Home Blog Page 1092

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

By
-

By chance is Tae Kwan part of your training regimen?

If not, you might consider giving it a whirl. After all, it hasn’t hurt Carolyne Prevost any.

In fact, Wisconsin’s sophomore forward credits that Korean martial art – which is loosely analogous to kick boxing – with helping her become a better hockey player.

Not that she is lifting an angry skate blade toward an opposing d-man’s face or anything like that. However, Prevost said, there are plenty of other transferable concepts between the two sports.

“I think it’s really helped my game a lot,” said Prevost, who hails from Sarnia, Ontario. “Especially my agility.”

Even more than the physical demands, Prevost said that the mental discipline required for Tae Kwan Do is the same approach she needs to prepare for a Badgers’ game.

“I think that’s one of the biggest things I take away from the sport,” said Prevost, who is a fourth degree black belt, “is the mental aspect. Any kind of martial art, or fighting sport, there’s always a mentality going into it. The preparing and the training. I think that carries over into preparing for important hockey games. I take the skills from Tae Kwan Do and carry it over into hockey.”

So far, she hasn’t lost a thing in translation.

In fact, she’s been one of the hottest point producers in the WCHA of late, with seven goals and 10 assists this season heading into this weekend’s series with Ohio State, most of which she’s piled up since the mid-season break.
Prevost, who is one of five daughters (including two sets of twins) born to Normand and Giselle Prevost, is coming off her first career hat trick, which she registered against St. Cloud State.

She credits the boost gained from her appearance with Canada’s U-22 team in the MLP Cup tournament, staged in Germany during the holidays, for putting extra glide to her skating stride.

“I think that’s been the biggest difference in my confidence,” said Prevost, who had to shake off the effects of a high ankle sprain suffered last summer. “After getting the call from the U-22 team, that just brought my confidence back up. I think that shows more in my game.”

Next week, the defending National Champion Badgers will take part in the outdoor Camp Randall Classic against WCHA newbies Bemidji State, to be held within Wisconsin’s historic football stadium. Prevost said she’s excited about taking part in the second womens’ collegiate outdoor game [following the UNH/Northeastern Frozen Fenway battle on Jan. 8].

“I think it’s unbelievable that we have the opportunity to do this,” she said. “We’re excited about practicing all next week outdoors. Growing up, a lot of people have played pond hockey. I never really did. But you see the NHL doing it, and it’s a different kind of atmosphere.”

Even so, to Prevost and the rest of the Badgers, the two points at stake are more important than the novelty of the event. Having lost four of their last six starts heading into the weekend, the No. 10 Badgers can ill afford to get caught up in the hoopla … especially with the Beavers nipping at their heels in the WCHA standings.

“Honestly,” Prevost said, “we’ll be enjoying the experience of the game. But at the end of the day, those will be two points that we really need in our standings. We need to get a win. It might be a great outdoor game, but we’re there to win it. We’re going to go out hard and do what we can.”

The Camp Randall Classic is not the only special event looming on the womens’ hockey calendar. The Women’s Beanpot will be held on the next two Tuesdays at Harvard’s Bright Center (a.k.a the coldest indoor arena this side of Pluto).
No. 6 Northeastern will face BU in this Tuesday’s opener, followed by BC and No. 7 Harvard in the nightcap.

Two-fers. Gotta love ’em.

Coming Next Season: Michigan-Michigan State at the Big House

USCHO Staff Report
-

Confirming a long-held rumor, Michigan on Thursday announced that it will host Michigan State outdoors at Michigan Stadium on Dec. 11.

Faceoff for the game, dubbed The Big Chill at the Big House, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern.

The teams set the international attendance record for a hockey game by drawing 74,544 to Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 6, 2001. Michigan Stadium holds 106,201 for football.

“I am extremely pleased that the Michigan and Michigan State athletic departments are collaborating on such an outstanding event,” Wolverines athletic director Bill Martin said in a news release. “The Cold War game in 2001 was a resounding success, and this game at Michigan Stadium should again provide great excitement for the schools, the CCHA and the state of Michigan.”

It will be the second straight season with an outdoor game for Michigan. The Wolverines are playing at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium on Feb. 6.

The Big Chill at the Big House is scheduled to be the fifth outdoor game in Division I men’s hockey. Wisconsin played Ohio State at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., in 2006; and Boston College and Boston University played at Fenway Park earlier this year.

“We are thrilled to take part in this game at Michigan Stadium, and proud that our event in 2001 has led to a series of these games that bring hockey back to where it began — outdoors,” Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said. “The Cold War game has led the way to some exciting opportunities in college hockey and the NHL. It’s a nod to tradition, but also a very modern, exciting thing for our student-athletes and fans to experience. There are always great crowds when these teams meet, and we expect another fantastic gathering of hockey fans in the state of Michigan to embrace this exciting event.”

The playing surface will be placed in the center of Michigan Stadium. The red line will run on top of the 50-yard line, and the end boards will extend to reach the 17-yard lines.

“This will be an unbelievable event,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “Not only is this a great rivalry between two top programs, but for it to be held in the Big House at Michigan is beyond what any of us have ever dreamt. This is finally a reality and it could be the largest crowd ever to witness a hockey game of any kind. I know our team, our staff and our fans from all over the country will be counting the days until the Big Chill at the Big House arrives.”

Said Michigan State coach Rick Comley: “Michigan State-Michigan is one of college hockey’s great rivalries, and this will be a grand stage on which to showcase it. This is an exciting event for the student-athletes, coaches and staff, and the fan bases of both schools. When these teams face off, it is a game that people pay attention to nationally — and having one of our games outdoors in Michigan Stadium will create even more excitement and energy.”

Michigan and Michigan State are scheduled to play three additional times next season — once each at Michigan’s Yost Ice Arena, Michigan State’s Munn Ice Arena and Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

“Michigan and Michigan State set the standard for staging outdoor games on a grand scale on Oct. 6, 2001, and it’s great to see them collaborating again on an event that should once again put two CCHA teams in the national, and international, hockey spotlight,” CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos said.

USCHO.com Hobey Watch 2010 Podcast, Episode 1: Tim Whitehead

By
-

USCHO.com Hobey Watch 2010 Podcast, Episode 1: Tim WhiteheadHobey Watch

USCHO.com’s Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Maine head coach Tim Whitehead as they look at three forwards who are potential Hobey Baker candidates from Hockey East: Maine’s Gustav Nyquist, New Hampshire’s Bobby Butler and from UMass, James Marcou.

This Week in the CCHA: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Kickin’ It Old School

After a few columns of a more somber variety lately, I think that ending January with a more gazette-style offering is a good idea. It’s a chatty one. Grab your coffee.

I Love the Buckeyes!

That seems to be the subtext that some readers gleaned from last week’s column, when I said that a strong, consistent Ohio State hockey program was good for college hockey in general. Although I don’t live in Columbus anymore, I apparently pine for the Scarlet and Gray.

It is what it is. Pass the tinfoil, please.

Speaking of OSU, I was happy to read what coach John Markell said after the Bucks’ 5-2 loss to Michigan State last Friday. Markell — whom I’ve known for 16 years, since his children were wee and I was a top American model (really) — surprised me with his succinct and timely response to unseemly, unnecessary Buckeye penalties.

“We have to work smarter,” said Markell. “If you’re going to finish a check, then keep your elbow out of his head. If you are going to hit a guy, keep two hands on your stick.”

The Buckeyes were called for nine minor penalties in that loss.

Unranked OSU ruined my weekly pick and earned the split with MSU the following night — earned it, breaking a 2-2 deadlock at 18:53 in the third and adding an empty-netter. Dalpe, a sophomore, had a goal early in the third and because he is who he is — a second-round 2008 draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes and a potential superstar — he was a media darling post-game. Actually, he’s a nice kid with an easy demeanor that may stay that way, even though the television people were pumping him up a bit and he was loving it.

One funny anecdote about Dalpe: He counts his shots per game. I wouldn’t know this if I hadn’t witnessed with my own eyes the Paris, Ontario, native discussing his shot total with the OSU associate athletics communication director Leann Parker. (It’s fair game; he did this in front of a cadre of press … and he joked about it.)

Dalpe leads the Buckeyes in scoring (13-11–24) and shots on goal (95) this season.

What surprised me the most about the Buckeyes — other than how grown-up some of the players look, as I haven’t seen them in a while … I think I actually saw Patrick Schafer, who had that game-winner, sporting facial hair — was how well they played. I had them picked fourth at the start of the season and there they are in ninth place. Of course, ninth is only six points behind fourth in the CCHA — that’s two games — so perhaps standings can be deceiving.

I do know that if OSU finishes in that middle third and hosts a first-round CCHA playoff series and wins it, I wouldn’t want to be the top-tier team hosting the Buckeyes in the second weekend of CCHA playoff action. And the Bucks are one of three current mid-pack teams that can play its way to Detroit on the road.

I also know that assistant coach Steve Brent and his wife Adi welcomed their second child, a son named Alexander, in December. Congrats to the Brents!

For full disclosure, Brent was a student of mine 17 years ago in an Early American Literature class I taught at The Ohio State University. Ask him what he earned.

I Really Like Those Bulldogs, Too

Before catching up with the Buckeyes Saturday night, I got to watch a very good hockey game in Ann Arbor Friday. The Wolverines beat the Bulldogs, 2-0, in that contest, prompting FSU coach Bob Daniels to say, “It’s nice to play good defensively … but you’re not going to win the game if you don’t score any goals.”

It was the second time in three games that the Bulldogs found themselves with no goals on the scoreboard, something of a concern for Daniels. FSU has the 17th-best scoring offense in the country, averaging 3.23 goals per game.

Part of Ferris State’s success this season — and the Bulldogs are for real, for sure, as one CCHA coach would put it — is the Bulldogs’ top line, all seniors. Blair Riley (16-12–28), Casey Haines (6-16–22) and Cody Chupp (7-15–22) are responsible for 29 of FSU’s 84 goals, and Daniels said that his seniors are having “a very good season.”

The Bulldogs are, however, more than the sum of one line. Matt Case — a senior — is a monster defenseman and perhaps one of the most underrated in the league. He was everywhere he should have been in that 2-0 loss, and for being one of the biggest guys on a team that spends a lot of time in the box, Case plays a hard, clean game; he had two tripping penalties for the series against UM last weekend. He’s 6 feet tall and solid, smart, has eight minor penalties in 18 league games, impossible to ignore when he’s on the ice and undrafted. He’s scored twice in his last three games.

The rest of the FSU defense is solid and the Bulldogs netminding duo of Pat Nagle and Taylor Nelson is very impressive. Nagle (1.88 goals-against average, .933 save percentage) has the second-best stats in the nation. He and Nelson (2.32, .921) split time in net. “It’s for the most part what we’ve come to expect from them,” said Daniels. “We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve got two guys playing at that level. Very steady. Very comfortable in net.”

The Bulldogs split their weekend with the Wolverines — I called it, for once — without Chupp and junior defenseman Scott Wietecha, who had both been injured in the previous week’s series against Miami. Both are expected to play this weekend against Ohio State.

FSU’s 17-7-2 start is its third-best in program history.

And Then There’s the Wolverines

Well, two Wolverines that caught my eye last Friday.

UM sophomore Luke Glendening scored both goals in that 2-0 win over FSU. With the markers, Glendening is one shy of his six-goal total from his freshman season.

Both were beauties. In each case, Glendening used a Bulldogs player to screen Nagle; in each case, Glendening hit the only available open spot, the sliver between Nagle and the right post. Even Daniels conceded that they looked like goal-scorer’s goals. The goals were scored on the best two scoring opportunities of the night, too. It was one of those games where little was given.

Glendening. Who knew?

The other Wolverines player I noticed was goaltender Bryan Hogan (2.18 GAA, .906 SV%), who absolutely fascinates me. When this kid on, he’s impossible to breach; when he’s not, he plays the net so casually that I stop breathing … and things often don’t go well for the Wolverines in those games, either.

Friday night, Hogan was on. The Michigan defense didn’t allow many great scoring chances, but when he was challenged — especially in the third period — Hogan was spectacular. Hogan has now shut out opponents in each of his last two weekends, having blanked Alaska at home, 6-0, Jan. 15.

The Wolverines, who started the first half rather slowly, are 4-1-1 in the second half, 5-2-1 if you count the Great Lakes Invitational.

They are another current mid-pack team that can easily play through another city to Joe Louis Arena in March — that is, if they have to travel at all. Michigan’s four points out of fourth place. They may yet earn a bye, and I may yet have to eat my midseason words.

What words? I said that the Wolverines wouldn’t go to the NCAA tournament this year.

Yes, I know. I know.

Down, But Also Not Out

The other mid-pack team that I wouldn’t want to face in my rink in the second round of the CCHA playoffs is Notre Dame.

(That Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State are battling for home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs after their seasons last year boggles my tiny little mind.)

The Irish struggled through the first half of the season to score goals. In fact, if you ask coach Jeff Jackson, he’d tell you that Notre Dame struggled in the first half to shoot the puck. The Irish are now shooting the puck, but are struggling to put together a full, coherent line-up. While ND isn’t having to pull people out of the stands to suit up for games the way Michigan State did last season (I’m kidding, of course), the Irish have lost 51-man games this season because of injuries.

On the sidelines against Lake Superior State last weekend were Irish defensemen Sam Calabrese (broken ankle), Eric Ringel (concussion) and Teddy Ruth (concussion), and forward Billy Maday (shoulder).

Sometimes when players are injured, others on the team find opportunity. Such was the case for ND sophomore forward Patrick Gaul, who earned his first career goal in his 35th collegiate game in Notre Dame’s 6-1 win over LSSU Friday.

That was the same game in which junior Calle Ridderwall recorded his second hat trick of the season, with all three goals coming within a 6:47 span in the second period.

The Irish have scored 28 of their 69 overall goals this season since Jan. 1. That’s 3.5 goals per game, compared with the 2.05 ND averaged in the first half of 2009-10.

The Irish are getting more than solid goaltending from freshman Mike Johnson (2.03 GAA, .929 SV%), whose numbers are good enough to put him among the top 10 goals nationally. Johnson had a career-high 45 saves in ND’s 1-1 tie against the Lakers Saturday.

Solid

After L.A. Kings president and general manager, Dean Lombardi, unloaded on Michigan coach Red Berenson in an article dated Jan. 20 on Gann Matsuda’s blog Frozen Royalty, Kings defenseman and former Wolverines player Jack Johnson came to Berenson’s defense.

In the original interview, Lombardi said that Berenson had mishandled Johnson, whom he called a “thoroughbred,” and hadn’t given the defenseman enough coaching to develop in his two years in Ann Arbor.

(Again, two years in Ann Arbor … four years in L.A. … math has always been very, very hard for me.)

Johnson answered Lombardi’s lambast in Helene Elliott’s blog for the Los Angeles Times, and nearly immediately.

In a move that took a lot of courage and a good deal of class and maturity, Johnson told the press that he’s “a Michigan man” and said that Berenson “is one of the finest coaches and men” that he’s met.

Johnson attended UM’s 2-0 win over FSU in Ann Arbor last Friday, and his between-periods on-ice promotion (he found the net, by the way) was a hit with fans. Johnson will play on the U.S. Olympic squad in Vancouver next month. He scored a goal against Toronto earlier this week.

And he gained a fan in Flint, Mich.

In this whole flap, too, it’s important to note that Berenson has had no comment in response. He doesn’t need to say a word.

What baffles me is what Lombardi was thinking when he went on record to say that Berenson can’t or doesn’t coach. Seriously, what could he possibly stand to gain from such public statements? Does he think that salary dictates respect in the hockey world?

Does he know us at all?

Games of the Week

I hinted last week, didn’t I? Well, I’m giddy about it. There’s nothing older school than this.

Michigan (14-11-1, 9-8-1-0 CCHA) vs. Michigan State (16-8-4, 11-5-4-1 CCHA)
Friday, 7:05 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, Mich.; Saturday, 7:35 p.m., Joe Louis Arena, Detroit

A year ago, when the Spartans were languishing near the bottom of the standings during their Season of Glass Shoulders, this series lost its relevance. Sure, fans within the state of Michigan cared, but when MSU was clearly playing to stay out of the basement and UM looking for a league title, this series was moot.

And so this series looked in the first half of 2009-10, when it looked as though the teams had reversed fortunes; the Wolverines were clearly having an uncharacteristically down first half while the Spartans were showing people that last year was a blip.

Now MSU sits in second place with 38 points and UM is in seventh, 10 points behind. With wins earning three points in the CCHA this season, distance is far more relative than it was in 2008-09. With 11 games left, Michigan can make up for some lost time while Michigan State can run at a title — or at least solidify that first-round bye.

In a news release this week, Berenson said that the Wolverines are focusing on the Spartans this weekend and nothing more. “All we can worry about is Friday night’s game,” said Berenson, “and we can’t look back and we can’t start worrying about the math or other teams.

“All we can control is what we do. If we have a great weekend, then we’ll worry about next weekend. If we have a bad one, the schedule is still there.”

In his news conference this week, Michigan State coach Rick Comley took a different approach. “You’re worrying about how many points you need to get to a certain spot.”

Ah, reversals of fortunes, indeed.

Last week, both the Wolverines and the Spartans split, and each series featured an upset by an unranked team. How strange it was that the Wolverines were the unranked spoilers, beating the ranked Bulldogs at home Friday night before losing to FSU in Big Rapids Saturday? For the Spartans, it was a 5-2 win over OSU Friday and a 4-2 loss to the unranked Buckeyes Saturday, both games at home.

After their upset win, Berenson said that Ferris State was as good a team as he’d seen since the Wolverines played the Badgers in the College Hockey Showcase — and that would be the Badgers tied for third in the PairWise and No. 2 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

“I thought defensively we had to play one of our best games,” said Berenson, “not that they didn’t get some shots. I thought the game was played the way we needed to play.”

Said Comley after the loss, “These games come along. We were OK, but we didn’t generate much.”

I love this series, especially since moving to Michigan in 2008. Last year’s games, the first MSU-UM games I’d ever had the chance to see outside of Joe Louis Arena, were a disappointment because of the Spartans’ down year. Last year, the Wolverines swept the Spartans, winning five games — including the GLI title match — by a collective score of 27-9, and all five games coming between Dec. 5, 2008, and Jan. 24, 2009.

Boring.

This season, the Spartans — the most recent GLI champs — have downed the Wolverines twice, although in much less dramatic fashion. MSU swept UM in a home-and-home series Nov. 13-14, with Spartans goaltender Drew Palmisano turning away 31 shots in Munn for a 2-0 shutout win in the Saturday game.

Much more interesting.

Now that I’m here in Flint and can feel the nuances of this rivalry — it’s all blunt and bludgeoning with Michigan and OSU, and mostly one-sided in a south-of-Toledo kind of way — I love every little thing about this series, right down to the dispute about how many times the teams have actually played.

According to the Spartans, UM leads this series 137-121-18. If you ask one of the Wolverines, Michigan’s lead is 133-120-18. And I love that MSU’s stats give UM more wins. Crazy.

Here’s the matchup by the conference numbers:

• Goals per game: UM 2.94 (t-third); MSU 2.70 (eighth)
• Goals allowed per game: UM 2.28 (fourth); MSU 2.20 (third)
• Power play: UM 81.1 (sixth); MSU 15.1 (10th)
• Penalty kill: UM 89.0 (third); MSU 84.0 (seventh)
• Top scorer: UM Carl Hagelin (7-10–17); MSU Corey Tropp (10-13–23)
• Top ‘tender: UM Bryan Hogan (2.22 GAA, .903 SV%); Drew Palmisano (2.05, .931)

Both of these teams lost in the last minutes last weekend. The Wolverines saw FSU’s Zach Redmond notch the game-winning goal on the power play at 19:36 in the third period in Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Big Rapids. The Spartans saw OSU’s Patrick Schafer score at 18:53 in the third period of Saturday’s 4-2 home loss in East Lansing.

Oh, this is going to be so good.

Chilly

And did you hear? The Spartans and Wolverines are going to play outdoors next season! Yay! (Can you also hear the real tone of my voice through your computer screen?)

Michigan announced Thursday that it will host “The Big Chill in the Big House” Dec. 11, 2010, an outdoor game against the Spartans in Michigan Stadium. It will be the second outdoor game for the two teams. MSU hosted the “Cold War” contest in Spartan Stadium Oct. 6, 2001.

In all fairness, it was a great contest that ended in a 3-3 tie in front of 74,544 fans. I recall the extra security so close to Sept. 11, as though someone in the Middle East were thinking, “Hey, if we hit the Cold War game, America will fold and the West will tumble into oblivion!”

I also remember the racoon that found its way into the press box post-game and the reaction of several media members — all male — who clearly were unaccustomed to the outdoor life.

While the outdoor games seem kind of gimmicky, I’m sure I’ll be more on board as the contest approaches. It’s also interesting that it will be the second month in 2010 in which collegiate hockey will be played on the gridiron, so to speak, in the state of Michigan.

But the title … is it just me, or is someone else also thinking of a guy named Big Nate dancing to “I Heard It Through the Grapevine?”

I’m just about to lose my mind.

This Week in the NCHA and MCHA: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

The University of Wisconsin-Stout’s 3-2 victory over St. Olaf at the Xcel Center on Saturday (which we’ll have more on later) wrapped up the regular season action between the NCHA and the MIAC.

With a 24-6-3 record over the MIAC this season the NCHA once again obliterated its western foes and has gone 66-21-5 against them over the past two years.
Before anyone in the NCHA starts puffing their chest out too far, however, let us not forget that the MIAC is 3-1 against the NCHA in the past two NCAA tournaments.

While we don’t yet know if the MIAC will rise to the occasion again this year, we do know that a new week means a new edition of the USCHO.com Division III men’s poll.

St. Norbert remains the top ranked team in the West and slides up a spot to No. 3 following a sweep over UW-Superior. St. Scholastica again follows as the Saints landed at No. 5 on the tails of a sweep over UW-Eau Claire.

UW-River Falls drops three spots to No. 14 after a home split against UW-Stevens Point, while UW-Superior clings to four votes despite having gone 1-7-1 in its last nine.

Stout’s win over the Oles was enough for the Blue Devils to hang onto their two votes from last week while Adrian’s convincing sweep over Lawrence moves the Bulldogs up a spot to No. 11. Adrian remains the only MCHA team to have received votes.

Sabre Rattling

It was the opening weekend of the MCHA season and Marian was coming off an impressive 3-2 non-conference win over the NCHA’s UW-Eau Claire.

Up next was a pair of home dates with league favorite Adrian. Between Marian’s consistent improvement over the past few seasons and the win over the Blugolds a week earlier, many thought the series might be a prime spot for Adrian’s cart to get upset.

It was not to be, however, as the Bulldogs skated into Fond du Lac and dropped the Sabres 4-1 and 9-1. The 0-2 start mired Marian in the bottom half of the MCHA standings for awhile, but their position was a bit deceptive as it meant little unless someone else in the MCHA was able to step up and drop the Bulldogs.

It hasn’t happened thus far and in the meantime Marian has rolled off nine consecutive MCHA victories and now sits at second in the league and alone atop the North Division. If the playoffs started today the Sabres would receive a bye to the Harris Cup Semifinals thanks to winning their division.

Their climb to the top culminated with last Tuesday’s win over Lawrence that was discussed here last week.

“At the time it was very big and I think even at the end of the season we’ll look back on it as a big win,” said Sabres’ head coach Jasen Wise, who is in his sixth season at Marian. “We want that first round bye so to get that win and move past them in the standings was big.”

As a refresher, the Sabres had to kill off nearly two minutes of 6-on-3 to close out the game and hold on to for the 4-3 win.

“It was a big morale boost and a big team building experience in the sense that we rallied together down 6-on-3 and got the win,” Wise said.

Marian’s slow start, at least in the standings, virtually dropped the Sabres from all discussions on the fan side of things, though Wise insists that most certainly wasn’t the case around the MCHA itself.

“Maybe for people on the outside that was the case, but I think for people on the inside in terms of [the other teams in our conference] that, because they see us on a regular basis, they know what we bring. So from their perspective I don’t think we were flying under the radar on anyone. Maybe that was the case for the casual fan, but not for the rest of the league.”

Marian is one of the MCHA teams that have observers just waiting for them to break through, but for the third season in a row the Sabres’ non-conference season was one of heartbreak.

After defeating Eau Claire early, the Sabres had to wait until January to play its final non-conference games. The two week stretch ended with losses to Superior, Stevens Point and two to Gustavus Adolphus. Aside from the Stevens Point game, the Sabres were in every one right down to the bitter end.

“We know we can skate with them and play with them so from that standpoint we built some confidence,” Wise said. “Where we need to improve is how we play in pressure situations, particularly the last ten minutes of the game. I think that’s what is keeping us from winning those close games against ranked teams.

“I think our speed is there, our physical play is there, our decision making is there, but when the game is on the line we need to get better.”

Marian is no doubt hopeful the lessons learned will help as it hits the MCHA homestretch, and that it can hold onto the North Division lead and score the bye to the semifinals. Up first if that is to be the case is a home-and-home this series with Lake Foresters. The Foresters enter the weekend at 7-4-1 in league play and in third place, three points behind the Sabres.

“They are young, they play very physical and they’ve got some guys who can score, especially on the blue line,” Wise said. “We hope to stay in second. This is a big series this weekend as Lake Forest is right behind us so we need a couple of wins to stay here.”

Regardless of what happens against Lake Forest, who is in the South Division, the North Division title and subsequent playoff bye will likely not be determined until Marian and Lawrence finish off their season series. Thanks to a bit of a scheduling quirk, all four meetings between the two come in the second half of the season and three are yet to be played.

“It adds a lot of excitement to the second half of the season and it really helps that both teams will likely be playing their best hockey at that time. I think it’s a great situation for both teams and adds a lot for the players.”

Upping the ante in the Marian-Lawrence series a bit is the initiation of the “Battle for 41” rivalry trophy. As the two schools are a mere 45 miles apart on highway 41, the traveling trophy will be earned by whichever team wins a predetermined three game regular season “series” between the two. As luck would have it, this season’s three games are the three that remain to be played.

A definite nice touch for a budding rivalry in a league still developing its identity, especially considering all three games involved are absolutely crucial to the final standings. Despite clinging to a one point lead on the Vikings at this time, Wise and the Vikings would have it no other way:
“I think the way it worked out is great.”

The Blue Devils Are In The Details

It’s been an up-and-down season thus far for a team that made it all the way to Lake Placid a year ago and was a near-consensus pick to take the NCHA this season.

The Blue Devils’ NCHA season didn’t kick off as well as they hoped as St. Norbert rolled into Dunn County Arena and skated away with a pair of wins. The most surprising aspect of the weekend might not even have been the game results, however, but rather that the Blue Devils were outshot 83-38 in the 2-0 and 4-1 defeats.

“The first night was a great game,” said Blue Devils’ head coach Terry Watkins. “It was a 1-0 game and they scored the second goal with seven seconds left so it was a tight game start to finish.”

Though the loss was a setback in the short term, it was nowhere near as significant as the long-term losses suffered on that opening night. Six Stout players suffered injuries in the contest, and those to senior defenseman Bobby Kuehl and sophomore forward/defenseman Matt Morin were season-ending.

“You take six guys out of your top 20 in this league and that creates a problem,” Watkins said. “We felt pretty good coming into the year, but that leaves a dent. We’ve played three freshmen defenseman and a bunch of freshmen forwards at times, so some kids had to grow up a little bit, and they have.”

Despite being shorthanded in the health department, the Blue Devils ran off six unbeaten with non-conference wins over St. Mary’s and St. Thomas, a pair of ties at St. Scholastica and a home sweep over Stevens Point.

That set the stage for Stout to make the trip east over Thanksgiving weekend to join Norwich, Middlebury and Plattsburgh in the prestigious Primelink tournament. This year’s edition was hosted by Norwich at Kreitzberg Arena and received nothing but praise from Watkins.

“The experience was awesome,” he said. “We did not imagine we were going to be treated as well as we were. We knew it was going to be a good experience but we were treated wonderfully by absolutely everybody.

“[The arena] is beautiful. The whole setup was just great: A wonderful banquet, a beautiful part of the country, and nice people. Everyone was very pleasant to us and I can’t say enough about the way we were treated.”

Unfortunately for Stout, the off-ice treatment was not indicative of the rude awakening Norwich had in line for the Blue Devils in their opener, as the home Cadets opened up a 3-0 lead in the opening period before ultimately dropping a 9-1 shellacking on the Blue Devils. Stout was outshot 53-14 in the contest.

“The bottom line is that we didn’t play very well,” Watkins said of the Norwich game. “After that first night I watched the film and was like ‘who is this team?’ We just stood around and got beat by a very good Norwich team.”

Seeking redemption in the consolation game against Middlebury, the Blue Devils got off to a much better start as they outshot the Panthers 13-7 in the opening frame and tallied three times. Unfortunately for Stout, however, it also conceded three goals in the period.

The Panthers scored once in the second period and added three more in the third while not conceding Stout another en route to a 7-3 win. Between the two games, the Blue Devils were outscored 16-4 and outshot 91-40.

“Overall we just didn’t play very well. Were we good enough to beat either team? I don’t know. I don’t think we are good enough to beat Norwich and I think if we had shown up and played hard we would have had a chance to beat Middlebury,” Watkins said.

The Blue Devils struggled a bit the following week as well, notching only one point in a league series with UW-Eau Claire but responded in their final series prior to winter break with a road sweep over rival River Falls.

After the layoff, they resumed NCHA action with a road series at Superior and walked away from that one with four points as well. The four straight league wins left Stout at 6-3-3 in the NCHA — good for third in the league and a mere two points back of St. Scholastica for second.

“Our league is pretty darn good right now and to go into a weekend and get some points on the road is big. I look at the River Falls and Superior series and we got eight points on the road. That’s huge,” Watkins said.

While their 6-3-3 record in the NCHA has the Blue Devils in position for playoff home ice, it’s somewhat peculiar that they only hold a 3-4 mark in non-conference play, including a pair of losses to Augsburg and Gustavus Adolphus three weeks ago.

“We’ve got some new kids and with six of our better guys out we’ve had to find out what some of these other kids can do,” Watkins said. “We’ve played some lineups one some nights that, looking back, probably weren’t our best lineup.

“We were in a position after losing a few games that we weren’t getting into the [NCAA] tournament because of our record. We’ve got to be playing really well down the stretch here so you want to start trying to develop things that can help us out, so we maybe did some things in the non-conference games we wouldn’t have done in a conference game.”

Stout was the lucky recipient of a NCHA bye a week ago, though they did square off in a non-conference tilt with St. Olaf last weekend. It was no mere non-conference game, however, as it was played at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, as part of Hockey Day Minnesota, a statewide event aimed at celebrating the hockey culture of the state.

The Blue Devils ultimately won the game, 3-2, but the memories of playing in a venue like the Xcel will likely persist far longer than those of the one goal non-conference win.

“It was pretty neat,” Watkins said. “You get in there and see the locker rooms and such and it’s special. You see what the Wild get to walk into and you skate out into a venue that I can’t imagine being full of people.

“It was something to stand on that bench and look up at that huge scoreboard. Heck, the empty seats were pretty impressive and I can’t imagine all those seats with people in them. It was just a fun hockey experience.”
As it turned out, the Stout players and coaches weren’t the only ones to participate in the experience.

“It was actually our home game,” Watkins said. “We brought nine of our people over there. The music guy, the scorekeeper, goal judges and off-ice officials and they all did a tremendous job. On top of it, there were 1,400 fans there and about 1,200 of those were Stout people. It was a great turnout.”

It has to be considered a special season from an experience standpoint when a team is not only able to participate in the prestigious Primelink but also skate 60 minutes in an NHL venue. That said, those experiences are now behind the Blue Devils.

Now fully healthy with the exception of Kuehl and Morin, having won four consecutive league games, and with a crack at second place in the NCHA this weekend, all focus is on the future according to Watkins.

“Number one you want to secure home ice for the first round,” he said. “In this league, especially with our rink and our fans, securing home ice is no doubt an advantage. Our immediate goal is to try to lock that down and if we are able to sneak a couple points out of this weekend I’d be very, very pleased.”

Life On The Road

As mentioned, last Saturday’s game between Stout and St. Olaf at the Xcel Energy Center was a small part of the festivities that comprise Hockey Day Minnesota. Initiated four years ago, Hockey Day Minnesota was established with the intent of celebrating the game that Minnesota, “The State of Hockey”, holds above all others.

I’m a Wisconsin native and still have always considered it a great event that helps celebrate Minnesota’s hockey culture while also offering memorable experiences for coaches, players, parents and fans.

As such, I must admit I was somewhat surprised when at one point on Saturday I heard someone lamenting the entire concept while suggesting it is nothing more than a scam by FSNorth aimed at making money.

Reluctantly dignifying that thought for a moment: so what if it is? I highly doubt it mattered to the high school players who participated in televised outdoor games or to their parents who got to revel in their children’s experiences.

It certainly didn’t matter to Stout head coach Terry Watkins and St. Olaf head coach Sean Goldsworthy who both changed goaltenders at the midpoint of their Saturday affair just so both their netminders could see game action in an NHL Arena.

Moving significantly further down the totem pole, it was the last thing on my mind as, thanks to some accommodating Xcel staff, I was afforded a highly unexpected opportunity to attend and cover a Division III game from press row in an NHL arena. As a guy whose competitive hockey experiences amount to toiling away at the outdoor rink at midnight, it was an experience I will not forget.

And finally, an acquaintance of mine. Lee Kluck is a good friend of mine but he’s a baseball guy. He has done significant work on high school, college and minor league baseball and has a habit of directing friendly ridicule my direction because he can’t quite understand my obsession with the game of hockey. Well, actually I think he does but he just doesn’t want to grant me the joy of seeing him admit it.

Regardless, in a weird stroke of luck, he joined me at the X on Saturday and, unprompted, sent me an email after the fact. I feel compelled to include it here as if Lee was able to become enraptured with a Hockey Day Minnesota event, anyone can be, and that’s something the guy whining about the entire concept should pay attention to.

His e-mail read:

“I will be the first to admit that I am not the most diehard of hockey fans. Therefore, when the chance came up to cover the Stout-St Olaf game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul as part of Hockey Day Minnesota, I really didn’t know what I could add to the coverage from a hockey standpoint.

Once I got to the arena however, the shear enormity of my task, instead of overwhelming me, made me rise to the challenge. This is because I realized that, what Hockey Day is all about, is providing an experience that many of the players, no matter what their age, will consider the highlight of their hockey careers. The same goes for members of the media.

I, for example, had done radio for a handful of Division III games at UW-Stevens Point. No Frozen Fours, Stanley Cup game seven’s or Olympic gold medal games for me. However, the minute I walked in the front gate it was like I was every other club reporter.

For instance, after explaining to the security guard at the press gate who I was, there was a brief problem vetting my credentials. However, instead of running me off, the young man at the gate (who coincidentally is a UW-River Falls grad) made four phone calls on my behalf. The problem was quickly resolved and I was kindly escorted to the press box level. Once there, again all possible requests that I may have had were filled.

I felt like I was just as important as Mike Sweeney of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, whose seat I happened to be sitting in. I could walk where the paid scribes walked, I could see what they see, and I could dream about what it’s like to be on the NHL beat forty nights a year.

But then again, that makes sense. Hockey Day Minnesota is supposed to be about dreaming big time hockey dreams. No matter if that dream involves standing on the ice or in line at the pressroom buffet. Oh, and in case you were wondering . . . Stout defeated St. Olaf, 3-2.”

Tasty Travels

Alas, the full return of the conference seasons means a return to some travel for yours truly. It also means I have to eat somewhere along the way.
This week’s establishment is the first fan recommendation of the season and comes from a loyal River Falls fan, who recommended the “River Falls Family Restaurant”, along with the suggestion to not be fooled by its somewhat innocent sounding name.

Located at 1109 N. Main St. in — where else? — River Falls, I’m just going to get it out of the way early: this place absolutely puts the Perkins that is right down the road to shame.

Myself and two acquaintances all ordered breakfast, and I considered not doing so in order to mix things up, but since I was in town for a River Falls game I just couldn’t pass on the “Falcon’s Special”. It only seemed fitting.

With eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage [i]and[/i] ham, it looked promising, and the kitchen delivered on that promise. A definite quality breakfast, and my companions were equally impressed with theirs which both included homemade sausage gravy that while not only being legitimately homemade, was legitimately good. One of the others indulged in dessert and insisted that the pecan pie was fantastic.

A prototypical “greasy spoon” with a giant menu, the place has something for everyone, be it breakfast, salads, wraps, seafood or meat and potatoes. The service was of the highest quality and it was cleaner and nicer than most family restaurants.

It was also affordable, as my gut-stuffing breakfast and a beverage drained my wallet all of $9 plus tip.

Overall, I’d recommend this place to anyone. As these ratings are always “class-relative”, meaning I’m not going to compare a local joint to a high end Los Angeles steakhouse, the River Falls Family Restaurant delivers exactly what you expect and it does it well.

Hence, it receives: three pucks.

This Week in the CHA: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Last week, we discussed how Bemidji State was becoming mortal again.

Last weekend, the Beavers perhaps took notice of their slump and came out with a two-game sweep against then-No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth in a home-and-home series.

“This was important because UMD is in the WCHA and they’ve been ahead of us in the rankings,” BSU goalie Dan Bakala said to USCHO. “To get two wins will give us more confidence.”

Ian Lowe scored twice in Bemidji State's win last Friday against Minnesota-Duluth (photo: BSU Photo Services).

Ian Lowe scored twice in Bemidji State’s win last Friday against Minnesota-Duluth (photo: BSU Photo Services).

Friday night in Bemidji, Ian Lowe popped two goals and an assist, while Brance Orban and Brad Hunt also scored to back Bakala’s 29 saves.

“When we forecheck like we can, there aren’t a lot of teams that can stay with us,” said Lowe, also to USCHO. “Our team starts with our goalie and then we’ll block as many shots as we can. We don’t give the other team a lot of room.”

The next night in Duluth, trailing 2-1 after two periods, Bemidji State tied the game three times in the game’s final 13 minutes and Jordan George would need less than a minute of extra time to steal the 5-4 win.

Ben Kinne sent the game to overtime with a goal just before the horn.

BSU captain Chris McKelvie, Matt Read and Lowe, with his fifth goal in five games, were the other goal scorers.

Bakala made 31 stops.

“This was unbelievable and I can’t say enough about the character of this team,” Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore said to USCHO. “They just willed themselves to win and our goaltender was our best player.”

“We didn’t do a lot of smart things with the puck; we played way too loose,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said in the same USCHO recap. “We gave the puck away, and they played hard for 60 minutes, and we didn’t get the goaltending we needed in either game. It seemed as though the games meant more to Bemidji’s players than ours. They played well.”

BSU hosts surging Robert Morris this weekend.

Niagara Gets Three at Quinnipiac

Niagara came into last weekend’s series at Quinnipiac owning a 10-2-0 all-time series advantage.

Needless to say, it was pretty much a given that the Purple Eagles would take the series and that they did, with a 6-2 win Friday night and a 3-3 stalemate Saturday night.

In the series opener, NU used six different goal scorers — Wes Consorti, Chris Moran, Dan Baco, Paul Zanette, Jason Beattie and Bryan Haczyk — and 48 saves from Andrew Hare for his first career win.

“We played a solid road game today against a good team,” NU coach Dave Burkholder said. “In a nice facility against an ECAC team, we came out and played to our potential.”

Down 3-1 going into the third Saturday night, David Ross and Consorti scored within the first two minutes to gain the tie.

Tyler Gotto also scored and Chris Noonan made a career-best 55 saves in net.

“The courage I saw from the guys in the third period says a lot about who is in our locker room,” Burkholder said. “We had to come out and fight hard for 20 minutes, and we did just that.”

The Purple Eagles are back in action this weekend when they travel to take on CHA rival Alabama-Huntsville in the final conference series between the two teams in Alabama.

Robert Morris Gains Point at Colgate

Robert Morris cooled off a bit last weekend with a loss and a tie on the road at Colgate.

Zach Hervato managed RMU’s lone goal in a 4-1 loss Friday night.

Brooks Ostergard finished with 28 saves in a losing effort.

“Colgate was more intense and mentally ready to play from the start; we were not,” Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said. “We got better as the game went on, but the first period made the difference.”

Saturday, the two squads battled to a 3-3 tie.

The Colonials held a 3-2 lead going into the final minutes, but Austin Smith scored at 19:11 with an extra attacker to force the game into overtime and ultimately to the tie.

Eric Levine made 28 saves for the Colonials.

“I was very pleased with our complete effort and willingness to battle,” Schooley said.  “We played much better tonight and we deserved a better fate.”

Andrew Blazek, Stefan Salituro and Josh Jones scored for RMU, which travels to Bemidji State this weekend.

“Their M.O. is puck possession and puck pursuit,” Schooley said on rmucolonials.com. “They’re an up-tempo team that plays with speed and plays very well down low.

“It’s going to be fun, but it’s going to be challenging.”

This Week in Hockey East: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Not-So-Dire Situation After All

A week ago, my colleague and friend Dave Hendrickson painted a bleak picture in this exact space for Hockey East prospects for bids to this year’s NCAA tournament.

At the time, Dave had every right in the world to feel that way. Hockey East had just three teams inside the top 14 in the PairWise Rankings. He made a point that because there really are no non-league games remaining for the Hockey East teams (except for two Beanpot games versus Harvard), that it would be improbable for many Hockey East teams to make positive moves in the PairWise.

And then last weekend happened. Four teams made positive ascents in the PairWise Rankings last weekend. Massachusetts, which began the week at 10th, now leads the Hockey East contingent in the PairWise, now tied for fifth (and did so by splitting a weekend series with Vermont). With two wins, New Hampshire jumped from 15th to seventh. Vermont, the other half of the split from the UMass series, moved from a tie for 12th to a tie for 10th. And Massachusetts-Lowell, the other Hockey East team to earn two wins last week, moved from 22nd to a tie for 17th and still can have tournament aspirations.

The only teams to move in a downward direction were Boston College, which lost twice and dropped from ninth to 12th, and Maine, which was idle and dropped from 20th to 21st.

So what does all this mean? Right now … nothing. Let’s keep in mind that the PairWise only matters on the final day of the league postseason tournaments and the movement of teams throughout can be extremely volatile and dynamic, depending on what is happening among other teams.

Is it panic time for Hockey East? I’d say no. For the teams that put their head down and drive toward the finish line, picking up a number of wins along the way, they’ll hear their name called on March 21. Any team that’s in the PairWise right now controls its destiny.

Playing With a Heavy Heart

For Sunday’s game against UMass, there was no doubt that Vermont goaltender Rob Madore was the star of the game. Madore made 31 saves, including 12 in the third period with the game in the balance, to pick up his second shutout of the season and third of his career in a 3-0 victory.

Shutouts always mean plenty to goaltenders — it’s their hope for an outcome every time they step on the ice. But Sunday’s shutout meant the world to Madore, whose uncle, Rick Madore, had died suddenly of a heart attack earlier in the week at age 51.

“He had a tough week, and his ability mentally to stay focused, and physically to perform,” said Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon after the game. “The way he played — we don’t give out game pucks, we’ve done it maybe once or twice in my career — and our captains presented him with the game puck.”

Madore spent his week prior to the UMass series traveling back and forth to State College, Pa., to be with his family.

“The guys were so great in helping me deal and being supportive,” said Madore. “They let me do what I needed to do to help my family get through this.”

Madore, who made 28 saves but was on the wrong end of a 3-1 loss in the series opener, said that playing hockey last weekend was a good distraction from his family’s loss, but also that the loss was a good motivation for his play.

“It was nice that maybe I got to play for something a little bigger than myself this weekend,” said Madore. “It was nice to come away with the win, and that’s kind of for my cousins, and my aunt, and I hope things are going all right back at home.”

York’s Ire

Of all the coaches in Hockey East, one of the least vocal when it comes to officiating is Boston College’s Jerry York. His grandfather-like demeanor rarely ever turns to anger when he’s behind the bench.

But last weekend, when his club dropped two games — in both of which he felt his team played well — to Boston University and Massachusetts-Lowell, York’s ire was directed squarely in the direction of the officials.

On Friday night, in a 5-4 overtime loss to BU, York let loose on referee Tom Quinn when the zebra whistled Cam Atkinson for tripping with 38.4 seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 4. York immediately hopped over the bench, opened the door and stood in the door frame seething with anger.

“I was more upset about a non-call earlier,” said York when asked about the call. “It’s just consistency. You let one go and call one with 38 seconds left.”

In York’s defense, the officiating crew that also included referee John Gravallese, had let a number of infractions go on both sides throughout the game’s final period. Quinn had whistled the Terriers for a penalty at 12:47 that led to the Eagles tying goal, the period’s only other called infraction.

The penalty that York screamed about in the closing minute certainly was a penalty. But Gravallese was just feet away from the play, which occurred at BC’s offensive blue line, while Quinn, who called the penalty, was positioned near the far goal, nearly 100 feet away.

York’s frustration carried over on Saturday night at Lowell. With his team trailing, 1-0, in the third, the Eagles twice had goals waved off by referee Jeff Bunyon. Accepting of both calls, York was less patient when the linesmen ruled no icing on a long clear from the Lowell end with BC attacking in the closing seconds of the game. The BC defense, expecting the icing, stopped skating allowing Lowell’s Kory Falite to pick up the puck and score into the empty net.

York’s tirade on Saturday was magnitudes worse than Friday as he felt his team was robbed one final attempt to tie the game.

“The linesman said it hit one of our sticks,” said York. “[The Lowell defender] is in the top of the faceoff circle and ripped the puck out of the zone. I don’t understand how that’s not icing.”

The two losses on the weekend for BC had major standings implications. With New Hampshire sweeping its two games against Providence and BU, respectively, the Eagles now are a full five points behind the Wildcats in the race for first place in Hockey East.

It’s quite possible that those losses and their standings implication combined some disagreeable calls on the ice is what set off the generally mild-mannered Jerry York.

And to the ‘Pot of Beans

The 58th Beanpot Championship is just days away and one has to admit that this year’s Championship might lack a little luster. In most years, the majority of the participating schools (for those who live in a cave, those schools are BC, BU, Northeastern and Harvard) are entrenched in stellar seasons and find themselves in the national rankings.

This season, only BC is ranked and, for that matter, only the Eagles are above .500 entering the tournament. That, though, doesn’t mean that fans on Monday night should expect to see bad hockey.

“Sometimes there are a bunch of nationally ranked teams, sometimes none of us are ranked,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “But because it’s the Beanpot, there’s always emotion. There’s always intensity. So I’m sure you’ll see some great hockey.

“We’re all so evenly matched. Hopefully it’s not like watching two golfers shoot 90. But I think we’re all a lot better than our records.”

Notables

• Sneddon might have been happy with his team’s victory on Sunday, but that didn’t keep him from showing disdain for a non-call as Colin Vock scored an empty-net goal to seal the 3-0 victory over UMass. Vock received a vicious two-handed slash from UMass’ Will Ortiz. Referee Kevin Keenan put up his arm for a penalty but it was negated by the goal. After the goal, Sneddon had a long conversation at the bench with Kennan, apparently pleading for a five-minute major and game disqualification.

• Only four teams in USCHO.com’s top 20 earned two victories last weekend, and Hockey East produced two of those clubs. UNH and UMass-Lowell both earned two victories on the weekend and both were rewarded in the recent USCHO.com national poll. Each jumped three spots — UNH from 16th to 13th; Lowell from 19th to 16th.

• Merrimack kept alive its most improbable home and road records this past weekend, losing Friday night at Lowell, 5-4, before earning a 2-1 overtime win at home over Providence. The Warriors have not won this season on the road (0-11-0) and have just one loss in the friendly confines of home (8-1-0). The only home loss came to New Hampshire, which Merrimack will face in a home-and-home series this weekend beginning Friday night in North Andover.

And Finally, Not That It Has Anything to Do With Anything, But …

Maybe I’m opening my mouth too early, but I don’t feel like this year’s Super Bowl brings with it a lot of hype. Maybe it’s because it’s the league’s two best teams. Maybe it’s because outside of New Orleans and Indianapolis, not a lot of fans care about the game.

Personally, I don’t have a strong rooting interest. Peyton Manning and his hundreds of TV commercials annoy me. New Orleans, to me, has something indescribable about it that makes me have a hard time band-wagoning.

I guess this will become a year where I simply watch the game for the commercials. And with today’s economy, I’m not surprised if they’re a dud as well.

Back to hockey for a second, many of you may have read the recent dialogue going back and forth between Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi and current player and former Michigan standout Jack Johnson.

Lombardi lambasted his player publicly for playing a haphazard style of hockey in the past. He went further to state that Johnson got no coaching at Michigan playing for Red Berenson. It was a true slap in the face to the legendary coach (who, for the record has the longest active streak of NCAA tournament appearances … obviously, Red knows nothing).

But Johnson, to his credit, wasn’t going to let his GM publicly criticize Berenson. Johnson, days later, told LA Times writer Helene Elliott:

“I’m a Michigan man. I’m very proud of it. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. Michigan has produced more NHL players than any other school. Even the U.S. development program, people rip that and they just don’t know anything about it and don’t know what they’re talking about.”

About Berenson, Johnson said, “[He] is one of the finest coaches and men that I’ve met. For my general manager to rip me as a person and criticize me as a person and as a player and call me an awful hockey player is irresponsible and unprofessional.”

Personally, I have to say that Johnson’s response took a lot of guts, knowing that lashing out at your general manager on an issue that really isn’t completely germane to the day-to-day activity of your current career could result in (albeit unwarranted) problems.

I’m extremely happy that Johnson not only stood up for himself but also for his former coach. It shows that every now and again a collegian’s school pride certainly can transcend the big-time paycheck that lives in the NHL.

This Week in SUNYAC: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

As Expected

“Somehow, I get the feeling after the weekend is over, the only thing that is going to change amongst this cluster is some shuffling around within.”

That’s what I wrote in last week’s column. That’s exactly what happened.

Sure, the spread amongst the gap widened by one point. But, that’s like saying Calista Flockhart’s waistline expanded. It’s still small.

Now, there is a three-way tie for fourth place between Brockport, Cortland, and Geneseo, who all split their weekend. Potsdam slipped from fourth to seventh, one point behind those three teams thanks to dropping both games. Three points behind the Bears are Morrisville (now with two games in hand) and Buffalo State.

“Every game is important,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “Every SUNYAC game you play is going to be a hard fought battle. It’s already proven there’s not a soft team in this league, and that’s the way it should be.”

Geneseo knows all about hard fought games as they had a quite a battle against Potsdam which nearly saw the game get out of hand in the final period.

“There’s got to be an incredible amount of focus to win hockey games in this conference. And we kept our composure,” Schultz said.

The game started out innocently enough. Stefan Decosse gave Geneseo a first period lead. Matt Viola and Sy Nutkevitch reversed the tide in the second for a Potsdam 2-1 lead. Before the period was over, Kaz Iwamoto scored on the power play to knot it up.

Geneseo took the lead on another two-man advantage power play with a Sebastian Panetta goal. Colin MacLennan returned the favor 45 seconds later with a shorthanded tally. Then came the fun and games.

Clint Olson was awarded the winning goal when the puck never went into the net during a power play. The ensuing meltdown by Potsdam eventually resulted in a Viola unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a Fraser Smith major and game disqualification for leveling Decosse shortly after play resumed. The result was a clinching goal by Dan Brown.

Andy Rubeniuk was the star of the game, making 37 saves for the win. At times he outright robbed Potsdam.

“I think overall we let our emotions get the best of us,” Potsdam coach Chris Bernard said. “It was a heated game. We were playing with a lot of heart, a lot of guts, but not necessarily a lot of intelligence.”

“Potsdam is going to be a dangerous team come playoff team,” Schultz said. “They got four real difference makers on their team in terms of offensive capabilities.”

Those difference makers couldn’t make the difference the night before.

Potsdam jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Mike Foy and Matt Rhymer, the latter on the power play. However, Brockport fought back as Todd Sheridan kept the Bears off the scoreboard the rest of the night, winding up with 36 saves.

Justin Noble got a man-advantage goal before the end of the first period, and Adam Korol scored the lone goal in the second to tie it. James Cody got the game winner early in the third on the power play and Adam Shoff put the game away with an empty netter.

Despite the two losses, Bernard was happy with how the team rebounded after the Brockport game for the Geneseo contest.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” he said. “I didn’t think we had our best effort [against Brockport]. I thought we were playing a little bit selfish hockey. We got away from our systems. Our guys did everything that they could to reinvest in our program, to stay positive, to stay upbeat, to do things we need to do to win games. It ended up being a great effort [against Geneseo].”

The other key contest amongst this cluster was Cortland defeating Buffalo State, 4-2. The Red Dragons scored twice 2:33 apart in the first period by Jake Saville and Alex Arthur. Trevor McKinney got one back for the Bengals early in the second on a delayed penalty. Chris Kaleta restored the two-goal lead a few minutes later.

Jarret Gold made it 4-1 early in the third while Nick Petriello got a too little, too late goal with five minutes left to close out the scoring.

Meanwhile, up front the key game saw Oswego survive against Fredonia, eventually winning, 3-1, giving the Lakers a five point margin over third place. After a scoreless first period, Jon Whitelaw got a power-play score at 7:58 of the second.

Oswego finally felt comfortable after two goals early in the third by Stephan MallaroA on the power play and Eric Selleck. Bryan Ross broke the shutout a couple of minutes later as Kyle Gunn-Taylor made 17 saves.

“On Saturday, there were a couple of penalties we took that I’ll like to not have taken,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “Against anybody, you’re going to be behind the 8-ball. Against Oswego, you’re going to pay for it.”

SUNYAC Short Shots

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first only to have Geneseo tie it up in the second, Plattsburgh needed two early third period goals by Dylan Clarke and Kyle Kudroch en route to a 4-3 victory … Kody Van Rentergem got a 5-0 shutout for Fredonia over Cortland with 21 saves as Jordan Oye scored twice … After letting up the first goal just over a minute in, Oswego rolled over Buffalo State, 10-1, as Eric Selleck tallied twice and added three assists … Plattsburgh scored two shorthanded goals by Kyle Taylor and Jared Docking on the same power play to easily beat Brockport, 7-1.

Game of the Week

As if Oswego doesn’t have enough whiteouts sitting on the shores of Lake Ontario, they are going to produce one inside the Campus Center Ice Arena for the game of the week against archrival Plattsburgh. Fans are encouraged to wear white as the school will be handing out white towels to the first 2,000 fans.

The new rink has not been a blessing for top ranked Oswego when they face Plattsburgh as they have yet to beat the Cardinals in it. This year, a win would be huge for Oswego as it would virtually clinch them first place and home ice throughout the playoffs. Another Plattsburgh win in Oswego would result in these two powers fighting it out down the stretch.

The game is already sold out, so if you want to see it, you’ll have to watch it live on the Internet, or if you live locally in Oswego, on local access cable channel 96. If you are a student, the game is on campus channel 10.

While everyone is having a grand old time in Oswego, there are other games worthy of note, as teams continue to fight for every point possible.

For starters, Morrisville returns to action hosting Brockport and Geneseo. The Mustangs hope to use their two games in hand to their advantage.

“We know better,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said about the game against Morrisville. “They beat us [at home] the last two times they were here. The guys know. Morrisville is a hungry team. Brian [Grady] is doing a great job getting players in there that can compete at this level. They are a team like anyone else now. They’re pretty solid. We have our hands full. It’s a one game season at this point.”

Potsdam hits the road hoping to catch Oswego looking ahead to the Plattsburgh game and then faces Cortland in a must win contest.

“Every night is a do or die,” Potsdam coach Chris Bernard said. “We got to have every single point. That puts a lot of pressure on our guys. But at the same time, that’s the format when it comes down to if you want to win it. You got a one and done and what are you going to do to make it count? I expect us to come out with a lot of energy, a lot of emotion, to try and do our best to claw and scratch our way to .500 again.”

Then of course, there is the Buffalo State-Fredonia rivalry.

“I think it will be as typical as it gets,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said of hosting the latest game in a storied history between the two teams. “Throw out the records. Throw out the standings. We’re preparing for Fredonia-Buffalo State. Let’s play 60 minutes us-them and bring our best hockey.”

I just about mentioned all the games this weekend. At this time of year, how can you not list them all as ultra-important contests?

“In the SUNYAC, you have one bad weekend and you’re right back in with everyone else,” Meredith said. “You have to focus on playing good hockey.”

Oh, and let’s not forget about the Plattsburgh at Middlebury game on Tuesday.

What a great week for hockey!

On The Periphery

A lot has been said about Geneseo’s winning goal against Potsdam that never crossed the line as video clearly showed. There are two ways to look at this controversy.

It has been said that Vince Lombardi would only get on a referee’s case if he felt that ref was not hustling. If the official blew a call, but was working hard and was in the right position, Lombardi wouldn’t complain. However, if you were lazy out there, the great football coach would be all over you.

As a former soccer referee myself, you are going to miss calls. It happens. I remember one game where I called a goal in the waning minutes, and for weeks afterward, the team insisted to me the ball never crossed the line.

The process during the call in Geneseo broke down in many ways. First, the referee was on the wrong side of the net to properly see the puck through the goaltender. Of course, the ref can be positioned correctly, and through no fault of his own, not be able to see the puck properly. That’s fine.

It’s what happened after the call where apparently proper protocol was abandoned. It should have been reasonable to an experienced referee to question his call when the reaction of the team is an explosive outburst. Any good referee knows how to read players and tell the difference between when a team is merely hoping for the official to change the call versus really believes the call is wrong.

From what I could see, this referee never asked the other officials if they had a better view of the play. He also never asked the goal judge for his opinion (the fact that the goal judge was apparently talking on the cell phone during the play is another issue). The red light had never gone on. A ref does not have to ask the goal judge, but again, a good ref will know how to read a team, put his ego aside, and make sure he got the call correct.

Another way to look at this issue is how a team reacts to a bad call. This was not a call made with just seconds left, leaving the team without the ability to recover. Potsdam was still very much in the game. Geneseo was only leading by one goal, 8:54 still remained in the third period, Potsdam already fought back from 1-0 and 3-2 deficits, and the Bears have already proven they can make spectacular third period comebacks against some of the best teams in the country.

Yet, Potsdam chose to allow the bad call to get into their heads, and ended up wearing out a path to the penalty box. The Bears had already committed 11 penalties up to that time (the goal in question was on the power play), and proceeded to commit three more, wasting away most of their time to comeback. And those were all “emotion” penalties — unsportsmanlike conduct, major for roughing, and a game disqualification, which means their reaction will hurt them the next game as well.

Potsdam commits a lot of penalties, so perhaps this reaction should not be a surprise. They are the 16th most penalized team in the country at 19.8 penalty minutes per game, the highest amongst SUNYAC teams. And for all the talk about Buffalo State’s reputation, it’s Potsdam that leads in conference play with 18.0 PIM/G (the Bengals are way down in fifth).

The officials may have blown the call, but Potsdam had time to rectify the situation, if they desired. When someone puts you in a hole, you need to grab the rope, not the shovel. Even if it’s harder to climb than to dig.

This Week in the WCHA: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

With just over a month left in the season, the gap between first place and fifth place is two points.

You read that right. Two. League-leading Minnesota-Duluth has 25 points, followed by St. Cloud State and Denver with 24 and Wisconsin and Colorado College with 23. North Dakota isn’t quite out of the hunt for home ice yet, with 19 points.

Unless something drastic happens, Minnesota (16), Alaska-Anchorage (15) and Minnesota State (11) will be on the road for the playoffs, while Michigan Tech (four) needs a miracle.

Although it’s in the context of his own team, UND coach Dave Hakstol mentioned what it’s going to be like going into the stretch run of the season in his weekly news conference.

“Anybody that’s afraid to fail and afraid to put themselves out there better go home right now because she’s going to be a dogfight down the stretch,” he said. “We’re going to put ourselves out on a limb, we’re going to go after it, we’re going to play good teams and we’re going to find ways to win against good teams, so that’s life. That’s life in the WCHA. Anybody that’s afraid of that, you’re in the wrong business.”

Red Baron WCHA Players of the Week

Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Michael Davies, UW.
Why: Scored four points (two goals, two assists) and became the first Badger to reach 100 career points since 2006 in helping his team take three points from Denver.
Also Nominated: Kane LaFranchise, UAA; Jason Gregoire, UND; Jared Festler, SCSU.

Red Baron WCHA Defensive Player of the Week: Garrett Raboin, SCSU.
Why: Scored a goal and helped his Huskies sweep Minnesota by limiting the Gophers to four goals total despite UM outshooting SCSU 85-54.
Also Nominated: Jon Olthuis, UAA; Brad Eidsness, UND.

Red Baron WCHA Rookie of the Week: David Eddy, SCSU.
Why: Scored both game-winning goals for the Huskies in their home-and-home sweep of Minnesota.
Also Nominated: Alex Gellart, UAA; William Rapuzzi, CC; Matt Donovan, DU; Aaron Dell, UND; Craig Smith, UW.

Playoff Preview

… Kind of. The Pioneers and Badgers may indeed meet in the playoffs, but if they do, it’ll undoubtedly be either at the Final Five or in the NCAA tournament.

Still, their series last weekend was one that led both coaches to compare the weekend’s atmosphere to that of the playoffs.

“It was as close to a playoff series as a regular season series can provide,” said DU’s George Gwozdecky.

“The best thing about this weekend that when you play at that level, that’s championship level at college hockey,” said Badgers coach Mike Eaves on Saturday night. “What better way to prepare yourself than playing in these types of games?”

The weekend’s results — a 3-3 tie (“What you might expect from two top hockey teams in the college hockey world, Eaves said) and a 4-3 UW win — were a pleasant surprise for Badgers fans, who had been used to seeing the Pioneers dominate in their building. Going into the series, DU had a 13-2-2 record at the Kohl Center.

“Well, I was hoping that that record for us would continue to go for the next 15, 20, 25, 30 years,” quipped Gwozdecky. “But in all seriousness, it’s a heck of a team they’ve got there this year. It’s not by fluke that they are one of the top teams in the country, no matter who they’re playing against — especially at home.

“Whatever’s happened in the past, whether it was last year or the year before, really doesn’t matter when you step on the ice in the series,” he said. “It’s about who’s on the ice and who’s competing against who. So I would have liked somehow to have this mystical record that we have sprinkle gold dust over our team and have it magically give us an edge, but it just doesn’t happen.”

Playoff Preview, Part Two

Like last weekend, we have a couple big series this weekend. However, if you look at the league standings (or hark back to the first few paragraphs of this column), you could make the argument that every series from here on out is difficult. Don’t believe me? Believe George.

“When you look at the league race right now, as close as it is and as competitive as this league is, from here on in, every series is important,” said Gwozdecky. “Whether you want to describe them as big or important or difficult or challenging or whatever, this is what makes the league so much fun to follow, so much fun to watch the games and why this league is continually the top league of college hockey in the country.”

That being said, two series this weekend stand out.

Sioux vs. Pioneers

This series is typically fun regardless just because one usually sees an exciting game, whether it be a goalie duel, a high-scoring shoot out or a brawling blood bath.

Granted, UND will be without a couple of its better-known players (news flash: Chay Genoway is still out) and is struggling for Fighting Sioux standards, but it’s a team you should never count out.

“I’ve seen them play and I think in this league, sometimes the bounce of the puck works for you and sometimes it doesn’t,” said Gwozdecky. “I watched them play both games against Minnesota a couple weekends ago and they were very, very good. Unfortunately, the puck — and I mean this with all sincerity — the puck just didn’t seem to bounce with them.

“That Saturday night game, everybody looks at the score and it’s 5-1 Minnesota and people are going, ‘My goodness, North Dakota got blown out of the building and they’re not the team that they used to be,’ or whatever reason if they just look at the score,” he continued. “If you watched the game, I think you realize how good North Dakota was.”

The Sioux, meanwhile, are looking for a chance to even the season series, after being swept in Denver back in November.

“We didn’t like the way things went down there,” said Hakstol. “The bottom line is, we didn’t win either night. We’ll be a better team here. … I feel confident that we’ll play hard.

“They’re a multidimensional team and we’ll be ready to play against all of their strengths.”

Bulldogs vs. Badgers

This series probably won’t get as much press, which is a shame, because it should also be a good one, pitting the second-ranked team in the country (tied for third in the league) against the ninth-ranked team in the country (first in the league).

For the Badgers, in many ways, it’s another weekend in the WCHA meat grinder before a small non-conference break at Camp Randall.

“The last three weekends have been like that,” said coach Mike Eaves. “We’ve gone from CC to Denver to Duluth. So every week, it seems to be a groundhog week in terms of same type of mind-set. Try to put points on the board and W’s and then get ready for the next game, and that’s our task again this week.”

For the Bulldogs, this series is about getting back on the winning track after being swept by Bemidji State and keeping a good position in the league.

“We played well for about half the weekend against Bemidji. From a competitive standpoint, that’s never going to be good enough,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said after Saturday’s game. “We have to get better with puck management and turnovers. And we have to be better defensively, especially against Wisconsin, because they have no holes in their lineup.”

Honorable Mention: Tigers vs. Huskies

Two teams in the second and third positions in the league (and fifth and 11th in the polls) and it’s not even considered “big.” Such a shame. Due to proximity, I’ll be at at least one game in this series (while catching snippets of other games on the World Arena press box TV).

Around the WCHA

UAA: Barring anything freaky happening in Thursday’s practices or Friday’s morning skate, the Seawolves should have their full roster available and healthy for the first time all season on Friday night.

The Anchorage Daily News had a note about how the Seawolves do poorly on Friday nights at home and well on Saturdays and included some good quotes from a few players:

“I honestly can’t explain it. We get our asses kicked on Fridays, but we do great Saturdays, so I guess we learn from our mistakes?” — junior wing Tommy Grant.

“After Saturday night wins, we might come in [the next Friday] with big egos and maybe we let off the gas a little bit. We come back [Saturday] with some fire under our asses.” — freshman center Alex Gellart.

Matchups by the Numbers

All 10 teams play in some fashion against each other.

Wisconsin @ Minnesota-Duluth
Overall Records: UW — 14-6-4 (10-5-3 WCHA). UMD — 16-9-1 (12-5-1 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: UW leads the overall series, 86-56-13.

Denver @ North Dakota
Overall Records: DU — 14-6-4 (10-4-4 WCHA). UND — 13-8-5 (8-7-3 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: UND leads the overall series, 129-112-8.

Minnesota @ Alaska-Anchorage
Overall Records: UM — 12-12-2 (7-9-2 WCHA). UAA — 9-14-1 (7-12-1 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: UM leads the overall series, 48-15-7.

Minnesota State @ Michigan Tech
Overall Records: MSU — 11-13-2 (5-12-1 WCHA). MTU — 3-20-1 (2-16-0 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: MSU leads the overall series, 22-12-3.

St. Cloud State @ Colorado College
Overall Records: SCSU — 16-7-3 (11-5-2 WCHA). CC — 14-9-3 (10-7-3 WCHA).
Head-to-Head: CC leads the overall series, 41-30-6.
Notes: SCSU has gone 11-1-1 in its last 13 games, with the loss and the tie coming at the hands of the Tigers.

Future WCHA Team Watch

Bemidji State swept the WCHA’s own Minnesota-Duluth and next hosts conference foe Robert Morris. Nebraska-Omaha swept former WCHA member Northern Michigan and next heads on the road for two against Notre Dame.

No. 7 BSU: 17-5-2 overall, 3-3-0 vs. WCHA
UNO: 12-11-5 overall, 1-1-1 vs. WCHA

I Love a Good Story

I quit subscribing to Sports Illustrated a few years back (too much basketball and not enough hockey for my tastes), but I did miss the well-written features the magazine had every now and then. Each issue had some feature, some brilliant piece of sportswriting that caught my eye and captured my attention.

This week’s issue has a piece on the Lamoureux family, who we all know because of their presence at North Dakota. Gary Smith’s story is one of the better pieces I’ve read in a while in any publication, not only because of the story he weaves, but also because of the pure, simple spirit of hockey that he encapsulates.

This Week in the ECAC West: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Right Mindset

With a pair of road victories last weekend, Manhattanville extended its current winning streak to nine games. But even more amazing is the Valiants are riding a 20 game unbeaten streak on the road. With a record of 19-0-1 in its last 20 games away from the Playland Ice Casino, Manhattanville is defying the old maxim that it is more difficult to play away from the home barn.

“We have been a good road team,” said Manhattanville head coach Keith Levinthal. “We are a more disciplined team, and a smarter team, on the road. Sometimes at home we try to be a team that we are not. For whatever reason, we are a more focused team when we travel.”

Manhattanville’s latest road conquests came this past weekend at Utica and Morrisville.

On Friday, the Valiants beat Utica 6-3 in front of 3,656 hostile fans at The Aud.
Manhattanville saw a 3-1 lead evaporate early in the third period as Utica tied it up thanks to Tim Coffman and Vincent Nucci. But the Valiants ripped off three even-strength goals in the final six minutes of the game to seal the victory.

“We played really well and had the majority of scoring chances in the game,” said Levinthal. “We had a couple minute lapse, partly as a credit to Utica, but we recovered quickly. I really felt good about our effort. From a conditioning standpoint, we were starting to take the game over. Our guys were feeling really good and strong.”

Sunday, the Valiants shutout Morrisville 3-0, ensuring the ECAC West a winning record over the SUNYAC once again in their long standing inter-conference rivalry. Sophomore Evan Michalchuk tallied a pair of goals less a minute apart late in the second period to finish off the scoring for Manhattanville.

“Morrisville worked really hard and played really smart,” said Levinthal. “They controlled the play in the first period and part of the second period. We really struggled with their forecheck. As the game wore on, we slowly began to take control.”

Morrisville outshot the Valiants 15-5 in the first period, but goaltender Pierre-Olivier Lemieux withstood the onslaught and gave the Manhattanville offense time to get going.

Some Distance

Hobart swept a pair of games at Neumann last weekend, creating some distance between the upper and lower halves of the league standings. The Statesmen, currently in third place, now have a five point gap between themselves and fourth place Neumann.

Both games were one goal games, with Hobart winning 1-0 Friday night and 3-2 on Saturday. Hobart was able to get the first marker each game, with four different goal scorers tallying during the weekend.

“We got the goal to start both games and that helped us out quite a bit,” said Hobart head coach Mark Taylor. “When we were able to make the second game 3-1, it gave us some breathing room. The first game, we owned most of the play. The second game, they did.”

Nick Broadwater continues to shine in net for Hobart. The freshman leads the league with a 92.6% save percentage and is second in goals against with 2.35. He stopped 64 of 66 shots faced last weekend to earn top honors in the league this week.

“Nick played pretty special all weekend,” said Taylor. “You would think that the shutout night was the better of the two, but the second night he was the real difference.”

A noticeable contrast between the two games was the infractions that were called. Friday night only saw five minors whistled, all of the rather benign flavor of tripping or holding. Saturday, on the other hand, had 18 penalties including four roughing and a 10 minute misconduct. Were the two games that different in the level of intensity?

“Different referees was the difference,” said Taylor. “What a nice game the first night was. It was a good game of hockey, back and forth. The penalties that should have been called were called.”

Prostate Cancer Fundraiser

Elmira will be raising funds to increase the awareness of prostate cancer during its game Friday night against Utica.

With the help of the women’s varsity team, the Soaring Eagles will be collecting donations both before the game and during intermissions. They are also raffling off a pair of autographed goalie sticks and the booster club is donating its share of the proceeds from the evening’s 50/50 raffle. All money collected will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

If you find yourself anywhere near the Southern Tier Friday evening, stop by the Thunderdomes to help the cause and enjoy a great hockey game.

Game of the Week

Manhattanville continues its road work this weekend when the Valiants travel to Hobart. It is a big game for both teams, as almost all are at this time of the season. Manhattanville leads Hobart by only a single point for second place in the standings.

“They all are big at this point,” said Taylor. “Every time you play someone in your league, you always think about series. We want to win the series. They have been playing pretty good during this stretch.”

Saturday will be the rubber match in the series. So far, the visiting team has won each of the first two games by identical 4-2 scores. Manhattanville opened its series at Hobart on Oct. 31, ripping out to a 3-0 lead and then withstanding a Hobart comeback to take the 4-2 victory.

Hobart returned the favor at Playland Ice Casino on Dec. 5, also building a 3-0 lead, only to have to hold on for a 4-2 win.

“It is really important in the standings,” said Levinthal. “They beat us last time, so we owe them a good game. Playing in Geneva is always tough. They are really good at home and it will be a heck of a challenge. We are in the right mindset to go in there and give them everything they can take. I like where we are at as a team right now.”

If I was a betting man, I think putting money down on a 4-2 score Saturday night might be a worthwhile proposition.

This Week in MIAC: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Setting the Table

Last season’s MIAC champion finished the regular season comfortably in first place, with a seven point lead on second place. With four weeks left to go this season, things look like they will be considerably more muddied for the home stretch. Lets take a look at how things currently stand before diving into some of this weekend’s key matchups.

The most comfortable lead for any team in a playoff spot is a slim three points. While Gustavus Adolphus’ three point lead over second place Hamline may seem at least somewhat comfortable, it’s closer than it appears. The Gusties have played two more games than Hamline, and do not play this coming weekend. What the Pipers do against Augsburg will determine who is in first place on Monday.

In third place is Bethel, trailing Hamline by a single point. However the Royals have also played 10 games versus Hamline’s eight. The Royals face off against St. Olaf this coming weekend, in what is a big series for both teams. More about this series later on.

In fourth place are the Cobbers of Concordia (MN), trailing Bethel by one point. Concordia heads to St. John’s for two games this weekend, then play the top two MIAC teams for their final four games. It’s crucial that the Cobbers have a good weekend if they want to make the playoffs, as points will be hard to come by against Gustavus and Hamline.

Three points behind the Cobbers are St. Olaf and St. Thomas, tied for fifth and sixth. The Oles hold the edge here, as they’ve played eight games, two less than the Tommies. After last year’s great regular season, St. Olaf is struggling to regain the poise that brought them that success. St. Thomas is also having a bad year by their standards. The Tommies need to win five of their last six games to avoid having their first losing season in a very long time.

In seventh is Augsburg, trailing St. Olaf and St. Thomas by one point. With eight games to play, Augsburg is still very much alive in the playoff hunt. After this weekend’s matchups against Hamline, they have series with St. Mary’s, Bethel, and St. Olaf, all of which will be critical to their playoff hopes.

In eighth and ninth are St. John’s and St. Mary’s, with three and two points, respectively.

This is looking to be a rebuilding year for them, especially as both head coaches are only in their second season. While it would take a monster run by either to challenge for a playoff spot, these two teams can still play the role of spoiler versus teams higher up in the standings. Both coach Moore of St. Mary’s and coach Schueller of St. John’s should have their teams focused on playing hard to finish the season, and to take something positive out of the last few weeks.

Key Matchups

While all games the rest of the season are important, these two series are of extra significance for the teams involved.

Concordia (MN) vs. St. John’s

While every other team in the MIAC plays home-and-home series for their league games, Concordia is the exception. Because of their distance from the rest of the league, each weekend for the Cobbers is either two home games or two road games. This series against St. John’s starts the beginning of a brutal road trip, as Concordia plays its final six games on the road.

With their last two series against the top teams in the MIAC, this is the Cobbers best chance to gain some significant points in the standings. A solid three or four point weekend would put them in good shape to make the playoffs even if they don’t gain a single point against Hamline or Gustavus.

Meanwhile, St. John’s has to make a swift climb up the standings if they want to be fighting for the playoffs. That means taking three, or preferably four points every weekend from here on out. Even if they don’t make a run like that, playing well down the stretch will give the team some confidence heading in to next season, and give them something to build upon.

Every loss for the Johnnies has been close this year. Of their six league defeats, four were by two goals and two were by a single goal. They’ve been in every game this season, and their defense has been a strong point, allowing just over three goals per game.

Their offense has been anything but strong though, as they’ve scored only one more goal in conference than the league’s worst offense. After a natural hat trick in their first game of the season, it’s been a tough time finding the back of the net for most of the team.

The Cobbers have seen both their offense and defense improve immensely from last season, both at least a goal per game better. They try to play a physical style and skate hard from when the puck drop till the horn sounds. Both these teams rely on team defense and quick breakout passes.

It’ll be interesting to see how the weekend shakes out for them both; there should be no questions about either team coming out flat or looking ahead.

St. Olaf vs. Bethel

After mostly dominating the MIAC through last year’s regular season, the Oles had struggled from the get go this year. Coming into the second half of league games, they had a record of 0-2-4 and were sitting in seventh place. I doubt anyone could have predicted that it would take until their seventh conference matchup to get their first win, but that’s what it took as the Oles finally finished on the winning side by sweeping St. Mary’s.

What remains to be seen is if they’ll be able to keep that momentum going for the rest of the season. They currently sit tied for the final playoff spot, and need a strong final eight games to clinch a berth in the MIAC postseason. After having a successful weekend against St. Mary’s, are the Oles going to be able to elevate their play for a full 60 minutes for the rest of the season?

On the other side of this matchup, Bethel is sitting alone in third place with a four point lead on the Oles. Last year these teams played three times, with St. Olaf winning them all. Getting swept again would be disastrous for the Royals, as it would tie the two teams in the standings. Such a result could conceivably switch the two teams in the standings, and leave Bethel on the edge of making the playoffs.

This series is the beginning of what amounts to an extended playoff push for Bethel. Their final six games are all against teams below them in the standings, all of whom would be breathing down the Royals’ necks with a three or four point weekend. With that in mind, this will be a big matchup for most teams in the MIAC as several teams are trying to catch up to both the Oles and the Royals.

Xcel-lent Weekend

This past weekend saw two Division III games take place at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild. On Saturday, St. Olaf and the University of Wisconsin-Stout faced each other in a non-conference tilt and on Sunday, St. John’s and Gustavus Adolphus met in a league game.

Saturday’s game was close, with Stout edging St. Olaf to win 3-2 despite a furious Ole attempt to tie the game. Sunday’s match was not as close, but exciting nonetheless, as Gustavus skated out to a 6-0 lead, then withstood the Jonnies’ comeback to win, 6-4.

This was some great exposure for D-III hockey and hopefully some people attended that might not have known what they were missing otherwise. It was amazing to see so many fans travel long distances to see their teams play. Even if you weren’t a fan of any of the teams involved, it was a great venue to watch some good games.

I’d like to give a special thanks to the Xcel staff for being so accommodating to myself (and fellow USCHO writer Matthew Webb) in making sure we had everything we needed while covering the games.

This Week in the ECAC Northeast-MASCAC: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

The jumble in the MASCAC has now turned into a legitimate quagmire.

As the conference stands now, three teams (Westfield State, Fitchburg State, and Salem State) are tied for first with 14 points each, with Plymouth State solidly in the picture two points behind.

At this time last week, Westfield State was alone atop the standings.

But Fitchburg State’s four point weekend, with wins over Westfield and Salem, helped propel the Falcons into a three way tie for first. Salem State was the only other first place team to pick up a point on the weekend, tying Framingham State 2-2 on Saturday, while the loss to Fitchburg State was the Owls’ only conference game of the week. (They beat non-conference opponent Stonehill, 4-2, on Thursday).

The sweep for the Falcons comes after losing to both the Vikings and Owls earlier in the season by one goal (4-3 overtime loss to Salem State on Nov. 21 and a 6-5 loss to Westfield State on Dec. 2).

“Salem beat us in overtime and Westfield got us with a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the game, so we were definitely focused on getting points,” Fitchburg State head coach Dean Fuller said.

The Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period against Salem State Thursday, but at the end conclusion of the first the score was tied at three.

The Vikings scored the lone goal of the second period, but Fitchburg responded when Chris Costigan tallied his second goal of the night just nine seconds into the third period. John Vets’ goal 2:47 into overtime sent Fitchburg home winners.

“We came out and played a great first period,” Fuller said. “The second period we didn’t really put it together and in the third period we established our forecheck again.”

Fitchburg led 3-2 after one period against Westfield on Saturday. But four second period goals turned a nailbiter into a laugher, as the Falcons got eight goals from eight different skaters, something Fuller pointed to as a reason for his team’s success.
“Everyone is contributing across our four lines,” he said. “We have a very strong balance. If that continues, we should be competitive.”

Fuller points to an improved power play (close to 30% the past month) as another key to the Falcons, who ran their winning streak to six with the victory over the Owls.

Fitchburg State will travel to Worcester State Thursday night before hosting Plymouth State on Saturday afternoon.

The Falcons beat the Lancers 5-4 on December 5 and downed the Panthers 8-4 on Dec. 10.

“We have to consistent, we can’t just beat the two teams that our ahead of us,” Fuller said.

He’s also looking forward to being a part of a tight race for first that appears ready to go down to the wire.

“The beauty is everyone we have left on our schedule is a league game,” he said. “You’ve got to like the way the league is playing.”

MASCAC

Worcester State’s Andrew Evans was honored as the conference’s Goalie of the Week. The senior posted 36 and 32 saves in wins over Framingham State and the University of Massachusetts-Darmouth, respectively. With two conference wins on the week, the Lancers doubled their total on the season … Fitchburg State’s Chris Riggs earned Player of the Week honors after posting two assists in the 5-3 win over Salem State and a goal and an assist in the 8-4 victory against Westfield State …In non-conference action, Plymouth State defeated Franklin Pierce 2-1 on Saturday, while Salem State fell to Bowdoin 6-2 Tuesday.

Don’t Forget About Us

A week ago, it was the Wentworth Leopards getting all the ink in this space. And deservedly so, as Wentworth had yet to be beaten in ECAC Northeast play and was No.13 in the USCHO.com Division III poll. But second place Curry, who was also unbeaten in league play, showed they aren’t handing the top spot over to the Leopards quite yet.

The Colonels scored two goals in each period to defeat visiting Wentworth, 6-2, on Thursday and move within one point of the top spot, which is where the two teams remain as of now. Curry actually moved into first briefly over the weekend, knocking off Salve Regina, 4-1, on Saturday. But Wentworth feasted on the last place Seahawks Monday night, blasting them 10-3 and pushing their conference record to 0-7. Salve Regina is now is now 1-17 overall after losing to non-conference opponent Assumption Tuesday. Curry’s four game winning streak was snapped Tuesday night, as the lost 6-2 to ECAC East opponent Babson.

ECAC Northeast

Nichols’ Matt Roberts was the conference’s Player of the Week. The junior notched two goals and two assists in Wednesday’s win over Johnson & Wales Wednesday and added a game winning power play goal versus Suffolk Saturday. Zach Kohn, who scored the game winning goal against Johnson & Wales, was honored as Rookie of the Week. The forward added a pair of assists and another goal against Wildcats and posted two assists against Suffolk.

The Bisons downed Western New England 7-2 Wednesday night to move into a tie for third place with Becker, who lost 4-2 to Suffolk Tuesday. Becker’s Jake Rosenthal shared weekly goalie honors with Matt Cooper of Johnson and Wales. Rosenthal posted his second shutout of the season last Wednesday, turning away 25 shots in a 2-0 win over Salve Regina. Cooper recorded a shutout in his collegiate debut, making 22 saves in a 5-0 win against Western New England Saturday night. Like the Seahawks, it’s been a struggle thus far for the Golden Bears. They lost to Suffolk 3-1 Thursday, and have only one win on the season, a 5-2 win over Salve Regina on December 5.

Loose Pucks

Found this piece, on Westfield State alum Peter Laviolette and his impact on the Philadelphia Flyers, courtesy of the MASCAC website. The Flyers beat Laviolette’s former team, the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2 on Saturday. And then the Bruins get throttled by them on Sunday … ugh. Brett Favre’s team has finished playing, so you know what it’s time for. Looks like I won’t be tuning into ESPN anytime soon. On a non-sports note, this season of 24 is shaping up to be pretty good. Every year I wonder how much more they can suck out of Jack Bauer, and so far I have no complaints. Let’s hope they go the Seinfield route and go out on top instead of dragging it on.

Chirps

As always, [email protected] with any comments or questions.

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

It’s funny how different people will see the same situation differently. Take my columns: St. Lawrence fans think I have it in for them, as do Colgate and Cornell fans. RPI backers hate it when I pick them to win, and love when predict a loss. I’ve apparently ticked off supporters of Princeton and Clarkson, and Brown … well, Bear-backers have been pretty good sports about it all.

So I figured this week I’d give you all a break from hating me, and let the coaches do the talking.

Rubber-necking

Clarkson’s season-to-date has been anything but graceful. The Golden Knights haven’t engineered consecutive wins since October, in large part due to a stunning lack of offense: The Knights have been held to two goals or fewer 13 times in 24 games (0-12-1 in those games), and they’ve scored four goals or more only four times (3-1-0).

Injuries have cost Clarkson coach George Roll depth in his lineup.

Injuries have cost Clarkson coach George Roll depth in his lineup.

Princeton’s unpredictable slide was due to massive injuries, but it’s just not that severe in Potsdam. So, what gives?

“We’ve competed in a lot of games, and we’re without three of our top four defensemen [Andrew Himelson, Mark Borowiecki and Dan Reed],” said bemused coach George Roll. “Coupled with the two guys who were suspended [last summer], that’s five defensemen who we’d probably have in our lineup. I’m not making excuses, but you take five guys out of anybody’s lineup, you’re going to be depleted. We’ve had to play forwards back on defense, and it’s been a struggle.”

Thus, even when the patchwork defense plays well, it will invariably handicap the now-shorthanded offense. With little room for error, Clarkson has been under intense pressure to generate scoring whenever possible … but so much stress can have a negative effect on the scorers’ touch, as players act more on desperation than poise.

“A lot of those games, we’ve played well enough to win; we’re just not finishing our chances,” Roll said. “There are no issues internally … I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s hard to put a finger on it. The biggest issue is that we haven’t been able to finish, and that’s put a lot of pressure on our goaltender and on our defense. It’s been an extremely tough situation, but our guys haven’t quit.”

While the Knights haven’t been reduced to scouring campus for pick-up players, Roll hasn’t had to worry much about who to sit and who to skate.

"You take five guys out of anybody’s lineup, you’re going to be depleted. We’ve had to play forwards back on defense, and it’s been a struggle."

— George Roll

“We’ve got no healthy scratches,” the coach said of his situation. “We don’t have a lot of depth this year, it’s just the way it’s gone. What we’ve got, is what we’ve got on the ice. People on the outside don’t realize it, but this team’s played awfully hard and has nothing to show for it.”

Puck-luck hasn’t been kind to the Knights, either. Unlike last year’s team — rife with locker-room chemistry issues and internal frustrations — this season’s squad doesn’t deserve such a bum deal, according to Roll.

“Last year, we didn’t have it, but this year the guys have worked and competed and obviously, [we’re] frustrated with our record … but you can’t say it’s from a lack of effort,” he said. “It’s just the way it’s gone this year. I think we’ve had 14 goals go in off one of our guys, and I’ve never seen anything like it in my career.

It’s got to change at some point. Last year we didn’t deserve for it to change, but this year we’re holding out hope that we can get some of those things to go our way and turn it around.”

One thing that Clarkson fans can feel optimistic about is the Knights’ chances, should they start winning a few individual battles. Coaches frequently refer to confidence — and transiently, winning and losing — as applying to the “snowball effect:” losing breeds losing, but winning breeds winning, too. It’s all a matter of confidence.

The Golden Knights don’t like where they are, and aren’t tolerating it one bit. They know that just one little snowflake can set this team on a big-time run.

“We’re trying to show up at the rink every day and have some fun, do some things to get their minds off it, but when the day’s done you’re still left with only one win in league and in last place and that’s tough to change, tough to feel good about,” said Roll. “I don’t think it’s going to take much to turn it around this year, I really don’t.”

Learning Curve

Once a doormat, suddenly the toast of the league in the midst of a five-game tear … but then, what happened? Thus has Brown’s season progressed.

The huge five-game win-streak straddling November and December gave Brown a big boost of confidence, and the program a dose of respect from its peers following a half-decade of languishing. The holiday break came at just the wrong time, though, sending Brown back into a five-game losing skid before bouncing back with a win at Clarkson.

“We were in both those games [at St. Cloud State]; they just picked us apart on the power play,” first-year coach Brendan Whittet said of his team’s introduction to 2010. “We come back on a Monday and have to travel right up to Dartmouth on Thursday, so the schedule wasn’t ideal. … Dartmouth played tremendously in that game, I thought they were very, very hungry, and we struggled [losing 9-4]. Then we go into Yale — another talented team — and that’s a 6-5 game with four minutes left in the third period [before an 8-5 loss].”

First-year Brown coach Brendan Whittet says his team isn't done yet.

First-year Brown coach Brendan Whittet says his team isn’t done yet.

The tough itinerary wasn’t entirely to blame, of course: Bruno allowed 32 goals in those five games, and didn’t hold a single opponent to fewer than five.

“I don’t think we’ve helped our goaltenders a whole lot,” Whittet said. “We were in a stretch where a lot of pucks were going in our net, but I honestly think we were getting good goaltending. It wasn’t where it was before the break … but we weren’t really helping them. We were putting ourselves in bad situations: putting skilled teams on the power play too much, and we just weren’t being too intelligent with what we were doing.

“I think we were struggling a little on the defensive side,” Whittet added wryly. “I don’t think we were being responsible with the puck — I think we were turning it over a little too much — but that goes in conjunction with the type of talent we’re playing with, in terms of opposition. The games were close, but close doesn’t cut it. We took some positives out of some of those situations and those environments and we try to build on it. We’re just trying to be consistent about what we do.”

The Bears play six of their remaining 10 games at home, where they are a palatable 4-4-0, and at the moment, half of their opponents are seventh or lower in the standings. Whittet is confident that his boys aren’t done yet.

“It all comes down to work ethic, competitiveness, and winning the one-on-one battles,” he stated.

The jump from snowball to avalanche can be surprisingly short.

Readers’ Poll

A meager 26 respondents to last week’s poll, in which I asked you which program is on the cusp of greatness in ECAC Hockey. Rensselaer got the most love with eight votes, just beating out “nobody” and doubling up second-place Cornell.

This week, I wonder who you all think will make the biggest turnaround from a dismal start? Clue me in on the league’s best dark-horse bet, and while you’re there, a second demographically minded survey.

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Jan. 28, 2010

By
-

Buzzer Beaters

It’s the most exciting play in basketball: the Buzzer Beater. A last-second basket that wins a game just as time expires.

It’s a rare, but not miraculous occurrence in a sport where lots of points are scored and the final minute can take a half an hour to play.

Hockey is another matter. But then there’s the Air Force Falcons, who scored with 0.6 seconds to play in overtime to defeat Holy Cross on Saturday. It’s the second time this season, and the third time in less than a year, that Air Force has pulled off a buzzer-beating goal.

“It’s bizarre,” said Falcons coach Frank Serratore. “How many times have you heard of getting a game-winning goal with less than a second to play? And we’ve done it three times in two [seasons].”

On Feb. 13, 2009, Mike Phillipich and Matt Fairchild hooked up on a shorthanded goal with less than a second to play in regulation to defeat Bentley. In October, Fairchild got the game winner just as time expired in overtime to beat RIT, 3-2. And last Saturday, Tim Kirby scored with six tenths of a second left in overtime for a 4-3 win over Holy Cross to earn a split on the weekend.

“It was the perfect storm in terms of things going our way,” said Serratore. “We caught them on a panicked line change. They dumped the puck and everybody [for Holy Cross] headed to the bench. [Brad] Sellers got it in our zone and put a no-look pass right on to Kirby’s tape at the blue line. He went in a took a slap shot. All those events happened in just a perfect way.”

“It was one game of 34, but obviously it was a dramatic end,” Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl said after the game. “We played so well the whole weekend and then just made an absolutely stupid mistake, and you just can’t do that. I don’t know exactly what happened there and why they came [off the ice], and it’s just unfortunate. We got two points out here, which is the way we have to look at it.”

Air Force is tied with RIT for first place. Without those two last-second victories, the Falcons would trail the Tigers by three points in the standings. In all, the Falcons have won five games this season on goals in the final three minutes of play.

“Those kind of wins give you self confidence,” said Serratore. “So the next time you’re in that situation, you’re asking yourself, ‘Who’s going to be the hero?'”

The next two weeks feature rivalry games for Air Force. This weekend, the Falcons travels to Army for a pair of contests, followed by games back in Colorado against neighboring Colorado College and Denver. Then, Air Force gets a weekend off before returning for its final four games of the regular season.

“It’s always especially exciting to play at the [Military] Academy,” said Serratore. “It’s always a big series and especially in the past few years where’s there’s four points on the line.”

Serratore says he likes the time off as well.

“A week off is never a bad thing at a Service Academy,” he said. “Ideally, you’d like a break in the middle of the first half of the season and the middle of the second half of the season. The kids are so busy. The break will be more mental than physical, which is what we will need at that point.”

Staying Hot

Sacred Heart extended its unbeaten streak to an NCAA-leading 10 games with two wins and a tie. Last weekend, the Pioneers posted a 4-2 and a 5-5 tie against Canisius, and on Tuesday, Sacred Heart defeated American International 6-1. The Pioneers put the streak on the line this weekend with a pair of games at Connecticut.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week for Jan. 25, 2010:
Nick Johnson, Sacred Heart

The senior forward had three goals and two assists to help the Pioneers take three points from Canisius last weekend. Johnson leads the AHA with 18 goals.

Goalie of the Week for Jan. 25, 2010:
Jay Clark, Army

Clark posted his first career shutout, stopping all 31 shots he faced in a 5-0 win. He made 20 saves on 22 shots the next night, for a weekend save percentage of .962.

Rookie of the Week for Jan. 25, 2010:
Brett Hartung, Bentley

The freshman from Tallahassee, Fla., had two goals, including the game winner with 4:58 to play, to help Bentley to a 4-2 win over Mercyhurst.

From the Blue Line

Canisius senior defenseman Carl Hudson had a career game on Saturday, posting his first hat trick to help the Golden Griffins come back to earn a 5-5 tie with Sacred Heart. It was the first-ever hat trick by a Canisius blueliner in the program’s Division I era.

Hudson now holds the single season point mark for a defenseman with 26, and the Griffs still have at least eight games to play. He is currently tops in the nation in goals per game by a defenseman with 0.40.

“It felt good to get the hat trick and help my team earn the point,” Hudson said after Saturday’s game. “I just shot the puck and got a little lucky tonight. It would have been better to get the two points considering how tight the upper half of the conference is but to rally for the point is nice.”

Going, Going … Gone

This weekend’s games between Army and Air Force at Tate Rink on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy are already sold out. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, former coach and hockey legend Jack Riley will be on hand Saturday to drop the first puck. Riley coached Army for 28 years and guided the 1960 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal. He’s the father of current coach Brian Riley.

Pink Rinks

Bentley College will be seeing pink over the next few weeks. This Saturday, RIT hosts the Falcons in a “Make the Rink Pink Game,” which features pink jerseys for the home team that will be auctioned off for charities supporting cancer research. Holy Cross will be having a similar event, “Pink the Rink” on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Crusaders’ opponent in the game will also be Bentley.

Contributing: Candace Horgan

Bracketology: Jan. 27, 2010

By
-

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 tournament will wind up come selection time.

It’s a look into the possible thought processes behind selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams.

This is the first installment of our 2010 Bracketology, and we’ll be bringing you a new one every week until we make our final picks before the field is announced. And this year, check out our Bracketology blog, where we’ll keep you entertained, guessing and educated throughout the rest of the season.

Related link: PairWise Rankings

Here are the facts:

• Sixteen teams are selected to participate in the national tournament.

• There are four regional sites (East — Albany, N.Y.; Northeast — Worcester, Mass.; Midwest — Fort Wayne, Ind.; West — St. Paul, Minn.).

• A host institution which is invited to the tournament plays in the regional for which it is the host, and cannot be moved. There are four host institutions this year: Rensselaer in Albany, Holy Cross in Worcester, Notre Dame in Fort Wayne and Minnesota in St. Paul.

• Seedings will not be switched, as opposed to years past. To avoid undesirable first-round matchups, including intra-conference games (see below), teams will be moved among regionals, not reseeded.

Here are the NCAA’s guidelines on the matter, per a meeting of the Championship Committee:

In setting up the tournament, the committee begins with a list of priorities to ensure a successful tournament on all fronts including competitive equity, financial success and likelihood of playoff-type atmosphere at each regional site. For the model, the following is a basic set of priorities:

• The top four teams as ranked by the committee are the four No. 1 seeds and will be placed in the bracket so that if all four teams advance to the Men’s Frozen Four, the No. 1 seed will play the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed will play the No. 3 seed in the semifinals.

• Host institutions that qualify will be placed at home.

• No. 1 seeds are placed as close to home as possible in order of their ranking 1-4.

• Conference matchups in first round are avoided, unless five or more teams from one conference are selected, then the integrity of the bracket will be preserved.

• Once the six automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large teams are selected, the next step is to develop four groups from the committee’s ranking of 1-16. The top four teams are the No. 1 seeds. The next four are targeted as No. 2 seeds. The next four are No. 3 seeds and the last four are No. 4 seeds. These groupings will be referred to as “bands.”

Given these facts, here is the top 16 of the current PairWise Rankings (PWR), and the conference leaders (through all games of Jan. 26):

1t Denver
1t Miami
3t Bemidji State
3t Wisconsin
5t Massachusetts
5t St. Cloud State
7 New Hampshire
8t Ferris State
8t Minnesota-Duluth
10t North Dakota
10t Vermont
12 Boston College
13 Michigan State
14t Colorado College
14t Cornell
16 Yale
— RIT

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

Notes

• Bracketology assumes that the season has ended and there are no more games to be played. i.e., the NCAA tournament starts tomorrow.

• Because there are an uneven amount of games played inside each conference, I will be using winning percentage, not points accumulated, to determine who the current leader in each conference is. This team is my assumed conference tournament champion.

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 Denver and Miami at 1, Bemidji and Wisconsin at 3, Massachusetts and St. Cloud at 5, Ferris and UMD at 8, North Dakota and Vermont at 10, and Colorado College and Cornell at 14.

Looking at the head-to-head PairWise comparisons we break all of our ties. Miami, Wisconsin, St. Cloud, Ferris, North Dakota and CC all win the individual PairWise comparisons.

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

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

Step Two

Now it’s time to assign the seeds.

No. 1 Seeds — Miami, Denver, Wisconsin, Bemidji State
No. 2 Seeds — St. Cloud State, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ferris State
No. 3 Seeds — Minnesota-Duluth, North Dakota, Vermont, Boston College
No. 4 Seeds — Michigan State, Colorado College, Cornell, 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.
No. 2 Denver is placed in the West Regional in St. Paul.
No. 3 Wisconsin is placed in the East Regional in Albany.
No. 4 Bemidji State is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.

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 v. No. 8, No. 2 v. No. 7, No. 3 v. No. 6 and No. 4 v. No. 5.

So therefore:

No. 2 Seeds

No. 8 Ferris State is placed in No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 7 New Hampshire is placed in No. 2 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 6 Massachusetts is placed in No. 3 Wisconsin’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 5 St. Cloud is placed in No. 4 Bemidji’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 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 8 Ferris State’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 10 North Dakota is placed in No. 7 New Hampshire’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 11 Vermont is placed in No. 6 Massachusetts’ Regional, the East Regional.
No. 12 Boston College is placed in No. 5 St. Cloud’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 Cornell is sent to No. 2 Denver’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 14 Colorado College is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 13 Michigan State is sent to No. 4 Bemidji State’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

The brackets as we have set them up:

West Regional:

Cornell vs. Denver
North Dakota vs. New Hampshire

Midwest Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Ferris State

East Regional:

Colorado College vs. Wisconsin
Vermont vs. Massachusetts

Northeast Regional:

Michigan State vs. Bemidji State
Boston College vs. St. Cloud

Our first concern is avoiding intra-conference matchups. We have an East Regional of them.

We can switch Colorado College with Michigan State and then we can switch Vermont with only Minnesota-Duluth.

So our tournament now becomes:

West Regional:

Cornell vs. Denver
North Dakota vs. New Hampshire

Midwest Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Vermont vs. Ferris State

East Regional:

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Massachusetts

Northeast Regional:

Colorado College vs. Bemidji State
Boston College vs. St. Cloud

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?

The East Regional looks very shaky. Can we do anything about it?

Let’s look at our No. 1 seeds.

Denver’s closest Regional is St. Paul. That is also Wisconsin and Bemidji State’s closest Regional. So if you put Denver in its closest regional, which is a guidelined rule, you have three teams flying, since Wisconsin and Bemidji will go to the East and Northeast Regionals.

But if you send Wisconsin to St. Paul, then only Denver and Bemidji will fly.

So let’s try our brackets with this one little switch. That switch is:

Denver is placed in the East Regional and then Wisconsin is placed in the West Regional.

Let’s start it all over and place all of the teams again.

No. 1 Seeds
No. 1 Miami is placed in the Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne.
No. 2 Denver is placed in the East Regional in Albany.
No. 3 Wisconsin is placed in the West Regional in St. Paul.
No. 4 Bemidji State is placed in the Northeast Regional in Worcester.

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

No. 3 Seeds
No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth is placed in No. 8 Ferris State’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 10 North Dakota is placed in No. 7 New Hampshire’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 11 Vermont is placed in No. 6 Massachusetts’ Regional, the West Regional.
No. 12 Boston College is placed in No. 5 St. Cloud’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

No. 4 Seeds
No. 16 RIT is sent to No. 1 Miami’s Regional, the Midwest Regional.
No. 15 Cornell is sent to No. 2 Denver’s Regional, the East Regional.
No. 14 Colorado College is sent to No. 3 Wisconsin’s Regional, the West Regional.
No. 13 Michigan State is sent to No. 4 Bemidji State’s Regional, the Northeast Regional.

Our brackets:

West Regional:

Colorado College vs. Wisconsin
Vermont vs. Massachusetts

Midwest Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Ferris State

East Regional:

Cornell vs. Denver
North Dakota vs. New Hampshire

Northeast Regional:

Michigan State vs. Bemidji State
Boston College vs. St. Cloud

We have to resolve the West Regional now.

Colorado College switches places with Michigan State and Vermont and Minnesota-Duluth switch places.

That gives us:

West Regional:

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Massachusetts

Midwest Regional:

RIT vs. Miami
Vermont vs. Ferris State

East Regional:

Cornell vs. Denver
North Dakota vs. New Hampshire

Northeast Regional:

Colorado College vs. Bemidji State
Boston College vs. St. Cloud

I am liking this bracket much more than the original one with just that one simple change. Attendance is now outstanding with Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth in St. Paul, Cornell and UNH in Albany, Miami and Ferris in Fort Wayne and BC in Worcester.

That is what I would go with for a bracket this week.

More thoughts and education and plain wit on the blog. Check there every day and we’ll see you here next week for the next Bracketology.

Tuesday Morning Quarterback: Jan. 26, 2010

By Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski
-

Jim: Well, Todd, quite a topsy-turvy weekend for the top teams. Of the top 20 teams, only four picked up two wins last weekend — St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, New Hampshire and Massachusetts-Lowell. For the rest of the teams, the M.O. seemed to be splitsville, as nine teams split their weekend series. You were at the marquee matchup of the weekend that pitted No. 1 Denver against No. 3 Wisconsin. Bucky earned three points with a tie in the opener on Friday and a win in the finale on Saturday. Miami, which entered last weekend at No. 2, took only three of four points against Alaska, which begs the question: Does Wisconsin’s efforts against Denver earn them the top spot in this week’s poll?

Todd: I went back and forth on this one, but I decided to go with Miami. I decided to judge based on the entire body of work, and, as the RPI and PairWise Rankings show, the RedHawks’ resume is just a little better right now. Now, those were incredibly entertaining games at the Kohl Center last weekend, and Wisconsin did well to earn the series victory. And I think I would have a different opinion if the Badgers had held onto their third-period lead Friday and got a clean sweep. What was clear in the aftermath of that series is that the top teams in the country aren’t too far apart. How did the top of your ballot turn out?

Jim: I actually voted opposite of you. I placed Wisconsin at one, Miami two and Denver at three. I think the Badgers’ consistency of late (only loss since December was to a very good Colorado College team) and their performance against the No. 1 team in the country this past weekend earned them the top spot. Had Miami swept Alaska as opposed to earning a tie and a shootout win (and I don’t take shootouts into account when putting together my ballot), I might have given the RedHawks the No. 1 vote. So when you look at it, I think we both voted opposite of one another for similarly opposite reasons.

Todd: Wisconsin has been an interesting team to watch this season because while I don’t think they have the greatest collection of talent around, they’re working well enough to win games. And I agree with what coach Mike Eaves said after Saturday night’s game: His team is better for playing such a competitive series against Denver, and even better for having come out ahead. It seems crazy, though, that the Badgers are still outside the top three in a WCHA race that now includes five teams at the top separated by two points. Things seem to be opening up a little more at the top in Hockey East — can New Hampshire, now up five points with a game in hand, run away with the league?

Jim: I’ll be the first to say that New Hampshire shocks me. I saw the Wildcats play earlier in the season against Massachusetts-Lowell and thought the team looked awful. That came at the end of a pathetic non-league run that has an outside chance of haunting the Wildcats when the NCAA berths are announced. But whatever has been put in the water in Durham seems to be working these days. The Wildcats held off a pesky Providence team on Friday, eeking out a win in overtime and then manhandled Boston University on the road on Saturday, the night after BU played arguably its best game of the season against Boston College. I guess at this point, I don’t see many teams giving UNH a run. Lowell looked great against BC on Friday and pulled back to fourth place. BC played two games with nothing to show this weekend and UMass looked mortal Sunday against Vermont when its power play completely stalled, going 0-for-9. I’m not ready to coronate the Wildcats just yet, but a five-point lead will feel extremely safe if UNH keeps the wins coming.

Todd: It is interesting to note that the Wildcats close with a home-and-home series against Boston College, so there might be some intrigue there. While we’re talking Hockey East, I wanted to pose a question. We learned last week that the WCHA likely will go with a 12-team playoff format when it expands next season. Hockey East, of course, has an eight-team format, which means the bottom two teams in the standings don’t even get to take part. One could argue that both ways of doing it have their flaws. Do you think the WCHA should reconsider and keep the playoffs the tried-and-true 10-team affair that wouldn’t then require changes to the Final Five?

Jim: Personally, I think the WCHA should cut back its playoffs to an eight-team format. I think that the ECAC, Atlantic Hockey and the CCHA should all do the same. There’s nothing I like less that rewarding teams for bad seasons with a spot in the playoffs. I’m a little less concerned now that all leagues have best-of-three formats prior to the final four (Atlantic Hockey was the final league to adopt that format) as I never liked seeing a team catch fire for a couple of games and end up playing for the title. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for Cinderella stories, but I feel that if you lay an egg in the regular season, you don’t even deserve a chance to being the Cinderella. Yes, I know, I’m the postseason Scrooge of college hockey. Bah humbug!

Todd: That’s actually a pretty good argument, and it almost has me converted. Almost. I’ve been thinking that if an ninth- or 10th-place team is so far out of the running with a couple weeks left in the season, what’s left to play for? I don’t like that element in the game — it sometimes ends up in massive negatives happening in the course of those final few games, and if it’s in the form of fighting majors, that can impact a team that’s still in the race. Then again, I’m guessing that, more often than not, there actually will be some competition down to the wire for the last playoff spots, and, while I can’t come up with the history off the top of my head, I’m guessing that’s what Hockey East has been like. And sometimes it seems that the only thing guaranteeing a team a postseason spot is a league’s tradition of doing so.

Jim: In my days in Hockey East, I’ve seen very few instances of a team being completely out of the picture and in the few I can recall, never were there any on-ice problems related to teams not being in the postseason. I think that most college players and coaches have too much pride to have their teams goon it up if the season is ultimately over. On the other hand, I recall the 2003-04 season when the most memorable of finishes decided the final playoff spot. Boston University was having a down year and entered the final night of the regular season knowing that if Northeastern won against Massachusetts, BU would have to upset New Hampshire to earn the final playoff spot. The BU-UNH game headed to overtime and BU didn’t know the final result of the NU game (NU ended up winning, 3-2). BU scored with 2:30 remaining in overtime for the improbable victory and after the game Jack Parker said he would have considered pulling his goaltender in overtime had the game progressed another minute or so. Some may remember that BU went on to upset top-seeded BC in the Hockey East quarterfinals before finally losing to Maine, 1-0, in the semis. All of that excitement might not have been present had BU known it automatically had a playoff spot by default.

Todd: Very valid point, but I think the WCHA makes too much money off the Final Five to think about making it only a two-day event as the result of an eight-team playoff field. Many people think that’s why they still have the third-place game, even after coaches have made their complaints about it heard. If an average of more than 14,000 people want to pay to watch teams play in what in most years is a meaningless consolation game, why would the league stop them? So having a game (or, possibly in the future, games) on Thursday of championship week is important to the WCHA, and, from what I’m hearing, so is having all 12 teams compete in the postseason.

Jim: Well, when you consider that often times the almighty dollar must overrule all else, a 12-team playoff makes sense for the WCHA. Anyway, with the great series between Wisco and Denver and talks of a playoff system, we’ve almost missed one of the more incredible stories of the weekend: Bemidji State’s sweep of what was a red-hot Minnesota-Duluth team. The two victories had some immediate benefit for the Beavers, who jumped to a tie for third in the USCHO.com PairWise Rankings. Bemidji now boasts the best record in hockey at 17-5-2 and likely is deserving of a jump back into the top 10. We started this conversation today talking about body of work and for the Beavers, aside from a not-so-great loss to Niagara (which took three points this weekend from a free-falling Quinnipiac team), I am pretty impressed by how well Bemidji is playing right now.

Todd: I think a lot of people started to put Bemidji on the back burner after it lost twice at home to Minnesota State, a ninth-place team in the WCHA, and then had the issues with Niagara that you mentioned. I think it’s finally time to realize that those missteps weren’t unlike any others by a top-tier team. Miami has its Robert Morris weekend. Denver had that head-scratching loss at Alaska-Anchorage. How a team is judged is how it responds to those falterings, and I think Bemidji’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth is proof that it’s in the top-tier mix.

Jim: Now the magical question about Bemidji is if it can hold its PairWise position into its league championship where, in a one-game setting, an upset could result in the CHA getting half of its membership (2 of 4) into the NCAA tournament in the league’s final season.

Todd: That would be a head-shaking development, for sure. Completely understandable, of course, because that’s the way the playoffs go, but that’s certainly a dangerous scenario for those teams that will be hovering around the 13 spot in the PairWise. We’ve got a bunch of good games coming up this weekend that we’ll be following — Union at Yale in ECAC Hockey, Maine and Vermont in Hockey East, Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth and Denver at North Dakota in the WCHA, to name a few — so stay with us. Until next week …

Paul Kelly’s Mission: Save the Game

By
-

He may not hold the same rebel-like aura of a Jimmy Hoffa, but in the world of hockey Paul Kelly holds his own unique power.

So in November, when college hockey tabbed Kelly, the former head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, to run a newly-formed organization, College Hockey Inc., you knew it meant business.

Kelly, who grew up in the Boston area, has been given the task of expanding the reaches of the college hockey game, exposing more elite hockey players to the U.S. game and helping drive legislation at all levels of the game — most notably in his sweet spot, the NHL — in order to benefit college hockey as a whole.

USCHO had the chance recently to sit down with Kelly for a candid, one-on-one conversation about his visions for the college game.

Battling a ‘Major’ Obstacle

The battle right now is uphill. Major Junior, which has become a super-sized roadblock for college hockey, leveraging big-time budgets and high promises to its players (along with a few shady recruiting tactics), has been beating college hockey up in the recruiting game over the last decade or so.

The first objective for Paul Kelly as executive director of College Hockey Inc., he said, is to respond to Major Junior's marketing (photo: Kevin Burns).

The first objective for Paul Kelly as executive director of College Hockey Inc., he said, is to respond to Major Junior’s marketing (photo: Kevin Burns).

Colleges haven’t had the power, to this point, to respond. Forget the basics like budgets and manpower. Up until now, there hasn’t been a united voice for college hockey to put forth any sort of effort to combat the recruiting power of Major Junior.

“We’d like to attract more elite players to play college hockey as opposed to drifting north to play Major Junior,” Kelly said during a recent interview. “There are more than 100 talented players playing in Major Junior as opposed to [U.S.] college. That’s troubling to these colleges and universities.

“I think they’ve just been beaten badly by Major Juniors in terms of allocation of resources. Major Juniors has been throwing a lot more money at this.”

It’s not just money, either. Colleges and universities are often times hamstrung by regulations put forth by the NCAA when it comes to when and how a coach can actively recruit a player. That’s never been a problem for Major Junior.

“They’ve been actively recruiting kids that have committed to colleges and universities, in many cases after they’ve enrolled,” said Kelly. “They do it on a continuing basis. They use tactics that in some cases are not permitted by their own league — paying money to the players or their family members, funneling money to youth league coaches who are off their payrolls here in the United States in order to identify talent. And college hockey up to now hasn’t responded in any sort of coordinated fashion.”

That’s where Kelly comes in. The NCAA Division I hockey commissioners came together in November to form an agency focused on the marketing of college hockey, College Hockey Inc. (CHI). The organization was funded by the national governing body, USA Hockey, through a grant from the NHL. CHI’s mission is simple: to serve as the marketing and informational arm for NCAA Division I hockey.

First Focus: ‘Respond’

With marching orders to grow the game throughout the country, Kelly set forth a list of objectives he hopes to accomplish.

“Our first objective is to respond,” said Kelly, referencing the current battle with Major Junior. “We’re going to put together a strategic plan and a talented staff of people to get the word out to talented, elite players on why they should seriously consider the college hockey option as opposed to Major Junior.”

After that, Kelly wants to expand the number, frequency and location of college hockey events, such as the Ice Breaker Tournament, to spread the game’s reach and touch points to potential players.

Kelly says he’d also like to identify ways to add programs in markets that make sense — those that align to current successful NHL cities.

“I think places like Northwestern in Chicago and George Washington in D.C. and out in California and St. Louis, places where you don’t have a strong college hockey presence, we’d like to see that start to change,” he said.

But one of Kelly and CHI’s most important roles will be serving as a central repository for each of the teams and leagues. Currently, there’s little structure for teams to deal with outside organizations such as the NHL, the Canadian Hockey League, the IIHF — even the NCAA.

“We’ll be working with the NCAA on prospective rule changes and the sort,” said Kelly. “Rather than having a helter-skelter basis for teams and conferences, now all that information from those conferences funnels into us and we serve as the point of contact managing those conversations.”

Dispelling Myths

When push comes to shove, Kelly’s day one — maybe even year one — focus is on the battle with Major Junior.

As part of that, he’d like to break down one of the newest marketing efforts of Major Junior, one that promotes the ability of a player to play for a Major Junior team while also continuing education.

Each of the leagues that form the Canadian Hockey League (the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey League) have adopted educational policies and lured players by offering scholarships to schools in and around each team’s area. According to Kelly, these programs can be somewhat misleading and have significant holes compared to the comprehensive scholarships offered by U.S. colleges.

“It’s not the equivalent of getting a world-class education at these NCAA institutions,” said Kelly. He also said that it’s his belief that many of the players in each of the leagues aren’t even benefiting from the educational offerings.

“[The leagues] throw [the educational program] out there in hopes that people will just pass over it. We want to do some serious research to determine how many kids have availed themselves to [the educational packages]. We’d like to know the real statistics.

“What we’re hearing is that there are significant holes in these programs. We’re think we’re going to find that very few kids avail themselves of that educational program to the maximum degree that is allowed.”

Kelly also is concerned that for Canadian players who opt for college over Major Junior, they’re stuck in what he called a “vacuum.”

“For Canadian kids who want to come down and play NCAA hockey, if they commit to a program when they’re 15 or 16, there currently isn’t an elite league for them to play in that’s not Major Junior. The Canadian system has been set up in such a way to discourage kids from coming [to U.S. college]. That’s a bit of an issue and we need to figure out in this complicated landscape is there a solution.”

Battling the NHL: Stemming the Tide of Early Departures

Beyond recruiting, Kelly also hopes to leverage his background with the NHLPA to help build retention among college athletes. Over the past decade, and in particular since the NHL signed its last Collective Bargaining Agreement, players leaving early from college has increased significantly. Most of that is due to what Kelly referred to as a concerted effort by the NHL to build a level playing field.

Paul Kelly: “I'm all about what's good for hockey as a sport and what's good for the players” (photo: Kevin Burns).

Paul Kelly: “I’m all about what’s good for hockey as a sport and what’s good for the players” (photo: Kevin Burns).

In an attempt to keep salaries consistent based on years in the league, the NHL and its players’ association agreed to a rookie salary cap that has done massive damage to the college game. Since returning from the lockout in 2005, players entering the NHL have an individually-capped salary for the first three years of their playing career. For college players who play a full college career, that three-year clock might not start until age 21, 22 or later, reducing the amount that a player can make in his career. More so, though, it reduces the amount of money that player agents can make off of their college clients.

“The quicker a kid gets into the NHL and gets through those three years, he can get to that second NHL contract,” said Kelly. “There’s a lot of pressure on these kids coming from the agents, in particular, and coming from the general managers and scouts that identified them to come out of these college programs, go play a year in the AHL and then try to make it in the NHL.”

Having been on the other side of the fence, Kelly is empathetic to the wants and needs of both the NHL teams and the players themselves. But he’s also extremely aware that the increased pressure on top NHL prospects to abbreviate their college careers is damaging to NCAA ice hockey as a whole.

“I’m all about what’s good for hockey as a sport and what’s good for the players,” Kelly said. “If it’s good for the sport for a guy to stay in college for four years and become more mature mentally and physically, then go and have a good 12-to-15 year career in the NHL, that to me makes a lot of sense.

“But again, these players are constantly battered by pro GMs and pro scouts to come out — if you’re highly talented after one year, if you’re moderately talented after two, if you’re mildly talented after three — I don’t know that there’s an easy solution to this.”

If there is, though, Kelly is in the position to find it. His hockey Rolodex may be deeper than almost anyone who has ever involved themselves in the college game. And it’s something he plans to use.

“We have better access to the key constituents to the issue,” said Kelly. “My plan is to be involved in that discussion early on. We’re going to formulate our strategic plan for the CBA in the next couple of months and we’re going to try planting the seeds with the parties involved. We want them to make changes to the CBA that are going to benefit the players but protect colleges and universities.”

So at the end of the day, don’t expect any Teamster-like speeches from this former union boss. But do expect change that has a strong potential to preserve and build the game of college hockey as we know it today.

Miami Back on Top of USCHO.com Poll; St. Cloud State Rises to 5th

USCHO Staff Report
-

It took Miami only two weeks to return to the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.

The RedHawks earned 37 of the 50 first-place votes to claim the top spot ahead of No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Denver.

Wisconsin’s win and tie against Denver, the former No. 1, last weekend was enough to get eight first-place votes. The Pioneers were tops on five ballots.

Related link: USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll: Jan. 25, 2010

The biggest moves of the week belonged to St. Cloud State and Bemidji State, which moved up seven spots to Nos. 5 and 7, respectively.

The Huskies improved their winning streak to eight games with a home-and-home sweep of Minnesota last weekend. They’re 11-1-1 in their last 13 games.

St. Cloud State has its highest ranking since March 12, 2007, when it was fourth.

The Beavers, meanwhile, rallied in the final seconds Saturday to force overtime, then complete a sweep of Minnesota-Duluth in overtime. The Bulldogs fell five spots to ninth in the poll.

At No. 20, Michigan returns to the poll for the first time since Nov. 16. Before missing out on the Nov. 23 poll, the Wolverines had been ranked in every poll since Nov. 24, 1997.

Lake Superior State fell out of the rankings.

The six WCHA teams in the top 11 of the rankings pair off this weekends for series Friday and Saturday. No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth hosts No. 2 Wisconsin; No. 4 North Dakota hosts No. 3 Denver; and No. 11 Colorado College hosts No. 5 St. Cloud State.

In other games between ranked teams this week: No. 6 Yale hosts No. 18 Union on Friday; No. 12 Michigan State hosts No. 20 Michigan on Friday before the teams play Saturday at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena; and No. 17 Vermont hosts No. 19 Maine on Friday and Saturday.

Oswego, Norwich Again Rule D-III Roost

By Nicholas Jon Wood
-

Déjà vu all over again.

An identical tally — 298 to 282 overall, 18-2 among first place voters — greeted the nation’s top two teams in the final Division III poll of January.
While Oswego and Norwich remained eerily dominant, the rest of the poll bears little resemblance to seven days earlier.

Even teams three through five got a bit shaken up.

St. Norbert, playing more and more like their national championship squad of two seasons ago, moved up one spot to third after sweeping in-state rival University of Wisconsin-Superior, 5-2 and 6-3, in De Pere.

The Plattsburgh Cardinals fell one rung to fourth, despite skating to a 1-1 tie with then-No. 15 Williams and defeating Geneseo (4-3) and Brockport (7-1) — all on the road. After a sweep of UW-Eau Claire, St. Scholastica jumped up two spots to fifth.

Given the strong performance of other contenders, Elmira’s road sweep of winless Lebanon Valley caused a slight dip in altitude (fourth to sixth) for the Soaring Eagles.

Seventh ranked Amherst remains hot, defeating both Skidmore and Castleton to ascend two spots in the poll and up their record to 12-2-2 on the season. While the Hamline Pipers (eighth) and the Gusties of Gustavus Adolphus (No. 10) didn’t change positions, Williams College was the week’s biggest mover, jumping an impressive six spots to ninth.

Another sweep by Adrian lifted the Bulldogs up one spot to No. 11 while Middlebury — 6-0-3 since their last loss on Nov. 27 to Plattsburgh — plummeted six spots to No. 12 after falling to New England College, 7-4, in Henniker, N.H. and getting shutout at St. Anselm, 4-0.

Manhattanville (up from No. 14), UW-River Falls (down from No. 11) and previously unranked Colby round out the top 15.

Wentworth, who lost on the road to Curry, 6-2, fell out the national rankings.

What I Think: Week 16

By
-

A few random (and not-so-random) thoughts after the 16th week of the season:

* The lead of this blog really should be about how great a weekend of hockey we just saw, but I just feel compelled to repeat what I learned this weekend.

Speaking after his team beat Lake Superior State 6-1 on Friday, Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson related that his players have suffered seven concussions this season.

Seven concussions.

I understand that concussions are a tough thing to define and there may be no two exactly the same, so it’s hard to know the severity.

Still, something is just plain wrong when a team has that many traumatic head injuries in one season.

On Friday, it was Ian Cole that was the seventh on that list after a hit by Lake Superior State’s Will Acton — one that drew a major charging penalty and, a day later, a one-game suspension from the league.

“That’s the seventh concussion for our team this year, and I’m starting to get really tired of the high hits and checks from behind,” Jackson said in the game story by USCHO’s Lucas Punkari. “It might come across as whining since we’re not having a great season, but it’s having a direct impact on my players’ futures and their lives.

“We have someone like Eric Ringel, who is still dealing with post-concussion syndrome and I don’t know if he’ll ever play hockey again. If we don’t do something soon about these things in all levels of hockey, something bad is going to happen. But for one team to have seven concussions in a season, it’s outrageous.”

How true.

* Only four of the top 20 teams in last week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll managed a sweep this weekend. Two of them — both home-and-home sweeps — were especially notable to me: St. Cloud State’s over Minnesota and Bemidji State’s over Minnesota-Duluth.

Will St. Cloud State finally get the top-10 recognition that it deserves? The Huskies are up to fifth in the RPI and are 8-0 since the holiday break.

And Bemidji State hasn’t had the greatest start to the second half of the season, but a pair of wins over a Minnesota-Duluth team that has been playing pretty well should be a notice that the Beavers are going to be a tough out in the NCAA tournament again.

How about that finish Saturday night? The Beavers’ Ben Kinne scored an extra-attacker goal with two seconds left to send the game to overtime. And Jordan George scored 36 seconds into the extra session to complete the road theatrics.

* That finish in Duluth was just one of the highlights Saturday night. The Denver-Wisconsin game was one of those that would fit into the top 10 of the season.

Ferris State got a much-needed victory over Michigan by scoring with 24 seconds left. Air Force got more dramatic, scoring with less than a second left in overtime for a victory over Holy Cross.

College hockey has taken some punches lately, but there were some pretty good reasons to think things are pretty good.

* I spent a lot of Sunday debating whether to go with Miami or Wisconsin as No. 1 on my ballot this week. I ended up with the RedHawks, although I wouldn’t argue much with someone who picked the Badgers.

Here’s my rationale: The RedHawks not only have the better RPI ranking, they have a few more “key” victories in my book. Yes, Wisconsin just got a very big win over Denver, but two wins would have looked a lot better than a win and a tie.

So here’s my top 20:

1. Miami

2. Wisconsin

3. Denver

4. St. Cloud State

5. Bemidji State

6. Ferris State

7. Minnesota-Duluth

8. Colorado College

9. New Hampshire

10. North Dakota

11. Boston College

12. Michigan State

13. Massachusetts

14. Cornell

15. Vermont

16. Union

17. Yale

18. Massachusetts-Lowell

19. Michigan

20. Maine

1...1,0911,0921,093...1,531Page 1,092 of 1,531

Latest Stories from around USCHO

‘A proud day’ as former Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey captain Brodt tabbed new head coach for St. Scholastica

USCHO Staff -

Denver sophomore blueliner, recent Wild signee Buium tabbed USCHO Player of the Year for ’24-25 season

USCHO Staff -

Western Michigan’s Ferschweiler leads Broncos to national championship, named unanimous USCHO Coach of the Year for 2024-25 campaign

USCHO Staff -

After 48-point freshman season with Boston University, Hutson adds to accolades with 2024-25 USCHO Rookie of the Year honor

USCHO Staff -

Wisconsin’s Simms, McNaughton, Minnesota’s Primerano take home final women’s hockey HCA monthly honors for ’24-25 season

USCHO Staff -

Final HCA men’s hockey monthly honors for ’24-25 season go to Western Michigan’s Washe, BU’s Hutson, Denver’s Davis, Bentley’s Hasley, Minnesota State’s Tracy

USCHO Staff -

Norwich grad Dawes named new men’s hockey coach for Cadets, leaves Stevenson after nine seasons behind Mustangs bench

USCHO Staff -

Trio of All-USCHO teams announced for 2024-25 NCAA Division I men’s college hockey season

USCHO Staff -

NHL’s Devils sign Boston University forward Lachance, who gives up last two years of NCAA eligibility

USCHO Staff -

Minnesota men’s hockey coach Motzko, who ‘knows what it takes to have success,’ named head coach of 2026 U.S. National Junior Team

USCHO Staff -

Kaplan inks NHL deal with Philadelphia, leaves Boston University after junior season

USCHO Staff -

After pair of seasons, national championship with Western Michigan, Bump leaves Broncos for NHL contract with Flyers

USCHO Staff -
©1996-2025 USCHO.com – U.S. College Hockey Online