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Legg’s ESPY Nomination Begins Thursday Evening

USCHO Staff Report
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Michigan senior center Mike Legg’s internationally-famous lacrosse-like goal will receive its best publicity yet this week when it is nominated for an ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) by ESPN in the category of “Outrageous Play of the Year.”

The balloting will run starting with Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. Sportscenter and continue through Monday. Voting will take place on the telephone at 900-976-3779 (95 cents per call with a portion of the proceeds sent to The V Foundation for Cancer Research). Internet balloting can be found at ESPN’s Sportszone site: http://espnet.sportszone.com/.

“It’s a great honor to be selected,” Legg said. “I can’t believe this is happening after all (the attention) I’ve already received.”

The play, which took place last March at the NCAA West Regionals in East Lansing, Mich. against Minnesota, and was a crucial conversion in the Wolverines’ run to their first national championship in 32 seasons, has made Legg a star in the hockey world.

Legg, a London, Ont. native, traveled to Stockholm, Sweden in August to receive the “Goal of the Year” award by the Swedish hockey magazine Inside Hockey. The goal was voted “Play of the Year” in late December by the Canadian all-sports television network The Sports Network. And the stick Legg used to score the goal was donated in early January to The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto for inclusion in its 1996 Year in Review display.

Legg is fifth on the Wolverines with 15 goals this season. He is sixth on the team with 30 points. Legg had a career-high four goals on Jan. 11 against Ferris State.

Scott Borek: Taking The Reins

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Scott Borek has definite ideas, ideas on how he’d like to see his players perceived by residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

“I guess I would really like to see us have a family, wholesome image. Hockey players have to fight for that. They’re seen as wild — the kind of guys who work hard but party hard, too.

“There are negative stereotypes about hockey players, and to some extent, football players that should have changed already. These days, guys are working twelve months a year to be successful.” Borek says that this recent breed of college hockey player stays conditioned in the off-season, and tries hard in the classroom as well.

Part of that change is to alter the way the Laker hockey team interacts with Sault Ste. Marie.

“The team is really involved with our community,” Borek says. He wants the 15,000 area residents to be comfortable with his players. “I want to have the kind of kids on our team that people in the community would like to have over for dinner. [The kind of players that] they would feel good about having their daughters date.”

If you like hockey — or hockey players, for that matter — Lake Superior State University is your place.

“If you want to be involved in hockey, you might as well come to hockey heaven,” says Borek. In his first year as Laker head coach, Borek has learned at least one big lesson: “This is the team, and success is expected.”

As the only Division I sport at a school whose other teams belong to the Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, hockey rules at LSSU. With an enrollment of just 3,301, more than one percent of the University population is directly involved with the hockey program.

“The bad thing,” says Borek, “is that everyone in town is watching you. How their winter goes is how our season goes. If you want to be in this kind of a spotlight, this is the place to do it.”

It’s hard to believe that this is only the second full year that Borek has been with the Lakers. Last year Borek completed his first year as an associate coach at LSSU, under head coach Jeff Jackson. Before signing on, Borek served for three years as head coach at Colby College in Maine, and he was a little concerned about how his wife, Cheryl, would react to moving from their native New England to the heartland of the country.

“When we came here, I thought I’d have to talk her into it a little bit. It’s small town, USA, but she loved the idea. She loves it here.

“My family has adjusted well, I think. I have three young kids. My youngest was born here.”

In such a small town, in such a high-profile job, Borek and his family are living examples of the kind of relationship he wants his team to build with Sault Ste. Marie. “My wife is working with day-care. My daughter skates. Sometimes she won’t go out on the ice unless Mom and Dad are with her.

“When you have young kids you can’t be private. With three kids you meet people.” Borek’s daughter is four years old, and his sons are three and one.

Of course, such daily interaction brings contact with Laker fans, and Laker fans are not exactly quiet when the subject is their hockey team. “It doesn’t bother me,” says Borek, who knew what he was getting into when he took the job as head coach. “Last year I saw this when I was sitting with Jeff. People would give him advice. You hear it, and it comes with the territory.”

So what does Borek hear from Laker fans? “I think people around me and in the community didn’t appreciate the rebuilding phase we’re in,” says Borek. Not only did the Lakers experience a coaching change from last season, but there are many new faces on the team itself — six freshmen rotated into this Laker roster.

“For the first half of the season,” says Borek, “it was stressful because of the expectations I had for the team, and for what the fans expected.

“I knew that we’d be rebuilding this season before Jeff left. I knew it last year when we brought in all those kids,” says Borek, who recruited all of the new Laker players himself. “The day I took over, everything changed. As an assistant, I would have been more patient.”

As a head coach, however, Borek almost forgot about having to rebuild the program. “When the coaching changed, I put the notion of rebuilding on the back burner.”

The coaching change was an adjustment that everyone had to make. “Obviously, when you step in for a guy like Jeff, it’s a difficult scenario if you take it the wrong way. Jeff’s a big name. I’ve tried not to be Jeff Jackson, but to be myself.”

Scott Borek is the only Laker coach the freshmen have known. “The newer recruits knew me in only one way. In every case, I was the only one who recruited every one of them. I do think the older players had difficulty adjusting. They play for one guy for three or four years, but when the roles change, it’s almost like getting to know people all over again.”

Borek’s coaching style is much different from his predecessor’s. “There are times when I’m more emotional than what Jeff was. There are times when I need to vent. The guys can’t respond to that by getting down on themselves.”

And he’s learning how to respond to his players, especially those who played for Jackson. The coach and upperclassmen have to learn to understand each other, he says, because “those are the leaders that you count on.

“Actually, they’ve adjusted really well. That’s the key to our last fifteen games. They know when to listen and when to tune me out.”

Something must be working, because in spite of the turnover in coaching and personnel, the Lakers remain among the top ten nationally, and they continue to hover at the top of the CCHA.

Says the new head coach, “We’ve achieved at a level I’m comfortable with.”

Borek says that Laker fans can expect to see much of the same kind of hockey that’s made the team successful. “You’ll see us continue to move back to a defensive style of hockey.

“We lost our entire first power play this season. We lost the defenseman of the year, and the leading goal scorer in the history of Laker hockey.

“When I came in, I wanted to add more offense to our team, but we don’t attract those kinds of players. We play more of a grinding style of hockey. The longer I’m here, the more grinding we will become.”

Whatever his style, both on and off the ice, Scott Borek seems to be well on his way toward success in Laker hockey and in Sault Ste. Marie. “It’s been a learning experience, no question — a very positive one. If I could go back and change some things, I know I would.

“I want to mature enough to realize that I need to grow with this job.”

Colgate Women Gain Varsity Status

USCHO Staff Report
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After seven years of litigation, a Title IX lawsuit against Colgate University on behalf of the women’s ice hockey club team, was settled at the end of last week.

The women’s ice hockey club at Colgate has applied for varsity status four times since 1979, and filled suit in Federal Court in 1990.

Final approval by the Federal Judge from the Northern District of New York is still pending.

Since the advent of Title IX in 1972, women have been challenging universities across the United States to receive equal treatment.

Women’s collegiate ice hockey has been designated as an “emerging sport” by the NCAA. There are over 20 colleges with varsity teams in women’s ice hockey, and over 45 colleges with club teams. The Colgate women’s ice hockey team will play in the ECAC Alliance.

ECAC Grab Bag: Jan. 20, 1997

USCHO Staff Report
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Tigers’ Tales

Princeton’s precarious foothold on first place may not last much longer, but its run so far is remarkable. Yes, it’s true that the Tigers are 0-3 against Cornell, Clarkson and Vermont, the three ECAC representatives in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but an 8-4-1 league record is nevertheless impressive, when you consider the program’s history.

Princeton has been playing hockey since the turn of the century, and it doesn’t have a banner to show for it. Since World War II, when the schedule stabilized and Princeton no longer played club teams regularly, the Tigers have just six winning seasons, and only two since 1960. Only once since the formation of the ECAC in 1961 have the Tigers had a winning league record. Their best finish in the league is seventh, they have never appeared in the NCAA Tournament, and the Tigers have never even won an Ivy League title.

All of the other Ivy League teams have had success at some point — Cornell and Harvard are obvious, Brown has been in the tournament recently, and Dartmouth made the Final Four with current Brown head coach Bob Gaudet as the goalie in 1980.

It’s not so hard to believe when you realize that even among Ivy League schools, Princeton (along with Yale and Harvard) has the strictest academic standards. Even further, Princeton isn’t in New England like those other two.

But head coach Don Cahoon was a member of two national champions at BU, and he doesn’t use that history as a crutch. Instead he’s instilled a winning attitude. Under Cahoon, Princeton won its first ever ECAC playoff game, made the ECAC Tournament final, swept Harvard and Yale in a season for the first time in 90 years, had its best start to a season since WW II, and even controls its own destiny for winning an Ivy League title. And the Tigers are seven wins away from their first 20-win season.

Many of these goals rest upon the Tigers’ next game, Jan. 31 at Cornell. A tough test any time, but especially coming out of the break for finals. Lynah Rink is a lion’s den, and how the Tigers react will tell a lot about their chances the rest of the way.

Knight Moves

Todd White is staking his claim to a Hobey Baker Award candidacy. His hat trick two weekends ago led Clarkson to a win over New Hampshire, and he scored the Knights’ only two goals Saturday in their 2-1 win at Vermont’s Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Some scoffed when the Knights started touting White as a candidate, thinking that with St. Louis and Perrin around, White wasn’t nearly the best forward in the league, let alone the best player. But his 22 goals and 42 points are tops overall among ECAC players.

Combining White with Chris Clark (14-12–26), the pair accounts for 36 of the Knights’ 87 goals, or 41.4 percent. By contrast, St. Louis and Perrin have 33 of Vermont’s 76 goals (43.4 percent).

Clarkson, a perennially dominant second-half team, seems poised for another run at a regular-season title. Despite some disappointment in the NCAA Tournament over the years, the Knights’ consistency is remarkable; they are in the race for first every single year. Clarkson has won five in a row since opening 1997 with an overtime loss, and at 7-4-0, is right back in the ECAC race again.

Eye on RPI

RPI continues its all-or-nothing play. In 21 games this season, the Engineers have been shut out four times, yet have five other games in which they’ve scored six goals or more.

Dutch Treats

Union is investigating the possibility of an off-campus arena, according to a recent report in the Schenectady (N.Y.) Gazette. The current home, Achilles Rink, is antiquated in the minds of many.

According to the report, school president Roger Hull met with the student leadership to discuss the idea, and it didn’t go over well. Union, however, continues to explore all possibilities.

In The Mix

By Adam Wodon
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Doing something again, especially when expected, is one of the hardest things to do.

Just ask Tim Thomas.

Vermont’s All-American is a microcosm of the team, which only makes sense considering he’s the goalie.

Thomas, a 1994 ninth-round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche), helped lead Vermont to the NCAA Final Four last season. And with two other All-Americans — Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin — coming back, the Catamounts had every reason to believe the lofty expectations being placed on them by the pollsters and their fans.

But with St. Louis and Perrin scoring 85 points each last year, and Thomas’ .924 save percentage leading the nation and reaching Ken Dryden-like proportions, what do you do for an encore?

The answer, early on, was more of the same. Impressive wins against powers like Boston University, New Hampshire, Lake Superior and Miami fueled the expectations.

Their early-season success briefly made Vermont the first ECAC team to be ranked No. 1 nationally since Harvard during its 1989 NCAA Championship run.

But coach Mike Gilligan was never really satisfied with his team’s play, and a sudden slump confirmed his worst fears.

Vermont went 2-3 to open the league season, losing to RPI, Dartmouth and Cornell. Then came a loss to UNH and another to Colorado College, and doubts crept in. Suddenly Vermont was not in the polls at all.

The hockey nation got off the bandwagon pretty quickly.

Even back when Vermont hadn’t lost yet, Gilligan was deflecting praise.

“(You’re) only (happy) if you improve, and right now we haven’t made a big enough step,” he said.

“I think our league was ready for us last year, and college hockey is ready for us this year. It makes it more difficult.”

But, just like it did coming off last year’s holiday break, Vermont (15-6-0, 7-4-0 ECAC) is surging again. After Friday’s overtime win against St. Lawrence, the Cats had won six in a row, including five in the league. Even though the streak ended Saturday, against a tough Clarkson team that also has a propensity for strong second halves, Vermont seems back on the right track.

Perrin thinks everyone was too quick to jump off the wagon in the first place.

“They shouldn’t have,” he said. “The funny thing is, last year we had about the same record at this time…. We always do better after our breaks. We’ll be fine.”

And for all the clamor about getting the other lines going, it’s going to be St. Louis (15-26–41) and Perrin (18-20–38) who carry the offense. That’s why the 3-2 win over St. Lawrence was so uplifting. Perrin scored in the first period and St. Louis scored twice, including the game-winner on a breakaway 14 seconds into overtime. Perrin, with a goal in each game over the weekend, tied the school record with 99 in his career.

“In our league, we did not start the way we wanted to start. It feels good now to get on a roll in the league,” said St. Louis. “I think it’s a matter of time. We know what it takes to finish number one. With a couple of wins like this, it gives us a chance to get back to where we want to be.”

So how bad was that so-called slump Vermont went through? Is it any worse than Boston University losing to Clarkson, St. Lawrence and North Dakota, and tying Yale? Or the seven losses by Colorado College, or the eight by Minnesota? Those teams are all ranked ahead of Vermont, which has played the most difficult schedule in the nation.

That said, it is true that the Catamounts went through a period of soul-searching this season. A lot of it was because of those expectations, most of which they placed on themselves.

Three of Vermont’s five losses are in the ECAC, and defenseman Jan Kloboucek says perhaps the team didn’t get adjusted quickly enough to how much the league had improved, and how much the Catamounts would be tested every game.

“In past years, there were always two or three teams you knew you were going to win,” said Kloboucek, a native of the Czech Republic. “This year, everybody’s really good. You have to play good every game. It’s real hard now.”

Even the usually unflappable All-American goalie Tim Thomas has had some rough stretches. His goals-against average was — chills! — over 3.00 for a bit.

Thomas knows well the up-and-down nature of Vermont’s play from about mid-November through December. But, he says, with that stretch behind them, things should go more smoothly.

“We had some really good games against some really good teams, and we had some bad games,” said Thomas. “But we had that month off where we couldn’t redeem ourselves. Now we’re getting into the league, and we’re playing every weekend, bam-bam-bam, and it’s easier not to worry about what other people are saying and stuff, so we can just play.”

And the GAA came back below three pretty quickly, thanks to a 3-0 win over Yale last weekend. The shutout was the 10th of Thomas’ career, breaking the school record.

It’s just another in a string of accolades for Thomas, who has been the team’s backbone since arriving in Burlington. Vermont’s goalie situation was up in the air when Thomas arrived — All-American Christian Soucy had decided to leave school following his sophomore season. But the questions were soon answered, and Thomas has appeared in all but two Catamount games since.

Thomas, a native of Davison, Mich., has represented Team USA in August’s Tampere Cup in Finland the last three seasons. The last two years, Thomas was on the U.S. team at the World Championships, in Stockholm, Sweden, and Vienna, Austria. He holds 11 school records, and is looking to join Dryden as the only goalies in ECAC history to lead the league in GAA three years in a row, not to mention a third straight All-America pick.

Going pro would have been an easy choice, and among the team’s three All-Americans, Thomas’ opportunities were the most enticing. Returning was close to a no-win situation. His stock could go nowhere but down after three years in which his GAA went from 3.03 to 2.69 to 2.34.

Whether the team’s lackluster play caused Thomas to press, or vice versa, is uncertain, but Thomas now admits that he let peripheral issues get the best of him.

“If you think about it, I took a great risk coming back to college,” said Thomas. “After the two years I had in a row, it would be very hard to do better statistically than I did last year.

“That bothered me early on, that’s for sure, especially when we had that little slump there. And I started doubting myself, and I started to wonder, ‘Man, maybe I should’ve left,’ and that kind of stuff. But then I realized I’m in this for the long run — it’ll balance out, it always does.

“This really is a season. It’s not just a pack of a couple games. And if you’re good, it’ll show.”

At least Thomas knows his coach never lost faith in him.

“He’s certainly been up to the task since he’s been here,” Gilligan said. “He played better than I thought he would as a freshman, and then improved every month he’s been on campus. I think there’s no end to what he’s able to do.”

Thomas says he tries to put the future out of his mind for now, but knows it’s tough considering a decision will have to be made within a couple of months. He can leave for the pros right after college, or wait until the fall.

“The past few years, it (the pros) was more dreaming,” Thomas said. “This year, it’s reality and you have to do something. You don’t necessarily have to play as soon as the season’s over, but it might be in my best interest. And I’ve been in the World Championships two years in a row in the spring, and I’d be glad to go a third time too.”

Either way, Thomas is certain of one thing: he will finish school.

“Every year I’ve been taking incompletes at the end of the semester, because I’m over in Europe right when they’re taking finals,” he said. “So when I take my second-semester classes, I make sure to talk to the teacher beforehand and let them know that I might have to take incompletes, but I’ll make them up pretty quick.

“A couple teachers will let me finish early so I don’t have to take incompletes, and others will give me a few weeks in the summer.

“But I’m definitely finishing. If I stayed for my fourth year, I’m finishing my degree.”

There’s one incomplete Thomas hopes to finish this April in Milwaukee, the one he and his teammates started last year in Cincinnati.

It’s something Thomas won’t get a chance to try again.

This Week in the WCHA: January 17, 1997

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WCHA Preview: Jan. 17-18, 1997 by Jim Thies

How tight is tight? Take a look at the WCHA standings for one answer to that question.

With seven weeks to go in the regular season, just four points separate the top six teams. That will make for some playoff-type hockey down the stretch as those squads battle for the MacNaughton Cup.

Nothing was settled in St. Cloud last weekend, as the Huskies and North Dakota split a series to remain tied for first with 25 points. Minnesota had a chance to overtake the leaders, but Denver had other thoughts — those two teams split at Mariucci Arena. Colorado College had to battle hard to take three points from Michigan Tech, which leaves CC tied with Minnesota for third with 24 points. Not far behind are Minnesota-Duluth, which was forced into overtime to beat Alaska-Anchorage and sweep four points last weekend, and Wisconsin, which split with Northern Michigan.

Here’s a look at this week’s games.

Minnesota (15-7-0, 12-6-0 WCHA) vs. St. Cloud State (13-6-3, 11-6-3 WCHA) Friday, 7:05 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN Saturday, 7:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN

This will be a great in-state battle between two teams just a point apart in the standings. The Gophers and Huskies split their first series of the year, with each team winning on the road — including St. Cloud’s first-ever win at Mariucci.

Minnesota has been streaky this year. There are times when it looks like the Gophers can be on the ice with any team; but in other contests, they don’t play up to their abilities. The Gophers will have to guard against that this weekend against SCSU. They lead the league in power-play conversions (24.0 percent), penalty-killing (90.0 percent) and have one of the WCHA’s top goalies in Steve DeBus (9-5-0, 2.78 GAA, .897 SV%). But all those numbers don’t mean a thing if the players aren’t ready. None of the Gophers are above one point per game in WCHA scoring, including defensive leader Mike Crowley (4 goals, 13 assists, 17 points).

St. Cloud State is having a banner season, but can’t afford to stop and celebrate yet. The Huskies are 8-2-1 at home, where they will have to play well again this weekend. In the recap, the Gophers hate to lose at home, so it will be important for the Huskies to play well on Friday to get a jump on the series. SCSU had been playing great team defense, but the last couple of weeks that part of their game has fallen off. Offense isn’t a problem with Sacha Molin (11-13–24) tied for the league lead in points, and Dave Paradise (11-12–23) not far behind.

ELMO Picks: A split. SCSU 4-3, UM 4-2.

Wisconsin (10-11-1, 10-7-1 WCHA) at North Dakota (15-5-2, 12-5-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 8:35 CT, Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, ND

Wisconsin and North Dakota’s only two meetings of the regular season come on the Sioux’ home ice. That could be the difference.

The Badgers were up-and-down last weekend, splitting with Northern Michigan on their home ice. Two wins would have put the Badgers to within two points of the lead, but with that chance gone they must come back and face a top team on the road. The Badgers will want to come out hard like they have all year. They have an 8-1-0 record in opening game of a series, but are 2-6-1 in the recaps. Brad Engelhart (11-8–19) is second in the league in goals and is 5-7–12 in his last 10 games. Goalie Kirk Daubenspeck (8-6-1, 3.20 GAA, .889 SV%) won his 50th game last weekend and will have to be at his best against ND.

North Dakota has been on a streak lately, going 8-1-2 in its last 11 games; the only blemish was last weekend’s 5-3 loss at St. Cloud. But like great teams do, ND bounced back to win on Saturday, 6-1, to improve their Saturday night record to 9-1-1 this year. Teammates Dave Hoogsteen (12-12–24) and Jason Blake (10-14–24) are tied for the league lead in points, although Blake had a 10-game scoring streak snapped on Saturday. Jay Panzer (8-11–19) led the Fighting Sioux last weekend against SCSU, going 1-4–5. Curtis Murphy (8-10–18) had multiple-point games last weekend. Part of North Dakota’s success this year has come from its offensive and defensive balance, which will benefit them as the regular season draws to a close.

ELMO Picks: A North Dakota sweep: 4-1, 5-2.

Minnesota-Duluth (13-8-1, 10-7-1 WCHA) at Colorado College (13-7-2, 11-5-2 WCHA) Friday, 7:35 MT, Saturday, 7:05 MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Air Force Academy, CO

Both teams are in the hunt for a top finish and this series, the only regular-season meeting between the teams this season, could propel one in that direction.

Minnesota-Duluth has played at home in eight of its last 10 games. In their last six WCHA road games, the Bulldogs are just 1-4-1, which will put the pressure on. Mike Peluso (12-9–21) is eighth in the league in scoring, but he hasn’t scored a goal in six games, the longest drought of his UMD career. Ken Dzikowski (9-15–24) leads the league in assists and has a least one point in seven of his last eight WCHA games. Ironman goalie Brant Nicklin (10-7-1, 3.14 GAA, .899 SV%) has played every minute of every WCHA game. He will have to remain sharp this weekend.

Colorado College returns home, where the Tigers have a 33-2-2 record in their last 37 games at Cadet Ice Arena. The Tigers have had a solid year despite wearing the bullseye as the team to beat; five of the team’s seven losses this year are to top ten teams. Calvin Elfring (5-11–16) has a point in seven straight games for the second time this year. Brian Swanson (9-14–23) is tied for fifth in the league in scoring, but just one point away from the top spot. Jason Gudmundson (12-10–22) and Darren Clark (8-11–19) are also playing well.

ELMO Picks: CC wins twice in close battles: 5-3, 4-3.

Michigan Tech (5-16-2, 2-14-2 WCHA) at Denver (12-7-3, 8-7-3 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 MT, Denver University Arena, Denver, CO

Denver and Michigan Tech face off after the Pioneers split and the Huskies earned one point last weekend.

Michigan Tech tied with Colorado College, 4-4, last weekend; hopefully the Huskies realize that with hard work good things can happen. The tie was a highlight in the Huskies’ current 15-game winless streak. Scoring has been the Huskies’ problem this year; the four they managed against CC was just the third time this year they netted that many. MTU has scored three or fewer goals 20 times this year.

Andre Savage (6-8–14) is Tech’s leading scorer; he is on a five-game point streak. Kyle Peterson had three goals last weekend, and now has 10 overall.

Denver is coming off a big split at Minnesota last weekend. Another big weekend could put them right in the middle of the battle for the top spot in the league. The Pioneers are 9-2-3 over their last 14 games, and are playing well at an important time of the year. Goalie Jim Mullin (3-4-3, 2.85 GAA, .894 SV%) got the win on Saturday, and has not lost since a Nov. 8 game against Colorado College. Paul Comrie (6-11–17) and Antti Laaksonen (10-6–16) both had their sixth multiple-point games in the win last Saturday.

ELMO Picks: A Denver sweep: 5-1, 4-2.

Alaska-Anchorage (5-13-2, 3-13-2 WCHA) at Northern Michigan (9-15-2, 5-14-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 ET, Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI

These contests are between two teams that want to get something positive going; this should be a good matchup.

Alaska-Anchorage has been keeping its head up despite losing six straight and going 0-7-1 in its last eight. The lack of a power play has hurt the Seawolves, who are 0-for-26 with the man advantage over their past five games. Eric Silverman has scored a goal in four straight games and is 4-1–5 in his last five contests. David Valliers (5-12–17) is the top scorer in league games. With the loss of some players, the Seawolves are at 22 bodies right now. UAA alternated goalies Doug Tesky (3-7-2, 3.65 GAA, .884 SV%) and Chris Davis (0-6-0, 3.80 GAA, .871 SV%) last weekend; it must have worked — the seven goals they allowed were the best in a series since early November.

Northern Michigan got a big split on the road with Wisconsin last weekend. That should help the Wildcats as they prepare for UAA. NMU equaled last year’s league win total with the victory last weekend, and are looking to make some bigger strides this weekend. Bud Smith (6-8–14) leads the Wildcats in points and assists and had his second two-goal game of the season on Saturday.

ELMO Picks: NMU gets two: 4-1, 3-1.

Next Week in the WCHA Friday, Jan. 24 Denver at Alaska-Anchorage Minnesota at Michigan Tech Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth St. Cloud State at Notre Dame Saturday, Jan. 25 Denver at Alaska-Anchorage North Dakota at Colorado College Minnesota at Michigan Tech Wisconsin at Minnesota-Duluth St. Cloud State at Notre Dame Sunday, Jan. 26 North Dakota at Colorado College

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

Copyright 1996 Jim Thies. All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the ECAC: January 17, 1997

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ECAC PREVIEW: Jan. 17-21, 1997 ECAC Preview: Jan. 17-21, 1997 by Jayson Moy

The ECAC world is turning once again, thanks to the past weekend’s action.

Only one team managed to get through the weekend with four points — the Vermont Catamounts. Every other team in league action came away with two points, except for Dartmouth, which was swept.

Vermont was the big mover. Four points catapults the Cats into an enviable position: sixth place, with games in hand over every single team ahead of them, from five (Harvard) to one (RPI). In fact, Vermont is in first place in terms of won-loss percentage.

Princeton remained on top of the ECAC, and temporarily widened its lead over inactive Cornell to three points. The Big Red, however, defeated Colgate on Tuesday, 3-2, to complete a season sweep of their travel partner and move back within a point of first with one game in hand.

RPI missed a chance to move into second, but Harvard’s defeat of RPI propelled the Crimson into third.

ECAC Standings

The next two weeks represent catch-up time for teams with games in hand. ECAC action involves six such teams this weekend.

Clarkson (12-7-0, 5-4-0 ECAC, 8th) and St. Lawrence (8-11-2, 3-4-2 ECAC, 10th) at Dartmouth (8-7-0, 3-6-0 ECAC, 11th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Thompson Arena, Hanover, N.H.

St. Lawrence (8-11-2, 3-4-2 ECAC, 10th) and Clarkson (12-7-0, 5-4-0 ECAC, 8th) at No. 8 Vermont (14-6-0, 6-3-0 ECAC, 6th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Vt.

Clarkson continued its domination of Hockey East teams with a weekend sweep of Mass-Lowell and New Hampshire, 5-0 and 5-2 respectively.

The two wins give the Golden Knights four in their last six contests, and one of the keys has been Todd White (pictured at right). The ECAC Player of the Week tallied four goals on the weekend, and has 13 points in his last six games. He is one of the leaders in the nation with 2.05 points per game.

Another top performer has been goaltender Dan Murphy (below). A second-team All-American last year, Murphy stopped 63 of 65 shots, earned his second shutout of the season against Mass-Lowell, and defeated UNH. Murphy has a GAA of 2.60 and a save percentage of .916.

But while White and Murphy have been on fire, head coach Mark Morris sees some things for his team to work on in the upcoming week as it prepares for Dartmouth and Vermont.

"We’ve been working on trying to be a more consistent team," he said. "We’ve beaten some of the better teams and we get in trouble with some of them, and we have to be more thorough."

The Golden Knights face a tough test this weekend at Dartmouth and Vermont. The game against the Catamounts is the marquee matchup on the ECAC docket this weekend.

"We played a similar game with an explosive team against UNH," Morris said. "We’re going to go right at them.

"Anytime you play them (Vermont star forwards Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin), they’re always a threat. We’re going to try and take away their defensemen so that they can’t handle the puck."

The game against Vermont is Saturday, and Morris is cautioning his team not to overlook Dartmouth.

"Right now, we’re only looking at Dartmouth on Friday night," Morris said. "It’s always a tough league game, and we know that it will be a tough two points. We’ll concentrate on Vermont after Friday night’s game."

The Saints of St. Lawrence have the same teams this weekend. The Saints lost two on the road, 7-2 against UNH and 4-3 (OT) to Lowell.

"We lost a little discipline at Lowell," said head coach Joe Marsh. "It was a tough loss to take. At UNH, there was a five-goal difference, but we played well, and we didn’t finish."

Marsh expects Clint Owen in the nets this weekend. Owen was recovering from an aggravated groin this past weekend and did not play.

"He (Owen) certainly makes a big difference," said Marsh. "He solidifies our position, but it’s going to take a lot more than him. We know we have to continually play well."

The Saints get the tough task of Vermont on Friday night, and, as is usually the case, the conversation turned towards St. Louis and Perrin.

"We pay close attention to them," said Marsh. "I think you have to have a couple of lines that can try to stay with them, and pay attention to them. It gets tough because when you’re on the road, you don’t have the last line change. As for shadowing them, it’s hard to say. You have to pay attention to the other players as well. We don’t like to play clutch and grab, but you have to play defense."

Dartmouth awaits the Saints on Saturday.

"We squeaked by them at the tournament (a 3-2 win in the championship of the Auld Lang Syne Tournament)," Marsh said. "They’ve got good team speed, and it should be a battle between two similar teams. Our guys certainly know how tough a trip this is."

Vermont has won four straight ECAC contests and moved to sixth in the league standings. The Cats look to continue the momentum after sweeping Princeton and Yale, 3-2 and 3-0.

"We’re not sneaking up on anyone anymore," said head coach Mike Gilligan.

Vermont is continuing to get scoring from St. Louis and Perrin, but have seen a lift in scoring from others, too.

Two freshmen, Matt Sanders and Benoit Lampron, scored this past weekend. Sanders had a goal against Princeton, and Lampron scored his first two career goals against Yale. Lampron was rewarded for his performance with the ECAC Rookie of the Week award. Vermont also got goals from defensemen Jon Sorg and Pavel Navrat.

Look at the statistics, and take a wild guess at who is leading the ECAC in goaltending. It’s senior goaltender Tim Thomas.

In nine league games, Thomas has bounced right back to where he was predicted to be — the top of the goaltending statistics. Thomas leads the league in GAA (2.46) and save percentage (.925) following his 10th career shutout last Saturday, a school record.

Thomas made 25 saves against Yale to break Dave Reece’s mark of nine (1968-71), set back when the Cats were playing in the Division II ranks. He also is setting his sights at Vermont’s career GAA record of 2.76 (John Kiely, 1971-74) and career save percentage record of .908 (Christian Soucy, 1991-93).

Dartmouth missed a chance to move up in the standings by losing two league games this weekend to Yale and Princeton, 5-4 and 4-2 respectively. Now the Big Green face a big test in Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

"For us it’s a huge weekend," said head coach Roger Demment. "Especially after the huge setback we suffered this weekend."

Dartmouth faces Clarkson and Todd White on Friday. White is a huge concern for Demment, who has an interesting way to stop the All-America candidate.

"We’ll give him a bus ticket out of town," Demment joked. "We’ll try to keep him out with our checking line. I’m not sure which line I’m going to use. I have a couple of lines I want to try."

St. Lawrence is next in line for Dartmouth.

"We faced Clint Owen in the championship game (of the Auld Lang Syne)," said Demment. "I thought we had the better of the play, and we expect the same game, a tight one."

PICKS: Clarkson at Dartmouth: Whether Dartmouth can use a checking line against White and succeed is a huge question. White is on fire, and so is Clarkson — par for the course in the second half of the season. Clarkson 7 Dartmouth 3

St. Lawrence at Vermont: Owen does make a difference, but with Thomas hot in goal, it will take offense for the Saints to win. Vermont forges up the standings. Vermont 4 St. Lawrence 1

St. Lawrence at Dartmouth: Demment is right to expect a tight game. The freshman goaltending of Dartmouth has slipped a little in the past few games. St. Lawrence 2 Dartmouth 1

Clarkson at Vermont: Offense and more offense in this game. Oh yes, let’s not forget about Murphy and Thomas. Defense and more defense in this game. Which one is it? And who’s better at it? It’s a draw. Vermont 3 Clarkson 3

Union (11-8-1, 5-5-1 ECAC, 7th) at RPI (11-7-2, 6-3-1 ECAC, T-4th) Saturday, 7 p.m., RPI Fieldhouse, Troy, N.Y.

Union had a six-game winning streak after defeating Harvard 4-2 on Friday evening. It was snapped the next night when Brown took the game 4-2.

Union won the first meeting between the two teams with a 2-0 shutout. Trevor Koenig was spectacular in goal and the defense of Union played strong.

Craig Reckin and Russ Monteith scored those two goals, on Scott Prekaski. Both were of the fluke variety, one off a defenseman, and the other slipping through in slow motion. Union must continue to play strong defense in this heated rivalry.

RPI has now lost three of its last five. Wins over Brown and Yale are counterweighted with losses to Princeton, Harvard and Boston College.

One of the Engineers’ problems has been taking penalties at inopportune times. The Engineers have cut short a total of eight power plays in the last five games with penalties.

"You take a penalty, it kind of swings the momentum," said RPI coach Dan Fridgen. "At that point of the game you want to be thinking about offense, but when you take a penalty you’re thinking about defense."

RPI has also not taken advantage of opportunities to score in recent games.

"When you get opportunities to capitalize, you have to be mentally prepared to capitalize on those opportunities," said Fridgen. "When we’re hungrier, we can dictate the situations instead of being tentative."

PICK: Both teams are having trouble on offense. For Union it’s not a new story, for RPI it is. The last time RPI had trouble scoring, it was shutout three straight times. Union was in the middle of that shutout sandwich. RPI has home advantage here and it helps, but it’s still a low scoring game. RPI 3 Union 1

Air Force (6-12-1, 0-9-0 major D-I) at Brown (3-13-1, 2-10-1 ECAC, 12th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium, Providence, R.I.

To say that the Air Force Academy had a good weekend would be an understatement. The Falcons swept the Villanova Wildcats (one of the nation’s weakest programs on any level), 7-1 and 9-0.

The win on Friday marked a milestone for head coach Chuck Delich. Delich reached 155 wins, making him the all-time leader at Air Force. He surpasses John Matchefts in his 12th season at the helm.

In its whitewashing of Villanova, the Falcons outshot their opposition 133-18, with 11 different goal-scorers.

Brown got a much-needed win on Saturday by downing Union 4-2. It was only the Bears’ third win of the season, and could not have come at a better time. Brown takes a break in the ECAC schedule before coming back in two weeks, and it starts with some non-conference games.

Brian Audette took to the nets for the Union game and made 43 saves as he stopped the six-game winning streak of the Dutchmen. The Bears took a 3-0 lead before the Dutchmen came back, but Adrian Smith closed the door with an empty-net goal.

Adrian Smith was on fire this weekend, tallying five points — two assists against RPI, and one goal and two assists against the Dutchmen.

PICKS: Brown gets two more needed wins and starts to get untracked. Brown in a sweep: 7-2, 5-1

Niagara (10-6-2, 0-2-0 major D-I) at Yale (5-9-2, 4-7-1 ECAC, 9th) Saturday, 3 p.m., Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.

Niagara is playing a Division III ECAC West schedule in its first season as a Division I team, and as a new ice hockey program. The school has recently made overtures about forming a new Division I hockey conference, with schools like Villanova, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Iona.

Head coach Blaise MacDonald knows that there is a lot of work to be done with the new program, but he likes what he sees so far.

"It’s been going much better than I anticipated," said MacDonald. "I have a team of 25 freshmen, and that’s what makes it a great year to this point. They’ve shown that they’re very coachable, they want to learn, and that’s how they approach every game."

"The toughest part is that there are no upperclassmen," he added. "Sometimes on the bench I have to be the coach, cheerleader, and the captain of the team."

The Purple Eagles face their second major Division I opponent in Yale on Saturday. They earlier dropped a pair of games to Air Force.

"(Playing Yale) will be a huge difference," McDonald said. "This will be an eye-opener for our kids. We haven’t played that level of competition. The speed and transition game will be the toughest. It will help us next year. We’re playing 12 games against Division I teams.

"We’re just going to break the game down in segments. Warm-ups, then five minutes a period. It’s easier for a young team to focus on small segments. We’re going to make mistakes. It’s just what you do with those mistakes."

Yale has seen its fortunes rise and fall in its last 12 games. After upsetting Cornell, 4-3, it has won three times — Brown, Air Force and Dartmouth — and tied powerful Boston University. The Bulldogs have also lost seven games. In the span, the Bulldogs have gone from third place in the ECAC to ninth.

A once-hot Jeff Hamilton has only had three points since the beginning of December, all in the Denver Cup tournament. Keith McCullough has taken over the scoring lead from Hamilton with two goals on Friday evening against Dartmouth in a 5-4 win. His efforts were noticed on the ECAC Honor Roll this week.

PICK: Yale is struggling, but Niagara is young, and not Division I caliber yet. Yale 6 Niagara 1

Colgate (11-8-1, 6-5-1 ECAC, T-4th) at Bowling Green (11-11-2, 7-9-2 CCHA, 5th) Saturday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, Oh.

Colgate put on an offensive show after falling behind Army 5-1 on Friday. Four goals starting in the latter stages of the second period gave Colgate a chance to win it in overtime. Then John Dance, a defenseman, came up with the game-winner at 2:49 of the extra period.

Colgate has started to get on track after suffering through some rough times in the ECAC, despite a loss Tuesday to Cornell. The Red Raiders were one of the teams that swept its last ECAC weekend, and they played strong games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence in the wins.

In order for Colgate to be successful, it needs to have Mike Harder and company going. Harder was strong on Friday night; he scored the game-tying goal with less than four minutes remaining.

Bowling Green has certainly seen the ups and downs this season. After starting off 6-0, the Falcons are 4-11-2. That’s been a mystery to head coach Buddy Powers — missed opportunities and chances have hurt, but there are some positives.

"Our team all year long has been this way," said Powers. "We have great periods, we don’t give up any good chances.

"I’m more concerned with our club," Powers continued. "You continue to see things, you can’t expect things to change like that."

PICK: Colgate has a long way to go for one road game. Despite this, the Red Raiders are playing with more consistency than the Falcons. Colgate 5 Bowling Green 2

Yale (5-9-2, 4-7-1 ECAC, 9th) at UMass-Lowell (10-10-0, 7-5-0 Hockey East, 3rd) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, N. Billerica, Mass.

Yale is previewed above.

After getting shut out by Clarkson 5-0, the River Hawks rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win over St. Lawrence. Freshman Greg Koehler continues to garner support for Hockey East Rookie of the Year honors, scoring the overtime goal with 41 seconds remaining.

Lowell enters its toughest part of the season. Fourteen games remain for the River Hawks — six of them against UNH and BU, the top two teams in the league. There are also three games remaining against Providence, a team right behind Lowell.

After two exhausting games with UNH this weekend, Lowell must come back against Yale. Two different styles await the team — UNH’s explosive offense will be countered by the tenacious forecheck of Yale.

PICK: Fatigue will play a factor for Lowell, and Yale tries to continue to get on track. Lowell 4 Yale 4

Dartmouth (8-7-0, 3-6-0 ECAC, 11th) at Providence (8-12-1, 6-6-1 Hockey East, 4th) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, R.I.

Dartmouth is previewed above.

The Providence Friars are struggling to find consistency in their play. The Friars helped themselves with a 5-4 win over Northeastern and a 5-1 win over UMass-Amherst last weekend, snapping a seven-game winless streak.

"We’re playing together as a team, that’s number one," said coach Paul Pooley, reflecting on the differences between his team’s play now and during the slump. "But we’re also working harder. We’re working harder in practices and we’re working harder in games. We’re being more physical and we’re being rewarded for that."

The Friars will come into the game with a tough pair against Maine behind it, and it could lead to some fatigue.

PICK: It should be a defensive game with a lot of forecheck. Both teams are playing its third game in five nights. The difference — Dartmouth’s first two are at home, Providence’s are at Maine. Dartmouth 4 Providence 2

There is a light slate of ECAC action next weekend, and all league games involve travel partners playing each other. There is also a solid group of non-conference games on the schedule.

Next Week in the ECAC (league games in bold):

Friday, Jan. 24 Ferris State at Cornell

Saturday, Jan. 25 St. Lawrence at Clarkson RPI at Union Dartmouth at Vermont Ferris State at Cornell Providence at Brown Yale at Army

Tuesday, Jan. 28 New Hampshire at Harvard UMass-Lowell at Colgate

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

Copyright 1996 Jayson Moy . All Rights Reserved.

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The Detonators

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detonator (de’ to na’ ter) n. something that explodes
— Random House College Dictionary

No team in the East explodes to a win like New Hampshire. The Wildcats, second only to Michigan with 5.29 goals a game, have mastered the destructive art of blowing teams away; not just with two or three goals in a period, but four or five.

Early in November, tied 2-2 in the third period with a Northeastern team that had just knocked off Michigan State, UNH scored five times in slightly more than nine minutes to win 7-3. Two weeks later, trailing Maine 2-0, they exploded to another victory with five second-period goals. At the end of the month they repeated that trick, knocking off Vermont with a five-goal second period that erased a 2-1 deficit.

But no game better typifies their ability to score goals in demoralizing clusters than their performance against Wisconsin at the Badger Showdown. Coming off a two-week holiday break that often turns legs into rubber and finely tuned machines into misfiring jalopies, UNH stunk up the joint for the first 10 minutes, falling behind 4-0 while being outshot 16-1.

An opening like that in front of 12,195 rabid Wisconsin fans is pouring chum into shark-infested waters before a leisurely swim. Badger fans, the Great White Sharks of college hockey, responded with frenzied derision.

Not to worry. The Wildcats promptly scored five goals in less than eight minutes, and held a 5-4 lead by the end of the first period. At the Bradley Center one could hear a pin drop.

Six Detonators — Eric Boguniecki, Tom Nolan, Mark Mowers, Eric Nickulas, Derek Bekar and Jason Krog — light the fuses of Wildcat explosions. Prior to a Nolan knee injury that sidelined him for a month, all six placed among Hockey East’s top ten scorers.

That scoring prowess has vaulted UNH from last year’s 12-18-4 record to 16-5-0 and a top-ten national ranking.

“Obviously teams can’t focus on one line,” says UNH coach Dick Umile. “We can send out two lines of players that are a threat to score every time they’re on the ice. Along with our freshman line, we constantly have players out there that if you give them any kind of opportunity, they can put the puck in the net.”

Critical to the team’s success has also been their attention to defense.

“Basically they’re playing for the team first,” says Umile. “The biggest thing that this team has done is to buy into playing defense. Players will tell you their hard work defensively has given them an opportunity to generate scoring opportunities, because good defense creates good offense.”

Eric Boguniecki: “They call me Showtime”

“I enjoy getting the crowd out of their seats,” says Boguniecki, voted last year’s Most Exciting Player by the Friends of UNH Hockey. “I live for that stuff; they call me Showtime. I like to get the crowd into it because they get the whole team into it. When you hear the crowd going nuts, it makes the players want to get that goal or make a great defensive play.”

Even so, Boguniecki, a co-captain and the only senior Detonator, recognizes that he can’t be “Showtime” all the time.

“Right now maybe I don’t have the points that I’d like to have, but as a captain there are other areas that you have to focus on,” says Boguniecki, whose not-too-shabby 27 points in 21 games rank eighth in the league. “If you’re worried about goals, probably you get them, but right now I’m trying to play good defense, improve my all-around game, and be a good leader. Maybe that’s taken away some of my points, but I’m not worried about that. The points will come.”

Teammate Tom Nolan, who joined UNH as part of Boguniecki’s recruiting class but redshirted a year, confirms Boguniecki’s commitment to an all-around game. “When we came in as freshmen,” says Nolan, “Bogey and I were just offense. That’s all we thought about. In the four years since then we’ve learned to play defense.

“That’s Bogey’s main goal right now, and I think he’s done a great job of that. And his leadership is unbelievable.”

Boguniecki, a preseason All-Hockey East selection and a St. Louis Blues draft pick, may only be 5-8, but he packs 195 muscular pounds onto that frame. His compact power results in an aggressive style of play.

“Sometimes I find myself hitting like a football player,” he says, which surprises no one who saw him on the gridiron during prep school. “Football was a great help for me physically, and improved my balance on the ice.”

The resulting package generates comparisons to the feisty Theo Fleury of the Calgary Flames, a player Boguniecki patterns himself after. Considering Fleury’s ability to score goals, create assists and hold his own in the NHL’s physical wars despite being the league’s smallest player, the comparison seems apt indeed.

Tom Nolan: “A healthy Tom Nolan is one of the most exciting players in the league”

The word “healthy” in Umile’s description above says it all. Not since his freshman year has the 5-10, 175-pound junior played more than 27 games in a season. Four games into what would have been his sophomore year, Nolan suffered a bruised spleen that sidelined him for the season. After redshirting that year, Nolan came back to average a point a game last season, but still missed five contests due to a separated shoulder. This year, in perhaps the unkindest cut of all, Nolan led Hockey East with 17 points in eight games until felled by a knee injury that sidelined him for a month. Even so, he now totals 24 points in just 14 games, good for 13th in the league.

“I never was hurt before I got here,” says Nolan. “I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s just bad luck. It’s real tough going up in the stands [and sitting out]. It’s probably the worst thing a player can go through. The only thing that helped this year was that the team was doing well.”

Nolan, who Umile calls “one of the strongest kids on the team,” worked with former teammate Steve Pleau to improve his durability. “This summer we were on a really intense workout with a lot of work on the legs,” says Nolan before adding wistfully, “It’s just unfortunate that I hurt my knee.”

Before the injury, and since his return, Nolan has dazzled fans with his speed and finesse. “One-on-one, he’s as skilled as any player in the country,” says Umile.

Nolan, who shares Boguniecki’s admiration for Fleury, is also focusing on his defense. “I talked to the coach and one of my goals was to become one of the best defensive players in the league. [Before the injury] I thought I was playing really good defense. I think my offensive numbers have gone up because of that.”

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

“Mark has great lateral movement,” says linemate Boguniecki. “He has a great first three steps. And he’s got great playmaking ability.”

Small wonder then that the 5-11, 180-pound Mowers tries to emulate Bure. “I try to play as close to him as possible,” he says and then laughs, underscoring the difficulty of measuring up to that ideal.

Though not yet Bure, Mowers has earned awards every year in the league, starting with Hockey East’s Rookie of the Year honor.

“I was really excited,” says Mowers, now a junior. “I had never really won any major awards like that in my life. I know I worked hard throughout my freshman year, but I really didn’t expect it because there were a lot of good players out there. But it really helped build my confidence for the following year.”

Mowers also garnered the Friends of UNH Hockey’s Most Exciting Player Award in his freshman campaign. Unlike “Showtime” Boguniecki, Mowers doesn’t think about trying to make the exciting play. If it happens, it happens. If not, then he just concentrates on the little things.

“Each guy realizes that things like winning faceoffs, playing defense, putting the extra time into the weight room and backchecking the right person make a big difference,” says Mowers.

Last year, his sophomore year, Mowers earned All-Hockey East honors and was voted by his teammates co-MVP with since-graduated defenseman Todd Hall. “Winning an award that’s voted by your teammates really makes you feel good, knowing that the guys look up to you like that,” he says.

Everyone certainly looks up to Mowers’ ability to break games open with short-handed goals. Last year he had five; this year, he already has three.

“I just try to think: if I were on the power play, what I would be doing with the puck,” says Mowers. “I just try to read their minds and anticipate what they’re going to do before they do it.”

With 15 goals and 14 assists, good for fourth among Hockey East scorers, Mowers is certainly living up to this year’s preseason All-Hockey East selection.

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

“When he’s out there people feel his presence. He gets most of his goals just by hitting people. He’s a Cam Neely type of player,” Boguniecki continues.

Early this season Nickulas, a junior drafted by the Boston Bruins, notched his 50th career goal in just 78 games — very Neely-like numbers. He now totals 16 goals and 11 assists in 21 games.

“It almost seems like he scores every night,” says Umile. “He’s a prolific goal-scorer who can skate and has a pro shot. Sometimes because of Boguniecki and Mowers he goes unnoticed — although not by his teammates or the coaches — but we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now without the production and commitment of Eric Nickulas.”

The 6-1, 195-pound Nickulas didn’t just inherit his strength and great shot. “I had to work on a lot of it,” he says. “It just doesn’t come easy. You have to spend long hours in the weight room and doing off-ice training.”

Nickulas also works with his linemate Jason Krog. The two share trade secrets of their specialties, Nickulas on shooting and Krog on passing. The results speak for themselves. Nickulas already has 11 assists, one short of last year’s total while Krog has 14 goals after scoring only four all last year.

Nickulas also shares Neely’s power-play prowess. Last year, Nickulas rocketed home 11 man-advantage scores. This year only two of his team-leading 16 goals have come on the power play, in part because of changing roles. Last year a UNH power play meant Mowers, Boguniecki and Nickulas hopping onto the ice with Nickulas the lead sniper. This year, however, after experimenting with five of the forwards as one power-play unit, Umile decided that its susceptibility to short-handed goals combined with the attractive possibility of two stellar units dictated a change. Now, the freshest of the two lines, Boguniecki-Bekar-Mowers or Krog-Nolan-Nickulas, goes out first, knowing that the other unit isn’t far behind.

Derek Bekar: “A combination of Nickulas and Mowers”

“Derek’s got great reach, great size, and a really great shot,” says Boguniecki.

“He’s a combination of Nickulas and Mowers,” says Umile. “He’s got deceptive speed. His stride is long. It doesn’t look like he’s quick, but he’s very quick.”

In a characteristic understatement, the 6-2, 175-pound Bekar adds, “I guess for a big kid, I can skate pretty well.”

Bekar, a sophomore, was named to Hockey East’s All-Rookie team last year, clinching the spot with a late-season run. “It took some time to get adjusted to the strength of the players and the speed,” he says. “But most of it was just confidence and jelling with my linemates.”

Bekar shares both Nickulas’s intention to improve his playmaking skills and the entire team’s dedication to defense. A St. Louis Blues draft pick, he continues to work on his shot and overall strength.

Although he has fallen out of the top ten in scoring, his 12 goals and 10 assists are still good for 14th place, and put him behind only Krog, Maine’s Steve Kariya and BC’s Marty Reasoner among Hockey East sophomores.

Jason Krog: “Unbelievable vision of the ice”

Other than his teammates and coaches, few expected Jason Krog to be a major performer in Hockey East this season. Last year he scored only four goals to go with 16 assists.

“He was put in a tough situation,” says Umile. “Because of injuries we had to put him on one of our top lines. He didn’t really have the confidence and was more worried about messing up his linemates. This year he has the confidence. Nobody around here is surprised at what he’s done.”

“I did a lot of training this summer and I also worked on my shot,” says the 5-11, 180-pound sophomore. “When we got here this year I did a lot of work with our goalie coach on shooting and Eric Nickulas helps me too.”

The results are stunning. The kid who struggled for four goals last year now trails only BU’s Chris Drury in Hockey East scoring with 14 goals and 22 assists in 21 overall games.

“He’s a tremendous passer,” says Boguniecki. “He’s got unbelievable vision of the ice. We like to compare him to Adam Oates because he sees the ice so well.”

Krog developed his talents playing with a succession of snipers in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League before coming to New Hampshire. Those pairings helped him learn to anticipate a teammate’s moves and refined his playmaking skills.

Krog also credits team leaders like Boguniecki for their help. “They’ll tell you if you did something wrong, but it’s always constructive,” he says. “And if you did something right, they’ll give you a pat on the back. You look up to them because of the way that they play. They’re leaders on and off the ice.”

The Stretch Run

During their school-record 14 game winning streak, the Wildcats seemed to score at will. In the last few games, however, hot goaltenders and strong defenses have limited UNH’s scoring output. Such are the peaks and valleys of a long season.

“I don’t expect to be scoring five or six goals every game,” says Umile. “You’ve got to win the 3-2 and 4-3 games. To do that you have to play strong defense and be opportunistic. We just need to pick up our play and get back the little edge we had before.”

Of the six Detonators, only Nolan and Boguniecki have a playoff win. Last year Maine swept UNH out of the Hockey East playoffs, and the year before Providence knocked them out of the one-game league quarterfinals before Denver embarrassed them 9-2 in the NCAA tournament. Their need for playoff success is not lost on the upperclassmen.

“It’s huge,” says Nolan. “None of the guys on the team has won a playoff game since my freshman year. Bogey and I will just have to motivate the guys and let them know what winning playoff games is all about. We have the confidence. We know we’re just as good as any team in the league. We just have to put our nose to the grindstone and play hard. National championship teams don’t go through the motions.”

“The playoffs are a big focus,” adds Boguniecki. “If we don’t make the Garden this year, then the first half meant nothing. We can’t accept anything less than winning a Hockey East championship and making an NCAA appearance.”

Let the explosions resume.

This Week in the CCHA: January 17, 1997

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CCHA PREVIEW: Jan. 17-21, 1997 CCHA Preview: Jan. 17-21, 1997 by Paula C. Weston

Who will make the CCHA playoffs? Most agree that Michigan, Miami, Michigan State and Lake Superior will be there. After all, each of these teams is ranked among the top ten in the country.

Miami had its way with Ohio State last week, outscoring the Buckeyes 17-5 in a home-and-home series. Miami remains in first place in the conference with 26 points in 15 games played; clearly, Miami is making a legitimate run at the CCHA title.

After giving up a point at home to Cornell, the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines placated themselves by beating up the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks 13-1, and handling the Ferris State Bulldogs 8-4. There’s nothing like showing other teams in your conference exactly why you’re number one. With 13 games played, Michigan has 20 points.

The Spartans and the Lakers split their weekend series in an unusual way — they tied both games 4-4t keeping both teams in the hunt. The Lakers, however, have played two more conference games than Michigan State, and have 24 points. The Spartans are just a point behind.

But who will fill out the rest of the CCHA dance card? Four teams from the second tier make the playoffs. The sleeping Bowling Green Falcons seem to have awakened at the right time to make a playoff run. The Falcons beat Notre Dame by a goal, and Western Michigan by two. Bowling Green moves up in the standings to fifth, with 14 points.

Western Michigan and Ferris State are tied at 12 points apiece. The crucial difference here is that Ferris has played 18 conference games, Western only 13. Ferris has little time to improve its record or solidify its playoff spot; Western may be just warming up.

But for a single goal in several games, Notre Dame could be thick in the hunt in the middle of the CCHA. Instead, the Irish have lost six CCHA games by one goal, and fighting to keep playoff hopes alive. With nine points, the Irish are in eighth place, one point ahead of visiting Alaska- Fairbanks.

Ohio State travels to Merrimack this weekend for non-conference play. The Buckeyes may have to rely on the better record against Ferris State to squeak into the playoffs.

Last week’s record in picks: 7-3 Overall record in picks: 56-38

No. 4 Miami (19-5-0, 13-2-0 CCHA) at No. 10 Lake Superior (15-8-3, 11-4-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, MI Miami comes off a very strong showing against Ohio State, sweeping a home-and-home series, 8-2 and 9-3. No CCHA fan should be surprised at the number of goals Miami scored against a defensively weak Buckeye team; last weekend’s scores do, however, indicate just how protective Miami is of its own net. Each night, Miami was outshot, and both Miami goaltenders rose to the challenge.

This could be the difference between Miami and many other CCHA opponents: depth on offense, defense, and goaltending. It certainly could be the difference in this game against Lake Superior. Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni knows what his team has to do to win. "I think it will be a very close-scoring game up there. We’re going to have to play extremely disciplined. We don’t want to get into a power-play or penalty-kill shootout with them. We want to play five-on-five hockey. When we play five-on-five hockey, that’s going to give us our best opportunity to win." Lake Superior tied twice with Michigan State last weekend; – both games ended 4-4 and Lake head coach Scott Borek said his team is feeling th effects of playing hard.

"I don’t know if we’ll be able to dress 10 forwards Friday night. Every healthy body is going to dress. This isn’t an excuse, but we’re really banged up right now." Among the injured are Bryan Fuss, Mitch Lane, Matt Alvey, Mike Kucsulain and Dan Hanson. Even without the injuries, Borek knows what he’s up against. "We’re playing the team to beat right now. Miami’s playing great hockey. They’re on a mission." Pick: Miami 4-2 Alaska-Fairbanks 4-17-0, 4-15-0 CCHA) at Notre Dame (6-14-1, 4-10-1 CCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce ACC, South Bend, IN If Miami is the Cinderella story of the CCHA, then Notre Dame is always the bridesmaid, and rarely the bride. (So, we’re mixing metaphors — that’s what sports lingo is all about. Haven’t you seen Bull Durham?) Notre Dame has lost eight games by one point; six of those are CCHA losses. "A lot of it is mentality," says Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin. "We were tied with Michigan State 3-3 in the last minute at Munn. We had a face-off in our end, and the crowd got involved, because they’d seen [the Spartans] do it before. It comes down to experience." The last three games UAF played were losses at the hands of Michigan teams. Michigan beat UAF 13-1 on Jan. 10. The Nanooks held their next two opponents to ten fewer goals per game, as both Western Michigan and Michigan State won by the score of 3-1 (Jan. 11 and 14, respectively). It’s been a long road trip for the Nanooks, who hadn’t played together since mid-December before meeting the Wolverines in Yost. Can Alaska-Fairbanks salvage something from this trip to gain much-needed points in an attempt to make the CCHA playoffs? "We had a pretty good game with them before Christmas," says Poulin. "We’re looking at the whole playoff picture here. This series is important to playoff position." Even though Notre Dame beat Alaska-Fairbanks Dec. 7 in South Bend, Poulin thinks this series will be hard-fought. "Is there an easy team in this conference?" The Irish have to start winning those close games sometime, and now is the best time. PICKS: Notre Dame 4-3, 3-1 No. 1 Michigan (20-1-2, 11-1-1 CCHA) vs. Western Michigan (9-10-2, 5-6-2 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, MI "Every point is huge," says Michigan head coach Red Berenson. "It’s a logjam [at the top of the CCHA]; it will be right up until the last game. We’re trying to get our team playing better." Berenson’s Wolverines gave a point to Cornell last week in Yost as the teams skated to a 3-3 tie. Alaska-Fairbanks felt the brunt of that meeting, as Michigan took out its frustrations on a team that was little equipped to deal with it.

"It wasn’t that Alaska wasn’t very good, but we were kind of mad," said Berenson in defense of the Nanooks. Berenson was unhappy with his club’s overall play against both Cornell and Ferris State, which lost to Michigan 8-4 on Jan. 11. "We took a 5-0 lead in the Ferris game, and they outscored us 4-1 in second period. We were overconfident." Michigan doesn’t make those kinds of mistakes two weekends in a row. The Wolverines are looking to repeat as CCHA and NCAA champions; the Broncos want a good berth in the CCHA playoffs. "Western is a good team," says Berenson. "They lost some veteran players and they lost their goaltender [CCHA Rookie of the Year Marc Magliarditi] from last year, but they played a good game here." The last time the two teams met was a 3-1 victory for Michigan in Ann Arbor. Western beat Alaska-Fairbanks 3-1 Saturday, and lost to Bowling Green 4-2 Tuesday. Michigan’s offensive will be tough to beat in this series. PICKS: Michigan 4-2, 5-2 No. 4 Miami (19-5-0, 13-2-0 CCHA) at Ferris State (9-16-1, 6-12-0 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Ewigleben Ice Arena, Big Rapids, MI This is the only conference game Ferris State has for the weekend, and Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni is aware of it. "Ferris is sitting there, not playing, waiting for us." Miami has more than double the points that Ferris State does, but the Bulldogs need this game to keep playoff hopes alive. Michigan allowed Ferris State to score four goals in the second period of last week’s Michigan 8-4 win over the Bulldogs, and Michigan’s defense is every bit as stingy as Miami’s. Still, can the Bulldogs beat a Miami team that is, as Laker head coach Scott Borek put it, "on a mission?" Much depends on how hard Miami has to play to beat the injury-riddled Lakers on Friday night, while Ferris is idle. Ferris showed real signs of life in a series split with Bowling Green the week before the Michigan game, and the Bulldogs have had time to rest. Miami dominated its series over Ohio State, a team comparable to Ferris in talent, with one big exception: goaltending. Competent Ferris goaltending can keep the Bulldogs in the game. PICK: Miami 5-2 Ohio State (5-18-0, 4-12-0 CCHA) at. Merrimack (6-13-1, 3-8-1 Hockey East) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA This is the first meeting between these two teams since 1976, when OSU hosted the Warriors for a pair, winning both games 5-4. Ohio State is struggling, both offensively and defensively. Ohio State coaching would like to believe that most of the trouble is with rookie goaltenders Ray Aho and Tom Connerty. Aho is letting in more than five goals per game in league play, while Connerty’s GAA is 6.06.

"We know it’s a weakness," said Buckeye head coach John Markell. "Not that these guys won’t mature into good goalies. We have to help our defensemen." But goaltending isn’t the only problem. With new recruits capable of generating offense and veteran players like Chad Power having career seasons, the Buckeyes can’t seem to put the puck in the net. In their recent series with Lake Superior and Miami, OSU outshot each team in each game, but came away with no points. Merrimack, on the other hand, is on somewhat of a roll. The Warriors have won three of their last five games, and split a series last weekend with Maine, winning 3-1 and losing 6-2. The Warriors rank second behind Boston University in Hockey East in penalty minutes per game. This could be very bad news for the Buckeyes, who have proven that they play their best hockey at even strength. The Buckeyes are easily drawn into bad penalties as well. Only one Buckeye, captain Steve Brent, is even in the plus-minus in league play for Ohio State; all other players are on the negative side of that statistic. Still, Markell says that his team is traveling to Boston to win. "We need to get back to disciplined hockey." PICKS: Merrimack 5-3, 4-2 Colgate (11-8-1, 6-5-1 ECAC) at Bowling Green (10-11-2, 6-9-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH The only game for the Bowling Green Falcons this weekend is a non-conference game against Colgate. Bowling Green beat Notre Dame 3-2 Saturday, and Western Michigan 4-2 Tuesday, helping the Falcons’ playoff cause. A win over Colgate could give the Falcons much-needed confidence going into the CCHA home stretch. The Red Raiders have won three of their last four games, most recently losing by a goal to Cornell. With 13 points, Colgate is tied for fourth place in the ECAC. Of the Falcon win against Notre Dame, Bowling Green head coach Buddy Powers said, "We played two pretty good periods. In the third period, Notre Dame really turned it up a notch." Almost as important as the win for the Falcons was the play of goaltender Bob Petrie. Said Powers, "Petrie came up with some pretty big saves for us" in the Notre Dame win. Petrie had 23 saves in the first Bowling Green victory over Notre Dame this season. Petrie had another big night Tuesday, saving 29 as Bowling Green beat Western Michigan. Even though this game is non-conference, its importance is not lost on Powers and the Falcons. Another Falcon victory would mean a huge boost in confidence as they jockey for playoff position. "Every game is a playoff game for us," says Powers. PICK: Bowling Green 3-2 No. 7 Michigan State (13-6-2, 9-2-2 CCHA) vs. Ferris State (9-16-1, 6-12-0 CCHA) Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI In this school-night matchup, each team has something to prove. The Spartans want to prove that they’re contenders for the CCHA title. The Bulldogs want to prove they have what it takes to make the playoffs. And the Bulldogs really need these points. Spartan goaltender Chad Alban has improved his league goals-against average to .873, putting him fifth among CCHA goaltenders with 300 or more minutes. He’s allowing 3.19 goals per game in a conference where only three goaltenders with any amount of playing time are allowing fewer than three. In fact, Alban is having a good season. He’s second only to Lake Superior’s John Grahame in minutes in net — Alban has 790 minutes, while Grahame has an unbelievable 1,032. Alban has been the goalie of record for the Spartans in all of their CCHA games. Spartan head coach Ron Mason has remarked more than once about the kind of workload Michigan State asks Alban to shoulder. This game won’t just be about goaltending and defense, but in the remaining CCHA schedule, with so many teams able to generate offense, defense will decide who makes it to the playoffs, and then who goes to the Joe. In 13 CCHA games, the Spartans have protected their net well, allowing just 32 goals. In contrast, in 18 conference games, Ferris State has been outscored 82-55. This telling statistic says a lot about Ferris State’s playoff hopes, and about this Tuesday night game. PICK: Michigan State 4-2 Thanks to USCHO’s Mike Machnik for information on Merrimack.

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

Copyright 1996 Paula C. Weston . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in Hockey East: January 17, 1997

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Hockey East Preview: Jan. 17-21, 1997 by Dave Hendrickson

Boston University and Boston College renew their rivalry this week with a home-and-home series that takes center stage in Hockey East. Second-place UNH and third-place UMass-Lowell also take turns in each other’s barn, as do Northeastern and UMass-Amherst. Providence visits Maine for two that could prove decisive in the race for third place.

Merrimack enters the weekend as the only team facing a non-conference foe. They entertain Ohio State, rarely seen in these parts, for two contests. Lowell and Providence extend their weekends with Tuesday night games against Yale and Dartmouth, respectively.

Last week’s record in picks: 6-5 Season record in picks: 84-45

Boston College (9-11-1, 5-6-1 HE) vs. No. 2 Boston University (13-4-3, 11-0-1 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA WABU-68 Saturday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA NESN

In BU’s only game last week the Terriers faced last-place Northeastern and had anything but a cakewalk. BU needed a Chris Drury goal with less than seven minutes left in the game to hold off the Huskies, 5-4.

"We weren’t all jacked up to play a team that we hoped was going to be as bad as their record," explained BU coach Jack Parker. "They weren’t. They were a much better team than that, and they’ll be a tough team for people to handle down the stretch. Plus their goalie [Marc Robitaille] played extremely well. We outshot them 50-27, so territorially we played pretty well. I was pretty pleased with the effort, but we just didn’t play with as much emotion as we should. But that probably was to be expected coming off of two big wins [over UNH]. You also have to give Northeastern a lot of credit. They played very, very hard and played one of their better games."

Tom Poti, who returned from the World Junior Tournament to play the last half against UNH the previous weekend, was given three days off at that point to recover from the tournament’s rigors. Coincidentally, he scored a goal and added an assist in the Northeastern game.

Mid-season addition Tommi Degerman continued his impressive performances, adding another two assists in the game. He is playing left wing on a line with Chris Drury and Mike Sylvia.

"Once he arrived it was obvious that he understood what we were doing right off the bat," said Parker. "Two days of practice and he knew all our breakouts and forechecks…. And he was as skilled, or more skilled, than the guys that had previously been on that line. He will absolutely stay on one of the top two lines."

Dan LaCouture has enrolled and will play this weekend. "He’ll play left wing on one of the first two lines with Bates or Drury," said Parker, who will juggle the lines before deciding the combinations on Thursday. "For the first time in a while we have some depth and a lot more talent up front.

"This isn’t quite as big a game as the last time [that BU played BC] as far as the standings are concerned," said Parker. "Now we’re ahead of UNH. Last time we were behind them and if we’d lost, we would have buried ourselves deeper.

"But I don’t think the standings have much to do with it. The BU-BC rivalry has more to do with it. It’s important any time you play BC to do well, because it’s so demoralizing for either team if you don’t because it’s such a big rivalry."

Boston College has won both its games since getting back Marty Reasoner, Jeff Farkas and Blake Bellefeuille from the World Junior Tournament. First the Eagles topped UMass-Amherst 5-4, and then they squeaked by a strong RPI team 3-2. The Eagles seem to be building momentum, but whether they’ll have enough for BU remains to be seen.

The last time the two teams played, BU won 6-4 on the strength of Chris Drury’s four goals. "He’s a special player who deserves a lot of coverage," said BC coach Jerry York. "We’ll have to keep a special eye on him when he’s on the ice, that’s for sure."

Jeff Farkas looks to have profited greatly from the junior tourney. After his first game back he noted, "Tonight it felt like I had a couple more seconds to think and react." He had two assists in that game, and added another two against RPI.

"I think Jeff is going to have an outstanding second half of the year," said York. A hot finish could put Farkas into the league’s Rookie of the Year race and, more importantly, help position BC for the playoffs.

Greg Taylor will start both games against the Terriers. He starred against RPI as he has done frequently this season.

PICKS: BU sweeps, 5-3 and 3-2.

No. 6 New Hampshire (16-5-0, 10-2-0 HE) vs. UMass-Lowell (10-10-0, 7-5-0 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA WNDS-50 Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, NH

UNH opened the weekend with a 7-2 win over St. Lawrence, but fell to Clarkson on Saturday night, 5-2.

"We didn’t play bad, but we didn’t play great," said UNH coach Dick Umile about the win over St. Lawrence. "I thought we played much better Saturday but we wound up losing. That’s how it goes. I thought [goaltender Dan] Murphy played well and we had a couple unlucky bounces on goals against us. That was the difference in the game.

"I don’t expect to be scoring five or six goals every game. You’ve got to win the 3-2 and 4-3 games. To do that you have to play strong defense and be opportunistic. We just need to pick up our play and get back the little edge we had before."

Few home-and-home series offer bigger ice differences than this weekend’s games between UNH and the upstart UMass-Lowell River Hawks. Lowell’s Tully Forum is undersized, offering little space between the blue lines; New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center is the only full-fledged Olympic surface in the East.

"Lowell plays hard and tough," said Umile. "They get good goaltending and [Lowell coach Tim Whitehead] has done a great job with them. They’re opportunistic and they do a great job in their specialty situations. They play very physical and cut down your lanes so we have to be prepared to play a tight, close-checking game."

Goaltender Sean Matile sat out last weekend’s games and is questionable for the Lowell series. Matile entered the league on fire, but has struggled to adjust to medication he began taking in the wake of a Dec. 20 seizure. According to Umile, Matile could return against Lowell — but if not, Umile expects him the following weekend.

Clarkson whitewashed Lowell 5-0 to open the weekend, but the River Hawks came back with a stirring 4-3 overtime win against St. Lawrence. Lowell tied the game after pulling its goalie, and then won it on a Greg Koehler goal with 41 seconds left in OT. Had the River Hawks not gotten the extra-skater goal, a loss to St. Lawrence would have dropped them to 1-5-0 since the holiday break.

"We had a three-and-a-half week break over Christmas," said UMass-Lowell coach Tim Whitehead. "It’s the longest we’ve ever had in my six years here. We had 10 freshmen who had never been through that before, and unfortunately they didn’t prepare properly for coming through it. We came back and had four games in six days and that’s where it hurt us. So we’ve paid the price for a couple weeks. We have no excuses, we definitely brought it on ourselves.

"But I’m really pleased with the ways the guys have responded since, in terms of getting back into shape. It was really a great team win for us on Saturday against St. Lawrence."

Two years ago, Lowell tried a three-goaltender rotation with disastrous results. When Scott Fankhouser, who had dropped to number three, played the entire game against Clarkson it appeared to be a return to the failed rotation of two years ago.

"That is something that we’re not really excited about," said Whitehead. "We’re not really in a three-goalie rotation. We’ve got one guy [Marty Fillion] with two other guys as his backup. I’d rather have two guys that I know can start on any given night, but we haven’t gotten to that point and that’s what we’re looking for. We’re just waiting for [Craig Lindsay or Fankhouser] to rise to the occasion and solidify themselves. But Marty did a great job against St. Lawrence."

Lowell now takes on UNH, the first time this year that they’ve tackled one of Hockey East’s top two teams.

"They’re a great team, so it’s going to be a real challenge for us," said Whitehead. "Everybody has to play as a team. For us to be successful this year we have to play as a team and everyone has to work as hard as they can. Our guys know that. They don’t have any false illusions."

PICKS: UNH returns to sweep city, 4-3 and 6-2.

Providence (8-12-1, 6-6-1 HE) at Maine (13-9-1, 5-6-1 HE) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Alfond Arena, Orono, ME

Providence ended a seven-game losing streak with wins over Northeastern, 5-4, and UMass-Amherst, 5-1.

"We’re playing together as a team, that’s number one," said PC coach Paul Pooley, reflecting on the differences between his team’s play now and during the slump. "But we’re also working harder. We’re working harder in practices and we’re working harder in games. We’re being more physical and we’re being rewarded for that.

"Dan [Dennis] played well against both Northeastern and UMass. When Danny plays well, the team gets more relaxed. It frees them up mentally to score goals." Dennis was named Hockey East Player of the Week for his efforts. Pooley has played the senior netminder a lot recently, to get him going for the stretch run.

"He was inconsistent for the first half of the year and he’d be the first to admit that," said Pooley. "It’s important for us to get him sharp."

Pooley will not hesitate to use Dennis in all three Friar games this week, if that will give the team the best chance to win. "Right now our hockey team and how it’s playing is more important than getting anyone ice time."

Pooley made two significant lineup changes before last week’s wins. Freshman defenseman Jason Ialongo and sophomore forward Mike Omicioli did not dress. John Tuohy, a junior, replaced Ialongo in an effort to get more experience on the blue line. Josh MacNevin and Leigh Dean, the two remaining freshman blueliners, have played well, according to Pooley. Ialongo is likely to return to action this week, since sophomore Ben Stadey injured an ankle in the UMass-Amherst game and is expected out for two to three weeks.

"Michael [Omicioli] has played well at times," said Pooley about his other benching. "With him we want him to become more consistent. He can be a great player for us if he continues to work hard and pay the price. Right now our lineup looks pretty solid because everyone is working hard."

Pooley looked ahead to the Maine matchup and two games at Alfond Arena.

"Doing the little things will be important against Maine. You’ve got to know what they’re doing on the faceoffs. You’ve got to know what they’re doing on the power play. Then you’ve got to be ready to execute.

"It is a tough place to play, but it’s a challenge too. I think we play well on the road. I think we like the hostile environment. It pulls us together."

Maine split with Merrimack while playing its fifth and sixth straight games on the road, losing 3-1 and then winning 6-2.

"Friday night we were off," said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. "We didn’t really execute with the same kind of intensity that I’ve seen us have in previous games. Part of that is because Merrimack and Martin Legault played very, very well. But we didn’t generate much offense to make life difficult for him. Saturday night we played much more aggressively around the net. We were just a more hungry team and without question put together our best 60 minutes since I’ve been back."

Marcus Gustafsson has opened eyes, scoring like an all-league player since being inserted into the lineup eight games ago. "He’s been a real key for us," said Walsh. "He’s played eight straight games now and has 15 points in those games. He’s given us a big boost and given us a second scoring line with Roenick and Cardinal. He’s just got a knack for making the right play at the right time offensively. He’s a very intelligent player and he’s got a scoring, sniping shot."

Also helping to turn around an offense that had stagnated earlier in the year is a more active defense. "We’ve encouraged that," said Walsh. "We’ve got some natural offensive defensemen and there’s no sense holding them back. I’ve been happy with the way we’ve generated some offense from the blue line. It’s always been something that I’ve dwelled on. I think it makes you a more diversified offensive team."

The goaltending tandem of Alfie Michaud and Javier Gorriti has stabilized after causing much concern earlier in the year.

"They’ve both been consistent for us," said Walsh. "In our six-game road spell we lost one game in overtime, 4-3, and lost the other one 3-1. So you can’t fault the goaltenders for those games and we won the other four. So we’re playing better as a team, they’re playing more consistently, and I think that alternating them has taken the pressure off."

Maine now faces Providence, a team directly in its upward path in the standings. Two weeks ago, the two teams met at Schneider Arena. Maine jumped out to a seemingly safe 5-0 lead before the Friars battled back with four third-period goals to make a game of it.

"You’ve got to be patient when you play them," said Walsh. "They play a methodical trap and a conservative game. Typically it’s a low-scoring game. They’ve got a good goaltender in Danny Dennis. They seem to have righted their ship since the last time we played them with two good wins this weekend. So I think we’ll see a rejuvenated Providence team and it should be a terrific Hockey East series."

PICKS:Maine wins on Friday, 5-3. Providence gets the split on Saturday, 4-3.

Northeastern (5-14-2, 1-11-1 HE) vs. UMass-Amherst (9-12-0, 4-8-0 HE) Friday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, MA Saturday, 7 p.m., Matthews Arena, Boston, MA

Northeastern lost two games by identical scores this week, 5-4 to Providence on Thursday and BU on Saturday. In their last seven, the Huskies have won three and lost the other four all by one goal.

"The Providence game was the first time we really beat ourselves," said NU coach Bruce Crowder. "We got into a penalty situation that we really hadn’t gotten into all year. It was just one of those games where all of a sudden we were behind 5-1. We battled back and made it 5-4 and made things interesting with the goaltender pulled but it just wasn’t enough."

Freshman Todd Barclay contributed a lot to that game’s interest, scoring a hat trick. "Like a lot of the freshmen here, they’ve been blessed with not only playing right away but getting quality ice time," said Crowder. "He’s a guy who shoots the puck really well. He should shoot the puck almost every chance he gets. He made some real strong plays. It’s got to be a big confidence boost for him.

"In the BU game I thought we played a pretty strong game for us. It was a one goal difference, they scored late in the third period, and we stayed with them."

Goaltender Marc Robitaille earned Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors for his play in the two games. He stopped 30 shots against Providence and a career-high 45 against BU.

"The biggest thing for us is just staying positive. You’re never satisfied when you’re losing, but we are encouraged. We’re starting to see the light bulbs going on with some of the kids. They understand a little bit more. Our last four losses have been by one goal. We’ve made one step to be a lot more competitive and now we just need to make that other step and eliminate some of the mistakes that will give us an opportunity to win some hockey games.

"Obviously we’re looking to get a couple of W’s anywhere we can," said Crowder, looking ahead to this week’s games with UMass-Amherst. "We need to start coming out on top. [UMass-Amherst coach Joe Mallen] always has his guys ready to play so it should be an interesting series. They’re a little bit older than us, a little bit more experienced than us, so it should be interesting to see how that unfolds over the weekend."

UMass-Amherst lost to BC 5-4 and Providence 5-1 before rebounding with a 7-4 come-from-behind win over Yale. In the third period of the loss to Providence, Mallen paired senior co-captain Tom Perry with the team’s two top forwards, Rob Bonneau and Warren Norris. Perry had returned in the BC game from a broken wrist that had sidelined him for six weeks.

"Tommy missed a lot of games and I needed to get him some playing time," explained Mallen. "We were down by four goals and he was playing well, so I just tried to get him over the boards with Warren and Robbie as a good way to get him the puck a little more. We’re going to need him down the stretch."

Mallen’s move paid off three nights later. The Minutemen fell behind Yale 3-1, but Perry’s two goals rallied UMass to the 7-4 win. Chris Fawcett, one of the team’s fastest skaters, contributed three assists.

Mallen would like his squad to finish in the three-to-six range in the standings. This week’s two games against the last-place Huskies represent an opportunity to move up from seventh place.

"There’s no such thing as an easy game in Hockey East," said Mallen. "Despite their record they’ve got to be one of the best 1-11-1 teams. It’s all a game of momentum and if they can [play well] at BU then they’ll come in with a lot more confidence."

PICKS: UMass-Amherst likes their big ice surface to the tune of 6-3, but Northeastern gains the split with a 5-4 win at home.

Ohio State(5-18-0, 4-12-0 CCHA) at Merrimack (6-13-1, 3-8-1 HE) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA

Merrimack split with Maine last weekend, winning the opener 3-1 before losing the rematch 6-2.

"I was pleased with the way that we played defense for five periods this weekend," said Merrimack coach Ron Anderson. "We have to play good team defense to give ourselves a chance to win and I thought we did that for five periods. We had a little breakdown in the third period of the second game and it cost us that game but on balance I was pretty pleased with how we played on the weekend."

Rejean Stringer continued his strong play this season, scoring a goal in the 3-1 win. He leads the team in scoring with eight goals and 11 assists in 18 games.

"He’s a good, solid player developing on the timetable we had hoped," said Anderson. "Halfway through his sophomore year now he’s really starting to become a consistent, productive player for us. That’s the timetable you establish for everybody but not everyone meets that. Fortunately for us, at a time when we really need some offense, he’s starting to kick it into gear for us. But we’re not surprised by what he’s doing. He’s a good steady player."

Anderson deviated from his Martin Legault-and-Eric Thibeault goaltender rotation for the first time this season. Legault, who starred in the Friday night win, came back for Saturday night’s rematch as well.

"I thought we played so well on Friday night that we didn’t change anything on Saturday," said Anderson. "He also wasn’t overworked so there wasn’t any reason to change anything at all." That won’t necessarily hold for this weekend, however. "You never know when somebody’s going to get hot or hurt, so it’s important that we keep both ready."

Anderson assessed the difference between this weekend’s non-conference series with Ohio State and a league matchup. "The points don’t mean anything in terms of league standings, so it’s a chance to make sure that you’re keeping other players fresh and ready to play. But on the other hand you still want to win every game so you still have to put a team out there that you expect to win with."

The series marks Merrimack’s first with Ohio State since entering Division I play. Ohio State’s 5-18-0 record includes wins against Ferris State (3), Bowling Green, and Alaska-Fairbanks. Those teams have a cumulative 24-45-3 record. The Buckeye offense comes primarily from Chad Power (14-12–26), Hugo Boisvert (6-19–25), Pierre Dufour (6-18–24) and defenseman Ryan Root (4-18–22). Power’s totals include a team-leading seven power-play goals and two short-handed tallies.

Goaltending would appear to be OSU’s Achilles heel. Although goalie stats on a weak team must always be taken with a grain of salt, the save percentages of Ray Aho (.836) and Tom Connerty (.811) certainly raise an eyebrow. Both have goals against averages over five. The team’s 133 goals against is far and away the worst in the CCHA.

PICKS: Merrimack sweeps, 6-2 and 6-4.

Yale (5-10-2, 4-8-1 ECAC) at UMass-Lowell (10-10-0, 7-5-0 HE) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, Lowell, MA

After a good start to the season, Yale has fallen on hard times of late. Losers of five of their last six games, the Bulldogs must turn the season around to avoid falling into the ECAC cellar they occupied last year.

Their penalty kill ranks last in the ECAC (72.6 percent overall) and their power play (19.7 percent overall) has also struggled. One beacon of light, however, has been the play of their ECAC Rookie of the Year candidate, forward Jeff Hamilton. Goaltender Alex Westlund has also played well in stretches; he shares the netminding chores with Dan Choquette.

UMass-Lowell is previewed above against New Hampshire.

PICK: Lowell recovers from being swept by UNH, winning 6-2.

Dartmouth (8-7-0, 3-6-0 ECAC) at Providence (6-12-1, 4-6-1 HE) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Schneider Arena, Providence, RI

Dartmouth has cooled off after a hot start this season. The Big Green have lost four of their last five games following a five-game win streak. Freshman goaltender Jason Wong has been one of the ECAC’s statistical leaders all season. He has been joined recently by fellow freshman Eric Almon, who didn’t get his first start until Dec. 21 against Merrimack. Almon made the most of that opportunity, however, and has played regularly since.

Although the Big Green boast no scorers among the ECAC’s top ten, David Whitworth, Ryan Chaytors, Bill Kelleher and Jon Sturgis remain a dangerous group.

The Dartmouth specialty teams feature a penalty-killing unit that ranks third in the ECAC (84.3 percent). Their power play (20.5 percent) puts them among the ECAC middle of the pack.

Providence is previewed above against Maine.

PICK: Providence 5-3.

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

Copyright 1997 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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Face Off: Week 4

USCHO Staff Report
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Welcome back to U.S. College Hockey Online’s roundtable discussion. Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get down to business, which we’ll be doing each week in this space, where various members of our staff take on a hockey topic. Sometimes serious, sometimes silly — but either way, watch the feathers fly: no punches will be pulled, and no quarter given, when these people face off.

Who is the Most Underrated Player in College Hockey Today?

Tim Brule, USCHO Coordinator: By far the most overlooked position in college hockey is defenseman. Forwards put the puck in the net, and get all the attention for doing so. Goaltenders are roundly praised on good nights, and hear it from the crowd on bad nights — sieve, sieve, sieve …

But the only way for a defenseman to get noticed is to score points, which is why Minnesota’s Mike Crowley got all the media attention for scoring 63 points last year from the blue line. This year, Andy Roach of Ferris State is contributing a great deal offensively. Roach is the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, averaging 1.46 points per game (38-26) on a team that only scores at a 3.38 per-game clip. By the end of the year, the media will have noticed Andy, but currently he gets very little national coverage.

Jayson Moy, ECAC Correspondent: In the ECAC, at least, the most underrated player is Jean-Francois Houle of Clarkson. He has always trailed the leading scorers of the team — whether that be Todd White, Patrice Robitaille, Marko Tuomainen, Brian Mueller or so on — but he puts the puck in the net without being recognized for it very often.

Also, he is often overlooked on defense; he plays the penalty-kill with expertise, where he is a dangerous shorthanded threat. Houle plays a great checking game with an intense style. The fans appreciate him enough that his name appears among USCHO’s Hobey-poll semifinalists; it’s good to see that Houle is finally being recognized.

Dave Hendrickson, Hockey East Correspondent: Underrated players, almost by definition, can be detected only by seeing a team many times. As a result, I’ll consider only Hockey East and pick one player at each position deserving of additional attention.

UMass-Amherst goalie Brian Regan earns my bronze medal. The Minutemen have recorded an 11-43-6 league record during his tenure, but Regan’s unflattering statistics belie his abilities, reflecting the “expansion” team he’s had in front of him.

Merrimack forward Kris Porter, my silver medalist, moves like the “Before” picture in a power-skating ad; he may be the worst-looking skater in Hockey East. But his hard work and deft touch around the net has gotten him 17 points in 18 games. Many “pretty” skaters should be so lucky.

Northeastern defensive defenseman Rick Schuhwerk isn’t flashy, rarely shows up in the box scores and captains a last place team. Most fans only notice defensemen when they get beat, but Schuhwerk deserves recognition for his hard hits and his excellent defensive-zone play.

Paula C. Weston, CCHA Correspondent: Miami defenseman Dan Boyle has my vote.

It could be said that this entire Miami team is underrated; because of its relatively recent success, some people are having difficulty believing this team is for real. Miami doesn’t get the national press attention that Michigan (deservedly) does, nor does this Miami team seem to be as big as the success story of, say, North Dakota.

Miami is loaded with talent. Most people think of Randy Robitaille as the driving force behind Miami, and he is indeed an incredible player. Dan Boyle lives in Robitaille’s shadow, but Boyle is key on the Miami defense, and pivotal on a very effective penalty-kill unit. In addition to playing solid defensive hockey, in 15 league games played, Boyle has 20 points (3 goals, 17 assists), second on his team. And he comes with a plus-minus rating of +11.

Dan Boyle is the whole package — a key defenseman who scores points and makes plays.

This Week in the ECAC: January 14, 1997

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ECAC PREVIEW: Jan. 14, 1997 ECAC Special Preview: Jan. 14, 1997 by Jayson Moy

There are three games on Tuesday, including one conference battle.

Cornell (8-4-4, 6-3-2 ECAC, T-2nd) at Colgate (11-7-1, 6-4-1 ECAC, T-4th) Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Starr Rink, Hamilton, N.Y.

The Big Red settled for a 1-1 tie against Army this past weekend, which was not what they were looking for.

Trying to capitalize on an impressive 3-3 tie with the defending national champions, No. 1 Michigan, the Big Red were never able to get on track offensively against Army.

Cornell’s only goal of the game came from Frank Kovac in the second period, though Jean-Marc Pelletier was again spectacular in goal.

Cornell has not had quality scoring in its last four ECAC games. The Big Red have eight goals in those games, in which they are 0-2-2.

Colgate put on an offensive show after falling behind Army 5-1 on Friday. Four goals, starting in the latter stages of the third period, gave Colgate a chance to win it in overtime; defenseman John Dance came up with the game-winner at 2:49 of the extra frame.

Colgate has started to come back after suffering through some rough times in the ECAC. The Red Raiders swept their last ECAC weekend, and played strong games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence in the wins.

In order for Colgate to be successful, it needs to have Mike Harder and company going. Harder was strong on Friday night; he scored the game-tying goal with less than four minutes remaining.

In the first contest between these two teams, Cornell won 3-1. Cornell got goals at even strength, on the power play, and short-handed. Dan Brenzavich was shaky, and Jason Elliot was good as he gathered the win.

The only thing wrong with comparing this battle to the last one is that both teams are now in a different mode. Cornell has not had success lately in the ECAC — Colgate has. As mentioned before, Cornell is 0-2-2 in its last four ECAC games, while Colgate is 3-0-1.

PICK: In order for Cornell to get a win here, offensive production is imperative. Meanwhile, Colgate has found new life. A split of the season series. Colgate 5 Cornell 2

Yale (5-8-2, 4-7-1 ECAC, 8th) at UMass-Amherst (4-8-0, 8-12-0 Hockey East, 7th) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Mullins Center, Amherst, Mass.

Yale lost ground quickly in the ECAC, falling from third to eighth in just three weekends. Losses to Union, RPI and Vermont did not help the Bulldogs out. But a 5-4 win over Dartmouth on Friday gave Tim Taylor’s squad a much-needed lift.

Yale’s top line is one to be careful of. However, this weekend Matt Cumming, Jeff Hamilton and Geoff Kufta were held to one point, a goal by Kufta against RPI. Nonetheless, Hamilton has emerged as the favorite for ECAC Rookie of the Year.

While Yale seems to have turned things around, it needs to improve on special teams. Yale is dead last on the penalty-kill in the ECAC, both overall and in the league: 72.5 and 67.4 percent, respectively. With good power-play units facing the Bulldogs this weekend, these numbers must pick up.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog power play is not faring well either, at 19.7 percent overall. The Bulldogs have scored five fewer goals on the power play than they have given up.

UMass-Amherst turned in a poor showing against Providence on Saturday, falling 5-1. The Minutemen did not move the puck very well in the game, but scored in the third period to break up Dan Dennis’ shutout bid.

Joe Mallen feels there is still work to be done. From Hockey East correspondent Dave Hendrickson’s column:

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

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

PICK: Yale’s top line will play a strong game; UMass’ Rich Moriarty may see time in net against them. It should be a close one, but the Minutemen will not pick up their first win over an ECAC team this season. Yale 4 UMass 2

RPI (11-6-2, 6-3-1 ECAC, T-4th) at Boston College (5-6-1, 8-11-1 Hockey East, T-5th) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

RPI lost a golden chance to move into second place in the ECAC; instead, Harvard did so, defeating the Engineers 6-1 on Saturday.

Offensively for the Engineers, Eric Healey is red-hot. Healey had his second hat trick of the season on Friday against Brown, and now has 20 points in his last 11 games.

In goal, the Engineers are suddenly concerned about Joel Laing. The freshman has been pulled in his last two games, losses to Princeton and Harvard, in favor of freshman partner Scott Prekaski.

Against Princeton, Laing had signs of the flu, but he felt fine this past weekend. He has allowed four goals in little more than half a game each time out, a real worry for Engineer fans.

Boston College has not played for 10 days, and should be rested and ready for this contest.

The Eagles also have the three players that were on the U.S. World Junior Team back on the squad. Jeff Farkas, Blake Bellefeuille and Marty Reasoner have had plenty of time to recuperate from the tournament, and some good practice time with their squad.

This is a young team, and the time off should help Jerry York’s team.

PICK: Two young teams, and some good play in this one. Offensive talent will shine. RPI 5 Boston College 4

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

Copyright 1996 Jayson Moy . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in Hockey East: January 10, 1997

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good news abounds on Commonwealth Avenue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Providence is previewed above against Northeastern.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PICK: Rensselaer 5-4 over BC.

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

(UMass-Amherst is previewed against Providence above.)

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

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

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

PICK: UMass-Amherst 3-2.

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the WCHA: January 10, 1997

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WCHA Preview: Jan. 10-11, 1997 by Jim Thies

In past years, the WCHA often looked like this: one or two teams out front, with such large leads in the standings that the rest of the league was just playing for second place, or even third.

That’s not the case this year. With the season half over, there are seven teams which still have a legitimate chance of finishing near the top of the standings. North Dakota and St. Cloud State share a slim lead with 23 points. Minnesota is breathing down their necks with 22 points and, Colorado College is feeling good at 21. Wisconsin is in fifth place with 19 points while Denver and Minnesota-Duluth aren’t out of it, each with 17.

With some interesting matchups this weekend, we might see a shakeup. The WCHA’s co-leaders, UND and SCSU, meet in St. Cloud, while Denver can make up some ground when the Pioneers head to Minnesota.

Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s games.

No. 2 North Dakota (14-4-2, 11-4-1 WCHA) at St. Cloud State (12-5-3, 10-5-3 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 8:35 CT, National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN

The league’s top teams meet this weekend in St. Cloud; these two split in Grand Forks back in November (SCSU 5-2, UND 5-3).

North Dakota is 7-0-2 in its last nine games, its longest unbeaten streak since the 1986-87 season, when UND went 14 games without a loss. UND’s Dave Hoogsteen (11 goals, 12 assists, 23 points) and Jason Blake (10-13–23) are tied for the WCHA points lead. Ian Kallay (7-11–18) and Kevin Hoogsteen (7-10–17) are up there as well. Toby Kvalevog (9-3-1, 3.09 GAA, .872 SV%) has been the mainstay in goal.

North Dakota leads the league in scoring, averaging 4.63 goals a game. The Sioux are second in the league in power-play conversion, but only ninth in penalty-killing.

For the first time since they joined the WCHA in 1990, the Huskies are in first place. They have accomplished that with excellent defensive play and a great home record (7-1-1). The Huskies are second in WCHA goals-against, with a 3.00 average. Tim Lideen (3-3-3, 2.81 GAA, .913 SV%) and Brian Leitza (7-2-0, 3.09 GAA, .900 SV%) can take credit for a lot of the team’s success.

But don’t forget Sacha Molin (11-11–22), who is third in the league in scoring and has nine multiple-point games; Dave Paradise (9-10–19), who picked up his 100th career point last weekend; or Mark Parrish (10-7–17), returning to the Huskies after playing in the World Junior Tournament.

ELMO Picks: A close split. UND 4-3, SCSU 3-2.

Denver (11-6-3, 7-6-3 WCHA) at No. 4 Minnesota (14-6-0, 11-5-0 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis, MN

Both teams had big weekends last time out, with Denver getting three of four points against St. Cloud State and Minnesota sweeping two games at Alaska-Anchorage.

Denver is on a much-needed run, going 8-1-3 over its last 12 games; in particular, the Pioneers are unbeaten in their last seven. DU’s Paul Comrie (6-9–15) will be looked upon to lead the Pioneers in the offensive zone this weekend. He had a career-high four points in Friday’s 9-6 win over SCSU. Antti Laaksonen (9-5–14) needs to have a big weekend for DU to win, and he’s capable of that.

Goalie Stephen Wagner (5-2-0, 3.25 GAA, .894 SV%) gave up six goals Friday night against SCSU but still got the win. Jim Mullin (2-4-3, 2.94 GAA, .888 SV%) saved 27 of 28 shots in the tie Saturday. This series could depend on the play of these two goalies.

Minnesota may be playing the best of any team in the league right now. Despite being without three top players (all at the World Junior Tournament), the Gophers won twice last weekend on the road. Coach Doug Woog gets those players — Erik Rasmussen, Wyatt Smith and Ben Clymer — back, so he will have some decisions to make about the lineup this weekend.

The Gophers lead the league in both power-play conversion (25.4 percent) and penalty-killing (91.6 percent). It’s tough to beat a team that plays that well on special teams, so a stern test awaits Denver. Goalie Steve DeBus (8-4-0, 2.75 GAA, .900 SV%) is among the WCHA leaders in goals-against and save percentage. Casey Hankinson (7-8–15) was hurt last weekend and it’s not certain that he’ll play. But with players like Defensive Player of the Week Mike Crowley (3-12–15) and high-scoring forward Ryan Kraft (8-6–14), the loss isn’t as great.

ELMO Picks: Minnesota wins twice, 5-2, 4-1.

Alaska-Anchorage (5-11-2, 3-11-2 WCHA) at Minnesota-Duluth (11-8-1, 8-7-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, DECC, Duluth, MN

Here are two teams going in different directions: Minnesota-Duluth is 4-2, and Alaska-Anchorage is 0-5-1 over each team’s last six games.

Alaska-Anchorage lost twice last weekend at home to Minnesota, going 0-for-15 on the power play. At the same time, the Seawolves allowed the Gophers five power-play goals in seven chances. UAA is eighth in the league on power plays and last in penalty-killing, which makes their rough season a little easier to understand.

Overall, UAA is ninth in both goals-against average and scoring. David Valliers (5-10–15) is a fine player, but he needs help from teammates to make things happen.

Minnesota-Duluth finds itself in an enviable position, playing at home this weekend against a lower-division team with a chance to pick up some points. A big weekend could lift the Bulldogs into the top half of the standings. Ken Dzikowski (8-13–21) is tied for fourth in the league in scoring, while teammate Mike Peluso (12-8–20) is sixth. Peluso*s 12 goals and seven power play goals leads the league. Goalie Brant Nicklin (8-7-1, 3.23 GAA, .898 SV%) has played in every league game.

ELMO Picks: A Bulldog sweep: 6-2, 5-1.

No. 8 Colorado College (11-7-1, 10-5-1 WCHA) at Michigan Tech (5-15-1, 2-13-1 WCHA) Friday, 7:35 ET, Saturday, 7:05 ET, John MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, MI

These will be the only regular-season meetings between Colorado College and Michigan Tech.

Colorado College has a chance to make a big move with a sweep this weekend; a four-point effort could be a catalyst for a strong second-half finish. Brian Swanson (8-13–21) is tied for fourth in the league in scoring, and his five power play goals are second in the WCHA. Jason Gudmundson (10-8–18) is tied for eighth in scoring.

Goalie Judd Lambert (8-4-0, 3.40 GAA, .875 SV%) needs to play well, not only this weekend, but the rest of the way if the Tigers want to make a move. CC averages 4.44 goals a game in the WCHA, ranking them second — but they allow 3.56, which puts them seventh.

Michigan Tech sits in the league basement. At least the Huskies are home (though they’re only 3-6-1 there) for six of the next eight games. MTU is last in league scoring, averaging just two per game. Andre Savage (5-6–11) is the only Husky listed among the top 49 scorers in the league.

ELMO Picks: CC sweeps, 5-2, 4-1.

Northern Michigan (8-14-2, 4-13-1 WCHA) at Wisconsin (9-10-1, 9-6-1 overall) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI

Both Northern Michigan and Wisconsin have played well lately in the WCHA: NMU is 4-0 and UW is 3-0-1 in their last four league games.

Northern Michigan’s young team is getting better each weekend. This series with the Badgers is a chance for those players to show their stuff. Bud Smith (4-7–11) is one of those young players; he leads the Wildcats in assists and points overall. Roger Trudeau’s nine overall goals leads the team. Brad Frattaroli and Tyson Holly went 1-4–5 and 2-2–4, respectively, in the win against Laurentian last weekend.

Wisconsin took two wins over the Wildcats in November, 4-3 and 5-1. Last weekend the Badgers beat Michigan Tech for their first home sweep of the season. Could a second be possible? Brad Englehart (10-8–18) has scored at least one point in eight of his last nine games and gone 4-8–12. He is tied for eighth in the league. Rick Enrico (6-11–17) and Joe Bianchi (7-8–15), who has points in seven of his last eight games (4-8–12), are also solid scorers.

ELMO Picks: A second sweep for the Badgers, 5-1, 4-2.

Next Week in the WCHA Friday, Jan. 17 Alaska-Anchorage at Northern Michigan Minnesota-Duluth at Colorado College Michigan Tech at Denver Minnesota at St. Cloud State Wisconsin at North Dakota

Saturday, Jan. 18 Alaska-Anchorage at Northern Michigan Minnesota-Duluth at Colorado College Michigan Tech at Denver St. Cloud State at Minnesota Wisconsin at North Dakota

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

Copyright 1996 Jim Thies. All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the CCHA: January 10, 1997

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CCHA PREVIEW: Jan. 10-14, 1997 CCHA Preview: Jan. 10-14, 1997 by Paula C. Weston

Last week’s play produced some shuffling at the top of the standings in the CCHA. After taking two from Ohio State, Lake Superior State — currently ninth in the Around the Rinks/USCHO poll — moved into a tie for first place with No. 6 Miami. Each team has 22 points. Michigan retains its national number-one ranking, but is in third place in the CCHA with 19 points. Seventh-ranked Michigan State was idle last week, and holds down fourth place with 18 points. The second tier of the CCHA is topped by Bowling Green and Ferris State, who split last week (as predicted); they are tied for fifth place, each with 12 points. Western Michigan stands alone in seventh with 10 points, but could gain ground this weekend with a game against Alaska-Fairbanks, and one against Bowling Green next Tuesday. Rounding out the CCHA are Notre Dame with nine points and Ohio State and Alaska-Fairbanks, each with eight. Last week’s record in picks: 6-3 Overall record in picks: 49-35 No. 7 Michigan State (13-6-0, 9-2-0 CCHA) at No. 9 Lake Superior (15-8-1, 11-4-0 CCHA) Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., Taffy Abel Arena, Sault Ste. Marie, MI Although this is the first conference meeting between the Spartans and the Lakers, these teams have already played once this season, when Lake Superior beat Michigan State 5-0 in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament. In that meeting, each team was missing an important offensive player; this weekend, Michigan State’s Mike York and Lake Superior’s Jason Sessa return from World Junior Tournament play. Neither MSU head coach Ron Mason nor LSSU head coach Scott Borek sounded particularly enthusiastic about this series. Both expect very tough games. "They took it to us hard in the GLI," said Mason. "Let’s face it, – they’re on a pretty darned good roll. We’ve got our hands full. And it’s tough to play up there." The Lakers are coming off a winning weekend against Ohio State, and Laker goaltender John Grahame was the biggest part of that success. Mason acknowledged that a key to the Laker shutout at the GLI was superb goaltending. "Their goaltender played very well; full marks t John Grahame," Mason said. There has been some public speculation about Michigan State goaltender Chad Alban, and the thought is that the Spartans would have a few more wins if Alban were playing better. Mason, however, sees it differently. "When he plays really well, we win. He’s got a couple of games he’d like to have back, there’s no doubt about it, but who doesn’t? But when you ask him to play every night like we do … it’s a tough league. "This is a team," said Mason, "and everyone has to play well. I think our kids will play well this weekend." "Containment," said Borek. "Containment. We just want to contain their offense. We’ll score goals when we get chances. We’ll score three or four goals, but we need to contain their offense. They can be very explosive. We need to contain them, and take our chances to get to their goalie." The Lakers contained an offense and got to a goalie when they played Ohio State. In spite of being outshot 77-50 by the Buckeyes, the Lakers scored nine goals in two games. Laker center Terry Marchant was named the Bauer/CCHA Offensive Player of the week. Marchant’s play was instrumental in both victories over OSU. He scored the first goal of the game on Friday and the game-winner on Saturday. On the other side, Michigan State’s Tyler Harlton was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week for leading the Spartan defense in a 6-2 win over seventh-rated Colorado College. MSU held the Tigers to 0-for-6 on the power play while scoring two short-handed goals. Harlton finished that game with a plus/minus rating of +3 as MSU allowed only 21 shots on goal. This is the second week in a row that the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week meets the CCHA Defensive Player of the Week in a matchup. Last week, John Grahame took on OSU’s Chad Power; Grahame clearly came out on top. PICKS: Lake Superior 3-2; Michigan State 4-2 No. 6 Miami (17-5-0, 11-2-0 CCHA) vs. Ohio State (5-16-0, 4-10-0 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., OSU Ice Rink, Columbus, OH Saturday, 7 p.m., Goggin Ice Arena, Oxford, OH This home-and-home series pits these two teams for the first time this season. Last year, Miami and OSU tied twice before Miami won the rubber match, 3-2 in Columbus. This is a whole new season, one in which Miami is attempting to stake a claim to the CCHA title. Ohio State would settle for a playoff berth. It can’t be said too often: the difference between these two teams is goaltending (perhaps the difference between Miami and nearly every one of its opponents is goaltending). While Miami can count on solid play from experienced junior goaltenders Trevor Prior and Adam Lord, Ohio State is struggling with two first-year netminders who anchor the bottom of the CCHA goaltending stats, Ray Aho and Tom Connerty. "Trevor Prior is still the goalie of choice," says Miami head coach Mark Mazzoleni, "considering how well he’s been playing. But I’m sure we’ll get back to playing Adam again." How good are the Miami goaltenders? In league play, Trevor Prior has a .892 save percentage with a 2.34 goals-against average, and Adam Lord has a .904 save percentage with a 2.48 GAA. Keep in mind that Prior is Miami’s hot goalie right now. In contrast, the Buckeyes’ pair is allowing more than four goals per game. Right now, the more experienced Ray Aho has the better numbers, with an .844 save percentage and a GAA of 4.59. The true freshman, 18-year-old Connerty, is allowing 5.65 goals per game; his save percentage is .823, the lowest in the CCHA. Even with the difficulties Ohio State is experiencing in net, Miami is taking nothing for granted. "They had us twice last season," says Mazzoleni. "When you look at their games this past weekend against Lake, they had a decided advantage in shots. They’re a team capable of beating any team on any given night, like any other team in this league." Believe it or not, Ohio State has a potentially lethal offense. The line of rookies Eric Meloche, Hugo Boisvert (who played on-line together for the Cornwall Colts) and senior Chad Power is capable of scoring lots of goals — well, they’re certainly capable of taking lots of shots. And two Ohio State players,- forward Pierre Dufour and defenseman Ryan Roo,rare among te CCHA leaders in power-play points. But the Buckeyes aren’t winning games. "We just have to get mentally tougher in the third period," says Buckeye coach John Markell. "Whether I have to shorten my bench or talk to some of these guys, I don’t know yet. "Miami is a strong hockey club. They’re offensive. They’ve got some good players in Danny Boyle and Randy Robitaille. We’ve got them in our smaller rink, so we’ll see if we can play in-their-face kind of hockey, and we’ll see what we come out with. A lot of those guys haven’t played in our small rink. We had success against them last year. "My feeling is that our team is doing pretty good. We just need a couple of breaks here. If we keep pouring on 35 shots a game, we’ll come out with a "W” here pretty soon." Ohio State is going to need more than a couple of breaks to win these games. PICKS: Miami 6-5, 3-2 Alaska-Fairbanks (4-15-0, 4-13-0 CCHA) at No. 1 Michigan (18-1-2, 9-1-1 CCHA) Friday, 7 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, MI Alaska-Fairbanks hasn’t played since taking two out of three from Ohio State in mid-December. What a lucky break to come back to hockey against the defending NCAA Division I Champions. Interviewed before the break, UAF head coach Dave Laurion hoped that the time away would help his team settle down, and soothe some jagged nerves. Laurion said that, at the time, the team was still deeply disturbed by the absence of Erik Drygas, who suffered a spinal injury before the season began. Largely because of that incident, said Laurion, the Nanooks were off to a very shaky start. The Alaska-Fairbanks players traveled directly to Ann Arbor from their individual holiday destinations; the team has been practicing in Ann Arbor all week. Laurion was hoping that time to acclimate would help his team prepare for a difficult five-game road trip, starting with the Wolverines. This strategy may hold a certain advantage for the Nanooks, but Michigan doesn’t lose at home. The Wolverines are confident after their ninth straight Great Lakes Invitational Tournament championship. Also, Michigan beat Ferris State 11-1 New Year’s Eve. Nanooks Cody Bowtell and Jeff Trembecky may be among the league’s top scorers, but the Wolverines have a whole arsenal of offensive threats, and Marty Turco defends their goal. PICK: Michigan 5-2 Bowling Green (9-11-2, 5-9-2 CCHA) at Notre Dame (5-13-1, 4-9-1 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Joyce ACC, South Bend, IN This is the third time these two clubs will meet this season; Notre Dame leads the series 2-0. Bowling Green lost to Notre Dame at home, 7-5, and in South Bend, 5-3. "We lost at home against them," said Bowling Green head coach Buddy Powers dispassionately, "then we played them two weeks later and they beat us on the road." At this point in the season, Powers doesn’t have much more to add about his team’s struggles. "We’re still treading water," he said. "We gave up some goals Friday night [against Ferris State], made a couple of mistakes defensively." It’s been a strange year for the Falcons, but Powers believes his team can work through it. "You get in a bad cycle, and all that you can do is keep grinding away. In the 20 years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve learned that things come around." There is some good news for the Falcons. Forward Brett Punchard will probably be returning to the line-up this weekend after a long absence. Punchard broke his right ankle in the multiple-injury-producing Bowling Green-Michigan game on Nov. 9. Punchard underwent successful surgery on Nov. 12, and has been practicing with the team in non-contact drills for the past two weeks. Then there’s the bad news for BGSU. Three Falcons suffered shoulder injuries last weekend. Senior defenseman Kelly Perrault injured his shoulder during the Falcons’ morning skate on Jan. 3; he missed both Ferris State games, and is listed as day-to-day. Freshman forward Adam Edinger and defenseman Peter Ratchuk each sustained sprained shoulders during the Friday Ferris State game. Edinger is listed as questionable for the weekend, and Ratchuk will definitely not play. According to Powers, it’s unlikely any of the recently injured will play this weekend, although the trio will be re-evaluated for Tuesday’s game against Western Michigan. If you’re moved by the frustration the Falcons feel, consider this: Notre Dame has dropped seven one-goal games, and all five Irish CCHA losses have been by just one goal. The Irish are tough defensively this season, mainly because goaltender Matt Eisler is having a great year. Eisler has a 3.55 GAA and an .883 save percentage in CCHA play. Last season, the junior let by well more than four goals per game. And now the Notre Dame offense may be clicking. Give credit to the Irish for putting together the least-pronounceable line on ice. In their nine games on line together, Aniket Dhadphale, Joe Dusbabek, and Lyle Andrusiak have combined for eight of Notre Dame’s 17 full-strength goals. Each is on the favorable side of the plus-minus ratio, and now the linesmen are keeping company with Brian Urick in the points category. This week junior defenseman Justin Theel announced that he will end his playing career because of chronic back injuries. Theel will serve as a student assistant coach for the remainder of the season. Considering the luck of the Falcons, in this series the luck of the Irish will prevail again. PICK: Notre Dame 3-2 Alaska-Fairbanks (4-15-0, 4-13-0 CCHA) at Western Michigan (8-10-2, 4-6-2 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Lawson Arena, Kalamazoo, MI It is possible for a team to be too well-rested, and that may be the case for the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. After nearly a month off, the Nanooks travel to Kalamazoo after playing Friday in Ann Arbor. In spite of spending a week in Ann Arbor to prepare for this tour-of-Michigan-and-Indiana road trip, the Nanooks may just be out of sorts; after all, the players haven’t played together on their own ice since mid-December. Western Michigan dropped two games to No. 2 North Dakota last weekend. Western head coach Bill Wilkinson says his team can’t be too disappointed with the losses. The second game of the series against North Dakota was tied up well into the third, when North Dakota scored two unanswered goals. As for Alaska-Fairbanks, Wilkinson says, "I haven’t seen them since the middle of November, when we played them here. They’re a good skating team. They know how to clog up the neutral zone." The teams split that weekend, with the Broncos winning the first game 4-2, and the Nanooks taking the second 5-3. Western Michigan will win the rubber match. PICK: Western Michigan 5-3 Ferris State (9-15-1, 6-11-0 CCHA) at No. 1 Michigan (18-1-2, 9-1-1 CCHA) Saturday, 7 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, MI Is this a grudge match for Ferris? They lost twice to Michigan in December. A 7-3 home loss is tough enough for any team to take, but losing 11-1 is a really lousy way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. In Ferris State’s only game of the weekend, the Bulldogs are not likely to improve their standing in the CCHA. The only team to take a point from Michigan at home this season has been Cornell, in a 3-3 tie on January 7. The Wolverines’ generosity in such matters is probably exhausted, at least for the time being. It’s a clean sweep. PICK: Michigan 6-2 Western Michigan (8-10-2, 4-6-2 CCHA) at Bowling Green (9-11-2, 5-9-2 CCHA) Tuesday, 7 p.m., BGSU Ice Arena, Bowling Green, OH This will be a game to watch. Each team is feeling the sting of a season that is less than expected. Each is beginning to have to jockey for play-off position in a way that neither could have foreseen. This is what Broncos head coach Bill Wilkinson said about playing BGSU at Bowling Green: "They’re very good at home. It’s always a tough place to play. They’ve got talent. They’re having a puzzling year as well." This is what Wilkinson said about his own team: "Our goaltending has to improve; our defense has to improve; our offense has to improve." This is what Falcons head coach Buddy Powers said about playing Western Michigan: "They played us tough last time." The teams skated to a 3-3 tie in December. This is what Powers said about his own team: "When your offense isn’t scoring, your defense isn’t defending, and your goaltending isn’t working, you can’t win games." Freaky. PICK: Bowling Green 4-1 Alaska-Fairbanks (4-15-0, 4-13-0 CCHA) at No. 7 Michigan State (13-6-0, 9-2-0 CCHA) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Munn Arena, East Lansing, MI Last and certainly not least is this game, the third this season between the Nanooks and the Spartans. This cruel little Alaska-Fairbanks road trip has a game in East Lansing sandwiched right in the middle. After playing single games at Michigan and WMU, the Nanooks play the Spartans, then head to South Bend for a weekend series, just to see what a Lower 48 state other than Michigan looks like. These two teams split in Munn in mid-November. The Nanooks took the first game 5-2, and the Spartans won 5-3 on the second night. By this time in their trip, the Nanooks should be adjusting to life on the road; they should also be clicking again after so much time off. Alaska-Fairbanks did get a bit of boost at the end of the first half of the season, when they took two of three from the Buckeyes. But the Spartans are beginning to feel the drive for the CCHA title, which is really up for grabs among the top four teams. All around, the Spartans are a more consistent team. This should be a close game. PICK: Michigan State 5-4

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

Copyright 1996 Paula C. Weston . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the ECAC: January 10, 1997

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ECAC PREVIEW: Jan. 10-11, 1997 ECAC Preview: Jan. 10-11, 1997 by Jayson Moy

There is a saying about television serials that can be applied to the ECAC: if you miss an episode, you have no idea what is going on when you tune back in.

In this case, an episode is a weekend, and in the topsy-turvy world of the ECAC, a lot has changed — once again.

As always, there are winners and losers in each full weekend of ECAC action, and this weekend there were three big winners: Vermont, Union and Colgate. All three swept their weekend opponents, thus earning the vital four points apiece: Vermont over Harvard and Brown, Union over Yale and Princeton, and Colgate over Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

There were also the teams that got swept — Yale to Union and RPI, and Brown to Vermont and Dartmouth.

And then there are those that only managed one point, such as Cornell, and St. Lawrence, and five teams earned two points (RPI, Clarkson, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton). All of this created a lot of movement in the ECAC standings, but Princeton remains on top of the league.

ECAC Standings

It’s time for some teams to catch up on the number of games played, and it’s also time for some teams to play their last league games for a few weeks. Despite a limited slate of action this week, but there are some interesting matchups.

Vermont (12-5-0, 4-3-0 ECAC, T-8th) and Dartmouth (8-5-0, 3-4-0 ECAC, 11th) at Princeton (12-4-2, 7-3-1 ECAC, 1st) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-5 p.m., Baker Rink, Princeton, N.J. Dartmouth (8-5-0, 3-4-0 ECAC, 11th) and Vermont (12-5-0, 4-3-0 ECAC, T-8th) at Yale (4-8-2, 3-7-1 ECAC, 10th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.

Dartmouth lost ground this past weekend, tumbling to eleventh place with a split. Nonetheless, the Big Green were not far from a sweep, beating Brown 6-4 and then losing in overtime to Harvard, 3-2.

The Big Green will once again throw the freshman goaltending pair of Jason Wong and Eric Almon at ECAC foes this weekend. Wong continues to lead the ECAC with a 2.46 GAA, and Almon made 43 saves in the overtime loss.

Look for the Big Green to continue their splendid penalty killing this weekend. After allowing nine power play chances in the two games this weekend, the Big Green did not allow a single power-play goal. Overall the penalty-kill is at 84.5 percent, and the Big Green have scored four shorthanded goals.

The Catamounts of Vermont earned their first sweep in ECAC action this past weekend with victories over Harvard and Brown, 5-1 and 4-3, respectively. In the process, Vermont broke a five-game Friday losing streak.

"We feel better about life in general," said head coach Mike Gilligan.

Eric Perrin scored four goals this weekend, including a hat trick against Harvard. This was part of a six-point weekend. His partner Martin St. Louis added four assists.

"They are our go-to guys," said Gilligan. "And we’ve spread out some scoring." That scoring was represented this past weekend by Stephane Piche (two goals), Matt Sanders, Jan Kloboucek and Eric Lundin. But the Cats have a tough test as they travel to Princeton and Yale this weekend.

"[Princeton’s] forwards will swarm us, and their defense is underrated," said Gilligan. "And Yale has a great first forward line.

"Both Princeton and Yale have played better hockey than people have thought. We expect that they’re better teams than they’ve had in recent years."

Princeton’s 6-0 shutout of RPI gave the Tigers first place, but a 6-4 loss to Union did not allow the Tigers to extend their lead.

"When you look at it closely, we’re on top," said head coach Don Cahoon. "When you take a good, hard look, we’re in the middle of the pack."

While sitting atop the standings, the Tigers trail RPI, percentage-wise, for first place. The "middle of the pack" refers to special teams, where the Tigers are eighth on the power play (19.8 percent) and sixth on the penalty-kill (82.6 percent).

"We have a lot of areas we want to improve upon," said Cahoon. "We want to do a good job with our special teams, but there’s room to improve there."

Dartmouth held Brown and Harvard without a power-play goal, and Vermont’s potent power play — featuring the French Connection of St. Louis and Perrin — has Cahoon worried.

"They’re five hundred points into their career, so I don’t know if you can keep them in check. Last year (on Feb. 24) we played them very well five-on-five, and I think St. Louis scored three shorthanded goals. In the third period, I wanted to decline penalties."

In fact, it wasn’t quite three shorthanded goals. The last one came just as a penalty ended, but all three came on breakaways, and in similar style, with St. Louis breaking off the bench or the penalty box, receiving a pass at center ice, and going in alone on the goalie. No matter how you slice it, it was an incredible performance.

Yale lost ground quickly in the ECAC, falling from third to tenth in just two weekends. Losses to Union, 2-1, and RPI, 7-2, did not help the Bulldogs.

Yale’s top line was mentioned by Mike Gilligan as a line to be careful of. But last weekend the line of Matt Cumming, Jeff Hamilton and Geoff Kufta was held to one point, a goal by Kufta against RPI. Hamilton, nevertheless, has emerged as the favorite for the ECAC Rookie of the Year.

While Yale seems to have turned some things around, it needs to improve its special-teams play. Yale is dead last on the penalty-kill in the ECAC, both overall and in the league. The PK is at 72.5 percent overall, and 67.4 percent in the league. With good power plays facing the Bulldogs this weekend, these numbers must pick up.

Meanwhile, the power play is not faring well either, at 19.7 percent overall and 19.2 percent in the ECAC. The Bulldogs have scored five fewer goals on the power play than they have given up.

PICKS: Vermont at Princeton: Both of the coaches said it above, noting the swarming forwards of Princeton and the great line of the French Connection. There is also the spread of scoring that Vermont will hope to get. Defense plays a role, but this game is won on special teams. It’s a close one, but we have to go with the resurgent Catamounts. Vermont 5 Princeton 2

Dartmouth at Yale: Another game that will be won on special teams, and Dartmouth has the better of the units. Dartmouth 6 Yale 2

Dartmouth at Princeton: The swarming forwards of Princeton are too much for Dartmouth, but the Big Green will keep it close. Princeton 3 Dartmouth 2

Vermont at Yale: Yale continues to lose distance to the rest of the pack. Vermont 7 Yale 1

Union (9-8-1, 4-4-1 ECAC, 7th) and RPI (10-5-2, 5-2-1 ECAC, 5th) at Harvard (6-8-2, 5-5-2 ECAC, 4th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Bright Hockey Center, Cambridge, Mass.

RPI (10-5-2, 5-2-1 ECAC, 5th) and Union (9-8-1, 4-4-1 ECAC, 7th) at Brown (2-12-1, 1-9-1 ECAC, 12th) Friday-Saturday, 7:30p.m.-7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium, Providence, R.I.

Union was one of the big winners in the ECAC last weekend with its victories over Yale and Princeton, which propelled the Dutchmen up into seventh place.

Union finally got a key ingredient going this past weekend — balanced scoring. Of the eight goals scored this weekend, there were seven different goalscorers. Of significance was that the Dutchmen’s two leading goal scorers, John Sicinski and Brent Ozarowski, did not score at all, meaning others were picking up the offense, something that Union was sorely lacking.

Combining the offense with Union’s defense — the Dutchmen have allowed the fewest goals in ECAC play — and the spectacular goaltending of Trevor Koenig, and the Dutchmen are to be feared.

RPI’s seven-game unbeaten streak was unceremoniously broken when Princeton pitched a shutout; but then RPI came back with a 7-2 whitewashing of Yale. RPI’s two ECAC losses are both shutouts.

Injuries will continue to hurt RPI with Mark Murphy nursing a sore shoulder. Murphy was the second-leading scorer for the Engineers before the RPI tournament, but has now fallen to sixth.

The good news from the injury is that other Engineers have picked up the scoring slack. The first line of Eric Healey, Alain St. Hilaire and Matt Garver continues to be red hot, combining for three goals in the win over Yale.

The other lines have also picked up the scoring pace, most notably Doug Battaglia, Steve Caley and ECAC Rookie of the Week Pete Gardiner. Battaglia added his fourth goal in as many games on Saturday, and Gardiner picked up a goal and three assists.

Harvard came close to getting swept on the weekend before scoring three unanswered goals, including the overtime winner by Doug Sproule to beat Dartmouth 3-2. The Crimson had lost to Vermont 5-1 the night before.

Harvard’s offensive woes continue with four goals scored over the weekend. Harvard is now averaging 2.375 goals per game, a league-low.

It also seems that the Crimson’s power play woes may be on again. After starting the season two-for-two, Harvard followed up with no power play goals in 55 chances, before a 5-for-13 streak ensued. But in Harvard’s last four games, the Crimson have no power-play goals in 13 chances.

Crimson fans should see J.R. Prestifilippo in goal once again this weekend. He has started all 12 ECAC games for the Crimson, and has a 2.71 GAA, and a .898 save percentage. His 2.71 GAA is very solid, but dims in view of Harvard 2.50 goals per game. That could spell disaster for the Crimson.

The Bears of Brown played Vermont tough, but once again came out on the short end of the stick, losing 4-3. Coupled with the 6-4 loss to Dartmouth, and the Bears see the distance between the rest of the league and themselves widening. In order to get back on track in the league this weekend, the Bears must continue certain things.

One of those is balanced scoring. Six different Bears scored goals this weekend, and Brown is starting to get its offensive stars scoring together. Damian Prescott and Mike Flynn both scored on the weekend, and one gets the sense that Brown could be ready to break out.

Another area is the power play. The Bears lead the ECAC in power-play percentage with a 25.3 percent mark.

"Our power play has actually been moving the puck very well, and we generate shots on it," said Brown coach Bob Gaudet. "But the puck hasn’t been fired in the back of the net as much as we’d like. We’ve had plenty of opportunities on it."

Areas of weakness include the defense, which can lead to mental weakness, according to Gaudet.

"We’re actually a pretty solid hockey team," he said. "What happens is, in a game we get down by a goal or a couple of goals, and the guys work really hard, and then mentally we seem to go south a little bit."

PICKS: Union at Harvard: Harvard has shut out Union for three consecutive games. There is a revenge factor here — the last time Union used that emotion, it beat Princeton last week. Vengeance is a great tool, and it works here. Union 4 Harvard 2

RPI at Brown: Same deal here, but Brown doesn’t have the defense to stop the speedy RPI forwards. Also, Mark Murphy is expected back, and that only means bad news for the Bears. RPI 6 Brown 2

RPI at Harvard: RPI usually has trouble with defensive, swarming teams. Unfortunately for them, Harvard isn’t one of those. RPI 5 Harvard 2

Union at Brown: If Brown can play defense, it will stop Union. If Union can play offense, it will stop Brown. Which is the choice? The latter. Union 3 Brown 1

St. Lawrence (8-9-2, 3-4-2 ECAC, T-8th) and Clarkson (10-7-0, 5-4-0 ECAC, 6th) at New Hampshire (15-4-0, 10-2-0 Hockey East, 2nd) Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m., Whittemore Center, Durham, N.H.

Clarkson (10-7-0, 5-4-0 ECAC, 6th) and St. Lawrence (8-9-2, 3-4-2 ECAC, T-8th) at Mass-Lowell (9-9-0, 7-5-0 Hockey East, 3rd) Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m., Tully Forum, North Billerica, Mass.

Clarkson almost had three points this weekend, but an overtime loss to Colgate, 3-2, prevented that. Clarkson defeated Cornell soundly, 5-2, the next evening.

The offensive stars for the Golden Knights continue to take turns. Last weekend it was Chris Clark. Clark tallied five goals: two against Colgate, and the hat trick against Cornell.

For Clarkson to continue to move in the standings, it must get offensive from everywhere, as the Golden Knights have shown they can.

The power play also continues to click for Clarkson. The Golden Knights lead the league with a 26.9 percent mark. This past weekend the they were five of ten with the man advantage.

The Saints found life good again after the return of Clint Owen from a suspension. Two tournament titles and a hard fought 1-1 tie against Cornell were the immediate results. A seven-game unbeaten streak ended with a 4-2 loss to Colgate the next evening.

Unfortunately for the Saints, Owen went down with an injury against Cornell. It is not known if he will be available this weekend or not.

New Hampshire’s 14-game winning streak came to an abrupt end against Boston University this past weekend with two losses, 9-4, and 3-2 in overtime.

The story that accompanies can be summed up in three words — offense, offense, offense.

Six Wildcats have more than 20 points on the season: Jason Krog (12-20–32), Mark Mowers (14-13–27), Eric Boguniecki (10-16–26), Eric Nickulas (16-9–25), Tom Nolan (11-11–22) and Derek Bekar (11-10–21). Those numbers should make any opposing coach cringe when he has to face this Wildcat team.

Mass-Lowell split a pair of games this weekend, defeating Boston College 6-4, and losing to Maine 8-5.

Lowell got some good offense from a number of people this past weekend. Ryan Sandholm scored three times and freshman Greg Koehler scored twice. Goals were also added by Craig Brown, John Campbell, Kevin Bertram, Chris Bell, Marc Salsman and Neil Donovan.

Martin Fillion was sharp on Friday, but was chased from the nets by Maine on Saturday evening.

PICKS: St. Lawrence at New Hampshire: Can St. Lawrence stop UNH’s offense? Not after a motivating sweep by BU. New Hampshire 7 St. Lawrence 3

Clarkson at UMass-Lowell: There is a balance of scoring power from both ends, but the superstar in Todd White helps Clarkson to a win. Clarkson 5 Mass-Lowell 3

Clarkson at New Hampshire: This one should be an offensive showcase of talent and skating. New Hampshire 9 Clarkson 7

St. Lawrence at UMass-Lowell: Clint Owen can make a difference, and he will if he plays. St. Lawrence 4 Mass-Lowell 2 if Owen plays; if not, Mass-Lowell 4 St. Lawrence 2

Army (9-8-1, 2-8-1 major D-I) at Colgate (10-7-1, 6-4-1 ECAC, 3rd) and Cornell (8-4-2, 6-3-2 ECAC, 2nd) Friday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.-7 p.m., Starr Rink and Lynah Rink, Hamilton and Ithaca, N.Y.

Army returned to action last weekend after a one-month layoff, and lost to Merrimack 5-1. The Cadets are led on offense by Frank Fede (10-14–24), Andy Lundbohm (8-10–18), Greg Buckmeier (5-12–17) and Bill Morrison (5-11–16).

In goal is Daryl Chamberlain, and, as chronicled before, Chamberlain is having a sub-par season so far. His 3.95 GAA and .873 save percentage are well below his career averages.

Colgate was a big winner this weekend, gaining four points with victories over Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

One of the keys that Colgate hopes to take into this weekend is its ability to stay out of the penalty box. The Red Raiders were concerned about taking too many penalties, and this past weekend only gave opponents six power plays. This is a marked improvement over the past several weeks.

Dan Brenzavich was also spectacular this weekend. He stopped 79 of 83 shots and was named the ECAC Player of the Week. We can expect Brenzavich to continue his run this weekend, though we might also see freshman Shep Harder in net.

Cornell is in trouble in the ECAC, all of a sudden. Despite only gaining two points in its last four ECAC games, it has only fallen to second place in the standings. This past weekend saw a tie against St. Lawrence and a loss to Clarkson.

Part of it has to do with Cornell’s power play. The Big Red have fallen more than five percentage points in their last four games in the ECAC. The special teams were the single most important factor in the Big Red’s run to the NCAA Tournament last year.

It definitely has nothing to do with sophomore goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier. He made 37 saves against St. Lawrence and was named to the ECAC honor roll this week. Pelletier has a sparkling 2.44 GAA and a .924 save percentage, second-best among ECAC goaltenders.

Cornell did bounce back from its one-point weekend with an impressive 3-3 tie at No. 1 Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night. It’s a far cry from last year, when the Red were pummelled, 11-0, by eventual national runner-up Colorado College during a mid-season non-league game.

PICKS: Army at Colgate: Colgate has too much firepower for the Cadets. Colgate 7 Army 1

Army at Cornell: Cornell has too much firepower for the Cadets. Cornell 7 Army 1

There is a light slate of ECAC action as the teams wind down for exams and catch up on games in hand.

Next week in the ECAC (league games in bold):

Friday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 18 Clarkson/St. Lawrence at Dartmouth/Vermont Air Force at Brown

Saturday, Jan. 18 Union at RPI Cornell at Colgate Niagara at Yale Colgate at Bowling Green

Tuesday, Jan. 21 Yale at UMass-Lowell Dartmouth at Providence

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

Copyright 1996 Jayson Moy . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the WCHA: January 3, 1997

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WCHA Preview: Jan. 3-7, 1997 by Jim Thies

After a full weekend of non-conference games, it’s time to get back to business in the WCHA.

Three teams — Denver, Minnesota and Northern Michigan — all earned holiday tourney titles. Now it’s time to focus on the rest of the league schedule. The standings are tight, with the top three teams separated by just two points and the top five teams just six points apart.

There are three WCHA series set: Minnesota goes to Alaska-Anchorage, St. Cloud State visits Denver and Michigan Tech travels to Wisconsin. In a non-conference series, North Dakota is at Western Michigan. Northern Michigan and Colorado College both have single non-conference games.

Here’s a look at this weekend’s action.

No. 4 Minnesota (12-6-0, 9-5-0 WCHA) at Alaska-Anchorage (5-9-2, 3-9-2 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 AT, Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, AK

Last weekend, Minnesota won its own tourney with two solid wins, while Alaska-Anchorage had some time off to prepare for this series.

Minnesota, fourth in the WCHA and five points from first place, plays seven of its next 10 WCHA games on the road. Casey Hankinson (seven goals, seven assists, 14 points) was named tourney MVP after netting two goals and adding three assists. Ryan Kraft (5-5–10) had a good series as did goalie Steve DeBus (6-4-0, 2.99 GAA, .896 SV%). The Gophers lead the WCHA in penalty-killing (89.7 percent) and will need to keep that up, since they are also the most-penalized team in the league (31.36 minutes per game). One area where UAA coach Dean Talafous has worked his team hard is special teams, and those could play a key role this weekend.

Alaska-Anchorage last played on Dec. 21. Will the layoff hurt? UM has a busy schedule, and the trip to Alaska is never easy; that combination could play a role in the outcome. David Valliers (5-9–14) has gone 4-7–11 in his last seven games and is one of the Seawolves’ leaders. Neil Scheel (5-5–10) is a rookie who has played well as of late, and will need to keep strong for UAA to succeed. Goalie Doug Tesky (3-5-2, 3.48 GAA, .887 SV%) has started the last nine games and looks to be Talafous’ choice.

ELMO Picks: A rested UAA and a tired UM combine for a split: UAA 3-2; UM 3-1.

No. 9 St. Cloud State (12-4-2, 10-4-2 WCHA) at Denver (10-6-2, 6-6-2 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 MT, Denver University Arena, Denver, CO

At the start of the season, most people thought these two teams would be the other way around by now. But Denver struggled early on; meanwhile, St. Cloud has surprised, and currently stands ninth in the nation in this week’s Around the Rinks/USCHO poll.

St. Cloud State has had their strongest start since joining the WCHA, and currently rests in second place. Part of that success goes to the goaltending tandem of Brian Leitza (7-2-0, 2.65 GAA, .914 SV%) and Tim Lideen (3-2-2, 2.79 GAA, .916 SV%) who are one and two among WCHA goalies. Leitza has the best goals-against average and second-best save percentage. Lideen is second in goals against and first in save percentage. But don’t over look players like Sacha Molin (9-11–20), Dave Paradise (8-10–18) and Mark Parrish (10-7–17). Those three, along with several others, have stepped up their games and had great efforts to date.

Denver must be pleased with its efforts last weekend, when it won a fifth straight Denver Cup title by beating Maine 4-3 and Yale 3-2. There’s nothing like a couple of close wins to raise a team’s spirits. Now the Pioneers must built on last weekend’s success and the games against St. Cloud are a good place to start. DU is 7-1-2 over its last 10 games, led by Antti Laaksonen (8-5–13) and Paul Comrie (5-6–11), who has scored points in five straight games. Goalie Stephen Wagner (4-2-0, 2.82 GAA, .906 SV%) is putting a push on to make the All-Rookie team. He is third in the league in goals-against average.

ELMO Picks: A split in a pair of close games: DU 5-4, SCSU 4-3.

Michigan Tech (5-13-1, 2-11-1 WCHA) at Wisconsin (7-10-1, 7-6-1 WCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7:05 CT, Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI

Both Michigan Tech and Wisconsin want to get back to winning ways, as neither team has exactly set the league on fire so far.

Michigan Tech is last in the WCHA, but should be encouraged by their play against Michigan State, despite losing 4-3. The Huskies are winless in their last 11 games, the team’s longest such streak since another 11-game skid during the 1993-94 season. MTU needs to improve its power play, which has scored just two goals in its last 69 chances and is last in the WCHA overall (10.4 percent). Goalie Luciano Caravaggio (2-4-1, 3.24 GAA, .909 SV%) will have to have a big weekend for the Huskies.

Wisconsin has had a better half-season than Tech, but the Badgers also lost twice in their own tourney last weekend: 9-7 to New Hampshire, 5-2 to Vermont. A couple of WCHA wins would put them in a position to battle for a home playoff spot. Brad Engelhart (9-5–14), Rick Enrico (4-10–14) and Joe Bianchi (6-6–12) are the top Badger scorers in league play. Bianchi has points in five of his last six games (3-6–9). Kirk Daubenspeck (6-6-1, 3.40 GAA, .883 SV%) remains the top man in the Badger nets.

ELMO Picks: The Badgers get two wins: 5-2, 4-1.

No. 3 North Dakota (12-4-2, 11-4-1 WCHA) at Western Michigan (8-8-2, 4-6-2 CCHA) Friday-Saturday, 7 ET, Lawson Ice Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

This non-conference series will keep both teams sharp as they prepare to get back to their respective league schedules.

North Dakota sits atop the WCHA; last weekend the Fighting Sioux beat and tied Boston University, 6-4 and 2-2. UND is 5-0-2 over its last seven games, and has the league’s top two scorers in Dave Hoogsteen (11-12–23) and Jason Blake (10-13–23). Hoogsteen’s 11 goals is second in the league and Blake’s 13 assists ties him for the WCHA lead in that department. Ian Kallay (7-11–18) is also there for the Sioux. Goalie Toby Kvalevog (9-3-1, 3.09 GAA, .872 SV%) leads the league in wins and has been very dependable.

Western Michigan lost to St. Lawrence 5-3, but rebounded to beat Ferris State 3-1 last weekend; the Broncos are at .500 overall. They are 4-6-2 in the CCHA and in a three-way tie for fifth place. In league play, Justin Cardwell (11-7–18) leads the Broncos in scoring and is the hands-down leader in goals. Mike Melas (4-13–17) is second in scoring and the leader in assists. Matt Barnes (4-6-2, 3.32 GAA, .879 SV%) has played in all but about 25 minutes in goal.

ELMO Picks: UND wins twice: 5-2, 5-3.

Laurentian at Northern Michigan (6-14-2, 4-13-1 WCHA) Saturday, 7:05 ET, Lakeview Arena, Marquette, MI

Northern Michigan put together two solid games in winning the Saskatchewan Chillout tourney title. They beat the University of Saskatchewan 6-1 and the University of Regina 5-3 in the title game. The Wildcats were able to use some less-experienced players in the tourney, but coach Rick Comley will probably want to get his regulars back in the lineup as the Wildcats prepare for a WCHA series at Wisconsin on Jan. 10-11.

ELMO Pick: NMU 5-3.

No. 7 Colorado College (11-6-1, 10-5-1 WCHA) at Air Force (4-9-1, independent) Tuesday, 7 MT, Cadet Ice Arena, Air Force Academy, CO

Colorado College, which finished second at the Badger Hockey Showdown, doesn’t play this weekend, but faces Air Force on Tuesday. At the least, CC should be familiar with the rink, since they are using Cadet Arena as their home ice this year.

The Tigers played a non-conference game at Michigan State on Dec. 31 and were soundly beaten by the Spartans, 6-2. CC’s next WCHA games will be Jan. 10-11 at Michigan Tech. Goalie Judd Lambert (8-4-0, 3.40 GAA, .875 SV%), who was named to the Badger Hockey Showdown all-tourney team, has a 43-17-2 career record.

Air Force has struggled to a 4-9-1 record this year, but their win total already matches last year’s, when they finished 4-24-5. The Air Force will be outmatched in this game, and must play their very best to have any chance against what will doubtless be a CC squad looking to avenge its pasting on New Year’s Eve.

ELMO Pick: CC 7-2.

Next Week in the WCHA Friday-Saturday, Jan. 10-11 Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota-Duluth Colorado College at Michigan Tech Denver at Minnesota North Dakota at St. Cloud State Northern Michigan at Wisconsin

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

Copyright 1996 Jim Thies. All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the ECAC: January 3, 1997

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ECAC PREVIEW: Jan. 3-7, 1997 ECAC Preview: Jan. 3-7, 1997 by Jayson Moy

The ECAC was the conference of champions during the holiday season. In seven holiday tournaments, ECAC teams took home four titles, finished second in three, third in three, and did not place last in any.

The titles were won by RPI in its own RPI Invitational, St. Lawrence at the Auld Lang Syne Classic in Hanover, N.H., Cornell in the Syracuse Invitational and St. Lawrence again in the Pepsi Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Second-place finishers included Brown in the RPI tournament, Dartmouth at the Auld Lang Syne and Yale in the Denver Cup.

Overall in tournament action, ECAC teams went a combined 12-4 against non-ECAC foes. This included a 7-1 mark against Hockey East rivals, 3-1 against CCHA foes, 1-0 against independents and 1-2 against WCHA teams.

In non-tournament action, ECAC teams dominated again. Princeton and Union went a combined 4-0, sweeping Notre Dame and Mankato State respectively.

Updating the current ECAC-vs.-other-conferences standings:

vs. Hockey East 26-10- 2 vs. CCHA 9- 7- 0 vs. WCHA 1- 8- 0 vs. independents 6- 0- 1

Now that holiday hockey is complete, it’s time to resume the battle for the Whitelaw Trophy with a full slate of ECAC action this weekend.

Princeton (11-3-2, 6-2-1 ECAC, T-1st) & Yale (5-5-2, 3-5-1 ECAC, T-7th) at RPI (9-4-2, 4-1-1 ECAC, T-4th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m., Houston Fieldhouse, Troy, N.Y.

Yale (5-5-2, 3-5-1 ECAC, T-7th) & Princeton (11-3-2, 6-2-1 ECAC, T-1st) at Union (8-7-1, 2-4-1 ECAC, 9th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m., Achilles Rink, Schenectady, N.Y.

Princeton is in first place in the ECAC heading back into the conference schedule. Princeton is coming off a sweep of Notre Dame at home, 5-2 and 3-2, the second in overtime.

The Tigers were in the same position in 1989-90 — first place with a 5-3-1 record. That year Princeton went 6-7-0 the rest of the way (still finishing with its only over-.500 league record to date) and wound up in the preliminary round of the ECAC tournament, losing to Yale. The Tigers hope to keep the momentum going this year.

Mark Salsbury was the Tiger goaltender that year, and recorded the best save percentage in Tiger history with a .901 mark. This year, it’s a combination of goaltenders for Don Cahoon’s squad. Nick Rankin and Erasmo Saltarelli have been the main guys. Rankin has a 5-2-0 mark, a 2.80 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

The offensive stars for Princeton this weekend were Scott Bertoli and Jeff Halpern. Bertoli scored two goals on Sunday, including the overtime winner with 19 seconds left, and has a team-leading eight tallies after a two-week drought. Halpern scored two on Saturday evening.

Yale is another surprise in the ECAC, due to its youth. One key has been the emergence of freshman forward Jeff Hamilton. Hamilton was named ECAC Rookie of the Week a few weeks ago, and has been a key ingredient for the offense. He had two goals and an assist in the Denver Cup, and now has six goals and nine assists for 15 points on the season.

The Denver Cup went fairly well for the Bulldogs, with a 7-3 win over Air Force and a 3-2 overtime loss to host Denver in the championship game. The Bulldogs look like a different team from a year ago, when they struggled to win four league games.

Josh Rabjohns had his first two goals of the year in the win over Air Force, and Keith McCullough added a goal in the championship game.

Alex Westlund made 26 saves in Friday’s win, and Dan Choquette had 28 saves in the overtime loss. Westlund is among the leaders in the ECAC with a 2.71 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

After winning its own tournament with victories over Mass-Amherst 9-5 and Brown 6-3, RPI is now 5-0-2 following a stretch in which it was shut out in three consecutive games.

RPI tournament MVP and ECAC Player of the Week Eric Healey has been instrumental in the Engineers’ streak. He has nine goals and five assists in the past seven games.

His linemates, Matt Garver and Alain St.-Hilaire, have also been on fire. The three combined for 18 points in the two games of the tournament. Garver’s return from a shoulder injury has coincided with the unbeaten streak; he has one goal and eleven assists in the six games since his return. St.-Hilaire has five goals and six assists during the streak.

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

Another offensive star for the Engineers during the tournament was assistant captain and all-tournament team member Doug Battaglia. Battaglia had three goals and three assists to earn his honors.

Union thrashed independent Mankato State 8-2 and 6-1 to earn its first weekend sweep at home since the final weekend of the 1993-94 season, when it swept Colgate and Cornell.

"Ever since I’ve been here, we never swept a weekend," said junior goaltender Trevor Koenig. "I wanted to do it before senior year, that’s for sure."

The two victories also gave Union more wins (eight) than it earned all of last season, when the Dutchmen went 7-19-4.

Senior Jamie Antoine picked up his fifth power-play goal in Saturday’s victory. That is a team high, and matches the second-highest total on the power play in Union’s Division I history. Antoine needs four more to tie Chris Ford’s mark of nine in the 1993-94 season.

John Sicinski also added a goal on Saturday. It was his 12th of the season, a team high so far. He is two goals away from eclipsing last year’s leading goal scorer, Brent Ozarowski.

PICKS: Princeton at RPI: This has been a highly anticipated matchup, given that both teams are in the top half of the league. The matchup to look for here is on defense. Princeton’s five-man unit versus RPI’s six-man unit, and a matchup of two good freshmen offensive defensemen in Dominique Auger and Brian Pothier. Both teams are rolling, but it gives for one team. RPI 5 Princeton 4

Yale at Union: Two more surprising teams are featured here. This will be a battle of containment on offense. Can Union put up the punch it did against Mankato State? Union 3 Yale 2

Yale at RPI: RPI will have its offense moving here; it’s up to Yale to stop them. RPI’s offense is stronger than Yale’s defense. RPI 6 Yale 3

Princeton at Union: The second matchup between these two teams. Princeton held Union down in the J.C. Penney Classic, and the Tigers will do it again. Princeton 5 Union 1

Colgate (8-7-1, 4-4-1 ECAC, T-4th) & Cornell (8-3-1, 6-2-1 ECAC, T-1st) at Clarkson (9-6-0, 4-3-0 ECAC, 6th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m., Cheel Arena, Potsdam, N.Y.

Cornell (8-3-1, 6-2-1 ECAC, T-1st) & Colgate (8-7-1, 4-4-1 ECAC, T-4th) at St. Lawrence (6-8-1, 3-3-1 ECAC, T-7th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m., Appleton Arena, Canton, N.Y.

Colgate was upset by Merrimack in the first round of the Syracuse Invitational, 4-3. The Warriors mounted a third period that the Red Raiders could not stop. However, the Raiders came back and defeated Providence in the consolation game, 6-2.

Even though Colgate scored nine goals on the weekend, its big guns were kept relatively silent. Mike Harder had only an empty-net goal against Providence, Rob Mara tallied one goal against Merrimack and Dave DeBusschere was held scoreless.

Even though Shep Harder made 43 saves against Merrimack, it was not enough to give Colgate the win. The next evening, Dan Brenzavich made 34 saves in the victory over Providence.

Cornell won the Syracuse Invitational with a 4-3 triple-overtime win over Providence — the fifth-longest game in NCAA history — and a 4-1 win over Merrimack in the championship game.

Cornell showed its breadth of offensive power once again as eight different Big Red players scored its eight goals on the weekend: Tony Bergin, Darren Tymchyshyn, Doug Stienstra, Jeff Oates, Steve Wilson, Chad Wilson, Ryan Moynihan and David Adler.

It was the first career goal for Adler, a freshman defenseman, and it was the overtime winner at 10:14 of the third OT. Adler was named ECAC Rookie of the Week.

The story of the classic was goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier. Pelletier made 52 saves in the win, including 15 in the second overtime, giving his team a chance to win.

Clarkson continued its relative lack of success in holiday tournaments this past weekend with a 3-0 loss to Miami in the Mariucci Classic. The Golden Knights have now won only three titles in their last 15 holiday tournament appearances, dating back to 1983.

Nonetheless, Clarkson made up for it with a 7-4 win over Boston College in the consolation game.

The Golden Knight defense allowed 53 shots on goal in the loss to Miami. Dan Murphy was spectacular in net with 50 saves, but his offense could not put a goal up for him.

The next evening, the depth of the Clarkson offense atoned for Friday evening as six different players scored seven goals. Todd White added two goals to give him 15 on the year, and Jean-Francois Houle scored his eighth of the season.

When the Saints take the ice this weekend, it will be the fifth and sixth games for St. Lawrence in nine days, thanks to a scheduling quirk. St. Lawrence has two holiday titles to its credit already. With a 5-2 win over Western Michigan and a 7-6 win over Ohio State, the Saints captured the inaugural Pepsi College Hockey Tournament. Then, at the Auld Lang Syne Classic, St. Lawrence recorded two one-goal wins on its way to another title, beating Dartmouth 3-2 in the championship game.

Clint Owen is back from his suspension and made 32 and 44 saves against Western and Ohio State, respectively.

Ten different Saints scored twelve goals in the two games, two apiece by Scott Stevens and Paul DiFrancesco.

Fatigue is going to play a large part in this weekend’s games for St. Lawrence, and the conditioning level must be one of the main factors. Therefore, it will be important for the Saints to get off to quick starts in both games.

PICKS:

Colgate at Clarkson: Colgate needs others to score besides its big trio in order to win a game like this. Clarkson has shown its scoring depth, and that’s why they’ll win it. Clarkson 6 Colgate 3

Cornell at St. Lawrence: Cornell will wear down a tired Saint team. Cornell 5 St. Lawrence 3

Cornell at Clarkson: The depth of both teams will be something to watch. A look at the situation says it will boil down to two things: special teams and third- and fourth-line play. Clarkson 4 Cornell 3

Colgate at St. Lawrence: Can a tired Saint defense keep up with quick-skating Colgate forwards? Colgate 7 St. Lawrence 2

Brown (2-10-1, 1-7-1 ECAC, 12th) & Harvard (5-7-2, 4-4-2 ECAC, 3rd) at Dartmouth (6-3-0, 2-3-0 ECAC, T-10th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m., Thompson Arena, Hanover, N.H.

Harvard (5-7-2, 4-4-2 ECAC, 3rd) & Brown (2-10-1, 1-7-1 ECAC, 12th) at Vermont (10-5-0, 2-3-0 ECAC, T-10th) Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m., Gutterson Fieldhouse, Burlington, Vt.

Brown pulled off an upset in beating Bowling Green 5-4 in overtime at the RPI tournament. The elation only lasted one day, as RPI beat the Bears 6-3 in the finals.

The Bears are a very good two-win team. But one problem Brown has experienced is keeping its composure, especially in the penalty department. In the two games it played, Brown added 50 penalty minutes to its ECAC-leading total of 282. In the 14 power plays that resulted, Brown gave up four goals, bringing its penalty kill to 74.4 percent.

On the other side, the Brown power play is clicking very well. With 20 goals on 74 attempts (27 percent), first in the ECAC, the Bears used the extra skater to their advantage against Bowling Green, scoring three power-play goals.

"I was hoping that special teams would be a real key," said Brown head coach Bob Gaudet. "I know we can put five guys on the ice against their four that can move the puck and generate shots … and we did some of that (Friday against Bowling Green)."

Harvard has accomplished some things in its last few games that have turned some things around. The power play is working once again, and recent wins have gotten the Crimson into third place in the ECAC.

However, Harvard is coming off an offensive drought after getting swept by Minnesota-Duluth, 3-1 and 4-2, before the holiday break.

After scoring 15 goals in its previous four games, in which Harvard went 3-0-1, the Crimson could only manage three against the Bulldogs. Ashlin Halfnight and Marco Ferrari scored their first goals of the season, and Craig Adams scored his second in Duluth.

With Harvard playing only five league games in January, it must have strong performances if it wishes to stay in the top half of the league; else, other teams will pass the Crimson by.

Dartmouth has been on a real big streak. The Big Green are 6-2-0 in their last eight, and seem poised to begin a run in the ECAC. After pasting Mass-Lowell 6-2, they lost a close game to St. Lawrence in the Auld Lang Syne championship, 3-2.

The story for Dartmouth is in goal. Freshman Jason Wong has taken over the reins as the number-one goalie in Hanover, and for good reason. Wong is 4-1-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .881 save percentage. Wong also has an ECAC Rookie of the Week honor under his belt.

Dartmouth’s other freshman goalie, Eric Almon, got his first career start against Merrimack in Dartmouth’s last game. He made 42 saves and earned a 5-2 victory.

Leading the offensive charge are Ryan Chaytors (6-6–12), Jon Sturgis (6-3–9), David Whitworth (4-5–9) and Bill Kelleher (5-4–9).

Vermont was the victim of Don Lucia’s 200th career victory when his Colorado College Tigers defeated the Catamounts in the first round of the Badger Showdown, 6-0. The much anticipated rematch of last year’s exciting NCAA semifinal was not so stellar for the Cats.

Vermont bounced back with a 5-2 win over the host Wisconsin Badgers the following evening as Martin St. Louis captured the hat trick.

St. Louis continues to lead the ECAC in scoring with 31 points (13-18), while his linemate Eric Perrin is third with 26 (11-15).

Vermont has now finished its non-league schedule, posting an 8-2-0 mark in those games. Included among those eight wins are victories over No. 2 New Hampshire, No. 6 Boston University, No. 5 Miami (OH) and No. 10 Lake Superior State. The losses are to UNH and No. 7 Colorado College — yet the voters have seen fit to drop the Cats out of the top ten.

PICKS: Brown at Dartmouth: If Brown can stay out of the penalty box, it has a chance. If Brown can score on the power play, it has a chance. Dartmouth has scored 27 goals in its last six games, and must continue. Bob Gaudet’s season of woe continues. Dartmouth 4 Brown 3

Harvard at Vermont: Detractors will say Vermont is overrated, while others claim Vermont is just waiting to hit its stride. Vermont is still one of the teams to beat in the ECAC. Vermont 6 Harvard 2

Harvard at Dartmouth: Dartmouth has won its last three against the Crimson. That streak ends here. Harvard 4 Dartmouth 2

Brown at Vermont: Offensive teams seem to give Brown trouble. That should prove true again. Vermont 8 Brown 3

Cornell (8-3-1, 6-2-1 ECAC, T-1st) at Michigan (17-1-1, 8-1-1 CCHA, 4th) Tuesday, 7 p.m., Yost Ice Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

Cornell is previewed above.

Michigan comes off of its ninth consecutive Great Lakes Invitational title. The Wolverines defeated Michigan Tech 6-1 and Lake Superior State 5-4 to capture the tourney.

Against Lake State, Matt Herr’s second goal of the game came with less than four minutes to play, and broke a 4-4 tie between the Wolverines and Lakers.

The leading scorers for the Wolverines are Brendan Morrison (11-28–39), John Madden (9-26–35), Herr (18-14–32) and Warren Luhning (10-16–26). In goal is Marty Turco, who has a 16-1-1 record, a 2.44 GAA, and a save percentage of .890. He is one of the main reasons Michigan is up there in the standings and No. 1 in the country.

PICK: This is a tough one. There is a lot of offensive power in Michigan, and Cornell has to stop it. Cornell will make it close, but Michigan proves why it is the top-ranked team in the nation. Michigan 4 Cornell 3

Some of the teams with games in hand get going next week, and there is a light ECAC schedule. There are also some chances for the ECAC to continue its dominance over Hockey East next weekend.

Friday & Saturday, January 10 & 11: Vermont/Dartmouth at Princeton/Yale RPI/Union at Brown/Harvard St. Lawrence/Clarkson at UNH/UMass-Lowell Army at Colgate/Cornell

Tuesday, January 14: RPI at Boston College Yale at UMass-Amherst

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

Copyright 1996 Jayson Moy . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in Hockey East: January 3, 1997

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PICK: Maine 4-3 over Providence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Both teams previewed above.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boston College was previewed above.

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

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

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

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

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

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

PICK: Merrimack wins 6-2.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright 1996 Dave Hendrickson . All Rights Reserved.

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This Week in the CCHA: January 3, 1997

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CCHA PREVIEW: Dec. 4-7, 1996

CCHA Preview: Dec. 4-7, 1996 by Paula C. Weston

The CCHA begins the second half of the season quietly, with only two two-game conference series and three teams facing competition from conference-leading non-CCHA teams.

It’s no surprise that Michigan won its ninth straight Great Lakes Invitational Tournament. We know what this is for the rest of the CCHA: bad news. Michigan will undoubtedly use this matter of pride as a jumping-off point for the second half of the season. Since the Wolverines beat Ferris State 11-1 on New Year’s Eve, they start the second half of the CCHA season with the GLI title, an Around the Rinks/USCHO first-place ranking, and, with 19 points, second place in the CCHA.

Miami is still first in the CCHA at 20 points. They travel to Notre Dame for one tough game. Fifth in the ATR/USCHO poll, Miami has played close games with Notre Dame this season, in spite of the distance between them in the standings.

Lake Superior State is tied for second in the CCHA with the Michigan State Spartans. Both teams are ranked in the top ten:- Michigan State eighth, Lake Superior tenth. Lake Superior travels to Columbus for two games with the inconsistent Buckeyes, who remain tied for last in the CCHA with eight points.

Rounding out the schedule this week is non-conference play. Western Michigan hosts a two-game series against third-ranked North Dakota. Notre Dame has one game against Mankato State, which tops the independents. Michigan plays host to Cornell, tied for first place in the ECAC.

Hang on, CCHA fans. With just a few points separating the top four teams, several squads have a legitimate shot at the league title. With just two points separating the fourth-place team and the last-place team, anyone can make the playoffs.

Idle Alaska-Fairbanks and Michigan State resume CCHA play Jan. 10.

Last week’s record in picks: 10-11 Overall record in picks: 43-32

Bowling Green (8-10-2, 4-8-2 CCHA) at Ferris State (8-13-1, 5-9-0 CCHA) January 3 & 4, 7 p.m., Robert L. Ewigleben Ice Arena, Big Rapids, MI

Here is an opportunity for either team to make that first critical step away from the middle of the CCHA pack. Of course, that’s what this writer said a few weeks ago, when Bowling Green and Western played. That game ended up tied, and no one gained any ground.

That’s probably what will happen here. Neither team won a game in holiday tournament play. In the RPI Marine Midland Holiday Hockey Tournament, Bowling Green lost a 5-4 overtime first-round game to Brown, and lost again by the same score to Mass-Amherst in the consolation game. Ferris State lost 8-4 to Ohio State in the Friday game of the Pepsi College Hockey Tournament, then lost to Western Michigan 3-1 in the consolation.

These teams are relatively evenly matched, with some very similar problems. Both teams need to score more goals, because neither has solid goaltending.

For the Falcons, Mike Savard has an .876 save percentage and a goals-against average of 3.31 per game in 10 games. That doesn’t sound bad, but Bowling Green has won only four conference games. Bob Petrie is allowing 4.06 goals per game for the Falcons, and has a save percentage of .854. Jason Piwko started in goal for the Falcons during the Western game; his GAA is 5.08, and his save percentage .782 for one game.

For the Bulldogs, not much is better. Mike Szkodzinski has the best GAA (3.55) and save percentage (.873) for Ferris State. Jeff Blashill started for Ferris State against the Buckeyes in the tournament, but was pulled after the first period in favor of Roger Wilsey. Blashill’s save percentage is .841, and he’s allowing 4.14 goals per game. Wilsey has played only two games — both non-conference– – with a save percentage of .783 and a GAA of 4.80.

Says Falcon head coach Buddy Powers, "One of our goalies just has to start playing like we know he can. When we allow 20 shots on goal, we have to start playing better defensive hockey."

Ferris State has a psychological edge for this series. Bowling Green isn’t used to losing this many games. Says Powers, "This series begins our final run for the league position. We’ve got to keep plugging away and plugging away."

Bowling Green will get some help soon when Brett Punchard comes back from an injury, but that won’t be this weekend.

PICKS: Friday, Ferris State 4-3; Saturday, Bowling Green 5-2

Lake Superior State (13-8-1, 8-4-0 CCHA) at Ohio State (5-14-0, 4-8-0 CCHA) January 4 & 5, 2 p.m., Ohio Exposition Center (formerly Fairgrounds Coliseum), Columbus, OH

This Lake Superior team blanked Michigan State 5-0 in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational. This Ohio State team stood on its head during an 8-4 victory over Ferris State in the first round of the Pepsi tournament. Both teams lost their championship games. The similarities end there.

Lake Superior has outscored its opponents 54-46 in league play, while Ohio State has yet to hit the 46-goal mark. A large part of the Lakers’ success is the combination of a team offensive leader in Jason Sessa and smart goaltending by John Grahame.

With 24 points, Sessa is tied with UAF’s Cody Bowtell for points in CCHA play. Unlike Bowtell, Sessa has a plus-minus rating of 15. Other offensive leaders for the Lakers are among the mere mortals of the CCHA. Bates Battaglia and Bryan Fuss each have 15 points, which is just one more point than the Buckeye-leading pair of Pierre Dufour and Ryan Root.

Grahame made a total of 57 saves in the GLI to earn him CCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors. Grahame is allowing 3.45 goals per game in league play, in a league where every goalie but the top three is allowing at least three per game.

It’s no secret that the Buckeyes are hurting defensively, especially in the nets. First-year goalies Tom Connerty and Ray Aho are each giving up more than four goals per game. Connerty, the starter, has a save percentage of .823 in CCHA play.

Still, the Buckeyes have shown signs of life on the offensive side. Senior co-captain Chad Power (LW) had ten points for the Pepsi tournament, and was named tournament MVP in spite of the Buckeyes’ loss in the championship game. He was also named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week; hence, this series pits the reigning league Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.

Power had a hat trick in the first game, scoring short-handed, on the power play, and at full strength. He’s the only Buckeye on the roster to have a hat trick, and this was his second. His first was against Guelph last season; neither counted in CCHA play.

The outcome of this weekend depends a whole lot on which Buckeye team shows up. Says Buckeye head coach John Markell, "We have to keep ourselves in both games. We have to feel like we can win a game. A lot is going to hinge on how we play. Are we going to have a consistent effort from the forwards back to the goaltending?" That’s the big question.

Maybe the Buckeyes can exploit the Lakers’ weakness on special teams. Maybe.

PICKS: Saturday, Lake Superior 7-2; Sunday, Ohio State 6-5

Miami (15-5-0, 10-2-0 CCHA) at Notre Dame (5-12-1, 4-8-1 CCHA) January 3, 7 p.m., JACC, South Bend, IN

In the first two meetings between these teams this season, Miami won by just a goal in each. On Oct. 26, Notre Dame held Miami scoreless through the first two periods; Miami scored twice early in the third, and the final score was 2-1. On Nov. 23, the score was tied at three apiece until Miami’s Dustin Whitecotten scored with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Clearly, Notre Dame plays this league-leading Miami team hard.

In this final regular-season meeting between the two teams, Miami can expect much of the same. "We played them twice already, and both games came down to the wire," says Dave Lassonde, assistant coach at Miami. "Both were one-goal games, both games very even from start to finish. We can expect both teams will get good goaltending. This game will be hard work. Notre Dame is a very hard-working team."

Notre Dame is getting very good goaltending from Matt Eisler, whose respectable .889 save percentage and 3.45 GAA put him seventh in the league. But Miami has the whole package. Trevor Prior is Miami’s hot goalie now, with a .896 save percentage and a remarkable 2.25 GAA. But their "backup" isn’t bad; Adam Lord has a .904 save percentage and a 2.48 GAA.

Then there’s Randy Robitaille, whose 22 points put him near the top of the CCHA stats. And then there’s Miami’s special teams. Miami is third in the CCHA on the power play, and second on the penalty kill.

This one will be close, but Miami sweeps the season series.

PICK: Miami 3-2

North Dakota (12-4-2, 11-4-1 WCHA) at Western Michigan (8-8-2, 4-6-2 CCHA) January 3 & 4, 7 p.m., Lawson Ice Arena, Kalamazoo, MI

North Dakota comes to Kalamazoo after taking three points from Boston University, winning 6-4 on Dec. 27, and tying 2-2 the next day. North Dakota has climbed in the national rankings — and risen to the top of the WCHA — behind some exciting offense from Dave Hoogsteen and Jason Blake, who are tied for first in the WCHA with 23 points. Solid goaltending from Toby Kvalevog, whose save percentage of .872 and GAA of 3.09 make him fifth in the WCHA, has made this team hard to beat.

Western Michigan has struggled this season, but its overall record tells the story of a team that can win games. Western lost to St. Lawrence 5-3 in the opening round of the Pepsi Holiday Hockey Tournament, a game in which the Broncos outshot their opponents 32-26. In the consolation game, Ferris State outshot Western Michigan 32-16, but the Broncos won 3-1.

Western has been struggling with several issues this season. The sudden loss of star goaltender and CCHA Rookie of the Year Marc Magliarditi before the season began, and the lack of offensive firepower, has Western still languishing in the middle of the CCHA standings.

North Dakota has a chance to show the CCHA why it’s third in the country by sweeping Western Michigan in Western’s house in this non-conference series.

PICKS: North Dakota 5-3, 4-3

Cornell (8-3-1, 6-2-1 ECAC) at Michigan (12-6-0, 9-2-0 CCHA) January 7, 7 p.m., Yost Arena, Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan is certainly a beatable team. With a total of six losses, the Wolverines are not invulnerable.

But tell that to Ferris State. In an 11-1 romping over the Bulldogs on New Year’s Eve, the Wolverines scored six times on the power play, once short-handed, and once 4-on-4 (in addition to the full-strength goals). Starting Michigan goaltender Marty Turco was replaced after two periods, when the score was 6-0. Backups Greg Malicke and Greg Daddario both saw play in the third period.

Apparently, that ninth straight championship in the Great Lakes Invitational Tournament gave the Wolverines that extra-special boost going into the second half of the season.

Cornell has a boost of its own, winning the Syracuse Invitational Championship with a 4-3 overtime win over Providence in the first round and a 4-1 win over Merrimack in the championship game. The Big Red are tied with Princeton for first in the ECAC. Cornell has some impressive goaltending in Jason Elliot, whose .917 save percentage and 2.50 GAA lead the league.

PICK: Michigan 7-2

Notre Dame (5-12-1, 4-8-1 CCHA) at Mankato State (7-11-2 overall, 4-7-1 against D-I) January 7, 7 p.m., Mankato Civic Center, Mankato, MN

Mankato State can play good hockey. On the 30th, Mankato lost 4-2 to Miami, but the Mavericks didn’t go quietly. Down 3-0 in the second, sophomore Tyler Deis (RW) scored two unanswered goals – his 17th and 18th of the season- to pull the Mavericks within one.The Irish and the Mavericks may have something in common, something over which they may bond for this game; depending on the outcome of the Notre Dame-Miami game, both teams could have lost to Miami in their most recent contests.

PICK: Mankato State 3-2

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

Copyright 1996 Paula C. Weston . All Rights Reserved.

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