Players of the Week*
*These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here.
Player of the Week: Kelly Zajac, Union
Zajac put up four goals and a helper this weekend. … Well, OK, it was all on Saturday. Yeah, it was against Sacred Heart; yeah, he didn’t show up on the score sheet Friday (somehow, in a 9-0 romp), but come on, man! Four goals!
Honorable mention: Presizniuk (six assists this weekend); Sean Flanagan, St. Lawrence (2-3–5 at Minnesota State).
Rookie of the Week: Josh Jooris, Union
Jooris scored a hat trick — one of three such Dutch feats this weekend – in his first taste of D-I action, and added two assists to the mix as well. (Senior Stepháne Boileau notched the other ‘trick, also on Friday.)
Honorable mention: Daniel Carr, Union (1-4–5 versus Sacred Heart); Mike McCann, Colgate (game-winning goal against Army).
Goalie of the Week: Allen York, Rensselaer
York surrendered only four goals in nearly 124 minutes of mile-high hockey, keeping RPI in both games (and ultimately earning one tie) against home-standing Colorado College. The third-year goalkeep stopped 59 of 63 shots in a 2-1 loss and a 2-2 draw.
Honorable mention: Keith Kinkaid, Union (96:18 played, no goals allowed versus Sacred Heart); Matt Weninger, St. Lawrence (37 saves, one goal against in a 1-1 tie at Minnesota State).
Union starts in style
There are entrances, and there are entrances.
The Dutchmen performed the latter against Sacred Heart, blowing out the visiting Pioneers by 9-0 and 7-3 margins. As mentioned, the rookie Jooris, junior Zajac and senior Boileau each scored hat tricks on the weekend, led by Zajac’s four-spot on Saturday. Presizniuk tallied five assists in that game as well — which set another Union D-I record — giving the senior captain a half-dozen helpers by Sunday’s brunch.
The Dutchmen rained rubber on the Pioneers each night, accumulating 93 shots on goal against the team that upended Union 6-5 in Schenectady last autumn.
Clarkson bounces back
It’s still far too early to start drawing conclusions, but hey, at least the Golden Knights have a little fight in ’em.
Clarkson was wrecked by an 8-0 score at Nebraska-Omaha Friday night, giving up 60 shots on net and eight power plays to the then-unranked Mavericks. (One of the WCHA’s newcomers, the Mavs jumped to 17th in this week’s poll after going on to beat Rochester Institute of Technology in the Mutual of Omaha Stampede championship.)
Saturday night’s opponent: the fourth-ranked Huskies of St. Cloud State.
Instead of packing it in, the Knights hung tough through an attritive first period before jumping all over the stunned Huskies in the second frame. Ten different players had a hand in scoring four goals on 10 shots in 6:03. The outburst chased SCSU goaltender Dan Dunn after only 31:43 and 10 saves.
Six different scorers accounted for Clarkson’s six goals in the 6-2 victory, and netminder Paul Karpowich stopped 26 of 28 shots mere hours after allowing five goals on 42 shots and being replaced before the third period.
The Huskies fell seven spots, to 11th in this week’s poll, despite beating RIT on Friday evening.
My Top 20
1. Boston College
2. Boston University
3. New Hampshire
4. Miami
5. Denver
6. Nebraska-Omaha
7. Yale
8. Colorado College
9. Minnesota
10. Union
11. Michigan
12. Cornell
13. North Dakota
14. Colgate
15. Minnesota-Duluth
16. Wisconsin
17. Maine
18. Notre Dame
19. Vermont
20. Alaska
