Three things I learned from Atlantic Hockey this weekend:
1. Every second counts – There was plenty of high drama in this weekend’s Robert Morris – Bentley series. On Friday, the Falcons got the game winner from freshman Alex Grieve with 9.7 seconds remaining for a 2-1 win. On Saturday, it was the Colonials’ turn for some last-minute heroics when another rookie, freshman Cody Wydo, tied the game at 2-2 with just two ticks on the clock. That one ended in a tie.
2. One weekend can make for a dramatic shift in the standings – That goal by Wydo kept Robert Morris in sole possesion of third place, but there’s a logjam near the top of the standings with seven teams within five points of the lead. Air Force fell out of first place for the first time in over a month, getting just one point at Holy Cross while Mercyhurst cruised to a sweep of Sacred Heart and into first place.
3. The east scheduling “pod” gained some momentum – There’s only two weekends left of east-west play before the league settles into the home stretch of inter-pod play. The west had been dominating the east-west matchups, going 24-6-6 against the east. But this weekend the east played to a 4-4-2 draw, including Holy Cross and Bentley taking three points from Air Force and Robert Morris, respectively and UConn sweeping Niagara.
Getting my vote
Here’s my ballot for Monday’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s poll:
1. Minnesota Duluth
2. Notre Dame
3. Boston College
4. Ohio State
5. Minnesota
6. Boston University
7. Merrimack
8. Western Michigan
9. Colorado College
10. Cornell
11. Ferris State
12. Mass-Lowell
13. Union
14. Denver
15. Colgate
16. Michigan
17. North Dakota
18. Yale
19. Michigan State
20. Air Force
