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Dreams And Fulfillment

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When he was a little boy, he watched hockey on TV and dreamed the dreams of so many kids his age.

Could that be me? Could I do that?

For Michael Filardo, though, the challenges of seeing those dreams reach fulfillment extended beyond the usual ones of size, skill, quickness and agility. He faced the additional hurdles of his own body’s limitations and the potential prejudices that went along with them.

Michael Filardo was — and remains — hearing-impaired. Not hearing-impaired at the level of your Aunt Ethel for whom you occasionally have to repeat things. But hearing-impaired at a very significant level, one where reading lips and years upon years of speech therapy are ways of life.

And so, at the age of eight, he dreamed his dreams but figured he could never play hockey because he wouldn’t be able to hear what was going on. However, his father, Andrew Filardo, sensed both his son’s interest and self-conscious fear. He encouraged his son to give it a try.

“I was very nervous at first because I was the only one who was hearing-impaired,” says Michael. “But I worked hard for many years and many, many coaches gave me a chance. It was a good thing they did that. Now they can watch me and say, ‘He’s a really good goalie!’

“Hard of hearing or deaf people, like myself, can do anything. Here I am now at UNH, a Division I school.” He smiles broadly and adds, “I can’t believe I made it!”

Yes, this is a story with a happy ending. Filardo is now a backup goaltender for the New Hampshire Wildcats with hopes of working his way into a more significant role in the future.

And he’ll also backstop the United States team in the Deaf Olympics this upcoming February in Switzerland.

“He’s a fighter,” says his father, Andrew Filardo. “Michael has never really fallen back on the fact that he’s hearing-impaired. He’s always gone along as though everything was normal. Other people would bring it up more than he would.”

Michael wasn’t born with his disability. Although the Filardo family doesn’t know for certain, the likely culprit seems to be a doctor’s overdose of medication to combat a high fever Michael had when he was 16 or 17 months old.

After the overdose, his mother, Linda Filardo, noticed that Michael was suddenly mumbling, something he hadn’t done previously. Tests confirmed the damage to both ears. Although the news was devastating, his parents moved quickly to try to ensure the most normal possible life for their son.

“They wanted me to talk so everyone could understand,” says Michael. “So my parents sent me to speech therapy right after they found out I lost my hearing. I went to speech therapy for 11 years.

“I was supposed to go forever, but I left after 11 years because I was doing fine. I could go on my own.”

Hockey, which seemed an impossibility when he first contemplated playing as an eight-year-old, became a very positive force in his life.

“Sports has really been his saving grace,” says Andrew Filardo. “It helped his confidence. I always told him that he was as good as anybody else and just to try his hardest and have fun. That’s what he did.

“For him, it was the equalizer. It ended up where he wasn’t even equal. He was surpassing everybody.

“I think his hearing impairment actually helped his reflexes. They say that if you have an impairment in one reflex, your other reflexes get sharper. Michael always had uncanny hand-eye reflexes. Even his coaches would say that. I attributed that, in part, to his hearing impairment.”

While no one ever questioned his reflexes, there would be obvious concerns about his ability to hear the whistle or his teammates.

“Most of the time, I wear a hearing aid in the game,” says Michael. “Sometimes I don’t because sometimes the noise distracts me and I can’t concentrate. I feel more comfortable without the hearing aid, but I usually wear it.

“If I cover the puck, I can hear the whistle very little, but I will know the game stopped because everyone else has stopped. If they keep going, then I keep working the puck.

“Or if I go behind the net to play the puck for my defensemen and I’ve got to find an open space so I can pass the puck to my teammate, I will know that the game has stopped because everybody has slowed down.

“Sometimes they could fake, so I have to be very careful and watch the referee, but most of the time I hear the whistle.”

Over his career, these concerns about Michael’s ability to communicate with his teammates and coaches may have denied him some opportunities.

“There were times during his hockey career that I felt he maybe got the short end of the stick only because some people were just not willing to take the chance,” says Andrew Filardo. “When you’re beyond recreational hockey and you’re into serious travel and getting on junior and select teams, there are a lot of kids that are good.

“Then if you’re good, but the other guy is good, too, maybe there’s something about you that they’re not sure of. Why take the chance? There were times that I thought that might have happened with Michael, but I could be wrong because there were only a few times.”

Ironically, Michael’s greatest disappointment came not from an experience with a hearing team, but rather with the USA Hockey hearing-impaired team preparing for the 1995 Deaf Olympics.

“My father was reading the USA Hockey magazine and there was something about a training camp for the Deaf Olympics,” recalls Michael. “My father looked at me and said, ‘Hey, Mike, I didn’t know they had deaf hockey.’

“I didn’t know anything about deaf hockey either. All I knew about was just hearing hockey. I feel like I’m from the hearing community rather than the deaf community. I’ve grown up in the hearing world.”

The father and son packed their bags and headed to Lake Placid. There, Michael would be an outsider of sorts.

“I felt so weird because I wasn’t used to being with deaf players,” he says. “They were signing. No voice, nothing. I didn’t know what to say.

“I didn’t know how to sign. I knew the sign alphabet, but that’s all.”

Michael may not have known how to sign, but he did know how to play between the pipes. Getting over the awkwardness of being thrust into a group that seemed to know each other but not him, he played his way onto the team.

He signed the contract to represent his country and, while the rest of the team flew to Finland, he headed home to get his next month’s worth of schoolwork and a passport.

When he and his father returned to the house with passport in hand, however, one look at Michael’s mother told them something was wrong.

She’d received a gut-wrenching phone call. The Olympic Committee had ruled that the rosters had been frozen as of one year earlier and Michael could not play on the team that would go on to win the gold medal.

“I was very disappointed,” says Michael, “but I never gave up. I never give up.”

He returned to his junior team, New York Applecore, and one year later backstopped them to the US. National Jr. B Championship. In the title game, Applecore faced the Minneapolis Kodiaks, the same team that had denied them in the finals the previous year. This time, they came out on top, 6-4.

“The other team played very well, but I made a lot of good saves,” says Michael. “I knew we would win, but it was still like a dream.

“I remember after the game, everybody came over and said to me, ‘You’re the greatest goalie that I’ve ever seen play!’ That was the best part. That made me feel really happy.”

Michael had been the first hearing-impaired hockey player to play for Applecore and would eventually earn that same distinction at UNH.

The road to Durham, New Hampshire, however, had a few more potholes. In the fall of 1997, after failing to attract any D-I attention, Michael turned down offers from D-III schools and instead enrolled in nearby Nassau Community College.

The school played only club hockey at a low level, so Michael concentrated on his studies, finished his tenure with Applecore and then just practiced two or three evenings a week at midnight.

Although the dream of playing Division I hockey seemed to be fading, the 1999 Deaf Olympics still represented a chance to right the wrongs that had occurred in that venue four years earlier.

Michael headed to Chicago, where the Stan Mikita School for the Hearing Impaired was serving as the tryout grounds for the USA Hockey Olympic team. There he renewed his acquaintance with UNH assistant coach David Lassonde, who doubles as the team’s goaltending instructor. Lassonde had worked with Mikita’s school for seven years running and was familiar with Michael’s abilities.

This time, Michael’s interest and UNH’s needs made for a good match. The Wildcats would be featuring a potentially great one-two punch in the nets with senior Sean Matile and sophomore Ty Conklin, but the depth chart stopped there. In the fall, open tryouts on campus would have to provide a third goaltender.

Michael Filardo, though, represented a solution to UNH’s problem.

“The thing that really made me believe that he could fill that void for us was this past year we kept 25 guys around for an extra three days once the [Mikita] school ended to further evaluate them for the [Olympic] team,” says Lassonde. “We had an exhibition game against a number of ex-college hockey players. These kids haven’t lost their touch and they really peppered them.

“And Michael did a wonderful job. I said to myself that if he could hold his own against these guys, he would be a more than adequate third goalie for us.”

Once questions were answered about Michael’s eligibility and admissibility — as well as whether or not the university provided services for hearing-impaired students — the agreement was struck.

Four years earlier, the Olympic team had dashed his dreams. This time, Michael Filardo had hit pay dirt.

Twice.

He would be representing his country in the 1999 Deaf Olympics. And he would be playing Division I hockey for UNH this season.

Not a bad result for one tryout.

As a result, this fall you might see Michael wearing either UNH regalia or his red-white-and-blue Team USA jacket.

“I love that jacket,” he says with a smile. “I’m a USA citizen and a representative of Team USA.

“But I also feel proud that I am part of UNH hockey.”

Michael has opened the eyes of some doubters already this season.

“A lot of the kids have been very impressed with him,” says Lassonde. “They probably felt going in that he was a hearing-impaired kid who wasn’t very good. But he’s done more than hold his own and has earned the respect of his teammates because he’s a good kid and because of his ability.

“He’s very competitive. He wants to learn and get better. He’s very coachable. He’s a gamer.”

As the season has progressed, Michael has made strides as he has once again faced top-notch shooters after taking last year’s sabbatical from serious game competition.

“As he’s become more and more accustomed to the speed of the game,” says Lassonde, “whether it’s the shots or the playmaking that occurs in tight around the net, the rust is coming off, leaving the abilities he has possessed in the past.”

After Matile graduates this year, it won’t necessarily be any easier for Michael to move up on the depth chart. Matt Carney will be returning from a year with Des Moines in the United States Hockey League.

“Anything is possible,” says Lassonde. “Obviously, this year it’ll be difficult for him to crack our number-one or -two spots. Next season, with a year of quality practice time under his belt, you can never say never.”

Michael Filardo may be number three now, but he has a foot in the door.

And that may be all he needs.

This Week in the WCHA: November 20, 1998

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Have the first few weeks of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association schedule just been a little bit of a tease? Some big matchups, but always pointing to this weekend in November when No. 1 North Dakota faces No. 3 Colorado College in a struggle for control of the conference?

If so, it sure was worth it. This is it: Speed vs. speed. Scoring vs. scoring. What else could you ask for in a series? Call it a hunch, but I think there’s going to be some good hockey in Grand Forks this weekend.

No. 3 Colorado College (7-1, 7-1 WCHA) at North Dakota (5-0-1, 3-0-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, N.D.

Speed vs. speed? Sure. Scoring vs. scoring? Yup. Injury vs. injury? Yikes.

Colorado College lost junior left winger Toby Petersen until at least January when he suffered a fractured fibula just above his right ankle in last Friday’s win over Denver. He had successful surgery Saturday morning, but it’s too early to tell exactly when he’s going to be able to get back.

Add that to the loss of K.J. Voorhees and the problem gets magnified.

"It really starts having an effect," CC coach Don Lucia said. "There’s two guys that were both going to be 20-goal scorers for us and you take them out of the lineup. We’re not as deep as North Dakota, not scoring-wise. We’ve got players that can play, but we can’t bring in guys that can score. It is having an effect on us right now, but there’s not a whole lot we can do."

But North Dakota received some bad news itself this week, when it was learned that leading scorer David Hoogsteen will be out three to six weeks after he fractured his fibula in Saturday’s win over Minnesota. Hoogsteen’s injury, however, will not require surgery.

"He’s a big loss," Fighting Sioux coach Dean Blais told the Grand Forks Herald. "He’s a captain and a leader and we’ll miss him as much for his off-ice contributions as on the ice."

Want further similarities? Each team had a bit of a setback last weekend. The Tigers were shelled by Denver, 6-0 Saturday night while Minnesota came back from a three-goal third period deficit to tie North Dakota, 4-4 last Friday.

Where’s the difference between these two teams, you may ask? Lucia said it’s in the depth. Having just Brian Swanson and Darren Clark scoring probably isn’t going to be enough against the Sioux.

"If we’re going to rely on Brian and Darren to do it all for us, it’s not going to happen because North Dakota’s deep enough where they can shut down our top line," Lucia said. "The other guys are going to have to come through and score for us."

Another thing to look for is the ice surface, not to mention the atmosphere, at Ralph Engelstad Arena. CC had to adjust to the smaller rink last Saturday against Denver, and you saw what happened then.

To counter that, the Tigers have practiced this week on a smaller rink than at the World Arena, which has an Olympic-sized sheet. Engelstad’s rink is listed as 200’x85′.

"We’re going to have to hold them up a little bit and not let them get up on our defense," Lucia said. "They play such a pressure system, they keep coming at you, just waiting for you to make a mistake.

"The other thing that’s going to be really important is we have to take care of the puck. You absolutely can not throw the puck away against North Dakota or it’s going to be in your net about two seconds later."

That’s a lot of concerns going into a series. But there’s more:

"We can’t get into a shootout this weekend. We don’t have the offensive firepower that North Dakota does," Lucia said. "What makes it hard to play North Dakota is they’re four lines deep and (goaltender Karl) Goehring’s so darn good. He’s kind of the X-factor.

"Playing well defensively and getting good goaltending is going to be the most important thing for us this weekend. We can’t get into a shootout because we’re not going to score that many. It’s one of those things where you hope you can get three on Goehring and hope we play well enough defensively that that’s enough."

Everything seems to be firing for North Dakota. While the injury to Hoogsteen has a negative impact on the team, Blais is confident someone will fill the role.

"We’ve got good depth, and we’ll be able to replace David with another player," Blais said. "But you don’t easily replace his level of play."

Looking for a way to sum up this series? Ask Lucia:

"We just need to try to get in there and get some points this weekend. That’s the big goal," he said. "North Dakota’s not going to lose very many games this year, they’re just too good. I think they’re the best team in the country and Engelstad Arena may be the most difficult place in the country to play."

Picks: You get the feeling that this is going to be one of those series decided by the third and fourth lines, because each team’s top lines are solid. UND seems to have the advantage as you reach deeper into their lineup. Plus, Goehring may be that X-factor in the series. But don’t bet against CC, even without Petersen. Brian Swanson will find out and make you pay. UND 4-1, CC 3-2

Wisconsin (4-4-1, 4-3-1 WCHA) at No. 10 Denver (6-2, 4-2 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 MT, Denver Coliseum, Denver

Denver averages 4.67 goals per game. Wisconsin hasn’t scored more than three goals in any of their nine games this season.

Wisconsin gives up 1.87 goals per game. Denver gives up 3.17.

Sounds like a good series in the making.

Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer has come up with some interesting ways to improve his team’s scoring:

"We’re still struggling scoring goals," Sauer told reporters at his weekly press conference, "and if anybody has any suggestions on how to do it, I’ll take them and use them."

Changes in practice may be the cure.

"A normal week of practice is spending a lot of time on defense," Sauer said. "This week, we’re going to throw out the defense — we’re playing well defensively — now we’re going to try to score some goals this week. The goaltenders are going to have a real fun week at practice. There’ll be a lot of shots on them."

Creative idea No. 2:

"The interesting thing to me is the kids stand around before practice and before games and they tape their sticks and they bend their sticks and they get the torches out," Sauer lamented. "When it’s said and done, some of them don’t even get a shot on goal. Maybe we’ll just take the sticks away and let them use brooms or something."

Here’s an idea: Find a way to clone Steve Reinprecht and put five of him on the ice. Since he finally got in the goal column against Duluth two weekends ago, the Badgers are 3-0-1. In that time, Reinprecht has four goals.

Denver has been finding a good share of success on the power play recently, scoring with the man advantage in seven straight games. They’ve scored two or more power-play goals in each of the last five games.

But Wisconsin is stingy when shorthanded. They lead the league with an 89.1 kill percentage, including 91.7 percent on the road.

The Pioneers certainly have quite a bit to build off after their 6-0 victory over Colorado College last Saturday. The six goals is the most the team has scored all year. It was also Stephen Wagner’s second career shutout.

Picks: If you just take this on averages, one game should be a blowout in favor of Denver and the other a close one for Wisconsin. I’m in no mood to argue with averages. DU 5-1, UW 3-2

Minnesota (5-5-2, 4-4-2 WCHA) at Alaska-Anchorage (2-7-1, 1-4-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 AT, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

The last time Minnesota ventured into Sullivan Arena, the Gophers came up empty. As in swept by the Seawolves. As in the only sweep Alaska-Anchorage could complete last season.

Is that going to be with the Gophers this weekend? You don’t need to ask UAA coach Dean Talafous twice.

"The only advantage that’s going to be is to Minnesota, because they’re probably still upset and they have revenge on their minds," he said. "It doesn’t do us a bit of good at all because it’s a new Minnesota team and it’s a new Seawolf team and it’s going to be a real battle."

Minnesota had better get enough of the WCHA this weekend, because the Gophers won’t see another league opponent until Jan. 9 when they go to Denver. The city of Minneapolis doesn’t see WCHA action until Jan. 29.

Gopher senior captain Wyatt Smith reached 50 goals for his career last weekend against North Dakota, but nonetheless, maybe November just isn’t the Gophers’ month. They are 2-13-1 in their last 16 games in the 11th month of the year.

The concern for Anchorage is the power play. They are 1 for 40 on the season and 0 of 15 in the WCHA. Talafous said he went to some extreme measures to shore it up.

"We sent an e-mail to Jaromir Jagr, see if he wanted to just play for a weekend, but I guess Pittsburgh’s playing this weekend," he said.

All jokes aside, the team isn’t really too preoccupied with problems on the power play.

"We’re not overly concerned. We’re just trying to find guys that have a knack, that can make plays at this level on the power play and try to put some groups together," Talafous said. "Hopefully it’ll start to click this weekend. If it doesn’t we just have to keep working. One day we hope we’ll find that magic and we start putting the puck away."

Picks: Will that magic appear this weekend? Probably not. Will Minnesota pull out of their funk? Maybe. Am I finally going to give you the picks? UM 3-1, UAA 4-3

Minnesota-Duluth (1-6-1, 0-5-1 WCHA) vs. St. Cloud State (3-5, 2-4 WCHA) Friday, 7:35 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn. Saturday, 7:05 CT, Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Duluth, Minn.

Is there a goaltender in the house? If so, either one of these teams could use your services. Inquire within.

The Huskies outshot Michigan Tech 33-25 last Friday and 28-23 last Saturday, but still lost both games at home.

Duluth split a road non-conference series with Providence, but is still searching for its first WCHA win of the season.

But that win was a costly one for the Bulldogs. Wing Curtis Bois broke his collarbone and is out indefinitely.

This home-and-home series may get interesting, especially when looking at the goaltending situation. UMD has Brant Nicklin, who has started 66 straight league games. The junior has a 2.65 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Not too bad, unless you consider the Bulldogs offense, which has allowed opposing teams a 0.99 GAA and a .962 save percentage.

Neither Scott Meyer nor Gert Prohaska have stepped forward to take the No. 1 spot in nets for the Huskies. Meyer took both losses last weekend and now has a 3.00 GAA.

Picks: If SCSU can get some defense and goaltending this weekend, holding down the Bois-less UMD offense shouldn’t be too much of a problem. SCSU 3-1, 4-2

Next Week’s Games

Friday, Nov. 27 Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota-Duluth North Dakota at St. Cloud State Air Force at Colorado College Michigan at Minnesota (College Hockey Showcase) Michigan State at Wisconsin (College Hockey Showcase)

Saturday, Nov. 28 Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota-Duluth North Dakota at St. Cloud State UMass-Amherst at Colorado College

Sunday, Nov. 29 Michigan at Wisconsin (College Hockey Showcase) Michigan State at Minnesota (College Hockey Showcase)

This Week in the CCHA: November 20, 1998

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The human skull can be shattered by an impact at 7-10 kilometers per hour.

When stationary, however, it can apparently survive blows from faster-moving objects with such little consequence as a bump, loss of blood, and a couple of staples to the scalp.

It’s estimated that head injuries occur with the frequency of 610 per 100,000 people, most from automobile accidents.

Statistics on how many of those injuries are incurred when someone sustains a blow to his or her naked head from a hockey puck are not available.

It can take up to 24 hours for the severity of a head injury to become apparent, and one can cause loss of consciousness or immediate memory, severe headache, lethargy, confusion, seizures, vision problems.

And when the scalp is cut, it bleeds. A lot.

Interestingly, headaches resulting from a severe blow to the head are caused in large part by the same mechanism that causes headaches from caffeine withdrawal. The culprit behind both is adenosine, which is released from body cells after tissue damage occurs, causing pain and vascular dilation.

And here’s something to keep in mind (no pun intended): it’s normal for the area around a tetanus shot to become swollen, red, and itchy. These symptoms can last for up to five days.

In short: when you go to a hockey game, Gentle Reader, please keep your eye on the puck.

And now back to our regularly scheduled preview…

Last weekend saw the CCHA rearrange itself a bit, and now that everyone has played at least seven games, a much clearer hierarchy has been established.

Sitting alone at the top of the league with 13 points is No. 4 Notre Dame. The Irish beat Bowling Green 6-2 and tied No. 8 Michigan 2-2. This week, the Irish host Western Michigan Friday, head down to Yost for a Saturday rematch, then go up to Grand Rapids to play Ferris State Tuesday.

No. 5 Michigan State is in second place in the league with 12 points. The Spartans lost 3-2 to Ohio State before beating up on Miami 5-0. Michigan State heads to Michigan Friday and Western Michigan Saturday.

No. 8 Michigan has third place with 11 points, beating Alaska-Fairbanks 6-3 Friday before tying with Notre Dame Saturday. The Wolverines host the Spartans and the Irish this weekend.

With 10 points, No. 9 Northern Michigan is fourth in the league. The Wildcats beat Miami 4-3 before losing to Ohio State 4-2. This week, Northern Michigan hosts Ferris State for two games.

After tying Lake Superior 1-1 and losing to the Lakers 3-1, Ferris State drops to fifth place with nine points. The Bulldogs head to Marquette for two games against Northern this weekend before a Tuesday night game with Notre Dame in Grand Rapids.

Ohio State doubled its league point total with wins over Michigan State and Northern Michigan. The Buckeyes possess eight points and climb to sixth place. This weekend, they share a home-home series with Miami, with "home" being Columbus Friday.

With seven points, Bowling Green is in seventh place. The Falcons lost 6-2 to Notre Dame and 6-5 to Alaska-Fairbanks. Bowling Green is idle this week.

Western Michigan and Alaska-Fairbanks are tied for eighth with six points each. The Broncos are back in action this week after taking last weekend off, traveling to Notre Dame and hosting Michigan State.

The Nanooks return to Fairbanks with two points from their road trip, and will sit this weekend out.

Tied for tenth place with four points each are Lake Superior and Miami. The Lakers notched their first CCHA win of the season and took three points from Ferris State last weekend, and will spend this weekend idle.

Miami lost to Northern Michigan and Michigan State last weekend. The RedHawks have that home-home series with Ohio State this weekend.

Last week’s record in picks: 6-4 Overall record in picks: 36-20

No. 5 Michigan State (6-1-2, 5-1-2 CCHA) at No. 8 Michigan (6-2-1, 5-1-1 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI No. 4 Notre Dame (8-1-2, 6-1-1 CCHA) at No. 8 Michigan (6-2-1, 5-1-1 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

The Wolverines returned to action after a weekend off by beating Alaska-Fairbanks 6-3.

"Alaska put up a pretty good fight," says Michigan head coach Red Berenson.

A good fight–perhaps a little like a fish on a line. With the win, the Wolverines swept the Nanooks for the season and continued their dominance in the all-time series. UAF has never beaten Michigan.

The six goals tied Michigan’s best this season, and that from a team which has scored two goals or fewer five out of nine games. "That was our best offensive production in a while," says the coach.

"We don’t know who our offense is," says Berenson. "We’ve got four sophomore forwards who are struggling."

Berenson adds that he expects this sophomore class to step up and take on leadership responsibilities. "It’s their role. They were a high-profile rookie class."

Stepping up against Fairbanks was sophomore Josh Langfeld, who tallied his first collegiate hat trick, including the game-winning goal.

Rookie Mike Comrie isn’t waiting for the sophomore class to wake up. Comrie leads the team in scoring (5-9–14) with three goals on the power play. He’s also tied with Dave Huntzicker for the team’s highest plus/minus ratio with plus-6.

Comrie has a four-game scoring streak on the line going into this weekend, and he’s scored in seven of Michigan’s last nine games.

While the Wolverines are having difficulty finding offense, Berenson says that the strength of this Michigan team is its defense. "[Bubba] Berenzweig and Huntzicker are playing really well."

Another plus for Michigan has been the play between the pipes of rookie Josh Blackburn.

"I’d say Josh has been pretty consistent," says Berenson. "For a freshman he’s playing pretty well. He’s had two games out of the eight that have been weak, but for the most part it’s been pretty good."

Blackburn is 6-1-1 with a 2.27 GAA and overall save percentage of .898. Of his 17 goals against this season, nine were allowed in just two games. Take away those two "weak" games and his GAA is 1.42.

In addition to a good defensive effort, the Wolverine special teams are beginning to click. Last weekend, Michigan’s power play went 6 for 14. In conference play, the Wolverines have allowed just four goals in 47 chances for a penalty kill of 91.5 percent.

The First Taste of the Best Rivalry in CCHA Play: Michigan State vs. Michigan

"It’s a shame that it’s sort of overshadowed by the Ohio State football game," says Berenson.

Football? Never heard of it.

This is the 225th meeting between these intrastate rivals. Michigan holds the lead in the all-time series 118-100-6, but the Spartans owned the Wolverines last season, taking four games (the regular-season series and the Great Lakes Invitational).

The four-game Spartan win streak is the longest since the Wolverines dropped six consecutive games from Dec. 9, 1988 to Dec. 10, 1989.

After experiencing their first loss of the season to Ohio State last weekend, the Spartans thumped Miami 5-0, earning sophomore goaltender Joe Blackburn–no, they’re not related–his first collegiate shutout.

Mike York finally has a goal in conference play. The momentous score came at 2:33 of the second period against Miami, and it was–appropriately enough–unassisted. York paces the Spartans with one goal and 11 assists in CCHA play, tying him for fifth in league scoring with Notre Dame’s Aniket Dhadphale.

York’s linemate Bryan Adams (6-3–9) and Shawn Horcoff (4-4–8) round out the top three scorers for the Spartans.

While the Michigan State offense isn’t exactly explosive, the defense is nearly impenetrable. The Spartans are outshooting their opponents more than two-to-one (34.7-17.2), and they’ve outscored opponents 27-12. Led by Chris Bogas and Mike Weaver, this is one of the most intimidating Ds in the league.

Joe Blackburn has been more than just solid for the Spartans this season–he’s been sterling. Blackburn has allowed no more than one goal against every team he’s faced except for Ohio State. The Buckeyes are the only team that’s been able to solve him, scoring four (in a tie) and three (in a win).

In nearly 500 minutes of play, Blackburn has the lowest league GAA–1.47–so far this season. His league save percentage is .913.

And when considering how the Wolverines and the Spartans may match up, consider this: The Spartans are shutting down opponents like no one else in the league, having allowed more than 20 shots in just three games.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan

The Wolverines and the Irish skated to a 2-2 tie last weekend, and Berenson was happy about the way his team played the game. "In terms of overall work ethic, sticking to the game plan, good goalkeeping, our penalty killing had to play well–it was a good game."

The Wolverines hold a 49-33-3 edge in this all-time series. In the last six games between the Irish and the Wolverines, Notre Dame won once in regulation, Michigan won twice in regulation, Michigan one twice in overtime, and there was one tie.

In those six games, Michigan has outscored Notre Dame by a 16-14 margin.

This is going to be a good one.

Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin says that this last meeting was "a little bit of a chess match, with each team feeling the other out in the first period."

But, he adds, "It wasn’t trapping and boring hockey at all."

Rookie David Inman’s fifth goal of the year was the first for Notre Dame at 10:05 of the opening stanza, but Dave Huntzicker answered on the Wolverine power play one minute later.

Mark Kosick made it 2-1 for Michigan on the power play in the second, and Ben Simon scored his sixth goal of the season just 26 seconds into the third.

For the Wolverines, Blackburn made a career-high 34 saves, while Notre Dame’s Forrest Karr faced just 22 shots in the 65-minute match.

"We have been playing well defensively," says Poulin, whose Irish have outscored opponents 43-24 in overall play. Until the return of Nathan Borega last weekend, Notre Dame had been playing without at least one defender since the middle of last season.

There is no secret to the Irish success this season. The top Notre Dame line of Ben Simon (5-9–14), Brian Urick (6-7-13), and Aniket Dhadphale (6-6–12) is the most dominant in CCHA play. Simon is tied for second in scoring with Northern Michigan’s Buddy Smith. Urick is third in the league, and Dhadphale is fourth.

Another key to Notre Dame’s success is its forceful power play. Nearly half (19 goals) of Notre Dame’s overall scoring has come on the power play. The league-leading Irish have scored 13 power-play goals on 45 conference attempts, and are converting at a rate of nearly 30 percent–ten percent more than the CCHA’s number-two power play, which just happens to be Michigan.

A powerful defense, an explosive offense, and Forrest Karr. In nearly 500 minutes of league play, Karr’s GAA is 1.86, and his save percentage is .912.

Picks

The Spartans last won in Yost on Oct. 25 of last year, a 4-2 win over Michigan, but the last game played by Michigan State in Yost was a 4-3 overtime loss to Ohio State in the NCAA tournament.

During that game, Spartan fans had to endure the spectacle of Michigan fans actually rooting for Ohio State.

Berenson says that in recent years, these two teams have matched well against each other. "The teams should be better matched this year than they were last year. I think that makes a rivalry better. For some years, this team or the other was really better, but now we’re more evenly matched."

Berenson says that the Wolverines played their best game of the season in the 2-2 tie with Notre Dame, and that "it’ll be a good measuring stick to play them again so quickly."

The Spartans should extend their streak against the Wolverines to five games.

And, remember, where Notre Dame’s concerned, this girl reporter is a convert.

Michigan State over Michigan 4-1; Notre Dame over Michigan 3-2

Ferris State (5-3-2, 4-3-1 CCHA) at No. 9 Northern Michigan (9-3-0, 5-3-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI

Friday the 13th wasn’t just freaky for top-ten teams. Consider what happened to Ferris State.

The Bulldogs tied the Lakers 1-1 Friday, and helped the Lakers earn their first win of the season Saturday–in Big Rapids.

"We’ve been playing really well, so we were ready for a glitch," says Ferris State assistant coach Drew Famulak. "But I give the Lakers high marks. They competed hard, and they were ready."

The Bulldogs allowed three first-period goals in the second game–the Laker win–and if it weren’t for Geoff Bennetts’ goal at 19:32 of the third in the tie, Ferris would have lost all four points on the weekend.

And to add insult to injury, it’s reported that Lake Superior called to measure Ferris goaltender Vince Owen’s glove before the start of the second game.

Owen has looked solid for Ferris State, with a .914 league save percentage and a 2.39 GAA.

A trio of players has seven points for the Bulldogs. Joel Irwin (3-4–7), Kevin Swider (3-4– 7), and Bennetts (6-1–7) are currently tied for 20th with a bunch of other folks in CCHA scoring. Rob Kozak (2-4–6) and Brian McCullough (3-2–5) are also among the lead scorers for Ferris State.

Famulak says that the Bulldogs are well aware that they’re going into one of the toughest arenas in college hockey, to play one of the hardest-working teams in the league.

"They’re tenacious, they’re physical, and they’re fast," says Famulak of Northern Michigan.

Like virtually every other top-ten team, the Wildcats lost points to an unranked opponent last weekend, in the form of a 4-2 loss to Ohio State.

Head coach Rick Comley wasn’t too surprised after the game in Columbus. "We played well for two periods and then they kind of shut us down.

"They battled very hard, and they’ve really been beat up until now. We were competitive Saturday. I think the difference was goaltending. Maund is very good, and the two teams matched up very well."

The loss to Ohio State notwithstanding, Northern Michigan has been playing some of the best hockey in the country. With 12 goals and three assists in conference play, J.P. Vigier is by far the league’s most prolific goal-scorer. His linemate, Buddy Smith, has two goals and 12 assists, and is second in league scoring.

The third man on that line, Roger Trudeau, has four goals and four assists.

The physical, fast Wildcats have a pair of fine goaltenders in net. Dan Ragusett has a league GAA of 2.00 and a .919 save percentage. Until the loss to Ohio State, the goalie with the hot glove hand was undefeated.

Duane Hoey has shared time with Ragusett in net. Hoey’s league GAA is 3.51, and his save percentage is .863.

Picks

The Wildcats have lead this series by a 29-9-1 margin, including a 19-4-0 advantage in games played at Lakeview Arena. However, the ‘Cats and ‘Dogs have split their contests in 1990s (5-5-0) with Ferris capturing the season series last year by a 2-1-0 margin.

Comley says that Ferris State is "probably the most mature team in the league." In fact, this is a meeting between the league’s two most mature teams, and the play should reflect that.

Northern Michigan 4-2, 4-3

Western Michigan (1-3-4, 1-3-4 CCHA) at No. 4 Notre Dame (8-1-2, 6-1-1 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Joyce Center, South Bend, IN No. 5 Michigan State (6-1-2, 5-1-2 CCHA) at Western Michigan (1-3-4, 1-3-4 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Ice Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

Western Michigan head coach Bill Wilkinson says that there are just a few things the Broncos are doing differently to make them competitive this season.

"We’re not taking as many penalties as we did last year. And our defense is a little bit more mobile than last year, a little bit more experienced.

"Offensively, we’re physical and aggressive–but without the penalties."

The Broncos are being outscored 16-26 by opponents, but when they do have some success–as they have against the two ranked opponents they meet this weekend–it’s because of one simple plan.

"Circle the wagons around Matt Barnes," says Wilkinson. "That’s our team strategy.

"He’s playing solid, and he played well last year but maybe didn’t get the defensive support in front of him. In general, we’re clearing pucks better for him."

Senior Matt Barnes has always been a well-respected goaltender, and he’s capable of spectacular play. This season, his league GAA is 2.46, and his save percentage is .913.

On the other side of the puck, David Gove (3-3–6) and Jason Redenius (3-2–5) lead the Broncos in scoring.

Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan

The Broncos lead this all-time series 26-12-2 (15-6-1 since the Irish rejoined the CCHA in 1992-93), but Notre Dame owns a 4-3-1 edge in the last eight games.

This is the rubber match of the season series, as the teams are 1-1 this year. The Irish spanked the Broncos 7-1 on Oct. 10 in the Joyce Center, a game in which Brian Urick and David Inman scored two goals apiece.

But the Broncos made Notre Dame pay with the first Irish loss of the season on Oct. 24. Although Notre Dame outshot Western Michigan 32-22, the Broncos won 2-1 on goals by Chuck Mindel and Steve Rymsha.

The Irish are 1-12-0 in Lawson. Good thing this ones in the Joyce.

Michigan State vs. Western Michigan

The Spartans lead the competition 47-19-4, including a 20-13-0 lead in Lawson Arena. The Spartans and Broncos tied 1-1 on Oct. 16, a game in which Barnes made 36 saves.

Michigan State took the series 2-0-1 last season, and is 4-0-2 in the last six meetings between the two teams. In the past six games between the Spartans and the Broncos, Michigan State has held Western to just seven goals.

Trivia: this game pits the seventh-best conference power play (Michigan State) against the seventh-best conference penalty kill (Western Michigan).

Picks

Wilkinson is well aware that Notre Dame possesses the top line in the league, and one of the best players in Ben Simon. "They’re certainly very dangerous, and he’s a very capable with the puck.

"We played them pretty good here, when we circled the wagons around Barnes."

Wilkinson doesn’t put too much stock in tying Michigan State early. "When we played MSU, they only had one game under their belts."

Western Michigan’s fortunes this weekend depend on how well they can protect their own end. Both of these ranked teams like to shoot the puck, and often.

On a completely unrelated topic, this note is too good to pass up: Spartan rookie Joe Goodenow, who had MSU’s only goal against WMU in the Oct. 16, is an avid horseman and member of the MSU rodeo club. It’s safe to say he’s no stranger to Broncos.

Let the groaning begin.

Notre Dame over Western Michigan 4-2; Michigan State over Western Michigan 4-1

Miami (2-8-2, 1-7-2 CCHA) vs. Ohio State (3-6-2, 3-3-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., OSU Ice Rink, Columbus, OH Saturday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH

Slumping? Who’s slumping?

After a very slow start to the season, the Buckeyes did everything right in two games against ranked opponents last weekend, handing Michigan State a 3-2 loss–the first of the Spartan season–before beating Northern Michigan 4-2, the fourth consecutive Buckeye win over the Wildcats.

But don’t look for head coach John Markell or his players to gloat.

"We have to build on what we did right this weekend," says Markell. "As coaches, we’re discovering that how we practice is how we play. We have to continue on with the intensity."

Intensity is one thing the Buckeyes had in spades last weekend in two gritty games in the teeny, tiny OSU Ice Rink. Against Michigan State, the intensity led to committing retaliatory penalties that Markell called "troubling."

Against Northern Michigan, however, it led to a focus that allowed Ohio State to put together its first back-to-back wins of the season.

After a dismal start, Ohio State began to turn it around with a solid performance in a 3-1 loss to Michigan State two weeks ago, and 2-2 to Western–the last two games at the end of a nine-game road run.

With a healthy Eric Meloche–the team’s sparkplug–and a healthy Mike McCormick–the rookie forward who will be the team’s surprise–Ohio State was able to put everything together for two solid wins.

Hugo Boisvert (3-5–8) snapped out of his slump for one goal and three assists, earning him USCHO Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Jeff Maund looked like the goaltender who took OSU to the Final Four last year, stopping 59 of 63 shots and earning CCHA Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Maund’s .925 save percentage is the best in league play.

McCormick scored his first collegiate assist against Michigan State, and his first collegiate goal against Northern Michigan–the game-winner–and earned CCHA Rookie of the Week honors.

Shades of February 1998.

With the four points, the Buckeyes leaped from ninth to sixth place in the league, improving their league record to 3-3-2. And the win on Friday the 13th over Michigan State makes Ohio State 5-0 under Markell on Friday the 13th, in any month.

The two teams that OSU defeated last weekend were the two teams that beat Miami. While the Buckeyes delivered Michigan State’s first loss on Friday the 13th, the RedHawks lost 4-3 to Northern Michigan.

And while OSU beat NMU 4-2 Saturday, Michigan State was taking out a little frustration in Goggin, shutting out the ‘Hawks 5-0.

"We played well that first night," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni. "But we’re fighting for confidence.

"The second night, well, they’re a very, very difficult team to penetrate. It was 2-0 with two minutes to go in the second period and they scored two goals and deflated us. We just hung on in the third period. You got that sense that we were just hanging on."

The RedHawks are a young, talented, and injured team. Junior forwards Gregor Krajnc and Dustin Whitecotton, two of the team’s scorers, were both injured when the ‘Hawks visited Alaska-Fairbanks.

Krajnc, fourth on the team in scoring at the time of his injury, suffered a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament during Thursday’s practice skate. He will probably be out for four to six games.

Whitecotton, the team’s top returning scorer from a year ago, was lost Saturday when he broke his left humerus during the first period. He’s out for the season.

Pacing the RedHawks in league scoring are Mark Shalawylo (4-6–10), Alex Kim (4-6–10), and Jason Deskins (4-5–9).

"We have one senior forward and two juniors," says Mazzoleni. "All the rest are freshmen and sophomores. We play four freshmen defensemen."

Ian Olsen has started most games in net for the RedHawks. Olsen’s league GAA is 4.01 and his league save percentage is .870.

Mazzoleni says that the RedHawks play fairly predictably, and the key to turning the team around is confidence.

"In mostly every game this year, we play a very good first period. Then when our opponents find success, that’s when we fall apart. They go back into the locker room after their good second period and lose some of their emotion, and we come out to work and play a good third period.

"That’s the pattern."

Ohio State holds a slight 37-34-6 advantage over Miami, but the RedHawks are 19-3-3 against the Buckeyes in the last 25 games. OSU won the last two meetings between the teams last season, both at the OSU Ice Rink.

Ohio State took the season series 2-1-0 last year, the first time the Buckeyes beat the RedHawks in a season series since the 1990-91 season.

It was the Nov. 8 come-from-behind 5-4 win over Miami to which current Ohio State players often point as the moment last season when the Buckeyes first believed in themselves.

"When they beat us," says Mazzoleni, "it was like they’d won the Stanley Cup.

"They’re beyond that now. They know they’re a good team, and they don’t need to prove themselves to us."

Picks

Mazzoleni says he’s well aware of what Ohio State can do, but his focus this week is completely in-house.

"I don’t want to be disrespectful, but we have enough to concern ourselves," says Mazzoleni. "We have to sail our own ship. There’s a lot we have to do ourselves, so that we won’t necessarily be thinking about Ohio State."

John Markell doesn’t talk like a coach with nothing to prove, and at 3-3-2 in league play, the preseason media darlings probably feel like they do.

"This is what makes the CCHA so interesting," says Markell, "a weekend like this with Miami. Miami, [which] doesn’t have many wins, can step up and beat you.

"We know the Miamis of the past have been good and they’re very well-coached. Traditionally, they’ve been a lot better than we have."

There’s no strutting in Columbus after beating two top-ten teams. "While you’re patting yourselves on the back," says Markell, "other teams are plotting to beat you."

Ohio State 4-2, 4-3

No. 4 Notre Dame vs. Ferris State Tuesday, November 24, 7 p.m., Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI

Notre Dame took the first meeting between these two teams this season, a 5-3 decision in Big Rapids.

Five different Irish players scored the five goals, while Geoff Bennetts has two of the three Bulldog goals.

Notre Dame went two-for-four on the power play, while Ferris State went one-for-five.

Forrest Karr made 25 saves for the Irish. Vince Owen saved 18 of 23 shots for Ferris State.

Pick: Notre Dame 5-3

This Week in the MAAC: November 20, 1998

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After three weekends of Metro Atlantic play, it’s clear there are two major surprises in the conference.

The first is Canisius, predicted to finish second in the MAAC preseason poll. Despite the hype, the Ice Griffins are on an 0-7-1 skid and find themselves in sixth place.

The second is Iona. The freshman-laden Gaels, a runaway pick to finish last in the preseason poll, have won their last four games and sit alone in fifth in the MAAC, just three points behind first-place Holy Cross.

The two teams’ paths crossed last weekend, when Iona traveled to Buffalo for a weekend set. Friday night was a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong for the Griffs so far this season, as a disputed goal by Iona forward Adam Bouchard at 15:28 of the third lifted the Gaels to a 3-2 victory.

Despite Canisius’ vehement protests that the puck never crossed the line, the referee awarded the goal after conferring with his linesmen and the goal judge, and Iona held on to win.

Saturday, Iona got help from freshman Ryan Carter, who had a hat trick, including the game-winner, in a 6-4 win. Carter is second in the MAAC in scoring with 8-5-13 totals in league games; freshman linemate Rob Kellogg leads the league at 4-10-14.

According to Canisius coach Brian Cavanaugh, whose team has three one-goal losses, a two-goal loss and a tie in its last five games, patience is the watchword.

“Basically, we’ve lost five one-goal games in the MAAC [this season],” he said. “We need to work at playing a complete 60-minute game. We’ve had breakdowns in every area and have to eliminate them in order to get in the win column.”

American International (4-1-1; 4-1-1 MAAC) at Canisius 2-7-1; 0-5-1 MAAC) Friday, 8 pm, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, NY Saturday, 2 pm, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, NY

This is one of the more intriguing matchups of the weekend. Canisius, as has already been discussed, is looking to break out of what is turning into a protracted slump. AIC, on the other hand, is still tough to gauge.

The Yellow Jackets have four wins in the MAAC, two over Fairfield in the season’s opening weekend, and two last week over Sacred Heart. Their only battle with an upper-echelon team came two weeks ago, and they looked less-than-stellar in a loss and tie to UConn.

Friday’s game marks the second-ever meeting between the two schools, AIC took a 4-3 overtime decision in the first meeting in 1992.

Keys to the Games:

Canisius will have to solve AIC’s stingy defense, which has a league-low 1.75 goals-against per game, and superb sophomore goalie Chance Thede, who leads the MAAC in goals-against average (1.72) and save percentage (.941).

Canisius also has to do a better job getting out of the gate. The Griffs have been outscored 15-4 in the opening stanza this year, and have scored the game’s first goal in only two of 10 games.

Picks: The Yellow Jackets ride Thede to a 2-1 victory Friday, but Canisius rebounds to finally end its losing skein with a 4-3 win in the rematch.

Fairfield (0-7-0; 0-5-0 MAAC) at Iona (5-4-0; 4-3-0 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, The Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, NY Iona at Fairfield Saturday, 8 pm, Wonderland of Ice, Fairfield, Conn.

It’s beginning to look like a long season for Fairfield. The Stags are at the bottom of the league in goal production, with five in five league games and 11 in seven games overall, and don’t have a single player among the MAAC’s top 40 scorers. Defensively, the Stags rank last, allowing 6.60 goals per game.

But it’s not time for Fairfield to give up the ship just yet. While Iona is a team capable of giving every team in the league a run for the money, the Gaels also have their down games, evidenced in an embarrassing 6-4 loss to Division II Hobart Sunday afternoon.

Keys to the games:

Fairfield has to come up with a way to stop the freshman line of Rob Kellogg, Ryan Carter, and Erik Nates. Yep, we say this every week, but the stats bear it out: This line has scored 17 of Iona’s 28 MAAC goals and place 1-2-4 in the league in scoring.

Iona goalie Dan Maguire has to prove his senior leadership skills once and for all. Iona coach Frank Bretti has split time between Maguire and sophomore Ben Brady so far, and Maguire, who has looked solid at times and shaky at others, has to step up his game.

Picks: Iona all over Fairfield at home Friday, 9-2. They also take the Saturday game, but the Stags put up a better battle before falling at home, 5-3.

Sacred Heart (0-6-0; 0-6-0 MAAC) at Quinnipiac (6-1-0; 5-1-0 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, East Haven Rink, East Haven, Conn. Quinnipiac at Sacred Heart Saturday, 7:30 pm, Milford Ice Arena, Milford, Conn

Sacred Heart looks to be in a similar position as Fairfield, as thus far the Pioneers have shown a porous defense and have dropped six straight to begin their season.

But the Pioneers look to have a tougher path this weekend in search of their first victory, as they take on an explosive Quinnipiac squad. The second-place Braves come off a weekend in which they fell to their first loss of the season, a tough 2-1 decision at UConn, but responded with an 8-3 shellacking of the Huskies Saturday.

Keys to the games:

Sacred Heart has to find a way to shut down Neil Breen. The freshman sensation is second in the MAAC in league goals with six and in plus/minus at plus-10, and is the type of player who always seems to have a hand in the game’s big plays.

The Pioneers still have yet to come out with a solid 60 minutes of defense, and they’ll be hard-pressed to do so against a team averaging 5.20 goals a game.

Picks: Quinnipiac sweeps, 8-2 and 6-3.

UConn (4-1-1; 4-1-1 MAAC) at Holy Cross (5-1-2; 5-0-1 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, Hart Center, Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross at UConn Saturday, 7:30 pm, UConn Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn.

This one looks to be the weekend’s marquee matchup, as two points separate the Huskies from Holy Cross and the top of the MAAC.

The Crusaders have yet to be really tested in the MAAC, with sweeps over Fairfield and Sacred Heart and a win and a tie with struggling Canisius. UConn, on the other hand has been the tight, feisty team the Huskies were expected to be, and has played a disciplined game all season except for last Saturday’s 8-3 loss to Quinnipiac.

Keys to the games:

If you like hard-nosed, tight-checking, grinding hockey, this is the series for you. Neither of these teams has anyone who would be mistaken for a sniper. Other than the Cross’s Joe Cavanaugh, who has six goals, neither team has a scorer with more than three.

Both teams have solid, dependable junior goalies (Marc Senerchia for UConn and Tom Ormondroyd for HC). Both teams like to hit and generally are sound on defense. This series will come down to the simple matter of who wants it more.

Picks: Holy Cross firmly establishes itself as the best of the MAAC with 5-4 and 3-2 wins.

Upcoming: Thanksgiving week sees a light schedule in the MAAC, but an important one nonetheless. UConn hosts Army on Tuesday, Nov. 24, then heads to Minnesota State-Mankato for a weekend series on the 27th and 28th, and Holy Cross goes to West Point for a clash with Army Friday night.

MAAC teams are 3-5-1 against non-conference foes, but that record drops to 0-3-1 against Division I schools. That is, it’s imperative for the Metro Atlantic to put up a decent performance Thanksgiving week for the sake of the conference’s respectability.

This Week in Hockey East: November 20, 1998

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Maybe there is something about that Friday the 13th hooey after all.

Check out how the USCHO Top 10 fared that night. Playing 10 unranked opponents, the group won only four games. And the Hockey East contingent — Boston College, Maine and New Hampshire — didn’t manage a single victory.

Unlike BC and UNH, Maine saw its bad luck carry over into Saturday. For the second straight night, the Black Bears could muster only one goal against UMass-Amherst. This time it was good for a 1-1 tie, but it isn’t often that over two games a team outshoots another, 89-33, and only comes away with one tie to show for it.

Care to guess who the Player of the Week is?

On an unrelated note, Jack Parker will celebrate his 900th game as a head coach on Tuesday in BU’s game against Harvard. He holds a 578-270-49 record In his first 897.

KOHO Player of the Week: Markus Helanen (G, UMass-Amherst) stopped 87 of 89 Maine shots to lead the Minutemen to a three-point weekend.

Heaton Defensive Player of the Week: Anthony Cappelletti (D, UMass-Lowell) scored the shorthanded game-winner against Army with 54 seconds left.

KOHO Rookie of the Week: Darren Haydar (F, New Hampshire) scored two goals and assisted on another in UNH’s win and tie against BU.

Hockey East Standings

Record in picks last week: 4-6 (1-5 in conference games — a level of incompetence usually reserved for pro wrestling referees)

Season’s record in picks: 31-19, .620 (and falling)

No. 2 Boston College (5-1-1, 3-1-0 HEA) vs.

Boston University (1-5-1, 0-3-1 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA WABU-TV68

Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA WABU-TV68

Harvard (1-3-0, 0-3-0 ECAC) at

Boston University (1-5-1, 0-3-1 HEA)

Tuesday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

Boston College split with Northeastern, losing 5-4 in overtime before rebounding to a 6-3 win.

"It was a typical Hockey East weekend," says coach Jerry York. "Both teams competed very hard and the outcome of the games was decided in the third period. What is unusual is that we split by both winning in the opposing rink.

"Our attitude going in was that it would be a hard, tough series and it certainly was. Nothing surprised us. Northeastern played very well."

In the 6-3 win, the Eagles won all three periods for the first time this year, posting a 2-1 advantage in each frame. In particular, they’ve had their toughest times in the second period. Prior to the Saturday night game, in the middle 20 minutes they’d been outscored, 11-5, and outshot in every contest but one (St. Lawrence in the opening week).

"Certainly we want to play consistently well over 60 minutes," says York. "But the other team has something to do with that. The lapses that we might have are created by good play by Lowell or Notre Dame or Northeastern.

"Our goal, as it is for all coaches, is to be consistent over 60 minutes, but you have to respect the fact that there will be momentum shifts over the game because other teams have good players and other teams are well-coached and they’re looking for 60 minutes also.

"That’s our game plan, but the opposition is going to make some runs also."

Mike Lephart, who has been an important physical contributor on a line with Blake Bellefeuille and Jeff Farkas, missed both Northeastern games with a shoulder injury and remains day-to-day this week.

Lephart’s absence forced some line juggling which resulted in a pairing of Farkas with Brian Gionta and Jeff Giuliano. If that line stays together, it may remind opposing defenders of the highway signs that read, Speed Kills.

"With the special-teams play, they didn’t get a chance to play together a lot of Saturday night, but it’s something that we’ll look at during the week," says York. "We feel that Jeff [Giuliano] is coming along pretty well for a freshman and certainly it helps having Brian and Jeff [Farkas] on his wings."

This week, the Battle for Commonwealth Ave. continues as BC and BU play a home-and-home series. Although it appears a mismatch between teams with mirror-image records (5-1-1 vs. 1-5-1), this rivalry always brings out the best in the two squads.

"They’re our main rival," says York. "It certainly adds a great deal of excitement whenever BU and BC play.

"It’s still early in the season and both teams are trying to find out who should play in certain situations and who should play with whom, but it’ll certainly be a good early test for both of us."

Boston University squeaked out a 2-2 tie against UNH on Friday, largely on the shoulders of goaltender Michel Larocque. New Hampshire outshot the Terriers, 36-16, but "Rocco" showed why he was an All-Hockey East pick last year.

"Our number-one star was Larocque, our number-two star was Larocque and our number-three star was our red line of [Carl] Corazzini, [Albie] O’Connell and [Tommi] Degerman," said BU coach Jack Parker.

Parker also added a touch of humor.

"Considering where we were a couple weeks ago, now my wife can give me back my ties and belts [because now] I won’t hang myself," he said.

One night later, though, it might have been time to hide the ties and belts again. UNH not only defeated the Terriers, 3-1, in their own building, but totally shut down the BU offense for the first two periods.

"I’m embarrassed that we only got five shots and six shots in our own building [in the first two periods]," he said after the loss. "That was the combination of UNH playing great, gritty defense, especially through center ice, and us just absolutely skating in sand.

"We made great strides [on Friday]. To turn around and have the performance we had tonight in the first two periods was very disheartening. We’ll have to take a good hard look at who’s playing where and how much they’re playing.

"My biggest concern is our lack of competitiveness, our lack of jump and go. It’s almost as if we’re waiting for something bad to happen. We have no faith in ourselves right now. You would think that would have turned around with Larocque playing as great as he has lately."

In one way, facing Boston College couldn’t come at a worse time. Facing the consensus top team in the league and number-two team in the country isn’t exactly an elixir for a team playing without confidence.

On the other hand, though, if this rivalry doesn’t get the Terrier competitive juices going, nothing will.

"Usually BC has brought out the best in us," said Parker, "but we’ve got a long way to go to get the best out of us right now."

(For a look at Harvard, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.)

PICKS: BC sweeps BU into a 1-7-1 record, 5-3 and 4-3.

But the Terriers let Parker celebrate his 900th game with a 4-1 win over Harvard.

Northeastern (3-5-0, 1-3-0 HEA) at No. 6 New Hampshire (6-1-1, 3-1-1 HEA)

Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

Cornell (3-0-0, 2-0-0 ECAC) at

Northeastern (3-5-0, 1-3-0 HEA)

Tuesday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

New Hampshire took three out of four points from BU, settling for a Friday night, kiss-your-sister 2-2 tie after outshooting the Terriers, 36-16, but then finishing off the weekend with an impressive 3-1 win. With upsets flying all across the nation, the Wildcats moved up to sixth in the polls.

"It was a great weekend for us," said coach Dick Umile after the win. "We played hard and competed. It was a great win, coming into a tough place to play a good team."

UNH’s defensive strength made an impression on BU coach Jack Parker.

"They’ve shut us down easier than the other clubs [we’ve faced]," he said. "I was attributing that a little bit to the big rink [on Friday], but it had nothing to do with it [on Saturday].

"Overall, their team speed gets to you, they backcheck real well so their defense is supported real well. And they’re playing a nice scheme. They come at you with a pretty good forecheck, but they really clog it up at center ice. I was very impressed with them both nights defensively."

Once again, the Wildcat shorthanded unit sparkled. It is now 32-for-32 on the penalty kill this season.

"It’s always an important factor," said Umile. "Penalty killing is as good as your goaltending. Between Sean Matile and Ty Conklin and our aggressive shorthand, we’ve been fortunate."

Conklin played well on Saturday and has provided Umile with excellent depth between the pipes. The sophomore, who had to sit out last year after transferring from Alaska-Anchorage, now has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage in his three games. He ranks first in Hockey East in both statistics.

As noted in this column recently, however, Umile sees no looming goalie controversy.

"Sean has done a lot for our program and he’s our number one goalie," said Umile. "People ask what I’m going to do about the goaltending. I’ve told Ty to be ready. I told him [Saturday] at 2:00 that he was playing."

Darren Haydar, the Hockey East Rookie of the Week, scored two goals and added an assist on the weekend. The 5-9, 160-pound winger is now playing on the top line with Jason Krog and Mike Souza.

When Haydar appeared for media interviews in just shorts and a T-shirt, a jovial Umile admonished him to "wear more clothes. I don’t want them to see that you don’t have a lot meat on your bones."

Umile then complimented Haydar’s play on the first line and then quipped, "I’ll give him a few of my pounds. We’ll get some meat on his bones by having him eat at my house."

Northeastern earned a surprising split with Boston College, upsetting the Eagles in their barn, 5-4 in overtime, after falling behind 3-0. Back at home, the Huskies lost, 6-3.

"One of the things we did extremely well on Friday is that we were able to play five-on-five a lot," says coach Bruce Crowder. "We only gave them four power-play opportunities, compared to Saturday night when they had nine. I think we stayed pretty focused on Friday night and stayed within our game plan. We didn’t get too excited as the game went on and we found ourselves down."

Not only were they down, 3-0, but they were playing on the road without top defenseman Arik Engbrecht and forwards Billy Newson and Todd Barclay, two-thirds of their top line. They had lost three straight games and, oh yeah, were facing the number-two team in the country.

Time to fold the tents, put it in neutral and scurry back home?

Not exactly.

"When you’re dressing 17 freshmen or sophomores, you’re looking to see some sort of character to step forward," says Crowder. "To do that with some key personnel being out and still staying focused was very encouraging.

"The thing that we learned from this weekend is that if we want to play hockey, we can probably play with anyone."

With Billy Newson and Todd Barclay out of the lineup both nights, the Huskies got scoring from all sources in the win. Roger Holeczy, Graig Mischler, Bobby Davis and defenseman Matt Brown scored in regulation and Sean MacDonald got the OT game-winner.

"One of the things we weren’t getting was a lot of support from a lot of people offensively," says Crowder. "For us, we need that to continue. I’ve said that since the start of the year. I wouldn’t say we’re to the point yet where we’re doing that consistently."

Although goaltender Jason Braun played every minute in Northeastern’s first four games, and five of the first six, he split the action with fellow freshman Scott Sutton on the weekend. Sutton picked up the win.

"I think we’re going to continue to give both kids a look and see what happens," says Crowder. "Since we’re so young and it’s early in the season, now is the time to see what each kid can bring to the table.

"If that works, it’ll be a rotation situation until all of a sudden late in the season somebody steps forward and shows that he’s a notch above the other one. Then we’ll go with a single goalie."

On the injury front, Mike Jozefowicz returned to action against BC, but Engbrecht could not and remains day-to-day. Newson isn’t expected back, but Barclay is, although that won’t be certain until late in the week.

(For a look at Cornell, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.)

PICKS: UNH’s D is too much for NU, 3-1. The Huskies take Cornell out of the undefeated ranks, though, 3-2.

Providence College (5-3-0, 3-1-0 HEA) at No. 7 Maine (5-1-1, 2-1-1 HEA)

Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Maine outshot UMass-Amherst, 89-33, on the weekend, but lost, 2-1, and then had a seems-like-a-loss 1-1 tie.

"I feel like we landed every tee shot in the fairway, hit 18 greens in regulation, and then three-putted 10 of the 18 greens," said coach Shawn Walsh with a rueful laugh.

"We played pretty well, but I give them a lot of credit. They’re playing a system that’s giving them an opportunity. And [Markus] Helanen is playing very well. As I look back, we did everything but score. But that’s hockey."

Sometimes shot totals can be deceiving — not all shots are created equal — but Maine’s statistics showed the advantage there, too.

"The scoring chances the first night were 29-8," said Walsh. "The second night, they were 27-14. We just had one of those weekends. But a lot of the credit has to go to UMass and their coaching staff."

Although Walsh will address the lack of scoring during this week’s preparation for Providence College, there won’t be any major adjustments that compromise the defensive end.

"You have to be careful," says Walsh. "Certainly we’re going to concentrate on taking care of the opportunities when they present themselves. But we have to maintain our sound defense.

"We limited them to 33 shots, total, on the weekend. We really did a good job of that. But we also know that we’re going to play a much better offensive team, so it’s going to be a good test for us."

Even though PC’s top line of Jerry Keefe (5-10–15), Mike Omicioli (5-10–15) and Fernando Pisani (4-8–12) ranks tops in the league collectively, Walsh doesn’t intend to match lines.

"I haven’t done that over the years, but you certainly have to pay attention to them," says Walsh. "And clearly a lot of their points are also coming on the power play. Our penalty killing has been great, but that’s going to be tested as well this weekend."

Unfortunately, the Black Bears will be missing Cory Larose, their number-two scorer, who will probably be out two to three weeks with a deep charley horse suffered on what Maine felt was a leg check. On top of that, Larose also injured a shoulder when he fell after the hit.

"It really throws us off because he’s one of our top three players," says Walsh, who now must try to juggle the lineup in Larose’s absence. "I’m clearly searching. Do we go with three lines? Do we go four? It’s going to be an interesting dilemma."

Providence went through a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde weekend, dominating a visiting Minnesota-Duluth squad, 7-2, on Friday only to hand the Bulldogs their first win of the season, 5-4, one night later.

"[The difference was] mental mistakes," says coach Paul Pooley. "Saturday night we had chances to score but we weren’t making the right plays. It was almost like it was too easy, we had too much time and we tried to make the fancy play.

"And [goaltender] Boyd [Ballard] didn’t play well. That was the difference. They really didn’t have that many shots. We had good coverage, for the most part, but the pucks went in and [UMD goaltender Brant] Nicklin made some big saves when he had to.

"The thing that disappoints me is that two back-to-back Friday nights we’ve had 6-1 and 7-2 wins and come back on Saturday night and not had a great effort and lost tight games.

"I know we had the capabilities of winning two this weekend and two with UNH, even though UNH is a good club. I’m not saying [they aren’t], but we didn’t have our best effort. And that’s one thing that we have to improve on as a hockey club."

Sophomore Heath Gordon had his best weekend as a collegian, earning Hockey East Player of the Week honors. In the win, he scored two goals while playing on the third line with Drew Omicioli and Doug Sheppard. With Jon Coe sitting out Saturday’s tilt, Gordon moved up to the second line with Troy Lake and Jon Cameron and scored another goal and added two assists.

"He played well and made some things happen," says Pooley. "He got more of an opportunity, which was good. He’s a kid who — if he’s intense all the time — has the capability to play at a high level."

Providence, which was leapfrogged by UNH in the Hockey East standings, now returns to league play with two games at No. 7 Maine.

The trek to Orono has not been kind to the Friars. Although their record at Alfond Arena against Maine is a bad, but not outrageously bad, 9-23-1, their last win there came on March 24, 1989 in the NCAA quarterfinals. Their last regular-season victory at Alfond was a 4-2 win on Nov. 8, 1986, the Friars’ first year after the Chris Terreri era.

That’s not quite up there with the Red Sox and the Curse of the Bambino, but it is a boatload of bad karma.

"Obviously, it’s a tough place to play," says Pooley. "It always is. I thought we’ve played some good games up there, even though we haven’t come out victorious. The one thing that we have to do is play good specialty teams and solid five-on-five."

PICKS: The Red Sox didn’t end the curse this year and neither will Providence. It’ll be close, 3-2 and 2-1, but the Black Bears sweep.

Merrimack (4-3-0, 2-1-0 HEA) vs.

UMass-Lowell (3-4-0, 1-4-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA

Merrimack stretched its winning streak to four games with a 5-3 win over Army, its only action of the week.

"We didn’t play as well as we’d been playing, but we did something I didn’t think we could do and that’s not play well and win," says coach Chris Serino. "The first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes, we played well. In between, they just outworked us everywhere."

Even so, the Warriors pulled out the W and also gave goaltender Cris Classen his first game action in some time.

"He played okay," says Serino. "Tommy [Welby] is still going to be our number one goaltender, but it was a good time to get [Classen] some game-playing time and build his confidence up."

Defenseman Andrew Fox scored his first goal of the year and continued his recent strong defensive play as well. Considering all the question marks on the Warrior blue line going into this season, Fox’s play is good news, indeed.

"He started off slowly, but the last two or three games — the Northeastern series and the Army game — he’s really picked his game up and is playing very well," says Serino. "That’s a huge plus for us because we need to get some play out of our blue line.

"The other defenseman that is starting to pick his play up is Drew Hale. We need someone to take charge back there and it looks like they’re starting to do that."

The blueliner originally expected to take charge, sophomore Stephen Moon, has been sidelined with a patella tendon injury all season, but is nearing a return to the lineup. Mostly likely, that won’t be until after Thanksgiving, though.

"He can skate like heck forward, but he still has pain when he goes backwards," says Serino. "That’s the problem.

"The kid has waited so long that we don’t want to rush him and set him back even more, so we’re trying to be cautious."

In the meantime, the Warriors will take on Merrimack Valley rival, UMass-Lowell, which also defeated Army last week.

"It’s going to be a battle," says Serino. "They play hard every night. They come at you. They’re very physical. I think it’s going to boil down to the team that takes the [fewest] penalties and stays disciplined."

UMass-Lowell squeaked out a 4-3 victory over Army last weekend when defenseman Anthony Cappelletti scored a shorthanded goal with 54 seconds remaining.

"It wasn’t a pretty win, but we’ll take it," says coach Tim Whitehead. "No one is going to care in the future — in fact, nobody probably cares now — what kind of win it was, so they certainly won’t in a week.

"It was a long road trip and we fought through some stuff there and we came back from 2-0….I’m not excited about the way we played, but I am encouraged by some other signs."

The River Hawks seem to be making a habit out of using shorthanded goals in late, desperate circumstances to pull out wins. They opened the season with a game-tying goal while a man down against UMass-Amherst and went on to win it in OT. This time, the key shorthanded strike was the game-winner.

Which is not to say that Whitehead will be encouraging his troops to take a penalty late in a tight game just so he can roll out his penalty-killers, but it does provide an indicator of a team’s heart and belief in itself.

"One of the qualities you want to have in your team is the ability to bounce back in situations and make a big play when the game is on the line," says Whitehead. "So it’s good to know that we have that ability.

"I’m not saying that we do that every game. We’re not tooting our own horn, but at the same time it’s good to know that we can do that. It’s good to know that we have the confidence that we can bounce back in tough situations."

Speaking of tough situations, the River Hawks again had their bus break down on a road trip. The first time was in that same UMass-Amherst game with the shorthanded goal. There could be an Oliver Stone movie in this…

"I’m hoping the bus breaks down every time we have a road trip," says Whitehead with a laugh, "because we’re 2-0 with the bus problems."

Cappelletti, the scorer of the game-winner and the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week, now has a team-leading five goals on the season. He’s also been a stabilizing force on the blue line, trying to fill the void left by some big defensive graduations. "He’s cut down on his penalty minutes and he’s playing with a lot of composure," says Whitehead. "He jumps in on the offense.

"The best asset Anthony has is that he comes to play every night and competes. He just doesn’t quit. He blocks shots. He plays his heart out. He plays with a ton of heart and courage and he’s a real good leader for our team.

"He leads by example on the ice and it just so happens that the goals have been going in for him. It’s rare for a defenseman to get a ton of them so it’s nice to see that result."

Although Lowell has held the upper hand in the series with Merrimack, posting a 43-26-2 record, Whitehead knows that won’t carry over into this weekend.

"We have our hands full," he says. "They’re playing real well right now so we have to be ready to step to the plate right at the drop of the puck."

PICKS: It’ll be a split, with the home team winning, 4-3, each night.

UMass-Amherst (2-4-1, 2-2-1 HEA) vs.

Union (1-5-0, 0-2-0 ECAC) and Vermont (4-2-0, 2-0-0 ECAC)

Saturday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Tuesday, 7 p.m., Gutterson Field House, Burlington, VT

UMass-Amherst shocked Maine last weekend, opening with a 2-1 win and following that up with a 1-1 tie.

"It was a pretty big weekend for our program," says coach Joe Mallen. "Taking three of four points from the number four team in the country is a pretty big accomplishment. And going back to our final game last season, we’ve taken four out of six points from them at home in the last three games.

"Obviously, Markus Helanen played very well. He’s the Hockey East Player of the Week this week. I also thought our team defense was great keeping Maine off the board on their power play. That’s a very difficult thing to do, but we were able to do it. It was just two real good defensive teams playing two games back-to-back. It was a pretty exciting weekend."

Helanen gained his biggest attention to date with 87 saves on 89 shots, but other than an off-game against Harvard last week has been a major factor in the Minutemen’s success so far this year.

"He’s done a great job at controlling his rebounds and directing the first shot," says Mallen. "I think our defense has really helped him. We’re giving up a lot of shots, but we’re not giving up a high number of quality shots in tight or odd-man rushes. That’s helping him as well.

"But he’s really doing a lot of it for himself, too."

UMass’s defensive-oriented schemes have put Helanen in a position to shine and given the Minutemen a chance to succeed against teams like Maine.

"I thought over the course of the summer that our team lacked any returning experienced scorers," says Mallen. "I thought that the first thing we had to do was put in a defensive system and try to play tight to the vest and wait for the breaks.

"[Assistant coaches] Bill Gilligan and Dale Dunbar have had good input, too, in terms of tightening the system up and integrating it with the players we have.

"Right now, it seems to be working. If you look at all of our games, we’ve been in just about every one all the way to the end."

The Minutemen will now try to keep the momentum going their way this week with two non-conference games. "Obviously, the number one thing is we can’t get too high over the last weekend," says Mallen. "It was a great accomplishment, but it’s so early in the season that we’ve just got to get focused to play Union….

"The key right now is to try to get some consistency between that last weekend and Christmas-time. If we can do that, we can make a push into the standings in Hockey East."

(For a look at Union and Vermont, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.)

PICKS: The Minutemen will split with the ECAC, defeating Union, 3-1, but losing to Vermont, 3-2.

This Week in the WCHA: November 13, 1998

By
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College hockey is at its best when it comes down to rivalries. And the Western Collegiate Hockey Association features two such matchups this weekend as the top-ranked team in the country, North Dakota, travels to Minneapolis to face the Gophers and No. 3 Colorado College plays a home-and-home series with Denver.

What makes these rivalries so special is that they are so unpredictable. North Dakota may be the No. 1 team in the nation right now, but in the series between the Sioux and the Gophers, the home team has won 11 of the last 12 games. Colorado College has a strong team, but Denver has possession of the Gold Pan, which goes to the winner of the regular-season series.

"I think when rivals get together, because of the emotions that are attached to the rivalry itself, not always the so-called best team wins," Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. "Emotion can play such a major part in the outcome of a game or of a series, both in a positive and negative way."

Minnesota and UND have met 230 times since 1948, while CC and DU have squared off 221 times since 1949.

As with every week in the WCHA, it’s difficult to tell what’s going to occur in these rivalries. One thing’s for sure: they usually make for some pretty good hockey.

No. 1 North Dakota (4-0, 2-0 WCHA) at Minnesota (5-4-1, 4-3-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis

Minnesota can not have the kind of weekend they did against Colorado College if they expect to have any bearing on this series. In 7-1 and 6-1 losses to the Tigers at Mariucci Arena last weekend, the Gophers looked flat when challenged by CC’s top two lines.

Is important for coach Doug Woog’s team to get over what happened on home ice last weekend?

"If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t ask the question," he said. "You can’t do anything, it’s the nature of the business. You don’t have much time to savor the victories and hopefully you don’t have to live with the losses more than six days. We got hammered pretty good and we know (North Dakota) is equal to them. I don’t know if anyone can play as well as CC did against us in particular segments. I’m hoping that’s part of the issue, that they were just very good and played an ‘A’ series. If it isn’t, the rest of this league is going to see a lot of dust."

And if you think CC’s best is tough, wait until North Dakota comes to town this weekend. Woog said the thing that concerns him the most is that the Sioux are much like the Tigers on offense.

"They have good firepower, their goals for (have been) very high over the last three or four years," Woog said. "And they have solid goaltending. They’re a pretty good package."

Speed was the difference in North Dakota’s 6-2, 5-1 wins over Clarkson last weekend and on the large ice sheet at Mariucci, bottling up the Sioux skaters will be a priority for the Gophers.

UND’s wins last weekend moved the Sioux to 4-0 for the first time since 1996-97. Sure, that was only two years ago, but two years ago the Sioux won the national championship.

One of the things coach Dean Blais said may help his Sioux at Mariucci is the Olympic-sized ice surface. Give North Dakota some room to skate and you’ve got problems.

"I think right now we’re a better skating team, so it’s better suited for us, the bigger ice sheet," Blais said. "Back five years ago when I took over, we weren’t even close to being as good a skating team as Minnesota, but we recruited better skaters. We’re a speed team, but certainly Minnesota can get up and go with most teams."

Blais’ team also gets back the services of Jason Blake, who missed last weekend’s series while he was with the U.S. National Team in Austria.

"Jason’s always our hardest worker day in and day out," Blais said. "He’s like the Energizer bunny, he goes all the time."

Having a good number of seniors on the roster has certainly helped the Fighting Sioux in the early part of the season. The senior class, led by seven senior forwards, has scored 27 points through four games — 11 goals and 16 assists. Last Friday night, the line of David Hoogsteen, Jeff Panzer and Jay Panzer accounted for four of the team’s six goals, scoring 11 points. Hoogsteen had two goals while the Panzer brothers each netted one.

And oft-forgotten Lee Goren has already matched his ’97-98 output with three goals in the first four games.

"He just had a tough year last year because of mono," Blais said. "And then when he started to get back and get into shape, he separated his shoulder."

That adds up to a Sioux offense that appears to be firing on all cylinders already.

On the other hand, Minnesota couldn’t get its offense out of first gear last weekend, scoring two goals in two games while watching Colorado College take advantage of their defense.

The disparity is clear: So far this season, the Gophers have allowed 26 goals in their four losses and just 10 in their five wins and one tie. Minnesota averages 2.9 goals per game while allowing 3.5.

While the Gophers’ power play has been successful 10 of 49 times in conference play this season, it has been more effective on the road. For the year overall, UM is 4-for-44 at home and 7-for-20 away from Mariucci.

Picks: Will this turn out to be a tale of two teams traveling in opposite directions? Or will Mariucci help the Gophers regain some of the form they showed before the series with CC? UND 4-1, UM 3-2

No. 3 Colorado College (6-0, 6-0 WCHA) vs. Denver (5-1, 3-1 WCHA) Friday, 7:35 MT, Colorado Springs World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo. Saturday, 7:05 MT, McNichols Arena, Denver

This weekend, Colorado College and Denver start their annual battle for the Gold Pan, the trophy awarded to the winner of the regular-season series between the two teams.

DU coach Gwozdecky said the trophy isn’t exactly what the players are out striving for, but it’s a nice addition.

"It’s kind of like putting the sprinkles on top of the ice cream cone," he said. "Whether the Gold Pan award was there or not, it would not decrease any of the importance of the rivalry or make it any less emotional or any less exciting. It really adds a little more luster to what has become a tremendous rivalry."

But it can also be a bit deceiving. Last year, CC won the overall season series, including playoffs and the Denver Cup, 4-2 with one tie. But, because Denver won two of the regular-season games to CC’s one, the Pioneers took home the Pan. Go figure.

It almost goes without saying that if coach Don Lucia’s Tigers play this home-and-home series in the fashion in which they disposed of Minnesota last weekend, two wins are in the future.

"We played really well last weekend," Lucia said. "In all phases, goaltending was good, the penalty kill, power play. We played a real outstanding weekend of hockey. Now we need to continue to do that, we need to continue to get better."

Gwozdecky knows how to contain the Tigers. Whether his team can do it, however, remains to be seen.

"I think one of the biggest things CC has always been good at is their transition game and creating offense through that," he said. "They do that as well as any team in the country.

"You want to make sure you’re never outnumbered. If you give a team like that a three-on-two or a two-on-one, there’s a great chance that they’re going to create not only a great scoring opportunity, but probably put the puck in the net."

With Friday’s game at the Olympic-sized World Arena and Saturday’s on the 200×85 McNichols Arena surface, there will be a difference in the openness.

"I think that’s a great advantage CC has going into Friday’s game, not only have they played on the big ice sheet, but they’ve practiced on it," Gwozdecky said. "We haven’t seen the big ice sheet since last year."

CC may have one of the best top line combinations in the country, with Brian Swanson, Darren Clark and Toby Petersen. But lines two through four can’t be forgotten either.

"Our top two lines are playing really well," Lucia said. "I think we feel right now when our top two lines are on the ice, they’re a threat to score at any time. I was really happy with the play of our third and fourth lines last week, I thought they did a good job, some of the bigger guys played physical. Everybody understood their role.

"I think any team’s going to have dropoff when you go one through four, but we were hoping our third and fourth lines were going to be better than they were a year ago. I think they have that opportunity. We still are missing K.J. (Voorhees), who was a good goal-scorer last year. Some of our guys have improved; they’ve worked hard in the offseason to become better players."

Special teams have helped the Pioneers in the early going. While they have killed off 30 of 33 opponents’ chances, including 12 consecutive entering the weekend, they are 10 of 32 with the man advantage and have added three shorthanded goals.

Gwozdecky would like to see that continue this weekend.

"Special teams in the CC-DU series, since I’ve been here, has always played a huge factor in the outcome," he said. "I would like to think that our success in special teams will play a positive role in how we play this weekend."

Lucia sees the Pioneers as vastly improved over last season.

"They seem to be a lot more motivated this year," he said. "I think they have a large senior class that knows this is their last year of college hockey and they are probably very disappointed in the year they had last year. I think they’re performing up to the standard that George expected."

One of the reasons for DU’s successful start is the play of left wing James Patterson, who was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after a 3-3–6 weekend against St. Cloud State. He has scored multiple points in each of his last four games.

"I think he’s the best kept secret perhaps in the WCHA at this point, maybe in college hockey," Gwozdecky said. "When we recruited him, we expected him to come out and supply us down the road with offense. We recruited him as an offensive player, as a gifted offensive player. He came out of midget hockey directly into the WCHA, which is perhaps a huge jump. For most, it’s a pretty difficult jump to make and to have success at right away.

"James is one of those young men who is big and gifted and has, over the course of the last three seasons, has learned the kind of commitment he has to make to himself to make himself the kind of player he wants to be at this level. Right now he’s playing with a lot of confidence."

Picks: Colorado College is playing at a high level right now, but when the Pan is on the line, strange things can happen. After all, size matters…the size of the ice, of course. Look for the Tigers to come out flying on the big ice Friday, but Denver to bottle them up Saturday. CC 5-1, DU 3-2

Alaska-Anchorage (2-6, 1-3 WCHA) at Wisconsin (3-4, 3-3 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Kohl Center, Madison, Wis.

Jeff Sauer’s Badgers still have something to prove. Through five games at the new Kohl Center, Wisconsin is 1-4, not the kind of start the UW leader hoped for.

"The bottom line is we have to worry about ourselves," Sauer said. "We have to establish something here at the Kohl Center, which we haven’t been able to do yet. Winning a couple games this weekend will certainly help."

For Anchorage, which split a home series with Michigan Tech last weekend, getting shots on goal hasn’t been the problem. Getting them in the goal has been.

UAA has outshot opponents 281-205 this season, including 78-40 in last weekend’s split. But they managed just four goals in the two games.

"It’ll be interesting to see if they can do that when they come here," Sauer said of the Seawolves’ advantage in shots. "We’ve been able to hold people down fairly well. They’re not playing the defensive style of play they’ve been using before. That may be a plus because I’d like to see them open it up a little bit, free-wheel it a little bit more and I think the advantage goes to us if we do that."

Last weekend’s sweep of Minnesota-Duluth was just what the doctor ordered for the Badgers. Equally important were the first two goals of the season for captain Steve Reinprecht.

"I just hope he doesn’t press too much because he needs to be relaxed when he plays," Sauer said. "Hopefully now he relaxes and plays his game. If he does that he’ll be fine. It’s nice to see him get on the scoreboard, I certainly hope he does it many, many more times this year."

Freshman defenseman Dave Tanabe added two goals on Saturday. The White Bear Lake, Minn., native has fit in well at UW.

"I think the biggest thing for Dave Tanabe is the adjustment has been very quick," Sauer said. "It hasn’t been one of those things where we’re waiting for him to do this, we’re waiting for him to do that. He has come in and at the drop of the puck, has continued to improve on a day-to-day basis. Last weekend, he played extremely well.

"He plays with a great deal of poise and patience, and that’s something for a young player, 18 years old, just coming into the league, it’s a real gift he’s got."

A concern for Sauer and the Badgers, however is the status of forward Kevin Granato. He missed the trip to Duluth and is expected to miss this weekend’s action as well.

"It’s a charley-horse situation and we just don’t want to risk it too much," Sauer said. "Losing him is tough because he gives us some speed and he’s on one of our power plays."

But being at home gives the Badgers a better opportunity to try some things to replace him this weekend.

"We tried a few things last weekend. I wasn’t real pleased with it," Sauer said. "Now that we’re at home, we can juggle things a little bit easier because you have more players to deal with."

The thing to look for from Anchorage is the freshman class. They have accounted for 41 percent of the team’s points and 49 percent of the team’s goals this season. Mike Scott (2-3–5) and Steve Cygan (3-2–5) share the team lead for points.

Freshman Gregg Zaporzan had a goal and two assists last weekend. And goaltender Gregg Naumenko started both games against Tech, earning his first career win on Friday.

Picks: Wisconsin needs to win home games in order to contend for a top-three spot in the final standings. Countering Anchorage’s new aggressive style may provide a challenge, but a wide-open game probably favors the Badgers. UW 4-1, 3-2

Michigan Tech (2-8, 2-6 WCHA) at St. Cloud State (3-3, 2-2 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.

To say that the injury bug has hit coach Craig Dahl’s St. Cloud State team might be just a little bit of an understatement.

Call it more of an injury monster.

Getting out of Denver with a split last weekend was a bonus given the number of injuries.

"I’m happy with it because we got four kids hurt during that weekend," Dahl said. "We’ve played six games and we’ve lost 27 man-games to injury so far. I’ve had 10 kids hurt in the past two weeks. It’s just unbelievable. With as many injuries as we’ve had, we’re fortunate to be 3-3 right now.

"We’ve got enough depth so that we haven’t had a big dropoff, just somewhat of a dropoff. But we still haven’t been able to play Nate DiCasmirro yet this year really. He was national junior player of the year and he’s played in part of one game. He’s in practice this week — we’ll see what happens. Hopefully he’ll be back this weekend."

Goaltending problems continue to plague SCSU. Gert Prohaska was in net for a 5-3 loss last Friday while Scott Meyer got a 6-3 win Saturday.

It’s starting to sound like a broken record.

"What we’re looking for is someone to consistently give us back-to-back games of decent goaltending," Dahl said. "I’ll go with Scott Meyer again on Friday against Michigan Tech and we’ll see how he does."

Tech regrouped from a 3-2 loss to Anchorage last Friday to claim a 2-1 victory on Saturday.

"I wasn’t pleased with the way we played the first two periods on Friday," MTU coach Tim Watters said. "I thought that we played much better that third period and the game Saturday night."

Tech goaltender David Weninger stopped 74 of 78 Seawolves shots last weekend.

"A kid like that can definitely beat you, especially when you’re struggling on the power play and your penalty kill is as atrocious as ours," Dahl said.

Dahl was referring to his power play, which is 2-for-33 this season.

Tech is still waiting for junior forward Riley Nelson to come through with some scoring. The team’s leading returning scorer (17-22–39 last year) has yet to put up a point in 10 games this season.

"Yeah, you expect him to chip in offensively, but he’s going to come around and he’s been doing the small things correctly," Watters said. "Yes, we’re concerned, but he’s going to come along. He’s too good of a hockey player not to get out of it."

St. Cloud State’s fourth line has been productive lately. Against Denver, the line of Ritchie Larson, Lee Brooks and Brad Goulet accounted for 2-2–4. Goulet tallied the game winning goal last Saturday,

"They’ve been playing really good for a fourth line," Dahl said. "They give you a lot of jump when they get out there, they’ve been good defensively and they’re really good with the systems. They’re getting some turnover goals."

In the battle of the Huskies, look to see who gets ahead first. St. Cloud has been outscored 12-5 in the first period this season.

"Two of the six games, we’ve been behind 3-0 at the end of the first," Dahl said. "Both of them were goaltending problems."

For Watters and Tech, putting the puck on SCSU’s goaltenders is the key.

"In any of our game plans, we want to get the puck to the net more," Watters said. "We haven’t done a great job of that lately and that’s one thing we want to do against St. Cloud."

Picks: If Dahl’s team can recover and stay away from injuries this weekend, they should be in good shape. But there’s always the question of goaltending. SCSU 3-1, MTU 4-3

Minnesota-Duluth (0-5-1, 0-5-1 WCHA) at Providence (4-2, 3-1 Hockey East) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 ET, Schneider Arena, Providence, R.I.

A break from the WCHA grind, which has seen them go winless in their first six games, may be exactly what the Bulldogs need.

But then again, going to Rhode Island to play the Friars is no picnic either, especially for a team that has scored six goals in six games.

Of course, the goaltending hasn’t been bad for the Bulldogs. It’s just that there’s no help in front of junior Brant Nicklin. He has a 2.65 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage — and an 0-5-1 record.

UMD has yet to hold a lead this season, and when you average one goal per game, it’s easy to see why.

But history may be on Duluth’s side this weekend. Coach Mike Sertich’s team has not been beat on the road by a non-conference opponent since 1991.

But then again, Providence came into the DECC last season and swept the Bulldogs, 6-5 (ot) and 3-0.

More bad news: Junior center Shawn Pogreba is listed as questionable for the series after sustaining a concussion against Wisconsin last weekend.

For more insight on the Friars, see Dave Hendrickson’s Hockey East preview.

Picks: For UMD, the theme of the series may be "from bad to worse." PC 3-1, 2-1

Next Week’s Games

Friday, Nov. 20 Minnesota at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at North Dakota Minnesota-Duluth at St. Cloud State Wisconsin at Denver

Saturday, Nov. 21 Minnesota at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at North Dakota St. Cloud State at Minnesota-Duluth Wisconsin at Denver

This Week in the MAAC: November 13, 1998

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Well, the MAAC made headlines last weekend, but probably not the type the conference’s head honchos envisioned when this venture was founded.

Saturday’s tilt between Quinnipiac and Fairfield was suspended after the second period when 14 players were sent to Bridgeport Hospital complaining of dizziness and nausea. The culprit? Carbon monoxide from the Zamboni at the Wonderland of Ice, as an employee forgot to turn on the arena’s exhaust fans.

“I guess they just forgot,” said Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold, who had 10 players affected by the fumes. “We were still feeling the effects Monday. Nine kids missed practice. They should be available this weekend, but it hurt our week of practice.”

Rink manager Lisa Fedick was blunt about the snafu.“It was just the most stupid thing,” she told the Associated Press.

Fortunately, this “most stupid thing” resulted in no serious illnesses. No makeup date has been set for the game, which saw the Braves leading 2-1, nor has it been determined if the game will be resumed from the point of suspension or replayed in its entirety.

The Stags will play their regularly scheduled home game with Holy Cross at the Wonderland as scheduled, Friday at 7:30.

Meanwhile, last weekend’s action on the ice saw Quinnipiac remain at the top of the MAAC standings with eight points after Friday’s 6-1 win over Fairfield. Knocking on the door are with seven points each are UConn, which took a win and a tie in a weekend series with AIC, and Holy Cross, which did likewise with Canisius.

So this weekend’s main event looks to be the intrastate grudge match between Connecticut rivals Quinnipiac and UConn. Should neither team sweep the series, Holy Cross, with its home-and-home set with Fairfield, seems poised to find itself alone atop the MAAC come Sunday.

This weekend’s other matchups: Sacred Heart, still looking for its first win in MAAC play, takes on AIC; and we’ll get an idea of just how far along Iona has come when the Gaels travel to Canisius for games on Friday and Saturday. The Gaels also have a nonconference matinee Sunday at Hobart.

Holy Cross (3-1-2; 3-0-1 MAAC) at Fairfield (0-5-0; 0-3-0 MAAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Wonderland of Ice, Bridgeport, Conn. Fairfield at Holy Cross Saturday, 7 pm, Hart Center, Worcester, MA

Lest any of the Crusaders try to look past this weekend’s games with Fairfield, coach Paul Pearl reminds his troops of the score when the two teams met on Jan. 28: Fairfield 4, Holy Cross 3.

So even though the Cross look like the overwhelming favorites, Pearl won’t let his team look ahead to next week’s games with UConn. “They came out and played real hard and they beat us,” said Pearl. “They’re a tough team to beat in their own rink — look at the game with Quinnipiac Saturday, they held a strong team to 2-1 when the game was called.”

Keys to the games:

The Crusaders need to do a better job finishing opponents off. Holy Cross allowed Canisius to hang around in Friday night’s 3-2 win and saw a 3-1 intermission lead wind up a 4-4 tie. Although Pearl credits that more to Canisius than a lapse on their part (“Canisius is legit. Their record is not at all indicative of how good they are,” he said), the Cross can’t let this turn into a pattern.

The Stags are still in search of someone to step up on offense. Fairfield has yet to score more than three goals in a game and has been outscored 33-9 on the season.

Several MAAC coaches off the record have said that Fairfield is a much better team then their record indicates, and that they’ll get it together and put some wins together by the end of the year. To get there, they still need to guard against breakdowns. Friday night, Rob Curtis scored to bring the Stags to within 2-1 against Quinnipiac, but the Stags then gave up two quick goals to put the game out of reach.

Picks: At the hopefully fume-free Wonderland of Ice, Fairfield puts up a struggle before bowing, 4-2. Saturday, the Stags’ pattern continues as HC breaks open a tight game with four second-period goals en route to a 6-2 win. And the Crusaders’ dependable Joe Cavanaugh, who has scored two goals each of the last three weekends, does the same to raise his team-leading total to eight.

Iona (3-3-0; 2-3-0 MAAC) at Canisius (2-5-1; 0-3-1 MAAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, NY Iona at Canisius Saturday, 7:30 pm, Dann Memorial Rink, Buffalo, NY Iona at Hobart Sunday, 2 pm, Geneva Recreation Center, Geneva, NY

Frank Bretti hasn’t forgotten the second game of his head-coaching career, nor have his holdovers from last year’s Iona squad. Last Nov. 1, Iona traveled to Canisius and was handed a 14-0 thrashing.

“They beat us pretty bad,” said Bretti. “That’s not the type of game you forget anytime soon.”

It would be far premature to imply that Iona has improved to the point that it’s capable of going back to Buffalo and extracting revenge, but the Gaels should be motivated and have improved to the point that this weekend’s games should be competitive. Bretti’s attacking approaching to offense produced 86 shots and 12 goals in in a sweep of Sacred Heart last weekend.

But Canisius may feel it has something to prove, too. The Ice Griffs return home for the first time in four weeks, having gone 0-5-1 on their road trip. They looked finally to be getting in gear at Holy Cross last weekend, dropping a tight 3-2 game Friday and rallying for three third-period goals to salvage a tie. They will be looking to finally bust out this weekend in their MAAC home opener.

“We’re going to have our hands full,” said Bretti. “Canisius on the road is a real test for us. I’m sure at the beginning of the season they looked at us on the schedule and saw two easy games, but if they’ve seen what we’ve done, they might have changed their mindset a little.”

Keys to the games:

Canisius has to stop the line of Ryan Carter, Rob Kellogg and Erik Nates. Is this starting to sound redundant? If it is, it’s because Iona’s freshman phenom line once again proved itself legit last weekend. Carter was named MAAC Player of the Week for his four-goal, three-assist weekend; Kellogg earned Rookie of the Week honors with two goals and three assists; Nates chipped in with three goals and an assist. Shut this line down and you beat Iona. Don’t shut them down, you’re in a dogfight.

The Griffs need to break through on the power play. Iona has successfully killed off its last 27 penalties.

Canisius simply needs to get over the hump. Two weeks ago saw a tough OT loss at Quinnipiac; last week the Griffs had to rally late to tie Holy Cross. A clutch goal could give the Griffins the spark they need.

Iona finishes the weekend with a Sunday game with Division II Hobart, which beat the Gaels 5-3 during the Gaels’ forgettable 4-20-1 season last year. Despite Iona’s vast improvement, Bretti is taking the Statesmen seriously.

“We had our hands full with them last year, and I’m sure they’re going to be motivated to play a Division I team,” he said.

Picks: A pair of wide-open games, with the Ice Griffs prevailing both times, 8-5 and 9-6. Iona takes out the frustrations on Hobart Sunday, 11-3.

Quinnipiac (5-0-0; 4-0-0 MAAC) at UConn (3-0-1; 3-0-1 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, UConn Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn. UConn at Quinnipiac Saturday, 7 pm, East Haven Rink, East Haven, Conn.

This weekend’s series between UConn and Quinnipiac is exactly the sort that those in charge of the MAAC had in mind when the league was formed: An already intense in-state rivalry between two undefeated teams playing home-and-home with one point separating the two, and with first place in the balance.

It’s also an interesting blend of styles, with the high-powered young Braves offense taking on UConn’s patient, veteran mucking and grinding defensive approach.

Quinnipiac still has several players recovering from Saturday’s incident at Fairfield, but coach Rand Pecknold won’t allow his team to use it as an excuse.

“We didn’t get to spend much time prepping for them,” he said simply. “But they’re a good team and if we’re a good team we’ve got to rebound and move on.”

Keys to the games:

The Huskies had 45 shots in Friday’s game with AIC, but only came away with a 2-2 draw. Bruce Marshall’s squad won’t beat Quinnipiac if they keep missing such opportunities.

This one may come down to the goaltending. Both team’s keepers have looked sharp all season. UConn’s stopped 31 of 34 shots last weekend and was named MAAC goalie of the week. J.C. Wells, meanwhile, has rolled to a 5-0 record, including stopping 15 of 16 in two periods against Fairfield Friday. With equal talent, this one should simply come down to which goalie wants it more.

Picks: It really seems like Quinnipiac is due for a fall, especially with several players still recovering from last Saturday, but this team just seems to have that intangible something going for it. So this is based on nothing more than pure hunch: Quinnipiac sweeps, 5-4 in overtime and 4-3.

American International (2-1-1; 2-1-1 MAAC) at Sacred Heart (0-4-0; 0-4-0 MAAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Milford Ice Arena, Milford, Conn. Sacred Heart at AIC Saturday, 7 pm, Olympia Ice Center, W. Springfield, MA

This isn’t quite the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, but something has to give when these two teams meet this weekend. Sacred Heart is still looking for its first win, despite putting in a good effort every night; AIC is coming off a weekend in which it was thoroughly outplayed by UConn.

Keys to the games:

Sacred Heart has got to get some blueline help for Alexis-Jutras Binet. The Pioneers have given up 23 goals in four games, a number that would have been much higher if Binet wasn’t standing on his head to keep his team competitive.

The Pioneers need to develop better legs. In both of last weekend’s games with Iona, Sacred Heart trailed 3-2 going into the third, and in both cases didn’t seem to have enough gas and lost by two Friday and four Saturday.

AIC was outshot 19-6 and 16-5 in the first two periods of Friday’s 2-2 tie with UConn, something you just can’t do in your own house.

Picks: Sacred Heart finally gets in the win column on Friday, 3-2. Saturday, I’m going to go with yet another inexplicable hunch and predict the first scoreless tie in MAAC history.

This Week in Hockey East: November 13, 1998

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On the bright side, Maine and Merrimack had great weekends, sweeping series with other Hockey East foes.

On the sobering side, Black Bear alum Jeff Libby

sustained a terrible eye injury in a recent Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) game. Our thoughts are certainly with him.

Hockey East Player of the Month: Mike Mottau (D, Boston College) ranked among the league scoring leaders in October with an 0-8–8 scoring line while anchoring BC’s defense.

Heaton/Hockey East Goalie of the Month: Alfie Michaud (Maine) went 3-0-0 in October with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.

KOHO Player of the Week: Dan Kerluke (F, Maine) scored two late goals to lead the Black Bears to a 3-2 OT win over UMass-Lowell on Friday.

Heaton Defensive Player of the Week: Boyd Ballard (G, Providence College) made 63 saves in PC’s split with No. 8 New Hampshire.

KOHO Rookie of the Week: Mike Pandolfo (F, Boston University) achieved BU’s first hat trick since his brother Jay four years ago.

Hockey East Standings

Jesse "The Mind" Ventura’s record in picks last week: 5-5 Season’s record in picks without Gov. Beefcake: 22-8, .733 Season’s record in picks with Gov. Beefcake: 27-13, .675

No. 2 Boston College (4-0-1, 2-0-0 HEA) vs.

Northeastern (2-4-0, 0-2-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

In Boston College’s only action, the Eagles came back to tie Notre Dame, 5-5, in an exhilarating display of college hockey at its best.

"It was a game of ebb and flow," says coach Jerry York. "We weren’t sharp in the second period, but it was good for our club to be down, 5-2, and come back like that."

After a lot of empty seats and low decibel counts in Conte Forum during the Eagles’ down years, the building was certainly rocking in the clash with the Irish.

"In my five years here, it was the loudest and most vocal the crowd has been," says York. "That really fueled the comeback."

Chris Masters, an excellent faceoff man and defensive forward, also helped fuel the comeback with the tide-turning third and fourth goals. Masters centers the third line with Kevin Caulfield on one wing and Tony Hutchins on the other. Although the scoring that came from their line was a welcome bonus, its job is usually to wear the other team out by cycling the puck and grinding down low.

"Taking nothing away from our line, the skill on our first two lines is unbelievable," says Masters. "They’re just dynamite players.

"On our line, it’s a combined weight of 645 pounds — 220, 215 and 210. We’ve got a lot of beef so as long as we can get the puck down low and move it on their D and just wear them down, not only are good things going to happen for us, but also in the last half of the game and especially the end of the third period, it lets [Brian] Gionta and [Jeff] Farkas and those guys wheel right around them because they’re so tired."

The one potential negative for the Eagles in the tie was giving up three goals during seven Notre Dame power plays. Two of them came on a five-on-three sequence.

"You just can’t put yourself in that situation too often and for a long stretch," says York. "They had a five-on-three in the first period, too. I was more concerned with our taking penalties rather than our killing them, because good teams are going to score goals against you [in that situation]."

Northeastern is picking a tough time to take on the nation’s number-two team, having just lost three games in five days. Merrimack’s 5-4 and 4-3 wins over NU (the latter in overtime), sandwiched a 4-3 Husky loss to Notre Dame.

Against the sixth-ranked Irish, Northeastern at least looked good in defeat.

"We were a lot better hockey team [against Notre Dame] than [against Merrimack]," says coach Bruce Crowder. "We played hard and physical for three periods. The result wasn’t there that we wanted, but as far as I’m concerned it was a totally different hockey team out there.

"I loved their work ethic….Anything could happen this year. If I can get them to play like this, we’re probably going to win more than we’ll lose."

Notre Dame’s major contributions from its four seniors underscored the absence of a single such upperclassman in the Northeastern lineup.

"We’re playing with 17 freshmen and sophomores," says Crowder. "You need leadership in the senior position a lot of times to really get the success that you want.

"I look at some of the past teams that I’ve had. The seniors all came to the forefront, the [Jeff] Daws, the [Christian] Sbroccas, the [Brendan] Concannons.

"We’re young and we have to be patient. It takes time. We surprised a lot of people [last year]. I don’t mind expectations being high, but we have to be realistic."

Goaltender Scott Sutton saw his first action in the Irish tilt and performed well, stopping 29 of 33 shots.

"We’ve got to see what we’ve got," says Crowder. "We threw him in the frying pan against Notre Dame and he came out with pretty good marks."

On the down side, defensemen Mike Jozefowicz and Arik Engbrecht both missed the game with injuries and team sparkplug Billy Newson went down in the third period with a second-degree shoulder sprain. Jozefowicz and Engbrecht also missed the Tuesday game against Merrimack, but will probably play this weekend.

Newson, however, is out for a minimum of three weeks. His loss is a major one for a team whose offense depends heavily on its first line.

The Huskies followed the encouraging loss to Notre Dame, however, with a second poor performance against Merrimack. And it cost them.

"We just got beat," says Crowder. "From about the 10-minute mark on to the overtime winner, we didn’t accomplish a whole lot. Merrimack turned the tide and dominated the game.

"Do I have the exact, number-one answer [for what’s wrong]? No. It’s a combination of a lot of things. We’ve come up with different excuses here and there, but the bottom line is that we just didn’t compete and Merrimack did. They deserved the win.

"We continued to take questionable penalties. We had five in a row called against us. Whatever flow you have, that just kills it.

"We’re going to go through some highs and lows this year with our youth and this was one of those nights that hopefully we’ll learn from and will help us down the road."

To get back on track, all the Huskies must do is take on Boston College.

Oy vey.

"Obviously, we’re very concerned about BC, but we’ve got some things that we’re concerned about within this team," says Crowder. "We’ve got to try to find some things out.

"If you’re going against the number-one or -two team in the country, you’ve got to come out and compete. Are we projected to sweep them? I don’t think so.

"We’ve got to get back to basics and play smart percentage hockey. We’ve found ways to lose the last few games. A lot of little things. Not getting the puck out. Not doing the clears properly. It’s a bunch of things.

"Obviously I’m very disappointed and I am concerned, but I’m not overly worried about it. We’ve got a great bunch of kids and they’re going to rebound."

PICKS: Tough sledding for the Huskies. BC sweeps, 5-2 and 4-2.

No. 4 Maine (5-0-0, 2-0-0 HEA) at

UMass-Amherst (1-4-0, 1-2-0 HEA)

Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Maine swept UMass-Lowell, 3-2 (in OT) and 5-2, to maintain its unblemished record and pick up its first Hockey East wins.

"We’re certainly pleased to get four points, but it was a deceptive four points," says coach Shawn Walsh. "Lowell played very well and both games could have gone in either direction."

After opening the season against Nebraska-Omaha, Moncton and Union — teams that aren’t highly regarded this year — the Lowell series began to provide a better barometer of the Black Bears’ strengths and weaknesses.

"I’m not worried about rankings as much as trying to improve on areas that we need to improve on," says Walsh. "We’ve had some of them exposed this weekend to me.

"We gave up some two-on-ones on Saturday night that we can’t keep giving up."

"We also need to get more production out of some lines that haven’t scored as much. All the lines created chances, though. In general, it was good to play a Hockey East series because you realize how tough it is to create scoring chances."

While not all the lines have been as productive as Walsh would like, the scoring has been nicely distributed among the upperclassmen and youngsters. On Friday night, sophomores Matthias Trattnig and Dan Kerluke found the back of the net. Kerluke scored twice, including the game-winner, earning him Hockey East Player of the Week honors.

One night later, it was seniors David Cullen (twice) and Steve Kariya along with junior Cory Larose.

"What has helped our team is that we have more than one line to turn to," says Walsh.

The Black Bears have also turned to goaltender Alfie Michaud on a consistent basis and he’s responded. He leads the league with a phenomenal .948 save percentage and is second with an equally exceptional 1.25 goals-against average.

Small wonder, then, that he was chosen Hockey East Goalie of the Month.

"I think his playoff performance really solidified his confidence that he can be among the best goaltenders in the country," says Walsh. "He was Goalie of the Month in March and now he is again for October, so he’s really taken off.

"He played exceptionally well on Friday night in a game that he had to. He made a save with three seconds to go that could have easily gone in. He kept the game tied and then we won it in overtime. [Those are] the kind of saves that you need."

The Black Bears now look to stay unbeaten and move into at least a share of first place with a series on the Olympic sheet at UMass-Amherst.

"Every report that we’ve gotten is that they’re a much improved team," says Walsh. "They’re obviously at home and it’s going to be a series that will probably be very low scoring and intense. We’ve got to just keep playing our game.

"The big sheet will be a difference, that’s for sure, but I think we’re confident on the big sheet after the success we had in New Hampshire in the playoffs last year. But each time you change venues like that, it makes for a whole different game."

UMass-Amherst lost to Harvard, 3-1, a score that belied just how close a game it was. Prior to the Crimson’s empty-netter, the Minutemen had held them to just 15 shots and two goals.

"We had Darcy King walking across the front of the net with a backhander that if it goes in, it’s 2-2 with two minutes to go in the game," says coach Joe Mallen. "But it hits the side pipe and that’s it.

"Limiting Harvard to just 15 shots with the exception of the empty net goal is a pretty tough thing to do. Our team defense has been very strong and our penalty killing was good over the weekend.

"But we’ve just got to find a way to put some pucks home. One or a number of these guys is going to have to break out. That and the power play are two areas of concern, but I see us making a lot of improvement over a short period of time so far."

While the Minuteman shorthanded unit ranks third in the league with an 82.1 overall kill percentage, the power play is last at 10.3 percent.

Making matters worse, the three UMass goals scored on the advantage are offset by three against. And the three shorthanded goals allowed have all been critical. Against UMass-Lowell, one turned a win into an overtime loss. A week later, another broke open for UNH a 2-1 game late in the second period. And against Harvard, that was the deciding goal.

"We had just addressed it the day before, too, about not relaxing on the power play and making sure if they gain possession that we’re in good defensive position," says Mallen.

"We’ve given up different kinds of shorthanded goals. It’s not like we’re allowing somebody to break up the middle or whatever. This was just a different kind. It was just a long shot that beat Markus [Helanen] cleanly."

Helanen, who had played exceptionally in the nets all season, had his first sub-par game for the Minutemen.

"Markus finally had one of those nights where he didn’t have a lot of shots and that can be tough for a goalie," says Mallen. "The two goals were kind of longer shots, but even if he gives up those two goals, we still should be able to get three to win the game. Otherwise, he’s been playing very well for us."

UMass-Amherst now faces the stiff challenge of taking on No. 4 Maine.

"We know that we’re running into a hot team now," says Mallen. "They’re undefeated and they’re playing very well. Their special teams look excellent. They’ve got some great players, both up front and on defense.

"We’ve got to challenge them here at home. We’ve tied them and beaten them here over the last couple years. We just have to hope that we can use the big rink to our advantage."

PICKS: Maine stays unbeaten, 4-2 both nights.

No. 8 New Hampshire (5-1-0, 2-1-0 HEA) vs.

Boston University (1-5-0, 0-2-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

New Hampshire took one between the eyes from Providence, 6-1, before rebounding, 3-1, back at the Whittemore Center.

"On Friday, we had our opportunities early on but then they took it away from us and won the game," says coach Dick Umile. "They scored goals and we didn’t. But we’re a good team and we came back on Saturday and won a very important game."

While the Friday night loss itself was no major surprise — Providence is an underrated team that no one can take lightly — it was a shock to see UNH’s vaunted defense and goaltender Sean Matile allow six pucks to go in the net behind them. In their four prior contests, the Wildcats had allowed a total of only seven goals. On this night, however, the Friars capitalized six times on just 21 shots.

"You’ve got to give credit to them," says Umile. "They put them in. They had some advantage plays and there were some shots that Sean normally [would have stopped].

"It was just a combination of things, but those things happen. The score was not indicative of the game, but they’re a good team."

While UNH maintained its perfect 25-for-25 penalty killing, it went 0-for-11 on the power play on the weekend, dropping it to next to last in the league at 14.29 percent.

Even so, both statistics are misleading in terms of the weekend’s action. Both teams scored just after a power-play expired, goals that didn’t count in the statistics but were really a reflection of the man-advantage situation.

"If you generate scoring opportunities like we did on Saturday, that’s one thing," says Umile. "But Friday night we didn’t do a good job at all. Saturday night, we generated the opportunities. They just didn’t go in."

Rookie Darren Haydar scored twice in the 3-1 win.

"He’s a good hockey player," says Umile. "That line of Haydar, [John] Sadowski and [Mike] Souza had an exceptional game. They’re a good combination and they’re working very well right now.

"Haydar’s second goal was a great play from Sadowski to Souza out to Haydar and he’s got a great stick. If he gets scoring opportunities, he’ll put it in. He’s a good player."

With backup netminder Ty Conklin’s strong play on Saturday — play which takes him to a 2-0-0 record, a 1.00 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage — some fans might just assume that a 50-50 goaltender split is called for, forgetting that last year Matile compiled some pretty nice numbers himself (2.52 GAA, .908 Sv%).

"We’ll just take it week by week," says Umile. "Ty was asked to play on Saturday and he did his part. Ty knows he needs to be ready at all times and he’s going to play some games. How many, we don’t know.

"I’m not going to predict now what’s going to go on the whole season. Sean is one of the top college hockey goalies. He didn’t have his best game Friday night, but that doesn’t mean you put him on ice."

The Wildcats now prepare to take on a Boston University team that may be 1-4-0, but is coming off a very impressive win.

"It’s BU-UNH," says Umile. "You can throw out all the records. They were [supposed to be] worried about scoring goals, but guess what? They’re scoring goals. It should be a great weekend of college hockey."

Boston University got on the winning track in a big way, blowing Princeton out of the building, 9-1. The win was a true elixir for a team that had opened the season with four losses.

"Obviously, we played much better killing penalties," says coach Jack Parker. "They were 0-for-9 on the power play after we’d been letting teams go 4-for-6. That was a major turnaround for us and something we worked hard on all week to see if we could solve that problem.

"I also thought we bumped pretty hard. We played through some guys and were a little bit more physical."

Parker also points to a strong performance by goaltender Michel Larocque, and catching Princeton in their first regular-season game at a time when the Terriers already had four under their belt.

Of biggest importance, though, was fixing the penalty-kill. BU had entered the Princeton game with a league-worst 54 kill rate, a statistic no team can be successful with.

"We rethought the way we’re killing penalties and tried to make it a little easier and more 1950’s style," says Parker. "So that helped us out.

"We would certainly like to get back to pressuring, but we’re not ready to do that yet."

Although they are finally off the schneid, the Terriers still are far from business as usual.

"We’ve got a long way to go," says Parker. "First of all, we’re 1-4, so we’re far from turning the corner. Number two, we’re still a very young team. We still need to get games under our belt.

"We need the experience of playing games to get our freshmen and sophomores more acclimated to the pace of the game, the intensity of the game, the physical nature of the game, and most importantly how important they are individually to our team’s success."

One freshman, Mike Pandolfo, contributed a hat trick to earn league Rookie of the Week honors and run his season totals to 5-1–6.

"He’s played very well," says Parker. "I think he’s had one game where he really wasn’t where we wanted him to be, but the rest of the games he’s been pretty consistent.

"The guy that really impressed us against Princeton was Dan Cavanaugh, who played very well for a freshman. He centered Pandolfo’s line and he was very impressive."

As impressive as the win over Princeton was, the Terriers now face the challenge of the eighth-ranked UNH Wildcats, opening the home-and-home series on the Whittemore Center’s Olympic ice surface.

"We’re going to have to be a little more conservative up there and play a little different style in some areas," says Parker. "We’re going to have to continue to bump in a building that’s hard to bump in.

"Also, when UNH takes the ice, the first guy you notice is [Jason] Krog. They’ve got a real solid team. They’re solid in goal and they’ve got real strong defensemen, but their offense revolves around number 28 and their power play revolves around him as well. He’s a guy we’re going to have to be concerned about."

PICKS: A week ago, this looked like a Wildcat sweep. Now it looks more like each home team will hold serve, 3-2 at UNH and 4-3 at BU.

Minnesota-Duluth (0-5-1, 0-5-1 WCHA) at

Providence College (4-2-0, 3-1-0 HEA)

Friday, Saturday, Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Providence stunned UNH, 6-1, before settling for a split with a 3-1 loss. The Friars now sit atop Hockey East, at least until BC, Maine or UNH cash in on league-games-in-hand this weekend.

"Obviously, we felt Friday night was a good game," says coach Paul Pooley. "We scored on the chances we had to open it up.

"Saturday night was a good game up there. UNH played very well. We thought we played a solid game, but they deserved to win that night.

"We did have some chances late in the game to go 2-2, but when they scored the third goal it put us behind the eight-ball. But you give them credit. [Ty] Conklin made some good saves when he had to."

Goaltender Boyd Ballard earned league Defensive Player of the Week honors for his 63 saves and appears to be back to his early-season form of last year.

"Ballard played very well," says Pooley. "We’re very happy with how he’s playing."

Rookie Mark Suderman contributed his first collegiate goal in the win.

"He’s just a smart player," says Pooley. "He thinks the game very well. He does a lot of little things well. He knows the game, he competes, and he’s smart. He’s just going to get better."

The Friars now host Minnesota-Duluth, a team they swept last year on the road.

"We’ve just got to execute for sixty minutes and continue to play solid hockey against Duluth," says Pooley.

(For the scoop on Minnesota-Duluth, see Todd D. Milewski’s WCHA Preview.)

PICKS: Providence sweeps, 5-3 and 4-2.

Merrimack (3-3-0, 2-1-0 HEA) and

UMass-Lowell (2-4-0, 1-4-0 HEA) at Army (3-3-1, 2-2-0 vs. aligned D-I)

Friday (MC), Saturday (UML), 7 p.m., Tate Rink, West Point, NY

Merrimack swept Northeastern, 5-4 and 4-3 (the latter in overtime) to forge a three-game win streak and even its record at 3-3-0.

During the regular season last year, the Warriors never led a single league game after two periods. They trailed in 18 contests, of which they lost 17, and were tied in six others, which they split, winning three and losing three.

This year, they have yet to trail after 40 minutes and have the improved record to show for it. There’s something to be said for not digging a hole for yourself.

Although goaltender Tom Welby opened the first game by allowing a couple questionable goals early, he bailed the Warriors out in the rematch by stoning Northeastern until his teammates got their act together.

"Welby played great in the first period," says Serino. "He gave us the opportunity to win by keeping us in the game. We could have been out of the game early. Then we’d be kicking ourselves in the rear end because we’d gone down, 4-1, after one period."

The Warriors are getting some great contributions from their rookies. Three of them — Greg Classen, Ryan Kiley and Nick Torretti — scored in the Friday night win and Classen got his fourth of the season and the OT game-winner on Tuesday. Classen and Kiley now team with Jayson Philbin on the second line, while the 5-8 Torretti and another freshman, 5-9 Nick Parillo, are waterbugs on the fourth line.

"We’ve got to get contributions out of all three lines," says coach Chris Serino. "We’ve got depth there. Who’s going to score? I don’t know, but they’re all capable of doing it.

"And Sandy Cohen isn’t going yet. When he gets going, we’ll be pretty good.

"You know Reggie [Stringer] is going to get his. You know [Kris] Porter is going to get his. They’re great players. These other guys have to pick up the pace because on the nights when [Stringer and Porter] are off, you can’t just say we’re not going to win.

"They didn’t get any [on Friday] night at Northeastern and we won. [On Tuesday], Porter got a couple and the other guys got chances. If they’re creating opportunities, they’re doing something right."

Having seen losses snowball in past years, Merrimack fans will be hoping that the recent wins will likewise snowball into continued success.

"It builds confidence," says Serino. "They believe they can win. It’s like anything else. If you keep getting beat up, eventually you think you stink. They won a couple games. Now they know what they’re capable of doing."

Of course, Serino does plan to point out to his troops that just because they swept a league rival, doesn’t mean that they only need to show up against Army.

"That’s the way it’s going to be every week for us," he says. "We can win some games, but we’re going to lose the next one if we don’t play well. I think they know that. We preach it to them every day, that we’ve got to play well to win."

UMass-Lowell also travels to Army, but unlike Merrimack is coming off four straight losses. That fact, however, begs for the added note that the defeats came at the hands of No. 2 Boston College and, last week, No. 4 Maine (3-2 in overtime and 5-2).

"It was definitely a disappointing loss the first night after battling back to tie it," says coach Tim Whitehead. "But at the same time, we were encouraged by a lot of the things we saw both nights. We’ll definitely be a better hockey team because of the weekend."

And what would those positives be?

"We came to play both nights," he says. "We weren’t intimidated the way we were the first night against Boston College. We had good first periods in both games, which is something we’re shooting for. We were physical. We stayed out of the penalty box. And we competed. We went toe-to-toe with them.

"Obviously, we have to take another step because we want to beat some of these teams, but at the same time, for early in the season with some of the inexperience that we have on defense and in goal, we were excited to see some progress there."

Having just played the number-two and -four teams in the country, a letdown against Army is a concern.

"We’ll address that," says Whitehead. "Whether we win or lose, we want to make sure that we come to play.

"That was important this weekend. We felt that we did come to play. We didn’t win the games, but we really liked the effort and the progress on a lot of fronts. If we see the same type of effort from here on in consistently every night, we’re going to win more games than we lose.

"But we have to come to play. It’s human nature to take an opponent lightly after you’ve just come off the top team in the country, no matter who you’re playing.

"But our guys should know that every year with Army we’ve had a one-goal game one way or another. Last year’s game went to overtime. Because our games with Army have always been so competitive, [overconfidence] shouldn’t be there because our guys know how tough they are just from year’s past. It shouldn’t be an issue, but we’ll address it anyways."

The River Hawks should be healthy for the match-up. Dan Fontas, who has been sidelined since the opening weekend of the regular season, is expected to get a clean bill of health to return to practice.

Army is coming off a sweep of Nebraska-Omaha, 6-5 and 2-1, and a week earlier scared Colgate before falling, 4-3.

The Cadets return last year’s top three scorers — Andy Lundbohm, Greg Buckmeier and Jason Choi — but are having to live without Darren Clapprood on defense and Daryl Chamberlain between the pipes, both of whom graduated.

Corey Winer has taken over in goal for Chamberlain.

PICKS: It’ll be feel-good weekends for Merrimack and UMass-Lowell as both win 5-2.

This Week in the CCHA: November 13, 1998

By
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Having grown up a Catholic, I know the value of confession. And given the email I’ve received recently from fans of a certain CCHA team, I know what I have to do.

Bless me, Readers, for I have sinned.

It has been too long since I’ve been to confession, and this is my sin:

I am guilty of the sin of disbelief. In spite of all the evidence before me, I did not immediately accept that Notre Dame hockey had arrived.

In spite of a 5-1-0 conference record and twice as many league goals for than against, I just didn’t see it.

But when Notre Dame scored five goals against Boston College, I had an epiphany. I’ve opened up my heart and let the Fighting Irish in. I won’t pick against them for the rest of the season.

And now that I’ve confessed my sin, my yoke is easy.

With 10 points, No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 5 Michigan State are tied for first in the CCHA.

Last week, the Irish tied Boston College 5-5 and beat Northeastern 4-3. This week Notre Dame hosts Bowling Green and No. 9 Michigan.

No. 5 Michigan State beat Ohio State 3-1 and Lake Superior State 2-1. The Spartans travel to Ohio State for the last game of that season series Friday, and are then on to Miami Saturday.

With eight points each, No. 7 Northern Michigan, Ferris State, and No. 9 Michigan are tied for third.

No. 7 Northern Michigan split a pair of games with Bowling Green last weekend, losing 6-5 and winning 4-1. The Wildcats travel to Miami Friday and Ohio State Saturday.

Ferris State tied 3-3 with MSU-Mankato on Friday before beating Mankato 3-1 Saturday. This week the Bulldogs host Lake Superior for two.

After taking a breather last weekend, No. 9 Michigan hosts Alaska-Fairbanks Friday before heading to No. 6 Notre Dame Saturday.

With seven points, Bowling Green is in sole possession of sixth place in the CCHA. The Falcons split with No. 7 Northern Michigan last weekend on the road, winning 6-5 and losing 4-1. This week Bowling Green travels to Notre Dame Friday before hosting Alaska-Fairbanks Saturday.

With four points each, Miami, Ohio State and Alaska-Fairbanks are tied for eighth.

The RedHawks lost two to Fairbanks in Alaska last weekend, 3-2 and 5-2. This week, Miami hosts No. 7 Northern Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State.

Ohio State dropped a 3-1 game to No. 6 Michigan State last Friday before tying 2-2 with Western Michigan. This week, the Buckeyes return home after nine consecutive road games to host No. 6 Michigan State and No. 7 Northern Michigan in the teeny, tiny OSU Ice Rink.

Alaska-Fairbanks took its first sweep of a league opponent ever last weekend when Miami came to town, winning 3-2 and 5-2. This week, the Nanooks travel to No. 9 Michigan and Bowling Green.

With one conference point, Lake Superior is in last place in the CCHA. The Lakers tied with Western Michigan 2-2 Friday, while losing to Michigan State 2-1 Saturday. The Lakers travel to Ferris State for two this week

Western Michigan–in sole possession of seventh place in the league–is idle this week.

Last week’s record in picks: 5-6 Overall record in picks: 30-16

See? I’ve done my penance. O Readers, absolve me.

And may St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists, guide my hand. And may St. John Bosco, patron saint of editors, grant my editor the patience he needs.

Bowling Green (4-4-1, 3-3-1 CCHA) at No. 6 Notre Dame (7-1-1, 5-1-0 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Joyce Arena, South Bend, IN No. 9 Michigan (5-2-0, 4-1-0 CCHA) at No. 6 Notre Dame (7-1-1, 5-1-0 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce Arena, South Bend, IN

In honor of Notre Dame–which is not a Jesuit school, as erroneously reported last week–each team in the preview this week will provide a patron saint for fans to implore on behalf of their respective teams.

Fans of the Brothers of the Holy Cross–Notre Dame, that is–may want to talk with St. Lidwina, the patron saint of skaters.

Or perhaps that’s an area where the Irish need no help at all.

"We’re doing well," says head coach Dave Poulin, "and I think we’re getting better."

An even better Notre Dame team is bad news for everyone else in the league.

The Irish tied 5-5 with No. 2 (then-No. 1) Boston College in Boston last week, after leading 5-2 going into the third. BC scored three goals within three minutes in the third to tie that game, but Poulin says he wouldn’t characterize the scoring as a "flurry."

"We had chances of our own to score between those goals. We never let down."

The following night, the Irish beat Northeastern 4-3–a game that Poulin says was an even bigger positive than tying the then-top team in the country.

"The big answer was Saturday night–to not let down, to go into a different building, a different ice surface, after a really emotional game the night before. That was the test."

Poulin says that his team is enjoying this current success, but not taking it for granted.

"Some of the new kids think this is the way college hockey is, but the older kids know and appreciate–and they’re contributing."

The big contributors include Aniket Dhadphale (3-5-8), Ben Simon (3-7-10), and Brian Urick (6-4-10)–a lethal line that also combines for points on the impressive Irish power play. Against the Eagles, each player from that line had a goal; Simon had an unassisted power-play goal, and the other two Irish tallies–from Matt Van Arkel and Dan Carlson–also came on the power play.

Just under half of Notre Dame’s overall goals–17 of 35–have come with the man advantage, and the statistic is similar in conference play.

The Notre Dame penalty-kill is fifth in the league, having allowed just four goals in 35 attempts. For that matter, the Irish don’t give opponents many opportunities to test it, with just 114 minutes in the box.

Another reason for the success of the Irish this season is defense, including the play of senior goaltender Forrest Karr. The Irish defense was finally at full strength this past weekend with the return of Nathan Borega. Notre Dame has been playing with several defensemen out of the line up at various times because of injuries dating back to the middle of last season–and they’re still consistently outshooting opponents.

Karr is, as Poulin describes him, "steady." In six league games played, Karr’s GAA is 1.84 and his save percentage is .911.

The Irish aren’t much deeper than two lines–but they don’t need to be, apparently, when the top two lines are so productive.

Bowling Green vs. Notre Dame

For help this week, Falcon fans can turn to St. Gall of Ireland, the patron saint of birds. Who better to watch over the Falcons as they learn to spread their wings this season?

And who better to watch over a team that can flat-out fly?

"We like to skate," says Falcon head coach Buddy Powers. "We don’t score, but we can skate.

"We make a lot of things happen but we don’t score. If we could capitalize on the good things we make happen, we might have one loss."

The Falcons beat No. 7 Northern Michigan 6-5 Friday and lost 4-1 to the Wildcats Saturday. Powers says that the scores are not necessarily indicative of the Falcon play. "I thought we played better on Saturday night than on Friday night, but we get nothing to show for it.

"In Friday’s game, five goals between the two teams went in off of players. Saturday, we had two breakaways and a dozen grade-A chances, but we didn’t put it in the net."

Powers says that the inability to finish is frustrating, and that it’s something that comes only with time–from practice and game experience.

"We’ve got six forwards that we expect 12 to 20 goals from each season, and they’re all struggling at the same time. When that happens, it’s hard to win."

With three goals and four assists in league play, Dan Price leads the Falcons in scoring. Also contributing to the Bowling Green offensive effort are Adam Edinger (2-4-6), Mike Jones (1-4-5) and Chris Bonvie (2-3-5).

On the defensive side of things, the Falcons have outshot opponents in six of their nine games this season, and are 3-2-1 for their efforts in those games.

A young Falcon is making some noise from the blue line. Rookie Grady Moore has been playing very well for Bowling Green, tallying two assists in the win over Northern with a plus-three rating in Friday’s game. The only Northern goal Moore was on the ice for all weekend was the Wildcats’ empty-netter in the 4-1 BG loss.

Moore is the current CCHA Rookie of the Week.

Another key to the Falcon defense has been senior netminder Mike Savard. Although his conference numbers through his first five league games (3.63 GAA, .867 save percentage) don’t appear to tell the best of stories, Savard has been the goaltender of choice in BG these days, and Powers is impressed with the senior’s attitude.

The Falcons lead the all-time series against Notre Dame 27-18-3, and are 10-10-3 all time in the Joyce Center.

These teams played each other well last season, with two of three games going into overtime. Notre Dame won the January overtime contest in Bowling Green, while the February extra-time battle resulted in a tie.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame

Michigan last played two weeks ago, when the Wolverines beat Bowling Green 5-2, then lost to Northern Michigan 6-1–in Yost.

That home loss was the most lopsided defeat Michigan has seen since a 7-1 loss to Lake Superior State in 1989. The last time the Wolverines allowed four goals in one period at home–as they did against Northern Michigan–was during a 7-2 beating by Western Michigan in 1995.

Perhaps fans of the defending national champions should turn to St. Agatha, the patron saint of fire and volcanic eruptions. The Wolverines could probably use a little of both.

Mike Comrie–in an early attempt to impress the Rookie-of-the-Year voters–leads the Wolverines in overall scoring with five goals and six assists, and he has a healthy plus-five rating. Comrie also has three power-play goals–a statistic of note for a team that has capitalized just seven times on the man-advantage this season.

Comrie’s three goals and four assists tie him for 11th in league scoring. Sophomore defenseman Mike Van Ryn (3-2-5) is second in conference points for Michigan, while seniors Dale Rominski and Bubba Berenzweig each have two goals and two assists.

In net for Michigan, it’s safe to say that Josh Blackburn is settling in–although inconsistently–with an impressive 1.76 league GAA and .918 conference save percentage. He got the win against Bowling Green, but earned the loss against Northern after being replaced by Kevin O’Malley.

Michigan leads the series against Notre Dame 49-33-2, and the Wolverines have won 29 of their last 31 games against the Irish, despite losing March 14 last season during the first round of the CCHA playoffs.

Head coach Red Berenson is 27-2-0 against Notre Dame.

Picks

"I’m really impressed with Notre Dame," says Buddy Powers. "If you can go out to Boston and play BC and tie them in their rink, then come back the next night after an emotional game, that tells me that Notre Dame’s got something pretty special going on.

"We’re going to have our hands extremely full in Notre Dame."

So are the Wolverines.

While the second night in Boston was a big test for the Irish, this weekend is an even bigger challenge. The return to league play against an improved Bowling Green and a rested, frustrated Michigan is not much of a welcome home.

Notre Dame is a big, physical, fast team. Shut down the Irish first line and the power play, and you have a chance. If you can’t do that–and Bowling Green and Michigan may not be able to–and South Bend becomes a lonely place for opponents.

Notre Dame 4-2 over Bowling Green, 4-2 over Michigan

No. 5 Michigan State (5-0-2, 4-0-2 CCHA) at Ohio State (1-6-2, 1-3-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., OSU Ice Rink, Columbus, OH No. 6 Northern Michigan (8-2-0, 4-2-0 CCHA) at Ohio State (1-6-2, 1-3-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., OSU Ice Rink, Columbus, OH

Everyone wants to know what’s wrong with the slumping Buckeyes. With just one win in their first nine games, head coach John Markell is not particularly worried.

"We have just three league losses, and all of those games were on the road. I’m not worried about the national picture. I just want to take care of league play. Our goal is still to finish in the top four."

Ohio State lost 3-1 to Michigan State and tied Western Michigan 2-2 last weekend. This week, the Buckeyes return to Columbus for their first NCAA home games of the season, and they couldn’t be happier about it.

"I expect to see a lot of emotion coming home," says Markell. "Here’s my concern: when you play with a lot of emotion, that wears off after a while, and then the enthusiasm has to kick in.

"We’ve been on the road so long that I can only assume how we’ll react. I can only assume we’ll enjoy the home crowd, the atmosphere, and use our work ethic to our advantage."

Last weekend marked the return of right winger Eric Meloche, who had been missing from the lineup with a collarbone injury since the Buckeyes’ first game of the season. Meloche’s presence had an immediate impact, waking up long-time linemate Hugo Boisvert, who had a goal in each game.

Meloche himself assisted on Boisvert’s goal against Michigan State and Jaisen Freeman’s goal against Western Michigan, which was the first goal of the sophomore defender’s collegiate career.

Perhaps Buckeye fans can turn to St. John the Baptist–the patron saint of Quebec–now that le trio Quebecois has returned in full force.

Boisvert leads the Buckeyes in scoring, followed by Chris Richards and Vinnie Grant. But no one on this Buckeye team has really produced the way Markell would like.

"But once those floodgates open," says Markell, "watch out."

In net for Ohio State, Jeff Maund has looked good in league play. Against the Spartans, Maund saved 41 of the 44 shots he faced. His league GAA is 2.33 and his save percentage against conference opponents is .920.

Michigan State vs. Ohio State

This is the third and final regular-season meeting between these two teams, and the first two games–a 4-4 tie and a 3-1 Spartan win–were beauties in Munn Arena.

But don’t suggest to Michigan State head coach Ron Mason that the Buckeyes and the Spartans match up especially well against each other.

"The games have been close," says Mason, "but I think they’ve had a lot of close games against a lot of teams.

"You’d rather compare yourself against one of the top teams in the league than you would someone near the bottom."

Regardless of what Mason says, Ohio State remains Michigan State’s toughest league rival during the past three seasons. In the past ten meetings, Michigan State holds a one-game edge, leading the series 5-4-1.

After beating the Buckeyes 3-1 last Friday night, the Spartans got past Lake Superior 2-1.

Bryan Adams spelled trouble for the Bucks two weeks ago, scoring three of the four Spartan goals in the tied game. Last weekend, Shawn Horcoff, Brad Hodgins, and Bryan Adams each had goals against OSU.

Uber-player Mike York has had five points against Ohio State–all assists. In fact, York has yet to score a goal in league play, but he leads the Spartans in scoring thanks to his nine assists.

He also happens to be one of the most dominant players in college hockey, whether he’s scoring or not. York is as close to poetry on ice as it gets at this level, and for that Spartan fans may want to implore St. Columba, the patron saint of poets.

While not exactly poetry in motion, Spartan goaltender Joe Blackburn has been sterling in net, allowing just nine goals in six league games, with a league GAA of 1.46 and a league save percentage of .918.

Blackburn has allowed no more than one goal in every game he’s played this season–with the notable exception of the 4-4 tie with Ohio State.

The Spartan defense has been equally impressive, so often allowing fewer than ten shots on goal in a given period that it’s new when they cough up double digits. Led by Chris Bogas and Mike Weaver, this defense has adjusted well to life post-Alban.

In addition to solid defense and a productive offense, the Spartans have the best penalty-killing in the league. Michigan State has allowed just two goals in the 33 times the Spartans have been a man down. That means that on opponents’ power plays, the Spartans have scored more goals–three–than the opponents have.

Northern Michigan vs. Ohio State

Northern Michigan is playing some darned good hockey. For proof, just look at Dan Ragusett’s league statistics.

Four games. 4-0-0. GAA, 1.33. Save percentage, .935.

Wildcats J.P. Vigier (9-4-13) and Buddy Smith (2-9-11) rank first and second in league scoring. Vigier tallied his first collegiate hat trick in Northern Michigan’s 6-5 loss to Bowling Green last weekend, and earned CCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors for his five overall points in the BG series, including Saturday’s game-winning goal.

The ‘Cats are tied for first in league scoring, averaging four goals per game. The Northern Michigan defense is fourth in both league and overall games, allowing about two and a half goals per.

The Wildcat power play is tied for second in league play, and the ‘Cat penalty kill is seventh in the conference.

Last year the Buckeyes swept the Wildcats, winning twice in Marquette and once in the little OSU War Memorial. Duane Hoey was the netminder in all three of those games.

Want to bet that Ohio State faces Ragusett?

This week, St. James the Greater watches over Northern Michigan. James the Greater is the patron saint of laborers–and the Wildcats are the hardest-working team in the league, top to bottom.

James the Greater is also the patron saint of rheumatoid suffers and hatmakers. That can’t hurt, either.

Picks

The Buckeyes have won two of their last three games in Columbus against the Spartans, the exception being a 2-1 MSU win last November at the little rink.

The Buckeyes are 8-0 in home openers since the 1989-90 season, and are 20-5-0 all-time in home openers.

"Going in and playing in that building, I never have very high expectations," says Mason of War Memorial. "In most cases, they have an advantage. The longer you keep the game close the better chance you have of making a run for it at the end.

"Ohio State really has something to prove. I think we’re going to see their very best game. For us, it’s a matter of being able to match that."

Says John Markell, "We played them close on the road. It was one-to-one with ten minutes to go, and we’ve also tied them. Now they’re coming to our place and we have to use that to our advantage."

Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley says, "Ohio State has had a tough schedule this year and I’m sure they’ll get a boost from playing their first home games this weekend. They’re also starting to get a couple of their key players healthy which should help them."

One last interesting note: This weekend of play in Columbus features three of the four teams that played in last year’s CCHA Championship Tournament in Joe Louis Arena.

It’s risky to pick against two top-ten teams, but there are riskier endeavors–like reading your email, for example.

The Buckeyes get a boost by playing two of their last five home games in the little, teeny, tiny, unheated, bird-infested barn that they like to call home.

Ohio State over Michigan State 4-3, over Northern Michigan 3-2

No. 6 Northern Michigan (8-2-0, 4-2-0 CCHA) at Miami (2-6-2, 1-5-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH No. 5 Michigan State (5-0-2, 4-0-2 CCHA) at Miami (2-6-2, 1-5-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH

The RedHawks are probably grateful to return home after their trip to Fairbanks. Losing 3-2 and 5-2, Miami was at the wrong end of the Nanooks’ first-ever league weekend sweep.

In addition to the two losses, Miami lost two key players to injury in the games against Fairbanks. Gregor Krajnc will miss four weeks with a second-degree sprain of his right knee, an injury he sustained while practicing at the Carlson Center on Thursday. Then Dustin Whitecotton left the ice in the first period of the second game with a broken left humerus. Whitecotton will be out for at least 12 weeks.

Jason Deskins leads the RedHawks in league scoring with six goals and six assists; Deskins had both goals against the Nanooks Friday night.

Mark Shalawylo (4-7-11) and Alex Kim (3-7-10) are the other big guns for the RedHawks.

Ian Olsen has the starting duties in net for the ‘Hawks. Olsen made 24 saves on 27 shots against the Nanooks Friday, while allowing five goals on 26 shots Saturday. At 1-6-2, Olsen’s overall GAA is 3.77, and his save percentage is .878.

Northern Michigan vs. Miami

The Wildcats lead the all-time series against Miami 15-3-1 and have beaten the RedHawks six of their last seven games–all of which have been played since the Wildcats rejoined the CCHA last season. The ‘Cats are 3-2-1 in Goggin, which includes the lone loss in those seven games, during a two-game series split last year.

This is the final meeting between the two teams in regular-season play this year. Miami lost two games to Northern Michigan in Marquette last month. "In our first two games against Miami," says Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley, "they really came at us hard and the series was really tight-checking."

Duane Hoey and Dan Ragusett have split time in net for Northern Michigan. While Hoey’s conference save percentage is about .880, Ragusett has been simply stunning, with a league save percentage of .935.

As mentioned above, Wildcats J.P. Vigier (9-4-13) and Buddy Smith (2-9-11) lead the CCHA in conference scoring, helping explain why the ‘Cats are tied for first in league scoring, averaging four goals per game.

Michigan State vs. Miami

Michigan State head coach Ron Mason calls this "one of the most difficult trips we make."

The Spartans play the Buckeyes Friday before moving on to Oxford Saturday.

"It’s especially difficult going from our big rink to the small rink [at Ohio State] to the big rink [at Miami]. The game changes from the small rink to the big rink so drastically."

Michigan State leads this all-time series 45-12-5, and is 20-4-2 in Oxford. The Spartans won last year’s series 1-0-2, and allowed just one goal in each of the three games against the RedHawks. The Jan. 30 game was a 1-1 tie; on Jan. 31, the Spartans beat Miami 7-0; on Feb. 6, the teams skated to a 0-0 tie in Goggin.

Michigan State is 5-0-1 in its last six games in Oxford, and is undefeated against the RedHawks in the last five meetings between the two teams.

Mason says he has great respect for Miami, and isn’t fooled by their record so far this season. "They’ve done a great job with that program. Their program has been strong. They’ve been hard for us to beat the last couple of years."

Picks

Perhaps St. Michael the Archangel is the appropriate patron for Miami this week. Not only is he the patron saint of the sick and injured, but he successfully battled the dragon.

Two top-ten teams in one weekend is pretty close to battling the dragon.

Northern Michigan 5-2, Michigan State 4-2

Alaska-Fairbanks (3-5-0, 2-4-0 CCHA) at No. 9 Michigan (5-2-0, 4-1-0 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI Alaska-Fairbanks (3-5-0, 2-4-0 CCHA) at Bowling Green (4-4-1, 3-3-1 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH

The Nanooks took their first-ever CCHA weekend series sweep with 3-2 and 5-2 wins over the visiting Miami RedHawks.

After the second win, head coach Dave Laurion told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, "It’s amazing what two wins can do for you."

Indeed.

The Nanooks were forced to come from behind in Friday’s game after opening the scoring then allowing two first-period Miami goals. UAF never trailed in the Saturday game.

"I though it was a very gritty performance by our guys this weekend," Laurion told the News-Miner. "For the most part, we played within our system. We had a few breakdowns that they (Miami) didn’t take advantage of, but then we deserve a few breaks."

Anyone who doubts that the Nanooks are an improved team should consider that it took UAF ten games to pick up four league points last season. They’ve done that in seven games this season.

Jim Lawrence is pacing the Nanooks with four goals and four assists in overall play. Others contributing to the Nanook offense are Chris Kirwan (3-2-5), Sjon Wynia (2-3-5) and Nathan Rocheleau (3-1-4).

A pleasant surprise for UAF this season has been goaltender Ian Perkins. Perkins forced everyone to take notice after stopping over 90 shots on net against Alaska-Anchorage during the Nanooks’ first weekend of play. This past weekend, Perkins made 55 saves and allowed just three even-strength goals against Miami, earning him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Michigan

The Nanooks are winless against Michigan for the entire 17 games the two teams have met. Earlier this season, Michigan swept UAF 6-1 and 2-1 in Fairbanks, a pair of games in which the Wolverines outshot the Nanooks 61-39.

During those two games, the Wolverines had four power-play goals on 18 attempts. The Wolverines are seventh in the league in power-play conversions, while UAF is ninth in league penalty-killing.

Rookie Mike Comrie paces the Wolverines with five goals and six assists. He’s followed by Mike Van Ryn (3-2-5), Dale Rominski (2-2-4) and Bubba Berenzweig (2-2-4).

In net for Michigan, rookie Josh Blackburn has a 1.76 league GAA and .918 conference save percentage.

Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Bowling Green

Bowling Green split with Northern Michigan in Marquette last weekend, winning 6-5 and losing 4-1.

The Falcons lead the all-time series against the Nanooks 9-5-1, but last year UAF took two of three games from the Falcons and tied the third in a three-game series in Fairbanks. The Nanooks won the first two games 9-2 and 4-3, and the tie was a 2-2 game.

Dan Price leads the Falcons in scoring with three goals and four assists. Also contributing to the Bowling Green offensive effort are Adam Edinger (2-4-6), Mike Jones (1-4-5) and Chris Bonvie (2-3-5).

On the defensive side of things, the Falcons have outshot opponents in six of their nine games this season, and are 3-2-1 for their efforts in those games.

Senior goaltender Mike Savard has seen more time in net than sophomore Shawn Timm. Through his first five league games, Savard’s save percentage was .867.

Picks

While the Nanooks will be flexing some muscle after their first weekend sweep, the Wolverines will be well-rested after a week off, and more than just a little eager to prove their a better team than their last game–a 6-1 home loss to Northern Michigan.

Just go ahead and ask the Nanooks what happens to the team that next plays Michigan after the Wolverines have been schooled.

And don’t look to last year’s UAF record against Bowling Green to be the predictor of this game. These Falcons are young and fast, relatively injury-free and intact.

At least St. Joseph of Cupertino will watch over the Nanooks this weekend. St. Joseph, born in 1603 in the Kingdom of Naples, is the patron saint of air travelers. St. Joseph was reputed to have levitated during Mass, and the mention of God or other spiritual matters was said to send him into a mid-air rapture.

St. Joseph was also noted for his bad temper in his youth–as were the Nanooks.

Michigan 4-2, Bowling Green 4-2

Lake Superior State (0-7-1, 0-5-1 CCHA) at Ferris State (5-2-1, 4-2-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI

St. Bernard of Montjoux is the saint to whom Lakers fans may turn for added protection this weekend, while St. Ambrose would be a good patron for the Bulldogs.

St. Bernard is the patron saint of mountain climbers and skiers, and no CCHA team has a bigger hill to climb at this point in the season than Lake Superior.

St. Bernard is also remembered for aiding lost travelers.

St. Ambrose is the patron saint of domestic animals–not to suggest that the Bulldogs are tame. St. Ambrose is also the patron saint of learning, which isn’t bad either.

After tying Western Michigan 2-2 Friday night to notch their first league point of the season, the Lakers dropped a close 2-1 game to Michigan State Saturday.

"Friday night we played a great game," says assistant coach Mike Collins. "It was a great game both ways. Getting a point out of there and in the fashion we did was good."

The Lakers trailed 2-0 going into the third. Rookie Jamie Garrick’s goal at 8:26 made it 2-1, and Tobin Praznik tied it up with just six seconds left in regulation play.

Junior goaltender Mike Brusseau made 21 saves for Lake Superior.

Collins characterizes the Saturday game against Michigan State as a good one. "We scored in the first minute of the game and that probably caught them by surprise."

Collins says that while no one is standing out right now for the Lakers, "We feel that we’re capable.

"We played two good teams that have points in the standings, and we got a point from one and played close with the other."

Collins says that the young Laker team is still learning how to play at this level. "It’s a step up from what a lot of them have been doing, collectively and individuals."

Ferris State comes off a three-point home weekend against MSU-Mankato, tying 3-3 Friday and winning 3-1 Saturday.

Assistant Bulldog coach Drew Famulak said the games were a good learning experience for Ferris State.

"They’re a good team. They skate well, they’re tenacious. They made us compete hard. They were up and down the sheet. And we had to skate and compete hard both nights.

"We got the chance to rotate in eight defensemen, and [rookie goaltender] Phil Osaer played in the tie. He had a little bit of everything–a couple of breakaways, overtime. He saw more in one game than he maybe would have in two or three others."

Osaer made 27 saves in his first collegiate start.

Kevin Swider had three goals and an assist in the games against Mankato; Joel Irwin had a goal and two assists.

Irwin has 3 goals and 4 assists through six league games. Rob Kozak (2-4-6), Swider (3-3-6), and Brian McCullough (3-2-5) are also among the offensive leaders for the Bulldogs.

Even though Ferris State is tied for third in the league–with two top-ten teams–Famulak says the Bulldogs have a lot of work to do.

"Our power play is struggling. We’re getting chances, but not finishing like we were earlier in the year."

He adds "We’ve had some consistent efforts from some of our older players."

Vince Owen is the starter between the pipes for Ferris State. In league play, Owen’s GAA is 2.51 and his save percentage is a solid .915.

Collins says, "We’re not going to be worrying about other teams. We just need to focus on what works for us."

Picks: Ferris State 4-2, 4-1

May St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, watch over all our favorite hockey players this week and throughout the season.

And may St. Lucy, patron saint of eye trouble and writers, watch over whomever may need her help.

This Week in the ECAC: November 13, 1998

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
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Well, it’s finally here — the "real" start of the ECAC league season. Yes, we know Harvard and Brown played last weekend, but this is where the race for the good loot begins.

Speaking of the first ECAC game of the season, it was Brown getting a quick jump on the entire league with a victory. It was also good news for Rensselaer, Cornell and Dartmouth, with Rensselaer over Union and both the Big Red and Green over Niagara. Yale also posted an exhibition win over McGill to open up its season on ice.

Less pleased this week are Clarkson, Vermont, Dartmouth and Union. Clarkson dropped a pair to the number-one team in the country, North Dakota, while Vermont and Dartmouth both lost to Acadia. And as mentioned before, Union lost to Rensselaer in a non-conference battle.

This weekend, every team is involved in the league schedule. There is no need to refer to the other USCHO previews for games this week, because it’s all in the family.

ECAC Player of the Week — Curtis Wilgosh, Dartmouth ECAC Rookie of the Week — David Francis, Cornell ECAC Goaltender of the Week — Scott Stirling, Brown

Folks, tighten your seat belts, ’cause you are about to get the 1998-99 edition of the ECAC. Get ready for the thrills, the excitement, the tradition and the grandeur of the best college hockey has to offer.

Last week: 6-2 Season to date: 15-10, .600

We’re catching up on the deadwood that’s ahead of us…

Yale (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Princeton (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Clarkson (0-4-0, 0- 0-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Cheel Arena, Potsdam, NY Princeton (0-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Yale (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at St. Lawrence (4-1-0, 0- 0-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Appleton Arena, Canton, NY

The Yale Bulldogs enter this weekend as the only untested team in the ECAC. A 7-2 exhibition drubbing of McGill is the only result opponents can use to measure the strength of Tim Taylor’s squad.

To make matters worse, Yale is one of the toughest teams in the league to figure out. Offensively, the Bulldogs return a healthy first-team All-ECAC selection in Jeff Hamilton, who appears almost 100 percent after suffering a shoulder injury last season in the ECAC quarterfinals. Hamilton led the conference in goals and game-winners, and he’ll be backed by captain Keith McCullough and junior Jeff Brow.

"I think we might be able to score a few more goals this year than last year team-wise because we didn’t lose a lot of the parts of our offensive machinery," said Yale head coach Tim Taylor. "[Hamilton] is a little restricted in terms of his full range of motion, but he is basically recovered and it is stronger than it was before."

In between the pipes they are even more solid with one of the best goaltenders in the league, Alex Westlund.

"With Hamilton up front and Alex Westlund in goal, we have two kids–both second team All-Americans–who are very good players," Taylor said. "It’s nice to have those type of kids around whom to build different aspects of your team. Alex is a terrific kid who trains very hard. He’s had a great summer and he looks terrific. He fully expects to have a real good senior year. It’s not very often coaches have those luxuries."

Defense remains the real question with the graduation of last year’s ECAC Player of the Year, Ray Giroux, although it didn’t appear too much after holding McGill to a mere two goals.

"We lost a lot of the parts of our defensive machinery, so I think our real challenge will be to rebuild a team defense which is what got us where we did last year," Taylor said. "I got some good players to replace them with, but they’re not going to be as experienced or as old or mature. So that is the challenge we face."

No one will know for sure, however, until the Bulldogs take the ice this weekend. Only then will the enigma that is Yale become clearer.

They sure haven’t made Hobey proud just yet. As the former Tiger slowly rolls around in his grave, Don "Toot" Cahoon’s team is struggling to find something positive in the young season. After a disastrous exhibition blowout loss to New Brunswick two weeks ago, Princeton was welcomed into the regular season by a 9-1 shellacking at the hands of Boston University on Friday night

Syl Apps scored Princeton’s lone goal, and that was the only good thing to come out of Walter Brown Arena for the visiting team that night.

"We’re a long ways from being the type of team that competes at a level that BU plays at, regardless of where everyone thinks BU is at now," said Cahoon. "The first thing we have to do is get our team to play with a passion. We haven’t done that yet."

Offensively, there is no doubt that the goals will come — eventually. Against the Terriers, the Tigers were playing without top sniper Jeff Halpern, who was ejected from the New Brunswick contest after receiving an intent-to-injure penalty. His return will add new life to the attack, which thus far has relied on defensive forward extraordinaire Apps for most of the offensive production. Even though the team has only played one regular-season contest, Cahoon is not afraid to mix things up as a sense of immediacy is slowly creeping into the Princeton camp.

"We’re going to change things around a bit," Cahoon said. "We’re going to get some younger kids in the lineup. We’re just not going to take anything for granted. The people who have done it for us in the past aren’t necessarily going to do it for us this year or in the future. It’ll be a little bit of a boot camp down at Princeton."

A huge problem for the Tigers is in the net. The cries of "Where is Erasmo?" are ringing louder than ever at Hobey Baker as the rotating trio of freshman Dave Stathos, junior Craig Bradley, and senior Nick Rankin just aren’t getting the job done at all, allowing an outrageous 20 goals in two games.

"I really have a hard time assessing the goaltending," said Cahoon following the BU defeat. "I mean nine goals, I don’t know how many of those were real bad goals from the goalie’s perspective; I’ll have to wait and judge that on tape.

"I’m a slow starter. My teams have never played their best hockey at the beginning of the year."

After such a dismal, uninspired start to the season, Cahoon promised that it would be a boot camp at Princeton this week. It’ll be interesting to see how the troops respond against arguably the toughest road trip of the schedule, at Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

Clarkson is 0-4-0 after getting swept by Northern Michigan and North Dakota over the past three weekends. Two teams that considered the top schools in the CCHA and WCHA respectively. While the Golden Knights are winless, the four games should set them up well for the upcoming season.

"We’ve bit off a big chunk in the schedule," said head coach Mark Morris. "We realized it was going to be a struggle, but it will set us up for the rest of the season. We’ve had a lot of areas of our game exposed. There is reason to be encouraged.

"Everybody is disgruntled, but when you consider the teams and the quality of the teams, it’s good to learn and know your weaknesses and strengths from it."

One of the weaknesses being pointing out is the inexperience in goal. With three freshmen trying to fill the shoes of Chris Bernard and Dan Murphy, there is quite a battle for the starting job.

"At this moment, Shawn Grant seems to have the edge over Andrew Gibson, and Andy Kostka is the third string goalie," said Morris. "Right now Grant has worked harder, and it looks like he has the ability to learn….There was no doubt there were awkward moments over the four games. We saw good play and bad play."

This weekend it will be the ECAC titleists coming to Cheel.

"Yale is probably still riding pretty high from last year’s season title, and Princeton is probably still riding high from the championship win," said Morris. "Yale beat us by one point and Princeton by one goal in overtime. We’ve certainly got plenty of incentive to play them tough in our own building."

The Saints of St. Lawrence are one of the surprises in this young season, off to a 4-1-0 start with a lot of things clicking. One of those is goaltender Eric Heffler, who has garnered ECAC Goaltender of the Week honors three times already, the latest coming after a 3-1 victory over Colgate in a non-conference affair at the Buffalo Showcase.

"It was a great night for him," said Saint coach Joe Marsh of the Williamsville, N.Y., native. "We wanted to showcase him a little bit in his home town and he certainly didn’t show any nerves, but then he has played in some real big games the last couple of seasons. It was a pretty good night all the way around, (Heffler) got some help from his defense in terms of clearing the rebounds and he made a couple of huge saves at key points in the game to keep Colgate from getting back into it."

Another strong point has been the play of freshman Brandon Dietrich and sophomore Vic Natali, both getting their first real taste of college hockey.

"Dietrich and Natali are two creative players with the puck and they showed us a lot tonight," said Marsh. "Brandon’s goal was a pretty individual play and Vic made a great move to the slot and Dale (Clarke) put a perfect pass on his stick for the goal. It was good to see that kind of scoring balance. Colgate did a good job against our top line and against the power play, but the other guys picked things up."

One more factor for the Saints has been their awesome special teams, especially the penalty-kill. The Saints have killed off 28 consecutive power plays, and have just allowed one power-play goal in 35 chances this season.

"The penalty kill did a good job again (against Colgate) and when you’ve got a goalie like Heff in there, it is the best kind of kill you can have," said Marsh.

The week off between the Colgate game and this weekend is ample time for the Saints to capitalize on their quick start and get ready for the regular-season and tournament ECAC Champions.

"We’ve got some time now to refine some things and get ready for league play," said Marsh. "We had a pretty successful first five games, but it just gets tougher from here on in."

Picks: Yale at Clarkson — It’s not exactly the easiest road trip to start the regular season with, but Tim Taylor will have his Bulldogs prepared for the challenge. Unfortunately, the team will crash head-first into winless Clarkson, who has endured the brunt of one of the toughest schedules thus far. The Golden Knights will be geared up for their first win. Clarkson 5, Yale 2 Princeton at St. Lawrence — The Tigers will definitely show signs of improvement this weekend, but then again they couldn’t really get much worse. Even Hobey himself couldn’t create an upset. St. Lawrence 6, Princeton 3 Princeton at Clarkson — Revenge, baby! The Tigers don’t seem to have it together yet, and the Golden Knights will exact their price this night. Clarkson 5, Princeton 2 Yale at St. Lawrence — You know what they say practice makes perfect, and with six already under their belt, it will be the Saints’ weekend. St. Lawrence 4, Yale 2

Cornell (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Colgate (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Harvard (1-1-0, 0- 1-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge, Mass. Colgate (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Cornell (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Brown (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Meehan Auditorium, Providence, RI

The Cornell Big Red take their 1-0-0 record into ECAC-land this weekend. After a nailbiting 3-2 win over an unpredictable Niagara team at Lynah Rink, Cornell hopes for a better league showing than last season’s eighth-place finish.

The Big Red are after big years from veterans like Kyle Knopp, Doug Stienstra and Ryan Moynihan, but thus far, the surprise offensive weapon has been newcomer David Francis. He netted his first career goal when he evened the score at two against Niagara with 6:59 remaining in that contest.

Another impressive showing came from Larry Pierce, the team’s top point-getter after scoring a goal and two assists last week. Goaltender Ian Burt also had a solid game in his debut as a starter. He pushed away 32 shots to collect his first victory of the season.

"I can’t say enough about Ian Burt. After it was 2-1 he made the big save that turned the game around," defenseman Jeff Burgoyne told the Cornell Daily Sun. "We have so much confidence in him back there, and he is just getting better every night."

Despite the unexpected offensive production from Pierce and Francis, Cornell did have trouble with Niagara’s tactical style, which had the Big Red players facing their own net more than they would have liked.

"They played a great game," said Cornell head coach Mike Schafer following the game. "They stuck to their game plan and did a good job of just constantly throwing the puck out in the neutral zone and sending it down for icings. They’re a real solid team that’s beaten Michigan and Ohio State."

There is no doubt that Don Vaughan has shifted his team’s focus from the offensive to the defensive side of the ice. Two Friday nights ago, Colgate battled with an usually tough Army squad and eked out the victory — its first of the season — thanks to a third-period tally by Daryl Campbell.

"It feels good," said Vaughan following his first victory. "Obviously, the way things ended for us last year, it’s good to get that first one. And we scored some goals too. We played well in spurts, and not well in other spurts. We’ve got to find a way to put it together."

But surging St. Lawrence quickly dropped the Red Raiders’ record under the .500 mark the next night as part of the Buffalo Showcase. Despite the fact that the defensive focus has yet to produce stellar results, allowing seven goals in the last two games, Vaughan remains optimistic about his newfound strategy.

"We’ve been focusing on our [team defense]," Vaughan said. "That has been an emphasis from day one for us, and maybe sometimes that’s at the expense of the other end of the rink. But generally that’s the way hockey has been. Everybody is focusing on defense and people are afraid to open up a little bit more. We’ve done a nice job both weekends in our own end."

Colgate has gotten impressive offensive performances from veterans like Campbell and seniors Dan Wildfong (one assist vs. SLU) and Jed Whitchurch (one goal vs. Army), but the influx of youth in the Red Raiders’ roster has been undeniable. Etienne Morin, the rookie out of the Central Junior A Hockey League, deposited his first goal of the 1998-99 season last weekend against the Saints.

Netminder Jason LeFevre also saw time against St. Lawrence, notching 21 saves and continuing to challenge Shep Harder for the starting nod. Harder struggled against Army after a 32-save performance against Northeastern two weeks ago.

"He played OK," said Vaughan of his junior goaltender. "He wasn’t really tested a lot, but he played well and he got the ‘W’. He probably had it more together against Northeastern, but he did what he had to do to win."

Harvard used its first weekend of the 1998-99 season to stretch its legs a bit. Now, after a loss to Brown on Friday and a rebound victory over UMass-Amherst on Sunday, the Crimson are ready to bear down on the heart of its league schedule.

Despite being outplayed by the Bears on opening night, Harvard had its moments, the brightest being the play of senior captain Craig Adams, who appears to have fully healed from last year’s shoulder injury which forced him to miss more than half the season. Adams delivered his first goal–a short-handed tally–in almost a year against UMass and looks comfortable next to sophomore linemates Chris Bala and Steve Moore.

"In the first game against Brown, I don’t think that he had a strong game," said head coach Ronn Tomassoni. "I thought that he bounced back well on Sunday with a big shorthanded goal for us. He is the kind of kid who plays so physical and energetic, and that rubs off. I also think that he is more than just a physical presence out there. He is a grinder, but he also plays a highly skilled game and not many kids can do that."

The newcomers — who have been touted as perhaps the best freshmen class in the ECAC — have also showed promise with many of them slipping right into the heart of the Crimson lineup. Jared Cantanucci and Kyle Clark have solidified spots in the first two lines, while Derek Nowak and Peter Capouch have also seen a great deal of playing time. A fifth freshman, Jeff Stonehouse, was slated to center the team’s second line on Friday, but suffered a broken bone in his hand just days before the Brown contest.

"It’s early yet, but it appears to be a very good class; they performed very well," Tomassoni said. "We obviously miss Stonehouse, who was hurt the day before [Brown], but we are hoping to get him back soon. And that kid [Leif] Ericson hasn’t seen much action, but we think that he will be a very strong player for us."

Although the Crimson offensive attack showed some life on Sunday against the Minutemen, the power-play unit has yet to light up the lamp, going 0 for 10 in the two games, and the team managed only one goal against the Bears. Some claim it was simply a case of playing the wrong goalie at the wrong time — namely Brown’s Scott Stirling.

"That Stirling boy had a great night, one of those nights when you have to tip your hat," said Tomassoni, whose team rocketed 15 shots on Stirling in the first period alone, but failed to score. "Overall during the course of the game we played well, but the difference was their goaltender. You just hope you don’t face that type of situation much during the course of the season. Someone asked me after the game if I thought that the fact that Brown had an exhibition game and we didn’t made a difference. It certainly didn’t appear to be that way."

For a team that was supposed to be hurting offensively, Roger Grillo couldn’t have been too disappointed with his Brown team’s season opening effort against Harvard last Friday night.

Taking advantage of every Crimson letdown, the Bears waltzed to its first victory to a tune of 3-1. Junior Mike Bent, who in only 21 games last year finished with seven goals and 11 assists, was the man of the evening after a two-assist performance against Harvard, both coming on the power play. The first line of Adrian Smith, Paul Giblin, and Tyler Garrow had no trouble breaking down the Crimson defense as the trio figured into all three Bear goals.

"After we capitalized, we really started to skate," said Brown head coach Roger Grillo. "Stirling really saved us. It could have been 5-0 after the first."

Disciplined and opportunistic were the watchwords for Grillo’s squad that night as his team committed a mere five penalties and went 2 for 6 with the man advantage. That style of play, along with an outstanding regular-season debut by Stirling, who knocked away 28 saves for the shutout victory, was all the Bears needed.

"Harvard came out strong and got a lot of shots early," said Stirling, who faced 15 Crimson shots in the first period alone. "It’s good for me to see a lot of shots, it gets me into the game right away."

For the record, Brown is 10-2-2 in its last 14 league games dating back to last season when it closed out the regular season with a 9-2-2 mark to earn home ice for the playoffs. So, needless to say, if Stirling, who earned ECAC goaltender of the week honors, can continue to "stand on his head," as Tomassoni described following Friday night’s contest, then the Bears will be a true force to contend with this weekend.

Picks: Cornell at Harvard — Home ice advantage has been somewhat of an elusive concept for Harvard the past few years, especially against the Big Red, who bring busloads of rowdy fans to Bright Hockey Center each year. The Crimson will be temporarilly blinded by the "Where’s Waldo?" contigent sitting across from its bench, but will rally in the third to break even in the league race. Harvard 5, Cornell 4 Colgate at Brown — A week ago, Stirling was in a zone, and there is no reason why the netminder won’t continue to help bolster his team’s winning percentage. In a tight, defensive contest, Meehan Auditorium will be a happy place following the Bears’ close win over the visiting Red Raiders. Brown 3, Colgate 1 Colgate at Harvard — Unlike Cornell, Colgate has the weapons to punish Harvard’s loss of Storey at the blue line. Morin should find space to weave around the offensive zone at will and create havoc for the Crimson defense. Four of five pundits say Colgate is the best that night. Colgate 5, Harvard 3 Cornell at Brown — Schafer and Co. will try and bring a little bit of the ‘ole style bruising that Brown was so famous for before Grillo made his way to Providence, but to no avail. Brown 4, Cornell 2

Union (1-3-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Rensselaer (3-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Dartmouth (1- 0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH Rensselaer (3-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) and Union (1-3-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Vermont (2-2-0, 0- 0-0 ECAC) Friday – Saturday, 7:30 pm – 7:00 pm, Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Ver.

The Dartmouth Big Green got onto the ice this past weekend with a loss in an exhibition to Acadia, and a highly offensive explosive win over Niagara on Sunday.

"It was interesting," said head coach Bob Gaudet about his weekend. "I was impressed with Acadia; they were big and strong and a real good team. And Niagara has just done an outstanding job with their program.

"We got down 3-1 against Niagara, but we still played pretty solid. I was happy with the effort of the team and we definitely have a mix of young and old. The young guys got their first taste and our potential is out there."

Gaudet split his two goaltenders this past weekend. Against Acadia Eric Almon started and then freshman Robert Delwo took over halfway through. The same thing happened against Niagara.

"It was definitely by design against Acadia," said Gaudet. "But I wish I could say the same for Niagara. It was a momentum changer. We were tied at four and we needed a change. Nothing against Eric but we were tired and the puck just had eyes on Sunday.

"Now I have two goaltenders that are solid and capable — one a veteran and one a rookie."

The tough part for the Big Green this weekend is that they will face two opponents that already have four games under their belts in Rensselaer and Union.

"I don’t think there’s a question about that," Gaudet said when asked if it was a disadvantage. "But you have to play the deck that’s been dealt to us. The tough part is that we don’t know what we have out there with just two games under our belt. We don’t know with a young team who is going to step up in the critical situations. We just don’t have that luxury."

Vermont has started the season in an up-and-down fashion. A tough loss to UNH was followed by a shootout against BU, and then a split with St. Cloud before a loss to Acadia last weekend brought the Catamounts into the ECAC season.

"Who knows?" said head coach Mike Gilligan when asked if his team was ready for the start of league play. "That’s the angle as a coach that I have. We’ve played some good games, we’ve played some bad games.

"We’re getting points out of our defensemen but not enough out of our forwards. Too many of our forwards are silent. They are playing well, but they are not putting the puck into the net. Plus we’ve given up too many shots."

Giving up too many shots is a concern with the goaltending situation at Vermont. So far all three Catamount goaltenders have started games. Sophomore Andrew Allen, senior Marty Philips and this past weekend freshman Tim Peters.

"Peters had a good game against Acadia on Saturday," said Gilligan. "But we’ll split time with two of our goaltenders this weekend. Right now, I’m not sure which one in which game."

The Cats face two different teams in Union and Rensselaer this weekend.

"From what I hear, Union is a young and intense club," said Gilligan. "Rensselaer can really move around the ice — but we can skate with anybody."

Union lost to Rensselaer in overtime at the third annual Capital Skate Classic last weekend, and while it was a loss, it was a showing that boosted the confidence of head coach Kevin Sneddon.

"They’re very down about this," he said about his team. "This is the first game that we actually played 63 minutes of hockey. We’ve got to look for the positives out of this game. We’re 1-3 and we jump into league play next week and I was very pleased with what I saw out there. The effort was there and what we worked on all week was there. I just feel bad for them because they didn’t come out with the win, but you have to hammer home the positives.

"We executed our systems for the first time for three periods and into overtime. While it’s disappointing that we lost in overtime but the guys have to feel good about themselves."

One of the positives that was there last weekend was the goaltending of Leeor Shtrom. Shtrom came back and had a strong outing in the Classic.

"He didn’t have the greatest game against Merrimack he wanted to come back strong and he kept us in there," said Sneddon. "We’ve got all the confidence in the world in him."

Another positive for the Dutchmen was a reduced number of penalties, which hurt them in their first three games, leading to numerous chances and goals for Maine and Merrimack.

"It looked like we were going to start that again," said Sneddon about the penalties. "We took a slashing penalty late again, and those are the little things you just can’t have happen. Everybody’s got to be beating on the same drum and penalties aren’t going to help you. If we continue to hammer that home we’re going to be a pretty good hockey club."

The victors of the Classic, Rensselaer, got their second overtime win of the season with a Pete Gardiner goal.

"This is the second time when we’ve pulled one out in overtime," said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. "You have to be happy about that because that was a character win. It was nothing fancy, we had five guys on the ice, and they executed the play very well."

With four games under their belt, one of the things that is clicking for the Engineers is offense. The Engineers have scored 18 goals in four games, topped by the ECAC’s leading scorer, freshman Matt Murley.

Murley has garnered ECAC Rookie of the Week honors once this season already, and will look to add more of those titles to his stable this season. His play thus far has earned a lot of turned heads in the direction of the Troy native.

The ECAC schedule is about to begin for the Engineers and they are not the favorites to win the league as they were last year, leading to less pressure on the squad, but the question is are they ready?

"I think so," said Fridgen. "We certainly learned something each game that we have played thus far and hopefully that will make us a better team in the long run."

Picks: Union at Vermont — The Dutchmen look like they are coming together after a strong performance against Rensselaer, while Vermont is coming off of an exhibition loss. But the speed of Vermont will be the difference. Vermont 4, Union 3 Rensselaer at Dartmouth — The firepower of the Engineers should come out against the young Dartmouth team. Eric Almon must have a solid game if the Big Green are to upset the Engineers. Almon may be strong, but the Big Green won’t get the upset. Rensselaer 6, Dartmouth 3 Rensselaer at Vermont — Two teams that like to skate, and with the home crowd advantage, it will be the Catamounts that get a sweep on the weekend. Vermont 5, Rensselaer 3 Union at Dartmouth — Two young teams in this matchup, and it will be Union with more game experience that makes the difference. Union 3, Dartmouth 2

Next week in the ECAC: (ECAC Games in bold) Friday, November 20 Vermont at Colgate Dartmouth at Cornell Harvard at Princeton Brown at Yale Union at Rensselaer

Saturday, November 21 Dartmouth at Colgate Vermont at Cornell Brown at Princeton Harvard at Yale Clarkson at St. Lawrence Union at UMass-Amherst

Tuesday, November 24 Harvard at Boston University UMass-Amherst at Vermont Cornell at Northeastern

Thanks to the USCHO game reporters for their contributions to this preview. All photographs used by permission of the appropriate Sports Information Departments. Any reproduction without authorization is prohibited.

Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy are ECAC Correspondents for U.S. College Hockey Online.

Copyright 1998 Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy. All rights reserved.

Former Maine Skater Libby May Lose Eye After On-Ice Injury

USCHO Staff Report
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Former Maine defenseman Jeff Libby had his right eye accidentally lanced by a skate Saturday night while playing for the Lowell Lock Monsters in an American Hockey League game against the St. John’s Maple Leafs. Despite a five-hour operation late Saturday night, Libby is likely to lose the affected eye.

The injury occurred when Maple Leafs forward Mark Deyell was hit by two Lowell skaters, causing Deyell’s skate to fly up and slice Libby’s right eyeball as he followed the play. Libby was not wearing a visor at the time.

“The odds are against him (regaining sight), but where there’s a chance, there’s hope,” Lowell team spokesman Randy Sieminski said last night.

Dr. John McNicholas, ophthalmologist at the Health Science Centre in St. John’s, was attending the 24-year-old Libby, assisted by Leafs team doctor Dick Barter.

“The skate cut with considerable force,” Barter told the St. John’s Evening Telegram. “The eyelid is quite dreadful.”

“My (11-year-old) son was at the game and he said, ‘Dad, I’ll never play hockey without a visor,'” McNicholas said. “If there’s some good that came out of it, I think Jeff would like it that way.”

Libby is currently listed in stable condition, and a decision must be made about whether to remove the eye within the next few days, since otherwise the vision in his other eye may be affected.

Libby spent three years playing at Maine before being signed by the Islanders last year. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder played one game for New York in 1997-98, splitting the season with Utah of the IHL and Kentucky of the AHL.

This Week in Hockey East: November 6, 1998

By
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BU will turn around its 0-4 start and go undefeated the rest of the regular season. But the Terriers won’t finish first because UMass-Amherst will. And Merrimack will win the national championship.

Ya gotta believe. Why?

Heck, if former pro wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura can become the governor of Minnesota, anything can happen.

Gov. Ventura, who now prefers to be called Jesse "The Mind" Ventura, will help us out in our picks this week.

KOHO Players of the Week: Jerry Keefe (F, Providence College) and Jeff Farkas (F, Boston College). Keefe compiled a 3-5–8 scoring line and Farkas 5-1–6 in their teams’ sweeps last weekend.

Heaton Defensive Player of the Week: Jayme Filipowicz (D, New Hampshire). Filipowicz scored the game-winner at UMass-Amherst and anchors a UNH defense that has allowed only 1.75 goals a game.

KOHO Rookie of the Week: Chris Brannen (D, UMass-Amherst) scored the game-tying goal and assisted on the winner in a 3-2 win over Merrimack.

Hockey East Standings

Last week’s record in picks: 6-1

Season’s record in picks: 22-8, .733

No. 8 Notre Dame (6-1-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) at No. 1 Boston College (4-0-0, 2-0-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College swept UMass-Lowell, 7-3 and 6-4, last weekend to begin its slate of league games. The two contests both followed the same script. The Eagles jumped out to a first-period lead (4-0 and 2-0, respectively), the River Hawks battled back in the second, and BC regained control in the third.

"Lowell impressed me as a very difficult team to play against," says coach Jerry York. "We were able to capitalize on some power-play opportunities that, coupled with our good start both nights, were keys to the game. But they were tough and hard. It was a physical series."

Leading the scoring was junior Jeff Farkas, who got a hat trick on Friday before "slumping" to two goals and an assist one night later. Farkas finished with a 10-27–37 scoring line last year, but seems to be breaking out this season in a big way.

"This is his third year in Hockey East," says York. "He feels much more comfortable with the pace of the game and the physical part of the game. He has really increased his strength since he came in as a freshman. I certainly think he’s become a very dominant player at this level for us."

The Eagles now take a one-game hiatus from their Hockey East schedule for a marquee matchup against Notre Dame that is bound to attract interest from those who associate BC not with Marty Reasoner but with Doug Flutie.

"It’s an intersectional rivalry with schools that share a lot in common," says York. "We have an annual trophy that we give out, the Lefty Smith-Snooks Kelley trophy. It becomes a special game for us, certainly a rivalry that we look forward to playing."

Although a BC-Notre Dame clash in any sport in any year could be expected to get the competitive juices going, there’ll be a little extra excitement this time. The Fighting Irish, who were still a D-I independent as recently as 1992 and then tried unsuccessfully to compete in the CCHA while giving out only 13 scholarships to everyone else’s 18, come in as the country’s eighth-ranked team.

"Dave Poulin has certainly done an outstanding job in this, his fourth year," says York. "He has the Irish in the top ten in the country. Watching them play on film, they’ve got a team that is deservedly ranked very, very high.

"It should be a very quick, up-tempo game on Friday night. And we’re going to sell it out, too, so there are going to be 7800 people there."

(For the scoop on Notre Dame, see this week’s CCHA Preview by Paula C. Weston.)

PICK: Jesse "The Spectator" Ventura, enraged that he can’t get a ticket, bodyslams a ticket-taker into the turnbuckle. Doug Flutie, who may be smaller than Ventura’s neck, runs a naked bootleg around one turnstile to calm down Ventura and make sure the ticket-taker is okay. BC wins, 5-4.

UMass-Lowell (2-2-0, 1-2-0 HEA) at No. 4 Maine (3-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA)

Friday, Saturday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Maine comes into this game after a week off.

Literally.

Not only did the Black Bears not play last week, they were limited to conditioning work without pucks. As a result, coach Shawn Walsh gave his players the weekend off and encouraged many of them to get away and mentally recharge the batteries.

Before the layoff, Maine won the J.C. Penney Classic, which it hosted, by topping Moncton, 5-0, and Union, 6-1. In the process, defenseman Peter Metcalf earned Rookie of the Week honors with a power-play goal and an assist.

"He’s a tremendous offensive player," says Walsh. "He really has great sense. He’s a risk-taker on the ice offensively, which sometimes you have to be. He plays a key spot on our top power-play unit, so I think he’ll end up getting a lot of production this year. We thought he was going to be pretty good, but he’s been everything we thought we were getting."

Also catching some attention, although of another kind, was Brendan Walsh, who sat out last year after transferring from BU. He had a goal and an assist in the title game, but also went to the penalty box four times, prompting cries of, "I told you so!" from those who doubted the kinder, gentler Brendan Walsh.

"He’s been great for us," says Shawn Walsh. "He’s had a profound effect on our team. He takes key faceoffs. He penalty kills. He plays on one of the power-play units.

"Actually, three of his penalties were matching minors and then he drew a couple other penalties. I’ve talked to him about his penalties [in that game], but I think he got a little excited about scoring his first goal in over a year. I think he just got carried away."

With freshman goaltender Mike Morrison tossing a shutout against Moncton, Walsh could choose to split the weekend between Morrison and Alfie Michaud (1.00 GAA, .958 Sv%) or instead opt to give Michaud both nights in light of last week’s inactivity.

"I’m open to either scenario now," says Walsh. "It really depends on how sharp they look in practice. I’m not going to make that decision until late in the week."

The Black Bears will be hosting UMass-Lowell, a team that Walsh had the opportunity to scout when it faced Boston College last weekend. The River Hawks dropped both games, 7-3 and 6-4, but still impressed.

"I liked their resilience and I really liked their forwards," he says. "Their forwards can make plays. They’ve constantly been recruiting guys like this. Guys like [Chris] Bell that aren’t fancy, but can make smart plays. They’re as smart as I’ve seen.

"They’re one of those teams that if you have a defensive breakdown, clearly they’ll take advantage of it. [John] Campbell has improved dramatically and [Anthony] Cappelletti has played well on defense.

"They had goalie problems the one game that I watched and that was the difference in the game. They completely dominated the second period."

The River Hawks definitely represent a bigger challenge than Nebraska-Omaha, Moncton and Union — Maine’s opposition to date.

"They’ll be the best team we’ve played," says Walsh. "What scares me about early in the first game this weekend is that we’re coming from playing nobody last week and pretty easy opposition the first two weeks. But they just got done playing the number-one team in the country. It’s a big difference. In a way, I’m glad we’re home."

UMass-Lowell dropped two to No. 1 Boston College last week, 7-3 and 6-4, to even its record to 2-2-0.

"We definitely learned some things the first night and played much better on Saturday," says coach Tim Whitehead. "Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but there were a lot of encouraging signs.

"It’s early in the season and it’s important that we keep things in perspective. That’s a real good hockey team we were playing. The important thing was that we got better from one night to the next."

Despite falling behind in both games, the River Hawks battled back with strong second periods before succumbing. For a young team, that can eventually translate into wins even if it didn’t this time against the top team in the country.

"Especially early in the year when you play tough competition like that, you’re going to learn some things about your team," says Whitehead. "That’s one of the things we learned — that there is a no-quit attitude there. That’s important. You need that for the challenges as the year goes on."

Another big positive out of the weekend was the play of freshman goaltender Jimi St. John, who came on in relief of senior Scott Fankhouser the first night and started on Saturday. St. John gave up only two goals on Friday, BC’s fourth and seventh, but got tagged with the loss because the fourth was the game-winner.

"He’s aggressive and he plays with a lot of energy," says Whitehead. "He just competes. That was a good sign. He’s focused out there.

"He has some things he wants to work on. He’s not where he needs to be yet, but it certainly was a real good first weekend for him."

Fankhouser had been Lowell’s top goaltender, but now Whitehead has a decision to make.

"We haven’t decided yet, but we have two guys that we’re confident in," he says. "Scott had a rough game on Friday, but he played three great games to start the season so he’ll be fine. And Jimi had an encouraging start. Either way we go, we’re confident that those guys will do a nice job."

They’ll need to because the River Hawks must now take on the number-four team in the country after having just faced number one.

"They’re similar to Boston College in that they’re a talented team that plays with a lot of tempo," says Whitehead. "We have to be ready to match that intensity when we go into that rink.

"It’s their Hockey East home opener, so there’s going to be a lot of energy there, just like there was at Amherst and at BC. We seem to be the team for home openers this year," he says with a laugh.

"The other thing is that they were off last week and they were able to scout us. They’re going to be healthy and raring to go. We’re going to have to work hard up there."

PICKS: Jesse "The Maine-iac" Ventura can’t get a ticket at Alfond Arena either. Calmer at this rebuff than he was at BC, he offers to trade the Minnesota governorship for a ticket. He gets no takers. The Black Bears are much more fun to watch. Maine 5-3, 4-3.

No. 7 New Hampshire (4-0-0, 1-0-0 HEA) vs.

Providence College (3-1-0, 2-0-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

New Hampshire defeated UMass-Amherst, 4-1, in its only game last week.

"We played just okay," says coach Dick Umile. "UMass approached the game pretty well. I thought Joe [Mallen] had his team prepared and working hard."

Jason Krog scored two goals in the span of 42 seconds to break the game open late in the second period, prompting Mallen to say, "He’s exceptional. We held him off and held him off and held him off, but finally he got free. We thought we had him just where we wanted him — in the penalty box — but then he came out and scored a goal and just turned the game around."

Since Mallen already has faced both Krog and Michigan State’s Mike York, two top contenders for the Hobey Baker Award, his comparison of the two may be of interest to Wildcat fans.

"They have different styles," says Mallen. "York really moves with a lot of speed and tries to collect the puck and go whereas Krog is the kind of guy who is looking and picking and choosing his spots and then trying to collect the puck. His shooting accuracy is as good as anyone I’ve seen in college hockey in a long time. They’re two great players."

Another Wildcat, junior defenseman Jayme Filipowicz, also earned praise, this time in the form of the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week award.

"That’s great to see," says Umile. "He’s a big strong kid. He and Stevie O’Brien are two of our leaders back there on defense. I think his size, his presence and his physical ability [make him a top defenseman].

"Our entire defensive group is playing well, especially Filipowicz and O’Brien. They’ve done a real good job for us defensively, controlling the one-on-one situations and the boards in the defensive zone."

With only a Sunday game last week, Umile could scout this week’s opponent, Providence College, during its sweep of Boston University.

"Obviously, Providence has a real good team," says Umile. "They’ve got some pretty good players and [goaltender Boyd] Ballard is playing well for them. I was very impressed with the work ethic of both teams and especially Providence’s power play. They can be a threat on it and obviously have a solid team."

Providence swept BU, 5-4 and 6-4, last week to take an early share of first place in Hockey East. The top line of Jerry Keefe, Mike Omicioli and Fernando Pisani ignited the Friar offense with Omicioli scoring twice on Friday and Keefe getting a hat trick and two assists the following night.

Keefe, the league’s co-Player of the Week for his 3-5–8 line, scored only five goals with 10 assists in an injury-plagued sophomore season, but has always been amongst the most skilled Friar forwards. He seems to have found compatible linemates in Omicioli and Pisani, who have been joined at the hip ever since Pisani’s arrival two years ago.

"We all see the ice well and speed is a real key to our line," says Keefe. "All three of us can use our speed and really work teams down low."

Coach Paul Pooley put the line together at the tail end of last year, but the real dividends didn’t show until this season began.

"I’d thought about putting another type of player on that line, a more physical player, but I put those three together and figured they’d be able to dangle with anyone," says Pooley.

Although BU’s shorthanded woes contributed to the PC man advantage, it now ranks tops in Hockey East with a 30 percent conversion rate.

"Ever since we put Jason Ialongo on the point, we’ve become much more successful on the power play," says Pooley.

As a result, the Friars now ride a three-game winning streak into what should be a defense-minded game with UNH.

PICKS: Jesse "The Body" Ventura bench-presses 5-5, 160-pound Omicioli 50 times and then repeats the feat on UNH’s 5-9, 160-pound Darren Haydar. He proclaims, "UNH will sweep, 3-2 both nights."

Northeastern (2-1-0, 0-0-0 HEA) vs.

Merrimack (11-25-1, 4-20-0 HEA) and No. 8 Notre Dame (6-1-0, 5-1-0 CCHA)

Friday (NU-MC), Saturday (NU-ND), 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

Tuesday (NU-MC), 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA

After an off week, Northeastern plays three games in five days starting on Friday.

Is that a good thing? A bad thing?

"We’ll know after the five days," says coach Bruce Crowder with a laugh. "Initially, I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I think we’ve been able to take some time and work on some things that we really needed to work on."

Such as?

"We’ve got to continually try to improve our special teams from both sides," he says. "Hopefully, that’s going to translate into our game situations on the weekend."

Prior to the layoff, the Huskies shut out Colgate, 2-0, with freshman goaltender Jason Braun (2.33 GAA, .922 Sv%) again getting the nod. Although it’s still too early to pronounce him the ideal replacement for the departed Marc Robitaille, the early returns have been very promising.

"Any time a kid comes in as a freshman, there are going to be some highs and lows," says Crowder. "Right now, he’s been very consistent. He’s an even-keel type of kid. Whether he makes a big save or a goal is scored on him, he’s not getting too high or too low. Obviously, in a goaltender that’s pretty important."

Another rookie, defenseman Jim Fahey, got the game-winner against Colgate on the power play. Fahey, who has a great shot from the point, could become an increasingly important contributor on the man advantage.

"I’m never going to put a lot of pressure on a freshman," says Crowder. "Jimmy had a very good game. He played very well defensively and offensively for us.

"We had two other freshman defensemen — Joe Mancuso and Rich Spiller — who also played extremely well. On defense, we’re almost all freshmen and sophomores, so we’re going to have to be patient with that position and hope that it continues to develop for us."

Northeastern sandwiches its clash against Notre Dame with Friday and Tuesday contests against Merrimack.

"Merrimack is always a hard-working team and I don’t expect anything different now that Chris [Serino] is coaching," says Crowder. "They went out to Union and had a nice win over the weekend, so obviously they got the monkey off their backs in terms of getting a win.

"For us, we’ve got to play our game and get back into game condition as soon as possible on Friday night. It’s our first Hockey East game and it’s important for us to get off to a good start."

Although the game against the Fighting Irish is a nonconference tilt, don’t bet on Crowder playing his personnel any differently than in a league contest.

"It depends on what happens on Friday," he says. "If we play strong on Friday night, we’ll probably go back with the same lineup. If we think we need a few changes, we will.

"It’s nice to have a nonleague game, but obviously Notre Dame is off to a terrific start. They’re in the top ten in the country. It’s going to be a tough contest for us on Saturday night."

Last week, Merrimack lost to UMass-Amherst, 3-2, but got off the schneid against Union in convincing fashion, 5-1.

"I thought we played pretty well," says coach Chris Serino. "At UMass we had complete control of the game, but we took a couple penalties that took us off our game and let them back into it.

"We lost the game, but out of the 60 minutes, we probably played pretty well for about 45. That’s not going to get it done — we need a better effort — but we’re getting better.

"Saturday night at Union, we were as close to staying consistent for 60 minutes as we have all year and the result was a win…. No matter how hard you try, you’ve got to get some results so getting the win was a big load off their minds."

Although Merrimack has a good mix of upperclassmen and younger players, they all are still adjusting to the new systems put in by Serino. As a result, there have been growing pains.

"Most of our mistakes are from systems," he says. "One guy forgets what he’s supposed to do. The other four are doing one thing and he does something else. You’re going to make mistakes, but it just seems like every one we make goes in the net.

"It’s almost like having a whole group of freshmen because they’re all learning. Sometimes it’s even more difficult for guys who have been here for two or three years because they’re used to doing something else. But they’re trying to do the things we ask them to.

"We’ll become a good team when they’re doing those things and incorporating their own talents. Right now, we’re still going from dot-to-dot-to-dot, kind of like coloring by numbers. I don’t think we’re completely comfortable with what we’re doing yet, but they’re getting comfortable and they believe in it."

Sophomore goaltender Tom Welby appears to have taken the top spot, at least for now, from junior Cris Classen, who held it for most of last year until the playoffs. Welby played both games on the weekend.

"I’ve evaluated practices and I’ve evaluated games," says Serino. "I just have the most confidence in him right now and I think the team plays well in front of him. That’s nothing against the other guys, but he’s kind of won the spot."

Injuries have altered the depth chart at some of the other positions. Defenseman Stephen Moon, who was expected to make a big impact after sitting out last year because of some games in major junior, remains sidelined with a patella tendon problem. He has yet to practice this year and is out at least until Dec. 1.

Third-line forward Ron Mongeau is also out after showing strong improvement over last year’s freshman season. As a result, Serino has moved second-line left wing Sandy Cohen to the third unit and fourth-liner Ryan Kiley to the second.

"Kiley gives the second line something they need," says Serino. "They need a little more speed. Sandy Cohen and Jayson Philbin will be scorers for us, I believe, but that line needed a little more speed. So I moved him up there.

"And I didn’t think Cohen was getting the puck enough. He’s a goal-scorer and Clevenger is a right-handed center. I’m not too much on that, but he is right-handed and it is more natural for him to get it to the left wing."

The Warriors now embark on a Friday-Tuesday home-and-home series with Northeastern.

"They’re a grinding type of team," says Serino. "They’ve got some good forwards and a good defense. The problem with us is that we can’t play poorly and win. We’ve got to play at our best to beat anybody.

"Northeastern won a lot of games last year and they know what it is to win. They’re very well coached. It’s going to be a tough game for us. If we don’t play well, we’re not going to win."

(Notre Dame is previewed above in its matchup with BC.)

PICKS: In honor of Notre Dame’s swing to the East, Jesse "The Body" Ventura announces that he’s running for Pope. When onlookers explain that this is impossible, he calmly states that he’ll settle for becoming U.S. President in 2000.

Vice President Al Gore, about to get clotheslined by The Body, picks a Northeastern sweep over Merrimack, 4-3 and 3-2, because he likes the nickname "Huskies" more than "Warriors." In a bid for the Catholic vote, though, he takes Notre Dame over NU, 4-2.

Princeton (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at

Boston University (0-4-0, 0-2-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

Boston University remained winless, getting swept by Providence, 5-4 and 6-4. The Terriers are simply not playing good hockey right now.

As if that weren’t bad enough, take a look at what’s coming up: One game against Princeton this weekend. The Tigers were picked to finish second in the ECAC. Then BU faces two against No. 7 UNH and another two against No. 1 BC.

Unless the Terriers start playing dramatically better, can you spell 0-9? Even if they do start playing dramatically better, they could still be 0-9 considering the opposition.

That likely won’t happen, but right now BU is beating itself with very poor defensive play.

"We continue to be horrible killing penalties," says coach Jack Parker with typical candor. "In general, I thought we made some pretty good strides [on Friday] in the second and third periods in our defensive zone coverage and playing hard. But I thought in the second period [on Saturday] we were absolutely horrible in every phase of coverage and competing.

"It’s as bad an effort as I’ve seen a BU team play in that one period. We seemed to be second-guessing ourselves and were nervous out there and not competing as hard as we should and giving up opportunity after opportunity. They got four goals, but they could have had three or four more.

"I thought some guys had a pretty good effort [on Friday], but we had a lot of guys who did that [on Friday] not be able to come back and do it back-to-back and that hurt us. I couldn’t pick out two guys on our club who played well [both games] other than [goaltender Michel] Larocque, who I thought played real well."

Parker saves his most severe criticism for himself.

"The most disappointing thing is that I’m not doing the job I have to do as far as preparing them to kill penalties," he says. "It’s killing us every single game. Our percentage killing penalties right now must be 50 percent or less. [It’s 54 percent.]

"It’s absurd it’s so bad. And it’s not goaltending; it’s everybody else. Everybody else doesn’t know where they’re going because the coach hasn’t explained it properly….We’re assuming that they know what we’re talking about, but obviously they don’t. We’re going to take a good hard look at how we’re teaching it.

"And a bad change has really killed us in every single game this year. This time it was my fault because I didn’t have people ready.

"The boys are having a hard time and the coach let them down again, both in how we got prepared and not getting these guys on and off the ice properly."

So can the Terriers get back on track against Princeton? Even though ECAC coaches picked the Tigers to finish second, they’re coming off an 11-4 exhibition embarrassment against New Brunswick, the same team that lost to Brown 10-0 one night later. And Princeton’s star forward Jeff Halpern is out, serving a one-game disqualification for intent-to-injure in the New Brunswick fiasco.

"We’ll be jacked up to play the next game, I hope," says Parker. "I don’t think it matters who we’re playing. We’d like to get a couple wins under our belt.

"But we’ve got to get a lot of things straightened out before we play another hockey game, that’s for sure. That’s our charge as coaches, to get this thing technically squared around and emotionally squared around by the time we play Princeton."

(For the scoop on Princeton, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.)

PICKS: Jack Parker takes one look at Jesse "The Body" Ventura lurking outside his office and says, "We’re 0-4. Get lost!"

Ventura leaves. Not even The Body messes with Jack Parker during a losing streak.

Given Princeton’s pathetic performance against New Brunswick, this is a tough one. Assuming that it was an aberration while BU’s start is not, Princeton wins, 5-4.

Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at

UMass-Amherst (1-3-0, 1-2-0 HEA)

Sunday, 5 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

UMass-Amherst split on the weekend, edging Merrimack, 3-2, before losing to No. 7 UNH, 4-1.

"On Friday, the good thing is that we came from behind," says coach Joe Mallen. "At home, that’s important. We spotted Merrimack a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the kids played with a lot of composure and patience and just tried to peck away at it."

The breaks, which hadn’t gone the Minutemen’s way earlier, did for the game-winner.

"One of the interesting things is that Joey Culgin took a shot, it hit off the post, banked off the back of [Merrimack goaltender] Tom Welby’s leg and went into the net," says Mallen. "Just a week before, [UMass-Lowell’s] Kevin Bertram shot one in overtime that went off Joey Culgin’s leg and into the net and we lost the game. So sometimes the bad things and the good things weigh off against each other."

Against UNH, the Minutemen held tough for most of two periods until Jason Krog scored two back-breakers.

"Within a minute he turned the entire game around," says Mallen. "We’re one of the few teams in the country that has played against [Michigan State’s] Mike York and Jason Krog. In both of those games, each of those guys scored goals that decided the game.

"Krog came out of the penalty box and I don’t think it was even a pass, he just collected [a loose puck] and went in alone and finished real well. Next thing you know, we’re looking back and he really put the game on ice at that point [with another one]."

UMass has no player close to Krog’s stature — not that many other teams do — but is grooming several key younger players who could be contenders for All-Hockey East berths before they are done. One such freshman is defenseman Chris Brannen, who earned Rookie of the Week honors for his game-tying goal and assist on the game-winner against Merrimack.

"This kid is a very good recruit," says Mallen. "He’s a 1980 birth date, so he’s only 18 years old but he’s got maturity. He moves the puck very well. I think he’s very underrated.

"We like what he does. He’s a solid kid with good defensive ability. He’s starting to develop some good offensive instincts. He’s going to be an asset."

This week, the Minutemen will host a Harvard team that is just now swinging into action. While the Crimson might not yet be operating on all cylinders, they are among the most talented teams in the ECAC.

"It’s important for our guys that we don’t take this as just a nonleague game," says Mallen. "This is an important game for us. Obviously, Harvard is a program with a lot of tradition and I have great respect for what they’ve done. It’s a great challenge for us, but we hope to be in a position where we can challenge them."

(For the scoop on Harvard, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.)

PICKS: Jesse "The Mind" Ventura adopts the pose of Rodin’s "The Thinker" and picks Harvard, 4-3.

This Week in the ECAC: November 6, 1998

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
-

Hoooooooooo!!!

Just one more week to go before the action in the ECAC really heats up, but the appetite is whetted this week with the first league game. Brown travels to Cambridge to play Harvard as the second century of this rivalry begins.

As for last week, it was success for Colgate and Rensselaer over Army, a split for Vermont against St. Cloud, and exhibition wins for Brown and Cornell. New Brunswick dumped Princeton with a Stone Cold Stunner, and Merrimack did the same with the Diamond Cutter to Union last weekend.

St. Lawrence defeated Colgate in a non-conference tilt in Buffalo, and remained in the number-ten spot in the U.S. College Hockey Online Poll.

ECAC Player of the Week — Phillippe Choiniere, Vermont ECAC Rookie of the Week — Andrew McPherson, Rensselaer ECAC Goaltender of the Week — Eric Heffler, St. Lawrence

This week, besides the ECAC battle between the Bears and the Crimson, Clarkson gets back into action with a pair at North Dakota, Cornell and Dartmouth prepare for Niagara, and Harvard also plays UMass-Amherst.

Add a non-conference trophy game between Rensselaer and Union, along with exhibition games for Yale, Dartmouth and Vermont, and Princeton’s regular-season debut against Boston University, and it should be a dandy as the league prepares to open up full force next weekend in a Battle Royal for the Scotty M. Whitelaw Trophy.

Last week: 6-3 Season to date: 11-9, .550

We tried to pick the Minnesota governor’s Race too. We went with Skip. Governor Body?!?

Pretty soon, we’ll put Hendrickson, Weston, Milewski and Doyle in the Inverted Body Vise.

Until then, welcome to the "Body Shop" and remember; Retaliate in ’98!

Brown (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Alexander H. Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge, MA Harvard (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at University of Massachusetts – Amherst (1-3-0, 1-2-0 Hockey East) Sunday, 5:00pm, William D. Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

The ECAC has slowly been revealing itself each week, and come Friday night at Bright Hockey Center, two more teams will emerge from the hibernation that is the offseason to do battle on the big white sheet.

Harvard will host Brown in not only the first league contest for each, but also the first regular-season game of any kind for the two teams. The Bears have a slight advantage on the Crimson in the experience department, as New Brunswick visited Providence one week ago and was promptly disposed of, 10-0.

Although the fates of entire seasons are rarely unveiled in exhibition contests, the New Brunswick matchup (and remember, New Brunswick only dressed 16 players for that game) allowed second-year coach Roger Grillo’s team to explore life without Damian Prescott, who took with him a large chunk of the Bears’ offense. Across the line, Brown suffered critical losses and will need to find unexpected heroes to fill in the gaps as the team embarks on a regular season which features 12 straight league contests.

One important element to Brown’s success will be junior goaltender Scott Stirling, who emerged as one of the most talented netminders in the league last season, finishing his sophomore campaign with the league’s top save percentage in ECAC contests (.933). Whether that second-half surge had anything to do with now-graduated blueliners Jimmy Andersson, D.J. Harding, and Bob Quinnell will be told very quickly against the Crimson, which boasts a potentially-dangerous offensive unit.

Led by the duo of Chris Bala and Steve Moore, Harvard appears to have finally found itself an attack deeper than two lines. Senior captain Craig Adams, who missed more than half of last season with a shoulder injury, is back on the first line with Bala and Moore and that trio, which perfectly combined the speed and playmaking ability of Bala and Moore with the aggressive, physical style of Adams, will no doubt pick up right where it left off offensively last December.

Look for the Crimson newcomers to also make an immediate impact against the Bears. The much-anticipated debut of US National Program product Kyle Clark may be overshadowed by another, significantly smaller rookie: 5-foot-9 Jared Cantanucci, who has turned quite a few heads during the preseason.

Pick: Despite its lack of exhibition contests, Harvard is still a bit banged-up physically, and come Friday night could be missing some key players. Still, there is enough talent embedded within the roster, starting with goalie J.R. Prestifilippo, to help the Crimson get the pinfall with its first victory of the season. Harvard 5, Brown 2

On Sunday, Harvard makes the trek to western Massachusetts to take on the Minutemen of UMass-Amherst. The Minutemen spilt a pair of games last weekend, defeating Merrimack on Friday, 3-2, and then dropping one to New Hampshire on Sunday.

The Minutemen have gotten some impressive play from Markus Helanen. Head coach Joe Mallen believes that Helanen is one of the finest goaltenders in Hockey East, if not the nation. For more on the Minutemen, click on over to Dave "The Beast From The (Hockey) East" Hendrickson’s Hockey East Preview.

Pick: The Crimson may be a little tired, but it will be enough to win a low-scoring affair at the Mullins Center. Harvard 3, UMass-Amherst 1

Clarkson (0-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at North Dakota (2-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) Friday – Saturday, 8:35 pm, Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND

After facing off against Northern Michigan in its season-opening weekend, one would think that the road gets easier for Clarkson. Not true.

The Golden Knights face one of the best teams in the nation, No. 2 North Dakota, this weekend in Engelstad Arena.

Mark Morris’ squad is still searching for its first win of the 1998-99 season after being swept by the Wildcats two weeks ago in Cheel Arena.

Despite playing with a defensive corps that struggled in its first game against then-undefeated Northern Michigan, the Golden Knights kept pace with their CCHA foe through more than two periods. Bryan Phillips’ blast in the third, over the glove of Clarkson netminder Shawn Grant, sealed the 6-5 victory.

"We made poor reads and decisions," said Morris following the loss. "We were more disappointed with some of our veterans. We have guys who are looking to improve their individual numbers, but they made too many mistakes."

The next night saw much of the same as Northern Michigan found just enough offensive punch to knock off the Golden Knights again. Offensively, Clarkson had a balanced scoring attack as five different players netted their first tallies of the season. Matt Reid was the high man with two goals and an assist, while Carl Drakensjo added two goals and Erik Cole finished the two-game series with a goal and three assists.

But it was the numerous odd-man rushes allowed by the Golden Knights which proved to be the difference. Much pressure was placed on the two Clarkson netminders, Grant and freshman Andrew Gibson, who are still battling for the starting nod. Although neither goalie produced a spectacular show, both were solid. Grant knocked away 24 shots the first contest, while Gibson followed up that performance with 18 saves the following night, leaving the question of a starter even more of a quandary for Morris.

North Dakota presents a formidable challenge for the Golden Knights. The Fighting Sioux jumped out to a 2-0 mark last week following two victories over Minnesota-Duluth. Clarkson will have to find a way to beat netminder Karl Goehring, who enters the contest with a 0.55 goals against average and a .984 save percentage.

The Sioux will be without five players due to suspensions from last Saturday’s WCHA penalty-fest, where clotheslines, body slams and piledrivers were definitely thought about. Plus, Jason Blake is with the U.S. National team in qualifications. For more on this situation, tune into Todd "The Phenom" Milewski’s WCHA Preview.

Picks: This WCHA powerhouse has been playing more and more like the North Dakota team of 1997, when it beat Boston University for the national championship. They may not go all the way come March, but despite having a short lineup on Friday, they will sweep the best the ECAC has to offer. North Dakota 3, Clarkson 2; North Dakota 4, Clarkson 3

Niagara (2-2-0, 2-2-0 vs. Division I) at Cornell (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Friday, 7:00 pm, James Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY Niagara (2-2-0, 2-2-0 vs. Division I) at Dartmouth (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Sunday, 4:00 pm, Rupert Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH

Cornell started out the season with a 4-1 exhibition victory over Guelph at Lynah last Saturday. The story was freshman David Kozier, who tallied two of the four Big Red goals in the win. That proved a nice scene for Big Red fans, not least since head coach Mike Schafer had not counted on seeing the freshman in the lineup because of injury.

Bothered by those same injuries last season, the Big Red have gotten deeper, something Schafer had hoped would gel for him early on.

"You see the depth we have up front," he told the Cornell Daily Sun. "It’s pretty hard to tell the difference between what’s the first, second, third, fourth line. I think we have real good balance."

But on defense, it could be a case of not enough depth due to injuries again. David Adler appears out after back surgery, Shaun Peet is hampered by back problems and has not practiced yet, and Alex Gregory is back from his illness, but his status is still only probable for this weekend.

Schafer also put both of his goaltenders into the game against Guelph, Ian Burt and Matt Underhill.

"I didn’t think they [Burt and Underhill] got tested a whole lot," he said. "One area I thought they did a pretty good job in was covering up the rebounds of the shots they did have. The importance of those two guys doing that, of covering up rebounds and not giving second chances, that’s what I’m looking for out of our two goaltenders. Again, I didn’t think they got tested a whole lot, but I thought they did a solid job when they did."

Dartmouth will see its second game of the season against Niagara, having played Acadia the night before in an exhibition. Head coach Bob Gaudet is hoping that his young team will come together quickly.

"It’s a totally different team for us," he said. "We may have the youngest team in the country. We could be playing 8-10 freshmen in every game. This class is a really solid group of guys from top to bottom. We had seven forwards that graduated that played game in and game out. I am not sure we can fill those holes with guys that did not play as much last season. I don’t think we’re going to replace the scoring that we lost."

It will be tough for Gaudet’s squad, which will be without one of its goaltenders for a little while. Jason Wong had a tough time battling his diabetic condition last season, and while he is no longer struggling with it, he has taken some time off from the team to concentrate on his academics.

That leaves Eric Almon as the go-to guy in between the pipes for the Big Green.

"(Almon) had a real solid year for us last year," said Gaudet. "He’s a good-sized kid and he will build on last year because game in and game out he was solid. We’re so young up front that we’re going to need a guy like Almon to step up."

Niagara pulled off another upset last weekend, besting Ohio State 6-3 at the Buffalo Showcase. With the win, the Purple Eagles have now defeated two of the four teams that were in Boston for the NCAA championships last season.

Boston College and New Hampshire are not on the Eagles’ regular-season schedule.

"We went into the (Ohio State) game knowing they’re a better team than us," said head coach Blaise MacDonald. "We were going to stick to our game plan. If we did that, good things were going to happen."

And good things did happen. Led by P.J. Perry’s two goals and the goaltending of Greg Gardner, the Purple Eagles showed that they are a force to be reckoned with as the season moves along.

Picks: Niagara at Cornell: The Big Red start the season off right, with a pinfall victory over Niagara. Cornell 4, Niagara 2

Niagara at Dartmouth: With two young teams on the ice, the one with games under its belt gets the win. Niagara 5, Dartmouth 3

Princeton (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) at Boston University (0-4-0, 0-2-0 Hockey East) Friday, 7:00 pm, Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

They haven’t even played one regular-season game, yet everyone seems to be asking the same question, "What’s wrong with Princeton?"

Fortunately for the Tigers, the same query is being raised 300-plus miles north in Boston about its Friday night opponent, Boston University. Jack Parker and his Terriers, fresh off a weekend sweep by Providence, are off to one its worst starts in the program’s history. [To see what LaRocque is cooking, turn to Dave "The Body" Hendrickson’s Hockey East Preview for more information on the Terriers.]

"I know that BU program well and they will become a good team," said Princeton head coach Don "Toot" Cahoon, a former player and assistant coach for the Terriers. "They have lost a couple of superstars and are suffering from growing pains, but they have some guys who could emerge as those type of players. I expect that given the pride of the program, they will come out hard and try to right the ship. We have our hands full because I’m not sure how we’ll react to the game circumstance."

The Tigers came under fire after an 11-4 drubbing at the hands of New Brunswick in an exhibition contest held on a night that was supposed to honor the 1998 ECAC Championship team. If the meager 1,000 fans who showed up at Hobey Baker Rink that night didn’t spoil the flag-raising ceremony, the play of the Tigers certainly put a damper on the evenings festivities.

Princeton, never a team to explode out of the starting gates in early-season action, was humbled quickly by the defending Canadian collegiate champions. What makes the defeat even more troubling is that New Brunswick suffered a 10-0 defeat to Brown the following night.

"We had a different agenda. It was a night for celebrating the tournament from last year and people’s minds were away from the matter at hand, " said Cahoon of the debacle. "As a team, we were very undisciplined and we were not in it. We were 20 individuals and did not play together as a unit, but that’s exactly what exhibitions are for, to determine your strengths and weaknesses. It was useful, but it definitely wasn’t a lot to build off of."

Unfortunately, the loss to New Brunswick was more costly than the just the score relates. In the third period of that contest, Hobey Baker hopeful Jeff Halpern, who last season led the team with 53 points, including a school-record 28 goals, received an intent-to-injure disqualification and will be forced to miss Friday’s contest against the Terriers.

With Halpern out of the lineup, much of the scoring punch up front will be lost. In addition, considering the youth and the thus-far apparent weakness along the BU blue line, Halpern’s speed and agility with the puck would have wreaked havoc on the Terriers in their own end. In his absence, most of the offensive burden will fall on the shoulders on senior co-captain Syl Apps, who is considered more of a defensive forward, as well as Scott Bertoli.

"It will give us a good opportunity for other guys to step up," Cahoon said. "No team is an island, and you can’t settle around one person. It also makes a statement, and it’s a good lesson for us that you can’t take major infractions and get away with it."

After giving up 11 goals to New Brunswick, Cahoon has yet to find a permanent replacement for Erasmo Saltarelli. Looking at just the exhibition contest, picking between senior Nick Rankin (five goals on eight shots), junior Craig Bradley (three goals on 11 shots), and freshman Dave Stathos (3 goals on 12 shots) appears to be more like a game of Russian roulette than a search for a starter.

"You pick ’em," Cahoon said following the New Brunswick contest. "I thought the freshman, Stathos, was respectable. I’ll say that."

The seventh-year coach will wait until the last moment to name his latest victim….er…starter.

Pick: Before the season began, this matchup was slated as a battle between some of the best talent that the East has to offer. Now, it’s turned into a grudge match between two teams no one seems to know. It’s perhaps the coin-toss pick of the season, but the gut instinct is saying that the Terriers will nab their first win of the year. Princeton redeemed itself from its exhibition performance, but without Halpern, the offense will have troubling delivering a "W". Boston University 5, Princeton 4

Capital Skate Classic Union (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) vs. Rensselaer (2-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, NY

The third annual Capital Skates Classic makes an appearance at its second different site and third different arena. Okay, so the Knickerbocker Arena and the Pepsi Arena are one and the same, but the new site this year is the home of Hacksaw Jim Duggan — Glens Falls, NY. Hoooooooooo!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Capital District area, Glens Falls is 45 miles north of Albany. It is the home of the Adirondack Red Wings of the AHL, the farm club for the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, and the former site of the New York Rangers’ training camp.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the heated Capital District rivalry. These two teams are less than 10 miles apart, and they play each other in every other sport. Hockey is just another part of the rivalry. Union won the first classic, 2-0, and Rensselaer took the trophy home last year, 3-2.

For Union, it’s a chance to get back on track after two consecutive losses to Hockey East squads. The last, a 5-1 loss to Merrimack at home, the Dutchmen fell behind less than a minute into the game, and trailed by three goals after one period.

"I’m disappointed that we got outworked," said head coach Kevin Sneddon. "(Merrimack) played like they wanted to win and we weren’t prepared for them."

Sneddon will try to get his team up for another non-conference game before the start of the league schedule, and there is optimism despite the loss to Merrimack.

"I’m very confident in their ability; it’s always been there," Sneddon said. "It’s just a matter of putting our system to work, and the guys have adapted. Last year we played not to lose in the third period. This year we’re playing to win. You have to gain that confidence."

The Dutchmen will face Rensselaer, a 7-1 winner over Army on Saturday. The win was the Engineers’ best effort of the young season.

"They came out and they played real hard," said Engineer head coach Dan Fridgen. "From the drop of the puck they didn’t let up. I can’t remember a game where you had three freshmen scoring the first goal of their career, and two of them being defensemen. Hopefully that’s one of many for them. We rolled the four lines through and we rolled the six defensemen through, and everyone had a solid game for 60 minutes."

The Engineers had a four-goal lead after 11 minutes of play, and they never looked back. After getting blown out by Lowell, the Engineers came back. The object now for Fridgen and his club is to keep that up as the season moves along.

"We had a good game," he said. "That’s not to say we’re not going to have inconsistent games this year. We did a good job of putting that loss (against Lowell) behind us and getting on to the next opponent. You have a few days to enjoy this win, and then we get ready for Union."

Pick: If Rensselaer can come out and blitz Union like it did against Army, and like Merrimack did against Union, then the Engineers should go on to victory. The more experienced Engineers will pull the victory out in this steel cage match. Rensselaer 3, Union 2

Acadia at Vermont (2-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Gutterson Field House, Burlington, VT Acadia at Dartmouth (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Saturday, 7:00 pm, Rupert Thompson Arena, Hanover, NH McGill at Yale (0-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) Saturday, 7:00 pm, Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.

Exhibitions, exhibitions. What’s one to do about exhibitions? Have fun at them. This will be an interlude in Vermont’s schedule, but it’s the first on-ice action for Dartmouth and Yale.

Vermont will look to hone the offense and defense, which has given the Cats a 2-2-0 record thus far, while Dartmouth tries to get its system in place with a host of young players and Yale will look to begin defending its regular-season ECAC title.

More on these three teams next week as they play league games.

Picks: Only the Dynamic Duo could pick an exhibition and lose. Not this week, as the Canadian schools job to the American schools. Vermont 6, Acadia 1, Dartmouth 4, Acadia 3 and Yale 6, McGill 1

Next week, it’s full swing into the ECAC season as everyone is involved in conference action.

Friday, November 13 Colgate at Brown Cornell at Harvard Yale at Clarkson Princeton at St. Lawrence Union at Vermont Rensselaer at Dartmouth

Saturday, November 14 Colgate at Harvard Cornell at Brown Yale at St. Lawrence Princeton at Clarkson Union at Dartmouth Rensselaer at Vermont

Thanks to USCHO’s game reporters for their contributions to this preview.

Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy are ECAC Correspondents for U.S. College Hockey Online.

Copyright 1998 Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy. All rights reserved.

This Week in the CCHA: November 6, 1998

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Thank goodness it’s November.

With ten points, No. 8 Notre Dame sits atop the CCHA waiting for everyone else to catch them. The Irish were idle last week, and head out East this weekend for single games against Boston College and Northeastern.

No. 9 Michigan and Ferris State are tied for second with eight points each. The Wolverines beat Bowling Green 5-2 and lost to Northern Michigan 6-1, while the Bulldogs swept Alaska-Fairbanks 5-2, 8-2. This week, the Wolverines are idle, and the Bulldogs host Mankato State for two.

No. 5 Michigan State and No. 6 Northern Michigan are tied for fourth in the league with six points each. Last week, the undefeated Spartans beat the Wildcats 3-1. After dropping the game to Michigan State, Northern Michigan beat Michigan in Yost.

This week, Michigan State hosts Ohio State and Lake Superior State, while the Wildcats host Bowling Green for two.

In sole possession of sixth place with five points, the Falcons lost to Michigan 5-2 last weekend, and try their luck in Marquette this week.

The Miami Fledglings–er, RedHawks–picked up their first league points of the season with a 3-3 tie and a 7-4 win against Western Michigan. The ‘Hawks travel to Alaska to meet the Nanooks for two games.

Tied with Miami in points are the Broncos, who host Lake Superior on Friday, and Ohio State on Saturday.

The Buckeyes return to CCHA play after losing 6-3 to Niagara last weekend. Ohio State will try to rev it up against Michigan State on Friday, and Western Michigan on Saturday.

Alaska-Fairbanks and Lake Superior are looking for their first league points of the season. The Nanooks dropped two to Ferris State last weekend, and host Miami this week. The Lakers were idle last week, and travel to Lawson and Munn this weekend.

Last week’s record in picks: 6-2 Overall record in picks: 25-10

Ohio State (1-5-1, 1-2-1 CCHA) at No. 5 Michigan State (3-0-2, 2-0-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI Lake Superior (0-6-0, 0-4-0 CCHA) at No. 5 Michigan State (3-0-2, 2-0-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Munn Ice Arena

"It was the kind of game that we need to be televised in this league. It was a great, great college hockey game."

That was Spartan head coach Ron Mason’s take on the 3-1 Michigan State win over Northern Michigan last Friday night in Munn.

And isn’t that the way any game between two of the best teams in the nation should be?

While everyone in this league is oooh-ing and aaah-ing about Notre Dame, the Spartans have remained quietly undefeated through five games, and the Wildcats have lost only to the Spartans.

In last week’s premier match, Northern opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the game, and it took Michigan State another period and a half to answer. The game was tied 1-1 until Shawn Horcoff scored the game-winner at 16:26 in the third.

Damon Whitten put the game away for the Spartans about a minute later.

"The game had unbelievable speed," says Mason. "It was a great. And they were coming in with better credentials than us."

Joe Blackburn had 17 saves for the Spartans, while Duane Hoey had 24 for the Wildcats. Only Michigan State’s first goal (scored by Rustyn Dolyny) was on the power play.

"It was a team effort on both sides," says Mason.

Mason has been quick to point out that when the Spartans win this season, it will be a win by committee. The incredible Mike York aside (if you can, for a moment, put him aside), the Spartans are a hard-working, hard-grinding, balanced team that needs to perform from top to bottom to win.

Mason isn’t kidding when he says he wants to see his team generate 30 to 40 shots per night; the Spartan style is evolving this season from defensive near-domination to offensive with a tight defense.

This means production from many players–and that’s exactly what the Spartans have had thus far. Dolyny’s opening goal against Northern Michigan marked the first time someone other than a rookie scored the first goal in any Spartan game this season. And six different Spartans have four or more points so far.

The most impressive thing about this team is that it’s nowhere near peaking, which is great news for Spartans everywhere, and bad news for league opponents.

Ohio State vs. Michigan State

This game marks the second meeting between these two clubs in three weeks, and the Spartans and Buckeyes will meet for the last time in regular-season play in Ohio State’s home opener next week in the OSU Ice Rink.

"I think that’s too bad," says Mason, "because as coaches we want to play a team in the first and second half. Here it is November, and we’re done with Ohio State."

It’s too bad for college hockey fans as well, since these two teams play each other very well. The Spartans and Buckeyes are 1-1-1 in their last three meetings–all overtime games. Two weeks ago, the Buckeyes came back from behind to grab a point with a 4-4 overtime tie in Munn.

And while the Spartans lead this series overall 63-11-5, four of the last six games between MSU and OSU have been decided by just one goal.

And the Buckeyes–Michigan State’s toughest current CCHA rival–are the only league team against which the Spartans currently do not have a winning streak of more than two games (Michigan State being 0-1-1 against Ohio State in their last two meetings).

And another thing: Ohio State is the only team to have scored more than one goal against sophomore Spartan goaltender Joe Blackburn so far this season.

All of this should add up to a really exciting game…if Ohio State shows up, that is.

"What certain guys can bring to the table, they’re not bringing it to the table," says Buckeye head coach John Markell.

"Obviously, we’re not getting a lot of offense from a lot of guys. The main thing is the second effort is just not there. We’re not playing with any intensity, and we seem to have a lack of respect for our opponents."

In spite of scoring three goals from three different lines last week in the 6-3 loss to Niagara, Ohio State looked poor defensively, and goaltender Jeff Maund got very little help. Maund faced–and let in–two breakaway chances in the last two minutes of the game, when the Bucks trailed by just one goal.

"I think some of our players can play even better," says Markell. "I could be five-and-oh right now and I still wouldn’t be happy.

"They have to have that fire in their belly. That’s what we had last year, and that’s what we’re lacking now."

This weekend marks the last two games of Ohio State’s nine-game road stint, a concession to the delayed opening of the Schottenstein Center–which now isn’t going to open for hockey until January anyway.

The Buckeyes have also been playing without Eric Meloche, whose bruised collarbone has had him sidelined since the opening day of the season. Without him, All-American Hugo Boisvert and linemate J.F. Dufour have seemed lost.

Markell says that Meloche provides an emotional spark that his team is otherwise missing.

"Everything we’re trying to get our guys to do, Eric does," says Markell. "He goes to the net hard, he skates, he hits, he plays with intensity.

"Is he going to the win the game? No, but if the guys around him have to play better to play with him, that will lift our game."

Meloche is day-to-day, and Markell says that his return may not be possible until the Buckeyes play their first home game of the season in the OSU War Memorial on Nov. 13.

Also day to day is Mike McCormick, a very talented rookie forward who has likewise been injured since the start of the season.

Markell says that the hurts have wreaked havoc on his lineups, and the resulting discord has contributed to the lack of team unity. The coach says he’ll continue to work players onto lines until he finds the right combinations.

In spite of the injuries, the long road trip, and the lack of overall spirit, the Buckeyes played their best game of the season against Michigan State two weeks ago, showing poise in their third-period comeback.

These are two teams that play each other well.

"I think they understand it’s a tough series with us, and we understand that too," says Markell. "You have to play 60 minutes against each team–most of the time, 65 minutes."

There are too many question marks to even list for the Buckeyes right now–defense, lack of scoring opportunities, not finishing generated chances, allowing way too many shots on goal–but this is still a must-see game.

Lake Superior vs. Michigan State

The Lakers were idle last weekend, after losing to New Hampshire and Providence the week before.

Head Coach Scott Borek thinks the week off was a good thing for his struggling, young team.

"This gave us the opportunity to re-gather ourselves," says Borek. "We come out of it a little healthier than when we went into."

Junior forward Ben Keup and rookie winger Jason Nightengale should be back for this weekend’s games, though sophomore forward Mike Vigilante remains injured.

"The trip out East was a difficult one," says Borek. "It was a bad trip because I think we didn’t play well Saturday night. We didn’t compete well. It was a difficult game. We learned a little about ourselves."

The Saturday game was the 7-2 loss to Providence.

"I think our guys are well aware that we’re not playing up to our potential."

Borek isn’t one to pull punches. When asked if he can single out anyone on his team who’s playing well, he says, "No. We haven’t had anyone look particularly good for us recently."

The 0-6-0 Lakers are being outscored 26-10, and while both Jayme Platt and Rob Galatiuk have respectable GAAs in league play, neither has emerged as the starter. In fact, Borek says that he’ll be working junior netminder Mike Brusseau into a game or two.

"I think we’re clearly at the point where we’re considering all three," says Borek. "In the long term that can be good–since each will have experience–but right now it’s a big concern."

In spite of Lake Superior’s lack of production so far this season, Mason says he’s taking the Lakers very seriously. "Every team that plays against Michigan State plays its best game."

Michigan State leads this series 40-27-8, and holds a 21-11-2 edge in Munn. The Spartans are undefeated against the Lakers in their last six meetings (4-0-2). Last season, Michigan State clinched the regular-season CCHA title with a 4-1 win over the Lakers in the Soo on March 6.

Twice last season, the Spartans had to come from behind in the third period to beat the Lakers in Munn, winning 4-3 in January and 4-2 in February.

Picks

"When we do the little things right," says John Markell, "we’re an effective hockey club. Right now we’re not doing that."

Beyond not doing the little things right, the Buckeyes are currently not doing the big things right. They’re not generating offense, not protecting their net, not playing with the intensity and unity that helped carry them to the Final Four last year.

This one will be fun to watch, but it’s doubtful the Buckeyes have it in them to even pull out the point they earned two weeks ago.

Scott Borek says of the Laker-Spartan game, "That’s not going to be a difficult game to get up for. I think we’ll be ready for them mentally. It’s always tough to go to Munn, but it’s a great building. It’ll be a nice to play in a place with that kind of atmosphere."

While the Lakers need their first CCHA points, they’re not going to get them in Munn.

Friday, Nov. 6, is Spartan Rustyn Dolyny’s birthday. Be sure to wish him Happy Birthday if you see him in Munn during the Ohio State game. He won’t be playing because of a game disqualification he earned against Northern Michigan last week.

Michigan State over Ohio State 4-3; Michigan State over Lake Superior State 5-1

Lake Superior (0-6-0, 0-4-0 CCHA) at Western Michigan (1-3-2, 1-3-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI Ohio State (1-5-1, 1-2-1 CCHA) at Western Michigan (1-3-2, 1-3-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena

"There are no easy weekends, there are no easy games," says Western Michigan head coach Bill Wilkinson.

The Broncos tied Miami 3-3 and lost 7-4 in Goggin Ice Arena last weekend. Wilkinson says that he hopes that his team can "just get a win" out of this weekend. "In Miami, we had a chance to win, and settled for a tie. It was frustrating."

The Broncos carried a 3-1 lead into the third period of that game on goals by Daryl Andrews, Corey Waring, and David Gove. At 8:04 in the third, RedHawk rookie Jeremy Vokes scored unassisted to pull Miami to within one, and with just 1:08 to go in regulation play, Josh Harrold tied it up for the ‘Hawks.

On Saturday, junior defenseman Jason Redenius scored twice for the Broncos, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.

In fact, Redenius has more points so far than any other Bronco (3-2-5), a stat that doesn’t exactly please Wilkinson. "I’m disappointed that Jason is leading us in scoring. Other kids are playing well, but not putting the points up."

Wilkinson said that Andrews (1-3-4), Matt Addesa (2-1-3), and Chuck Mindel (2-1-3) are all contributing, but he’d like to see more goal production from somewhere other than the blue line.

Another problem for the Broncos is the ever-changing lineup. Although the team is finished with its raft of one-game suspensions, Wilkinson is still looking for line combinations that work.

"We’ve got lots of people in and out, out and about."

The one truly stellar spot for the Broncos is Matt Barnes. Through five games, the senior goaltender is posting a .901 save percentage. "He played solid again in Miami," says Wilkinson, "even though he didn’t get a lot of help from our defense.

"We’re not clearing the puck in front of Barnes the way we should."

Lake Superior vs. Western Michigan

"Lake is coming off a week’s rest, and they haven’t got a win yet," says Wilkinson. "I’m sure they want to put all of their eggs in one basket."

The Lakers lead this series overall 53-29-9, and took two of three games from the Broncos last season. But the Lakers are struggling this season, and are still without a win for six games.

Jeff Cheeseman (2-3-5) and Tobin Praznik (2-2-4) are the only Lakers with more than one goal, and Borek isn’t happy with anyone he’s seen in net.

In addition to the on-ice woes, Borek is looking for someone on the team to emerge as a leader. "Clearly, even from our older players, these kids have never been in the position to be the confidence of this team."

Says Wilkinson, "A team without a win is always dangerous."

Ohio State vs. Western Michigan

"We’re not preparing for Ohio State–we’re preparing Lake," says Wilkinson. "We only have one win."

The Broncos have the 51-42-7 edge in the all-time series against the Buckeyes, 27-16-3 in Lawson. But Ohio State holds a 3-1-1 advantage in the last five meetings between the teams.

Like the Broncos, the Buckeyes are struggling for on-ice consistency, and to find the right line combinations. "I haven’t really established the lineup," says OSU head man John Markell.

Plagued by injuries and battered by this long road trip, Markell says that he’s looking forward to coming home in a week, but is not too disappointed with where his team is right now.

"We’re 1-2-1 in the league, and all on the road. We’re two points behind where I’d thought we’d be right now. Our goal has been to finish in the top three in the league, and we can do that."

Markell does concede, however, that Ohio State needs to improve soon if the Buckeyes hope to compete for home ice in the playoffs. "We’re running out of games to turn this thing around."

Markell says that his team is not looking past Friday’s game against Michigan State to Saturday, but that the Buckeyes are preparing as equally as they can for both teams. "We’re well aware of Western Michigan, that Barnes is playing well and that the defense is tight."

Four Buckeyes have six points in six games for the Buckeyes, which is both good and bad news. The good news is that sophomore Vinnie Grant and senior Brandon Lafrance each have six points–and for Lafrance, that equals his total offensive output in 25 games last season.

The bad news is that Hugo Boisvert (last year’s CCHA league scoring champ) and Chris Richards (who finished third in league scoring last season) are averaging just a point a game. One of these guys has to get hot for the Buckeyes to win.

Boisvert is playing without longtime linemate Eric Meloche, who remains day-to-day with a bruised collarbone.

Richards and linemate Dan Cousineau (who is playing solid hockey) are still looking for a permanent replacement for Todd Compeau.

In net, Jeff Maund remains the starter for Ohio State, posting a league GAA of .913.

Picks

"Western’s always a major challenge," says Borek, "particularly in their own building. They force you to play very, very hard–or you’re going to lose. And also you’re probably going to get beat up."

Markell says, "I’m not worried about where we stand in the nation. We’re a better team when we’re down, when nobody respects us."

The Lakers don’t have the right combination yet to get by Matt Barnes. The Buckeyes have all the right tools–but they don’t respect themselves yet this season. Until they do, it’s foolish to pick them to win.

If the Broncos pick up points this weekend, they’ll do so without junior winger Brett Mills, who has reinjured his shoulder.

Western Michigan over Lake Superior 3-2; Western Michigan over Ohio State 2-1

Bowling Green (3-3-1, 2-2-1 CCHA) at No. 6 Northern Michigan (7-1-0, 3-1-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI

The Falcons lost 5-2 to Michigan last weekend, and assistant coach Brian Hills says, "Our big thing last weekend was that we had to be more opportunistic."

The Falcons outshot the Wolverines 34-20, but just didn’t finish their chances, and just one of the two Bowling Green goals was full-strength.

Hills says that the Falcons continue to strive to improve, week to week, shift to shift. "Chris Bonvie’s played exceptionally well, and [rookie defenseman] Grady Moore has been an early-season surprise."

The Falcons have the makings of a very good team, with contributions from many players. A dozen different Falcons have scored goals this season, and 16 have points.

Bowling Green has outshot opponents in five of seven games this season, and the Falcons tend to win when they do so–posting a 3-1-1 record in those five games.

The big question mark for the Falcons this season is between the pipes. Sophomore goaltender Shawn Timm looked poised to be the starter when the season began, but senior Mike Savard has had something to say about that.

Timm’s league GAA is 4.22, and his league save percentage is .792. In league play, Savard’s save percentage is about .900, and he’s allowing roughly 2.72 goals per game.

The Bowling Green coaching staff is not commenting on the goaltending situation at this time.

The Wildcats are perhaps the league’s best-kept secret, playing well without attracting a whole lot of buzz. The ‘Cats split last weekend on the road, losing 3-1 to Michigan State and beating Michigan 6-1.

The weekend before the swing through lower Michigan, the Wildcats beat Clarkson twice in Potsdam.

"We’re coming home following two weekends on the road where we registered three big wins over nationally-ranked opponents," says head coach Rick Comley. "Now we have some more big games against a much-improved Bowling Green team which will be important for us as we try to improve our standing in the CCHA."

The Wildcats play solid, aggressive hockey from top to bottom. Seven different ‘Cats have at least three goals, and J.P. Vigier leads the team in goal production with five. Buddy Smith leads the team in points with four goals and eight assists.

Northern Michigan is outscoring opponents 35-17, and the Wildcats have allowed just six power-play goals on 52 attempts.

The Wildcats continue to rotate Duane Hoey and Dan Ragusett in the net. Hoey is 3-1-0, with a 2.25 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Ragusett is 4-0-0, with a 2.00 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

Picks

The Falcons lead this all-time series 22-15-3, with a 10-9-2 edge in Lakeview Arena. The ‘Cats swept the Falcons last season, and two of those games were decided in overtime.

The Wildcats have a three-game home win streak against the Falcons on the line.

"Any time you play up there," says Hills, "they play really feisty in their building. The good part about that is that it wakes you up.

"They strap it on, and you have to be ready to play."

These could be two very good games.

Northern Michigan 3-2, 4-2

Miami (2-4-2, 1-3-2 CCHA) at Alaska-Fairbanks (1-5-0, 0-4-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. AT, Carlson Center, Fairbanks, AK

The RedHawks tied Western Michigan 3-3 then beat the Broncos 7-4 in Goggin to mark their first league points of the season.

"We’re much better, weekend to weekend," says head coach Mark Mazzoleni. "We’ll be a pretty competitive team after Christmas.

"Until then, we just need to keep our finger in the dike, and not let that inexperience get out of hand."

Half of these fledgling Falcons are rookies or sophomore, and Mazzoleni says that adds to the fun of his job. "You can see them learning to compete at this level, and that’s exciting.

"As coaches, our corrections in practice are very direct, but positive. The kids themselves are starting to see the improvements.

"When they become rooted out there–when they become comfortable in the defensive scheme–then the offense comes."

The RedHawks are being outscored by the narrow margin of 31-27, a stat that improves weekly.

Alex Kim and Josh Mizerek lead the ‘Hawks in scoring. Andy Marsch tallied his first win against Western Friday night, and Mazzoleni says he may play the fifth-year senior goaltender again this Friday night.

"The competition [between Marsch and Ian Olsen] is good. And it’s good that we’ve found someone else who can play."

The Nanooks are still looking for their first league win of the season. Head coach Dave Laurion says that in the 8-2 and 5-2 road losses to Ferris State last weekend, "The shots were even, but their guys took advantage of opportunities and ours did not."

In spite of the slow start, Laurion remains optimistic. "I haven’t pushed the panic button. I know our team certainly wants to get some points, and get out of the bottom.

"Our guys are still working hard, they’re continuing to work well–you can’t ask for much more than that."

Jim Lawrence leads the Nanooks in point production this season, "but we haven’t given him enough support," says Laurion. Fairbanks is being outscored 28-13 so far this season.

"We’re a good skating team," says Laurion. "We’re a bit bigger and stronger, which helps us on the road and maybe hurts us a little at home.

"You know, our players thought that because we were bigger and stronger this season, that improvement was just going to happen. Now they’re finding they have to work even harder."

Laurion says that in addition to the traveling distance, the Nanooks are always trying to play two kinds of games–one for their home Olympic-size sheet, and one for road games.

"We’ve got to rebound. It’s the balancing act of going from a big sheet to a small sheet, big sheet to small sheet."

This weekend, Laurion says he’s "looking forward to our guys playing with a lot of jump.

"This Miami series is big for both schools, and it’s obviously big for us. We need to play well at home."

Ian Perkins is the go-to guy in net for the Nanooks, and Laurion describes his play as "solid."

Picks

The Nanooks are talented, but during their last few seasons they’ve struggled with on-ice unity, a team identity, and consistency in play. By midseason, they may be more together than they are now, and they may be playing at a more competitive level.

The RedHawks are a very young team, but are not without some senior leadership. And that youth is an enthusiastic youth–eager to learn and apply that learning on the ice.

"Over the last fifteen games they’ve had their way with us," says Laurion. "We’d like to stop to that bleeding."

Maybe not this weekend.

Miami 5-2, 4-2

No. 8 Notre Dame (6-1-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) at No. 1 Boston College (4-0-0, 2-0-0 Hockey East) Friday, 7 p.m., Kelley Rink, Boston, MA No. 8 Notre Dame (6-1-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) at Northeastern (2-1-0, 0-0-0 Hockey East) Saturday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

It’s the yearly battle of the Jesuits!

As has become tradition, Boston College and Notre Dame spar on the ice the night before sparring on the gridiron.

"It’s really become fun," says Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin. "The administrations of each school entertain each other the night before the football game, and the hockey game has become the entertainment.

"And a lot of our guys know a lot of their guys."

Poulin says that "as much as they [BC] have up front, they have it on defense, too."

Poulin calls the match exciting. "It’s on the road, it’s a nationally-ranked team, it’s the top team in the country."

But, Poulin adds, "You’re as good as the last game you played."

That last game was the sole Notre Dame loss two weeks ago–against Western Michigan.

"They packed it in around Matt Barnes," says Poulin, "and he’s very good. They pack it in around that guy, and they’re going to be hard to beat."

Poulin says that the two weeks off has been beneficial to the Irish, a team whose defense is still physically hurting from last season.

"We’ve been very good in practice, very sharp."

One of the sharpest points for Notre Dame’s offense early in the season was its power play. Before being stonewalled 0-11 against Ohio State and Western Michigan two weeks ago, half of Notre Dame’s 22 goals had come on the power play, and the Irish were converting at the rate of 40 percent.

Eight different Irish players have scored on the power play, led by first-line forwards Brian Urick (3 PPG), Aniket Dhadphale (2 PPG), and Ben Simon (1 PPG).

Also potentially lethal on the power play are Dan Carlson and rookie-to-watch David Inman.

The Irish are also productive in each period of play, and they’ve trailed just twice this season.

A most impressive note about the Irish is their ability to win when someone on their defense is hurt. Notre Dame has posted an 11-7-1 record in its last 18 games, in spite of missing key defenders in each of those games. Benoit Cotnoir, Tyson Fraser, and Nathan Borega have each been plagued by injuries.

The Irish continue to dominate the CCHA scoring stats, with that first line of Dhadphale, Urick, and Simon playing particularly effectively. The second Irish line of Henning, Chipchase, and Carlson is also potentially lethal.

Forrest Karr has been the man in the net for Notre Dame, and he’s looked–as his coach puts it–"steady." Karr’s overall save percentage is .922, and he’s allowing just 1.72 goals per game in overall play.

Picks

The Eagles lead this overall series 11-7-0, winning the last three games, including last year’s come-from-behind 3-2 win in South Bend.

BC is outshooting its opponents 142-99 this season, which could be a challenge for Karr, who has not yet been seriously tested this season. The Irish have been playing stingy defense; in Karr’s shutout against Ohio State, he faced just 15 shots.

Northeastern and Notre Dame have met just twice before. The Irish won 4-1 way back in the 1970-71 season, while Northeastern rallied from a third-period deficit to beat Notre Dame in last season’s Mariucci Classic.

It’s hard to say how Notre Dame will play against Northeastern, but it may be fairly easy to call the way in which BC will play Notre Dame.

For more on Boston College and Northeastern, read Dave Hendrickson’s Hockey East preview.

BC over Notre Dame 5-2; Notre Dame over Northeastern 3-2

MSU-Mankato (5-1-0) at Ferris State (4-2-0, 4-2-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI

Ferris State is coming off a very good weekend, having beaten Alaska-Fairbanks 8-2 and 5-2.

Five different Bulldogs scored a goal in the 5-2 win, and six different Bulldogs scored in the 8-2 win (Kenzie Homer and Joel Irwin had two goals each in the 8-2 game).

Irwin leads the team in scoring, with three goals and four assists in seven games. Kevin Swider (3-3-6) and Rob Kozak) (2-4-6) are second among Bulldogs in scoring.

Sophomore goaltender Vince Owen has started all six games for Ferris State this season, posting a 4-2-0 record with a .915 overall save percentage and an overall GAA of 2.51.

So far this season, Ferris State is outscoring opponents 24-15.

The Mavericks split a pair of games last weekend with Nebraska-Omaha. Sophomore defenseman Ben Christopherson had a goal and two assists and rookie goaltender Todd Kelzenberg made 23 saves on 24 shots in the 5-1 win.

In the 6-5 loss, junior forward Tim Wolfe had two goals and junior defenseman Todd George had a goal and two assists for the Mavericks.

MSU-Mankato leads this series 4-3-1, and the Mavericks swept the Bulldogs in two games last season in Mankato.

Look for a split this weekend.

Picks: Mavericks 4-3 Friday, Bulldogs 4-2 Saturday

This Week in the WCHA: November 6, 1998

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WCHA Preview: Nov. 6-7, 1998 by Todd D. Milewski

In these days, where the 30-second campaign commercial is the difference between being elected and being left behind, brevity is the key. In honor of the recently-completed election season, this week’s preview will give you just enough information to make your decision. Oh, and with no negative politicking.

There’s some familiar faces near the top of the WCHA standings a couple weeks into the season.

But there’s also a good share of surprising starts in the conference — most notably the resurgence of Denver to an early undefeated record and the struggles of Wisconsin — which lost four of five games at home to begin the season.

While true that the Pioneers haven’t exactly faced the likes of North Dakota and Colorado College, they swept Michigan Tech in Houghton last weekend to move to 4-0. They are outscoring their opponents 5-2 this season.

The Badgers, on the other hand, are wondering where their next goal is going to come from. Will Steve Reinprecht, Dustin Kuk and Kevin Granato be able to shake off some of the pressure they put on themselves to lead the team in scoring, or will this bad start be too much for Bucky to overcome?

This weekend’s action also features a marquee matchup as Colorado College travels to the kingdom of Jesse "I’m attracted to your mind not your body" Ventura to take on Minnesota. While Ventura’s victory would fall in the shocking category, it shouldn’t surprise folks if this matchup proves to be interesting as the teams jockey for early position.

Colorado College (4-0, 4-0) at Minnesota (5-2-1, 4-1-1) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis

While Minnesota has a one-point lead over CC, that comes with two more games played. Both teams enter the series having played solidly last weekend — the Gophers sweeping Wisconsin in Madison and the Tigers claiming two home victories against Alaska-Anchorage.

One of the more striking points about CC’s undefeated start is not in the record but the goals for and against. The Tigers have scored 20 goals — an average of five per game, while allowing only six for an average of 1.5 per game. That translates into wins.

"Some of our key guys are off to real good starts, like Brian (Swanson) and Darren (Clark) and Toby (Petersen), guys we’re counting on to be scorers," CC coach Don Lucia said. "It takes the pressure off them. When you get off to a good start, you stop pressing."

Minnesota’s power at this point in the season is the power — the power play, that is. The Gophers are hitting at 24 percent (10 of 42) in the conference with the man advantage.

After a stellar performance last weekend, Minnesota freshman goaltender Adam Hauser returns to start Friday’s game. Hauser, who has stopped 87 of the last 91 shots he has faced, may or may not start on Saturday. After all, coach Doug Woog planned on starting Willy Marvin last Saturday against Wisconsin. That was until Hauser’s performance Friday.

"If he plays like he has been, it’s pretty hard to make too much room for anybody else," Woog said of Hauser. "He’s obviously played well enough to earn the first crack."

CC’s series with the Seawolves had a positive impact on the Tigers’ scoring. Swanson netted three goals and two assists, Clark scored two goals and three assists and Petersen added two goals.

Picks: CC is one of two teams the Gophers have yet to sweep in the new Mariucci Arena. Don’t expect it to happen this weekend, either. In a matchup this tight, there’s bound to be a split. UM 4-1, CC 5-2

Michigan Tech (1-7, 1-5) at Alaska-Anchorage (1-5, 0-2) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 AT, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

This may turn out to be a battle to see who is reeling less.

The teams have combined for 14 goals in eight games, while allowing 34. Each has only one win.

So here’s the perfect chance for one team to break out of its funk. Anchorage plans to be slightly more physical than they have been in the past. Michigan Tech is trying to get more than two goals in a game.

Picks: Anchorage’s aggressiveness pays off Friday, but Tech claws back to make it even. UAA 3-1, MTU 4-3

Wisconsin (1-4, 1-3) at Minnesota-Duluth (0-3-1, 0-3-1) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, Duluth, Minn.

Here’s a tale of two teams — one trying to find some scoring and the other just trying to find some players to put on the ice.

Wisconsin has played five one-goal games so far — and has lost four of them. Steve Reinprecht, Dustin Kuk and Kevin Granato have combined to score one goal so far this season, that coming from Kuk.

Duluth will have to play Friday’s game without the services of five players — Curtis Bois, Rich Anderson, Jesse Fibiger Tom Nelson and Judd Medak — after they received game DQs for fighting last Saturday against North Dakota.

Bulldogs coach Mike Sertich refused comment on the situation.

Duluth also finds itself in need of someone to step up and score. In four games, the Bulldogs have four goals. It doesn’t take a math major to tell you that’s one goal per game.

Despite having an 0-3-1 record, UMD goalie Brant Nicklin has a 2.71 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. But he has just one victory — a 4-0 shutout against Wisconsin.

Sertich said, despite the record, Nicklin is in top form.

"He’s playing the best hockey of his career," Sertich said.

So goes the recent series. The Badgers have swept the last two series in Duluth and are 5-0-1 against UMD in the last six meetings.

Picks: Duluth is just happy to be home. This is the Dogs’ first home action of the season, and it just might net them a split. UW 4-0, UMD 3-2

St. Cloud State (2-2, 1-1) at Denver (4-0, 2-0) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 MT, Denver Coliseum, Denver

The difference between these teams may lie in nets. While DU’s Stephen Wagner has showed good form so far this season, St. Cloud State coach Craig Dahl is frustrated with the lack of progress in his goaltenders.

Put it this way: No one has won the spot yet.

"We’ve been a little inconsistent in the goaltending department," Dahl said. "We’re still trying to find someone that can play at this level. Right now it’s kind of goaltending by committee."

For Denver, not only has Wagner been solid between the pipes, the offense is chiming in with good production. In fact, the Pioneers have won all four games this season by at least three goals. In the last three games, they have scored five goals each.

Picks: Denver continues to prosper early while the Husky goaltending situation remains murky. DU 4-2, 5-4

Clarkson (0-2, 0-0 ECAC) at North Dakota (2-0, 2-0) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, N.D.

It’s hard enough that the Fighting Sioux are forced to play without Brad DeFauw, Adam Calder, Trevor Hammer, Tim O’Connell and Jason Ulmer — disqualified last weekend against Minnesota-Duluth — but Jason Blake is also gone, to Austria with the USA Select team.

But UND still has goaltender Karl Goehring, fresh off a series where he allowed only one goal. The WCHA defensive player of the week stopped 61 of 62 shots.

"He played outstanding," UND coach Dean Blais said. "Not only because he only gave up one goal for the weekend, but he didn’t leave any rebounds around."

Picks: North Dakota shows it’s still tough at home, even without a number of top players. UND 5-2, 4-1

Next week’s games

Friday, Nov. 13 Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin Denver at Colorado College Michigan Tech at St. Cloud State North Dakota at Minnesota Minnesota-Duluth at Providence

Saturday, Nov. 14 Alaska-Anchorage at Wisconsin Denver at Colorado College Michigan Tech at St. Cloud State North Dakota at Minnesota Minnesota-Duluth at Providence

This Week in the MAAC: November 6, 1998

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No need to dance around it — this week’s themes in the MAAC are pretty straightforward.

Canisius, a preseason pick to contend for the MAAC title, is on a four-game slide after dropping two games to Quinnipiac last weekend. It doesn’t get any easier this week as the Ice Griffs head out to Holy Cross. It’s too early to call it desperation time for the Griffs, but they need a strong performance in Worcester this weekend to get back on track.

As for Quinnipiac, the Braves look to be in a good position after sweeping Canisius. If they play as well against in-state rival Fairfield, they should find themselves still atop the top of the MAAC come Monday. For Fairfield, at 0-4, this weekend’s series is a chance to right the ship.

The MAAC’s two other in-league unbeatens square off as AIC and UConn meet in a home-and-home set.

And the two youngest teams in the Metro Atlantic face off when Iona and Sacred Heart go head-on. It may not be the smoothest brand of play when the two underclassmen-laden teams take the ice, but when these two teams of the future collide, it should be the most competitive series of the weekend.

Canisius (2-4-0; 0-2-0 MAAC) at Holy Cross (2-1-1; 2-0-0 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, Hart Center, Worcester, MA Canisius at Holy Cross Saturday, 4:30 pm, Hart Center, Worcester, MA Canisius coach Brian Cavanaugh knew the task he was undertaking when the Ice Griffins agreed to join the MAAC. The move would mean a long grind of a season on the road.

And now he faces the challenge of getting the team through a road losing streak. Canisius dropped a lopsided set to Minnesota State-Mankato two weekends ago, and last week lost a set at Quinnipiac, including a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker on Saturday. And it doesn’t get any easier as Cavanaugh prepares his troops for an invasion of Holy Cross.

But Cavanaugh, a 17-year veteran, is taking things in stride. “It’s been a challenging couple weeks of travel,” he said. “As a young team, we’re suffering through some growing pains, and Holy Cross will be as difficult a challenge as we’ve faced all season.”

The Crusaders rebounded from a rough weekend at Air Force two weeks ago with workmanlike home wins over Sacred Heart, 4-1 and 7-3. Holy Cross again displayed the balance on offense that is becoming its trademark. This time out, seven players accounted for the school’s nine goals, with Paul Carroll and Joe Cavanaugh (for the second straight weekend) the only players to score two.

Keys to the games:

Get on the board first. This one’s pretty cut-and-dried. The Cross is 2-0-1 when scoring first, 0-1 when the opposition scores the opening goal. Canisius is 2-0 after getting the first strike and 0-4 otherwise.

The Ice Griffs need to get to Tom Ormondroyd early. It’s a simple equation. If the junior goalie shuts you down early, you won’t beat Holy Cross. Ormondroyd gave up no goals in the first period in last weekend’s wins over Sacred Heart and one in a tie at Air Force.

Canisius absolutely has to step up on defense. Capable goalie Bob Janosz had had to make an astronomical 153 saves in his last four games. Keep up that pace and the losing streak continues.

Picks: If Canisius can pick up the pace on D, it should be an entertaining weekend of hockey. If not, the Cross’s balanced offense can eat the Griffins alive. HC, 3-1 and 5-3.

UConn (2-0-0; 2-0-0 MAAC) at American International (2-0-0; 2-0-0 MAAC) Friday, 7:30 pm, Olympia Ice Center, W. Springfield, MA AIC at UConn Saturday, 7 pm, UConn Ice Arena, Storrs, Conn.

It’s a new twist on an old rivalry this weekend as two schools that have been antagonists for 30 years face off in the MAAC for the first time.

UConn hasn’t beaten AIC in four years, including a 3-2 home loss last year. It’s big weekend for the Huskies, who open the brand-new UConn Ice Arena on Alumni Day Saturday, but coach Paul Marshall hopes to have the AIC hex off his back by Friday.

“I’m glad the home opener’s on Saturday,” said Marshall, whose team swept Iona last weekend. “If the opener was first, I think there would be a danger of overlooking the road game. This way, it’ll be just like last weekend, getting on the bus and focusing for a road game.”

For AIC’s part, the weekend is an opportunity to build some serious early-season momentum. The Yellow Jackets played a balanced series last weekend, taking a 3-2 road win at Fairfield on a late goal by sophomore defenseman Aaron Arnett, then having five players score in a 5-0 home win Saturday.

AIC coach Gary Wright insists the score of last year’s UConn game was deceptive. “They outplayed us in every category except scoring,” said Wright. “They bottled us up in our end, and possessed the puck better. We won’t beat them again if that happens. They’re pretty quick and have some good skill guys.”

Keys to the games:

UConn has to solve Chance Thede. The AIC netminder shut down Fairfield Saturday, making 21 saves in a 5-0 win and earning MAAC defensive player of the week honors. But the sophomore still displays the inconsistency one wold expect from an underclassman at times.

The Huskies have to put in a more consistent effort. UConn let Iona creep back into both games last weekend, making the job more difficult than it had to be.

Picks: Thede carries last week’s momentum into Friday’s home game with a 3-0 AIC win. But UConn rebounds and christens the UConn Ice Arena with a 5-2 victory Saturday.

Sacred Heart (0-2-0; 0-2-0 MAAC) at Iona (1-3-0; 0-3-0 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, Ice Hutch, New Rochelle, NY Iona at Sacred Heart Saturday, 7 pm, Milford Ice Pavilion, Milford, Conn.

If you’re looking to see games with heavy implications for this year’s Metro Atlantic championship, then head up to Worcester for this weekend’s Canisius-Holy Cross clash.

But if you’re looking for a glimpse at the MAAC’s future, then you might want to check out the series between Iona and Sacred Heart.

Both young teams are still looking for their first MAAC win, with Iona playing UConn tough before falling twice last weekend, and Shaun Hannah’s Pointers dropping two to Holy Cross.

“Our kids realize this is one of those games that whoever wants it the most will win,” said Iona coach Frank Bretti. “We’re still looking to climb that hurdle of getting our first MAAC win. We feel like we shouldn’t be 0-3.

“Shaun does a great job getting his kids ready to play, and this will be no exception." Keys to the games:

Goaltending. Both teams boast talented young sophomore goalies, and whichever one comes out better-prepared will give his team a huge boost. Sacred Heart’s Alexis Jutras-Binet made 66 saves against Holy Cross last weekend. Iona’s Ben Brady filled in for senior Dan McGuire and made 44 saves, earning him another start Friday.

Sacred Heart has to shut down Iona’s top line of Ryan Carter, Rob Kellogg and Erik Nates. Forget that they’re all freshman, this is a line that has jelled in a hurry, accounting for 18 of the team’s 47 points over the first two weekends. “They realized their responsibilities. I expected them to come in and make an immediate impact,” said Bretti. “They’re comfortable with their roles.”

Iona still needs to improve its power play, which now rests at 4-30 (.133) on the season.

Picks: This looks to be the type of series where the home team comes out on top each time. Look for a 6-4 Iona win in New Rochelle and a 7-6 slugfest in Milford.

Fairfield (0-4-0; 0-2-0 MAAC) at Quinnipiac (4-0-0; 3-0-0 MAAC) Friday, 7 pm, East Haven Rink, E. Haven, Conn. Quinnipiac at Fairfield Saturday, 8 pm, Wonderland of Ice, Fairfield, Conn.

Quinnipiac freshman forward proved he had the skills to make things happen out on the ice in the season-opening Q Cup, with a goal and three assists.

Last week, he proved he can get the job done in the clutch, coming through with 22 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Braves a 2-1 win over Canisius.

But Quinnipiac won’t be able to beat Fairfield with Breen alone. The Stags need some sort of motivation to keep the wheels from falling off the wagon early; a shot at their intrastate rivals should be more than enough to get the team up.

Keys to the games:

Fairfield needs to eliminate defensive breakdowns. There were no seven-goal periods allowed against AIC, like there were in the Q Cup. But after playing AIC tough early on Saturday, the Stags allowed two goals in less than a minute in the middle of the second period, making a reachable 2-0 deficit a 4-0 hole and ending their chances in a hurry.

The Stags need someone to step up on offense. Anyone.

Quinnipiac has to improve on the power play, which went 0-for-14 last weekend.

Picks: Quinnipiac rolls, 7-2 and 6-1.

This Week in Hockey East: October 30, 1998

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Their own John Campbell took Player of the Week honors with two goals and two assists against the Engineers and an assist against the Minutemen.

Maine Black Bear defenseman David Cullen earned the Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time in two weekends of action. He’s looking poised for the kind of national attention that has eluded him to date.

And Drew Omicioli, Mike’s younger, "big" (5-10) brother started earning a name for himself at Providence, scoring twice and taking the Rookie of the Week award.

Last week’s record in picks: 7-5 Season’s record in picks: 16-7, .696

No. 1 Boston College (2-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA) vs.

UMass-Lowell (2-0-0, 1-0-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Paul E. Tsongas Arena, Lowell, MA

Boston College is returning to its first significant game action since winning the Ice Breaker Invitational three weeks ago. There was an 8-0 massacre of the University of Toronto back on Oct. 16, but it’s hardly a tuneup when you outshoot a team 52-5, including a 27-1 margin in one period.

As a result, the Eagles could be rusty heading into this weekend, but coach Jerry York prefers to see the positives of the time off.

"I think it gives us more of a chance to work on our club," he says. "We are working on our strengths and weaknesses, but we’re all anxious to get going.

"We’ve had a good start. We want to take each month as a segment of our season. We’re really focused on being a good October team, and I think we’re started along that line."

Although weaknesses may be hard to find on this squad, one strength is apparent.

"I think we’re going to skate very well as a team," says York. "I’ve always tried to incorporate that into the teams I’ve coached, because skating is so important. I think clearly we skate very well and now we’ve just got to mesh as a team. We need games to do that."

York is bringing his three top freshmen — defenseman Brooks Orpik and forwards Jeff Giuliano and Ales Dolinar — along slowly, expecting his upperclassmen to carry the load. Even so, Orpik and Giuliano are part of the team’s top pairings, Giuliano with All-American Brian Gionta and Andy Powers up front and Orpik with All-American Mike Mottau.

"With all three, and particularly Brooks, it’s all still very early for us," says York.

Dolinar joins Nick Pierandri and Matt Mulhern on a checking line.

"Ales is more of a defensive player at this stage," says York. "He’s checking well and I think his offense will come as the season progresses."

UMass-Lowell is one of the surprises of the league, actually garnering votes in the U.S. College Hockey Online Poll after squeaking out a 4-3 win in overtime over UMass-Amherst and then pummeling Rensselaer 8-4. The River Hawks had been picked to finish seventh in Hockey East by league coaches and, ahem, eighth by this writer.

When coach Tim Whitehead said in the

UML Season Preview that he wasn’t worried about generating offense this year, it potentially seemed like whistling past the graveyard in light of some big losses.

But Whitehead is getting offense not only from expected places like Chris Bell and Jeff Boulanger, but also from five players who mustered no more than three goals all last year. Craig Brown, who only had one last year, already has scored twice and had a great assist on Lowell’s crucial tying goal at Amherst. Anthony Cappelletti, who had three all last year, has two in the two games. Kevin Bertram (three last year), Kyle Kidney (three) and Jeremy Kyte (none) have all scored big goals.

"We don’t have any big superstars on our team," says Whitehead. "We’re definitely just a hardworking team….We’re going to need contributions from everybody.

"For us to be successful this year, we’re going to need everyone playing well and people rising to the occasion that maybe had an off game the night before."

More of the UML offense is coming from grinding play — driving to the net, deflections and rebounds — than from highlight-film individual efforts.

"That’s exactly what we’re trying to do," says Whitehead. "If we’re going to be successful this year, it’s going to be as a team. Our players know that."

Six of Lowell’s 12 goals have come on a power play that has converted 35 percent of its chances so far.

"We’re not trying to doing anything special," says Whitehead. "We’re trying to keep it simple, in fact. A lot of times, that’s the best approach. You’ve just got to outwork the other team and shoot the puck. Fortunately, they’ve gone in for us."

The wins have come at an opportune time since Lowell’s next four games are against BC and Maine, the number one and three ranked teams in the country.

"Any win is important…but we have some new faces and some young veterans so it was good for them to know that on any given night, we can beat anybody," says Whitehead. "It was important for us."

PICKS: Lowell may be a lot better than people expected this year, but BC is still BC. Eagles sweep, 5-3 and 4-3.

Boston University (0-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA) vs.

Providence College (1-1-0, 0-0-0 HEA)

Friday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Saturday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA

Boston University lost one of its ugliest games in a long, long time, 8-6 to Vermont. BU fans who might have recorded the TV broadcast have no doubt already taped over the game with something more pleasant, like a documentary on dental surgery or reruns of Green Acres.

The Terriers surrendered a goal with 0.9 seconds left in first and another with 2.7 seconds left in second.

"When you give up goals at the beginning of the period or the end of the period, it’s demoralizing," says coach Jack Parker.

Perhaps even more demoralizing, though, was seeing BU’s one star player, goaltender Michel Larocque, play poorly. "Rocco" was expected to be the one stabilizing force on a team that might struggle to find its offense and would be breaking in three new defensemen. Instead, he gave up six goals on 14 shots over the first two periods before getting the hook, including three in the span of 3:05.

"I don’t think he’s really been on yet this year so far," says Parker. "I don’t think he’s looked like our Michel Larocque….I don’t think it’s so much save percentage or bad goals or good goals.

"Even his body language just seems to be a little off. He had some problems, but we created some problems for him too."

One unexpected problem is a broken wrist to freshman defenseman Pat Aufiero, who suffered the injury during practice. He is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks.

With Joe DiPenta returning from a broken ankle, the thin BU defense finally was returning to full strength for the first time. Now, however, Aufiero could be out until after Christmas. Fortunately, he can still skate while the injury heals so he should have his legs when he does return.

The Terriers now stand at 0-2 for only the second time in Parker’s tenure. (In 1976-77, they lost their first five games, but finished with a 22-11-1 record and went to the NCAA Final Four. In 1986-87, they posted a 19-15-3 mark.)

As the 1976-77 outcome shows, it’s too early to panic on Babcock Street, but this weekend is as big as it gets in October. Following these games with Providence and a nonconference tilt with Princeton next week, the Terriers face series with New Hampshire and Boston College. If things don’t go well this weekend, it could get ugly.

Providence split a weekend with the CCHA, blowing leads in a 5-3 loss to Miami before rallying back with a 7-2 win over Lake Superior State.

"I thought the games went very similar," says coach Paul Pooley. "We played pretty well against Miami for the first 30 minutes. I thought we got to the point against Miami where we should have done the same thing [we did to Lake Superior], but we let them back in and our specialty teams weren’t as good."

In the Miami game, the Friar power play got shut out while the PK gave up three goals. Against Lake State, though, the Friars had the better of the specialty teams.

"We were up, 2-0, just like against Miami and had trouble scoring, even though we were all over them," says Pooley. "And then we took a couple penalties. But this time, we killed them off and got the third goal.

"It was a learning process for us, having had a game in control and letting it get away from us and then the next night almost trying to let it get away a little bit again, but we fought through and got the goal we needed."

So are the Friars catching BU at the right time or at the wrong time?

"I don’t think it’s ever a good time to catch BU," says Pooley. "They’ve lost a lot of people and are trying to put it together, but it’s going to be a very, very difficult game for us. They’ve got four solid lines and their goaltending has been very good in the past."

PICKS: BU could very easily get swept this weekend, but from this seat it looks like each team will hold serve. BU doesn’t get off the schneid at Schneider, losing 3-2, but gets in the win column at Walter Brown, 4-2.

Merrimack (0-2-0, 0-0-0 HEA) at

UMass-Amherst (0-2-0, 0-1-0 HEA) and

Union (1-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC)

Friday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawrence H. Achilles Rink, Schenectady, N.Y.

Merrimack lost two to St. Lawrence, 4-1 and 6-3, last weekend.

"At times, we played very well and at times we played very poorly," says coach Chris Serino. "We gave up [five] power-play goals for the weekend. At times, our shorthand was immense and we didn’t allow a shot. But every time we allowed a shot, they put it in the net. That hurt us.

"We took a lot of foolish penalties that really hurt us. We don’t have the firepower to be shorthanded that long. And some of our top players took the penalties, so they were out of the game for long periods of time."

Nowhere was the Warriors’ inconsistency more noticeable than in the first game, where they dominated the first period and took a 1-0 lead only to lose, 4-1.

"We outshot them 21-14, [including 15-3 after nine minutes,] and then got away from our game in the second period for whatever reason," says Serino. "We’ve just got to keep working on the things we’ve been working on. You’re never going to do everything right for the whole game, but it’s got to be 80-20 rather than 40-60."

Serino has tried to emphasize defense to a team that was dreadful in its own end last year, but the message seemed to be lost the first night when Merrimack allowed 40 shots to a team that had been outshot 50-24 and 31-14 in its previous two games. The Warriors did get their defensive act together the next night, though, when they allowed a more reasonable 26 shots.

"We were playing so well in the first period on Friday and were really going on the offense that, in a way, it hurt us," says Serino. "We forgot about defense and thought we could just control the play.

"The second night, we stayed more to our plan and the kids committed themselves to playing defense. That’s something that as coaches we’ve got to demand, because we’re not that good a team that we can get into wide-open shootouts."

Merrimack opens this weekend on at the road at UMass-Amherst, which also stands 0-2.

"For us, it’s not about who we play but about how we play," says Serino. "We can be beat by anybody when we’re not playing. We have to play our best to beat anybody, whether it’s UMass-Amherst or BC.

"What we’re striving for is to play our best. I’m not naive enough to be looking at major wins and losses right now. I’m looking at improvement. When we get to a point where we’re playing consistently, then we’ll look at the wins and losses."

One night later, the Warriors travel to Union, where the nonconference match-up might allow Serino to opt for some new faces in the lineup.

"It’s unfair to my players not to see some of these guys in a game before I make a decision on who will be our final players and who won’t," says Serino. "I’m glad we have these nonleague games so we can try that.

"But it gets to a point where you have to win a game here or there too so the confidence levels build up. It’s a fine line we’re walking, but we are still trying to find out who’s going to play."

UMass-Amherst lost a heart-breaker to Lowell, 4-3 in overtime last week. The Minutemen held a 3-2 lead with three minutes left and was on the power play, but surrendered a two-on-one goal and then a ricochet score in OT.

"When you get the lead late in the third period, you’ve got to find a way to hold onto it," says coach Joe Mallen. "They go off on a two-on-one late in the game and there’s no need for it. At the end of regulation and in overtime, those are the times that you really have to play well defensively. We had some letdowns in those areas and it cost us the game."

On the plus side, sophomore goaltender Marcus Helanen continued his strong play and the three sophomore forwards who will lead the offense — Jeff Turner, Kris Wallis and Nick Stephens — all scored.

"I’m a little concerned about where our offense is coming from," says Mallen. "Every coach in hockey basically wants to score three or more and give up three or less. I thought we were in a position to do that. With Stephens and Wallis scoring in the third period and putting us in the lead, that’s a good optimistic positive sign.

"I still think the nucleus of our team is that sophomore class: Wallis, Turner, Stephens, [R.J.] Gates and, one year ahead of them, [Nathan] Sell and [Jeff] Blanchard. Those are the guys that are going to have to score goals for us."

The Merrimack contest is the second of five consecutive league games played at the Mullins Center.

"The home games are good for us right now," says Mallen. "The guys play good at home. They play tough at home. These are good opportunities for us to get the ball rolling and the sooner we get the ball rolling, the better."

For the lowdown on Union, see this week’s ECAC Preview by Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy (aka "Becky and the Boatanchor").

PICKS: Before the season started, this looked like a W for Merrimack, but not now. UMass-Amherst is playing much better than expected and Merrimack isn’t operating on all cylinders yet. Minutemen, 3-2.

The Warriors get one in the win column against Union, however, 4-2.

No. 8 New Hampshire (3-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA) at

UMass-Amherst (0-2-0, 0-1-0 HEA)

Sunday, 5 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA

New Hampshire defeated Lake State, 5-2, and Miami, 4-1, in impressive fashion last week.

"I’m thrilled," says coach Dick Umile. "It was a great weekend. I think we gave up 25 shots for the weekend. The team played very, very well."

Steve O’Brien, one of the leaders on the blue line, commented after the game on UNH’s stifling defensive play.

"We have a system that we stick by all the way," he said. "When it comes down to one-on-one battles, we physically take over.

"We have the same guys on D [as last year], but everybody has improved. The forwards are coming back hard. They’re picking up their guys late so we can just play the guys one-on-one straight up."

Umile sees more maturity in the defensive group that returned intact from last season.

"We were young last year on defense with three freshmen, three sophomores and a couple juniors," he says. "And we went to the Final Four. These guys are older, they’re more experienced, they’re stronger and we have everybody back."

Ty Conklin, who sat out last year after transferring from Alaska-Anchorage, stopped all but one shot against Miami and this year could be more than just Sean Matile’s heir apparent.

"We knew Ty was a good goaltender," says Umile. "With Ty Conklin and Sean Matile, I’m feeling really good with our goaltending. I’m real happy for him. He sat out the year, got his first start, is a terrific kid, and proved that he’s a terrific goalie."

Miami coach Mark Mazzoleni, when asked about how Jason Krog stacked up against top CCHA players, said, "He’s a real dynamic player. I think the thing is that they’re going to have to get some guys to play with him, too. You can see that without [Derek] Bekar and [Mark] Mowers around there. The one kid on the right side [Chad Onufrechuk] is a pretty good player and they played a freshman [Matt Dzieduszycki] up with them.

"But when you go against the top, top teams, they’re going to throw a few juniors and seniors at you and it’s [a question of] how much help he’s going to get out there. He’s a force within himself, but it’s difficult to do it [alone]."

While Dzieduszycki is likely to be a much more important part of the offense than Mazzoleni expects on just one viewing, Umile has attempted to distribute the scoring rather than pack it all on Krog’s line.

This weekend, that worked to go effect with Jason Shipulski scoring three goals and adding an assist from the third line while John Sadowski added a goal and assist from the second. The two scored only 15 points and 10 points last year, respectively, playing together.

"They were the first to say at the end of last season that they wanted to do a better job," says Umile. "They’re becoming the upperclassmen and the leaders. We’ve got the guys split up. The goal was to spread out the scoring and it’s happening.

"We’ve got good enough offense to win games and I think we’re real strong defensively. But it’s early."

(UMass-Amherst is previewed above in its matchup with Merrimack.)

PICKS: UNH continues to pour it on defensively, winning 4-1.

Thanks to Scott Weighart for his contributions to this preview.

This Week in the ECAC: October 30, 1998

By Becky Blaeser & Jayson Moy
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We’ve had a little feeler for this year’s ECAC in the past three weeks; now it’s time for three more teams to get into the action with some exhibitions.

Meanwhile, last week was a good week for some ECAC teams, and not for others. St. Lawrence swept a pair from Hockey East rival Merrimack, while Vermont outslugged Boston University. On the other side of the coin, Rensselaer, Colgate and Union took losses against Hockey East from UMass-Lowell, Northeastern and Maine.

The upside of the Union loss to Maine was a first-round J.C. Penney Classic victory over Niagara, giving Kevin Sneddon a positive result in his first game as a head coach.

The Golden Knights were swept at home against CCHA foe Northern Michigan to round out the ECAC action from last weekend.

ECAC Player of the Week — Jason Reid, Sr., D, Vermont ECAC Goaltender(s) of the Week — Marty Phillips, Jr., Vermont; Eric Heffler, Sr., St. Lawrence

This week, Princeton, Brown, and Cornell get into exhibition action with their first games of the season, while Vermont, Union, Rensselaer, Colgate, and St. Lawrence all battle in non-conference action.

The start of the ECAC conference season is next week when Harvard hosts Brown.

Last week: 4-5 Season to date: 5-6, .455

Vermont (1-1-0) at St. Cloud (1-1-0, 1-1-0 WCHA) Friday – Saturday, 8:00 pm, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.

Everyone knew that come the 1998-99 season, Vermont would be better and Boston University would struggle a bit without Chris Drury and Tom Poti. Still, not many people expected the Catamounts to upend the Terriers in front of more than 3,700 fans at Walter Brown Arena last Saturday night. Now there’s no rest for the weary as the Catamounts meet up with a WCHA heavyweight, St. Cloud, which opened its season with a weekend split against Minnesota. [For more on St. Cloud, please refer to "Terrible" Todd Milewski’s WCHA Preview.]

Nonetheless, head coach Mike Gilligan and his squad have to have confidence heading West, coming off a big early-season upset that showcased phenomenal special teams play and unlikely scoring heroes. In a rare occurrence for the team from Burlington, the Catamounts converted on five of seven power-play chances en route to the 8-6 win over the Terriers. Defenseman Jason Reid, who had a mere five collegiate goals heading into contest, recorded a hat trick, while B.J. Kilbourne added three assists in Vermont’s first victory of the season.

"That’s something that we haven’t seen the Catamounts do for about 100 years, but it’s great to see happen," said Gilligan of his 71-percent extra-man efficiency.

Reid took home ECAC Player of the Week and USCHO Defensive Player of the Week honors, but perhaps more impressive was the play of Vermont goaltender Marty Phillips, who came up with a 30-shot performance against a Terrier offense that outshot the visitors 36-18. Phillips got the nod between the pipes after expected starter Andrew Allen was roughed up in the season opener against New Hampshire the week before. After his victory over BU, Phillips has guaranteed himself at least half a game against St. Cloud.

One of the main issues for Vermont this weekend, aside from goaltending, will be discipline. The Catamounts conceded 13 power-play chances to the Terriers and were to lucky to escape Walter Brown with only two scored against them.

"I felt that we were just hanging by a thread on the penalty-kill," Gilligan said. "I didn’t feel comfortable defensively at all [Saturday night]."

The Terriers were indeed an ominous force all night and the lack of defensive stability displayed by the Catamount defense may give good cause for concern heading westward.

Picks: It took Jason Reid 74 games to collect his first collegiate hat trick, and the smart money says it’ll take more than one game for him to notch another. He, as well as the Catamount power play, will be cooled off by the crisp Minnesota air. The Huskies sweep, 6-3 and 4-3.

Army (1-1-0) at Colgate (0-1-0) Friday, 7:30 pm, Starr Rink, Hamilton, NY Army at Rensselaer (1-1-0) Saturday, 7:00 pm, Houston Fieldhouse, Troy, NY

Army split a home series against Alabama-Huntsville last weekend — a 3-2 loss and a 2-1 win — and now heads to face two ECAC foes in Colgate and Rensselaer.

Greg Buckmeier and Jason Choi, the two leading goal-scorers for the Cadets last season, got the goals Friday evening, and Choi also registered an assist on Saturday night. Also Saturday, freshman Nathan Mayfield scored his first collegiate goal, and Andy Foss notched the first goal in the win.

In net, Corey Winer takes over for Daryl Chamberlain. Chamberlain finished in the top eight in all goaltending categories during his time at the Academy.

"Corey is a fighter [who] responds to pressure," said head coach Rob Riley. "He has shown that he can win those close games, but we need him to do more of that this season."

Winer was spectacular this past weekend making 36 saves on Friday, and 40 on Saturday.

The power play is an area where Riley would like to improve his club. Last weekend, the Cadets went 2-14 and 1-5 with the extra man.

"We need to improve our productivity on the power play," he said. "And that also helps us win those close games."

Colgate started off the season in Boston last weekend, dropping a 2-0 decision to Northeastern. The Red Raiders may be 0-1-0, but head coach Don Vaughan liked some of the things he saw.

"We didn’t have the outcome we wanted," he said. "But it was a 1-0 game after two periods with a power-play goal. We were really pleased with our defense and forwards, so it was a pretty good effort."

How can you say your forwards played well if you were shut out?

"We moved the puck well," explained Vaughan. "We passed well, we were able to skate with the puck. The one point that concerns us was that we were not putting it in the net. We just have to work on getting the puck into the net."

Shep Harder played well in net for the Red Raiders, and with two games this weekend, Harder and highly-touted freshman Jason LeFevre will each get a start.

"(Harder) played real well, and that was probably his best game since he’s been here," said Vaughan about the junior. "That’s an important sign for us that he has started nicely. We’ve also got Jason (LeFevre) here and he is gradually adjusting to the college game.

"We’ll definitely split the two this weekend, in what order I’m not sure right now."

Of his young players, Vaughan liked what he saw of one in particular.

"I’m still very excited about (Etienne) Morin," he said. "He skated well, he got himself free a lot, and he seems to find the open area very well."

Rensselaer looked sharp in an outing against Boston University two weeks ago. But last week, in an 8-4 loss to UMass-Lowell, the Engineers looked like a totally different team. The Engineers surrendered five second period goals, and were never really in the game.

"First and foremost, even though you have experience at some positions, you can’t let teams outwork you," said head coach Dan Fridgen. "You have to come out and work consistently and that’s part of being a good hockey team. We can’t be a chameleon hockey team, and that’s what we were Saturday. We certainly weren’t the same team we were against BU. Our inexperience showed itself Saturday; we had crucial turnovers at crucial parts of the game."

The Engineers were in the penalty box for 12 RiverHawk power plays. The other thing was that 11 of the power plays were full two-minute power plays– until the ‘Hawks scored on five of them.

"We did a good job of battling back," said Fridgen. "We never threw the towel in, but you’re never going to build sustained momentum in the penalty box. If the referee is going to call it tight, you have to adjust, and we didn’t do a good job of that.

"Whenever somebody scores a goal, the next line up and next few shifts are very crucial to the momentum of the game. We tried to get things going, but we would get hauled off to the box….We tied the third period, 1-1, but we dug a hole for ourselves and we couldn’t climb out of it."

Engineer fans saw a surprise in net on Saturday as Joel Laing started his second consecutive game. Scott Prekaski did relieve Laing in the second period, but Laing went back in at the start of the third. The reason that the second consecutive start was odd was because Laing and Prekaski had been rotating every game since the two came onto the Rensselaer campus two years ago.

"I base it on how practice is going," explained Fridgen. "Joel has been looking very good in practice and that’s why he started Saturday. It’s not going to be an automatic rotation basis — if both guys are playing well, maybe, but I just think that it’s got to be earned."

Picks: Army will play both of these tough as they have in recent years. Without Chamberlain, it’s a little tougher, and the Cadets get swept on the road. Colgate 5, Army 2 and Rensselaer 5, Army 2.

Merrimack (0-2-0) at Union (1-1-0) Saturday, 7:00 pm, Achilles Rink, Schenectady, NY

After suffering a tough 6-1 defeat at the hands of the host Maine Black Bears in the championship game of the J.C. Penney Classic one week ago, Union (1-1-0) welcomes winless Merrimack (0-2-0) to Achilles Rink Saturday night.

Merrimack has been a different team since upsetting top-seeded Boston University in last year’s HE playoffs. The Warriors possess a potentially-explosive tandem in Rejean Stringer and Kris Porter, who posted four points between them in last weekend’s series against St. Lawrence, and will be looking to its first "W" of the season against the susceptible Dutchmen. [For more on the Warriors, see Dapper Dave Hendrickson’s Hockey East Preview.]

"They’re a pretty explosive offensive team. I’m sure that they will be itching to get a win after getting swept by [St. Lawrence] over the weekend," said Union head coach Kevin Sneddon. "Our team as a whole was up and down all weekend. But that is to be expected from a young team. They have the potential, and we have to stay with the ups."

Union reached its highest point last Friday night when the team battled back from a 3-1 deficit, including two crucial tallies in the final 4:45 to defeat Niagara, 5-3. Mark Szucs supplied the offensive spark for his team, scoring two goals, including the game-winner, while adding an assist. One of the most promising signs for the Dutchmen was the play of Leeor Shtrom, who knocked away 69 shots on the weekend.

"He played fantastic for us last weekend," said Sneddon of Shtrom. "He’s stepped it up and now that he knows he’s the number-one goalie, he’s responded."

As was evident from the Maine contest, the Dutchmen are far from competing with the best teams. The youth of the Union squad can not be overlooked this weekend although thus far in the season, it has been making only cameo appearances. Merrimack should be a good test for the Dutchmen in their home opener.

Pick: Union plays 60 minutes of total hardcore hockey and gives the Achilles crowd an opening-night victory. Union 5, Merrimack 2.

Buffalo Showcase No. 10 St. Lawrence (3-1-0) vs. Colgate (0-1-0) Saturday, 7:30 pm, Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, NY

On the strength of a second-place finish in the Ice Breaker and a sweep of Merrimack, St. Lawrence has taken the tenth position in the latest U.S. College Hockey Online Poll.

"We’ve done the little things right, we’ve gotten good leadership, good scoring, and good goaltending," said head coach Joe Marsh. "So far, so good."

After defeating the Warriors 4-1 on Friday, the Saints changed their lineup on Saturday, dressing eight different players for the second game. The result was the same — a win, this time by a 6-3 margin. The win was also sophomore Jeremy Symington’s first as a Saint.

"I’ve seen a lot of different people in the lineup and the guys are responding well," said Marsh. "We’re going to have some tough decisions as the regular season comes around as to who to sit, but I’m really pleased at the efforts.

"We’re getting timely goals and the scoresheet has been spread out and it’s important that we develop some depth. Especially on the third and fourth lines, because we have an outstanding first line with (John) Poapst, (Bob) Prier, and (Eric) Anderson, depth isn’t something where you count names on a roster. It’s getting the kids into the crucial situations, and I’ve had a chance to do that so far."

The Saints could aptly be dubbed the "Road Warriors," as they play their third straight weekend away from the confines of Appleton Arena, this weekend at the Buffalo Showcase at the Marine Midland Arena. Last season the Saints opened up on the road as well, and didn’t have their home opener until Nov. 21.

"Honestly, that’s good early on," said Marsh about going on the road. "I don’t mind going on the road, it brings the kids together and you get some of the distractions out of the way. These kids have worked hard so far, and I think everybody right now is on the same page. I just want to stay healthy and keep things going, because we’re going to face tough ones every night."

Going to Buffalo is exciting for Colgate as well. Don Vaughan likes the trip, and is looking forward to it.

"I tease our guys about this," he said about playing at Marine Midland Arena. "A lot of them want to play in the pros, and they’ll get a taste of what it’s like to play in a pro arena. So this is good that we get to get on that iron lung, because anytime you can change it up, it helps bring your team together."

Pick: You have to think that the road will wear on the Saints at some point — or maybe it won’t. It’s an early test as to what the regular ECAC season will be like. It’s St. Lawrence 4, Colgate 2.

Exhibitions Guelph at Cornell Saturday, 7:00 pm, Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY New Brunswick at Princeton Saturday, 7:00 pm, Hobey Baker Rink, Princeton, NJ New Brunswick at Brown Sunday, 4:00 pm, Meehan Auditorium, Providence, RI

You have to love exhibitions. Well, actually you don’t have to love them, but it’s a chance for the fans to see their teams. What the teams get accomplished during these is to get lines straight, get the kinks worked out and get some real hitting going on.

We could provide you with quotes, but every one probably be like this. "We’re tired of hitting each other in practice," Joe Hockey said. "We’re ready to get out there and hit other people."

So, have fun at the exhibitions this weekend, and we’ll talk more about Cornell, Princeton, and Brown next week.

Picks: We’ll go the Dave Hendrickson route (otherwise known as the cheap and cowardly method). Cornell, Princeton and Brown by an average of three goals.

Next week in ECAC action:

Friday, November 6: Brown at Harvard Union vs. Rensselaer (Capital Skate Classic, Glens Falls, NY) Princeton at Boston University Niagara at Cornell Clarkson at North Dakota Acadia at Vermont

Saturday, November 7: Clarkson at North Dakota Acadia at Dartmouth McGill at Yale

Sunday, November 8: Niagara at Dartmouth Harvard at UMass-Amherst

Thanks to Scott Weighart for his contributions to this preview.

Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy are ECAC Correspondents for U.S. College Hockey Online. Copyright 1998 Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy. All rights reserved.

This Week in the WCHA: October 30, 1998

By
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The true opening of the WCHA schedule is finally upon us, as all nine teams see action on the same nights, with a full complement of four conference series.

It’s awful early to even look at the standings, considering three of the league’s teams have yet to take the ice in conference play. Denver, North Dakota and Alaska-Anchorage all get their first cracks at the WCHA this weekend.

Nevertheless, Minnesota has the early lead, but that lead is on shaky ground, considering the Gophers have five points through four games and Colorado College has four points after only a road sweep of Michigan Tech.

But this weekend’s action could go a long way in predicting who’s going to be up top in March, and who will be merely fighting for home ice in the first round. Teams like Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth and Denver are all looking for productive weekends to give them the early edge on the competition.

This all comes along with the WCHA’s first look of the season at defending champion North Dakota. Will the Sioux’s fresh faces on defense be able to hold off charges at their throne?

As always, only time will tell.

Minnesota (3-2-1, 2-1-1 WCHA) vs. Wisconsin (1-2, 1-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Kohl Center, Madison, Wis.

The Border Battle always has great significance for both teams, but this early-season matchup may be especially important for the Badgers, who are looking to break out of a scoring funk and make an early turnaround.

After opening the new Kohl Center with a 1-2 record, including a split with Michigan Tech two weeks ago, coach Jeff Sauer’s team needs to make a statement this weekend. After all, if they get swept by Doug Woog’s Golden Gophers, the Badgers will be 1-3 in the conference, with all of those games coming on home ice.

Not good.

However, if UW sweeps — something the Badgers haven’t done against the Gophers since 1996 — Wisconsin will be in a comfortable 3-1 position, having won 75 percent of its games at the Kohl Center.

"It’s a long season, there’s a long way to go, but all of a sudden, this is the start of the first half of our season. It becomes a very important series," Sauer said. "We won’t see this team again until the last series of the year. We want to make sure that when we see them the next time, we’re in striking distance."

Minnesota certainly doesn’t have to defend its recent record against the Badgers. The Gophers lead the series in the 1990s, 23-8-3. Woog is 44-17-3 against Wisconsin. Minnesota has won 16 of the last 21 meetings, including three of the four meetings with the Badgers last season. Et cetera, et cetera.

Woog, however, is at a loss to explain his team’s continued success over the Badgers, which usually determines the difference in the season standings.

"We’ve had good success in the league and partly our success in the league, in relation to Wisconsin…has been our ability to beat them," he said. "If you go back through the history of the games, if they had won the majority of the games in the series, they would have finished in first or second. We just kind of traded places because of our recent ability to beat them in the last six, eight ten years.

"I can’t tell you why. One night it’ll be one thing, another night it might be frustration, another night it was fate. There certainly hasn’t been a great disparity between the teams."

Not to mention that the Gopher roster features a couple of noted Badger-killers. In 11 games against UW, Wyatt Smith has six goals and seven assists, including his first career hat trick in a 7-0 victory at the Target Center last season. Reggie Berg has 12 points on six goals and six assists.

"First of all, they’re two pretty good players," Woog said. "They’re going to score against some other teams as well."

But that is all in the past. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Badgers get away from Smith and company this season. The senior center is one of four players tied for the early WCHA scoring lead with four points (4-0–4). In fact, three of the foursome at the top are Gophers. Dave Spehar (2-2–4) and Jordan Leopold (0-4–4) join Smith and Michigan Tech center Tab Lardner with four points.

But something Woog would like to see improve is the team’s consistency.

"We have a lot of question marks," he said. "One night you think you’re playing pretty well, then you second guess your stuff and wonder if you’re going to be able to do it. It’s between playing well one night and being suspect on another."

Adam Hauser has seemingly shaken off a rough non-conference start to his collegiate career, having come back with two conference wins in a row. The freshman has a 0.50 goals-against average and a .977 save percentage through two WCHA games, including a 3-0 win last Friday.

"He’s real good with the puck, he handled it well," Woog said. "It’s a nice advantage on the big rink if somebody can handle the puck. He’s a big target, he’s a big-sized kid. He’s gotten a little better each week."

Willy Marvin, who shares time with Hauser, hasn’t been so fortunate in his two starts. The junior is 0-1-1 with a 3.85 goals-against and a .871 save percentage. Woog said it is "more than likely" that Marvin will play Saturday.

Wisconsin’s counter in net is sophomore Graham Melanson, who has allowed just two goals in each of his three starts this season. Unfortunately, the Badgers scored only one goal in two of those games.

Melanson is saving 90.9 percent of the shots he faces, which will be essential to keep up, considering the Gophers are averaging 37.8 shots per game.

Up front, Sauer’s team is still looking for someone to put the puck in the net. The Badger coach isn’t really worried, however, with captain Steve Reinprecht getting hungry for his first goal of the season. But the Gophers may not be the ideal team for him to face at this point. In eight games against Minnesota, Reinprecht has only two assists.

Sauer isn’t concerned that Reinprecht and Dustin Kuk haven’t hit the back of the net yet.

"If they weren’t getting chances, if Kevin Granato wasn’t getting chances, if Niki Siren wasn’t getting chances, I’d be concerned," he said. "We’re getting chances. It’s going to come. I’m disappointed we haven’t scored more, but in the same sense I think it’s going to come for us."

Wisconsin’s offensive woes against UM don’t stop there. No member of the Badger team has more than three points against Minnesota. Defenseman Craig Anderson and forwards Kuk and Niki Siren are the only current Badgers ever to have scored a goal against Woog’s team.

The key to this weekend’s matchup may be the Minnesota power play. The Gophers are 7 of 43 (.163) with the man advantage this year while the Badgers have killed off all 12 power plays they have faced. Whoever wins that battle may emerge the victor.

Picks: Much like last season’s series in Madison, expect the Gophers to come out strong the first night, but the Badgers to realize what it would mean to be swept on home ice by the Gophers in time for Saturday’s rematch. UM 4-1, UW 3-1

Alaska-Anchorage (1-3, 0-0 WCHA) vs. Colorado College (2-0, 2-0 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35-7:05 MT, Colorado Springs World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Even though the Seawolves are 1-3, this is definitely not the same team Dean Talafous had on the ice last season.

UAA is averaging 41 shots on goal through those four games. To put that in perspective, the Seawolves’ top shot output all of last season was 41 against Wisconsin on Jan. 30.

"Sure, what’s going on? We’re ruining our whole image," Talafous joked. "We have to put an end to that. I wouldn’t let them shoot all week."

Of course, unlike last season, Anchorage is giving up an average of 3.75 goals per game. The downfall through the first four games has been the first period, in which the Seawolves have been outscored 5-2. But the whole new image is the result of being more aggressive.

"The more aggressive and the more plays you can make and the more pressure on the puck, obviously you’re going to score more goals and win more hockey games," Talafous said. "But in the end, you still have to be responsible defensively to win championships."

The other side of the puck is Colorado College, which was impressive in a road sweep of Michigan Tech last weekend. Colin Zulianello made 17 saves in a 3-1 Friday win and Jeff Sanger got his first collegiate victory Saturday, 5-2.

CC coach Don Lucia said although both are playing well, he wants one netminder to emerge as the No. 1.

"I’m still looking to settle on one goaltender before the year is said and done, but I don’t have a time frame for that," he said. "Whether it’s by Thanksgiving, by Christmas, by playoffs, whatever. As long as they’re both worthy to play, they’ll both play."

Don’t forget about CC’s offense, however. All-everything Brian Swanson had a three-point game Saturday, collecting the game-winning goal. Darren Clark also chipped in three points Saturday (1-2–3). Jon Austin added two points as well.

"I’m sure they were a little frustrated not to get on the board Friday," Lucia said of Swanson and Clark, "but they came through and scored the big goals on Saturday."

Friday’s game was owned by the freshmen. Chris Hartsburg scored the first two goals and Mark Cullen added the third.

"I think the big thing is we can’t rely on Brian Swanson and Darren Clark and Toby Petersen to score for us, we need some other people to come through and score some goals for us," Lucia said.

Talafous agreed that the Tiger depth is one of their strong points.

"The problem with Colorado is who’s next?" he said. "Toby Petersen and then you’ve got Cullen, who is maybe the top junior player. It doesn’t end.

"In an Olympic[-size] rink, their building, Brian Swanson’s going to get some points. We’d like for him not to set an all-time record."

A down note for the Tigers is that K.J. Voorhees’ hamstring injury has not progressed. Lucia said he won’t expect him back until Thanksgiving.

Talk about your bad omens: When Anchorage opponents score first, the Seawolves are 0-34-4. That is to say, coming from behind is not one UAA’s strong suits.

One of the bright points in the first part of the Seawolf season has been the play of the freshmen. 14 of the team’s 34 points and seven of the 12 goals have come from freshmen. Interestingly, the freshman class tallied only nine goals all last season.

Not that Colorado College is already an intimidating team to play, Talafous’ squad goes into Colorado Springs with CC on a seven-game winning streak in the World Arena.

"It’s an adjustment when you go into a new rink and I think we’re very comfortable here now," Lucia said. "We’ve only played one game here this year, but we’ve practiced in our main rink quite a bit."

But Talafous emphasized his team’s sticking to their game plan.

"We’re just going to go down there and play our game," he said. "If they’re so doggone good that they expose all of our weaknesses, we’re just going to pat them on the back, tell them they’re a great team, go back to work and get better."

Picks: This series could end up being closer than some would imagine. Anchorage appears to be a team that can challenge anyone. With the new-look shot total and aggressiveness, the Seawolves could soon make a run for the top half of the league. But this weekend should belong to the Tigers. CC 5-3, 3-2

Denver (2-0, 0-0 WCHA) vs. Michigan Tech (1-5, 1-3 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 ET, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, Mich.

Before dismissing Denver’s sweep of Nebraska-Omaha last weekend, take into consideration a little of the historical impact of the victories.

The sweep was the Pioneers’ first since March 7-8, 1997, when DU eliminated Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Add this season’s two wins to their exhibition victory and you’ll see why there’s some excitement brewing in the Rockies.

"I’m pleased right now with the way the team has played over the last three games," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "One of the things this team did over the last seven months was really make a huge committment to training and coming back to the school in the best shape ever. The training really has showed we’re a better team this season."

Michigan Tech may epitomize the opposite. The Huskies were swept at home by a powerful Colorado College team last weekend, dropping their record to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the WCHA. In their own defense, however, the teams MTU has faced so far this season have a 9-2 record.

"When you look at our three opponents, all three of them at one time this year were nationally-ranked," MTU coach Tim Watters said. "I think you have to take that into consideration and get the positives."

And the Huskies finally capitalized on a power-play chance last weekend. Brad Mueller’s tally in the second period last Friday broke an 0-for-28 string.

While MTU has a couple scorers emerging, one of the players they counted on has yet to break out. Sophomore Tab Lardner leads the team with five points (0-5–5) in six games. Freshman defenseman Paul Cabana got a goal against CC to add to his two assists so far on the season.

But junior Riley Nelson, the team’s leading returning scorer has yet to gain a point this season.

"I think Riley’s probably putting a little bit too much pressure on himself to score," Watters said. "Certainly we don’t want to put any more pressure on him than he’s already putting on himself. It’ll be a matter of time before he gets things going."

Getting people to contribute offensively has not been a problem for Gwozdecky’s Pioneers. 11 Denver players have figured in the scoring after just two games.

"Any time you can get a lot of people scoring, you get what you call that balanced offensive output, which is always very healthy," Gwozdecky said. "Your opponent has a more difficult time keying in on your marquee players and shutting you down offensively."

Speaking of marquee players, Mark Rycroft netted a hat trick last Friday, the first of his career. Captain Paul Comrie added two assists Friday with two goals and an assist Saturday.

And who’s that guy on top of the league in goaltending? Stephen Wagner leads the conference in all games with a 2-0 record, a 1.00 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage.

"He was a factor in both games last weekend," Gwozdecky said. "It was funny how, especially in the first game, after two periods I believe the shots were something like 27-5 in our favor. Yet, of those five opportunities we gave up, four of them were great scoring opportunities."

But Gwozdecky knows this series is always a close one, mentioning six of the 18 games his teams have played against Tech have gone into overtime.

"I don’t think any of our players are looking at this weekend and saying we’re glad we’re playing a lower ranked team in the league because we’re not in a position to say that," he said. "We’re coming off a year where we were one of the lower-ranked teams."

Picks: This may be a tale of teams going in opposite directions. If Tech can’t pull out of this funk soon, it may be a long season. For Denver, a sweep here may be the start of something big. DU 3-1, 3-2

Minnesota-Duluth (0-1-1, 0-1-1 WCHA) vs. North Dakota (0-0, 0-0 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, N.D.

When Dean Blais’ team raised its championship banners at the start of the 1997 season, it just happened to come before a series against Minnesota-Duluth.

Duluth came out of Grand Forks with a split in the series.

So this season, Blais isn’t going to give the Bulldogs that chance. The Fighting Sioux raised their banners at the exhibition game against Manitoba on Tuesday.

"We’re not going to give them any motivation for revenge or anything," Blais said with a chuckle, "rubbing it into their faces or however Sertie used it as motivation to get his team fired up. We’re not going to give him any reason to complain."

UMD coach Mike Sertich was relatively quiet on the topic.

"That’s up to them. It’s their deal," he said. "I don’t pay too much attention. I just know it was pretty emotional in there last year."

Many expect the Sioux to raise a third consecutive WCHA banner to the roof of the Ralph, and with names like Jason Blake, David Hoogsteen and Karl Goehring returning, that’s not out of the question.

The question is on the blue line, where Blais lost Mitch Vig and Matt Henderson. Freshmen Aaron Schneekloth and Chad Mazurak as well as walk-on Paul Murphy figure to get thrown into the fire early.

North Dakota got off on the right foot Tuesday with a 7-3 win over Manitoba. The defense held its ground, allowing goals on only quality shots, while the offense provided the scoring punch expected by the Sioux.

"We put close to 50 shots on net and scored four power-play goals," Blais said. "We had enough other opportunities that we missed on, but you’re going to get that early in the season. You’re going to get the forwards not as sharp, burying their chances when they get them."

The Sioux have to sharpen up quickly, as they turn around to host Duluth just three days after the exhibition.

Duluth got one point in Minneapolis two weeks ago, tying the Gophers in the season opener. But that certainly was a costly point. Junior center Shawn Pogreba tore ligaments in his right knee and Sertich said he is questionable for the series.

Goaltender Brant Nicklin is scheduled to make his 63rd and 64th straight WCHA starts against North Dakota. The junior stopped 64 of 69 Gopher attempts in the Bulldogs’ last series. He should see a similar level of attention from the Sioux.

"Their speed is obviously their strength," Sertich said. "They’ve been through it, they know what to do. They’re obviously very quick.

"I wouldn’t like to see a lot of shots; we’re going to have to try to take some things away from them.

"We’re going to have to try to slow them down somehow, whether we do it by hitting them or taking away ice."

Duluth has had a week off after a loss and a tie at Minnesota, and Sertich said that gave them some time to think about what went wrong.

"Sitting here thinking about a loss and a tie is a lot different than sitting here and thinking about a split or a couple wins," he said. "I think we took stock and a little inventory in what happened."

Has it come down to this? North Dakota is 4-3 in games played on Halloween, which, this year, falls on Saturday. The Sioux lost to Minnesota last season on Oct. 31.

And don’t forget that in each of the past two seasons, Duluth has taken two wins from the Sioux.

Picks: The Bulldogs may need that kind of spookiness to get out of Grand Forks with points. For the 1,215th time, we get a reminder that speed kills. UND 4-2, 3-1.

Vermont (1-1, 0-0 ECAC) vs. St. Cloud State (1-1, 1-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:35 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, Minn.

St. Cloud State split last weekend’s WCHA-opening series with Minnesota. What else is new? Over the last 12 games, six have gone to the Huskies and six to the Gophers.

Huskies’ coach Craig Dahl said for the first two games of the season, he was satisfied.

"With us playing our first game of the year and Minnesota playing their fifth on Friday night, I was pleased with the development of our team, as the game went on we got stronger," Dahl said. "I was certainly very impressed with the way we played. We had five five-on-five goals on the weekend and they only had one."

But out of the expected came the unforgettable. Trailing 1-0 and on a delayed penalty call, the Huskies put the puck in their own net. Coach Craig Dahl’s team lost 3-0 to the Gophers.

"The first one was deflected in off a Minnesota player’s skate," Dahl said. "The second one, I just had to laugh. I haven’t seen anything like that in a long, long time. It was a delayed penalty situaton with our goalie out. Our guy kind of swatted the puck back toward the point and it went all the way down and in the net. They showed it on TV and I was just kind of chuckling. I thought, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’ I thought, obviously this was not going to be our night when it comes to the luck department."

But Jason Goulet was there to bail the Huskies out of a jam Saturday. A half minute after Minnesota tied the game, Goulet gave SCSU the game-winner with 16 seconds left in the game. For Dahl, anything less than two points would have been tough to take.

"That’s what I told them before the game. We’ve got to have this two points," he said. "When you’re going to contend, you can’t get swept. I said we’ve got to win. The guys stepped up and just did a great job."

Ritchie Larson, Mike Pudlick and Brian Gaffaney all tallied their first collegiate goals and goaltender Dean Weasler got his first win in the 6-5 victory Saturday. But Weasler also got a concussion for his troubles.

"He’s had to miss practice all week," Dahl said. "He got a concussion late in the game and we didn’t really know it. Turns out he was in the emergency room on Sunday. At least he got his first win in his first game."

Scott Meyer will get the start in goal against Vermont Friday, with Saturday’s starter yet to be determined.

Dahl said he doesn’t know too much about the Catamounts, but was particularly interested in the fact they were five of seven on the power play against Boston University.

"That’s always a scary stat to read," he said. "I haven’t seen them play in a couple years, so I don’t know a lot more about them than that."

Picks: Vermont has good team speed, but keep in mind this series in on the big ice surface of the National Hockey Center. SCSU 4-2, Vermont 4-3

For more on the Catamounts, see the ECAC preview by the troublesome twosome of Becky Blaeser and Jayson Moy.

Next Week’s Games

Friday, November 6 Michigan Tech at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at Minnesota Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth St. Cloud State at Denver Clarkson at North Dakota

Saturday, November 7 Michigan Tech at Alaska-Anchorage Colorado College at Minnesota Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth St. Cloud State at Denver Clarkson at North Dakota

This Week in the CCHA: October 30, 1998

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Ghosts? Goblins? Martha Stewart spinning hot caramel around unsuspecting apples? Things that go bump in the night?

Try things that go bump in the rink.

Try Notre Dame beating Ohio State 3-0, then losing for the first time this season to…Western Michigan.

Try playing Michigan State and Michigan…back to back.

Now that’s scary.

It isn’t magic that’s mixing things up in the CCHA; it’s the parity that everyone talked about last season, bearing fruit now. There are four CCHA teams in the national top ten, and another one knocking on the door–and the season stretches before us, wide open.

This is a tight league, and it should get a little tighter with Northern Michigan’s schedule this weekend.

Last week, league-leading No. 9 Notre Dame beat Ohio State 3-0, then lost to the aforementioned Broncos 2-1. The Irish are idle this week, while WMU–currently tied with OSU for seventh place in the CCHA–travels to Miami for two games.

No. 6 Michigan is second in league play so far. The Wolverines beat Alaska-Fairbanks 6-1 and 2-1 in Alaska last weekend. This week, Michigan looks at Bowling Green and No. 7 Northern Michigan, two games in Yost.

Bowling Green is currently third in the CCHA with five points. The Falcons got shelled by No. 5 Michigan State 7-1 Friday, then turned around and beat Ferris State 2-1 Saturday. The Friday game in Ann Arbor is Bowling Green’s only action this week.

Northern Michigan, Michigan State, and Ferris State are all tied for fourth in the league. No. 7 Northern flexed a little muscle with two road wins over Clarkson, 6-5 and 3-2. As a reward, the Wildcats travel to East Lansing for one game against the fifth-ranked Spartans, then on to Ann Arbor for a game against No. 6 Michigan.

No. 6 Michigan State beat Bowling Green 7-1 on the road, then tied Ohio State 4-4 in Munn. The Spartans’ game against Northern is their only game of the weekend.

The Bulldogs lost their only game of the week to Bowling Green, 2-1 on the road. This week, Ferris State hosts Alaska-Fairbanks for two games. With no points, the Nanooks are currently tied for last place in the league with Lake Superior State.

With just one league win, the Buckeyes have dropped out of the top ten, and are tied with Western for seventh in the league. Last week, Ohio State got blanked by Notre Dame and tied No. 5 Michigan State in Munn. This week, the Buckeyes travel to Buffalo to take on the tough Niagara Purple Eagles.

Western Michigan flexed a little muscle of its own last weekend, beating the formerly undefeated Irish 2-1. This week, the Broncos travel to Goggin Ice Arena for two games against the RedHawks.

Miami split a pair of games out East last weekend, beating Providence 5-3, then losing to New Hampshire 4-1.

Lake Superior lost a pair of games against the same teams, 5-2 to New Hampshire and 7-2 to Providence. The Lakers are idle this week.

Last week’s record in picks: 9-4 Overall record in picks: 19-8

It ain’t witchcraft.

No. 7 Northern Michigan (6-0-0, 2-0-0 CCHA) at No. 5 Michigan State (2-0-2, 1-0-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, MI No. 7 Northern Michigan at No. 6 Michigan (4-1-0, 3-0-0 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

The Northern Michigan Wildcats are rolling this season, but don’t look for head coach Rick Comley to be too excited about that, or about Northern’s top-ten ranking.

"It’s early," says Comley.

True, but this is a team that lost only three players in the offseason, a team that beat Clarkson twice in Potsdam.

"Those were two close games," says Comley. "They were hotly contested games. We had the advantage because we already had a few games behind us, and those were the first games they played this season."

Come on, Coach–isn’t there something to be happy about?

"I’m encouraged because we are hoping to take a step from last year. We have to not only play as well as last year, but move beyond that to stay in step with the league."

Anyone who’s seen the Wildcats play will tell you that this is a solid team from top to bottom, a team that’s playing at least as well as it did last season–and that was already pretty good. The ‘Cats are a team of hard-working, hard-grinding, blue-collar players who give it all every game. There’s no real star in Marquette.

"It’s been pretty balanced," says Comley.

Six different Wildcats scored in the two wins over Clarkson. Roger Trudeau scored a pair in the 6-5 win, and Bryan Phillips had three goals on the weekend, including both game-winners. Phillips also had an assist on Ian La Rocque’s goal Friday; Trudeau had an assist on Fred Mattersdorfer’s goal Friday. Buddy Smith had two assists Friday night.

Another plus for Northern Michigan is goaltending. Junior Duane Hoey and sophomore Dan Ragusett are each 3-0-0 overall. Hoey boasts an overall save percentage of .923, while Ragusett’s is .921.

As solid as his team is, Comley knows that this weekend presents an enormous challenge.

"We’re playing probably the two best teams in the conference. In this conference, everybody has to prove that they’re better than Michigan and Michigan State."

And Comley isn’t fooled by Michigan State’s two ties or Michigan’s rocky weekend against Niagara. "I don’t think either of them has anything to prove. They’re both pretty patient coaches."

Comley says he’s looking for one thing this weekend from his team. "We’re going to try to continue to get better."

Northern Michigan vs. Michigan State

"You have to appreciate what they’ve done so far," says Spartan head coach Ron Mason of Northern Michigan’s 6-0-0 start. "I think what really made a statement was the two wins at Clarkson. They’re for real."

The Spartans and Wildcats are two evenly-matched teams. The all-time series between these two currently undefeated squads is 9-9-1, 4-4-1 at Munn Ice Arena. Last season, the two teams split the regular season 1-1-1.

In their last regular-season meeting, Northern Michigan beat Michigan State 5-1 in Marquette. Joe Blackburn was in net for the Spartans in that game.

In their last meeting, period, the Spartans beat the Wildcats 5-1 in the CCHA semifinals at Joe Louis Arena, a game in which Michigan State scored all five goals in the third period.

To sum up, Mason says, "We’ve had some great games."

Last weekend, the Spartans scored seven goals in a 7-1 win over Bowling Green and a 4-4 tie with Ohio State. The Spartan offense is potentially explosive; Michigan State equaled its offensive production from its first two games–four goals–in less than five minutes at Bowling Green Friday night.

Michigan State’s top line of Mike York, Bryan Adams, and Adam Hall combined for six goals and eight assists in the two games; Adams tallied his first collegiate hat trick against Ohio State.

Mason says that the style of this year’s Spartan team differs from last year’s in that the emphasis is now on offense. In the two ties this season at Munn–1-1 versus Western Michigan, 4-4 with Ohio State–the Spartans outshot their opponents nearly two-to-one.

"For one reason or another, both teams were outplayed."

Of last weekend’s tie with OSU, Mason says, "They had an opportunity to put us away in the first period and didn’t do it."

Mason says that it’s the mark of a very good team when opponents walk away happy with a tie, and he’s encouraged by what he sees in his new-look bunch.

"I think we have a team that’s going to continue to improve. I think this team has real potential. Our team has an upside to it."

Of course, Mike York looks fabulous for the Spartans. So do his linemates. And with Chad Alban and Tyler Harlton gone, it’s easy to forget that this is a team loaded with talent on the defensive side of the puck.

Particularly impressive is junior defenseman Mike Weaver. "For two years he’s been overshadowed by Tyler Harlton," says Mason. "He’s a solid a defensive defenseman as you get."

And how. Against the Buckeyes, Weaver looked amazing, blocking shot after shot on the power play with the length of his body prone to the ice, then quickly recovering to help clear the rebounds.

It’s too soon to say how Joe Blackburn will do in the Spartan net. Mason is pleased with him, and until the Ohio State game, Blackburn had not given up more than one goal in any given game. His league save percentage is .905.

Northern Michigan vs. Michigan

Michigan hockey has had a tough couple of weeks. After squeaking by Niagara at home with a 6-5 overtime win, the Wolverines lost the following night 2-1.

Last weekend, Michigan went all the way up to Alaska to beat Fairbanks 6-1 and 2-1. Those wins, by the way, extend the Wolverine’s all-time undefeated streak against the Nanooks to 17-0- 0.

"Niagara’s a pretty good team," says Berenson. "They were every bit as good as we were. Now, we outshot them so we had them a little bit on their heals."

After facing Bowling Green on Friday, Michigan hosts Northern, a team that’s physically punishing.

"This will be a good test for us now," says Berenson. "Northern is one of the elite teams in our league. The good thing is that we have four games under our belt."

Berenson says that the physical game that Northern plays is something Michigan has seen again and again from opponents.

"That’s a style we’ve run into over the years simply because we’re Michigan. People play us hard. We’re a target."

One thing that concerns Berenson about the Wolverines’ next two games is his players’ ability to recover from the trip to Alaska.

"It’s a long trip. When you get back, with the time difference, you don’t know whether you’re coming or going, and then kids have to get caught up in school. We hope the whiplash from that doesn’t affect us."

So far this season, the Wolverines have played a bit inconsistently but have managed to come out ahead–mostly. The 6-5 win over Niagara came from a Josh Langfeld goal with just seconds to spare in overtime, a game in which rookie goaltender Josh Blackburn let in five goals on 16 shots.

"We’re not the team we were last year," says Berenson. "We don’t have a Billy Muckalt, Matty Herr, Marty Turco. We don’t have a player of that caliber at this point in the season. Maybe we will later in the year, but not just yet."

What Michigan does have is a bunch of guys who play hockey well. A Wolverine has earned CCHA Player of the Week honors each week this season. Blackburn earned the CCHA Rookie of the Week during the first week, Mike Comrie was Rookie of the Week the following week, and Mike Van Ryn was the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week for last weekend’s play.

Van Ryn scored both game-winners against UAF.

While it’s still early in the season, Van Ryn (2-2-4), Comrie (1-2-3), Dale Rominski (0-3-3), and Dave Huntzicker (0-3-3) have all made some CCHA scoring noise.

In three league games, Blackburn has a GAA of just 0.67, and a save percentage of .962. In addition, Michigan’s penalty kill has been perfect on 20 tries in league play.

Lastly, Michigan is 10-8-0 against Northern, including 6-1-0 under Berenson.

Picks

Of the Wildcat-Spartan matchup, Mason says, "These are two teams that are technically undefeated. It’s going to go a long way early in the season to see how the league is going to shape up."

Michigan State is unbeaten in its last 16 games in Munn Ice Arena (12-0-4), the third-longest home unbeaten streak in school history.

Berenson says, "We’re not that good, and every night’s going to be a tough game."

Comley says, "Playing on the road is probably tougher for us than anybody other than Fairbanks. Coaches come in here and complain because of the travel, and we do that every time we go on the road.

"If we get close to .500 on the road, we’re looking pretty good, and we’re 3-0 on the road now."

Both goaltenders will play for Northern this weekend, and one of them will earn his first loss of the season in Munn–which means a .500 weekend.

Michigan State over Northern, 4-2; Northern over Michigan, 3-2

Bowling Green (3-2-1, 2-1-1 CCHA) at No. 6 Michigan (4-1-0, 3-0-0 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

For Bowling Green, it’s so far, so good.

The Falcons split last weekend, losing 7-1 to Michigan State, but beating Ferris State 2-1.

"We’re playing pretty well as a team," says BG head coach Buddy Powers. "We gave a couple of soft goals to [Michigan] State, but we carried the play pretty much against Ferris."

While the Falcons took two points last weekend from the Bulldogs, Bowling Green has been outscored 12-15, and Powers is concerned about the lack of offense.

"We only scored two goals from our forwards last weekend. But we’re getting chances and not finishing. When you’re not getting any chances, that’s more of a problem."

Curtis Valentine (2-2-4), Doug Schueller (3-0-3), Chris Bonvie (1-2-3), Dan Price (1-2-3), Mike Jones (0-3-3), Ryan Murphy (1-2-3), and Adam Edinger (0-3-3) are largely responsible for the Falcons’ scoring. Unfortunately, they’re all at zero or worse in plus/minus.

Adding to the Falcon woes is the early-season play of Shawn Timm, the sophomore goaltender with lots of potential. Timm’s league GAA is 4.22, and his league save percentage is just .792.

Conversely, senior Mike Savard is looking solid. Savard earned the win against Ferris State; his league GAA is 2.72, and his league save percentage is .897.

Powers is keeping quiet about who will start this weekend. Any guesses?

Michigan leads this all-time series 48-27-2, and has been 8-1-1 against the Falcons in the last ten meetings. The Wolverines swept the Falcons last season, winning 4-2 at BG, 4-2 in Yost, and 5-4 at BG.

Berenson says, "Bowling Green will be tough. Obviously, they’re a better team than they were last year."

And a team with something to prove. Powers says he expects an "up-tempo, end-to-end" game. He also says that Yost can be a real factor, given the youth of the Falcon team.

"But I tell them it’s better to have someone yelling to rip your head off than it is to have people disguised as chairs."

Pick

This could be a tougher game than most people expect. If the Falcons solve the problem of finishing chances, they can do some serious offensive damage in this league.

But it may be too soon in the season for that.

Michigan 4-2

Western Michigan (1-2-1, 1-2-1 CCHA) at Miami (1-4-1, 0-3-1 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH

Last weekend, the Broncos did what no other team had been able to do this season: they beat Notre Dame 2-1.

"We talked to [the players] about putting together a game plan to shut down the Simon line," says Western head coach Bill Wilkinson, "and that’s what we did."

So that’s how you do it. Is everyone taking notes?

The Van Arkel-Kopischke-Henning line scored the lone goal against the Broncos, and it was an even-strength marker.

"It was a wash on power play," says Wilkinson, "since we didn’t get any either."

But it’s an important wash. Aniket Dhadphale has been ripping opponents to shreds, both even-strength and on the power play. Wonder how much bootleg tapes of this game are selling for around the league.>{?

Still, Wilkinson says that there was at least a little luck in the game. "We scored one off [Forrest] Karr’s head."

That doesn’t hurt.

Wilkinson talks about his team scoring as a committee, and like Powers, he’s concerned about scoring only two goals.

"We don’t have the high-profile type player," says Wilkinson. "We buckle up the chin strap and go hard–go hard or go home.

"We have two lines set. I’m not saying they’re the best two lines in the league, but they’re two lines that can generate offense."

Chuck Mindel and Steve Rymsha scored against Notre Dame, but Wilkinson says that Jason Redenius–who had an assist on Rymsha’s goal–is the current Spark for the Bronco offense.

Matt Barnes, with 31 saves against Notre Dame, looks very good this season, posting a 1.62 league GAA and a .943 league save percentage.

Another impressive Bronco is walk-on rookie defenseman Derek, who in three starts has a plus/minus of +1.

One other Bronco note of interest: The one-game suspensions imposed on all team members in the aftermath of last month’s team party fiasco will be completed when Anthony Battaglia sits out Friday’s game.

Meanwhile, the RedHawks participated in their own first last weekend–their first win of the season, 5-3 over Providence.

"We are very young," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni, "and you can’t hide that fact. But we’ve shown a real good competitive instinct this past weekend, an instinct we did not have our first weekend of play."

The ‘Hawks also lost 4-1 to New Hampshire.

"Against New Hampshire, both teams played really well defensively. We didn’t penetrate them really well, we didn’t get to the net very well, but they didn’t get to the net very well either."

Mazzoleni is encouraged by what he’s seeing from his very young team.

"We didn’t play badly, and we’ve improved each weekend.

"You’ve got to strive to improve, in practice every day, from game to game. After Christmas, these players will no longer be freshman. We’re making a lot of fundamental mistakes that we need to address now."

Sophomore Ernie Hartlieb scored twice against Providence (his second goal was the empty-netter); Alex Kim, Pat Leahy, and Gregor Krajnc each had goals.

Jason Deskins had the lone goal against New Hampshire.

Junior goaltender Ian Olsen had 50 saves on the weekend. In three league games this season, Olsen’s GAA is 4.32 and his save percentage is .889.

Picks

Miami took two of three games from Western last season, and the Broncos have lost eight of their last nine games in Goggin Arena.

Neither team is generating many shots on goal. In net, Western has an edge–Matt Barnes looks superb.

Western is knows for its very physical style of play. "They’ll come in very determined and confident because they’ve been playing well," says Mazzoleni. "They’ll compete very hard. That will be consistent between all four of their lines."

It’s hard to pick against Miami in this two-game series. The RedHawks may be young, but they have more potential fire power than do the Broncos. And as good as Barnes is, Goggin can be a tough place for visiting teams, as Western’s recent record there shows.

Miami 4-2, 3-2

Alaska-Fairbanks ( 1-3-0, 0-2-0 CCHA) at Ferris State (2-2-0, 2-2-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Ewigleben Arena, Big Rapids, MI

The Nanooks opened their CCHA season with two losses to Michigan, but losing to Michigan is nothing new for Fairbanks; UAF has dropped all 17 of its games against the Wolverines.

Alaska-Fairbanks lost 6-1 and 2-1 in two penalty-filled games at home. Dwayne Zinger scored the only goal for the Nanooks in the 6-1 loss, a tally which tied the game at 1-1 very early–and very briefly–in the second period.

In the 2-1 loss, Darren Tiemstra scored late in the third when the Nanooks were down 2-0.

The Nanooks were outshot by the Wolverines 61-39. Senior goaltender Ian Perkins made 53 saves on the weekend.

Now, UAF makes its first trip to the lower 48 this weekend, to visit Big Rapids. Last weekend, Ferris State lost to Bowling Green 2-1.

Geoff Bennetts scored the sole Bulldog goal, while Vince Owen made 40 saves on 42 shots on goal for Ferris state.

There can be little doubt that Ferris State has the edge in these two games, at least on paper. They’re at home. Owen’s league save percentage is .915, compared with Perkins’ .869. The Bulldogs have more CCHA games behind them than do the Nanooks. And the Bulldogs didn’t have to play Michigan twice last weekend.

Picks

This pairing matches what appears to be the biggest team in the CCHA–Fairbanks–with what may be the smallest–Ferris. Expect these games to be physically demanding for each team. Alaska-Fairbanks takes a lot of penalties, and the Nanooks force their opponents to as well.

Ferris State has the advantage on both sides of the puck, and may have another advantage if the cooler heads prevail for the Bulldogs.

Ferris State 4-1, 4-2

Ohio State (1-4-1, 1-2-1 CCHA) vs. Niagara (2-2-0) Saturday, 5 p.m., Marine Midland Arena, Buffalo, NY

All right–will whomever has stolen the Buckeye offense please return it? Just drop it off in Buffalo, no questions asked.

Hugo Boisvert: one point last weekend. Chris Richards: one point last weekend.

Boisvert led the league in scoring last season, and Richards was third.

What’s up with that?

"I don’t know," says head coach John Markell. "We’ve got to pick up their games."

One thing that has hurt the Buckeye offense is the absence of Boisvert’s linemate, Eric Meloche, who will probably be out until the Bucks’ Nov. 13 home opener against Michigan State. He could be the spark that the first line is missing.

What about that second line? Perhaps the loss of Todd Compeau was greater than anyone realized. Without him, Richards has been struggling to put it in the net. Louie Colsant didn’t work there, so Neal Rech–who works very well with Richards on the penalty kill–has been moved there.

There are a couple of upsides to this rocky start for the Buckeyes. In Meloche’s absence, senior Brandon Lafrance has been give the chance to play, and he’s been sparking offense left and right. Look for him to receive additional help from rookie Mike McCormick, who returns to play after missing most of this season with a sprained knee.

Another upside has been the emergence of sophomore Vinnie Grant as a playmaker.

And yet another plus has been the development of the young Buckeye defense, which while allowing way too many shots on goal, is improving weekly. Rookie Scott Titus and sophomore Jaisen Freeman have been particularly fun to watch.

Injuries have plagued the Buckeyes since. In addition to Meloche and McCormick, several Buckeyes have been playing injured–including Dan Cousineau, Louie Colsant, Vinnie Grant.

"I haven’t played with a full compliment since the Boston College game," says Markell.

This is the first-ever meeting between the Niagara Purple Eagles and the Buckeyes.

Last weekend, the Eagles lost 5-3 to Union before beating Moncton 7-6 in the consolation game of the J.C. Penney Classic at the University of Maine. Jay Kasperck had a hat trick and two assists in the Moncton game.

Niagara goaltender Greg Gardner had 45 saves on 56 shots on the weekend.

Two weeks ago, the Eagles lost a close 6-5 game to Michigan in Yost before beating the Wolverines 3-1. For his 79 saves in two games against Michigan, Gardner was named the U.S. College Hockey Online Defensive Player of the Week.

Pick

The Buckeyes are intimidated by large arena venues–something they need to get over quickly, given that Marine Midland holds just about a thousand more folks than does the Schottenstein Center.

The one very encouraging thing about this Buckeye team was the way in which it rallied against Michigan State to tie the Spartans 4-4 in Munn. You can listen all you want to Spartan afficionados who claim that Ohio State wasn’t in that game, and about how lucky the Buckeyes were–then you can look at the score.

"I think they’re going to be a lot like Yale," says Markell of Niagara, "coming at us fast.

"Gardner played well in net for them when they beat Michigan. They’re going to be in their home town. They’ll be a spirited bunch, with everything to gain and nothing to lose–and that’s always a dangerous game."

A Halloween treat for the Buckeyes?

Ohio State 4-2 (with an empty-netter)

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