said. “Getting that first sweep last weekend was huge, because we know these next few weekends are going to be tough. We have Lake State; they have some guys who can put the puck in the net this year and they always play stingy. Then we have Tech at home, which is a huge series for us, then traveling to Mankato, which is never easy. But we’ll be ready for it.
“We want to see ourselves as a top team in the conference. That’s one thing we’re shooting for. A big thing in the playoffs for this league is to get home ice. We want to check that off and get as high a seed as possible, so we want to make sure we get off to a good start [in November].”
At the conclusion of week 1 in the western regions of Division III women’s hockey, we saw some of the normal results we’re used to, but also had some upsets on hand. It’s always interesting to see how teams come out of the gate in the first weekend of regular-season action. Here’s some of the key events for your week 1 west recap!
Gustavus avoids a week 1 scare
A game that should’ve been highlighted on your schedules was Gustavus @ Augsburg this past Friday. Augsburg, the only team last season to defeat the Gusties in the MIAC, went into this game knowing they had a pair of tall tasks this weekend, knowing that after they get done with #1 Gustavus, they’ve got #4 UW-River Falls coming to town the following afternoon for a quick turnaround.
Another note in this game is with the tragic events occurring off the ice for the Gusties. You never know what role that will have in the first regular-season game back on the ice. In this game, Gustavus got the comfortable 5-1 victory which began a quick 1:01 into the game when Sophia Coltvet scored. Brooke Power would then net her first of two goals on the night at the 9-minute mark of the 1st, coming shorthanded.
The opening period flurry didn’t stop there, Kalle Reed would add another to give Gustavus a trio of goals to end the opening frame up 3-0. Each team scored in the middle frame, Kylie Ligday for Gustavus and Elizabeth Fagerling for the Auggies. Power picked up her second goal via an empty net to cap off the 5-1 victory.
Gustavus led the game in shots a slim 24-23, with their star 5th year goaltender Katie McCoy picking up the win.
The Gusties return to action this week on the road vs St. Scholastica on Thursday (today) at 6pm CST and then their home opener on Saturday vs St. Scholastica at 2pm CST.
Hamline? Is that you?
Hamline has been a team that’s struggled to get their footing since the departure of former head coach Natalie Darwitz, Minnesota ‘05. However, they picked up an eye-opening 5-0 home-shutout victory over #15 St. Norbert who was voted to finish 2nd by coaches in the NCHA this season. Norbert would win Saturday’s contest 5-2 to split the series, but nonetheless, this is a great sign for the Pipers who’ve been looking to get back into the NCAA tournament.
This team is absolutely loaded with veteran talent, their roster includes 4-5th year seniors, 6 seniors, & 9 juniors… Look out for them to potentially make some noise in the MIAC this season as they seem to have an intriguing roster.
In their Friday victory, Sydney Lemke was the star for the Pipers who scored ⅘ goals in the 2nd period. Lemke scored at the 3:01 & 11:44 marks of the period, the second goal coming on the powerplay. She would then assist on Hamline’s 3rd and 4th goals to give her a 4-point night. The Pipers led the Green Knights in shots 29-14 and goaltender Olivia Rinzel was credited with the shutout.
Another notable performance to note from this series was Courtnie Hogan of St. Norbert who notched a hat-trick in the Saturday victory. Although the Green Knights won 5-2, they got outshot 44-21, Brynn Waismann of Norbert had a great 42 save performance in the victory.
Bethel makes some noise
The Bethel Royals, coming off back-back 8-win seasons, just got a big first weekend W against a team battling atop the NCHA in Aurora who return the 2023 Laura Hurd winner Darci Matson. Aurora won the first game 3-2, but the Royals took game two winning by the same score as the previous night 3-2, but this time in their favor.
Bethel jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and eventually 3-0 lead after Kallie Abrahamson got on the board first at the 10:05 mark of the 1st, while her teammate Megan Johnson would then double the lead in the last minute of the 1st, scoring at the 19:12.5 mark. Abrahamson would add the final Royal’s goal early in the 2nd, her second power play goal of the game at the 3:41 mark.
We’d then see a Matson -> Matson goal as Darci’s sister Molly Matson assisted her to cut into the 3-goal lead which would eventually hold up for Bethel. Matson finished the weekend with 3 points (2G, 1A).
Other Notable Scores (West)
#4 UW-River Falls defeated St. Scholastica 8-1 & Augsburg 3-1.
#9 UW-Eau Claire swept Saint Benedict, winning 4-3 & 7-1.
SUNY Canton swept Trine, winning 2-0 & 6-1.
Saint Mary’s swept Lake Forest, winning 7-0 & 8-0.
St. Olaf swept UW-Stevens Point, winning 1-0 & 4-3.
St. Kates & Northland split the weekend series 4-1 (STK) & 2-1 (N).
UW-Superior swept Lawrence, winning 2-1 & 3-1.
Concordia (Minn.) defeated U. of Dubuque 6-1.
Jack Bar assumed his night was over.
The junior defenseman was seated on the Harvard bench next to Kyle Aucoin, and the duo had every reason to believe their night was over. For the past three hours, they’d skated their season opener in a conference game against Dartmouth, and a third period goal by the Big Green snagged at least one point away from an ECAC opponent. The three-on-three overtime period solved nothing, and by NCAA standards, what was officially scored as a tie game only had to plod through a shootout to determine which team received a second point in the league standings.
Neither Bar nor Aucoin was on the top list of shooters. That honor, they figured, belonged to more established scorers or younger forwards, but after the best-of-three skills competition devolved into a sixth or seventh round, they looked at each other and thought about the impossible.
Twelve rounds later, the impossible became reality, and Bar, a defenseman with one career goal – ironically against Dartmouth – faked a slap shot before pulling a wrister past Dartmouth netminder Cooper Black. The last guy on the roster, it ended an 18-round shootout that left a lasting image on college hockey even if it didn’t change anything in the national register.
“When the game went to the shootout, I kind of figured that I wasn’t a guy that goes, so I thought my night was over,” Bar said. “Somehow it got to the point where my name was called, which was super strange because there hadn’t been a shootout that went that long. At that point, we all just wanted to find someone on our team that could score, and I guess I was just lucky enough to get the chance to go out and score.”
The game itself already offered a critical proving ground for a Crimson team facing the uncertainty of a roster overhaul at the start of this season. Having lost players like 50-point scorer Sean Farrell, 40-point scorer Alex Laferriere and two 30-point scorers in Matt Coronato and Henry Thrun, it was obvious that Harvard’s line charts would look significantly different. How that translated to goals or performances was uncertain, but the first game offered a critical opportunity to gel the team’s chemistry against another Ivy League team starting the year later than the rest of college hockey.
By that nature, it wasn’t a perfect performance, but Casey Severo’s goal in the second period staked the Crimson to a 1-0 lead before Braiden Dorfman tied the game near the halfway mark of the third, and it was good enough to have Harvard in a position to grab the second league point both in the overtime and shootout periods. Dartmouth had blocked 20 of the Crimson’s 26 shots to that point, but both goalies – the Big Green’s Cooper Black and Harvard’s Derek Mullahy – put their respective teams on their respective backs at various points during the game.
“It can be dangerous to draw too many conclusions over one game,” said Harvard head coach Ted Donato. “But I think coming into the season, we didn’t have a lot of experienced returning scorers because of graduation and guys signing NHL contracts. I don’t think [this game] answered that question because we only scored one goal, but I don’t think that we’re making too many decisions after one game. We did some really good things and started off the game pretty well. There were some good looks, but I thought [Black] played excellent, and we understand there are nights where a goalie is seeing the puck really well and it’s going to be hard to score.”
It was fitting, then, that an even matchup went to an extra frame, and to a degree, the first game going to a shootout benefitted both teams with a tie towards the NCAA tournament standings and the Pairwise Rankings. It was just in that shootout where things got hairy after the first handful of opportunities missed or were saved by a team’s respective goalies.
Harvard shot first, and top line forwards Joe Miller and Ben MacDonald failed to solve the 6-foot-8 Black. Philip Tresca went third and likewise missed, and after Marek Hejduk failed to end the game, defensemen like Ian Moore started appearing on the ice.
“Once you get in the middle of the season and the scenario comes up, you might have a couple of ideas of who your guys are,” Donato said. “We scrimmaged UMass Lowell and did a shootout as a ‘just-in-case,’ just so our guys could go through an overtime [simulation], but you don’t necessarily go into the detail where you have those guys [ready]. You just kind of know it once you get to the middle of the season, but for whatever reason, I wrote five guys on the pregame board to get prepared for it. But once we got into the teens, you’re looking around at the bench and just asking, ‘Okay, who hasn’t shot yet?’”
The scenario led to Bar, a junior who scored his first career goal in last year’s season opening game against, ironically enough, Dartmouth. He was the last player besides Aucoin that hadn’t shot on Black, and after his linemate Matthew Morden missed, Donato sent him onto the ice for the 18th round.
“I was actually planning on taking a slapshot,” he laughed, “because I’d done that a couple of times in practice as kind of a joke where I’d go down and just rip a slapshot. But as I was going down the ice in the shootout, [Black] was just so big that I didn’t really see any space. So I just kind of thought to fake it and see if he moves a bit, then I saw a hole between his arm and his body on the blocker side and just kind of wristed it through.”
The goal won’t wind up on his stat sheet or in the record books, but it ended a night that ventured clear into the absurd stories associated with college hockey.
It’s strange to think about its impact, but one point was the difference between Colgate’s first round single elimination game and St. Lawrence’s first round bye. Three teams – RPI, Union and Princeton – all finished with the same number of points around the swing for first round home ice, and one extra point would have kept the Tigers home instead of sending them to Union.
All of this is a moot point given Princeton’s first round win and Colgate’s second round sweep through the North Country, but the argument remains the same that there are teams annually relegated or promoted throughout their standings because of their ability to gain an extra point in post-regulation play.
“I think everyone was just relieved that we got the extra point,” Bar admitted. “I think that it was obviously an exciting moment, but we couldn’t really celebrate that much because we knew we had a lot of things to work on. We could have played better, so after I scored, I know I didn’t want to make a big deal out of winning the game.
“It wasn’t like it was back and forth goals,” he said. “Nobody was putting the puck in the net, but we really wanted to win it for our goalie. [Mullahy] was standing on his head and obviously made 18 straight saves. Some guys were missing, but the goalies played on their heads. It was just a very weird situation.”
Weird or not, Harvard got the extra point and now moves into this weekend with a galvanizing moment for its team. The Crimson are returning home to play Princeton before shifting their attention to defending national champion Quinnipiac on Saturday at Bright-Landry Hockey Center.
It’s another surreality given that the Tigers are opening the season in the first weekend in November at a time when other programs are already eight or 10 games deep, but the opportunity to continue building the team is a juicy possibility given what awaits on Saturday night.
“Getting the one extra point is huge for us,” Donato said. “Sometimes there’s a mentality where your team is in a game, and if you’re out-shooting the other team or outplaying the other team, there’s a mentality where they’re just kind of holding on. We had the mentality [against Dartmouth] that we wanted to get some points, and when we got the overtime three-and-three, we had a chance to get the second point, which we got in the shootout.”
“We were all just really super pumped to get out there,” Bar said. “It always feel like it takes forever for us to start up our games, so we were just really excited to play a real game and play a league game. We came out hard, and there were some things that we want to work on but because our group is so young, it just means that we have so much room to grow.
“That’s going to be really exciting for us this year,” he added. “We have a really close group, and that kind of sets us up really well, especially as a defensive core. We’re just doing the little things all around the ice to help the forwards, and we’re working on getting pucks through from the point because getting that puck to the net is going to create more chances. That’s what we need right now because we want to create more offense, which includes the blue line from our defenders.”
Harvard hosts Princeton on Friday night in its home opener before turning the clock to Quinnipiac on Saturday night. Both games are scheduled for Bright-Landry Hockey Center with 7 p.m. EDT starts.
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the women’s monthly honorees for Sept.-Oct. 2023.
Wisconsin grad student Britta Curl is the player of the month, while Robert Morris freshman forward Alaina Giampietro is the rookie of the month and St. Cloud State senior goalie Sanni Ahola is the goaltender of the month.
With 10-16-26 in 10 games, Curl led the NCAA in points per game (2.6). Led the Badgers to a 10-0-0 start, tied the school record with a goal in nine straight games. She had a point in every game.
Giampietro’s 6-6-12 led all rookies in scoring and her goals and assists were tied for second and tied for third, respectively, among all players. She has registered at least one point in eight of RMU’s 10 games played.
Ahola was almost perfect, stopping 99 of 100 shots in five games for the Huskies. Three of the opponents received votes in the weekly top 15 poll during October. The stats: 5-0-0, 0.20 GAA, .990 Pct. and four shutouts.
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the men’s monthly honorees for Oct. 2023.
The co-players of the month are Michigan sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty and Denver junior forward Massimo Rizzo, while Boston University freshman forward Macklin Celebrini is rookie of the month and RIT junior goalie Tommy Scarfone is the goaltender of the month.
McGroarty led the nation in scoring for the month of October. In eight games, he had a line of 5-10-15, leading Michigan to a 5-2-1 start. He had a point in seven of eight games.
Rizzo had one fewer assist than McGroarty (5-9-14) but played two fewer games. Had at least one point in each game and began the season with 0-7-7 in first two contests.
Just a 17-year-old, Celebrini led the nation with eight goals and led all rookies with 11 points. He recorded at least two points in five of the six Terriers’ games and scored a goal in all but one of those games.
Scarfone had 1.98/.941 numbers in a 4-1-0 month. Averaged 32 saves per game over five games in October. Highlights: a 36-save 3-0 shutout over Notre Dame and a sweep of previously undefeated Holy Cross (3-2 OT and 3-2).
Last season saw the Plattsburgh Cardinals return to the top of the SUNYAC standings with their championship run and trip to the NCAA tournament. While they lost a heartbreaking first round game to Norwich in overtime, this year’s team is positioned for even greater success based on the returning talent and commitment to the team approach to success on the ice.
“We don’t have a first line or a fourth line,” stated head coach Steve Moffat. “We like our depth and talent across all our forward group. We need to roll four lines if we are going to have success in our system of playing with pace. We expect our scoring to be by committee with lots of contributions from each line and so far in the early season we are seeing that balance.
One early contributor is first-year players Tio D’Addario who plays on a line with Ryan Butler and Luk Jirousek. D’Addario already has two goals and an assist in his first two games playing college hockey and earned SUNYAC Rookie of the Week honors to start the season.
“Tio has a lot of skill,” noted Moffat. “He has a good hockey IQ and is always learning and want ting to be a better player. It is early in the season and his career, but he benefits by playing with Ryan and Luk and we expect to see continued improvement in his game over the course of the season.”
Another area of strength for the Cardinals this season is their depth at the goaltending position. Sophomore Eli Shiller returns after a dynamic freshman season while junior Jacob Hearne and first-year Dominik Bovan add talent a depth that give the players and coaching staff confidence in whomever is manning the blue paint.
“It is the most important position on the ice,” said Moffat. We are very fortunate to have three very strong netminders who all get along well and push each other to be better. Jacob Hearne has only lost one game in the last two seasons while Dominik has come in and shown he is ready to play at this level. It is a great luxury to have good depth at the position which makes the coaching decision on who to play both difficult and easy at the same time.”
Plattsburgh opened the season with a pair of wins last weekend over St. Anselm and VSU-Castleton and open SUNYAC play with a road game against Morrisville on Wednesday, November 1. The schedule doesn’t get any easier after that with conference play and the annual LayerEight Tournament upcoming in November leading to the semester break.
“The focus gets very specific now with the conference games getting underway,” noted Moffat. “The SUNYAC is such a good conference and every single point matters so much with the depth of competition in this league. You can’t take any opponent for granted and it is important to get off to a good start here tonight against Morrisville to set the tone. We don’t play on the upcoming weekend so we can put everything out there tonight and get back to a regular practice schedule in advance of hosting Geneseo and Brockport next weekend. I think our guys are ready to play and we certainly want to be one of the teams competing for a championship again this season.”
The Cardinals will also play in their traditional Thanksgiving weekend tournament (now sponsored by LayerEight) and will host this year’s edition with Middlebury, Norwich, and St. Olaf from the west. December includes important home games with Cortland and Oswego before finishing the first semester on the road with Buffalo State and Fredonia.
“We know how good all our opponents are,” said Moffat. “We are very focused on improving our game as a team every day and competing hard every time out.”
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Wisconsin State Journal reporter and USCHO editor emeritus Todd D. Milewski to discuss the college hockey team he covers, the Wisconsin Badgers. Topics include the team’s play so far after a 7-1 start, the change in culture around the program, whether their No. 5 ranking is warranted, and getting crowds back into the Kohl Center. We also touch on Milewski’s article on neck guards.
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This weekend is the first full slate of Big Ten play, with three conference series plus a home-and-home tilt between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth.
Since the start of the season, Big Ten teams have played a total of 43 nonconference games with a 29-12-2 record for the best win percentage in interleague play – barely. At .698, the Big Ten holds a slight edge over Hockey East (.693) and slightly bigger advantage over the NCHC (.678). There are plenty of nonconference games mixed with league play between now and mid-January, but after that it’s nothing but B1G Hockey until the end of the season.
And if the first two conference series already played this season are any indication, it will be nothing but a big battle until someone somehow captures the regular-season crown.
To open Big Ten play Oct. 20, Michigan punished Ohio State in a home 7-1 win, but the Buckeyes rebounded at Yost Ice Arena the following night with a 2-2 tie and extra shootout point.
Last weekend, Wisconsin swept Minnesota on the road to end an impressive October for the Badgers. The series marked the first time Wisconsin swept a No. 1 team since February 2014, which coincidentally were also wins over Minnesota. The sweep catapulted Wisconsin from No. 14 to No. 5 in the USCHO.com Men’s D-I Poll and dropped the Golden Gophers from No. 1 to No. 6. The Badgers also received first-place votes in the poll for the first time since 2013.
On top of that, Wisconsin’s 7-1-0 start to the season is their best first eight games since 2000-01, when they also opened with seven wins and a loss. And their five road wins total the number of away wins they’ve had in the past two seasons combined.
When asked about whether he’s noticed any of the buzz surrounding Wisconsin’s fast start, Mike Hastings quipped, “Yeah, my daughter’s excited about watching us play, so that’s a step.”
Hastings said that the Badgers aren’t invested in what others are saying about the start of the season, and he credits the leadership in the locker room for keeping the team grounded.
“You recognize where we’re at,” said Hastings, “but I think one of the reasons why we’re where we’re at is because we haven’t worried about the things that we don’t get to control.”
No. 5 Wisconsin hosts No. 4 Michigan this weekend, No. 11 Michigan State travels to No. 13 Ohio State and No. 17 Penn State faces off at home against Notre Dame to start it all on Thursday night.
At 5-2-0 overall heading into conference play, the Nittany Lions are still very much a work in progress. Both of their losses have come at home after six total home losses in 2022-23. In both losses, Penn State allowed six goals, having lost to American International 6-4 Oct. 24 and Alaska Anchorage 6-5 last Saturday night.
In that loss, the Nittany Lions held a 2-1 lead before the first period was 10 minutes old before allowing three goals in the second half of the first, including Matt Allen’s goal at 19:55 to give the Seawolves a 4-2 lead after one.
“I do think in that specific loss we acted very much like the immature team,” said Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky. “Like very much. I’m not sure that the staff expected to see that, but we saw it coming.”
Penn State isn’t an especially young team, but the Nittany Lions are transitioning players into new roles after losing a ton of goals and some leadership following last season.
“We’ve learned that we do have a lot of players that haven’t played in those major roles before because we had some guys that were in this program a long time,” said Gadowsky, “and those guys were very solidified in those roles.”
Even so, Gadowsky’s not put off by the growing pains that his team may be facing.
“There’s been a lot of really interesting discussions with our staff about certain aspects that we just didn’t expect or took for granted, things that may have been handled by experience in the past,” said Gadowsky. “It seems like every period we’ve learned something significant – whether it’s ‘Hey, this is better than we thought’ or ‘We didn’t expect to have to work on this’.
“That’s the exciting part about a season. You see which players take advantage of new opportunities.”
In every game except for their two losses, the Nittany Lions have limited opponents to two or fewer goals. Gadowsky said that defensive play, led by senior and captain Christian Berger, Berger’s classmate Jimmy Dowd, Jr., and graduate transfer Tanner Paloscik, is particularly solid.
“It’s really interesting because this is as close to our identity as we’ve ever had the D core,” said Gadowsky. “Every one of them has an offensive flair, but there’s a strength and a grit to them as well.” Five of Penn State’s 25 goals have come from the blue line.
“I think that’s one of the things we’re excited about,” said Gadowsky, “and one of the things early that’s been a real benefit in some of the wins we’ve had.”
Ahead of Notre Dame and the beginning of the Big Ten season, Gadowsky said that Penn State’s sole focus is Penn State.
“We’re coming off a weekend that is so clearly well-defined in what we need to do,” said Gadowsky. “They’re obviously a great program and provide a very different identity from ourselves, so later on in the season it’ll be a little more fun to look at them and try to strategize, but right now we are so inexperienced in certain roles and have a lot of work to do ourselves. This week is all about us.”
At the start of full Big Ten play, Gadowsky sees the conference as continuing to come into its own, poised to follow up an excellent 2022-23 campaign with more of the same.
“Last year was just so unbelievably heightened,” said Gadowsky, whose Nittany Lions finished tied with Michigan State for sixth place but were still only four points behind second-place Michigan.
“Every period was so heightened because every team was just so, so, so good. I think teams are forced to develop quickly. In league play, you don’t have any easy periods off. You’re fighting for your life every period.”
Last year’s Nittany Lions – picked to finish sixth in the 2022 Big Ten coaches’ preseason poll – were, as Gadowsky put it, one goal away from a Frozen Four appearance. Penn State lost the Allentown Regional 2-1 in overtime to Michigan.
That’s why – like Mike Hastings – Guy Gadowsky doesn’t pay much attention to polls. This year, the Nittany Lions were again picked sixth in a seven-team league.
“We’ve never looked at that,” said Gadowsky. “In this league, everybody is really, really good. That’s the way it is. You look at our league, and so what teams are fair to pick at the bottom of our league?
“Preseason polls are just polls. It’s up to you to see how much you can improve.”
There’s a cliche that says that “games in October are as important as games in March.”
Of course, each game is always worth three points, but it often feels like contests late in the season carry more intensity compared to ones played early.
That wasn’t the case last weekend when Holy Cross hosted Rochester Institute of Technology for an early-season series. It was a rematch of last year’s Atlantic Hockey semifinal series, won by the Crusaders in three games.
This time, the Tigers and Crusaders played a pair of close games that saw multiple lead changes and lots of drama.
Ultimately, the Tigers left Worcester, Mass., with a pair of 3-2 wins, with Friday needing overtime to settle.
That meant five points for RIT in its only meeting with the Crusaders. Both teams are expected to finish near the top of the standings, so this early series may have long-term implications.
“We didn’t go in thinking about last year,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson, in his 25th year behind the Tigers bench. “But we want to win every series we play, and we’re only playing them twice. If you win your season series, whether two or four games, you’re going to be in good shape.”
Friday’s game saw several momentum shifts, including a bizarre sequence that began when Holy Cross took a 2-1 lead midway through the third period. But after a video review, it was determined that a major penalty had been committed by the Crusaders over a minute earlier, wiping out the goal.
But Holy Cross’ John Gelatt scored short-handed on the ensuing major power play for the Tigers to regain the lead.
RIT tied it up four minutes later and won the game on Tanner Andrew’s goal 3:40 into a wild overtime that saw great chances on both ends.
“Overtime is usually as dull as can be,” said Wilson. “But I think we saw more chances in that overtime than we did in all of our overtimes last season.”
Despite the five points, Wilson says there’s plenty for his team to work on.
“I thought we played well Friday night,” he said. “I thought their goalie (Jason Grande) played extremely well. I don’t think we played well on Saturday, but our goalie (Tommy Scarfone) played extremely well.”
The all-first-year line of Christian Catalano, Tyler Fukakusa and Matthew Wilde scored the eventual game-winning goal for the Tigers on Saturday. The three skated on the same line for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the OJHL two years ago, combining for 242 points. Fukakusa and Wilde also played together last season, racking up 191 points between them.
Was it always Wilson’s intentions to put them together at RIT?
“A little bit,” he said. “They obviously have great chemistry. We started them as a fourth line and now they’re our third line. At some point we may want to give them an opportunity to skate and develop with older players as well.”
Like last season, the Tigers have a wealth of experience, with four seniors and five fifth-year players.
In all, seven players have returned for a fifth, COVID makeup year over the past few seasons.
“We take it as a compliment,” said Wilson. “Guys coming back for a fifth year probably means that we’re doing things right, treating players well.
“Other schools take advantage of the (transfer) portal more than we do. I’m not saying that it’s right or wrong. Our philosophy is to bring players in as freshman and develop them through four or five years.”
The Tigers took one player from the transfer portal in the offseason, fifth-year goaltender Luke Lush, who played four seasons at Sacred Heart.
“We were having trouble getting a goalie to commit with (starter) Tommy (Scarfone) as a sophomore,” said Wilson. “We saw Luke, liked the way he played against us, liked him as a person. (SHU coach) C.J. (Marottolo) had really good things to say about him.”
The Tigers travel to Army West Point for a pair of games this weekend.
“Same as always,” said Wilson when asked what to expect from the Black Knights. “They’re a well-coached, hardworking team. Dangerous power play. They never quit.”
It will be a tall order for either team to pick up all six points. In the six conference series played to date, no team has taken more than five.
“With everything so close in this league, you’re going to see a lot of splits,” said Wilson. “Sweep and you’re in great shape. Get swept, and you’re in trouble.”
Wins over a trio of ranked opponents — including the preseason No. 1 team in the country — have put New Hampshire in the national spotlight as the college hockey season enters its second month.
But what really exemplifies the Wildcats’ success, in the eyes of sixth-year coach Mike Souza, was a play that occurred in the final seconds of Thursday’s 4-1 win over Northeastern.
With the team up three goals, UNH senior forward Harrison Blaisdell went low to block a blazing one-timer off the stick of Northeastern’s Braden Doyle from high in the slot.
Blaisdell didn’t have to put himself in the path of the puck, which drilled him right in the gut — a UNH win was all but assured at that point. But the tenaciousness on display by was characteristic of the grittiness that now has the Wildcats in the USCHO.com men’s Division I poll for the first time in almost six years.
“We talk all the time, no matter the score, no matter the situation, you play the game the right way,” Souza said. “That was a huge play by Harrison. The bench went crazy, and I thought that’s a good sign.”
The Wildcats find themselves at No. 15 in the latest USCHO.com Division I men’s poll after wins vs. Boston University (then No. 1) and Northeastern (then 17) and a split vs. then-No. 4 and defending NCAA champion Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey). It’s the first national ranking for UNH in more than five years. The Wildcats now enjoy a 4-1-0 record, their best start to a season since winning five straight to begin the 2017-18 campaign
Perhaps more importantly, Souza said his team — which was 11-21-3 last season and picked to finish 10th out of 11 schools in this year’s Hockey East preseason coaches’ poll — enters every matchup believing it can win.
“Believability has a lot to do with it,” Souza said. “Confidence in yourself as an individual — it spreads to the group.”
Currently the Wildcats are led in scoring by freshman Ryan Conmy (1-6-7), sophomore Cy LeClerc (3-3-6) and junior Liam Devlin (2-4-6). Sophomore goalie Tyler Muszelik has posted a 2-1 record with a 3.92 goals-against average and .864 save percentage. Junior Jacob Hellsten backstopped the games vs. Northeastern and Dartmouth, allowing a goal apiece in each game with a .951 save percentage.
While players and coaches often say they don’t pay attention to rankings or predictions, but to be picked next to last by the coaches definitely stung for UNH and has been a source of motivation.
“We talk about that a lot,” said Devlin, a forward. “Going into this season, (we) didn’t get much respect in the rankings. Every game, we’re just going to try to prove ourselves, keep climbing up those rankings, earn as many points as possible, try to show the rest of the league that we’re here to play this year.”
A scheduling quirk that had UNH playing in the first two all-Hockey East matchups of the season had, as of last Thursday night, a full six points ahead of the rest of the league. While Souza has no delusions about the Wildcats’ standing — like a runner starting on the outside lane of the 200-meter dash knows he isn’t really ahead — it’s also not lost on him the importance of league points, no matter the point of the season in which they come.
“The points are all vital, right?” Souza said. “We want to get as many as we can. (Getting) six of six is a good way to start.”
We finally got back into the swings of things this past weekend in the D-III Women’s East hockey world, and we got all we could’ve asked for. We saw a tournament featuring three-ranked teams with an upset victory, as well as some spectacular individual performances. We still had many teams on the backburner and won’t begin play until this upcoming weekend, but here’s your recap from a stellar first week out East.
Utica Wins the Utica University Kickoff Tournament
The Utica Pioneers finished last season with a program-best record of 22-3-3, but it seemed like they were missing one thing on their resume, a key ranked win… Last season in their ranked matchups, they fell to #4 Elmira 3-2, #13 Nazareth 2-1, 3-2, and added a pair of ties, one vs #7 Hamilton 2-2, & Nazareth 2-2. They built up an impressive overall record, but failed in the pairwise department due to these signature games and we could only ask, would this be the year they make that leap to the next level?
Well, they did just that. Utica defeated two teams featured in last year’s NCAA tournament in Suffolk University & #6 Adrian College. In game one, Utica led in shots 35-25 and dominated most of the game. Carly Stefanini notched a hat trick and added on an assist as well, while Erica Sloan tallied a trio of assists in the victory. Senior goaltender Angela Hawthorne made 23 saves.
In the championship game vs Adrian, the stat sheet would lead you to believe Adrian won this game by a few goals, but the story here was goaltending. If you saw a team lead in shots 45-15, you’d probably assume the team with exactly triple the shots of the other team won. However, this wasn’t the case. Hawthorne would go on to make 44 saves and keep her team in it on many occasions making save-after-save-after-save.
The Pioneers opened the scoring midway through the 1st period at the 10:13 mark, Hailey Modlin gave her team the 1-0 lead, which would hold up until the earlier half of the 3rd period when Adrian’s Jocelin Hudanish scored unassisted at the 7:05 mark. Then finally, an entire 12 seconds into overtime, Utica’s Carolyn Whitney sniped a top-shelf goal in front of the home Nexus Center crowd to give Utica a signature win that they couldn’t seem to get in past years.
Head Coach Dave Clausen, the only head coach the program has ever had, entering his 22nd season at the helm, had to say this about his team winning two massive games, one against a nationally top ranked opponent:
“I know our team looked forward to this event since it appeared on our schedule. We had a great year last year, only one loss in regulation. Not getting the chance to show the rest of the country how good we were at the end of the year last year has created a lot of drive with our returning players. It was great to start the year with some big wins against ranked opponents. However, the goal is to win games in March. I think our team knows what they’re capable of. We still have a long way to go, but we’re hoping to play a couple more weeks of hockey this year than we did last year.”
Coach Clausen also added some words about his goaltender Angela Hawthorne’s performance: “Angela’s been an outstanding player on our team since arriving here in Utica. We know we were fortunate in the recruiting process to end up with her. She’s a hard worker and seems to rise to the occasion whenever we need her. Her work ethic is second to none.”
I then asked Coach Clausen one last thing and that was being able to host a tournament in the new Utica University Nexus Center: “As far as getting teams to come and play, it was great to attract top teams from the NCHA, CCC and NEHC. To start the season with some great competition really helps get us focused and forces us to learn about ourselves. The Utica University Nexus Center is really the best facility in the country, so getting teams to come play here was rather easy.”
Endicott’s back on track
The Endicott Gulls finished last season with a solid record of 17-8-1 but fell to Suffolk 2-1 in the CCC championship game, knocking them out of NCAA tournament contention. Last year they failed to pick up a ranked win throughout the season but had some ties to build off. Well, this past weekend they shutout #10 Norwich 1-0 & added another 4-0 shutout victory vs Univ. Southern Maine.
A win vs Norwich is a good sign for the Gulls as it’s only expected that Norwich will get better as the weeks go on, losing star player Ann-Frédérique Guay to Maine (NCAA D1) and other seniors was only going to make it difficult to adjust this season. The lone-winning goal was scored early at the 15:14 mark of the 1st period by Endicott’s Maggie Lynch, assisted by Tara Henshaw. Norwich led in shots a slim 26-21, goaltender Casey Moritz gets credited with the shutout victory, while star goaltender Leocadia Clark is credited with the loss, however her play was clearly good enough to give her team a great chance to win the game.
Other Notable East Scores
#14 SUNY Cortland swept Stevenson, winning 12-0 & 8-0.
#12 Elmira fell to #6 Adrian 3-2 in OT.
Oswego State swept William Smith, winning 2-1 in both games.
SUNY Canton swept Trine, winning 6-1 & 2-0.
Curry defeated Johnson & Wales 3-2.
Hilbert won their first-ever game as a program, defeating Kings 6-3.
Wilkes swept MCLA, winning 6-0 & 6-1.
Arcadia swept Albertus Magnus, winning 4-2 & 6-4.
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Ed: What a fun season this has been already, Paula!
Probably the biggest story so far has been Wisconsin. I know just about everyone around college hockey has had high expectations for Wisconsin under its first-year head coach Mike Hastings. I came into this season thinking, “Just give Mike a couple of seasons behind the Badgers bench and he’ll have them back in the mix.”
Boy, was I wrong. And I’m not alone.
Wisconsin sits at No. 5 in this week’s USCHO Division I men’s ice hockey poll, up from No. 14 the previous week when the Badgers re-entered the top 20 for the first time in two years.
I did not predict a weekend road sweep at then-No. 1 Minnesota, but two wins at Mariucci have the Badgers at 7-1.
I watched Thursday’s game and thought afterwards, “Wow, watch out for the Gophers tomorrow.” And then the Badgers did it again.
What is the magic formula, the special sauce, the secret recipe here – or is it several items from the Hastings cookbook?
Paula: There’s no question that Hastings and his staff are bringing something unique to Wisconsin and the Badgers are clearly cooking, but I think we have to step out and look at a bigger picture. There’s so much that Hastings does well – has always done well – that it doesn’t surprise me that the Badgers are finding a lot of early season success.
One of the things that Hastings does particularly well is credit the team he’s working with – and that’s an additional ingredient here that can’t be overlooked.
Early on, Hastings himself said that the Badgers’ cupboard isn’t bare – I like that he’s kitchen-minded too – and that he signed on with a program that already has significant talent.
Wisconsin’s top two scorers from last season, Cruz Lucius and Mathieu De St. Phalle, return and are again leading the team. And goaltender Kyle McClellan, who played just 12 games last season, has shown a significant improvement in his game with an eighth-best GAA nationally (1.62) and a solid .933 save percentage.
Hastings used the portal well, too, bringing sophomore forwards Simon Tassy and Christian Fitzgerald from Mankato. Tassy played 15 games last season because of an injury, but he already has three goals through eight games, two on the power play. Fitzgerald had 16 goals last season for the Mavericks, and he has a goal and six assists through the first eight games.
Given that Hastings has never had a losing season in his long career as a head coach, I’d say it’s a combination of things – whatever methods he and his staff have for success plus his ability to gain the confidence of the Badgers’ team and help develop the talent that’s already there.
Whatever it is, it’s impressive.
I absolutely did not expect the Badgers to sweep the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis. There were more than a few things that I didn’t expect this past weekend, including how unpredictable the outcome among top 10 teams continues to be.
You’re right: this is fun. It may give coaches heart attacks, but I’m loving it.
While it’s early, it’s a pattern that we’ve seen for the first month of the season. Do you think this is something that we’ll be lucky enough to experience for at least a little while this season?
Ed: After all the seasons I’ve been around college hockey, I’ve learned that every season has its surprises. So I expect there will be a lot of unexpected turns to enjoy.
On the east coast, Boston College has taken the mantle as No. 1 in the USCHO poll this week, a spot that its Battle of Commonwealth Avenue arch rivals Boston University started with during the preseason. The Eagles are not unblemished on the season, with a loss on a late power play goal to Denver on Oct. 21, but they have taken down Quinnipiac and won the pair of games against Michigan State last weekend.
Probably no team has a better freshman class – though DU and the aforementioned BU might argue – so the performance of the underclassmen that coach Greg Brown has gotten thus far isn’t a surprise or unexpected. Led by rookie and fourth overall NHL draft pick Will Smith, the top six BC scorers are all freshmen or sophomores. (And I’ll bet some suffering Sharks fans wish Smith was already in San Jose.)
Meanwhile in net, freshman Jacob Fowler has been solid with a .919 save percentage and 2.15 goals-against average. He capped off the weekend allowing just one goal on 44 shots against the Spartans on Saturday.
Hockey East is not going to be easy for any team, and we may see some twists and turns along the way. I think you can make a case for every team in that conference being better. With Maine and New Hampshire entering the USCHO poll this week, that means – at least in the minds of voters – that more than half of that conference is in the top 20 in the country.
The other team in the east that has caught my attention is Cornell. It’s frustrating to fans – and I know for certain it’s frustrating to more than a few of the Ivy League coaches – that Cornell, Harvard, and the other Ivies get started later. I know it has only been one weekend, but do you think that Cornell could be in the Frozen Four mix for the first time in two decades?
Paula: Well, I’ve shaken the Magic 8 Ball a couple of times, Ed, and the response is consistently, “Ask Again Later.”
It’s way too early to say who is going to be in that specific mix come March, especially with so much volatility among top 10 teams – and really solid play deep into the poll field. This week top 10 teams that played against opponents ranked No. 10 or lower – including opponents not ranked at all – went 7-3-4. That’s a lot of unpredictability, even for this early in the season.
Cornell has a big freshman class, so that may be a factor, and the Big Red play a rigorous schedule in the early going, with games against Quinnipiac and Boston University in the first half. Then facing Massachusetts and potentially facing Arizona State in the Adirondack Winter Invitational, Cornell has a road series against the Sun Devils.
Ian Shane had a phenomenal opening weekend against Duluth, and that may be a good omen. That first-half schedule will certainly season the young Big Red team, so let me repeat — ask again later.
Speaking of Arizona State, the Sun Devils are looking good early in the season and they’re not the only independent team that looks tough. Both Alaska teams are very competitive this season, and just look at Augustana. After not registering a goal in their opening weekend against Wisconsin, the Vikings have gone 3-0-1, with that tie against Denver and their latest win over a hot Colorado College.
It’s good to see more independent teams joining Arizona State in making some noise.
Ed: Although Arizona State ended up with an overtime loss and a tie at future NCHC foe Miami, I think the Sun Devils have an excellent shot at the NCAA tournament in their swan song as independents (Magic 8 Ball notwithstanding). And I agree about the other independents you mentioned.
I’m sorry to steer the rest of our discussion to a somber topic, but tragic news broke on Sunday about the freak on-ice accident that happened to Adam Johnson, a former star at Minnesota Duluth. Johnson led the Bulldogs in scoring as a sophomore and scored the overtime winning goal against BU in 2017 to send UMD to the Frozen Four. He also had a stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that team paid a stirring and heartfelt tribute to him before their game Monday night.
As most are aware by now, after colliding with one of Johnson’s Nottingham Panthers teammates, a player from the Sheffield Steelers, Matt Petgrave sliced Johnson’s throat with his left skate in a fast-moving and improbable way. Johnson died from the injury.
I watched the video several times, including in slow motion, and I find it appalling that there are people in the media (and “media”) who are stridently demanding murder or manslaughter charges in this case.
Local police Monday said they were continuing their investigation.
I used the word improbable above; the timing and physical movements that would have to be involved to deliberately slice Johnson’s neck are nearly impossible outside of Hollywood CGI. (And maybe that’s where talk show wags and social media loudmouths learned physics and biomechanics.)
But this horrible situation also brings up the question about whether neck guards should be required, or at least encouraged. Reports on Monday were that several NHL and AHL players were considering trying them out in the wake of Johnson’s death and the English Ice Hockey Association will make them mandatory as of December 31.
USA Hockey recommends neck laceration protectors for all players, but does not require them. Nor does the NCAA.
While such injuries are rare, they still do happen.
I’m not going out on limb to say that we both love the sport and that we both want player safety to be of first importance. Even before a requirement to wear them happens, if it does, I think we’ll see more of them worn.
Paula: Yes, safety should come first. I am glad to see players opting for neck guards.
Ed, I’m so glad you said something about the calls for criminal charges against Petgrave. The loud voices – some of which are undoubtedly rooted in racism, as Petgrave is black – add even more heartache to an already unthinkable situation. I do not understand people who traffic in such misery. I can’t imagine what Petgrave will be living with for the rest of his life. My heart goes out to him, as it does to everyone in the arena.
I will always remember Johnson for that goal against BU.
I am so sorry for his family and all who loved him, for the entire hockey family that he built along the way, for the fans whose lives he touched. It’s a tragedy, in the truest sense of the word.
Keene State has announced the appointment of Bobby Rodrigue as the inaugural coach of the men’s hockey team.
“I’m so excited to get started with scheduling games, recruiting our first student-athletes and building our program, and getting the word out there that Keene State men’s ice hockey is open for business,” said Rodrigue in a news release. “We’re going to build a program that will make the entire community very proud. My goal is for the ice hockey expansion to become synonymous with the extraordinary success that our athletic department and college have enjoyed.”
Since 2006, Rodrigue has served as the head coach for the Owls’ club program, seeing it from its infancy to a regional power in the ACHA.
The Owls won NECHA championships in 2016, 2020, and 2023, and made ACHA national tournament appearances in 2016, 2017, and 2019. The Owls were also selected for the 2020 version of the tournament before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It gives me gives me great pleasure to announce Bobby Rodrigue as the Head Men’s ice hockey coach at Keene State College. Bobby’s dedication to bring hockey to this campus and community as a varsity sport has been a dream that he has made reality,” said Keene State athletic director Marty Testo. His network of connections with USA Hockey, collegiate hockey in the northeast and throughout our region will allow him to hit the ground running and build a program focused on academic and athletic success. I am very excited for the future of our men’s ice hockey program under the direction of Coach Rodrigue.”
In 2017, Rodrigue was a national finalist for the ACHA Coach of the Year award, and in 2016, received the Bob O’Conner District Coaching Education Award.
A Keene State graduate with a degree in management, Rodrigue received the Outstanding Service Award from the KSC Alumni Association in 2016, and the KSC Outstanding Citizen of the Year in 2000.
Rodrigue currently serves as the operations manager and hockey director for Keene ICE, the facility that the Owls will use as they begin competition in 2024-25. He has also been the player development administrator for the New England District of USA Hockey, as well as a select camp team leader and mentor coach developer for USA Hockey, and the coach-in-chief for the New Hampshire Amateur Hockey Association.
“I want to thank President Treadwell, Marty Testo and the search committee for the trust they have placed in me,” Rodrigue said. “To be named the first coach of the men’s varsity hockey team is a tremendous honor for me. I certainly wouldn’t be able to take on this challenge without the support of other coaches and friends who have mentored me during my coaching journey. I also wanted to give credit to the many great players I’ve been fortunate to coach through our club team over the last 17 years. This is all about them and their efforts.”
Rodrigue officially begins his duties on Nov. 13.
Harvard has announced the hiring of Venla Hovi, who will join the women’s hockey team as an assistant coach.
Hovi, a two-time Olympic medalist with Finland, brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience at both the professional and collegiate levels with her in this new role.
“We are very excited to add Venla to our staff. She brings experience from the highest levels, playing in three Olympic Games and coaching most recently in the professional ranks,” said Harvard head coach Laura Bellamy in a statement. “Venla’s ability to communicate clearly with her players and develop them as individuals will serve us well. The Harvard community is comprised of people from all over the world and we are proud that our coaching staff is a reflection of that. Her familiarity with high performance environments will help us as we strive for a return to national prominence in women’s ice hockey.”
Most recently, Hovi served as the head coach of the Metropolitan Riveters in the PHF during the 2022-23 season. She led the team to 11 wins in her first season at the helm, the most for the group since the 2017-18 season.
A noted trailblazer in the professional hockey space, Hovi famously became the first woman to join the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets in a coaching capacity after she was hired as a development coach by the organization before the 2019-20 season. In her first full-time coaching role, she worked with players from the youth level all the way up to the Jets and its AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, on skill development and technique.
In addition to her role with the Jets, Hovi took on an assistant coach role at the University of Manitoba in 2018-19. She helped lead the Bisons to a third-place finish in the USports women’s hockey championship in 2018-19, while securing a combined 34 wins in her two seasons on staff in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Hovi’s first head coaching role began in 2020, when she took over as the leader of the Okanagan Hockey Academy U17 program. She served in this role for two seasons before departing for the PHF.
One of the most decorated players in Finnish women’s ice hockey history, Hovi was a three-time Olympian for Finland. Led by Hovi, Finland secured two bronze medals in the 2010 and 2018 Olympic Games in Vancouver and Pyeongchang, respectively. Hovi skated in over 200 international competitions with Finland before her retirement from the game in 2019.
Her illustrious 15-year playing career stretched from 2004 to 2019 and featured stops with multiple Finnish professional clubs before a stint at Manitoba from 2015 to 2018. During the 2017-18 season with the Bisons, Hovi helped lead the team to the USports championship, securing the Golden Path Trophy for the first time in program history. The forward was named the 2017-18 Bison Sports Female Athlete of the Year for her efforts in the championship run.
Her success did not stop there, as she took her talents to the Canadian professional ranks in 2018-19. In just one season with the Calgary Inferno of the CWHL, Hovi helped the group win its second Clarkson Cup in franchise history. Hovi also became the first player from Finland to win the trophy.
Hovi holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and applied linguistics from the University of Vaasa and a post-graduate degree in English as a second language (ESL) from Manitoba.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger discuss the results of the weekend and the news of the week in college hockey on the October 30, 2023 edition of USCHO Weekend Review:
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