With the exception of Harvard and the Beanpot, it’s not often that ECAC Hockey teams get the chance to compete in a late-season multigame tournament.
But that’s what Quinnipiac and Yale will take part in this weekend, when the two schools join UConn and Sacred Heart in the second annual Connecticut Ice Collegiate Hockey tournament at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport.
The Bulldogs will fact UConn Saturday afternoon at 3:30 in the first semifinal, while the Bobcats will play 2020 tournament champion Sacred Heart in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. Last year’s tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sunday’s consolation game is at 1 p.m., while the championship game is at 4:30. All four games will be televised on SNY.
Regardless of what happens on Saturday, it’s going to be a shorter than usual break for the Bobcats between games.
“Whichever time slot we’re going to play on Sunday, it’s a quick turnaround with those earlier games, which I love,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said. “Mentally, it’s going to be a nice challenge for my team to get them ready to turnaround, because you might have to do that in the NCAA tournament.”
The Bobcats are in position for an NCAA tournament berth thanks to a 17-game unbeaten streak that ended Saturday with a 2-1 overtime loss to Cornell. Quinnipiac has a deep, veteran team that Pecknold said reminded him of the 2013 and 2016 Frozen Four teams.
“They do everything the right way and they don’t need someone watching them to do that,” Pecknold said of this year’s team, which has only lost twice this season. “These guys are willing to block shots, willing to backcheck hard when they need to. They do all the little things that we need to be successful when you’re tired and that’s been impressive to me so far.”
Yale enters the tournament on a three-game unbeaten streak, a nice accomplishment for a young team that struggled for much of the first half. Like Pecknold, Bulldogs coach Keith Allain said the weekend was a good preview of playing in the NCAA tournament, but also is a chance to help grow hockey in Connecticut.
“When you win in a tournament setting its good for your team,” Allain said. “Because if you’re fortunate enough to get to an NCAA regional, that’s what it’s like. But I think above and beyond that, it’s the Connecticut teams and it’s in Connecticut. We’re doing these things for the youth hockey players in our state. Hopefully we’re giving Connecticut youth hockey players something to aspire to.”
Pecknold, who currently has two children playing youth hockey in the state, knows firsthand of how important it is for the state’s players to be exposed to the college game.
“When we went way back to talking about getting this tournament off the ground, it was really to grow the sport in the state of Connecticut. I have kids and they have a tough time getting to my games because they’re all over the place with sports and stuff like that. I think it’s a great opportunity to showcase the game of hockey and keep our best athletes in the game of hockey and hopefully not have them switch to other sports.”
Yale has several Connecticut natives on its roster, including Allain’s son, Niklas. Like Pecknold, the Bulldogs coach knows the youth hockey schedule doesn’t always leave a lot of time to take in the state’s collegiate hockey teams.
“They don’t get to see how exciting it is; they don’t get to see all the pageantry,” Keith Allain said. “When they look at all of our rosters and see the Connecticut players on our rosters, I think it’s ‘Hey if they can do it, maybe I can do it as well.’ I think all those factors go into it and I think it will be a great event.”
Eventful week for Union
It’s been a busy week for the Dutchmen.
To recap:
— Union announced last Thursday that head coach Rick Bennett was placed on paid administrative leave after the school said it was investigating an allegation against the coach. Bennett, who led the Dutchmen to a national championship in 2014, missed both of Union’s home games last weekend. The school has not said the nature of the allegations and an athletic department spokesperson had no further comment Monday.
— On Saturday, the NCAA passed a proposal that would allow Union to offer athletic scholarships. The Dutchmen, who compete in Division 1 in men’s and women’s hockey and Division III in all other sports, will immediately be allowed to award 18 athletic scholarships to both of the schools’ hockey teams.
— Daniel Carr, an important member of that 2014 national championship team, was named to Team Canada on Tuesday for next month’s Olympics in Beijing.
— Current Union captain Josh Kosack was nominated for the Hockey Humanitarian award for the second year in a row. He was a finalist for the award last season.
