Players of the Week
*These are my selections; ECAC Hockey’s can be found here.
Player of the Week: Nick Walsh, Dartmouth
The 6’1″ junior out of Shannonville, Ontario racked up a 4-1–5 line in two games against Harvard. His big haul included a hat trick in Friday’s rout in Boston and the game-winner Saturday, and he finished with a plus-four rating to boot. Walsh pulled himself even with rookie teammate Matt Lindblad for the team lead in goals (five), and is now second to Lindblad (who has 12 points) in scoring, with 10 points.
Honorable mention: Doug Jones, Dartmouth (1-5–6, +4); Bryan Brutlag, Rensselaer (2-1–3, equalizer against UConn, GWG against Bowling Green); Chase Polacek, Rensselaer (2-1–3, equalizer and GWG against UConn); Nick D’Agostino, Cornell (1-1–2, +1 vs. Colgate)
Rookie of the Week: Eric Robinson, Dartmouth
In his very first collegiate game following a preseason injury, Robinson made a splash with the game-winning goal, two assists and a plus-four rating in Friday’s game at Harvard. The 6’2″, 195-pound product of Foxboro, Mass. has been receiving high praise from head coach Bob Gaudet even in advance of his return, so look out for No. 19 in green.
Honorable mention: Allan McPherson, Clarkson (GWG vs. Lake Superior State); Matt Lindblad, Dartmouth (2-2–4, +3, PPG); Connor Jones, Quinnipiac (1-1–2, E, PPG at UMass)
Goalie of the Week: Paul Karpowich, Clarkson
Karpowich, who is making regular appearances in this space, saved 30 of 31 Lakers shots in Saturday’s Denver Cup consolation contest. He upped his save percentage to .924 for the season, and currently holds a 2.55 goals-against average in 13 appearances.
Honorable mention: Cody Rosen, Clarkson (30 saves on 32 shots vs. Air Force); James Mello, Dartmouth (stopped 56 of 60 shots against Harvard); Mike Clemente, Brown (stopped 38/42 at Boston University)
Athletic supporters
For the heck of it, I compared the goaltenders of ECAC Hockey’s goals-against averages with their goals-for averages… which is to say, their average margins of victory (or defeat). These stats aren’t entirely precise, as I didn’t convert minutes directly into games, but they’re pretty close. To the numbers!
It should come as no surprise that the goalie with the biggest margin – in either direction – is Yale senior Ryan Rondeau, whose 2.15 GAA is more than three goals below what the Bulldogs score for him. Junior James Mello’s explosive Big Green are doing right by him as well, scoring 4.14 per game for him, while he and his cohort surrender only 1.27 (a +2.87 margin).
On the other end, Quinnipiac goalie Dan Clarke falls nearly one and a third goals short of breaking even: the Bobcats have barely buried two goals a game in support of the junior ‘keeper, while he’s been burning under the glare of 3.31 goal lights each game. Harvard senior Kyle Richter has also been a hard-luck story, and maybe even moreso, considering his GAA is a reasonable 2.44… but his goal support is a measly 1.58 Crimson goals per game.
What’s interesting about Clarke is that sophomore crease-mate Eric Hartzell has a +.54 margin, holding a 1.98 GAA and getting half a goal more from his teammates than Clarke has (2.52 for Hartzell).
And the rest of the league, from best differential to worst:
- Keith Kinkaid, Union – 3.83 for, 1.59 against: +2.24
- Andy Iles, Cornell – 3.45/2.49: +.96
- Allen York, RPI – 2.58/1.80: +.78
- Mike Clemente, Brown – 4.00/3.68: +.32
- Paul Karpowich, Clarkson – 2.64/2.55: +.09
- Alex Evin, Colgate – 2.80/3.01: -.21
- Matt Weninger, SLU – 1.79/2.44: -.65
- Mike Garman, Cornell – 2.12/3.23: -1.11
My Top 20
1. Minnesota-Duluth
2. Nebraska-Omaha
3. Yale
4. North Dakota
5. New Hampshire
6. Boston University
7. Notre Dame
8. Maine
9. Union
10. Miami
11. Denver
12. Michigan
13. Wisconsin
14. Alaska
15. Ferris State
16. Boston College
17. Rensselaer
18. Brown
19. Dartmouth
20. Merrimack
