Click below for a replay of our live blog of the consolation and championship games at the 2010 Beanpot.
Camp Randall Scene: Football Atmosphere With a Rink
If anyone asks Jeff Carr to describe what he saw Saturday night at Camp Randall Stadium, he has a good, simple reply ready.
“It’s football madness with ice,” he said.
They put a hockey rink in the middle of the football field at Camp Randall Stadium and packed in 55,031 fans for a doubleheader that left the home fans happy on both ends. Wisconsin beat Bemidji State 6-1 in a women’s game and came from behind late for a 3-2 victory over Michigan in a men’s game to close out the day.
Other than what was on the field and the empty upper deck, the atmosphere was much the same as a Wisconsin football Saturday, from the rows of tailgates outside to the boisterous-yet-late-arriving student section in the north end of the stadium.
“You have the same kind of atmosphere and the same kind of joviality of the crowd of a football game, but you’re going to get to watch a hockey game,” said Carr, from Green Bay, Wis.
Wisconsin students direct the sieve cheer at Michigan goaltender Bryan Hogan after the Badgers’ first goal Saturday night (photo: Todd D. Milewski).
The attendance fell well short of the original goal of breaking the record of 74,544 set at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., in 2001. Camp Randall holds more than 80,000, and sections of the upper deck were shoveled out in anticipation of a large walk-up crowd.
Temperatures were in the low 20s at the start of the men’s game just after 5 p.m. Central.
Emily and Barry Johnson of La Crosse, Wis., were in a suite four years ago when the Wisconsin men played Ohio State outdoors at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, but their seats were out in the elements Saturday.
They were in agreement that the Camp Randall Hockey Classic was more about the event than watching hockey.
“The games are standard hockey games, but doing it outside and having 50,000 people here and coming down with a whole bunch of your friends is definitely an event,” Barry Johnson said.
Joe Zalewski and Erik Larson drove more than six hours from the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte, Mich., and got some good-natured ribbing outside the stadium and in the seating bowl for wearing their bright-yellow Michigan jerseys.
While they posed for a picture in the south end zone seats, using the ice as a backdrop, a Wisconsin fan climbed between them before being pushed away with a laugh.
“They’ve been pretty nice so far,” Larson said. “A little rowdy out by the tailgating, but it’s expected. We’d give them the same in Ann Arbor if they came to Michigan.”
Zalewski said the long drive was worth it.
“I love hockey, and this is a huge deal,” he said. “We’re outdoors in the roots of hockey, so we had to come see it and represent our school.”
Thoughts turned to the future of outdoor hockey, especially as it pertains to Wisconsin.
The foam base on which the rink was built was custom-made for Camp Randall’s crowned field and can be reused.
“I think every four years or so is great,” Emily Johnson said.
Said Carr: “Inside is nice for a hockey game, but you just don’t get the same atmosphere and the same feel and the same pump from the crowd as you do outside with this many people. It’s an outdoor game. It’s played on ice, and it’s just a lot of fun to be outside.”
Zalewski and Larson have the Big Chill at the Big House in their neck of the woods next season. Michigan will host Michigan State on Dec. 11 at 106,201-seat Michigan Stadium.
“That’s going to be huge,” Larson said. “It’ll be a bigger scale than this, and a lot more maize and blue.”
Carr sat at the game with his son, Ben, a Wisconsin student. That scene — father and son walking through the Camp Randall concourses — was played out countless times Saturday, with lifelong memories being built.
“I coached him in hockey all those years, and now we’re coming out here and seeing this,” Jeff Carr said. “It’s just great.”
Outdoor Hockey an Experience They Won’t Forget
Despite the lopsided 6-1 score, players on both the Wisconsin and Bemidji State benches relished the opportunity to play an important WCHA game on outdoor ice surface at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.
“We wanted to soak in the fun we were having,” Badgers freshman forward Brianna Decker said. “But we had to keep going hard and not give up because this counts as a real game.”
Bemidji State freshman forward Jamie Hatheway, who’s from Trenton, Ontario, said the toughest aspect of day was getting acclimated to the ice.
“For most of us, it was our first time out there so it was a bit of an adjustment,” Hatheway said. “But it was an awesome experience.”
Growing up in Sarnia, Ontario, Wisconsin sophomore Carolyne Prevost played her fair share of hockey outdoors, but none of those experiences compared to spectacle of playing at Camp Randall.
“When you grow up back home you play a lot of shinny hockey,” Prevost said. “But to actually play in front of this many fans and for it to be such an important game at a crucial time of the season, it was just great to be a part of that.”
Despite near perfect conditions in the afternoon of sunshine, light wind, and mid-20 degree temperatures, Dousman, Wis., native Decker said weather played a factor in the game.
“If could do it again, maybe I could stand to stay a little bit warmer out there,” Decker said. “But it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I cherished every moment of it.”
Wisconsin senior forward Jasmine Giles, whose hometown is sometimes-frigid Ottawa, Ontario, agreed with Decker, saying she would have preferred a warmer day.
“It was a little cold; I am not going to lie,” Giles said. “We had heaters on the bench, and a couple of us put our face up to it.”
But if she had another chance at an outdoor game, Giles would not pass it up.
“It was fun and I’ll never forget it,” Giles said. “I would love to do it again.”
This Week in D-III Women’s Hockey: February 5, 2010
St. Catherine Continues to Impress in MIAC
The St. Catherine women’s hockey team got off to a strong 9-1 start this season and few people took notice as the Wildcats never cracked the top 10 in the USCHO.com rankings.
Granted, St. Catherine didn’t play an all-world schedule in the first half of the season but 9-1 is still a pretty good record, especially for a team that won just 10 games the year before and the program’s best win total is 15, set in 2000-2001.
The schedule has gotten tougher for the Wildcats the last three weeks and although they are 2-3 in their last five games, St. Catherine has salvaged splits with perennial conference powerhouse Gustavus Adolphus and currently fourth place St. Olaf. Their other loss came to Wis.-River Falls.
All in all, St. Catherine sits in second place in the MIAC standings behind only St. Thomas. The Wildcats are 11-4-0 on the season and 7-3-0 in conference play.
St. Catherine’s crowning achievement so far this season though came last weekend when the Wildcats downed Gustavus Adolphus 2-1 on Friday night for the first time since Feb. 21, 2003.
“We had a good game plan and the girls bought into it,†said St. Catherine coach Brad Marshall. “We went over everything in what we needed to do to try and limit Gustavus Adolphus’ chances. They are a team that had around 75 shots against us two years ago and to be honest they are still a very good team despite their record. They had maybe two or three mistakes all game and it just happened to be we were able to capitalize on them.
“It’s a huge step for our program to be able to compete with those guys. I think the next night we might have been a little happy with what we did the night before but it was still pretty respectable game 3-1.â€
Beating Gustavus Adolphus and having double-digit wins is quite impressive for St. Catherine, considering the state the program was in when Brad Marshall took over in the summer of 2005. The Wildcats limped through the first two seasons with Marshall at the helm, winning just one game and having a 1-43-3 record.
However, things started to look up in 2007-2008 season as the Wildcats won nine games and followed that up with 10 in 2008-2009.
“My first year I didn’t have a single recruit because I didn’t come in until July so I was dealing with what the old coach had, which was fine in a way,†Marshall said. The improvement is largely due to just like every other coach out there trying to recruit the right kid for your system and I think we’ve done that. We’ve got some steady defensemen that all have good size and some forwards that are quick.â€
The 2007-2008 season also saw two of the programs top players brought in as freshmen in forward Michaela Michaelson and goaltender Mel Gerten. Michaelson burst onto the scene scoring 16 goals in her sophomore season and tallied 29 points after 21 in her freshman season. So far this year, she has 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points.
“We’re led by our junior class. Michaela Michaelson should be and has been a top player in our league,†Marshall said. “She’s got 70 career points in 64 games. She’s an all-american type of player and kind of flashy kid that likes to control the puck. However, she’s also one of our better fore-checkers and one of our best, if not the best back-checkers. At all ends of the ice she can pretty much handle herself out there in every situation. She’s one of those kids you like to have on your team because she doesn’t take a night off. She’s going to bury it if you give her any time or space.â€
Mel Gerten has been a staple in between the pipes for the Wildcats posting a 9-4-0 record on the season with a 1.89 GGA and .935 save percentage and picking up one shutout.
“Mel’s numbers speak for themselves,†Marshall said. “She’s pretty much been the only goalie I’ve had. Her numbers are outstanding as far as this year and her career numbers considering what she had in front of her the first two years. I feel really comfortable with her back there and she’s a gamer. She’s usually been even better in the second half of the year and that’s what we’re expecting from her again this season. I think she’ll be known as one of the best goalies in the west here soon.â€
With such a young team, Marshall has a needed a strong leader and he found that in the team’s lone senior this year.
“Right now we only have one senior that has made it through all four years in the program in our captain Aryn Ball,†Marshall said. “She’s our backbone and is a good kid that has been our captain for awhile now and provided a young team with leadership.â€
Marshall that coming into the season he was realistically hoping for the team to improve on last year’s record and be in contention for a playoff spot. They’ve already topped last year’s record and have positioned themselves in a good spot for the postseason as well.
“Coming into the season I was hoping we would be in contention for the fourth or fifth playoff spot in the last weekend,†Marshall said. “Right now, unless we have a major collapse we’re setting ourselves up in a good position to lock up a playoff spot here in the next few weeks.
“It’s a testament to the team and buying into what we’re trying to do here. The other coaches and I aren’t out on the ice playing, we can only control putting the players out on the ice. The girls are the ones playing the game and they’ve done a great job of it this season so far.â€
St. Catherine will continue its quest for the playoffs and get closer to the all-time program win mark of 15 this weekend when the Wildcats take on Bethel for a pair of MIAC games.
Bethel hasn’t given up more than three goals in a game since Nov. 20 against Gustavus Adolphus. However, they haven’t scored more than three goals in a game this season either.
“Positions one through seven are super tight in the conference,†Marshall said. “Bethel is going to play tough. They know how to play in tight games. I think I counted 10 or 11 one goal games they’ve played so far in their 15 games this season. It’s going to be a challenge and we’re definitely looking forward to it. They graduated three girls last year that were All-Americans at one point and we’re certainly not looking past them. They’ve got some freshmen that have stepped in and are playing in key positions for them.â€
Around the Country
This weekend the biggest game on the schedule sees Manhattanville traveling to face defending ECAC East Champion Norwich for likely the de-facto ECAC East regular season championship game. The two rivals sit in first and second place in the ECAC East standings out of the Division III schools and are separated by just one point.
The two schools have met twice so far this season with Manhattanville trashing Norwich 7-0 back in December, and Norwich claiming a 3-2 win on Jan. 16. Sunday’s showdown will likely go a long way in determining who wins the ECAC East crown and who will have hosting rights to the conference tournament.
The other interesting note is that the competition for the final two spots in the ECAC West playoff race is heating up; especially since current fifth place Buffalo State is ineligible for the postseason after the NCAA hit them with a one year ban on postseason play as part of financial aid violations.
Neumann and Potsdam were scheduled to meet each other this weekend in Potsdam but inclement weather has forced the two games to be cancelled. That series will be vital to the playoff race as both teams have the inside track to the final two positions.
Last year, Oswego finished sixth but the Lakers will face a tall order trying to get back to the postseason as they will have to find a way to take points from Utica, Elmira, or Plattsburgh.
Cortland faces a similar daunting task, but instead of Utica, the Dragons face RIT along with Elmira and Plattsburgh.
Division III Players up for the D-I Frozen Four Skills Competition
The NCAA released the names of those players up to be voted to the D-I Frozen Four Skills Competition to be held at Ford Field in Detroit earlier this week.
There are five Division III players eligible, including three women’s players in Elmira’s Jamie Kivi, UMass-Boston’s Maria Nasta, and St. Thomas’s Lauren Bradel.
The three men’s players are Oswego’s Neil Musselwhite, Wis.- Stout’s Joel Gaulrapp, and Gustavus Adolphus’ David Martinson.
Please take the time to go to the following link the throw your support in for these five fine Division III talents so they can prove there are some hidden gems in D-III hockey that can compete against the D-I players.
This Week in the ECAC East-NESCAC: Feb. 4, 2010
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, the pressure is on to really refine the level of play in order to garner as many points as possible in the final half dozen games of the season. This refinement will not only help define the teams’ playoff positions but also set the stage for moving into the playoffs with the right focus and game plan to make a run at a conference championship.
“A good analogy is looking at being a builder,†said Bowdoin head coach Terry Meagher. “We have done all the heavy lifting, pouring the foundation, framing the house and such early in the season. Now we are really working on the trim and finish work and getting the house ready for sale and showing off how solid and good the construction really is. With a ’one and done’ tournament format you want your team playing at a high level with attention to the little things that will help you be successful — the finished work.â€
Right now everyone is hoping the construction is solid and in some cases looking at the “master contractor†on their roster to help expedite the process of building a championship run.
Babson Success Coming Out of the Woods
While Babson head coach Jamie Rice’s team is no stranger to winning the ECAC East title (two in the past four seasons), this year’s team has had a number of new experiences to challenge the mental toughness and resiliency of the entire roster. And from those challenges a new team leader has emerged that has the Beavers turning their game on at the right time of the year.
“In all my years of coaching, I have never had a year like this one,†said Rice. “If you told me at the beginning of the season that we would lose our leading scorer, best defenseman and another key senior forward from roster for virtually the entire season, I would say that would cause big problems for a young team looking for production and leadership from those key guys.â€
Babson has in fact lost Jason Schneider, Gabriel Chenard-Poirier and Corey Griffin to season ending injuries so far has weathered the loss of the seniors, albeit with some other hardships along the way.
“Everyone has injuries,†noted Rice. “It’s a part of the game that every team has to deal with and nobody ever uses it as an excuse for performance or how the team is doing overall. This year has been strange in that losing the three kids was a big deal but since our first day of practice we have never had our full 26 players on the roster on the ice.
“We are lucky when we have 19 or 20 sometimes so we are learning to get by with the players who can go and have been developing the experience and confidence along the way especially with the young players.â€
A clear leader for Babson has been their leading scorer, junior Terry Woods. His 12 goals and 13 assists lead the offense for Babson and his goals have been big ones contributing on the power play, man-down situations as well as two game-winning tallies so far this season.
“In the six years I have been here, I have never had a kid more valuable to his team than Terry [Woods] is this season,†said Rice. “He is really underrated even going back to his days at Andover Academy. I think the four game streak he is on right now is incredible and certainly something I don’t remember seeing here at Babson.â€
With 13 points in his last five games, junior Terry Woods has led Babson to second place in the ECAC East (photo: Babson SID).
During the past five games, where the team has gone 4-0-1, Woods has paced the offense with seven goals and six assists for 13 points. The current five game unbeaten streak is the longest of the season for the beavers and something the coach hopes can continue during the final weeks of the season.
“He [Woods] is a kid that just loves to compete,†said Rice. “Some kids don’t like to practice against him because he is always full bore on the ice. He has a high level of competition and is one of those kids who really leads by example and what he does more than what he says.â€
Babson’s current streak — which includes last weekend’s 3-3 tie against undefeated Norwich, the second ranked team in the nation — reflects a more consistent game overall and the focus that their coach is expecting where the games are all key to final standings and controlling one’s own destiny.
“We have played a lot of close games this season,†said Rice. “Almost all of our games early on were 1 goal games or empty net goals at the end for the final differential. Those are very close and competitive games that, while we didn’t win them all, should be valuable experience for this part of the season and moving into the playoffs. There is no doubt that with the close games and the need to overcome our injuries, the team has gotten closer and really has been playing with a passion that we need to be successful.â€
This weekend the Beavers are hosting St. Anselm and New England College and hope that the team and Terry Woods can continue their late season run towards another conference title.
Pilgrims Looking for Ways to Win
The New England College team is finding themselves in unchartered territory late in the season as they look up at the teams ahead of them, with eyes on eighth place overall. While their current position is not where head coach Tom Carroll would like to see his squad, he understands the competitive nature of the league and is focused on his team being just three points out of third place in the standings.
“We are really trying to compete hard every game,†said Carroll. “We have just a few games remaining in the regular season and this is the last weekend where we play teams from our conference since we finish with our last four games against NESCAC teams.
“All of the games are important and certainly we are just focused right now on playing against a very good Babson team on Friday night. They are playing very well right now so it will be a good challenge for our team to play well and fight for much needed points.â€
For a team that boasts only one two game winning streak this season (three consecutive victories in early January), the Pilgrims are trying to establish consistency in their game so they can improve their position in the standings and be ready to play at their highest level come playoff time at the end of the month.
“For us it is really about competing hard and doing the little things on a consistent basis in order to be a successful hockey team,†said Carroll. “We have definitely had some ups and downs over the course of the season but we have a great group of kids and I am confident that we can get it going at the right time of the year.â€
NEC forward Alex Muse is focused on moving the Pilgrims up in the standings (photo: Jen Toof).
One guy who has had it going all season for the Pilgrims is senior forward Alex Muse. The Lynnfield, Mass. native has had a great senior year and has been a key offensive player for the Pilgrims on every shift and especially on the power-play unit. Muse has a team leading 23 points with 10 goals and 13 assists. He also has seven power-play goals to lead the team and his productivity has not been a surprise to his coach or teammates.
“We were always very confident in Alex’s abilities,†said Carroll. “He has been a key contributor in his time here at New England and this year he has just taken it to a higher level. It’s been great to watch him play this season and have success and I hope he can continue his level of play over the remaining games in the regular season and into the playoffs.â€
One of Carroll’s new assistants may also have a say and some input with how this Pilgrim team finishes off the season.
Former league all-star and NEC graduate Mike Carmody has taken a hiatus from professional hockey to join the coaching ranks with NEC. His recent success at the school as a player under Carroll certainly is something the coach thinks has resonated with the players.
“Mike is very interested in coaching and has come back to school to finish his course work while recovering from an injury that kept him out of the game for awhile,†Carroll said. “I think he brings very valuable experience to relate to the players since he was here not too long ago and provides a great outlet for kids to open up about what their facing on the ice with somebody who was just there going through the same things. He has been a great addition to the staff and is really learning about all of the aspects of coaching on a first-hand basis.â€
The Pilgrims play their last two home games this weekend before finishing the final two weeks of the regular season on the road. Every game is a must win situation right now but the Pilgrims will need to improve on their 1-4-2 conference road record if they want to move up in the standings and compete for a home ice berth which is only 3 points away from where they sit now in the conference.
Joe Concannon Award Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
Back in 2001, the first Joe Concannon Award was bestowed upon Norwich forward — and current Washington Capital — Keith Aucoin. The honor, which is named after the distinguished sports writer from the Boston Globe, celebrates the best American-born player at the D-II/III level in New England.
The award keys on on-ice performance, sportsmanship, leadership, and off-ice values, including academic and citizenship on campus. The press release announcing this year’s nominees just came out this week and with every New England conference represented, there are a lot of great hockey players on the list and no clear cut winner defined right now, which should make the evaluation for the award committee members very challenging over the final weeks of the season.
Here is the list of nominees in alphabetical order along with their hometown and school affiliation:
Scott Barchard, goalie, Reading, MA, Tufts
Chris Chambers, forward, Crofton, MD, Plymouth State
Billy Crinnion, forward, Smithtown, NY, Colby
Bryan Curran, defense, Defense Wilmette, IL, Middlebury
Tom Derosa*, forward, Charlestown, MA, Tufts
Vinnie Jacona, forward, East Stroudsburg, PA, UMass-Boston
Skylur Jameson, forward, Long Beach, CA, Wentworth
Zach Joy, forward, Dover, NH Southern Maine
Ryan Kligensmith*, goalie, Morton, PA, Norwich
Alex Muse, forward, Lynnfield, MA, New England College
Coleman Noonan, forward, Norfolk, MA, St. Anselm
Pat O’Kane, forward, Hollis, NH, Assumption
Alex Smigelski, forward, Mt. Lakes, NJ, Williams
Eric Tallent, defense, Garland, TX, Norwich
Terry Woods, forward, Duxbury, MA, Babson
Dennis Zak*, forward , Dover, NJ, Westfield State
*Repeat Nominee
Every team is focused on performing when it counts the most. Every player is expected to pull their weight and play with focus and determination while even more is expected from those leading their teams to continue to have success and provide the production and leadership every hockey team needs at this time of the year. The races are tight and every weekend sees the standings get jumbles again so let the scoreboard watching begin.
Drop the puck.
This Week in Hockey East: Feb. 4, 2010
None of That Talk
Here’s some news that should make fans of seven Hockey East teams stand up and cheer.
There will be no Beanpot talk in this column.
Thank you. Thank you. You can be seated now. Oh, you’re too kind. Please be seated. Thank you.
Hey, the Tournament-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named is great fun and generates enormous publicity for the game, albeit to the annoyance of many of the seven league teams on the outside. And I was prepared to make use of Boston University coach Jack Parker’s eyebrow-raising comments that people are sick of seeing his team against Boston College in the finals.
But our USCHO coverage has already captured that and more. There’s really not a lot more to add.
So let’s move on to a couple teams a good deal further than shouting distance from Boston proper.
Stronger Every Day
A few weeks into the season, the Maine Black Bears stood at 1-5-0 and NFL coach Jim Mora’s postgame tirade might have come to mind: “Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!”
Based on e-mails sent to yours truly, the natives were getting restless.
Their team had missed the 2008 Hockey East playoffs entirely and managed only an eighth-place berth last year. In the eyes of the “what have you done for me lately” crowd, the 2006 and 2007 trips to the Frozen Four were old news and the 2002 and 2004 losses in the national championship game were ancient history.
Back when his team was 1-5, coach Tim Whitehead preached patience, and it turns out he was right. The Black Bears put together three straight wins, faltered with just a point in the next three games, but then shifted into overdrive after Thanksgiving with an eight-game undefeated streak.
Thanks to a three-point weekend at Vermont, the Black Bears are now on pace for a home-ice berth and are but a PairWise tiebreaker away from another trip to the NCAAs.
“It’s just a gradual process of maturing as a team and gaining confidence among each other with our systems of play,” Whitehead says. “Now we know we can be effective as a team.
“There wasn’t any lightning strike in one game. It was just the gradual process that all teams go through. We knew we had the potential of having a strong team this year.
“One of the big bright spots is we’ve been able to withstand some adversity with injuries this year and still find a way to win some games. That’s been a big positive. It’s not going to get any easier, but we’re excited about the stretch run.”
Taking three of four points at Vermont was a significant step forward for a team that had struggled on the road. The Black Bears had enjoyed a 7-2-1 record within the friendly confines of Alfond Arena, but entered last weekend 2-7-0 on the road.
“The weekend up in Vermont is definitely going to continue to build confidence for our team,” Whitehead says. “It’s tough to steal any points on the road in this league, let alone three out of four, so that was a very encouraging sign for our team.
“The first night was a very thorough victory and then the second night was a game we would have never been able to win or tie last year. We fell behind and deserved to be behind. Vermont was outplaying us and yet we found a way to recapture the game in the third period and even gain some chances to try to win it.”
Maine’s juggernaut power play displayed its prowess over the weekend, going 4-for-7 on Friday and 3-for-6 on Saturday. Not only is it converting at a 30 percent mark, it’s doing so with a wide variety of weapons. The seven power-play goals on the weekend came off the sticks of six different players. That’s no fluke. On the season, seven Black Bears have recorded at least four man-advantage goals with an eighth player having tallied three.
“That’s been the biggest key,” Whitehead says. “We are getting a lot of different guys contributing. Because of that, we’ve been tough to defend. If you shut down one guy, someone else steps up.
“We’ve really tried to develop as many power-play players as we can so that we’ll have a lot of options and a lot of different looks to attack with. I think that’s been probably our biggest strength. We’ve been resilient in being able to use many different players and attack in many different ways.”
Of course, Maine’s No. 1 weapon is Gustav Nyquist, whose 14-22–36 scoring line trails only James Marcou’s in Hockey East overall scoring. As a freshman, Nyquist recorded 32 points while earning a berth on the league all-rookie team but has taken his game to the next level this season.
“Everyone knows he’s got great skill and poise with the puck,” Whitehead says. “Even the casual fan can see those skills. But he’s also a real fierce competitor who has courage in traffic, wins loose pucks consistently, and gets to the net-front on offense and defense.
“He’s really become a complete player and just keeps getting better each month.”
Nyquist is but one of a dominating sophomore class that includes top goaltender Scott Darling, Brian Flynn and Will O’Neill, who rank second and third behind Nyquist in team scoring, and several other key contributors. All of which means that as good as this year could be for Maine, next year could be even better.
“There’s no doubt we’re excited about the future, but we’ve been down this road before and unfortunately lost some guys [early to the pros],” Whitehead says. “We would have gotten [to this point] in the building process earlier quite frankly if we hadn’t.
“Hopefully we’ll retain our elite players this time and if we do, we feel that we can be even stronger next year, which is very exciting obviously for all of us. We have a real good core of younger players that are playing most of the minutes for us so the future looks bright.”
In the meantime, this year looks like anything but the proverbial chopped liver. Maine is on the bubble for the NCAA tournament and based on Jayson Moy’s Bracketology, is a mere tiebreaker away from getting in. Considering their 1-5-0 start, the Black Bears have to like where they stand.
“We definitely have our sights set on returning to the NCAA tournament,” Whitehead says. “That’s always our goal here and we think that this year it’s a realistic goal.
“It’s going to be challenging. We’ve had an unusual number of injuries so that’s going to be tough for us. But we feel now that we’ve learned to play without key guys in the lineup so we can compete for the tournament.
“But one of the best ways to reach your goal is to focus one step at a time and that’s what we’re going to continue to do each week. This week’s step is a big one.”
Ah, yes. The Black Bears host New Hampshire this weekend for a two-game set that has titanic implications on the playoff race. The Wildcats are threatening to run away with the regular season title. A sweep, however, would not only make it a race until most likely the last weekend but would also almost certainly push Maine inside the NCAA tournament bubble.
“We have great respect for our opponents coming in,” Whitehead says. “They’re a very talented team at all three positions. They’ve got six forwards that are real sharp shooters. Blake Kessel is as good as they get on defense and obviously [Brian] Foster is strong in net. So we know we’ve got our hands full with them.
“But we’re at home, so that’s a big plus. We’ve been very strong at home and will have a great crowd.
“It’s obviously a great rivalry. Not as old as the BU-BC rivalry but certainly just as competitive and exciting. So it will be like our own mini-Beanpot up here with a sellout crowd and great excitement.”
Tops Within The League In PWR
The Massachusetts Minutemen have performed like a Timex watch this year. They’ve taken a few lickings, but they’ve kept on ticking.
Admittedly, they’ve laid a few eggs. Losses of 7-3 and 6-2 at Boston University. A 7-2 loss at UNH.
But taking the season as a whole, the Minutemen are in great shape. Tied for second place in Hockey East. Tops among league teams in the PairWise.
“I think in large [part] we’ve continued to move forward,” coach Don “Toot” Cahoon says. “There’s been some stumbling along the way. Not every game has been a great outing, but certainly the team has demonstrated the ability to be able to withstand some struggles and be able to move itself forward to better itself and improve itself.
“Our very good players are having very good years. That bodes well because you need your best players to be your best players.
“The goaltending situation, which is always crucial down the stretch, is better than it’s ever been. I’ve got two guys — [Paul Dainton and Dan Meyers] — that are making a contribution, so that bodes well.
“Having said that, every game’s a new event. Some days are better than others. We’re no different than everybody else. We just have to take it one day at a time.”
When Cahoon refers to his very good players having very good years, all eyes fall on UMass’s one-two offensive punch, James Marcou and Casey Wellman. Marcou (8-32–40) ranks tops in Hockey East overall scoring with Wellman (19-16–35) fourth. It’s a combination many teams’ coaches and fans look on with envy.
“If you go back and look at the great lines that have played in college hockey, it’s usually more than just one terrific player on the line,” Cahoon says. “It’s a couple of guys that really complement each other and bring out the best in each other.
“In our situation, we even have a third player in T.J. Syner, who is not the point producer that Marcou and Wellman are, but he’s every bit as good a hockey player and he skates extremely well. That line really brings out the best of all those guys.
“Wellman is a pure scorer and a shooter. He has real quick feet and gets himself into position to get scoring opportunities. Marcou is uncanny with his ability to create and make plays and then execute and find people in the most difficult of circumstances. It shows itself regularly; it’s not happening by accident.
“Quite honestly, you don’t teach what they do. Hopefully you try to bring the best out of them by putting them out there at the right times and giving them ample opportunity to showcase their skills. But they’re pretty special players.”
Cahoon’s one-day-at-a-time approach definitely applies to UMass’ position in the PairWise, tied with Ferris State for seventh place and tops among Hockey East teams, ahead of such perennial stalwarts as UNH and Boston College.
“It’s fleeting,” Cahoon says. “A weekend can change all of that so we don’t give it a lot of thought even though there is an awareness [of it]. Clearly we’re pleased to be in the mix, but we have to take care of the business of playing the games. Otherwise, you can fall out of the mix in a hurry with a bad weekend or two.”
Potential bad weekends could be looming like thunderclouds on the horizon. After playing at home the next two Fridays, UMass finishes the season with five of its six games on the road. Fortunately, the Minutemen have nearly matched their home record of 8-4-0, dropping only to 7-5-0 on the road, the aforementioned lopsided losses to BU and UNH notwithstanding.
“The one thing that we wanted to emphasize early in the year was, ‘Let’s take advantage of the number of home games we have, let’s be prepared for each one and take advantage of the home crowd makeup,'” Cahoon says. “So we got off to a good start. Then we realized when we started playing on the road that we were going to be doing this in the second a half of the year a whole lot more than we would be at home.
“So I think our guys are just trying to keep it between the glass. They’re diligent and they are not intimidated at playing in other barns.
“Some days are better than others. The games at BU on January second and then the game the following weekend at UNH weren’t good outings. So we have to keep a real tight lid on it and keep a narrow focus and be able to just play between the glass and do the things that good teams do.
“I don’t think there’s any prescribed method except not getting carried away and tying to consume the whole game in one shift or two. You just have to take it shift by shift.”
And Finally, Not That It Has Anything To Do With Anything, But …
• Pardon me if I get a sense of smug satisfaction that Johnny (Judas) Damon and his hired henchman Scott Boras overplayed their hand and are now left out in the Yankees cold.
• Count me as one of those who think that with the change in their respective home ballparks, Adrian Beltre will hit more home runs next year than Jason Bay.
• Count me also as one who considers the Red Sox as the No. 2, or at worst No. 3, team in baseball on paper. Yet recently a columnist opined that the Sox were not legitimate World Series contenders. Geez, I wonder why some claim that our local sporting press is so negative.
• That said, the addition of Peter Abraham to the Globe looks like a good one. Objective reporting with none of the negative hysteria.
• Can someone explain to me why the Bruins would even think about a deal for Ilya Kovalchuk? I don’t get it. He’d be a great addition, of course, but you make a rent-a-player deal if that puts you over the top as a significant Stanley Cup contender. You don’t sacrifice future draft picks and prospects for a few months of a star if you’re struggling to make the playoffs.
Thanks to Diana Giunta and Scott Weighart for providing quotes.
This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Feb. 4, 2010
Spoiling the Party
By all measurements, last Saturday’s “Make the Rink Pink” game at RIT was a success. The game between the Tigers and Bentley Falcons sold out days in advance, and over $21,000 was raised for cancer research by the RIT men’s and women’s teams via special jersey raffles and T-shirt sales. The atmosphere in Ritter Arena was electric.
A big success for RIT … except on the scoreboard. Bentley spoiled the party with a hard-fought 5-4 win, snapping a 9-0 home conference win streak for the Tigers.
RIT raised over $21,000 for cancer research last Saturday.
“We talked about it before the game,” said Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist, whose team dropped a 4-1 decision to RIT the night before. “It was a great event for cancer awareness and were happy to be a part of it. We knew we were going to have to rise to the occasion. It was an exciting atmosphere to play in and we were looking forward to the challenge of getting it done in front of a big, hostile crowd and getting the two points.”
It wasn’t just the crowd against Bentley on Saturday. Already bitten by the injury bug, the Falcons lost two defensemen during the game, and had two goals disallowed.
“We couldn’t get down on ourselves,” said Soderquist. “Our senior leadership picked us up. [Bobby] Preece had a big game. Brendan Harrison had a big power-play goal.”
Preece had a hat trick in the game and now has eight goals on the season after scoring a total of four goals in his first three seasons. Thanks to a defense that is scoring more goals and some freshmen that have stepped up, the Falcons have been able to survive the loss of their top three scorers from last season.
“From the first day of practice we’ve worked to get [the defense] involved,” said Soderquist. “That and having depth in our lines where we get more balanced scoring.”
Bentley is currently in seventh place, but only a point out of fifth and five points away from fourth, where it finished last season. The Falcons have been swept only once, but have also failed to sweep any other AHA team.
“The league is extremely close, so it’s hard to win two in a row,” said Soderquist. “We’ve had some injuries and been inconsistent at times. But we’ve taken points every weekend but one. We need to tighten things up for the stretch run. This league is going to be a battle to the finish. I tell my guys, don’t even look at the standings right now.”
Weekly Awards
Players of the Week for Feb. 1, 2010:
Bobby Preece — Bentley
The senior from Bonita Springs, Fla., had his first career hat trick on Saturday, as well as chipping in an assist, to lead the Falcons to a 5-4 win at RIT.
David Berube — Sacred Heart
Berube had five points (four goals and an assist) in three games last week to help the Pioneers go 3-0. He had a hat trick in a 6-1 win against American International, and followed that up with a goal and an assist at Connecticut.
Goalie of the Week for Feb. 1, 2010:
Steven Legatto — Sacred Heart
Legatto was rookie of the week in the league last week, and picks up more recognition. He had a 3-0 week, compiling a 1.98 GAA and a .929 save percentage over the three games.
Rookie of the Week for Feb. 1, 2010:
Chris Tanev — RIT
Tanev had a goal and two assists last weekend against Bentley. The freshman blueliner leads the Tigers with a plus-16 rating and has 17 points on the season to date.
Monthly Awards
Players of the Month for January 2010:
Nick Johnson — Sacred Heart
The senior forward leads in nation in goals with 21, averaging .81 per game. The 21 tallies is already a single-season school record. Johnson had seven multi-point games in January.
Other players nominated: Bobby Preece, Bentley; Cory Conacher, Canisius; Tyler Mazzei, RIT.
Goalie of the Month for January 2010:
Steven Legatto — Sacred Heart
The rookie made at least 30 saves six times in January and was 9-0-2 during the month. Legatto hasn’t suffered a loss since Dec. 5.
Other goalies nominated: Thomas Tysowsky, Holy Cross; Jared DeMichiel, RIT.
Rookie of the Month for January 2010:
Joe Campanelli — Bentley
Campanelli had eight points in January, the second most on the team. He’s tied for second in the AHA in points for a rookie, and has been the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week twice so far this season.
Other rookies nominated: Preston Shupe, Canisius; Chris Tanev, RIT
As Expected
Army and Air Force had their usual (no pun intended) battle last weekend, with the Black Knights taking three of four points from the Falcons at Tate Rink, extending their home unbeaten streak over their rivals to five games.
Falcons coach Frank Serratore was critical of his team in Friday’s 4-2 loss, but was more pleased with Saturday’s 3-3 effort, despite giving up the tying goal to Army’s Eric Sefchik with 11 seconds to play.
“It was will over skill tonight,” Serratore said after the game on Friday. “We got back into the game in the third, but they imposed their will on us. We looked timid, soft and weak. … [Army was] clearly the better, stronger and more assertive team tonight.”
On Saturday, the Air Force coach said, “We played well tonight. I was real proud of the team. As disappointed as I was last night with our effort, I was pleased with it tonight. I feel bad for our guys. Tonight was our night, but it didn’t work out for us. Sometimes life isn’t fair and sometimes hockey isn’t fair. We were the better team tonight, but it didn’t work out.”
The three points moved the Black Knights into sixth place in the standings, while knocking the Falcons from atop their first-place perch.
Award Season
It’s the time of year when nomination for major awards are beginning to be announced. Several AHA players got good news this week:
• The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced the finalists for the 2010 Walter Brown award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. Sacred Heart’s Nick Johnson and Bentley’s Marc Menzione are among the 16 nominees.
• Ten finalists for the Lowe’s Senior Class award were named, and Dan Ringwald from RIT and Air Force’s Matt Fairchild are on the list. The award is presented to a NCAA Division I senior with notable achievements in four areas: classroom, character, community and competition.
• Also out is the list of nominees for the 2010 Frozen Four Skills Challenge, taking place in Detroit during the Frozen Four. You can go to the Skills Challenge Web site and vote for the following AHA players: RIT’s Jared DeMichiel, Air Force’s Matt Fairchild, Mercyhurst’s Neil Graham, Canisius’ Josh Heidinger, Army’s Owen Meyer and Air Force’s Andrew Volkening.
Pink = Green
The money raised at last Saturday’s “Make the Rink Pink” promotion went to Rochester General Hospital’s Lipson Cancer Center and the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation. Tigers goaltender Jared DeMichiel’s jersey went for over $500.
“I thought this was a great event where the entire RIT community and Rochester General were able to work together for a great cause,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “Without the general student body, faculty and staff along with our RIT hockey fans we could have never exceeded the goals we set out to accomplish. Thank you, everyone.”
Holy Cross will host a similar event on Feb. 13. The Crusaders will wear pink jerseys that will be auctioned off for charity after the game.
This Week in the WCHA: Feb. 4, 2010
Like last week, the playoff picture is getting a little clearer.
We’ve probably got our five teams that will get home ice, though the order is still anyone’s guess as we still have three points separating everyone. Which, of course, is a point better than last week, but still.
Spots six through eight are the current surprise, with North Dakota holding on to the six spot with 19 points. Then, Minnesota follows with 18 and league surprise Alaska-Anchorage with 17.
Minnesota State, with 13 points, could still make a run. And Michigan Tech? Well, I’m just glad it got another win.
Red Baron WCHA Players of the Week
Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Joe Colborne, DU.
Why: Scored both game-winning goals and added an assist in his Pioneers’ road sweep of North Dakota.
Also Nominated: Kevin Clark, UAA; Bill Sweatt, CC; Jordan Schroeder, UM; Garrett Roe, SCSU.
Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Marc Cheverie, DU.
Why: Stopped 55 of 57 total shots and had four shutout periods to help his Pioneers sweep North Dakota.
Also Nominated: Jon Olthuis, UAA; Ryan Lowery, CC; Kenny Reiter, UMD.
Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week: Zach Budish, UM.
Why: Scored five points (two goals, three assists) and had the first four-point game of any Gophers player this season in Minnesota’s split with Alaska-Anchorage.
Also Nominated: Andrew Hamburg, CC; Drew Shore, DU.
You Can’t Do That
St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko was issued a public reprimand by the league thanks to his actions near the end of Saturday’s game with Colorado College that were in violation of the WCHA Code of Conduct/Sportsmanship rules.
From Candace Horgan’s recap:
More controversy ensued in the last 90 seconds when an apparent Huskies’ tying goal was waived off by [Brett] Klozowski, and the call stood after review. Apparently, the call was the referees had lost sight of the puck and the play waved dead. A visibly angry Motzko crossed the ice after the game to give Klozowski a piece of his mind, and he was held back by the rest of the officiating crew.
“We scored a goal,” said Motzko. “Everybody in the rink knows we scored a goal. There’s nothing else to say.”
[Mike] Testwuide got an empty-net goal with 10.7 seconds left to seal the win. The Huskies were assessed a team unsportsmanlike conduct and game misconduct at the end of the game for Motzko’s questioning.
Kevin Allenspach of the St. Cloud Times talked to league commissioner Bruce McLeod, who said Klozowski was in the right.
“If you look at the replay, he is as close to the play as can be. He lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle. That’s it. The play is dead. There’s even latitude in the rule book where as soon as a referee intends to blow the whistle, the play is over. Let’s say, for instance, he’s prevented from raising his hand with the whistle. Once he determines to blow it, it’s all over,” said McLeod.
Camp Randall … Finally
After all of the waiting and the constant updates about rink construction on the Badgers Web site, the Culver’s Camp Randall Hockey Classic is finally here, taking place this Saturday.
Though the event seems like a seminal event, with a build-up that’s lasted all year, coach Mike Eaves says his team has been trying to stick to its normal routine.
“We’re so tied up with the day-to-day stuff,” he said. “We’re practicing, we’re still getting ready for practice, we’re working with recruiting. There’s a few more people around in terms of the press, [but] that’s been about the only change, plus the fact that we’re over in a makeshift locker room at the football stadium.”
One reason for this is that the team has already been through something similar. In 2006, the Badgers played (and beat) Ohio State at the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. Eaves said that game was a refreshing break from the grind of the WCHA schedule, perhaps helping the team down the stretch and to their Frozen Four victory later that spring.
“We’re looking at [this game] to be an energizer for us,” he said. “That’s kind of what the Lambeau game was four years ago. It was about the same time, it was in the second half of the WCHA race when everything is always so tense and tight.
“This will be a big game in terms of Michigan-Wisconsin and the RPI at the end of the year, but what kind of transcends that whole thing is the fact that we’re playing outside at a football stadium in the middle of February in Wisconsin and there’s going to be 50,000-plus people there and what the kids will walk away from is that experience. They’ll have to think about who won the game when they’re a little bit older, but they’ll be telling their grandchildren about what a great experience it was.”
And what a great experience it should be for the rest of us.
Around the WCHA
SCSU: Thanks to their 6-5 loss to CC on Saturday, the Huskies’ nine-game winning streak finally came to an end. Their last loss prior to the streak? A 4-1 defeat at the hands of the same Tigers.
UAA : Friday night’s game against Minnesota was delayed for 30 minutes due to a Freon leak at the Sullivan Arena (according to UAA; Minnesota’s site just said “ice issues”).
Hearing about why that game was delayed reminded many in the CC press box of a similar incident that happened in the 1996 Frozen Four in Cincinnati. The semifinal game between CC and Vermont was delayed for a similar reason. CC ended up winning that game in overtime before falling to Michigan in the national title game two days later.
Matchups by the Numbers
Only two conference matchups this weekend, while three other teams get the last of their non-conference games out of the way.
Alaska-Anchorage @ St. Cloud State
Overall Records: UAA — 10-15-1 (8-13-1 WCHA). SCSU — 17-8-3 (12-6-2 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: SCSU leads the overall series, 46-13-5.
Notes: UAA hasn’t won a road game with SCSU since Nov. 7, 1987 … SCSU is the only team to sweep UAA in Anchorage this year.
Minnesota-Duluth @ Michigan Tech
Overall Records: UMD — 17-10-1 (13-6-1 WCHA). MTU — 4-21-1 (3-17-0 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: MTU leads the overall series, 117-75-18.
Notes: Tech has a 72-40-10 record at Winter Carnival.
Denver vs. Mercyhurst, @ Air Force
Overall Records: DU — 16-6-4 (12-4-4 WCHA). MC — 12-14-2 (12-8-2 AHA). AFA — 12-10-6 (12-6-6 AHA).
Head-to-Head: DU leads both overall series; the Pioneers are 2-0 against Mercyhurst and 28-3 against Air Force.
Colorado College vs. Air Force, Mercyhurst
Overall Records: CC — 15-10-3 (11-8-3 WCHA). AFA — 12-10-6 (12-6-6 AHA). MC — 12-14-2 (12-8-2 AHA).
Head-to-Head: CC leads both overall series; the Tigers are 56-7-2 against Air Force and 1-0 against Mercyhurst.
Wisconsin vs. Michigan @ Camp Randall
Overall Records: UW — 15-7-4 (11-6-3 WCHA). UM — 15-12-1 (10-9-1-0 CCHA).
Head-to-Head: UM leads the overall series, 64-51-7.
Future WCHA Team Watch
Bemidji State split with Robert Morris and now gets a weekend off before facing the Colonials again. Nebraska-Omaha split a series against Notre Dame and next hosts Ohio State for two.
No. 7 BSU: 18-6-2 overall, 3-3-0 vs. WCHA
UNO: 13-12-5 overall, 1-1-1 vs. WCHA
Odds and Ends
• Go vote to see some of your favorite WCHA players in the Frozen Four Skills Challenge this year. The WCHA nominees are: Drew Akins, UMD; Michael Davies, UW; Zach Harrison, MSU; Ryan Lasch, SCSU; Tony Lucia, UM; Rhett Rakhshani, DU; Bill Sweatt, CC.
• I caught some of the Pioneers-Sioux game on TV Friday night and it struck me how lost UND looked on the ice. I know that the team hasn’t been able to catch a break lately and, granted, I did catch only snippets as I was officially watching and working the CC/SCSU game. However, there were times that the Sioux looked disjointed. I know they’re without arguably one of the best players in college hockey. I know they’re young and I know they’ve been going through injury problems.
However, just because a player (or two, or three) goes down doesn’t mean that the whole team should suddenly look like they forgot to play hockey. Isn’t there something to be said about everyone else picking up the slack?
This season, so far, has been quite disheartening for Sioux fans and seemingly only looks to get worse.
The only bright spot is that some other teams can get a chunk of the spotlight that they normally wouldn’t — a spotlight that’s been a long time coming and definitely well-deserved. I don’t want to count the Sioux out — there’s still quite a bit of hockey left to be played. However, it still feels weird that such a familiar face (and perhaps faces, depending on how Minnesota’s season plays out) most likely will not be in the mix at the end of the year.
This Week in the CHA: Feb. 4, 2010
It was about time Alabama-Huntsville started getting some ink in this column.
After starting out the year en fuego, the Chargers tailed off, but came back alive last weekend in sweeping Niagara at a place they hadn’t played in 75 days — the Von Braun Center.
Alabama-Huntsville celebrates its sweep of Niagara (photo: Doug Eagan).
Also sweet was that the sweep was UAH’s first since the 2005-06 season when Wayne State lost two straight in Huntsville Feb. 24-25, 2006.
“You go through enough reps in practice and you find yourself in the game and cash in, and that’s the way it should be,” Alabama-Huntsville coach Danton Cole said to the Huntsville Times. “You have to win close games, you have to win the third period and elevate your play at the right time.
“I thought the guys did that [last] weekend.”
Saturday afternoon, the Chargers came from behind and topped NU, 3-2.
A late hooking call gave UAH a man advantage as the clock was winding down and it paid off with 24 seconds remaining when Keenan Desmet found Neil Ruffini out in front of the net, and Ruffini made no mistake.
Tom Durnie and Cale Tanaka tallied the other goals for the victors, who got 31 saves from Cameron Talbot.
Chris Moran and Bryan Haczyk scored for the Purple Eagles.
Chris Noonan took the loss in goal, but did turn aside 35 shots.
“Considering all the momentum that we had, especially in the second period, we just couldn’t score the back-breaking goal,” Niagara coach Dave Burkholder said. “We just couldn’t put them away. They played well enough to stay in it and got some power plays at crucial times.”
Friday night, UAH took a 3-2 win on the strength of goals from Jamie Easton, Matti Järvinen and Andrew Coburn.
Derek Foam and Marc Zanette scored for NU.
Talbot picked up the win in net for the Chargers with a 30-save effort, while Andrew Hare took the loss making 27 saves.
“Alabama-Huntsville played a real thorough game,” Burkholder said. “They didn’t give up much when we had the puck and were very opportunistic on their chances.”
UAH is hoping this sweep gives them some momentum as the final month of the season is now here.
“We’ve been working hard all year, and we had a slump for a couple of weeks, but now things look like they’re coming together,” Ruffini said to the Times. “After this, I think it’s our time.”
RMU, Bemidji do Splits at Glas
Maybe Bemidji State is losing some momentum.
Maybe Robert Morris is gaining momemtum.
Maybe.
Last weekend in Bemidji, the Beavers and Colonials split their series, with BSU winning Friday night and then falling Saturday night.
Friday night’s 5-1 win was Bemidji State’s 500th at the Glas Fieldhouse. The Beavers, who are in their 43rd and final season calling the Glas home and are just months from moving into the new 4,300-seat, state-of-the-art Bemidji Regional Events Center, have logged 684 games on their current home ice and have compiled a record of 500-143-41.
Jordan George and Ian Lowe each scored a pair, while Tyler Lehrke added the other for BSU.
James Lyle scored RMU’s lone goal.
Dan Bakala picked up the win with a 32-save outing and at the other end, Brooks Ostergard finished with 28 stops.
Bemidji State’s senior class of Kyle Hardwick, Lehrke, captain Chris McKelvie and Chris Peluso was honored in a pre-game ceremony Saturday night, but the Colonials spoiled the game with a 5-2 win.
Ostergard led the way in net for the Colonials as he picked up 26 saves.
Nathan Longpre, Zach Hervato, Denny Urban, Stefan Salituro and J.C. Velasquez were the goal scorers for RMU.
“Hats off to Robert Morris,” BSU coach Tom Serratore said to the Bemidji Pioneer. “They outworked us and were the better team [Saturday]. We seemed flat and stale the whole night. We didn’t play with any emotion.”
Robert Morris, however, did have the emotion. Hence the win.
NU, RMU Play to ‘Tired’ Tie Wednesday
Sam Goodwin’s wraparound goal with 1:29 left in the third period brought Niagara into a 4-4 tie with Robert Morris in western New York Wednesday night.
The game was the make-up game from a game in December postponed due to brutal weather.
“Both teams looked tired,” Burkholder said. “For us to come back and salvage a point is big. Goodie made the play when we needed it.”
Tyler Gotto, Moran and Ryan Olidis scored the other NU goals, while Adam Avramenko, who stepped in for Noonan at the beginning of the third, made nine saves. Noonan was pulled after allowing four goals on 18 shots.
Joe Harcharik had two assists for the Colonials — his first two NCAA points — while Urban, Nick Chiavetta, Salituro and Hervato scored.
Ostergard finished with 27 saves.
Akers Leaves Niagara for USHL
Kurt Akers saw little playing time with Niagara, so with junior eligibility remaining, the forward caught on with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League.
“I left Niagara for better opportunities,” Akers said on USHL.com.
“He hasn’t been here very long, but since he has, he’s done real well,” said Storm assistant coach Eric Fink in the same article. “He’s fast, he’s got a decent amount of skill. He can be gritty, too. He can get in and hit guys, which makes a big impact on the game.”
Akers made an impression with a goal in his second game, which sparked a rally and gave the Storm a 4-3 win over Sioux Falls.Â
“He proved that he can score,” added Fink. “Hopefully, that’s a trend that he can continue and not be a one-game thing.”
Akers played in just six games last season, going pointless, and had yet to see the ice this year. He would be eligible to play for another Division I team the second semester of next season.
This Week in ECAC Hockey: Feb. 4, 2010
ECAC Editorial
There are innumerable positive things about Harvard; it’s arguably the world’s premier and most famous university for a reason.
But right now, the men’s hockey team isn’t one of them.
This will come off as more rant than repartee, but the Crimson’s performance en route to its 6-0 slaughtering at the hands of Boston College on Monday was nothing short of embarrassing. The Volkswagen-sized North End rats fled from the stench. The last time a team lost by that much in the Beanpot was 10 years ago, when BC blasted Northeastern in the opening round by the same 6-0 score. (Three years prior, Boston University smacked the Crimson around, 7-1 in the first round.)
This isn’t all about Harvard’s 17-year Beanpot drought, or about its 2-10-0 record against BU and BC since autumn of 2006. Nor is it about the program’s three-, likely to be four-year stretch without an NCAA appearance or ECAC Hockey title, on the heels of five bids in a row from 2002 to 2006. It’s not focusing on Harvard’s 0-5 showing in those five NCAA appearances, or its meager two Ivy League titles since 1994.
You know, it’s not even about the league’s 1-3 record in the NCAA’s last year, or its 4-13 record in the national tournament dating back to its last Frozen Four team: Cornell ’03. There are bigger things to worry about than good ECAC Hockey teams losing over and over again to teams from the CHA and Atlantic Hockey, much less Hockey East, the CCHA and the WCHA … and let’s face it, what’s another couple of year tacked onto the ECAC’s 19-year stretch without a NCAA championship game participant, or 20-year span sans a national title winner?
I’m not upset about any of those things.
I’m fuming about all of them.
Beanpot Beatdown
Harvard’s self-detonated implosion in the opening game of the 2010 Beanpot Tournament was the straw that broke my keyboard, as the Crimson barely put up a fight in their biggest game of the season. In fact, three players — Ryan Grimshaw, Luke Greiner and Daniel Moriarty — took 10-minute misconducts late in the game to escape the brutality of it all. Greiner’s dismissal wasn’t even attached to a minor penalty; he must’ve just said the wrong thing to the wrong official, and off he went to the locker room.
But it wasn’t just Harvard’s most important contest, it was the league’s as well. Argue if you will, but it is my contention that the Beanpot is the most important game (or two, if we’re lucky) on the ECAC Hockey calendar right up until the league championship. The games are played in prime time, broadcast internationally, and held in the largest hockey market north of New York and east of Detroit. Every year, it’s an opportunity for the conference to step up and stake its claim to Big Dog status … but every year, now, it fails to do so.
To be perfectly clear, this column isn’t intended as a smear-job of Harvard, its men’s hockey team, or its staff. Ted Donato, Bobby Jay and Pat Foley are great guys with solid resumes and a fair amount of success in Cambridge to boot. At some point, there’s nothing else a coaching staff can do: the onus is ultimately on the players.
ECAC Hockey commissioner Steve Hagwell told me that while the Beanpot is a big annual fixture for the conference, it’s not the biggest. Every non-conference game and mid-season tournament draws the league’s full support and attention, and the Beanpot is no more or no less. I appreciate his position — the ‘Pot only ever involves one league team, after all — but my counterpoint stands: For as many Rensselaer-BU and Cornell-North Dakota tilts as you can muster, the Beanpot gets far, far more attention.
Poll-Quitters
A big part of my issue with … well, these issues is that ECAC Hockey gets precious little respect from the other big conferences (Hockey East/CCHA/WCHA). While schools like Minnesota, New Hampshire, Michigan and Notre Dame — to name a few — have been spotted way ahead of other comparable teams in the polls during poor seasons, what love does Union get for its recently unbeaten league record? Thirteenth? Please.
This isn’t about the rest of the nation devaluing our conference out of spite. Rather, it’s because ECAC programs beat up on each other so regularly and the parity tends to be so strong that when Yale loses to RPI, outsiders see it as a big upset. We see it as further evidence of the strength and depth of the league. (See also: Harvard beating Union, Brown downing RPI or Princeton over Harvard, just for starters.)
When was the last time North Dakota — a middling 13-10-5 squad this year — lost to either Michigan Tech or Minnesota State? Mid-October of 2008. Other leagues are far more predictable than ECAC Hockey, and it hurts us in the polls.
Obviously, polls mean nothing when you get down to brass tacks, but what do matter are the RPI and the PairWise rankings. How does ECAC Hockey shoot itself in the foot? By not only having to schedule more non-conference games (thereby generally watering down the strength of the non-con competition as a whole), but also by dropping so many of those games. Case in point: Quinnipiac was once 12-1-0 and ranked third in the nation in the USCHO.com Poll. (Even then, the Bobcats’ lone loss was to nobody Robert Morris, currently nine points back of Bemidji State in the CHA.) On the road to that sparkling record, the ‘Cats downed the likes of 2009 NCAA tournament participant Ohio State (twice) and what was then a 9-2-0, top 10-ranked Massachusetts.
Since then, QU has one — one — win in 13 games (1-10-2), and it was against American International (3-19-2 and dead-last in Atlantic Hockey). Losses include a sweep at the hands of St. Cloud State, a loss and draw against Niagara (7-15-4 right now), and a 1-1 tie at Holy Cross (6-14-5). Accompanied by losses to Brown, Princeton and Dartmouth along the way, Quinnipiac has literally played itself right out of an NCAA at-large bid.
The Fix
As Hagwell pointed out, ECAC programs play 22 league games, compared to 27 for Hockey East teams and 28 for Atlantic Hockey, the CCHA and WCHA. Parity aside, one big problem posed by playing so few league games is that each one is roughly 25 percent more important than a game in any other league … so if you are an ECAC Hockey coach, where do your priorities lie: beating Canisius this weekend, or remaining healthy and efficient for Colgate and Cornell next weekend? It’s not a tough decision, but I believe it costs us dearly in the end.
I don’t propose increasing the number of conference games, unless we add new teams. Rather, I would encourage the league and its coaching fraternity to look more closely at the mid-season non-conference schedule.
If you want to play Minnesota, why not give yourself the best opportunity by planning the games either before or after a bye week? Playing before a two-week break devotes your complete and utter focus to the Gophers. Doing it after a weekend off will give you the freshest legs. Shoe-horning non-league games between two regular ECAC weekends doesn’t work well, as coaches seem to sacrifice dominance for rest, second-string goaltending and line-tinkering. It’s a losing formula.
The Commish also noted that the conference has bandied about the idea of a scheduling alliance with other leagues, which is a great idea. Personally, I think that the ECAC should play far more games against Hockey East opponents. They’re all in the same region, and there are historic ties between many of the programs: Cornell vs. BU at Madison Square Garden; Dartmouth vs. New Hampshire for the Riverstone Cup; Brown vs. Providence in the Mayor’s Cup; and Harvard vs. BU/BC in the Beanpot should be only the tip of the iceberg.
Clarkson, Colgate and Quinnipiac combined for three Hockey East games … one apiece. Rensselaer, St. Lawrence and Union, on the other hand, played three each against the rogue spawn of the old ECAC. I know schedules are done years and years in advance these days, but northeast matchups between traditional rivals shouldn’t require a law office and a team of physicists to pull off.
I’m not accusing coaches of ducking big-name programs in favor of the Little Sisters of Division I. That said, I’m not lauding many of them for taking all comers, either. As the saying goes, you’ve got to beat the best to be the best. Beating up on each other, while challenging, only diminishes the league’s overall standing in the postseason formulae.
Props and Flops
We’re going old-school, with a C marking an average grade … grades take the program’s schedule, record and status into account, so two equivalent schedules and records may not receive the same grade. I also realize and consider that non-conference games are arranged a few years in advance.
Brown: Flop. D+
Non-conference opponents — Princeton, Providence, Bentley, Connecticut, American International, and St. Cloud State (twice).
NC record — 2-5-0
SCSU is the only team giving Brown a boost this year, as none of the other opponents carry so much as a .500 record. That said, it’s not horrible for a rebuilding program — last year, the Bears played two league opponents (Princeton and Yale) in non-con games, and only played one game against a big-name program, Minnesota.
Clarkson:Prop. A-
Non-conference opponents — Niagara, RIT, St. Lawrence, Boston College, Northern Michigan, Bowling Green, Michigan State (twice), Minnesota-Duluth (twice), and Alabama-Huntsville (twice).
NC record — 4-7-1
Way up north as Clarkson is, games against fellow border-huggers Niagara and RIT make sense. St. Lawrence? Yeah, I get it, and I’ll let it slide. Michigan State and Minnesota-Duluth ended up being nice gets, and even though it was probably determined five years ago, I’ll nonetheless credit Clarkson with some charity points for playing UAH in what may be the Chargers’ last season.
It’s tough drawing opponents to the North Country, so I’m glad that George Roll & Co. didn’t settle for a 100 percent Atlantic Hockey/northern Hockey East slate. It’s been an awful season for the Golden Knights, but I can’t complain about their out-of-conference slate.
Colgate: Flop. D+
Non-conference opponents — RIT, Massachusetts-Lowell, Army, Canisius, Notre Dame, Nebraska-Omaha (twice), Robert Morris (twice), and Niagara (thrice).
NC record — 3-5-4
What a mess this is. UMass-Lowell was a strong first-half team, Notre Dame has been at the top end of D-I for a few years now, and UNO has been fair-to-competent recently as well. But then you have the high-risk, low-reward RIT, Army, Canisius, and Niagara (twice scheduled, once in the consolation of the Shillelagh Tournament). The Raiders were a lackluster 3-2-2 against the softer majority of their out-of-league slate, and 0-3-2 against the top end; if they’d won a few more, they’d probably get a passing grade.
Cornell: Prop. A
Non-conference opponents — Niagara, Boston University, Colorado College, Princeton, New Hampshire, and North Dakota (twice).
NC record — 3-3-1
The only two programs anyone could dream of faulting Mike Schafer for are Niagara and Princeton, and that would be a weak foundation for a complaint. The Purple Eagles were Cornell’s first NCAA game of the season, and Princeton was a tournament pairing. Kudos to getting North Dakota for the two-year home-and-home series, splitting both last year and this, and for the big-stage MSG sequel against the defending national champions. CC and UNH are big-time programs enjoying a lot of recent success, which tastes magnificent when washed down with a pour of a full-flavored Big Red.
Dartmouth: Flop, C-
Non-conference opponents — Providence, Harvard, Sacred Heart, Vermont, Northeastern, Holy Cross, and New Hampshire.
NC record — 2-5-0
Games against Sacred Heart and Holy Cross aren’t going to turn any heads (especially when you lose both of them), and playing Harvard in an Ivy League non-con seems a little pointless, since it has no recent precedent. Beyond that though, it’s a solid helping of Hockey East for Bob Gaudet’s brigade: PC, UVM, NU and UNH are adequately-to-substantially challenging, but the grade would be much improved with a little more creativity. One or two AHA opponents, maybe; but Harvard too?
Harvard: Flop, D+
Non-conference opponents — Boston University, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Boston College (twice), and Minnesota (twice).
NC record — 0-6-0 (one game vs. NU remaining)
Great slate (excepting the befuddling Dartmouth tilt), terrible record … that’s all there is to it. A non-conference schedule with any other non-ECAC program instead of DC would’ve put Harvard back up to a C- (heaven forbid, from Harvard!?), but the Crimson were never going to get a whiff of a passing grade without so much as a tie to show for it. Funny, Harvard was 0-7-0 in non-league games last year, too, and 2-4-1 the year prior …
Princeton: Prop. B+
Non-conference opponents — Brown, Yale, Maine, Cornell, Connecticut, and Massachusetts-Lowell (twice).
NC record — 4-2-1
Three Ivy games and one pushover in UConn are a bit painful on the eyes, but I’ll remind you that the Cornell game was in the second-round of the Florida College Classic. Otherwise, the Maine and UML games were respectable, and the record is solid … especially considering how bad the Tigers had it in late 2009. Next time out, just try to ditch that whole Ivy Invitational … it’s really quite unnecessary.
Quinnipiac: Flop. C-
Non-conference opponents — Bentley, Massachusetts, Holy Cross, American International, Ohio State (twice), Robert Morris (twice), St. Cloud State (twice), and Niagara (twice).
NC record – 6-4-2
Half of the Bobcats’ dozen out-of-conference games were permissible: OSU, UMass, SCSU, and take your pick of one of the other Atlantic games. But then, three games against AHA foes and four more against the CHA? I’d much rather have seen a WCHA pair in there, and maybe one or two more Hockey East games. Quinnipiac has a gorgeous facility and it’s finally starting to draw some bigger programs … but I don’t think the ‘Cats are baiting the hooks (or winning against the smaller programs) often enough.
Rensselaer: Prop, B+
Non-conference opponents — Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Alaska, Alaska-Anchorage, Sacred Heart, American International, Niagara, Army, Bentley, Boston University, Michigan, Michigan State, and Union (twice).
NC record — 7-6-1
Talk about ambitious: Thirteen different teams, only five of those from the AHA or CHA, and two “exempt” games in Alaska to boot. Signature wins this year have included beating UNH, BU and Michigan, and the only real regrettable losses are to Niagara and Army. One of the Union matchups was in the title game of RPI’s Holiday Hockey Tournament, so overall it was an incredibly diverse docket for the Engineers this year. One game above .500 isn’t anything to crow about — not for this year’s team, in any case — but it’s not bad, either.
St. Lawrence: Prop. B-
Non-conference opponents — Massachusetts-Lowell, RIT, Clarkson, Army, Maine, Vermont, Boston College, Nebraska-Omaha, Sacred Heart (twice), and Niagara (thrice).
NC record — 6-5-2
With two exempt games for the IceBreaker, the Saints technically went a game shorter on the schedule than they had to. In any case, Joe Marsh buddied up with four Hockey East coaches, four Atlantic coaches, and a soon-to-be WCHA program to build his season. The problem is, the Saints’ only big NC win of the season was against Boston College (5-2 in the Denver Cup), but couldn’t beat UML, Clarkson, Maine, UVM or UNO (0-4-1 against the lot). Therefore, the non-league record is loaded up with soft wins and tough losses. Just like Clarkson, I appreciate how hard it is to either entice other teams to travel to the North Country, just as much as I know how hard it is to travel therefrom. That’s why I’m going easy on SLU, even though I would’ve loved to see them take on a few more HEA/WCHA/CCHA opponents.
Union: Prop. B-
Non-conference opponents — American International, Sacred Heart, Lake Superior State, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Army, Maine (twice), St. Cloud State (twice), and Rensselaer (twice).
NC record — 6-4-2
The Dutchmen got a pair of big wins over Maine to open the year, but as much momentum as the RPI Holiday Hockey Tournament victory over the host Engineers may have given them, they haven’t mustered much else in the non-conference department. I’ll give Union credit for gutting out a draw at St. Cloud, but the team is nonetheless 0-2-2 against the WCHA (SCSU), CCHA (LSSU) and Hockey East (UMass) when you look beyond the season’s initial weekend. Credit to coach Nate Leaman, though, for not loading up on CHA and Atlantic chum: only four of the Dutchmen’s foes this year have come from the AHA, and none from the lame-duck CHA. Union went 3-1-0 in those contests.
Yale: Prop. A
Non-conference opponents — Princeton, Massachusetts, Sacred Heart, Holy Cross, Vermont, Ferris State, and Wisconsin.
NC record — 4-2-1
Princeton, SHU and HC aren’t exceptionally outstanding teams to have on your docket, but the other four sure wound up as winners. Ferris State may not have stood out a few years ago when Wisconsin’s Badger Showdown was arranged, but it sure made believers out of many midwesterners when Yale whooped the then-11th-ranked, 13-3-2 CCHA’ers 6-1 in Madison. Following up the rout with a 2-2 draw against the hosts was a huge statement for the Elis and for ECAC Hockey in general, even though Hockey East folks may still point out that UMass and Vermont each downed the Blue & White earlier last autumn. Yale also went 3-0-0 against Ivy rival Princeton and Atlantic Hockey’s two representatives, Sacred Heart and Holy Cross.
Want More?
Rather than writing a 10,000-word column this week, I’ll spare your scrolling finger. Click here to read a Q&A with a former WCHA assistant and current ECAC Hockey coach about his thoughts on the league’s national status.
Readers’ Poll
Last week’s query earned a resounding response, as 20 of 42 respondents tabbed Princeton as the second half’s most likely dark horse. Brown, Clarkson and Dartmouth each received votes, but not even a third as many as the Tigers. Nine of little faith didn’t think any of the four candidates pose a threat in early 2010.
Also with an overwhelming majority was my demographic poll, which showed 25 of 41 voters coming from the ranks of ECAC alumni. (Nine others were local fans, four students, one member of a player’s family, one from a member program’s staff, and one “other”.) Yes, I should’ve realized that no player would publicly admit to reading the boards via his user name. I should’ve made the poll anonymous.
This week, I want to know if you agree with my assessment of ECAC Hockey’s non-conference performance.
USCHO.com Hobey Watch 2010 Podcast, Episode 2: George Gwozdecky
USCHO.com Hobey Watch 2010 Podcast, Episode 2: George Gwozdecky
USCHO.com’s Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Denver head coach George Gwozdecky as they look at Hobey Baker candidates from the WCHA: DU’s Marc Cheverie, Wisconsin’s Brendan Smith, and Jack Connolly and Justin Fontaine of Minnesota Duluth.
This Week in MIAC: Feb. 4, 2010
Push for the Playoffs
After last weekend, there are three weeks left in the MIAC schedule. With the season nearing its conclusion, in some leagues this would be the time of year when the playoff picture is becoming clearer and teams are left jockeying for positioning. In the MIAC though, where only five teams make the playoffs, the picture is anything but clear. The parity in this league becomes more and more apparent each week, and the door is still open for teams to make late pushes to secure a playoff spot. With that in mind, lets take a look at last weekend’s action, and what each team has left to do to secure a playoff spot.
Bethel vs. St. Olaf
This was my series of the week, as the Royals are fighting to hold on to their playoff position while the Oles are trying to claw their way up the standings. A sweep would have been huge for either team, and both came out playing hard on Friday at Bethel.
St. Olaf scored first, but Bethel tallied three goals before the end of the first period, staking them to a 3-1 lead. The Oles were able to keep it close, but were never able to tie the score en route to a 5-3 win for Bethel.
Bethel coach Joel Johnson was proud of the way his team played, especially since it gave his team a chance to capitalize on the weekend.
“Obviously winning the first game is huge,†said Johnson. “Not only is it good for our confidence and for building momentum, but it gives us a chance to take three or four points and have a really good weekend.â€
The Royals weren’t able to gain any more points on Saturday though, as the Oles capitalized at home. While the Oles looked somewhat hesitant on Friday, they were able to apply a lot more pressure on Saturday, outshooting the Royals 30-14 over the final two periods.
Despite that shot advantage, though, St. Olaf never held a two goal lead, and scored the game-winning goal with less than three minutes remaining. Regardless of how it came to pass, the most important thing for them was to come away with the 4-3 victory.
Like most series, this had the potential to clear up the playoff picture.
However with a split, more teams became jammed in the middle of the standings. For Bethel, the split keeps them in third place, although it’s looking less likely that they’ll be able to catch Hamline or Gustavus Adolphus for one of the top two spots. The Royals have four games left to play while the teams above them have six remaining. Bethel has also played those teams already, so they can’t gain any ground in a head to head matchup.
The good news, however, is that even though they don’t play this week, it’s impossible for them to fall out of the top five, regardless of what happens this weekend. The last two weekends are huge for Bethel as they take on St. Thomas and Augsburg, both of whom are fighting to make the playoffs. If the Royals split those series, odds are they’ll make the playoffs. Taking more than four points from those games would pretty much guarantee them a playoff spot, and possibly a home playoff game as well.
For St. Olaf, they’re currently sitting in sixth place and would be the first team out if the playoffs started today.
The good news for them is that they have six games left to play while Concordia (MN) and St. Thomas both have only four games left. Both those teams are only two points ahead of the Oles, so one win (or two ties) on their bye weeks is all it could take for St. Olaf to tie them. The Oles have a big series this weekend with St. Thomas, a huge opportunity for either team to put themselves firmly in the playoff picture.
St. Thomas vs. St. Mary’s
This was the only sweep of the weekend, as St. Thomas won 4-3 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday. Friday’s game was as close as the score indicated, as the Tommies scored twice in the third period to come from behind and win. On Saturday, the result wasn’t in question for too long, as St. Thomas outshot the Cardinals 41-23 and led 3-0 after the second period.
The sweep couldn’t have come at a better time for the Tommies. They started the season off slow, and had been struggling in the bottom half of the standings for some time now. These two wins vaulted them into a tie with Concordia for fourth place in the standings, two points ahead of St. Olaf in sixth.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Tommies have a bye the final week of the season. That means they’ll have to do enough to make the playoffs over the next two weeks, and hope they don’t get left out while sitting idle.
After facing St. Olaf this weekend, the Tommies play Bethel to close out their season. Three wins in those four games should be enough to put the Tommies in the postseason. Conversely, three losses would leave their playoff hopes clinging to life support. The Tommies need to go out and play hard for all four games, without focusing on anything other than working hard every single shift.
St. Mary’s, on the other hand, is effectively eliminated from the playoffs. If they win out, they have a shot to make the playoffs, depending on what happens in other games. However, with a 1-9-0 league record (and 1-17-1 overall) that does not seem likely. The Cardinals are still improved over last year’s team, and focusing on getting better each game to finish the season is a good goal. Series against Augsburg and Gustavus give St. Mary’s a chance to play spoiler, as well.
Hamline vs. Augsburg
If you wanted an example of the parity in the MIAC this season, this series is a good example. Augsburg is currently in seventh place, although they trail St. Olaf by only one point, and are only three points out of the final playoff spot. Tenth ranked Hamline came into this series with a chance to take over first place while Gustavus was idle.
Friday night’s matchup turned out to be the game of the week in the MIAC.
Augsburg roared out to a 4-0 lead before the middle of the second period. Hamline was able to mount a furious comeback, and tied the game in dramatic fashion, scoring with seven seconds left, on the power play, with their goaltender pulled. While some teams may have been demoralized by giving away a four goal lead, Augsburg scored on their first shot in overtime, netting the game winner just over one minute into the extra stanza.
Saturday’s game would similar a somewhat similar storyline, but in reverse. This time Hamline would come out with a 2-0 lead after the first period, only to have the Auggies tie it in the second. The lone goal in the third period would go to Hamline, who skated off with a 3-2 win, salvaging a split on the weekend.
Augsburg’s problem this season is a lack of big weekends.
While they’ve only been swept once, Augsburg has only had one weekend where they’ve garnered more than two points. That’s going to have to change over the final three weeks if they want to make the playoffs. This team has the offensive tools and the goaltending to go on a hot streak, but it seems they haven’t been able to put it all together. At times the offense looks extremely dangerous, the power play is clicking, and the goaltending is solid. And at other times one or more of those key facets seem to disappear.
A sweep of St. Mary’s this weekend would bring the Auggies one point behind Bethel in the standings. There’s also the possibility that Augsburg would jump either St. Olaf or St. Thomas, depending on what happens when those two teams play this weekend. This would set up a wild ride for the finish, as Augsburg’s final two opponents are St. Olaf and Bethel.
For No. 10 Hamline, the loss on Friday meant they no longer had a chance to gain first place this weekend. They still have a shot to take that spot in two weeks when they have their series against Gustavus Adolphus. In between the Gusties and Hamline are two games against St. John’s, though, and while they’re having a down year, the Johnnies are no pushovers. The past two weeks have seen Hamline come out slow on Friday, and they’ve lost both games. Sloppy or lazy play against St. John’s tends to end with the puck in the back of your net.
Things are still looking pretty good for the Pipers, however.
They control their own destiny for where they finish in the league, and even two wins in their last six games should be enough to see them into the playoffs. While that may not be how Hamline would like to enter the playoffs, with so many teams fighting for those five spots, it’s still an enviable position to be in. Last year, this team came within one game of making the NCAA tournament, losing to Gustavus in the conference championship. Look for them to be willing to do whatever it takes to get back and have a second chance at that coveted conference championship.
St. John’s vs. Concordia (MN)
Speaking of the Johnnies, this season has had its share of ups and downs for them.
They beat St. Scholastica (ranked fourth in the USCHO.com Division III men’s poll), 3-1, earlier this year and defeated Buffalo State 5-4 at Adrian’s tournament. However, the Johnnies haven’t really been able to get things going in league games, posting a 1-6-1 record coming into last weekend. Despite being heavily outshot by Concordia on Friday, the Johnnies were able to capitalize on their opportunities and skate away with a 7-2 victory. Saturday saw a much more even game. Concordia scored six minutes into the game, St. John’s scored nine minutes later, and that would be it, as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie.
While the Johnnies still have a shot at the playoffs, they will pretty much have to win their final six games to do so, while hoping that St. Thomas, Augsburg, and Concordia don’t win any more games. It’s possible, but it looks like they’ll l fall a few points short of making the playoffs.
A big weekend from Concordia may have been enough for them to make the playoffs, but a one point weekend puts them in a poor spot. They’d make the playoffs if the season ended today, but with four games remaining, there aren’t too many opportunities left for the Cobbers to shore up their position. To make matters worse, their final two games are against the top two teams in the league. Still, the Cobbers have played a tough non-conference schedule this season, and have faced top teams before. If they can come out of these final few weeks with enough points to make the playoffs, this is a team that could potentially make a run at the championship.
Gustavus Adolphus
The nationally eighth ranked Gusties were idle this past weekend, but they still managed to have a good go of things. Hamline’s loss to Augsburg kept Gustavus atop the MIAC standings, although they hold a slim one point lead. They host Concordia for two games this weekend before their huge series against Hamline, and finish the season out with two games against St. Mary’s.
The Gusties know what it takes to win a championship, as they won the MIAC playoffs last season and made a run to the national title game. They should also know that any opponent can be dangerous, and won’t be counting on any easy victories. Like most other MIAC teams, they control their own destiny, and a strong finish to the season could see them claim the regular season championship and home ice for the playoffs.
Short Shots
The MIAC regular season champion hasn’t won the league playoffs since 2007, when Bethel swept both en route to the NCAA’s … Gustavus’s David Martinson leads the league in scoring with 33 points, the only other player within 10 points of him is teammate Ross Ring-Jarvi with 27 … Martinson’s 20 goals lead all of Division III, and he is the only player averaging over one goal per game … Bethel’s Jack Paul leads MIAC rookies in scoring, with 22 points in 21 games … Hamline has the nation’s ninth best power play, clipping along at 23.8%.
The State of ECAC Hockey: One Coach’s Perspective
I called up one of my most dependable interviews, Rensselaer head coach Seth Appert, to get his thoughts on ECAC Hockey vis a vis its non-conference challenges. Well-spoken, affable and cerebral, Appert has proven himself time and again to be a great source when discussing the more nuanced aspects of the game.
A goaltender at Ferris State from 1992-96, Appert then served as an assistant coach at the University of Denver for nine seasons before accepting his first head-coaching position at RPI.
Brian Sullivan: ECAC Hockey teams seem to be struggling on the national stage, when it comes to wins and losses in non-conference games. Thoughts?
Seth Appert: Frankly, the number of non-conference games that we have plays into that as well. We play more non-conference games, so just by its nature we tend to lose some of those games. The non-Ivies, specifically.
BS: If you look at it, you’re playing 22 conference games, whereas the other leagues are playing 27, or mostly 28. So mathematically, one way of looking at it is that one of your league games is worth 25 percent more than any other league’s.
SA: Correct.
BS: So it makes sense that, through nobody’s fault, ECAC coaches are going to prioritize league games because they’re that much more important.
SA: Well, I don’t know if I’d say that. I think that they are important for everybody. They carry more value for us because you don’t have as much time to make up ground, I guess; you don’t have the potential of a two-game weekend against the same team to make up ground, either. But at the same time, I don’t think that teams in other leagues are saying that their league games aren’t as important, and, ‘We’re going to save something for our non-conference series next weekend.’ I don’t think that’s the case.
BS: Well not exactly that, but if you’re in another league, then you’ll have fewer non-league games, so therefore each one might feel a little more important.
SA: Well there’s that. I do agree with that. All league games are important; I don’t know if I’d say that our league games are any more important. They carry more significance because there are fewer games, but I don’t think they’re more important. I think everybody treats league games with a high degree of importance, but certainly there are pluses and minuses to the non-conference (situation). The plus is how many non-conference games we get, but the minus is, as you said, there are so many of them – everybody else has six of them, you can get a little more focus on those six – when we have 12-14 of them, it’s a bit more difficult I guess. But at the same time, when you have those 12 or 14 non-conference games you can use them to play a lot of premier teams from other conferences as well.
BS: Well that’s another problem. Generally speaking, there are some big-time matchups between ECAC teams and teams from other conferences. We’ve seen Harvard go out and play Minnesota, RPI has played three big Hockey East teams (as well as Michigan and Michigan State), but there are some other schools – not to name names – who seem to load up on weaker opponents … kinda like SEC football, where you’re looking for wins and an opportunity to build your team, rather than looking for big statement wins.
SA: Well that all depends on the coaches’ philosophies on how to build their teams. It doesn’t hurt you to play lesser-ranked teams, as long as you win!
BS: Well that’s the problem, is we’ve seen some teams … who have lost a lot of games to bad teams. It also seems like with the added focus on league games – with fewer of them to play – it seems like some of the coaches tend to use their non-conference games to tinker around with their lineups a bit more, play their second- or third-string goalies more, rest some of their players more. Do you think – even if you’re going to do that – do you think you should change your schedule to where you’re playing more non-league games either on the heels of, or just prior to, a bye week, so there’s a little more focus on those games?
SA: Well we don’t have a lot of control over that; your schedule is what it is. You have certain open weekends, certain league weekends, certain non-conference weekends. So there’s not a dramatic amount of control that you have over that. The fact of the matter is that the non-Ivy teams in the ECAC have to play a lot of non-conference games in October: I think this year we played eight in October this year, all non-conference games.
BS: Is it your personal philosophy to go out and take on as many big-time opponents as possible, or do you feel that you do need a couple of “weaker” programs in there to give yourselves a break?
SA: I think you need a mix, but I’d prefer us to play a high degree of difficulty non-conference schedule. We went to Alaska, we played Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage, and while AA may not be at the top, they’re a strong team, and Fairbanks has a very good team. We played UNH, we played UMass, we played BU, Michigan, Michigan State … I think we’ve played some good hockey teams. Sacred Heart has won, I think, 11 games in a row right now (actually a 12-game unbeaten streak, 10-0-2). Army just beat and tied Air Force, who was a final-eight team in the national tournament last year. It’s not necessarily that those games are games that hurt your PairWise and RPI standings; you need to intelligently pick those teams that you play, because you want a good strength-of-schedule.
When you’re talking non-conference, sometimes it’s your best guess. You may think it’s a good team, but two years down the road they could end up not so hot, and so losing to that team could kill your RPI, and winning might not benefit you. A lot of non-conference scheduling is guesswork – look at us this year. New Hampshire, Boston University and Michigan don’t have the records they would normally have. UNH is on a run, and they’re on top of Hockey East, but they have a poor non-conference record, so our strength-of-schedule doesn’t look – right now – as strong as I’d anticipated it looking. BU is below .500, New Hampshire is just starting to pull away from .500, and Michigan is just above .500. Now normally at this time of the year, those teams might be 17-8-8, so those things factor into it and you don’t really have control over it (as a coach making a schedule).
BS: How far in advance to most major and mid-major programs set their schedules?
SA: Probably two to three. Maybe three-to-four for tournaments, things like that, but for the most part it’s two-to-three years out in the future.
BS: When it comes to tournaments that you’re not hosting, is that something where you have any say at all over who you play? Can you say that you prefer not to play another ECAC Hockey opponent, for example?
SA: You might not accept an invitation if they have the opponents up front. We’re going to a tournament – and I’d rather not speak in specifics – in the future, because we know that in the first round of the tournament we’re going to get to play a top-half Hockey East team, a team that consistently finishes in the top half of that league. So we know that the first day of the tournament will draw a real strong non-conference opponent, so those things factor into the decision.
BS: That’s in the contract, that you’ll get to play them?
SA: Correct.
BS: Here’s a two-part question: first, do you believe that the ECAC is hurt, at the end of the year – RPI-wise and PairWise(wise) – by its parity, and by beating up on itself?
SA: I’ll say this, we’re not if we take care of business non-conference.
BS: Well, you’re jumping the gun a bit; that’s Part 2. Basically, do you believe that the league looks weaker statistically by the parity that we have, playing against each other?
SA: No, I don’t think so. For instance, look at the WCHA right now. I think that our conference is the best in the country, top to bottom. I do. I think that our depth and our competitiveness on a night-to-night basis – there are very few free games in our league, you know? Where you win – or lose – going away, and I find that extremely impressive. But with that being said, the reason I say no to that question, is let’s look at the WCHA right now.
Everything’s cyclical, but right now the WCHA has a bunch of teams at the top of the PairWise. But they also have a bunch of teams where you could throw a blanket over the top of six teams, and say you couldn’t tell who was going to finish first and who was going to finish sixth in that league. All of those six are beating each other up, so none of their league records look spectacular. None of them are Miami, where they’ve only lost one league game. But that parity isn’t hurting them, beating each other up isn’t hurting themselves, because they won a lot of non-conference games this year.
So our league, beating itself up, makes us better for the end of the year – but we need to take care of business in the non-conference games. We did a good job of that last year, and our numbers bear that out, and that’s why we had three teams in the (NCAA) tournament, and almost a fourth with St. Lawrence being the first team out.
BS: Do you feel that there’s any way that the league can help lay the groundwork for a stronger non-conference schedule?
SA: We talk about that a lot in league meetings, and I’m not an expert on those things. There’s probably a lot of kids on our campus at RPI who can tell you more about the statistical probabilities and all that than I can. But there are some coaches in our league who are very good at it, and they bring in outside people to look at those things as well. I guess from my perspective – and I’ll do whatever’s necessary to get more league teams into the tournament – if there was anything we could do, that made rational sense, I’d certainly look at it. Right now, my sense of it is, for my program let’s go play the most games we can against the best teams in the country. For the last three years we’ve gotten our nose bloodied, in a big way, but this year we’re starting to turn the corner. The last three years we’d play those teams and play good, and lose, and play good, and lose. It would take a toll on us, from a confidence perspective, and now we’re starting to see the benefits from playing those games. Now when we play those types of teams, we’re ready for those kind of games. I don’t know about our record against teams of “big-name” quality, but I know that this year we’ve beaten UNH, we’ve beaten Michigan, we’ve beaten Boston University. Close loss to UMass, too. Now we’re used to playing in those games, and we’re starting to see some success in those games.
BS: I guess my last question for you is, among hockey people – folks you’re friends with who have carried over from your playing days and your time spent coaching in Denver – do you get questions where people just have total misconceptions about the state of the ECAC and its strength?
SA: Ummm .. I’d say yes, but there’s less now than there was. That’s because there are a lot of programs in our league that are doing very good jobs not only of coaching, but also of recruiting. I look at what Princeton’s done, I look at what Yale’s doing, I look at what Union’s doing, I know Cornell’s been there for a long time, St. Lawrence as been there for a long time. So I look around our league and I see programs that are continuing to get stronger right now. So I think the answer to the question is yes, but at the same time I think there are less and less of those, because we’re doing a better job in non-conference games. We got three, almost four teams to the national tournament last year. Look at the highly drafted kids that entered into our freshman class around the league last year, so I think those things are all starting to change opinions about us.
For those of you who went through all this trouble to get my Beanpot Consolation prediction: Northeastern 3, Harvard 2. I simply can’t place any confidence in the Crimson at all right now; it was all I could do to pick them over Brown in what will feel like a must-win game to Teddy Donato’s crew.
This Week in SUNYAC: Feb. 4, 2010
The Aftermath
Now that a week has passed since the NCAA announcement sanctioning Buffalo State and Geneseo, the two teams involved have had some time to let it sink in. Their reactions have been admirable, and any anger they have is channeled properly.
“In terms of how the team is handling it, they are remarkably resilient,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “The senior class has been amazing. They took control of the locker room immediately. They want to play the game with integrity and honor. They understand in the grand scheme of life, this is just a fork in the road, not a roadblock. I’m very proud of this team, and they should be proud of themselves.”
“It comes down to their attitude towards competition and hockey,” Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere said. “I hate to use the cliché, but we are playing for pride. We can play to be the spoiler. After it was all explained to them, one of our seniors stood up and said, ‘Let’s make the playoffs and let the NCAA take us out of it.'”
This is what is going to make these two teams particularly dangerous. They have nothing to lose and will be taking out what happened to them on their opposition.
“We’re going to play it out as if a top playoff seed is available,” Schultz said. “The guys really want to try to run the table here.”
Of course, it is the seniors that suffer the most along with the Canadians who must decide whether to give up hockey or give up the Canadian grants they received.
“I feel bad for both of them,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “I feel especially bad for the players. The seniors on those teams who were fighting for their lives to make the playoffs and now they are not going to have the opportunity. I put myself in the situation if it happened here, how awful you would feel for the players especially in their senior year.”
Much energy has been written about what happened, how it could have been avoided, and the details behind it all. The bottom line is the NCAA felt that these two schools had inadvertently set up a de facto athletic scholarship which is a no-no for Division III. Thus, there was no choice but to punish them, even if it meant certain individual students would also suffer, through no fault of their own.
Interestingly, it is the ones who are suffering the most — the players — who are handling it better than the fans on the USCHO message board.
“They are being so professional about this,” Schultz said. “They’re already past this. They’ve accepted it.”
It’s time everybody else does, too.
Morrisville is Eligible
Yes, you read that correctly. Morrisville is eligible for the SUNYAC playoffs.
“We knew it all along,” Morrisville coach Brian Grady said. “With the whole Buff State, Geneseo thing going on, it brought us into light.”
So, why all the confusion? There are a few reasons.
For those of you who have followed the Morrisville saga in this column the last few years, you may recall that a new NCAA member must go through a four year probation period. During that time, the institution has to show the NCAA they are following all NCAA regulations properly and are in complete compliance.
The school can ask the NCAA to speed that process along and be granted approval in three years. Morrisville asked for this, and after three years, the NCAA agreed that Morrisville was doing everything correctly, and declared the school a full fledged member.
“They felt we were ready,” Grady said. “It was great for us.”
Again, why the confusion? Because there are other factors to consider.
Morrisville only has two teams in the SUNYAC (the rest of the teams play in the North Eastern Athletic Conference): field hockey and ice hockey.
The field hockey team provides the SUNYAC with seven teams, making the conference eligible for an NCAA automatic qualifier bid. However, the conference could not apply to the NCAA for that AQ until Morrisville was an eligible NCAA member.
Once they were, the conference application then has a two year waiting period, so the NCAA can see that all teams in the conference are serious members. Thus, during this two year waiting period, the Morrisville field hockey team was not eligible for the SUNYAC playoffs.
“However, since hockey already had an automatic qualifier, we were eligible,” Grady said. “The SUNYAC mixed us in with the field hockey team and just assumed we were not eligible. It was an honest mistake. Thus, we asked for a clarification, and got it.”
Morrisville can make a run for a conference playoff spot, and now they only need to beat out one other team. They are currently four points behind Cortland (who they host on February 12) and five points behind Potsdam who they travel to on Friday.
“We certainly didn’t make it easier for ourselves this past weekend,” Grady said about his team losing twice. “Certainly, us beating Potsdam earlier has them circling this game on their calendar. I expect a hard physical, fast paced game with playoff implications. They know it. We know it.”
The next day, Morrisville has to go to Stafford Arena.
“Obviously, the schedule works in their [Plattsburgh’s] favor,” Grady said. “We’ll worry about Saturday when we get there. We’re trying to think small. Just look five feet in front of our face. Plattsburgh is struggling lately, so they will be hungry. They obviously want to get back on the winning track. But so do we.”
Fizzled Out
All that excitement concerning the playoff race and the tightness of the fifth through ninth place pack has suddenly petered out with last week’s announcement. The multi-team playoff race disappeared.
There is still a playoff spot to be fought over with the clarification that Morrisville is indeed eligible, but now it comes down to seven teams, instead of nine, fighting for six spots.
At the top, teams are starting to settle in. Oswego holds a five point lead and the tie-breaker over Plattsburgh. Thus, with four games left for each team, the magic number is three points. Oswego has also clinched a bye in the first round and home ice in the semifinals since the best Fredonia can do is tie them, but the Lakers hold the tiebreaker.
Fredonia sits five points behind Plattsburgh with a game in hand and they get to play them the following weekend. Meanwhile, Brockport sits four points behind Fredonia with each of those teams having five games to play.
Therefore, fights still exist for the all important home ice and there is still the potential for some great hockey and individual games like we saw this past weekend.
On top of the heap, of course, was the Plattsburgh at Oswego rivalry. The game and the fan-induced white-out lived up to all the hype.
Assistant captain Neil Musselwhite put the home team in front just 34 seconds after the opening faceoff. Tom Breslin tied it up six minutes later, but Oswego got the lead back before the end of the period with a Justin Fox goal.
Jon Whitelaw made it 3-1 early in the second prompting Plattsburgh to pull Josh Leis and put in Ryan Williams. Williams did not let up a goal the rest of the way, but unfortunately for the Cardinals, his team only scored one more when Phil Farrow got one in the third. Kyle Gunn-Taylor made 27 saves in the win.
Oswego now has a 19 game winning streak, is 20-1-0 overall, and undefeated in the SUNYAC at 12-0-0. In years prior, the upcoming home game against Cortland would be the perfect letdown performance.
“Other years, there’s been a lack of focus at certain points in the year,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “With this team I think again our senior leadership really stepped up and gets them focused every game. Even the returning players, they get the freshmen believing. It’s one shift, one period, one game at a time. I think it’s a big part of why we didn’t lose our focus with Potsdam. Hopefully, we’ll keep that focus with Cortland. It’s our last home game of the year. Senior night. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, they want to see the same focus and energy and enthusiasm that they’ve shown.”
Meanwhile, Plattsburgh, after dropping their next game to Middlebury, is in a bit of a slump by Plattsburgh standards.
“I think we have to have a good attitude,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. “We can’t be down on how we played here tonight [against Oswego]. We caused them to take a lot of penalties. We played our game. We did a good job. We just didn’t finish, and that’s been our story all year long.”
Another rivalry also took place this past weekend — Buffalo State at Fredonia. Initially it looked like it was going to be runaway, a rarity the last few years between these teams.
After trading tallies late in the first period 14 seconds apart (Brett Mueller for Fredonia and Nick Petriello for Buffalo State) the Blue Devils scored three unanswered goals in the second period by Jordan Oye, Mueller on the power play, and Oye again, this time on the power play.
However, the Bengals made a game of it with a Drew Klin early third period score and a late Trevor McKinney tally. Oye clinched the game, completing a hat trick with an empty-net goal with five seconds left. Once again, not including empty-net goals, these teams played to yet another one goal game.
Nominations
Three SUNYAC players were nominated for national accolades this past week — two for the BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award and one to compete in the NCAA Frozen Four Skills Challenge at Ford Field in Detroit.
Brockport’s goaltender Todd Sheridan was one of four players nominated for the second year in a row for the Humanitarian Award. Sheridan’s story has been told often. He was on his way to a Division I college hockey career when a diagnosis of throat cancer changed the plans. After surviving the illness, Brockport was willing to take a chance on him.
He rewarded them many-fold for that decision, leading Brockport to successful seasons including their first home playoff game in school history last year. Sheridan’s experience fighting the disease made him want to provide a more comfortable experience for children who have to go through the same ordeal. Thus, he started a charitable foundation to help do just that.
Shareef Labreche, Buffalo State’s senior captain, was also nominated for the Humanitarian Award. Labreche is involved in a number of community programs while maintaining a 3.66 GPA. Perhaps the one that stands out the most is his work with the Buffalo Thunder hockey team. The Buffalo Thunder is a hockey team for kids and young men with special needs.
“He’s a special kind of young man,” Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere said. “Came in as our first recruiting class. One of our best students. Has been absolutely great with any program we’ve done as a team. Nothing but positives. It was fitting to put him with guys that lend themselves to the community.”
Buffalo State already has one player who won this award — Rocky Reeves in 2002.
Oswego’s assistant captain, forward Neil Musselwhite, is the only Division III player nominated to represent the East Team in the Skills Challenge. Fans get an opportunity to help decide which finalists will head to Detroit. Musselwhite, whose five shorthanded markers leads the nation, has 16 goals and 11 assists this year for a career total of 37-30-67 in 100 games.
SUNYAC Short Shots
Brockport broke a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals in the third to beat Morrisville, 5-2 … Kyle VanDermale led off the scoring for Plattsburgh with a short-hander in a 4-1 win over Cortland … Andrew Mather scored the final two goals of the game to help Oswego beat Potsdam, 5-1 … Geneseo needed three straight goals in the third to turn a 4-4 tie into a 7-4 win over Morrisville as Trevor Foster scored twice … After Potsdam blew a 2-0 lead over Cortland, Brett Waters got the game winner late in the third on the power play to give Potsdam the victory.
Game of the Week
If we go strictly by the playoff ramifications, there are two games that stand out.
First, let’s mention the Geneseo at Buffalo State game since it has a bit of irony to it, as they are the two teams affected by the recent events.
Morrisville at Potsdam can have significant playoff ramifications if the Mustangs win. For Potsdam, winning this game will keep them in the hunt for home ice in the first round.
The game I’m picking is Brockport at Fredonia. Granted, what happens on Friday could alter the importance of this Saturday matchup, but for now with just four points separating these two teams, it will either virtually decide third place for Fredonia or allow the race to possibly avoid Oswego in the semifinals to go down to the wire.
On the Periphery
One of the interesting side effects of these NCAA sanctions against two SUNYAC schools is to realize just how much of an uneven playing field college sports is on, even when everyone is following the rules properly.
“My feeling is this,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said when asked to comment on the sanctions. “We’re trying to make our league better. Geneseo and Buff State have financial aid. They’re not giving a lot, believe me. The way it’s set up now [in Division III], it’s outrageous. Put it this way, the private schools are doing a lot more and a lot better things than what Geneseo and Buff State were doing.”
I have been asked before and again recently to write an article about the uneven playing field the teams in the SUNYAC face when recruiting players. The reason I’ve never done this is because the coaches who ask me to write this are the same coaches who will never be able to give me the details I need to write such an article.
However, it goes beyond just one conference and beyond just one sport. Pro sports are set up to be as even as possible — profit sharing, even split of television contract money, salary caps, drafts, etc. College sports has nothing of the sort. Sure, they impose limits on scholarships and recruiting activities and number of coaches allowed, but they are minor attempts to keep things level in the grand scheme of things.
Even in baseball which has perhaps the most uneven playing field in professional sport leagues, the disparity between the financial portfolio of the Yankees and Pirates doesn’t even come close to the disparity between a USC, Notre Dame, or Ohio State and a Temple, North Texas, or Arkansas State in football. How about the disparity between a Duke, Kentucky, or UCLA and a Manhattan, Iona, or Boston University in basketball?
Facility disparity isn’t even close either. The difference between the Xcel Energy Center and the Nassau Coliseum pale in comparison to the difference between North Dakota’s Ralph Engelstad Arena and Sacred Heart’s Milford Ice Pavillion.
From athletic budgets to alumni and booster donations to TV contracts to playoff monies to practice facilities to recruiting budgets to stadiums to workout facilities to academic requirements to dorm conditions to coaches salaries … the list goes on and on. The college sports landscape is so uneven, it resembles a double black diamond mogul course.
This Week in the ECAC Northeast-MASCAC: Feb. 4, 2010
Sometimes the best laid plans can go awry.
While I had touched on Curry’s unbeaten conference record last week, the plan this week was to point how little love Curry was getting in the latest polls, despite holding a one point lead over Wentworth for top spot in the ECAC Northeast.
But after voting was completed (and after a one week hiatus), the Leopards jumped back into the latest USCHO.com Division III poll at No. 15, checking in with a higher national ranking then Curry even got votes (two).
With a win over Western New England on Thursday, Curry will jump into first again, after falling out Wednesday when the Leopards rallied in the third period to beat Johnson & Wales, 5-3.
“We’re pleased with our record,” Curry head coach Rob Davies said. “I don’t know if we’re playing as good as we can play. We’re in a position to be first in our league, which isn’t a bad thing, but we put more emphasis on how we are playing.”
Davies said he his looking for more consistency out of his team.
“Any teams wants to be consistent in its play,” he said. “When you play inconsistent, you never know what you’re going to get from one period to the next, or for that matter from one shift to the next.
Still, the Colonels took care of business this past week with a pair of conference wins over Johnson & Wales and Becker, pushing their conference mark to 7-0-1. Steven Jakiel earned both of the wins in net and was named ECAC Northeast Goalie of the Week.
Jakiel is in the midst of his senior year, and third at Curry, after transferring from Division I Michigan following his freshman season.
“We were recruiting him when he was playing for Lincoln in the USHL,” Davies said. “He didn’t get much ice time and it didn’t look like he was going to be in their plans so he opted out and came to Curry,” he said, adding that Jakiel was familiar with Curry after running youth hockey camps on campus.
“He’s been playing well this year. In the past, we’ve rotated but Zach Cardella had a groin injury in the first semester.”
Davies said Cardella will draw the start tonight against Western New England. And if the Golden Bears’ last game is any indication, the senior will have his hands full.
Slugfest on Ice
Someone might want to add a humidor to the rinks at Worcester State and Western New England College.
Both facilities were host to games this past week that resembled a high scoring, bullpen draining slugfest at Coors Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies. (Or in western New England’s case, a dreary, mud soaked sleeper between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns.)
Saturday evening saw visiting Westfield State jump out to an 8-0 lead, finally downing the Lancers 10-5. The teams combined to use five goalies and score five power-play goals. By this writer’s count, 26 players notched a point between the two teams. Heck, winning goalie Ian Wilson even posted two assists on the night.
Prior to hosting non-conference opponent Assumption Tuesday, Western New England dropped a 3-1 decision to Wentworth Sunday, keeping it close until an empty netter sealed the win for the Leopards. Nothing wrong with that, as the Golden Bears have just one conference win, while Wentworth is one point out of first and No. 15 in the country.
“They were right in the game going into the third period,” Davies said of Western New England.
But Western New England probably wished some of its goals counted retroactively, as they got more then enough insurance to turn a 6-3 lead against the Greyhounds into a 12-6 final. Eight players scored for the Golden Bears, led by freshman Anthony Willett, who turned in three goals and three assists. It was just Western New England’s second win of the season and snapped an eight game losing streak during which they had scored only nine goals.
“I looked over the [box score] to see if I was reading it right,” Davies said. “Western New England has played extremely hard, We beat them 5-0 earlier this season, but it was 2-0 midway through the third until we scored three goals on a five minute major. We dominated the shots on goal, but you don’t win because of that. You’ve got to get pucks in the net.”
Almost Breaking Through
While not quite the at the level at Westfield State and Western New England’s high scoring contests, Nichols 7-6 win Saturday over Salve Regina wasn’t exactly a defensive matchup either. The teams combined for seven power-play goals, including two by the Seahawks to take a 6-5 lead in the third.
But Zack Kohn’s tally with the man advantage tied the score at 17:39 and Matt Sayer’s strike seconds later gave the Bisons a 7-6 lead at 18:01, denying Salve Regina’s first ECAC Northeast win of the season. The Seahawks made a small step Wednesday evening, tying Suffolk 4-4 to earn their first conference point of the season.
“We had to work real hard to beat Salve,” Davies said. “It was 2-1 going into the third. I think there’s going to be some surprise teams down the stretch that you think aren’t going to win but do. I just hope it doesn’t happen to us.”
Around the Rest of the ECAC Northeast
Wentworth defeated non-conference foe Stonehill 5-2, Thursday, while Johnson & Wales beat Suffolk 4-2 Saturday Nichols defeated Becker 3-2 on Wednesday. Sayer’s game-winning goal against Salve Regina earned him Player of the Week honors, while teammate Danny Greiner was honored as Rookie of the Week. The forward notched two power-play goals and three assists on the week, including a goal and an assist against Salve Regina’s penalty killing unit.
MASCAC Un-jumbled … for Now
The past week finally broke the stalemate atop the MASCAC, which saw three teams (Westfield State, Fitchburg State, and Salem State) tied for the top spot and one team (Plymouth State) only two points behind.
Fitchburg State now stands alone in first, thanks to wins over Worcester State and Plymouth State.
The Falcons trailed Worcester State 2-1 entering the third but a goal from Andrew Jones tied the game at the 13:25 mark. Fitchburg’s Kevin McCready denied the Lancers’ upset bid with his seventh goal of the season 49 seconds into overtime. The Falcons outshot the Lancers 53-27, but went 0-for-4 on the power play, something which head coach Dean Fuller said had been clicking at a nearly 30 percent rate over the past month.
Fitchburg appeared to on the brink of pushing its winning streak to eight games Saturday, but the Panthers scored four goals in the final 22 minutes of play, including two shorthanded goals in a 36 second span in the third, both by Sean Buckley. But the Falcons withstood the rally to claim sole possession of first. The loss snapped Plymouth State’s five game winning streak.
Elsewhere in the conference, Plymouth State beat Framingham State, 6-2, Thursday, while Salem State easily handled Westfield State, 7-1. The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth put an end to a five game skid. The Corsairs downed Southern New Hampshire, 6-3, Thursday before returning to MASCAC play with a 5-2 win over Framingham State Saturday. Sophomore Giancarlo Capodanno tallied three goals and two assists in UMass-Dartmouth’s two wins, earning Player of the Week honors.
Fitchburg State’s Robert Vorse picked up both the victory’s as the Falcons moved into first, getting Goalie of the Week honors in the process. Framingham State capped off the week with a 4-3 loss to non-conference opponent Stonehill Wednesday.
Loose Pucks
So another Beanpot, another Boston University-Boston College final. It’s gotten to the point that legendary BU coach Jack Parker suggested that the tournament is losing its luster.
Not to say that Northeastern didn’t put up a good fight, but in the end, a few bounces went the Terriers’ way and a few mistakes by the Huskies allowed BU to advance with a 2-1 win.
“I went in and met up with some friends and former teammates and watched the tail end of the BC-Harvard game,” said Davies, who played at BU from 1978-1982 and won two Beanpots with the Terriers. “I stuck around and watched the entire NU-BU game. I met a guy that I had roomed with Kalamazoo in the IHL. I hadn’t seen him since 1983 and his son [Wade Megan] is a freshman at BU.”
While BC dominated Harvard 6-0 and BU ground out a win over the Huskies, Davies says he expects the pace to pick up in the championship.
“This Monday should be a track meet. It’s going to be a pretty fast paced game.”
Chirps
Any comments, questions or concerns, feel free to email me at [email protected]
This Week in the CCHA: Feb. 4, 2010
Thank You, Punxsutawney Fraud
You’ve been had. We’ve all been had.
For reasons clear only to The Weather Channel and the rest of the Media-Greeting Card-Big Pharma complex that controls these United States, Groundhog Day has gained alarming momentum in recent years, spawning a new niche plush toy industry and celebrations that include trademark-infringing Whac-A-Mole ripoffs and predictable PETA protests.
It’s a total ruse. That rodent predicts nothing. The vernal equinox — the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere — arrives on March 20 this year. Groundhog Day is Feb. 2. See your shadow, Dunkirk Dave? Six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil? Yeah, that’s a prediction that takes courage.
(Hint: Do the math, people. Do the math.)
In the spirit of this holiday — which, oddly enough, does not include actual groundhog on any suggested menu — this is a column that is devoted to stating the obvious. Of course, in true Groundhog Day fashion (the movie, not the holiday), longtime readers will argue that I’m perpetuating a theme, as I am well-versed in stating the obvious.
What can I say? “Reaching” is as American a concept as, well, Groundhog Day.
RedHawks Win the Regular-Season Title!
Not yet, but soon.
My good friends and USCHO colleagues, Jim Connelly and Todd Milewski, discussed in this week’s USCHO Extra feature, “Tuesday Morning Quarterback,” that Bemidji State could have secured the regular-season title for the CHA had the Beavers swept Robert Morris this past weekend.
Claiming a conference title in January is early, but as Todd noted, with only four teams in a conference, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.
Then Jim wrote that he was “shocked” to see Miami with a 10-point lead over Michigan State with two games in hand, as though the RedHawks are out of reach. While it’s unlikely that anyone will catch Miami at this point, there are still several teams that can catch the ‘Hawks in theory, given the new math of the CCHA.
At the beginning of the season, we all wondered about how the new CCHA points system would affect the league standings. (Next year, we can turn our attention to an 11-team league. It’s very thoughtful of the conference to provide us with something different to discuss every season.)
Now we know how the three-point games have affected the league. First, we’re all having to rethink how we look at points. A 10-point lead is no longer a five-game lead. You can’t blame Jim Connelly for not considering this; it’s hard to look at Miami’s 51 points at the beginning of February without doing a double take.
Second, we can now see that the three-point system returns the league to some sort of equitable way of divvying up points in our shootout world. Or rather, I’m beginning to wrap my brain around how the new points system seems more equitable. After nearly two seasons with the shootout, I’m leaning toward a five-minute overtime of four-on-four hockey, too.
As for Miami, the RedHawks have eight games and 24 possible points remaining. The second-place Spartans have 41 points currently and six games and 18 points remaining. It’s possible — not probable, nowhere likely — that MSU can catch Miami. Eighteen points would give MSU 59 points, which is currently more than the 51 points that the RedHawks have.
(See? Groundhog Day!)
Because of their current points and number of games remaining, five CCHA teams other than MSU could mathematically finish ahead of Miami in points, although that wouldn’t necessarily translate into any of these teams attaining first place. Third-place Ferris State, fourth-place Lake Superior State, sixth-place Michigan, eighth-place Ohio State and 10th-place Northern Michigan each has the capability of earning more than Miami’s current 51 points.
Wacky and completely unlikely. The RedHawks are unbeaten in their last 18 conference games (14-0-4), dating to their Oct. 24 overtime home loss to Michigan State, Miami’s only CCHA loss this season.
And none of this — not the points, the math, or Miami’s steamroller to a regular-season title — accounts for two losses to Robert Morris (!) to kick off the second half of the season, but perhaps that weekend will be the only second-half blemish for the RedHawks.
Riley Gill Robbed!
Of points, that is.
It’s tough to be the best player on a team that’s not performing well, but it seems to be a familiar refrain in the history of CCHA goalies. Western Michigan’s Riley Gill is just taking his place in history.
Gill (2.79 goals-against average, .922 save percentage) played spectacularly well in two losses against Miami last weekend, especially in Saturday’s heartbreaking 2-1 loss, when the game-winning goal came on a power play at 15:39 in the third, after he’d kept the powerful RedHawks offense from scoring since the 4:22 mark of the first period.
In two games, Gill stopped 86 of 92 shots on goal, including a season-high 47 Saturday — a game in which the RedHawks outshot the Broncos 49-16.
Wolverines, Spartans Renew Rivalry Rippingly!
After Michigan’s five-game sweep of Michigan State in 2008-09 and MSU’s two-game sweep of UM earlier this season, this past weekend’s two games were just what college hockey fans with no dog in this particular hunt needed. I’d argue that fans of each team probably enjoyed the set, too.
In East Lansing Friday, MSU was up 3-0 before the Wolverines made it extremely interesting in the third period following a some pushing and shoving that finally got the Michigan blood going. The Spartans won, 3-2, but only because the game was 60 minutes long.
In Detroit Saturday, UM took a 3-0 lead into the second period, but the Spartans scored four unanswered goals after that, starting with Andrew Rowe’s shorthander at 3:42 in the second and ending with Dean Chelios’ marker at 13:09 in the third.
Two Michigan goals less than three minutes apart — Matt Rust’s shorthanded goal at 15:12 and Chris Brown’s game-winner at 17:53 — gave the Wolverines the 5-4 win.
Both head coaches agreed that, in Friday’s contest, the momentum changed when the mood did, early in the third period when nearly everybody was pushing and shoving in the corner. “It was a real barn-burner, absolutely, but those penalties …,” said MSU coach Rick Comley, his voice trailing. Comley went on to say after the game that had 10 players not engaged in extracurricular activity in the third — after which Wolverines Carl Hagelin and Louie Caporusso found the net — MSU goaltender Drew Palmisano would have earned a shutout.
Michigan coach Red Berenson acknowledged that the feistiness seemed to bring the Wolverines back to life. While he was happy that his team battled back, he didn’t seem to pleased about the motivation.
“I hope it didn’t take a scrum to wake us up,” said Berenson. “There should be emotion between these teams but it should be in better control.”
Saturday’s contest was intense with fewer penalties. Well, fewer penalties called. Ask Spartans player Dustin Gazley about the hit he took from the Michigan bench while battling for the puck along the boards and you may learn a thing or two about the nature of penalties.
After Saturday’s game, Berenson said that his team shouldn’t have had to have battled back in the contest, but that he was pleased with the way the Wolverines “came to play.”
“We were a different team than last night,” said Berenson. “It showed in the first period.”
The Wolverines have shown an amazing resiliency this season, proving that they can become a different team in a matter of 24 hours, or a different team in a matter of eight weeks. At the start of December, Michigan was in 10th place in the CCHA standings and looking for all empirical evidence as though they would sit this NCAA tournament out.
I wouldn’t count out the Wolverines now. In fact, Michigan could earn a first-round bye for the CCHA playoffs. UM’s remaining schedule isn’t exactly light, but the Wolverines do fare well against Bowling Green, Northern Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha, usually. They also have two games in hand on Notre Dame, whom they play twice. The Irish are one point ahead of the Wolverines in the standings, as are the Lakers — and UM has three more conference wins than does LSSU.
Obviously, this is going to be an interesting end.
And This Mistress of the Obvious Cuts This One Short
I’ve had longer columns this season, obviously. Some have also clocked in at about this length — obviously.
Here is more obviousness for you to ponder as you head into the weekend. Happy hockey, everyone!
• The Buckeyes were 4-1-1 in January. This baffles me. Their power play performed at 28.9 percent. Also baffling. They split with Ferris State and Michigan State, two ranked teams, and swept a team they should have swept, Bowling Green. In other words, OSU played in January like I (and many other people) thought that OSU would play all season. I can’t count them out yet.
• The Mavericks earned four of their nine CCHA wins in January. This also baffles me. UNO has never been an easy team for me to figure out, but this season the Mavs’ roller-coaster ride through their last campaign in our fair league has me completely flummoxed. Swept by NMU earlier in the season, UNO crushed the Wildcats two weeks ago, and last weekend beat Notre Dame in South Bend for the first time since Feb. 5, 2005. Another team that I’d like to count out but can’t — hey, they’re leaving — I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Dean Blais somehow get his Mavericks to Joe Louis Arena, an exclamation point on the program’s CCHA tenure.
• CCHA goaltenders are amazing. Miami’s Cody Reichard (1.34 GAA, .934 SV%) leads the nation in stats, but the league is littered with netminders who can, potentially, make a difference. (See Riley Gill, above.) Look at these save percentages: ND’s Mike Johnson (.927), FSU’s Pat Nagle (.926), MSU’s Drew Palmisano (.923), Gill (.922), FSU’s Taylor Nelson (.920), Miami’s Connor Knapp (.919), NMU’s Brian Stewart (.917). That’s eight of the top 20 in the nation, and it’s nothing new.
• The league is 45-27-12 in nonconference play this season. Through March 8 of last year, the league was 46-29-10 against non-CCHA foes.
• The Irish raised $41,604 for the Wounded Warriors Project last weekend by auctioning off their game-worn jerseys. Kevin Deeth’s jersey brought in $1,575. My whole wardrobe combined wouldn’t earn $15 on Craigslist. Nice work.
