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This Week in the ECAC West: Feb. 4, 2010

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Focusing on Challenges

Elmira kept rolling in league play last weekend, steamrolling Utica in a pair of games. The Soaring Eagles poured 49 shots on net Friday night, tallying seven goals to defeat the Pioneers, 7-3.

“The guys played great,” said Elmira head coach Aaron Saul. “It is the time of the year where you need to start focusing on yourself as a team. We are a focused group and are starting to play well.”

Despite outshooting Utica by a 45-23 margin on Saturday, the repeat game was much more difficult for Elmira. The Pioneers came into the contest with a strong game plan and took it to the Soaring Eagles through the first 45 minutes of the game.

“Utica made some great adjustments for Saturday,” said Saul. “They were playing hard. There were times in the second where we were dominating but their goaltender was playing well. Going into the third period, you could tell our guys were ready to come out hard. The chances that we had were going in and it snowballed from there.”

Utica netminder Anthony Luckow stopped all but one of the first 27 shots he faced during the opening two periods. Elmira sophomore Andrew Wilcox scored a shorthanded goal 5:32 into the third period and then the flood gates opened. The Soaring Eagles ripped off four more goals to win the game going away, 6-1.

Two big factors for Elmira still being undefeated in league play are penalty killing and goaltending. This past weekend, Elmira kept the Pioneers off the scoreboard during all nine of their power plays and have killed off a remarkable 93% shorthanded opportunities overall in league play.

“We took a few more penalties than we wanted,” said Saul. “There were a couple of selfish ones. We addressed that. Our PK has done a great job, especially in the backend with our defense.”

Backend defense has certainly been a strong point for Elmira. The Soaring Eagles have only let in 18 goals in 10 league contests this season, by far the lowest in the league.

“The group of six defensemen that usually play are an extremely talented group,” said Saul. “Every day, they seem to want to keep the goals under two. They take a lot of pride defensively in their own end.”

The second big factor has been goaltending. Senior Casey Tuttle has been a standout ever since he came into the league as a freshman. He currently leads the ECAC West in goal against average (2.27) and is second in save percentage (.916).

“He’s getting challenged every day with our two other goaltenders,” said Saul. “He’s had some time off, when the other guys have gotten a chance to play and done well. In that position, we are very strong and deep. Casey has benefitted from the other two guys pushing him in practice week to week.”

Junior Kevin Bolin and freshman Darren McDonald have spelled Tuttle in three games each this season, putting up strong goaltending numbers themselves to create one of the best trio’s of netminders in division III.

Playoff Update

With only three weekends of play remaining in the regular season, the league standings are starting to sort out. The upper echelon of teams are creating some distance from those further down but there are still plenty of battles to come.

With its pair of losses this past weekend, Utica can now finish no higher than second place. Even that is a lofty goal at this point as the Pioneers would almost have to win out to make that happen. It is crucial for Utica to sweep Lebanon Valley at home this weekend to keep the Pioneers hope of a home playoff game alive.

Neumann also finds itself eliminated from the regular season title. The Knights can strengthen their case for second place this weekend as they host Manhattanville. If Neumann can sweep the Valiants, they will pull within two points of that coveted position.

Hobart is still in the hunt for first place — at least mathematically. But unless the Statesmen can knock Elmira off their roll this weekend, the Statesmen will find themselves battling with all of the rest for second place.

Manhattanville has the best chance to chase down Elmira for the regular season title, but the Valiants must hold serve over the next two weekends. If they can fend off Neumann and Utica, Manhattanville would setup a final weekend showdown against Elmira for the title.

The magic number for Elmira is seven points. If the Soaring Eagles can gain at least three wins and a tie in their last five games, Elmira will clinch the regular season title no matter what any other team does.

Game of the Week

Elmira hosts Hobart this weekend in the only game for each team. Elmira won the previous two meetings between these teams this season back in November by scores of 3-2 and 2-0.

However, the Soaring Eagles haven’t swept Hobart in a season since 2001-2002. That was Mark Taylor’s second year as head coach of the Statesmen and he has brought the team quite a ways since then.

Games between Elmira and Hobart are always exciting affairs with so much on the line.

“It will be an exciting one,” said Saul. “Hobart is playing really well. It is going to be a tough challenge for us. They are an extremely hard working team and won’t quite until the last buzzer goes. They have great team speed and their work ethic is incredible.”

Backman’s Goal: Taking Yale Back

By Roman J. Uschak
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Yale made it back to the big time last season in claiming both the ECAC Hockey and Ivy League crowns, and one of the linchpins on that squad was forward Sean Backman.

Backman paced all Yale goal scorers with 20 goals in 32 games in 2008-09, including six multiple-goal efforts. His finest outing was his hat trick in the ECAC championship game against Cornell at the Times Union Center last March. That 5-0 win propelled the Bulldogs to their first-ever ECAC playoff title, and first NCAA tournament berth since 1998.

“Playing in the final in Albany was great,” recalled Backman, who also garnered tournament MVP honors. “We were excited to get the first title in school history, and to get a hat trick in that game was very special for me.”

Entering the 2009-10 campaign, Backman had averaged nearly a point per game in his collegiate career, tallying 56 goals and 35 assists for 91 points in 93 outings. Included in those totals were 20 power-play goals, eight game-winning tallies, and three shorthanded markers.

Yale coach Keith Allain, however, said some of the most important things that Backman brings to the Bulldogs besides scoring ability are energy and passion.

“He competes harder than anyone in practice, and that raises the level of the rest of our group,” said Allain.

A 5-foor-8, 165-pound native of Cos Cob, Conn., Backman came to New Haven after first starring in prep school at Avon Old Farms, where he earned three letters and won two New England championships. He then skated with Green Bay (USHL) in 2005-06, where he led the Gamblers in scoring with 29 goals and 57 points in his lone junior campaign and was grateful for the experience.

“It was one of the best years I’ve had playing hockey, and it was a good move,” he said. “Going from prep school to Yale would have been harder, and this was a smoother transition for me.”

College for him was also a case of coming home.

“I grew up watching Yale play,” said Backman. “Hockey also isn’t going to last forever, and I’ll have an Ivy League education to fall back on.”

As a freshman, Backman led Yale in scoring with 18 goals and 31 points, while earning a host of awards that included ECAC co-rookie of the year and Ivy League rookie of the year as the Bulldogs finished 11-17-3. Yale then improved to 16-14-4 the next winter, as Backman again paced the Blue and White with 18 goals and 27 points.

Last year proved to be another breakout season for both the Bulldogs, who won 24 games in all, and Backman, who finished third on the squad in scoring with 20 goals and 33 points. He earned both second-team All-ECAC and first-team All-Ivy accolades, and was also a nominee for the Walter Brown Award as the top American-born player in the New England Division I college ranks (he’s a nominee again this season).

“I try to pride myself on my speed and my shot,” said Backman. “I’m not the biggest guy, so I have to excel in other areas. The team looks to me for offense, and I try to pride myself in those areas.”

“He’s a shoot-first kind of guy,” added Allain, “and he has a great shot.”

Besides the improved year-by-year record, Backman has also seen an overall attitude change in the Yale locker room as his career has progressed.

“My freshman year, if we lost a game, it was no big deal,” he said. “Now we’ve reached a level of success, and our level of expectation is higher.”

Backman started off his senior season with five goals in his first six games, including a two-goal effort in a 3-3 tie at Union on Nov. 7 where he notched the tying marker with just seven seconds left in regulation. He then posted three assists against Sacred Heart on Nov. 24, and scored twice in a 7-4 win over then-fourth-ranked Quinnipiac on Dec. 4 as the Bulldogs closed out 2009 with a 7-3-2 mark.

He rang in the new year with two goals in a 6-1 win over Ferris State on Jan. 2 at the Badger Hockey Showdown to reach 10 goals, and he has added three since for a 13-9–22 scoring line in 21 outings.

“There’s no question we look to him for offensive production, but he brings so much more with his approach and passion,” said Allain. “As a coach, he epitomizes the way I want my teams to play.”

A political science major, Backman hopes to parlay his on-ice experience into a professional playing career. He would then like to one day move into a player personnel or hockey management position after he hangs up his skates.

“I want to play this season out and see what offers come my way,” he said. “I’d [eventually] like to get involved in the NHL and work for a pro hockey team.”

In the meantime, he’s savoring his last go-around in both the ECAC and the Ivy League.

“Every time we’re away, I cherish it,” he said. “You don’t know if you’ll be back there to play, but I try not to think about it too much. You concentrate on the task at hand, but it does feel like it went by faster than anticipated.”

Backman hasn’t been drafted, but he still has a personal connection to the pros. His father, Michael, played eight years professionally, including parts of three NHL seasons with the New York Rangers.

“I grew up playing for my dad, who coached me all the way to high school,” said Backman. “We talk after every game, and he gives me little pointers and still helps me now, even playing with Yale.”

The challenge for the Bulldogs is to improve on last season’s success, including an all-too-short stay in the national tournament — Yale was ousted in the opening round of the East Regional.

“Ever since we were beaten by Vermont, it’s left a sour taste,” said Backman. “We want to get to the ultimate prize at the end, and hopefully we can get there.”

Live Q&A with Paul Kelly

USCHO Staff Report
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Below is a replay of a Q&A with Paul Kelly, the executive director of College Hockey Inc.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Feb. 2, 2010

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski
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Jim: Well, Todd, it’s the first week of February, which means we have Beanpot hockey to talk about. Yet again, Boston University and Boston College will meet in next Monday’s title tilt after BC dismantled Harvard, 6-0, and BU held off Northeastern, 2-1. It’s the 20th time these teams have met for the title and I was intrigued after Monday night’s game when BU coach Jack Parker said he believes that because of the success of BC and BU of late, the tournament is beginning to lose its luster. Honestly, he has a point. Monday night, the Harvard fan section was as empty as I ever recall seeing it. The Crimson haven’t won the title since 1993. Northeastern brought its usual throng of fans — and any other non-BU fan in the building was rooting for the Huskies in the nightcap. But again all go home disappointed. Now I’ve followed the Beanpot all my life and I don’t see the tournament facing any sort of demise. But for certain I can say, even I’m sick of seeing BC and BU play for the title.

Todd: Maybe it would be something different if BU and BC didn’t already play at least three times a year, but, yeah, it’s getting a little old. And kudos to Parker for knowing that, even if it means his team is doing well in the tournament. The tricky thing is, if the Terriers and the Eagles are just that much better than Harvard and Northeastern historically — at least on the first two Mondays of February — what’s to stop them from meeting in the finals other than the years when they play in the first round? I don’t think there’s any question that BC and BU are Boston’s two powerhouses, so it only seems natural that they go for the title. But as far as the Beanpot having relevance outside of Boston, it’s a little hard to define. I typically follow the Beanpot fairly closely, even without having it on TV. I plan on seeing it in person some day. But I’m probably not your typical Midwesterner that way.

Jim: I agree. The e-mails I’ve gotten through the year shows that the Beanpot isn’t overly relevant outside of Boston. But as Parker points out, if BC and BU keep winning it will even lose its relevance in Boston. So Beanpot aside, plenty going on in the college hockey world last weekend. The marquee matchup between Denver and North Dakota resulted in a Denver sweep in which the Pioneers allowed just two goals to the Sioux. Two questions I have after this series: Just how good is Denver and is North Dakota a little bit overrated?

Todd: Very good, and very much so. First, to Denver. I think the Pioneers are solid all over the ice. I like the balance they throw at teams up front, with stars like Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Ruegsegger but also guys like Jesse Martin throwing in goals. The defense has some potential young stars in Patrick Wiercioch and Matt Donovan. And, probably most importantly, Marc Cheverie is more than you could ask for most nights in goal. Put that together and there’s a tough team to beat. As for North Dakota, I’ve been surprised at how high the Sioux been ranked in our poll for weeks, and I still am. I don’t think they’re a top-10 team — not that they don’t have the potential, just that they aren’t right now. They’re 14th in the RPI, out of the tournament in the PairWise (tied for 15th) and just not playing well right now. A lot of it goes back to losing team centerpiece Chay Genoway to a concussion, but if it really was just one player causing this team to go, things may not have been that solid there, anyway.

Jim: Your assessment of the Sioux is along the lines of what I thought. It’s been amazing that they’ve remained so high in our poll, even this week falling from fourth to ninth, despite having a losing record in league play. That could be a testament to the fact that none of the teams near the top of the poll are overpowering. Last week, only Miami, Denver and Cornell swept their weekend series. Boston College played only one game and won, but all of the other top 10 teams from last week’s poll dropped either one or both games. The bottom 10 was even worse. None of the teams picked up two wins and the teams ranked 11 through 20 last week had a combined record of 6-10-3 last weekend. So is this parity?

Todd: I guess you could call it that. Of course, a lot of the ranked teams played each other last week, too. Cornell’s one of those teams that interests me right now, because I honestly have no gut feeling on whether they’re going to be in or out when the NCAA field is announced. The Big Red are in first place in ECAC Hockey, but they’re just 13th in the RPI, and No. 35 in strength of schedule (one spot below Bemidji State, for the record). But it looks like they have a bit of a run going (5-1-1 since losing twice at the Florida College Classic), so maybe they’re surging to the finish. Any gut feeling on that?

Jim: I’ve seen Cornell play just once this year but was impressed that day with its dismantling of what has proven to be a very good New Hampshire team. The Big Red moved the puck very well that afternoon and had a Wildcats team that at that time was coming off a 23-day layoff running around all game. That, in fact, was the game that seemingly got things going for Cornell. The team’s only loss since then was against North Dakota, which is ironic given our conversation. Makes you feel like you’re on a merry-go-round, eh?

Todd: No kidding. And I see no signs of it stopping any time soon. We’re hearing a lot about the pack atop the WCHA standings, with five teams separated by three points. But the ECAC isn’t far off in terms of a race to the top in that its top four teams are separated by two points and the top six by just five points. Figures to be a good battle for the title and first-round byes there. One place where there’s no race for the title is the CHA, where Bemidji State has a 10-point lead over Robert Morris. In fact, if the Beavers had beaten the Colonials last Saturday, they would have wrapped up at least a share of the final CHA regular-season title. In January. I guess this is what happens when you have one really good team in a four-team league. Let’s hope we don’t ever see it again.

Jim: It’s unlikely we’ll ever see a team have a chance to clinch the league in January. I can remember the 1992-93 season when Maine lost just one game. Even that team didn’t clinch until mid-February. But you bring up a good point about league races. Though as close as the ECAC and WCHA are, the CCHA has become a runaway train for Miami. I haven’t followed things close enough and was shocked to see the RedHawks with a 10-point lead AND two games in hand over Michigan State. Think we can call this race based on exit polls. So what have you got an eye on this weekend?

Todd: It’s a relatively light week in terms of big-time matchups. The biggest in terms of attendance will be the Camp Randall Hockey Classic on Saturday in Madison, with Wisconsin hosting Michigan on an ice rink built on top of a football field. The crowd almost certainly won’t break the attendance record like was hoped in the beginning, and so, to me, it becomes just another outdoor game — without the mystique of Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and the like. But the game does have national picture importance, with Michigan trying to claw back into the race and Wisconsin looking to negate an earlier loss to the Wolverines. So that’ll get a lot of the attention this weekend. Until next week …

Bracketology: Feb. 2, 2010

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It’s time once again to do what we like to call Bracketology — college hockey style. It’s our weekly look at how I believe the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship Committee will use the PairWise to determine the NCAA tournament bracket.

If you’re new to Bracketology, click here for the background.

Here is the top 16 of the current PairWise Rankings (PWR), and the conference leaders (through all games of Feb. 2):

1 Miami
2 Denver
3 Wisconsin
4 St. Cloud State
5 Bemidji State
6 Minnesota-Duluth
7t Ferris State
7t Massachusetts
9 New Hampshire
10 Colorado College
11t Michigan State
11t Boston College
11t Cornell
14 Vermont
15t North Dakota
15t Union
15t Maine
— RIT

Current conference leaders based on winning percentage:
Atlantic Hockey: RIT
CHA: Bemidji State
CCHA: Miami
ECAC: Cornell
Hockey East: New Hampshire
WCHA: Denver

Step One

From the committee’s report, choose the 16 teams in the tournament.

We break ties in the PWR by looking at the individual comparisons among the tied teams, and add in any current league leaders that are not currently in the Top 16. The only team that is not is RIT.

From there, we can start looking at the bubble in a more detailed fashion.

The bubbles consist of Ferris and Massachusetts at 7, Michigan State, BC and Cornell at 11, and North Dakota, Union and Maine at 15.

Looking at the head-to-head PairWise comparisons we break all of our ties.

Ferris State wins the head-to-head with Massachusetts.

Michigan State beats both BC and Cornell, while BC beats Cornell. And North Dakota beats both Union and Maine, while Union beats Maine.

Therefore the 16 teams in the tournament, in rank order, are:

1 Miami
2 Denver
3 Wisconsin
4 St. Cloud State
5 Bemidji State
6 Minnesota-Duluth
7 Ferris State
8 Massachusetts
9 New Hampshire
10 Colorado College
11 Michigan State
12 Boston College
13 Cornell
14 Vermont
15 North Dakota
16 RIT

Step Two

Now it’s time to assign the seeds.

No. 1 Seeds — Miami, Denver, Wisconsin, St. Cloud State
No. 2 Seeds — Bemidji State, Minnesota-Duluth, Ferris State, Massachusetts
No. 3 Seeds — New Hampshire, Colorado College, Michigan State, Boston College
No. 4 Seeds — Cornell, Vermont, North Dakota, RIT

Step Three

Place the No. 1 seeds in regionals. Following the guidelines, there are no host teams in this grouping, so that rule does not need to be enforced.

We now place the other No. 1 seeds based on proximity to the regional sites.

No. 1 Miami is placed in the Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind.
No. 2 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Paul, Minn.
No. 3 Wisconsin is placed in the East Regional in Albany, N.Y.
No. 4 St. Cloud State is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass.

Step Four

Now we place the other 12 teams so as to avoid intra-conference matchups if possible.

Begin by filling in each bracket by banding groups. Remember that teams are not assigned to the regional closest to their campus sites by ranking order within the banding (unless you are a host school, in which case you must be assigned to your home regional).

If this is the case, as it was last year, then the committee should seed so that the quarterfinals are seeded such that the four regional championships are played by No. 1 vs. No. 8, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.

So therefore:

No. 2 Seeds

No. 8 Massachusetts is placed in No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 7 Ferris State is placed in No. 2 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 3 Wisconsin’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 5 Bemidji State is placed in No. 4 St. Cloud’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

No. 3 Seeds

Our bracketing system has one Regional containing seeds 1, 8, 9, and 16, another with 2, 7, 10, 15, another with 3, 6, 11, 14 and another with 4, 5, 12 and 13.

Therefore:

No. 9 New Hampshire is placed in No. 8 Massachusetts’ Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 10 Colorado College is placed in No. 7 Ferris State’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 11 Michigan State is placed in No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Boston College is placed in No. 5 Bemidji’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

No. 4 Seeds

One more time, taking No. 16 v. No. 1, No. 15 v. No. 2, etc.

No. 16 RIT is sent to No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 15 North Dakota is sent to No. 2 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 14 Vermont is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 Cornell is sent to No. 4 St. Cloud’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

The brackets as we have set them up:

West Regional:
North Dakota vs. Denver
Colorado College vs. Ferris State

Midwest Regional:
RIT vs. Miami
New Hampshire vs. Massachusetts

East Regional:
Vermont vs. Wisconsin
Michigan State vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional:
Cornell vs. St. Cloud State
Boston College vs. Bemidji State

Our first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have a few.

We have to switch out North Dakota, but the only place where North Dakota can go is to play Miami. Therefore, we switch North Dakota with RIT.

Then we have to switch out New Hampshire, which we do by switching with Colorado College.

So our tournament now becomes:

West Regional:
RIT vs. Denver
New Hampshire vs. Ferris State

Midwest Regional:
North Dakota vs. Miami
Colorado College vs. Massachusetts

East Regional:
Vermont vs. Wisconsin
Michigan State vs. Minnesota-Duluth

Northeast Regional:
Cornell vs. St. Cloud State
Boston College vs. Bemidji State

Do we like the way this looks?

We have no intraconference matchups, so we are OK. Integrity also looks OK.

Do we have an attendance issue?

Sure looks like we do.

Let’s do the same thing we did last week. If you recall, we put forth the theory that Denver has to fly, so it can be sent anywhere. If Wisconsin and St. Cloud both go east, we now have three teams flying. So to minimize the flying, we take the remainder of the top seeds and assign it to the West Regional.

In this case, we assign Wisconsin to St. Paul, then move Denver to Worcester.

Using the same bracketing procedure as above we now wind up with this bracket:

West Regional:
Vermont vs. Wisconsin
Michigan State vs. Minn.-Duluth

Midwest Regional:
North Dakota vs. Miami
Colorado College vs. Massachusetts

East Regional:
Cornell vs. St. Cloud State
Boston College vs. Bemidji State

Northeast Regional:
RIT vs. Denver
New Hampshire vs. Ferris State

Let’s take a look.

St. Paul is good with Wisconsin, UMD and Michigan State.

Fort Wayne is good with Miami and North Dakota.

Albany is good with Cornell and Boston College.

Worcester is OK with New Hampshire.

So that’s where I’ll hang my hat this week.

Check the Bracketology Blog for other items and we’ll see you here next week for the next Bracketology.

Notre Dame’s Slaggert Honored for Assistant Work

USCHO Staff Report
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Notre Dame associate coach Andy Slaggert has been named the recipient of the Terry Flanagan Award, presented to an assistant coach for his career body of work.

Slaggert is in his 17th season with the Fighting Irish and has served under three head coaches — Ric Schafer, Dave Poulin and Jeff Jackson.

The award is presented by the American Hockey Coaches Association, which also announced six other award winners:

• John Dunham as the winner of the John MacInnes Award for showing a great concern for amateur hockey and youth programs. Dunham coached Trinity from 1970 to 2008.

• John Gardner as the winner of the John Mariucci Award for a secondary school coach who best exemplifies the spirit, dedication and enthusiasm of the former Minnesota coach. Gardner has coached at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut for 35 years.

• John Gilbert as the winner of the Jim Fullerton Award for an individual who loves the purity of the sport. Gilbert is a longtime hockey writer who currently writes for wcha.com.

• Peter Van Buskirk as the winner of the John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award for a coach who has contributed to the overall growth and development of hockey in the United States. Van Buskirk is in his 10th season as coach of the Holy Cross women’s team.

• Kelly Dyer Hayes as the winner of the Joe Burke Award for a person who has given outstanding contribution, support and dedication to women’s hockey. Dyer Hayes is a former Northeastern and U.S. National Team goaltender.

• Helen Bert as the winner of the inaugural Women’s Ice Hockey Founders Award for contributing to the overall growth and development of women’s hockey in the U.S. As associate athletic director at Providence, Bert was instrumental in forming the Friars’ women’s program and the ECAC women’s league.

Dyer Hayes and Bert will be honored at the AHCA Celebration of Women’s Hockey in Naples, Fla., on April 30. The other award winners will be honored at the AHCA Celebration of Men’s Hockey on May 1.

UMass’ Marcou Among Walter Brown Award Candidates for Third Time

USCHO Staff Report
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National scoring co-leader James Marcou of Massachusetts, Massachusetts-Lowell senior Kory Falite and Yale senior Sean Backman are among the nominees for the Walter Brown Award for the second straight year.

The award is presented to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

Sixteen players are on the list released by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston on Monday.

Marcou, a junior who has 40 points in 26 games, is a nominee for the third time.

Eleven of the candidates are from Hockey East, with three from ECAC Hockey and two from Atlantic Hockey. The list is made up of 11 forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender.

Five teams — Boston College, Boston University, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Yale — each have two nominees.

Besides Marcou, Falite and Backman, the candidates are:

• Nick Bonino, jr., F, Boston University
• Bobby Butler, sr., F, New Hampshire
• Mark Fayne, sr., D, Providence
• Brian Gibbons, jr., F, Boston College
• Nick Johnson, sr., F, Sacred Heart
• Blake Kessel, so., D, New Hampshire
• Eric Lampe, sr., F, Quinnipiac
• Broc Little, jr., F, Yale
• Rob Madore, so., G, Vermont
• Marc Menzione, sr., F, Bentley
• Carl Sneep, sr., D, Boston College
• David Warsofsky, so., D, Boston University
• Casey Wellman, so., F, Massachusetts

The Gridiron Club will announce the finalists and winner of the 58th Walter Brown Award in March, following league playoffs and before the start of the NCAA tournament play.

Parker: ‘People Are Sick’ of BU, BC in Beanpot Final

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A few minutes after Boston University’s nail-biting 2-1 victory over Northeastern in Monday’s Beanpot semifinals, Terriers coach Jack Parker said all the things he was supposed to say.

Praise the other team? Check.

Proud of your own guys? Check.

Happy to be playing in the Beanpot final? Check.

But then, Parker went off script, and made some truly surprising comments.

Boston University's Eric Gryba and Kevin Shattenkirk celebrate their Beanpot semifinal win over Northeastern (photo: Melissa Wade).

Boston University’s Eric Gryba and Kevin Shattenkirk celebrate their Beanpot semifinal win over Northeastern (photo: Melissa Wade).

“It’s not a good thing for the Beanpot if BU and BC win it all the time. The tournament loses some of its luster if it is always the same teams,” he said, acknowledging the cavalier attitude of those that refer to this tournament as the “BU Invitational.”

“You know who wants BU and BC every year? BU and BC! That’s it. People will get sick of it … no, people are sick of it.”

Parker’s comments mirrored those heard from college hockey fans across the country, who just don’t get the appeal of the Beanpot. The primary complaint is that two schools — Boston University and Boston College — rule the roost. And it is a deserved reputation, because you have to go back to 1993 before finding one of the other two teams winning the ‘Pot.

“I won three Beanpots as a player, and I always tell my players that I want them to feel what I felt,” Parker continued.

“But I want Harvard to know what it is like to win it. I want Northeastern to know what it is like. Maybe not on my watch — maybe not against us. But it will happen eventually, and it will be good for the health of the Beanpot when it does.

“And it won’t be long before it happens, with the way [Harvard coach] Teddy [Donato] and [Northeastern coach] Greg [Cronin] are coaching and recruiting.”

Hall of Fame

Three players were inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame this year: Northeastern goaltender Tim Marshall, BC forward Bob Sweeney and Harvard’s Fran Toland.

Marshall was the starting goalie for the Huskies when they won the ‘Pot in 1984, and was named tournament MVP. Sweeney, who enjoyed an 11-year NHL career, won the Beanpot and was named tournament MVP as a freshman in 1983.

Toland, who was selected as a “Special Category” inductee, never played a single game in the Beanpot. Toland served as associate athletic director at Harvard for more than four decades, and served as a member of the Beanpot Committee.

Deja Vu All Over Again

The first-round pairings, BC-Harvard in the early game, and BU-Northeastern in the nightcap, is exactly the same as the second round match-ups from last year. Even the outcomes were the same, as BC downed Harvard in last year’s consolation game, and BU defeated the Huskies in the title game.

Change Of Venue

With BU and BC scheduled to meet in the championship game at the Garden next Monday, it will be the fourth meeting of the two teams this season. More impressively, it will be in the fourth different location — the two teams played in BU’s Agganis Arena on Dec. 5, in Fenway Park on Jan. 8, and in Chestnut Hill at BC’s Conte Forum on Jan. 22.

“We had a great game at Fenway. It was like Walt Disney created a hockey game,” said Parker. “It was in front of the largest crowd we’ve ever played for — maybe the largest crown we’ll ever play for.

“And we played in front of 18,000 fans at Madison Square Garden against Cornell, and that was a great game.

“But nothing compares to a Beanpot final. The energy and excitement in this building will be incredible.”

Should the two teams make the NCAA tournament and play in one of the regionals or in the Frozen Four, that would be two teams playing at five different venues in one season.

Senior Citizens

The Eagles’ 6-0 thrashing of Harvard seemed pretty perfunctory, but BC coach Jerry York thought it wouldn’t have happened without the leadership coming from the upper class.

“I thought our senior class was outstanding,” he gushed. “Those four players really stood out.

“Ben Smith with the first goal; then Matty Price scored a huge goal for us [BC’s second, 18 seconds into the second period]. And Carl Sneep scored the last goal. And Matt Lombardi is just a big physical presence for us out on the ice.”

All told, the BC senior class had six points in the game.

Oswego Strengthens Hold on Division III’s Top Spot

By Nicholas Jon Wood
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The Oswego Express just keeps on rolling.

In their biggest test of 2010, the Lakers prevailed again, downing arch rival Plattsburgh, 3-2, to extend their winning streak to 19 games. Earning an additional first place vote this week, they have been atop the Division III poll for two consecutive months.

Second ranked Norwich, though having their top tallies cut in half, remains the only unblemished team after a successful road weekend. They blanked the University of Massachusetts-Boston, 2-0, and skated to a 3-3 tie with Babson, after evening the game with an extra-attacker goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

After two wins over in-state rivals Stevens Point and Eau Claire, St. Norbert remained in third. St. Scholastica had similar success against Wisconsin teams, shutting out both No. 14 River Falls (6-0) and Stout (3-0) to move one spot up to fourth.

The Cardinals valiant effort against the Lakers failed to impress the voters as Plattsburgh fell one spot to fifth.

Elmira and Amherst, two equally hot teams, remaining in sixth and seventh, respectively, after each posting two wins on the weekend.

Despite being idle last weekend, Gustavus Adolphus rose two spots to No. 8.
Williams College remained in the ninth position.

The Hamline Pipers, after splitting a home-and-home series with Augsburg, dropped two spots to No. 10.

Middlebury College remained hot, besting both No. 15 Colby (7-4) and Bowdoin (5-2) to leapfrog Adrian into a tie with Hamline. The Bulldogs moved down one position after outscoring host Finlandia, 13-1.

Manhattanville and UW-River Falls remained at Nos. 13 and 14 while — in a mirror image of last week — Wentworth (three wins on the week) replaced Colby (two losses) in the top 15.

Northern Light

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With a 1-1 tie with less than six minutes remaining in Monday’s Beanpot game, Boston University freshman Alex Chiasson took a cross-ice pass from David Warsofsky and raced up the right wing on a two-on-one break.

Would he be able to break the deadlock with the biggest goal of his life to date?

Pas de problème pour une ailier droite de Québec.

For those who read the last paragraph and believed that they stumbled on a new Web site called French Canadian Hockey Online, well, au contraire. The Beanpot tournament’s history may be dominated by kids who grew up dreaming of playing in the home of Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque, but there aren’t so many local products in the local classic these days. Thus it should be no surprise that a kid from St. Augustin, Quebec, scored the game-winner — just three years after he started speaking English.

Alex Chiasson broke a third-period tie to lift Boston University into the Beanpot final (photo: Melissa Wade).

Alex Chiasson broke a third-period tie to lift Boston University into the Beanpot final (photo: Melissa Wade).

A highly touted recruit, Chiasson scored two goals in his first collegiate game and has been on the top forward lines for the Terriers for the majority of the games since then. He scored four goals in his first seven collegiate games before an injury knocked him out of the lineup and continued to plague him even after his return to action.

“I got injured with a concussion in practice — my first one,” Chiasson said. “It was hard for me going through it for a couple of weeks. After Thanksgiving I was on and off for different games. I went home for Christmas and rested up and felt better about myself. I had a meeting with Coach and now I know I have a pretty big job to do on the team — to score goals and make things happen in the offensive zone. I’m playing my best right now and enjoying my time at BU.”

After Monday’s nail-biting 2-1 win, Terriers coach Jack Parker reflected on the phenom — the 38th overall draft pick by the Dallas Stars in last year’s NHL draft — and his play this season. “He jumped off right off the bat,” Parker said. “He took a little bit of a slump in November and wasn’t playing as well as he was earlier. He seemed to be questioning how hard he should go offensively as opposed to where he should be defensively.

“I think freshmen have a hard time getting acclimated and realizing that it seems like we’re asking a lot defensively, but really if you just take care of A, B, and C — then you can go be who you are. I think he’s much more comfortable in his defensive role, as is [fellow freshman Wade] Megan. They know they can do what they’re supposed to do out there.”

Parker has worked individually with the 6-foot-4 right wing and given him plenty of reminders. “Just keeping my feet moving, going to hard to the net, and finishing my checks,” Chiasson reported. “I have a pretty good shot, so I try to use it as much as possible. He’s been really good with me, and I guess it’s helped.”

Chiasson’s freshman year has given him the opportunity to play on several big-stage games, including contests at Madison Square Garden and Fenway Park. Still, scoring such a big goal in an NHL rink is his biggest hockey thrill to date. “Actually, the first time I heard about the Beanpot was when I was playing at Northwood Prep School [in Lake Placid, N.Y.],” Chiasson said. “It’s different when you actually play here than when you just hear about it. It was a great experience tonight. It’s a great feeling to get that win in the first game, and now we’re playing BC next week.”

Terriers captain Kevin Shattenkirk raved about the winger and his classmates. “I think all of our freshmen played great tonight, and I think that’s due to the fact that we’ve played in a lot of big games this year,” Shattenkirk said “It’s really going to help us down the road and will get us ready for next Monday night.”

If Chiasson can get another big goal a week hence, BU fans may need to stretch their vocabulary to include c’est magnifique.

Four Repeat as Humanitarian Nominees

USCHO Staff Report
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Four repeat nominees are among the 18 college hockey players nominated for the 2010 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award.

Colgate senior Ethan Cox, Denver senior Brandon Vossberg, St. Cloud State senior Caitlin Hogan and Brockport senior Todd Sheridan are on the list again; all were nominated last year as well.

The other nominees:

• Bobby Butler, senior, New Hampshire
• Kevin Deeth, senior, Notre Dame
• Kirsten Dier, senior, Amherst
• Jon Globke, sr. New England College
• Barry Goers, sr., Massachusetts-Lowell
• Dion Knelsen, sr., Alaska
• Sam Kuzyk, jr., Adrian
• Shareef Labreche, sr., Buffalo State
• Zach Miller, sr., Williams
• Mario Mjelleli, jr., Augsburg
• Brigid O’Gorman, jr., Connecticut College
• Jordan Pietrus, sr., Brown
• Garrett Raboin, sr., St. Cloud State
• Brett Watson, sr., Massachusetts

The award honors college hockey’s finest citizen, someone who gives back to his or her community.

The finalists will be announced later this month, and the recipient will be announced at the Frozen Four in Detroit on April 9.

For more on the award, visit hockeyhumanitarian.org.

Beanpot Slumber Party

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If this story is as dull as the Beanpot opener, you’ll be asleep before the next paragraph.

You still there?

Sadly, only one team showed up for this first half of the Battle for Boston. Harvard wasn’t the team.

The word coming out of Cambridge was that the Crimson had recovered from their 2-10-2 start and were playing much better. Witness their three straight wins in the middle of January over Yale, Dartmouth, and Union. For the uninitiated, two of those victories were certified major upsets. At the time, Yale and Union were ranked fifth and 13th in the country, respectively.

By the time Brian Gibbons gave Boston College a 5-0 lead in the third period, it was clear how out of it Harvard was (photo: Melissa Wade).

By the time Brian Gibbons gave Boston College a 5-0 lead in the third period, it was clear how out of it Harvard was (photo: Melissa Wade).

Despite a tie at Rensselaer and a 2-1 loss to Princeton since those three heady wins, Harvard seemed poised to at least make a good showing against 14th ranked Boston College.

So much for that idea.

Several minutes into the game, BC held a 1-0 lead and had outshot Harvard, 7-2. In fairness, the Eagles had enjoyed two power plays, the second of which they scored on. But those man advantages had been fairly won as the Crimson couldn’t match BC’s speed. Chasing after guys you can’t catch, especially in your own zone, isn’t a recipe for winning hockey.

When BC fans began chanting during one TV timeout, this writer interpreted the words as “Please start playing!” That would have been one of the most creative, and at the same time stunningly accurate, chants of all time.

Sadly, it was too good to be true. The fans were merely berating the Harvard band, begging it to stop playing.

Yours truly, however, was hoping that Harvard would in fact get off the stick and give BC a game. Exciting games are fun to watch and a lot more fun to write (and to read) about. Boring games, not so.

And this one seemed decidedly one-sided even though the first period ended with the score just 1-0.

Nonetheless, hope springs eternal, doesn’t it? Santa Claus really is working on next year’s toys, every last one of us will find our soul mates and live happily ever after, and that last piece of carrot cake in the press room had a fighting chance even after I spotted it.

Harvard’s hopes lasted all of 18 seconds into the second period. Matt Price scored and the Crimson were for all intents dead men walking.

Pat Mullane made it 3-0 eight minutes later, Chris Kreider widened the gap further in the third and when BC went on a five-on-three, the pallbearers began limbering up. Brian Gibbons and Carl Sneep completed the romp with two power-play goals, finalizing the score at 6-0.

In short, quite the snoozefest. A jaded observer might even wonder if the misconducts taken by two Crimson players late in the third period were subconscious attempts to escape the fait accompli.

Perhaps Boston College will dominate all other teams every bit as thoroughly down the stretch and no blame should be sent Harvard’s way. The Eagles are, after all, a very talented bunch.

But in the Beanpot, teams are supposed to rise to the occasion. The Crimson presumably tried as hard as they could but … well, the outcome wasn’t pretty.

“I don’t think we gave ourselves a chance to win,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said after the loss. “They beat us to all the loose pucks. They used their speed to force us into taking penalties.

“They were able to make us play the game they wanted to play. Their speed put us back on our heels. They were able to pin us in our zone and get the matchups they wanted.”

Harvard’s academic reputation, of course, is that regardless of its athletes’ won-loss record, they will still go on to be the country’s leaders and captains of industry. Assuming that to be true, one can only hope that their success in “the real world” won’t reflect their on-ice results on this evening.

Otherwise, our grandchildren will all be speaking Chinese.

Cornell Returns to Top 5 in USCHO.com Poll

USCHO Staff Report
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A pair of ECAC Hockey victories has Cornell back in the top five of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

The Big Red defeated St. Lawrence and Clarkson last weekend to move into first place in the league standings, and the wins pushed them to fifth in the national poll.

Miami continues to lead the rankings, with Denver second and Wisconsin third. St. Cloud State moved up one more spot to fourth.

Cornell last was in the top five on Dec. 14, when it was fourth. The Big Red opened the second half of the season with a pair of losses at the Florida College Classic, but they are 5-1-1 since.

Like Cornell, Minnesota-Duluth moved up three spots from last week’s poll. The Bulldogs are sixth after a home split with Wisconsin.

North Dakota had the biggest fall of the week, tumbling five spots to ninth after being swept at home by Denver.

Still, with Colorado College at No. 10, the WCHA owns six of the top 10 spots.

This week’s schedule features only four games between ranked teams. No. 3 Wisconsin hosts No. 19 Michigan outdoors on Saturday in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic.

No. 13 New Hampshire plays at No. 16 Maine on Friday and Saturday. And, fresh off a victory in the Beanpot opener, No. 14 Boston College plays at No. 15 Massachusetts on Friday.

What I Think: Week 17

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Some random (and not-so-random) thoughts after the 17th week of the season:

* I keep telling myself that the PairWise means nothing at this time of the year. I don’t listen.

* I’m very interested to see where North Dakota comes up in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll on Monday. For the last two weeks, I’ve put the Sioux 10th on my ballot, and that actually has been better than their spot in the RPI. I was surprised both times to see where they showed up in the rankings — fifth two weeks ago and fourth last week.

I think I understand why. A lot of people (myself included) think the Sioux are a better team than their record, even better than they’re playing. But at some point, the results have to come, or it’s time to change the picture.

This might be the time. Denver left The Ralph with two wins this weekend, putting North Dakota under .500 in WCHA play (8-9-3). The Sioux have just one win in their last six games.

I know better than to rule the Sioux out. But let’s face it — they’re not a top-10 team right now.

* So the race for the CHA title will actually go into February. Bemidji State had a chance to lock up at least a share of the title with a win Saturday against Robert Morris, but the Colonials pulled the upset.

Seriously, though, how ridiculous is it that a team could have wrapped up a conference title in January?

* I got over to Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium a couple times this week to check out the rink going in for next Saturday’s Camp Randall Hockey Classic, and I’ve got to admit that the way they can put an ice rink in the middle of a football field is impressive.

It still hasn’t changed my opinion on outdoor games as a whole — they’re just plain overdone. And now we have Michigan hosting Michigan State in December, meaning there will be three outdoor events in the 2010 calendar year. That’s just too much.

* Here’s how I voted in this week’s poll:

1. Miami

2. Denver

3. Wisconsin

4. St. Cloud State

5. Colorado College

6. Minnesota-Duluth

7. Bemidji State

8. Ferris State

9. New Hampshire

10. Boston College

11. Michigan State

12. Cornell

13. Massachusetts

14. North Dakota

15. Maine

16. Vermont

17. Yale

18. Michigan

19. Massachusetts-Lowell

20. Union

Break, Beanpot Boost Harvard Hopes

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Dec. 9, 2009, was a chilly night in Boston. The Harvard Crimson hosted Boston College in a spirited pre-Christmas affair with the Eagles holding off Harvard last to earn a 3-2 win.

The game continued Harvard’s futility on the ice. It was the club’s 10th straight game without a win since beating Dartmouth, 5-3, on the opening night of the season. At 1-8-2, the Crimson seemed poised to possibly have one of the worst seasons in the school’s 103-year history (for the record, the 1940-41 Crimson posted a 2-9-1 record and the 1995-96 club stands as the only in school history to lose 20 games, going 13-20-1).

You’d expect coach Ted Donato to be at wits end by the time the buzzer sounded on Dec. 9. But quite to the contrary after that game, Donato addressed the media with a distinct air of hope.

Ryan Carroll has regained the No. 1 goaltending spot for Harvard (photo: Melissa Wade).

Ryan Carroll has regained the No. 1 goaltending spot for Harvard (photo: Melissa Wade).

“I expect that we’ll continue to improve and we’ll find ourselves on the right side of some of these games,” Donato said after the loss. “There’s a lot of reasons to think that that will be the case.”

That night, indeed, turned out to be a harbinger of things to come for the Crimson. After a 20-day break, Harvard returned to the ice and won four straight ECAC Hockey games and heading into Monday’s Beanpot semifinals might be one of the hottest teams, despite sporting a 5-11-3 record.

When the puck drops in Monday’s Beanpot opener (5 p.m. Eastern, NESN), Harvard will have the chance to avenge the Dec. 9 loss, as the Crimson face BC looking for their first Beanpot title since 1993.

“We really feel we were starting to play much better in the middle of December and the break was something that came at an essential time for us,” said Donato. “We had struggled and the guys came back with a fresh attitude.”

That fresh attitude resulted in a win out of the gates after break against a then-red hot Quinnipiac team. After two tough losses at Minnesota, Harvard came home to sweep Yale and Dartmouth before hitting the road to hand Union its first league loss of the season.

For Donato, there isn’t a way to pinpoint what helped turn things around. He feels the improvements as the season had worn on have been in many areas.

“We’ve gotten some more consistent goaltending. Our special teams have improved, especially our penalty kill,” said Donato. “Overall, it’s just a general sense of experience and maturity from our young guys.”

Youth certainly has been an issue for Harvard, which on any given night has dressed six or seven freshman and either none or one senior up front.

“We’re a young team and I think the experience, although very difficult at the beginning of the season, will prove to be beneficial,” Donato said.

One young player who has turned things on is freshman Louis Leblanc, a highly touted recruit who was the first-round draft choice of the Montreal Canadiens last summer. Leblanc has scored in all but one league game since returning from break and straight out took control in the Yale and Dartmouth wins, scoring two goals in each game.

Another bright light has been the play of goaltender Ryan Carroll. The junior hadn’t seen much playing time early with the return of Kyle Richter, who was suspended from the school a season ago for undisclosed reasons and returned to the Crimson this year, reassuming the role of No. 1 goaltender.

Richter, similar to the team, struggled early. After the losses to Minnesota, Carroll took back the reins in net and in that time has allowed just eight goals in five starts and made a career-high 47 stops in the upset of Union.

“Ryan Carroll has played very well,” said Donato, noting that he doesn’t believe that Richter’s performance had anything to do with the team’s slow start. “I think we’ve played better defensively in front of them and the goaltenders have improved like the rest of the team.”

So as the Crimson enter the Beanpot, they may possess the worst record of the four schools but certainly that’s not indicative of the potential this team has.

“I think in general most people would say that there are not as many clear-cut, top-notch teams in college hockey,” said Donato. “At the end of the season there will be a lot of teams that will have struggled a little bit and caught fire at the right time. All the teams in [the Beanpot] are dangerous.

“I think you look at BU and BC, and those two teams have proven that they are very effective at the end of the season and they have always used this tournament as a springboard to try to have success in the playoffs and beyond.”

Should the Crimson win twice in the next two Mondays, some may think of the victory as yet another Beanpot miracle. For Harvard, though, it would be more than just a miracle, it would be a defining moment.

That moment, which hasn’t happened since the Crimson disposed of BC and BU in 1993, is something that could reinvigorate hockey on a campus where sports almost always take a back seat to academics.

“I could give you a 10-page analysis on our fans. I don’t know whether they get it or not,” said senior captain Alex Beiga, who joked recently that a nearly-bald Donato has more hair than Harvard has hockey fans. “Being at Harvard, you have a high percentage of students who have other interests other than hockey.

“I don’t think they [understand the magnitude of the Beanpot], but it’s something that we’ve dealt with. The atmosphere [at the Beanpot] is unbelievable and you learn to accept it and have fun with it.

“[A win] would be a steppingstone for sure. More and more people, if we win games, we’re going to draw a larger crowd. I’ll take all the blame on that point. We’re hoping we get a good crowd every night and we hope to have a big crowd come Beanpot time but that comes with winning and being a national contending team every year.”

To win the Beanpot, though, the Crimson must first avenge the pre-Christmas loss to BC. Harvard hasn’t beat BC in a Beanpot game since 1998, when they knocked off the Eagles in the semifinal, 5-4 in overtime, before losing to Boston University in the final. Since then, Harvard’s futility has resulted in eight straight losses, including a dramatic 6-5 overtime loss in the final two seasons ago.

“We have a lot of respect for [BC],” said Donato, “but this is an opportunity for our guys to use this as a springboard to accomplish some things we want to do not only in the Beanpot but in the rest of the season.”

Career Over for Harvard’s Kessler

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Harvard sources have confirmed that record-setting Crimson senior Christina Kessler has suffered a season-ending injury.

The national-caliber netminder endured a substantial but non-specific lower-body injury in practice in mid-January, cutting her final season short after 15 games. Sporting a 9-3-3 record, 1.34 goals-against average and a .944 save rate this year, Kessler carried her team to the Frozen Four two years ago in Duluth, and was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year that season as well.

Oakville, Ontario native Kessler also led Canada’s Under-22 team to a silver medal in the 2009 MLP Cup, and a gold this year. Harvard’s all-time leader in wins, with 64, established that mark in what turned out to be her final game – a 5-1 win over Colgate on January 16.

Freshman Laura Bellamy takes over between the Crimson pipes, with junior Kylie Stephens returning to the team as a backup.

Beanpot Live Blog: The Semifinals

USCHO Staff Report
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Click below for a replay of a live blog of the Beanpot semifinals.

NCAA Hits Geneseo, Buffalo State with Probation; Teams Ineligible for 2010 Postseason

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The NCAA Division III Committee on Infractions announced sanctions, effective immediately, against Geneseo and Buffalo State that will keep the schools out of the postseason this season.

Though the sanctions are imposed on the entire athletic program, they primarily affect ice hockey. According to the NCAA, Geneseo and Buffalo State awarded grants almost exclusively to student-athletes, particularly those in men’s and women’s ice hockey.

These schools have been put on two years of probation from Jan. 28, 2010, through Jan. 27, 2012, their Canadian grant programs for incoming students have been terminated, and any team with a student-athlete receiving Canadian grants cannot participate in any postseason play this year. The first two penalties were self-imposed by the institutions and accepted by the NCAA.

Since the hockey seasons already started, Geneseo and Buffalo State’s seasons will end after the regular season contests are completed. Geneseo is currently in a playoff spot.

“They are not eligible for postseason play,” SUNYAC Commissioner Dr. Patrick Damore said of the men’s teams (Buffalo State women compete in the ECAC West and are currently in a playoff spot). “We’re just going to move everyone up. It’s just for this year. Next year, they will be eligible.”

The committee found no indication that anyone in the school’s athletics department or administration intended to circumvent NCAA rules. It was the disproportionate awarding of grants to student-athletes that resulted in more than a minimal competitive advantage to the athletics program.

“The NCAA news release confirms that Buffalo State never sought to circumvent NCAA rules and implemented the Canadian Incentive Grant program for the sole purpose of better serving students throughout the region,” Buffalo State Interim President Dr. Dennis Ponton said. “It is regrettable that, in fall 2009, we had to discontinue a program that was enriching our entire college, but we understand and accept the NCAA’s ruling on this matter.”

“The infraction was an unintended consequence of the Canadian Student Initiative, created in 2001 as part of a SUNY-wide effort to increase the international student population,” Geneseo President Christopher Dahl said. “The NCAA did not deem the Canadian Student Initiative program a violation in and of itself, but rather cited the disproportionate percentage of aid awarded to student-athletes compared to that of non-athletes from 2006 to 2009. Nearly all recipients played ice hockey. It is important to note that the NCAA found the violation unintentional.”

Caught in the middle are the student-athletes affected. They have a choice to either continue playing their sport and forfeit the aid package or quit playing and continue receiving the aid package.

“We are disappointed our students have to make that decision,” Dahl said. “We strongly support the policies of the NCAA. We are intently focused on doing what’s best for our student-athletes. We vigorously defended our student’s interest in front of the NCAA.

“We will continue to have the International aid program, but the Canadian aid program has been suspended and canceled.”

Though many schools, including Geneseo, have an active international recruiting effort complete with scholarships and aid packages, it was specifically the ratio of Canadian athletes versus Canadian non-athletes that caught the attention of the NCAA. The NCAA no longer looked at the overall foreign student population, but just focused on the Canadian population and the proportionality of athletes of all sports and the aid they were receiving.

“Although the Canadian Incentive Grant met all NCAA Division III standards when it was established in 2006, subsequently the NCAA deemed that a disproportionate number of student-athletes versus regular students from Canada took advantage of the program,” Buffalo State athletic director Jerry Boyes said. “We cooperated fully with this investigation and accept the penalties handed down. However, we are deeply disappointed that this situation will have a negative impact on our men’s and women’s ice hockey student-athletes this season. We appreciate and wholeheartedly stand by the NCAA’s acknowledgement that no one in the athletics department or administration ever intended to circumvent NCAA rules.”

Dahl said: “The financial aid bylaw in question — amended in 2005 — requires that institutions compare financial aid packaging for first-year and transfer student-athletes with the aid packaging for all first-year and transfer students. This is a relatively new change, and as such, our situation constitutes a ‘first look’ case for the NCAA.”

Many Division III schools have this sort of aid program but are able to meet the ratio. For example, Potsdam has an approved teacher education program registered with the Ontario Ministry of Education. Thus, they actively recruit Canadian students who are not hockey players who find this program attractive. Therefore, the proportionality of Canadian athletes compared to Canadian non-athletes receiving these grants appeases the NCAA.

“These are the only two schools in the SUNYAC that are being looked at,” Damore said. “They’ve corrected the situation. The NCAA is looking at other schools in the country.”

Sources indicate this is only the tip of the iceberg and will have a major impact on Division III hockey. It is unclear whether any Division I programs that cannot offer scholarships by NCAA rule — other than those whose schools or conferences self impose no scholarships — also will be affected.

This Week in the ECAC East and NESCAC: Jan. 28, 2010

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At USCHO, we strive to cover the sport of college hockey from soup-to-nuts, end-to-end and top-to-bottom. This week we take a closer look at the teams in both conferences currently residing at the top and bottom and what their focus is coming down to the last remaining weekends in the regular season.

While one might think that there can’t be a lot in common for teams at opposite ends of the standings, there seem to be more common points among the teams than differing attitudes and areas of focus as each game has more significance and the teams fight for valuable points, looking to maintain or improve their position in the conference.

Lords of their Domain

A quick look at the NESCAC standings shows a familiar team sitting atop the conference. Last year’s regular season and tournament champions, the Amherst Lord Jeffs, have leveraged a 9-0-2 run since Dec. 5 to move into first place.

“The formula this year is similar to last year,” said head coach Jack Arena. “A lot of it is about the special teams, good defense and balanced scoring but our success still centers on Cole [Anderson] in goal. He has had no problems into shifting from last year’s goalie rotation to playing both games on the weekend and probably has been asked to do a little more this year based on the changes in our defensive unit this season.

“We graduated a strong group of seniors and knew we would be finding our way as the blue line group came together. They have played well but Cole has been asked to stop more difficult chances from the opponents and cover for mistakes. Obviously he has been very, very good.”

Anderson, who has switched uniform numbers from 28 to his more familiar 29, is still putting up great statistics. He has a 1.83 goals against average (good for seventh nationally) and .927 save percentage. During their 11 game unbeaten streak, Amherst has surrendered just 15 goals, largely due to Anderson’s prowess between the pipes.

“Cole is such a competitor,” said Arena. “In our matchup with Tufts and their terrific goalie [Scott] Barchard, I am sure that the head-to-head battle with another goalie at the top of his game and really gaudy stats was definitely in his mind or a motivation for him. He would never say anything about it but you know he is aware of situations and uses things to be at his best. That was his first and only shutout of the season so far with our 2-0 win.”

A lot of Amherst’s success can be found in their extraordinary special teams play. Currently they lead the nation in both power-play efficiency (31.8%) and penalty killing effectiveness (92.8%) which makes things very difficult for their opponents.

“There are really two guys who kind of exemplify our special teams play,” said Arena. “On the power play we have watched Matthew Rhone just get better and better each year here. This year it’s been great to see him get his chances and really start to bury them. On the penalty kill as well as on his regular shift, sophomore Mike Baran has been dominant on the ice as a physical player who can take over games.

“He is a very talented kid who is showing parts of his game that weren’t on display with last year’s team and senior dominated defensive corps. He has been a big part of the group on defense coming together and playing well.”
Last year’s run into the NCAA tournament has not been forgotten by this team that continues to leverage their experience from a year ago in the present. There is a mindset about winning — evidenced by their current streak — that clearly has carried over from last year.

“Winning can be contagious,” stated Arena. “It becomes a habit and in a positive way, this team feels that if they get up by a goal, they expect to win. It’s not over-confident or feeling that they just need to show up and it will happen. Their experience and success continues to foster the desire for more winning and success and it just grows as the season has progressed.”

This week the Lord Jeffs host Southern Maine and University of New England as they look to extend their unbeaten streak and improve on their 5-1-1 home record. If they keep the formula intact, Amherst will be looking down on the rest of the teams in the league.

Cardinals Looking to Fly North

At the other end of the NESCAC standings, the Wesleyan Cardinals are still hoping to find their game and make a late season push to get into a playoff position. The sense of urgency is real for head coach Chris Potter’s team coming off a difficult loss against Trinity on Tuesday night by a 6-4 score.

“I really was proud of the team,” said Potter. “We were down 2-0 early and cut it in half and then got down 4-1. The kids didn’t quit and fought back to tie the game at four apiece. Trinity scored to go up 5-4 and added an empty net goal but I thought we had some chances and really competed hard.”

Sophomore Tom Salah hopes the offense can jump start a run by the Cardinals late in the season.

Sophomore Tom Salah hopes the offense can jump start a run by the Cardinals late in the season.

One of the keys to success for Wesleyan is the play of the line that brings together sophomore Tom Salah (10 goals, seven assists, 17 points), freshman John Guay (9-9-18) and freshman Adam Kaiser (2-9-11). Salah has been a key player for Wesleyan from his arrival on campus last season and has continued to have a positive impact on the ice and off the ice with the Cardinals young team.

“Tommy is a great example for the rest of the team,” said Potter. “He leads by example and has really inspired others including his linemates to improve and become better hockey players. He has developed and matured quickly and certainly has exceeded expectations as a player.”

While the overall effort has been there and the drive to compete continues to be important for all of the Wesleyan players, the results have been tough in the month of January with the team winning only one of its seven league games played so far. A common theme for the outcomes can be found in the difficult time Wesleyan has playing with the power play and killing penalties.

“Wow!” said coach Potter. “It really is a bad situation for us on the special team units. The numbers if they were reversed would be great and we probably would have some more points as a result of getting better in those areas. I would be really happy if we could be successful on the kill or a man up if we had those things happen at key parts of the game when we really need a stop or to get one on the board.

“That is probably the most frustrating part of it all is that we don’t seem to get the timely kill or big goal when the team needs it most. It’s not for a lack of trying different things or effort. We have a young squad and we are still learning to compete and have success at the big moments that arise in games.”

While the Cardinals are at the bottom of the standings, they don’t have to move too much to catch a couple of teams in front of them. Connecticut College and Tufts are just ahead of Wesleyan in the standings and the teams get together for pivotal matchups in two weeks that could go a long way in determining who gets in and who is out of the NESCAC tournament.

“The next two weeks are key for us,” said Potter. “We have Saint Anselm and New England College here this weekend and then go on the road for Tufts and Conn. College. We have not been successful on the road at all this season (0-6-0) outside of the Nichols tournament so we are going to need to really play solidly in our remaining games if we are going to play hockey after the regular season.

“It’s not time to panic yet but need to make some things happen on the ice — compete hard, better special teams and some good goaltending will all give us a chance to get in the race.”

No time like the present for the Cardinals who know the clock is ticking and that every point is very valuable heading into the final month of the season.

Cadets Playing With Precision

At 14-0-3 there is no question about the level of play that the second ranked Norwich Cadets have brought each and every night since the first game of the season. As the nation’s sole remaining unbeaten team in D-III, the Cadets know that their opponents are gunning for them every game so the effort has been consistently strong to produce the wins and solid games both at home and on the road.

“We have a lot more balance in this year’s team than in the past,” said head coach Mike McShane. “Last season I thought we had one or maybe 1.5 lines that really could produce some solid offense for us. This year we have four lines that are scoring consistently and that puts a lot of pressure on the other team and makes for some difficult matchups.”

Freshman Blake Forkey leads the unbeaten Cadets in goals and points this season.

Freshman Blake Forkey leads the unbeaten Cadets in goals and points this season.

Two freshmen are leading the Cadets in goals so far this season and have been a big factor in the balanced scoring Norwich has enjoyed in their first 17 games. Blake Forkey (12-12-24) and Kyle Thomas (12-5-17) have jumped right in to their roles on the team and have found a knack for scoring goals in all on-ice situations and more importantly, the big goals, as they have combined for four game-winning goals this season.

While the offense is clicking, Norwich also has enjoyed the anticipated solid play of the defensive unit as well as strong goaltending which were McShane’s perceived strengths coming into the season.

“We have a solid group of defensemen who have definitely played at the level we expected,” said McShane. “All of the guys have played very well and Ryan [Kligensmith] has been really solid in goal so we feel pretty good about where we are right now. We have had a bunch of injuries that we would like to get guys back from quickly. Luckily we haven’t had any injuries on the defense or goaltending but we would like to get healthy and focus on improving in the remaining weeks of the season.”

Playing much better would be a scary proposition for any Cadet opponent coming up in the next five weeks but their coach knows his team won’t get complacent over their current position in the league.

“I think that the level of competitiveness and intensity is really driven by your upperclassmen and the maturity level of your kids,” said McShane. While we have some young kids this season playing for us, they are all pretty mature kids and bring that desire to compete every night. I also think we are getting great leadership from our seniors like captain Tyler Stitt and Eric Tallent.

“They really are a confident group, not cocky, but definitely confident and they bring that to the ice. If you really look at the tied games on our schedule there is just one actual tie. The game with Plattsburgh ended with a shootout win which didn’t feel like a tie and the game with Potsdam ended with a shootout loss which definitely didn’t feel like a tie. Our kids understand both sides of the coin and really work hard to keep the outcomes in the win column.”

This week the Cadets travel to UMass-Boston and Babson for two key ECAC East matchups. Both opponents are looking to move up in the standings and focus on the consistent play needed to compete with the league’s best.

Friday night’s matchup at the Clark Center on the UMB campus will be the first meeting since the Beacons upset the number one seeded Cadets in Northfield in the first round of the ECAC East playoffs last spring. As if staying unbeaten wasn’t enough motivation for the Cadets.

“We have a pretty young team,” said McShane. “There are guys that I am sure remember the feeling and know the need to play a complete game. I hope they haven’t forgotten that game. Every little bit of motivation helps.”

It’s hard to imagine this team playing much better but they are on a roll and have no intention of slowing down the assault on the rest of the teams remaining on the schedule and right into the postseason.

Nor’easters Weathering the Storm

For a club team making the leap into varsity status, the jump is a big one. Brad Holt’s University of New England team has entered its first season in the ECAC East and is battling every night against some of the country’s best D-III teams.

“Our record is obviously not great,” said head coach Brad Holt. “We are still learning how to compete at the college level and understand the energy level and intensity that you need to bring every night to be successful. It is very different for a lot of these kids coming out of juniors to recognize how short the season is when you start on Nov. 1.

“Then you only see teams once so you can’t come out of the game thinking we will get them next time. Lastly, the playing of the two games in less than 24 hours is more of an adjustment for kids at this level. You need to be able to play hard on Friday and then bring it again on Saturday afternoon without thinking or lingering on what happened the night before. It’s just a different mindset for most of these kids.”

Junior Jack Nolin leads the UNE Nor'easters in scoring in their first varsity season in the ECAC East.

Junior Jack Nolin leads the UNE Nor’easters in scoring in their first varsity season in the ECAC East.

The most difficult part of the game for the Nor’easters has been scoring goals. This is a pretty consistent point of distinction for the teams at the top versus those at the bottom of the standings. Despite the continued effort and desire to compete, UNE has struggled to score goals and last week’s 5-4 loss to UMass-Boston was the first game in which the team scored more than two goals in a game this season.

“We knew scoring would be one of our challenges in this first year,” said Holt. “We really don’t have that sniper who is going to get 10, 15, or 20 goals in a season. We have had to work very hard for our chances and we have some guys that clearly are making the adjustments and getting confidence in their game which should improve the offensive production.”

One area of the ice where coach Holt has no concerns has been in the crease where freshman Dallas Ungurian has been a solid and consistent presence on a team that has consistently been outshot each game this season.

Ungurian (4.22 GAA, .893 save pct.) has faced over 400 shots this season or about an average of 36 per game in his 11 starts. In the team’s sole win against Plymouth State, he made 41 saves to back stop their inaugural victory by a 2-1 score.

“I have no question that Dallas is the real deal,” said Holt. “He has been terrific for us and has kept us close in some games where we have really been outplayed. The key for us moving forward will be to continue to improve in all facets of the game and develop players to play at this level consistently. We certainly understood it wasn’t going to happen in just our first season but we don’t only look at the wins and losses.

“We have different criteria for determining success focused on parts of the game and things we can focus on and see results. Winning shifts, winning periods, successfully killing penalties, limiting the number of shots on goal are all benchmarks that we strive to improve and assess our performance beyond the scope of just the outcome of the game. Overall I am really pleased with how we have progressed as a team and I know that these kids are committed to becoming better players and a better team. We need to add some pieces in terms of players and continue to teach and learn from our experiences — good, bad and otherwise.”

The next two weeks finds the Nor’easters on the road before finishing the season with two home weekends. Six of their final eight games are against NESCAC opponents including a difficult road trip to Amherst and Hamilton this weekend. There is still a lot of hockey to be played and coach Holt, like his team is going to keep on battling right into the conference tournament.

Just one month remains in the regular season and every team at the top or bottom wants to find the winning formula, keep it going and drive to the playoffs playing their best hockey. If you are at the top you want to stay there and if you are at the other end of the spectrum you can’t make a move fast enough. Top to bottom the action is going to heat up so get out and root for your team this weekend.

Drop the puck.

This Week in D-III Women’s Hockey: January 29, 2010

By
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With only one month remaining in the regular season, parity has run rampant amongst the D-III women’s ranks.

Sure you have Amherst leading the NESCAC and Plattsburgh leading the ECAC West, which are no real surprises. On the other hand, Lake Forest leading the NCHA and St. Catherine and St. Thomas currently ahead of Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC is nothing short of shocking. I would be willing to bet not too many people had those three teams pegged to be leading their respective conferences this late in the season.

Additionally, though Plattsburgh topping the ECAC West isn’t a huge surprise, how many people would have guessed they would take all eight points from RIT and Elmira; with their only blemish in conference play coming at the hands of Utica?

Amherst and Plattsburgh have separated themselves from the pack a little bit so far in terms of NCAA selection. Both teams will more than likely hold home ice in their respective conference tournaments.

The Lady Jeffs’ toughest challenge remaining on their schedule is a non-conference tilt to close out the season against Norwich. Plattsburgh also has a couple tough non-conference matchups remaining as they host Manhattanville for a pair of games and Middlebury for a single game, all in the same week.

That week will go a long way towards determining the East’s number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In a year where all signs so far have pointed that the committee is set to send the NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey championship tournament out west for the first time, it’s imperative for teams like Elmira, Trinity, Manhattanville, Norwich, and Middlebury to find resume boosting wins to strengthen their case to be in the tournament and keep a 5-2 split.

Will someone in the NCHA please step up?

The conference that has intrigued me most this season has undoubtedly been the NCHA.
Wis. Superior, currently ranked in a tie with Manhattanville for ninth in the country sits seventh in its own conference!

How is this possible you might ask? Well, the Yellow jackets have played a brutal schedule so far including two games each against Wis. Stevens Point, Wis. River Falls, and Lake Forest. Superior split with Stevens Point and River Falls and managed only one point from Lake Forest.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Yellow jackets this weekend as they host second place Adrian for a pair of games, who has been giving the NCHA teams fits in their first season as a full member of the conference. The Bulldogs are 6-3-1 in NCHA play and have split with Wis. Eau Claire, River Falls, and Lake Forest.

First to seventh place in the NCHA is currently separated by six points, and the two teams leading the conference, Lake Forest (16 points) and Adrian (13 points) have both played two more games than Stevens Point, Eau Claire, River Falls, and Superior.

There is still a lot of hockey left to be played in the NCHA and it’s anyone’s guess as to who will end up emerging from that conference and be hoisting the O’Brien Cup in March. In my 20 predictions for 2010 segment of my first column of the year, I projected Adrian to make the NCHA finals. So far that pick hasn’t looked too shabby compared to the rest of the atrocious picks I made in that column.

However, with the way things have gone in the NCHA this year, it wouldn’t surprise me if Adrian won the O’Brien Cup or was a first round exit. It’s just been that tough to predict.

The downside to all of the parity in the NCHA this year has certainly hurt every team’s chances of securing an at-large Pool C bid in the case that they don’t win the NCHA Tournament.

More than likely with the losses that have already been accrued and the losses that are surely still to come for almost all the NCHA leaders (unless someone gets very hot), will take all but the O’Brien Cup winner out of the NCAA Tournament picture.

Saddle up western hockey fans, you’re in for a treat the last month of the season watching things play out between those seven teams. Will Lake Forest be able to ride its hot start out and host the O’Brien Cup? Or will traditional powers Stevens Point, River Falls and Superior rise to the occasion and keep the trophy among the elite three? Or will Adrian and the up and coming Eau Claire squad spoil it for the rest of the conference.

Like I said, it’s anyone’s guess. But boy would I like to be able to be at three places at once and watch how all those games end up playing out.

Laura Hurd Award

Last season around this time I tried to take a look at the Laura Hurd watch to see which players were positioning themselves for a chance to take home the trophy at the awards banquet the night before the NCAA semifinals.

For those unfamiliar with the Hurd Award, here is the press release from last year’s finalist announcement that briefly describes the award and to whom it is named after:

2009 Laura Hurd Press Release (PDF)

Also here is a press release from Elmira College from 2007 with more information about the award and why it was named after Laura Hurd:

History of the Laura Hurd award

Last year, Elmira College’s Kayla Coady won the award, becoming the second player from Elmira to do it after Hurd was the program’s first to do it in 2005.

Middlebury leads the nation with four players having won the award since its inception in 2000, with Emily Quizon the latest to win in 2006.

The award has traditionally been given to a senior rewarding a career, rather than one individual season. Although, Plattsburgh’s Danielle Blanchard became the first underclassmen to win the award as a junior in 2008.

This season presents the toughest year yet to try and find a group of seniors that have stood out over their four years over some of the underclassmen that are having a terrific season this year.

The first name that popped into my mind that has to be up for the award this year is Trinity’s Isabel Iwachiw.

Iwachiw has been an instrumental part of putting the Trinity Bantams women’s hockey program on the map. So far this season she has continued her stellar performance between the pipes leading the country with 12 wins and a 12-1-2 record. Her five shutouts tie her for best in the nation with Williams’ Sara Plunkett and her .953 save percentage is also tops in the country. She also ranks fourth in goals against average with a 1.12 GGA.

In 71 games played so far in her career, Isabel has a 42-21-8 record with 16 shutouts and a career GGA of 1.81 and a save percentage of .936. Her career save percentage currently ranks her third all-time in NCAA Division III women’s ice hockey history.

A goaltender has never won this award and I’m not even certain if one has ever been a finalist for it. However, it would be a shame if Isabel was left off the list this season given the dramatic effect she has had on Trinity’s hockey program and bringing them up to the elite level that they are at now.

As far as other senior candidates, it’s really hard to find any that stick out. Elmira’s Jenna McCall is a possibility, but for all intents and purposes she has had a down year this season for her standards.

UMass-Boston’s Maria Nasta is a possibility. She topped the 100 career points mark this season after playing just three and a half seasons of D-III after transferring from New England College her freshman year to UMass-Boston.

However, I think for the first time a majority of the candidates are going to be underclassmen and if you look at the numbers, why shouldn’t they be?

Lake Forest’s Kim Herring has been a scoring machine this year. The sophomore has been one of the key ingredients to the Foresters bursting onto the scene this season and their rise to the top of the NCHA standings. She has 22 goals and 12 assists for a nation-leading 34 points on the season. She has also scored six game-winning goals and six power play goals as well.

RIT’s Katie Stack is second in the country in goals with 18 and leads the nation in power play goals with eight so far this season. The junior is 18 points away from reaching the 100-career-point mark and will have a shot at it if she keeps up her torrid scoring pace.

Neumann’s Jessica Schroeder is quietly second in the country in points trailing only Herring with 32. She is six points away from 100 career points as a junior.

If I had to pick five finalists right now it would go as follows, with hard consideration given to seniors since this has predominantly been a career award:

G. Isabel Iwachiw, Trinity, Sr.
F. Kim Herring, Lake Forest, So.
F. Katie Stack, RIT, Jr.
F. Jenna McCall, Elmira, Sr.
F. Maria Nasta, UMass-Boston Sr.

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