Staking Out The Territory

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January 31, 1997

As the 1995-96 season got started, Denver was expected to be one of the heavies in the WCHA. After all, the team had 14 of its top 17 scorers, along with the arguably-better half of a sterling two-man goalie rotation, returning from a team that finished third in the conference last year. With graduation decimating some of the top squads, notably Colorado College and Minnesota, it seemed the time was ripe for Denver to rule the West.

Didn’t happen. The team was stuck in a funk that started in February of the previous season. That team finished 2-8-2, including a pair of home losses to little-regarded St. Cloud that bounced Denver right out of postseason play, both in the WCHA and the NCAA.

This year’s team started like pretenders to the throne, beginning the season with three straight losses en route to a 3-5-0 start. That made the Pioneers 5-13-2 in their last 20 — and all this from a team that was supposed to contend for the WCHA title.

Head coach George Gwozdecky suggests that the expectations may have distracted his players. “It was difficult for us to play in the favorite role, especially against teams that were coming extra hard at us because we were the favorite.

“We had a lot of guys who were trying to do more than they were capable of doing, earlier in the year. All of a sudden we were trying too much, because we were struggling.”

Still, it always takes a little time for a squad to suffer the growing pains of a new season. Top goaltender Jim Mullin could see the troubles the team was going through.

“At the beginning of the season,” Mullin says, “everyone’s got their ruts. You’ve got new players, everyone is feeling each other out a little bit. That’s what started to happen. Then we started to pass real well, bring the puck out of the zone. We started to know where each other was on the ice, and that’s helped us gain some momentum.”

That momentum now is like a runaway freight train. The Pioneers are 8-2-2 in their last 12 games. The two losses were in Alaska, after a long trip, and a heart-breaking overtime defeat to Minnesota at Mariucci Arena. Denver recovered to gain the split each time.

So what’s the difference? How does this red-hot Denver squad differ from the team that opened the season with three straight losses?

“Team defense has become a priority,” says Mullin. “That’s our main focus. Defense first, and we’ll take the goals as they come.”

That defense was young indeed, at the start of the season. Of the six regulars, three are sophomores and one a freshman.

Gwozdecky praised the blueliners. “They’ve really matured. They’re playing really well together, [though] they’re not the kind of defense that’s going to make you go ‘Wow, boy, can they really jump up and play.’

“We’ve got some people who pride themselves on being strong from the red line on back. They move well together, they play together well as partners. It becomes a real strength for us, where earlier in the year perhaps it was a little bit of an inconsistency.”

The youngsters guarding the fort don’t seem like underclassmen to Mullin, who sees their handiwork up close every time he’s in net.

“I’ll tell you what. It doesn’t matter how old they are, the way they’ve been playing. It’s been great,” Mullin said. “They’re very tenacious out there. They block shots, they make the smart plays, they’re sacrificing their bodies. It doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman or a senior — if you’re making those efforts, you’re going to play and play well, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.”

But even more crucial than the defensemen have been the guys who stand between the pipes. It seemed Denver had a done deal with Mullin, one of the league’s top returning goalies. But when Mullin lost his first three WCHA contests, displaying a 5.80 goals-against average and an embarrassing .813 save percentage, Gwozdecky was forced to look to a freshman, Stephen Wagner, for support. He got it.

“Wagner’s playing extremely well on Friday nights. I don’t think he expected he would play as much as he has during his freshman year. I think Jim Mullin really plays well when he has competition. He needs to play on edge a little bit. I think Stephen Wagner has done that.

“That’s one of the reasons [Mullin] wasn’t as effective early in the year. He probably felt it was his job, and maybe he didn’t have the intensity or the concentration he needed. One of the things that made Jim so effective in the past is that we had Sinuhe Wallenheimo, our other goaltender, competing against him.

“There’s no question both guys are giving us excellent goaltending, and there is no reason to expect they won’t continue that.”

Wallenheimo, the flashy Finnish goaltender, was a crowd-pleaser on the ice. His numbers weren’t as good as Mullin’s — a 3.48 goals-against compared to Mullin’s 3.13 — but his on-ice antics made him the more obvious of the two goalies. While the competition may have done Mullin some good, he didn’t have to enjoy it. When asked about Wallenheimo’s absence this year, he issued a terse “No comment.”

But Mullin harbors no such grudge against Wagner. “I don’t think any goalie is going to be happy about splitting a series, because every goalie wants to play as much as he can.

“But Steve’s been playing well — he deserves to play. He’s a freshman, and he’s been playing great all year. You can’t be selfish. If I’m not playing on Friday night, I can’t sit there and say, ‘Oh gosh, why am I not playing?’

“You can’t look at it like that. You have to say ‘Wow, this kid’s been playing great; the team’s been supporting him.’ He’s a freshman coming in and playing like this — that’s impressive.”

Even more impressive is what the competition in net has done for Mullin. He now leads the WCHA with a sparkling 2.77 GAA. He has two shut-outs, one over conference opponent Michigan Tech, and another against national power Clarkson, that coming in Clarkson’s own building.

And Wagner’s not far behind. He sports a solid 3.31 GAA and has wins over conference powers St. Cloud and Minnesota-Duluth.

Denver’s schedule has favored the Pioneers of late. They have recently played four games against teams near the bottom of the WCHA, and have another such series — against Northern Michigan — this weekend. “I think this will be a great test for us,” Gwozdecky said. “There’s no question you can get fired up to play with a lot of intensity and a lot of emotion in games against teams ahead of you, but the real test is to see how you do against teams that aren’t having the success that you’re having, and how you respond to that.

“There’s no question that we [didn’t do] the job in the first half the season. We’re a better team now, a more mature team, and a more confident team. With those things in place, I think we’ve set ourselves up.

“It is going to be very important that we take matters in our hands and do a good job against our opponents, no matter who they are. This league has shown this year that there is a lot of balance. There’s no question that the three teams at the bottom of the league are struggling right now … [but] if you take a night off, you’re going to get beat. Especially with the balance in this league this year. You have to be ready to play, and play hard.”

Mullin never let himself believe the games against the bottom teams would be a cakewalk. “I think in the WCHA … everyone knows how good the teams are, and I don’t think you can ever be at ease. It is so competitive in this league.”

But it’s all too easy to fall into that trap of good team, bad team, a vice the Pioneers succumbed to earlier in this year.

“Maybe toward the beginning of the season, we were kind of worried about each game. Looks at the standings and we’ll be playing who’s ranked. It shouldn’t really matter.

“I think that’s been a main focus of ours as well. We approach the game as though we don’t even know who we’re playing. We step on the ice, and whoever is out there is out there. If you start looking at the standings, you know, ‘Oh, we have a team in the lower division,’ it would change our play. We have to stay away from that. We have to maintain our focus and play as well as we can each game.”

Part of the reason Denver is playing so many teams at or near the bottom of the league is the unbalanced schedule the WCHA has adopted. Denver, like the other school in the conference, plays two teams in only one series apiece, while facing all remaining conference foes in two series.

This year Denver drew Minnesota and St. Cloud to short-shift. Most coaches would be happy to face these teams as little as possible, but not Gwozdecky.

“You always wish you could play teams that are ahead of you in the standings. Obviously you can’t control that, and you never can, but I wish we had St. Cloud two more times this year, and I wish we had Minnesota two more times this year. They’re ahead of us, and we don’t control our fate with them. We have to hope that other people help us.”

One of the problems that has faced the team is trouble playing on the larger ice surfaces. The aforementioned two recent losses, to Minnesota and Alaska-Anchorage, both came on Olympic-size ice sheets. The team had not played on the larger surface all season long, and playing on the big ice takes some adjustment.

“It took us a while to get used to it. Part of getting used to it is learning how to play in the neutral zone, defensively. Where your coverages are, and how much ice you can take back. How much space and time you can take away from your opponent.”

Gwozdecky will see how much the team learned when it travels to Wisconsin in late February, where they face the Badgers on their own large surface. Those could potentially be huge matchups.

Overall, the team seems to have found their niche. “You learn from the beginning of the season. We started to gel together as a team, and that just takes time,” said Mullin. “Every team is going to have their individuals for some games, but for the most part we have no individuals on this team.”

Gwozdecky reemphasized his sentiment.

“I think this team has matured an awful lot.

“This team has become a team. This group of guys has really bonded together, and fought through some real adversity. Having to overcome the very slow start to the year, this team has shown that it is very resilient. It is getting stronger and stronger, getting more confident and believing in themselves, and we’re still in the hunt.

“We’re playing the way we know we can play.”

And, really, who can ask more than that?

This Week in the WCHA: January 31, 1997

By Todd D. Milewski

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January 31, 1997

WCHA Preview: Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 1997 by Scott Brown

The WCHA now officially enters the stretch run for the playoffs. With St. Cloud’s visit to Notre Dame out of the way, only WCHA league games remain for the ten teams in the conference. That means undiluted entertainment for fans, as no fewer than seven teams will try to scratch out home-ice advantage for the first round, and eventually berths at the WCHA Final Five.

Last weekend’s action may have seen a changing of the guard, as North Dakota’s split with Colorado College gave the Minnesota Golden Gophers a chance to capitalize. That they did, sweeping the Michigan Tech Huskies out of their home arena to claim first place in the conference.

But maybe not. The Gophers head straight into the lion’s den this weekend, as they take on North Dakota in Grand Forks in what might be the most important series in the WCHA this year. Also, St. Cloud hosts Colorado College in a series with great implications for the playoff picture.

With every WCHA team having played 22 league games, Minnesota has 30 points, good for a one-point lead on North Dakota. The Sioux are, in turn, one point up on CC, which has 28 points for sole possession of third. St. Cloud and a rocketing Wisconsin team are tied for fourth with 27 points apiece, and Denver and Minnesota-Duluth aren’t far behind.

For the remaining three teams — Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan and Alaska-Anchorage — the question is merely whose arena they’ll visit for the first round of the playoffs. Nonetheless, the jockeying for position continue here as well.

The upcoming weekend looks kind of like this…

No. 3 Minnesota (18-8-0, 15-7-0 WCHA) at No. 2 North Dakota (17-7-2, 14-7-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 p.m. CT, Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND

Here it is — the series on which the WCHA season may well hinge. North Dakota, which has topped the WCHA standings much of the season, hosts current leader Minnesota in the USCHO Series of the Week. A sweep by either team puts it in a commanding position for the stretch run.

Speaking of a sweep, the Sioux were broomed out of Mariucci Arena back in November, 3-2 and 10-6. Suffice to say, they hardly looked like contenders at the time; the second game, in particular, was not even as close as the score would suggest. North Dakota limped home, bruised and battered, and lost against St. Cloud the next Friday before turning tiger.

Over the next month and a half, North Dakota went 8-1-2 against the likes of Colorado College and Boston University, a run which catapulted the Sioux into the national spotlight and the upper reaches of the Around the Rinks/USCHO Poll, where they are currently second.

Nonetheless, an 8-3 Sunday loss at CC means the Sioux have now split each of their last three series. They won the opener, 3-0, before falling in the recap. The team’s top scorers, David Hoogsteen (17-18–35) and Jason Blake (12-25–37), were held a collective two points on the weekend — Blake’s assist on Hoogsteen’s goal Sunday.

North Dakota’s loss allowed the charging Gophers, who took four points at Michigan Tech, to slip past them in the conference standings. Minnesota now stands at 30 points on the season, versus North Dakota’s 29.

Each team has 10 games left this season, but perhaps none more important than these two. North Dakota has the easier row to hoe heading toward the playoff: after this weekend’s series, North Dakota faces the bottom three teams in the WCHA — Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan and Alaska-Anchorage — before a season-ending visit to Denver.

Meanwhile, Minnesota must meet a strong Minnesota-Duluth team, and travel to Colorado College before hosting archrival Wisconsin to finish the year. On observing the Sioux’ presumably-softer schedule, Gopher head coach Doug Woog was quoted Tuesday in the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "We’ve got to sweep."

And sweep the Gophers may, if last weekend’s play at Michigan Tech is any indication. Not only did third-ranked Minnesota sweep the Huskies, 5-2 and 8-4, to move into first place, but two Gopher players won weekly awards. Junior defenseman Mike Crowley was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after assisting on eight Gopher goals, and fellow blueliner Ben Clymer won Rookie of the Week honors for a four-goal weekend, including a hat trick on Saturday.

Crowley, who leads his team in scoring at 4-27–31, had this to say in Sunday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune: "We needed two wins this weekend. They played tough, but we came in and got two." Crowley was himself a large part of that success, as he reached 100 assists in his two-and-a-half year career with the Gophers.

Added Woog, "We got what we needed, which was four points on the road."

The Gophers also did it with special-teams play against Tech. Minnesota leads the WCHA in league power-play conversions (25.9 percent) and penalty-killing (87.3 percent), and it showed. The Gophers converted six of 17 man-advantages, while limiting MTU to just 2-for-16.

Freshman sensation Dave Spehar continued his point-scoring streak with four assists on Saturday. The Gophers also reacquired the services of sophomore forward Erik Rasmussen, who netted his 12th goal of the season to cap the weekend’s scoring. Rasmussen was suspended for two games due to his failure to maintain a full course load, and hence his eligibility under NCAA rules.

Picks: Although Minnesota looks slightly stronger right now, the Sioux will be mentally prepared to play at home. Let’s call it a split. UM 5-3, UND 4-3.

Alaska-Anchorage (8-14-2, 6-14-2 WCHA) at Wisconsin (13-12-1, 13-8-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 p.m. CT, Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI

Lest we forget, there are other teams who might have a say about the MacNaughton Cup. One of them is Wisconsin, currently tied for fourth in the conference, a bare three points off the lead. The Badgers are 6-2-0 in their last eight games, and have moved into contention for the WCHA title and an NCAA tournament berth.

Last weekend, the Badgers swept Minnesota-Duluth — in Duluth — behind WCHA Defensive Player of the Week Kirk Daubenspeck, who made 94 saves in two games, including a school-record-tying 62 in Saturday’s 4-1 victory. Although his numbers (11-10-1, 3.76 GAA, .887 SV%) have been modest this season, Daubenspeck seems to be turning it on at the right time.

In Tuesday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, Badger head coach Jeff Sauer said it was a team effort. "[Daubenspeck] played really well, but we also had three shorthanded goals, went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed eight power plays on Saturday.

"[Daubenspeck has] been up and down, but he’s always been there when we needed him. He’s a senior leader, and we’re counting on him to be there for us down the stretch."

Team scoring leader Brad Englehart (15-15–30) is also making his presence felt — his empty-netter with 43 seconds to go Friday night completed a hat trick. On Saturday, Mark Smith (6-10–16) and Joe Bianchi (10-14–24) both scored shorthanded goals, two of the three alluded to above.

Meanwhile, Alaska-Anchorage has been streaky of late. The Seawolves were 0-7-1 in their previous four series before sweeping at Northern Michigan, and then winning against Denver last Friday, 7-3. Goalie Doug Teskey won that game despite having his scoreless streak ended at 144:59, a UAA record. The Seawolves dropped the recap to the Pioneers the next night, 3-1.

On the weekend, the Seawolves got two points out of David Vallieres, including his seventh goal of the season, and two more from Eric Silverman, who scored the game-winner on Friday, Clayton Read and Stacy Prevost. Teskey made 53 saves for the series, and is 3-1-0 in his last four games.

Picks: Although Teskey is playing very well, the Seawolves are short on offense, and Wisconsin is coming on late in the season. This is a Badger sweep at Dane. UW 4-2, 4-1.

Northern Michigan (9-17-2, 5-16-1 WCHA) at Denver (14-8-4, 10-8-4 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 p.m. MT, DU Arena, Denver, CO

The WCHA Final Five is being held this season at the St. Paul Civic Center, and Denver was one of the preseason favorites not only to be there, but perhaps to contend for the title as well.

But the Pioneers got off to a very rocky start, opening 3-5-0 before making a move (does this story seem familiar?) toward the top. Now Denver is helping to create a serious logjam in the standings; although the Pioneers are in sixth place, they’re still only six points out of first and well within reach of home-ice advantage in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.

Their split with Alaska-Anchorage didn’t help their cause all that much, though. Friday, netminder Stephen Wagner was pulled at 7:37 of the third period with Denver already down by three goals, 4-1. Although Denver did use the sixth skater to score two goals, the Seawolves hit on three empty-netters to seal the victory.

Denver did salvage the split the next night with a 3-1 win, behind goals by Erik Andersson, Joe Murphy and Charlie Host, and the continued excellence of DU’s other goaltender, Jim Mullin. Mullin, who leads WCHA goaltenders in league GAA (2.77), saved 23 of 24 shots Saturday.

Northern Michigan, however, is headed in a different direction. The Wildcats are 1-7-0 in their last eight WCHA contests, having been swept by Alaska-Anchorage two weeks ago. Perhaps the intervening week off will allow Rick Comley’s troops to right the ship.

But perhaps not. NMU was picked to finish last in the conference in the coaches’ preseason poll, and right now only Michigan Tech stands between the Wildcats and the fulfillment of that prophecy. the NMU special teams haven’t been much help this year: Northern is tied for last in league power-play goals (12), and second only to Tech in power-play goals allowed (26). Their -14 differential is last in the WCHA.

Picks: Denver has way too much going for it right now. DU 5-2, 4-3.

Minnesota-Duluth (14-11-1, 11-10-1 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (5-19-3, 2-17-3 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 p.m. ET, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI

As mentioned above, Michigan Tech is the only thing holding Northern Michigan out of last place in the WCHA. Unfortunately for head coach Tim Watters, there’s no sign that his team can relinquish that honor.

Tech was pasted by the league-leading Gophers last weekend, 5-2 and 8-4. That means that the Huskies winless streak is alive and well, and now stands at 0-16-3. The last time Michigan Tech won was Nov. 1, at Alaska-Anchorage. Since then, the Huskies have scored 39 goals while giving up a whopping 83.

The team’s leading scorer, Andre Savage (10-14–24) has six points in his last four games, while Kyle Peterson scored his 12th goal Saturday. However, neither was able to overcome the Tech special-teams deficit. The Huskies are converting a league-low 12.9 percent of their power plays in WCHA play, and were 2-for-16 against Minnesota last weekend. At the same time, the Husky penalty-kill, ranked seventh in the conference, had to defend on 17 Gopher power plays (six converted).

To make things worse, team captain Jason Prokopetz was injured Friday night against Minnesota, and will be lost for two or three weeks. Certainly, he will not play against UMD this weekend.

The Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs have been streaky this season. Specifically, their 26 games look like this: loss, four wins, two losses, tie, two wins, loss, win, two losses, two wins, two losses, four wins, loss, win, two losses. To paraphrase a certain nursery rhyme, when the ‘Dogs are good, they are very, very good — witness a 7-4 win over the Gophers at Mariucci Arena, and a 4-2 road win over Colorado College.

To continue a bit further, however, when the Bulldogs are bad, they are horrid. They were swept at home last weekend by Wisconsin, dropping them into seventh place in the WCHA. That’s big trouble for a team hoping for home ice in the first round. To make matters worse, the games weren’t even close. Goalie Brant Nicklin gave up nine goals on 61 shots on the weekend (plus one empty-netter) as the Badgers won, 6-3 and 4-1.

Despite losing both games, Nicklin (14-10-1, 3.01 GAA, .901 SV%) is still a strong contender for the WCHA Rookie of the Year. He has played almost all the minutes in net this season for the Bulldogs, and given them a solid presence between the pipes.

What Nicklin needs is a little more support from his scorers. Mike Peluso (15-14–29), Ken Dzikowski (10-17–27) and Rick Mrozik (9-17–26) were held to a combined three points on the weekend, with no goals among them.

Picks: These games are at Michigan Tech, and Duluth is coming off a very disappointing weekend. Will the Huskies take advantage, or can the Bulldogs recover? Maybe a little of both. MTU 3-2, UMD 5-1.

Colorado College (15-9-2, 13-7-2 WCHA) at St. Cloud (15-8-3, 12-7-3 WCHA) Saturday-Sunday, 2:05 p.m. CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN

In another week, this one might be the premier series in the conference; but with the conference leaders duking it out above, CC and SCSU have to settle for a sidelight.

But don’t be fooled. This series pits two of the top teams in the conference, indeed, in the country. Both squads have bounced around the polls for most of the season, though neither is currently ranked. But that may be a result of the fierce combat taking place in the WCHA this season, as teams beat on one another in an effort to climb up the mountain — Jeff Sagarin’s ratings have the WCHA as the top conference in the country right now.

St. Cloud moved into the conference spotlight with a 6-1-0 run in December, but has since been slowed a bit. The Huskies are only 3-4-1 in their last eight games, which included four matches against Minnesota and North Dakota.

SCSU’s most recent opponent, Notre Dame, was less imposing, yet the Irish managed to take one out of two on their home ice last weekend, beating St. Cloud 5-2 on Friday before the Huskies salvaged the split, 2-1 on Saturday. The St. Cloud power play was only 1-for-11 on the weekend, and now stands fifth in league play, at 21.7 percent.

The two-headed goalie combo of Tim Lideen and Brian Leitza performed capably against the Irish. Lideen lost the opener despite making 29 saves, and Leitza stopped 17 of 18 shots in the recap. Both netminders are among the better ones in the conference, as Lideen and Leitza rank third and fifth, respectively, in league GAA. In addition, Lideen leads the conference in save percentage, at .905, and Leitza’s 9-3-0 record is among the best in the WCHA.

Offense was a bit of a problem for St. Cloud, however. Jason Goulet (11-4–15) led the Husky scoring, with two goals and two assists for the series, while Mike Rucinski (2-8–10) had three points. However, the Huskies’ top scorers — Sacha Molin (14-16–30), Dave Paradise (13-14–27), Matt Cullen (9-17–26) and Mark Parrish (14-10–24) were held scoreless. That will have to change for SCSU to have a chance against Colorado College.

Meanwhile, CC is having some problems of its own. Hosting North Dakota over the weekend, the Tigers gained a split with an 8-3 Sunday victory. The day before, they were shut out, 3-0 — the first time CC has been blanked at home in over seven years.

The Tiger offense awoke for the recap, scoring five goals in a ten-minute span during the second period to erase a 2-1 North Dakota lead. Brian Swanson (11-24–35), who leads the WCHA in league scoring, had two goals, and Stewart Bodtker (10-16–26) scored the game-winner on a five-on-three power play.

In net, Judd Lambert saved 30 shots in the Sunday win. Carrying most of the load for the Tigers this year, Lambert has achieved decent numbers: a 12-7-1 record, 3.13 GAA and a .881 save percentage. No league-leading totals there, but a good effort to keep his teammates in the hunt, day in and day out.

That’s all CC really requires. With seven players at 20 points or more, and solid power-play (21.4 percent) and penalty-killing (83.2 percent) numbers, the Tigers have plenty of firepower. All head coach Don Lucia needs now is a little improvement on defense in front of Lambert, and CC will be ready to go.

Picks: Possibly the toughest calls this week. St. Cloud and CC both really need these games, but the fans at the National Hockey Center are among the wildest in the Midwest. Let’s go out on a limb. SCSU 4-3, 5-4.

Next Week in the WCHA

Friday, Feb. 7 St. Cloud at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at Wisconsin Denver at Minnesota-Duluth Michigan Tech at North Dakota Northern Michigan at Minnesota

Saturday, Feb. 8 St. Cloud at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at Wisconsin Denver at Minnesota-Duluth Michigan Tech at North Dakota Northern Michigan at Minnesota

Scott Brown is Features Editor for U.S. College Hockey Online.

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No Dumb Jocks

By David H. Hendrickson

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January 27, 1997

The dumb jock. Chiseled physique meets bovine stupidity. Few stereotypes appear more consistently in our culture.

Four Hockey East players — Maine’s Dan Shermerhorn, UMass-Lowell’s Craig Lindsay, and Merrimack’s Rob Beck and Tom Johnson — are the league’s prime examples that athletes need not be morons and top students don’t all wear pocket protectors.

Those four seniors are eligible for Hockey East’s Distinguished Scholar Award, given annually to student-athletes who earn at least a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale during all semesters in which they play hockey. Last year only Northeastern’s Tomas Persson qualified.

As collegiate athletes, these four face special challenges. Road trips often devour big chunks of time. Workouts and on-ice practices, not to mention the games themselves, typically consume five hours a day. As if the time commitment were not a big enough handicap, the daily rigors of athletic life leave a player physically exhausted and mentally drained just as the available studying hours begin.

These four, all Canadians, have also adjusted to these pressures far from home. When the going gets tough, family support isn’t just a few hours away. Fighting through such difficulties and consistently achieving academic success requires extraordinary dedication.

Dan Shermerhorn: “He’s going to be a success in life no matter what happens to him in hockey.”

Shermerhorn, a preseason All-Hockey East selection, has achieved the greatest on-ice success of the four. Even while struggling with injuries early this year, he warranted praise from Maine interim coach Greg Cronin.

“This may sound ridiculous,” says Cronin, “but a lot of kids who are bright in the classroom don’t play very smart. It’s a surprising fact. But Dan Shermerhorn isn’t like that. He’s like having another coach out there.”

Shermerhorn’s collegiate career overlapped another Black Bear who combined brains on and off the ice. “I had the honor of showing up when Paul Kariya was still around,” says Shermerhorn. “He’s the epitome of a student-athlete. He was only here for my first semester, but I saw him commit almost all of his time to his books. He got his semester done by Dec. 10, when he went to the national team. The rest of us were still struggling through studies right until the 20th and 21st. He picked up a 3.5 GPA or something like that, so it proved to me that it could be done if you just commit your time. ”

Adds Shermerhorn with a laugh, “I don’t think his on-ice activities struggled much.”

Although Kariya’s on-ice exploits may never be duplicated, Shermerhorn has continued Kariya’s legacy.

“He’s a fantastic young man,” says Maine Athletic Director Suzanne Tyler. “I couldn’t be prouder of a player and what he has done in terms of putting his whole college career in perspective. He’s a great player and he’s a great human being. He’s exemplary in terms of his work ethic and his commitment to his teammates and school. I just can’t say enough about my respect for him.”

Shermerhorn, a business administration major, credits much of his academic success to his mother. When he was a youngster in Calgary, Alberta, there were times when he wouldn’t do well in school and she’d make him miss sports. Years later, after an acceptable freshman year that still fell short of his capabilities, she told him, “You can slack through elementary, you can slack through junior high, but this is going to affect every business that looks at you and your GPA in the future. Just bear down.”

“She made it seem like an honor to be an athlete,” says Shermerhorn. “Your social life sometimes suffers because of it, but you’ve just got to make priorities.

“It’s not always fun. You certainly have your days when you need a cup of coffee to keep yourself awake when you’re reading. But it’s all part of how much you want to commit. It’s a lot of work, but it’s not like we don’t ask for it. We don’t have to be athletes.”

As an 18-year-old, Shermerhorn had questioned whether he would make it athletically. Two years earlier, he had promised his mother that he’d get a hockey scholarship, but found no takers even after scoring 60 points, good for 17th place among scorers in the defense-oriented Alberta Junior Hockey League.

“That year was the low point in my career,” he says. “It was probably the only time in my life where I wasn’t sure if I enjoyed playing the game. The year before I’d talked to six U.S. schools. Then I had twice as good a year as I did the year before — that’s from a personal aspect — and figured I should get some offers and at least be talking to some schools. I was really disappointed. I wasn’t sure what life had in store for me.”

Ironically, Cronin, who was then a recruiter for another school, suggested that Shermerhorn switch to a more offense-minded league. He took the advice, led the British Columbia Junior Hockey League with 130 points in 60 games, and soon was headed for Maine.

With 126 points in 144 career games, Shermerhorn hopes that his collegiate success translates into hockey beyond college. That could be complicated by Maine’s ban from postseason play where pro scouts make most of their evaluations.

“We might not have a postseason, but we still have 34 games, and that gives you 34 games to show your stuff. Hopefully in those 34 games I can impress somebody enough to create some interest beyond college hockey.

“I’m certainly interested in that. If you commit 20 years of your life to something, it would be nice to have it as your job. It’s always been for fun and for leisure. Certainly to make some money doing it would be a bonus.”

If not, according to coach Shawn Walsh, Shermerhorn’s future still looks bright. “He’s not only a tremendously consistent student, he’s a sound person. He’s going to be a success in life no matter what happens to him in hockey.”

Tom Johnson: “Tom has shown the character and integrity to get what he wants out of his college years.”

“I had a choice to play major junior in Canada, or to receive a scholarship and get my education paid for and play hockey at the same time,” says Tom Johnson, a native of Burlington, Ontario. “Major junior is the pathway to the NHL, but college hockey is more like an island in between.

“I had a number of friends that I played with who went the major junior route and are in the pros right now. There are about 10 of them, guys like Tom MacDonald (Quebec, IHL) and Eric Cairns (New York Rangers). They actually tell me they wish they’d gone to school and gotten an education because it definitely helps down the road. Some of the guys are worried because they’re playing in the minors and they’re not sure how long it’s going to last. They’re going to make a lot of connections playing hockey, but it’s never as good as getting an education.”

In some respects, Johnson was almost predestined to choose college hockey. His father, a school principal, established clear priorities. Working out and practices were important, but academics came first.

When he arrived at Merrimack, he became an academic influence on a team that already had players like Mark Cornforth, who excelled on and off the ice. Last year the school shattered Hockey East records with a stunning 13 players on the Honor Roll, their fourth straight league-leading year.

“It wasn’t just me,” says Johnson. “It’s been Rob [Beck] and other guys who have influenced players to achieve not only on the ice but off the ice.”

“Here at Merrimack, we look at college first and athletics second,” said coach Ron Anderson. “We want our players to realize their potential in both areas. In Tom’s case he’s demonstrated a commitment to academics and hockey. He comes from an academic background and school is very important to him. Some people may take for granted that kids are doing well, assuming that it’s easy. But it takes both ability and focus. Tom has shown the character and integrity to get what he wants out of his college years. I have to applaud him for his efforts in academics.”

In addition to his normal course load, Johnson, an accounting major, also interns at a local CPA firm. The combination has resulted in his toughest year. “It seems like I don’t have a minute to think,” he says.

“Tommy’s very dedicated,” says teammate and fellow Distinguished Scholar candidate Beck. “Thorough is the best word for him. Not just in school, not just in hockey, but everything. He’s precise. He also brings some leadership to our team. He’s a solid, strong player. He’s a good example for someone who understands that everything has to be done, not just parts of your game.”

After a freshman season in which he scored 11 goals and added 14 assists, Johnson’s point totals the last two years dropped off to 5-14–19 and 6-11–17. He already has six goals and seven assists this year, however, so he may yet rebound to his freshman numbers.

“I’d love for the team to make it to the Fleet Center,” he says. “I think we deserve it more than anyone. I know our record doesn’t show it, but we’re probably one of the hardest working teams in the league. I’d like to make it to the Fleet Center and show everyone else what we’re made of.”

Johnson hopes to continue playing hockey after his collegiate career ends. “I’d obviously like to play somewhere if I could, in Europe if I can get a tryout. I’d definitely like to do that first. But if the hockey doesn’t come through, then I’ll be looking at an accounting career around here.”

Rob Beck: “He led the team in GPA and scoring.”

“In high school I wasn’t a very good student,” says Beck. “Early in my life, hockey was the most important thing. I didn’t realize what my academics could do for me until I got my scholarship and got here. This school really stresses academics. The coaching staff and guys like Quentin Fendelet, Mark Goble, Wayde McMillan and Mark Cornforth were always talking about grades and how important they are for life after hockey.

“I’m here for two things, not one. For school and hockey. And that’s what’s important. Hockey might not always be there so you have to do both.”

Like his teammate and friend Johnson, Beck, a business major, has added an internship to the already breakneck pace of a student-athlete. “I’m getting about five hours of sleep right now,” Beck says. “I’m up at six in the morning when I go in for my internship, so I’m getting in there an hour and a half before even the partners because I have to get a certain number of hours in and I just don’t have the time. But you just have to bear down and realize how important it is.”

After an initial adjustment period, Beck switched his internship to Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays so that he’d be better rested for weekend games. “I try to leave Friday and Saturday for hockey so I can focus around that,” he says. He also tries to avoid bringing books on road trips, having found that mixing the two takes an edge off his game.

A team captain last year, he “led the team in GPA and scoring,” as Anderson put it. According to Johnson, Beck earned the captaincy. He was a natural leader with a strong competitive drive. The players respected his combination of excellence on and off the ice. As captain, however, Beck struggled to deal with the team’s disappointing record.

“Second place stinks,” he gives as his general outlook. “It was hard to swallow when we finished last in our league last year. It was awful. Those feelings just make me sick. That’s what drives me.”

Beck likens himself to Steve Yzerman, who spent most of his career as a top player on weak Detroit Red Wing teams. “He’s on some good teams now, but he’s always been there for that team. I want to finish [strong] like that and leave a solid base for the guys to work with next year.”

What next year holds for Beck remains uncertain.

“My ideal situation would be to play for the Manitoba Moose,” he says. The Moose are a new IHL team in his home province that already has some former NCAA players. If that doesn’t work out, he has already been offered jobs. “Right now I’m keeping it open. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Even if I accept a job, I still want to focus on my studies and the team here.”

Craig Lindsay: “He’s the kind of person we want in our program.”

“Craig Lindsay is what our program is all about,” says UMass-Lowell coach Tim Whitehead. “He’s done the job for us in goal, he works really hard, he’s an excellent student and he’s a terrific human being. He’s the kind of person we want in our program.”

Some fans might be surprised at Whitehead’s praise. Brought in as the heir apparent to Dwayne Roloson, Lindsay’s hockey career hasn’t blossomed the way he and his coaches might have hoped. After a year as Roloson’s understudy, he competed with freshmen Marty Fillion and Scott Fankhouser the following year for the Lowell job, a position that none of them won. With a three-goalie rotation, no one had the chance to either get hot or work themselves out of a slump.

When Fankhouser went to the juniors last year, Lindsay had the opportunity to establish himself as Lowell’s number one, but instead it was Fillion who emerged as a top goaltender. This year Hockey East named Fillion to its preseason All-league team. Lindsay has been left to battle with Fankhouser, since returned from the juniors, for the backup role.

“It’s not exactly the way I thought it would turn out when I came here as a freshman,” says Lindsay. “At the same time, Marty’s a good goalie and Fankhouser’s good too. I guess if you asked me four years ago, I wouldn’t think I’d be watching a game instead of dressing and starting it. It’s frustrating and at times it’s a little embarrassing to be the backup goalie and not to play.”

His former coach, Bruce Crowder, like Whitehead, has a lot to praise for the backup. “It’s a credit to him that he not only has been so successful academically, but that he’s been able to maintain that while other things in his life weren’t going as well as he’d hoped. He’s just a tremendous person.”

Lindsay didn’t always appreciate the importance of academics. As a youngster, hockey always came first. If there was homework to be done and a practice or a game beckoned, he headed for the rink. The homework would still get done, but at the expense of a few hours sleep rather than hockey.

“I remember when I was about 12 years old, [Randy Gregg] played for the Oilers and he was a doctor,” Lindsay says. “They were saying on TV that he was the only doctor in the NHL. At that time it just didn’t mean a thing to me. But now I realize how almost impossible it would be to get a doctorate and play hockey. So now I have a great respect and admiration for him, but back then it was just whether or not he was a good hockey player.”

Lindsay, a native of Mississauga, Ontario, who majors in marketing and minors in English, credits the fifth year in Canadian high school with making his transition to college life easier. “The fifth year is a university prep course where it’s almost university courses, except you’re at home. So when I came here, it was almost the same. I didn’t have to worry about the academics as much as just adjusting to being on my own.”

He tries to make Sunday his big studying day while trying to wrap everything up by Wednesday. That way, he says, “Thursday you can just take it easy and watch the hockey game on TV and rest up for the Friday and Saturday games.” Of course, weekday games and unexpected circumstances sometimes throw that schedule off. Then, he says with a laugh, “The best motivation that I find is last-minute panic.”

He also has gotten a few laughs at the expense of his teammates. Even though he only played 255 minutes last year, he totaled four assists. “I beat two guys in points for the year, so I let them know a few times,” he says laughing. “Hey, I had a three-game scoring streak!”

Lindsay is pragmatic about his future.

“I have to know I’m not going to be making the NHL if I’m not a starting goalie in my senior year,” he says. “So I’ve got to take care of academics. But I’m not really ready to give up hockey and take a day job. The 9-to-5 stuff is still way off in the future. I’m a British citizen, so I’m hoping to go over there and try to play for a few years and just worry about school at nights if possible. I figure I’ll play hockey as long as I’m still getting my education. Then once I’m ready to start my life, I’ll move on.”

This Week in the CCHA: January 24, 1997

By Paula C. Weston

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January 24, 1997

CCHA PREVIEW: Jan. 24-28, 1997 CCHA Preview: Jan. 24-28, 1997 by Paula C. Weston

Things are thick at the top in the CCHA. Three teams — Michigan, Miami and Lake Superior — are tied for first, each with 26 points. Last weekend, Michigan gained three points and Miami none, setting up a potentially spectacular weekend of hockey as Miami travels to Yost for two games to challenge the Wolverines. Michigan has two games in hand over Miami. Lake Superior travels to two opponents who are trying to maintain playoff position. On Friday, the Lakers head to Bowling Green; Saturday it’s back north to Western Michigan. Michigan State trails the three leaders by four points, but has played as few CCHA games (15) as any other team in the conference. The Spartans host the last-place Buckeyes. Ohio State, with just eight points, needs to make a move now to attain a playoff spot. The sleeping Falcons may have awakened; with 16 points, Bowling Green is at the top of the second tier. Fresh off Tuesday’s win over the Broncos, BGSU hosts Lake Superior Friday night. Ferris State travels to beautiful central New York to play two at Cornell. The Bulldogs have 15 points, but have played 20 conference games. With few left, the series the Bulldogs lost to Ohio State may be costly indeed. Western Michigan is a point behind Ferris, and still adjusting to changes the Broncos hadn’t seen coming. They have a "light" schedule this weekend, against visiting Lake Superior. Notre Dame and Alaska-Fairbanks are hosting non-conference games. St. Cloud travels to Notre Dame for a pair, while Lethbridge makes the trip to Fairbanks. Notre Dame lost another one-goal game last weekend, to Alaska-Fairbanks, as those two teams split the weekend in South Bend. Last week’s record in picks: 6-5 Overall record in picks: 62-43

No. 8 Miami (19-7-0, 13-4-0 CCHA) at No. 1 Michigan (21-1-3, 12-1-2 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, MI "I’m looking forward to it," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni, "That’s for sure." When the 1996-97 schedule was made, no one could have known that this weekend series between Miami and Michigan would have the implications that it does. Certainly, everyone expected the defending NCAA champion Wolverines to be in the hunt for the CCHA title, but few expected Michigan to be competing head-to-head with Miami. This Miami team is no fluke, and is the one team in the CCHA that can come near to being called evenly matched with Michigan. "I think the thing we have to realize," says Mazzoleni, "is that we’re nineteen-and-seven for a reason." For several reasons, actually. Like Michigan, there are too few players on the Miami roster in plus-minus trouble to mention. Miami’s Randy Robitaille has 31 league points; so does Michigan’s John Madden. Michigan’s Brendan Morrison has 26 points; Miami’s Dan Boyle has 25. The two teams collectively have the best goaltending in the CCHA. For Miami, Adam Lord and Trevor Prior have split time in the net. Prior has seen most of the work, logging 715 minutes to Lord’s 301. Prior’s save percentage is .887, and his GAA is 2.77. Lord’s save percentage is .905, and his GAA is 2.58. Turco has seen almost all of the action that the Wolverines have. In his 840 minutes in the net, he has an impressive .874 save percentage, and a GAA of 2.93. Of course, Michigan has a depth that no team in the CCHA — not even Miami — can match. If you’re down to Michigan in the first period, quite simply, you’ve lost the game. "We have got to be smart and play the kind of game we know we can play," says Mazzoleni. "We have to be aware of certain parts of our play defensively that they’ll try to exploit." Neither team got quite what it wanted last weekend. Michigan came back to steal a point from Western Michigan Friday in a three-point weekend, but Miami dropped games to Lake Superior and Ferris State. The last time Michigan tied — 3-3 against Cornell at Yost — its next CCHA opponent, Alaska-Fairbanks, paid for it with a 13-1 beating. As for Miami’s disappointing weekend, Mazzoleni says his team didn’t give up, and that’s important. "Even though we were down 4-1 [against Ferris], we never quit." Michigan coach Red Berenson could not be reached for comment about this series, which is too close to call. PICKS: Miami 4-3, Michigan 7-3

No. 7 Lake Superior (16-8-3, 12-4-2 CCHA) at Bowling Green (12-11-2, 7-9-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH Of the three teams currently at the top of the CCHA standings, Lake Superior has played the most games (19). For Lake Superior, every point matters. But that’s true for Bowling Green as well. After hosting the Lakers, the Falcons play Miami and Michigan. During the next few games, Bowling Green head coach Buddy Powers says, "We’ll find out a little bit about who we are and how far we’ve come." The Falcons had a shaky start to their season, lingering dangerously near the bottom of the CCHA standings. Part of the problem has been goaltending, not Powers’ favorite topic of conversation. "With the goaltenders, so much is confidence." Powers attributes recent Bowling Green wins to some good playing between the pipes. "Once Bobbie [Petrie] gets some confidence, he plays well." Also contributing to the Falcons’ woes was the absence of Brett Punchard, who recently returned to the line up after ankle surgery. Punchard’s impact cannot be underestimated. "I think he’s putting points on the board each game," says Powers. Still, Powers says that the Falcons haven’t done anything drastic to improve their playing lately. "Everybody thinks we’re playing better. "I’ve got to be honest with you — I don’t think there’s much different in our effort, if anything at all. Mistakes in front of the net aren’t affecting us mentally like they used to. When we used to give up a couple of goals, it would get us down." The Lakers had just one game last weekend, and they beat top rival Miami. "It was important for us to play as well as we did against Miami," says Lake Superior head coach Scott Borek. "It was a big win." Borek knows how dangerous Bowling Green can be. When these two teams met in October in Sault Ste. Marie, Bowling Green won both games, 6-4 and 4-2. "They really took it to us tough up here," says Borek. "I think that they’ve gone through their adversity for this season. They’ve hit their upside, and it’s going to be even higher for them than it was before. "This year they’ve had their problems early. Last year it was later. We’re playing them both times when they’re coming out of it, and this year it will be tougher." Laker goaltender John Grahame could again be the difference against a Bowling Green team with renewed self-confidence. But then again, BG is a tough place to play. PICK: Bowling Green 4-2

No. 7 Lake Superior (16-8-3, 12-4-2 CCHA) at Western Michigan (9-12-3, 5-8-3 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI Western Michigan head coach Bill Wilkinson is adamant. "We didn’t steal a point from Michigan; they stole it from us." At a little more than halfway through the first period, Michigan had a 2-0 lead when the Broncos scored at 11:06. Two minutes later, the Broncos scored again to tie the game at the end of one. In the second period, Western had two goals and Michigan one, giving WMU the lead. Early in the third, Michigan tied it up, but 14:17, sophomore center Mike Melas scored his third goal of the game for Western, a goal that should have been the game-winner, depending on your point of view. But at 19:14, Brendan Morrison — who else? — scored the goal that earned one point for top-ranked Michigan. It rankles still. "It didn’t affect us immediately," in the overtime, says Wilkinson. "It might have affected us the next night. They came out with a lot more gusto in their building." Wilkinson adds, "They’re hard to catch." Expect the Broncos to play with same intensity when they host the Lakers. The Broncos seem to be finally settling into the hand they’ve been dealt this season. Broncos goaltender Matt Barnes has a respectable .872 save percentage, and a 3.60 GAA. Wilkinson has a healthy respect for the Lakers. "They have one of the best goaltenders (in the CCHA) with John Grahame in goal. They’re strong up front, and Battaglia and Blaznek have emerged as real leaders. It will be a physical game." The Broncos are another team trying to maintain a playoff position in the CCHA. "We’re trying not to focus on the whole thing. We’re just trying to focus on Lake State, and take it as it comes." Laker Superior head coach Scott Borek knows this second road game will be no easier than his team’s first this weekend. "Western is excellent on defense. They have at least four guys on defense who are as good as any four guys in the league. They played two really good games against Michigan." Borek says he’s not deceived by the records of Bowling Green and Western Michigan. "We’re playing two teams that are really getting into gear now. Both Western and Bowling Green are ready to make their move." The Lakers have lost key players to injury and other things recently. Matt Alvey has dropped out of school because of academic reasons, and Mike Kucsulain has been injured since the Lakers spent a weekend in Columbus. "Mike Kucsulain is day to day," says Borek. "If we could get him back, we could have as solid a team as any we could put on the ice. "It’s an important weekend for us. If we have success it’s going to carry us through as we prepare to go to Yost." PICK: Lake Superior 4-3

Ohio State (6-19-0, 4-12-0 CCHA) at No. 6 Michigan State (14-6-3, 10-2-3 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., and Saturday, 4 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI It would be unfair to say that Michigan State head coach Ron Mason smells blood as the last-place Ohio State Buckeyes roll into town. "We feel right now we’re ready to make a run for things," says Mason. "We’re behind in number of games played, and we’d like to have those games as wins, but this gives us an opportunity now." Unfortunately, MSU didn’t help its cause very much Tuesday, tying lowly Ferris State in Grand Rapids, 3-3. On the other hand, the Spartans watched some top teams duke it out last weekend. Miami’s losses to Lake Superior and Ferris State helped Michigan State, as did Michigan’s tie with Western. "We’ve had good success over the years with Ohio State," says Mason, somewhat understating the Spartans’ 59-7-4 overall record against the Buckeyes. However, Mason knows that the Buckeyes can be troublesome. "They came in here last year with a horrible record and took us to overtime. What you ask of your players is not to overachieve, but to play as hard as they can. If we do that, we can come out on top." The importance of this series for the Buckeyes isn’t lost on Mason, either. "It’s sometimes even more important for them to win as it is for us. We’re shooting for the league title, while they’re just trying to make it into the playoffs. "With eight teams making it to the playoffs, it makes it a heck of a lot more entertaining down the stretch. You can get beat by anyone in this league." Buckeye head coach John Markell is counting on that. The Buckeyes are the only team in the CCHA with points still in the single digits. To make the playoffs, the Buckeyes will have to take some from formidable opponents. After Michigan State, the Buckeyes host Michigan for a game, and travel to Miami for one. Ohio State heads to East Lansing with a realistic outlook. "Our team has great respect for Michigan State," says Markell. "We’re going in to their barn. They’ve got a good hockey club, a ranked hockey club. Obviously we have our work cut out for us. They see it as points for themselves. They’re probably seeing it as four points for themselves." The Buckeyes have been working on goaltending all season, and it’s beginning to pay off. They split two non-conference games in Merrimack last weekend, and freshman goaltender Ray Aho was named the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week for his 76 saves (.927 save percentage). OSU has been working on very specific defensive problems as well. "We worked heavily on our play without the puck," says Markell. He says his players are "all capable of playing when they have the puck," and credits his team with being a little more focused. "They realize they have only 11 games left." The Buckeyes will be without team captain and key player Steve Brent Friday night. In last Saturday’s game, both Brent and Merrimack captain John Jakopin received what some have called questionable game disqualifications for punching during an altercation at the end of the first period. Brent is the heart of the Buckeye penalty-kill, and they do love to take their penalties. PICKS: Michigan State 6-2, 3-2

No. 10 St. Cloud State (14-7-3, 12-7-3 WCHA) at Notre Dame (7-15-1, 5-11-1 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce ACC, South Bend, IN Last weekend, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish split a pair of games with Alaska-Fairbanks. The 5-4 loss on Friday was the seventh league game the Irish have lost by a goal this season. "That’s the norm," says Irish head coach Dave Poulin, "but this game was different. We had a 3-0 game and lost the lead." The one-goal losses put Notre Dame in the position of having to fight for a playoff spot. "It is frustrating, but you try not to focus on that." On Saturday, the Irish channeled that frustration into an important 6-2 win over the Nanooks. The win gives the Irish the series edge over the Nanooks, which may come in handy at the end of the season. "Every game is important, there’s no question," says Poulin. "Saturday night was a big game for us. We needed to go out and win it, and we did." At least for this weekend, when the Irish host St. Cloud, Poulin and the Irish won’t have to worry about how wins or losses affect the playoff picture. "The one sort of nice thing about playing a non-conference game is that you tend to focus on your own game more than theirs. When you’re playing a non-conference opponent, you have the chance to pay more attention to what your own team is doing." Poulin says that playing against such a tough non-conference opponent may help his team with "the little things we haven’t been successful with, like handling the puck in the defensive zone." The St. Cloud State Huskies split last weekend with in-state rival Minnesota. Like Notre Dame, the Huskies want to make the most of this non-conference meeting to stay fresh for the final stretch of conference play. For SCSU, Sacha Molin is third in scoring in the WCHA with 27 total points. He has scored a point in six of his last eight games. Dave Paradise (12 goals, 13 assists) scored a seventh short-handed goal at Minnesota on Saturday, a Husky career record. He has a four-game point streak going coming into the series against Notre Dame, and is now 18th in scoring all-time at SCSU. The Huskies are seeing good goaltending from both Tim Lideen and Brian Leitza. Lideen is averaging 3.07 goals against, and has a save percentage of .905; Leitza’s GAA is 3.27, his save percentage .891. The two should split duties this weekend. PICKS: St. Cloud 4-2, 4-3

No. 6 Michigan State (14-6-3, 10-2-3 CCHA) at Notre Dame (7-15-1, 5-11-1 CCHA) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Joyce ACC, South Bend, IN For the second week in a row, the Spartans play a Tuesday night game, this time on the road. Both the Spartans and the Irish will be coming off tough home series just two days prior. These two teams have met once before this season, on Nov. 17, a 4-3 decision in favor of Michigan State. That game was tied at three-all when Michigan State’s Mark Loeding scored with 54 seconds left in regulation play to finish Notre Dame’s fifth one-goal loss of the season. Each team has a lot at stake in this game. It’s a given that Michigan State is going to the playoffs; Notre Dame is struggling to make it. If Michigan State takes four points from Ohio State, the two points up for grabs in this game could mean some ground gained on the teams ahead of the Spartans. With Miami and Michigan battling it out in Ann Arbor, this Tuesday game could be very important indeed. PICK: Michigan State 3-2

Ferris State (10-16-1, 7-12-0 CCHA) at Cornell (9-4-4, 7-3-2 ECAC) Friday 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, 7 p.m., James M. Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY The Ferris State Bulldogs have made the last few days count. Beating league-leading Miami 6-4, and then tying Michigan State 3-3 on Tuesday, meant more than just a boost in morale. "Points are precious," says assistant coach Jamie Russell. "We played very well in first and second period," says Russell. "We had good goal tending that kept us in the game." Russell knows that Cornell is a tough team to play. "We’ll have to be very good defensively. Hopefully, our special teams and goaltending will be up for the task." Russell says that tough non-conference games can help focus a team coming into the playoff home stretch. "You always want to come out and play well [in non-conference games]. Then you want no drop-off in intensity when you come back to league games." Last weekend, Cornell beat Colgate 3-1. The Big Red’s most recent CCHA game, however, was an impressive road tie with Michigan, a team that doesn’t like to give up points at Yost. Cornell has a very good goaltender in Jean-Marc Pelletier, whose overall save percentage is an amazing .924; his overall GAA is 2.44. These stats put Pelletier fourth in goaltending in the ECAC. PICKS: Cornell 4-3, Ferris 4-2

Lethbridge at Alaska-Fairbanks (5-19-0, 5-17-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Dave Laurion is glad to be home. "I’ve been gone since Dec. 27," says Laurion. "I’ve got a lot of paperwork to catch up on." The Nanooks had the holiday break completely off, and reconvened in Ann Arbor to prepare for their game against Michigan. "We had the three practices in Ann Arbor," says Laurion, "and they went well. The guys came back in pretty good shape." Unfortunately for Laurion, good practices and good conditioning weren’t enough against an angry Michigan team. The Wolverines beat the Nanooks 13-1 in the first game the Nanooks played since hosting Ohio State in December. "We weren’t game-ready. They got those early goals, and that spelled disaster for our team." The game against Michigan was the first blowout the second-year Nanooks had been party to. Laurion says he considers himself lucky that they’d avoided it so far. "We had never been on the receiving end of a drubbing like that. It was like, welcome to the club." Overall, it was a disappointing five game road-trip for Alaska-Fairbanks. A lone win came against Notre Dame last Friday night. Laurion says his team played pretty good hockey after the Michigan game, and that the best Nanook game was a 3-1 loss against Michigan State. The third Spartan goal was an empty-netter. "It will be nice to be at home more in the second half of the season," says Laurion. "We can still salvage some respectability out of our season in non-conference games. It’s going to be tough to make the playoffs. We have five conference games left. "Right now for us, it makes a huge difference if we end up eighth or ninth." The Nanooks hold the tie-breaker over Ohio State, but not Notre Dame. Even though his team is going to have difficulty making the playoffs, Laurion says, "I like the format of two teams not making it. It makes the league more competitive." Updated information about the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns was unavailable. PICKS: Alaska-Fairbanks 4-2, 4-2 Thanks to USCHO WCHA Correspondent Jim Thies for his information about St. Cloud.

Paula C. Weston is the CCHA Correspondent for US College Hockey Online.

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This Week in the ECAC: January 24, 1997

By Jayson Moy

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January 24, 1997

ECAC Preview: Jan. 24-25, 1997 by Jayson Moy

There’s one thing to be said about having games in hand: when you win ’em, you move up the standings very quickly. Cases in point are Clarkson, Vermont and RPI.

Clarkson was a huge winner this weekend, sweeping Dartmouth and Vermont. Vermont gained two points, as did RPI. All three teams moved up in the standings — Clarkson and Vermont are tied for fourth, and RPI is in third.

The next kicker of the whole situation: all three teams still have games in hand on the ECAC leaders, Princeton and Cornell. And the three teams get those games back this weekend.

ECAC Standings

It’s an important weekend for the above-mentioned three teams, as well as their opponents, because the six teams involved get their games in hand out of the way. This weekend also is the last before the beginning of the stretch run for the Whitelaw Trophy, the ECAC championship award.

St. Lawrence (8-13-2, 3-6-2 ECAC, T-10th) at Clarkson (14-7-0, 7-4-0 ECAC, T-4th) Saturday, 7 p.m., Cheel Arena, Potsdam, N.Y.

St. Lawrence had a tough go of it this past weekend. The Saints were swept by Vermont and Dartmouth, 3-2 in overtime and 6-4, respectively.

Last week, head coach Joe Marsh was concerned with a loss of discipline against Mass-Lowell. It was hard to come by when his Saints gave up 13 power plays and allowed three man-down goals this past weekend.

"There’s no reason to take a penalty after the whistle," said Marsh. "Only bad can happen to you. We have to look in the mirror and fix those things ourselves."

Clint Owen returned after aggravating a groin injury and was still not 100 percent, but one couldn’t tell against Vermont. He made 43 saves in the losing cause, and followed that up with 22 saves against Dartmouth.

"He’s (Owen) been working real hard," said Marsh. "We’ve been treating him three days a week, three times a day. He responded pretty well, and he doesn’t seem the worse for wear."

Marsh and Owen will face red-hot Clarkson this weekend. Clarkson swept Vermont and Dartmouth, and has now won five straight, three straight in the ECAC, and has moved into a tie for fourth in the league.

The Golden Knights face a familiar foe in St. Lawrence. The Knights beat the Saints earlier on this season, 7-4 at Appleton Arena.

Earlier in the year, Clarkson head coach Mark Morris commented on the rivalry.

"It’s one of the best rivalries," said Morris. "The proximity of Potsdam and Canton creates a lot of pride.

"Regardless of the team records or which team is superior, they (both teams) step it up without question; it’s a real intense game."

Two more goals by Todd White moved him into the league lead with 22 and earned him a second straight ECAC Player of the Week honor. He can now be considered a favorite for ECAC Player of the Year.

PICK: This is always a tough game, but playing at home and being on a roll points the finger right at a Clarkson win. Clarkson 6 St. Lawrence 2

Dartmouth (9-9-0, 4-7-0 ECAC, T-10th) at Vermont (15-6-0, 7-4-0 ECAC, T-4th) Saturday, 7 p.m., Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Vt.

The Big Green had dropped four straight ECAC contests before defeating St. Lawrence on Saturday night. While they have not done well, their position in the standings has not changed. The bad news is, that position is 10th.

Ryan Chaytors broke out this weekend with a hat trick against St. Lawrence. He now has seven goals and 13 points on the ECAC season and was named to the ECAC Honor Roll.

Scott Baker saw his first action in over a month, making 24 saves in the 6-4 win over St. Lawrence. He followed that up with 29 saves in a losing effort to Providence Tuesday night.

The Catamounts scored four goals this weekend, all by Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin. In fact, the two of them had eight of the ten Vermont points on the weekend.

With 71 points between them, head coach Mike Gilligan feels good about the duo’s productivity.

"It’s good to see those guys have a little success," said Gilligan. "They’ve been snakebit this year."

The first game between the two teams saw Dartmouth upset Vermont in Hanover, 4-1. Jason Wong was in net for Dartmouth, and he made 31 saves, including 14 in the third period. He also kept the Cats scoreless in the last 56:52 of the game, and was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week.

Dartmouth will need another strong performance from its goaltending to hold the Cats down. Vermont will need to get its forwards moving through neutral ice to generate scoring chances.

"A lot of our goals are generated in the neutral zone," said Gilligan. That was evidenced by a 1-for-12 performance on the power play last weekend. The Cats often get bogged down when having to set up in the offensive zone.

PICK: Going with the way each team has been playing, one has to pick Vermont at home. I’ll take the Cats. Vermont 5 Dartmouth 2

RPI (12-7-2, 7-3-1 ECAC, 3rd) at Union (11-9-1, 5-6-1 ECAC, 8th) Saturday, 7 p.m., Achilles Rink, Schenectady, N.Y.

The Capital District Rivalry was in full force at the Houston Fieldhouse Saturday night, and the Engineers of RPI flew in the third period with four goals and buried the Dutchmen 5-2, to even the season series at one game apiece.

The return matchup is a Achilles Rink this Saturday, and we should see the exact same type of game.

RPI will try to move its forwards through the neutral zone with speed and crash the net. Three goals were scored this way on Friday night when Engineer forwards found loose rebounds in front of Union goalie Leeor Shtrom.

"They (RPI) sent them hard to the net," said Union head coach Stan Moore, referring to the goals scored on rebounds. "And they found out we weren’t taking our men and defending the way we should, and they capitalized on it."

RPI will try to continue that game, while Union will try to work with its defensemen this week to try to counter it. The Union forecheck will be a focus this weekend, as it generated some great chances for the Dutchmen, created one goal, and drew two power plays, one of which resulted in a goal.

Also expect to see Trevor Koenig in the nets this weekend instead of Shtrom. Last week, all of the media was expecting to see Koenig in net, and though Shtrom delivered with a strong game, Union failed to clear his rebounds.

PICK: There’s a lot at stake in the rubber match between these two teams. And they won’t admit it, but beating each other is huge. Forecheck is the key; whomever can escape it, or execute it, will win. RPI 3 Union 1

Ferris State (10-16-2, 7-12-1 CCHA, 6th) at Cornell (9-4-4, 7-3-2 ECAC, 2nd)Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m. – 7 p.m., Lynah Rink, Ithaca, N.Y.

Ferris State upset Miami on Saturday night 6-4 at home. Goaltender Mike Szkodzinski made 33 saves in the victory. The Bulldogs followed up the upset by tying the Michigan State Spartans, 3-3 on Tuesday in Grand Rapids.

The Bulldogs let Miami come back to tie the game at four after having led 4-1. But Brett Severson scored with 1:34 left in the game to give Ferris the lead back, and an empty netter sealed the win.

Cornell had last weekend off after defeating Colgate 3-2 on the previous Tuesday night.

The Big Red do not have a single scorer with more than 19 points on its team, but they do have two top five goaltenders in Jason Elliot and Jean-Marc Pelletier.

Elliot has a 2.72 GAA, and a .914 save percentage in 12 games, while Pelletier has a 2.20 GAA and a .928 save percentage in six.

The key for the Big Red will be timely scoring with great goaltending.

PICK: Goaltending will play a large role for Cornell in the sweep, 5-2, 6-2

Providence (9-14-1, 6-8-1 Hockey East, T-5th) at Brown (4-13-2, 2-10-1 ECAC, 12th)Saturday, 7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium, Providence, R.I. Governor’s Cup Game

Providence got swept by Maine before defeating Dartmouth Tuesday 5-2. The Friars have struggled to find consistency this season; after beating Mass-Amherst and Northeastern to break a seven game losing streak, they lost two before winning another one.

A larger, physical presence is what head coach Paul Pooley is looking for from his team, and it will get a chance against Brown.

Brown received a tough battle from the Air Force Academy this past weekend, winning 5-3 and tying 7-7.

Damian Prescott has been the surprise leading scorer for the Bears this season. Prescott has 20 points (13-7), including two each night against the Falcons.

There are two things that point to Brown not having a good season — penalty minutes and team defense. The Bears are averaging 24 minutes per game, and have allowed 28 power-play goals this season. The Bears also give up 4.84 goals per game, the worst in the ECAC.

PICK: The Bears need help on defense, and Providence won’t be the cure. Chalk one up for Hockey East. Providence 5 Brown 3

Yale (6-11-2, 4-8-1 ECAC, 9th) at Army (12-9-2, 2-9-2 Maj. Div. I) Saturday, 7 p.m., Tate Rink, West Point, N.Y.

Wins over Dartmouth and Niagara are all Yale has to show for 1997. The season started to show a lot of progress for the Eli, but has not headed far during the new year.

On the offensive side of the ledger, John Chyz has three goals in the last two games: two against Niagara, and one against Lowell.

Early Rookie of the Year candidate Jeff Hamilton has faded in recent weeks. After scoring in the Denver Cup, Hamilton has not had a single point in the last six games.

Army’s last Division I outing was an impressive weekend at Colgate and Cornell. The Cadets held a 5-1 lead over Colgate before losing in overtime, 6-5. The next night they tied Cornell 1-1.

Daryl Chamberlain made 27 saves in the great tie for the Cadets, who got their only goal from Ian Tyson in the third period. Chamberlain made 23 saves against Colgate the night before.

PICK: Army has shown that it can play with the best of the ECAC. Unfortunately Yale is currently not one of the best in the ECAC. How about the first independent win against the league? Army 4 Yale 3

It’s time to batten down the hatches and get ready for the stretch run. It’s all ECAC league games, except for that thing they call the Beanpot.

Action next weekend: (league games in bold):

Friday, Jan. 31 Vermont at Clarkson Dartmouth at St. Lawrence Harvard at RPI Brown at Union Yale at Colgate Princeton at Cornell

Saturday, Feb. 1 Vermont at St. Lawrence Dartmouth at Clarkson Brown at RPI Yale at Cornell Princeton at Colgate

Monday, February 3 The Beanpot: Harvard vs. Boston University

Jayson Moy is the ECAC Correspondent for US College Hockey Online.

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This Week in the WCHA: January 24, 1997

By Todd D. Milewski

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January 24, 1997

WCHA Preview: Jan. 24-26, 1997 by Jim Thies

Even though some teams had a chance to inhale a little breathing room, the WCHA race is still tight — seven teams within five points of each other with six weeks to go in the league season.

Last weekend Alaska-Anchorage was the only team to earn four points as the Seawolves took two wins at Northern Michigan. Denver came close by winning three of four points at home against Michigan Tech. But Minnesota and St. Cloud State, Minnesota-Duluth and Colorado College and Wisconsin and North Dakota all split.

That leaves UND and SCSU still sharing the lead (with 27 points) for the third straight week. UM and CC are just a point behind and in third place. UMD and UW share fifth place with 23 points, and Denver is still in the running with 22.

The two top league series this weekend have North Dakota playing at Colorado College and Wisconsin traveling to Minnesota-Duluth.

Here’s this week’s look at each series.

No. 3 North Dakota (16-6-2, 13-6-1 WCHA) at Colorado College (14-8-2, 12-6-2 WCHA) Saturday, 12:05 MT, Sunday, 2:05 MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Air Force Academy, CO

These two teams meet with a lot on the line for the last time during the regular season. Earlier this year, UND took three points in a series at Grand Forks.

North Dakota is a little new to this scenario, but coach Dean Blais should have his team ready to face one of the league’s top clubs. UND split at home last weekend; Friday’s 5-2 loss to UW was just the second for the Fighting Sioux at home this year, where they are 8-2-2. On the road the Sioux are 8-4-0.

David Hoogsteen (13 goals, 15 assists, 28 points) is tied for the league scoring lead. His 13 goals ties him for the league lead. Jason Blake (10-15–25) is fourth in scoring, and Ian Kallay (11-13–24) is seventh. There’s no doubt the Sioux have plenty of offensive firepower, since they average a league high 4.65 goals a game. Defensively they are tied for sixth, allowing 3.55 goals a game. Goalie Toby Kvalevog (11-4-1, 3.21 GAA, .870 SV%) will have to stand tall in the nets this weekend.

Colorado College is more accustomed to this title-chasing business; the Tigers have won three straight regular-season crowns. At home, they are 8-3-0, and simply put, they expect to win there. Last weekend’s 4-2 loss to UMD was just the fifth Tiger home loss in their last 54 contests.

Can they keep that home hot streak alive? A lot will have to do with how the Tigers can counter UND’s offensive powers. The Tigers also allow 3.55 goals a game and score 4.30 a contest, second to UND. Brian Swanson (9-19–28) is tied for the league lead in points, and his 19 assists lead the WCHA. He has a six-game point streak. Darren Clark (11-12–23) scored the hat trick in Friday’s 5-4 win over UMD and it was the first of collegiate career. Goalie Judd Lambert (10-5-1, 3.35 GAA, .874 SV%) could be a key to this series.

ELMO Picks: In the toughest call this year, CC wins twice: 4-3, 4-2.

Wisconsin (11-12-1, 11-8-1 WCHA) at Minnesota-Duluth (14-9-1, 11-8-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center, Duluth, MN

Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth will let everything loose this weekend in an important series that could determine how these two teams finish.

Wisconsin kept its excellent Friday play going when it won, 5-2, at North Dakota last weekend. The Badgers are 8-0 in Friday games. But now they need to put two solid games together at Minnesota-Duluth. The UW power play has been the difference in the team’s last 11 games. The Badgers have scored a power play goal in 10 of their last 11 games, and are 15-38 (39.5 percent) during that stretch.

Brad Engelhart (11-10–21) and Rick Enrico (7-11–18) have three power-play goals each in league play. Goalie Kirk Daubenspeck (9-7-1, 3.42 GAA, .889 SV%) had a busy weekend (78 saves) and is second in all-time saves (3,050) for the Badgers.

Minnesota-Duluth is happy to be back home, where the Bulldogs have won six straight games. Overall they are 10-4 at home. Ken Dzikowski (9-16–25) and Mike Peluso (13-10–23) are fourth and eighth in scoring, respectively, in the WCHA. Peluso’s seven power-play goals lead the league. Rick Mrozik (8-13–21) has a five-game point streak (4-4–8) and a four-game goal streak going. The Bulldogs power play has also come alive lately, going 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) over the last five games. Goalie Brant Nicklin (11-8-1, 3.18 GAA, .899 SV%) should easily make the league’s All-Rookie team after playing in every game and posting some great numbers.

ELMO Picks: A split. UW 4-3, UMD 5-2.

Denver (9-7-4 WCHA, 13-7-4 overall) at Alaska-Anchorage (5-13-2 WCHA, 7-13-2 overall) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 AT, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, AL

Alaska-Anchorage and Denver both played well last weekend and both teams want that to continue in this series.

Denver goes on the road, where the Pioneers are just 5-5-1 this year. But the Pioneers have been hot lately, going 10-2-4 in their last 16 contests. Despite his mediocre record, goalie Jim Mullin (3-4-4, 2.93 GAA, .887 SV%) has not lost in almost two months, and has only one loss on the road. He leads the WCHA in goals-against average.

Paul Comrie (9-12–21) and Antti Laaksonen (11-7–18) are two players who will have to also play well. Laaksonen is tied for 30th on the DU all-time scoring list with 66-66-132.

Alaska-Anchorage’s road sweep last weekend was the first for the Seawolves since they did the trick at Denver last year. The two wins were enormously important for coach Dean Talafous, who has had several players either leave the program or be dropped from the club. The players left needed to see Talafous’ systems work, and they did at Northern Michigan. Last weekend might go down as a turn in the right direction for UAA.

David Valliers (5-16–21) is still his team’s MVP. He had assists on four of his team’s six goals last weekend. Goalie Doug Tesky (5-7-2, 3.24 GAA, .896 SV%) played in both games last weekend, and may be the answer to the Seawolves’ goaltending questions.

ELMO Picks: UAA is playing better, but DU sweeps, 4-2, 3-1.

No. 4 Minnesota (16-8-0, 13-7-0 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (5-17-3, 2-15-3 WCHA) Friday, 7:35 ET, Saturday, 7:05 ET, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI

Minnesota and Michigan Tech have had different seasons, with the Gophers enjoying their success while the Huskies have labored from the start. UM needs to play well and win twice, but MTU realizes it can be a giant-killer this weekend.

Minnesota took two wins earlier this year (3-0, 3-0) against the Huskies. The Gophers are 7-5-0 on the road this year and will have to make sure all parts of their game are in order. Nothing comes easy in the WCHA and that’s the case every weekend. Mike Crowley (4-15–19) hasn’t put the puck in the net this year, but he has been a leader nonetheless. He is 2-7–9 over his last six games and is fourth all-time in points by a Gopher defenseman (124).

Freshman standout Dave Spehar (6-10–16) is in a position to earn a spot on the All-Rookie team. He started slowly, but has a team-high nine-game point streak going. Goalie Steve DeBus (10-6-0, 3.02 GAA, .893 SV%) is second in the league in goals-against average. He will probably see all of the action until the season’s over, since backup Erik Day will have elbow surgery and be out for the rest of the year.

Michigan Tech needs to have a big weekend to regain some confidence. No doubt the 4-4 tie last Saturday at Denver is a step in the right direction, and a huge confidence builder. But the Huskies must put together more than just a couple of solid games.

Andre Savage (8-10–18) needs to get some help from his teammates. He is 4-7–11 in his last seven games, while Travis VanTighem is 3-6–9 over his last nine contests. Goalie Luciano Caravaggio (2-7-3, 3.60 GAA, .904 SV%) will have to stand on his head and come up with a huge effort against UM.

ELMO Picks: Close games, but UM sweeps, 4-2, 5-2.

No. 10 St. Cloud State (14-7-3, 12-7-3 WCHA) at Notre Dame (7-15-1, 5-11-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7 ET, Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center, South Bend, IN

St. Cloud State travels to Notre Dame for a matchup of WCHA and CCHA squads.

St. Cloud State takes a weekend off from the WCHA battles, but traveling to Notre Dame will be no walk in the park. The Huskies put together a hard-fought split last weekend with in-state rival Minnesota. They want to continue to play well, because they go back to the WCHA wars next weekend and want to stay sharp.

Sacha Molin (12-15–27) is third in scoring in the WCHA. He has scored a point in six of his last eight games. Dave Paradise (12-13–25) scored a Husky career-record seventh short handed goal at UM on Saturday. He has a four-game point streak going (3-3–6) and is now 18th in scoring all-time at SCSU (60-46–106). Tim Lideen (3-4-3, 3.07 GAA, .905 SV%) and Brian Leitza (9-3-0, 3.27 GAA, .891 SV%) should split duties in goal this weekend.

Last weekend, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish split a pair of games with Alaska-Fairbanks. The 5-4 loss on Friday was the seventh league game the Irish have lost by a goal this season. The one-goal losses put Notre Dame in the position of having to fight for a playoff spot.

On Saturday, the Irish channeled that frustration into an important 6-2 win over the Nanooks, giving the Irish the series edge, which may come in handy at the end of the season. At least for this weekend, coach Dave Poulin and the Irish won’t have to worry about how wins or losses affect the playoff CCHA picture.

ELMO Picks: SCSU stays hot and wins twice, 5-2, 5-1.

A special thanks to USCHO CCHA writer Paula Weston for information on Notre Dame.

Next Week in the WCHA

Friday, Jan. 31 Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin Northern Michigan at Denver Minnesota at North Dakota Minnesota-Duluth at Michigan Tech

Saturday, Feb. 1 Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin Northern Michigan at Denver Minnesota at North Dakota Minnesota-Duluth at Michigan Tech Colorado College at St. Cloud State

Sunday, Feb. 2 Colorado College at St. Cloud State

Jim Thies is the WCHA Correspondent for U.S. College Hockey Online.

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This Week in Hockey East: January 24, 1997

By David H. Hendrickson

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January 24, 1997

Hockey East Preview: Jan. 24-28, 1997 by Dave Hendrickson

Nationally-ranked Boston University and UNH, both considered head and shoulders above the rest of Hockey East, could muster only two out of four points against their unranked league brethren last week. The Cinderella River Hawks from UMass-Lowell proved that their slipper might fit after all, stunning New Hampshire one day after being embarrassed in their own barn. Boston College and BU staged two riveting ties that showed that the Eagles could be rounding into form at just the right time. And Maine and UMass-Amherst both swept their series to make major strides in the standings.

This weekend everyone but Providence faces off against two different league foes, so most team previews that follow are divided between Friday and Saturday games. The Friars take on Brown, their cross-town rival from the ECAC. Only four points separate the third- and seventh-place teams; home ice for the playoffs could remain undecided until the final week of the season.

Last week’s record in picks: 6-6 Season record in picks: 89-50

No. 2 Boston University (13-4-5, 11-0-3 HE) at UMass-Lowell (12-11-0, 8-6-0 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA WNDS-TV50

Last week BU tied arch-rival BC, 5-5 and 4-4. In the opener the Terriers fell behind 3-0, rallied back for a 5-3 lead, and then had to settle for a tie when Marty Reasoner scored two late third-period goals, the first with the goalie pulled with over five minutes left. Both teams had numerous chances in the Saturday contest, but netminders Greg Taylor and Michel Larocque held the game to a 4-4 tie.

"My reaction to any of it is overshadowed by how upset I am with the stupid penalties we’re taking, and how it’s costing us game in and game out," said BU coach Jack Parker. "We just don’t seem to be able to get the point across. We played very well at times, but in Hockey East we’re averaging over 30 minutes a game in penalties. We had a 4-4 tie going into the third period against BC and we got a five-minute major, a two-minute minor and five-on-threes. It’s just killing us. "We’ve had six or seven game disqualifications this year on a team that doesn’t have many players. That, plus individual guys getting three or four penalties in one game, is absolutely disconcerting."

The Terriers lost Tommi Degerman for five of the six periods on the weekend because of a Friday night disqualification. Captain Bill Pierce’s third-period spearing DQ hamstrung his team on Saturday and puts him out of the Lowell contest. Averaging 33.64 penalty minutes in league games, BU far outstrips runner-up BC, at 25.21 a game. While BU’s league-leading penalty-kill (81.9 percent overall) tempers some of the impact of the excessive penalties, the problem remains.

Often the emotions of a big series against a top rival leaves a team vulnerable the next week. "The good part, as far as the emotion is concerned," countered Parker, "is that we didn’t win. We’re not all full of ourselves."

BU opens the weekend at Lowell before hosting Maine.

"What has happened this year with Lowell is what has happened for the last ten," said Parker. "And that is that everybody hopes they’re not going to be any good. The fact of the matter is that [Lowell coach] Tim Whitehead should maybe get half of those Coach of the Year Awards from Bruce Crowder because he obviously had a lot to do with their success in the past. And he’s having a lot to do with their success right now. He deserves an awful lot of credit.

"I also think that the Lowell players and program deserve a lot more respect than anyone wants to give them. It’s amazing to me that we’ve played them in the Hockey East finals or semifinals the last couple of years and no one thinks they’re an important team in our league. Once again they’ve duped all the pollsters and proved they’re a pretty good club."

UMass-Lowell recovered from a 9-4 loss at home to UNH to get even with a 7-5 win at UNH.

"Obviously we’re pleased with the way the guys refocused after getting pretty soundly beat the first night," said Whitehead, the runaway leader at this point for Hockey East Coach of the Year. "Our guys have done really well refocusing this year after a loss."

Senior Ryan Sandholm earned league Player of the Week honors for his four goals and five assists on the weekend. Sandholm is yet another Lowell player who did little in his first couple years, but developed into a significant contributor as an upperclassman.

"He’s worked very hard over four years to make himself into a player," said Whitehead. "He’s always had great hockey sense. He has great touch. And he’s worked very hard to get a physical aspect to his game. He had a good season last year, the first year he stayed in the lineup consistently. This year he’s taken it to another level and become an impact player for us. I’m very happy for him. He’s one of the best kids we have in the program. He’s a great student and just a great person."

Lowell ranks among the league’s top teams on the power play (24.4 percent, second overall). Their penalty-kill had ranked number one until last weekend when four Wildcat power-play goals on Friday night and another on Saturday helped drop the River Hawks to a tie for third (80.8 percent).

"For us to be successful, we’ve got to do well with our special teams," Whitehead said. "We don’t have the depth that other teams do, so our special teams have to be sharp. It’s a very tightly called game in college, so as a result you get a ton of power plays and penalty-kills. We have to take advantage of those opportunities."

The River Hawks go from the proverbial frying pan into the fire, taking on second-ranked BU after the split with fifth-ranked UNH.

"Our guys aren’t under any false illusions," says Whitehead. "They know they have to have all 20 guys playing together and going full tilt to beat anybody, no matter what team it is. So obviously against BU we have to be at our sharpest."

PICK: BU 5-3.

No. 5 New Hampshire (17-6-0, 11-3-0 HE) at Merrimack (7-14-1, 3-8-1 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Volpe Center, North Andover, MA

UNH romped at Lowell, 9-4, before the River Hawks turned the tables 7-5 back in Durham. Since their 14-game win streak, New Hampshire is only 2-4.

"Down at Lowell we played pretty well," said UNH coach Dick Umile. "Then Saturday night we just got ourselves in a hole early, tried to dig ourselves out, but just never got out of it. We came close twice, getting within one goal, but both times they scored on the power play to go up by two.

"We just didn’t get it done. We were in the zone, we were getting the opportunities, but we couldn’t finish it. I’ve got to give credit to Lowell. They came into our rink and found a way to win the game."

Goaltender Sean Matile, who had not played in recent weeks because of his problems adjusting to seizure medication, returned to action early in the loss when Brian Larochelle struggled. "He was much better this past week than he was the week before," said Umile. Even so, Matile has not yet moved back solidly into the even rotation Umile had used prior to his difficulties. "I’ll decide on Thursday who’s going to play on Friday and we’ll just take it from there."

At the same time that the Wildcats welcomed back Matile, they lost blueliner Erik Johnson for two-to-four weeks with a severe sprain of his shoulder. Originally, the team had feared a fractured collarbone. Moving in to replace Johnson will be either freshman Brendon McEniry, who played on Saturday, or sophomore Christian Bragnalo. It also likely means a bigger role for freshman Dan Enders, who was already in the rotation.

"Danny’s done a real good job for us," said Umile. "He’s a tough kid who can skate and handle the puck well. He’s got his feet wet now and he knows what goes on out there. We’re happy with the way he’s played."

The last time that New Hampshire faced the Warriors, the Wildcats spanked Merrimack 9-0. The Warriors stayed close at 2-1 in the rematch until UNH added two late nails to the eventual 4-1 coffin.

"They approached us a little differently when they played us up at our place and tried not to open it up," recalled Umile. "I expect a tight-checking game down there at Merrimack, a close game like the second time we played."

Merrimack split a non-conference series with the CCHA’s Ohio State, winning 3-1 before losing 5-3. The Warriors are now 4-3 since Christmas.

"I thought we played pretty steady both nights," said Merrimack coach Ron Anderson. "We just missed our opportunities the second night. The first night was a pretty even game throughout. We just capitalized. The second night we had chances when the game was on the line but just didn’t take advantage of them. When they got their chances they did.

One player who did capitalize on his chances was Casey Kesselring. Kesselring, who two weeks ago had only one goal to go with his 11 assists, scored three times over the weekend. "We’ve been waiting for some of our upperclassmen to hit their stride offensively," said Anderson. "Casey’s been working hard all year. He’s been around the net and making things happen for other people, he just wasn’t finding the range himself. So it’s good to see him get three on the weekend."

Standout defenseman John Jakopin will miss the UNH game because of a game disqualification against Ohio State. "We’ve been playing nine or 10 defensemen all year long, so we’ll just plug someone else in there. We’ve had seven dressed just about every night, and some nights even had eight, so we’ll slide someone else in. Whoever fills in won’t be at his level — he’s a good player — but as far as bodies goes, it’s not a problem."

With New Hampshire misfiring the last couple weeks, could they be ripe for the picking?

"We’re playing a lot better now than we were earlier in the year," said Anderson. "I think we’re playing our best hockey of the year right now. On the other hand, UNH is still a very powerful team. We have to make sure that we don’t get caught in the wide-open game that we did with them the first time around. We played it much closer to the vest in the second game and it was a game until the third period, so that’s how we have to play."

PICK: New Hampshire gets a scare but holds on 4-3.

Maine (15-9-1, 7-6-1 HE) at Northeastern (5-16-2, 1-13-1 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

In front of capacity crowds, Maine swept Providence 6-3 and 4-1, giving themselves their first plus-.500 league record this year. In the opener, coach Shawn Walsh received an extended standing ovation on his first home game since a year-long suspension.

"You get numbed to those kind of things, both pro and con," said Walsh. "It was very nice, it was heart-warming, but I was anxious for the games to begin."

Backed by the boisterous crowd, the Black Bears scored five first-period goals in under seven and a half minutes. Walsh downplayed the role emotions played in the outburst. "The guys were excited to see a full house," he said. "It was the quickest we’ve jumped out, but we’ve played pretty well since Christmas and we’ve been scoring a lot of goals. We’ve become somewhat explosive and we exploded in that game against a very, very good goalie (in Dan Dennis)."

Walsh would like to see improvement in the special teams. Although Maine leads Hockey East in overall power-play percentage (25 percent), some of that can be attributed to the many man-advantage goals scored against Division II foe Alabama-Huntsville. Within just the league, Maine’s power play drops to fifth. Their penalty-kill ranks third.

He would also like to see continued balanced scoring. "We’ve got four real productive lines. In fact, if you want to call them our third and fourth lines, they were our best lines of the weekend."

One such member of the lower lines is Ben Guite, a freshman who tallied three goals against Providence. "I think Guite’s a terrific prospect," said Walsh. "I think he’s got great potential. He’s strong and he’s got great hands. [Cory] Larose has gotten a lot of ink because of the points he’s put on the board, but to me Guite is a real legitimate professional prospect and is going to be a great college player.

"I think we’ve got great freshmen. It’s a real credit to [assistant coach Grant Standbrook’s] recruiting in light of the turmoil he encountered over the last year and a half. When you figure into the mix Robert Ek, Jason Price, Shawn Mansoff and Alfie Michaud, I think we’ve got a real sweet freshman class that’s just getting better."

Michaud has dramatically turned around a season that had earlier been heading into a downward spiral. Although he faced only 19 shots on Saturday, he turned away 18, many of which which were testers.

"We spend a lot of time now in practices, going 30 minutes a day on just a goalie school. It’s almost like a hockey school, where every drill is just for the goalies. It seems to have helped both our goalies. And even though he wants to play all the time, I think that splitting the time [with Javier Gorriti] has taken a lot of the pressure off him. Javier’s play has also helped put some competition into the position."

The Black Bears open against cellar-dwelling Northeastern before taking on first-place BU. The temptation to overlook the pesky Huskies could prove overwhelming.

"We already discussed that after Saturday night’s game," said Walsh. "The only game we’re concerned with is Northeastern. We won’t even talk about BU until 10 o’clock Friday night. Certainly the coaching staff will do its preparation, but we’ve got a game to play against Northeastern. We’re starting to play well but we don’t have any false delusions of grandeur. We’re a team that has to show up every night for us to have success."

Northeastern lost two more one-goal games last weekend, 4-3 and then 5-4 in overtime against UMass-Amherst. The Huskies have lost their last four games, all by a single marker.

"It’s got to break sooner or later," said NU coach Bruce Crowder. "We’re playing too well not to have that happen. I think we’re playing some pretty good hockey. It’s just a matter of eliminating just the one more mistake a game that could make the difference. When we broke down the video of Saturday’s game, from our viewpoint Amherst scored on their last three chances. It wasn’t like they scored three times off their last six chances, it was three of three. It’s just got to break sometime.

"We’re just staying positive with the kids and trying to correct the mistakes as best we can. I thought we got a pretty good effort out of them on Saturday, a lot better than we got on Friday. But same story, different week."

On Friday they entertain Maine, whom they beat and tied in Orono earlier this year. Those games represent Northeastern’s only league points.

"In any game that we play, we’ve got to more or less worry about ourselves and worry about the mistakes we have to eliminate," said Crowder. "They’ve got a good team up there and we had a good weekend a few months back. Our players just have to come to play as hard as they did on Saturday night and just believe that good things are going to happen."

PICK: Maine 5-4.

UMass-Amherst (11-12-0, 6-8-0 HE) at Boston College (9-11-3, 5-6-3 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College tied two with BU last weekend, 5-5 and 4-4. In Friday night’s tie, York pulled goaltender Greg Taylor with 5:43 left and his team down 5-3. Marty Reasoner responded with a goal in the four-on-four situation and then added the equalizer a minute and a half later. The following evening the two teams played a see-saw contest in which both clubs had great opportunities at the close of regulation and in overtime.

"I thought our team really rose to the occasion and played perhaps our best hockey of the season," said BC coach Jerry York. "A lot of individuals stepped forward but more importantly we played better as a team. BU has an outstanding hockey team and I don’t think we gave them an inch over the weekend.

"We’re getting some important contributions from our third and fourth year players. They may not show up on the scoresheet, but the upperclassmen are doing a lot of the little things really well.

"We felt good about our performance last week but you’re only as good as your next game." The Eagles host UMass-Amherst and then fifth-ranked UNH. "We’ll focus all week on UMass and then Saturday morning talk about New Hampshire.

"We certainly feel that we’re in a race with a number of teams for the home ice spot. I think [the UMass contest] is a critical game in that respect. New Hampshire and BU have secured home ice but after that you can look at Lowell, Providence and go right down the standings. We’re one of probably half a dozen teams trying to get home ice, so it’s a very important game for us."

BC’s defense gave up numerous breakaways to the Terriers. Although that could be more a reflection of BU’s exceptional team speed than BC’s occasionally-sleepy play on the blue line, the Eagles will need to tighten up that aspect of their game, and not look to goalie Greg Taylor to bail them out so frequently. York expects Taylor to play both games this weekend.

"He’s played very well," said York. "As long as he’s healthy, he’ll play a lot of games between now and April."

UMass-Amherst swept Northeastern, with 4-3 and 5-4 wins. The wins give the Minutemen a major boost in their quest for home ice.

"Northeastern is a better team than their record shows," said UMass coach Joe Mallen. "They’re a very capable team in our league. They were two very well played games. I thought that Bonneau and Norris rose to the occasion and really came through for us late in the third period in both games.

"It was a big weekend for us in terms of wins for three reasons. Number one, we had never won more than four games in Hockey East and now we’ve won six. Number two, we hadn’t won more than ten games in Division I in the second and third years of our program. The first year [when UMass played a lot of Division I Independents] doesn’t count. So we broke that. Number three, we’d never beaten Northeastern. We’d tied them twice last year and had one-goal games the year before, but we’d never defeated them. So we accomplished all three things in one weekend.

Although the Minutemen seem to be coming on strong, they are also facing a peaking BC squad. "They seem to be hitting full stride right now," noted Mallen. "A lot of things seem to be coming together for them. I’m sure they would have liked to have beaten BU twice, but they came away with two points in a weekend when maybe a lot of people didn’t think they’d get any points. So it should be an excellent game.

"We still feel that in the league right now it’s BU and UNH and then with everyone else it’s a dogfight. Plus Lowell beat UNH this weekend in the second game so that also shows that UNH can be beaten. And BC tying BU twice shows that BU can be attacked. So it’s a typical Hockey East year."

PICK: BC 5-3.

Providence (9-14-1, 6-8-1 HE) at Brown (4-13-2, 2-10-1 ECAC) Saturday, 7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium, Providence, RI

Providence dropped two games at Maine last weekend, 6-3 and 4-1. The two losses gave the Friars nine in their last 10 games before rebounding with a mid-week 5-2 win over Dartmouth. In the opener against Maine, a vocal, sellout crowd welcomed Shawn Walsh back for his first home game since returning from his suspension.

"They came out on fire and we didn’t handle the pressure very well," said PC coach Paul Pooley. "But we fought back 5-3 after the first period. Even though we hadn’t played well we were still in the game. The sixth goal was the heartbreaker. We had some chances, but they scored four-on-four. Saturday night they scored goals in bunches again and killed us with their fourth line."

Pooley continued to try lineup changes. On Friday freshman Rich Miller replaced the injured Ben Stadey on the blueline. Stadey’s ankle was ready to go on Saturday and Miller had pulled a groin, so the two switched places. Stadey mildly reinjured himself in the game. Both are questionable to play against Brown. Freshman Jason Ialongo, who has sat out four straight games, will likely rejoin the lineup if both Miller and Stadey cannot go. Mike Omicioli, who had gone to the bleachers with Ialongo, returned to action on Saturday, played well, according to Pooley, and should remain in the lineup.

"I’m still optimistic. But I think we still need to make some lineup changes, whether that’s moving a defenseman up front or putting different kids in. We’re not scoring very many goals. The kids that are on the ice all the time aren’t producing. It’s time for someone else to get an opportunity and if that means all freshmen, then that means all freshmen. You’re only measured by your results. We’ve got seniors with only six goals who’ve been on the ice all the time. We have to come up with a lineup that can produce some goals.

"We need a win," insisted Pooley, looking ahead to the Saturday contest against cross-town rival Brown. "We’re at a fragile time right now. Maine beat us out there pretty good and we have to come back and respond. When we get back in the league we’ve got six games with UNH and Lowell. Those are huge. There’s our season. So we have to improve this week and get feeling good about ourselves. We have to get some results. We’re working really hard and getting chances, but we’re not finishing and we’re giving up goals we shouldn’t give up."

Brown has struggled all year long, losing 10 out of 11 games during one stretch. In the three games since then, however, they’ve won twice and tied. They broke the streak with a 4-2 win over a good Union squad that went into the game with a six-game win streak. Since then, they’ve beaten Air Force 5-3, and tied them 7-7.

That tie represents the Bears’ season in a microcosm. They’ve had no trouble scoring goals. In ECAC contests, they tie for the league lead in goals scored with 46. But they are dead last, the same place they hold in league standings, in goals against with 60 in 13 games.

PICK: Providence 5-2.

Maine (15-9-1, 7-6-1 HE) at No. 2 Boston University (13-4-5, 11-0-3 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

Jack Parker goes against Shawn Walsh for the first time in over a year. It’s a rematch that catches every fan’s eye.

"I don’t play against Shawn Walsh," said Parker, laughing. "That’s one of the problems that some people have. In college basketball it’s the coach versus the coach. But I’d say it’s a rematch of Shermerhorn against Bates, not the coaches.

"They’re obviously playing extremely well. They’re always a good team. They’re always a well-coached team. And they’re always a disciplined team. We’ll have our hands full. It’s weird because you know you’re not going to see them any time except the regular season but the games do count and the games will obviously count emotionally."

Walsh, who told his team not to look past their Friday matchup against Northeastern to this game, noted, "Down there you really want to stay in the game. They’re explosive enough that they can just run you right out of the rink as New Hampshire found out [two weeks ago]. If they’re able to beat the number three team in the country 9-4, you just hope that you can stay with them. That’s why the team that impressed me the most this weekend was BC, not only for tying them one night but tying them both nights. BU’s got a heck of a team, and they’re always going to be well-coached. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us."

This contest could come down to specialty teams. BU, as noted earlier, leads the league in penalty minutes while Maine has stayed out of the sin bin better than any other team.

PICK: Penalties could tip this one into the Black Bears’ hands, but BU remains tough at home, winning 4-3.

Boston College (9-11-3, 5-6-3 HE) at No. 5 New Hampshire (17-6-0, 11-3-0 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

UNH coach Dick Umile sees a tough game ahead for his Wildcats, despite their sweep of the Eagles earlier in the season.

"They just came off an emotional high with BU, and got a point from them each game," said Umile. "They’re getting better. They get good goaltending with Taylor. I expect it to be another tight game like the last time we played them down there."

BC coach Jerry York sees lots of reasons why UNH is ranked number five in the nation.

"Their strength is in a number of different areas," York said. "They’ve proven that to us. Both goalies have played well against us. Their defense is keyed by [Tim] Murray. They have a good solid core of defense. And they have a group of forwards that are among the finest in the nation. They have strengths in a lot of different areas and pose a lot of problems, not just for Boston College but any team they play."

PICK: Boston College sends their fans home happy, 5-4, but only after repeated heroics by Greg Taylor.

UMass-Lowell (12-11-0, 8-6-0 HE) at Merrimack (7-14-1, 3-8-1 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Center, North Andover, MA NESN

Lowell coach Tim Whitehead approaches the Merrimack contest the same as his Friday night game against BU.

"No matter who we’re playing we have to approach the game the same way," said Whitehead. "Merrimack is a very strong team. You can see some of the teams they’ve beaten and they’ve certainly played well against us. We split with them but I felt that they outplayed us. They certainly deserved the second game and the first game could have gone either way so I felt fortunate to have gotten out of there with a win. They tied BU and they beat Maine, so they can beat anybody. We’re certainly the last team that’s going to take anyone lightly."

Merrimack coach Ron Anderson sees why UMass-Lowell has been successful this year.

"Timmy’s done an excellent job over there pulling that team together," said Anderson. "They’ve played very well, very consistently from day one. They’re very relaxed, playing very calm, very disciplined hockey. They don’t hurt themselves."

Specialty teams could decide. As noted in earlier, Lowell boasts some of the best power-play and penalty-kill units in the league. Merrimack’s penalty kill ranks seventh with a 77.3 percent overall success rate. Their power play, however, converts only 13.5 percent of their chances, by far the worst in the league. By comparison, Providence’s next-to-last man-advantage unit scores 21 percent of the time. No team can be consistently successful battling that large a special teams disparity.

PICK: UMass-Lowell 5-3.

UMass-Amherst (11-12-0, 6-8-0 HE) at Northeastern (5-16-2, 1-13-1 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

UMass-Amherst, fresh off a weekend sweep of Northeastern, must try to complete the season sweep only a week later.

"Just the way that Hockey East is right now, it’s very difficult to sweep a team on a given weekend and it’s very, very difficult to take all three," suggested Minuteman coach Joe Mallen. "We found that with Providence. We beat them twice and went down a third time and didn’t play very well at all. I’m sure that Northeastern will be ready for this game."

NU coach Bruce Crowder wondered if the tough-to-take-three principle will hold. "I’m not sure. Obviously as a coach that’s what you hope. Our biggest thing is to worry about Friday night because this is one of those weeks when you don’t have the same opponent back-to-back. So I think we have to worry about Saturday night and make adjustments on Saturday night and not until then."

PICK: Three times is a charm for Crowder’s Huskies. This time they win the one-goal game, 5-4.

No. 5 New Hampshire (17-6-0, 11-3-0 HE) at Harvard (7-9-2, 6-6-2 ECAC) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge, MA

"Harvard has a lot of skilled players," said UNH coach Dick Umile. "This is now the fourth year we’ve played them home and away so we’re familiar with what they have."

The Crimson have hung around .500 all season, but have won two of their last three and against good competition. Sandwiching a 4-2 loss to Union was a 3-2 win over Dartmouth and a 6-1 trouncing of RPI. They enter this game coming off a 17-day break.

Rob Millar leads their scoring with seven goals and eight assists in 12 league games. J.R. Prestifilippo continues to impress in the Crimson crease. He is one of several goalie candidates around the league for the ECAC’s All-Rookie team.

Harvard’s power play continues to flounder. After setting a near-standard for futility earlier in the season, they still show only a 10.3 percent success rate. Their penalty-kill, however, ranks a more reasonable fifth in the ECAC at 83.3 percent.

PICK: New Hampshire 4-2.

UMass-Lowell (12-11-0, 8-6-0 HE) at Colgate (11-9-1, 6-5-1 ECAC) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Starr Rink, Hamilton, NY

Lowell, previewed above against BU and Merrimack, will play in their fourth game in eight days in this contest.

Colgate’s season has consisted of one streak after another. The Red Raiders followed five straight wins early with five losses in six games. More recently, they have dropped two straight after a four-game win streak.

Mike Harder again leads Colgate in scoring, with 13 goals and 20 assists in 21 games.

Specialty teams are an enigma. The power play, ranked ninth in the ECAC with only a 14.8 percent success rate in league games, climbs to 23 percent in overall play, bested only by Clarkson. The penalty-kill ranks in the middle of the pack in league contests, but falls to 10th in overall games (78.7 percent).

PICK: Fatigue does in the River Hawks. Colgate wins 4-2.

Dave Hendrickson is the Hockey East Correspondent for U.S. College Hockey Online.

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Face Off: Week 5

USCHO Staff Report

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January 23, 1997

Welcome to U.S. College Hockey Online’s roundtable discussion. We’ll be debating a college hockey topic each week in this space, where various members of our staff meet to argue. Sometimes serious, sometimes silly — but either way, watch the feathers fly: no punches will be pulled, and no quarter given, when these people face off.

Which USCHO Staffer Would Make the Best College Hockey Coach, And Why?

Lee Urton, Media Relations: What are the attributes that would serve a college coach well? Knowledge of the game, recruiting ability, leadership, hockey ability.

Volunteer Assistant Coach: Tim Brule Tim seems interested in sinking endless hours of work in for little to no compensation — the perfect guy for a volunteer. Besides, you wouldn’t want to pay him for haranguing the players, and giving them near-useless advice: “If a guy has the ball — I mean puck — in the crease, don’t let him score!”

Assistant Coach: Mike Machnik
Mike’s got all the knowledge of the game anyone could hope for, stored in encyclopedic fashion. He can go on (and on and on) about this or that aspect of the game. His ability to stay up at nights researching would make him a valuable recruiter. But I’ve seen him play hockey, folks (at BU’s Walter Brown Arena, no less), and Wayne Gretzky he’s not.

Head Coach: Dave Hendrickson
Dave has a son Ryan who plays youth hockey, so he has experience in working on this-skill-and-that, as well as the always difficult task of stroking the player’s ego while still letting him know who’s boss. He can take extensive notes on each player (as we’ve seen), and after listening to all those quotes, he ought to know the right thing to say in any given circumstance.

Tim Brule, USCHO Coordinator: I nominate Lee Urton, Media Relations. The reasons are simple: he has spent time in Massachusetts and Minnesota, so can recruit well in two of the hotbeds of college hockey. Furthermore, he possesses an extremely accurate shot.

He demonstrated that now-legendary shooting prowess in front of 9,000 Gopher fans at Mariucci Arena, during one of those between-period shootout contests. He took three shots from the blue line that would make any mother proud — well, sort of proud. OK … he missed the net by five feet each time…

Mike Machnik, Special Projects: Dave Hendrickson. First of all, Dave is one of the people whose opinions I respect and listen to when it comes to analyzing various aspects of the game of hockey. He knows the game well after years of playing and coaching, and he won’t hesitate to talk hockey with you. You’ll always learn something from him.

Dave is already a coach himself, working with his son Ryan’s team. It’s not college, but anyone who works with young kids and helps them to learn about the sport and appreciate it, as well as helping them develop and mature, is someone who gets a nod in my book.

Probably what sways it for me is that knowing Dave and Ryan, I can tell that Ryan is a kid with a good head on his shoulders and with a bright future, whether it is in hockey or not. While I’m sure Dave would beam at seeing Ryan play college hockey someday, I also know that Dave’s primary goal is helping his children grow up to be responsible adults and good people.

In my mind, that is the most important function that a college hockey coach — indeed, anyone who works with kids — can have. Dave wants to see his kids do well, but unlike some parents, he doesn’t live vicariously through them, and that is something to admire. I hope I’m able to do as good of a job with my kids, and I wouldn’t hesitate to have them play for Coach Dave someday.

Scott Brown, Features Editor: I nominate our Fearless Leader, Tim “What do you mean, there’s seven guys on the ice?” Brule. I can see him standing behind the bench now, issuing garbled, unintelligible commands: “Stick! Stick! Don’t fall down there! Hey, ref, is this a checking league? Woops!”

I envision Tim’s head exploding as he lectures his charges on the finer points of lacing up their skates … staying up all night getting the lowdown on the opposing team’s cheerleaders and mascot, and passing out at practice the next morning … rambling through a press conference and referring to his third-line center as “that punk.”

Yes, I’m sure Tim’s three weeks at the helm would be the most momentous in any college’s history.

Jayson Moy, ECAC Correspondent: I’m not going to pick anyone — just eliminate a few people.

Mike Machnik is out of the question. His long, eloquent diagrams of plays and explanations of technique would just stiffen up the athletes who warmed up during practice. They might also fall asleep.

Adam Wodon is also out of the question. Goatee, need I say more?

And finally, I am out of the question. I’m a native of New York City, I’m much too rude, and besides, I can’t skate.

Paula Weston, CCHA Correspondent: Everyone at USCHO should be coaching somewhere. Each staffer has a trait that makes him (in my case, her) a likely candidate to coach.

Lee Urton: Has a way with the media. Such slickness could come in handy when the NCAA investigation arises.

Tim Brule: One hard-working man. Would be especially good at forcing players to do two-a-days, which would seem like a breeze to him because his life is so busy…

Scott Brown: Deals with WRITERS all the time. Obviously, this guy can handle the occasional head-case goaltender.

Deron Treadwell: A thorough communicator–not necessarily accurate, but thorough. That’s enough in some places to get him a coaching position.

Jim Rich: Well, obviously, this guy knows all the answers. Enough said.

Frank Mazzocco: A genuine celebrity. Important trait for a school whose fan base is missing.

Adam Wodon: Devoted to hockey. Sometimes Adam seems to be in his own little hockey world, like many coaches. He’d probably update a few post-game cliches, as well.

Mike Machnik: Obsessed with hockey. Eats it. Sleeps it. Drinks it. The drinking part is especially helpful when you coach.

Dave Hendrickson: Hockey god. Does anyone know more about Hockey East than Dave? Is there any other conference? Dave’s heard the rumor that they play hockey in Ohio, but he certainly doesn’t believe it. Such single-mindedness will carry him far in a school that dares to field other sports.

Jayson Moy: Computer skills, usually lost on hockey types, so think of the edge Jayson would bring to his hockey organization.

Jim Thies: Has a head for numbers. The sheer elaborateness of his playbook alone would make him a worthy candidate.

Paula Weston: Makes a pretty good peanut butter cookie, which has nothing to do with hockey. Had 165 penalty minutes in five games in 1994. A real bruiser. Has the sort of “don’t-mess-with-me, man” attitude that either carries coaches to greatness, or gets them tossed during a game.

Dan Shermerhorn: “He’s going to be a success in life no matter what happens to him in hockey.”

Tom Johnson: “Tom has shown the character and integrity to get what he wants out of his college years.”

Rob Beck: “He led the team in GPA and scoring.”

Craig Lindsay: “He’s the kind of person we want in our program.”

Which USCHO Staffer Would Make the Best College Hockey Coach, And Why?

Tigers’ Tales

Knight Moves

Eye on RPI

Dutch Treats

Eric Boguniecki: “They call me Showtime”

Mark Mowers: “I try to play like Pavel Bure”

Eric Nickulas: “Probably the most powerful forward in Hockey East”

Derek Bekar: “A combination of Nickulas and Mowers”

Jason Krog: “Unbelievable vision of the ice”

The Stretch Run

Who is the Most Underrated Player in College Hockey Today?

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