Hockey East Preview: Jan. 9-14, 1997 by Dave Hendrickson

Not many people gave Boston University a chance to sweep New Hampshire this past weekend. In fact, this column predicted a sweep going the other way. Even within the friendly confines of Walter Brown Arena on Friday night, the prevailing theme seemed to be "win at home and avoid the sweep."

But the Terriers, looking more and more like a postseason pretender prior to this weekend, served notice that they not only are now the King of Hockey East, but they could make some noise at tournament time as well.

And in fifth place with a bullet is Maine. The Black Bears took games from Providence and UMass-Lowell last weekend. They have now won five of their last six.

Last week’s record in picks: 7-2 Season record in picks: 78-40

Providence (6-12-1, 4-6-1 HE) at Northeastern (5-12-2, 1-9-1 HE) Thursday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

Northeastern (also profiled below against BU) has rebounded from an 0-9-1 streak to win their last three games. After losing to St. Lawrence 6-5 in double overtime to open the Auld Lang Syne Tournament, the Huskies beat UMass-Lowell 4-3 in the consolation game. Then last weekend, they swept a series at Air Force, 5-0 and then 3-2 in overtime.

"One of the things we’ve been looking for," said NU coach Bruce Crowder, "is to develop some team character. In the St. Lawrence game we were down by two and we came back to put it into overtime. Then doing well in the next three games … those are the things that help build character in a young team. That was big for us."

Freshman goaltender Marc Robitaille continues to play his way onto the league’s All-Rookie team, shutting out the Cadets in the series opener. At the other end of the experience spectrum, captain Rick Schuhwerk — dubbed a defenseman who "hits like a root canal" — has also excelled. "He’s a tremendous leader on and off the ice," said Crowder. "He’s been put in a tough position with a new coaching staff coming in and I think he’s handled it extremely well."

The game against Providence pits the Huskies against a Friar team that has lost its last seven, but posted its last wins in a 4-3, 8-0 sweep over Northeastern.

"All I know is that they pretty much embarrassed us the last time we played," said Crowder. "Hopefully we’re a better team now. I haven’t had a chance to see them, but I know that they’re very well coached and they’ll be ready to play."

Providence lost to Maine 5-4 in its only game last week. Maine jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Friars rallied for four goals in the last 10 minutes. The Friars could not, however, get the equalizer.

"I’m not sure if they let up or if we just picked it up a notch," said PC coach Paul Pooley. "It made it very interesting down the stretch. We had a chance with about 20 seconds left. A guy walked out of the corner to tie it up and we had a guy wide open on the back door but we didn’t [put it in]. The 5-4 score really wasn’t indicative of the game. They had us beat and we just came back.

"Dan Dennis played really well. He made some huge, huge saves for us after he got off to a start that wasn’t great. It looks like he’s turning the corner for us and is really responding to the work he’s getting. We saw signs of him playing tremendously down the stretch for us."

Pooley’s praise, however, did not extend to all his skaters. "Some of our skill guys haven’t performed as well as we’d hoped they would," he said. "Some guys have gotten a lot of opportunity and haven’t responded well, so we’re going to make some changes and go with all our seniors up front.

"This is obviously a big weekend for us with Northeastern and UMass. They’re both solid hockey clubs that right now are probably playing as well as we are.

"We’ve got to work through this thing because I don’t think we’re that far away from breaking out of it. But obviously it’s a situation that we’ve lost seven in a row even though we’ve played some games that we thought we should have won. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, so we’ve just got to keep working and hopefully find the chemistry."

PICK: Pooley aces Chemistry 101 with a 5-2 Providence win.

Northeastern (5-12-2, 1-9-1 HE) at No. 3 Boston University (12-4-3, 10-0-1 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

Good news abounds on Commonwealth Avenue.

BU comes off the high of a sweep of UNH, winning 9-4 at Walter Brown Arena and 3-2 in overtime at UNH’s Whittemore Center.

Perhaps even more importantly for the long run, the Terrier lineup is getting a shot in the arm.

Dan LaCouture is unofficially expected to return for the second semester. LaCouture left the team for personal reasons in late November; BU had posted an 8-1-1 record with him, but going into the UNH series had slumped to a 2-3-2 record in his absence. He is now expected to rejoin the team, but cannot play this weekend. Since classes begin next week, however, he will be eligible to play in the following weekend’s series with Boston College.

LaCouture played with teammate Tom Poti on the U.S. silver-medal team at the World Junior Tournament. Poti, who missed three games entirely, returned in time to take a ride from the airport to Sunday’s game and take his first shift in the second period.

Finnish forward Tommi Degerman, a new face in the BU lineup, earned top billing on Friday night when he scored two goals and added two assists only four days after getting off the plane. BU’s original game plan called for Degerman to be part of next year’s recruiting class, but a career-ending injury to John Hynes and LaCouture’s departure expedited Degerman’s arrival. Although expected to be a third- or fourth-liner at the outset, Degerman showed coach Jack Parker enough in four days of practice to earn the left-wing spot on Chris Drury’s line.

Linemate Mike Sylvia then stole the show in the Sunday rematch with his overtime goal. Hockey East named Sylvia its Player of the Week for his three goals and an assist on the weekend. "Mike Sylvia had a heckuva weekend," said Parker. "He made a great individual effort for the [overtime] goal."

It’s quite the Terrier weekend when Chris Drury — who totaled three assists — is the low-scoring member of his line.

Shawn Bates continued his annual emergence from a first-semester cocoon, and has now scored in his last four games.

Michel Larocque’s spectacular performance at UNH on Sunday, combined with a similar performance the previous weekend against North Dakota, puts him squarely back into the goaltender rotation with Tom Noble. "Noble and Larocque have been playing great for us," said BU coach Jack Parker. "Larocque played fabulous [on Sunday]."

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. The Terrier offense is no longer Chris-Drury-or-bust. Degerman, Poti and LaCouture add depth and skill to a lineup that sorely lacked both two weeks ago. And the much-awaited improved play of Bates and Sylvia gives Terrier followers reason to start dreaming of postseason glories again.

"We’re playing solid defense and our penalty-killing was fabulous," said Parker, who must now convince his team to take last-place Northeastern seriously.

The Huskies (also previewed above with Providence) simply don’t have the horses to match up with BU.

"I don’t know," said Crowder, when asked if his team can catch the Terriers napping after BU’s two emotional wins over UNH. "Jack always has his guys ready to play. I can remember us thinking in past games [at Lowell] when we played BU between Beanpot games that we’d have a chance to catch them. It never happened.

"So our big thing will just be to make steps forward. The kids are starting to get what we’re doing. Now in the last couple of games, they’ve seen some success in what we’re trying to teach them. Our biggest thing is just to try to keep that going."

PICK: Perhaps BU will look down in the standings and assume all they have to do is show up. They may be right. BU 6-2.

St. Lawrence (8-9-2, 3-4-2 ECAC) and Clarkson (10-7-0, 5-4-0 ECAC) at No. 5 New Hampshire (15-4-0, 10-2-0 HE) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

"What you don’t want to have happen is lose both games," UNH coach Dick Umile said after his Wildcats, then ranked second in the country, dropped a disappointing 9-4 loss on Friday night at Walter Brown Arena. Unfortunately, they did exactly that. BU leapfrogged New Hampshire, both in Hockey East and in the national rankings, with a 3-2 overtime win.

Although the team as a whole played poorly in the Friday night loss, their goaltending in the second period sank them. UNH entered the period trailing only 2-1, but after six of 10 BU shots went in, it was time to run up the white flag. Sean Matile, the much-hyped but wildly inconsistent goaltender, allowed three goals on six shots in the period before Umile gave him the hook. Brian Larochelle, whose solid though unspectacular play this year has been instrumental to UNH’s success, proved to be no relief pitcher, allowing three of four shots to go in.

Larochelle redeemed himself in the Sunday return match, playing one of his best games of the year. Unfortunately, he had the misfortune to be outdueled by BU’s Michel Larocque, who was spectacular.

"Friday night was disappointing," said Umile after the overtime loss. "This was a great hockey game. Obviously we didn’t win it, but I’m proud of the way the team played tonight. If we’re going to lose, I want to go down fighting. I thought this was two solid teams that were evenly matched that played a great game."

Umile downplayed any psychological advantage the sweep may have given BU. "We respect them and they respect us," he said. Umile then added, "We can’t control the regular season standings now, but those standings only position you for the Hockey East playoffs. If we both wind up one and two and take care of business, we’ll have a rematch in the Hockey East finals at the Fleet Center. That’s fine with me. There’s a long way to go. We’ll be fine.

"We don’t think we’re going to go and blow people out," said Umile, when asked about BU’s ability to shackle UNH’s offense, the top scoring unit in the country. "If teams don’t play well against us we have the capability to score four, five or six goals. But believe me, this is how you have to play against one of the top teams in the country."

After being in BU’s shadow the last few years, UNH missed its first opportunity to establish supremacy. In the mind games played between top teams, that missed opportunity could come back to haunt the Wildcats.

"Next week will be a big test for us," said Larochelle after the game. "Hopefully we won’t have any letdowns because psychologically this was a big weekend for us. And these games are important for us for NCAA seedings."

St. Lawrence stumbled out of the gate with a 2-7-1 record after being picked to finish fourth in the ECAC preseason poll. But the Saints have turned things around in a major way, winning both the Grand Rapids and Auld Lang Syne tournaments in the span of five days after Christmas. They now show only one loss in their last seven games, dropping only a 4-2 scrum to Colgate last weekend.

Goaltender Clint Owen returned on fire from his half-season suspension. He led his team to the Grand Rapids tournament win, standing tall in the nets while his team was outshot 50-30 by Ohio State. At the Auld Lang Syne it was deja vu all over again, as Owen backstopped a 3-2 win over Dartmouth despite the Saints’ being outshot 35-21. This past weekend, Owen allowed only one goal on 38 shots in a 1-1 tie with Cornell. Job Bracco tended the nets in the loss to Colgate, and could soon become the forgotten man between the St. Lawrence pipes.

Paul DiFrancesco dwarfs the other Saint goalscorers, placing fifth in ECAC scoring with 14 points in nine league games and 12-15–27 totals overall.

Earlier this season Clarkson looked to be making a big move in the ECAC with five wins in six games, including wins against Boston University and Boston College. But they stumbled in December. They’ve posted only a 2-3 record in their last five games, averaging only three points a game in that stretch. This past weekend they recorded a 3-2 overtime loss to Colgate and a 5-2 win over Cornell.

Their recent drop in scoring would seem to be a temporary lull. Clarkson boasts three of the ECAC’s top scorers. Todd White leads the league in scoring (11-10–21, 16-18–34 overall). J.F. Houle ranks third (5-10–15, 8-18–26 overall) and Chris Clark is sixth (7-6–13, 10-10–20 overall).

The Golden Knights also feature one of the ECAC’s top netminders in Dan Murphy. Murphy impressed in last year’s postseason and is again turning in great performances (2.79 goals against average and a .909 save percentage in 17 games).

PICK: UNH must put their lost weekend behind them to avoid problems with this one. St. Lawrence is on a roll and Clarkson could be ready to break out. The wrong mental outlook for UNH could result in another double-dip. St. Lawrence wins 6-5 with Clint Owen standing on his head. UNH then rebounds 5-4 over Clarkson.

Clarkson (10-7-0,5-4-0 ECAC) and St. Lawrence (8-9-2, 3-4-2 ECAC) at UMass-Lowell (9-9-0, 7-5-0 HE) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA

After a come-from-behind 6-4 win over Boston College, UMass-Lowell

lost 8-5 to Maine. The River Hawks fell behind the Black Bears 5-0 and 8-2 and couldn’t come back.

"Friday night [against BC] was a great team win for us," said UMass-Lowell coach Tim Whitehead. "But [the Maine game] was another thing. Sometimes it’s pretty simple. They just got a lead that we couldn’t chip away at. It’s just not going to happen every night for us.

"I thought we might have a few [blowout losses] early on," said Whitehead, whose squad had been picked in the preseason to finish last. "We’re not going to make too big a deal out of the loss, just like we wouldn’t make too big a deal if we’d won."

Even though the River Hawks were playing in their fourth game in six days, Whitehead added, "We’re not going to make any excuses for the loss. We’re going to come back … and work hard.

"We’ve got to get ready for Clarkson and St. Lawrence now. No one is going to point any fingers. These guys have got a great attitude. The loss didn’t feel too good, but that’s good."

Despite the lopsided game, Maine coach Shawn Walsh had kind words for Whitehead after the game.

"At this point, Tim is one of the guys you’d have to look at as Coach of the Year," said Walsh. "For a first-year coach to do that is tremendous. They were picked so low in the league and they’ve been competitive."

Lowell’s Greg Koehler earned his second Hockey East Rookie of the Week honor for his two goals and three assists on the weekend.

(Clarkson and St. Lawrence are previewed above, against UNH.)

PICK: UMass-Lowell struggles, dropping a 4-2 game to Clarkson and a 6-3 game to St. Lawrence.

Maine (12-8-1, 4-5-1 HE) at Merrimack (5-12-1, 2-7-1 HE) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA

Maine won two games this weekend is are looking more like a team destined for third than the seventh-place team that struggled during the first semester. The Black Bears jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Providence and held on for a 5-4 win. They then repeated their late-game disappearing act with an

8-5 win over Lowell after being ahead 8-2. The Black Bears have now won five of their last six.

"We’ve got some things to learn in terms of how to protect a lead," said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. "We played a lot of young players in the third period. I really wanted to use them, because if they make a mistake they’ll learn quicker. It sure is nice to learn in games that you win."

Senior captain Reg Cardinal earned Hockey East’s Player of the Month for his exploits in December. Cardinal is ranked 13th among Hockey East scorers with 11 goals and 11 assists in 21 games.

"This team needs a gentler touch," said Walsh, when asked about his milder demeanor on the bench. "They need a more positive approach. I could drive the 42-1-2 team but this team I’ve got to cajole a little bit."

Walsh credits the team’s confidence since their 6-1 win over Princeton in the J.C. Penny Classic as a key factor in their surge.

"And Robert Ek has really given us a lift on defense," said Walsh about the 6-5 defenseman who joined the team three games ago. "He’s a terrific defenseman. We haven’t had a freshman D come in here and be that good in a while.

"I’m also very impressed with Shawn Mansoff. He’s got great talent. He’s really coming into his own. The more I watch him the more I realize what a tenacious defensive forward he is. So I’m giving him a lot of penalty killing responsibility and he’s playing great."

Walsh isn’t focusing on the league standings. "You can’t worry about the ends. You have to worry about the means. We’ve just got to get better as a team and get back to the little ingredients that make Maine tough to play against.

"Merrimack won the other night so they’ll be confident," said Walsh, looking ahead to this week’s series which will mark Maine’s sixth straight game on the road. "We’ve just got to work on getting better and not get too caught up in wins and losses."

Merrimack beat Army 5-1 in their only game of the weekend.

"I was pleased that we played as solid as we did," said Merrimack coach Ron Anderson. "We had a couple of people out but I thought we still played a steady game from start to finish. We did a pretty good job defensively in particular. I was pleased with the way that we played down in that building since we always have trouble there."

In the Army game Anderson sat Jayson Philbin, who had already missed the two games required by the league for his second game disqualification. Philbin received the DQ in a Dec. 21 game against Dartmouth, which marked his first game back from another disqualification. "We felt that given the situation it would be a good idea to let him miss one more game, just to give him a chance to cool his heels a little bit," said Anderson.

Although prior to the Syracuse Invitational Tournament Merrimack had been off to its worst start since entering Division I play, their recent performances have sparked some optimism.

"We started the second semester with three games on the road," said Anderson, "two in the Syracuse Tournament and one at Army. We’re 2-1 and we could have won the Cornell game too. That was a pretty good game against the number-one team in the ECAC so I think we’ve started the second semester very well.

"I think we can continue to play well against Maine. Obviously we’re going to have to play our best. We’re a team that has really struggled against Maine in the past. We’ll just have to play our best and hope that’s good enough."

PICK: A month ago Merrimack’s best might have been good enough against Maine. Not now. Maine sweeps, 5-3 and 4-3.

UMass-Amherst (8-11-0, 4-7-0 HE) at Providence (6-12-1, 4-6-1 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

"I thought it was a pretty evenly played game," said Minuteman coach Joe Mallen after UMass-Amherst fell to BC 5-4. "We certainly had our opportunities to score…. We just missed a couple of those opportunities. But I think this game is a good sign. Boston College is in the middle-upper part of the pack right now. It was a one-goal game and I don’t think we played our best. I think if we’d played our best game we’d have beaten them.

"I thought that [goaltender] Brian Regan played really well for us. We got scoring from a kid like Jeff Blanchard again which is a positive sign for us this time of year." Blanchard, a freshman, has scored all three of his goals in the last three games.

"Mike Gaffney is also playing really well for us," said Mallen about the blueliner named the number-two star in the loss to BC. "He’s learned the defensive end a lot better and he certainly can shoot the puck. He’s putting things together. Some of the things he could do in high school, he couldn’t do his first couple of years here. Now he’s starting to rush the puck full ice and score goals.

"We’ve got enough manpower to get the job done right now. We’ve just got to get everyone to come to play and execute.

"At this time of year you’re trying to take your strengths and keep them going the right way while you eliminate your mistakes and weaknesses. Right now I think we’re starting to tighten up a bit more defensively in terms of backchecking and our defensive structure. If we continue to improve that we’re going to win a lot more games and make a playoff run.

"If you look at the standings right now anywhere from third to ninth is wide open. It’s only going to be a few points that separate those teams. If we have a strong January and early February I think we can finish in the three-to-six range. Our goal is to try to get home ice and if we can get home ice then get to the Fleet Center."

(Providence is previewed above against Northeastern.)

PICK: Providence picks up their second win of the weekend, 4-3.

Rensselaer (10-5-2, 5-2-1 ECAC) at Boston College (8-11-1, 5-6-1 HE) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

BC lost to UMass-Lowell 6-4 before welcoming back Marty Reasoner, Jeff Farkas and Blake Bellefeuille from the World Junior Tournament with a 5-4 win over UMass-Amherst.

"It was a tough three games without them," said BC coach Jerry York, "because they’re so integral to our special teams and the different parts of our game. We leaned on them so much during the course of the year and then all of a sudden they were taken away.

"But even though we lost those three games, the other players had to play some different roles for us and that will benefit them. It makes them all better players. If you look at some of the players in our league who have played in the World Juniors you see an extra jump in their game.

"One of the things we saw was Kevin Caulfield coming on so strong," said York. As a result, York shuffled his lines to put Caulfield on Reasoner’s right wing opposite Brian Callahan. Jamie O’Leary now centers Farkas and Bellefeuille. "We felt we could use Kevin in that role and play him a lot."

Reasoner, Farkas, and Bellefeuille will be excused from team practices and workouts for four days, giving them recuperation from the 21-day tournament. BC’s schedule dovetails nicely with this approach since the Eagles don’t play on the weekend. This allows the three players to rest and still get three days of practice in before Tuesday’s game.

"That will be a big week for us with RPI on Tuesday and then BU Friday and Saturday," said York. "We’d like to get a home ice spot [in the playoffs.] That gives you the best chance to advance. That’s a realistic goal for us."

Rensselaer comes in 6-1-2 in their last nine games. Their number one gun is Eric Healey (4-8–12, 14-13–27 overall). Healey earned MVP honors in the holiday RPI tournament and also pulled down ECAC Player of the Week. He teams with Matt Garver and Alain St.-Hilaire to form a potent combination.

"That whole line, Eric with Alain and Garver work real well together," said Rensselaer coach Dan Fridgen, talking to ECAC Correspondent Jayson Moy. "[They have] good instincts as to where they will be and they’re always one play ahead of each other."

Freshmen Joel Laing and Scott Prekaski split time in the Engineer nets. The duo has earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors in past weeks.

PICK: Rensselaer 5-4 over BC.

Yale (4-8-2, 3-7-1 ECAC) at UMass-Amherst (8-11-0, 4-7-0 HE) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

(UMass-Amherst is previewed against Providence above.)

Yale, an ECAC doormat last season, has surprised this year, to a great extent because of freshman forward Jeff Hamilton. Hamilton has won ECAC Rookie of the Week honors and is a top ten ECAC scorer with 11 points in nine league games.

On the down side, Yale’s penalty-kill ranks dead last in the ECAC, both in terms of league (67.4%) and overall (72.6%) play.

Goaltender Alex Westlund had been among the ECAC stat leaders with a 2.71 GAA and a .910 save percentage until Rensselaer bombed him last week for seven goals. Westlund and Dan Choquette share time between the Bulldog pipes.

PICK: UMass-Amherst 3-2.

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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Hockey East Preview: Jan. 3-7, 1997 by Dave Hendrickson

New Hampshire and Boston University square off in one of the most eagerly anticipated series of the year. These two teams have run away from the pack, UNH with a perfect league record and BU having only a tie to blemish its standing in Hockey East.

Of the six Hockey East teams involved in tournaments last week, only New Hampshire and Merrimack survived the first round. Merrimack dropped its title game against Cornell, but New Hampshire bested seventh-ranked Colorado College to take the Badger Showdown.

Last week’s record in picks: 12-5 Season record in picks: 71-38

No. 2 New Hampshire (15-2-0, 10-0-0 HE) vs. No. 6 Boston University (10-4-3, 8-0-1 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA NESN Sunday, 2 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH NESN

New Hampshire isn’t just on a roll, they are on A Roll. Firmly entrenched as the nation’s number two team, they boast a school-record 14-game win streak after winning the Badger Showdown. The Wildcats opened the tourney disastrously, falling behind 4-0 against host Wisconsin while being outshot 16-1. But they exploded for five goals to own the lead by the end of the first period. They won 9-7 on goals by seven different scorers.

"Obviously we didn’t want to put ourselves in that position," said coach Dick Umile. "We didn’t do much right for the first 10 or 12 minutes. We just wanted to get a couple of goals to get back into the game, but we got a bunch of them and played well from that point on."

The Wildcats then beat seventh-ranked Colorado College 4-3 in the finals. "We played extremely well and jumped out 2-0," said Umile. "Then they got a couple of quick ones, but we stayed together, played good defense, and waited for our opportunities.

"We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. We know we don’t have to rely on any one player. We have a lot of players we rely on."

Umile expects a tough series with BU, even though the Terriers seem to be struggling.

"I don’t know about them struggling," said Umile. "North Dakota [which beat and tied BU last week] is playing extremely well right now. They’re tough to beat out there. I expect great games between two evenly-matched hockey teams."

Boston University took only one point from a weekend series at North Dakota, losing 6-4 before gaining a 2-2 tie. BU has slumped to a 1-3-2 record in its last six games, dropping the Terriers to sixth in the country. Although the third-ranked Fighting Sioux also outshot the Terriers 95-55, BU coach Jack Parker remained upbeat.

"I think the shot totals were deceptive," said Parker. "We played well and really put out a great effort in a tough building."

Chris Drury continued his Hobey Baker campaign, scoring goals in each contest. Shawn Bates, as Parker predicted last week, began emerging from his first-half cocoon, as has been his wont throughout his BU career. Bates scored in both games. Goaltender Michel Larocque also earned accolades for his performance in the 2-2 tie.

"[Larocque] played fabulously well," said Parker. "He made [a] save in overtime that turned into a breakaway for us, and had two simply fabulous saves in the third period." Larocque’s performance has earned him a start this weekend.

"We’ve been playing short a few guys, but that will make us a better team down the stretch," said Parker. Reinforcements are also on the way. Tommi Degerman, a forward from Finland, joins the team. Additionally, two familiar faces will return from the World Junior Tournament, although not in time for this weekend’s series. Tom Poti, as expected, will be one.

The bigger news is that Dan LaCouture will also be back for the stretch run. LaCouture left the team for personal reasons, and many speculated that he would not return. Parker said that LaCouture’s unspecified problem has been dealt with and he "absolutely" expects to have him back in the Terrier lineup. The freshman left winger had scored six goals in ten games and brought a physical presence to BU’s top line. It seems hardly coincidence that BU posted an 8-1-1 record with LaCouture and a 2-3-2 record without him.

Despite the Terriers’ recent struggles, they still show only a single tie to blemish an otherwise spotless Hockey East record. As a result, this weekend represents a battle for the league’s top spot.

"We obviously have to play good defense and get strong goaltending," said Parker. "Our problems have been in the offensive end. We can’t win 9-6 shootouts against them, so we’ll have to play well through center ice and in our own zone."

PICK: BU is catching the Wildcats at the wrong time. A month from now, with Poti and LaCouture back in the lineup, it might be a different story. But look for a UNH sweep, 4-3 at BU and 6-3 at home.

Maine (10-8-1, 2-5-1 HE) at Providence (6-11-1, 4-5-1 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Providence dropped a heartbreaking triple-overtime game to Cornell 4-3 despite outshooting the Big Red 55-30. The match ranked as the fifth-longest in NCAA history. With no legs left for the consolation game, the Friars lost 6-2 to Colgate.

"We started [the game against Cornell] slow and tentative," said PC coach Paul Pooley. "But after they scored to make it 3-1, we took control of the game for the most part. But their goaltender [Jean Pelletier] was tremendous." Pelletier earned tournament MVP honors despite not playing in the title game. "He did for them what Dan Dennis did for us last year. Plus, we couldn’t put the puck in the ocean.

"It’s our inability to score goals that’s hurt us this year. This game was typical of that. We played well and had 40 grade A chances to their 20. You just can’t lose those kind of games."

Pooley played Dan Dennis in both games, even though Dennis vomited in the Cornell game, requiring a cleaning-up of the ice around him for which the Friars were assessed a time-out.

"He really settled down in the Cornell game and played well," said Pooley. "We have to get him going. We need him sharp to make a run."

Providence’s string of six straight losses has forced Pooley to reevaluate personnel and make some changes.

"Our grinders are playing hard, but just aren’t getting it done," he said. "I’m probably going to go with more skill in the lineup." Pooley — who had already put a "skill" line of Mike Omicioli, Russ Guzior and Fernando Pisani together — will also insert forward Jon Cameron back into the lineup after several games out. Josh MacNevin, an offensively-gifted blueliner who sometimes gives back in the defensive end what he adds to the scoring, will also likely get more ice time.

Maine opened the Denver Cup with a 4-3 overtime loss to the host team. They then pummeled Air Force 12-5 in the consolation game.

The Denver contest marked Maine coach Shawn Walsh’s first game following a one-year suspension. Walsh, who had said he would use the tournament as his own training camp to evaluate personnel, was pleased with his team’s play.

"The Denver game was just an excellent game," said Walsh. "[Denver coach] George Gwozdecky felt that they played their best game of the season. There was a lot of excellent up-and-down play."

Both Maine goaltenders, Alfie Michaud and Javier Gorriti, performed well. "I may continue to go with both of them," said Walsh. "I’ll evaluate that one game at a time."

Walsh noted that he now feels he has a better handle on his personnel. In particular, the line of Reg Cardinal, Trevor Roenick and Marcus Gustafsson really caught Walsh’s eye. The line scored two goals in the Denver game and poured in five against Air Force.

"Gustafsson has been a nice addition," said Walsh. "That line has been on a tear since he joined it."

Defenseman Robert Ek, who just joined the team from Sweden after finally being okayed by the NCAA Clearinghouse, made a big impression — and not just because of his 6-foot-5, 230-pound size.

"He’s a dynamite player," said Walsh. "Even though he only had two practices with us before the tournament, he only allowed three scoring chances, which is really good for a defenseman."

Unfortunately, at the same time the Black Bears added Ek they also lost blueliner Leo Wlasow, who is out six to eight weeks with a broken leg.

"We need to work on our overall positional play," said Walsh. "It’s not what it can be, especially when we’re coming down low in the defensive zone."

Walsh looked ahead to the upcoming weekend, when the Black Bears will travel to Providence and UMass-Lowell. "Providence is always a difficult team to play against," he said. "They play a very structured style and obviously are very well-coached under Paul Pooley. We’ve already played Lowell three games and all of them have been nip and tuck to the end. We’ll just have to do our best and see what happens."

PICK: Maine 4-3 over Providence.

Boston College (7-10-1, 4-5-1 HE) at UMass-Lowell (8-7-0, 6-4-0 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA

UMass-Lowell, picked last in the Hockey East preseason poll, ranks as one of the league’s top surprises in third place.

"We’ve done well because the guys have realized that they have to play as a team to be successful," said UML coach Tim Whitehead. "They’ve pulled together and adopted the team concept. It’s a real tribute to our juniors and seniors. Hopefully the break hasn’t changed that. But I’m not worried about that. They’ve come back with a really good attitude."

The River Hawks will have only two days’ rest after games in the Auld Lang Syne Tournament before hosting Boston College and Maine. They dropped the tournament opener to Dartmouth 6-2 and faced Northeastern in the consolation game, losing again, 4-3.

"This is the longest break we’ve ever had," said Whitehead. "To come back and play four games in six nights is really a challenge, especially with four tough matchups. Everyone is going to have to contribute. Our success is going to depend on the entire team, but that’s typical for us. We have to scratch and claw for everything we get."

Boston College dropped both games at the Mariucci Classic, 4-2 to host Minnesota and 7-4 to Clarkson. The Eagles have now lost three straight and seven of their last ten.

"I thought we played very well against Minnesota," said BC coach Jerry York. "We were only down 3-2 late in the third and I thought we had the crowd on their seats." A Golden Gopher tally, however, put the game away. "We were missing three of our best players [for the World Junior Tournament], but so were they. I thought Jamie O’Leary really stepped up his play to help fill in.

"The next night we didn’t play well at all. Jamie O’Leary went out with a hip pointer early and we just didn’t play well after that."

Despite the losses, York was encouraged by the play of defensemen Brendan Buckley and Ken Hemenway, who excelled both nights, according to York.

"We’ve got two very important league games coming up," said York. "We won’t have [Marty Reasoner, Jeff Farkas or Blake Bellefeuille] for the Lowell game, but they are supposed to fly in on Sunday night so we hope to have them for the game against UMass-Amherst." York hopes to have O’Leary back in action against Lowell, but that remains in doubt.

PICK: Lowell catches BC at the right time, beating the Reasoner-less Eagles 6-3.

Maine (10-8-1, 2-5-1 HE) at UMass-Lowell (8-7-0, 6-4-0 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA

Both teams previewed above.

PICK: Lowell catches Maine at the wrong time, losing 5-2.

UMass-Amherst (8-10-0, 4-6-0 HE) at Boston College (7-10-1, 4-5-1 HE) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

UMass-Amherst got caught in an RPI goal-scoring spree, losing 9-5 before coming back to beat Bowling Green 5-4 in the consolation game.

"What’s really tough this time of year," said UMass coach Joe Mallen, "is that you don’t get a chance to practice, so you really don’t know what you’re going to get from your team in a tournament.

"Against RPI I thought we had some good scoring opportunities in the first period, but we just couldn’t beat [Scott Prekaski]. Then in the second period they got some quick scores and just broke the game open. But it didn’t feel like a 9-5 game."

Mallen was pleased with the way the Minutemen rebounded in the consolation game. "It was one of our most solid efforts of the year. Bowling Green is a really good team even though they’ve struggled lately. We got important goals from Jeff Blanchard, who scored his second after just getting his first goal the night before, and Tom O’Connor, who got his first one."

As he had planned, Mallen split the netminding duties against Bowling Green — to give Rich Moriarty more time between the pipes while also getting Brian Regan right back into action after giving up nine goals the night before. Both played well.

"BC should be a really good test for us," said Mallen. "They’ve proved they can play with anyone. But if we’re going to move up in the standings, we have to beat teams like BC."

Boston College was previewed above.

PICK: BC welcomes Marty Reasoner and company back with a 5-3 win.

Merrimack (4-12-1, 2-7-1 HE) at Army (9-7-1, 1-6-1 vs. aligned D-I teams) Friday, 7 p.m., Tate Rink, West Point, NY

Merrimack broke its eight-game winless streak with a 4-3 win over Colgate, but then lost 4-1 to Cornell in the title game. Cornell was coming off a triple-overtime, 95-minute thriller against Providence, the fifth-longest contest in NCAA history. As such, the Big Red might have been expected to suffer from tired legs, but they took advantage of strong goaltending and Merrimack defensive miscues to win the Syracuse Invitational.

John Jakopin continued his recent strong play on the blue line, both defensively and also adding a goal and two assists. Rejean Stringer also continued to be a top Warrior performer up front, scoring a goal and adding an assist in the win over Colgate, as did Rob Beck. Coach Ron Anderson continued his goaltender rotation; both Eric Thibeault and Martin Legault played well.

The Warriors take on an Army squad that has won six of its last nine games. All six of those wins, however, have been at the expense of either non-Division I schools or other D-I independents. Against "affiliated" D-I schools, they scared UMass-Lowell before losing 4-3, got thumped by UMass-Amherst 8-0 and tied a strong Princeton team 4-4. Princeton coach Don Cahoon, however, had curiously treated the game as little more than an exhibition, leaving several key players home to rest for a league match the following night. The tie and their season-opening win over Minnesota-Duluth, however, prove that the Cadets are not to be trifled with.

Frank Fede (8-11–19) leads the scoring, with Bill Morrison (5-9–14), Andy Lundbohm (6-7–13) and Greg Buckmeier (4-8–12) not far behind. Junior goaltender Daryl Chamberlain (4.15 goals-against average and .873 save percentage) already owns the team record for most shutouts and his 2.41 career GAA ranks third all-time among Cadets. A tougher schedule this year has contributed to Chamberlain’s statistical decline.

PICK: Merrimack wins 6-2.

Northeastern (4-12-1, 2-7-1 HE) at Air Force (4-9-1, 0-6-0 vs. aligned D-I teams) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Cadet Ice Arena, USAF Academy, Colorado

Going into the Auld Lang Syne Tournament, Northeastern had posted an 0-8-1 record in its last nine games. It then dropped the tourney opener to St. Lawrence, 5-4 in overtime before coming back with a consolation victory over UMass-Lowell, 4-3. A weekend series against lightly-regarded Air Force appears to be just what the doctor ordered for the Huskies, despite the crowded schedule.

"We’ve obviously got to start winning games and feel what that’s like again," said NU coach Bruce Crowder. However, Crowder doesn’t expect easy ones against the Falcons. "Air Force can be just as scary as any team in the country. Last year my Lowell team beat every team we played more than once except for Air Force." Lowell finished in the top ten, but managed only two ties with the Falcons.

Even though his team sits in the Hockey East basement, Crowder sees some positive signs.

"We’re starting to come together as a team," he said. "There aren’t as many questions now in terms of X’s and O’s and personalities. The team and I have had our honeymoon period and we’ve streamlined some things. Now they know what to expect from me. We’re going to be better."

Air Force dropped both its games in the Denver Cup last week, losing 7-3 to Yale before getting pounded by Maine 12-5. The Falcons have lost all six games against aligned Division I teams, coming within two goals only once, in an early-season game against Princeton.

Senior co-captain Todd Lafortune picked up his tenth goal of the season against Maine and added three assists on the weekend. Justin Kieffer scored his sixth, seventh and eighth goals and added an assist. In the nets, freshman Aaron Ratfield and senior Pat Kielb split the duties, with Kielb absorbing a 12-goal shellacking at the hands of the Black Bears.

PICK: Northeastern gets a much-needed sweep, 6-2 and 6-4.

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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Hockey East Preview: Dec. 27-31, 1996 by Dave Hendrickson

After two sparse weeks Hockey East rebounds into full-scale action. All but Boston University will be participating in tournaments, while the fourth-ranked Terriers travel to North Dakota to play the fifth-ranked Fighting Sioux.

Look for plenty of upsets this week. After a week or two off, it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be operating on all cylinders and who’ll be sputtering.

Since the number of teams to be discussed explodes at tournament time — 26 this weekend — USCHO correspondents Jayson Moy (ECAC), Jim Thies (WCHA) and Paula Weston (CCHA) have provided their commentaries instead of my own about the teams in their respective conferences.

Last week’s record in picks: 2-1 Season record in picks: 59-33

No. 4 Boston University (10-3-2, 8-0-1 HE) at No. 5 North Dakota (11-4-1, 11-4-1 WCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND

Boston University entered exam break on a high after beating arch-rival Boston College 6-4 on the back of Chris Drury’s four goals, two of them short-handed. BU coach Jack Parker looks for a positive carryover effect from the win. "Winning a BC game, no matter what time of year it is, always has a good psychological effect on our team," said Parker. "Vice versa, if they beat us it has a good effect on their team. So I think that will help us out. We played short-handed, but played really well."

BU played short-handed, in part because of two suspensions. Shane Johnson served the second game of a two-game fighting disqualification. Brendan Walsh did not dress because of breaking team rules. Both players return this weekend, and not a moment too soon.

"Shane’s return is a huge deal because as we add Shane we lose Tom Poti," said Parker. Poti, their flashy freshman defenseman, will miss the next four games — two against fifth-ranked North Dakota and two against second-ranked New Hampshire — while he plays in the World Junior Tournament. "We only played nine forwards against BC because of all our injuries and [other missing players] so we obviously need Brendan back as well. We still will only have 17 skaters out at North Dakota."

Prior to the BC game, the Terriers had only scored two goals in three games while going 0-2-1. Freshman Dan Lacouture’s departure from the team for personal reasons has shifted an unhealthy scoring burden onto Hobey Baker candidate Drury. With Walsh also out of the lineup in the BC game, Drury’s 20 goals matched that of BU’s entire second and third lines combined.

"I’m very concerned about that. We don’t want Chris to stop scoring," said Parker, laughing, "but at the same time we need to have some other players chipping in. Mike Sylvia has to pick up the slack. I truly believe that Shawn Bates will do what he usually does the second half of the year. He usually struggles the first half and then comes on strong. If you look at his stats, he’s done that every year. And we’ve got to get more out of our freshmen and sophomores.

"We’re going to have our hands full with North Dakota. They’re at the top of the WCHA. [North Dakota coach] Dean [Blais] has obviously done a great job turning that situation around, going from the middle of the pack to the top pretty quickly. It’s a great rink and a great place to play. Once you get there," Parker added. The Terriers will leave BU at 4:30 a.m. on the 26th and arrive at noontime, just in time for an afternoon practice.

North Dakota has emerged as a WCHA power after last year posting their first winning record in five seasons. The Fighting Sioux boast four of the top ten scorers in the WCHA. Dave Hoogsteen and Jason Blake lead the league with 23 points in 16 games. Ian Kallay (18 points) and Kevin Hoogsteen (17) aren’t far behind.

Their top defensemen include Curtis Murphy (14 points) Dane Litke (12), Brad Williamson (6), Mitch Vig (6) and Mark Pivetz (5).

Toby Kvalevog tends the nets for the Fighting Sioux. He has posted a 9-3-1 record with a 3.09 goals-against average (good for fifth in the league) and an .872 save percentage.

PICK: A tough road trip for the Terriers. North Dakota sweeps, 5-2 and 4-3.

Bank One Badger Showdown No. 8 Colorado College (10-5-1, 10-5-1 WCHA) vs. No. 9 Vermont (9-4-0, 2-3-0 ECAC) No. 2 New Hampshire (13-2-0, 10-0-0 HE) vs. Wisconsin (7-8-1, 7-6-1 WCHA) Friday, 5 p.m., 8 p.m. Consolation/Championship, Saturday, 5 p.m., 8 p.m. All games Central Time. All games at the Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

The way his team was playing before the break, New Hampshire coach Dick Umile may have petitioned the North Pole for a postponement of Christmas. The second-ranked Wildcats were riding a twelve-game win streak, during which they averaged over six goals a game while giving up a mere 2.75.

"We may be surprised that we’re number two, but we knew we were going to have a good team this year," said Umile. "We paid our dues last year with a young team, losing some kids, and a lot of injuries. When you have a losing season it just makes you reevaluate and work harder. The guys have made that commitment."

Recently, New Hampshire posted six players among Hockey East’s top ten scorers. Last year’s three All-America candidates — Eric Boguniecki, Mark Mowers and Eric Nickulas — have been joined by Tom Nolan, Derek Bekar and Jason Krog to power the top scoring offense in the country (5.53 goals per game). Nolan and third-liner Greg Dumont return after missing the last month with injuries.

Umile looks forward to opening against host Wisconsin and the fiercely partisan crowd. "We’re going out there with confidence that we’re a good college hockey team playing in one of the premier Christmas tournaments. We’ll probably be playing in front of something like 15,000 people. That’s what you want to do as a college hockey player. We want to go out there, play well, and have an opportunity to win."

Umile feels that his team is playing with the right degree of confidence.

"There’s nothing wrong with being a confident team," he said. "We’re a team that has confidence that we can succeed. [But] overconfidence hasn’t entered our team. We’re realistic. We know that we have a good team but that you have to earn it each week. You’re only as good as your last game."

Although Wisconsin won’t be playing in its own rink, the Badgers should still have the home-ice advantage with fans packing the Bradley Center. Goalie Kirk Daubenspeck (6-6-1, 3.40 GAA, .883 save percentage) will get plenty of action, and he will need to be at the top of his game for the Badgers to have a chance. Brad Engelhart (9-5–14) is among Wisconsin’s top scorers, while any time Rick Enrico (4-10–14) is near the puck good things happen for the Badgers. Maybe this is the kiss of death, but the Badgers are 14-0-0 all-time against New Hampshire.

Colorado College comes into their rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinal against Vermont on a two-game winning streak. The Tigers swept Northern Michigan 7-2 and 7-3 two weeks ago, scoring five times in a span of 4:34 in the first game, a school record against league competition.

CC will be without Toby Petersen and defenseman Dan Peters, who are in the World Junior Tournament.

Brian Swanson (8-13–21) is third in the league in scoring. Jason Goodmundson (10-8–18) and Darren Clark (7-11–18) are tied for seventh. The Tigers have gotten help from a lot of players this year, with 10 different guys netting game-winning goals. Goalie Judd Lambert (8-4-0, 3.40 GAA, .875 SV%) hasn’t had the type of season he wanted so far. CC is just 3-3-1 on the road.

Don Lucia needs one victory to reach the 200-win plateau as a collegiate head coach. Lucia is 199-130-21 (.599) in 10 campaigns, including a 96-33-11 (.725) mark in his four years behind the Colorado College bench. His previous six campaigns were at Alaska-Fairbanks.

One looks at Vermont and wonders how the Catamounts could be in tenth place in the ECAC. There is definitely one answer. They have only played five league games, tied for fewest in the league with travel partner Dartmouth. That would also explain the absence of Catamounts among the league scoring leaders.

But reports of the death of the French Connection have been greatly exaggerated. Factoring in non-league contests, Martin St. Louis leads the ECAC in scoring (10-18–28), and his linemate Eric Perrin is tied for third (10-13–23). The other member, J.C. Ruid, is no slouch either; he is eighth in the league (6-12–18).

What is surprising, though, is the absence of Tim Thomas among goaltending leaders. Thomas earned the Dryden Award for the best ECAC netminder last season with a 2.34 GAA and a .924 save percentage. This season his numbers (3.11 and .909, respectively) are not as impressive.

Also surprisingly, the Catamounts rank 11th overall in the ECAC on the power play, with only a 14.8 percent efficiency. They only have 12 power play goals on 81 attempts, and have allowed four short-handed goals. They allowed only four of those in 38 games last season.

PICKS: New Hampshire 6-3 over Wisconsin and 5-4 over either Colorado College or Vermont.

Dodge Mariucci Classic Clarkson (8-5-0, 4-3-0 ECAC) vs. No. 3 Miami (OH) (14-4-0, 10-2-0 CCHA) Boston College (7-8-1, 4-5-1 HE) vs. No. 6 Minnesota (10-6-0, 9-5-0 WCHA) Friday, 4 p.m., 7 p.m. Consolation/Championship, Saturday, 4 p.m., 7 p.m. All games televised on MSC. Game times Central Time. All games at Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN

BU’s Chris Drury and his four goals sent the Boston College Eagles into the break shaking their heads over their 6-4 loss to the Terriers. No one likes to lose to a top rival, and BC certainly won’t be the last victim of the Chris Drury Show, but two goals in particular had to haunt the Eagles like Scrooge’s bad gruel.

Drury’s first short-handed goal developed on a two-on-none while BC held a five-on-three man advantage. How did that happen? Then when a five-minute major assessed against BU gave the Eagles a chance to get back into the game, Drury scored his second, back-breaking short-handed goal. Perhaps some smart-aleck fan this weekend at Mariucci will suggest that BC decline all penalties.

Especially since they will be missing three-fifths of their top power-play unit. That unit consists of four 18-year old freshmen and an 19-year old sophomore. Unfortunately for the Eagles — at least in the short-term — Jeff Farkas, Blake Bellefeuille and sophomore sensation Marty Reasoner will instead be skating for the U.S. team in the upcoming junior tournament.

Only defenseman Mike Mottau and Cam Neely lookalike Kevin Caulfield remain for the power play. Although BC coach Jerry York hasn’t decided who will fill the roles, look for him to move upperclassmen Brian Callahan, Jamie O’Leary and Ken Hemenway onto his top unit. Callahan leads BC scoring with 14 goals and nine assists. O’Leary is the only true center remaining with Farkas and Reasoner gone. Hemenway led the team in power-play goals last year with eight.

"The field is outstanding," said York, optimistic despite the absences. "You just have to look at Miami’s record. We’ve already played Clarkson so we know how tough they are. And Minnesota is always strong.

"We’ll be without some of our top players, but I view this as an opportunity for other players to get additional ice time and speed up their development. This is their chance to show what they can do." On the plus side, Greg Taylor’s broken glove hand is now 100 per cent. Taylor, one of the top goalies in Hockey East, missed five games before coming back and playing through pain and an inability to completely control shots to that side.

"It should be a tough tournament to figure out," said York. "Everyone is coming back after not being in practices, so teams will be rested but maybe not in top form."

BC will open the tournament against the one other squad that placed three players on the U.S. junior team. Minnesota will be playing without defenseman Ben Clymer and forwards Erik Rasmussen and Wyatt Smith, all key players. Currently fourth in the WCHA and five points behind North Dakota, the Golden Gophers want to rebound from a 4-3 overtime loss to St. Cloud State in its last game. With those three players gone, Minnesota will rely on Casey Hankinson (7-7–14), Brian LaFleur (4-7–11), and Ryan Kraft (5-5–10).

Goalie Steve DeBus (6-4-0, 2.99 GAA, .896 save percentage) is having a steady season. Erik Day (3-1-0, 1.00 GAA, .956 save percentage) backs up DeBus and has also impressed. Day went into the freshman record books earlier this year, gaining a shutout in his first career start.

Two weeks ago ECAC Correspondent Jayson Moy noted that Clarkson has started to see more balanced scoring. Nine different Golden Knights scored ten goals against Boston College and Boston University to key a sweep. In Clarkson’s last two, an 8-4 victory over Brown and a 5-4 loss to Harvard, nine different players scored the 13 goals.

Senior captain Todd White, who scored twice each evening, leads all ECAC scorers with 16 points (10-6), and is second in the league overall (13-13–26).

Miami is off to its best start ever, and there may be little to stop them. At first, the key to success was defense. Junior goaltenders Trevor Prior and Adam Lord were the stingiest duo in the CCHA. According to coach Mark Mazzoleni, as the team gained confidence in its defense, the team played more confidently overall. Mazzoleni says that each Miami player feels as though he can contribute, which leads to a true team effort.

Leading the team in scoring is sophomore forward Randy Robitaille, who has 11 goals and 11 assists in 22 CCHA games. His plus-minus rating is +9; in fact, there are only two players on the team in the minus, and those players have played just a few games each.

Miami leads the CCHA in goaltending. Prior has an .896 save percentage, with a goals against average of 2.25. Lord’s save percentage is .903; he averages 2.48 goals against.

This team nearly leads the CCHA in special teams. They are third on the power play, and second on the penalty kill.

PICKS: Boston College falls twice without Reasoner and company, 5-2 to Minnesota and then 3-1 to either Miami or, more likely, Clarkson.

Syracuse Invitational Merrimack (3-11-1, 2-7-1 HE) vs. Colgate (7-6-1, 4-4-1 ECAC) Providence (6-9-1, 4-5-1 HE) vs. Cornell (6-3-1, 6-2-1 ECAC) Friday, 5:15 p.m., 8:15 p.m.. Consolation/Championship, Saturday, 5:15 p.m., 8:15 p.m. All games at Onondaga War Memorial, Syracuse, NY

Providence took two weeks off for exams and Christmas after suffering a 5-3 and 3-1 sweep at the hands of UMass-Amherst. The back end of the home-and-home took frustration levels to a new high when the Friars had their fourth controversially disallowed goal of the season, each of which has cost them points in the standings. Adding insult to injury, both goals they surrendered prior to UMass-Amherst’s empty-netter seemed to reflect unlucky bounces more than anything. PC coach Paul Pooley still refused to resort to excuses.

"We need to refocus on working hard and deserving to win," said Pooley. "I told my guys that I don’t think we’ve deserved to win because I don’t think we’ve been doing things as well as we should be. We’re not totally paying the price on the ice and off the ice. It was a wake up call for us because I thought we were in a position to win both games but let them get away.

"I always tell our guys that there’s a fine line between winning and losing. Right now we’re just below that line. Last year we were just over. The difference is that we won the close games last year. Hey, I’m excited about the second half because instead of being 6-9-1 we could be 10-5-1 if things would have bounced our way. But they haven’t, so we just have to find a way to win. We have to make sure that we’re consistent throughout the game and get back to what we’re all about as a hockey team."

Merrimack dropped a 5-2 contest to Dartmouth, giving the Warriors only a single tie in their last eight games. Their 3-11-1 record marks their worst start since entering Division I in 1989.

"We were playing all right but once we got behind, the legs let go, we ran out of gas, and lost our composure as well," said Merrimack coach Ron Anderson. Anderson’s reference to composure focused on freshman Jayson Philbin. Philbin, who had just returned from a one-game suspension for running a goalie to touch off a brawl in a 9-0 loss to UNH, flew off the handle in the third period. His actions earned him two five-minute majors and another game disqualification. Since a second game DQ results in a two-game suspension, he will be ineligible for the entire Syracuse tournament.

The Dartmouth power play maneuvered successfully to generate wide-open opportunities against which Merrimack goalie Martin Legault had no chance. "We were trying to be aggressive, but we were slowly aggressive," explained Anderson. "All that does is take you out of position. We had an idea of what we wanted to do but we had to do it with some quickness. We just didn’t do it quickly enough. Early in the game when we had fresh legs, we were fairly effective, but once we started to get tired, we probably should have changed what we were trying to do. We tried to keep doing it and they exploited that."

Merrimack will open against Colgate, who beat the Warriors earlier 7-3. Anderson expects to split Legault and Eric Thibeault in the tournament, since he feels both have played well and the games are on back-to-back nights.

"[Colgate] has already beaten us so we know we have to pick our game up," said Anderson. "We have to get ourselves back into condition and regroup a little mentally and strategically."

John Jakopin is providing one of the bright spots for Merrimack. After battling illness at the beginning of the season, he now provides both offense and defense from the blue line. "He’s obviously a big, strong guy for us who can skate," said Anderson. "He’s got good range, so we’re trying to utilize that. We turn him loose when he sees the opportunity. He’s been an asset for us offensively because he creates some things not only for himself but also for some other people."

Colgate endured a 1-5-0 stretch before turning things around in the last two games. The team earned three hard ECAC points with a 4-1 defeat of Union and a last-minute 3-3 tie against RPI.

Senior Rob Mara starred for the Red Raiders that weekend. He tallied three goals on the weekend, two against Union, and the game-tying goal with 32 seconds left against RPI. His efforts earned him ECAC Player of the Week honors.

Mike Harder is back in the goal-scoring department with two in his last three games. He is tied for third in ECAC scoring with nine goals and fourteen assists. His linemate Dave DeBusschere also has 23 points (10-13).

Cornell headed into the break tied for first in the league despite not faring well in its last two outings. The Big Red were upset by RPI 4-2, and tied Union 3-3.

Jason Elliot is among the ECAC netminding leaders with a .917 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA. He has continued to give the Big Red solid goaltending.

The Cornell power play ranks the best in the league, hitting at 28.8 per cent. The Big Red have only had 52 power play attempts, second lowest in the league, but have converted 15 times.

Cornell uses a balanced attack in its game. This is evidenced by looking at the scoring charts of the Big Red. Despite an ECAC-leading 34 goals in league action, not one member of the Big Red is in the league’s Top 10. Sophomore Kyle Knopp is tied for 11th in the league with nine points (2-7), but does not even make the Top 16 in overall scoring.

PICKS: Colgate 5-1 over Merrimack. Cornell 4-3 over Providence. Providence 4-1 over Merrimack (or 4-2 over Colgate with Merrimack recording the same loss against Cornell).

RPI Marine Midland Holiday Hockey Tournament Brown (1-9-1, 1-7-1 ECAC) vs. Bowling Green (8-8-2, 4-8-2 CCHA) RPI (7-4-2, 4-1-1 ECAC) vs. UMass-Amherst (7-9-0, 4-6-0 HE) Friday, 5:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m.. Consolation/Championship, Saturday, 5:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. All games at RPI Fieldhouse, Troy, NY

UMass-Amherst opened the month with a sweep of Providence and hoped to use that to launch a winning streak going into exams. But they dropped games to two ECAC teams — where have we heard that before? — losing 7-2 to Princeton and 6-5 to Dartmouth. Although coach Joe Mallen was impressed with both teams, particularly Princeton, he felt that several factors prevented the Minutemen from putting their best foot forward.

"We were pretty banged up with nagging injuries," said Mallen. "We were also one of the few teams playing while heading into exams. I think that took a bigger toll than I thought it might. Also, in the Princeton game [goaltender] Brian Regan pulled his groin about halfway through the game and didn’t let us know. He was struggling a little bit in terms of trying to get across the crease. He made some terrific saves in the game, but I think that hurt us a little."

Regan, who has played most of the UMass-Amherst games, could not go the next night against Dartmouth. But the key wasn’t goaltending; it was the guys in stripes. Mallen chose not to discuss the officiating, but a questionable Dartmouth goal was allowed and the Big Green also used their 10-3 superiority in man-advantage opportunities to score three power-play goals.

Regan will return for this tournament, but Tom Perry is still out with a broken wrist. Lost too is the momentum that seemed to be building at the start of the month. Even so, Mallen thinks his squad has a shot at winning it.

"It’s anybody’s tournament," he said. "RPI is very much improved. I got to see them early in the year and they’ve completely reloaded and look to be a much better team than the squad we saw last year. I also have great respect for Bowling Green and Brown.

"But the question is the same as it is with a lot of the holiday tournaments. Everybody takes off for exams and takes a break from practice. All of a sudden you just reassemble everybody and go out and play hockey. It’s a tough way to do it. Obviously the team that has their timing together has the best shot at winning the whole thing."

Mallen hopes that being off for just one week — despite the resulting distractions that exams forced his team to endure against Princeton and Dartmouth — will pay off in better timing and perhaps a tournament win.

RPI is another of the ECAC’s pleasant surprises. The Engineers are fourth in the league, but hold the highest winning percentage, and also lead in league points per game.

Freshman goaltender Joel Laing ranks second in the ECAC with a .938 save percentage, and a 2.33 GAA. He splits time with another freshman, Scott Prekaski. Prekaski has a 2.92 GAA, and a .917 save percentage. The duo earned ECAC Co-Rookies of the Week honors two weeks ago.

Eric Healey leads the scoring barrage of RPI with 17 points (7-10). Alain St.-Hilaire (6-6–12) centers Heale, and the other winger on the line is Matt Garver (3-9–12). This high-scoring line has proved pivotal to RPI’s surprising season. When Garver was out with a separated shoulder, RPI was shut out in three consecutive games.

Brown can not seem to get many things going for them. The team is suffering through a six-game losing streak and is in last place in the ECAC. The Bears are in last place in total defense in the ECAC, giving up an average of 5.00 goals per game, and eighth in total offense, averaging 3.27 goals per game. The Bears also lead the league in penalty minutes, amassing a whopping 282 in nine games.

During the slump, there have been three one-goal losses, two of them in overtime, so the Bears might be close to turning the season around. Little by little they have seen the offense improve. Adrian Smith and Jade Kerey each recently had two-goal games. Defenseman Jimmy Andersson is the team’s leading scorer (1-12–13).

The power play unit is also second in league efficiency, hitting at 25.4 per cent. Their 16 power-play goals rank third in the league.

The last time Bowling Green and Brown met was at this same tournament on Dec. 30, 1982. BGSU won 7-4. Much has changed since then. In fact, much has changed this season.

Bowling Green is a team in pain. The Falcons were supposed to be a top-ten team this season, according to preseason polls. Instead, Bowling Green has struggled defensively, especially with goaltending, and is tied for fifth place in the CCHA with Western Michigan and Ferris State.

The problem for Bowling Green isn’t offense. Curtis Fry has 19 points in 14 games. Mike Johnson has 18 points in 14 games. But the Falcons haven’t been able to lift themselves out of the quagmire in the middle of the CCHA. They had a chance on Dec. 14 when they played Western Michigan; the game ended in a 2-2 overtime tie.

PICKS: RPI 4-3 over UMass-Amherst. UMass-Amherst 5-1 over Brown or 5-4 over Bowling Green.

Denver Cup Yale (3-5-2, 3-5-1 ECAC) vs. Air Force (4-7-1, 2-4-0 vs. Div I) Maine (9-7-1, 2-5-1 HE) vs. Denver (8-6-2, 6-6-2 WCHA) Friday, 4 p.m., 7 p.m.. Maine game/Denver game, Saturday, 4 p.m., 7 p.m. All game times are Mountain Time. All games at Denver Arena, Denver, CO. Saturday night game televised on FSRM.

The Maine Black Bears are sky-high indeed going into the Mile High City. Maine dominated both Dalhousie 10-2 and ECAC leaders Princeton 6-1 to win the J.C. Penney Classic in their own back yard. Winning that tournament could serve as a launching pad for the second half of the season.

Of potentially even more significance, Shawn Walsh finally has emerged from his year-long suspension. For most Maine freshmen, Walsh is a man they’ve never played for and perhaps never even met. For most upperclassmen, Walsh is The Man.

"I haven’t seen them play," said Walsh, whose suspension forbade any contact with the team. "I’ve listened to a few of the games on the radio [and read the newspapers], but I’m going in blind. Not totally blind, but I don’t really have too many impressions formed about this particular team. I’m looking forward to using the Denver tournament to get an idea about our personnel. It’ll be my training camp."

Probably the most important personnel decision confronting Walsh will be in the nets where Javier Gorriti started both tournament games while Alfie Michaud mopped up.

"I’ll have to wait and see," said Walsh. "I’ll give both of them the opportunity to see where they’re at…. I think that the key is developing the players and not necessarily making judgments on them right away."

Maine will open against the host Denver team. They will then play the early game on Saturday, win or lose, since their NCAA restrictions prohibit them from appearing on TV this year. As an oddity, the afternoon contest could be an untelevised championship game while the cameras broadcast an evening consolation match across the state.

"Denver is a quality team," said Walsh. "They were a top preseason pick in many polls, ranked as highly as fifth in the country. They seem to have righted their own ship when they swept Minnesota-Duluth two weekends ago. They’ll be a very, very good team on their own ice surface."

Denver has played well lately, going 5-1-2 over its last eight games. After a poor start, the Pioneers are starting to climb back into the fight in the WCHA. Antti Laaksonen (8-5–13) has had five multiple-point games and leads the Pioneers in all games with 16 points. Paul Comrie (5-6–11) has points in last three games and is second on the team overall with 15 points. Warren Smith (2-9–11) has been hot the last six games, scoring nine points. Goalie Stephen Wagner (4-2-0, 2.82 GAA, .906 SV%) is third among league goalies.

Teams tumble in a hurry in the ECAC standings with a loss, due to the tightly-packed standings. The Bulldogs of Yale are a great example.

Before ECAC play two weekends ago, they were a surprising third in the league. But a 4-3 loss to Princeton combined with nine other games throughout the league to drop the Bulldogs into a tie for seventh.

Alex Westlund earned honorable mention honors for his performance in a 1-1 tie versus Boston University. Westlund is third among ECAC goalies overall with a .912 save percentage and a 2.66 GAA, a huge improvement over his .859 and 4.95 numbers of a year ago.

The Bulldogs may have found a future star in freshman Jeff Hamilton. Currently tied for sixth in the league in scoring (4-7–11), he was named ECAC Rookie of the Week a few weeks ago.

Yale also has John Chyz and Keith McCullough, both of whom are tied for eleventh in the league in scoring with nine points, three goals and six assists each. Air Force has been inactive since two games against UMass-Amherst the last weekend of November. Air Force dropped the two games, 4-1 and 10-2. In 12 games this season, senior team co-captain Todd Lafortune leads the team with 12 points and nine goals. He leads the team with three power-play goals and has scored at least one point in each series this season and has at least one goal in all but the UMass-Amherst series.

Freshman Aaron Ratfield started the Friday game against UMass. He went the distance and allowed four goals with 33 saves. He has played in six games this season, starting in four. He has a 2.20 goals-against average and has a .926 saves percentage in 299 minutes.

Head Coach Chuck Delich is on the verge of becoming the Academy’s winningest coach. With 154 wins, Delich is tied with the current record holder John Matchefts. Matchefts did it in 11 seasons, while Delich is in the middle of his 12th.

PICK: Maine takes another tournament, squeaking past the hometown team 4-3 and then cakewalking in the final, 5-2 over Yale or 7-2 over Air Force.

Auld Lang Syne Tournament Northeastern (2-11-2, 1-9-1 HE) vs. St. Lawrence (4-8-1, 3-3-1 ECAC) UMass-Lowell (8-6-0, 6-4-0 HE) vs. Dartmouth (6-3-0, 2-3-0 ECAC) Monday, 5 p.m., 8 p.m.. Consolation/Championship, Tuesday, 5 p.m., 8 p.m. All games at Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH

Northeastern has gone 0-8-1 in its last nine games. However, three one-goal games and two two-goal games were among that discouraging stretch, including 5-3 and 2-1 losses to UMass-Lowell before a two-week break. After suffering two lopsided losses in early November, Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said, "A month from now we’ll eliminate a few of these mistakes and maybe the score is 5-3 instead. Two months from now, maybe it’s 3-3. And three months from now, we’re winning these games. That’s our outlook for this year."

Crowder’s words are proving roughly prophetic. The Huskies are piling up the losses but are showing improvement. They still have a ways to go, though, if they want to move out of the Hockey East basement.

Team strength — physical strength, that is — is an area of weakness, according to Crowder. A strong believer in the value of weight training, Crowder was appalled at the lack of attention given it on past Husky squads. Although the weight training facilities were upgraded after Crowder’s arrival, improving team strength will require long-term attention before seeing dividends.

"I believe that you have to lift to compete at this level," said Crowder. "Right now, when our team goes into the corners, we lose more battles than we win. We’re just not strong enough to win our share. That’s not going to get fixed overnight."

Goaltender Marc Robitaille continues to give Huskie fans reason to hope for the future. The freshman may not be submitting league-leading statistics because of the weakness of his team, but he remains one of the league’s better rookies.

UMass-Lowell ranks as one of the top surprises in Hockey East. Picked for last in the league’s preseason poll, they remain two games above .500 and sit in third place in the league standings.

Two major icebergs lurk in the Lowell waters, however. The River Hawks have not yet faced BU or UNH, the runaway top teams in the league. All other teams, except the two powers themselves, have taken at least two lumps from the Hockey East bullies. This scheduling anomaly may indicate that although UML may be the overachievers of the league, they may not be long for third place.

Before the break Lowell swept two close ones from Northeastern, 5-3 and 2-1. Leading the River Hawks are goaltender Martin Fillion (3.29 GAA and a .910 save percentage) and forward Neil Donovan (16 points in 10 league games, 23 points overall). Greg Koehler has proven to be one of the top rookies in the league. He is one of nine or 10 freshmen that see action.

St. Lawrence picked up three points in its last ECAC weekend with a 3-3 tie at Harvard, and a 5-4 overtime win at Brown.

Scott Stevens netted the overtime winner against Brown. Paul DiFrancesco scored two goals against Harvard, and another against Brown. The junior is second in the league in scoring with five goals and seven assists. Stevens is also among the league leaders with nine points.

One of the strong points for the Saints is their power play, which is ranked first in the league at 27.3 percent. At the same time, however, short-handed goals are a problem. The Saints have allowed four short-handers during 33 opportunities on the power play.

Eric Heffler, the junior walk-on, got both starts between the pipes because Jon Bracco was not 100 percent. Both Heffler and Bracco are expected to be in the nets for this tournament.

Dartmouth is riding a wave of success as well. The Big Green are on a four-game winning streak, due in large part to freshmen goaltenders Jason Wong and Eric Almon. Dartmouth started its streak when Wong took over in the nets. He leads the ECAC with a 1.88 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in league play.

The other freshman goaltender, Eric Almon, received his first varsity start last Saturday and stopped 42 of 44 shots in a 5-2 victory over Merrimack in North Andover. He earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for his efforts.

PICKS: St. Lawrence 4-2 over Northeastern. Dartmouth 4-3 over UMass-Lowell. On New Year’s Eve UMass-Lowell 4-2 over Northeastern (otherwise the ECAC takes both games).

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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Hockey East Preview: Dec. 20-21, 1996 by Dave Hendrickson

Will Hockey East ever beat the ECAC again?

Since November 26 — Hockey East’s last victorious date on the calendar — the two leagues have faced each other in 14 games played on seven calendar days. Hockey East has won only two of the games and none of the dates. Over the season the league has posted a dismal 8-18-2 record against its allegedly perennial weak sister. Even second-ranked New Hampshire (2-2-0 against the ECAC) and fourth-ranked Boston University (2-3-1) have stumbled against the senior circuit.

"Hockey (L)East" — this column’s preseason catch phrase — is proving prophetic with a vengeance.

This week offers two more chances for either redemption or more bloodied noses. Maine will face either Princeton or Union in the second round of the J.C. Penny Classic while Merrimack entertains Dartmouth.

After last week’s 1-2 record in picks, may the hockey gods strike this writer dead if he goes against the ECAC again. Said writer is tempted to predict landslide wins for all ECAC teams in an attempt to appease the powers above. Rumor has it, however, that they are offended by shameless acts of sucking up, so this week’s Hockey East-ECAC picks only nod subtly in the ECAC’s direction.

Last week’s record in picks: 1-2 Season record in picks: 57-32

J.C. Penney Classic Maine (7-7-1, 2-5-1 HE) vs. Dalhousie (record unavailable), Friday, 8 p.m. Princeton (8-2-2, 6-2-1 ECAC) vs. Union (5-6-1, 2-4-1 ECAC), Friday, 5 p.m. Consolation Game: Saturday, 4 p.m. Championship Game: Saturday, 7 p.m. All games at Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Grant Standbrook assumes the Black Bear reins for one week before the much-anticipated return of Shawn Walsh on December 24th. Maine opens the J.C. Penney Classic against Dalhousie, a perennial CIAU (Canada’s NCAA) power from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They will then face either Princeton or Union in a tournament final or consolation match.

"It’s difficult to assess Dalhousie," said Standbrook, "because we don’t see them and we’re not really aware of the calibre of talent that they play against. That varies greatly from year to year. They’ve come in here in the past, a Canadian team from the Maritimes, and won the tournament. Other years we’ve handled them relatively easily."

Last year Dalhousie went 1-2 against Division I opponents, beating Alaska-Anchorage before losing to weak Dartmouth and Yale squads. The two years preceding, however, they swept both Ohio State and Merrimack, so they remain a dangerous wild card.

Although information about this year’s squad has proven elusive, they should once again feature Dany Bousquet, who at one point was projected to be a top Black Bear recruit out of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League.

"The one team that’s the favorite would be Princeton," said Standbrook. "They’re nationally ranked, they’re playing very well, and they have the best record to date."

Playing very well, indeed. They’re 6-1-1 in their last eight games, are tied for first place in the ECAC, and thumped UMass-Amherst 7-2 last Friday, outshooting them almost 2-to-1 in every period. "They were a very good offensive transition team," said Minuteman coach Joe Mallen. "They outworked us and out-quicked us, and that hasn’t happened in a lot of Hockey East games. They seem to have put all the pieces back together after a down year last year and look like they can do some damage."

Standbrook isn’t sure exactly what to expect from Princeton. "They won the tournament against us a couple years ago and played well using a neutral zone trap which gave us difficulty. I don’t know whether we’ll see that again." The two leagues do not swap tapes so Standbrook hasn’t seen the Tigers play, but he intends to prepare for the trap anyways. "We’ll have to be ready for anything. Obviously, we’ll have a chance to see them play their first round game against Union. It will be very helpful to see them. We know we’re in for a fight."

If instead the Black Bears face Union on Saturday night, they’ll be facing another unknown. The Flying Dutchmen have been riding the goaltending of Trevor Koenig for much of their success. Earlier this month Koenig was ranked third in the nation, compiling a 1.89 goals against average and a .940 save percentage in eight games. Those sizzling stats have cooled slightly in the last few games, dropping to 2.10 and .930, but still add up to some of the best in either league.

Union has yet to give up more than four goals in any game and have only given up that many twice, both losses. Their problem is scoring, which reached a head when Harvard shut them out last week. Except for a 7-3 win over Dartmouth early in the year, the Dutchmen have averaged less than two goals a game this season.

"We’ve got to be doing things well ourselves," said Standbrook. "We’ve got to be better at both ends. Right now we’ve got a horrendous goals against average [3.63 and a .842 save percentage] and we’re not scoring like we should. We’re getting all kinds of opportunities. If we weren’t getting the opportunities I’d be really concerned, but we’ve had the opportunities but just haven’t been putting the puck away. Right now there are more goals going in in our end than in the other end. So we’ve got to shore up our team defense and prevent the high-percentage shot and the second shot."

A major reason for the poor goals against average lies between the pipes where Alfie Michaud struggled through the first thirteen games before giving way to walk-on Javier Gorriti the last two. Gorriti played well in his first full game, earning a win against Boston College, but returned to earth in the final game before exam break.

"Right now Javier Gorriti is our first goaltender," said Standbrook. "We’ll have to watch practices this week to determine whether Alfie Michaud plays or not."

The Maine players will also have to deal with the strange transition from Greg Cronin, their fiery interim coach for the last year, to Standbrook for this weekend, to Walsh.

"Emotionally it was difficult for [the team to see Cronin leave]," said Standbrook. "The team had grown close to him. He’s a very emotional coach. He’s a player’s coach…. Our incoming players have never played for Coach Walsh, have never really met Coach Walsh, so they don’t know what to expect. For the veterans, it will be an easy transition.

"Coach Cronin has made it easier by not varying any of the team tactics, so the transition [in that respect] should be very, very smooth."

PICKS: Maine beats Dalhousie 5-2 but loses in the finals to either Princeton (6-3) or Union (3-1).

Dartmouth (5-3-0, 2-3-0 ECAC) at Merrimack (3-10-1, 2-7-1 HE) Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA

Dartmouth has become one of the quietest surprises in college hockey this year. After years of being mired either in the ECAC basement or frightfully close to it, their winning record now includes three straight wins: 4-1 over Vermont, 6-4 over Merrimack, and 6-5 over UMass-Amherst.

Freshman Jason Wong has been a discovery in the Big Green nets. Going into last weekend’s win over UMass-Amherst, Wong led ECAC netminders with a 1.88 goals against average in league games (2.46 overall) and a .926 save percentage (.904 overall). Many observers consider him the leading candidate for ECAC Rookie of the Year.

Dartmouth beat UMass-Amherst 6-5 last weekend on the strength of three power-play goals, picking up 10 man-advantage situations to UMass’s three. David Whitworth, Ryan Chaytors, and Bill Kelleher — while not ranking among league scoring leaders — have combined to lead the Big Green to an average of four goals a game and more than five in their three straight wins.

Merrimack, on the other hand, is a team going in the opposite direction. They are now 0-6-1 in their last seven. Although they bounced back from a 9-0 drubbing by New Hampshire to play them to a spirited 4-1 loss in the UNH barn, Merrimack desperately needs to put some W’s onto their record, if for no other reason than to keep spirits high.

"Our morale is fine," said coach Ron Anderson. "That’s part of being an athlete — dealing with the peaks of winning and the valleys of defeat. This isn’t something new for us.

"Even though we don’t like where we are, we’re not discouraged. Out of our ten league games so far, we’ve played four of the six games we’ll have to play against BU and UNH. There aren’t a lot of teams that are going to beat those two this year. I like that we can come off the break, play three non-league games, and then take a run at the teams near us in the standings. We’re only four points out of fourth.

"The freshmen have come along really well and the upperclassmen are finally getting it going. That’s really important for us."

Anderson figures that the injured players who have returned will not only be 100 per cent physically, but will also have their full game legs by the return of league play. Before then, however, they must face the Big Green this weekend and avoid a repeat of their 6-4 loss three weeks ago.

"We didn’t play with energy and aggressiveness up there," said Anderson. "We didn’t work hard enough. It was a bad night; we just didn’t play well. I expect us to play much better this weekend back at home."

PICK: Dartmouth 5-3 (although if the hockey gods would just look the other way…)

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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